Nยบ2 THE FORGOTTEN ROLEX THUNDERBIRD CHIRSTMAS PHOTOSHOOT MONTHLY GUEST HOROLOGYMANIA
VINTAGE WATCHES APPROACH WHY DONT WE GET RID OF THEM
DAILY.DC
THE WRITER daily.diogocosta Lisbon, Portugal
Hey, im daily.diogocosta, you may know me from Instagram. I'm a watch enthusiast, lover of panda dials and my favorite model is the 5711 from PP(Patek Philippe),i'm a designer , a marketeer, a event manager and a photography lover with a traveling addiction. This month i decided to focus in topics that most of us dont usually think about but they are there, i love sociology, so ,for me understanding what brings humans to love watches its one of my favorite topics that i like to see as a challenge. This Issue has been made to not only talk about watches and mechanism but mainly to talk about the sociologic part of it. I want to thank everyone for the support and feedback relacionated to my first issue. Hope you guys like this month issue too.
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daily.
DIOGO COSTA
THE FORGOTTEN ROLEX THUNDERBIRD
THUNDERBIRD MODEL
It's important for you guys to know that this article it's about the Thunderbird edition of the Turn-o-graph model made from Rolex as a military tool watch. But for you guys to get situated on the theme let's talk a little bit about the Turn-o-graph itself. The Turn-o-graph was the first series-produced from Rolex to have a rotating bezel, making it an excellent tool watch fitted to every occasion, for instance the reference 6202 was released not only in stainless steel but in precious metals like gold and two tone steel. Nowadays it's easy to get lost in the Submariner/Datejust models that seem to be in vogue within the watch community, but some years ago ( decades) Rolex released a model, that , for me it's a combination of unique and cool characteristics.
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The thunderbird, this model was made with an bi-directional bezel similar to the Yatchmaster I bezel( one of my favorite models from Rolex ) , cyclops lens and Oyster case. It's sad how a model that could be one of the greatest out there this days was forgotten and left to rust on the memories of watch enthusiasts. The ThunderBird model was made specially for a U.S Air Force Squadron back in the 50´s ( 1953) some may know this model has a Turn-o-graph, because of the bi-directional bezel. Those days you could buy one for 550 US DOLLARS!! God damn i wish i was born those days… The Thunderbird model has the “Thunderbird” insignia on the dial, making it a rare model to own, especially with such history. The Thunderbird model was released with a leather strap or a jubilee bracelet, it was never produced with the Oyster bracelets. What surprises me is that a model so ahead for its time didn't get his deserved attention, the rotating bezel was an innovation at the time , and people didn't know how to take advantage of it for the normal day outfits, today bezels for diving and aviation are one of the most seen things in social media, and everyone seems to have a special taste for this kind of bezels.
Turn-o-graph model
Turn-o-graph model
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VINTAGE WATCHES WHY DONT WE GET RID OF THEM
This brings us to the next article theme , a few days ago i was seeing some comments on Hodinkee, about their new pop up store in London, ( where they too have a Thunderbird for sell) and saw an anonymous comment saying that it's fantastic how vintage watches and watches in general are some of the few personal objects that we don't really throw away or get rid. For me , it's a topic that really gets me thinking, try thinking and seeing a watch as a tool/object, how such a small object in our lives can make such an huge impression and impact to the point we get attached to it and keep it for the rest of our lives, that's the beauty of horlogerie/watchmaking ! Watches are much times connected to memories without we evenly seeing them or thinking about them in that moment that we are still to remember about. Even if some of us keep the watches in dusty boxes, stored in some even dustier basements, like they were forgotten, it's still an object that we didn't throw away when we had that decision to make, even if they're forgotten , throwing them away doesn't even cross our minds, and that's great.
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I have been searching and studying this topic for a while now, and what i discovered is that most times a human has only 2 reasons to get attached to an object: - Massive intellectual investment ,where there is a big and important intellectual and emotional relation to a project or invention where a lot of time and knowledge was invested. - Sentimentality connected to unresolved emotions, in the case of attachment with an object that once belonged to someone else, or was shared with someone else. People become attached to certain objects to satisfy certain emotional needs and the threat of loss of the object triggers anxiety because it threatens the loss of the status the person has earned. Sometimes objects fulfill a need of social improvement and social status and some of us may even get attached to objects like watches to feel worthy. When it comes to watches i believe that we get attached due to the mechanism and how well they are made, the design, the touch/feel when we put them on, this are all factors that make our brain love a certain object.
