Oracle Time - September 2020 - Issue 66

WATCHES | ST YLE | CULTUR E

THE LIFESTYLE GUIDE FOR WATCH LOVERS

ISSUE .66

Audemars Piguet’s New Icon

THE CODE 11.59 The Design Issue AUTUMN TRENDS | THE ICONIC EAMSES | CUSTOM DIALS

ISSUE 66

5.95

£

ORACLE TIME #66

WELCOME Editor’s letter

COVER CREDITS Photography: Fraser Vincent Watch: Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 audemarspiguet.com

I’m no designer. I can tell you quite succinctly what I like, but how to get there? That’s another matter entirely. I’ve always appreciated the immense skill it takes to make something look good, from something as small as typography (we have a whole piece on that on page 36) to furniture to, of course, watches.

And while there are plenty of trends that come and go in watch design – bronze, sports luxe and retro for the moment – there are still plenty of watchmakers that identify with one era or another, from Art Nouveau to Bauhaus, as Ken Kessler shows on page 102. Modern re-interpretations many of them may be, but they wear their roots on their sleeve, and under ours.

Regardless of time period, few designers have had as timeless an impact on modern design as the legendary Charles and Ray Eames, the husband-and-wife pair behind some of the most iconic furniture pieces ever created – not to mention half the design museum displays in the world. Josh Sims delves into their unique legacy on page 114.

Their industrial, functionalist outlook however is the antithesis of our watch shoot this issue, which pays homage to the ‘more is more’ concept of maximalism. We also have a bit of a sweet tooth, so expect bright colours, high complications and some seriously eye-catching shots.

Maximalism can sometimes be divisive, but few watches in recent years have been more-so than our cover star for this issue, Audemars Piguet’s Code 11.59. Originally released last year, we talk to AP’s Head of Complications on page 40 about the collection’s reception and how its helping the watchmaking world change how they approach high complications.

If you’re still not convinced by the Code 11.59 and think you could do better, then why not give it a go yourself? On page 46 we dive into the various names in custom watchmaking that know their way around a dial or two, from classical enamelling and hand-engraving to graphical and industrial numbers at the bleeding edge of cool.

Our style section remains topical as ever this issue, as Nick Carvell interviews Nick Hart (of Spencer Hart fame) whose home tailoring service is just what many a man’s wardrobe needs during this socially distanced ‘new normal’. Find out more on page 70.

Further in on page 79 you can also find out all about the latest AW trends and how to get them right. The same goes for one of our favourite recent pieces, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Infiinity Edition and its perfect accompanying outfit on page 88. You might not be able to see anyone in person, but you can still look your best over Zoom. From the waist up at least.

As for our restaurant section this month… well, let’s just say that with the extra measures being brought in as I write this, you might want to head to the new openings on page 99 while you still have the chance. You might not be able to for much longer. Maybe The Dairy does delivery?

Once again, enjoy this issue and more than ever keep safe. The world’s crazier than ever, don’t let it drive you the same.

Above all else, stay safe and stay sane.

Sam Kessler, Editor

KEEP IN TOUCH: instagram.com/otmagazine | @oracle_time | facebook.com/oracleoftime | oracleoftime.com

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ORACLE TIME #66

CONTRIBUTORS

WATCHES | STYLE | CULTURE

EDITOR

Sam Kessler sam.kessler@opulentmedia.co.uk

Nick Carvell

A lifelong fan of double denim (even triple on occasion), Nick started his career as Social Media Editor of mrporter.com before working as Associate Style Editor at British GQ then Editor of The Jackal. He is now a freelance menswear editor, writing from lockdown at his kitchen table in South London.

Lewis Nunn Often dubbed the real-life Patsy Stone, Lewis is an editor and travel journalist writing about luxury travel and cruise holidays for all leading Fleet Street newspapers. He knows how to travel in style – preferably with a glass of Bolly in-hand.

Josh Sims

is a writer and editor contributing to the likes of Esquire, Wallpaper and The Times, among others. His latest book, ‘Retro Watches’, is published

by Thames & Hudson.

ART DIRECTOR

Hicham Kasbi design@opulentmedia.co.uk SUB EDITOR

Alex Briand alexbriand4@gmail.com DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

Michael Pepper michael@opulentmedia.co.uk SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE & VIDEOGRAPHER

Fraser Vincent JUNIOR DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

Kirsty Illingworth kirsty@opulentmedia.co.uk DIRECTORS

Mark Edwards mark@opulentmedia.co.uk

Tom Pettit tom@opulentmedia.co.uk SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER ADVERTISING

Oliver Morgan oliver.morgan@opulentmedia.co.uk 020 7871 4615

Ken Kessler

is unimpressed by the 21st century and enjoys retro, if costly, boys’ toys, such as cameras, mechanical watches and fountain pens – of late, he is obsessed with Italian red wine. He has written four books on luxury hi-fi equipment and collects chronographs and film noir DVDs.

George Parker george.parker@opulentmedia.co.uk 020 7871 4616 ACCOUNT MANAGER

Themba Wirz themba@opulentmedia.co.uk 0208 057 1140 OT MAGAZINE is published monthly

by Opulent Media 020 7871 4615

Jake Scatchard

Growing up in a horological household, Jake’s been privileged to see history’s finest timepieces spill over the dining room table.

Working with his father, Jonathan (founder of Vintage Heuer), he has a passion for the timeless sports watches of the ‘60s and ‘70s – and not just Heuers, at that.

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

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BORN IN LE BRASSUS

RAISED AROUND THE WORLD

AU D E M A R S PI G U E T B O U T I Q U E S LO N D O N : S LOA N E S T R E E T · H A R R O D S F I N E WATC H E S AP HOUSE LONDON : NEW BOND STREET

AP_OracleTimeUK_CODE_26394OR_AlligatorBlue_SF_230x290.indd 1

24.06.20 16:34

Portugieser Chronograph. Ref. 3716: Sheets trimmed tight, your hands firmly on the wheel: the bow turns slowly through the wind, and the boat begins to pick up speed. For more than 80 years, the IWC Portugieser has been the watch of choice for ambitious individualists, who continuously look ahead and have clearly defined goals. Developed in the late 1930s and based on a hunter pocket watch movement, its clean, functional design took its inspiration from the deck watches used back then to calculate longitude. As a result, this timelessly modern watch combines the stylistic heritage of a pocket watch with the precision and readability of a nautical instrument. So, it’s small wonder that lucky owners of this watch are only too ready to take on the elements and confidently set sail

R E G I S T E R TO E X T E N D YO U R I N T E R N AT I O N A L L I M IT E D WA R R A N T Y F R O M 2 TO 8 Y E A R S R E G I S T E R O N I WC .CO M/M Y I WC

for new horizons. Fully aware that beyond each of those horizons, they can be sure of discovering their next goal.

IWC . ENGINEERING DRE AMS . SINCE 1868 .

LO N D O N B O U T I Q U E · 138 N E W B O N D S T R E E T · W 1 S 2TJ · +4 4 (0) 203 618 39 00 · W W W. I WC .CO M

For more information contact info@iwc.com

1708_009_OT_PC0O_460x290_d_crp_EN_V4.indd 1

27.08.20 16:41

IWC PORTUGIESER. THE JOURNEY IS YOUR DESTINATION.

1708_009_OT_PC0O_460x290_d_crp_EN_V4.indd 2

27.08.20 16:41

CP

WWW.VENTURAEUROPE.COM VENTURA UK 47a South Audley Street London W1K 2QA Tel +44 (0)20 7495 2330 mail@venturaeurope.com

NO WONDER THEY NAMED IT AFTER A MISSILE

This is the Pershing 8x, one of eight models in the world’s fastest fleet of motor yachts.

The Pershing stable ranges from 54ft to 140ft, with an average top speed of over 50mph.

And yet, it’s not just about speed. A Pershing is also a model of premier league Italian designer luxury.

You’d be hard pressed to find anything more comfortable or more beautiful. Or as fast.

ORACLE TIME #66

CONTENTS

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OT M AG A ZIN E / ISSU E 66

40 — AUDEMARS PIGUET

18 — AFICIONADO

We reveal what’s on our radar and what should be on your shopping list this month

How the controversial Code 11.59 emerged from the Royal Oak’s shadow, and made its mark for the brand

26 — NEWS

A round-up of the latest happenings in luxury living and, of course, the best in horology

34 — FACETIME

Watch collections of the rich and famous – this issue it’s Norman Foster

36 — THE ORACLE SPEAKS A beginner’s guide to watch typography

“Code 11.59 is an incredible case form for complications as the architecture carries so many design threads with movement design” Audemars Piguet — p40

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ORACLE TIME #66

CONTENTS

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46 — DIAL FOCUS

Some of the most beautiful handmade dials from around the world

60 — MAXIMALISM

We’ve put these show-off timepieces centre-stage in our vibrant shoot

70 — NICK HART

Spencer Hart’s founder shares his new venture – a wholewardrobe bespoke service

79 — STYLE EDIT

The must-have pieces for Autumn/Winter 2020

88 — WATCH OUTFIT What to wear with the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Infiinity Edition

114

91 — WATCH REVIEWS Thoughts on the De Rijke Amalfi Series 1S, and the Reservoir GT Tour

102 — 20TH CENTURY DESIGN How the previous century’s design styles have expressed themselves in watch form

114 — THE EAMSES

An homage to the hyperprolific design power-couple 102

124 — UNSUNG HERO

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The Speedmaster Mark II could never compete with its space-bound predecessor

CULTURE

128 — AUCTIONS

“The TUI Armchair is both a reflection of New Zealand’s natural beauty and a dedication to keeping it that way”

99

99 121

____________

Food & Drink Interiors

Interior design — p121

_________________

121

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What’s going under the hammer this month?

131 — IN FOCUS

A closer look at BUUR, Feynman and SevenFriday

139 – MICROBRAND CORNER What’s new in the world of the small-scale?

144 – MOVIE WATCH What’s on Bond’s wrist this time around?

Swiss engineering ensures our Super Compressor won’t implode the deeper it goes. If only your body was SwissSwiss-engineered.

Being romantic English types, we decided to reinvent the iconic dive watch of the 1960s. It is the very first genuine Super Compressor since the Swiss case manufacturer Ervin Piquerez S.A. stopped making them some 50 years ago.

Our Swiss engineers have embraced the challenge; down to the compression spring, which is only 300 microns thick and the width of just four human hairs. It’s a small bit of Swiss genius you can barely see, yet it compresses the case as you dive, allowing you to go deeper. In fact, the deeper you dive the more water-tight it gets.

Mind-blowing isn’t it? christopherward.com

FRONT — aficionado

aficionado The coolest things in the world right now

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FRONT — aficionado

MUSICAL CHAIR

The London Design Festival may be under the malaise of social distancing, but that hasn’t stopped designer Lee Broom virtually unveiling his latest musically-inspired masterpiece, the Maestro. With its classical elegance and striking velvet upholstery, the Maestro is a statement piece whether or not you know your way around a cello.

Available in three finishes: mirrored chrome, matte black and our favourite, the pictured satin brass with red velvet. leebroom.com

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FRONT — aficionado

FASHION-FORWARD FACE MASKS

It was always going to happen and if anything it seems overdue: Louis Vuitton has now launched a high-luxury see-through visor for those that won’t let even a global pandemic hit their fashionista credentials. The headband features the iconic monogram and the see-through, UVresponsive mask can be tilted up on plastic studs, doubling as an oddly futuristic sun visor.

The price has yet to be announced but, given that the only other visor in LV’s collection is the £705 Strawgram Visor, expect it to be in the same range. uk.louisvuitton.com

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FRONT — aficionado

THE MASERATI SUPERCAR

The Maserati you’ve been waiting for is here and is raring to go.

It’s the dawn of a new era for the Modena-based marque, with a lightweight MC20 powered by Maserati’s Nettuno twin turbo V6 engine, which can reach a blistering top speed of 325 km/h, and boasts 0-100 km/h sprint of 2.9 seconds. Combined with sleek aerodynamism and a pared-back, minimal cabin, the MC20 is pure driving pleasure – and a serious new statement for the Italian trident.

From £187,230, maserati.com

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FRONT — aficionado

SIMULATED SPEED

Esteemed British marque Aston Martin has teamed up with simulator specialist Curv to offer a way to take your racer on the track without starting the engine. Not only does the racing-inspired machine look spectacular, but it’s been finetuned by Aston Martin Works driver Darren Turner to be a carbon copy of the interior of the Valkyrie. Combined with Curv’s signature immersion and digital responsiveness, the AMR-C01 simulator will make for one hell of a games room.

Limited to 150 examples, from £57,500, curvrs.com

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FRONT — aficionado

ENGINE NOISE

Bentley seems determined to forge ahead as a lifestyle brand as much as a car-maker but at least it’s doing it right.

Case in point, Focal and Naim for Bentley. Consisting of a pair of Focal’s superlative headphones and Naim’s flagship Mu-So all-in-one music system, complete with the requisite Bentley diamond twists (taken specifically from the EXP 100 GT electric concept) the result sounds as good as it looks – and it looks pretty incredible.

