Archive for November 2022
3147N Heuer Carrera Dato 12 First Execution
Variety is the spice of life and quirky date windows are the joie de vivre de Heuer Carreras. Some of the earliest dates on a Carrera can come at 12, as shown here. Or 45, in the latter iterations or very latter Hodinkee LE. But also 6, as in the 1153 Carrera. Or you can…
Read More3505 IWC Ingenieur SL White ‘Graph Paper’ Dial
This is one of those rare occasions where a watch feels familiar, but isn’t. The ref. 3505 is an Ingenieur very like the ref. 3506, but, again, it isn’t. Both feature the desirable graph paper dial texture, but one is far less common. This, the 3505, was the very first iteration of the midsized Ingenieur.…
Read More46004 Vacheron Constantin Square 222
Vacheron Constantin are famously reserved and austere about their watchmaking, in philosophy, design, and engineering. But that’s actually a more modern branding construction than anything. VC went full experimental in the 80s, to an unparalleled extent. The square 222 is that genre of watch which will make zero sense to anyone outside the depths of…
Read MoreCream Dial 16550 Rolex Explorer II
The Daytona has Paul Newman. The GMT-Master has Marlon Brando and Fidel Castro. The Explorer II though? It’s never really had a unilateral poster-personality to align with. Except that’s not quite accurate, because unbeknownst to many, a cream dial 16550 has been worn for decades by one Gordon Ramsey. If you don’t see the appeal,…
Read More401.026 First Series A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph
If you’ve ever wondered to yourself just how gorgeous a distilled Datograph could be, this is your answer. Lange broke all standards of watchmaking in 1999 with the aesthetically moving and impressively engineered calibre L951.1 Datograph, entirely manufactured on German soil. In the wake of that momentous release, a subset of collectors clamoured for a…
Read MoreCR1507051 Citizen Chronometer
Even if I constantly strive to feature the most interesting and niche selections across the entire watch market, I’d like to think every now and then I can still surprise. Long time readers will be familiar with this model, but that’s only a fraction of you by percentage. That’s right, in the whole time I’ve…
Read MoreTuscan Dial 258205SP Audemars Piguet Royal Oak QP
There are a lot of criticisms one could lobby at the Royal Oak compan . . .errr, I mean Audemars Piguet. However, the more deeply I investigate interesting edge cases of the Royal Oak, the more I respect their resolve. See, the Royal Oak hasn’t remained one thing. AP have clung to its inherent appeal,…
Read MoreMoonshine Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary
Historically speaking, when Omega gets it right, they get it really right. There have been solid gold Speedmasters before and there have been solid gold Speedmasters since. But the Apollo 10 50th, and BA145.022 it references, are surely high-water marks. I will always remember the first time I saw a BA145.022 in person at a…
Read More1812 IWC Aquatimer
For every run-of-the-mill Aquatimer you’d see at a generic airport-based IWC boutique, there is one which is incredibly interesting. The line has a massive degree of stochastic variance with respect to greatness. Yes, there are immensely boring mass produced ETA-base design exercises. But then there are the immensely capable Ocean 2000, Deep One and Deep…
Read MoreMk1, ‘Frog Foot’ 1016 Rolex Explorer
Have you ever looked down at your vintage Explorer and thought, ‘Yeah this lovely, but I wish the Rolex coronet looked a little more like a frog’s foot’? Me neither. And yet, there are those among us who do. Or at least the market would seem to indicate such, as Mk1 or ‘Frog Foot’ 1016s…
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