Oracle Time - Issue 112 - May 25' ( Tech issue)

WATCHES | ST YLE | CULTUR E

CUR ATED FOR COLLECTORS

ISSUE .112

The Year Ahead

PANERAI The Tech Issue Quartz Chronometry, Quantum Clocks & Connected Cool

ISSUE 112

9.96

£

Welcome

ORACLE TIME #112

Editor’s letter On its surface, watchmaking might seem like the most traditional, artisan craft around.

To some extent that’s true, insofar as haute horology and hand—crafted parts go hand-inhand. But there wouldn’t be a modern watch industry without the steady march of technology.

The most obvious combination of chronometry and tech is quartz. We all know, for example, what quartz did to the watch industry of the 1970s. We have a whole crisis for it. And Seiko’s battery-powered movement is still ubiquitous among the vast majority of watches in the world. But did you know there was originally a contender to the Japanese brand? Tim Vaux delves into the Beta 21 story on page 126.

Like every other industry though, what was once cutting-edge is now everywhere and quartz these days has a reputation for cheap, affordable, mass-produced watches. And sure, quartz watches are innately more accessible than their mechanical counterparts. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be cool. As we run down on page 47, there are some seriously appealing quartz options out there, ranging from funky impulse buys to more pocket-friendly prestige pieces.

Still, you could argue that the modern equivalent of quartz is the connected watch. I wouldn’t, but you could.

Connected watches are everywhere and at every budget, well beyond the ubiquitous Apple Watch. In fact, knowing where to start with the wearable tech can be a minefield – so we asked T3’s Sam Cross to talk us through it. Find out his tips, tricks and picks of the best on page 88.

COVER CREDITS Photography: Teddy Clark Watch: Panerai Luminor Marina Green

Even a connected watch, however, isn’t necessarily the most accurate form of timekeeping. What if there were a clock so accurate that it outpaced the precise movements of the Earth? That’s atomic timekeeping.

What if I told you there was something even more accurate? That’s quantum timekeeping. Alex Doak wraps his head around the laser-filled subject on page 59.

Everything so far is in the past; the biggest tech story of the year so far has without a doubt been Rolex’s new movement, with a shiny new, uber-efficient silicon balance.

It’s proof positive that silicon is the wonder-material we all think it is – but as Chris Hall asks, why don’t independent’s use it? Further ruminations on page 66.

While the Land-Dweller was indeed big news, we saw plenty more at Watches & Wonders than that. I mean, check out our photo journal on page 76. If you want to get a real sense for what it’s like to spend a week at the world’s most important watch show, check it out.

One brand that took an unusual approach to their 2025 release slate was Panerai, not because of any insane high complications (cough, Vacheron, cough), but by simply updating their most popular model, the Luminor Marina, our titanium-clad cover star for this issue. In short, more watch for the same money.

But while that’s a solid job well done, behind the scenes Panerai is heading in a very different direction. Have you ever wanted a custom perpetual calendar or minute repeater? Then you’ll want to turn to page 38, where we talk to Panerai’s Jérôme Cavadini about the brand’s under-the-radar made-to-measure service.

It’s not all watches of varying degrees of tech this issue. Ahead of 24 hours of Le Mans 2025, Rory Smith investigates how the legendary race’s hypercar class has become a hotbed of innovation for the world’s most famous marques – specifically, the new Aston Martin Valkyrie. Pure car porn is on page 111.

All of these tech-focused subject said, you are currently holding a gloriously archaic print magazine. So inbetween however many hours of screen time you subject your poor, aching eyes to, make sure to give them a rest with some old-school print.

And as ever, stay safe, stay sane and enjoy this issue,

KEEP IN TOUCH:

Sam Kessler, Editor

@oracle_time @oracle_time facebook.com/oracleoftime oracleoftime.com

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ORACLE TIME #112

WATCHES | STYLE | CULTURE EDITOR

Contributors

Sam Kessler

sam.kessler@opulentmedia.co.uk ART DIRECTOR

Hicham Kasbi

design@opulentmedia.co.uk SUB EDITOR

Dan Mobbs

danmobbs@hotmail.com DIGITAL EDITOR

Michael Sonsino

michael.sonsino@opulentmedia.co.uk LEAD DEVELOPER

Michael Pepper

michael@opulentmedia.co.uk DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR

Kelly Coombes

kelly.coombes@opulentmedia.co.uk CONTENT CREATOR

Calista Edwards

calista.edwards@opulentmedia.co.uk JUNIOR SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE

Teddy Clark

Sam Cross

As a Senior Writer for T3, Sam spends every day at the crossroads between technology and premium gadgets. He’s also the brand’s in-house watch expert, covering the latest news and reviews. When he’s not ogling escapements and pondering power reserves, Sam can often be found with a vintage camera in hand practising photography in the least convenient ways.

Rory FH Smith

Rory FH Smith is a freelance journalist covering all things cars, motorsport design and travel for the Financial Times, Telegraph and Wallpaper among others.

For this issue, he explores the booming but curious business case of building new, old cars, which often sell for millions.

Better known as ‘restomods,’ are these shiny new classics the next best thing or just poor taste?

Tim Vaux

Tim lives and breathes this world as a watch writer and photographer, working with the top media outlets, retailers, watch brands, and many of the top curators of high-end vintage watches. He also gets a kick from shooting watches in natural, real environments to capture how they truly look on the wrist.”

teddy.clark@opulentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER / CO-FOUNDER

Mark Edwards

mark@opulentmedia.co.uk MANAGING EDITOR / CO-FOUNDER

Tom Pettit

tom@opulentmedia.co.uk MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER

Violet Li

Violet.li@opulentmedia.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER AND ADMINISTRATOR

Jaden Mulcare

jaden.mulcare@opulentmedia.co.uk ADVERTISING SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Oliver Morgan

oliver.morgan@opulentmedia.co.uk 020 8571 4615 ACCOUNT MANAGER

Freddie Bridge

freddie.bridge@opulentmedia.co.uk 0208 057 1140 JUNIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Nancy Miller

nancy.miller@opulentmedia.co.uk 0203 985 1414 OT MAGAZINE is published monthly

by Opulent Media 020 8571 4615

Chris Hall

Chris Hall has been writing about watches for 14 years, and publishes The Fourth Wheel, a weekly newsletter for watch enthusiasts as well as contributing to The New York Times, Financial Times, Wired, QP, The Telegraph, Vanity Fair, Vogue Business and many other titles.

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Michael Sonsino

As Digital Editor for Oracle Time, Michael needs an eye for detail, which makes it a good thing that his twin joys in life are miniatures and watches. He’s a lifelong fan of fine timepieces, especially those of a more historic nature - if it has a twist of Art Deco, all the better.

Alex Doak

Alex is a freelance writer and editor based out of his east London home office/yoga studio/ classroom (lockdown has brought its distractions, needless to say).

Specialising in watches, you can find Alex’s timely words under mastheads as diverse as CNN, Evening Standard, GQ, Port and Mr Porter himself.

Printed by Stephens & George Ltd using vegetable-based inks onto materials which have been sourced from wellmanaged sustainable sources

ORACLE TIME #112

Contents

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O T M a g a z i n e / i s s u e 112

38 — SUIT YOU, SIR

The Italian heritage Swiss watchmaker is making your custom haute horology dreams come true

In the last few years, 19 — AFICIONADO Panerai has been Discover some of the coolest very careful in what items in the world and what should be in your basket they put out. There have been no wacky 25 — NEWS What’s happening in the world colours, no strange of fine watchmaking and the combinations, luxury industry at large nothing that isn’t 35 — INTRODUCING aesthetically Your guide to all the latest and distinctly Panerai greatest watch releases from around the world

Suit You, Sir - p38

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ORACLE TIME #112

Contents 2

66 — DIALLED IN

Forget advanced polymers.

True innovation is (still) in silicon according to Chris Hall

70 — THE INTERVIEW: MIKA HAKKINEN The Flying Finn on watch loyalty, an era of risk taking, and not trying to be a rockstar

76 — WISH YOU WERE HERE With warm regards, enjoy our photo journal postcard from Watches & Wonders 2025

88 — SMARTWATCHES FOR BEGINNERS

For when tracking your running pace is more important than tracking time zones

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97 — GADGETS FOR THE WATCH NERD

The best technological tit bits to help make the most of your horological obsession

105 — TWO MEN OF INFLUENCE

The founders of Heist Out discuss watches, authenticity, and Lorenzo’s nona

111 — THE 24-HOUR WAR IN LE MANS 126

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Just look at that shape… how could you not want to try it on?

The Coolest Quartz - p47

47 — THE COOLEST QUARTZ

Ignore your inner snob and learn more about the coolest quartz pieces around

59 — THE ORACLE SPEAKS

Alex Doak asks, what even is a ‘quantum’ clock?

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Why are so many luxury car brands flocking to France for a day long automotive joust?

126 — UNSUNG VINTAGE HERO

How the Swiss houses came together to conquer quartz – and why it didn’t work

133 — WATCH REVIEWS

We get hands-on with watches from Christopher Ward and Formex

143 — MICROBRAND CORNER All the latest and greatest brands from the world of independent watchmakers

A FI C I O N A D O The coolest things in tech right now

HOTTEST HATCH Plenty of car manufacturers – like watchmakers – have been delving into their archives to give the restomod treatment to iconic models. But if there’s one pin-up every 1980s petrolhead has been waiting for, it’s the Renault 5 turbo. And now it’s back – and more frothingly angry than ever.

This is what happens when Renault has had enough of all this hypercar crap and decides to do something about it. Let’s quickly run down the specs here: 536bhp. 3,540lb ft of torque. 1,450kg.

The end result? A 0-100 km sprint in under 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 270km/h. The fact that it has the dimensions of a council estate boy racer makes the new R5 Turbo 3E more than a little bit terrifying – and a whole hell of a lot of fun.

Limited to 1,980 units, from (an estimated) £120,000, renault.co.uk

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aficionado

PERFECT FRAMING Point, shoot, admire the fantastic results. That’s the concept behind Leica’s powerful compact camera, the D-Lux 8. It still has that iconic Leica design, still has all the behind-the-scenes tech that makes them a photography favourite the world over, just condensed into something small, easy to handle and easily portable. At 21mp, it’s the most compact form of high resolution and the Leica DC Vario-Summilux lens ensures fine detail no matter the lighting. If you can’t take killer shots with this, you might need to accept that your equipment isn’t the problem. £1,450, leica-camera.com

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aficionado

DIGITAL REALITY Forget cochlear-hurting VR and embrace augmented reality better than ever before. If you’ve tried on VR glasses before then one of your friends likely has a photo of you looking like a less cool Geordi La Forge. The latest, top-end glasses from XREAL on the other hand are slim, with nearly invisible prisms in the lenses and a svelte processor that means you could just have funky taste in sunglasses.

The real secret though isn’t the UV protection (100%, by the way), but XREAL’s spatial computing chip, bringing ever more reality to the physical-digital world. These might well be the first AR glasses that you’ll actually want to put on outside of your man cave. £549, xreal.com

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aficionado

ROLL OUT Ever been sitting, working at your laptop, wishing that you had more space? You could get a second screen, but that’s not exactly portable and a wider screen means a heavier machine. In short, you’re out of luck. Unless of course you line up to grab Lenovo’s new ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 with its shiny new rollable screen.

Rolling screens are getting more common in big formats, but this is the first laptop that’s embraced the technology. Essentially, you can simply roll your screen out to increase from the size from 14" to 16.7", adding around 50% more space. Having a conference call and you want to see everyone at once? Roll out the screen. Working across multiple documents? Roll out the screen. Want to make everyone in the coffee shop feel inferior? You got it, roll out the screen. $3,499 (approx. £2,750), lenovo.com

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G-SHOCK & AWE When you think high-tech watches – outside of smartwatches, obviously – Casio’s extreme G-Shock line is never far from the conversation. While that normally involves accessible digital watches built like tanks, in their MR-G line, they take things to a much more horologically prestigious level.

In their latest, the catchily-named MRG-B2100R-2A, that means a blue dial inspired by Japanese Kigumi (a woodworking technique of interlocking joinery sans nails) and a platinum-like COBARION bezel. Otherwise, it’s a big, bold, blacked-out beast of a watch and yes, thanks to the shock absorbing buffers in its Multi-Guard Structure, it’s still built like a tank. £3,300, g-shock.co.uk

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EDITED BY Michael Sonsino

NEWS The latest and greatest from the creative world of independent microbrands

HANDS ON HOROLOGY Have you secured your ticket yet? Hands On Horology is coming to London’s Protein Studios in Shoreditch next month! With over 40 brands, including anOrdain, AWAKE, Ball, Baltic, Beaucroft, BOLDR, Christopher Ward, CIGA Design, Doxa, Duckworth Prestex, Favre Leuba, Formex, Haute Rive, Herbelin, Horage, Jean Rousseau, Junghans, Micromilspec, Nodus, Paulin, RZE, Serica, Studio Underd0g, and Venezianico, plus more to be announced soon, this is your chance to experience some of the most exciting names in horology hands-on.

Early bird tickets are available until Wednesday 14th May, find out more at onhorology.com

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world news

NOMADIC WATCHES OPENS FIRST BOUTIQUE IN BELFAST

Belfast-based Nomadic watches have announced they are opening their first ever boutique in their home city.

However, it’s more than a boutique because it’s also part atelier, with an on-site workshop where customers will be able to view Nomadic’s

watchmakers at work, assembling and fine-tuning timepieces live. The project has received over £1 million of investment from the brand and is a key part of their efforts to increase annual watch production from 2,000 pieces to 5,000 pieces by 2027.

Founder, Peter McAuley, shares his excitement. “Having a flagship location like this has been an ambition of ours since starting Nomadic. I firmly believe that in a world filled with Artificial Intelligence, people value a meaningful in-person experience more than ever. Speaking face to face with an expert, getting hands on with a watch and immersing themselves in an incredible retail environment is not something you can replicate online. We see this space as less about retail and more about connecting with people. That’s why we designed this space in colaboration with Crown Creative who are world class in the hospitality sector. This store is the realisation of that vision, and I can’t wait to bring this experience to the Belfast high street – with plans to expand to other cities around the world.”

Learn more at nomadicwatches.com

WATCHES & WONDERS IN REVIEW Last month the watch world descended on Geneva to take part in Watches & Wonders, the largest watch exhibition event in the world. It turned out to be one of the more interesting shows in recent years thanks to unexpected launches such as the (somewhat divisive) Rolex Land-Dweller, Tudor’s 1,000m Pelagos Ultra and Grand Seiko’s Ultra Fine Accuracy Spring Drive Ice Forest. If you missed any releases make sure to check the Oracle Time website.

Watches & Wonders have also revealed that it was their

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biggest event to date with a record breaking 55,000 visitors across the week including media, retailers, and the public open days. For the public days alone 23,000 tickets were sold.

Between media coverage, social media posts and more it’s estimated that more than 700 million people saw some Watches & Wonders coverage in some format or another.

While the watch industry might have been on shaky ground the past few years following the burst of the post-pandemic bubble, it shows that collectors are just as interested in watches as ever.

Learn more at watchesandwonders.com

world news

LOUIS VUITTON WATCH PRIZE FOR INDEPENDENT CREATIVES 2025 After the success of the inaugural Louis Vuitton Prize for Independent Creatives, the Parisian brand will be running the contest again in 2025.

It’s a prize awarded to the most impressive and creative independent watchmaker,

championing innovation and the development of new and traditional skills. Last year’s winner was Raúl Pagès with the completely handcrafted RP1 - Régulateurà détente.

At time of writing applications to participate in the new edition of the prize are still open but by the time you are reading this, entries will have closed, so there are no participating watchmakers to announce at this moment in time. However, what has

been announced is the Committee of Experts presiding over the prize and which includes many famous faces from the independent watchmaking, retail and watch journalism scene, including Arial Adams from ABlogtoWatch, Adam Craniotes from RedBar, our own contributing writer James Dowling, Philippe Dufour, Rexhep Rexhepi and Hajime Asaoka.

Learn more at louisvuittonwatchprize.com

WATCHES OF JESOLO Watches of Jesolo are hosting their debut watch show and sale exhibition this month from 10th to 11th May at the Palazzo del Turismo di Jesolo near Venice, Italy. The event is a spin-off of Watches of Italy and focuses on prominent Italian watch brands, as well as emerging names in global independent horology.

Entrance to the event is free with opening hours of 10am to 7pm, including access to several activities and talks. These include Happy Horology Hour with DJ set on Saturday 10th May from 5pm

to 9pm, live watchmaking-themed painting created by the artist Crimasso, and Sunday Talk from 3pm to 4.30pm with Marco Beltrandi of Tempo & Misura and Master Watchmaker Finisseur Alberto Nagliero discussing “Finissage in High Watchmaking.”

The moderator will be the journalist and Orafix Director Marco De Luca.

Frankly it also makes for a wonderful excuse to visit Venice in the spring.

Learn more at watchesofitaly.com

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world news

PHILLIPS F.P. JOURNE GENEVA WATCH AUCTION XXI HIGHLIGHT Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo are back in Geneva this May for the Geneva Watch Auction XXI on the 10th and 11th. One of the highlights of the sale will be the Breguet Sympathique N°1, built by FrançoisPaul Journe in 1991. It’s a master clock that comes with a matching tourbillon wristwatch, making it the ultimate haute horology collectors’ set.

Alexandre Ghotbi, Head of Watches, Europe & Middle East, and Tiffany To, Head of Sale, jointly said, “Sir David Salomons, the world’s greatest Breguet collector, once wrote, ‘to carry a fine Breguet watch is to feel that you have the brains of a genius in your pocket.’ To paraphrase him, the Breguet Sympathique N°1 offers the extraordinary sensation of having Breguet’s genius reimagined for modern times through the vision of F.P.Journe and THA – placing the brilliance of these watchmaking masters on your mantelpiece, in your pocket, or on your wrist. It is an absolute honour to bring this historic masterpiece back to the market after over 30 years – a symbol of craftsmanship and human ingenuity that transcends generations and continues to inspire collectors and connoisseurs alike.”

