At Junghans, the time is timeless. Since the 1950s, this traditional brand from Germany’s Black Forest has also made watches that represent the purist aesthetic and Bauhaus-based concept of architect, artist, and designer Max Bill (1908-1994). With the new max bill Automatic Bauhaus in black, Junghans interprets a classic watch in a new, modern look without touching the clean base concept conceived by the Bauhaus disciple. This new watch is a typical Max Bill, but still completely different.
Modern Understatement.
When a social engagement demands reserved elegance, women often choose to wear the famed “little black dress,” while men might don a tuxedo. This attire imparts genuine seriousness, and the non-colors black and white emphasize shape while simultaneously not distracting from substance. For this reason, black, white, and the grey hues found between them are entirely characteristic of Bauhaus.
Beholden to Bauhaus
A splash of color may however come into play. This shows up in wardrobes in subtle accessories of color, in Bauhaus architecture in the red door showing the visitor where to enter, and the new Max Bill. This watch’s appearance is characterized by a black PVD-coated stainless steel case and a matte black dial with steel-grey hour markers. The hands subtly accentuate the design with their luminous red paint. The printing under the crystal covering the case back also proudly demonstrates this watch’s affiliation with the Bauhaus line, while a partial view of the movement is afforded through the transparent case back designed to resemble a Bauhaus structure.
]]>It's safe to say we've been nursing a healthy obsession with MIDO's revival of its 1960s Ocean Star Decompression Timer since 2020. Maybe it's the thrill of finding a vintage-inspired dive watch that nails all the tiny details. Maybe it's the colorful decompression scale that captures the imagination of watch newbies and seasoned collectors alike. Whatever the case may be, we are happy to introduce you to MIDO's latest expansion of its heritage dive watch collection: the Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer, now with an additional GMT function recreated in both the original "rainbow" as well as a new vivid colorway.
Staying true to previous partnerships with MIDO, the Hodinkee Shop is proud to offer the Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer for a period of U.S. retail exclusivity at launch. These watches' predecessors have a storied history of selling out fast, so we're thrilled for this timepiece to reach those that might have missed their chance to get their hands on MIDO's previous limited edition models.
The new Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer first catches your eye with its striking visual cues but holds your attention with its powerful technological capabilities. The inner decompression scale was revolutionary when it came out in the 1960s, offering SCUBA divers a way to calculate their decompression stops, which are intervals spent to "off-gas" nitrogen that builds up in the blood at depth before surfacing. The scale is divided by color into different depths, and as a diver correlates their "bottom time" at a given depth they can then see on the scale how long the deco-stop needs to be. Most divers would reset the minute hand back to 12 before their dive so the scale can be more easily read.
Measuring at 40.5mm, the new Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer is only slightly larger than the original 1960s model and is still a comfortable size for everyday wear. That touch of extra real estate houses the updated model's namesake: the added 24-hour GMT function and world city bezel, which makes an already highly capable watch ready for adventure of any kind. Working from the outer bezel inward, you'll first find both the rotating dive timer and world cities scale. Just beneath that is the minute track with hour markers, followed by the 24-hour scale with GMT hand, the date window, and finally the famous decompression scale.
Now that we are all caught up with the meaning behind the colorful scale, it's about time we talk about the new colorway. We're still huge fans of the original rainbow, but we are equally excited for the new orange palette, which some people might find to be more wearable for every day while still making a statement. Bringing to mind sunsets on a California beach, the new orange colorway definitely makes for a great spring and summer watch, but we can see it blending seamlessly into any fall styling.
MIDO's Caliber 80.661 movement provides automatic winding, a Nivachron balance spring, a whopping 80 hours of power reserve, and, in our opinion, represents one of the best mechanical devices available at this price point. In typical dive watch fashion, the Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer sports water resistance up to 200 meters, as well as glowing Super-LumiNova in the hands and indices. The closed steel caseback is emblazoned with the signature starfish engraving that has been featured across the Ocean Star line since the 1960s.
Both models of the Decompression Worldtimer ship with an interchangeable, tropical rubber strap as an homage to the original, along with a stainless steel mesh bracelet that's every bit as 1960s as the rubber strap.
You don't have to be a diver to bask in the mystique of one of the most fascinating dive watches ever produced, and with the added GMT function, the new MIDO Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer makes the perfect travel companion wherever life takes you.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Naomi Uemura is one of those legendary names that will you definitely know if you are a fan of mountaineering. The Japanese explorer did more than “just” climb mountains, though. He was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon solo, and the first person to conquer Mt. Denali in Alaska solo. And this is just a small selection of highlights from the man’s great achievements, many of which were done solo. Uemura took great pride in conquering challenges on his own.
On his wrist during many of these challenges, Uemura wore the Seiko 1970s diver’s watch. It’s a watch that has become known as the Seiko “Uemura diver.” I love it because it is one of the standout designs of the 1970s. Seiko obviously has quite a few dive watches from the 1970s that stand out, but the Uemura diver looks awesome with its case shape. The case is characterized by the asymmetrical extension that protected the crown at the 4 o’clock position. Seiko has taken that original design and created a modern version of that watch.
The full name of the piece is the Seiko Prospex 1970 Diver’s Modern Re-interpretation: The Naomi Uemura Limited Edition SLA069. Are you still with us? All kidding aside, the Uemura 80th-anniversary edition that came out in 2021 was a great release. It featured a beautiful grainy blue dial and blue bezel that perfectly complemented the case’s shape. For this new edition, Seiko decided to commemorate Uemura’s conquering of Mont Blanc in 1966 at age 25.
The watch features a modern interpretation of the original 1970 Diver case. It measures 44mm in diameter and 13mm thick, and it is water resistant to 200 meters. The case is graced by the standout blue stainless steel bezel with a dark blue bezel inlay. The crown at 4 o’clock is also executed in light blue, making this a rather colorful watch. According to the Seiko press materials, the blue color of the bezel and crown is inspired by the blue shadows surrounding Mont Blanc.
Speaking of which, the white dial features a depiction of Mont Blanc within a texture that mimics the mountain’s rocky and snowy surface. Seiko achieved this by using special pressing and etching techniques, and overall, it gives the dial a nice degree of depth. Placed on top of the dial, you will find the rectangular markers filled with Seiko’s Lumibrite material. Hovering above everything are the compact sword-style hands that fit the overall style perfectly.
Inside the case, Seiko equips this SLA069 with its top-of-the-range caliber 8L35. This automatic movement operates at 28,800vph and has a 50-hour power reserve. As some of you will know, it’s based on the Grand Seiko caliber 9S55. As with GS movements, the 8L family is assembled by hand at the Shizukuishi Watch Studio in northern Japan. Completing the watch is the familiar stainless steel bracelet with a folding clasp, push-button release, safety lock, and diving extension.
Altogether, I think this new tribute to legendary explorer Naomi Uemura is an acquired taste. The colorful presence is inspired by the man’s many impressive achievements, so the story has a solid foundation. But the execution gives the watch a distinct presence that is strictly for lovers of colorful pieces of hardcore Uemura fans. As a result, the 500 pieces of this numbered limited edition that will sell for €3,000 from May on will find their way to the right collectors and fans.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
]]>Most think of the Max Bill line when it comes to Bauhaus design in watches. This classic look is instantly recognizable. For this year, Junghans has added a new Chronoscope Bauhaus model and two new MEGA Solar models. While color may be the theme for Junghans in 2023, the specific color for the Max Bill is red.
Legibility has always been a strength of the Chronoscope Bauhaus. The layout with sub-dials at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock keeps the dial symmetrical, and the Junghans logo at 9 o’clock offsets the date at 3 o’clock. Adding a splash of red to the date wheel would have still been an excellent touch if it had been the only addition of color. Adding red to the hour and minute hand as well increases legibility while bringing some fun to an otherwise stark dial. A tiny bit of red has also been added to the case back, echoing the subtle use of it on the dial. This model retails for €2,295.
The Max Bill MEGA Solar (€1,075) is also getting the red treatment. The connected solar-powered watch — with an impressive power reserve of three years in the dark — features a red date wheel and red numerals. An additional model in gold PVD (€1,175) is also new to the lineup. Both of these watches feature a vegan apple-fiber strap and an environmentally friendly luminous substance. This radio-controlled model also packs a perpetual calendar and automatic adjustment to all time zones. It’s an impressive feature set in a 38mm package.
The newest Meister Damen model (€1,340) features a sunburst green dial. The dauphine hands are diamond cut, contrasting sharply with the dial’s deep green color. A macchiato ostrich strap further allows the dial to take the spotlight. The Meister Damen collection looks more modern than the classic Max Bill. A vertically oriented Junghans logo at 6 o’clock complements the cardinal markers.
While this piece is on the smaller side at 33mm, the watch is nearly all dial, making it wear larger and work on more wrists than the diameter might suggest. Standing at only 9.8mm tall, the slim case sports 50m water resistance and houses an automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve. The movement is also time only, keeping the minimalist spirit and superb dial symmetry.
The Meister fein collection additions are the most varied in style. Ranging from the dressy Signatur to the eye-catching Automatic and the function-packed Chronoscope MEGA Solar, these novelties are colorful and functional. The most traditional of the new offerings is the Signatur (€1,690). At just under 40mm, the classic dress-style watch features a light gray brushed dial with diamond-cut hour markers. Making the watch more functional but less symmetrical is the presence of the date at 3 o’clock. Similar to the Meister Damen, the Signatur offers 38 hours of power reserve and 50m water resistance.
The latest additions to the Meister fein Automatic collection (€1,390) are much more playful. Three new colorways — Arctic Blue, Moss Green, and Blackberry — are offered with a diamond-set hour marker at 12 o’clock that offsets the vertically oriented Junghans wordmark at 6 o’clock. The numerals on the black date wheels match the color of the other indices, tying the design together. The strap colors are not matching but are complementary. These are a more exuberant take on an elegant piece and could be a bold use of color in a more formal setting, or dressed more casually.
The final additions to the Meister fein collection feature a perpetual calendar, chronograph, and connected solar movement. The Meister fein Chronoscope MEGA Solar packs all of this into a 39.5mm case that is under 10mm thick. Obviously, the connected RC solar J110 movement allows for this feature set at under €1.5K. When connected to the Junghans MEGA app, the watch will automatically update all time zones to the second. Offered in both stainless steel (€1,390) and a rose gold PVD version (€1,490) on leather straps, these two offer the benefits of a connected watch (accuracy and automatic syncing to time zones) without adding a screen.
On the sportier side, Junghans brings three models to the new Meister Pilot line — the Meister Pilot in navy blue and a new Meister Pilot Chronoscope in navy blue and “desert” colorways. Red accents and riveted leather straps across the board identify their sporting intentions. These watches are more capable, offering 100m water resistance, DLC-treated cases, and lacquer dials. Each watch also comes in at 43.3mm in diameter, leaning into the tool-watch sizing.
The Meister Pilot Automatic in navy blue (€1,990) is the German brand’s take on a pilot watch. Its dial is balanced, featuring a wide date aperture at 12 o’clock and running small seconds at 6 o’clock. Additionally, the sword hands are filled with the same environmentally friendly luminous material. The bidirectional bezel allows for elapsed timing to the minute and has a scalloped edge for easier gripping. Coming in at 12.3mm thick, the three-hand version is the thinnest of the three new releases.
The two new Chronoscope models in the Pilot line (€2,590) have the same 43.3mm diameter but are slightly thicker (14.4mm) to accommodate the chronograph function. In addition to the bezel functionality, the chronograph times up to 30 minutes using the totalizer at 9 o’clock. The central chronograph seconds hand, 30-minute hand, and running seconds hand all feature red accents. While the Desert colorway is a standard production model, the Meister Pilot Chronoscope Navy Blue is limited to 300 pieces.
The final release, the Meister Chronoscope, should prove to be a popular one with its size and eye-catching aesthetic. The sapphire-gray dial features a circular sunray finish and the brand’s beloved “dimple” sub-dials in an anthracite hue. All of the sub-dials play home to orange hands for a tasteful but vivid flash of color. A smaller running-seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock is offset by the day and date at 3 o’clock. With its minimalist indices, the dial is legible, clean, and very well executed.
This Meister Chronoscope sits in a nice middle ground when it comes to size. Measuring 40.7mm in diameter and 13.9mm thick, it is larger than the Meister fein pieces but smaller than the Pilot chronographs. While the thickness may put some people off, keep in mind that a portion of it is due to the domed and double-AR-coated sapphire crystal. The Meister Chronoscope offers a 50m water resistance rating and a longer power reserve of 48 hours if the chronograph isn’t running. Offered on a brown ostrich strap for €2,140, the Meister Chronoscope would feel right at home in a business-casual environment.
Embracing color and integrating it into classic designs often provides a fresh take on a tried-and-true model. Adding truly new models to a collection, however, proves to be quite a challenging task. With these spring novelties, Junghans has balanced new versions of fan favorites while enhancing functionality and adding complementary new models to existing collections. For a brand that recently celebrated the 200th birthday of its founder, continuing to explore new ways to express the Bauhaus design that it is famous for is a challenge that Junghans is embracing.
Which of the new models is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below! And to see the full range of Junghans models, visit the brand’s official website.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
]]>In some respects, these two watches are quite similar. Both trace their roots back to watches from the ’60s, the era when dive watches took off among the general public. And there are already diver-only versions of both these watches. Look, for example, at the Seiko SPB185 and the Mido Ocean Star Decompression Timer 1961. Now both the Japanese and Swiss watchmakers have added a GMT complication to their classics. And surprisingly enough, that actually makes them more different from each other than they were before. But before we jump in, let’s recap last week’s showdown.
By popular demand, RJ and Jorg took each other on with the Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 and the Tudor Pelagos last week. And as often happens when we pit a discontinued watch against a current one, a landslide victory was not in the cards. But in this case, I think it shows that both watches are great options. It’s very hard to choose between the neo-vintage appeal of the Rolex 16600 and the very capable and toolish Tudor Pelagos. There were even people who mentioned owning both. But in the end, of course, the Rolex Sea-Dweller is the original tool watch that Tudor based the Pelagos on. That might be why the former took the win with 56% of the votes versus 44% for the latter. All right, back to today’s modern but very vintage-inspired GMT divers.
I’ve always been a fan of the colorful decompression scale on Mido’s Ocean Star watches. And I’ve also been intrigued by the Ocean Star GMT watches since they were released. Why? Well, simply because Mido is one of the few brands out there that offers a “flyer GMT” movement for around €1,300. I just found the 44mm case to be a bit too big for my 17cm (6.7″) wrist. So I can truly understand why Mido would want to combine a smaller 40.5mm case with the ETA C07.661-based Caliber 80. After all, that’s the movement you want to have in a GMT watch at this price point.
The biggest reason is that it allows you to independently adjust the 12-hour hand while the movement is still running. This makes it very easy to set the local time when landing in a different time zone, as opposed to the more common “caller GMT” movements in many other watches around this price, including today’s opponent, the Seiko SPB383. It just makes a lot less sense to me to move the GMT hand when reaching a destination in a different time zone. Then you’d have to read local time in a 24-hour format. Now, admittedly, I rarely travel to other time zones, so a caller GMT would be more useful to me. That’s why I’m really happy that the Ocean Star features a worldtimer bezel. It allows you to also keep track of time in a different part of the world from home.
And now I’m going to help my opponent Thomas a little bit. To be honest, I feel like putting this GMT complication on top of Mido’s rainbow decompression scale doesn’t make a lot of sense. By doing that, it’s probably one of the least legible GMT watches out there. And I hope I won’t get fired for saying this, but I like Hodinkee’s limited-edition version of the Ocean Star GMT a lot better. It’s intended to be just a GMT, not a diver with a GMT function added on top. But, just as Tomas wrote in the review of his vintage Mido Ocean Star Powerwind “Rainbow,” you can’t ignore the beauty of those colorful rings on the dial.