Naim for Bentley Mu-So, £1,799 Focal for Bentley Radiance Headphones, £1,199 Pre-Order at shop.bentleymotors.com

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FRONT — aficionado

CONCEPTUAL WATCHMAKING

It may have been around since the 70s but Audemars Piguet hasn’t let that stop its flagship timepiece from pushing the bounds of horological futurism. The Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT is a ceramic-clad, openworked ode to cuttingedge haute horology – and this one-off looks just as cool as it sounds on paper. Sure the 70s are firmly back in vogue, but this is anything but a retro hang-up. If only we could get hold of it… audemarspiguet.com

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FRONT — aficionado

WOLF X ANALOGUE/SHIFT

© Atom Moore

If your vintage watch collection is currently ensconced in a sub-par watch box then sit up and take notice: WOLF’s new collab with New York-based vintage specialist Analogue/Shift is one for you. It comprises the urban-slanted Flatiron II five-piece watch box, the ten-piece Vintage Watch Storage Box and the Vintage Watch Strap Valet Tray. All three are cool, retro takes on classical watch storage solutions, though if we had to choose one it’d be the Valet Tray for on-the-go strap swapping. $115.00-$399.00, wolf1834.com

OVER AND UNDER

Can’t decide between a sporting yacht and a submarine? Not a problem you’ve ever encountered? Us neither, but it’s nice to know that it’s been solved nonetheless. The Aquanaut, courtesy of Officina Armare and U-Boat Worx is a 60-foot open-style caramaran that comes complete with its own, personal sub. The multihull speeder is a sight to behold; just rock up to your diving spot of choice, drop into the water and explore away. $3m, officinaarmare.com

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EDITED BY SAM KESSLER

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE LUXURY WORLD

NEWS

THE KING’S MAN

BY MR PORTER If clothes maketh the man then MR PORTER is once again adding a fair few extras to the cast of the latest Matthew Vaughn film with its latest costume-inspired capsule collection for The King’s Man. Alongside the incredibly cool Jaeger-LeCoultre Ultra-Thin Knife watch, the collection houses the same kind of 1920s style you’ll see in the film: think double-breasted coats, elegant three-piece suits and plenty of military classics. If you’ve ever fancied yourself as a true British gent, you’ll want most of the collection in your wardrobe for the coming autumn season. mrporter.com

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FRONT — world news

THOM SWEENEY REDEFINES THE ROW Savile Row, legendary home of bespoke tailoring, is pretty quiet right now, even by its own rarefied standards. That hasn’t stopped tailor Thom Sweeney from making some noise with its new townhouse on adjacent Old Burlington Street.

Offering the full suite of services, the new store will house bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-towear and, because this is Thom Sweeney, a private cocktail bar and barbershop.

The new store will directly replace the brand’s previous two and even then is set to be greater than the sum of its parts. Want a new look, top to tail?

Head to 24C Old Burlington Street. You can even celebrate with a cocktail after the fact. thomsweeney.co.uk

THE TUDOR ROYAL COLLECTION Tudor has already rid itself of its reputation as Rolex’s little brother with its array of retro divers and great, in-house movements; now though it’s moving directly into the waters of its prestigious sibling with the sports-chic Royal Collection.

Defined by a notched (almost crenelated) bezel of alternating polished surface and cut grooves, it will likely draw comparison among the more cynical of you to the Rolex Day-Date. There’s far more retro charm here though, and the collection has been fleshed out to include a full range of sizes, date-only versions and an array of different dials – with plenty of two-tone throughout.

The highlight: We can’t help but love the old-school flashy vibes of a good two-tone watch and the 41mm Tudor Royal day-date is right on target with its notched gold bezel, gold-on-black Roman numerals and bi-colour bracelet.

The collection has been fleshed out to include an array of different dials

ALLARD RETURNS

The Detail: • 41mm stainless steel and yellow gold case with 100m water resistance • Calibre 2832 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £2,530, tudorwatch.com

continuation has been made as close to its ancestor as possible.

Rolling off the production line this month, chassis No. 3408 (after a previous seven original cars) will make its auction debut at RM Sotheby’s end of the month with a starting estimate of £180,000.

As the first car in the familyowned manufacturer’s new era, the Allard JR Continuation 3408 is the surely the start of great things to come. allardsportscars.co.uk

If you’ve not heard of this British marque before don’t worry, you’re not alone. Unless you’ve an encyclopaedic knowledge of prewar motors, you probably won’t have come across them – until now. After 60 years of silence, Allard is making a long-overdue comeback with the JR Continuation.

Based on the original 1953 JR competition specification, the

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FRONT — world news

TO SPACE IN A BALLOON David Blaine may have just ascended like a toddler strapped to a bunch of balloons but a group of intrepid explorers can go one further with Spaceship Neptune, due to launch in 2024. The balloon-mounted capsule will ascend to the stratosphere and back again over a period of four hours, allowing those on-board to see sunrise across the planet. There are also drinks and refreshments, putting Neptune a step above your humdrum faux-extra-terrestrial jaunts.

Time will tell if the knock-on effects from current crises will delay Spaceship Neptune’s maiden voyage, but given that the craft has next-tozero emissions, this could well be the future of space tourism. Get ready for bookings to open October 2023. thespaceperspective.com

The balloonmounted capsule will ascend to the stratosphere and back again over a period of four hours

REMY MARTIN X THE CONNAUGHT It’s London Craft Week, which means an outpouring of creativity and collaborations across the capital. Don’t worry about having to interpret the philosophies behind some abstract concept; in the case of this three-way work of art, it’s all in the taste.

Remy Martin Cognac is working together with the Connaught’s two leading lights of mixology – Messrs Agostino Perrone and Giogio Bargiani –

to create a shiny new cocktail for the legendary hotel’s drinks menu. Dubbed Flint (a reflection of the Cognac’s terroir) the mix of lacto-fermented melon, botanical soda, Chartreuse and Remy will come in a bespoke vessel created by master ceramicist Reiki Kaneko. It’s sure to be a drink that tastes as good as it looks. remymartin.com

In the case of this three-way work of art, it’s all in the taste 28

FRONT — world news

KATE MOSS TURNS JEWELLERY DESIGNER A woman of many talents, Kate Moss is turning her considerable eye for fashion and design to getting hands-on with the latest collection from celebrity favourite Messika. While last year the supermodel was the face of the jeweller’s campaign, now she’s driving it creatively, taking inspiration from her very own jewellery box. The result is a glitzy range of bohemian, eclectic and eye-catching pieces running the gamut of Moss’s tastes.

All the pieces are of course finished with Messika’s own signature diamonds for a serious, high-jewellery feel.

With Moss once again modelling the campaign, this could be Christmas come early for fans of the featherlight jeweller. messika.com

The result is a glitzy range of bohemian, eclectic and eye-catching pieces running the gamut of Moss’s tastes

GUESS T H E WATCH At the time of writing we weren’t actually aware, but it turns out we presciently decided to black out our current cover star last issue, the Audemars Piguet Code 11.59. Honestly, you should have gotten it from ‘divisive’; there have been few watches quite as mixed in their reception in recent years. Undeservedly, in our opinion.

For our design issue though, let’s go for one of the most unique, overworked and downright ludicrous watches around. Created with typical childish flair from a certain collaborative watchmaker, it’s possibly the only watch you can call a ‘good boy’.

What is the watch?

CHECK BACK NEXT ISSUE FOR THE ANSWER

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what is the

WATCH

?

FRONT — introducing

NEWS

IN DETAIL • 42mm stainless steel

case with 100m water resistance • Calibre Heuer 02 automatic movement with 80-hour power reserve • From £4,395, tagheuer.com

INTRO DUCING

TAG HEUER Carrera 42mm

Aside from the nearly 60 years between them, the modern 2020 Carrera is a world away from the original 1963 version aesthetically. Sure, they’re both racing chronographs, but that’s about it. Enter the new, 42mm addition to the new Carrera collection which is, in short, the best of both worlds. Just perhaps don’t call it a racing watch.

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FRONT — introducing

CHRISTOPHER WARD C60 Lympstone

Military watches are as in vogue as ever, but it looks like Christopher Ward is currently dominating the conversation. The accessible British watch brand was approved by the MoD last year to create a trio of vintage-slanted, land- seaand air-inspired pieces (much, I assumed, to Bremont’s dismay). Now they’re getting distinctly more modern, not to mention stealthy, with the new C60 Lympstone.

IN DETAIL

42mm stainless steel case with 600m water resistance • Sellita SW200 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £875 christopherward.com •

OMEGA

Seamaster 300m Tantalum

Unusual a metal as it is, Tantalum’s cropped up on the occasional watch here and there. Omega though was ahead of the game when it tried it on for size back in 1993. It’s not exactly been a pervasive part of the collection since then, but now it’s returned once again in Omega’s latest three-hued take on the Seamaster 300m Chronograph.

IN DETAIL

IN DETAIL

37.5mm white gold case with 60m water resistance • Calibre 324 S C FUS automatic movement with 35-45-hour power reserve • £37,350, patek.com •

•

44mm tantalum, titanium and Sedna gold case with 300m water resistance •

PATEK PHILIPPE

Calatrava Pilot Travel Time

We love the Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time; if buzz around it is anything to go by, you do too. The triple-crowned

In-house calibre 9900 automatic movement with 60-hour power reserve

complication is an aerial collectors’ item originally launched in 2015 to general fanfare. Now it’s been modernised with the newest take on the functional aviation watch, the ref. 7234G, and it’s as militaristically lovely as ever – just a little smaller.

•

Numbered edition, £16,540, omegawatches.com

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FRONT — introducing

CARL F. BUCHERER Adamavi Autodate

If the recent launch of Rolex’s 2020 Oyster Perpetual collection with dials in a host of eye-popping shades proves anything, it’s that the days of watch dials coming in black, white or silver are well and truly over. Carl F. Bucherer clearly agrees as it’s launched six new stainless steel versions of its Adamavi Autodate in four different muted colours and a choice of 31mm or 39mm cases.

The days of watch dials coming in black, white or silver are well and truly over

IN DETAIL

• 31mm/39mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • Calibre CFB 1963 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • £2,200, carl-f-bucherer.com

HYT Flow

Like all HYT watches, the Flow is big.

Huge, in fact, at 51mm across its perfect circle. It’s lugless, so it doesn’t get any bigger, but that’s still a daunting wristwear prospect. The reason though is clear: light. The domineering sapphire crystal and the oversized dial are there to make best use of the watch’s own lighting system – which, in eco-friendly style, doesn’t need a battery.

IN DETAIL

51mm stainless steel case with 30m water resistance • In-house manual-wind movement with 65-hour power reserve • From CHF 79,000, hytwatches.com •

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FRONT — facetime

NO.

FA C E T I M E

66

The watch collections of the rich and famous revealed

IF YOU’VE EVER GLANCED up at the London skyline, you’ve seen the work of Norman Foster, a man who, under the guise of architecture firm Foster + Partners, has all but defined the capital’s modern look. There’s arguably no-one that’s had a greater impact on how the city actually looks than him, from The Corniche to the Gherkin and Wembley Stadium. Needless to say the man knows his way around a blueprint or two.

It’s an eye for design – and a love of all things mechanical – that Lord Foster has extended to his wrist; well, when you’re working on multi-billion dollar developments, you at least need a decent timepieces to keep you on schedule. One of the earliest pieces in his collection – or at least, after designing the headquarters of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank back in 1979 – is a true design classic, the Rolex GMT Master.

As an iconic design, it’s timeless and likely still has a prominent place in Foster’s collection; who better to appreciate a steel watch than a man whose livelihood is wrapped up in making the metal beautiful? But his tastes have arguably evolved in recent years, if his Time in Motion exhibition with Cartier was anything to go by.

Dedicated to the full horological history of the Parisian jeweller, Time in Motion was as much a passion project for Foster as it was a commission. He curated the entire show, which illustrated the impact and legacy of Cartier’s watchmaking along with the aircraft and mechanical ingenuity that inspired him.

As he said of the 160-piece exhibition, staged back in 2017, “The pure geometry of what Cartier was doing in watchmaking anticipated the pure forms of the Bauhaus – however subliminally.”

That said, more often than not Lord Foster’s seen sporting tech pieces rather than a real watch, which is to be expected. The globe-trotting peer has to keep in contact with his projects somehow. But with his undying love for all things mechanical his adoration for the likes of Rolex and Cartier isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Norman Foster The starchitect

Foster has a taste for the timeless, like this Rolex GMT Master

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SUB 300 AQUAMARINE

FRONT — ask the oracle

THE ORACLE SPEAKS The wizardry of the watch world explained

[Watch Typography]

Look at the face of your watch and what do you see? The correct time, you’d hope, but what else? Perhaps even without realising it, your watch is telling you about itself through that most subtle of techniques, its typeface. I’m not just talking about whether it uses Arabic or Roman numerals; I’m talking about the shape of the numbers themselves, the all-important font of the dial.

One of the earliest named fonts in watchmaking are the purely classical Breguet numerals. The delicate, curling numbers date back to 1790 and are illustrative of the kind of hand-painting used at the time. Essentially they’re 18th-century calligraphy. That’s why you tend to find them on enamel dials which are generally still handpainted today. Or should be, at least.

Breguet still uses them of course, but so do plenty of classically-inspired watchmakers. It makes sense; the numerals are shorthand for that kind of traditional haute horology. But what about something a touch more modern?

At the other end of the scale in terms of ornateness is Junghans with its Max Bill collection, named after the Swiss graphic designer whose typeface it has adopted.

His re-interpretation of Bauhaus can be seen in the clean, functionalist look of the characters, clear and legible but with an industrial twist. For a brand as minimalist as Junghans, it’s the perfect fit.

