Archive for January 2023
Spider Dial 16750 Rolex GMT-Master
Of all the varied types of ageing a watch may exhibit, what collectors call a spider dial must be the most contentious amongst people who really know Rolex. You think Israel v Palestine has some ardent extremists? Walk this GMT into the Hodinkee office and watch a civil war ensue. Every watch journalist has used…
Read MoreTropical Dial Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Mid-Size
The midsized neo-vintage RO known as the 14790 looks better to me today than it ever has. The tide of neo-vintage is rising anyway, but this ship has a hydrofoil on it or something. But they don’t all look like this. After introduction taking over from the first ref. 4100 in 1992, it remained in…
Read More9050/0 Tudor Ranger
The vintage Tudor Ranger, prior to reissue, was hugely popular amongst a very tiny subset of Tudor scholars and enthusiasts. In fact, I wrote an article last year arguing that, with a little alcohol-induced scholarship, I couldn’t see why there was no hype surrounding it. To quote, ‘I mean, it isn’t even blipping on the…
Read More5402BA Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
If a watch collector hears the numbers 5402, they start thinking of early Royal Oaks. And then, like a meth addict seeking the pure stuff, they start looking to see if it’s a numbered A-series or latter B/C/D. They’ll even itch uncontrollably if you leave them wondering long enough. But it’s often forgotten that the…
Read More94110 Tudor ‘Snowflake’ Submariner
It’s often said that the 5513 is the prototypical dive watch. It’s a panacea, sitting on top of modern dive watch genealogy like Gengis Khan in Mongolia. But what I find very interesting about that time in watch design is that it didn’t have to be that way. People tried other things. Gruen went with…
Read MoreJN Shapiro Infinity Series in Tantalum
JN Shapiro is living proof that you can wake up one day, have one too many espressos, and say ‘You know what? I’m going to make a watch better than the Swiss can.’ But then actually do it. The former part of that process, well, I must get a dozen or so DMs a week…
Read More‘Tasti Tondi’ Patek Philippe 1463 in Rose Gold
Every genre has its greats. Rock has The Beatles. Rap has Biggie. Chinese cuisine has dim sum. The automobile has the 911. Annoying pricks have Piers Morgan. Regardless of discipline, there’s always an entrant or two which transcends the category and moves toward the sphere of greater culture. That’s what the 1463 ‘Tasti Tondi’ is…
Read MoreOmega 33.3 Chronograph
Let’s not mince words, this 33.3 is achingly beautiful. And significant, as this calibre is the grandfather to all our beloved 321 chronographs. How often do you see an Omega chronograph with an onion crown, Breguet hands, Breguet numerals, and enamel dial? Yeah, it’s basically just this. It makes me rather concerned though. See, Ryan…
Read MoreCartier Privé Cloche
Some watches just make sense. The 1016 Explorer, that’s a design that makes sense. The Speedmaster too, seems like someone thought about it. Even the Lange 1, in all its artfulness, was made according to ratios and math . . .as if the Germans could do anything else. Other watches, however, don’t. The Cloche is…
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