It’s a very nice splash of color in a world that’s dominated by mainly monochrome designs. And besides being beautiful, those colors are also very useful for a diver. There’s a different color for each dive depth so that you won’t get confused when reading it. On the all-new Ocean Star Worldtimer, Mido has now added another ring with the 24-hour scale. It might be a bit much because it also makes the decompression rings even smaller than they already were. But from an aesthetic point of view, it works very well. The decompression scale still looks just as charming as it did on the original Mido Ocean Star ref. 5907. And unlike the Seiko, this watch doesn’t just look like any other diver with an added GMT hand.
Then we get to the inevitable topic of price. The Mido Ocean Star Worldtimer will go on sale on March 15th for €1,360, and the Seiko SPB383 will be available in June for €1,700. I’m sorry, but I can’t see why the Seiko should be the more expensive one of the two. And that’s mostly based on the movement inside these watches. Of course, the Mido offers you a flyer GMT instead of an inferior (in my eyes) caller GMT complication. It also has a slightly longer power reserve of 80 hours instead of 72. And I wasn’t able to find any official statement on the Powermatic 80’s accuracy, but I’m almost certain that it is more accurate than what Seiko is claiming for its 6R calibers (somewhere between -15 and +25 seconds a day).
And as a bonus, the Mido comes with both a Tropic-style strap and a mesh bracelet. Otherwise, I feel both watches are quite comparable. All right, the Seiko might have a ceramic bezel instead of an aluminum one like the Mido. But that shouldn’t be enough reason to bump up the price by a few hundred euros. I guess Seiko is just trying to differentiate these GMT divers from the non-GMT ones. But if that’s the case, the brand should’ve offered us a flyer GMT complication like the one in the Mido. And yes, the Ocean Star’s dial and bezel look a bit busy, but at least it sets the watch apart from many others out there, and I like it. Over to you, Thomas!
Oh, Daan, you are making the classic mistake of going for a full-on specs comparison. Sure, you can find little differences in the spec sheet if you use a fine-toothed comb. And sure, they can feel really important in the digital space. In real life, however, these differences are negligible and have zero effect on the wearing experience. And I am not bringing this up because I am scared the Seiko might not come out favorable. I devoted an entire article to this before.
So what do I think this comparison should be about? Well, I think this one is all about design. And let me come out and be completely frank: the Mido, in my humble opinion, is a mess. It may be highly water resistant, but it is by no means a diver anymore. Look at that minute hand; it is a stylistic mismatch with the hour hand. And was the minute hand not the most important hand in a dive watch? Why is it so apologetically underdeveloped?
You have to look at the bezel to find your answer. The ambition of pairing a dive time bezel with a worldtimer layout has not exactly gone to plan. The numerals are effectively hidden between the city names. In my eyes, that minute hand is Mido’s way of admitting that timing stuff is not really going to work anymore.
The above is just the functional side of the design. In a luxury item like a watch, style is of almost equal importance. The following is highly subjective, but I am not a fan of the colorful scales on the Mido’s dial. To me, they make the watch look toylike. Admittedly, I am not one for overly busy and colorful dials anyway. Things get more problematic for me when I see the fully polished case and bracelet. It is just too much for me.
The Seiko, on the other hand, looks plain cool to me. I own one of its bigger non-GMT brothers, and it is a pleasure to wear. It looks and feels solid like a brick, and the way the lume lights up in the dark is joyous. It has a brutalist vibe to it that is very cohesively incorporated in every little detail. Sure, you have to be a Seiko fan to like it; there is no mistaking this for anything else. But as an overall design, it feels more congruent and sophisticated than the Mido. Admittedly, this is still entirely subjective.
The SPB383 is not without its flaws. The date and crown are at an odd angle to each other, for instance, and I am still not a fan of the “X” on the dial. Unfortunately, it seems Seiko chose to make that the hill it will die on.
You mentioned the price, Daan. Sure, there is a bit of a gap here. It is crucial to realize, though, that the caliber is not the sole determinant of a watch’s fair price. Yes, it is one of the more expensive parts of a watch, but it is by no means the only one.
You already mentioned the aluminum bezel inlay, which is significantly cheaper to produce than ceramic. The case, with its fully polished finish, takes much less work than the alternating brushed and polished surfaces of the Seiko. The handsets are also on entirely different levels, with the Seiko’s being faceted with alternating finishes and the Mido’s looking like a simple stamped-out alternative. Things like these very quickly add up. Believe me, the VPC process makes this painfully clear to me.
I do have to admit that the Mido is sharply priced. That said, I do not think the price for the SPB383 is unfair. We must be careful not to make the caller-versus-flyer debate the primary aspect in the analysis of any GMT. Our beloved colleague Mike, for one, travels more than Daan and I combined, and he does not care.
There you have it — the Seiko SPB383 and the Mido Ocean Star Worldtimer. One is your classical Seiko diver with added GMT functionality, and the other is a bright flash of color. Which do you prefer? My gut tells me that most of you will probably have a pretty outspoken preference.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
]]>Up until about 2018, if a non-watch person asked you, an enlightened "watch person," what (mechanical) watch they should buy, there's a pretty good chance you'd direct them to a Seiko 5, more specifically the SNK 800 series, a simple collection of 36mm watches from Seiko that, at the time, sold for $65, give or take. The SNK series was cheap and functional, with an aesthetic somewhere between a pilot and a field watch that had broad appeal. Then, in 2019, Seiko introduced its new Seiko 5 Sports collection, discontinuing its previous line of Seiko 5 models.
At long last, Seiko has revived this classic form with the new Seiko 5 Sports Mid-Field Collection, a quintet of 36mm field watches. The collection looks similar to the larger 39mm SRPG series Seiko introduced last year, but the steel case has been shrunk a few millimeters. The first trio in the Mid-Field Collection is the SRPJ81, SRPJ83, and SRPJ85, a line of field watches with Arabic numerals and black or cream dials. Seiko also added another duo of references, the SRPJ87 and SRPJ89, with a dial layout that's closer to a pilot's watch, and calls to mind that old SNK series. At the time of publication, Seiko has only made the release available in markets outside the United States – after conversion, the retail price is about $290.
With the new Seiko 5 Sports Mid-Field Collection, what you see is basically what you get. The watches measure 36mm in diameter and 12.5mm in thickness, with 44.4mm lug-to-lug, a mid-sized companion to Seiko's existing 39mm field watches. To me, these are about the perfect dimensions for a field watch, and I'd point to any number of classic field watches with similar specs that might agree with me (oh hi there, Explorer 1016; Hamilton Khaki Field, you're here too?!).
The first trio of watches has a familiar field-watch layout: Arabic numeral hour markers (with smaller 24-hour numerals below), day and date at three o'clock, and lume-filled hands and indices. The SRPJ81 has a black dial with white accents; the SRPJ83 has a sandy-colored dial with black accents, and the SRPJ85 has a textured black dial with warm (yes sure, "fauxtina") accents. The first comes with a steel bracelet, while the others come on matching canvas straps. Finally, Seiko's also added two more references to the Mid-Field Collection: The SRPJ87 and SRPJ89. These watches have the same dimensions as the others, but use sunburst dials that have a layout that's closer to a traditional pilot's watch.
All five references use Seiko's 4R36 caliber, an automatic movement with 40 hours of power reserve that's been reliably serving in many of its entry-level models since 2011. Finally, the Mid-Field Collection has 100 meters of water resistance.
Retail price as these watches are announced in non-U.S. markets sits around $290. It's a lot for an entry-level field watch from Seiko, though this price will likely drift downward as more hit the market. Currently, it's in the same price range as the more robust Seiko 5 Sports divers, though these two watches have a different appeal to different subsets of people. The SNK 807 might not have been the first watch I bought, but it was certainly one of the first three. I hope that what the old SNK 800 series was for so many – an easy entry point into mechanical watches – this new SRPJ series can also be. While once upon a time those SNKs could've been found for under $100 all day, every day, I have no illusions that the SRPJ series will ever be that cheap. But, these watches are better looking, have an updated movement, and it's 2023, not 2013. Even an SNK 80x will run you about $150 nowadays on your favorite internet behemoth that offers next-day shipping.
I'm glad that Seiko is back to offering a relatively cheap field watch at 36mm, and these look decidedly more sophisticated than the previous iteration. It's an important space in the market that's been left relatively unoccupied since the discontinuation of the SNK 800 series (though Timex and others have come to serve it admirably). If a non-watch friend comes to me asking for a watch recommendation with a budget of "a few hundred bucks," now I know where to send them again, relatively confident that they'll nod along and say "oh yea, that's a nice looking watch." And more often than not, I know they'll be back in a couple of years with a bigger budget.
Brand: Seiko
Model: Seiko 5 Sports Mid-Field Collection
Reference Number: SRPJ81, SRPJ83, SRPJ85, SRPJ87, and SRPJ89
Diameter: 36mm (44.4mm lug-to-lug)
Lug width: 18mm
Thickness: 12.5mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Color: SRPJ81 (black); SRPJ83 (sand); SRPJ85 (black); SRPJ87 (silver); SRPJ89 (green)
Crystal: Hardlex (mineral)
Lume: Yes, LumiBrite
Water Resistance: 100 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Nato-style strap; steel bracelet on SRPJ81
Caliber: Seiko 4R36
Functions: time, day, and date
Diameter: 27mm
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour
Jewels: 24
Price: ~$290 (listed for £260 in the U.K.)
Availability: International markets, coming soon to the U.S.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Tissot has made the strongest push of any watch brand of late in breaking through to mainstream watch buyers with its throwback PRX line of watches. You know — the integrated bracelet, Royal Oak-on-a-budget pieces that have come hard for the "Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is the best value in mechanical watches" hive.
Well this past week, Tissot emerged with a brand new take: The PRX Automatic Chronograph.
The watch takes a similar retro stance to its predecessors by using a Valjoux A05 H31 chronograph movement (an automatic caliber which Tissot has seen fit to exhibit via a see-through caseback) and maintaining the angular 1970s aesthetic complete with the bracelet that we have come to appreciate on the PRX over the last few years.
The 42mm chrono comes in two dial options: Blue, or silver with rose gold-plated hands and a panda effect (via the contrast of black subdials agains the silver background). The dials feature a 30-minute and 12-hour totalizer. Each of the two variants utilize a "controversial" 4:30 date window as well as the PRX wordmark down near six o'clock.
Tissot presented this watch alongside other additions to the PRX line including new 35mm options (harkening back to Tissot's past) and a drool-worthy gold on gold on gold option. The PRX Chrono may have been announced the other day, but eager buyers will have to wait until June to pick one up
The Tissot PRX is, for lack of a better explanation, Tissot's hipster watch – with a retro appeal that draws Millennials and Gen-Z buyers. Wearing a PRX with its '70s styling pairs perfectly with the resurgence of vinyl and mid-century modern everything.
With the new PRX Chronograph however, I think Tissot has stepped a bit out of the hipster zone and squarely within range of core watch nerdery.
In many ways, the chrono is a natural progression for initial PRX buyers — those who very well could've been first time watch buyers — ready to take the next step in their watch journey. It offers a new complication, and larger case. Plus, with a different enough dial design, you could make the case that a PRX and and PRX chrono would make a nice little collection. But at the same time, this watch definitely pulls on the nostalgic heart strings of watch lovers who appreciate Tissot's inclusion of a Valjoux chronograph movement.
No matter how you slice it, I have a feeling this new collection is going be quite popular, even if we have to wait until summer to get our hands on it. The dial designs are not particuarly exciting, and definitely don't come close to the Genta-esque patterend dials of the PRX automatic. But this is just the first release – and I'm sure many more PRX Chronos will be in our future.
Both dial options bring high contrast and easy readability. My money is on the blue dial for now because I'm just not a fan of the rose gold against the silver dial. If you're going to go two-tone, go full two-tone. Now, while I typically don't love exhibition casebacks on sub $5,000 watches, I think the Valjoux A05 H31 is very well showcased here. I appreciate its inclusion because I think the PRX is currently one of the best entry-level watches on the market, and visible movements are the best way to bring novices over to the dark side – by getting them positively hooked on the mechanics powering this hobby we love.
The PRX has been, and continues to be, one of the most talked about watches on the planet in recent years – especially from a value perspective. With the new PRX Automatic Chronograph, Tissot has ensured that conversation won't be ending any time soon.
Brand: Tissot
Model: PRX Automatic Chronograph
Reference Number: T137.427.11.011.00 (silver and rose gold) T137.427.11.041.00 (blue)
Diameter: 42mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Color: Silver or blue
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Yes
Water Resistance: 100m
Strap/Bracelet: Integrated bracelet
Caliber: Valjoux A05 H31
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, and chronograph functionality
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4Hz
Jewels: 27
Chronometer Certified: No
Price: $1,750
Availability: June, 2022
When your birthday happens to land in March, it can be challenging to disavow oneself from the notion that any one of the exciting new watch releases is somehow connected to your big day. At least, that's how I felt when I saw that Seiko has just uncovered a new GMT model range for their sporty Prospex collection that not only has Marine Master-derived good looks, but is also a proper dive-GMT. Do you smell birthday cake? Just me?
Above, you can see the three references that make up the line of the Prospex 1968 Diver's Modern Re-interpretation GMT and Seiko Watchmaking 110th Anniversary Seiko Prospex Save the Ocean Limited Edition. The LE is the SPB385 and it's above left, then the black dialed SPB383 is in the middle and the green SPB381 is on the right. All three versions are 42mm wide, 12.9mm thick, 48.6mm lug-to-lug, and have sapphire crystals, drilled lugs, ceramic bezel inserts, and a date tucked between the four and five-hour markers.
That date, and the rest of the functions, are all supported by a brand new movement, the Seiko 6R54. This automatic movement offers not only an impressive 72-hour power reserve, but also one of the SPB38X's core features, an independent 24-hour GMT function. Sometimes called a "caller" GMT, this style of tracking a second time zone functions by allowing the user to independently adjust the GMT hand via the crown to indicate against a 24-hour scale surrounding the dial.
Pricing for the two nonlimited references (the SPB381 and 383) is $1,500, while each and every one of the 4,000 pieces Seiko is making of the SPB385 will retail for $1,700. All three come on a hardened steel bracelet and availability is slated for June/July 2023 at select retailers.
Lately, I've been voicing my appreciation for dive-GMTs to just about anyone who will listen. The combination is one of considerable appeal as it blends the sort of watch I want to use while traveling (a GMT) with the sort of watch I want on my wrist wherever I am headed (a dive watch). And Seiko is on a bit of a roll here as these new mechanical GMTs are announced only weeks after the launch of the new Solar GMT Seiko "Sumos" (which offer excellent value for a "flyer"-style GMT).
Looking specifically at these new SPB38X variants, I think Seiko has a homerun on its hands. The sizing is entirely reasonable (especially with a sub 49mm lug-to-lug), the specs are solid, the looks are classic Seiko diver with an extra helping of the sort of design language that we've seen on Marine Masters and even some elements from Grand Seiko. Top it off with a trio of attractive colorways and ceramic bezel inserts, and pricing that starts at $1,500, and it would appear that you're getting an awful lot for your money here in a handsome everyday sports watch.
While I'll go ahead and agree with some of the future comments in saying that I do wish they had created the new movement with a local jumping GMT feature (commonly called a "flyer" GMT), I don't mind a "caller" GMT, especially if your main need for the function is to track a second timezone while you're at home (rather than the inverse). But the price ceiling for flyer GMTs has come way down over the past several years and it offers direct benefits for those actively changing time zones. As it is, for only a few hundred dollars more than the average retail price of an SPB diver, you get a GMT, too.
Birthday-related narcissism aside, I am very excited to see one of these new dive-GMTs in the metal as it feels like the sort of watch folks have been asking Seiko to make for quite some time. Expect more as soon as I can get my hands on one.