The set has an estimate of CHF 1,000,000 (approx £925,000), though for an item as rare as this, that seems conservative.

“ To carry a fine Breguet watch is to feel that you have the brains of a genius in your pocket ”

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world news

WATCHFINDER & CO. WATCH REPORT Watchfinder have published their 2024 watch industry report, detailing the most popular watch models among collectors based on Google searches, celebrity influence, social media impact, consumer demand, watch value, brand recognition, and editorial exposure. Based on data from the UK, the Rolex Datejust continues to show its dominance as the most popular watch, with over 1.5 million searches and over 100,000 social media mentions.

Second place though is rather surprising, the Breitling Chronomat.

Watchfinder suggest this is due to active celebrity endorsement from the likes of Victoria Beckham and sports influences in both rugby and football. In the UK the average price of a Chronomat increased by 7% in the UK last year.

Learn more at watchfinder.co.uk

Throughout the day, watchmaking will be explored in all its dimensions

WORLD WATCH DAY ANNOUNCEMENT The Journée Internationale de l’Horologerie has announced its brand-new initiative, World Watch Day. An annually occurring celebration of watchmaking taking place on 10th

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Rolex Datejust

2.

Breitling Chronomat

3.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

4.

Cartier Tank

5.

Omega Seamaster

6.

Rolex GMT Master

7.

Tag Heuer Formula 1

8.

Rolex Daytona

9.

Omega Speedmaster

10.

Rolex Submariner

October every year. Why 10th October?

Well, it’s 10:10, the iconic positioning of watch hands seen time and time again in photography and a sort of inside joke in the watch industry.

According to the announcement, “on October 10, 2025, the very first edition of World Watch Day will stream online, following time zones from East to West.

In the spirit of shared celebration, the day will be animated by media outlets, associations, collectors’ clubs, and content creators from all over the world. Throughout the day, watchmaking will be explored in all its dimensions – from culture to science, from economics to sport, from traditional craftsmanship to contemporary art.“ It’s already endorsed by several major groups within the watch world such as Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), ensuring that it should be a day to remember.

Learn more at worldwatchday.org

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© Header Illustration Prints Harry

head to head

The tourbillon has undergone many alterations and transformations since it was patented by AbrahamLouis Breguet in 1801. However, its many innovations are all linked to the same goal – reducing the impact of gravity on the accuracy and reliability of a watch’s movement. Focusing on the idea of gravity, let’s look at two watches that take this monumental force and put it at the heart of what they do.

ZENITH DEFY ZERO G

The Zenith Defy Zero G is in some regards the anti-tourbillon.

Rather than keeping the balance spring in constant motion in relation to the Earth like a tourbillon, the balance is held in a gyroscopic gimbal that means it’s always held flat in relation to the Earth, the optimal position for accuracy as gravity exerts a constant and consistent force on it.

The watch has an aventurine dial to create the image of the stars, while the gravity control mechanism is decorated with meteorite that looks like the surface of the moon.

S C O R E S: Innovation: ———————————————————————————————————————— 92 Style: ————————————————————————————————————————————— 85 Durability: ————————————————————————————————————————— 76 Value: ————————————————————————————————————————————— 72 Desirability: ——————————————————————————————————————— 78 Head to Head Rating: ———————————————————————————————— 82

The Zero G deserves a very high innovation rating because it doesn’t follow the easy path, replacing a tourbillon with something exciting and different. Plus, a full sapphire case always helps.

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With a price of £149,700, it’s difficult to call the Zero G good value. But then, the same could go for many watches that are equal parts work of art, science project and exercise in material mastery.

head to head

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Hybris Mechanica 184 is a gyrotourbillon. What that means is the tourbillon rotates on multiple axis at the same time. Spinning in a circle as normal but also rotating end over end. This means that while gravity is pulling the balance in a different direction at any given moment, the fact the balance is also in a different position means that the net effect of gravity on the accuracy of the movement is negligible. Theoretically the same can be achieved just by swinging your arms as you wear the watch.

JAEGER-LECOULTRE MASTER HYBRIS MECHANICA 184

While the tourbillon and even the gyrotourbillon aren’t new concepts, the JLC makes them fresh by downsizing them and presenting them in conjunction with a minute repeater and perpetual calendar. As if one haute horological complication wasn’t enough.

It features a grand feu enamel dial with golden latticelike details surrounding the main timekeeping display, which consists of hours, minutes and pointer date with apertures for year, month and day.

Made from gold with only 50m water resistance and equipped with multiple notoriously fragile complications, the Hybris Mechanica is much more a display and exhibition watch than something to wear at the golf course.

S C O R E S: Innovation: ———————————————————————————————————————— 90 Style: ————————————————————————————————————————————— 88 Durability: ————————————————————————————————————————— 52 Value: ————————————————————————————————————————————— 80 Desirability: ——————————————————————————————————————— 84 Head to Head Rating: ———————————————————————————————— 79

It’s interesting to see the alternative methods Zenith and JLC have used to mitigate the effects of gravity on a watch’s movement. Zenith have leant fully into a futuristic theme with influences drawing on space and stars. It uses cutting edge materials like sapphire crystal, while also standing out in a crowd of anti-gravity watches thanks to its distinctive gravity control mechanism. Meanwhile, JLC are much more traditional, using an advanced version of technology developed more than two centuries ago. They offer very different approaches to the same problem. Of course, a cynic might say that it’s a problem that doesn’t even really exist in watchmaking. To which I say, would you prefer that these amazing watches didn’t exist as well?

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time out

ORACLE

TIME OUT

@mattheram

W AT CH

ES | ST

Want to showcase your own eye for a perfectly composed watch shot? Well, get your hands on this issue, get snapping and don’t forget to use #oracletimeout for your chance to nab a page to yourself next month.

ED FO R

CO LL EC

TO RS

For now though, Oracle Time, Out. IS SU E .110

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should we amp up our lighting drama in the future? Feel free to let us know.

And if you want to read some of Matt’s horological musings, be sure to visit mtr-watches.com.

Want to showcase your own eye for a perfectly composed watch shot?

Well, get your hands on this issue, get snapping and don’t forget to use #oracletimeout for your chance to nab a page to yourself next month.

CU R AT

Light is all-important in watch photography. You can frame a shot perfectly, get those dial details in beautifully clear focus, but without a mastery of lighting, it just won’t come together. It’s something that we’ve learned over the years and last issue’s cover shot featuring the new Gerald Charles anniversary piece is pretty bang-on.

Well, watch photographer and Blogger Matt Harvey – on Instagram as @mattheram – decided to one-up us with this stunning shot of his Omega Speedmaster. As he says of his shot, “my inspiration for this shot was drawn from the fantastic light play on issue 111. The cover image featured bold lighting and strong shadows which isn’t a lighting style I use often enough!”

That said, this section’s all about how you enjoy the magazine and nobody does so with a perfectly positioned watch bathed in studio lighting. Oracle Time is a magazine to kick back and relax with, not just to be used as a prop. So, Matt took a more nuanced approach to his mini-Speedy photoshoot.

“When I get my copy of Oracle Time, it’s a time to relax and step away from screens and read and that’s precious and casual time for me personally.

Fusing these two themes meant a casual almost haphazard positioning on the watch on the cover but in a thoughtful way to make it fit with that strong lighting.”

The result is a shot with dramatic lighting that still feels believable, and a strap where you can almost feel the texture. We love it. The question is,

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YOUTUBE As you likely realise while reading these pages, there’s nothing like a glossy mag devoted to fine timepieces. So if you’re reading this without an annual subscription, you can sign-up to 10 issues of incredible watch-flavoured content for £89.50, with plenty more perks besides the magazine to come.

Looking for even more? You can also find us on Instagram to share your thoughts and wrist shots, or YouTube, where you can see our latest video reviews and roundups. However you engage with the world of watches, we have you covered.

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R OLE X

Land-Dweller

Objectively terrible name aside, there’s a lot to love in Rolex’s new flagship. The sharp, faceted case is Oysterquartz-adjacent, complete with a lovely, flat-linked bracelet and the dial is funky (if divisive) with its hexagonal lasered pattern. The main action though is happening inside with a shiny new, high-frequency escapement. The Dynapulse is a genuine innovation, 30% more efficient than your usual Swiss lever number, improved even on Omega’s Co-Axial and is the technological advancement the Land-Dweller is pinning its future success to. This is for sure Rolex’s biggest release of the year, but it might also be their biggest release of the decade.

THE DETAIL: • 36mm/40mm white Rolesor/ Everose gold/platinum case with 100m water resistance • Calibre 7135 automatic movement with 66-hour power reserve • From £12,250, rolex.com

TU D O R

Pelagos Ultra

The deepest diving Tudor watch is here and it’s everything we love about the Pelagos dialled up to 11. It still has the stripped back, tool watch vibe that sets it apart from the Black Bay, but now scaled up to 43mm. The indexes and numerals have done the same, with chunkier overall proportions across the dial. Why all this extra size? The new Pelagos lives up to its Ultra moniker with 1,000m water resistance, heading deep into Rolex and Omega waters. That does include the price too, though the full titanium watch offers a lot for its just over £5,000 price tag, complete with a METAS-certified movement. And let’s be honest, it’s a great move for Tudor.

THE DETAIL: 43mm titanium case with 1,000m water resistance MT5612-U calibre automatic movement with 65-hour power reserve • £5,070, tudorwatch.com • •

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introducing

CARTIER

Tank Louis Cartier Automatic

Sure, a lot of hay’s been made over the Tank à Guichets and the jumping hour masterpiece is worth the hype. But for most of us, simply getting a larger-sized Tank Louis Cartier with an automatic movement is all we’ve wanted from Cartier for years. The new 38.1mm of rose or yellow gold makes it more suited to anyone not hard into diminutive vintage sizing, though it keeps the dress watch slimness the collection’s known for at 8.18mm thick. Otherwise, it’s pure Art Deco Tank loveliness. I won’t go into its Renault tank inspirations; you already know what this collection’s all about and this might just be the tankiest Tank around.

THE DETAIL: 38.1mm yellow or rose gold case with 30m water resistance • 1899 MC calibre automatic movement with 40-hour power reserve • £13,700, cartier.com •

VACHERON CONSTANTIN Les Cabinotiers Solaria

In case you didn’t hear, Vacheron are celebrating their 270th anniversary this year and to celebrate, they’ve released… the most complicated wristwatch ever built. I won’t beat around the bush: this is insane. Ready for what’s in it? Deep breath: perpetual calendar, lunar indications, a minute repeater with a Westminster chime, a split-second chronograph and a whole suite of astronomical indications, including a new one that lets you time a celestial object. Oh, and it tells you the time, too for a grand total of 41 different complications. It’s necessarily a one-of-one showpiece but even then, this is an absolutely magnificent object, even if it looks downright hilarious from the side.

THE DETAIL: 45mm white gold case with 30m water resistance • 3655 calibre manual-wind movement with 72-hour power reserve • POA, piece unique, vacheron-constantin.com •

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introducing

BULGARI

Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon

Another year, another record-breaking watch from Bulgari in the realms of the ultra-thin. A reprise of their 2014 record, this is the world’s thinnest tourbillon, riffing on the architecture of the 2022 model that was sandbagged by Richard Mille. It’s hard to overstate just how thin this thing is as it makes most loose change seem chunky at 1.85mm thick. It still manages a 42-hour power reserve and shows that even if there are no challengers, Bulgari’s more than happy to break their own records.

THE DETAIL: 40mm tungsten carbide case with 30m water resistance • BVF 900 calibre manual-wind movement with 42-hour power reserve • £628,000, limited to 20 pieces, bulgari.com •

ALPINA

Heritage Tropic-Proof

All these unobtainable and mortgage-baiting pieces getting a bit much? How about an accessible palate-cleanser in the form of the fun Alpina Heritage Tropic-Proof. An authentic deep cut into the brand’s backcatalogue, it’s 34mm case, straightforward field watch appearance and its sharp, pointed indexes all help is do what it needs to: be worn wherever, whenever, even if you’re not in the tropics. And that’s all. In a year of recordbreakers, chronometric advancements and haute horology aplenty, it’s nice to see something that’s cool, simple and accessible.

THE DETAIL: 34mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • AL-480 calibre manual-wind movement with 42-hour power reserve • £1,595, alpinawatches.com •

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suit you, sir

SUIT YOU, SIR W O R D S :

Sam Kessler

THE ITALIAN HERITAGE SWISS WATCHMAKER IS MAKING YOUR CUSTOM HAUTE HOROLOGY DREAMS COME TRUE – WITH SOME UNDERSTANDABLE CAVEATS

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xxxxx

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suit you, sir

Since they were first strapped to the wrists of intrepid torpedo riders, Panerai has been a plumbing the very depths of their signature cushion case. Granted, their modern renaissance started on Sylvester Stallone’s wrist rather than an Italian Frogman, but if there’s not a film with him riding a torpedo, the 1990s weren’t as wild as I remember them.

In that time, Panerai’s gone from rugged, uncompromisingly massive tool watch maker with a die-hard following of Paneristi cultists to a watchmaker with some serious developmental chops. Their DNA’s firmly part of their core range still – the new Luminor Marinas prove that well enough – but they’ve managed to splice in more than a few haute horology genes, too.

Now granted, a perpetual calendar Panerai is aimed at a specific breed of collector, one that desperately wants that glorious Italian heritage look, but can’t spare the time to adjust for leap years. You know the type. But what if I told you that you could be much, much more specific than that? Have you ever seen a tourbillon and thought, ‘yeah, but what if it were in gold and blue?’ Now, Panerai has you covered.

“The product is the hero of course,” says Jérôme Cavadin, Panerai’s Chief Operating Officer, “but the customer is king. We had so many legitimate requests for this kind of thing that we just couldn’t ignore. We started to say yes to some personalisation years ago, but that was on and off and kind of made noise in the production flow. So, we thought, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it properly.”

The end result is that for the first time ever, Panerai is offering a made-to-measure service for

40

high complications. Most maisons of a certain gravitas have built bespoke watches at some point in their history, timepieces commissioned by a single collector to their (usually) demanding expectations. Made-to-Measure, as any Savile Row tailoring aficionado, is slightly different.

Rather than starting with a blank slate, what you’re essentially doing is choosing from a preprepared list of cases, dials and complications and assembling your perfect suit, car or in this case, watch. It’s a much more streamlined process with a much quicker delivery time. In an industry that’s already painfully slow like watchmaking, it makes sense.

“The bottom line is that the client doesn’t want to wait eight years for their watch”, says Jérôme.

So, we needed to structure it better, to come out with an actual programme, to start small.”

By small, he means a focus on Panerai’s high complications. At present, that means perpetual calendars, tourbillons, the Astronomo (Panerai’s celestial, equation of time movement) and minute repeaters. You’ll note that these are all intense pieces of fine watchmaking, genuine high complications, which makes sense for two reasons.

Firstly, it keeps things small; there are only so many collectors buying minute repeaters. Secondly, those same collectors are going to be the most demanding, the ones who want – no, need – something that’s their own. As for numbers: “let’s say a few dozen so far”.

Possibly the big question therefore is simple: is there a desire for this kind of service? From Jérôme’s experience, yes. “I made an event in Singapore in November, presenting this programme as a kind of dry run with 20 VIPs”, explains Jérôme.

“It was a full, fantastic evening in an amazing location in the city and most of them were Panerai clients already. We had a configurator on an iPad and some designers live from Milano, so when they decided on their design, we had it immediately printed and signed. What’s cool is that almost half of them then bought the watch!”

Obviously, a captive audience of specific Panerai collectors is different to the watch world in general.

So, the question becomes, how much demand is there for this kind of configuration service here in the UK? “Honestly, we don’t know,” concedes Jérôme. “All we can do is start slow and respect what we’re doing.”

For the first time ever, Panerai is offering a made-to-measure service for high complications

suit you, sir

Focusing on Panerai’s high complications, the proposed made-to-measure service would involve choosing your own case, dial and complication to assemble your perfect watch, possibly using the new Luminor Marina as a base!

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suit you, sir

In the last few years, Panerai has been very careful in what they put out.

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suit you, sir

There have been no wacky colours... nothing that isn’t distinctly Panerai

The made-to-measure service will also include engraving and the seemingly endless possibility of strap choice. “Straps have a limited lifespan, so we’re happy to let the clients do whatever they want, to express themselves in the straps,” explains Jérôme Cavadin, Panerai’s Chief Operating Officer

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PANERAI MADE TO MEASURE AT HARRODS ————

can be hard to wrap your — Ithead around everything

included in Panerai’s Made to Measure programme without trying it for yourself. Fortunately, the watchmaker will be showcasing the programme at none other than Harrods, hosting VIP appointments from 30th June – 6th july.

New and improved, but at the same recession busting price as the previous model, the new Luminor Marina is available in steel with black and white dials, or a lightweight titanium edition

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT PANERAI’S BOUTIQUE AT 30 NEW BOND STREET.

THE NEW LUMINOR MARINA ————

water resistance, a slimmer case, — Higher an upgraded movement and a quickchange strap, the archetypal Panerai dive watch is better than ever and, perhaps most impressively, at exactly the same price: £7,600. Available in the core range of steel with black and white dials, there’s also a lightweight edition in titanium. Miss it? Check out our cover.

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suit you, sir

‘Respect’ here is an apt word and it seems like one of the main reasons (other than the practicalities) that Panerai has opted for Made to Measure over bespoke. In the last few years, Panerai has been very careful in what they put out. There have been no wacky colours, no strange combinations, nothing that isn’t aesthetically distinctly Panerai. Consistency is part of the brand and so consistency, as much as the customer, is king here.

