Welcome back to our weekly installment, Watching the Web, where we have a quick look at some interesting watches and articles that have popped up over the last week, as well as taking a second look at what some of our more popular articles this week were. Today, we’ve got some insight on what the Swiss watch brands think of all those smart watches, and a story about a passionate Patek PhillipAfter those, we’ll highlight (as usual) some of our more popular posts from the last week. Read on to see what we’ve got in store for you.
There’s no doubting that the smart watch / fitness tracker / wearables segment is heating up, as a lot more players start making devices. While we’ve talked about some of those smart watches here, you more commonly see them showing up on gadget and tech blogs, not the watch sites (we’ve written about them, but have had very few hands-on reviews). That begs the question – are they really worth the time of a watch collector? Many of you already have your opinions formed, and unsurprisingly, the folks at the upper levels of the Swiss watch makers have made their minds up as well. Check out this article over TechHive to see what they had to say.
What if I told you there was a simple three-hander (albeit a prize-winning one) that once sold for over $4 million at auction? That might sound pretty crazy, but that’s indeed what happened with that Patek Philippe pictured above. It was a piece that came from the collection of J.B. Champion, a fellow who seemed particularly dedicated to Patek watches. Sometimes it’s interesting to read about the human side of these crazy auction pieces, and that’s exactly what they’ve got over at Hodinkee.
Turning back to our own pages, we’ve got two articles that proved very popular, and they’ve got a theme – movements. First up, we’ve got the Swatch Sistem51 Hands-on Review. The Sistem51 is a piece that has long held our attention, and it just recently had it’s machine-built and hermetically-sealed self introduced on these shores. While the Swatch styling may not be for everyone, there’s no denying that it represents a shift in how mechanical movements can be made – and made affordably.
Next up, we’ve got coverage of the new Christopher Ward C9 Harrison, complete with it’s brand-spanking-new 5-day, in-house automatic movement. Though I’ve never owned one, the stuff coming from Christopher Ward has held my interest as a great mix of styling, technology, and affordability. They have, of course, also had their forays into the higher-end stuff, and we’ve covered those in the past. This new watch showcases their first steps in creating their own movement, and it’s quite an introduction. It will be mighty interesting to see where they go next.
Last, but not least, don’t forget that we’re now in a new month, so we’ve started up a new giveaway. Appropriate for the month of July, we’ve got the American-built Smith & Bradley Sans-13 up for grabs. Head on over here to get your entries in. With that, we’ll wrap things up. 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.
Pictures courtesy of the source site
