Voutilainen Vingt-8, Titanium

Voutilainen-Vingt-8-Titanium

This is one of the most unusual Voutilainens I’ve ever seen surface and it’s not like there are many I get to talk about to begin with. The Vingt-8 is Kari’s aesthetic sense, distilled. What the Chronomètre Bleu is to FP, the Vingt-8 is to Kari. Only this Vingt-8 is in titanium with a space…

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IWC Porsche Design Ocean 2000

IWC-Porsche-Design-Ocean-2000

This unassuming diver is one of Schaffhausen’s best kept secrets. If I told you today that IWC were about to release a fully integrated titanium diver that could go down to 2000m, was going to be issued to the German military, had an antimagnetic cage, tritium, and with a design penned by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche…

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F.P. Journe Élégante 48 Titalyt

FP-Journe-Élégante-Titalyt-48mm

Eclectic, eccentric, and something of an enigma, FP Journe’s Élégante was originally conceived during a trip to the Middle East in 2003, where he was asked by many clients’ wives why he had not yet offered a women’s watch of any kind. Eight years of hard work went into an in-house quartz (or as Journe…

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Early Execution Seiko 6159-7010 Titanium ‘Grandfather Tuna’

Seiko-6159-7010-Titanium-Grandfather-Tuna

Anyone who knows Seiko knows the Tuna story. Professional Japanese divers in the 1960s repeated complained of their 62MAS and 6215-7000 divers failing at depth. Seiko, even then fanatic about customer satisfaction, was quick to draft a solution. Just what they came back with was quite industry-shattering, which was topical . . .as it looked…

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IWC Porsche Design Ocean 2000

IWC-Ocean-2000-Porsche-Design-Diver

When I say integrated sports watch, you almost imagine a RO, Nautilus, or Overseas. You almost certainly do not imagine a Laureato, Octo Finissimo (despite it holding all the records today), or this: an imaginative 1980s diver with a full integrated titanium bracelet. This is a under-hyped, comparatively economic, materially innovative, 1980s diver with tritium…

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Waterproof Spacewear: De Bethune DB28GS

De-Bethune-DB28GS

The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève does not fuck around. Their Aiguille d’Or Award, or ‘Golden Hand’ (best watch of the year to us unilingual peasants . . .also shouldn’t it be golden wrist?), is one of the highest honours a piece of metal can receive. I can remember having a casual interest in watches…

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The First Titanium Sinn: 8820

Sinn-8820-Titanium

No, this isn’t a Tudor P01. It’s something a little cooler, though I love the unique Black Bay. Sinn, the marque synonymous with tough-as-nails, legible tool watches, had to start somewhere. Granted, this isn’t the start of Sinn. It isn’t even the start of Sinn tool watches. But it is the first titanium watch. This…

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A Bizarre Value Proposition: Urwerk 105 TA

Urwerk-105-TA

If Bruce Wayne wears a ‘Batman’ GMT-Master II (with Nolan, in fact, he wore a Reverso), the actual Batman suit would include this Urwerk. Urwerk’s engineered approach to watchmaking lends such a unique aesthetic that it almost seems like it belongs on the pages of a comic book. Completely disregarding all common rules of classical…

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The Forgotten Grand Seiko LE: SBGR305

Grand-Seiko-SBGR305

Grand Seiko and Omega are never ones to shy away from good limited edition. If it’s Tuesday, there’s a new Speedmaster LE. If the seasons are changing, count on Grand Seiko to turn that mood into a dial texture. One of the downsides to fairly frequent LE releases is that they begin to blur together.…

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