Watch News: What’s ticking? November 6, 2014 British brand gets Swiss makeover Strolling up Shoreditch’s recently re-landscaped Leonard Street, City sorts might expect to see yet another gallery or artisan barista through the smoked window of number 83; certainly not a crisp watchmaking atelier, kitted with an array of precision tools and a 3D prototyping printer. But this is all part of [...]
Outrageous HM6 Space Pirate lands in London November 6, 2014 Announced to instant online acclaim on Tuesday, the latest “Horological Machine” from iconoclastic watchmaker MB&F will make its public debut today, at the SalonQP fine-watch show. A genuine feather in the cap for the Saatchi Gallery showcase, into its sixth edition this year, the HM6 Space Pirate is the most ambitious unveiling yet from Max [...]
A slice of Detroit in the West End November 6, 2014 Shinola, the resuscitated brand breathing new life into the blue-collar artisanal skills of America’s heartland, has landed in the heart of the buzzy Carnaby Street shopping precinct. Situated at 13 Newburgh Street, Shinola’s full range of “utility luxe” (our term) includes everything from watches (from £410) to leather goods, journals and even a selection of [...]
Fine watch show SalonQP arrives at the Saatchi Gallery November 6, 2014 If you’re a SalonQP regular, you’ll know what the fuss is about. Slowly but surely expanding in size and repute since 2009’s frayed-around-the-edges debut at One Marylebone, the Saatchi Gallery on King’s Road is now precisely the sort of slick, spacious, yet exclusive venue that London’s watch fans (both curious and diehard) and SalonQP’s [...]
It’s about time November 6, 2014 A crop of new collections prove that Switzerland is finally making watches for women with both beauty and brains. What took them so long Bellwethers pop up in the strangest of places. Last week, sandwiched between a Radio 4 discussion on the appeal of ghost stories and an item on people living with dementia was [...]
Go on, spoil her November 6, 2014 As any retailer will attest, the majority of women’s watches are self-purchased – a fact linked to women catching up with their male colleagues’ salaries. But with Christmas on the horizon, the notion of a gift that ticks should be dawning on our more generous readers. But how on Earth to shop for your clued-up [...]
A bluffer’s guide to Patek Philippe November 6, 2014 HISTORY Co-founder Antoine Norbert de Patek originally began his Genevan business in 1839 with fellow Polish immigrant François Czapek. Czapek was sidelined in 1844 and replaced a year later by Frenchman Jean Adrien Philippe, inventor of the keyless winding and setting system. INNOVATION One of Patek’s legion of innovations is the time-zone adjustment system seen [...]
175 years young November 6, 2014 Just what is it about Patek Philippe that keeps this brand at the top? Robin Swithinbank explores the unflagging appeal of Geneva’s favourite son You don’t have to be an avid consumer of luxury watches to have gathered there’s much ado about Patek Philippe at the moment. The reason is we’re in the great Genevan [...]
Into the blue November 6, 2014 A new tribute to James Cameron’s record descent into the Mariana Trench is a hugely over-engineered triumph On 30 September at the Hoyt Building in New York, a Rolex fell under the Antiquorum auctioneer’s gavel, fetching a cool $33,750 over the high estimate of $150,000. Any casual observer of auction trends will just assume this [...]
From the depths November 6, 2014 Three key diving watches from the past that are rocking our boat once again Eterna Super KonTiki 1973 £1,500 It’s a limited edition piece, but look hard enough and you can still get lucky – and lucky you certainly would be, given this piece’s gorgeous 70s styling, from the voluptuous ovoid case to the retro-orange [...]