3150 IWC Porsche Design Compass
I’m fairly certain that in the late 70s, IWC and Porsche design did their collaborating in a bar or somewhere ample drink is served. How else do you get to the Ocean 2000, anodized black, and all the fantastic cool-guy aviation chronographs? Herodotus, a Greek historian, reported once that for all important decisions, the ancient…
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‘Japan No Lume’ 1803 Rolex Day-Date
Hardstone dials are all the rage these days. Day-Dates are synonymous with onyx, lapis, and jasper. But in the earliest days of the Day-Date, there weren’t stones. There were Stellas. And before there were Stellas, there were gilt pie-pans. An early Day-Date in white precious metal is just about the ultimate in discreet opulence as…
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Serpico Y Laino Dial ‘Tasti Tondi’ 1463 Patek Philippe in Pink Gold
When you start to describe a 1463, you’re not talking about a watch. You’re talking about a cornerstone in the pantheon of great chronographs. One cannot discuss the greats of whisky without mentioning Islay and, similarly, one can’t talk about the greats of chronographs and not mention the 1463. If you needed to know only…
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DB12 De Bethune Chronograph
De Bethune make wildly technical alien spaceships, right? Well, not always. At least it didn’t start that way. The early years of De Bethune were different, pre tenuous Starry Varius puns. This simple restrained chronograph, yes still made by De Bethune, is a magnificently uncommon thing. These were the early years of the manufacture, when…
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‘Or Massif’ 2964 Cartier Santos Carrée
What is a sports watch? One you can wear playing badminton? Or chess? A watch that can be swum with? No, the definition is up for debate. So here’s the broadest possible definition, a gold 2964. Even though it was actually worn by Gordon Gekko, there is no more Wolf of Wall Street aesthetic than…
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‘Graph Paper’ Dial 3506 IWC Ingenieur SL
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the ‘Skinny’ Ingy here. It is the mark of all excellent watches that they have so few faults, the only thing left that anyone can criticize is the price. Well, you can’t even hold that against the 3506, not really. It’s the generation, the iteration of this…
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Jade Dial FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain
I always laugh a bit, quietly to myself, when first point of interest someone mentions about their watch is rarity. Rarity is great, market-marking even, but not interesting. FP Journe created Black Label, which I always thought was a Johnnie Walker for masochists, to reward their clients with something less common. Boutique exclusives for VIPs,…
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‘Space-Dweller’ 1016 Rolex Explorer
The Space-Dweller universally elicits one reaction in person, ‘Hey, lovely 1016 Expl . . .WTAF?!’ It is equal parts mythical creature and fuel for debate at the nerdiest, arguably highest levels of vintage Rolex collecting. A larger handful of examples are known, probably fewer than 25, but that’s not definite. There is a known history…
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Tropical Dial 1665 ‘Double Red’ Rolex Sea-Dweller
There is nothing like the appeal of an honest, down-to-Earth, bare bones tool watch. I view the 1665 Sea-Dweller as a Red Sub turned up to 11. It’s a little more technical, a little more appealing to some for its lack of cyclops, and just a little more nuanced. The RMs, LVMH, and Bivers of…
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214.3.62 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Métiers ‘Tribute to Ferdinand Hodler’
It’s rather easy to get the idea that many of the larger watchmakers, particularly those under a certain company which starts with ‘Richem’ and ends in ‘onte’, only care about the bottom line. But this Reverso exists to buck the trend. It exists to show that JLC still cares, can still hang with the best,…
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