Posts by Erik Gustafson
Guilloche Dial 1803 Rolex Day-Date, Pink Gold
Until this year in the new 1908, the words Rolex and guilloché almost never went together. But very, very occasionally, there was a Day-Date with a hand engine turned dial. A quick Google will turn up the last one that came to market which we covered, a square pyrimidal cut. Some of the more famous…
Read MoreFloating Cosmograph, ‘Porcelain’ Dial 16520 Rolex Daytona
The first of anything in Rolex-land tends to be a bit different, not just because it’s new, but relative to what came after. These small, initial periods of experimentation are where you get meters first Subs, red depth Datejusts, fuchsia GMTs, ‘Blackout’ 14270s, and, indeed, this Floating Cosmograph. This is the very start of the…
Read More3508 IWC Ingenieur 500K A/m
In the release of IWC’s latest Ingenieur, the brand went out of their way to not advertise the watch on the basis of its magnetic resistance or indeed list it in any media. Isn’t that a bit odd for thee IWC Antimagnetic watch? In this 3508 from the late 80s, IWC were so proud of…
Read More2762 Cartier CPCP Tortue Monopoussoir
The Monopoussoir is dead, long live the Monopoussoir. Yes, there’s a new Monopoussoir around but CPCP will always be a more significant moment in Cartier’s long and storied ascent out of the treacherous 1980s. There is just so much to this watch, culturally and tangibly. And I don’t even think one necessarily needs the sole…
Read MoreS34 Roger Dubuis Sympathie ‘New Millenary’ Bi-Retrograde Calendar
For all the chatter around design-led watchmaking now, it’s easy to forget that Roger Dubuis went to great lengths in the 90s to create a shape quite unlike anything before or after. After branching out on his own, the Sympathie line was the first time Roger pushed the boundaries of what was possible, first in…
Read MoreTechnicum Neuchâtelois Ecole D’Horlogerie Triple Calendar Chronograph
This Triple Calendar Chronograph is not a Rolex, Heuer, Girard Perregaux, or Zodiac; it has no brand, the generic label. It was the ultimate pride and joy of a budding watchmaker in the mid-late 1960s. This dial reads Technicum La Chaux-de-Fonds, short for Technicum Neuchâtelois. This was, at the time, the preeminent horological school. The…
Read More5303R Patek Philippe Minute Repeater Tourbillon
The 5303R is much more than just the only Patek Philippe repeater that Sylvester Stallone hasn’t yet flipped. It is the only Patek Philippe wristwatch with its tourbillon visible dial side. More notably, it was first to have its chiming hammer and gongs dial-side as well. And it is directly linked to Singapore and Southeast…
Read More3357 Breguet Classique Tourbillon
There are many watchmakers today with immense history who seem a bit aimless, but no brand extends so far in both directions as Breguet. This is the 3357, a watch whose architecture was designed by Daniel Roth in the mid-1980s Chaumet era which is still in the catalogue today. Breguet was Daniel Roth’s first ground-up…
Read MoreBlack Dial 6238 Rolex ‘Pre-Daytona’ Chronograph
This is a Pre-Daytona, but it’s way more interesting than it appears at first glance. This is the Pre-Daytona equivalent of a perfect Paul Newman: finding any 6238 with a black dial. For standard dials, the 6238 might hold the Rolex record for having the largest discrepancy between dial colors. The vast, vast majority of…
Read MoreBlack Guilloché Dial 47101 Vacheron Constantin Les Historiques Chronograph
In the world of 90s Holy Trinity chronographs, I don’t think you can argue that VC had the sexiest case. The 5070 is lovely, but not this voluptuous. It’s thoughtful enough to not be retro, yet a bastion of traditional watchmaking technique. It might just be the most elegant evening dress the 2310 has ever…
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