Archive for December 2022
Tiffany-signed ‘Owl’ 25572ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Day Date
I’m calling it now; this is the sickest Royal Oak I’ve stumbled across this year. Not only is it one of my favorite iterations, ‘The Owl’, a dual-register Day Date. Not only is it a cream dial, beautifully ageing over time. It’s Tiffany-signed. Any one of these bullet points is enough to get me to…
Read MoreRoyal Navy ‘T-Dial’ 165.024 Omega Seamaster 300
Something as unassuming as a little circled T on a dial can belie a whole lot of significance. To the untrained eye, this is a vintage Seamaster like any other. To you and I, it’s an elusive, fixed springbar, thoroughbred mil-spec diver. No one will mug you for it in East London. But it will…
Read More1 of 100 Middle East Edition Cartier Santos Dumont
Cartier have a long and storied history of quietly creating limited unique variants for particularly loyal VIP groups, markets, or even singular collectors. These watches are not usually clocked by the mainstream watch media and only surface years after release here, in forums, blogs, or in person meetups. Such was the case with this, a…
Read More9421/0 Tudor Big Block Monte Carlo
This unassuming Tudor combines the very best of two iconic chronographs: the practicality of a Big Block sprinkled with the the magic that was the flamboyant Monte Carlo dial. This is an automatic 7750, but with a dial very reminiscent of the 7100 series Monte Carlos. Alongside the standard production 94200s, Tudor also produced what are…
Read More3311 IWC Quartz Yacht Club II
A circle within a stop-sign within an elongated hexagon, the Yacht Club II is an acquired taste. I’ve previously described it as Genta-designed (likely, actually no one seems to know for certain) and Germanically-gorgeous, but this one in particular will ruffle some feathers. This is the quartz Yacht Club II. I know, I know, hear…
Read More116520 ‘Panna Dial’ Rolex Daytona
This is the next Patrizzi. It’s not often I get to say that, so let me elaborate. Osvaldo Patrizzi was first to clock a change in some 16520 Zenith Daytona dials, where subdial rings would turn a taupe golden tan with sun exposure. Watch collectors adore a good defect. We also adore a cream or…
Read More‘Jo Siffert’ 1163T Mk4 Heuer Autavia
If you’re into Heuer or the vast watch-motorsport crossover, you’ll probably know the name Siffert, given to a certain ref. 1163T with a panda dial and blue accents . . .but you may not know why you should care. It’s often said that the stars which burn twice as bright last half as long. Certainly,…
Read MoreCartier Movado Super Sub Sea M95
The majority of quotes, particularly on social media, I find meaningless and unapplicable. One which has repeated with me through life, though, comes from Brooker T Washington: ‘The best way to lift one’s self up is to help some one else.’ Evidently, Cartier thought so too. Because despite what this dial may tell you, you’re…
Read MoreE168 Jaeger-Lecoultre Geophysic
It’s not often a vintage watch is so well-preserved that you could easily mistake it for its reissue. That’s exactly the case here. Despite what the exterior looks like, this watch was made in 1958 and is testament to JLC’s insane quality. But it’s also a model that strikes core to JLC’s values: aesthetic purity,…
Read More1 of 50 ‘Al Naboodah’ 15313ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
I don’t know anything about Al Naboodah, an Emirati family holdings group. But I do know they’re doing alright fiscally, because if you’re not you don’t get to order a small run of 50 Royal Oaks with your brand logo colors around a few indices. On the surface, this is a very simple vanity play…
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