Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 33 i REVOLUTION WATCH

Five years ago, TAG Heuer set the watch world aflutter with the first Connected. We knew Silicon Valley would make smartwatches, but this one was from a proper watch company. As you would expect from TAG Heuer, they went about it full steam and the third generation was launched to much fanfare in New York. Guests including US soccer stars and Ali Krieger were treated to a set by DJ Atlanta de Cadenet as they were invited to view the new Connected. Frédéric Arnault, TAG Heuer’s Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, said: “The TAG Heuer Connected watch was designed and engineered with the same passion and attention to detail as our mechanical watches. The Connected watch is not only a beautiful timepiece, it’s a truly immersive experience, as it now…

Hamilton’s wartime history gives a snapshot of how watches – and the world around them – changed in a few short years. An early 20th century Hamilton newspaper advert showed a railway engineer holding a pocket watch with the slogan “The Watch of Railroad Accuracy”. The young company, started in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892, went on to say: “The fact that more Hamiltons are in use on American railroads than any other watch is proof that the Hamilton Watch is the timekeeper for the man who values accuracy.” As American troops entered the bloody fray of the First World War in 1917, Hamilton turned its focus away from the expansion of the railroads to warfare, and began supplying watches to U.S. troops fighting on the Western Front. But these were…

Uniquely among watches associated with cars, this third entry in our series differs from Bugatti and Ferrari timepieces in that the automotive connection was, initially, only a shared family name. The roots of the watches have nothing to do with the automobiles per se: unlike car-makers’ joint ventures with watch companies, Porsche watches began as a purely horological effort conceived by what is known, for short, as “Porsche Design”. Jumping ahead five decades, Porsche AG, the group that makes the cars, now owns the design studio that created the non-automotive products. It also manufactures the current Porsche Design watches, after three generations of the eponymous timepieces made by outside makers. To complicate matters, at one point the Porsche Design Studio owned one of the brands subcontracted to produce the watches.…

The man who spoke of the desert’s potential most eloquently, T.E. Lawrence, is renowned for saying, “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” And though we were seated at night in, of all places, a bucolic restaurant by the river the day before the Baselworld fair in March of 2019, it was clear that Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin had been dreaming in the day with open eyes. He explained, “What is clear is that late April is too late. You are practically midyear. I think we…

When watch brands develop collaborations with music personalities, it’s typically with those in specific genres, say jazz. But Zenith has never been one to conform to industry norms, and with its latest music partnership — DJ Carl Cox — CEO Julien Tornare demonstrates that he’s definitely intent on defying industry expectations in more than one way. The brand’s last music partnership was with the Rolling Stones, and special editions were introduced in 2014 and 2015. Since then, the brand has been busy building a broad product strategy that’s a mix of vintage revival such as the A384 and A386 editions, not to mention our own collab piece, the Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl”, as well as modern-day interpretations of the El Primero in the form of the Defy series. With…

Gold is one of the rarest metals in the world, its beauty admired across the globe and cultures that span the entire of documented human history. In fact, all the gold you see today is truly stardust, the result of a cosmic collision of black holes or neutron stars that smashed into each other. These powerful collisions generated the energy needed to bind lighter elements into heavier ones in a matter of seconds. Scientists speculate that such a collision occurred billions of years in the past in our solar system’s vicinity. That same collision likely resulted in the very birth of our solar system. Most of the gold found in the crust and mantle of the Earth are microscopic dust particles embedded in rock; far less is actually in nuggets…

The Grande Seconde has been a Jaquet Droz design staple for centuries and remains a cool representative of the brand, one that crosses design paths from classic to contemporary. When the brand introduced the Skelet-One in 2018, a skeletonised and modernised edition of the watch, cutting down on extraneous material and combining it with a sapphire-crystal disc for the larger sub-seconds display, it was an applause-winning timepiece that surprised pundits. Rather than re-inventing a design, they took a classic and refreshed it for a 21st-century audience, one that has been very receptive to its style. The movement, the 2663 SQ had an all-black treatment on the skeleton bridges supporting the gear train, over which the dual displays were screwed down and secured to the case. Last year saw new variants…

