Welcome to our latest edition of Historical Horology, the series where we dive into some aspect of the history of watches and watch making. While we often hop into the wayback machine for this series, this time around we are focusing on something a bit more recent, and on a watch that many of us either currently own, or have owned in the past – the Seiko SKX779, aka the Seiko Monster.
When is a dive watch not a “dive watch?” Well, when it pays homage to the submarine service, as the G. Gelach ORP Orzel 85A watch does, now available from this Polish watch maker. The watch commemorates the ORP Orzel, a modern (by WWII standards) submarine from the Polish Navy that escaped from the Baltic Sea at the onset of WWII and found service in the British Royal Navy until her sinking in 1940 (her short history on Wikipedia is worth a read).
I recently had a chance to check out the line of Sinn Watches at a WatchBuys Road Show, and the first watch that caught my eye was the new T1B in titanium. Sitting next to it was the T2B, a smaller version of the watch, also in titanium. Depending on your size preference, the Sinn T1B and T2B are really attractive with the new blue dial, are very light, and have a hidden feature to make that bezel especially secure.
If you have been reading our site for a while, you should be familiar with the TokyoFlash brand. They make playful digital watches that are sometimes a little… obscure… in how they are read. Straightforward or not, the brand like to play around with how time is represented on the dial. Both Patrick and I have had the chance to check out various models in hand, and I can attest that the build quality of the watches is solid, at least on an initial review. Now, the brand is announcing two new variations, both TokyoFlash Japan wood cased watches, the Radioactive and the Vortex.
Mokume-gane is a traditional Japanese metalworking technique where different metals are fused together in order to create a billet with a layered look, which is then worked into whatever shape is needed. This 17th Century technique was developed for ornate Samurai swords that were decorative status symbols. Now, this layered look is being used as a watch case in the H2O Kalmar 2 Mokume Gane Watches, available for pre-order on their web site.
Last month, you all really liked the Mr Jones watch we had up for giveaway. So, we thought we would continue on with more of a good thing. That means for our October 2015 giveaway, you have a chance to win the Mr Jones Watches Chatterobox.
I was introduced to Magrette through a good friend, who found the brand before I started writing for WWR. Of course, Patrick has been a fan for a while, and I have also covered a few of their watches here. If you follow me on Instagram, you will see that I occasionally post wrist shots of my hand wound Moana Pacific Chronograph, which I love. So when I see new additions to the Magrette Moana Pacific Pro line, especially ones as pretty as the blue dial version above, I want to spread the word.
When a new, or at least fairly novel, watch product shows up in the market (and by market these days, it is increasingly on crowd funded sites), I like to take a look at it. We are being more selective in what we cover in the crowd funded market, but the Evarii Modular Watch, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, is worth a look (actually a second look, since Patrick gave a sneak peek in February); it is also a sister brand to one we have covered a bit in the past, Egard. Evarii sent me components to mix and match two different watches, so I had a chance to play around with the concept.
We first brought you word of the Manchester Watch Works Vergennes and Westminster watches not all that long ago (link). Of the two trench watch-inspired pieces, I found myself drawn the most to the white-dialed one. As fortune would have it, there was one of those available for us to go hands-on with, even though the Kickstarter project (link) is still running. Without further ado, let’s get into our review of the Manchester Watch Works Vergennes.
So why do we wear watches? The obvious answer is that we want to know what time it is, but that begs the follow up question, why do you want to know what time it is. Maybe you have a date, a meeting, your parking meter is going to expire in an hour… But what if you just want to know the approximate time? Say, plus of minus 10 minutes. Like, when you are driving. It does not matter what time it is, you will get there when you get there. The Ferro Distinct Single Hand Watch, with it’s motoring look, is the perfect watch for those times in your lives.