“I mean consistent colours with consistent materials,” explains Jérôme. For instance, platinum doesn’t fit that well with certain colours. Maybe the dark green, maybe a bit of blue and black. But then other colours work better with red gold. Our designers create these combinations for a reason.

We would never do a flashy pink dial with a blue hand – and we do get this kind of request – but while it’s about personal taste, we’re still Panerai.”

What the process then boils down to is picking your complication, then picking your material (precious metal, bronze, or titanium) and dial colour from a number of available combinations.

While that might sound limiting, given the rarity of Panerai high complications, it’s perhaps a bit more freedom than it seems.

“Sure, we’ve had clients work on their designs for hours, only to arrive at an existing model! But of the 10 clients that bought a watch at our Singapore event, only one ended up with an existing watch.

The nine others were genuinely new.”

Still, there’s a good chance if you and a few friends went through the same process, you might end up with the same watch, off-catalogue or not.

But there’s always the option of engraving, too and perhaps most importantly, the strap.

“The strap is fully open. Here, the creativity can be infinite. Straps have a limited lifespan, so we’re happy to let the clients do whatever they want, to express themselves in the straps.”

The big question here is, what does this mean for Panerai in the main? At present, this is all part of Panerai’s haute horology department, the purview of a handful of expert watchmakers whose production is already limited by movements more than cases and dials. If they were, say, to start offering it on the Luminor Marina, Panerai’s bestselling collection, that would be a serious shift, not to mention one hell of an undertaking.

“We’re definitely starting to think about it for the future. Honestly, we’re not quite ready to answer if all our customers started wanting made

“We would never do a flashy pink dial with a blue hand – and we do get this kind of request – but while it’s about personal taste, we’re still Panerai”

to measure watches. We can’t simply have stacks of dials and cases ready to go in every boutique and watchmakers would be needed everywhere to ensure waterproofness and chronometry.

“But it’s something we have to prepare ourselves for. There’s a demand, and we’ll need to be there to answer it.”

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T HE

CO O L E S T QUARTZ W O R D S:

Sam Kessler

Watch collectors have a tendency towards snobbery. Don’t worry, I’m the same, as are most proper collectors. Many a time I’ve been close to pulling the trigger on some cool, ultra-accessible watch, only to falter at the last hurdle: its quartz movement. Logically though, that makes very little sense. Quartz is generally cheaper to build than an automatic movement, but from a chronometric, technological standpoint… they’re just better. Sure, you need a battery and there isn’t the romance of a fully mechanical calibre, but the bottom line is that they’re more accurate and reliable than 99% of other movements. So, for once, don’t let your snob side win and check out some of the coolest quartz pieces around.

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coolest quartz

CASIO G-SHOCK GA2100BM-7A2 Don’t worry about the chemistry-sounding name here, all you need to know is that this is a summerready new twist on the transparent-cased CasiOak, G-SHOCK’s octagonal cased, shock resistant answer to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. It’s become a cult icon in and of itself and in this new version the see-through white case is joined by a bright metallic, PVD dial in bright, icy blue. It still has the brand’s signature ana-digi display, still has that chunky 45.4mm diameter, and still has enough shock and water resistance to take on anything.

There’s a reason G-SHOCK’s iconic and this is it.

THE DETAIL: • 45.4mm resin case with 200m water resistance • Quartz movement • £99.90, g-shock.co.uk

VOSTRA

Electro Yellow The second brand from the guys behind RZE takes the Singaporean tool watch maker’s signature accessibility in a new direction. Ever wanted the look of an IWC Ingenieur, but actually fun? Vostra is for you. The multi-faceted steel case, complete with an integrated bracelet, comes with a selection of eye-catching dials – the yellow being a particular highlight. Indeed, there’s something Bauhaus adjacent in its yellow, red, and white with blocky subdial hands, all powered by a Seiko Mecaquartz – definitely not the last watch to use that type of movement, but one of the most exciting.

THE DETAIL: •

40mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • Seiko VK63 mecaquartz movement • £215, vostradesigns.com

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coolest quartz

BOLDR

Venture Field Medic II The uber-accessible Venture is a versatile field watch, but for me its coolest incarnation is as a pulsometer in Boldr’s Medic II. The crisp, ultralegible white dial has a scale fit for doctors in the field and the mecaquartz movement – a quartz movement with a mechanical chronograph module – won’t let you down whether it’s a matter of life-and-death or simply not wanting to set your watch after a weekend off the wrist. However you wear it, the Field Medic II is a lightweight, everyday timekeeper with a fittingly lightweight, everyday price.

THE DETAIL: • 38mm titanium case with 200m water resistance • Seiko SII VK64 mecaquartz movement • £232, boldrsupply.co

NUUNOrigen OFFICIAL Let’s be honest. You, yes you, are never going to own a Tiffany blue Nautilus. It’s not going to happen. Rather than mope however, you can get the same look for a fraction of a fraction of the price with Nuun Official’s Arabic-numeralled tribute to that unobtainable model. With the same muscular shoulders and an almost pantone-perfect dial, it’s a watch that’s even more fun if you’re self-aware about it. And given how comfortably the Origen sits on the wrist, you might end up wearing it a lot more than you imagined.

THE DETAIL: 40.5mm Carbon X Tech case with 100m water resistance • Miyota 1S13 quartz movement • £254, nuunofficial.com •

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coolest quartz

TISSOT

PRX Quartz Between its sleek, 1970s integrated bracelet look and its innate accessibility, it’s no wonder the Tissot PRX has been one of the most successful watches of the past few years. This new version crowns that sharply faceted case with an eye-catching red dial, tapping into a summer-worthy trend for bright colours that aren’t available in the automatic version. Given it makes the already affordable PRX an impossible-to-resist impulse buy, that’s no bad thing.

THE DETAIL: •

40mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • Swiss quartz movement • £335, tissotwatches.com

NITE

MX10 Blackout Military watches are a natural fit when it comes to quartz accuracy and reliability. But when a watch isn’t just mil-spec but issued to the honest-to-god SAS, you know it’s a serious piece of kit – and that’s the case with the Nite MX10, which was issued to our renowned Special Forces in 2005. The Blackout takes that rugged, stealthy field watch blueprint and amps up the night mission vibes and plenty of tritium gas illumination. It’s cool, means business, and has a price tag that won’t make the quartermaster cry.

THE DETAIL: 39mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • Ronda 715 quartz movement • £330, nitewatches.com •

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coolest quartz

11I11 SAAT From the name, 11i11 Saat, you’d expect something decidedly atypical from this Vienna-based brand, and you’d be very, very right. The dial alone is a funky mix of different numerals defined by its record-like coloured ring (in black or white) around a brushed metal core. But that wasn’t the first thing you noticed, was it? That would be the crown, which has been moved to eight o’clock and incorporated into the dial-side numeral, like the eight can’t be contained by anything as prosaic as a bezel. Set on your choice of a huge selection of Hirsche straps, it’s a wrist statement if ever there was one.

THE DETAIL: 41.4mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Ronda 715Li quartz movement • £359, 11i11sa.at •

FERRO & CO Race Master Nothing says high speed like a high-contrast panda dial – or reverse panda in this case – especially when accompanied by a speedometer-worthy flash of colour. In fact, with its retro bicompax layout, orange chronograph hand, and a dial full of vintage charm, it’s almost a surprise to find a modern quartz movement inside Ferro’s Race Master. It’s proof positive that just because a watch is accessible, that doesn’t mean skimping on style.

THE DETAIL: •

39mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • OS21 quartz movement • £405, ferrowatches.com

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coolest quartz

ANDERS & CO AC1 Chronograph Not all quartz-equipped watches are mass-produced or even look particularly modern. The AC1 Chronograph from Anders & Co is both produced in limited numbers and has a look you’d expect to see at your local vintage dealer. Between the salmon dial with black indexes and the surprisingly good finishing – mirror polishing, satin-brushing and a sapphire crystal – the AC1 feels like a million dollars, while only costing a few hundred. Or in good, British money, less than £500.

THE DETAIL: 38mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • Seiko SII VK64 mecaquartz movement • £471, andersandcotimepieces.com

•

CERTINA

DS Action Titanium Light Blue If there’s one place you don’t want your movement conking out, it’s a few hundred metres below the water. Plenty of brands go to extreme lengths to protect their movements when the answer’s simple: just use quartz. 40mm titanium case in point, the Certina DS Action in titanium. Pairing 300m water resistance with a reliable quartz movement and summer-ready light blue dial-bezel combo, this is a proper diving watch for proper divers. And accessible as it is, you’re much more likely to actually use it than your classic Submariner.

THE DETAIL: 40mm titanium case with 300m water resistance • Precidrive quartz movement • £485, certina.co.uk

•

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coolest quartz

NEOTYPE

LM02 Type C One of the benefits of a quartz movement? A brand is free to lavish all their attention on the case. Just take a look at Neotype’s stealthy LM02 Type C, which combines a satisfyingly solid blacked-out PVD case with old radium lume and a ceramic bezel insert. It looks and feels better than 90% of mainstream mechanical chronographs and with 200m water resistance makes for a great everyday wearer, with more aesthetic impact than your usual go-to steel chrono.

THE DETAIL: •

41mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Seiko VK64 Mecaquartz movement • £500, neotypewatches.com

FURLAN MARRI Rosso Grigio One of the first brands to really make quartz cool, Furlan Marri’s vintage-styled mecaquartz debut line is still one of the most handsome, archivally flavoured racing watches at its price point. The Rosso Grigio version with its blend of greys and flashes of red is a semi-monochromatic beauty, right down to the signature ‘Tasti Tondi’ engraved chronograph pushers. Sure, Furlan Marri’s mechanical pieces are the focus these days, but this is still part of their collection for good reason.

Long may it stay there.

THE DETAIL: •

38mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Seiko VK64 mecaquartz movement • CHF 555 (approx. £515), furlanmarri.com

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coolest quartz

HERBELIN

JUNGHANS

Newport Chronograph

1972 Chronoscope Sports Edition 2025

The accessible French brand’s flagship, the Newport, is defined by its atypical central lugs, framing the industrial style case complete with visible bezel screws. It makes for a distinctive outline for a chronograph, especially in the handsome silver version with blue chronograph subdials. With its mix of sporty practicality – amped up with a quartz movement – and Mediterranean elegance, this is Herbelin’s Gallic watchmaking at its most accessible. For the already accessible watchmaker, that’s really saying something.

Sports! While you might know them best for their Bauhaus Max Bill collection, Junghans have a proper sporting heritage, and this annual edition pays homage to that in an archival, cushion-cased chronoscope.

The livery here isn’t tied to a certain car, but the grey and gold, complete with a racing number six, makes its classic car inspirations hard to miss.

Fitted on a perforated leather strap, this has all the aesthetics of a vintage racing watch – and build quality of a more expensive piece – without needing to hitch yourself to a specific team.

THE DETAIL: •

43mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • 5040 D quartz movement • €750 (approx. £650), herbelin.co.uk

“ This is Herbelin’s Gallic watchmaking at its most accessible 54

TAG HEUER

Formula 1 Solargraph Very few quartz models can claim to be icons, but TAG Heuer’s colourful, 1980s-flavoured Formula 1 is among that storied few. The new 2025 revamp of the collection carries on that tradition with a range of fun, colourful pieces fit for the new F1 timekeeper, with liveries dedicated to the Grand Prix. Equipped with solar powered movements and a mix of steel and bio-polyamide cases – including the collection’s signature chunky bezels – the nine new pieces are a fun entry point into the de facto racing watch brand.

THE DETAIL: •

43.3mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • J645.83 quartz movement • £890, junghans.de

THE DETAIL: • 38mm bio-polyamide/ stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • TH50-00 Solargraph movement • £1,550/£1,650, tagheuer.com

coolest quartz

RADO

True Square Thinline As well as affordability and reliability, Rado use quartz for one main reason: thinness. As there’s no rotor, quartz movements can be paper thin and the True Square Thinline leverages that svelte silhouette with its tactile, curvaceous 37mm ceramic case and bracelet.

With a little flash of mint green against the otherwise black dial, this is a lovely example of Rado’s more artistic side, a world away from the ever-practical Captain Cook. And a full ceramic watch for under £2,000? That’s worth taking note of.

THE DETAIL: 37mm ceramic case with 30m water resistance • Rado R420 quartz movement • £1,800, rado.com

•

CARTIER

Tank Must de Cartier All the Parisian elegance of Cartier wrapped in iconic art deco décor, the Tank is a classic in the truest sense – and the Must de Cartier collection brings it down to a much more accessible level.

Even better though, the simple, coloured dials and matching straps give the Tank a new, fashionforward aesthetic twist. It’s a fresh look for a watch that’s been around since 1914 and that alone is worth paying attention to. Pair that with slim, vintage proportions and you have a très à l’aise dress watch.

THE DETAIL: •

33.7mm x 25.5mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • Quartz movement • £3,500, cartier.com

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coolest quartz

GRAND SEIKO Snowflake Let’s be honest, you love Grand Seiko because of the dials. Sure, the Spring Drive is a magnificent hybrid movement, but it’s those gorgeous textures we love the most – especially the inimitable Snowflake. So, what about grabbing one of those at a substantial discount? The quartz edition of the Snowflake is pure Grand Seiko finishing across the board, from the blizzard-like dial to the perfectly polished indexes. Given that Seiko invented the modern quartz movement, this might even be the most appropriate twist on the model.

THE DETAIL: • 37mm titanium case with 100m water resistance • Grand Seiko 9F62 quartz movement • £3,700, grandseikoboutique.co.uk

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“ Just look at that shape… how could you not want to try it on?

WHAT EXACTLY IS QUARTZ? • In case all this discussion of quartz has you at a loss, it’s worth looking at what the movement is. Traditional watch movements use a spring that coils and uncoils to keep time, usually at 4hz, so 28,800 beats per hour. Instead of a spring, quartz movements pass an electrical current – usually provided by a battery – through a piece of quartz crystal, causing it to vibrate at 32,768hz. This makes quartz movements incredibly accurate, incredibly consistent and incredibly cheap to produce.

GIRARD-PERREGAUX Casquette 2.0 Retro-futurism at its finest, the modern edition of Girard-Perregaux’s archival Casquette is every bit the gloriously anachronistic tech piece it has been since the 1970s. The new version is made from lightweight titanium and a tasteful flash of gold.

With a side-view, on-demand digital display to save energy, it might just be one of the few digital watches you could call ‘prestige’. And just look at that shape… how could you not want to try it on? The bracelet alone is a thing of beauty.

THE DETAIL: • 42.40mm x 33.60mm titanium case with 50m water resistance • GP3980-1474 quartz movement • £4,200, girard-perregaux.com

oracle speaks

W

or

ds b y

ALEX DOAK

31,557,600 SECONDS IN A YEAR (…OR THEREABOUTS) You think daylight saving hours are awkward?

Earth’s network of 450-odd atomic clocks are still obliged to adjust according to the night sky – sporadically. So, who determines this, asks Alex Doak, and what even IS a ‘quantum’ clock?

Here comes the science bit…

—

Exactly one second before midnight on 31st December 2016, in a laboratory on the outskirts of Paris, something strange occurred.

A small digital clock, glowing from a vast bank of computers blinked from 23:59:59 to 23:59:60. Exactly one second after that, it switched to 00:00:00 – normality resumed.

Unawares to most of us, what happened at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) has in fact happened 27 times since 1972, when the ‘leap second’ was first

introduced. When it should happen again, no one knows with any certainty beyond ‘another two or three years’, and ‘on or no further beyond 2035’. But why?

The night sky is always going to be our ultimate calendar and clock face, as it has been since the dawn of humanity. But, the heavens aren’t as accurate as we might think and the Earth occasionally wobbles relative to this heavenly dial. To fix that somewhat transcendentally worrying fact, the BIPM needs to adjust the clocks here on Earth to compensate this infinitesimally tiny change.

This means a drift every few years of a second which doesn’t sound like much in everyday life, but in the global workings of international timekeeping, that’s a gulf – which is why those leap seconds are being phased out, stopping the ongoing drift between Time Atomique International (the time here on Earth) and Universal Time Co-Ordinated (the time according to the sun). We know these better as TAI and UTC. UTC deviates from TAI by a number of whole seconds. As of 1st January 2017, immediately after the most recent leap second was put into effect, UTC has been exactly 37 seconds behind TAI. The 37 seconds result from the initial difference of 10 seconds at the start of 1972, plus 27 leap seconds in UTC since 1972. In 2022, the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided to abandon the leap second by or before 2035, at which point the difference between TAI and UTC will remain fixed.

Those 27 decisions (thus far) to add a ‘leap second’ are entirely down to a global institution called International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), who keep an eye on our planet’s movement in relation to the Sun and inform BIPM when it’s time to compensate for eccentricities in the Earth’s spin by adding or taking away a second. Owing to the Moon and its gravitational ‘tidal deceleration’ effect on the Earth’s spin, it has been necessary to add, rather than subtract a 61st second on every occasion. But anything from changes in the Earth’s atmosphere to a major earthquake could change all that and force us to skip straight from 23:59:58 to 00:00:00.

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oracle speaks

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oracle speaks

So how did we get here? How have we arrived at a situation where our official, atomically defined or ‘civil’ time has become detached from our astronomical, or ‘solar’ time, yet still remains beholden to the Earth’s wobbles?

Whatever happened to those stargazers on a hill in Greenwich, southeast London, releasing a red ball from the tower of the Royal Observatory, so ships’ captains on the Thames below could set their chronometers?

It was the advent of the super-accurate atomic clock in 1955 that made us realise that the Earth, let alone the mechanical movements of Clerkenwell’s finest chronometer makers over in north London, isn’t such a good timekeeper after all. In terms of accuracy, the atomic clock was better by a factor of a million.