In the first installment of this two-part speed-walk through the fascinating world of Rolex Bling we pressed our noses against the glass of the King of Chronos, the mighty Daytona and the ways in which it’s been lifted beyond mere timing instrument (be it your lap of Le Mans or your pre-plunged caffetiere) to haute-jewellery accessory. Today we take a look at the Daytona’s older brother, which was hip-hopping its bling long before its younger sibling was conceived. The Day Date has seen more ‘ice’ in its near-65-year lifetime than any other Rolex watch and has been adorned with gems since its very earliest iterations back in the second half of the 1950s. The ice is thick, let’s go skating… THE PRECIOUS WATCH Rolex unveiled the Day-Date at Baselworld in…

MOOREIf you tell Mark Cho, founder of the menswear atelier The Armoury, that he’s a bona fide style icon, he’ll deny it with his usual modesty. Even so, what cannot be denied that in the 10 years since he first opened shop in Hong Kong, is that he and his brand have had an outsized effect on contemporary menswear. In addition to being a somewhat reluctant avatar for modern men’s fashion, he’s also an avid watch collector with a keen eye for value and an even keener eye for provenance and manufacture acumen. To this end, we were fortunate to steal a moment at his NYC flagship to talk about his collection and how he goes about selecting the pieces that tickle his particular fancy. When did the watch bug…

Welcome to the Armageddon issue of Revolution. As I write, the UK is two weeks into the virus lockdown. Nobody knows when this will end or how many lives will be lost, but it is absolutely certain that the impact will be massive. You don’t need a degree in economics to figure out that staying at home doing bugger all isn’t going to send our fortunes skyrocketing any time in the near future. One unforeseen benefit is that it will force us all to decide what is really important in life. Now that supplies of cleaning products seem to have more or less stabilised, we can consider what we care about besides staying alive and shopping. Even if a miracle cure was found tomorrow, would we really want to go…

It was a great party, made all the more memorable by the fact that it was the last public event that most of us attended before the world changed. On a Thursday night just before everyone began withdrawing from contact ahead of the full virus-induced lockdown, Revolution co-hosted a drinks party at the newly refurbished Grand Seiko boutique on Brompton Road, just a few doors from Harrods. The evening was hosted by Seiko Managing Director David Edwards, along with The Rake and Revolution Founder Wei Koh, and Revolution UK Editor Richard Holt. The guests were treated to Roku Japanese gin and tonics, Suntory whisky on the rocks, and sublime food by Akira Japan House whilst they perused the cabinets of high-end wrist watches by Grand Seiko. Once the party was…

Sometimes, it takes the world a moment to fully understand genius. This was clearly the case during the first Impressionist exhibition when, upon viewing Monet’s now iconic Impression, Sunrise, the humorist, critic and clearly something of a moron, Louis Leroy, scathingly and derisively wrote, “Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.” History, of course, being the greatest judge, holds Monet in awed reverence while Leroy’s name has faded into an anonymity that is most analogous to the “unfinished wallpaper” he once so unwittingly compared Monet’s painting to. While the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo was instantly recognized by those of us who understood its deliciously brazen departure from the banal, formulaic repetition of yearly watch novelties whose mantra was “new dial/strap/hands but no change”, it took the rest…

Among the most admired ranges from the great houses, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Control collection is, for this hack, one of the most elegant and understated. Launched in 1992, and kept relatively intact, it sees a relaunch in 2020 of four models, with detail changes, a new case material, sexy straps and other rejuvenating touches. This applies to the entire quartet of models, which consists of the triple-display moon-phase Calendar, the multi-time-zone Geographic, the combination Chronograph Calendar with a newly-developed calibre and the model assessed here, the Date. Sharing the same round 40mm case, offered for all four is a new pink gold alloy, Le Grand Rose gold®, which has an undisclosed percentage of palladium to enhance its sheen and resist oxidisation. These are fitted as standard with traditional alligator straps in…

As a fashion house in a watchmaking world, Louis Vuitton differentiates itself as a virtuoso of newness, a king in creating and harnessing novelty. That expertise clearly drove its latest haute horlogerie watch, the Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon, a futuristic, ergonomic design that Head Watchmaker Michel Navas says is a milestone for the maison. “Everything is new,” he says, “the movement, case, strap – even the materials and buckle are new. For Louis Vuitton, it’s a very new world.” One key element, however, is not new at all: the watch bears the 134-year-old Poinçon de Genève, the rigorous seal that covers all manner of watchmaking aspects, including that the watch must be made in Geneva, as well as some other very detailed criteria around finishing and decoration. OLD MEETS NEW…

