Watching the Web for July 11, 2015

Welcome back to our weekly series, Watching the Web, where we look a other watch sites, and recap our more popular articles.  This week, we talk about timing competitions, the only Rolex to be known as Batman, and whether or not the phrase “in-house movement” really matters any more.  From our own pages, we have a pair of dives watches and a tidy vintage-styled GMT that hit the top of the charts.Did you know that timing competitions still exist?  Not, that is, events that are timed, but competitions to crown the most accurate watches and movements?  Those used to be a major thing prior to the quartz crisis, and then things (almost necessarily) tailed off.  They started back up a bit ago, but it is definitely a restrained race.  Check out the full writeup on what’s going on at Quill & Pad.

Next up, we have a review that actually dates back to 2014, but something that I think is worthwhile sharing.  If you cannot tell by the photo above, it’s a Rolex that goes by a more common colloquialism, the Batman.  Over at Life of a WIS, they have a review of the Rolex GMT Master BLNR.  I personally think that this is a great color combination for this particular model, and would give me a serious run for the wallet (against the arctic white Explorer II) if I ever get around to picking up a Rolex.

Last, but not least, we have an editorial that covers a term that we see sprinkled pretty liberally these days – in-house movement.  On one hand, this would seem to be a rather easy way to distinguish a watch coming from a company that really knows what they’re doing (and know the ins and outs of what they have built), rather than some company that “just” puts a commodity movement into watches of their own design.  For a full rundown on this topic, check out the editorial over at Hodinkee.

Now, let’s turn our attention back to our own pages.  First up, proving (once again) that dive watches are always popular, we have the new Diving Dutchman from Pellikaan Timing.  Yes, it may seem like an odd choice for it to house a manually-wound movement, but there is certainly a historical precedent.  We have also confirmed with the brand that the bezel does indeed move (60 click, uni-directional); I hope we can get one in for review so that we can see how it is to turn it given there is no additional grip.  For now, we’ll just refer you to the original writeup.

Next up, we have one of my favorite complications, the GMT.  While we have not been fortunate to have a Steinhart cross our desks here at WWR, they are plenty popular, and the brand has been putting together some solid watches.  The Ocean One Vintage Dual Time pulls together some great cues from watches of the past (Rolex is not hard to see here), and gives us a popular old-school design in modern manufacturing.

Finally, I have yet more proof that dive watches are certainly popular, as Matt’s writeup on the new Benarus Megalodon slipped into one of the top spots for the week once again.  It was popular with plenty of people, not just our readers, as the Kickstarter campaign (which closed July 4th) hit 300% of the funding goal.  There is a lot to like about the watches that are coming from Benarus, and the Megalodon is certainly one of, if not the, signature piece of the brand.

In case you have been living under a rock, here’s a reminder that John Biggs’ latest book, Marie Antionette’s Watch, is available as an ebook for purchase through the net, or you can buy a paperback from Amazon.  I rather liked the book, and you can read my review of it (as well as an interview with John) right here.

We just recently started up our new giveaway for the month, the Rossling & Co. Super Slim quartz watch with a small second hand.  You can check out Matt’s hands on review, then head over to the contest page and get your entry in.

We also want to put the call out for wrist shots of our reader’s favorite (or at least favorite of the moment) watches.  Put together an email of your wrist shot and tell us a little about the watch and why you love it.  If you happened to be introduced to it through our site (or won it through a give-away), even better.  Just make sure the image is a JPEG and at least 800 pixels wide.

With that, I will wrap up this edition of Watching the Web. As always, if there’s something you think we should be covering, feel free to drop us a line. If you bring something up that we end up writing about, we’ll be sure to tip our hats (electronically, if not literally) in your general direction.