Archive for March 2021
Value Buy: an Anordain Model 2 in Blue Fumé
I once had the absolute best curry I’ve ever had in my life, in Glasgow. This is not entirely relevant, I am aware. However, Glasgow struck me in my time there as a town very much on the up and up. It felt like what Detroit should be today, a former industrial powerhouse now teeming…
Read MoreMilsub Alternative: Omega Seamaster 300 Royal Navy
The are very few divers I love more than the 165.024 generation of Seamaster 300s. There’s something extremely special about the purposeful design and simplicity it offers, not to mention its fairly bulletproof caliber 552. If you know your SM300s, there is one undisputed king of the reference. This is it. Or rather, this is…
Read MoreRadium Bakelite 6542 GMT-Master
There seems to have been a confluence of GMTs around these parts lately. I think my mind is subconsciously craving that which it cannot have: travel. Although I’ve been hot for Greenwich lately, I don’t think any GMT I’ve posted recently rivals this. The thing is, I strive to feature a diverse range of watches…
Read MoreVacheron 222 Ref 46003 in YG
The 222 is the forgotten Swiss savior of the quartz crisis era. While the Royal Oak and Nautilus are celebrated to the point of being on the wrist of every soundcloud rapper, the 222 has not found fame. The final memeber of the holy trinity was fashionably late to the party, but perhaps excessively so.…
Read MoreFP Journe Vagabondage II
One of the many benefits in studying watches over a long time horizon is that you get to see heavily-debated pieces come full circle. One can see a piece initially sell over retail and fall below retail five years later in the secondary market. From there, controversial watches tend to move in one of two…
Read MoreBreguet Type XX Flyback Civile
Breguet has a long a storied history which is much more involved than I will attempt to explain. In short, they are one of the most established manufactures in watchmaking. A large section of that history is intertwined with French military watches. The ‘Type’ Breguets were a not really a model, but a designation given…
Read MoreSeiko 6159-7001 Professional
Seiko’s first 300m was a landmark. Five years after the 62MAS, on the heels of the 150m 6215, Seiko released this beauty. The 6159 was Seiko’s first monocoque case design with a screw down crown. This was a new high, or rather low depth, for the brand—and an innovation within dive watches generally. This design…
Read MoreVacheron Constantin 6194 Signed by Cartier
We all know collectors go a bit mad at a good double signature. A Comex Submariner will sell at 100x the production dial and let’s not even mention Tiffany Pateks. In that league of rarity (but not price) are Cartier signatures. Before Cartier was a watchmaking titan, they were a watch retailer of the very…
Read MoreSilvered-Panda Breitling Top Time Ref. 2006
The Breitling brand has undergone a massive course correction in recent years. The Breitling for Bentley 50mm pieces are out and more classic staples are slowly returning. This is one of many shifts Breitling have made over the years. Despite a hopeful future, my tastes lie in somewhere in the late 60s to early 80s.…
Read MoreThe First Titanium Sinn: 8820
No, this isn’t a Tudor P01. It’s something a little cooler, though I love the unique Black Bay. Sinn, the marque synonymous with tough-as-nails, legible tool watches, had to start somewhere. Granted, this isn’t the start of Sinn. It isn’t even the start of Sinn tool watches. But it is the first titanium watch. This…
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