Brand: Seiko
Model: Prospex 1968 Diver's Modern Re-interpretation GMT and Seiko Watchmaking 110th Anniversary Seiko Prospex Save the Ocean Limited Edition
Reference Number: SPB381 (green), SPB383 (black), SPB385 (light blue, LE)
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 12.9mm
Lug to lug: 48.6mm
Case Material: Steel with Seikos super-hard coating
Dial Color: Green, black, or light blue
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Lumibrite on hands and markers
Water Resistance: 200 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Steel bracelet
Caliber: Seiko 6R54
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, GMT (24 independent, aka, "caller" style)
Diameter: 27.4mm
Thickness: 5.3mm
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 VPH
Jewels: 24
Price: SPB381 (green) and SPB383 (black) – $1,500. SPB385 (light blue) – $1,700
Availability: Select retail locations starting June/July 2023
Limited Edition: SPB385 is limited to 4,000 units
Seiko certainly knows when it's got a good thing going and while it might not want to mess too much with success, it certainly knows how to give its watches a cool and fresh new look. For evidence, look no further than today's expansion of the Seiko Black Series with three of the brand's most popular watches. Much the way Seiko blacked out its Tortoise and King Samurai last year, Seiko is going dark with coated versions of the 1965 Divers SLA067, the Divers SPB335, and Alpinist SPBJ337.
If you were to take bets on which of Seiko's models would get the blacked-out treatment next, these three watches should have been high on your list. The dark coated cases are matched by textured dials that give an appropriately tough look to reimaginations of the 1965 62MAS diver, it's successor the 6105-8000, and the fan-favorite Alpinist field watch.
At the highest-end price spectrum, we have the SLA067, which is a lot like the SLA065. Measuring 41.3mm wide and 13.1mm tall the watch has a striped dial with alternating sandy black and smooth finished textured and is powered by the Calibre 8L35 with 50 hours of power reserve. The SLA067 will set you back a whopping $3,100 to get one of the 600 limited edition pieces. The SPB335 is like the 333 before it but with a black and anthracite two-tone insert and textured dial. The coated black 41mm case houses a 6R35 movement with 70-hour power reserve and will run you $950 for one of 4,500 watches. And then there's the good ol' 39.5mm by 13.2mm Alpinist SPB337. With the same movement as the SPB335, the blacked-out Alpinist, produced in 5,500 pieces, goes for $925.
There's not much that can be said about these watches that hasn't already been said about their predecessors (and the watches that inspired them). I hate to admit how basic my taste can get but slap a black coating on most watches and you've got me itching to buy one to feel like a super secret special agent. The color combination of the black and grey tones with the turquoise-y green LumiBrite is cool in a way that takes a bit of the tough guy edge off things. The dial texture is also a nice touch, with a bit of the Audemars Piguet "Tuscan" vibe but here in a more dark-of-night aesthetic.
The SLA067 is certainly a higher-end offering and a lot of commenters have and will continue to comment on their surprise that someone would spend $3,100 on a watch that says Seiko on the dial, but Seiko continues to crank them out and ostensibly, people continue buying them. There will also be griping about the limited edition numbers being so – well – near-unlimited-feeling. It certainly does feel a little silly, but I'm all for more watches being made available to enthusiasts if they want them.
Brand: Seiko
Reference Number: SLA067, SPB335, SPB337
Diameter: 41.3mm (SLA067), 41mm (SPB335), 39.5mm (SPB337)
Case Material: Stainless steel with black hard coating (All)
Dial Color: Black textured dial (All)
Indexes: Stick indices (SLA067 and SPB335), Numerals (SPB337)
Lume: Hands and markers with green LumiBrite developed to be brighter and longer-lasting for professional use
Water Resistance: 200m (All)
Strap/Bracelet: Seichu fabric diver's strap with buckle (SLA067), silicone with buckle (SPB335), stainless steel with black hard coating and tri-fold clasp with push button release (SPB337)
Caliber: 8L35 (SLA067), 6R35 (SPB335 and SPB337)
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date (all)
Winding: Automatic (all)
Power Reserve: 50 Hours (SLA067), 70 Hours (SPB335 and SPB337)
Frequency: 28,800 (SLA067), 21,600 (SPB335 and SPB337)
Jewels: 28,800 (SLA067), 21,600 (SPB335 and SPB337)
Additional Details: Numbered caseback and dual-curved sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inner surface (SLA067), Screw-down numbered caseback and curved sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inner surface (SPB335) see-through numbered screw-down caseback, sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inner
surface (SPB337) All are presented in a Limited Edition collectors box.
When Tissot showed us the PRX Chronograph last year (digitally), I ordered one during the introduction presentation. You can call it an impulse purchase, but I was so incredibly enthusiastic that I didn’t have to think long. And when we visited the Tissot manufacture in Le Locle a few months ago, it made me even prouder to have one on the wrist.
Tissot produces an incredible number of watches per year. Despite that, visiting the brand’s headquarters in Le Locle brings you back to the old days of watchmaking as soon as you head to the archives. A few levels above the huge automated order-picking system (that you will also find at companies like Rolex and Omega) is an attic with a special room that has all the brand’s vintage treasures.
Big books have all the sales registrations from 1853 until Tissot stopped recording them sometime in the last century (of course). And in the next big room, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of watches spanning the brand’s history, including one of the very first pocket watches. But it’s here where Tissot also keeps the original Tissot Seastar quartz models on which the PRX is based.
It’s good to understand that the Tissot PRX has legitimacy. No, it’s not a copy of a Royal Oak, Oysterquartz, or any other watch with an integrated bracelet. It’s a style that belongs to the 1970s and is highly in demand again today. I know there were Seastar chronograph watches in the 1970s, but I am unaware if they also had the same case and bracelet design as the PRX ancestors. Anyway, the chronograph is an interesting addition to the very successful PRX lineup. Tissot launched it last year and fitted it with the ETA/Valjoux A05.H31 chronograph movement. It’s basically a modernized adaption of the Valjoux 7753.
As an owner of the Tissot PRX Chronograph, let me start with the downside of this watch. It’s heavy (184 grams) and large, as explained here, and it measures 14.54mm thick. The diameter is 42mm, and the lug-to-lug length is 46.5mm. That said, it wears nicely on my 18.5cm (~7.25″) wrist. However, if you’re used to the 40mm (or even 35mm) three-hand PRX, it will wear and look significantly larger.
The good thing is that there are several PRX variations (35mm, 40mm, and 42mm), so Tissot should have you covered in any case. However, if you’re after the chronograph, there’s only the 42mm version. I don’t mind it, to be honest, and I am not in a specific “size camp” when it comes to watches. To me, it all depends on the type of watch and also the wrist size, of course. It’s impossible to create a watch that will fit everyone or is to everyone’s liking.
Now, the difference between the new Tissot PRX Chronograph “Blue Panda” and my own “Black Panda” is the use of colors. The sub-dials on the new PRX Chronograph are dark blue, and the hour markers and hands are a silver color instead of the gold on mine. The vertically brushed finish on the silver dial is the same, though. Although the sub-dials are blue, they easily turn dark. Because of this, they might even look black in some images.
The use of dark blue is nicer than the black on my Tissot PRX Chronograph because it’s just a bit more playful. Oh, and blue is my favorite color, so that helps as well. Tissot’s designers didn’t take the opportunity to make any other changes to this watch, but why should they? Some are against the date window, or at least its four-thirty position, but many buyers (still) want to have a date function on their watch. I could do without it, but it is definitely not a dealbreaker.
For this PRX Chronograph “Blue Panda,” Tissot stuck with the A05.H31 movement. As I mentioned earlier, this is a newer iteration of the classic Valjoux 7753. It has a ticking speed of 28,800vph and gives you a 60-hour power reserve when fully wound. Part of the deal with this movement is that you need to have a date corrector on the side of the case. The movement has been decorated with perlage finishing on the bridges, and the rotor is partially skeletonized and engraved with the Tissot signature.
The retail price of this new Tissot PRX Automatic Chronograph reference T137.427.11.011.01 is €1,995, which is €100 more than last year’s introductory price (the others models increased in price as well). For under €2K, you get a very nice watch with that integrated-bracelet look and feel. Thanks to the quick-release system, the bracelet can easily be swapped for a soft, fitted strap. However, part of the fun to me in the PRX is the integrated design, so I prefer the all-steel look. My conclusions are still the ones I vented in this article, despite the little price hike.
If I were in the market for the Tissot PRX Chronograph today, I would have a hard time choosing between this new “Blue Panda” and the one I bought last year. I love the touches of gold on mine, but the somewhat more sober look of the “Blue Panda” is definitely attractive as well.
You can find more of our articles on Tissot here and visit the brand’s official website here.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
We now live in a world governed by technology. Almost everything we do, or have done, can now be done better by some form of computerized tech. As a group of editors absolutely obsessed with mechanical timekeeping, this can create quite an intellectual conundrum. Think of all the times we hear people say "I don't need a watch, I just check the time on my phone."
And yet, for the faithful, mechanical (or analog) watch manufacturers continue to produce feats of engineering completely divorced from modern technology – mechanized timekeepers free of batteries or motherboards, that are capable of things humans are not.
Outside of grand complications, and intricate chronographs, there's probably no greater example of these endeavors than in dive watches. Over the years, brands like Seiko, Omega, Rolex, and Citizen have continually produced watches fit for the most extreme diving conditions. And they're doing this in an age where professional divers are far more likely to strap a diving computer to their wrist than an actual analog dive watch. In that sense, these watches appeal more to enthusiasts like us than they do to real pros. We are enamored by these watches, and their ability to be submerged at depth for long periods of time without physically exploding (or imploding).
Three years ago, Victor Vescovo set a record for the deepest dive, 10,928 meters below the ocean's surface into the Mariana Trench with an Omega Ultra Deep strapped to the submersible Limiting Factor. Our own Cole Pennington took a Grand Seiko on a saturation dive just to see if it could handle it. And it did. What makes these heavy-duty dive watches even cooler, aside from their sheer capability, is that most of them are the absolute apex of wild design language within their respective brands. And so, for our World Ocean Day coverage, we have assembled a list of our favorite crazy, over-engineered divers for your viewing and reading pleasure.
For me, the Omega Ploprof is the peak of Big Dive Watch Energy (BDWE). At 55 x 48mm, it's about as wide as it could be while also not so long lug-to-lug as to make it entirely unwearable – and it's still available in titanium with a mesh bracelet. Born in the late '60's from Omega's desire to make a true professional-grade tool dive watch, the Ploprof is a big, chunky piece of dive watch that is so esoteric and arguably ungainly in its proportion that it became stylish. Its deep sense of purpose communicated a high level of quality and, though it's roughly the wrist equivalent of a Lamborghini LM002, I simply adore its brash styling, overbuilt engineering, and the way it continues to signal a time when diving required ample amounts of more and the general public saw that excess as a sign of adventure and style. It remains one of my dream watches, even if it might be a be a tad too big for my wrist. Price: $12,600
– James Stacey, Senior Writer
I have a small obsession with dive watches that have capabilities far beyond any activity that a mere mortal is likely to take part in. Part of the fun of horological enthusiasm is learning how brands have pushed the limits of horology to make their sports models effectively invincible.
Take the Rolex Deepsea. Here's a watch that follows in the great lineage of Rolex divers. You can trace its roots back to the Deepsea Special - the watch with the tallest crystal in human history. Only this particular model is possibly more ridiculous. With 3,900m capability, this one is nicknamed the James Cameron for the famed director who traveled down the Mariana Trench with a Rolex strapped to his submersible. Rarely does a pop culture crossover come from the Crown, but in this case the watch honors Cameron the adventurer, not Cameron the director (much like the Rolex Explorer honors the Everest expedition). This watch is huge at 44mm, not for every wrist, and has an uncharacteristic (for Rolex) colorful gradient dial reminiscent of the ocean's depths. But you can rest assured knowing there's no depth you can take this watch that it can't take, even if you're stuck on land. Price: $14,150
– Danny Milton, Senior Editor
The Promaster Diver 1000M is, to put it mildly, a monster of a watch. It has all the features you would expect from a dive watch, but with the volume turned up to 11. Aside from its sheer girth – it's over 52mm in diameter and over 21mm thick – it has one of the most elaborate locking mechanisms for the bezel that I've ever seen on any dive watch. As Jason Heaton put it in his In-Depth review, "It is a ridiculously overengineered, unapologetic and uncompromising watch." Of course, the depth rating of 1000 meters is way beyond anything anybody would ever need in real-world diving but extreme depth ratings are part of the fun. More practical, perhaps, is the use of Eco-Drive tech – the Promaster Diver 1000M has the greatest depth rating of any light-powered watch. Price: $1,725
– Jack Forster, Editor-in-Chief
The lore surrounding the SLA041 goes something like this: In 1968 a letter shows up at Seiko HQ from a Japanese commercial diver who is going through Seiko watches because they fail at depth. Seiko engineer Ikuo Tokunaga takes on the problem by designing a watch from the ground up. The engineering exercise resulted in 20 patents being filed and a brand-new watch that debuted in 1975. This was a different kind of dive watch: It used a monocoque case (with an outer shroud made from titanium) and an L-shaped gasket that meant it was water-resistant to 600m. Helium couldn't enter the watch, either. The "Tuna," as it's known, is Seiko's most bad-ass dive watch. The limited edition SLA041 pictured here pays respect to the model's 55-year history; and over time, the specs have become even more impressive, now boasting 1000m of water resistance. Price: $4,500
– Cole Pennington, Editor
What measures 56mm across, stands 24mm tall, and is perhaps the ultimate mechanical dive watch? It's the one and only X Fathoms from Blancpain. Released in the early 2010s as a ne plus ultra example of the category-defining diver, the X Fathoms was created to be the final word in the mechanical dive watch genre. It comes fully outfitted with a mechanical depth gauge, two depth indicator scales, a retrograde five-minute counter, something called an "amorphous metal membrane," a maximum depth memory counter, a helium escape valve, and all the traditional Fifty Fathoms features such as the sapphire crystal bezel insert and 300 meters of water resistance. It's huge, it's chunky, it's wildly impractical – and I can't help but love it. Price: $40,700
– Logan Baker, Brand Editor
The colourway for this timepiece is the seemingly always on-trend black and blue but adds popping bright yellow accents. The dial has a very subtle texture that is extremely difficult to capture on camera – as we all learned at sunset yesterday evening in Noosa, each trying to find an angle to reveal it – but gives a nice depth to the vertical gradient.
While the upper part of the dial is very dark, the lower part remains in a light blue shade, which emulates the appearance of the ocean from the shore. This is a novel twist on the vertical gradient concept that evoked the shade of the water as you go deeper on the Rolex Deepsea James Cameron edition and the shade of the night sky on our own Zenith Defy Classic Skeleton Night Surfer.
The yellow tip of the seconds hand and the minute hand are said to mimic the last glow of the sun. They do a nice job of giving the whole watch a touch of brightness in an otherwise rather dark and monochrome look.
All of the hands are lumed, as well as the indices, to offer the best visibility possible while diving, and there is also one pearl of lume on the blue and black bezel to keep track of immersion time.
Seiko, and especially the Prospex line, put a lot of effort into actively supporting ocean exploration and protecting the world’s ocean by contributing to various marine conservation activities. To wit, the brand has partnered with PADI, (the Professional Association of Diving Instructors) under the tagline “Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.” With this release comes the news that where once Save The Ocean models would contribute a percentage of sales to ocean conservation, now the entire Prospex collection will make a contribution from each watch sold.
The case shows alternating finishes in line with the Seiko tradition and is very well made for the price point it is at. It is the iconic Sumo case, with its characteristic shaped lugs and, despite its rather large size, it wears quite well on the wrist thanks to the case architecture and the presence of curved lugs that hug your wrist.
Being a numbered limited edition, it comes in a special presentation box and with an additional dark blue rubber strap that pairs very well with the gradient dial.
The Seiko Prospex SPB347J “Noosa” is an Australasian exclusive and is limited to 1,000 pieces and will be available from Australian Seiko boutiques and authorised dealers from September. Price: $1500 AUD
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.time+tide.com
]]>Yes, the Swiss are amazing watchmakers, but starting out, you can’t go wrong with Seiko, Casio, and Citizen. Sure, microbrands are equally cool, but for peace of mind and full factory guarantees, not much can beat Japanese watches at under €500. This is especially true when you consider that they were staunch advocates of the hallowed term “in-house” before it became de rigueur for the mid-range and high-end Swiss brands. And yes, I have included a digital G-Shock (shocking!) because turning hands are not a prerequisite. Coolness on a budget, however, sure is. Here are my top three choices for what could even be a pretty good three-watch collection of dressy, sports, and street-cool wristwear.
