A watch strap is the ubiquitous “accessory” to a wristwatch that can completely change a person’s feeling about said timepiece. A strap is the single most functional component on a wristwatch that you interact with. Joshua Munchow takes a closer look at why that is true.
The upcoming year-end Phillips auction, Racing Pulse, takes place on Saturday, December 12, 2020 in New York. Here Elizabeth Doerr highlights five epic timepieces from Richard Mille and Panerai owned and worn by Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, sometimes in famous films, and at least one of which has reached icon status.
The balance wheel, the critical regulatory organ of a mechanical watch, is expected to deliver a consistent frequency with a tolerance of as little as 0.001 percent. With so much at stake, why complicate things by altering a pure and simple geometric shape? Why reinvent the wheel? Well, here are five balances that definitely did reinvent the wheel.
Most will agree that re-painting a dial is a big no-no. Vintage pieces with re-painted dials can be had for a steal as they are difficult to shift and mostly unwanted. But not all dial restorations are created equal, and we do encounter varying degrees of “upgrades.” Some of these upgrades are purposeful deception, while others are not. Here is what one watchmaker feels about the subject.
Looking at the Louis Moinet Space Revolution, the latest in the brand’s Cosmic Art collection, fills you with incredulity: is it a watch? Is it a piece of kinetic art? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or did it spring from the mind of George Lucas? Make up your own mind by checking it out right here.
Nigel Band is a professional diver with over 30 years’ worth of commercial and teaching experience. He also owns two rather unusual Rolex watches: a 1986 “triple-six” Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 16660 and a Himalayan mountain climbing 1952 Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Put on your breathing apparatus as the fascinating stories of these two watches are told by Colin Alexander Smith here.
In 2009 Christiaan van der Klaauw presented the world’s smallest mechanical planetarium to the world. With the eye-catching Eise Eisinga edition, the boutique brand merges the stories of the world’s oldest planetarium with the world’s smallest planetarium.
There are thousands of things to love about Greubel Forsey watches, but the thing that has always been the hook in the root of Joshua Munchow’s brain is the variety of distinct shapes that atypically assemble to create very unique timepieces. With the release of 2020’s Balancier S, yet another inspiring set of shapes entered his universe, which he share with us here.
This is the story of a daily-wear watch: the Tsunami by Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. It’s not a “beater” as it’s too beautifully made for that description, and some folks justifiably take offense at characterizing a five-figure expenditure in those terms. But it is a watch that GaryG suspects that he will be wearing a lot and in a variety of settings.
This is one of the most important yet underappreciated parts of a watch: the crown. The humble crown has played an extensive role in helping Rolex – and the rest of the watch industry – get to where it is today. Here’s why.