BIG Watch Forum member Nad travelled to Shanghai. Luckily for us, he took about 500 pictures of the flight, his Panerai GMT, and the carpet. It’s actually quite fun.
Journey to Shanghai [BIG Watch Forum]
I wrote a review for my “day job” site, CrunchGear.com, of the Timex TX 730. Head on over and check it out.
Timex has long been the butt of countless jokes. A brand that used to take a licking and keep on ticking has been reduced to bargain bin quartz pieces with a few bright lights like the Ironman series to keep it afloat. Well, Timex has pulled a complete 180 and released a watch that I can honestly say is a step forward for the brand and, dare I say it, everyday horology.
Timex TX 730 Hands On [CrunchGear]
Our first 1-year ad sponsor, who will grace these pages until next April, is Blancier, our favorite custom watch site. Created by a watchmaker and a watch aficionado, the company has grown from a tiny factory in Germany into a custom powerhouse with amazing pieces at all price points. www.blancier.com is a great site and a great way to get a customized watch at a decent price. Please check them out.
www.blancier.com
Watchmakers, Sales Folks, and Generally Cool People – At the top of every page we will now be offering low-cost box ads at $40 per month or $300 per year. The pixel sizes are 130×90 or 520×90, depending on what you’d like to pick up. Please drop me a line at john at wristwatchreview.com if you’re interested in advertising.
WUS is running a poll about wearing more than one watch at once. Why would you do this? Because you’re crazy?
wearing multiple watches [Watchuseek Watch Forums]
Tasty! A new, 44mm JLC with GMT hand. Pretty beefy.
I have just handled two of the three pieces (this one and the chrono) and the Ti piece is very light. There’s a bit of Hublot in there, a bit of Offshore and from side-on a Sinn U1 feel – in fact it is a bit tuna-canny. I guess there’s only so many shapes you can play with for a dive watch…
Jaeger-LeCoultre Diving GMT [Velociphile's Journey into Watches]
I like Poljot, but I went to an actual Poljot store and tried a few of their models and found many of them were quite poorly made. Hopefully, this Alarm Traveller is considerably better. This has a mechanical alarm. The extra crowns are for setting the time and winding the internal alarm. Much like a Seiko Bellmatic, the alarm sounds like a teeny-tiny clockwork alarm clock as hammers pound on the sides of the case. Cute.
Way to go, Bathys! Our favorite US watch company is coming out with the Benthic, an improved version of their amazing Auto. Great work.
Specifications:
Size: 44.1 mm case diameter, 13 mm case height
Weight: 107 grams with strap
Movement: ETA 2892-2 21 jewel automatic running at 28’800 vph
Crystal: Domed sapphire with antireflection coating
Case: PVD coated with silver TiCN at 2 microns; engraved caseback
Water Resistance: 200M (110 Fathoms, 660 feet)
Caseback: Screw down type, engraved, PVD-coated 316L Steel
Crown: Screw down type 7.5 mm
Strap: Comes standard with 22mm Rubber Divers and 22mm Waterproof leather with matching PVD coated buckles.(Note that our mockup photo above shows a deployant folding clasp, however the watch comes on a standard leather band with a buckle and a rubber divers strap.)
Packed in a black Pelican Brand 1030 waterproof Microcase
1 year warranty from a US-based company
Swiss-Made
BATHYS Benthic Black PVD [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]
Hublot! What are you thinking!
Hublot Big Bang Diamond Watch [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]
Romain Jerome, a Geneva-based watchmaker, has created a series of timepieces made out of bits of the Titanic. Why, you ask? Hell if we know. Zachary over at TSL puts it best:
Wait, what? Apparently he bought a 3 pound section of the hull from some seller that he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) identify for the sole purpose of making something rich people would buy. But hang on, what about all those dead people? No worries, mate. Mr. Arpa’s response that “The combination of new and old materials infused the watches with a sense of renewal, instead of representing a reminder of the 1,500 passengers who drowned when the oceanliner met her tragic end off the coast of Newfoundland” makes perfect sense to me.
Titanic DNA? Some people will buy anything. [The Sporting Life]
I love Bell & Ross. This is a new piece from their Basel show. Fair enough. It’s blue. I think the Instrument series has pumped loads of creativity into a once-stagnant brand and even industry. It’s a cool fashion watch with enough gizmo chops to make it quite cool. But please, B&R — first the tourbillion now this? Let Glycine rock the crazy colors. Innovate, don’t “change things up.”
Someone at Bulgari must have bought titanium futures because this diver is so thick and, dare I say it, ostentatious that I want to maybe make a little puke. I really never liked Bulgari and this kind of tells me why. That knife looks cool, though.
It is all grown up… [The BIG Watch Forum]
Watchismo put together a nice collection of sports watches designed for scoring matches. The sub-dials simply rotate with each push of the button, marking up to four scores in a match. Crazy stuff. Didn’t they have paper?
Watches To Score With [THE WATCHISMO TIMES]
It looks like the lure of the complicated watch is digging deep into the substrata of watch buyers. The TX line is looking hot so far, with mechanical movements, lots of retrograde hands, and enough quality to make us think twice about Timex.
There are three series of TX watches right now: the 300 perpetual calendar (which doesn’t require adjustments on months with less than 31 days), the 500-series with a second time zone display, and 700-series with a stopwatch, second time zone, and an electronic compass. The picture is from the 730 model.
Timex TX Watches [WatchReport]
Oh, Watchismo, you know just what I need on a cold Monday morning.
Pulp Horology [Watchismo]