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Junghans is the only watch brand allowed to use this particular Max Bill font, but you can see similar styles across the likes of Meistersinger, Nomos Glashutte and other German heirs to horological Bauhaus. All of them convey the relevant info with the minimal fuss – which just so happens to look pretty classy, too.

Right now though, if you want a masterclass in making typography a feature, look to Hermes. Other than the occasional high complication (like its dual-orbiting moon phase from last year) its timepieces don’t have too much going on, so instead of over-the-top finishing Hermes opts to flex its design muscles in its fonts.

The Arceau, for example, is defined by its twirling, bending numerals that curl around the outside of the dial.

It’s fun and quirky, a literal twist on the aforementioned classical Breguet numerals, suited to the enamel dial.

At the same time, there’s the Slim D’Hermes. It has the same lack of fuss across the case and dial, with a focus on thinness over anything else. It is however a lot more modern than the Arceau and so opts for one of the coolest fonts in modern watches. Created by graphic designer Philippe Apeloig, the series of disconnected lines and circles is superb, turning a necessary element into a defining characteristic.

With all that, it’s pretty obvious that typography is incredibly important to the overall look of any watch.

FRONT — ask the oracle

Hermes’ timepieces don’t have too much going on, so instead of over-the-top finishing it opts to flex its design muscles in its fonts

The Slim d’Hermes and Arceau show the maison’s typographic flair in two very different styles

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FRONT — ask the oracle

“[The numerals] needed to be understated, and they had to be able to act as a bridge between vintage and contemporary styling”

Top: the Fears Brunswick Midas Silver uses the Edwin typeface for its numerals

But let’s go a little further; how exactly does a brand or font-creator settle on the design? I’m no graphic designer, god knows, so I asked specialist Lee YuenRapati about his work on the revamped dial for the superb Fears Brunswick.

“I created the Edwin numerals to give Fears an identifiable and flexible set of numerals that could be

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used across its collection. I followed two guiding principles in creating the numerals: they needed to be understated, and they had to be able to act as a bridge between vintage and contemporary styling.

“After viewing a number of watches and pieces of ephemera in the Fears archive, I established a skeleton for the numerals to follow very close to some vintage examples. This skeleton informed much of the core construction such as a wide numeral width, visually monolinear strokes, as well as watch-specific qualities such as the flat-top 4.

“The final contours however hold some unexpected and subtle tweaks such as the bends near the corners of the 4 and 7 (echoed as well in the bottom left corner of the 2). The Edwin numerals seen here are only the first reveal of a larger set, however they typify the design language that will be found in future Fears watches.”

So next time you look at your watch, take a closer look at the numerals. There’s a good chance that a designer’s spent a lot of time deciding on the precise curve of the 9 and the angles of the 4. Hopefully it works; if it doesn’t at least now you might have some inkling as to why. Either way, it’s all in the details.

55 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6LX

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24 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 8TX www.johnsmedley.com

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24 Brook Street, London, W1K 5DG

FRONT — audemars piguet

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FRONT — audemars piguet

WORDS: SAM KESSLER

UP TO CODE IT MAY HAVE HAD A ROCKY START IN LIFE, BUT THE CODE 11.59 IS QUICKLY BECOMING AUDEMARS PIGUET’S NEW CANVAS FOR SERIOUS HAUTE HOROLOGY

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FRONT — audemars piguet

Audemars Piguet’s latest model caused controversy when it launched, which has since settled into deserved admiration

The Code 11.59 references its heritage with an octagonal mid-section, but otherwise steps away from the steel, sports watch arena 42

When the Code 11.59 was launched last year, Audemars Piguet hoped that it would be the next stage in the maison’s evolution, a new era for a brand that had been relying pretty heavily on the genuinely iconic Royal Oak and its various offshoots. It was a big deal for AP and, when revealed was… divisive, to say the least.

In fact, the online fury was worrying. Sure, it doesn’t take much to set off keyboard pundits, but even by those standards it wasn’t ideal for AP. At the time I was a bit nonplussed by the outcry, but I can understand why it was there. As Michael Friedman, Head of Complications at Audemars Piguet puts it: “New form language in any medium is often met with a variety of different reactions, and new case forms in watchmaking from historic brands rarely occur. The 1972 Royal Oak, the 1993 Offshore, the 2002 Concept and the 2019 Code 11.59 were all met with divisive opinions.”

He’s not wrong; the Royal Oak may be iconic now, but that wasn’t always the case, and now that the dust has settled and the Code 11.59 has found its footing, it’s becoming a serious alternative to Audemars Piguet’s greatest hits.

Situated somewhere between a classical circular watch and the chunky industrialism of the Royal Oak, the Code 11.59 references its heritage with an octagonal mid-section, but otherwise steps away from the steel, sports watch arena. It’s a nuanced design and yes, it’s divisive, but in many ways that shows it’s a step in the right direction. At least it’s not safe – or boring.

The result so far is an incredibly diverse collection of watches, ranging from fun, funky fume dials and two-tone retro coolness to haute horology that you’d see in AP’s ground-breaking concept line – a versatility that is arguably the Code 11.59’s greatest strength.

That said, new dial colours are lovely but not exactly

FRONT — audemars piguet

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FRONT — audemars piguet

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FRONT — audemars piguet

“Code 11.59 has created entirely new approaches for us, resulting in movement designs we would have never even considered via Royal Oak”

© Fraser Vincent

ground-breaking. High complications however are where the 11.59 comes into its own.

“Code 11.59 is an incredible case form for complications as the architecture carries so many design threads with movement design,” explains Friedman. “Angles, curves, complex finishing and adequate depth for complex mechanisms create the ideal foundation and frame for our most complicated movements, including our tourbillon watches.”

It’s easy to see why the 11.59 suits a tourbillon or two. The architectural nature of the collection is slightly more classical and conventional than other APs and the hand-finishing that follows from that more traditional approach is nicely suited to something as old-school as a tourbillon. If anything, it feels as though the 11.59 was built as a platform for haute horology – one that Audemars Piguet has made the most of.

As well as a perpetual calendar and grand sonnerie, there are so far three different tourbillons in the collection: the Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon, the superlative Tourbillon Openworked and our

cover star this issue, the Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph. For a design just over a year old, that’s a staggering array of complications. More importantly, they’re executed in a way that never would have been possible previously.

“When we are in the R&D stages of complicated movement design, we are always considering the case forms that the movement may be introduced in. Code 11.59 has created entirely new approaches for us, resulting in movement designs that we would have never arrived at or even considered via Royal Oak, Offshore or Concept.”

There was never a question of which line would suit the latest Flying Tourbillon though. The combination of the prestigious complication alongside the evercontemporary flyback chrono seems hand-tailored to the 11.59. They share that same fusion of old and new, architectural and cutting-edge.

On the whole though, if it seems like the Code 11.59 is taking over some of the horological weightlifting from the Concept collection, that’s kind of the point: “When we are in the earliest stages of movement design for experimental and innovative future complications,” says Michael “The question now is, ‘Code 11.59 or Royal Oak Concept?’”

As the new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT shows, there’s still room elsewhere for boundarypushing new movements, but it does seem as though Audemars Piguet has found a new medium through which to flex its watchmaking muscles. And if the Flying Tourbillon is anything to go by, AP’s been lifting. Hard.

The Code 11.59 is easily adaptable, and made to suit a range of tourbillons

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FRONT — dials

THE DIAL IS THE METAPHORICAL window to the soul of your watch. Aside from a few notable examples, it’s the first thing we think of with any iconic timepiece and, let’s be honest, it’s usually the thing we’d like to change the most – a touch of horological plastic surgery if you will.

So, while we’ve covered custom timepieces aplenty in the past, this time we thought we’d look at the action directly underneath the sapphire crystal.

Some of these aren’t dial-makers per se, but custom watchmakers that let you do whatever you please to the face of the watch. Sometimes within reason; sometimes not. On the other hand, there are some simply on hand in case for whatever reason your Rolex collection could use a touch of enamelling or marquetry. Either way, if you want to know just how inventive a watch dial can get past three hands and a few indexes, then let these artisans be food for thought. Who knows? That classic 1950s dress watch just might not do it for you anymore.

A wooden watch face designed by Ukraine’s Danevych, featuring The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai Right: a copper face for Bespoke Watch Projects’ Intaglio

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FRONT — dials

WORDS: SAM KESSLER

ABOUT

FACE

FROM HAND-ENGRAVING TO A WOODEN MOSAIC, HERE ARE THE CUSTOM WATCH AND DIAL MAKERS THAT CAN TURN YOUR WRISTWATCH INTO HOROLOGICAL ART

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FRONT — dials

W E S S E X

W A T C H E S

All of Wessex’s dial designs are conceived and handmade by founder Jamie Boyd in his Wiltshire workshop

If you’ve seen the epic Tsunami watch, you can imagine the kind of results that are possible 48

LET’S BEGIN ON HOME SHORES with one of the few watchmakers in the UK to manufacture its own dials. In fact, Wessex founder Jamie Boyd takes more than a little well-deserved pride in his work, being the pair of hands behind each and every handcrafted silver dial. That would be impressive even if it didn’t mean the multi-layered, architectural and incredibly ornate dials of the Wessex Peerless collection.

Because of the Peerless’ signature two-layer dials, not only is there an incredible level of depth to the watch face, but Wessex is able to create any image of your choosing. If you’ve seen the epic Tsunami watch (which started off as a bespoke commission), you can imagine the kind of results that are possible.

The process though is simple enough: just contact Wessex watches, let them know what you’d like and, after a one-to-one discussion with Jamie, he’ll send you a few mock-ups. From there, he’ll create your choice as a prototype dial and from there the final piece.

Customisation ranges from simply changing the guilloche background of the already-impressive Peerless (at no extra cost, note) to incredibly detailed hand-engraved frescos, all the way up to full-on cold enamelling. Overambitious? Possibly, but the results speak for themselves.

Find out more at wessexwatches.co.uk

FRONT — dials

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BESPOKE

WATCH

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PROJECTS

FRONT — dials

HEADING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC to far sunnier shores than these, California’s Bespoke Watch Projects takes a more precise, less traditional approach to the dials of its sleek, handsome Intaglio series.

Inspired by historical prints and experimental fine art techniques, each Intaglio dial starts life as a simple metal blank before being sanded-down and receiving an initial patina. From here the dial can get a myriad of finishes applied, from solid enamelled colours to custom stains and patinas. Only once that finish passes muster is the dial engraved.

The result is a range of graphic, clear-cut and incredibly sharp designs in a dizzying array of colours and finishes. It’s a varied technique that Bespoke Watch Projects regularly showcases through its Intaglio Limited Editions, but one that is also offered as a unique, custom service.

That service does include plain, coloured dials of course, but for my money not much beats the razor-fine lines and retro looks that Bespoke Watch Projects has made its signature. Pure modernism on a dial.

These are then applied to a watch case size of your choice, be that a svelte 36mm number or a 38mm diver. Whichever you opt for, there’s no denying that the dial is what really makes the watch here.

Find out more at bespokewatchprojects.com

California-based Bespoke Watch Projects brings a minimalist, contemporary edge to its dial designs

The service does include plain, coloured dials of course, but not much beats the razor-fine lines and retro looks that Bespoke Watch Projects has made its signature

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© Dave Laird, Absolute Design && Consuting Inc.

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FRONT — dials

Left: Van Gogh’s Starry Night is intricately hand-painted on enamel for an Ematelier dial

ENAMEL DIALS ARE, by their very nature, unique. The individual strokes of a hand-painted picture are impossible to replicate, no matter how careful the artisan behind the brush is. However Toronto-based Ematelier isn’t content in the illusion of uniqueness, and its custom dial offering has created some truly spectacular one-off pieces.

Before even getting started, the right type of enamelling has to be chosen. Grand Feu miniature painting, Cloisonne, and Champleve are all on the table, depending on the client wants.

In fact, everything from the shape and angles of the dial to the colour of the enamel all need to be taken into account to ensure the delicate enamelling process goes off without a hitch.

Because Ematelier only creates dials, this all means that you can fit one of its miniature pictures or vibrantly-hued original masterpieces directly onto a watch of your choice. Want to channel Picasso on your latest Vacheron or a peacock’s colouring on a Cartier?

The choice is entirely up to you.

And if you can’t come up with something yourself, then Ematelier will be more than happy to work with you to come up with a design that you won’t just want to live with, but one that you’ll want to show off. Personal portraits be damned, this is real bespoke artwork.

Find out more at ematelier.watch

Everything from the shape and angles of the dial to the colour of the enamel all need to be taken into account to ensure the delicate enamelling process goes off without a hitch 53

© Studio Goico 2020

FRONT — dials

Using Porsche Design’s single model as a base, there are 1.5 million potential design iterations

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FRONT — dials

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THE MOST MAINSTREAM watchmaker on this list, Porsche Design is the most recent to try its hand at creating a custom service and, if you’re looking something a little racier, who better to go for than the makers of the 911?

The custom timepiece service started at the beginning of last month and already there are 1.5 million possibilities in how you want your watch – impressive, given that it all stems from a single model. You can choose everything from the case finish to the colour of the oscillating weight in the movement.

For our purposes though, the real action is on the dial – especially if you happen to own a Porsche yourself.

Overall the look is of a classic speedometer, but thanks to inlaid coloured rings you can choose one of 27 Porsche car colours to match whatever’s in your garage.