“Any sort of clock has to be based on some sort of oscillation that repeats regularly over time,” explains Peter Whibberley, senior research scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, where the world’s first caesium-atomic clock was demonstrated with Pennsylvania State University, USA and whose ‘caesium fountain clock’ is currently considered the most accurate in the world. “In the traditional pendulum clock or mechanical watch, you have the swinging pendulum, or the ticking balance wheel to keep track of time. In an atomic clock, it is the oscillation of the atoms.”

At the moment, a single second is based on one particular resonance in caesium atoms – a resonance with a frequency of 9,192,631,770 oscillations per second.

“An atomic clock,” says Whibberley, “loses just one of these seconds every 30 million years.”

But despite such incredible precision, by no means does the world rely on a single atomic clock. As quickly as 1960, the US Naval Observatory, the Royal Greenwich Observatory and NPL had managed to co-ordinate their newfangled atomic clocks by radio broadcasts and by 1961 Co-ordinated Universal Time, or ‘UTC’ had usurped GMT as the standard means of timekeeping – what is essentially an average

“ The idea of our 86,400 seconds in a day occasionally and unpredictably flicking to 86,401 still rankles with metrologists worldwide ”

of the world’s atomic clocks. Fast forward to today, and a network of over 450 clocks throughout 80 countries feed their time to BIPM, who weight the UTC calculation according to each clock’s accuracy using an algorithm called ‘Network Time Protocol’.

“We cannot have a bad day at the office!” as BIPM’s director Felicitas Arias noted wryly, after the last leap second was added. “Indeed, something that is very curious is that, if we do make a mistake on the timescale, we cannot go back to the past and repair the error.”

But besides such accuracy and formality, the idea of our 86,400 seconds in a day occasionally and unpredictably flicking to 86,401 still rankles with metrologists worldwide. There’s little you can do about the Earth’s erratic rotation, but the so-called Leap Second Debate has been a hot topic, until the 2035 ultimatum was finally reached a few years ago.

“The potential to cause real-world problems is increasing,” says Whibberley. “When the procedure was introduced in 1972, no one could have predicted our dependence on highprecision timekeeping… Manually adding a second could cause loss of synchronisation in communications networks and banking systems, or sat-nav systems that rely on signals from atomic clocks… There are countless unforeseen circumstances that could take a lot of effort to resolve.”

Thus far, scientists’ fears seem to be as unfounded as with the Y2K Millennium Bug, when the switch from 1999 to 2000 failed to bring the global collapse expected from computers confusing the new year as 1900. Plus, losing the leap second would mean losing our link between the Sun and time, however small this drift is. Astronomers and earth scientists making measurements based on the Earth’s rotation would have to compensate, which would also be a manual and difficult process.

Those 450-plus participating laboratories each broadcast, in real time, a frequency signal with timecodes, which is their estimate of TAI. Early atomic time scales consisted of quartz clocks with frequencies calibrated by a single atomic clock; NPL served to regularly calibrate the quartz clocks at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and to establish a time scale, called Greenwich Atomic (GA). The United States Naval Observatory began the A.1 scale on 13th September 1956, using an Atomichron commercial atomic clock, followed by the NBS-A scale at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado on 9th October 1957.

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oracle speaks

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oracle speaks

A network of over 450 clocks throughout 80 countries feed their time to BIPM (below), a world away from the Royal Observatory releasing a red ball (left) from its tower so ship captains on the Thames could set their chronometers

“ By the 1970s, it became clear that the clocks participating in TAI were ‘ticking’ at different rates due to gravitational time dilation ”

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oracle speaks

It wasn’t until 1967 when the international standard ‘second’ was defined in terms of the caesium atom resonance in 1967. But by the 1970s, it became clear that the clocks participating in TAI were ‘ticking’ at different rates due to gravitational time dilation, and the combined TAI scale, therefore, became defined by an average of the altitudes of the various clocks. Starting from the Julian Date 2443144.5 (1 January 1977 00:00:00 TAI), corrections were applied to the output of all participating clocks, so that TAI would correspond to proper time at the geoid (mean sea level). Because the clocks were, on average, well above sea level, this meant that TAI slowed by about one part in a trillion. The former uncorrected time scale continues to be published under the name EAL (Échelle Atomique Libre, meaning Free Atomic Scale).

If that’s a lot to take in, the bottom line is even atomic clocks are affected by the nuances of terra firma, and our current atomic time aims to average these out. But the future seems to point beyond science as we mere mortals know it. In a word: quantum.

A quantum clock is a type of atomic clock with laser-cooled single ions confined together in an electromagnetic ion trap. Developed in 2010 by physicists at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, their clock – based on an Al spectroscopy ion with a logic atom (come on, keep up) – was 37 times more precise than the then-existing international standard. ‘Simply’ because an Al-based quantum clock tracks, with a UV laser, the frequency of a single aluminium or beryllium ion’s vibration at an optical frequency 100,000 times higher than the microwave frequencies used by caesium or mercury-atom clock labs.

In 2010, an American NIST quantum clock based on a single aluminum ion ‘clocked in’ at a frequency of (deep breath) 1121015393207857.4(7) Hz. In terms of standard deviation, that amounts to one second per 3.68 billion years, while the current international standard NIST-F1 Caesium fountain atomic clock uncertainty is about 100 million. It’s a mindblowing level of accuracy, that will still continue to deviate from the physical nuances of solar time.

Nonetheless: the night sky… for most of us, it’s the rising and setting of the sun that defines out day to day lives. UTC might not be as accurate as we once thought, but it’s a necessary inaccuracy.

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If you thought the deviation of one second per 100 million years in the international standard NIST-F1 Caesium fountain atomic clock (represented above) was impressive, then an American NIST quantum clock’s one second per 3.68 billion years is mind boggling

“We still have to have some means of correcting the divergence of celestial time and UTC,” says Whibberley. “At the moment, nobody knows how that’s going to be done, beyond adding a one-second step every now and then. Perhaps the best approach is simply to be for countries to change their time-zone when the difference becomes too large. “ Meanwhile, here’s hoping the boffins at BIPM, in that laboratory just outside Paris, keep having those good days in the office.

dialled in

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dialled in

DIALLED IN Forget advanced polymers. True innovation is (still) in silicon — Words by — CHRIS HALL

~

“One of the most overused words in the watch industry is ‘innovation’.” Not my words, but the words of former Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron. He was talking to my friend and podcast co-host Timothy Barber in 2017, having recently taken the reins at Cartier and brought to a graceful halt all of the brand’s attempts to reinvent itself as a maker of avant-garde, high-concept watches.

Vigneron was right in meaning that too much of what is badged ‘innovative’ is done purely for its own sake, and under him Cartier thrived when it focused on elegant design once more. But the watch world’s relationship with innovation is more complicated than that.

Rolex has just unveiled the Land-Dweller, a watch that introduces a new escapement made entirely from silicon, a piece of innovation Rolex calls the ‘Dynapulse’ escapement. Aside from sounding like something that might clear your drains, it’s been received as a remarkable technical achievement. Put as simply as possible, it’s a type of ‘natural’ escapement wherein contact between the escape wheels and balance is constant, with no need of lubrication. It’s more efficient than the Swiss lever escapement and resolves

the long-standing problems of such escapements (vulnerability to shock, the inability to self-start, complexity to mass-produce thanks to the tight tolerances required) thanks to an ingenious construction that could only exist in silicon, made through modern additive manufacturing methods.

This is real innovation: technology in the service of practical improvement.

Silicon has been around in wristwatches for more than 20 years, since Ulysse Nardin’s Freak debuted in 2001 with a silicon balance spring, and Rolex has been gradually adding more of it to its calibres since 2014. Dynapulse represents breakthroughs of both a mathematical and manufacturing nature, but I hope it finally brings an end to irrational objections to silicon in watchmaking – the loudest of which come from those usually keen to be associated with innovation.

There is a clear irony in the reverence accorded to the godfathers of ‘traditional’ watchmaking, like Abraham-Louis Breguet, by today’s independent brands. Often, I have heard these watchmakers, respected for their creativity and ingenuity, rail against silicon components as unbecoming of traditional watchmaking. But if it had been available, Breguet would have used it: he and his successors broke new ground with so much of what they made.

The objections are usually that it cannot be repaired and that at some unspecified point in the future, mankind may abandon the technology, leaving watchmakers unable to even replace broken parts.

On the latter point, silicon’s use in computing makes me doubtful that humanity will forget how to work it in the next couple of centuries. On the former, it is true that broken silicon parts must be replaced. But the same is true of ceramics (not limited to cases and bezels; IWC uses it for some movement parts), synthetic sapphire and all polymer-based materials including forged carbon and its cousins. I don’t remember indie watch brands being so scandalised over the use of such avant-garde materials in casemaking.

The argument against materials that originate from outside of watchmaking’s ‘great tradition’ is also conveniently overlooked; let’s not forget you can make a polymer-based case out of literally anything, as H. Moser memorably proved with the cheese-and-resin composite of its Swiss Mad statement piece.

The restricted supply of parts – of any type – to independent service centres is a bigger concern than the nature of the parts themselves. With the Dynapulse, Rolex has succeeded in industrialising something that many top-end brands have only managed to produce on a prototype level, or in ultra-scarce, doubtless highly fragile limited editions. Does this mean the behemoth of mainstream watchmaking is the true heir to history’s pioneers?

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the interview

WORDS

Sam Kessler

t h e i n t e r v ie w:

MIKA HÄKKINEN THE FLYING FINN ON WATCH LOYALTY, AN ERA OF RISK TAKING, AND NOT TRYING TO BE A ROCKSTAR

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the interview

I have an admission. Given we’ve interviewed pretty much every F1 racer in the current line-up, from Russell to Hamilton to (most recently) Verstappen, you’d be forgiven for assuming that I’m I die-hard fan of the sport. I’m not. Oh, I’ll go to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix and love every minute, but I’ve not regularly kept up with race day since the late ‘90s. Those were the days I’d watch it every Sunday with my dad, the era of Villeneuve, Schumacher and, of course, Mika Häkkinen.

So, when I got the chance to talk to one of the drivers that pre-teen me was genuinely excited to watch race, I couldn’t pass it up. And when he came in wearing a sharp suit and sunglasses indoors, I was expecting a bit of a diva.

“Apologies for the glasses, I’ve just had a big operation”, he says,

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From his McLaren debut in 1993, Mika Häkkinen has maintained a close relationship with his former team sponsor, TAG Heuer, and must have an enviable collection from the past three decades - “I still have many from the time I was racing”

“

“When you’re a Grand Prix driver, life is completely dedicated to the sport. It’s like a school calendar, you know what’s happening January 1st, what’s happening on December 31st

”

explaining away the look. “I’m not trying to be a rockstar or anything.”

And with that, the Flying Finn set the tone. Given the two-time world champion was one of the driving forces of McLaren in the ‘90s, he could probably get away with a bit of rockstar entitlement. But no. He may just be the most low-key charming F1 racer I’ve ever met.

On the occasion of Watches & Wonders he was leveraging that charm with TAG Heuer as one of their ‘Legends’, complete with floor-toceiling images of him three decades younger. It makes sense; it’s a relationship that encompasses the majority of Häkkinen’s racing career.

“I started wearing TAG Heuer in ’93 and I still have many from the time I was racing. That was when Jack Heuer brought them into the sport. I thought they were brilliant then and I still do now.”

It wasn’t just the look – though ‘90s TAG Heuer was a golden era for the Swiss brand. Racing might be measured in milliseconds, but even off the track, Häkkinen’s entire life was itemised down to the last minute. His time was vital.

“When you’re a Grand Prix driver, life is completely dedicated to the sport. It’s like a school calendar, you know what’s happening January 1st, what’s happening on December 31st, and every day in-between. It’s your racing calendar, your testing programme, your personal training programme. You know what you’re doing every hour of every day. It’s not easy, it’s an incredibly disciplined life.”

Personally, that sounds horrific, but it’s par for the course among athletes of all types. Which is obviously the one and only reason I’m a writer, not a sportsperson. Still, leaving the sport evidently took some adjusting; no longer was Häkkinen’s time spent for him but he had to find things to fill it. After the kind of intensity that defines F1, how could you simply chill out?

“When I retired in 2001, a long time ago now, it changed. I have to actively fill my time now. I work with a lot of

mika häkkinen

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the interview

Today, Häkkinen is an F1 ambassador who holds legendary status in the sport, but despite his many successes, he still remembers his mistake at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix that led to a controversial incident (below) with teammate, David Coulthard

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mika häkkinen

“Your pressure, your focus

becomes higher, it requires more energy in your mind. It’s because of that intensity that winning at Monaco is like nothing else”

different companies – including TAG Heuer – and my son and daughter are both racing, but now I can give time to myself and to the people I love rather than training.”

So, while Häkkinen’s days on the track are behind him, he’s still a big part of the sport, as an ambassador, as a mentor, as a legend among the pantheon of F1 icons. And like any icon, he’s had his fair share of memorable races that have cemented his place in that pantheon. But which stand out for the man himself?

“There are of course many, many Grand Prix which have stayed in my mind, whether it was because of the winning, the mistakes. But winning the Monaco Grand Prix, that’s one I remember clearly. It’s definitely one of the hardest to win. It’s a really difficult track with the twists and the barriers with no room for mistakes.

On other tracks if you go wide, misjudge a turn, you can always get back to the track. At Monaco, if that

happens you hit the wall. Your pressure, your focus becomes higher, it requires more energy in your mind. It’s because of that intensity that winning at Monaco is like nothing else.”

Then there are the races that stick in his mind for the wrong reasons.

One event in particular stands out: the 1998 Australian Grand Prix.

“Back in ‘98, we were definitely dominating. Our team was extremely fast. But I made a mistake. I came into the pitstop to change my tyres too early. I misheard my team over the radio and thought they were asking me to come into the pit; they weren’t, and it cost me the lead.”

Race fans of the time will remember this incident. Häkkinen actually ended up winning the Grand Prix, but only when teammate David Coulthard let him take the lead. It turned out there was a pre-race agreement that whoever led going into the first corner would win. Sure,

both drivers were racing for McLaren, but it left a sour taste in the mouths of fans. If Häkkinen had just heard that pit call correctly, it’s a controversy that could have been completely avoided.

“Both eras of racing are fantastic, and Formula 1 is brilliant at the moment. Fans are able to see much more of what’s going on inside the different teams, they know the drivers better, understand more of the engineering and technical aspects. But the one thing I really do prefer now to back in the ‘90s is the safety. The cars are much safer, so the drivers can take more risks.”

It seems like those are risks Häkkinen definitely would have taken. Perhaps something would have gone wrong; perhaps it wouldn’t. He could have won more races with riskier strategies or less, we’ll never know. It’s not like he and the McLaren team didn’t do fantastically well. His record speaks for itself, enough that F1 fans of my generation might be a little intimidated talking to the Finn – who himself seems a little confused why that might be the case: “if there’s anything someone wants to know about me, they should just come up and ask me!”

And it’s genuine too. As we were wrapping up, right when most ambassadors start switching off and thinking about what’s next on their packed agenda, Häkkinen starts asking about my day. As I explained to him, my schedule’s probably worrying close to his training schedule back in the 90s, just entirely confined in Geneva’s Palexpo conference centre.

“Ah,” he says, commiserating, “you won’t see sunlight; that’s going to be tough.” It just goes to show how endearing Häkkinen is that not only did he seem to genuinely mean it, but he did so wearing sunglasses indoors.

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o

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T E D D Y C L A R K

WISH YOU WERE HERE +++++++++++

Press, retailers, brands and of course collectors flocked to Geneva last month for Watches and Wonders, the biggest and best watch show in the world. We covered a good chunk of the releases last issue, so I won’t rehash all of that here – especially as your social feeds are likely still full of them.

Instead, here’s a little insight into what we loved, in and around the show. Consider it a postcard from Watches & Wonders 2025.

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y by

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t

STYLE — shoot

 While not the most exciting launch, Panerai took the opportunity to revamp their best-selling Luminor Marina line with a slimmer case, better depth resistance and a longer power reserve.

How extra much will this objectively better watch cost you? Nothing.

 Is there anywhere in Geneva as picturesque as the Old Town? Winding cobbled streets and plenty of al fresco dining, just make sure you’re wearing your walking shoes.

IWC’s stand this year was dominated by props from the upcoming Brad Pitt and Damson Idris F1 film – but their new collection had plenty going for the film, too. This low-key take on the classic Pilot’s Chronograph is a more vintage take and it’s a low-key beauty.



 Is there anywhere more Swiss than Lake Geneva?

Especially when you have a nearby boat quite literally flying the flag for Swiss watchmaking. Though given most of the city closes at 10, a boat party is out of the question.

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 Nothing compliments a great cocktail watch like a great cocktail – something Piaget know intimately. Along with their stunning stonedialled Warhol Watches, their well-heeled bar was serving some fantastic drinks.

Hazelnut Old Fashioned, anyone?

The single most coveted wall of watches in the entirety of Geneva, Rolex were as militaristically well-organised as you’d expect from the Crown. There were plenty of Oyster Perpetuals of course but front and centre? The Land-Dweller, of course.



 A new automatic movement, an upsized case, finally this is a Tank Louis Cartier we can and most definitely will wear. With its rectangular case, Art Deco dial and signature cabochon crown, this might now be the Tankiest Tank.

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Getting hands-on with a brand-new Lange & Sohne is a rarity even for us esteemed members of the press, so a caseback shot of the new 1815 was necessary. If you’re thinking about buying one though… this is Lange. If you’re not on the list now…



Leave it to Vacheron to blow all other haute horology out the water for their anniversary year. Sure, the world’s most complicated watch caught the limelight, but their open-face Traditionnelles were a sight to behold – the closer, the better.



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Breitling took the opportunity of Watches & Wonders to launch their shiny new Top Time collection, one synonymous with racers and their livery. Case in point, the guest of honour, a Rallye de France Martini Racing Lancia.

