Welcome to the Saturday feature we like to call Watching the Web, where we take a few moments to point out interesting watches and watch related posts that we discover across the web, and also highlight a few of our most popular posts of the last week or so. Today, we will go over the new Tag Heuer Smart Watch, an editorial on the international chronometry competition, and a revived luxury watch brand. From our own pages, we have the Smith & Bradley Springfield, Carnot Riviera, and the Cobra de Calibre Crossfire. On with the show!
This week, the watch (and tech) worlds were abuzz with the news of Tag Heuer unveiling their new smart watch, the Carrera Connected. If you thought there were some pricey Apple Watches, well, this one certainly has to take top prize for an Android Wear model (at least for now). For me, this one has done the best effort we have seen to date to replicate the feel of a watch, with an always-on mode for the display, keeping the look (if not the dimensionality) of a traditional dial. That said, there are a lot of questions raised at this sort of price point, and John tackles a lot of them in his writeup over at TechCrunch.
Next up, we have a follow-on commentary about the International Chronometry Competition. This second editorial from Ian over at Quill & Pad is a great follow-on, especially as the competition (as it were) just wrapped itself up. While it may be a bit disappointing to see how few entries there were, it is interesting to see how culled the field became, when watches that have obtained COSC certification failed to make the cut when exposed to “real world” scenarios. You can read the full view on this, as well as what Skellern thinks it should do moving forward, right here.
Finally, we have word of a newly-revived brand, Czapek & Cie. A name from the past being dusted off and brought back to life is nothing new these days; fortunately, it seems that something a little more than slapping a storied name onto a design-first quartz watch is what is happening here. Interestingly, François Czapek started things up way back in the day with some guy named Patek (yeah, that Patek). For more of that history (as well as talk about the new watch), you can check out what Monochrome had to say. For another view at the history, as well as some pretty amazing movement shots, this article at aBlogtoWatch gives you that look.
From our own pages, the Smith & Bradley Springfield took the top spot in terms of popularity. While the project just closed yesterday, it proved to be a rather popular one, as it was easily funded. The guys behind the brand set out to create a simple (and affordable) Swiss-movement watch that was assembled here in the U.S., and they did that quite handily. While the Springfield may not have some of the wow factor some of their other watches do, there is something to be said for quiet capability. You can read our full review right here.
Next up, we have a blast from the past, a watch that we wrote about more than six months ago. Matt concluded that the Carnot Watches Riviera offered up an affordable dress watch, and I would tend to agree with him. Well, with the added caveat about the additional complications (day, date, month, and moonphase). With no qualifications, however, I will agree that the blued hands against the white dial is crisp and eye-catching. You can check out his full writeup right here.
Finally, we have Matt’s writeup on the Cobra de Calibre Crossfire. We all have our favorite brands, and this one is certainly one of Matt’s. While I personally am unsure as to whether or not I care for California dials, I have to say I do like the implementation on the Crossfire. Or, more specifically, the font that they used for the numerals (both Arabic and Roman). It gives things a, well, bit of irreverance (as compared to a more traditional look), and mixes things up, much like the handset does. See what all Matt had to say right here.
Did you know that John Biggs’ latest book, Marie Antionette’s Watch, is only 99 cents on the Kindle, 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 read (check those out here
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Here was are blazing into November, so that means one thing (OK, lots of things, but I have only one in mind), a new giveaway. This month, we are giving away the Newark Museum Watch from our friends over at Project Watches.
Do you want to spend the month growing a cool ‘stache? OK, how about just promoting and supporting a cool cause. The Movember Foundation uses this month to promote prostate cancer awareness other men’s health issues and raise funds. Check out the details and get involved.
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. The last two weeks have had reader wrist shots, so keep it guys (and gals).
With that, I will wrap up this edition of Watching the Web. 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.
