Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 23 i REVOLUTION WATCH

The wind woke me up. As I lay in the lumpy bed of the cheap motel cottage, I could hear the palm fronds slapping the window and the persistent whistle of a steady 18-knot wind. Through the slats of the jalousie blinds, I could see whitecaps marching shoreward on the Atlantic. It promised to be a rough day of diving. Welcome to the Florida Keys, a place I’d dived often over the years, and where windy conditions were familiar but never welcome. The Keys dangle like a necklace of small islands off the southern tip of continental USA, with the Gulf of Mexico on its protected northern side and the Atlantic to the south and east. The name “Keys” is an Anglicization of cayo, a Spanish word for “small island”.…

This year, Panerai is celebrating its sponsorship of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge with a three-watch collection. This collection includes two automatic flyback chronographs (Luminor 1950 PCYC 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic), complete with a relief engraving of an elegant vintage yacht on the caseback, and an automatic flyback chronograph with a regatta countdown function (Luminor 1950 Regatta PCYC 3 Days Chrono), featuring the iconic Panerai winding crown-protecting lever. This timepiece also has a classic yacht engraved on the caseback. In the world of classic sailing, beauty prevails over performance, elegance trumps speed and passion counts more than investment. “I can say with great pride that our commitment to safeguarding and fostering classic sailing is both unparalleled and unprecedented on an international level,” declares Officine Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati. “This…

The roster of names Swizz Beatz has worked with in the past two decades reads like a Who’s Who of hip-hop royalty. LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and Drake. Demand for his Midas touch also comes from the more mainstream with credits on tracks by Whitney Houston, Bono, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna, Beyoncé and of course Swizz’s wife, Alicia Keys. His unparalleled success has earned the 38-year-old Grammy Award-winner the accolade of “the best rap producer of all time”, bestowed on him by Kanye himself. But beyond his musical talents lies the entrepreneurial acumen of Bill Gates coupled with an appreciation of art to rival that of Peggy Guggenheim. “Growing up in the South Bronx, I always had art around me,” he says. “When you walk…

GREUBEL FORSEY BALANCIER LIMITED EDITION MOVEMENT Manual-winding movement; hours and minutes; small seconds; stop function; 72-hour power reserve CASE 43.5mm; 18K white gold; water-resistant to 30m STRAP Black alligator with white-gold pin buckle Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey have been challenging the boundaries of watchmaking for some years now, choosing to meet challenges head on rather than avoid them. Creations such as the Double Tourbillon 30°, Quadruple Tourbillon, Tourbillon 24 Secondes and Grande Sonnerie are just a few bold examples of their creativity. Unique in design, their timepieces offer a sense of purity and individuality all at the same time, featuring quirky asymmetrical cases. It would be difficult to think of Greubel Forsey and not of the tourbillon, which has become synonymous with the brand. In fact, it was when…

The announcement of the new motorsport-inspired Montblanc TimeWalker collection at SIHH 2017 was a long-anticipated one, and it finally enabled Montblanc to achieve a seamless integration between its values and the astounding chronograph heritage of Minerva. With a number of standout watches that referenced historic details while bringing in modern auto-racing accents, this was a showing that heralded the beginning of a new era for the much-loved TimeWalker collection. We at Revolution have made no secret of our admiration for Davide Cerrato and the work that he has spearheaded at Montblanc to come up with this stunning collection, and it was a fitting launch that followed in Singapore on July 22nd, 2017. The day started with an afternoon treasure hunt by members of the Porsche Club of Singapore, in which…

BULGARI OCTO FINISSIMO TOURBILLON MONETE WRISTWATCH MOVEMENT Caliber BVL 268 manually wound movement; hours and minutes; tourbillon; 52-hour power reserve CASE 40mm; 18K pink gold fitted with ancient silver coin; water-resistant to 30m STRAP Black alligator-leather with pink-gold pin buckle BULGARI MONETE PENDANT WATCH MOVEMENT Caliber BVL 208 manually wound movement; hours and minutes; tourbillon; 64-hour power reserve CASE 41mm; 18K pink gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds and rubies and fitted with ancient silver coin CHAIN I Pink gold set with 1,270 brilliant-cut diamonds (36.54cts) and 252 rubies (3.29cts) By no means the first brand to use coins in its jewelry and watches, it is certainly true that Bulgari’s Monete pieces, which debuted in the 1960s, are among the most memorable and desirable, due in no small part to their…

