It is that time of the week again kids, time for Watching the Web, our chance to show you what we think is interesting from other sites, as well as crow a bit about what you guys found interesting on our site. Browsing the web, what piqued my interest were a TAG in titanium, an “affordable” Ulysse Nardin tourbillon, and a Christopher Ward Chronometer. from our pages, the popular articles were reviews of the Patron Shelby, the Steinhart Ocean 1 in bronze, and a Techne of you air traffic controllers out there.
Back before I had quite the number of responsibilities I currently have (meaning more disposable income), I considered buying myself a Tag Heuer from time to time. I never pulled the trigger, but I always found them to be reasonably priced and yet still one of the higher end mainstream brands. Of course, I knew less about watches back then, but I still have a soft spot for the brand. Our friends over at ABTW have a nice review of the Aquaracer Black Titanium, which mates a metal I like a lot for watches with the diver style I wear most often.
What, exactly, is an affordable high end watch? One that cost less than my house? Less than four years of college? How about less than a well equipped 2017 Chevy Silverado? The Ulysse Nardine Executive Skelton Tourbillon, with a silicon escapement wheel and an 170 hour power reserve clocks in at 38,000 CHF. OK, it is still out of my price range ((just by a bit), but that is a lot of watch for the money.
No, I never did buy a Tag, and the Ulysse Nardin is way out of my range, but I do own a Christopher Ward, and the C8 Power Reserve Chronometer reviewed by Worn & Wound is a really pretty watch. At a hair over $2,000, it is in the aspirational range for me, but I love the bridging on the back of the watch, and the die cut date wheel illuminated from behind is a really cool idea. Plus, you get CW’s in house SH21 caliber.
It is always nice to see the Kickstarter brands we stumbled upon years ago continue to flourish, and we can add Padron to the list of names like Lew & Huey and Zelos. Ken nabbed our top spot this week with his review of the Padron Shelby, a retro-future looking watch.
You guys really like Steinharts, catapulting a review of Patrick’s from July back into the top 3. Heck, it is the top article of the last three months. Both Patrick and I thought the bronze treatment of the Steinhart Ocean 1 made the watch look a little too close to yellow gold, but the package is attractive and well priced.
Victor’s take on a pair of watches from Techne round out the top 3 posts of the week. I am a little more forgiving than Victor on the styling of the watch. I am not flying a plane or directing air traffic, so I like the aircraft inspired design cues like the hash marks next to the date window. And that UTC hand is handy for traveling.
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
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.
Septeber is upon us, with the kids back in school, the days getting shorter and cooler and a new watch give away for the month. This time out, the is the CJR Airspeed, a cool regulator watch that should get more than a few second glances when you wear it. in order to win it, you have to follow our 2 step process, so head over to the contest page and get your entry started.
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.
