Archive for May 2021
Rolex 6202 Turn-O-Graph
In the pantheon of great, under-appreciated Rolex models there are shrines to the Air-King, Thunderbird, PT Yachtmaster, 4113 Rattrapante, and many others. Amongst those storied names must surely stand this: the early Turn-O-Graph. Even if it were properly appreciated, though, most fair-weather collectors would probably mistake it for a Submariner anyway. I don’t mind. The…
Read MoreValue Proposition: NOS Heuer Pre-Carrera 73321S
Ask any serious collector: condition is everything. There’s something truly lovely about handling something a half century old whose exterior belies that time. Some collectors prize originality, some prize beauty, and some cannot do without either. Most show-stoppingly well-preserved Carreras are beginning to dissapear. The heat in their popularity and recent collectibility is seeing most…
Read MorePatek Philippe Nautilus 3800 in Yellow Gold
The 45 year-old Nautilus has never looked better. Genta, in his Nautilus and Royal Oak designs, defined a half-century of wristwear. It would not be hyperbole to declare the Nautilus in amongst the top three most important designs of the last century. This reference 3800 is a marginally more svelt 3700 at 37.5mm. That proportion…
Read MoreValue Proposition: Nomos Lambda 175 Years Watchmaking LE
You haven’t missed anything; Nomos are not 175 years old. But watchmaking in the Glashütte region of Germany is, and that seems reason enough to release a beautiful limited edition which nods to the old ways. The Lambda is Nomos’s most advanced celebration of modern watchmaking—tethered to their Germanic bauhaus design. To thank Lange for…
Read MoreBulgari Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando Ceramic LE
In an industry dominated by vintage romanticism, it is a breath of fresh air to see a design unashamedly focussed on the future with a laser-like precision. Watches and Wonders brought many new and attractive designs to the market, but perhaps none appealed so strongly to me as this: the Tadao Ando Ceramic Octo (otherwise…
Read MoreAn Exceptional Bakelite 1953 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
I’ve been waiting patiently on the touchline for the right Fifty Fathoms to surface in the market. This is a site built to feature the most interesting pieces for sale at any given time. Not covering a single Fifty Fathoms since inception seems a terrible transgression. This is, with possible 5514/7 exception, my grail vintage…
Read MoreA Charming Enicar Jet Graph Mark 3
Enicar, ever the forward-thinking watchmaker, saw the inherent redundancy in the word chronograph that others had missed. There is not a watch with a chronograph that measures something other than a function of time. Therefore, their family of chronographs were simply labelled ‘Graph’. I approve of this efficiency in language. The Graph family consisted of…
Read More1 of 500: Rose Gold Jaeger Lecoultre Reverso Septantième
I am beginning to think I’m going to have to create a neo-vintage cateogory here. Some of my very-favourite pieces come from the era of modern watchmaking, but pre-instagram. I really quite enjoy the obscure corner of Chrono24 that these pieces have faded to. It’s easy to forget that JLC was producing icons since well…
Read More1st Gen Universal Genève Polerouter Compressor Sub
Artifacts of #lockdownlife have proven completely unpredictable for me. I’m now convinced that I can speak French when drunk. I’ve been practicing a lot with a Parisian. She’s not impressed. More pertinently, in watches, I’ve gotten used to seeing historically very rare pieces surface in the market. I’m not sure I’ve heard a solid explanation…
Read MoreTiffany-Signed 6241 Steel Rolex Daytona
Serpico, Beyer, Gubelin, Bucherer, Cartier, and above all Tiffany: these are the words that, when combined with a manufacture signature, collectors lose their cool over. I personally tend to gravitate towards the more obscure double-signatures. By that, I don’t mean Dominos. I mean things like this VC 6194 signed by Cartier. However, there are now…
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