Archive for August 2021
1 of 100 Royal Oak Chronograph Ice Blue LE
Green dial 5711s are one thing. That is watch which says you are either an extremely close client of Patek or a bit of an idiot. And because the two are indistinguishable from a glance, the net effect Patek’s reseller’s are having is that of making their most valued customers look like adolescent hypebeasts. I…
Read MoreValue Proposition: Speake-Marin One & Two Openworked Ti
Veteran watchmakers don’t come more likable than Peter Speake-Marin. The manufacture bearing his name has created wild flying tourbillons, highly finished ETAs, technotime mods, and everything in-between. What makes this independent special is the highly-specialized design and proportion. The Piccadilly case with its three-piece design and stout lugs are instantly recognizable to those who know…
Read MoreCartier Tank Reverso
If you’ve been around here for a bit, you’ll my stance on the world’s first true automatic chronograph: all of the three. I call it convergent evolution in watchmaking. This is not that. This is something more akin to Cartier looking over their metaphorical shoulder at JLC’s exam answer bubbles. Despite that, this is still…
Read MoreA 5513 with a PhD: the 1019 Milgauss
What you are looking at is not hype or hollywood-adjacent marketing. I like to think of it this way: a 5513 with a PhD. The Milgauss was created in the 6541 generation to meet the demands of scientists working in heavy magnetic fields. The level of significance this steel sports Rolex holds is, in my…
Read MoreEarly Production IWC 1812 Aquatimer
There is an entire sphere of watchmaking I enjoy deeply which falls under the heading ‘forgotten-could-have-been-greats’. The requirements are as follows: the watch must have been initially innovative or mould-breaking, succeeded by worse iterations or killed off, and is now only appreciated by a select few. In that lies the 2446 GMT Autavia, Nautical Cricket,…
Read MoreGrey Dial 105.012 ‘No-T’ Omega Speedmaster
The watch-unique patination vintage provides is occasionally just perfect. Tropical watches from Italy are not particularly trustworthy and half the world’s ghost bezels are now in fact bleached, not sunned. Honest wear is a rare thing in the modern watch world. That’s just why I adore the Speedmaster I share here today: a 105.012 with…
Read MorePatek Philippe 533 in Rose Gold
When one thinks 1940s wristwatches, dedicated big pilots, telemetre scales, and Compaxes race to mind. There was, however, a more celebrated side to watchmaking that continued through hardship. Not every movement was intended to be a tool. Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and Audemars Piguet made extremely refined chronographs in the period where they were just…
Read MoreRolex 3827 ‘Antimagnetic’ in Rose Gold
When you see a Rolex with square pushers and a push-back case design, you know things are getting interesting. Last round, I presented a non-sigma Cosmograph that everyone will be familiar with. Today I’m pushing that lineage: meet Grandad. The Rolex antimagnetic chronograph preceeded the 1955 6234, a watch most associate with the start of…
Read MoreSandoz Monsoon Roulette
Sandoz is not a name you frequent until you reach the dark dusty corner of a Redbar meetup. At some point, perhaps five years into your journey, you’ll come across one. I remember very specifically the first model I ever saw, a Monsoon very similar to the piece we see here today. You may better…
Read MoreValue Proposition: Habring² Chrono-Felix Salmon Monopusher
Independent manufacturers don’t come much more independent than a single Austrian husband and wife duo. Richard Habring was trained in the 1980s through Karlstein an der Thaya and was something of a prodigy, presenting a self-designed minute tourbillon in an incline movement by graduation. After meeting Maria and jointly deciding fully on a horological career,…
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