It’ll get you from the old town to the airport in… a long time, given Geneva’s traffic.



 Clean, crisp and very, very white, Tudor’s latest Black Bay is eye-catching for all the right reasons. Is this now cooler than an Explorer?

Definitely.

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STYLE — shoot

 Last year’s 79 was a breath of fresh, ‘70s-scented air with its glamorous monochrome look that surely couldn’t be repeated. Unless you did it in white gold.

This brighter, icier edition has a completely different personality, but one that’s just as gorgeous.

 Zenith celebrated their 60th anniversary in style – provided a bright blue is your definition of style. It certainly looks good on their watches, including their new GFJ, but the stand rocked it too, complete with walls of vintage Zenith ads.

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 You don’t often think of Baume & Mercier as vintage cool but this throwback, central-scaled racing chronograph shows that the Riviera is as versatile now as it was in the ‘70s. More of this please!

 Is this the most handsome perpetual calendar of 2025?

The competition is stiff as there were a lot, but the minimalism and elegance of Parmigiani’s Golden Ratioinspired Toric proves that their relaunch is finally about more than the Tonda PF.

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STYLE — shoot

 Less is more with independent maestro Laurent Ferrier and while they don’t make many watches a year – in terms of releases or numbers – the pale blue of the Classic Auto Horizon is impossible to resist. So, we didn’t.

It’s an early start to get around everything there is to see at Watches & Wonders; thank god for the clockwork efficiency of Geneva’s public transport.



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The Palexpo may have been dominated by the big brands, but there were some gems tucked away behind Rolex in the Carré des Horlogers. It was all too easy to miss things like Arnold & Son’s stunning tribute to Abraham Louis Breguet’s friendship with John Arnold.

All sold out, of course.



 Ah Grand Seiko, where would we be without your painfully perfect textured dials? In a worse place, one without the gorgeous new Ice Forest models. It’s easy to see why the Japanese brand gets nods of respect wherever they go.

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Replacing the defunct Elite, Zenith’s new dress watch is an over-the-top mix of finishing, platinum and lapis worthy of its anniversary status. Though this is just the start; the GFJ (named for founder Georges Favre-Jacot) has subtler variations to come.



The world might have descended on Geneva for timekeepers, but time starts in London - as this exhibition on Longitude and the Greenwich Meridian illustrated.



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N E R’S G WØRDS Sam Cross

TC

RTWA

Fo r w h e n t r a c k in g yo u r r u n nin g pace is m ore im port ant than t r a c k in g t i m e z o n e s