Yes it might be a little obsessive to buy a custom watch to match your car, but we’ve all done crazier things – especially when the watch itself is an incredibly solid, automatic number. Even if that’s all a bit too obvious for you though, Porsche Design’s bespoke timepieces make for a striking racing watch for a simpler but no less appealing take on dial customisation.

Find out more at porsche-design.com

FRONT — dials

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‘CRUDE’ ISN’T EXACTLY A NAME that rings with luxury, but that’s kind of the point.

The German studio based out of Pforzheim revels in fusing unfinished, industrial elements with fine gemstones and a level of craftsmanship that far belies its roughand-ready approach. If you can imagine most dials being painstakingly hand-engraved on a workbench then those of Crude are closer to being beaten out on an anvil.

Given the current trend towards meaner, more industrial-looking timepieces, Crude’s approach is an appealing one. While all its watches come from a single silver cast, the finishes are incredibly diverse between them, both on cases and dials.

In the Gypsetter collection, that’s helped by the option to gem-set your dial for a real glam-rock look. You can either go for one of Crude’s ready-made (or, to follow tailoring nomenclature, ready-to-wear) pieces or use them as inspiration for a piece to suit your own snakeskin-toting alter-ego.

Crude’s watch dials aren’t for the shy and retiring and they’re not what most people would call refined. What they are is unique, both in the natural patina of the metal and the fact that, if you own a muscle car and an angle grinder, you’ve probably just discovered your dream dial.

Find out more at en.crude-studio.com

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© Holger Altgeld

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Crude’s watches are made at the site of a former quarry near Pforzheim, Germany’s ‘gold city’

Given the current trend towards meaner, more industrial-looking timepieces, Crude’s approach is an appealing one 56

FRONT — dials

MARQUETRY IS NOT A SKILL you see often outside of antique furniture and the map rooms of bond villains. It requires the precise placement of different-coloured woods to create a picture, kind of like mosaic – except where marquetry is 4K compared to mosaic’s CRT pixels.

Ukraine’s Danevych is one of the few practisers of marquetry still plying their trade in any real way, and they are doing it well – well enough that they can create almost as intricate a design as enamelling.

The first step though is a practical one: ensuring that they have the right dimensions for your dial. Marquetry adds a little to the thickness, so it’s vital Danevych knows what it’s working with, which generally involves sending in the original dial for them to measure. If that leaves you without a watch, you can just send the measurements, but if you want to be 100-per-cent sure then you’ll opt for the first option.

Then and only then, you can decide what you’d like to be on your watch.

Abstract, realism, directly translating a famous work onto your new wooden dial, there are countless ways to go about it. Just beware overly-ambitious creations: price is dependent on the number of pieces your new dial will have.

A marquetry dial is already an unusual novelty; getting one designed and built from the ground up is heirloom-worthy. Just be careful your heirs don’t start quoting Patek Philippe advertisements too fervently.

Find out more at danevych.store

Kiev-born Valerii Danevych builds clocks and watches with as many wooden parts as possible

A marquetry dial is already an unusual novelty; getting one designed and built from the ground up is heirloom-worthy

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Orical Time DPS - Zero West V2.qxp_Layout 1 29/09/2020 16:12 Page 1

Photo by Grease and Grain

DESIGN CLASSICS STAND THE TEST OF TIME

CR-1 Café Racer

BOUTIQUE BRITISH WATCHES Available exclusively online...

www.zerowest.watch

STYLE — photoshoot

Minimalism has its place in watchmaking from a classical, streamlined standpoint. This issue, though, we’re going the opposite route with pure maximalism. These watches prove that even the kitchen sink can find a home if the designer’s determined enough. What they don’t use nearly enough, in our opinion, is colour, so we’ve decided to help them out a bit – and what better way than to break open our lockdown sugar stashes and add nice touch of juxtaposition with sweets. So here we are, with bright colours, over-the-top watchmaking and maximalism all-round. Enjoy!

AUDEMARS PIGUET CODE 11.59 FLYING TOURBILLON CHRONOGRAPH 41mm white gold case with 30m water resistance Calibre 2952 automatic movement with 65-hour power reserve POA, Limited Edition of 50, audemarspiguet.com

MORE IS MORE Photography: FRASER VINCENT

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STYLE — photoshoot

AVENTI A11 48.5mm x 55.5mm sapphire case with 50m water resistance Hand-wound movement with 72hour power reserve $5,000, aventi.com

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STYLE — photoshoot

ULYSSE NARDIN BLAST 45mm titanium case with 50m water resistance UN-172 automatic movement with 72hour power reserve £40,050, ulysse-nardin.com

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STYLE — photoshoot

HUBLOT BIG BANG UNICO CERAMIC 45mm titanium case with 100m water resistance HUB1242 UNICO automatic movement with 72-hour power reserve £16,500, hublot.com

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STYLE — photoshoot

BREGUET TRADITION RETROGRADE DATE 40mm white gold case with 30m water resistance Calibre 505Q movement with 50hour power reserve £32,000, breguet.com

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STYLE — photoshoot

G-SHOCK FULL METAL GMWB5000CS-1ER 49mm Stainless steel case with 200m water resistance Solar-powered Casio movement £699, g-shock.co.uk

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MAZE GMT BEZEL GMT Bezel dual time + date automatic watch with swimming pool tile dial, raised polished steel markers infilled with Super-LumiNova Grade A, matching date window • 24 click bi-directional rotatating bezel with infilled engraved markings, • Internal anti-reflective box cased sapphire crystal, flat sapphire exhibition glass on rear showcasing the highly decorated Swiss-made Sellita Swiss Made Sellita SW330-1 Top Grade movement with bespoke rotor • Compact and ergonomic 316L steel case at 40.5mm diameter, 11.75mm depth and 44mm lug to lug • Steel crown featuring inset solid bronze cap.

GMTB ORACLE_Press 230x290 NEW.indd 3

24/09/2020 09:27

Born at the home of Greenwich Mean Time, the all new Farer GMT Bezel is a multifunctional sports watch with bi-directional 24-click bezel, screw down crown and 200m/656ft water resistance. The Sellita SW330-1 Top Grade GMT movement establishes local time whilst simultaneously tracking a second time-zone in a single glance.

A serious tool watch, built to explore.

Explore the range at Farer.com BR I T I SH D ESI G N. SW I SS MAD E.

BUILT TO EXPLORE

Farer (Noun) Explorer Wayfarer, Seafarer, Farfarer.

GMTB ORACLE_Press 230x290 NEW.indd 4

24/09/2020 09:27

THE NEW AUTUMN WINTER COLLECTION + 44 (0) 20 7499 1801 • PURDEY.COM Purdey-Orcale-menswear aw2020 4-9-20.indd 1

04/09/2020 15:07

STYLE — opener

Style 70/ Spencer Hart 79/ Get the look with our style edit

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STYLE — spencer hart

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STYLE — spencer hart

Words: NICK CARVELL

STYLED AT

HART Meet the man who wants to change how you get dressed

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STYLE — spencer hart

In 2018 Hart relaunched his elegant clothing line as an ultra-bespoke outfitting service

My interview with designer Nick Hart starts in a rather odd way – with a question from the interviewee: “Do you think the Spencer Hart aesthetic is relevant in today’s world,” Hart asks me earnestly at the other end of a crackly mobile-to-mobile line, “or do you think the world has moved on?”

I have admired Hart’s Spencer Hart label since I got into the menswear scene just under a decade ago, and I’m certainly not the only one. Since he set up his partially-eponymous brand in 2008, a plethora of notable names have been seen sporting his designs, from Matthew McConnaughey to Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Cumberbatch. In recent years though, the brand has undergone quite a transformation. Once famous for its glitzy fashion shows and sexy, high-profile ready-to-wear stores on Savile Row and Brook Street in Mayfair, Spencer Hart was relaunched in 2018 as Wardrobe by Spencer Hart: an exclusive, appointmentonly, made-to-measure service where men

The Wardrobe removes one crucial element from men’s morning routine: stress 72

can have their entire closet designed to order by Hart himself.

However, while the business changed, what stayed the same was Hart’s vibe.

Sure, it’s relaxed a little at the seams (in its former life it was famous for its suits and tuxes on the red carpet), but the designer’s sleek minimalism is still there. Both, I say to Hart, are still completely relevant to life today, especially as we head towards what many economists predict will be the worst recession since the Great Depression – in fact, that’s exactly the reason I wanted to speak to him.

In times of economic unrest, men don’t stop wanting to look their best; quite the opposite. Uncertainty in the job market is often a catalyst in men actively rethinking how they present themselves to the world. We last saw it in 2008, when the global financial crash spurred a new interest in Savile Row tailoring from a younger generation. As graduates entered an increasingly desperate job market, men began to dress in a way that projected professionalism, and that spilled over into their personal lives: three-piece suits and ties became as de rigueur at bars on a Friday night as at the office, and the ever-jazzy pocket square became a ubiquitous accessory.

As we face the prospect of a postpandemic recession that many economists predict will be far more intense than 2008, it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that men will re-consider the current trend for sportswear in a similar way. However, unlike 2008, we’re also facing the final breakdown in the distinction between work and play wardrobes for men due to a long-term push for flexible working and short-term social distancing guidelines.

Men will want to look confident and professional, but without a pressing need for suits and ties on Zoom calls, many will need guidance in how to still look smart, but not overdressed, in this brave new – socially distanced – world.

Where Hart’s truly futureproofed his business though is in embracing the fact that, while men want to look good, what will truly persuade them to spend their money is that The Wardrobe removes one crucial element from their morning routine: stress. Over a series of appointments, Hart gives you the chance

STYLE — spencer hart

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STYLE — spencer hart

Spencer Hart’s modern looks reflect the growth in home working and a contemporary shift towards smart-casual everyday style

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to start over with your entire clothing selection, crafting for you a selection of pieces that not only work interchangeably, but are exactly tailored to both your body and your lifestyle. For many time-poorbut-cash-rich men, that’s well worth the price tag of his service.

“Our job is to learn as fast as possible what a person is drawn to. Not just materials and textures, but also where they go, what they do, who they hang out with,” says Hart. “It’s about how people want to be perceived.”

“The thing about great jazz musicians is that they understand the rules, and know how to break them”

This process is kick-started either with a member of the five-strong team visiting you wherever you wish or at the brand’s HQ on Queen Anne Street in Marylebone. Working together over a series of up to ten sessions, the pieces in your wardrobe are picked from a selection then created in your chosen fabrics and tailored to you. An entrylevel wardrobe, priced at £5,000, consists of two full outfits, with shoes and a coordinating coat; for £15,000 you get six fully coordinated outfits, one coat and three pairs of shoes; and for £30,000, you get twelve fully coordinated outfits, two coats, two bomber jackets and four pairs of shoes.

After ten weeks, they’re yours. Needless to say, whether you’ve chosen two outfits or twelve, this initial collection can be added to from season to season and items repurchased as needed – your sizes and preferences are all on file so it can all be done with a quick email, if needed.

“When I first started Spencer Hart I was obsessed with the whole look – although I didn’t realise it at the time,” says Hart.

“When we were doing ready-to-wear, we had lots of different fits for different body types, but on top of that we had certain collars and certain lapels that would work with those fits. It was all very subtle, but very thought about. What we found was that nearly everybody that we dressed over the years would wear the whole look from us because it was designed to work for them as an outfit. I think that’s what laid the groundwork for Wardrobe. We have always thought about how our items work together.”

I’d argue that this thought goes much farther back than this. Hart has been in the menswear world since he got his first job in a tailor’s when he was 13. Working his way up from there via a market stall, he founded his first fashion company when he was 18 (importing pieces from Italy) and would go on to work with heavy hitting fashion houses such as Kenzo, Dior, Joseph, Jil Sander and Diesel before founding Spencer Hart in 2002 – a brand he named after his best friend, Spencer, who died when he was very young. It is this that ultimately still drives the look and feel of his label today. Spencer’s father had been a bebop musician from the East

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Indies (“he was very elegant, a very cool guy”), and he drove Hart’s love of jazz music as he grew up.

“The thing about great jazz musicians is that they understand the rules, and know how to break them,” Hart says.

“For me, as a designer, there are certain rules of aesthetics that I start with, but I then repeat and repeat – and that allows me to break those rules and develop and evolve. I think that’s similar for many designers who have a specific look.”

For Hart, that means monochromatic colours and paired-back pieces that just work effortlessly whatever the situation: navy moleskin trousers, a heavy linen blouson jacket or an overdyed casual blazer, a casual shirt with bellow pockets or a textured knit polo shirt. It’s clothing for the man who wants to tread the line between smart and casual and look effortlessly cool doing it. It’s similar to what the Italians might call sprezzatura, a kind of studied carelessness in the way you’re dressed, but with black-and-white photos of musicians on the mood board rather than the men peacocking around Pitti Uomo with their ties artfully askew.

“I like people like Miles Davies, John Coltrane, Dennis Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Bowie in his Thin White Duke era,” says Hart. “It’s that kind of world.”

I think it’s a world men will be ready to embrace in a post-pandemic landscape.

It’s also, clearly, something that Hart believes in. Following the success of Wardrobe, Hart tells me he’s getting back into the ready-to-wear game in October with the launch of a new label, Outfit NRH (his initials), which will offer a curated collation of coordinating men’s pieces direct for purchase from a dedicated site.

