Honeycomb Dial 6350 Rolex Explorer
Many will argue this is the first-ever Explorer, ref. 6350, and it’s honeycomb. But others will state it’s the ref. 6150. In the 6150, only some examples actually said Explorer on the dial and it wasn’t yet an officially certified chronometer. By this 6350, both traditions were firmly in place. It’s kind of like arguing…
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NSO Cartier Crash, White Gold
Sporting a Crash is the closest thing in watches to walking around holding a Salvador Dali above your head. But sporting an NSO (Cartier’s new program to create custom orders for their best clients) Crash is like having Dali make that painting just for you. The allure of a tailored watch is strong, so strong…
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UAE Ministry of Defence 1675 Rolex GMT-Master
Middle Eastern dials are not all equal. They’re all fantastically interesting, from UAE Armed Forces Datejusts to Oman Day-Dates or even Syrian Explorer IIs, all of these watches call back to a time in Rolex when the brand was more personable and willing to go more than the extra mile for their very best clients….
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S.58 Zenith 150m Diver
Zenith may be known as the don of the high-beat chronograph, and they are, but things didn’t start that way. This is the S.58, a 150 meter dive watch, and it’s what Zenith were pouring their hopes and ambition into before the El Primero had ever lied about being first (I jest). This was a…
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5970R Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
Everyone seems to be waiting with bated breath, hope, and timid caution to find out just how time will judge the 5970. You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, this is the last of the Lemania ébauches; 5270 that followed axed that tradition. But, further, the 5970 was the last Perpetual Calendar Chronograph…
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25686BA Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Quantième Perpétuel
This was the RM of its day, just with more substance; AP invented the combination high complication with sporting ambition in the 1984 ref. 5554. This is, and to ours will likely forever remain, the apex of Royal Oak collecting. Maybe not this precise iteration, but the pre-leap year QP as a category, of which…
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1530 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date
The 1530 is an esoteric cult watch. It can’t be described briefly, the result of many macro forces. It can be described as, ‘The mechanical Oysterquartz that isn’t quartz, which Tissot will never admit was almost certainly a design reference for the PRX, and is surprisingly rare with dial that can go very tropical-yellow’. Not…
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43050 Vacheron Constantin Mercator
Before the first Zeitwerk, Vagabondage, or Urwerk, Vacheron Constantin went out on a limb with a very unique time display. It was 1994 and Audemars Piguet had just released the Star Wheel. Where the inspiration for the Star Wheel came from a 17th c. Papal clock, VC had an idea waiting in their own history….
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‘Small Floating’ Dial 6240 Rolex Daytona
This was the start of the screw down Daytona pusher. Okay, maybe not the very start, it’s not a Solo, but reference-wise with millerighes (more on that later). This is the ref. 6240 and it would not be a stretch to say that all screw-down Daytonas exist because of this reference’s lineage. Two years after the…
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‘Frog Foot’ Dial 1016 Rolex Explorer
This is a 1016, which as we all know is the answer to every possible watch question. However, it’s a very peculiar sort. It’s the sort of 1016 for a collector who has already owned a 1016, who then looks down one day and thinks, ‘Yes, this is lovely, but I wish the Rolex coronet…
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