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smartwatches

~~~~~~~~~~~ We all love a watch for every occasion. The Patek is perfect for those special moments; the Submariner will do nicely for the daily grind in the office. But when it comes to exercising, adventuring and working out, neither of those seem like the right fit. The Patek doesn’t have the water resistance to cope with breaking a sweat, and risking a

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value-crushing dent on the Rolex isn’t exactly the smart man’s move.

No, for those moments, you need a smartwatch. And, fortunately for you, there are more options in that space than ever before. Whether you’re driven by looks, features, pricing or a combination of all three, there’s a smartwatch out there to perfectly compliment your collection – and T3’s Sam Cross is here to guide you through it all.

smartwatches

WHAT CAN A SMARTWATCH DO?

Choosing the right smartwatch for you might well come down to your phone brand, as pairing your device to your phone is a whole lot easier if they’re made by the same manufacturer

While different models will have different specs and features, there are a few things which are universal. For example, it’s pretty much a bare minimum for these devices to count your steps.

Most smartwatches go much further than that, with additional sensors to track things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress and more.

These days, it’s not uncommon to see a universal score which builds many of these metrics into a single, more digestible idea of how well you are at any given moment.

It’s not just about health and fitness, either. Most of these devices will also link up with your phone, allowing you to make and receive calls and messages, check notifications and more. Think of the smartwatch as a wrist-mounted window into what’s happening on your main handset.

WILL ANY SMARTWATCH WORK FOR ME? In short, no. While it’s true that most models will work with a wide array of devices, there are certain systemlocked examples.

For example, the Apple Watch – which is arguably the most wellknown smartwatch – will only work if you have an accompanying iPhone.

If you’re running an Android handset, then you’ll need to look to some of the other options on the market. You’ll often find that smartwatch and phone combinations from the same brand will provide the most cohesive experience.

It’s also a good idea to do some deep research on exactly what apps your watch of choice can support.

Huawei, for example, manufacture some fantastic smartwatches, but you won’t be able to utilise any Google apps on them, which might be a deal-breaker.

Think of the smartwatch as a wrist-mounted window into what’s happening on your main handset 91

smartwatches

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smartwatches

The Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor boasts a powerful CPU and is a popular choice among smartwatch aficionados that’s compatible with brands like Google, OnePlus, and Oppo

This is the powerhouse of your device, and better performance here will make everything quicker and more efficient 93

smartwatches

W H AT TO LOOK OU T FOR

STYLING

BATTERY PROCESSOR Just as you would when buying a phone or a laptop, it’s important to look at the quality of the processor.

Think of it like the engine in your car – this is the powerhouse of your device, and better performance here will make everything quicker and more efficient.

The performance aspect is becoming more and more crucial as AI processing becomes more common, but the efficiency is what you’ll probably notice first. That will have a direct impact on your battery life.

For Apple Watches, the current S10 chip is the top dog, and can be found in the Series 10 model. It’s a little more convoluted in other devices as there’s so much variety, but the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 is a good bet.

You’ll find it in devices from brands like Google, OnePlus and Oppo.

Distinctly different from a conventional beater, the Google Pixel Watch (right) is defined by the minimalist perfect circles of its display and its slightly larger 41mm size

“ The size of the battery is obviously important, but it’s not the only factor that impacts your watch’s longevity ”

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Speaking of the battery life, let’s talk about the cell itself. These watches are powered by something more akin to a phone battery than a quartz watch and will often be listed with a rating in milliamp hours (mAh).

The size of the battery is obviously important, but it’s not the only factor that impacts your watch’s longevity.

As mentioned, the efficiency of the processor is equally important.

For that reason, it’s always worth looking out for listed battery life figures or reading some reviews from a trusted source. At T3, we thoroughly test the battery life of each smartwatch in a range of different situations, to ensure you’ve got a clear picture of what to expect.

Battery life will also vary wildly between models – a base model Apple Watch might just about make one full day, while watches from brands like Garmin can last for months.

Just as with your carefully curated selection of mechanical timepieces, it’s important to get something stylish that you’ll enjoy wearing and looking at. There are a lot of different options on the current market, from the square frame of the Apple Watch to the minimal perfect circles of the Google Pixel Watch.

One thing you’ll notice about smartwatches is that they tend to be a little larger than traditional watches.

It’s not uncommon to see measurements in the mid-to-high 40mm range, as this gives users a larger display to make use of.

More often than not, these will be offered on a rubber strap. Those range from something not too dissimilar to the Tropic straps you’ll know from dive watches to something that looks more like Stretch Armstrong’s pool float.

Of course, you can swap it out for other options, but keep in mind that it’s not as simple as on a traditional watch. Most have a unique attachment method, so you’ll need to get something specifically designed for your watch.

MY TOP PICKS

BEST FOR RUGGED ACTIVITY

GARMIN FENIX 8

• If you’re regularly found in the sort of

BEST BUDGET OPTION

XIAOMI SMART BAND 9

environments others might call adventurous, this is the watch for you. No expense has been spared, and you’ll be getting the crème de la crème of Garmin’s latest tech. Grab the 51mm model for up to 29 days of battery life in the smartwatch mode. £1,119.99, garmin.com

•

If you’re budget conscious, this neat little Xiaomi piece is a perfect pick. For around £35, you’ll get every health and fitness metric you could ask for, plus the ability to view notifications from your phone. It will work with iPhone and Android handsets, and is a perfect entry point. £34.99, mi.com

BEST LOOKING

SAMSUNG GALAXY WATCH ULTRA • Beauty is always in the eye of the

beholder, but I’ve got a real soft spot for the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. It’s a neat hybrid of classic and modern, with a squared case shape not dissimilar to what you’d find in the catalogues of brands like Panerai. It’s also pretty rugged, for added peace of mind.

£599, samsung.com

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GADGETS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE ULTIMATE WATCH NERD WORDS:

Sam Kessler By dint of you reading this magazine, I’m going to assume you like your watches. That’s a pretty safe bet. But are you a genuine watch nerd? Do you wake up every morning and wonder how your watch’s accuracy did overnight?

Do you shun loudspeakers in case they magnetise your precious timepiece? Do you find a run-down mainspring the saddest tragedy in the world?

Well, you’re in good company. Should we have bigger priorities in life?

Certainly. But when it comes to watches, obsession is addictive, and these horological gadgets will help that obsession along no end. Enjoy – and apologise to your family for us. You’re lost to them now.

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ultimate gadgets

WATCH DEMAGNETISER While most modern watches have at least some anti-magnetic properties, vintage pieces aren’t so lucky. Hell, even the tiny magnets that keep your laptop shut can impact a delicate metal balance spring, causing your watch to speed up to break-neck frequencies. The easiest solution isn’t to take it to a watchmaker, but to spend less than £15 on a degausser.

Just switch it on, hold your watch just above it for a few seconds, flip it over for another few and you’re done. No more magnetism. Yes, you can do the same thing using an old CRT TV, but this takes up a lot less space.

There are countless versions from countless brands available from as little as £10. Just find the one that suits you best on amazon.co.uk

WATCHGECKO SEVEN-PIECE SCREWDRIVER SET Whether you’re changing a screwed-in bracelet or diving deep into Seiko modding, a solid set of screwdrivers will be your best friend. This comprehensive set from accessories experts WatchGecko wouldn’t look out of place in a proper workshop, with its industry-standard design and precise machining. There’s a size for every job and just having these lying around shows that you sir, are a cut above the standard watch appreciator. You don’t just know watches; you understand how they work. £28, watchgecko.com

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EAGLE EYE LOUPE 6X Your standard plastic loupe isn’t enough to take in all the detail of your hand-finished movement; far from it. You need something worthy, something like Eagle Eye’s phenomenal 6X magnification loupe.

It’s a big beast of a magnifier but will give you a look at your watch like nothing else.

Precise, detailed and without distortion, it’s perfect for macro admiring. Pair it with their attachable circle light and you can gaze lovingly at your guilloche day or night in crystal clarity. And if you’re looking to share that guilloche with the world, they also sell a universal attachment for the perfect macro phone shot. It’s time for a close-up…

Loupe X6, €250 Circle Light, €95 Universal Smart Phone Holder, €45

WEISHI MTG-1000 TIMEGRAPHER Ever wondered just how well your COSCcertified movement is holding up? You might have assumed you’d need to take it into a watchmaker to get anything more accurate than just counting the beats through an exhibition caseback, but this multi-function timegrapher will give you a quick, accurate readout in seconds. Just put your watch of choice on the stand and the machine will automatically pick up the frequency. Otherwise, you can enter it in manually to see just how (hopefully) well your prized watch is running. But beware: once you start testing, you might not be able to stop. £175, cousinsuk.com

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BARRINGTON SIX WATCH WINDER What’s better than a three-watch collection? Six watches, obviously.

As much a horological statement as any minute repeater, Barrington’s superlative bank of winders is powered by quiet Japanese motors and protected by fingerprint sensors (you can log up to 20 prints). The winders are individually programmable via the tech-forward digital display. Finished with plenty of carbon fibre, it’s the futureproof, multi-watch winder your collection’s been crying out for. £995, barringtonwatchwinders.com

“

Finished with plenty of carbon fibre, it’s the futureproof, multiwatch winder your collection’s been crying out for ”

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NESTROMO WATCH CLEANING MACHINE If you want to get all that ingrained grime out of your watch, you could opt for an ultrasonic cleaning machine. They’re not too expensive and they’re simple. Or you could opt for this bad boy, a compact, tabletop version of industrial movement cleaning machines.

Rather than submersing your watch in water, it instead uses benzine to clean your watch, rotating the parts through the non-oxidising liquid to deep clean the parts. At the very least, it’ll make your bracelet feel factory fresh; at the most, it can give a disassembled movement a new lease of life. €450, nestromo.com

MODALO CLASICO TRIPLE-WATCH WINDER If you’ve spent your entire collecting career curating the perfect three-watch collection, you’ll need a fitting shrine to your achievement – and Modalo has just the thing. Available in eight variations ranging from carbon fibre (for the racing chrono fans) to classic sandalwood to malachite, you can suit the winder to your watches. The trio are powered by Modalo’s gentle, quiet motors that can be individually set for each of your grail pieces. And yes, there’s a presentation mode. You’ll be the envy of your collectors’ group.

From £809,10, modalo.com

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WOLF ATLAS SAFE Sometimes you just want to be sure that your hoard of treasured watches is safe and sound. Honestly, sometimes your insurers do, too. For that you need something more than a winder, you need a proper watch safe, and few are quite as proper as WOLF’s incredible Atlas safe. More than a glorified lockbox, the bank of 12 winders uses WOLF’s patented technology to allow you to connect via their Bluetooth app and customise the winding as you see

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fit. Go easier on a delicate complication or quicker on a basic automatic movement, without the risk of overwinding. And honestly, if you fancy showing off your collection to guests (whether they’re interested or not) there’s nothing like the big reveal of opening a safe door. Yes, it’s pricey, but by the time you have a trio of Patek Philippe high complications, it’s not just worth having, it’s a necessity. £35,669, wolf1834.com

men of influence

MEN of INFLUENCE:

LORENZO MAILLARD & MAXIME COUTURIER OF HEIST-OUT

THE FOUNDERS OF THE SELFSTYLED OUTCAST WATCH MAGAZINE, HEIST-OUT, DISCUSS WATCHES, AUTHENTICITY, AND LORENZO’S NONA

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While we here at Oracle Time are the UK’s leading watch magazine, that doesn’t mean we don’t keep an eye on cool stuff happening elsewhere – and Heist-Out have proven themselves very cool. Not just with the off-kilter approach to their debut issue (medieval armour and Piaget don’t often go hand-in-hand) but with their painfully cool Area 51 auction with Sotheby’s last month, which showcased plenty of weird and wonderful timepieces.

So, hoping that some of that cool would rub off, we sat down with Heist-Out founders Lorenzo Maillard and Maxime Couturier.

“ I’ve loved discovering that working with your friends can actually work. That’s probably what I love most about my life in the past, like five years working with a lot of friends ”

What was the last watch you bought?

Lorenzo: The Piaget Upstream. It’s… how could you say, not the most beautiful watch as there are so many different design languages, but they tried so hard to make something that was supposed to be revolutionary.

Unfortunately, it was launched in 2001, which wasn’t a great year and it didn’t do everything Piaget were hoping. But you can open it from the case rather than the buckle, so it has this complicated structure, and it was the first steel watch from Piaget for a long time, as well as the first automatic Piaget and one of the earliest at their Geneva facilities. So, it’s quirky and has a good story – even if it’s not necessarily beautiful.

Do you collect anything outside of watches?

Maxime: I collect a fair bit of fashion and probably what I have the most of are jackets. I started collecting Craig Green’s jackets and Raf Simons shirt jackets. I have four or so of the one, six or so of the other. They’re pretty pricey. Not as much as a watch – well, depending on the watch – so I’m going slow.

What, other than a watch, is at the top of your wish list?

Lorenzo: I’m always inspired by vintage in everything that I buy and collect, so mostly cars. Cars is a real topic for me. Which specific model?

That’s always hard as I love really quirky stuff, but a safe bet would be an Alfa Romeo Montreal, a really cool car from the 1970s.

A recent find/discovery?

Maxime: I’m gonna be quite bromance here and say that I’ve loved discovering that working with your friends can actually work. That’s probably what I love most about my life in the past, like five years working with a lot of friends, finding that it can be a great experience. You know, if you pick the right friends.

It’s beautiful.

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Items of beauty like the Alfa Romeo Montreal (above) and Craig Greens jackets (right) are highly prized by the Heist-Out pair, as is the Piaget Upstream (below)

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Lorenzo’s nona (below) remains an inspiration of selflessness and dedication to him, while if you’re looking to catch up with Maxime on his ideal long weekend then you’ll likely find him enjoying malakoff (right) in a restaurant with friends

puts so much of himself into his work, which you also see through interviews. I hope we do the same.

Lorenzo: My nona. Before you say anything, she was a celebrity to me growing up. I admired everything about her, her work ethic, her dedication to the family, the fact that she never put herself in front of the camera or in the limelight. She was always doing everything for other people, and she was always rewarding to connect with. She’s an inspiration.

What’s your ideal long weekend?

Maxime: It would just be no computer and going to great restaurants with my friends and family. That’s all that matters. No matter where it is, all you need is good food and good people.

The restaurant just needs to be really authentic, like going for malakoff in a restaurant where the only customers are old and have been going to the same place for decades. You can’t beat that.

What would we always find in your fridge?

Lorenzo: A beer. Maybe two beers, even though I don’t necessarily drink at home. And Italian food, always some good Italian food.

What’s a rule/mantra that you live by?

Maxime: If you never try, you never know.

What inspires you?

Lorenzo: that’s a tough one, it’s deep.

Lots of things inspire me. I’d have to say genuineness. Something, how do you say, real? Not too fake. It could be a product or whatever, but it has to have a meaning. It has to have a story to tell and perhaps most importantly, be humble about it.

Who is a celebrity or person of note you admire?

Maxime: I’ll go back to fashion – and sorry about that – but you know, fashion is always thought about as something that’s quite surface-level, but actually the work of Willy Chavarria is incredibly genuine. He

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What does the year ahead look like for you?

Lorenzo: It’s going to be a big year for us as we’re on the up. We’re building up the magazine, it’s no longer imaginary and everything’s been really positive. Now we just need to find the right partners, and kind of finding what sort of size we want to be.

Maxime: Yeah, it’s about staying true to what we did at the beginning that really matters, and that’s going to be tough as a lot of stuff is coming our way. So now it’s about trying to navigate and work with the people that will let us do what we originally set out to do.

24-hour war

WORDS:

Mark Smyth

THE

24-HOUR WAR WHY ARE SO MANY LUXURY CAR MANUFACTURERS FLOCKING TO THE MIDDLE OF FRANCE FOR A DAY LONG AUTOMOTIVE JOUST?

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Motorsport is a complex beast. At one end of the spectrum, there’s the highly polished and prized world of Formula One, where dashing drivers battle it out at breakneck speeds for a couple of hours each weekend. At the other end, there’s the unhinged and unpolished world of rally, where drivers get dusty and dice with death while darting through forests, mountain passes and frozen tundra.

But somewhere in-between lies the 24 Hours of Le Mans – motorsport’s answer to the ultra-marathon. One non-stop day of racing where cars and competitors are tested to breaking point, covering more miles in 24 hours than some F1 cars will do in a whole season. While F1 has been labelled a marathon of sprints, Le Mans has been likened to a 24-hour war, so why are so many luxury car manufacturers flocking to it?

Much of it is to do with the arrival of the hypercar class, which came in to replace the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) class in 2021 with racing cars that bore more of a resemblance to their road-going siblings. It’s the top-class at Le Mans and in the wider World Endurance Championship and contains all the cars that are competing for an outright win – the one that really matters. With the likes of Aston Martin making its debut in the class this year with its Valkyrie, the race ready version of the Adrian Newey designed road car will line up alongside seasoned veterans Porsche, Ferrari, Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Peugeot, and Cadillac at Le Mans on Saturday 14th June.

Reminiscent of the 1990s era of endurance racing that brought about icons like the McLaren F1, Porsche GT1, and Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK

“ One non-stop day of racing where cars and competitors are tested to breaking point, covering more miles in 24 hours than some F1 cars will do in a whole season ”

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GTR, the hypercar class has ushered in a new, golden age of endurance racing that’s revitalised fan interest and sparked new innovations.

The creation of the hypercar category was enough to persuade Ferrari to return to the top end of endurance racing when it entered – and won – with its Rosso Corsa red and yellow 499P at the races’ centenary in 2023. Now with two outright wins under its belt, the Modena-based manufacturer will be hoping to make it a hat-trick, but they’ll need to get past ‘old masters’ Porsche to do so.

That might be problematic given the German marque is a dab hand when it comes to winning Le Mans outright, having done so 19 times since it first entered in 1951 with its Beetle-esque 356 SL. This season, the team were marked as one of the favourites having won the drivers’ championship last year but the first outing in Qatar proved to be a disappointment. Still, as a mainstay Le Mans, there’s a general feeling Porsche will have things back on track when it comes to the most important race of the endurance season.

As for the other hypercar competitors, there’s the veteran Toyota team, which has five outright wins to its name; Cadillac, with its rumbling 5.5-litre V8-powered V-Series R; Bavarian team BMW, with its V8 hybrid engine car; Porsche customer team Proton and French rivals Alpine and Peugeot.

And then there’s the new kid on the block: Aston Martin, which caused waves well beyond the paddock when the development of the hypercar class convinced it to return to the highest level of competition in endurance racing in 2023. Compared to the rest, the great British marque has an enviable history at Le Mans, with its first entry into the race dating back to 1928, when it entered a pair of AM415 ‘Internationals’. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that the brand started to build a more substantial presence in the event, when Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby drove

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Team Alpine (top) and Aston Martin (above) will both be competing at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, which has seen a number of famous F1 drivers test their endurance at the famous circuit over the years, including Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, and Jenson Button

The 1959 Le Mans-winning Aston Martin DBR1 (above) driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby alongside Aston Martin’s Valkyrie AMR-LMH entry for this year’s endurance race

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“With an extraordinary fusion of F1 technology and road car mastery, Valkyrie is truly built for racing” 117

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“ The engine is enhanced and adapted to meet the performance window dictated by the hypercar class but also the rigours of top-level longdistance competition ”

A lot has changed in motor racing over the past half a century, as shown in the design of first Porsche to win Le Mans (above) and the McLaren-United Autosports WEC (left)

the DBR1 to outright victory in 1959 – something Aston hopes is in the wings (if you’ll excuse the pun) 66 years on, albeit with a brace of Valkyrie AMR-LMHs this time around.

Sporting a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH racing car is powered by a modified version of the same Cosworth-built 6.5-litre, 1,000 bhp, naturally aspirated V12 engine that appears in the road-going version. The engine is enhanced and adapted to meet the performance window dictated by the hypercar class but also the rigours of top-level long-distance competition.

That means it has a reduced fuel consumption and its engine power is

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revised down to meet the mandatory 680bhp power cap. It also goes without the hybrid system found in the road car, while the engine is paired with a seven-speed sequential gearbox from Xtrac and a bespoke exhaust system designed specifically for race use.

“It would be almost unimaginable for Adrian Newey to design a car and not think about it going racing at some point,” says Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter. “With an extraordinary fusion of F1 technology and road car mastery, Valkyrie is truly built for racing and its participation in the highest level of world endurance

racing will only further cement its technological achievement.”

Whether the Valkyrie will be enough to beat the competition over 24 hours remains to be seen. The hypercar class has brought a whole new level of competition to the world’s most famous 24-hour race, with reigning champions Ferrari and its 499P keen to defend their title and Porsche eager to add to their record tally of outright wins in this corner of France.

While it’s difficult to prove just how many cars marques like Mercedes, Ferrari and Porsche manage to shift off the back of their success at the Circuit de Sarthe, the image of a battle-scarred, spaceship-like sportscar taking the chequered flag at Le Mans is something every hypercar competitor will be chasing. After all, while the gap between a Le Mans racer and the road car that bears the same badge might be significant, claiming your cars can win in a gruelling 24-hour street fight at 200mph is one hell of a sales tool. Let battle commence.

Watch the race on discovery+ on Saturday 14 June.

• Sustainability is and always will be one of the key metrics businesses are concerned with. Whether that’s sustainable watchmaking like you might find elsewhere in Oracle Time, or in this instance, sustainable food. There are many ways to make food sustainable, like using seasonal ingredients and local produce. But today we’re focusing on the concept of nose to tail dining, which specifically refers to meat and the practice of ensuring zero anim al waste. In simple terms that means every part of the anim al is used, including unusual cuts and offal. Taking Nose to tail dining a pick y eater friend to one of these featured restaurants is a great way to show them they shouldn’t be so pick y.

RESTAURANTS 

LYLE’S

Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High St, E1 6JJ Lyle’s is the project of chef James Low and has the honour of being the most Googled Michelin starred restaurant in Europe, according to published Google analytics. It’s an achievement that coincides with the fact that it’s almost impossible to get a booking, especially at the last minute. They have a menu that changes daily, adapting to what cuts are available as per the nose to tail philosophy.

Their sample menu includes guinea fowl broth, pig’s head terrine, and blood cake.

Book at lyleslondon.com

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ORIGIN CITY SMITHFIELD