SINGER REIMAGINED TRACK 1 CHRONOGRAPH MOVEMENT Caliber 6361 self-winding movement; hours and minutes; central chronograph with instantaneous hours and minutes; sweep chronograph seconds hand; 60-hour power reserve CASE 43mm; Grade 5 titanium; water-resistant to 100m STRAP Black calf leather with khaki green alligator liningalligator-leather lining; Grade-5 titanium rivets Forgive me for being, as a rule, less-than-excited about every new car theme/watch or celebrity/watch marriage. We’re in danger of them becoming clichés from which there is no recovery. But just when I’m about to shout, in my best Yiddish accent, “Genug shoyn” — the classic cry of “Enough already!” — up pops a worthy new coupling to rank alongside the very best: Parmigiani Fleurier for Bugatti and Richard Mille for McLaren, for example. Singer Reimagined’s Track 1 is simply too inventive…

Since the introduction of the pocket watch in the 16th century, which brought objective time measurement into daily operations, individual life has been increasingly entrapped in a calculable and measurable context. Fundamental to modernity was the rise of chronometers, which enabled vast improvements in efficiency, uniformity and accountability, empowering profoundly every institution and human endeavor. But the modern concept of time brought forth two underlying dissatisfactions. For one, it amplifies our sense of ephemerality and loss. If time is understood as an irreversible succession of homogenous moments in a linear fashion, then our experience is virtually one of perpetual loss. It brings about the fear of losing or wasting time as though time is a tangible and finite entity or a box into which we should try to fit as…

It is mid-June, and I find myself in the Florida Keys with Oris, wet suit on and ready to learn more about its ocean conservation work. With a third of the world’s coral reefs already destroyed, and current projections increasing this figure to over 60 percent in the next 30 years, time is of the essence to save this precious marine ecosystem. Oris, in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), is investing heavily in the conservation of coral reefs and 2017 sees the launch of the Staghorn Restoration Limited Edition timepiece to celebrate the ongoing relationship. “Divers ready!” shouts our captain over a barrage of wind and rain. At three miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, the tumultuous weather front on the horizon appears increasingly ominous as…

Thanks to the Patek Philippe museum and the brand’s traveling The Art of Watches Grand Exhibition, it is well-known that Queen Victoria was a fan of Patek watches, being presented with an open-face, keyless-winding, fob-watch (No. 4,536) and matching brooch during the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. Following in the footsteps of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II has been spotted wearing a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse, as well as a ref. 4975/1G with pearl bracelet. And who could forget the Jaeger-LeCoultre 101 that she wore on her Coronation Day and which sadly went missing, to be later replaced during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 when Jérôme Lambert (at the time Jaeger-LeCoultre’s CEO) presented her with a modern version of the watch? But what of the other Royals and their…

Arriving at the customs desk at Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International airport with my passport at the ready, the serious-looking official suddenly fires at me “Business or pleasure?” I hesitate, it is a difficult question to answer when you have been invited to Bermuda by Ulysse Nardin to watch the America’s Cup final. I tentatively answer “Both?” The customs official seems to like my answer and smiles. Feeling relieved, I cautiously ask him if he is enjoying the competition, to which he launches into a blow-by-blow account of the day’s battle between Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand. His passion and knowledge for the race come pouring out. He tells me how the whole island is on tenterhooks. If the Americans win there is a good chance they will…