The collection is set to be around 90-percent black, but he will also offer pieces made to order in different colours and fabrics if that’s not your taste. The initial concept of this came to Hart during the darkest days of the initial lockdown, when he was inspired to enable men to dress in a smarter, more straightforward way without having to think too much about putting an outfit together. And if both eventually lead to a world where men are more confident and less stressed out, then I’m in full support. spencerhart.com

STYLE — must-haves

THE LEATHER TRENCH COAT

Head-to-toe leather was seen at many shows this season – which, yes, before you say it, is a bold look. However, an item that I was gratified to see resurface as a part of this was the louche leather trench coat, which allows a man to bring a hit of hard-boiled Seventies detective to even the most conservative work outfit.

NICK CARVELL

YOUR AUTUMN ARMOURY UPDATE WHILE WE’RE ALLOWED OUT IN THE REAL WORLD (LONG MAY IT LAST), NOW’S THE TIME TO TRADE UP YOUR LOCKDOWN SWEATS FOR SOMETHING FAR MORE SUAVE. HERE ARE FOUR AUTUMNAL ITEMS TRENDING ON THIS SEASON’S CATWALKS THAT WILL BRING YOUR WARDROBE BANG UP TO DATE

PRADA,

> If you’re really looking for that good-cop-gone-bad vibe, look no further than this glossy number from Prada. With its military nods (check out those epaulettes) and utility pockets, it’ll make you feel even the most straight-laced man feel like he’s the lead in a gritty police drama. £4,545, AVAILABLE AT MRPORTER.COM

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STYLE — must-haves

BOTTEGA VENETA,

> Not ready to go full leather? This trench from esteemed Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta is a half-and-half take on the trend, splicing supple black lambskin up top and cotton twill down below for a surprisingly wearable result. £3,380, AVAILABLE AT MATCHESFASHION.COM

MARNI,

> The thing that makes a black leather trench coat feel more American Gigolo and less The Matrix is the cut. Rather than going slim and long like Neo, get that Seventies vibe right by opting for a relaxed fit and a just-below-knee length – like this from Marni. £2,400, AVAILABLE AT FARFETCH.COM

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Burberry has been producing the garment since WWI

BURBERRY,

> No-one makes a trench coat like Burberry (the brand has been producing the garment since the First World War), so it’s great to see that expertise blended with creative director Riccardo Tisci’s on-trend eye on this cool, thighskimming iteration. £3,690, BURBERRY.COM

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STYLE — must-haves

THE ‘POPS’ CARDIGAN

This season’s unlikely style icon? Your grandad.

Cardigans are back in a big way as the ultimate autumnal top layer, seen at shows like Hermes, Marni and Ferragamo. Right now, the shape to search out is oversized and boxy, with enough space to slip another jumper underneath when the weather really turns.

BRUNELLO CUCINELLI, > Woven from alpaca, wool and cashmere, this jacquardknit cardigan is the softest statement you can make with your wardrobe this season. £1,710, BRUNELLOCUCINELLI.COM

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STYLE — must-haves

WALKER & SLATER,

> The leaves might not be green anymore, but that’s all the more reason to get some into your autumn wardrobe ASAP. £115, WALKERSLATER.COM

LEMAIRE,

> Cut deliberately oversized, this cardigan is slouchy enough to feel comfortable in 24/7 but still smart enough to impress – plus the colour goes with anything. £470, AVAILABLE AT MRPORTER.COM

PEREGRINE,

> Woven from 100 per cent British wool in a chunky five-gauge, this waffle-knit cardigan from homegrown knitmaster Peregrine gets character from twisting two tones of yarn together to create a beautifully be-speckled finish. £125, PEREGRINECLOTHING.CO.UK

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It’s still smart enough to impress – plus the colour goes with anything

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STYLE — must-haves

NEW & LINGWOOD,

E MARINELLA,

> Think ties are conformist? Rebel the right way with this skull-and-crossbones version, handmade in England using English woven silk, from storied Mayfair outfitter New & Lingwood. £125, NEWANDLINGWOOD.COM

> Exclusive to Mr Porter, this tie’s secret is its silk: E Marinella has been making ties at the same Italian workshop for over a century, from silk that’s woven from yarn washed in lake water to infuse the fibre with minerals which produce a unique softness and lustre. £160, AVAILABLE AT MRPORTER.COM

THE NECKTIE

If you thought the ‘work from home’ revolution was going to be an increasing informalisation of what we all wear for our careers, designers are here with a rebuttal. This season’s shows were dominated by an accessory that’s almost gone extinct: ties, worn both formally and casually. If that second lockdown comes, resist the urge to slip that hoodie back on and pick out some neckwear out that’s really going to show up on Zoom.

ADINKRA LONDON,

> Founded by two Ghanaian Brits, Adinkra London makes superb silk ties printed with designs that celebrate the diversity and culture of Africa’s 54 countries. This tie (launching soon) features the Nsaa symbol, a cross-like Ghanaian motif that’s a historic mark of excellence, genuineness and authenticity – as well as a contrasting traditional Ankara print on the inner tip lining. £150, AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER AT ADINKRALONDON.COM

ANGLO-ITALIAN,

> This grey cashmere tie from Marylebone-based tailoring house Anglo-Italian is the ultimate dresscode cracker: as at home slipped under a suit at work as it is with a denim jacket at the weekend. £165, ANGLOITALIAN.COM

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STYLE — must-haves

THE CHECKED… WELL, ANYTHING

Not so much an item, more something to look out for because, if the catwalks are anything to go by, you’ll be seeing a lot of checks creeping into shops over the next few months. Whether you’re thinking of filtering them into your casual attire or something more dressed-up, the only rule with squares this season is: go big or go home.

DRAKE’S LONDON,

> Not quite ready to commit to checks on a full-time basis?

This reversible padded vest from Savile Row label Drake’s London lets you embrace both your bold and more subtle sides. £595, DRAKES.COM

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STYLE — must-haves

PAUL SMITH,

> Cut from a jazzy Prince of Wales check, this relaxed-yet-tailored-fit suit from Paul Smith is just as powerful worn together as it is split up and worn apart.

JACKET, £800. TROUSERS, £375.

BOTH AT PAULSMITH.COM

JOHNSTONS OF ELGIN,

> Taken from the cashmere maker’s extensive archives, the team at Johnstons of Elgin created this design by zooming in on the historic tartan of the Baird clan to create something fresh and bold. £199, JOHNSTONSOFELGIN.COM

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The team at created this design by zooming in on the historic tartan of the Baird clan

STYLE — must-haves

“

Quite possibly the most sophisticated lumberjack shirt ever made

RALPH LAUREN PURPLE LABEL, > Quite possibly the most sophisticated lumberjack shirt ever made, created in Italy from supersoft cotton and finished with leather elbow patches. £540, RALPHLAUREN.CO.UK

MACKINTOSH,

> You’d expect a Scottish label like Mackintosh to be good at executing an attractive tartan design – and you’d be right. Case in point, this eye-popping take on the coatmaker’s weather-beating ‘Dunoon’ trench. £1,195, MACKINTOSH.COM

NOT A TREND, JUST A REALLY GREAT PAIR OF LOAFERS Few shoes feel more suited to the autumn months than a dark brown leather loafer. They can instantly relax a navy suit in the same way as they can smarten up a pair of mid-wash jeans and a chunky rollneck.

I prefer to wear mine Paul Newman-style, nicely shined with a pair of preppy off-white dress socks, chinos and a crewneck sweatshirt. £160, BILLYRUFFIANSHOES.CO.UK

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Space Academy Supply Co. is a brand known for its attention to detail and unique style, incorporating bright colors and innovative patterns influenced by contemporary design and vintage style.

Visit: spaceacademysupplyco.com IG: @spaceacademysupplyco

CULTURE — how to wear

HOW TO WEAR:

THE GIRARD-PERREGAUX LAUREATO INFINITY EDITION I F YO U ’ R E H E A D E D O U T TO T H E O F F I C E , back-to-work season demands a slightly smarter outlook. Our advice?

Ease yourself out of your lockdown hoodie and houseshoes with a few smart-casual outfit hacks: a plain knitted polo shirt is a far more comfortable option than a button-up shirt (and just as smart with a suit); loafers will feel like less of a step away from your slippers than a pair of heavy-soled lace-ups; and a tote is a much more laid-back home for your laptop on the commute than an oh-so-serious briefcase. And if you want to keep things simple in the morning, make like this Girard-Perregaux and keep things monochrome – but if you think you’ll end up in all greys and blacks, a pair of fine-gauge white socks will shake things up by bringing a pop of preppiness to your work attire.

ADVENTURE TOTE BAG by Troubadour Goods, £260. troubadourgoods.com • FINCHLEY KNITTED LONG-SLEEVE POLO SHIRT by John Smedley, £170. johnsmedley.com •

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STEADMAN LEATHER LOAFERS by Cheaney x Richard Beidul, £395, cheaney.co.uk • SOCKS by Pantherella, £13, pantherella.com • WATCH by Girard-Perregaux, CHF 13,200, girard-perregaux.com •

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Š Fraser Vincent

FRONT — watch reviews

DE RIJKE

© Fraser Vincent

Amalfi Series 1S

THE SPECS

• 38mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Sellita SW300 calibre automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • €2,309 (approx. £2,110), numbered edition, derijkeandco.com

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FRONT — watch reviews

‘Driving watch’ is a pretty awkward category to pin down. It’s not like divers that require a specific set of elements, or even racing watches, which are defined as being a chronograph paired with a tachymeter. Instead you have at one end the novelty pieces with dials on the side (made for reading with both hands on the wheel) and watches like the Drive de Cartier at the other, the whole ‘inspired by the freedom of the road’ tact.

The first don’t make sense unless you are actively driving; the latter is just a nice watch, not exactly made for a specific reason. The Amalfi Series from relative horological newcomers is perfectly in the middle.

There’s something incredibly and charmingly retro about the Amalfi; not the funky, quirky kind of retro but the sort that feels like it should be paired with an old Vespa on a grand tour of the Italian coast. In fact, that’s precisely what inspired founder Laurens de Rijke to create his brand in the first place – though his formative trip took him along the Silk Road instead.

The watch itself is 38mm which is about right for this kind of vintage-inspired piece. But due to its thin case and stripedback, Bauhaus design it feels even more diminutive. I’m not really one to say a watch is too small – and the Amalfi isn’t for me – but it will definitely be for some of you.

Size though is about the Amalfi’s only issue. Despite the case size, a thin bezel leaves plenty of room for the dial, which white is extremely easy to read thanks to the oversized-yet-elegant, lume-filled indexes and sharp, lasercut hands. It’s restrained to the point of sparsity but it’s hard not to love.

So far so good, but none of that is what really makes the Amalfi a driving watch; that comes from the rotatable case.

The Amalfi uses a case-in-case construction which means that the inner case, containing dial, movement and all, can be rotated up to 90 degrees. At 45 degrees it means that you can read it easier with both hands on the wheel, handlebars, whatever your engine of choice uses. It’s worryingly satisfying to play with.

Apparently 90 degrees is for if you were to strap it to your leg and, while the watch does come with an extra-long number just for that, I can’t imagine many drivers giving it a go. I might be wrong; I’ll let you know once I’ve taken the

The Amalfi uses a case-in-case construction which means that the inner case, containing dial, movement and all, can be rotated up to 90 degrees 93

Amalfi on a road trip, which after wearing it for a week I’m pretty keen to do. Sunshine, open road and this on your wrist? That sounds pretty perfect to me.

Inside is a Sellita SW300, a solid ETA 2892 clone with a 38-hour power reserve. You can check it out through the sapphire caseback, but don’t feel too obliged. Côtes de Genève and perlage aside, it’s a pretty standard affair.

Still, if you’re looking for a watch that captures both the functionality and feel of what a retro driving watch should be, I can’t think of a better one than the De Rijke Amalfi Series 1S. €2,309 (approx. £2,110), numbered edition, derijkeandco.com

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© Fraser Vincent

FRONT — watch reviews

RESERVOIR GT Tour Blue Edition

THE SPECS

• 43mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • ETA 2824-2 calibre automatic movement with proprietary module and 37-hour power reserve • £3,950, reservoir-watch.com

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If there’s one watchmaker that can equal Bell & Ross for its instrumentinspired designs it’s the retrograde-obsessed Reservoir. Rather than the cockpit of a vintage aircraft though its designers are more inclined towards that of a car. It’s a dashboard that inspired Reservoir’s first timepiece and a dashboard it returns to in this, its latest GTinspired timepiece.

Rather than the usual speedometer that’s been done to death, the GT Tour instead imitates the beats of a rev counter.

The detail really shows a level of commitment to the design, from the obvious red zone at the end of the minute counter, to the signature retrograde minute hand.

It even includes subtle ‘minutes x10’ lettering just under the central hand – denoting that you should times each minute numeral by ten, a touch that any car nut could likely appreciate. Sure, it’s a bit more of a novelty than it is useful, but it’s a considered one.

The power reserve at 6 o’clock is just as authentic to a dashboard, fittingly imitating a fuel gauge. There’s not an element on the dial that wouldn’t feel nicely at home in an old GT, except perhaps the blue of this particular edition.

That’s not such a bad thing of course; it’s a lovely shade, not too bright and matte to match the overall industrial, machined look of the thing, and one that sparks off nicely with the red highlights. The contrast between dial and numerals is also a little less harsh than the black edition.

At 43mm it’s not a small watch, but the proportions feel right, especially for something obviously designed for larger wrists. I don’t say that because of the stainless steel case itself necessarily, but because of the perforated racing strap.