A deep blue guilloché-relief stamped dial and an in-house movement for €449? Yes! Seiko has moved decidedly upmarket, and it’s no secret that we have to search deeper for golden nuggets in the catalog. At best, the Presage range is real Baby Grand Seiko material, and the range in Europe goes from around €400 up to nearly €4,000. The watches under €1,000 are fewer these days, and Jorg beat me to mentioning the cool SRPG07J1. This, however, is a sweet-sized 39mm piece of glitz. I owned a 40.5mm Presage in the past, and with its big dial space, it felt like a whopping 42mm. The 39mm diameter of this SRPE43J1 makes it pretty perfect, while the busy dial with big silver numerals keeps it true to its size. For another great choice at under €500, check out the still-cool Turtle, a monochrome diver and all the tool watch you need.
The notion of a quality Japanese watch with a nice bracelet and an in-house movement for under €300 is not new, but times are changing. Fan-favorite Seiko has moved up a notch or three price-wise, and you’ll have to stick with quartz or rubber straps. This, however, has haunted me ever since RJ’s story last year, where the pictures got me hooked on the Rolex Oysterquartz style. Granted, if you’re a fan of the Coronet, you’ll also see a President-style bracelet and OP-style dial first, but that’s where the similarities end. With its tonneau case and crown nestled in at 4 o’clock, this 40mm steel watch is a budget-glamour proposal.
Sure, you can choose a safe black or blue dial, but the sunny yellow-orange tone? It’s summer fresh while speaking to my love of colors (in a pretty loud voice). For lovers of ’70s grail watches without the budget, this is the best way to get an integrated steel bracelet while avoiding the big Tissot PRX trend. The case is classically angular with very sharp brushwork for the money. The scarcely believable €279 will get you a slim (11.7mm) dressy sports watch with an in-house 8210 automatic movement, and that, my friends, is pretty impressive.
I know, many expected only analog watches on this list, but finding the best Japanese watch on a €500 budget needs to include something from G-Shock. The Casio sub-brand has a huge following for a reason. You might also think that €500 is expensive for a G, but the brand today also makes plenty of watches in the €1,000–5,000 range. Yes, just like Seiko, Casio is moving upmarket, while staying true to their fans of €50-100 watches. This story could also be titled “A Great First Watch For €500,” and a digital watch might be a more natural choice for a smartwatch fan. But let’s get back to this great classic shape, now rendered in steel.
This watch has all the recognizably odd Japanese shapes and the cool octagonal bezel of the original square G but with a weighty presence. I have the red version, and I would happily admit that it was probably my most worn everyday piece of 2022. The Multi Band 6 radio control and Bluetooth makes it instantly accurate, while the Tough Solar module makes it rather sustainable to boot. The GMW-B5000D-1 is simply a great, everyday sports watch that just happens to be digital. And yes, it looks even better a bit beat up and scratched up. It’s well worth going over the budget at €549.
Fratelli, did I catch your attention, or would you spend your €500 on a microbrand watch or Swiss quartz perhaps? Let me know in the comments, but I’m pretty sure some of these caught your eye.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
]]>The watches may be technically incomparable, but the philosophy behind them is not. They represent different faces of our beloved Seiko. And that, we feel, is worth exploring in a Sunday Morning Showdown. So let’s get stuck in!
Last week, Jorg and Nacho took two Grand Seiko GMTs into the ring. Jorg’s Spring Drive SBGE283 took on Nacho’s quartz SBGN027. Jorg had a bit of an advantage as Spring Drive calibers seem to be met with great applause. Quartz calibers, on the other hand, take some defending among a part of the watch community, even if they are as awe-inspiring as Grand Seiko’s.
So yes, Jorg took the win with the SBGE283. But Nacho went down swinging, still grabbing a sizable 46% of the votes. Who would have thought? It makes me happy to see proper quartz calibers getting their due respect. Still, that SBGE283 is an absolute powerhouse. You can read the GS GMT showdown and comments here.
But now, let’s proceed to today’s brawl. Yesteryear’s Seiko diver versus today’s Seiko diver. Let’s go!
Talking about the Seiko SKX009 gets me a bit weak in the knees. It was my first mechanical watch, and I know I am not the only one. The SKX has been the gateway drug for so many budding aficionados, and rightfully so. It offers so much of what we love about watches at such an affordable price — at least it did back when it was available. Nowadays, you will have to make do with the more fashion-forward 5KX. In my eyes, those models have lost all the original SKX charm. It was precisely the originals’ unfashionable nature that made them cool.
I bought mine for €300, including a swap from the Hardlex crystal to a domed sapphire one and an alignment of the chapter ring and bezel. Yes, alignment issues. If you know, you know. The result is a watch that still gets a ton of my wrist time. It already triggers some of those sentimental moods you get from childhood movies or toys.
I love the originality of the SKX. Even though mine has a Pepsi color scheme and a Jubilee-style bracelet, it looks like nothing but a Seiko SKX. The tall bezel, quirky case, crown at four, and archetypal Seiko diver dial combine to make a charming look. Oh, and it lights up like a torch when you turn off the lights.
I would put the Seiko SKX in line with the Citroën 2CV in terms of philosophy. It has the same no-nonsense functional cheapness to it. That does not sound very positive, but it is a compliment. Everything about the SKX is simple, functional, no-frills, and cheap to repair/replace. Zero effort has been made to make it luxurious or “nice.” The case finishing barely counts as such. Yes, the lugs have been kissed by a brushing wheel, but that is about it. Why? Because you don’t need it.
But it does meet ISO standards for a “true” dive watch, and that is what counts, just as the 2CV was built to survive harsh, unpaved country roads. There weren’t any wooden dashboards or seats made from cows that only ate marshmallows and were massaged twice daily. It was just the simplest-possible vehicle to reliably get the job done. That is the SKX.
But then we got wealthier and more demanding. We wanted comfort, gadgets, and all sorts of safety systems. Cars got bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier. And more expensive. A lot more expensive. Sure, your fully specced C3 is better than the 2CV in any measurable sense. It certainly has a lot “more Chevaux.” But the romance was lost in the process. I would have a 2CV any day of the week.
So Daan has now spent triple the amount I did on his new Seiko diver. Granted, it is a very handsome watch. And yes, you get the much more mature 6R35 caliber. That means no more “Seiko shuffle” to wind your watch. Still, you can certainly find more accurate watches at the €1K price point. Although the 7S26 caliber in my SKX is perfect in a rudimentary way, it is too cheap to service. Mine received a full heart transplant recently when I brought it in. Admittedly, that is a bit of a shame.
Yes, the finishing on Daan’s SPB317 is a lot better than on old, cheap, and cheerful Seikos. Let me just come out and say that it is a much better watch in a technical sense. But it still has that typical Seiko tool-watch quality to it, a certain lack of refinement in the positive sense, as described above. And I am not sure that’s what I am looking for at €1K. I absolutely love that rough-around-the-edges Seiko vibe. However, I do not think it is charming anymore when it is on such an expensive watch. We can get a little jaded when talking watches, but €1K is a lot of money.
I have one more down-to-earth argument if you prefer: there is a big “X” on the dial. And it is ugly. Over to you, Daan! Please do not mention the SPB077 and King Seiko in my collection. It would hurt my credibility somewhat.
Now that you mentioned that the SKX009 was your first mechanical watch, I realized that the SKX007 was my first mechanical watch. I bought it as a replacement for my stolen SNP005 Seiko Kinetic Perpetual Calendar. The SKX was quite a bit bulkier and heavier on the wrist. I wore it day in and day out for over a year, I think, but then it started to annoy me. I guess it felt a bit too tough-looking for my style, and that’s when I bought a more refined Oris Art Blakey. But the fact that I bought the SKX007 and wore it for quite some time shows you that I certainly don’t hate this watch.
The price of the SKX has gone up a little since Thomas and I bought one. But for around €300, it is indeed a great and very capable watch to pick up. Besides, it’s a true icon within the watch world, and it’s great that it’s so attainable in a hobby where everything just seems to become more expensive by the minute. And yes, I also really like that characteristic, boldly shaped SKX case. The bezel on top with the two rows of teeth has a great feel to it. And I remember that the first things I fell in love with were those flat, oversized flat markers. But…
As I said, it was just a bit much on my wrist. And I must say, the fact that I couldn’t wind it by hand was pretty annoying as well. As a result, since I took it off of my wrist after that first year, I haven’t really worn it again. I haven’t sold it either because I still think it’s a nice piece of Seiko history, but since I feel there should always be a Seiko diver in my collection that I do want to wear, I continued to look around for the right one for me. When Seiko came out with the SPB143, I was immediately intrigued. You’re right, the SPB series might be a bit more expensive, but it’s still quite affordable.
And I feel the price is quite fair for what you get. The finishing is indeed a bit better than on the SKX. I also like the added details like a brushed bezel insert, and I prefer the raised hour markers over the SKX’s flat ones. It’s also very convenient to have a 70-hour power reserve and the ability to wind it by hand if it runs down. There’s no need for the Seiko shuffle here ever again. Admittedly, because I was wearing my SKX almost every day, I didn’t have to do the shuffle that often. But I did have to reset the time every once in a while because its accuracy went pretty much down the drain.
You’re right, Thomas, when you say that there are probably more accurate watches to get for around €1,000. But with an accuracy of +25/-15 seconds per day for the 6R35 movement that is inside many SPB watches, I still find it quite acceptable. But just like the SKX007, I thought the SPB143 was a bit too bulky. So I sold it without having a perfect replacement for it yet. And then, last year, Seiko presented the SPB317, a re-edition of the 6105-8000 diver. And well, Seiko certainly caught my attention with that one, especially because it looked a lot slimmer and more streamlined than many of the brand’s other dive watches.
When we got one in for review, I quickly tried it on and almost immediately placed my order. I know it measures 41mm across, but it wears a lot smaller than that. The bezel action is smooth and clicky at the same time, and it’s almost perfectly aligned. The sapphire crystal gives me peace of mind, and the markers and hands are still filled with a good amount of lume. I also appreciate that I don’t have to set the day and that the date is hidden between the hour markers. I just feel that this is a more refined watch than the SKX in every respect, and that’s something I’m willing to pay a little more for.
]]>So let’s have a look at two watches that have struck me recently. Two very different watches that I found punch way above their weight, and they are of interest not just to newcomers but to seasoned collectors as well.
Before we do, I feel I have to mention three watches that used to dominate the segment. Seiko used to have the SARB033, an automatic do-it-all watch on a bracelet. It is a classical 38mm beauty that has garnered cult status since its discontinuation. In fact, you can find one pre-owned for between €600 and €800 nowadays. Who would have thought that an entry-level Seiko would turn out to be an investment watch? Well, it is not the only one, actually.
Possibly the most popular gateway watch of all time is the Seiko SKX. I talked about it in detail in the latest Sunday Morning Showdown with Daan. It has been the first mechanical watch for an entire generation of aficionados. And to many, like me, it has not lost its charm. It sits proudly between later arrivals from Rolex and Omega in my watch case, and it possibly gets more wrist time than both. Unfortunately, the line has been discontinued, and you need unreasonably deep pockets to snap one up now.
Lastly, a watch that instantly sprung to my mind was the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical. It is a very popular military-inspired watch that used to be under €500. Unfortunately, it is now €625, putting it out of reach for this article.
Let us have a moment of silence to remember the three watches above. But then let’s quickly jump back to 2023 because there are new players on the field, and they are no slouches. Let me start with my favorite “mainstream” option. By that, I mean a watch from a big Swatch Group brand that you will surely spot on people’s wrists regularly. It is the Tissot PRX Quartz.
I get that you might want something mechanical, especially if it is your first move up-market. Bear with me, though; there is plenty to love here. The PRX is a design-first kind of watch. But what a design! Based on an earlier model from the ’70s, it captures that magical vibe of the integrated-bracelet sports watch perfectly. If a mechanical caliber is an absolute prerequisite for you, there is the Powermatic version. At €745, however, that one does not qualify as a potential best watch under €500.
But the quartz model is cool in its own right. The case and integrated bracelet are finished to a level that is far beyond what you might expect. The PRX feels, dare I say, close to luxurious. The quartz variants come with either sunburst or brushed dials in a range of colors. My favorites are the blue and mint ones. You will blow your entire budget, though, at €495. Well, you could still get a coffee with the remainder if you do not live in a city center.
You might consider the Tissot PRX quartz a safe option as the best watch for under €500. But maybe you do not want something you might find on every street corner. Maybe you are an admirer of rare vintage watches, and you want something in that spirit. Well, there is something like that out there.
I recently reviewed a trio of Lorier watches, and I was pleasantly surprised. The young New York brand manages to capture a lot of the soul of vintage watches at a great price. My pick as the best watch under €500 would be the Lorier Neptune. It is a slender diver with tons of vintage charm. From the domed acrylic crystal to the gilt-toned accents, it is just a very well-considered package.
You get a reliable automatic Miyota 90S5 caliber, water resistance to 200 meters, and a proper bracelet. It is a breeze to size with the included screwdriver and micro-adjust in the clasp. Once on the wrist, the Lorier Neptune truly does feel like a vintage watch, and you are unlikely to run into someone wearing the same watch anytime soon. It is too much of a connoisseur’s choice for that. Again, I am not leaving much of your budget since the Neptune comes in at approximately €465 (US$499). But unless you drink ultra-premium coffee made from beans grown on Mars, you should have enough left over for at least two cups!
When asked for my opinion on the best watches under €500, I would confidently recommend the PRX and the Neptune. They represent different sides of our shared hobby, and they do it well. I particularly like that both are genuinely good watches, not just good for the money. I am confident you will continue to enjoy these, even if you end up buying higher-end watches as well. That, to me, is a prerequisite for something to be labeled the best watch under €500.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.fratello.com
]]>Sinn reluctantly transformed an existing diver’s model into the 810Q and eventually rated it to 8,000 meters. SIOK, the Italian agent for Kienzle, presented The Deepest in titanium, which was rated to 9,000 meters. It was later even updated to 12,000 meters while using a resin case. Bell & Ross had the Hydro Challenger (later Hydromax) rated to 11,100 meters in 1997 and was eager to say the brand was unique with its oil-filled watches. It was obviously not, but we have to understand that this was pretty much before the internet when things weren’t as transparent as they are now.
The examples mentioned above were aimed at solving the problem of pressure and depth ratings of diver’s watches. Despite depth ratings up to 12,000 meters, however, it became clear that the quartz crystal contained in a movement could not withstand a pressure of more than 500 bar. Equivalent to 5,000 meters, that would be much more than sufficient for any human-worn dive watch anyway. With the UX, Sinn still has an oil-filled dive watch in its catalog.
Besides providing a relatively easy solution to increase the pressure rating for diver’s watches, oil-filling brings another phenomenon — improved readability and appearance. Excellent examples of how to use the augmented readability that oil-filling provides are the Ressence Type 3 and Type 5. While Type 5 probably could be marked as a dive watch, Type 3 uses oil-filling’s enhanced readability and appearance for design purposes only.
The appearance brings me to U-Boat. For aesthetic reasons, U-Boat uses oil-filling in two of its model series — the Capsoil and the Darkmoon. I was happy that U-Boat sent in one of the latter to write this hands-on review. The model that U-Boat provided me with was the Darkmoon 44 MM Grey SS. This nomenclature says it all: the watch measures 44.8mm in diameter, sports a grey dial, and has a stainless steel case. And it’s good that the model name is so descriptive because U-Boat offers many variations of the Darkmoon. There are 40mm and 44mm sizes, at least six different dial colors, two case colors, and even a version with a red-colored crystal. Don’t hesitate to explore all variations here.
The Darkmoon is no diver’s watch, so the reason for oil-filling can’t be the enhanced pressure rating. But the other advantage that oil-filling brings — improved readability and an attractive appearance — is exploited to the fullest.
