Welcome back to our regular weekend feature, Watching the Web. In this series, we take a look back at interesting articles from across the wider web of watch sites, as well as highlighting some of the most read articles from our own sites. From our friends in the world of watch writing, we have a limited-edition Seiko, a Davosa hands-on, and an editorial around the accuracy of mechanical watches. From our own pages, we have the latest bronze Steinhart, a dual timezone watch currently on Kickstarter, our latest entry in our “Interview with a Watch Maker” series, and a great roundup of options to keep your pockets organized.
First up, that limited edition Seiko. The very first article I wrote about watches was here on WWR, and it was about a Seiko, so you could say I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Not to mention that the whole brand, from Grand Seiko on down, is well executed and reliable! Over at The Time Bum, there is a rundown of a new LE watch, a homage to Mt. Fuji. Of note, this is part of the 5 series of watches, so it has some sporting aspirations. That said, it is “only” WR to 100m, so this is not a diver. Then again, that’s not what this is all about. The 5 series is, to me, a softened take on their more popular divers, with some cues lifted from watches like the Monster, while packaging it in an attractive look. Given the LE nature of this Mt. Fuji homage, it might be hard to come by, but it shows what the brand can do to break through the “oh, another Seiko” haze.
While that Seiko may not be a full-on dive watch, the Davosa that OceanicTime recently looked at certainly is. What is interesting about this is, for a 300m WR watch, it looks to have a very low profile to it. I also found it curious that the watch has a manually-operated helium escape valve. Most times, when we see this, it is of an automatically operated sort, so the manual is something unusual. Then again, manual or automatic, you and I are likely never to need to use it. While I’ve not seen a Davosa in person, being able to pick up a Swiss dive watch for under $800 is certainly nothing to sneeze at, and may be worth some exploration if you’re on the hunt.
Speaking of Swiss, they are certainly “the guys” most people think of when it comes to accuracy in a mechanical watch movement. Of course, other countries have stepped up as well, and there are no shortage of accurate movements around the world. While we may all internally realize that higher beat rates are better, we are all likely guilty of hemming and hawing when realizing that the watch we left on the winder for an extended amount of time has lost (or gained) time. Well, this quick editorial over at Quill & Pad gives you another way of thinking about how accurate a COSC watch really is. Sure, it’s not five nines, but it’s really quite amazing once you stop and think about it.
Turning to our own pages, the most popular article of the week was our writeup on the new Steinhart OCEAN 1 Bronze. We have seen all manner of bronze watches over the last few years, so it takes something a bit more to make it stand out. In the case of this Steinhart, it is how it has an almost yellow-gold appearance to it, with a rather matte finish on the case. Tack in the Swiss movement (ETA 2824) and the fairly affordable pricepoint ($420) and it’s not too surprising that people would be taking notice.
Next, we have a Kickstarter watch (not too surprising, given the number of them out there). In this case, it’s the LTHR T2, which also features a Swiss momement. In this case, it’s an ETA 2893-2, which brings to the party (for those not up on their calibers) a GMT complication. What makes the T2 different is how it indicates the second timezone. Rather than using a tertiary hand, there’s actually a small triangle near the outer edge of the dial indicating the time. This is, of course, printed on a disc, which rotates around. It’s a fairly unobtrusive way to track it, I must say. Oh, and if you want a little more complexity to it, the internal bezel (where the 24-hour track is contained) can be rotated as well, giving you flexibility in how, exactly, you are setting the second timezone. Funding is currently at 50% with 7 days left to go, so we’ll see if this one hits the starting blocks.
Third, we have our latest entry in a new series that we’re calling “Interview with a Watch Maker”. Given the sheer number of small, independent brands that we interact with – particularly brand new ones – we felt it was time to start asking them some questions. This started out as a way to get more insight into what informed the watches we were seeing, but it has since morphed into something that can stand on it’s own, and therefore, became a recurring series. Our latest installment was with Reuven Lakein of Rebeltime Watches; check out the interview right here.
Finally, we have a bonus mention, because I was just particularly pulled in by the content (as were you). In this article we are talking about a roundup of pocket organizers that our pals at Everyday Carry put together. Sure, it may not sound particularly intriguing, but most of us have stuff banging around against our keys and phones that could do with some wrangling. Check out the article, and see which one I ended up purchasing as soon as I saw it in the roundup!
Did you know that John Biggs’ book, Marie Antionette’s Watch, is free to read with Kindle Unlimited, or you can buy a paperback from Amazon. Oh, and even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can always read via their free apps or their cloud reader (check those out here
). The book is also now on Wattpad. You can even check out a snippet of the book.
Want to be more than just a visitor to our little corner of the internet? How about pledging some support for us over on Patreon. There are some compelling funding levels (including site redesigns and removing ads, and getting a copy of the Marie Antoinette book), but really, we just want to ensure we keep this lean ship running and the lights on. You can check out John’s latest post right here. This is a fun thing we get to do on the side, and we want to keep bringing you the content that you have come to rely on from us, and work to make it even better.
We are just about done with the month, so you have precious little time to enter our give-away for this month’s watch, the Alvieri Firenze. As per usual, there is a two-part entry process, so follow the directions and enter for a chance at this crowd funded dress watch If you want to know more about it, check out Patrick’s review.
We also want to put the call out for wrist shots of our reader’s favorite (or at least favorite of the moment) watches. Put together an email of your wrist shot and tell us a little about the watch and why you love it. If you happened to be introduced to it through our site (or won it through a give-away), even better. Just make sure the image is a JPEG and at least 800 pixels wide. And as always, if there’s something you think we should be covering, feel free to drop us a line. If you bring something up that we end up writing about, we’ll be sure to tip our hats (electronically, if not literally) in your general direction.
