There is just something appealing about a good sport watch. Sure, there are plenty of other styles to choose from – classic or otherwise – but a sport watch has that great capability to work for a variety of situations. While a dive watch may not look right with a suit, and a dress watch looks odd on the trail, a sport watch can manage to bridge that gap quite nicely. Throw in some ceramic surfaces and the Germanic attention to detail, and you have the new Junghans Spektrum Automatic.
Welcome to our latest edition of Historical Horology, the series where we dive into some aspect of the history of watches and watch making. While we often hop into the wayback machine for this series, this time around we are focusing on something a bit more recent, and on a watch that many of us either currently own, or have owned in the past – the Seiko SKX779, aka the Seiko Monster.
Another Saturday, and it’s time for another edition of Watching the Web. In this series, we bring to your attention interesting articles from around the web, as well as posts from our own site that were popular over the last week or so.
When is a dive watch not a “dive watch?” Well, when it pays homage to the submarine service, as the G. Gelach ORP Orzel 85A watch does, now available from this Polish watch maker. The watch commemorates the ORP Orzel, a modern (by WWII standards) submarine from the Polish Navy that escaped from the Baltic Sea at the onset of WWII and found service in the British Royal Navy until her sinking in 1940 (her short history on Wikipedia is worth a read).
This week for our look at Everyday Carry, our opportunity to pick the pocket of various people across the globe and see what they call essential, I have pocket dumps from a technologist and a business owner. First up is the post above, courtesy of Peter Thompson, Technologist. The watch he chose to share is Prometheus Jellyfish in titanium. While we have not had the Jellyfish in for a review, we have looked at a couple of Prometheus watches and find them to be well built and affordable divers.
I recently had a chance to check out the line of Sinn Watches at a WatchBuys Road Show, and the first watch that caught my eye was the new T1B in titanium. Sitting next to it was the T2B, a smaller version of the watch, also in titanium. Depending on your size preference, the Sinn T1B and T2B are really attractive with the new blue dial, are very light, and have a hidden feature to make that bezel especially secure.
If you have been reading our site for a while, you should be familiar with the TokyoFlash brand. They make playful digital watches that are sometimes a little… obscure… in how they are read. Straightforward or not, the brand like to play around with how time is represented on the dial. Both Patrick and I have had the chance to check out various models in hand, and I can attest that the build quality of the watches is solid, at least on an initial review. Now, the brand is announcing two new variations, both TokyoFlash Japan wood cased watches, the Radioactive and the Vortex.
Are the kids having difficulty with making it to class on time now that school is back? Are you forgetting to pick them up? Or do you just want a discount on a great looking watch? Now through October 11 the web retailer Time2Give is offering a 15% back to school discount on Gavox and Techne watches. All you need to do is pick your watch and then enter the code “backtoschool” in the voucher spot on the bottom of the shopping basket page.
Mokume-gane is a traditional Japanese metalworking technique where different metals are fused together in order to create a billet with a layered look, which is then worked into whatever shape is needed. This 17th Century technique was developed for ornate Samurai swords that were decorative status symbols. Now, this layered look is being used as a watch case in the H2O Kalmar 2 Mokume Gane Watches, available for pre-order on their web site.
Thank you for stopping by to check out this week’s installment of Watch Video Rewind, where we highlight watch related videos we think may be of interest. Two weeks ago I went to a WatchBuys Road Show and checked out a number of watches from small and mid-sized German watch makers. The star of the show for me was the Jochen Benzinger Zeitsprung, with truly amazing hand finishing. This week, I will peel back the curtain just a hair and show you a couple of video’s that highlight Jochen Benzinger’s tools, methods, expertise and craftsmanship.