One of the first things you’ll notice when looking at the U-Boat Darkmoon is the air bubble under the glass in the oil. One might think this is a flaw, but it’s intentional and, in fact, necessary.
With temperature changes, the oil will expand and contract. Unlike air, oil isn’t compressible. So if the temperature of an oil-filled watch rises, the oil will expand, and if a watch case is fully filled with oil, the oil has nowhere to go. To tackle this problem or situation, different watch brands found different solutions. Sinn uses a case back that acts like a membrane. When the oil inside the watch expands due to increasing temperatures, the inner part of the case back slightly moves outward. Ressence invented a neat, specially designed system where seven air- or gas-filled bellows are placed inside the movement in the oil. These bellows expand or compress to compensate for changes in the oil’s internal volume between -5° and +55° Celsius. This range covers all temperature situations a watch might encounter.
However, a simpler system leaves a little air in the oil. A bubble of air can compress and retract and act equally as well as Ressence’s bellows. The big difference is that the air bubble freely moves through the oil and will be visible on the dial. To me, the air bubble in the Darkmoon isn’t annoying at all. I’d even say I like it as it’ll be an excellent conversation starter. I do wish the bubble had been slightly smaller, but I guess its size is probably calculated with the expansion and retraction of the amount of oil in mind. For this watch, it’s very well possible that a smaller bubble wouldn’t do the job correctly. As we can see in the picture of the Kienzle The Deepest at the start of this article, the air bubble is much smaller, but I’m sure the amount of oil in the watch is too.
With battery-powered oil-filled watches, there’s always the fear of changing the battery. Without precautions, the oil will spill out when opening the watch to change the battery. Not with the U-Boat Darkmoon. The brand developed an innovative locking system (Locking Ring System), allowing for quick and worry-free battery replacement. Another feature that I welcome is the left-hand crown. Specifically, with a watch of this size and a crown on the right side, there’s always the risk of irritating the back of your hand. I’m happy to report, though, that this Darkmoon is pretty comfortable to wear despite its 44.8mm diameter. The rubber strap is soft enough, and I like that it sports a regular pin buckle. For me, especially on more substantial straps, that’s often more comfortable than a folding buckle.
I enjoyed wearing the U-Boat Darkmoon Grey 44 MM Grey SS. I think I was attracted to it because of a picture on Instagram, and in real life, it didn’t disappoint. Although the 44.8mm size suits my 18cm (7″) wrist, I think I would opt for the 40mm version if I wanted to buy one. Of course, U-Boat is famous for larger-sized watches, but I believe the 40mm version would be less showy because of its size and more attractive thanks to its extraordinary aesthetics.
Find out more about U-Boat through the brand’s official website. You’ll find me on Instagram @gerardnijenbrinks.
Citizen makes a lot of dive watches. From the modern and funky Orca and EcoZilla to the legendary (and nerdy) Aqualand, and even the humble NY0040, the brand is widely known for going its own way when it comes to dive watch design. The new Promaster Mechanical "Challenge" Diver 200m manages to stand out by, at first glance, being somewhat more run-of-the-mill.
It's a '70s-themed 41mm dive watch with conventional styling, a black or blue dial, and the offer of either a rubber strap or a metal bracelet. It has 200 meters of water resistance, a unidirectional elapsed time bezel, and it uses an automatic movement with a date. On paper, it's a single unit of ISO-compliant dive watch and little more.
On wrist though, it's something else.
That's because this neo-vintage mechanical diver uses a case made from Citizen's own Super Titanium, which is 40 percent lighter than steel and, thanks to the brand's Duratect surface hardening, is five times harder than stainless steel (not to mention retaining titanium's hypoallergenic and rust-resistant properties). I don't know about you, but when I first saw this new Promaster diver (reference NB6021-17E), I made a lot of assumptions and immediately compared it to the baseball card stats of several other ~40mm neo-vintage dive watches.
I figured this was simply Citizen hedging their bets against some of their more wild designs by offering an option that doesn't rock the proverbial boat. And though that may be true, that assumption speaks only to the Challenge Diver's aesthetics.
Once I had this Citizen on my wrist, the looks combined with the surreal lightness of the case work to offer a wrist presence and wearability that belies anything born of the 1970s. The case is 41mm wide, 12.3mm thick at the top of the recessed yet domed sapphire crystal, and 48.5mm lug to lug. Those are normal proportions for a generally wearable dive watch but get this, on the rubber strap the Challenge Diver only weighs 70 grams. For reference, the sized bracelet for my Seiko SPB143 weighs 82 grams. Just the bracelet.
Strap this titanium diver to your wrist and it's as though there is no mass in the case of the watch. It all just blends in with the bulk of the strap. It feels great, and with 20mm lugs, you can swap in any strap you like. Want it to really disappear on your wrist? Throw the Challenge Diver on a perlon and the total weight drops to just 60g.
Inside its featherweight case, we find a Citizen 9051, which is a 4 Hz automatic movement that has hacking, hand-winding, a date display, around 42 hours of power reserve, and an anti-magnetic hairspring. This movement is exclusive to Citizen and is protected against magnetism up to 16,000 A/m and rates the 9051 at -10 to +20 seconds per day.
This movement has very similar specs to that of the Miyota 9015, which I have had in several watches over the past few years and have never found any reason to complain about. It's a solid movement and this latest generation's antimagnetic properties are an added plus, especially at this price point.
While the official name is the Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m, the Challenge Diver nickname comes from the naming of the original reference model from 1977. As good as the Challenge Diver is on wrist (very), it's not perfect. I found that the touchpoints don't convey the same solid feel you might expect from a steel dive watch.
The bezel has a 60-click action and aligns nicely, but its rotation is a bit vague and I think a heavier action would improve the experience. And, though this may come down to a simple matter of opinion, while the crown works well and is easy to manipulate, I do wish they had opted for a larger diameter. It both looks small and feels small. Pedantic, you say? I nod and smile in return.
Legibility is good, as is the lume, and though the Mercedes hour hand isn't my favorite, it does align with the original model that Citizen is using to inform this design. The dial is an inky reflective black and the lume is bright and lasts long enough to be useful. Ultimately, I'd say it looks vintage but wears like a very modern watch. Citizen was the first brand to offer a full titanium watch back in 1970, so it's no stranger to the material, but how many titanium neo-vintage dive watches can you think of? Even outside of dive watches, there simply aren't that many examples.
So while the Challenge Diver offers a knowingly conventional dive watch aesthetic, I found it also provided a distinct wrist presence. It wears really well, and quite differently from much of its competition.
Priced at $795 for the black dial with a rubber strap or $995 for a blue dial on a full titanium bracelet, the Challenge Diver is not without its fair share of competition in terms of vintage-effect dive watches around 40mm. While the most literal competition is from the Baltic Aquascaphe Titanium, which is a lovely watch of a similar size, spec, and price point (though a different aesthetic), I'd imagine most of you are wondering how the Challenge Diver stacks up against a widely known quantity like the Seiko Prospex SPB143.
Weirdly, these are two very different watches that share loosely similar inspiration. Picking between the two comes down to what you value on your wrist. Ignoring the SPB147 – which I don't at all care for due to its coloring – the SPB143 costs as much as $400 more than the rubber-strapped Challenge Diver. That gap drops to $200 if you get a bracelet for your Citizen. I didn't get a chance to try the bracelet, so I can't weigh in with specifics. That said, when we're talking titanium, I figure the bracelet is always worth considering, especially for a watch where you could easily change the strap. Ultimately, what I'm saying is that a price gap of 20-30+ percent is not to be ignored, especially at the crest between three- and four-figure amounts.
The Seiko has a more sturdy-feeling bezel, but it's also 120 clicks. I prefer the crown of the Seiko as it's a bit larger and suits the case nicely. The specs are very similar, but the Seiko is a touch smaller in width and lug to lug (40.5mm wide, 13.7mm thick, and 46.5mm lug to lug), while also being a bit thicker. On my wrist, I'm not sure I could tell the difference aside from the thickness.
Where there is a difference, a big difference, is in the weight. While I prefer the look of the Seiko, the comfort and effortless presence of the Challenge Diver are not to be overlooked. On wrist, they are very different watches. If you don't typically like dive watches due to their heft, or you're looking for a very lightweight experience that doesn't exhibit any of the normal weight transfer of a steel dive watch, the Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m has a lot to offer.
With solid pricing, good specs, and recognizable good looks, the Citizen Challenge Diver manages an uncommon merging of an old-school aesthetic with a new school material that feels almost too light in the hand and excellent on your wrist.
As a fella who generally prefers steel sports watches, the Challenge Diver made me wonder why I have this bias. Is it the reassuring weight of steel? Or more that titanium is most commonly used for watches that don't always align with my tastes? With this latest throwback diver from Citizen, it turns out that I could have my titanium and like wearing it, too.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
If you're not in the market for a new Seiko dive watch, go read something else because Seiko is kicking off the new year with something special for the dive watch nerds among us. It's the new SLA065 and it's part of the upper tier of the Prospex lineup, offering an appealing blend of vintage styling, a few special elements, and an upgraded movement that is saved for Seiko's best mechanical dive watches. Its full name is the Prospex Save the Ocean Limited Edition 1965 Modern Re-Interpretation, so I think you'll cut me some slack if I just called it the SLA065, from here on out. Regardless of the name, the "SLA" part is a clue that this latest Seiko is something special.
Let's get some specs out of the way. The SLA065 is a steel dive watch that measures 41.3 mm wide and 13.1mm thick (Seiko does not provide a lug-to-lug length). The water resistance is 200 meters, and it has drilled lugs, an anti-reflective double-domed sapphire crystal, a "super-hard" coating for the steel case, and a screw-down crown.
If you're anything like me, you saw a skin diver-style case and the SLA-range reference and figured that the new SLA065 is a special version of something like the SLA017, which Seiko released at Baselworld 2017. But the 017 was 39.9mm x 14.1 mm and attempted to best capture the proportions of Seiko's original dive watch, the 62MAS.
For the SLA065, the proportions are closer to what we've come to expect from the SPB models with a skin diver-style case (like the SPB143 or similar, aka. the 20MAS). The bezel is a bit wider, as are the markers and hands, and we see a small marker next to the date to ensure ISO compliance and a Zaratsu-polished bevel on the lug edge. For those keeping score, the SLA065 is not only larger than the SLA017, but also 0.8mm wider than the 20MAS models, while at the same time a good bit thinner (13.1 vs 13.7 for the SPB143).
Tucked inside those case dimensions we find two noteworthy elements. First is the metallic blue dial that carries an engraved design inspired by an astrolabe, which is a navigational tool used to help sailors determine their location based on the position of the sun and other stars. It's entirely old-world but Seiko says the direct inspiration comes from a charity they support that is conducting underwater archeology near the Greek island of Fournoi. Seiko does not specifically name the charity/research outfit, but the project is working to better understand navigation and sailing in the Mediterranean as far back as the fourth century.
The second element of note is the movement as the SLA range often gets a higher-spec movement and the 065 gets Seiko's 8L35 automatic, which is among the best movements Seiko uses in dive watches. Based on the Grand Seiko 9S55, the 8L35 ticks at 4 Hz and has a power reserve of 50 hours.
The SLA065 is limited to 1,300 pieces, each with a price tag of $2,900. That is a good bit less than the $3,400 that the original SLA017 commanded and a good bit more than the roughly $1,200 that a 20MAS will likely set you back.
For me, from the first glance to the hundredth, the SLA065 looks a lot more like a sibling to the SPB143 than it does a continuation of the same format established by the SLA017 – and I think that makes sense. The SPB143 (and its many siblings) have been a huge win for Seiko and the SLA065 takes a largely similar look but tweaks it for enthusiast appeal and better performance.
Also, it's not as though 41.3mm is bad, or in any way "too big" at a general level and, from my perspective, I'd rather have a watch that was half a centimeter thinner rather than half a centimeter smaller in width (if we can't have both, I guess). I think the dial looks incredible, as does the metallic blue bezel insert (the bezel edge is also Zaratsu polished). But ultimately, with the 20MAs models being as good as they are, who is this limited edition for?
In my eyes, it's for the type of Seiko fan that found the 20MAS formula close but not close enough. They want the vintage styling, but in the most special format possible and they don't want to deal with a 4 or 6-series movement that may not keep great time (anecdotally, my SPB143 has been a-ok on this front). Fulfilling the need for specialness, the SLA065 is an LE, and it has a unique dial (very Seiko), and it has a higher-spec and very well-respected movement. It's a spend more, get more scenario for a collector who likes the '60s-derived looks of the SPB143 (or similar), but is willing to pay more for... well, more.
When the SLA017 first came out I was sure that, someday, I would need to have one. Then, in 2020, the SPB143 wiped that need away for me as it offered a less expensive watch that nailed the specific aesthetic and wrist presence in a way that the SKX007 or SRP777 never could for my wrist. Now, we find a further blending of the concepts with the SLA065 representing the latest top-spec offering for a specific niche within the wide world of Seiko dive watches. I do hope I can get my hands on a loaner for the SLA065 and that this new release marks the start of another great year for Prospex. Stay tuned.
Brand: Seiko
Model: Prospex Save the Ocean Limited Edition 1965 Modern Re-Interpretation
Reference Number: SLA065
Diameter: 41.3mm
Thickness: 13.1mm
Case Material: Steel with hardened surface treatment
Dial Color: Blue
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Yes, LumiBrite hands and markers
Water Resistance: 200 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Blue silicone dive strap with matching steel hardware.
Caliber: Seiko 8L35
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph
Jewels: 26
Price: $2,900
Availability: Seiko boutiques and select retailers worldwide.
Limited Edition: 1,300 units
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Sure, there's no perfect watch, but I'd submit that if there were a platonic ideal of a watch, a watch so full of watch-ness as to be the purest expression of the form, it might look something like the Grand Seiko SBGX261 and SBGX263. Let's call them the SBGX Series. They also happen to be the least expensive watches in Grand Seiko's catalog, making them the perfect feature for another edition of Entry Level.
These are time-and-date watches with black (SBGX261) or silver (SBGX263) dials that measure 37mm in diameter, with accuracy to +/- 10 seconds a year, featuring the simplest of polished markers and sharp dauphine hands. If you look at them, they're just watches, pure and simple, that cost an equally unalarming $2,200. But when you look closer, you see that Grand Seiko has executed every single element – sparse as they are – precisely.
It's a perfect expression of Grand Seiko, and honestly, for me, an illustration of what I love so much about watches, too.
I'm kind of a low-key guy, so the vibe of the SBGX Series immediately appeals to me. These are classic "simple, but not boring" watches. The stainless steel case is as polished as you'd expect from Grand Seiko (which is to say: shinnnyyy), with a few facets that catch the light in just enough ways to keep things interesting. Sure, there's no lume, but with those polished hands and indices – look at the bevels on those hands! – it's not like you need it. And while it might not be a true sports watch, the case still has a sporty detail I love: drilled lugs, baby. By the way, with 100 meters of water resistance, I wouldn't be afraid to throw the SBGX Series on a NATO and dive deep for some serious underwater basket weaving.
Okay, on to the quartz of it all. Yes, the SBGX Series uses Grand Seiko's 9F quartz movement (the 9F62 to be exact, which this watch is). We put together a pretty good explainer on the 9F62 when we reviewed the older SBGX061 years ago, but here's the bottom line: this isn't just any quartz movement. This thing is "thermo-regulated" – it checks the ambient temperature 540 times a day and uses this info to adjust the frequency of the crystal to compensate (temperature is one of the biggest variables affecting the rate of quartz). There are all kinds of other details too: a hyper-quick date change, a regulator, and the movement's even got some stripes and jewels (nine of 'em).
An average, cheaper, quartz movement might be accurate to within 10-15 seconds a month, so for the 9F to have this level of accuracy per year is a stepwise improvement that should be recognized as such. Saying this is "just another quartz" movement is kind of like saying that Tom Brady is "just another quarterback," a statement I recognize as absurd, even having grown up in Indianapolis believing that eventually, Peyton Manning would get ole Tommy's number. Not only is this the most handsome quartz watch in the league, it's super accurate too, and it's got the titles to prove it (notwithstanding last Sunday's poor performance – and the Sunday before that, too).