Even on the smallest setting it was still slipping up and down my arm. I know this isn’t strictly a driving watch like the De Rijke overleaf, but that’s enough to cause a crash.

Fortunately the accompanying NATO was more forgiving.

It also looked a bit cooler, with the red-striped blue matching the dial. That might just be because I generally detest perforated straps though so take that with a pinch of salt.

As a side-note because it’s not something I normally harp on about, the packaging for the GT Tour is superb. The glossy wooden back, spare spring bars and overall presentation make for a pretty special unboxing.

Like all Reservoirs, some people have difficulty reading it. I personally never found it hard at all. Like anything with a unique time display (think Urwerk and the like) you just need to get used to it. Once your brain recognises what it

There’s not an element on the dial that wouldn’t feel nicely at home in an old GT 97

thinks should be a date window as the hour, it’s arguably quicker than reading a standard, three-hand watch.

Inside is an ETA 2824-2 movement that’s had Reservoir’s proprietary module bolted onto it. That means reliability, accuracy and a little extra functionality to finish. You can see it for yourself through the (again) dashboard-inspired sapphire crystal.

If there’s one thing Reservoir likes it’s a theme, and they’re better at committing to one than almost any other watchmaker out there. It’s what they did with the superb Hydrosphere and it’s what they’ve done again here. It’s also what will dictate whether you appreciate the GT Tour or not. The only way they could go further is to just drop the pretence and make dashboard clocks for a living. £3,950, reservoir-watch.com

CULTURE — food & drink

EDITED BY NICK SAVAGE

RESTAURANT &BAR

© James McDonal

NEWS

← LOUIE

13-15 West Street – WX2H 9NE Touted as one of the biggest openings of the year pre-lockdown then, like everything else in 2020, put on hold, Louie has finally launched to high acclaim. Situated in the multi-floor townhouse that formerly housed L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon on West Street, Covent Garden, the restaurant features a design executed by French duo Dion et Arles, who have leaned into The Great Gatsby and Coco Chanel for inspiration to create an airy, inviting reprieve. Guillaume

Glipa, who made a name for himself at Chiltern Firehouse, Coya and Zuma, has joined forces with French hospitality group Paris Society to assist American celeb chef Slade Rushing in making his first foray into an international market. Renowned for his cooking at Brennan’s in New Orleans, Louisiana, he’s garnered rave reviews for his style which blends traditional Creole cooking with French techniques and a New York attitude. Named for Louie Armstrong, you can be sure that Louie will hit all the right notes. louie-london.com

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Rishi Sunak’s uberpopular Eat Out To Help Out scheme supercharged London’s dining scene in August, with consumer confidence throttling up into a September packed with new openings.

Though the rule of six has been introduced this could be a blessing in disguise, as many of the best dinner parties are smaller in size. Here you’ll find the finest London restaurant launches this September, with enough high-profile openings that things almost feel like they’re getting back to normal

CULTURE — food & drink

↓ FITZDARES CLUB

50 Davies Street – W1K 5JE

↑ BOB BOB RICARD

1 Upper James Street – W1F 9DF The restaurant that put Champagne buttons on the map is back and in fine fettle, with a new chef and menu to ensure guests are as stimulated as they are indulged. Tom Peters is taking the reins, fresh off of a year at Maeemo in Oslo (named one of the World’s Best Restaurants in 2018) as well as six years at Roux at Parliament Square. His new dishes are wildly good. They include a turbot wellington for two with a scallop mousse and Champagne beurre blanc; white-wine poached salmon with watercress, pickled radish and fennel salad; and a stinking bishop cheese soufflé with hazelnuts and Comté sauce with apple and gooseberry chutney. BBR has additionally launched a waffle and bellini hour from Friday to Sunday, with toppings running the gamut from arctic cloudberries to truffles and truffle-infused maple syrup. If that doesn’t press your buttons... bobbobricard.com

Fitzdares is woven into the warp and weave of London’s cultural fabric as one of its foremost bookmakers, taking the largest sporting wagers since 1882. As such, they’ve opted for Davies Street in Mayfair, the spiritual home to gaming, to launch their members’ club. Spread over two floors, The Fitzdares Club offers a restaurant, bar, two private dining rooms and a dedicated Racing Room. State-of-the-art audio-visual equipment and 4K HD streams will screen sport every day, with events running the gamut from 4am Vegas prize fights to Royal Ascot and the Champions League.

For those wishing to take a break from the sporting action, there will be a selection of custom-made chess and backgammon boards to play with. Interior designer Rosanna Bossom, who also designed the iconic 5 Hertford Street, has melded inspirations between a Mayfair home and a member’s club, ensuring visitors enjoy themselves in comfort and style. And rest assured, your appetites will be catered for, with the former bar director at Sketch heading up the wine selection. fitzdares.com/club

← THE DAIRY BERMONDSEY 153-157 Tower Bridge Road – SE1 3LW

Robin and Sarah Gill have created cult-classic food that draws crowds no matter where the site. Following the closure of their original restaurant in Clapham, they’ve decamped to Bermondsey and the historic riverside street of Shad Thames. The Gills have introduced a new menu, which will be infused with the same produce-led, pickle-forward processes as its predecessor but with some new additions including Willie’s mackerel, dilled fresh gherkins, sea purslane, dashi; grilled radicchio, broad bean puree, pickled Tropea onions; and wood roasted lamb, ‘hayonnaise’, charred lettuce, mint oil. With a wine list going in on natural selections, small producers and rare gems, The Dairy Bermondsey looks poised to be just as successful as it was in the southwest. thedairybermondsey.com

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Events run the gamut from 4am Vegas prize fights to Royal Ascot and the Champions League

CULTURE — food & drink

← LPM

53-54 Brook’s Mews – W1K 4EG Le Petit Maison held sway over Mayfair as its grande dame when Arjun Waney launched it in 2007, and has very much accomplished the same following its relaunch after the lockdown in 2020. The southern French restaurant has been rebranded as its acronym LPM with a few

sparkling new additions to keep the regulars coming in. These include an excellent oyster bar and cocktail lounge that are walk-in only, yet offer the entire menu. Take care to order the dish that put LPM on the map: truffle roast chicken. It’s prepared

by Raphael Duntoye, who has been rattling the pans to dizzying effect since the restaurant launched. lpmrestaurants.com/london

Take care to order the dish that put LPM on the map: truffle roast chicken ↓ NOBLE ROT SOHO

2 Greek Street – W1D 4NB If there’s a duo with the panache and sensibility to take over a famous site and make it their own, it’s Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew of Noble Rot. It was a sad day when Hungarian restaurant and political hotspot the Gay Hussar closed its doors in 2018, but while the site has been stripped of some of its idiosyncrasies, it’s largely been ennobled by its new ownership. The design features slick gunmetal grey banquettes, darkwood flooring and panelling, shelves freighted with backlit crystal decanters, and eye-popping modern art from the pages of the eponymous magazine founded by Keeling and Andrew. As with the original site, Soho offers exceptional wines and top-quality food, with a no-nonsense attitude. noblerot.co.uk/sohoinformation

The venue caters to wine devotees and late-night revellers with a proposition very much in keeping with its Frith Street location → THE BLACK BOOK

very much in keeping with its Frith Street location. Named for the little black books ubiquitous amongst sommeliers, noteworthy wines will be de rigueur at The Black Book, with a selection that spans the spectrum from rare gems to noble heavy-hitters and well-known classics, with most available by the glass via Coravin. There’s also an eclectic range of bistro cuisine to complement the vino. blackbooksoho.co.uk

23 Frith Street – W1D 4RR Soho has been given another shot in the arm in the form of The Black Book – a late night wine bar and bistro launched by oenophiles extraordinaire Xavier Rousset and Georoid Devaney. Taking over the site that formerly housed hospitality members club Trade, the venue caters to wine devotees and latenight revellers with a proposition

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Looking through the ads, press releases and catalogues issued by the watch industry, it’s clear that – at least, for enthusiasts and collectors – tool watches rule. Diving watches, pilots’ chronometers, GMTs and others of this ilk are, by necessity, products of the ‘form follows function’ rule. But while some might look cool or funky, like Doxa’s signature orange-dialled diving classic or any Rolex with a rotating bezel, none of them adhere to a specific design movement.

As you’re about to read, that hasn’t been and isn’t always the case. Here are the modern inheritors to some of the most celebrated design movements of the 20th century.

WATCHES BY

DESIGN Good design is eternal; that doesn’t mean it comes from nowhere

words: KEN KESSLER

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FRONT — design movements

ART

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NOUVEAU

IRONICALLY, THE FIRST SERIAL PRODUCTION wristwatches were precisely the opposite, for they categorically reflected the aesthetic zeitgeist of 1900-1930, and many were tool watches.

Students of design will recognise this as the period where Art Nouveau was segueing into Art Deco, and both styles were evident in timepieces from that era. Early models from Hamilton and Illinois were heavily decorated with engraving augmented by enamelling, and they positively scream ‘Nouveau!’, but – unlike the far cleaner and more geometric Art Deco – that style isn’t evident in many watches available today. Perhaps it’s too fussy for modern tastes?

Two or three uncluttered models, however, created during the dying days of Art Nouveau and issued before the 1925 birthdate of Deco, do live on. Cartier’s Santos (a pilot’s watch that doesn’t look like one) and Tank date, respectively, from 1904 and 1917, and while they may enjoy new dimensions and movements, they remain true to their period origins. Tissot’s ‘Banana’ (pictured), prototyped in 1916 and supplied to customers in 1917, was revived for its centenary and is now a permanent part of the range.

FRONT — design movements

A R T D E C O ART DECO, TOO, is championed by watches born during the height of that period, and which have never left the catalogues. Most familiar is JaegerLeCoultre’s immortal Reverso, launched in 1931.

It’s probably the company’s all-time best-seller and certainly has become a byword for elegance.

Like both the Santos and the Tank, the Reverso went in and out of production over the decades, but all three were revived so successfully that they are unlikely ever to be retired again. As an exemplar of Art Deco in a timepiece, nothing beats a Reverso with a solid colour dial.

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All three were revived so successfully that they are unlikely ever to be retired again ”

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BAUHAUS LESS EASY TO FORCE into a design niche is Patek Philippe’s Calatrava, a year younger than the Reverso. Its functionality and clarity of design suggest Bauhaus values, but equally the purity of the original (rather than the variant of the watch with the fancier Clou de Paris bezel) suggests that the category it belongs in is Classicism.

If you’re looking for a modern successor to the German functionalist movement however, there are a few to choose from, including Meistersinger and Junghans. The modern Emperor of Bauhaus though has to be Nomos Glashutte, in particular its stripped back Tangente collection (above) or the slightly less purist (and more wearable) Club (left). There’s about as much excess fat there as a catwalk show.

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FRONT — design movements

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The first successful electric watch, instantly recognised by its distinctive triangular case, it proved a perfect prop in Men In Black ”

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FRONT — design movements

FUTIRISM STARTING IN THE 1930s and reaching its apotheosis in the 1950s, Futurism, fuelled especially by space travel and science fiction movies, defined the more adventurous designers to come up with wild cars, crazy appliances, and watches like Hamilton’s Ventura of the late 1950s, much loved by Elvis Presley. The first successful electric watch, instantly recognised by its distinctive triangular case, it proved a perfect prop in Men In Black, and it returned to the catalogue as one of the company’s permanent ranges – ironically including mechanical models for those who just don't like quartz.

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FRONT — design movements

P O P

COME THE 1960s, Pop Art affected just about everything from cereal boxes to car interiors, and watches were not immune. Big, funky watches, including those made for the Beatles’ Apple Boutique, were the wrist-borne embodiment of the genre, but the quintessential Pop Art expression would have to wait until the 1980s, when the populist Swatch embraced it – and still does to this day (right). Bold colours, outrageous patterns, pop-culture references, named-artist designers: Swatch owns this art movement.

Also reflecting the demand for vivid colours and odd shapes were the now-collectible watches from LIP, judged by many a precursor to Swatch, and certainly the inspiration for eye-catching pieces from Alain Silberstein and Ikepod. Attesting to the way that art movements often return in cycles, LIP, Alain Silberstein (below) and Ikepod are all back in one form or another.

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The quintessential Pop Art expression would have to wait until the 1980s ”

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© Laurent Xavier Moulin

Ultimately, the wearer of any watch chooses the look that best complements his or her own personal style ”

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FRONT — design movements

ULTIMATELY, THOUGH, RETRO IS THE STYLE that seems to win over all, and not just because the watch brands like to reissue their classics. Among the most successful car launches of the past 20 years are the current Mini and FIAT 500, rebooting two of the greatest small cars of all time.

People lust after Globetrotter luggage, and fountain pens are cherished even by those who only use them as adornments. Why? Because people find comfort in the past. And yet the most exciting form of retro just may be the edgiest: Steampunk.

Without any doubt, the pinnacle of steampunkish high-end watches were Vianney Halter’s multi-dial Antiqua, the series which bore the ‘Steampunk’ name from the late, lamented Romain Jerome, and the ultimate manifestation of the genre: the elusive Jean Dunand Palace. Certainly exhibiting the cultural memes defined by the speculative fiction of Jules

STEAMPUNK

Verne and HG Wells are most MB&F watches, and many from Urwerk (above), while the Grimoldi Milano Automatic is pure steampunk, in an eye-catching and surprisingly affordable form.