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GUEST: Horologymania
Watch brand comparing: Rolex vs other brand in same price segment When someone say “expensive and exclusive watches” the majority of “normal” people link this automatically to the Rolex brand. This is actually very funny since Rolex produces approximately 900.000 watches per year and is not that expensive at all when it’s compared to other haute horology brands like Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, FPJ, ALS, ect.. So why do people link Rolex watches to extreme high prices, exclusivity and luxury? Simple, this phenomena is called Marketing! And in mine opinion there is no other watch brand that has utilized marketing so effectively as Rolex did in the last 50 years! That being said we must acknowledge that when it comes to Rolex, it’s not all about Marketing. We must not forget that Rolex has revolutionized many aspects of horology and has invented many watch complications that we still use every day: perpetual movement, fully water resistant case, date complication, GMT complication, etc., making it an historic and influent brand.
So where do we rank Rolex among many available haute watch brands in the same price range if we look at the product and price? In mine opinion Rolex should be at the top of the ladder! Why? Quality wise they make a superior product: - great reliability - unique steel and precious metal alloys - timeless design - iconic Another thing that I love about Rolex is that they always stayed true to their self and never changed their designs to fit the hype. No countless limited edition for every single celebrity, happening or hype. The approach, never change a winning team paid off in the long run for Rolex! The verdict: Does Rolex make most innovative watches and high end complications? No! Is Rolex the most exclusive and expensive brand? No! Is it the quality wise the best watch ever made? Probably not! Do Rolex watches have best quality/price ratio? Probably no! Is it a watch that almost everybody desires and would love to have? Yes!
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SPORT/LUXURY WATCHES: ORIGINS AND NECESSITIES
Sport/Luxury watches were born from a necessity of mixing certain characteristics of two segments - Sport watches , were tough and enduring materials such stainless steel and mineral glass ( that can withstand shock and scratches too) , the design and features such chronograph, water resistance to several meters, bezels. - Luxury watches - with more expensive materials such as gold and platinum, where you could find a much more simple dial, in terms of mechanism they were mechanism that could not suffer a lot of damage , due to the small pieces, tourbillons, springs, you name it. Seeing this in a marketing position, we can notice that mixing two segments is equal to more profits and defragmenting the markets in almost a Lateral Marketing way, while at the same time feeding a necessity.
Mr. Gerald Genta ( i'm totally sure we all know this sir ) designed most of the models mixing this two segments like the Nautilus, the Royal Oak, the Ingenieur and the Constellation. Most times joining the lines of the bracelet directly to the case shape, this way the watch has less points where breaks could happen, or even get stuck. The real magic happens when you start using hand made mechanisms and ultra thin pieces in a watch that is too, ready to endure on the outdoors. Of Course we still have to be careful, sapphire glass tend to be more breakable than mineral glass, the luxury materials such gold and platinum are more scratchable too. Am i the only guy that keeps imagining how cool would be diving with a Royal Oak and arriving to a party with the exact same watch ? They could have been designed to fulfil certain characteristic but maintain a visual that could only be used in certain situations, but no, luckily we were presented not only with an insanely good mechanism design but with a very well designed visual that makes the watches usable in almost every situation.
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PARIS | DECEMBER AGENDA: January - Geneve, Switzerland February - Barcelona, Spain March - Basel, Switzerland April - Mykonos, Greece
PARIS | DECEMBER
This month trip was in one of the most popular French cities, we all know Paris as a city of glamour, croissants, macarons , cheese , fashion, and aristocracy, but it's a city that has a mask in front of its “face�. I've been in Paris several times, and it's a city that has pretty big contrasts, where you can spot people sleeping in front of big luxury shops and boutiques, trash in the streets. For me Paris it's not my favorite city for sure, as a Portuguese we are used to emotions on our daily basis , colors , smells , friendly people that most times greet you, basically a life full of color, but in Paris it seems like they only care about themselves sometimes, people are always too busy to engage or seem friendly. Well..moving forward, it's was a nice trip overall, got the chance to visit some boutiques ( Breitling , Omega , Vacheron Constantin, Rolex ) and to take some beautiful wrist shots with the main monuments in the background. This time i decided to visit the city on foot, i went from the Louvre Museum to the area of Sacre Coeur for example. Sacre Coeur has one of the best views of Paris, a really wide angle where you can spot almost all the cultural and important spots and museums so i suggest you guys to visit this area in the next time you are in Paris.
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WATCHES
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VIEWS
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