We can classify quartz movements the same way we do mechanical movements, and the Grand Seiko 9F is in a class of its own. Oh, and it's also totally "in-house," if that's something you care about. Seiko grows its own raw quartz, saving the best stuff for Grand Seiko's calibers; it also has its own semiconductor facilities.
Sure, you don't get the smoothness of a sweeping seconds hand, but you do get something else that's kind of satisfying: You can watch the seconds hand tick forward each second, always landing exactly on the second marker. I'll grant that it's not as soothing as that sweet sweeping seconds, but it's not as bad as we sometimes make it out to be.
Listen, the SBGX Series isn't without fault: The bracelet could be better, but if you've handled enough Grand Seiko watches, you probably could've guessed that already. But remember – drilled lugs! So pop the bracelet right off and throw it on your strap of choice. As I said, this isn't the perfect watch, I'm simply saying it's one of the purest expressions of a watch you'll ever find. It's not trying to be anything but a thing that tells time accurately. All those mechanical watches are fussy; Grand Seiko's said before that the 9F can run for something like 50 years without needing lubricant changes (it'll just need a battery change every few years).
At $2,200, the SBGX is a perfect entry point into Grand Seiko. While there's been much fuss about the brand's move "upmarket," these watches have been unaffected by such corporate strategy, industry trends, or even the current moment's inflation. And thank goodness for that. I won't deny there's some decent mechanical competition at this price point – much of it from Grand Seiko's less grand sibling (and don't get me started on vintage values) – but if you just want a watch that you can buy and forget about for literally 50 years, well, you've found it.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
It's only a few short months before the landmark 40th Anniversary of Casio's G-Shock, founded back in 1983. For such a big moment in the brand's history, it's no surprise they've decided to kick things off early with a number of new watches, including two solar flare-inspired pieces and one with longtime collaborator and artist and designer Eric Haze.
G-Shock's GMWB-5000EH-1, dropping today, is based on the same platform as previous GMWB-5000 releases with camo motifs like the G-Shock Full Metal Virtual Armor. Visually rooted in the very first G-Shock model, the iconic DW5000C, the new 5000EH-1 has everything you'd expect of the GMWB-5000 series: shock resistance, solar power, radio control, day of the week, date, month, chronographs, world time, light-up LED display, alarms, and more.
But the real difference lies with the legendary Eric Haze, who used the watch as his canvas, adding his trademark pattern of stars, arrows, and crowns onto the gloss black IP-finished stainless steel bracelet through a dot-pattern laser engraving. On the back, you'll find G-Shock's 40th Anniversary logo mark (also designed by Haze) on the screw-lock caseback cover, with a DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating. All this comes in packaging designed by – you guessed it – Eric Haze, and costs $720.
Now one of the most recognizable and widely-worn brands in the world, the first G-Shock struggled to find its commercial footing back in 1983. In a world of more traditional dress watches, the original DW-5000C was revolutionary but buyers didn't quite know what to do with it. Compared to G-Shock's most recent releases, however, the DW-5000C was incredibly staid. That's certainly the case with the brand's new Flare Red MTGB-3000FR-1A and GWG-2040FR-1A releases, which outshine that first G-Shock with more flash than can fit on a funky bezel.
These new Flare Red watches are, unsurprisingly, solar flare-themed. Extremely on-the-nose, albeit to good effect, G-Shock has created bezels from layered carbon and colored glass fibers that create a unique pattern for each watch. No two bezels are alike.
Underneath a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, the dials evoke a burnt-out husk of a planet's surface in greyscale, with the Mudmaster GWG-2040FR-1A adding a geometric, almost digital texture on top.
The metal portions of the case use complimentary mixes of rose gold and black ion-plated (IP) steel, housing the shock-resistant, radio-controlled, solar-powered movement, 200m water resistance, alarm, stopwatch, full-auto LED lights, world timer, and more. That's all standard for the MTGB-3000FR-1A. The watch, while incredibly loud in design, has a (very) slightly more traditional look to the dial, with what looks like three chronograph subdials, but in actuality conveys all that information without a digital display – and it comes in at $1,300.
True to its Mudmaster stylings, the GWG-2040FR-1A gives you all that and more with dust- and mud-resistance, a digital compass, barometer/altimeter, and thermometer. Cheaper, but with more features than the previous model, this new Mudmaster can handle a world of fire for $1,100.
G-SHOCK fans may recognize Haze as the mind behind the creation of a number of preview watches, as well as the 25th, 30th, 35th, and now 40th Anniversary logos and identity for G-Shock. But for the uninitiated, the legendary artist has serious bonafides, with a successful art career beginning in the '70s; he also exhibited his work alongside friends like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the '80s.
It's not a stretch to say that Haze's impact on the art world has been massive and, as an art lover, that alone is enough to pique my interest. Haze was one of the first artists to take the graffiti he was doing in the 1970s and bring it into the mainstream. His hand-lettering is iconic and as a nod to that, his name is sketched in that lettering on the dial, completely hidden until revealed when the dial is illuminated. The rest of the piece is deeply referential to motifs of his career, with the abstract arrows, crowns, and stars showing up in a number of his pieces, including his 2018 exhibition in Tokyo.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this but I also see this watch as referential and honoring Haze's friends. While the design of the motifs are different, Haze often used crowns to refer to his late friend Basquiat and stars for Haring, like in this 2021 piece "A pile of crowns and stars for Jean and Keith". Whether or not I'm right, it's the nature of art to be interpreted and imbued with the viewer's feelings, and this one hit me in the gut.
With the Flare Red releases, people might say there's nothing new under the sun. G-Shock is far from the first to release a watch where a key design element is truly unique from piece to piece, but the bezels of the new Flare Red watches are just really, really cool.
I mean that's kind of the point, right? Sure, there's the pretty much bulletproof quality of the watches, but that's such an obvious part of G-Shocks that it's barely worth mentioning. So what qualifies as cool enough to be of note when all G-Shock seems to do is try to outdo itself? How about a phosphorescent-embedded forged carbon bezel?
Yeah, I purposefully skipped over that bit of info in the last section. It seemed too impressive to reveal as just another feature. The press release implies that the black portions of the bezel are the parts that light up phosphorescent in the dark, but it seems to be more prevalent in the lighter orange portions in the provided photos. I don't know what that phosphorescent material is or how long it will last, but it sure is a cool effect that kind of makes you feel like you're getting the Northern Lights experience of a solar flare.
I'm a big fan of the Mudmaster line – I picked the GWG-2000 as my favorite outdoor watch a few weeks ago – and there are a lot of cool limited releases that have come out over the years. This model might be one of the coolest yet just because I find watches that have some unique element, watch to watch, particularly compelling. The designs, however harmonious to the overall effect of a solar flare-inspired watch, might just be a bit too bold for me. But for someone bolder than me (and frankly, that's not a very high bar), these watches will shine on the wrist and mark a fantastic start to G-Shock's fourth decade.
Brand: Casio
Model: G-SHOCK x Eric Haze, G-SHOCK 40th Anniversary Flare Red models
Reference Number: GMWB-5000EH-1, MTG-B3000-1A, GWG-2000-1A
Diameter: 49.3mm (GMW-B5000EH-1), 50.9mm (MTG-B3000-1A), 54.4mm (GWG-2000-1A)
Thickness: 13mm (GMW), 13.2 mm (MTG), 16.1mm (GWG)
Case Material: Stainless Steel (GMW), Carbon and Stainless Steel (MTG), Carbon and Stainless Steel (GWG)
Dial Color: LCD Display (GMW), Black and Grey Burn Pattern (MTG), Black and Grey Burn Pattern with Inverted LCD (GWG)
Indexes: N/A (GMW), Rose gold tone with red accents (MTG), Rose gold tone with orange accents (GWG)
Lume: LED (GMW), Lume (MTG), LED and Lume (GWG)
Water Resistance: 200m (all)
Strap/Bracelet: Stainless steel laser engraved (GMWB-5000EH-1), Rubber (MTG-B3000-1A), Rubber (GWG-2000-1A)
Functions: Shock Resistance, Solar Power, Full-Auto LED Lights (Super Illuminator), Alarm, Stopwatch, Countdown Timer, World Time (all), Date/month Display Swapping, Multi-lingual Day of Week Display, 12/24 Hr Time Formats, Low Battery Alert
Power Saving Function, Smartphone Link, 1/100 Stopwatch, Five Alarms And Hourly Time Alert (GMW), Dust- and Mud-resistant Structure, Digital Compass, Altimeter/Barometer, Thermometer (GWG)
Winding: None, quartz
Frequency: 6-band time calibration signals
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Nowadays, Jeremy Kirkland can admit it.
"At first, I got into watches for the wrong reason," he says. "I wanted to find a way to set myself apart, to communicate the status of who I wanted to be. I got into watches because I wanted the world to think more of me than what I thought of myself."
Kirkland is the host of Blamo, a podcast about clothes and culture, so his relationship with watches runs long and deep.
Somewhere along the way Kirkland, 37, started buying watches he liked instead – fun, accessible, often affordable. He started to love watches for what they were, "the stories behind them and the stories attached to them."
"I don't have a ton of heat," he says of his own watch collection, "but I have things that are really special and I've found my own niche in the watch world." In his early years as a freelance writer more than a decade ago, Kirkland even wrote about watches for titles like Esquire. He tells stories about how the founder of a little blog called Hodinkee would reach out to him, gently correcting Kirkland if he got a reference number or movement wrong.
But as a fashion guy – before launching Blamo, he worked at menswear shop The Armoury – Kirkland knows his stuff. Since buying a digital Casio, he's gone through many of the phases that might sound familiar to other enthusiasts: Casio, Seiko (lots of Seiko), falling in and out of love with Rolex, but mostly, just buying stuff that makes him happy.
Here's a peek at his collection.
Kirkland's journey into watches started innocently enough when he purchased a digital Casio upon his move to New York from his hometown of St. Louis.
"It was the watch my grandpa had," Kirkland says. "If you're a millennial, a lot of our grandfathers always wanted the latest tech, and in the '70s and '80s that was digital or quartz." These were the pre-smartphone days of 2006, and Kirkland just wanted a nice, functional watch.
"I think it was $20. It was what I could afford then, but it's really simple and beautiful. It was cool because watches like this, you can just like them for what they are." In those days, most people were still buying watches for their utility, and Kirkland was one of those people.
"I've owned it for over 16 years now. And when I would play shows – because when I went to New York, I was in a band and trying to play music – it was perfect because it was really small and I'd press the little nightlight button to see what time it was."
"It's been with me forever. In terms of value, it's totally irreplaceable. There's no way I could ever get that back because it represents a time in my life when I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a tiny room with milk crates to hold my clothes and a guitar in the corner. It was just this sweet part of my life when I didn't need anything and I had everything."
Soon, Kirkland started noticing watches – people wearing a Rolex or Omega would compliment his Casio, and eventually, he decided he wanted a Rolex, too.
"There's a beauty in New York because nobody cares or knows who you are, so you can be anything you want." Owning a Rolex was part of that – or so he thought – a way to elevate his place in life as he navigated growing up in New York: a job at an indie record label, various projects in the fashion world, and writing those watch columns in Esquire. So Jeremy bought a few, but they didn't give him joy. Like he said, he kind of got into watches for the wrong reasons.
But Kirkland did get joy out of the achievement and excitement of having a watch that was special to him. He started to learn about movements, history, how things were made. That's when he found Seiko.
"Seiko just ticked every box for me. It was cool, affordable, accessible, and the information was out there, so I really went nuts over Seiko." One of the first stops in Kirkland's vintage Seiko journey was the Seiko 6139 chronograph, a funky 1970s chrono that's most known for being worn by Colonel William Pogue when he blasted into space to crew the first U.S. space station.
"I love the story of Colonel Pogue and all that, but honestly it was just a cool vintage watch," Kirkland says. "I was just as into the fact that it was yellow and I've always had a love of yellow [editor's note: see yellow hat, below]. So that became my watch."
Kirkland admits he's got "like 15 vintage Seikos" around his house now, and he constantly wonders why he has all those watches. But the truth is he just finds vintage Seiko fun.
"When I got into Seiko, I realized that there was this wide world of vintage watches that had deep connections to history or culture that weren't Rolex or Omega," Kirkland says. "That pushed me to start to search for super obscure things. I've always loved Mickey Mouse merch – even right now, I'm wearing an old Mickey shirt."
A good friend helped Kirkland get this Bradley Mickey Mouse watch back in 2012 for a couple hundred bucks, along with the box, papers, and original certificate. As much as it's a watch, it's a cool piece of Disney history from years gone by; it dates to the 1970s.
"I love old, classic Disney stuff. It's just this fun little watch. It's not expensive and it's not something that I can go and flip, but it's special to me." Even if it's not the most practical wristwatch.
"I wear it when I can, but I usually can't because the ticking is so loud it sounds like there's a bomb on your wrist."
Rolex got Kirkland interested in watches in a new way, and eventually, he came crawling back. He's got two young kids now, and he purchased a modern Rolex GMT-Master II for each of them – a ref. 126710BLNR "Batman" for his daughter, and this ref. 126710BLRO "Pepsi" for his son, wearing each on their respective birth dates.
Of course, this is the part where you might ask: "But Jeremy, how'd you get a modern stainless steel Rolex at retail?"
Kirkland said he was straightforward with his local authorized dealer: He told the AD that they were having a baby, and he'd love to have a GMT-Master II by the due date. Believe it or not, it worked. By the time the due date came around, the GMT-Master II was his. All had gone according to plan, except for one thing: The day his wife went into labor, he forgot to put the Rolex on his wrist.
"My wife went into labor and we were getting ready to leave the house, and when we were in the driveway pulling out and her water broke, I realized I hadn't put on the watch, and I wanted to wear it when he was born."
"So I stopped the car, pulled back into the driveway, and she's asking me what's wrong. I just told her I left something important behind, and I went and got the watch and put it on and she asks me, 'Did you just go inside to get your watch while I'm in labor right now?'"
Of course, that's exactly what happened. But by then Kirkland had the watch and was able to wear it for the birth of his son.
"I'm going to keep wearing it, but the plan is to give both kids their GMTs when they turn 18 or graduate college or something like that. Honestly, they might not even want it by the time they're adults, but who cares?"
A decade or so ago, Kirkland started shaving his head when he realized he was balding. But he needed a hat to cover that bare scalp, so he went searching.
"I wanted a hat that was a little bit fun, a little bit different. My younger brother, Trevor, worked at Ted Drewes in St. Louis at the time. For me in New York, it was this tiny thing that only a few people had heard of," Kirkland says. So Trevor would take hats from Ted Drewes for his big brother to wear around New York.
I'll interject here: I went to college in St. Louis, and Ted Drewes is that local institution. Every town's got one or a few, and in St. Louis, it happens to be this little frozen custard (not ice cream) shack that's been on old U.S. Route 66 since 1929. Among other legends: St. Louis native Danny Meyer knocked off Ted Drewes for his Shake Shack custard.
"The hat's perfectly ugly and perfectly designed at the same time. It was a way to remind myself where I came from when I was in New York." During the pandemic, Kirkland found his way back, moving home to St. Louis.
"This hat, it's everything to me. And it's funny because it's just a dumb hat."
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Most might consider Titanium to be a very modern material, but it has been used in watchmaking for over half a century. Surprisingly, it’s Citizen that pioneered the first commercially-available titanium wristwatch. Although available in very limited quantities, Citizen’s X-8 Chronometer from 1970 paved the way for many others to come. Titanium has the unique property of being resistant to rust, hypoallergenic and extremely strong. And above all, it’s much lighter than conventional stainless steel. Thus, it makes an ideal material for watches for multiple reasons. Ever since Citizen’s first experiments, the company has perfected the process of machining titanium. By the year 2000, Citizen developed the Duratect surface hardening treatment, making titanium far less prone to scratches.
The culmination of Citizen’s expertise with this material is something called Super Titanium. This combines the brand’s titanium processing technology, with the Duratect treatment. One of the latest watches with this proprietary material is Citizen we have before us today. And it comes with a fascinating backstory!