As the head of the TAG Heuer museum, Catherine Eberlé-Devaux presides over a collection belonging to an innately masculine brand. She laughs as she confirms: “Heuer is, for sure, a male brand but — if we must start with stereotypes — then ‘heritage’ is more a female thing. As I love to hear passionate stories, to look at watchmakers’ art and to dig into archives, I think this position was made for me.” She feels that, as TAG Heuer has a rich history that dates back to 1860, its heritage is the soul of the brand and the justification for a dedicated department. Its goal is to preserve, restore and value the company’s past. “‘No tradition, no future’ is Jean-Claude Biver’s motto, which inspires us every day. This is what…

Roger Dubuis started off the year by announcing a new partnership with Pirelli, presenting a number of watches in the Excalibur collection with colors and straps taken straight from the F1 paddock, quite literally, as the rubber is sourced from tyres that were used to win races. Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director since 1999, and now also executive director for Latin America, spoke with us earlier this year to explain how the collaboration started, and how Pirelli wants to develop it as much more than a branding exercise. Can you tell us about your background with Pirelli? This year, on the 28th of March, it will have been 25 years that I’ve been working for Pirelli. Starting off from a technology background, working on design development, working with the top…

Fusion is defined as a cellular process in which single nucleus cells combine to form a multi-cellular entity. It is the basis on which living creatures grow larger, stronger and more powerful. For more than four decades, Jean-Claude Biver has proven himself the master of nuclear fusion — he is an unrivaled Jedi in the art of uniting watch brands with the ever-expanding, diverse, specialized universes that collectively make up the tapestry of contemporary culture. You could say that Hublot is Biver’s masterpiece of fusion. With Hublot, he transformed first what a watch looked like, making it a shimmering symbol of modernity, then proceeded to radically redefine the worlds a watch brand could attach itself to at a cellular level. Like football, where Hublot was the official timekeeper of the…

While the Datograph is unrivaled in status as the iconic chronograph par excellence by A. Lange & Söhne, there are other avenues through which one can enjoy the horological expertise of the Saxon watchmaker, and at a more accessible price too. Indeed, the 1815 Chronograph is one such watch that has the dual reputation of being dubbed, perhaps unfairly, as the “poor man’s Datograph” and, more correctly, as a pure expression of what a high-end manual-winding chronograph with column wheel and horizontal clutch should be. That being said, of course, no one who can afford an 1815 Chronograph should ever be considered poor in anyone’s book. Leaving that aside, it is true that there are connoisseurs whose tastes tend to the austere, and who prefer to have their watches as…

HARRY WINSTON AVENUE CLASSIC AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT Caliber HW2009 self-winding movement; hours and minutes; 38-hour power reserve CASE 21.2mm × 36mm; 18K rose gold or 18K white gold; water-resistant to 30m STRAP Brown-pearl or dark-gray alligator leather While rectangular watches have been around for a good century now, they are still a rare part of new launches and core collections. Regardless of when the watch was created, understanding the design tenets that underpin this alternative subgenre takes a considerable amount of travel — into the past — to the Art-Deco era of the 1920s and 1930s. The art movement was a short-lived but far-reaching intermezzo between two world wars that spanned everything from luxury to machinery, and its influence on watch design was profound — it saw the birth of a…

TUDOR HERITAGE BLACK BAY CHRONO MOVEMENT Caliber MT5813 self-winding movement; hours and minutes; small seconds; instantaneous date; chronograph; stop seconds; 70-hour power reserve CASE 41mm; steel; water-resistant to 200m STRAP Steel bracelet or aged leather with folding clasp and safety catch; additional fabric strap with buckle Amidst the Baselworld releases, there are some surprises that are much more than aesthetic revisions. It was not far-fetched for industry observers to surmise that if Tudor evolved the Heritage Black Bay collection beyond aesthetic variations, a natural complication would be a chronograph. This year, the brand has decided it is time to bring the revision to bear with the Heritage Black Bay Chrono — not to be confused with the Heritage Chrono from 2010, though, as this one bears all the hallmarks of…