At luxury conglomerate LVMH’s first-ever watch fair, held recently in Dubai, Bvlgari came out shooting with their absolutely stunning new Octo Finissimo in steel, and it’s poised to become the new darling of the integrated bracelet set. At first blush this new addition to the Octo family may seem like a whiff, given that this design, as lovely as it is, with its overtly architectural angles and mind-bending thinness, has been around the block a few times already. So, why is this one of the highlights of LVMH Watch Week? In a word: finishing. For the first time, the Octo Finissimo has been rendered with a satin-brushed and polished finish, and this takes Fabrizio Buonamassa’s now-iconic design to new heights. While some purists may lament the loss of subtlety that…

In 1989, when Harry Winston first ventured into the realm of high watchmaking, it did so with a big splash and bold move — a perpetual calendar with a bi-retrograde display, one that thoroughly changed how the complication had been presented on wristwatches till then. To create this design, the brand invited two master watchmakers to devise the look. One is a genius when it comes to retrograde displays, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. The other was a gentleman whose work in high complications led to the founding of his self-named brand, the late Roger Dubuis. The bi-retrograde display has since become a design icon of Harry Winston, seen frequently in its Ocean collection, with variations in placement and function, but nevertheless a recognisable element of its watchmaking. As the brand passes 30…

KEN KESSLER A US ex-pat who retains a north-of-Boston twang despite living for years in the leafy British countryside, Ken is one of the best-known names in watch journalism. He is also an audio expert who has written four books on luxury hi-fiand also knows a thing or two about cameras and posh fountain pens. A collector of chronographs - among other things - in this issue our Editor at Large writes about Porsche Design watches, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control and the brightly glowing history of Panerai’s legendary Luminor. ROSS POVEY Otherwise known as “Mr Tudor”, Ross is a leading expert in the vintage watch world. Specialising in Tudor and Rolex, he advises a broad clientele spanning leading magazines, brands, publishers, auction houses and dealers. As well as being Revolution’s…

Here is some advice from the wise from anyone worried about the unfolding coronavirus restrictions. “The way some people are talking, it’s as if the world has ended. But if you go back to basics, you can live off very little. We are human, we have adapted through so much adversity before – we can survive.” This is according to Bremont ambassador, intrepid explorer and former Special Forces soldier Nirmal “Nims” Purja. Last year Purja climbed all 14 of the world’s highest mountains – all above 8000 metres – in just seven months. The previous record was more than seven years. Purja teamed up with sponsors like Bremont in order to make “Bremont Project Possible” a reality. “I have never left anyone behind, he said. “Neither in the Special Forces…

2014 OCTO FINISSIMO MECHANICAL HAND-WOUNDTIMELINE In 2014, Bvlgari unveiled the first Octo Finissimos, with an ultrathin hand-wound movement that was just 2.23 mm thick, housed in a platinum case. It also presented a tourbillon caliber, that measured just 1.95mm thin. The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon won a Revolution award for Best Concept Watch that year. 2016 OCTO FINISSIMO MINUTE REPEATER Bvlgari unveiled the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater in a titanium case, featuring the ultra-thin 3.12mm BVL 362 movement. It was a bold design, featuring cut-out dial markers that enabled the sound to pass through from the back of the movement, thus amplifying the volume of the chimes. The watch won Revolution’s Revolutionary Watch 2016 award. 2017 OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC An automatic version of the time-only Octo Finissimo arrived with the micro-rotor…

Jack Heuer writes in his autobiography, The Times of My Life, that in January of 1962, having lent the organisers of the race a handful of Heuer pocket watch chronographs with split seconds, he was invited by the Sports Car Club of America to attend the 12 Hours Race at Sebring in Florida. Where endurance racing is concerned, the Sebring track was the place to be. It saw notable names from both the professional and amateur circuits descend, including the likes of German racer, Jochen Rindt, the Mexican racing brothers, Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, and even the actor-turned race-car driver, Paul Newman. While at the track, Jack mostly hung out at the Ferrari pits. He clearly had a personal inclination towards the Prancing Pony, as he spent enough time at…

