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- We have a better option than an IWC and a much better option than a Hublot
We have a better option than an IWC and a much better option than a Hublot
Baume & Mericer doubles down on the angular-watch-with-visible-screws, Maurice Lacroix goes even more boring
Vuk Radic
March 03, 2023
Hey friends, we don't mean to alarm you, but it's time for another edition of your go-to watch newsletter. Don't be late!
In this issue:
A dark watch for a dark soul
A better option than a Hublot
Mido has been busy with their busy dial
And… invite your friends to win a Tiffany PRX
Today’s reading time: 5 minutes and 22 seconds
We’re starting off with a bang! We’re giving away TWO of this year’s hottest watches:
THE TIFFANY PRX!
This is the PRX Powermatic 80 we’re giving away. Not this one obviously. But one just like it.
That’s right! You’ve read about them, you’ve seen the videos and now you can own your own Tissot PRX with the Powermatic 80 movement and the light blue dial. All you have to do is forward this email to five of your friends and get them to click on the button below to subscribe. Both you and one of your friends will be eligible to win one of the watches
We only have two conditions when entering this giveaway - invite 5 of your friends to subscribe and live somewhere were you can buy the PRX online, so we can do this for you and ship it to your address. That’s it!
👂What’s new
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Take a look at most micro brands today. It’s a play on history, a variation of a diver or a regular complication implemented in an interesting way. Some brands do it better. Others are worse.
Then, there’s brands like Boldr. Aside from the horrible name, Boldr could have ended up like one of many micro brands. Only they said - lets make regular watches. Just make them darker than Ivan the Terrible’s soul.
Last year they came out with the Venture Singularity, a watch styled after the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, and painted the dial in Musou Black, a pain that absorbs 99.4% of the light on its surface. Not as absorbant as the 99.96% Vantablack that H. Moser & Cie. used. But the Moser is $25.000. The Boldr Venture is sub $450.
Their new watch is the Safari Vogelkop Superb, styled after the bird that carries the same name (Vogelkop Superb) - it’s all black, with the same 99.4% light absorbin. dial and electric blue accents. 40mm wide, 12mm thick and 46mm lug to lug, the Vogelkop Superb carries the Seiko NH35A automatic movement and is most likely very decently built. For $449, this is prices just low enough to get it for the novelty value.
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The Baume & Mercier Riviera has been around since 1973, so don’t go accusing them that they’re trying to cash in on the angular-watch-with-visible-screws trend. Yeah, sure, the old Riviera’s didn’t have the screws, but who are we to judge.
Now they slapped a GMT complication on it. The case is 42mm in diameter, 10.96mm thick. The lug-to-lug length comes in at around 49.5mm. It’s run by the calibre BM11893-2, which is basically an ETA 2893-2. Nothing special about it, but it is familiar and reliable - a 45-hour power reserve, 4Hz beat rate, hacking seconds and a quick-set date. The GMT hand moves in one-hour increments in the first position, so you can adjust the second time zone without needing to hack the movement and interrupt your current time.
What’s particularly cool about the Baume & Mercier’s are the fantastic textured arrow dials and the price - CHF 2,700 with rubber strap or CHF 2,850 with metal bracelet. Compare that to a Hublot, and this is a winner.
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In 2020 Mido remade their Powerwind Diver 1000 from the 1960s and called it the Ocean Star Decompression Timer. There was a bunch of people online who tried to make fun of the watch and it’s extremely busy dial. You just know that if the internet passionately hates something, it’s going to be a hit. Yeah, all 1961 pieces sold out right away.
So what did Mido do? Throw a glove into the internet’s face and come out with a GMT version. And made it busier. We usually only do photos for the leading story, but this watch is just too crazy not to throw in a photo of it:
Just look at it! It’s ridiculous. Two editions are released. First is a blue model, with blue bezel, blue background for the dial, blue rubber strap and decompression table executed in yellow, green, pink and blue. The other version, a bit less striking, has a black bezel, a black dial base, a black rubber strap and the decompression table is here done in graduated colours from yellow to orange. You can also get them on a milanese bracelet.
It has a Powermatic 80 movement (also known as ETA C07.66) with an additional GMT function. Best of all, they won’t be limited at all and at a price of $1,310, it should be as hot as the Moonswatch. Yea, we know, nothing is as hot, but it should be!
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I don’t think I ever looked at the Maurice Lacroix lineup. But now that they put out new colors for dials, it got me thinking. The Maurice Lacroix Pontos Chronograph is a 43mm chrono with new suburst dials in black and gunmetal gray, available on a leather strap or metal bracelet. It’s powered by the Cal. ML112, which is essentially Maurice Lacroix’s version of the Valjoux 7750, a boring and reliable movement that make sup the vast majority of Swiss mechanical chronographs.
Wouldn’t even be writing about it if it weren’t for two things. The good people at Maurice Lacroix really need to rethink their leather strap design. That logo at the 6 o’clock position is bad. But more importantly, this rather uninspiring and decent watch costs $3,200. So, please, get this rather than the uninspiring and decent IWC Portugieser Chronograph at $7,450
🫳On hand
Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon
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⚙️Watch Worthy
A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like
I could never pull of a 34mm watch. But there’s no denying that going small is becoming more and more of a trend. Riding high on that trend is Kurono Tokyo, a niche brand led by Hajime Asaoka, who produces only super-limited watches. Now they introduced their new line for 2023, which is as vintage as you can get.
⏲️Wait a minute
A bunch of links that might or might not have something to do with watches. One thing’s for sure - they’re interesting
Check out the 50th anniversary homage to the Dark Side of the Moon. No, not the Speedy, but the record.
The New Yorker has an excerpt from “The Wager,” which reconstructs an eighteenth-century British naval expedition whose catastrophic end inspired numerous conflicting accounts—and influenced the work of Charles Darwin and Herman Melville
Hodinkee has an interesting overview of Chopard’s first in-house movement
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
You might know who Casey Neistat is. No worries if you don’t - he’s a very popular Youtuber, who basically pioneered the Vlog format and set the artistic guidelines for thousands of vlogers to come after him.
Who you really might not know is Van Neistat, his brother. Van is a prolific and extremely talented filmmaker, writer and enjoyer of life. This is his most recent video.
😉Famous faces
Celebrities are just like us 😄
💵Pre-loved precision
Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us
SOLD: Rolex Explorer I 39 mm Mark I, ref. 214270. Great condition, no box or papers. €7250, OBO. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch
For sale: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch
Want to sell your watch to a community of passionate horologists? Reach out to us and we’ll put your ad up. $15 per listing without photos, $25 with photos. 10 available slots per day, discounts for multiple slots.
We’re starting off with a bang! We’re giving away TWO of this year’s hottest watches:
THE TIFFANY PRX!
This is the PRX Powermatic 80 we’re giving away. Not this one obviously. But one just like it.
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