With all the entrepreneurial prowess of his JCB-founding grandfather, George Bamford identified a considerable gap in the market in the early 2000s. It led to the launch of his watch customizing business, Bamford Watch Department (BWD). BWD’s raison d'être ever since has been to “jazz up” treasured timepieces by blackening the cases, coloring the dials and adding all manner of special symbols and characters to the standard aesthetic of everything from Rolexes to Audemars Piguets and Patek Philippes. While after-market alterations are nothing new — Rolex co-branding, for example, is something that has existed for decades — Bamford has managed to upset the great and the good from Switzerland’s fourth-biggest export industry, leading to much hand-wringing, foot-stamping and tearing up of warranties. All of the official opposition, however, has only…

At first glance, you might think that magic and watches are two separate items, but magician Dan White was quick to emphasize that magic, from its earliest origins, has always been very mechanical. In fact, White pointed out that Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, widely considered the “father of modern magic,” was a French watchmaker of some renown and had even created some of the first mystery clocks. For White, who got into magic at an early age, mystifying people was a way to communicate with them. “I have been doing magic since I was 10 years old,” he says. “Before magic, I was into comic books and superheroes. I saw David Copperfield live and I thought he was the real life incarnation of a superhero and the closest you could get…

How delicious this must be for Cartier, as it celebrates a century of the Tank: only one other serial production wristwatch predates it, and it’s a Cartier, too. The earlier Santos, however, was a product of expediency, answering the need of its namesake for a watch to wear during his pioneering flights. The Tank, though directly related to a different sort of transport, is more a product of its time, as its shape and name reek of the period. It was a fashion item that transcended the ephemeral. Born during the First World War, the Tank’s form was inspired by the fearsome machine that rendered horse-borne troops redundant. Because the armored vehicle called the “tank” was a buzzword of its day in the way that “social media” or “streaming” define…

Not even today’s glitz and glamor compares to the days of old Hollywood, from the class of Breakfast at Tiffany’s to the grit of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Rarely do you get a chance to own a piece of early Hollywood, and yet, Phillips is making that possible. In association with Bacs & Russo, the leading watch auction house will launch its inaugural New York auction this October with Winning Icons–Legendary Watches of the 20th Century, a thematic auction dedicated to the iconic collectors watches of the last century. Among the incredible pieces will be Paul Newman’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, owned and worn by the famed American actor, racecar driver and political activist. The Academy Award winning actor became known in the ‘60s and ‘70s for his work…

There’s no denying that the Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC, introduced this year at Baselworld, was one of the home runs of the show. Everyone was raving about this watch, effusive in their praise and desire for it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, I thought it looked great, but I didn’t know if I loved it. Not without trying it on and wearing it for a while. So, I called up my friend Lucie at Blancpain and got my hands on this limited edition, inspired by a military specification 50 Fathoms from 1957, issued to the French Navy (aka the MIL-SPEC 1). The Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC is updated to 40mm, with Super-LumiNova markers on the bezel, which itself is covered with a sapphire ring. Despite…

BLANCPAIN VILLERET 8-DAY WEEK OF THE YEAR LARGE DATE MOVEMENT Caliber 3738G2 self-winding movement; hours, minutes, seconds; day, date, week; eight-day power reserve CASE 42mm; 18K red gold; water-resistant to 30m STRAP Handstitched chocolate alligator leather Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Mil-Spec may have gotten the lion’s share of attention this year, and for good reason, but offering a whole lot of function for its form is the 8-Day Week of the Year Large Date, the latest addition to the Villeret collection. Although the complete calendar complication remains at the heart of Blancpain’s heritage, this new watch is one that forges ahead. First, the 8-Day Week of the Year Large Date features a grand feu enamel dial, meaning that it has to be fired at temperatures of at least 800°C to ensure…