They say that it isn’t easy to reinvent the wheel, but what about the square? For Bell & Ross this has been a singular pursuit since the introduction of the now-iconic BR Instrument series, which seemingly created the square watch trend overnight. Fast forward 15 years — yes, the BR 01 was introduced back in 2005 — and what was once considered a novelty is now a mainstay of Bell & Ross’s collection, with a seemingly infinite variety of sizes, case materials and complications available. You want yours in carbon fibre? No problem. You require a tourbillon? Bell & Ross has you covered. You’re a diving enthusiast? They’ve got an ISO certified version, replete with a unidirectional timing bezel ready to go. So, with all these options, where else is…

DISTINCTIVE PROFILE Hakushu hails from Suntory’s Hakushu Distillery (pronounced hack-shoo, meaning “white sand bar”). It stands 2,300 feet above sea level – more than twice the altitude of Scotland’s highest distillery – in the shadow of the pale granite pyramid of Mount Kaikomagatake (9,744 feet) in the Japanese Alps. Hakushu was once the largest distillery in the world, with two huge still houses producing a vast array of different makes for the Suntory blenders. These days, only one of the still houses is operational but the ethos of variety remains the same. Hakushu is known for being a “green and fresh” whisky, praised by the most curious whisky connoisseurs and lovers of gastronomy. This particular single malt is produced with a combination of new and refilled American oak barrels, along…

The Octo Finissimo has always been, since its inception, a pot still that distills the raw mass of innovation from within Bvlgari’s watch division, into a fine eau de vie. It’s undeniably handsome and sophisticated, whether simply to admire or to don on the wrist. But like a beautifully aged whisky, within the watch lies a brilliant blend of complex flavours and character, The Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater was the second ultra-thin, complicated watch that was released by the brand and the second world record it had broken in 2016. The BVL 362 movement, measuring just 3.12mm thin, was presented in full on the back of the case, with the gongs and hammers to the silent governor, finished to impeccable standards. Not only is it the slimmest manually wound minute…

The year has just begun, but LVMH’s watch division has wasted no time releasing its first wave of novelties in Dubai. Among the novelties announced, Hublot’s Big Bang Integral is, no doubt, one that garnered a lot of attention. The Big Bang is not only one of the brand’s most well-known watches, but it is also considered by many as an anchoring piece in the landscape of contemporary high-end sports watches. The Big Bang has often been the pioneer when it comes to the brand’s use of advanced materials. But this time, Hublot put material second, and instead focused on the Big Bang’s overall image. To mark the watch’s 15th anniversary, Hublot has presented it for the first time on an integrated metal bracelet in three executions: titanium, ceramic and…

The small town of Villeret, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland is where Blancpain was founded some 285 years ago, in 1735. And while modern day Blancpain operates between Le Brassus and Le Sentier, Villeret still holds an important place in the heart of the brand, with an eponymous collection dedicated to the brand’s classical vocabulary of watchmaking. It is with the Villeret collection that Blancpain has chosen to kick off 2020. The duo that has just been announced include the Quantième Complet and the Ultraplate. VILLERET ULTRAPLATE We start off with the purist’s execution of Villeret collection, the Ultraplate. This time executed in a 40mm 18k red gold case with a sheer blue dial interrupted only by the applique red gold roman numerals. Some amongst us will, of course,…

In the pantheon of watchmaking’s most iconic watches, many have received nicknames that eternally link them to famous individuals, a material or even a shape. Take, for example, names such as Paul Newman, Jo Siffert, Padellone, Bronzo, Batman… Just think of all the timepieces associated with these designations. Among emblematic sports chronographs that have seen the light of day since the birth of the watch industry, there is only one timepiece bestowed with a sobriquet that inflames the desire of men to such an extreme — that is, of course, Zenith’s legendary El Primero Ref. A3818, otherwise known as the “Cover Girl”, thanks to its appearance on the front of Manfred Rössler’s book Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865. Why did the watch end up on the cover of a…

You’ve shown incredible resilience coming back from crashes and Epstein-Barr and the mental effects that being out of competition must bring. What are the most important things when it comes to recovery, both physical and mental? The hardest thing has been dealing with the pressure from people that are ignorant to those physical and mental effects. Whether they be media, rivals, or others involved in the sport. At the end of the day, I’m human, not a machine. If a watch has a mechanical fault or loses a second, it can be fixed and immediately works like nothing had happened. A human body obviously needs time to get over the illness or injury, and time for rehabilitation. Add to that the fact that top level sport is all about performing…