12 West Smithfield, Farringdon, EC1A 9JR The motto of Origin City’s Executive Chef, Graham Chatham, is ‘great taste, no waste’ which is why he has implemented a farm to plate and nose to tail philosophy in his kitchen.

They butcher all of their meat in-house, giving them full control of the cuts and ensuring that nothing goes to waste. Plus, the meat comes from their own farm in Argyll, Scotland. They offer a six course tasting menu that includes dishes like black angus steak tartare, grilled morteau sausage, and grilled texel hogget.

Book at origincity.co.uk

ST. JOHN

26 St. John Street, Farringdon, EC1M 4AY

“ St. John are so closely tied to the concept of nose to tail dining that they even wrote the definitive book on the subject 122

St. John are so closely tied to the concept of nose to tail dining that they even wrote the definitive book on the subject, showcasing recipes that utilise parts of an animal most chefs are less familiar with. Their restaurant has been a mainstay of the London dining scene for many years now, instantly recognisable for its high walled dining room and austere white décor. The lunch menu includes British classics like devilled kidneys on toast and ox cheek.

Book at stjohnrestaurant.com

CULTURE — food & drink

THE PIG AND BUTCHER

80 Liverpool Rd, Islington, N1 0QD Taking things in more of a gastropub direction, The Pig and Butcher aims to take you back in time to when Islington was surrounded by fields and farms. Essentially bringing you a rural dining experience right in the heart of the city. In order to achieve that they have an on-site butcher (as the name suggests) and source rare breed meat from across the UK. As with all nose to tail and in-house butcher restaurants, the menu changes regularly depending on what’s available.

Book at thepigandbutcher.co.uk

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JUNSEI

132 Seymour Place, Marylebone, W1H 1NS We’re talking about London so it would be remiss not to talk at least a little bit about the city’s amazing Japanese dining scene. Japanese cuisine is no stranger to the nose to tail concept, with many counter and chef’s table venues showing the butchering of animals and fish in front of the guests. Junsei specialise in yakitori; Japanese chicken skewers that make use of every part of the bird. It’s authentically grilled over Binchōtan charcoal using simple seasonings to bring out the natural flavour of each dish.

Book at junsei.co.uk

“ Junsei specialise in yakitori; Japanese chicken skewers that make use of every part of the bird

ORACLE TIME ON THE SCENE NOBU

22 Portman Square, Marylebone, W1H 7BG Dining at Nobu Portman Square means entering the hotel’s spacious atrium and being guided to Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s dining room. The room feels modern but comfortable, giving it a fairly relaxed atmosphere. The cuisine is inspired by a fusion of South American and Japanese influences like black cod miso, rock shrimp tempura, and yellowtail sashimi. As we ate, we looked with jealousy at the eight-seat sushi counter where guests can watch the chefs at work up close. Each dish is beautifully balanced, allowing the natural flavour of each ingredient to reach its maximum potential.

Book at noburestaurants.com

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MANTECA

49-51 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3PT A lot of nose to tail concepts have a strong association with British cuisine because they use local produce, however Manteca turn that on its head. They apply a nose to tail philosophy in the production of their Italian food. Whole-animal butchery working side by side with handmade pasta, wood-fired bread. They even operate an in-house salumeria, which is a delicatessen to you or me.

Dish highlights include fried ciccioli with apple mostarda, pig’s head fritti, and ox tongue skewer.

Book at mantecarestaurant.co.uk

TEMPER

25 Broadwick Street, Soho, W1F 0DF

“ They source all their meat from within the UK to ensure sustainable practices and do all their butchering in-house

If any style of restaurant is going to do meat right, it’s got to be a steakhouse.

Temper has three locations in central London including Soho, Covent Garden, and City of London and specialise in steak, tacos, and barbeque.

They source all their meat from within the UK to ensure sustainable practices and do all their butchering in-house. This means they use dramatically fewer cattle to serve the same number of customers as other steakhouses. Plus, it gives them full control over the menu, as any meat unsuitable for steak or barbeque becomes delicious tacos.

Book at temperrestaurant.com

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CULTURE — vintage hero

Words: Tim Vaux

VINTAGE HERO:

UNITED IN TURMOIL How the biggest Swiss houses came together to conquer quartz – and why it didn’t work

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You may assume that technology has long been the enemy of the mechanical watch. For centuries, watchmaking has hyper focused on the refinement and progress of small elements to improve accuracy and tolerance. Innovation within tight barriers formed by Côtes de Genève finished bridges with beautiful anglage is the currency of watchmaking. Technology strips away human ingenuity in favour of consistency, speed, and efficiency, just like the camera did for the meticulous manipulation of a paintbrush guided by an artist’s expression. But in reality, does it? In the same way that the arrival of the camera evolved the visual expression of art, once technology in watchmaking was embraced, its threatening persona eased. In one camp, it has driven evolution; in another, such as the Beta 21, it united a country.

If you’ve read past issues of Oracle Time and stumbled upon my previous stories, you’ll be well aware of the impact battery-powered watches had on the traditional mechanical industry. This new technology saw a small battery and quartz tuning fork replace the role of the mainspring and gearing to deliver accuracy far greater than mechanical watches could achieve at the time. This technology rapidly became more accessible, and as such, seemingly overnight, the mechanical wristwatch had lost its purpose. It is believed that during the arrival of quartz watches from 1970 to 1988, Swiss watch employment dropped from 90,000 people to just 28,000 – for the Swiss, it very much was a quartz crisis.

The story of Beta 21 truly begins with the invention of quartz in 1928 by Bell Labs. The first quartz clock used a quartz-crystal oscillator to generate a stable timing signal. This was extremely useful in labs due to their highly accurate timekeeping, but the technology was still decades away from any form of cuff-friendly

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What started in 1928 with the invention of quartz by Bell Labs would change watchmaking forever in the 1970s, with quartz watches powered by movements like the Beta 21, which came into existence at the start of the decade.

proportions. Eventually, during the 1960s, quartz movements evolved to the degree where they could fit inside marine chronometers. However, with the majority of these advancements happening overseas in the US and Japan, the ancestral home of watchmaking feared their country’s USP would eventually slip away behind their backs. As such, a research organisation known as The Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) was formed in 1962.

Interestingly, some of the people behind the institute included those from Ebauches SA (later ETA) and the Swiss Federation de l’Industrie Horlogère (FH), as well as approximately 20 houses.

Three years after its founding, the CEH landed on a quartz crystal as being the best option for creating their own electric watch after attempting a tuning fork approach previously – think Bulova Accutron. By 1967, their quartz attempt was a success, and the Beta 1 prototype was born. This piece was, in fact, technically the first quartz-powered wristwatch, five years before the Seiko Astron–all be at a prototype level versus Seiko’s completed watch. Upon completion of the prototype, full production of the quartz movement began, and in 1970, the Beta 21 was conceived.

CULTURE — vintage hero

During the arrival of quartz watches from 1970 to 1988, Swiss watch employment dropped from 90,000 people to just 28,000 – for the Swiss, it very much was a quartz crisis 129

CULTURE — vintage hero

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The combination of being born in the very bohemian design style of the 1970s and the thickness of the movement resulted in very chunky, quite quirky watches

Brands including Rolex, Patek, Omega, IWC, Longines, Piaget, and Jaeger-LeCoultre all used the Beta 21 movement in the timepieces, but it proved a commercial flop as it ran out of power quickly and was superseded by manufacturers’ own quartz movements

At the 1970 Basel Fair, many of the couple of dozen brands involved in the project released watches using these movements, including Rolex, Patek, Omega, IWC, Longines, Piaget, and Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Swiss had proven they could be competitive within the realm of quartz watches, but there was a catch: the movements were a commercial flop. Despite the movements being very large, they ran out of power quickly and not long after they were introduced, manufacturers released their own take on quartz movements, such as the Piaget 7P, the world’s flattest quartz movement at the time at just 3.1mm. The Beta 21 movement was only in production from 1969 to 1972 officially (OMEGA took over production and made iterations well into the 1980s), with a staggering 6,000 movements being made in that short period of time.

Beta 21- powered watches, while all uniquely designed by each maison, all carry a distinctive appearance. The combination of being born in the very bohemian design style of the 1970s and the thickness of the movement

resulted in very chunky, quite quirky watches.

The most well-known Beta 21 powered pieces come from the likes of Piaget with their 14101, Rolex with the 5100, Patek with the 3587, as well as their Da Vinci Beta 21. Within niche collecting circles, these command premium prices, but pieces like the Omega Electroquartz and Longines Quartz Chron can be purchased for a few thousand pounds.

Sadly, the Beta 21 doesn’t have a happy ending, but what it does represent is how horizontal the watch industry has always been, especially when it’s facing a challenge. Every brand talks today about vertical integration within their manufacturer, with custom rotors being enough for some to claim the calibre is ‘in-house’, but the industry is built upon a horizontal operation. There are specialists for every component for cases, buckles, movements, dials, and watch straps. The Beta 21 project represents a rare public moment where all brands recognised the importance of strengthening together.

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THE SPECS • 41mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • CW-003 manual-wind movement with 144-hour power reserve • £4,000, christopherward.com

CHRISTOPHER WARD C12 LOCO How can the British brand possibly top the Bel Canto?

They might well have already found the answer

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christopher ward

After the GPHG-winning Bel Canto took the watch world by storm, we’ve all been waiting with bated breath for what comes next.

The answer? Quite possibly the British brand’s greatest achievement to date: the C12 Loco.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, Christopher Ward doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and while the straightforward comparison between the C12 Loco and the Bel Canto is easy, I’m not sure it’s entirely fair on either watch. The Bel Canto, cool as it is, was already a known quantity when it came out, as the movement was already being used by the Meistersinger’s Bel Hora.

Christopher Ward just made it their own. The movement here is a first for the brand.

If you see an open bit of movement at six o’clock, you probably think tourbillon. That’s a thought that would have been groundbreaking 20 years back, but these days is eye-rollingly passe in haute horology circles. The open balance on the other hand – at least those that go beyond the cheesy ‘open heart’ stuff’ – is still a rarity. I’m genuinely not sure why, as I’d posit that it does what people love about tourbillons – mechanical dynamism and visual impact – much better. It’s the main reason anybody bothers admiring their exhibition caseback and having it on the front is one hell of a feature. And Christopher Ward have given it possibly the best stage for its specific solo performance.

The dial is a tale of two halves. The top half is dedicated to minutes and hours on what is a (comparatively) traditional display, with a chapter ring and sharp-as-hell triangular indexes. It’s less a dial, more the dial peripherals inset and bolted onto a plate, with raised sections either side. Then you have the open balance along with the escapement secured on a pair of Girard-Perregaux-esque bridges and… nothing else. No barrels are visible, no wheels, just the balance. Oh, and a lot of orange.

When I first saw glimpses of the C12 Loco it was dressed in black. It made the watch feel more classical and let the titular balance do the talking, about as minimal as something like this can be. This orange on the other hand is about as minimal as a volcano-coloured McLaren.

Sure, sometimes less is more. But sometimes more is, in fact, more. And I’m here for it.

The colour – both in this orange and the bright blue – highlight the brushed raised sections and the sharp decline in the dial. The screws are pretty obvious in all four versions (silvery white being the final member of the quartet) but work best against the orange. Finished on a supremely comfortable, dial-matched rubber strap, the C12 Loco is going for a sportier feel than I’m used to with anything remotely in this arena, certainly anything in this price league. Just don’t shower with it; at 30m water resistance, it only looks sporty.

Still, that sporty look translates to a slightly bigger, 41mm case size and an integrated strap or bracelet. That’s not massive by any means and even as a man of diminutive

wrists, it feels great on. The extra couple of millimetres above the goldilocks zone gives the dial the architectural space it needs to breath, to open up the C12 Loco. Any smaller, it would get too cramped, any bigger it would look sparse. At 41mm of mixed polished and brushed steel, Christopher Ward nailed it.

It’s not all about aesthetics of course. While the Bel Canto had a repurposed movement, the CW-003 (part of Christopher Ward’s recently renamed SH-series) has had the privilege of being purpose-built. Along with the layout, that means a 144-hour power reserve via the twin barrels, which are one of the only things actually visible through the caseback. Even for a manual-wind watch, that’s solid.

All of this will set you back approximately £4,000 and how you take that number depends on how you see Christopher Ward. On the one hand, this is an incredibly cool timepiece with a masterfully engineered movement and an aesthetic to kill for. On the other, that’s £4K for a Christopher Ward. Ouch. Fortunately, though, we still have the new Aeolian (sorry, I mean the Shoreline 1.2), so at least they’re not forgetting the little guys in their pursuit of haute horological flexing.

And the C12 Loco is a flex. Christopher Ward needed to prove that the Bel Canto wasn’t a fluke, that they had equally appealing, mechanically gratifying and amazing looking watches in the pipeline. Now that it’s here, I’m going to go out on a limb and say I prefer it. Which is probably a moot point as, if history is any guide, getting hold of one will be easier said than done. After all, even if it doesn’t sell out quite as quickly, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. £4,000, christopherward.com

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THE SPECS • 41mm ceramic case with 100m water resistance • SW200-1 automatic movement with 41-hour power reserve • £3,750, formexwatch.com

FORMEX CERAMIC SKELETON The Swiss brand celebrate a quarter-century of independent watchmaking with a bold, skeletonised look and a world-first

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formex

Among the big, flashy anniversaries this year – Vacheron’s 275th, Zenith’s 160th, even Gerald Charles’ 35th – probably the one you won’t be seeing as much of is that of Formex. The independent Swiss brand is turning 25 and, honestly, I feel like they’ve crammed more in to that time than any of the others. And where everyone else is celebrating with expensive limited editions, Formex is doing so with a world first in the Essence Ceramica Skeleton.

I’m going to right off the bat here say I’m not a fan of skeleton watches and the Essence Ceramica Skeleton is not changing my mind on that. Granted, it’s not the kind that shows my frail wrists from the front, but I find the business of skeleton and openwork dials detracts from what I like about watches. I like a good dial. Why would anyone take that away from me?

By skeleton standards though, this is a solid one. Excess material has been machined away from the COSC-certified movement to see clear through, with mainspring and wheels on almost full display, held by a spider’s web of bridges. What does remain of a dial is the dual-layer chapter ring supporting sharply faceted, lumed indexes.

If you like this kind of intensely technical look, more power to you, this is a fantastic watch for you.

I’m much more into the case. The Essence collection treads a fine line between big, bold ‘70s sports style and wearability and I’ve loved most variations of it, including the cool stone dial versions. Here the polished ceramic really emphasises that shape, especially around the bezel and crown which really catch the light for a seriously glossy black. Polishing ceramic is a massive pain as you need something just as hard, which basically means diamonds or more ceramic, but the result is worth it. At least when it’s clean. More on that in a bit.

The main talking point here isn’t the case or the dial, but the bracelet. There are plenty of full ceramic bracelets out there – or, more accurately, almost full ceramic bracelets. Most of the time, the links and outer sections of the clasp will be made from zirconium oxide, but the moving parts won’t be. There’s a limit to what ceramic can do. But it’s a limit that Formex has raised as this shiny new bracelet has the world’s first ceramic micro-adjustment.

In the same way as every leather strap should have quick-change springbars, every bracelet should have micro-adjustment. This is the hill I will die on. The British weather can blow hot and cold quicker than modern-day international diplomacy and being able to loosen your strap as it begins to swelter is a godsend. Ceramic, with

In the same way as every leather strap should have quick-change springbars, every bracelet should have microadjustment. This is the hill I will die on

its corrosion resistant properties, is just as summer-ready so the two were made for each other.

That making of course was easier said than done.

There’s a good reason why this is a first; no big watchmaker would bother. As Formex founder Raphael Granito puts it: “Engineering and manufacturing a micro-adjustment system in a ceramic clasp required us to completely rethink our existing patents and come up precisely with a new concept. We focused on engineering a system that is contained within itself without requiring an overly complicated clasp cover, to save on cost, and complexity, even adding a function that allows the wearer to adjust on the fly without having to open the clasp.”

The emphasis here is on that last part. The exterior slider means that you can simply adjust the bracelet without undoing it. Not only is that safer as you don’t risk dropping your hardwearing-yet-brittle ceramic timepiece, but you can more accurately gauge the fit.

It’s also worryingly fun to fidget with, enough that I’m glad the parts are ceramic. There’s no wearing this clasp out.

The bracelet is polished in the same way as the case and catches the light even more on those beautifully faceted links. But that brings me to the downside I alluded to earlier. Polished ceramic really, really shows up fingerprints. Formex have left the clasp matte, so the part you’re guaranteed to touch is safe, but it doesn’t take long for the bezel and bracelet to start looking dirty.

It’s a shame, because I do really like the clean, polished look, it’s just entirely impractical.

On the wrist – once you’ve given it a good go over with a cleaning cloth – the Essence Ceramic Skeleton feels great. That’s partially due to the innately lovely feel of ceramic, but more so Formex’s case suspension system, which helps the watch sit comfortably by letting the movement adapt to the wrist. If you’ve ever wondered why Formex watches are so comfortable, that’s why.

That system’s also added shock resistance, just in case you wanted to really put the ceramic through its paces.

When it comes down to it, the Formex Ceramica Skeleton falls into that catchment of watches I appreciate but wouldn’t wear myself. It’s cool in an intensely technical kind of way, which will tick every box for some collectors. I prefer having a dial. I’m a man of simple tastes, even if that dial’s some egregiously bright deep cut from the CMYK palette.

If on the other hand they did this with their usual Essence dial – one of the cool, stone dials perhaps – I’d be much more into it. After all, it’s a lot of watch for the money, COSC-certified movement and all. And if they did a full ceramic Field with this bracelet, I’d line up to buy one. £3,750, formexwatch.com

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Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe’s Calatrava is one of the quintessential dress watches of history. Admittedly it occasionally moonlights as a pilot’s watch or grand complication, but the classic expression of it is as a purebred dress watch.

That’s what we have here with the new Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 6196P-001 Platinum, which we had the fortune of getting hands-on with at Watches & Wonders 2025.

The first thing that stands out is the full platinum case. Platinum is quite a funny material because with its high lustre and white-silver metallic tone, it’s virtually impossible to distinguish from white gold or even highly polished steel at a glance. However, platinum is so much more prestigious than either of those materials that watchmakers often feel the need to signpost when a watch is made from it. Rolex do that by giving their platinum watches the same sky-blue dial, as seen on the new platinum Land-Dweller. Patek do it by setting a single diamond into the side of the case at 6 o’clock, which you can see here on the Calatrava’s 38mm case between the lugs.

On the wrist it feels super svelte between that 38mm diameter and a

WORDS:

Michael Sonsino

PATEK PHILIPPE

CALATRAVA REF. 6196P-001 WHEN LESS IS MORE, PATEK PHILIPPE KNOW HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A CLASSIC 140

thickness of only 9.33mm. That slimness is possible because the platinum case houses a manualwinding movement, the calibre 30255 PS, meaning no bulky rotor system. It has a 65-hour power reserve so there’s not a constant nagging to keep it wound. You can view the movement through the exhibition sapphire caseback, revealing the immaculate Côtes de Genève finishing across the plate.

Turning the watch back over to look at the dial, it offers a classic dress watch colour scheme. The dial itself is salmon coloured via an opaline rose gilt, a warm and gentle tone that has been popular since the early 1900s. While the rosy, pink colour has been around for ages, the term ‘salmon’ started appearing in the 1930s when brands moved away from tone-on-tone rose dials and rose gold cases to contrasting white gold or platinum cases. Giving us the silver skin of the fish with the pink flesh.

Completing the display are the anthracite coloured obus hour markers and hands. Obus translates from French as ‘artillery shell’, a reference to the pointed, facetted shape of the markers that look like they could be fired from a cannon.

It’s a super minimalist display with only hours, minutes and small seconds.

While we often think of grand complications as being the most difficult watches to produce, there’s a hidden difficulty in a three-hand, time only watch. There’s nowhere to hide poor craftsmanship and every small detail is easily scrutable to even the most cursory glance. And the Calatrava Ref. 6196P-001Platinum is genuinely flawless.

This level of immaculate finishing comes at a cost, as does a full platinum case with diamond setting. The watch comes out to £40,370. I think there’s a strong argument that this is the nicest purebred dress watch to have been launched at Watches & Wonders this year. Though it’s actually a close competition with the Laurent Ferrier Classic Auto Horizon.

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CORNER

edited by: sam kessler

M I C RO BR A ND

The latest and greatest from the creative world of independent microbrands

Blackout

Concept XP1 Allan Saint-Maximin Affordable tourbillons are becoming ever more common, but a watch that not only incorporates the gravity-defying complication but does so in a way you’d more often associate with the likes of Richard Mille is well worth taking notice of. Blackout Concept’s tonneau-shaped XP1 is made from forged carbon and to call it aesthetically intense is an understatement bordering on insult. It makes sense. As the name suggest, the watch is a collaborative edition with French footballer Allan Saint-Maximin, so impact is the order of the day. And, with a price tag well under £3,000 for a flying tourbillon, the price-to-impact ratio is off the charts. blackout-watches.com

THE SPECS: • 44mm forged carbon case with 100m water resistance • Double barrel flying tourbillon manual-wind movement with 72-hour power reserve • £2,816, limited to 50 pieces, blackout-watches.com

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Straum

Jan Mayen Alpine Glow The Norwegian, microbrand equivalent of Grand Seiko, Straum’s all about their natureinspired dials, riffing off the rugged, Scandinavian wilderness. Yet even by their lofty (if accessible) standards, the new Arctic models are stunning. Of the quartet of models, with their nice but standard blues and greens, it’s the Alpine Glow that I find most fascinating. It’s designed to emulate the sun dipping below the horizon and the combination of soft pink and sky blue is as gorgeous as it is unusual, complete with a linear wave texture that’s to die for. straum.co

THE SPECS:

• 38.7mm stainless steel case with 100m water resistance • La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement with 68-hour power reserve • $1,700 (approx. £1,315), straum.co

AISION Design CMYK Watch

I like colour. That shouldn’t really be a surprise by now. But I’m not sure even I’m as obsessed with it as AISION Design and their incredibly fun CMYK watch. Quick primer: CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black) and represents the framework for every printing colour. The dial here has a gradient sector of each colour, so they overlap in various ways.

The result isn’t a cool colour; it’s all the colours, with different angles showing up different hues. It’s fantastic and worryingly accessible, even with an automatic movement.

Impulse buy for summer? aisiondesign.com

THE SPECS:

• 38mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Seiko NH38 calibre automatic movement with 41-hour power reserve • £244, aisiondesign.com

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Beaubleu Ecce Vesperal

Who needs hands when you have circles?

Beaubleu’s whimsical approach to watchmaking is as off-kilter Parisian as anything from Hermes and possibly more eye-catching on the wrist. In the Ecce Vesperal, the time is told with a trio of bubble-like ‘hands’ rotating around the centre.