Ultimately, the wearer of any watch chooses the look that best complements his or her own personal style. The unashamedly military-tech vibe of Casio G-Shocks, the rococo embellishments of gem-encrusted high jewellery timepieces, the innate fun of the all-plastic Bamfords, or do-it-yourself designs afforded by Undone: who could imagine that so much could be expressed by a dial, hands and a case on one’s wrist?

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CULTURE — design

AN ODE TO THE

© Eames Office LLC

EAMSES

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W o r

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J o s h

Josh Sims waxes lyrical about the legendary designers behind mid-century modern design

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Left: the Eames House, originally known as Case Study House No. 8, was developed in 1945 for the Case Study House Program for Los Angeles’ Arts and Architecture magazine, to showcase new materials and technologies developed during WWII. The Eameses were so happy with the result, they moved in

IT’S HARD TO ESCAPE the work of Charles and Bernice ‘Ray’ Eames. As ad directors know too well, nothing beats a piece of the designers’ furniture as a visual shorthand for a swish lifestyle and considered good taste. Executives bark orders from its aluminium series chairs, and fill their lobbies with LCWs. Art types kick back on the sculptural chaise longue. Bars and restaurants, bare-bricked in their upscale minimalism, still signal their sophistication with endless reproductions of the DSR side chair.

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CULTURE — design

As such, it might be expected that ubiquity would dull their appeal. And yet a piece of Eames furniture – for which the Eameses are best known – never seems to get boring, no matter how many times one crosses your path: it’s still modern but welcoming, playful but never gimmicky, functional and somehow freeing.

It proves that the classic can still transcend cliché.

Yet, were they still alive, the Eameses – a creative coupling that started when they met at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan, 80 years ago this year – would be staggered not just by how their work has become definitive of the mid-century modern movement, which in turn has seemingly become the wellspring for most recent design, but also by its enduring popularity.

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That’s after a career in which, unlike many other admired, contemporaneous designers, they sold a lot of stuff – and perhaps small wonder, given their emphasis on designing with affordability and practicability rather than for the sake of spectacle: “The best for the most for the least,” as they neatly put it.

They made the everyday exceptional. And, as is not always considered in furniture design, comfortable: in 1972 the chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer requested one of the Eameses’ Time Life Lobby chairs be flown over for his match in Reykjavik against Boris Spassky, claiming that it was the only seat in which he could really concentrate. Spassky subsequently requested one too. It’s not the most comfortable chair, mind – that’s the Eames lounger of course. How could a chair inspired by a well-worn baseball mitt not be?

Comfort, however, has not diminished the Eameses’ critical relevance over the four decades since the legacy of their work passed into the hands of their daughter, and since into that of their grand-children (who like to tease by still occasionally releasing previously unmade Eames designs). Rolf Fehlbaum, chair of Vitra, the Swiss manufacturer which holds the European license to produce official versions of Eames’ furniture, is said to ask, ‘What would Charles Eames do?’ when considering any new project. This is all the more remarkable given the breadth of their work: not just the chairs for which they’re best known, but landmark houses, interiors and multimedia presentations, textiles, World’s Fair exhibitions, some electronics, and films (watch Powers of Ten of YouTube) of such quality they’ve been

preserved by the Library of Congress as being of historical importance.

In part this is down to their technical innovation and their appreciation for the possibilities for various materials, both new and old. They worked in steel and aluminium, fibre-glass and moulded plywood, the latter after using it to design a splint for use on injured soldiers during World War Two (plywood reduced the vibration that often made the injury worse). Their low-cost steel-and-glass house in the Pacific Palisades was built from industrial modular components in the pioneering belief that their directness and sparseness had a beauty to match any noble material. They’d happily marry factory-making with hand-crafting in the same design.

What’s more, the Eameses didn’t just hand a sketch to a manufacturer to produce their designs – they also developed the methods and mechanics that allowed them to be produced, too. For all that, inevitably, it’s the look of an Eames design that makes it so appealing. Superficial stylists the Eameses never were – Charles Eames was keen on the idea that the extent to which a designer has a design style is the extent to which they haven’t solved a design problem. Indeed, Charles – who never completed his architecture studies – didn’t much like the term ‘designer’. Nonetheless, in 1985 the Industrial Designers Society of America rightly named him and his wife ‘The Most Influential Designers of the 20th Century’.

“In the end it’s quite simple,” Charles Eames explained to The New York Times back in 1973, when even then he was being described as a ‘giant of design’. “Whatever we work on we aim for something that is inoffensive and pleasure-giving.

[But] we take our pleasures seriously.”

The Eames’ design skills were put to work not only in furtniture, but also architecture, sculpture and multimedia art projects

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There’s little doubt that Charles and Ray Eames helped redefine what furniture could be, but if you prefer a more natural or pared-back look to their famed industrially-slanted statement pieces, then don’t worry. Here are three designers using the same attention-to-detail and exceptional eye for form and function, just coming at it from a very different angle.

BO CONCEPT ZÜRICH SOFA Words:

Given the amount of time we’re likely all spending at home right now, compact is key. Fortunately for Danish designers Bo Concept, that need plays in nicely to the design of its new Zürich Sofa. Created to offer the same kind of comfort and features of Bo Concept’s main range but with dimensions more suited to a loft, the Zürich is perfectly proportioned for space-saving, without skimping on what matters.

As ever, the Zürich is customisable, offering 13 different modules to play with alongside 120 different fabrics and leathers, allowing it to fit in with any space or design scheme. It’s everything we love about Bo Concept’s unique Danish design, shrunk down to a manageable size – the best of both worlds.

Josh Simms

A SENSE OF STYLE Three designers doing amazing things with furniture in the modern age

From £1,899 for a 2.5 seater, boconcept.com

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CULTURE — interiors

LYZADIE TUI ARMCHAIR Sustainability is on the tip of everyone’s tongue in this day and age, but for Lyzadie Renault it’s more than a trend; it’s a mission statement. The New Zealand-based designer uses forms inspired by her native landscape while at the same time crafting them out of materials that respect it.

Take as the perfect example, the TUI Armchair.

The black leather is actually Pinatex, a material made from pineapple fibres created as a byproduct from existing agriculture. The feathers on the back are actually upcycled bicycle inner tubes and even the wood is rescued river matai. Created by three separate makers across the country, the TUI Armchair is both a reflection of New Zealand’s natural beauty and a dedication to keeping it that way.

© Matteo Lavazza Seranto

$15,000, lyzadiedesignstudio.com

AGAPECASA INCAS DINING TABLE Using a design originally created by Italian architect and industrial designer Angelo Mangiarotti, Agapecasa has turned what were originally prototypes into a range of furniture using organic, natural materials and a flair for the dramatic.

The Incas dining table is defined as much by its sleek minimalism as the pyramid-shaped legs originally found in the Eros collection, which use delicate eyelets to create a superb visual purity across its form. Available in natural, brown or dark oak, if you have the space to show it off the Incas table will make for an eye-catching naturalistic statement piece. £7,999, chaplins.co.uk

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CULTURE — unsung heroes

The Mark II was an aesthetic and practical departure from its more celebrated predecessor

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Words:

Jake Scatchard

UNSUNG HEROES: OMEGA SPEEDMASTER MARK II An underrated sports chronograph with all the trappings of a potential icon Few wristwatches enjoy a legacy like Omega’s Speedmaster. Its time on the wrists of Apollo 11’s crew during the first mission to the moon in 1969 cemented the now legendary ‘Speedy’ as one of history’s most beloved chronographs.

Hand-picked by NASA for its functional prowess and durability in an airless environment, the Speedmaster rapidly transcended from an aerospace tool to a design classic.

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Since its extra-terrestrial voyage, the design of Omega’s Moonwatch remains largely untouched.

Even the most recent renditions are intimately and defiantly tied to the timeless makeup of the original. Its complexities are almost mesmerising – with piercing white hands and accents standing before a rich black dial, surrounded by its signature tachymeter ring. It’s a formula that will likely never change; it doesn’t have to. Nonetheless Omega has made ambitious attempts to diversify the Speedmaster range, most notably through the arrival of the Mark II Speedmaster shortly following 1969’s first lunar mission.

The Speedmaster Mark II (Ref. 145.014) was a notable departure from the slim-lined design of the original Speedmaster. The two models enjoyed a side-by-side release, where the Mark II, while appealing to a niche audience of its own, would continually be side-lined in the shadow of its elder sister. Where the original Speedmaster makes reservations for elegance in its design, the Mark II is purely utilitarian.

On paper, this second coming of the Speedmaster is a superior tool for aerospace activity. Its bulbous, barrel-shaped cased houses an almost-identical monochrome dial with three signature subdials shielded by a flat crystal. The tachymeter ring is displayed internally, beneath the glass. The original Mark II’s real treasure lies beneath its caseback, boasting Omega’s Calibre 861 movement, highly sought-after by the Omega faithful. Furthermore its tonneau-shaped case and tri-link bracelet carry a certain retro charm, appealing to the emerging flamboyance of 1970s design.

Production of the Mark II Speedmaster ceased in 1972, giving way promptly to the Mark III. Despite its noticeably short lifespan in the Omega catalogue, this chronograph would be fondly remembered by those who admired its brilliance in its day. Following Omega’s growing awareness of its cult classic status among collectors, Baselworld

would see the Mark II earning its modern re-issue in 2014 through the Ref. 327.10.43.50.01.001. With many of its differences lying internally (notably its co-axial calibre 3330 automatic movement), the Mark II’s update is nicely faithful to the original.

The market for vintage sports watches is surging exponentially, therefore the Mark II Speedmaster will forever sail closely behind the explosive demand for the original Moonwatch. Yet, irrespective of the shadow cast by its predecessor, the Mark II’s star has quietly risen to icon status among collectors who seek a different flavour of functionality. While original models still remain attractively priced, there may never be a better time to invest in one of watchmaking’s true unsung heroes.

The Mark II was only produced for three years before ceasing production

The Mark II’s star has quietly risen to icon status among collectors who seek a different flavour of functionality 126

PUTT A CLEAN BALL IN STYLE

CULTURE — auction

PHILLIPS GENEVA WATCH AUCTION XII November 6-7

AUCTION WATCH THIS MONTH’S BIDS AND PIECES

LA BIENNALE PARIS Until 8 October

The antiques and objets d’art tour-de-force in the City of Light returns once again with 42 galleries from eight countries coming together to present a group effort of 90 exceptional works. Obviously with current crises, this year’s Biennale is predominantly digital, but that just means that until 8 October, you can get online and bid for your favourite lots from the safety of your own home. You can even visit virtually, using Christie’s online platform.

Highlights include a pedestal table presented to Queen Luise of Prussia by Tsar Alexander I and a dining table and chair set by Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999), one of the late, legendary Lagerfeld’s favourite furniture designers and a man celebrated in his own temporary exhibition this year.

Find the full list of lots and how to register to bid at christies.com

Details so far are scarce ahead of Phillips’ 12th Geneva Watch Auction but as ever we’re expecting a pretty impressive array of watches on offer – including one we know for certain: a Patek Philippe Reference 2523/1.

Even calling this a grail watch is an understatement; Patek and woldtimers are inextricably linked and this particular model is iconic in the truest sense.

Launched in 1953, it uses a dual-crown system to set the worldtimer and is the larger cousin to the 2523. Out of the four known guilloche-dial models in rose gold, one is in the Patek Philippe museum and two have been in private collections for decades.

The estimate is yet to be released, but needless to say it’s going to be hefty. phillips.com

1969, a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 “Vantage Specification” and the superlative Jaguar Over 240 cars with no reserves?

E-Type Continuation.

Sign us up – not that the cars in Having already been delayed RM Sotheby’s Elkhart Collection back in May, there’s already a sale at the end of the month good deal of anticipation ahead are likely to go without a fight. of the October auction, so expect serious bidding. Just don’t ask The 240-car, 30-motorcycle sale why the collection’s offered covers everything from British and Italian sporting classics to 50s without reserve. It’s not like the convertibles and coachbuilt icons. previous owner was accused of fraud or anything.

Highlights include a phenomenal rmsothebys.com Lamborghini Miura P400 S from THE ELKHART COLLECTION

23-24 October

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IN FOCUS AN INSIGHT INTO THREE FASCINATING BRANDS Edited By

SAM KESSLER

SevenFriday, BUUR and Feynman

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SEVENFRIDAY Sometimes it pays to follow the rules, to toe the line and not stand out. It’s often not worth the hassle. After all, who wants to be divisive when you can follow the crowd? Apparently the answer is SevenFriday.

If you take a look at a SevenFriday watch it’s not hard to understand the kind of risk that founder Dan Niederer took with the brand. There’s no way you could ever call its over-the-top, intense designs ‘safe’.

Call them riotous, eclectic, chaotic if you want but safe? Never.

Still, in 2012, after years of working on the project in not-quite-secret, Dan’s midlife crisis brought to life one of the most personality-driven watch labels in the business. The first watch off the production line was the P Series, a piece that came to define precisely what made SevenFriday tick and, so it seems, their veritable army of dedicated collectors.

SevenFriday was one of the first watch brands on Instagram. Now that sounds odd; why would any brand not be on Instagram? But back in the early 2010s that wasn’t as ubiquitous a pursuit. Yet by showing off its early P Series, the brand managed to nab itself some serious collectors and a following that many a serious watchmaker would kill for.

It’s something it’s kept up ever since, and not simply by taking occasional snaps of its watches.

SevenFriday, as the name suggests, is all about fun.