Back in 1983, a Citizen Challenge Diver from 1977 was recovered from an Australian beach. Covered in barnacles, the watch miraculously was in running condition! The mechanical movement had survived years of being in water and dirt, protected by its case. That very watch served as the inspiration for this modern-day titanium diver.
The design of the Promaster Mechanical Diver 200m Fujitsubo is nothing really spectacular, as it shows the typical design elements of classical dive watches. The Super-Titanium case is classic too, at 41mm in diameter and 12.3mm in height. The matte grey tone is the natural look of Super-Titanium. The bezel on top is polished, and fitted with a gloss-black insert. Manipulating it is greeted with a smooth and resounding feedback. The bevelled sapphire crystal on top protects the dial, while the closed caseback does the same for the movement. With 200 meters of water-resistance, it is quite a respectable diver indeed.
As a vertically integrated manufacturer, Citizen produces its movements in-house. The Calibre 9051 inside this Promaster runs at a frequency of 4Hz and offers a power reserve of 42 hours. It’s reassuring to know the movement is anti-magnetic to 200 Gauss as close as 1cm away. It could do with a bit more precision though, as it is indicated to run within -10 to +20 seconds of deviation per day.
Citizen offers two variations of the Promaster Fujitsubo. One in titanium and black (reference NB6021-17E), worn on a black polyurethane strap with a titanium pin buckle. And the other with a deep blue dial and bezel (reference NB6021-68L), and a three-link Super-Titanium bracelet with a folding clasp. While we only had the black version in hour hands, we believe both will feel great on the wrist. The fit and finish are very good, and thanks to the lightweight titanium construction it doesn’t weigh you down one bit. It retails for about EUR 650 in black and polyurethane strap, and about EUR 750 in blue and titanium bracelet.
Although some comments could be made about the movement’s precision, we genuinely feel this is quite the performance bargain. Whichever way you look at it, it’s hard to ignore the rock-solid proposition this Citizen offers. The Promaster Fujitsubo looks good, feels fantastic on the wrist and backs it up with very decent specs at a very reasonable price.
For more details, please visit Citizen’s global website.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON https://monochrome-watches.com/
]]>About a year ago, Omega introduced a new Speedmaster. But this one was different than any other Speedmaster we'd seen. First, there's the moniker: The Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope. Then, there's the look. Sure, it's the classic Speedmaster form – lyre lugs, tachymeter bezel, even the three-link bracelet. But sitting inside the tachymeter bezel, the dial features two additional, vintage-inspired scales: First, there's the telemeter scale, used for measuring the distance of something based on its sound (soldiers would use this in war to measure the distance of enemy fire); and inside that, there's a pulsometer, used for measuring a person's heart rate.
The movement is also a feat, a manual-wind, METAS-certified caliber 9908, on display through a sapphire caseback. While the diameter comes in at 43mm, the manageable lug-to-lug (48mm) and thickness (12.8mm) mean the Speedmaster Chronoscope is still wearable for a variety of wrist sizes.
A "chronoscope" is defined as an instrument for the precise measurement of small time intervals, and it's the perfect descriptor for this Speedmaster. All those scales are quirky vintage details that call back to old Omega chronographs, but inside the Chronoscope ticks a Master Chronometer movement that sits at the cutting edge of Omega's manufacturing capabilities. It's another edition of The Spec Sheet, and the Chronoscope certainly measures up.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
There's no doubt that Instagram has changed the watch industry forever. New timepieces are revealed almost weekly, and get logged in both the public consciousness and the now-well-preserved digital annals of what-came-out-when. It's easy, then, to lose track of watches that were released before the social media era, especially in the last 20 years. It's always fun to show an example of a pre-IG watch to someone who swears they've seen it all, as they reconcile in real time the fact that an ultra-cool watch by a brand they love had slipped their radar. The truth is, before Instagram (and Hodinkee), there really wasn't a good way to track what watches were being released. So I thought, in celebration of 10/10, that I'd show you a few of those pieces that I remember seeing and loving, in the hopes they might join the Instagram hayride.
Launched in 1994 and discontinued in 2009 at the dawn of Instagram, the 5004 is one of those watches that'd be the piece everyone fought for if it were released today. It's basically a 5970 perpetual calendar chronograph, but with a split seconds feature, a 3.5mm smaller case diameter, and in my opinion, the greatest cosmetic detail on a modern-era Patek: a split second pusher in the center of the oversized winding crown. The currently available ref. 5204 is an updated version, but something has been lost in the 36mm dimensions that make the 5004 a one-of-a-kind reference.
Audemars Piguet has been shaking things up with their design and manufacture since long before it was expected of brands to do so. A really great example of this is the Royal Oak Offshore Survivor. If this watch came out today it would most likely sell out of its 1,000-piece run faster than it did in the late 2000s. It's big, it's knurled, it's milled and drilled, and it's got a stovepipe-shaped crown and skeletonized pusher guards that clamp down like hinges on a Pelican case. There doesn't seem to be anything structurally about it that makes it more suitable for survival than any other Offshore model is, and its PVD coating seems to come off fairly easily, but I'm a sucker for a narrative, and if you are too, you're already trying to hunt one down. It's bold, it's weird, and what better way to create scarcity than to have already released it more than a decade before you ever heard of it?
The year 2008 saw the watch industry fully embrace chunky, feature-filled dive watches. If it tells you anything about the oversized watch contagion of the late aughts, even ultra-refined JLC released several models meant to capitalize on the trend. (I'm wearing the one I bought in '08 as I type this.) I've probably thrown the mechanism out of calibration by pressing on the exposed pressure sensor too many times, but it's just too fun to watch the hand move as you push harder. I still think this watch holds up; black rubber-coated link bracelet (it's crazy nobody did this more, as I love the look and feel), big rubberized pushers with flanges that lock down and keep the case waterproof to 300m, and a big rubberized C-shaped cover that slips over the titanium deployment clasp. It was interesting then, and it's even more so now.
If you want to make me crazy to own something, tell me some version of the following: The product in question was too hard to make, was more expensive to produce than it sold for, and couldn't quite find an audience – I'll be putty in your hands. The IWC Deep One is a watch with exactly that story. Released in 1999, when interest in mechanical watches was truly an esoteric pursuit, this was a hulking, technically ambitious dive watch based on IWC's successful GST line of watches (a long-lost gem of a product line) that ingeniously allowed water into the case in order to achieve maximum depths of…100 meters? Okay, but that's not the point. Or maybe that's actually more the point; just as I've said that a tourbillon is a long walk down a short path, so too is a watch that comes with its own pump that connects to the case and siphons water out after a dive. Hewn from titanium, back when it was comparatively harder and pricier to work with than it is now, the Deep One run is said to have capped off at around 1,000 pieces.
No brand in the history of mechanical timepieces has been more disciplined in its releases than the mighty Rolex. It's this very commitment to being regimented, patient, and downright strict that makes enthusiasts go nuts for any deviation from the norm as the brand has carefully established it. If I told you that in 1999 Rolex made a Submariner celebrating the transfer of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama, you'd probably have a hard time believing me. And even if you did believe that, you certainly wouldn't think the watch features a seal of the Panama Canal on the dial. 'Rolex doesn't do that!' you're thinking to yourself. And they don't! But they did. (They produced a handful of other "double-signed" watches around this time, as well.) Limited to 75 pieces (ref. 16610 in steel and 16613 in two-tone), the watch has enjoyed somewhat of a second life at auctions, seeing as it stands so far apart from Rolex's offerings of the last 20 years. I don't think I've ever seen this watch on Instagram anywhere, and I wonder if someone posting a wrist roll wouldn't get comments calling the watch into question.
It's normal to be skeptical of that which we haven't yet seen and accounted for, and I'll admit it still happens to me sometimes with watches I didn't know existed from an era I thought I knew. If age has a benefit, it's memory and experience. I remember these watches being either sold in a boutique or available for resale just a few years after, and it's always been interesting to me that Instagram can't account for the product releases of the past the way it can in real time. It's also a really great reminder that watches from the past can tell a more powerful story set against the backdrop of the present than they might have been able to the day they were released. That's why we hold onto things – so their story runs against the grain of future times. After all, investing isn't always a cash business
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.hodinkee.com
Since the dawn of the clock- and watchmaking era, dials have been round. This is the most common choice, as these mechanical devices work from rounded gears with central pivots that move hands around in a 360° arc. A round dial is also easily divided into units of 12 or 24, to mirror the societal choice of dividing our days into 24 different units. Designing a watch that moves away from the circle takes a bit of extra effort to balance the hour markers. First, one needs to fit an often-round movement inside a case, then make it all feel as natural as the shape we are used to. This is a challenge that Cartier has become an expert at overcoming, with over a century of experience in showing why it's hipper to be square, or rectangle, or tonneau, or…
Famously designed for a friend of Cartier, aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont wanted a watch he could wear on the wrist when flying. Perhaps this was a simple request, but he wanted something other than the pocket watches that were being strapped to wrists at the time. This smaller watch was not only the first pilot's watch but it also changed the fashion attitude towards men wearing wristwatches, which only women did at the time. While it has gone through many iterations, all Santos watches have a square bezel, square case, and exposed screws on the bezel. This watch is part of the current generation launched in 2018, with a slightly curved case and in-house movement. With its steel case and elegant looks, I think the Santos de Cartier is always a good answer to the question: What watch would make a perfect one-watch collection?
For more Cartier watches, even the round ones, go to the HODINKEE Shop.
While a great watch is far from mandatory on the list of items required to enjoy the great outdoors, we'd argue that the right watch can be not only a romantic addition but also a functional one. Whether you're hiking a favorite peak route, diving at a special dive site, or just getting out of the house, it's always good to know what time it is and many modern outdoorsy watches offer a lot of additional functionality for getting the most out of your preferred outdoor activity. So kick off your boots, hang up your hat, and put away your compass – here are our picks for some of our favorite outdoor watches and where we'd love to take them.
Full disclaimer: I'm a gold lover who's very new to tool watches. Well, I'm new to understanding anything beyond how they look. The functionality factor of this watch is most likely never going to strike a chord with me. But oh boy does the orange dial on this watch have me feeling some type of way. This watch oozes 80s vintage Doxa cool. And while a 40mm diameter would usually mean an automatic 'No' from me, I'd be more than willing to take this for a swim somewhere tropical (with cocktails). –Malaika Crawford, Style Editor
The watch that actually joined me this summer while hiking in Western New York, Colorado, and California was the Oak & Oscar Humboldt GMT – but y'all have already heard me talk enough about that watch. And it seems like Mark already has the G-Shock ground well-covered below, so I'll opt for the latest and greatest gadget out of Cupertino: the Apple Watch Ultra. It has more than enough gizmos and abilities to account for any place I might end up. As for where I'd take it? If I was a few years younger, I might point out the solid use-case a smartwatch like the Apple Watch Ultra has during a music festival, like Bonnaroo or Austin City Limits. But nowadays I prefer more relaxed terrain, so I'll pick out a different sort of camping.
Growing up in Texas, I've always wanted to set up camp at Big Bend National Park. The sprawling park is full of mountain ranges, deserts, and all sorts of wildlife. I definitely think the Ultra's enhanced battery life, dual-signal link GPS, Alpine Loop band, and "Wayfinder" watch face would come in handy in the harsh natural climate of West Texas. Big Bend is more than a 10-hour drive from where I grew up, north of Houston, so I was never able to make it out there when I was younger, but here's hoping I find my way there in the near future – maybe even with the Apple Watch Ultra on my wrist. –Logan Baker, Brand Editor
When I swim in a lake, even a small one, I want to make sure I am not swimming for so long that by the time I make it to one end of my journey I will actually be too tired, or too enveloped in darkness, to make it back to the other. I like old watches, I like simple watches, and ever since I read James Stacey's article about this watch I have thought about it now and then, and how nice it would be to have as company on a lake swim. The needle-thin seconds hand appeals, the inverted triangle noon marker, and the lume, faded as I am by time but still going, is more than powerful enough for my needs. And I can buy one if I want, and maybe I will. –Sarah Miller, Senior Writer
If you're looking for a watch to wear hiking – or at the end of the world – I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that does the job better than a G-Shock. In fact, I've been wanting one of these G-Shock Mudmasters for so long that I think some part of me is afraid that my buying one is my subconscious is saying "the world is over." But things are great here today in New York. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I think this might be the next watch I buy now that we're into the fall hiking season.
Sure, maybe it's overkill. It's a big watch at 61.2mm x 54.4mm diameter and 16.1mm worth of thickness. Okay, "big" is an understatement, but it's so much more than a "big watch." In addition to being engineered to handle pretty much anything you can throw at it with its 200m water resistance and three-layer resin and carbon fiber bezel, it's also incredibly useful. Its analog-digital display is surprisingly legible and in addition to the time, calendar, and radio-controlled time adjustment, the QuadSensor allows the watch to act as a thermometer, altimeter/barometer, digital compass, and step counter. Plus, if you're the kind of person who might put it away and burrow under the covers for the cold winter months, the rechargeable battery lasts 25 months on a full charge when in power-save mode. –Mark Kauzlarich, Edito
Tudor Ranger 79950
As a long-time admirer of the vintage Tudor Ranger – I've owned one for years – I was thrilled to see Tudor bring back the Ranger this year in a manageable 39mm case. A couple of years back, I was hiking somewhere in Montana with my vintage Ranger when a light snow started. I'd watch little snowflakes land on the crystal and melt into droplets, freaking out each time that this would be the drop to somehow leak into the dial, ruining a beautiful watch and a decent hike at the same time.
Of course, everything ended up fine (those vintage Oyster cases are more durable than you give them credit for when taken care of!), but I've always been bummed that a watch distracted me from a nice walk in the mountains.
Listen, I'm not about to go diving off the coast of Oahu like James "catch me on the beach sipping mai tais" Stacey – so for me, a simple three-hander field watch with 100m of water resistance works just fine. I'd take it back to Glacier National Park in Montana and try that hike up to Grinnell Glacier again before it's gone. –Anthony Traina, Editor
When I go for a bike ride I like to go fast, or at least feel like I'm going fast. More often than not, I'm usually just crawling up a steep Southern California hill or redlining myself trying to keep up with much faster riders. There's absolutely no way to prove this, but ever since I started wearing the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer on a grey NATO, I feel like I'm riding a tad bit faster. It must be in the name or that I use the solar-powered chronograph function to time certain sections of my route that gives a psychological boost to my weak little legs.
Who really knows? Oh, I know! It's because I look cooler wearing it! Cool is fast, right?
Not only does it accessorize my fly cycling outfit, but having a battery-driven solar movement is so convenient. Who has time to wind a watch when you're flying down a hill? Not this guy! –Brandon Menancio, Editor
I see this currently non-US market Citizen Aqualand as a sort of modern Ploprof. At 50.7mm wide, including the lump on the nine o'clock flank for the depth sensor, it's a huge watch that wears really well. Like, surprisingly well. This specific model has a full lume dial surrounded by a gun-metal-finished steel case. With 200 meters of water resistance and a digital display that can manage everything from dive timing, depth indication, a chronograph, and more, this wannabe dive computer blends classic Japanese dive watch styling with a nerdy element that I find exceptionally appealing. While I don't love writing about a watch that isn't for sale in HODINKEE's home market, I have to admit that this Aqualand is one of my favorite watches of 2022.
I'd love to have this on my wrist while diving the LCU in Hawaii, not far off the coast of Oahu. It's a submerged military landing craft that flipped upside down while being placed as an artificial reef. Beset with a shimmering contingent of leering barracuda, this large metal box has formed a would-be cave for blacktip reef sharks. I dove on this site years ago and would love to go back and charge the lume on this Aqualand after swimming inside this old boat. As for sipping mai tais, you think this Citizen doesn't like to party? That lume only turns up. –James Stacey, Senior Writer
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Im just going to lay my cards on the table. I hate summer. I hate being sweaty. I hate the bugs. I hate the pressure to have a nice time. But fall? Fall is perfect. The weather is both temperate AND unpredictable. You can wear a variety of layers and feel prepared for anything. The bugs are on vacation. It is the best time to go outdoors!