When IWC revealed three variations of a new-look Ingenieur last year containing the new in-house chronograph caliber 69370, one might have expected it to be a one-off occurrence. After all, the IWC Chronograph Editions “Rudolf Caracciola”, “74th Members’ Meeting at Goodwood” and “W 125” (for the Mercedes-Benz W 125 Silver Arrow) were limited-edition watches that deviated aesthetically from what we have come to expect from the Ingenieur collection. And that was understandable since the watches were meant to commemorate a vintage era of motor racing, a world apart from the bold, angular, and sometimes carbon fiber-infused aesthetics of Formula One racing that have been par for the course for the Ingenieur in recent times. Yet that relatively low-profile launch in March 2016, occurring in the shadow of IWC’s “Year of…

PARMIGIANI FLEURIER BUGATTI AÉROLITHE PERFORMANCE TITANIUM MOVEMENT Caliber PF335 self-winding movement; hours, minutes, small seconds; date; flyback chronograph; 50-hour power reserve CASE 41mm; titanium; water-resistant to 30m STRAP Diamond-pattern black calfskin Say “Tudor” or “Lange” or “Patek Philippe” to their devotees and they will swoon. A die-hard Paneristi will make apologies for that brand’s worst excesses and fight for a limited edition. A Rolex addict will even covet that leopard-dialed Daytona. If so afflicted, it’s difficult to be objective. My obsession? Anything that says “Bugatti”, all the way down to crappy plastic model cars from amorphous brands, sold in pound stores. So, you can imagine what hold Parmigiani Fleurier has on me. Since the two brands formalized their relationship in 2004, the watches Parmigiani has created for the supercar manufacturer…

NOMOS CLUB AUTOMAT DATUM MOVEMENT In-house built Nomos DUW 5101 caliber; 42-power reserve CASE 41.5mm stainless steel; curved sapphire glass and screwed sapphire glass caseback; galvanized white silver-plated dial STRAP Blue-black textile strap with winged clasp If you had to sit down and conceive the ideal watch for Generation Y, what would it look like? Forget touch-screen smartwatch madness (there are too many screens in the world as is)—in terms of design, the Gen Y customer (most likely a lover of Apple products and VSCO filters, but still reading paperbacks to preserve some nostalgia) would wear a piece that feels muted and yet, has a surprise, a visual cue that grabs the eye in the midst of clean lines while respecting the use of white space. Nomos Glashütte undeniably embodies…

It was June 2009 and my family was just about to start dinner when my father (Laurent Picciotto, founder of Chronopassion in Paris) told us he had invited an Asian watch editor to join us. I remember I was sporting a plaster cast due to a skiing accident and, while a heatwave radiated across Paris, I had to arrange extra seats at the table. When our guest arrived, he had an American accent, an Italian style and the tattooed body of a Yakuza. He knew everything about anything and, as the evening progressed, it seemed like I was having dinner with a walking encyclopedia. That man was founder of Revolution, Wei Koh, and that night marked the beginning of a relationship that endures to this day. From a hidden admiration…

The Metropolitan Police Service “Flying Squad” can trace its origins back to the very beginning of recognizable policing in London and prides itself on being the longest-established specialist detective department in the world. It was established in 1918 by Detective Chief Inspectors Fred Wensley and Wally Hambrook who headed a Task Force of just 12 handpicked detectives with proven ability as thief-takers. Unlike their colleagues, they were given a roving commission and a vehicle which meant they were able to move around London with the same ease as the offenders they targeted. Because of the unit’s ability to respond across London the term “Flying Squad” was established in 1920 by a journalist, ironically named W.G.T. Crook. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Flying Squad was involved in cases dealing with…

From his teenage years on, Bernhard Bulang was always interested in watches and specifically in the dials. An informal collector of early Swatch watches and other cheap models, Bulang remembers his first big-brand watch: a TAG Heuer Formula 1, which he wore surfing and when playing tennis. It was at this point that he also discovered his father’s old Heuer Camaro, a watch he would occasionally wear to school and that marked his first taste of vintage. “As time moved on, I was always collecting vintage stuff,” he says. “I loved timeless objects that connected with me aesthetically as a designer, and objects that had a story behind them. I collected vintage fountain pens and enjoyed the emotion of writing or drawing sketches and concepts with them; writing in the…