The large blue circle is for seconds, with minutes and hours getting smaller. Paired with the brushed silver dial, it’s a gorgeously minimal, appealingly unique twist on timekeeping that’s accessible enough to be a quintessential impulse buy. You’re unlikely to see another watch like it any time soon. £725, beaubleu-paris.com

THE SPECS:

• 39mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Miyota 9015 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve • £725, beaubleu-paris.com

Grandeur Strange Tiger’s Eye

Stone dial? Check. Weird, asymmetrical case?

Check. Price tag to make an auctioneer hot under the collar? Not so much. While Grandeur’s Dali-inspired melting watch has all the makings of a pricey habit you can’t quit, the Stateside brand’s £1,000 price tag is almost unbelievable.

It’s not just the striking, brown-striated stone or the funky titanium (yes, titanium) case, but the fact that it’s a wandering hours watch. Eight does not, in fact, come before one on most dials.

Sure, it’s quartz, but given there’s no second hand, who’d even know? grandeur-usa.com

THE SPECS:

• 39mm titanium case with 30m water resistance • Seiko quartz movement with Strange Hour complication • £1,000, grandeur-usa.com

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EDITED BY

Sam Kessler

A YOUNG FRENCH BRAND LOOKING TO THE PAST TO INFLUENCE THEIR FUTURE, AN INDEPENDENT SWISS MASTER OF GUILLOCHE, AND AN AUTOMOTIVE-INFUSED TWIST ON THE IDEA OF COMBINING QUARTZ AND MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS

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Drawing influence from the era of horological innovation in tool watches, the Serica 5303’s midcentury charm gives it an endearing originality in a sea of homogenous dive pieces currently available

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IN FOCUS — serica

SERICA

The young French brand blazing their own trail from the past to now How do you redefine a classic? I don’t mean reinventing the icons of the watch world, riffing on the Fifty Fathoms, Speedmaster, any number of Genta’s 1970s designs, but to rethink something as basic as a tool watch archetype. With so much noise around various references and the legacies of certain watchmakers, how do you rethink something as fundamental, as archetypal as a dive watch? According to Serica, by starting from the drawing board.

The way that Jérôme Burgert, one of Serica’s cofounders, put it is this: “imagine something that could have been done in the ‘60s but wasn’t.” This was the era of horological innovation in tool watches, the decade in which many of the most iconic watches ever built had their genesis. So, what better decade to go back to, before the weight of inimitable history, world firsts and the word ‘iconic’ muddied the waters? If you’re working from a blank slate, you’d probably want to do so in the ‘60s.

So then, what was a dive watch built to do? If you’re going back to the beginning, it’s a basic question you need to ask. The answer, diving, is simple of course but then what does that mean? What does a diver actually require from their timekeeping instrument? Serica’s approach is to look at the necessary specs and figure out how to meet them in as close to a horological void as possible. The result is a lot of fun.

I’m not about to say the Serica 5303 is some intensely revolutionary iconoclast, a watch that redefines everything that’s come before. It’s not. But it is a solid slice of originality in a sub-genre of watchmaking that’s sorely lacking in it.

Let’s start with the dial. The combination of bars at the edge and circles in the centre might seem a little odd, like an aesthetic quirk more than specs-driven. But look where those circles are. They’re in exactly the right place for the hour hand to touch them, but the minute hand to cross them.

There’s simply no mistaking one from another, even at a glance, which in the low-light environment of deep underwater, is a practical necessity. The graphic iron sights at 12 o’clock round off the perfect dive watch ensemble nicely.

While those kind of reference points are all you need for underwater however, most of us like seeing numerals on dry land. Therefore, Serica added a slim 12-hour scale to the unidirectional rotating bezel, along with the usual countdown diving bezel. It not only means that it’s readable no matter how or where you wear it, but that slim double-bezel adds a certain elegance to the overall look of the 5303.

That perhaps is what sets Serica apart. The ‘boardroom to boat’ trope has been trotted out by desk divers aplenty, but the 5303 is a watch that is both elegant and practical in a way that doesn’t blur the line but eliminates it. Again, they’re not the first – I’d argue the Fifty Fathoms is the most

elegant dive watch around – but it’s visually distinct and that, as much as anything else, is praiseworthy.

It’s a subtle distinction that’s rendered in highend materials with sapphire crystals, ceramic bezels and plenty of 316L stainless steel, protected by an anti-magnetic soft iron inner case and fitted with a gorgeous mesh strap. It ticks every box – including COSC certification – and it’s just the start.

Everything we’ve gone over can apply not just to the 5303 diver, but Serica’s Field Chronometer and Travel Chronometer too. Both share many of the same aesthetics, adapted to their respective arenas.

The Travel Chronometer, for example, swaps out that two-lined bezel for a GMT version and adds a funky lollipop GMT hand. To complete the look, it’s set on a sporty, travel-worthy slim rubber strap, emphasised by guilloche end-links. The attention to detail feels expensive.

The Field Chronometer swaps the strap for a fun, painfully retro Bonklip number that’s breathable, comfortable and one of the most underrated straps around. It especially suits the error-proof California dial version, complete with a plain, brushed steel bezel to hammer home its rugged credentials.

Another trope Serica nails: rugged yet refined.

That said, tropes are tropes for a reason: they’re indicators that a whole lot of designers want to achieve the same thing. But whereas most brands are happy to imitate what’s come before and hope they can stand out from the crowd; Serica have tried to come up with their own approach from the same original starting point. How successful they have been kind of relies on personal taste, as do most things watch-related. But the one thing you can’t deny is that they have their own identity – and in the saturated world of tool watches, there aren’t many who can say that.

Find out more at serica-watches.com

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IN FOCUS — laine

A true independent artisan in an industrial age, Torsti Laine’s watches are characterised by eye catching colour and breathtaking guilloche finishing, and all at a competitive price for such a level of artistry

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IN FOCUS — laine

LAINE

The independent watchmaker producing some of the finest guilloche watches in Switzerland We all in our heads have that perfect image of a lone watchmaker, sitting at a bench day in, day out building immaculate timepieces. If that image comes complete with a snowy Alpine chalet, more power to you, but either way it’s a timeless image and most of the time complete fiction. The vast majority of respected brands work with what are basically assembly lines with a few more steps, and even niche independents named for individual watchmakers have stables of horologists waiting in the wings. That ideal of a single, skilled artisan is not how 99.9% of watchmaking happens. Laine just so happens to be part of that .1%.

Presiding over a scenic townhouse workshop in Le Locle, Torsti Laine may at first seem like a bit of a recluse.

The Finnish watchmaker has very little presence outside of a website and the kind of breathless word-of-mouth that drives other collectors into a quiet frenzy. That’s the point. They’re the kind of watches that you hope your friends don’t find out about so that you can be the only one in the know.

Still, word always gets out and if there’s one thing Laine is known for, it’s guilloche – and with his latest P37 model, he’s giving Kari Voutilainen a run for his money on that front.

Guilloche has always been at the heart of Laine’s particular breed of watchmaking. Both the manual-wind GG3 and automatic V38 models showcase three different engine-turned finishes on each dial, ranging from clous de Paris to barleycorn to more abstract waves of delicate engraving. They’re painfully beautiful, with each finish separated and distinct from the others. But I know what you’re thinking: they’re quite a lot. Sometimes – just sometimes – you want something a little more pared-back, which in the case of the GG and V38 series, is most things.

That brings us back to the P37. Rather than a triumvirate of finishes that define Laine’s historical watches, the P37 takes a more minimal approach, stripping back to just one guilloche in set pattern/colour variations. And the range is spectacular.

They’re the kind of watches that you hope your friends don’t find out about so that you can be the only one in the know

To quickly run through the options (simple words can’t do them justice after all), first is the salmon spider. The pattern’s usually called ‘lightning’, but ‘spider’ is what most of Laine’s buyers have called it and the name’s stuck, here with straight bar indexes.

Then we have the medium-hued ocean blue with a more geometric diamond pattern with a mix of numerals and dot indexes. If you want a watch to pair with a sharp suit, this is the one for you.

Sky blue’s next with a lovely twill pattern to suit a bespoke shirt, with the same mix of numerals and dots as the ocean blue. Then we have a triple grain of rice pattern in a silver bordering white in its brightness, with full blued steel numerals. This is ostensibly the simplest of the quintet but the one that I imagine anyone reading this would be happy to have on their wrist.

That just leaves one variation and the one that I’d argue is the most ‘Laine’: the Murasaki Flame.

Murasaki is a traditional purple dye in Japan and the colour here is downright magnificent. Even at a time when purple is becoming more mainstream (even if it’s not quite there yet) this stands out as one of the finest around. Part of that is the specific royal colour, but more of it is in the unusual flame guilloche. This is the one that sums up why Laine is a watchmaker you should know, a blend of eyecatching colour and breathtaking finishing. And, of course, the movement.

Laine as a watchmaker doesn’t build movements from the ground-up. Instead, he takes the geartrain of classic movements and turns them into works of art. In the case of the P37, that base movement is the Peseux 7001, but unless you happen to recognise the overall structure, it’s unrecognisable, with a rose gold, guilloche two-thirds bridge and a black polished balance among other things. Sure, the specs aren’t as good as some modern movements – a 3hz frequency and 42-hour, manually-wound power reserve – but that’s not the point. The P37 is a work of watchmaking art and the movement is Laine’s final flourish.

The reason for this particular movement however is obvious when you have the watch on your wrist.

Where previously Laine has used larger pocket watch movements, the P37 measures in at 37mm across (hence the name) and just 8mm high. It slips perfectly under a sleeve and still gives its single, singular guilloche room to breathe.

Best of all, the P37 will set you back CHF 9,900 – just over £9,100 – which isn’t just a fantastic entry level to Laine, but also to this echelon of fine watchmaking. And keeping that dream of the solo artisan watchmaker alive? Priceless.

Find out more at lainewatches.com

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IN FOCUS — xxxxxxxx

Measuring in at 44.50mm across, the TwinTimer-GRILLE accomodates two distinct engines powering two distinct dials – an automatic Swiss Sellita SW100 and a quartz ETA

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IN FOCUS — technik4x

TECHNIK4X

A novel, automotive-infused twist on the idea of combining quartz and mechanical movements If you’re up on your hypercar releases, the word ‘hybrid’ is pretty common these days. Pretty much every insane, adrenaline-fuelled monster on four wheels uses a hybrid drivetrain and the reason why – and the very concept of a hybrid – is pretty appealing. Petrol engines have power but take a while to ramp up; electric engines offer less horsepower but much greater torque and therefore acceleration. Put the two together and you have a recipe for breathless performance.

It’s a concept you can also apply to the watch world to a lesser extent. Mecha-quartz movements are essentially a battery-powered quartz movement with a mechanical chronograph on top. Kinetic movements swap battery for a mechanical rotor while retaining the accuracy of quartz.

Even Grand Seiko’s phenomenal Spring Drive movement is a collaboration between the high-tech and the traditional. No brand however has taken the idea quite as literally as TECHNIK4X. To understand what TECHNIK4X is, you first need a glimpse into the man behind the brand, one Hans Peter Grädel. Grädel is a modern renaissance man, there’s barely an area of watches that the man’s 60-year career hasn’t touched. His most noteworthy accomplishment is the patented case suspension introduced in the racy Formex 4 Speed, something that’s now a core part of the brand’s collection. It was only a matter of time before the man lent his disruptive talents to a new project.

That project came in the form of the ultimate two-inone, the TwinTimer. Inside one case you not only have two dials – making it an incredibly clear and legible dual-time watch – but two movements. Two different movements, at that.

What sets the TwinTimer apart from other hybrid technology watches however isn’t that it has quartz and mechanical elements, but that it has two whole movements. Rather than being chronometrically linked, the watch has two distinct engines powering two distinct dials. This means that while the movement isn’t technically a hybrid – there’s no sharing of chronometric traits – the watch as a whole is the hybrid.

On the right side of the watch, you have an automatic movement, a Swiss Sellita SW100. It’s rotor-powered, workhorse accurate and one of the most reliable calibres on the market. On the left-hand side, you have a quartz number from the guys at ETA, specifically the 901.00. If a watch were analogous to the human brain, you have the creative right-brain and the romance of fine mechanics, and the logical left-brain with the electronic precision of quartz.

The TwinTimer’s a novel twist on the idea of combining quartz and mechanical movements and being able to track multiple timezones is always a good thing, especially when it’s as clear as this. Because the

movements are separate, they’re also independently operable via the TwinTimer’s two crowns. Fun as that hypercar-inspired idea is though, the biggest and most obvious link between TECHNIK4X and high-speed horsepower is in their design ethos.

The TwinTimer-GRILLE more than lives up to its name with a striking grille-plate from a car radiator surrounding the two central dials which themselves look like they’ve been ripped straight off a dashboard.

Whether it’s the high-contrast, eye-catching red version or the slightly subtler monochrome rhodium and steel edition, it doesn’t take more than a glance to understand the automotive leanings underpinning TECHNIK4X. I say slightly subtler because no matter what, there’s no missing these watches, partly for the design but mostly because they are big. In a world of steadily diminishing diameters, the TwinTimer-GRILLE has gone the other way entirely, measuring in at 44.50mm across. It makes sense; that’s what you need to fit in two movements. And between the architectural depth backed by that grille, the dramatically machined case and the bold colours, it has serious wrist presence.

The TwinTimer-GRILLE isn’t the only watch in TECHNIK4X’s collection. The ASD-44 model has had plenty of variations in the past, with everything from beautifully realised atlases and cool, lumed horizontal lines in place of that radiator finishing. But the GRILLE edition is the best encapsulation of what sets TECHNIK4X’s approach to watchmaking apart. It’s big, it’s bold and it’s uncompromising in its pursuit of a hypercar concept.

That all said, Hans Peter Grädel isn’t the kind of designer to rest on his laurels, and it’ll be intriguing to see where he takes the TwinTimer in the future.

Find out more at technik4x.com

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watches

O r a c le

DISCOVERS WHAT’S ON OUR SHOPPING LIST AND WHY

EMBER WATCH COMPANY – ROCKET With a name like Rocket, the debut watch from Ember Watch Company feels like a stylish ode to all things sci-fi. The 40mm diameter stainless steel case is deeply facetted with sharp angles and lines featuring a bead-blasted matte finish that contrasts with the smooth, polished bezel. Combine that with the bright, colourful dials, such as white with mint green, and it almost wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi film. A fusion of concepts that are simultaneously retro and modern.

Powering the piece is the Seiko NH38A with 41-hour power reserve. £359, available from emberwatchcompany.com

PALMOS – PALMOS ONE

JUSTIN RICHARDSON – TANK 432 In March 2025 Justin Richardson won two Gold Awards at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards for his incredible Tank 432 Black Mother-of-Pearl and 828 Octavo Evening Watch. There’s a level of detail and intricacy to handcrafted watches that other forms of production simply cannot match. Inspired by iconic Art Deco watches like the Cartier Tank and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, the facets of the Tank 432’s angular case are immaculate, and the dial is so incredibly precise.

Prices from £17,400, available at justinrichardson.co.uk

The PALMOS ONE is the debut watch from Palmos, bringing a sleek integrated bracelet design to life with monochromatic dials. It measures 40mm with a thickness of 9.2mm in stainless steel. Its broad, flat bezel gives it quite a strong industrial charm. Powering it is a choice of the SOPROD M100 (A10) or Sellita SW300-1, offering a solid level of accuracy and value. In terms of colour, there’s a choice of black, olive, steel grey, or blue.

Available for pre-order soon, more details at palmos-watches.com

CAMP WATCHES – ATLANTIC BLUE FIELDTIMER While it’s named after the ocean, the Atlantic Blue Fieldtimer is secretly a car watch inspired by vintage BMW 2 Series. It features an enamelled lacquer dial produced

by Berlac, the same Swiss firm who produce resilient coatings for many car firms including Porsche. The distinctive typeface used is also designed to create that sense of vintage nostalgia with its graphic style. Powering the watch is the Sellita SW210-1b manual winding. £689, available at campwatches.com

Beaubleu – Ecce Vesperal Beaubleu have one of the most distinctive displays in the watch industry thanks their circular hands. It’s amazing how much impact changing the shape of a hand has and when it’s as non-traditional as this, it stands out all the more. The hands themselves feature on the dial of the Ecce, which is their sportiest and most industrial model with a steel case and broad, brushed bezel. Especially in the Vesperal variant with a matching brushed steel dial. If you prefer a more luxe look, there’s also the white dialled Lys with rose gold accents. £637, available from beaubleu-paris.com

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watch accessories

LUFF WATCH STRAPS – SALT AND PEPPER HISHI STRAP The Luff Watch Straps Salt and Pepper Hishi Strap is a NATO style strap produced from a combination of black and grey wool that gives it a distinctive dappled appearance. It’s made using a Shelby style weave, which is what gives it its exaggerated pattern. It offers a slightly thicker interpretation of the traditional NATO style, making it an excellent strap for chunkier tool watches such as diver or chronographs that tend to be larger than the field watches NATO straps were originally designed for. $24.99 (approx. £20), available from luffwatchstrap.com

Helvetus – Deployant Rubber Strap Helvetus is one of Switzerland’s leading aftermarket strap specialists, growing from a trio of enthusiasts to a large and experienced team. They offer a wide selection of straps for an equally wide range of popular watch models, such as this Deployant Rubber Strap for the Rolex Daytona. It’s designed to fit with either their bespoke clasp or you can fit it with the original Rolex clasp from the bracelet or strap you’re no longer using. £100, available from helvetus.co.uk

Yorkshire Watch Straps – Premium Nylon Braided Ribbed Single Pass Yorkshire Watch Straps aim for the perfect mix of style, practicality and accessibility with their range of nylon and rubber straps. Focusing on the Premium Nylon Braided Ribbed Single Pass, it’s available in a range of colours inspired by James Bond, such as the black and grey Spectre or the black, grey and yellow No Time To Die. Adding some much appreciated British charm to a brand that’s already named after the British heartland. £14.99, available at yorkshirewatchstraps.com

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HEIST CLEAN - WATCH CLEANING KIT The Heist Watch Cleaning Kit includes everything you need to keep your watches in top condition and tackle any grime that’s built up on your timepieces. It contains an 80ml cleaning solution specially formulated for use on all the common materials used in watchmaking, including precious metals. A microfibre cloth for ensuring a nice finish at the end of the cleaning process and a soft-bristle brush for reaching awkward positions between bracelet links or around the bezel. £31, available at heistclean.com

BRAVO – RETRO BROWN WATCH BOX The Bravo zip box is a versatile watch box ideal for storage, transport or display with its premium leather exterior and protective suede interior. One of its most distinctive features is the fact the suede comes in different shades of the same colour throughout the box, creating a cool gradient effect that catches the eye. It can store up to eight watches and thanks to its compressible pads, can accommodate virtually all styles of bracelet. $240 (approx. £180), available from bravowatchware.com

whisky

Port Askaig – Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 15 Year The Port Askaig Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 15 Year is a highly exclusive drink, limited to around 900 bottles per year. It has amazing tasting notes of toasted vanilla and orange with the freshness of sea salt and lemongrass, warmed by brown sugar and light spice. It’s a perfect blend of smokiness with a touch of sweet. £109, available at portaskaig.com

GLENALLACHIE – 12-YEAR-OLD SINGLE MALT GlenAllachie have been awarded the top prize in the World’s Best Single Malt category by the World Whisky Awards for the second time this decade. The first was in 2021 with their 10-YearOld Single Malt and now in 2025 with their 12-YearOld Single Malt. It sports perfectly balanced flavours of sweet spice, dark roasted coffee, stewed apples and cocoa powder. While on the nose hints of dark chocolate, treacle and heather honey, with cinnamon, espresso and sticky raisins. £59.99, available from theglenallachie.com

HOUSE OF HAZELWOOD – QUEEN OF THE HEBRIDES Even among House of Hazelwood’s rare inventory, they count those from the isle of Islay, aka the Queen of the Hebrides, as some of their rarest. A blended malt matured in American oak with light tannins and a long finish. If you’re unfamiliar, House of Hazelwood is a relatively new Scottish whisky brand who source their rare produce from a family’s private collection, making each bottle extremely sought after.

36-year-old, 274 bottles, RRSP £2,000, 43.4% ABV, available from houseofhazelwood.com

Black Fox Farm and Distillery – Single Grain Triticale Whisky Famous whisky regions span the globe—from Japan to Ireland, Scotland to North America. In Canada, Black Fox Farm and Distillery, is one of the leading whisky and gin distilleries. Run by fifth generation farmers focussing on sustainability and flavour, their Single Grain Whisky is a true prize winner. Winning gold at the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition and ranked Master at the World Whisky Masters , this rare whisky is crafted from grains grown on-site and aged outdoors through +40°C to –40°C. Each bottle reflects Canada’s distinct terroir. £75, www.oenogroup.com/blackfox

THE LAKES DISTILLERY – SIGNATURE SINGLE MALT The Lakes Distillery brings the art of whisky distilling to one of England’s most beautiful national parks, and they have recently launched their Signature, their first permanent Sherry Single Malt whisky. Its profile is described as aromas of rich polished oak, dried fruits, pecan nuts, dark chocolate and a touch of orange zest. On the palate is baking spices, sweet sultanas, raisins, and figs, giving way to stewed orchard fruits, citrus, and notes of treacle with the depth of oak. £85, available from lakesdistillery.com

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best tech & audio

Absolute Sounds – dCS Varèse The dCS Varèse, available at Absolute Sounds, is the most advanced dCS music system to date, consisting of five components. Those are the User Interface, Master Clock, twin Mono DACs and the Core. The technological innovations present in the system result in reduced jitter, increased linearity, lowered noise floor and eliminating crosstalk. It is the beating heart of a sound system. Absolute Sounds are dedicated to finding the perfect piece of audio technology to kick your listening experience into overdrive and the dCS Varèse is ideal.

Learn more at absolutesounds.com

FLITEBOARD – FLITE JET 2 When surfing is too mundane for you, you need a Fliteboard. A hydrofoil board with an electric motor, the eFoil makes taking to the water a whole lot more dynamic and fun.

The Flite Jet 2 is Fliteboard’s newest model featuring a Series 5 motor that makes it more agile and versatile than ever before, perfect for beginners, pros and racers.

Featuring a smoother ride and a higher top speed.

The Jet 2 can also be used as an upgrade on existing boards. £3,910, available from fliteboard.com

POWER TO PEDAL Power to Pedal is an independent personal transport retailer based in Manchester that aim to inspire health, sustainability and adventure for the whole family. That’s why they stock a wide selection of e-bikes, bikes, and scooters for adults and children. Whether you’re using them for the daily commute in the city or getting out into the countryside for some rugged exploration, they have everything you need to stay active and stay safe while doing so.

Learn more at powertopedal.com

Audio-Technica - ATH-R50x Audio-Technica have released their latest generation of professional headphones designed for use at home or in the studio. The ATHR50x is the more entry-level version of the design while still rocking professional specs and a ‘fully open-back design that allows unrestricted airflow to eliminate internal resonance and provide extremely quick transient response’. They also feature a redesigned headband for improved comfort and durability. £139, available from thomann.com

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QOBUZ Qobuz are a music steaming platform available on desktop and mobile dedicated to curating a complete audio experience for audiophiles. As such, in addition to producing their own music- centred magazine, they utilise the highest quality audio files possible for the 100 million+ songs they have available, so that you can listen to them the way the artists and recording engineers intended. Plus, with their download purchases system, you can own still own your music collection and tailor it to your preferences. From £10.83 per month.

Available at qobuz.com