If a friend dropped by for a chat and a drink and pulled out a couple of these whopper Romeo & Julieta Maravillas 8 Cuban cigars, Ken Gargett thinks you would have an enjoyable afternoon, but probably not think a lot about the cigars. He thought the one he smoked was fine, pleasant and consistent, but no fireworks. And then there’s the elephant in the room: the price.
Ever since the Bulgari Octo Finissimo premiered in 2017 George Cramer has been very attracted to the model, but was also afraid that the case would be too large for his wrist. But in Paris one day, he tried an Octo Finissimo on in the Bulgari boutique and was immediately convinced that it was perfect and also very comfortable. But he then had to decide which version was his favorite.
Many of the great marques in the history of watchmaking were driven by prominent figures who ended up with a watch named after them. Such was the case for both Louis Cartier and Pierre Arpels. Both were born into jewelry and watch dynasties and both made prominent marks on the histories of their respective houses. How else are they intertwined? Martin Green explains here.
Jan Lidmaňský thinks that his white shirt and jacket went just fine with the Carl Suchy Waltz N°1, but that it’s not for universal use. Forget t-shirts and jeans and don’t even think about shorts and flip-flops. It suits the elegant look of a businessman – so suit up when you wear it! What else did he learn?
Martin Green doesn’t like skeleton watches despite adoring the craftsmanship that goes into making them because he isn’t fond of seeing a stunning movement with a backdrop of skin and pressed hair. Hermès solved that problem with the Arceau Squelette, which showcases the beauty of the movement without any “hairy” backdrop by using a “smokescreen.”
When Joshua Munchow first saw that Jaquet Droz had released a new Grande Seconde Chronograph, the first chronograph in his favorite collection from this brand, he took notice. Here he reveals why.
GaryG ordered a Hasselblad X1D. He had never shot a medium-format camera before, and the resolving power, color rendering, and ability to seemingly wrap light around a subject completely blew him away. So when Hasselblad announced that it would be offering a 120 mm macro lens for the X1D, he was among the very first to sign up. But did it make a difference in his watch photography?
At SIHH 2019, George Cramer was pleased to see a stunning new historically inspired Santos-Dumont model in stainless steel. And to his Cartier-enamored eye it looks even better than the model from the now-defunct Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP) line.
If you’re at all a Lange enthusiast like GaryG, you’ll likely understand the most compelling reason for buying the Odysseus is that it’s an A. Lange & Söhne watch you can wear every day.
What Makes Me Tick loves watches made by small independent artisans because they fully embody the vision of their makers, who have put blood, sweat, and tears into creating them. Among the independent brands, De Bethune is most probably his favorite. In fact, no “probably” about it: De Bethune is his favorite. Here’s how his customized DB28 Maxichrono came to be.