Every day is Friday. Collectors have bought into the brand as much as they have the watches, which have continued in the same vein as the original P Series, with their cushion-shaped cases, open-worked dials and overly-designed, maximalist vibes.

Take their latest for example, the P3C/02 Racer III. The name’s pretty on-point when it comes to the whole high-octane angle and the watch lives up to it. As the brand’s first model to offer 100m water resistance, it’s a big step forwards, but otherwise it’s pure SevenFriday.

It shares the signature cushion case of its predecessors, this time in black PVD for the serious, performance look. The dial uses the trademark four-layer construction with big, domineering hands and an open section and various horological finishes.

It even has an NFC chip so that the watch can be verified and registered via the SevenFriday app – a feature that should be a necessity for any collector-focused watch.

It’s big, it’s bold and it’s unapologetic. It has an automatic movement – a Miyota number – but comparing it to classical watches is a mistake.

The SevenFriday Space pop-up in a Xi’an shopping centre

It’s big, it’s bold and it’s unapologetic. It has an automatic movement – a Miyota number – but comparing it to classical watches is a mistake

The P3C/02 isn’t a traditional watch in the same way a Richard Mille is not; though in this case, SevenFriday pairs its extraordinary designs with accessibility. The P3C/02 will set you back £1,200.

At the end of the day SevenFriday watches aren’t for everyone. That’s fine; they’re not trying to be.

If you see their oversized case and busy dials and detest them that’s fine; there’ll always be someone that loves them just as much. Either way, with so many watchmakers playing it safe, a brand this disruptive can’t be a bad thing. sevenfriday.com

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BUUR Vintage is in vogue, now more than ever. Sure, cutting-edge watches pushing the boundaries of haute horology have their place, as do stealthy, blacked-out contemporary numbers fit for the wrists of spec ops and expendables. For most of us though, there’s a distinctly rose-tinted hue to how we look as timepieces – something that BUUR is counting on.

BUUR prefers less to riff off older models and instead creates pieces directly inspired by them, carrying on the legacy of some of the most important names in watchmaking while making them accessible. With genuine vintage watches going for ever more ridiculous prices at auction, it makes BUUR a very enticing prospect indeed.

It’s a prospect that started with the Tugle Moonphase. Any dedicated follower of vintage will recognise the overall look of the watch. It evokes the kind of pieces created by Omega, Vulcain and Universal Geneve, with a minimal, classical day/ date and moon phase register. It’s cool, calm and collected, right down to the 38mm size of the stainless steel case and lovely fluted crown.

Perhaps more quirky though is our favourite of the BUUR collection, the Multiscale Chronograph.

It’s the kind of dial layout that collectors will paw through Burlington Arcade to find, and ideal for the indecisive precisionist. The relatively common, racing-oriented tachymeter is joined on the dial by a pulsometer, usually seen on medical watches, and a telemeter, which isn’t often seen at all.

Thanks to the pared-back dial and small chronograph hour-and-minute subdials, all three are simple to read using the central chrono seconds.

Backed by plain white, the result is a watchface that treads the line between technical and elegant, the perfect halfway house between functionality and old-school style.

What’s most striking about BUUR’s current pair of watches isn’t necessarily the way they look, but their accessibility. There are a few cool moonphases and multiscale chronographs out there; try finding one for just €595. There is a compromise of course; both watches utilise Ronda quartz movements and neither have the same storied history as a true early20th-century timepiece.

Yet that’s not necessarily the end of the world.

With style heading back to retro roots nowadays as much as watches, there are definitely more of the sartorially-savvy in search of this kind of look than there are watches catering to it. If quartz is the compromise, it’s one we can get on board with.

Combined with plexiglass crystals (because according to BUUR, ‘plexi is sexy’) both pieces are made wonderfully accessible.

Fortunately those are the only compromises. The cases, straps and dials of BUUR’s watches (particularly that aforementioned Multiscale Chronograph) are impeccable, solid and reliable.

Otherwise they are what they look like: an ode to what made some of history’s most classical watches the icons they are. buurwatches.com

Below: the BUUR Tungl Moonphase in blue

The Multiscale Chronograph is the kind of dial layout that collectors will paw through Burlington Arcade to find

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FEYNMAN Originality feels hard to come by these days. It’s not that there aren’t original timepieces out there, it’s just that the raft of ‘homages’ and ‘archiveinspired’ pieces means that we’re seeing a lot of the same riffs on the usual diving, military and dress watches doing the rounds. That’s where Singaporean microbrand Feynman comes in.

Now now, I see you rolling your eyes already: another day, another Singaporean microbrand trying to forge ahead in an ever-more-crowded horological marketplace. Yet when Feynman launched back in 2018 it created a buzz loud enough to ensure that its Kickstarter was funded within an hour of its launch. More importantly, since then it’s proved it was a lot more than noise.

For founder Yong Keong, Feynman is more than a way to make a quick buck or a quirky little side project. The brand shares a name with his son, showing just how serious a pursuit it is to him.

Of course, that’s all just words without a solid watch to back it up and Feynman’s initial launch was one great debut.

The Feynman One shows just how much you can actually do under the umbrella of a dress watch that goes beyond a minimal silver dial and a gold case. There’s no doubt that it’s elegant, and it has all the hallmarks of an old-school eveningwear watch, with a 39mm case and manual-wind movement. The dial, though, is something else.

Keon applied the golden ratio to the various segments of the watch and the multi-layered subdial, complete with its serpentine second hand, to create an unusual yet visually pleasing design.

It’s idiosyncratic and off-kilter – and all the more interesting for it.

The dial is also evidently a theme that Feynman is running with, if its latest is anything to go by.

Like the Feynman One, the Cove has all the hallmarks of a classic model (in this case a diver), meaning a rotating inner diving bezel, 200m water resistance and plenty of lume on the diving scale and hands. Yet that dial isn’t exactly your run-ofthe-mill, 60s-inspired number.

As well as utilising the same lizard-tail hand sub seconds as the Feynman One, the Cove takes the underwater necessity for lume and runs with it.

Turn the lights off and the dial comes alive with a lovely wave pattern picked out in black lume.

It’s one of the very few watches out there that actually looks better in the dark.

Equipped with an automatic ETA 2895-2 – the practicalities of a diving watch make an automatic make more sense over a manual-wind – and a

The dial of a Feynman One

There’s no doubt that it’s elegant, and it has all the hallmarks of an old-school eveningwear watch.

The dial, though, is something else rubber diving strap, the Cove has everything a diving watch needs and plenty you didn’t know you needed in a diving watch. Elegance and functionality don’t always go together; here they do.

So no, Feynman isn’t ‘just another’ Singaporean microbrand, though there seems no shortage of them cropping up nowadays. Instead Feynman is a watch brand with a strong, striking visual identity, a slight flair for the dramatic and a nuanced way of approaching standard horological designs.

Here’s hoping it turns its sights to a high-flying pilot’s watch at some point soon. feynman.watch

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MICROBRAND

CORNER From avant-garde accessibility to niche haute horology, this is the latest and greatest from the creative world of microbrands

MHD AGT

Watches inspired by cars are ten a penny nowadays; simply stick a tachymeter on whatever generic case you have lying around and you have yourself a racing watch.

MHD is different though. Rather than being designed by a watchmaker with an eye for an engine, MHD watches are created by a true automotive designer. The result is the AGT with its striking exoskeleton, knurled finishing and sleek monochromatic look. Equipped with a Miyota 9015, an automatic engine that’s been round the block a fair few times, the AGT may well scratch the high-octane itch you didn’t know you had.

THE SPECS

• 42mm stainless steel case with exoskeleton and 50m water resistance • Miyota 9015 automatic movement with 42-hour power reserve • £545, limited to 100 pieces, mhdwatches.com

mhdwatches.com

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Aevig

Thor Dresswatch The Huldra may be one of the coolest microbrand divers out there right now (and there’s a lot of competition) but that’s not the only feather in Aevig’s retro-slanted hat. Despite its name, the Thor Dresswatch is remarkably restrained. Sure it’s larger than most at 40mm across, but everything from the piepan dial to the fluted crown harks back to the vintage pieces of yesteryear. Powered by an on-show Miyota movement, the Thor is a balance between early-20th-century design cues and distinctly contemporary styling, a worthy counterpoint to the tool watch vibes of the Huldra. aevig.com THE SPECS

• 40mm stainless steel case with 50m water resistance • Miyota 8N33 manual wind movement with 42-hour power reserve • €535 (approx. £490), aevig.com

A truly great watch can’t rely on style alone; it needs to back it up with both functionality and, in an ideal world, a great price

Delta Watch Hydra

The ongoing armada of diving watches inspired by the golden era of underwater exploration – the 60s and 70s – shows no signs of abating, nor should it. Yet a truly great watch can’t rely on style alone; it needs to back it up with both functionality and, in an ideal world, a great price.

The Hydra has both. Not only is it very obviously inspired by the likes of the Omega Ploprof, but it has the specs sheet to back it up, with an incredible 2,000m water resistance. It matches performance with professional styling in black, yellow or orange and a price that even a novice diver won’t mind investing in.

THE SPECS

• 50mm stainless steel case with 2,000m water resistance • Seiko NH35 automatic movement with 41-hour power reserve • £280, deltawatch.co

deltawatch.co

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THE SPECS

• 45.5mm monocoque case with 50m water resistance • STP 1-11 automatic movement with 44-hour power reserve • From 985 CHF, bolido.rocks

Bolido X

The unique, pebble-shaped case of Bolido makes for a solid, practical and eye-catching watch; now the fledgling, design-led brand has gone one step further with the Bolido X. The monocoque case has been enlarged to include a pair of different rotating inner bezels. Bolido X LOG introduces the kind of slide rule that’s normally only seen in the likes of Breitling’s Navitimer; the Bolido X CD opts instead for a simpler though more everyday useful countdown bezel, similar to what you’ll see on diving watches.

Both work flawlessly with the streamlined, Red Dot Awardwinning Bolido shape and both fittingly expand what we expect to be an incredibly interesting collection to come.

© Eric Schmid

bolido.rocks

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THE SPECS

• 41.5mm stainless steel case with 200m water resistance • Sellita SW200 automatic movement with 38-hour power reserve • $780 AUS (approx. £440), secondhour.com.au

The new colours are a decent warm-up before Second Hour’s next design, the Giant Stride, launches later in the year

Second Hour Gin Clear Diver

The Aussies over at Second Hour hit the retro diving nail on the head with its Kickstarter-smashing Gin Clear Diver.

Now that it’s into its second run, the superb 60s-inspired diver is available in a trio of new, bright colours: a forest green, a lovely bright blue and a fantastic full-red number.

Boasting the same throwback looks

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and solid performance specs as the original run, the new colours are a decent warm-up before Second Hour’s next design, the Giant Stride, launches later in the year. Pre-orders have just opened; and don’t forget your 20-percent discount code for signing up on Second Hour’s website. secondhour.com.au

END — moviewatch

NOT STIRRED

Daniel Craig’s final outing as Bond sees him sport a specialedition Omega Seamaster

M OVIE WATC H

No Time to Die By the time you’re reading this there’s a good chance we won’t actually be allowed in cinemas. But the likelihood of another full lockdown aside, the 25th Bond movie should be out next month, Daniel Craig’s swansong in the well-tailored shoes of the world’s most famous superspy. It’s looking to be a decent one too if Rami Malek’s villainous Safin is anything to go by (or if you put credence in the pattern of great/average/great that Craig’s films have been following).

If there’s one thing the actor’s hoping to take with him when he leaves though, it’s Bond’s latest watch.

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Once again Omega is stepping in to up the wrist game of MI6 with possibly the finest piece to date – and no, we’re not talking about the novelty platinum-gold limited edition. The Seamaster 300m 007 No Time to Die Edition Craig’s sporting in the film is a serious, military-slanted take on the iconic diver, stripped back to essentials without even the collection’s signature wavy dial.

It suits the rugged secret serviceman to a tee, particularly with the character’s military background. Yet he’s not the only one sporting a piece designed specifically for the film; Ben Whishaw’s Q wears a piece designed by Swatch.

Part of the Skin Irony collection and created in collaboration with No Time to Die’s costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb, the Q’s open dial and red highlights make for a funkier service-issue watch than usual. The crowning piece of the Swiss watch giant’s 007 capsule, it’s also become an instant collectible.

It’s still up in the air whether Malek will be sporting some sort of villainous timepiece, but it doesn’t look like it. You can never trust a guy that doesn’t wear a watch, international psychopath or not.

Now the only question is who will take over from Craig for the inevitable next instalment? The head says Tom Hardy, the heart says Idris Elba. omegawatches.com; swatch.com

AT E L I E R D ’ H O R LO G E R I E F R A N Ç A I S E

PERFORMANCE & DISTINCTION Discover the Newport collection inspired by the yachting spirit, crafted with precision in France at our workshops in Charquemont.

Available at exclusive retailers around the country

SeaQ Panorama Date Dive into the Original

LONDON Wempe, New Bond Street I Watches of Switzerland, Oxford Street I Watches of Switzerland, Knightsbridge I Watches of Switzerland, Regent Street I Harrods, Heathrow Airport, Terminal 2 I EDINBURGH Chisholm Hunter, Princes Street I YORK Berry’s, Stonegate I GLASGOW Chisholm Hunter, Argyll Arcade I Chisholm Hunter, Buchanan Street I MANCHESTER Ernest Jones, St Ann Street

Coop_SeaQ_PD_230x290mm_alle.indd 1

25.09.2020 13:24:00