Depending on where you are in the world, outdoor activities can look exactly like they did a few weeks ago – or entirely different. Either way, there's a watch for that. From strapping on a wetsuit and dipping into a newly chilly lake or heading out for a dive or hiking through fall foliage, adventure is better in autumn. And it's even better-er with the right gear on your wrist.
This weekend, I've picked a few choice outdoor stories from the pumpkin patch of our archives (sorry! I love fall). And if you're thinking of turning over a new leaf (sorry!!!!) in your watch collection, these stories should offer up some entertaining and informative insight. And maybe help you decide what to buy. Or at least what to ask for during the holidays, which are right around the corner, which is another wonderful thing about fall.
Pull on your sweater, fill up the thermos, strap on your boots and head outdoors! And when you get back these stories will be waiting for you by the fire.
Host of the History Channel series Digging For The Truth, Josh Bernstein is something of a modern explorer. He sat down with In early 2020, Jon Bues sat down with Bernstein to talk through his collection and his life of adventure. His collection is Rolex heavy and full of fascinating stories. Definitely worth a watch.
Cole Pennington is nothing short of one of a kind and right here is a story that only he could write. What watch goes well with a wild adventure on the Dry Tortugas and even wilder shirt? Why, a Royal Oak Offshore of course! Join our buddy Cole as he takes a very fancy watch on a very extreme adventure. It will have you looking at your most luxurious timepiece with new eyes.
Sometimes, you just need to ask the experts. That's what Nick Marino did last year when he turned to the staff of outdoor gear emporium, Huckberry. What the staffers had on their wrists ranged from smart watches to higher-end mechanical pieces and everything in between. There are as many watches to wear outdoors as there are outdoor activities.
Going outdoors can mean getting a little dirty. James "The Canadian Cleaner" Stacey teaches us how to keep all types of straps fresh as the day they were born.
Look, we'd all love a Sub. But for many of us, that's just not in the cards. In this story Logan Baker takes a look at a wallet-friendly alternative, The Oris Aquis Date. Like all good Steal Vs. Splurge stories Logan looks at just how much bang one is afforded for ones buck and the pros and cons of both watches. Take a dive in to see what he has to say.
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Before joining up with HODINKEE, I worked for Levi's. And one thing everybody there agreed upon was that our jeans were meant to be, as we put it, "a blank canvas for personal expression." In the creative department, we practically had that phrase tattooed inside our eyelids. We were always showing our customers how to customize their 501s. Rip them, cuff them, patch them, stitch them. Splatter them with paint. Whatever. Just make them your own.
When I arrived in the watch world, I was startled to see that this is emphatically not how things work. The norm here is to preserve originality at all costs. Watches depreciate in value when you start messing with them. Replacement hands and bezel inserts are anathema. Monogramming a dial is tacky. Aftermarket gem-setting is scorned in the extreme.
And I get it. Painstaking effort goes into making a wristwatch, even one that is mass-produced. I can see how the folks who engineered the thing might be protective of it. They're trying to create a horological masterpiece and don't want anyone drawing a mustache on their Mona Lisa. But this mentality puts the watch industry out of step with the rest of the world, which is hurtling inexorably toward customization.
Today, you can use Nike's website to design your own Air Force 1s. You can pre-select the clubface angle you'd like on your Taylor Made pitching wedge. You can mix and match every conceivable option on your Tesla. You can even customize your dog! The suburbs are overflowing with goldendoodles, puggles, cockapoos, and other hybrid creatures that've been bred to their owner's aesthetic and allergenic preferences.
But if you want a special dial color for your new timepiece, forget it – the manufacturers won't help you. If you love a steel sports watch but think the whole thing would look better in black, you'll have to find a PVD specialist on your own. If you believe, as I do, that Mercedes hands should be reserved for watches sponsored by the German automaker, you can't swap them without turning your timepiece into a dreaded Frankenwatch. And if you decide to go rogue and make these changes anyway, the original manufacturers will refuse to service your watch ever again because, they say, they are only permitted to service original parts.
This punitive stance is anti-consumer and anti-fun. And it means that the only watch enthusiasts who get to choose every detail are the ones who can afford to commission a piece unique. Good for you, VIP client mega-collector! Now what about the rest of us who don't have a decades-long relationship with the brand?
Well, we have a few choices – all of them flawed.
One move is to buy a previously customized watch via the grey market, which at least gives you more choices than are available at retail. You can, for instance, find a Milgauss with skulls on the dial, if for some reason that's your thing. But the grey market doesn't help you design the watch you want, and it inevitably leaves you wondering whether some ham-fisted technician mangled the movement along the way.
A better, albeit much more expensive, choice is to enlist the help of a reliable studio that specializes in watch customization (talk about a niche within a niche). I like three in particular. One is Artisans De Genève, the high-end atelier that helped John McEnroe make his Submariner both skeletonized and left-handed. Another is MAD Paris, which has been known to turn the Royal Oak into a marshmallow. And then there's Cloister Watch Co., a New York design firm devoted to restoring and reimagining vintage pieces. In all three cases, the results often surpass the originals.
And yet, these firms have to tread carefully to avoid being sued into oblivion. Consider this anguished online disclaimer from Artisans De Genève:
ARTISANS DE GENÈVE is an independent workshop. On our website only, we offer a service of personalization of timepieces at the request of our customers within our limited capacities. We do not manufacture or sell watches.
We are neither affiliated to nor authorized by the manufacturers of the client's watches, that we accept to customize. They do not approve modifications or personalizations made to their products by unauthorized third parties.
Therefore, our customization services are provided for personal and private use only. Any other use, in particular of a commercial nature, is not approved by ARTISANS DE GENÈVE and will invalidate our warranty.
Note the "our warranty." Since clients who dare to customize their watches will find their manufacturer's warranty null and void, the customizers offer their own. That's a nice gesture, and it mitigates against manufacturer retribution, though if you can afford the utterly discretionary purchase of a luxury watch in the first place – not to mention the extra expense of the bespoke detailing – you could probably spring for a local watchmaker to tune it up.
In any case, it's a lot of hoops to jump through just to get the product you ultimately want. And what's weird is that these byzantine rules only apply to specific parts of the watch. Certain timepiece components are acceptable to modify without irritating the manufacturers or scandalizing purist collectors. If you're new to the watch world you would have no way of knowing which ones are fair game, so here's a quick breakdown.
Nobody will call the cops if you swap out your strap. Caseback engravings add character. Tweaking the movement is a no-no, but doing that seems pretty extreme anyway, unless you're treating your watch like an old Mustang with an engine you're fixing up as a hobby – in which case the whole point is to service it yourself, so go for it.
In terms of customization, the most controversial component by far is the dial. Which is funny because, for a trained watchmaker, replacing a dial is not exactly the riskiest procedure – it's a facelift, not a heart transplant.
Imagine how satisfying it would be, as a customer, to select a watch online and be able to design your own dial. If that's not viable for the manufacturers, they could simply sell us the watches in their current array of dial colors (let me guess: black, silver, blue, and green) but allow us to walk into our local authorized dealer and exchange the dial on-site. They could have a dozen or more colors behind the counter, plus a watchmaker in the back delivering same-day service. Think of how much money they could make!
But no. Originality must reign. The designer's intent must be revered. The clenchedness reminds me of Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove, who is terrified that communist indoctrination will "sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."
The fact that watch companies would rather sacrifice a revenue stream than risk losing control tells you just how entrenched the resistance really is. But I suspect that if one brave brand were to break from the pack, like a cyclist pulling away from the peloton, the rest would scramble to follow.
If that's unconscionable for the traditional Swiss, then perhaps we could look to Japan. Seiko has already disrupted the industry once, in 1969, by introducing the first commercial quartz wristwatch – an advancement that threatened to bring Switzerland to its knees. Seiko also already has a thriving modification community, a loose coalition of parts-swapping collectors who only get away with it because Seikos are affordable, so it's no great sacrilege to desecrate one with a new chapter ring. Entire Instagram feeds, like @seikomodder, showcase the boundless imagination of the tinkerers. If Seiko officially sanctioned and supported the mod community, selling loose parts like a horological hardware store, it would generate an enormous amount of goodwill – and a nontrivial amount of cash.
Speaking of cash, surely I am not alone in thinking that a tasteful one-of-one bespoke watch could – and should! – be worth more than a factory-original piece that has hundreds (or thousands) of identical twins. Isn't rarity supposed to increase value?
I will concede that certain watches are so fine they should be left alone. But there's a vast middle ground between the Patek Philippe Grand Complications and the Seiko Tuna. And in that space is where customization should thrive.
Bamford Watch Department has the right idea with its Build Your Own tool, which lets you adjust details like case finish, strap stitching, and coloration for models including the TAG Heuer Monaco, Bulgari Serpenti, and Zenith Chrono El Primero. That's a start. It proves the technology is there. Meanwhile, out in Hong Kong, Undone has built a whole brand around made-to-order watches under $500, which democratizes the whole experience and demonstrates that watches can indeed be customized for less than the price of a speedboat.
So dream with me. Imagine a utopia where the big Swiss watchmakers swap their opaque waitlist system for a transparent made-to-order process. They charge you a fair price, you pay half up front and the other half upon delivery. They are incentivized to hustle to claim the rest of their money, and you are content to wait knowing your day will eventually come – and when it does, you walk away with the exact size, shape, color, and configuration watch that you want.
This is not madness. It is common sense.
For all of the analog watch industry's hand-wringing about the smartwatch threat, I can't understand why nobody is counterpunching with customization at scale. Sure, brands might find the logistics challenging – but no more challenging than being rendered irrelevant by fast-changing consumer tastes. Shoppers today want what they want, when they want it. And if they can't get it through existing means, they will always find some other way.
Bulgari, TAG Heuer, and Zenith are part of the LVMH Group. Although LVMH Luxury Ventures is a minority investor in HODINKEE, we maintain complete editorial independence.
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The office is dead, long live the office. Whether you're headed back or COVID actually managed to eradicate the word office from your vocabulary (as a writer, it's never really been in mine), I'm going to imagine most of us have times when we need to be "around colleagues in a professional capacity" which I would say is close enough to "going to work." This means you'll need a watch that makes your co-workers envious of you, and sufficiently intimidated. You don't want them to be so cowed by your sense of style that they can barely speak in your presence, but maybe just enough that they won't text during Zoom meetings when you have the floor. I am traveling for work right now, and meeting lots of HODINKEE people, which basically means setting the tenor for how they see me as a colleague. The idea of the perfect watch for work is on my mind.
I tend to like my watches fairly traditional. I like a nice, plain, elegant watch, easy to read, without a lot of extra stuff. I like watches who look in the mirror every morning and say to themselves: "Stay Classy." So when the topic of back-to-work or office watches comes up, I gravitate toward the kinds of watches I already like anyway.
Sitting on this couch right now in sweats and a tank top, I will admit that if I were wearing say, a Calatrava 4997 with an 18k white gold case, or an elegant vintage Longines or a plain but wholly respectable new Hamilton, I'd be the only one there to enjoy it. But I would be enough of a fan club. Sure, sometimes there are other people around, but work can be a very solitary endeavor, and the most important person to impress with your back-to-the-office watch, even if you're literally going back, is yourself. You need a watch that's going to keep you entertained for eight (or nine, or ten, or more?) hours a day, not because it has games programmed into it, but because it's just that good on your wrist. You want a watch that gives you the confidence to speak up, to ask for a raise, to tell everyone why your ideas are better than theirs.
That said, you can wear whatever watch you want to the office. You can wear a Casio, you can wear something you got for $10 at Walmart, no one is stopping you and it probably won't hurt your career. For this article, I've focused on the kind of watch you wear because you want to – a work watch that's not only acceptable but devastating. So what watch am I wearing to meet my new colleagues? A pink Baby-G. Do as I say, not as I do.
I love Danny Milton's Watching Movies column, and I especially love the one about All The President's Men, not just because I also love this movie, and not just because all the commenters got so mad at innocent sweet young Danny for not knowing Paul Newman was left-handed, but because it's really a movie about two guys who don't ever stop working. Bear with me: All the President's Men is less about corruption than it is about the idea that working every second of your life is actually really fun, and can and should be the center of your emotional life. (I'm not saying that's true, I am saying this is the movie's subtle message.) Working as much as Redford does in this movie (the whole time) becomes somewhat less hideous to contemplate when you consider he is, at all times, accompanied by a Rolex Submariner. I do like his watch, but even better, say, like, if I had a Golden Ellipse to stare at all day, I could probably work hard enough to make history, too.
Our deputy editor, Nora Taylor, Dimepiece founder Brynn Wallner, and former Highsnobiety writer Malaika Crawford, now a HODINKEE staffer, each pick a watch they feel best telegraphs the idea of success. Nora chooses the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony with a blue dial; Brynn, a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse with a black dial; Malaika, a yellow gold medium-sized Santos de Cartier. They discuss how taking the time to wind a watch (this Patek has a manual movement) can set you up for success, how you can always look at your watch and remember how good you felt when you bought it, and how there is "no quartz at the top."
I realize I am new to this world and will end up changing my mind 1,000 times about every single "my favorite" or "the best" but I pretty much think that the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse is the best work watch (I'd go for the blue dial if I had the choice, but I love them all). Then again, watching this video and hearing Nora talk about it so passionately made me wonder if maybe the Patrimony is a little bit better? (I do like the Santos de Cartier quite a bit, too, but it's more "top ten" than "top three.") These are all pretty iconic office/work watches. I'm interested to hear what HODINKEE readers think about this, and which watches they would add to this category. Let us know in the comments, below.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Date is probably the work watch I like best that I might even be able to afford. It's just such a classic-looking, no-nonsense, beautiful piece of design, and what I like about Cole Pennington's piece from 2020 introducing the newest version of it is the phrase, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Cole points out that this new version still has the older model's Caliber 899 movement, but with a reshaped escapement, pallets in silicon for less friction, and essential screws made of titanium rather than steel. But other than those updates the watch is pretty much the same, Cole is happy to report, and what a beautiful same that is.
And while we talk about work, let us not forget the hard work of raising children. The late nights. The homework battles. The sports practices. The procuring of a Patek Philippe so that you can bequeath it to the luckiest of your brood when you're gone. This Steven Pulvirent piece from 2016 looks into the origins of the famous Patek Philippe campaign built around one of the great bits of copywriting of all time: "You never truly own a Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation."
Mad Men is the ultimate work-as-life television show. The attention to detail paid by this show's set and costume designers is the stuff of legend, and it will surprise no one that timepieces, too, were selected with meticulous care. For season five, the show sought the help of watch dealer Derek Dier, who supplied the show with Don's Cross Hair Omega Seamaster, Roger's Tudor Tuxedo, Pete's Hamilton Sputnik, and Megan's white gold Jules Jurgensen. Felix Scholz examines the reasoning behind each selection, the also-rans, and why each piece worked. I want you to read this piece, so I won't tell you everything, but I like this detail: "We think [the Hamilton Sputnik] is the perfect piece for Campbell; it's a watch with more than a hint of boyish wonder, and as Dier suggests, a perfectly plausible watch for a young Campbell to receive as a gift, perhaps given along with a Chip 'n Dip."
The Mad Men watches went on to have new life. In 2015, they were auctioned off at Christies, and Ben Clymer wrote about it.
We think [the Hamilton Sputnik] is the perfect piece for Campbell; it's a watch with more than a hint of boyish wonder, and as Dier suggests, a perfectly plausible watch for a young Campbell to receive as a gift, perhaps given along with a Chip 'n Dip.
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For many years, through the golden age of Bird and Magic, the NBA was a mirror to popular culture. The game has only gotten more popular since then. And these days, in many ways, pro basketball drives the culture. The way players dress and talk, the causes they support, and yes the watches they wear – all of these things influence millions of fans around the world. Even more so than actors on the red carpet, current and former NBA stars like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are able to focus attention on particular pieces and brands. It's a trend we've watched and reported on at HODINKEE in earnest over the past decade-plus, and it shows no sign of slowing down.