As always, thank you for taking a bit of time out of your weekend to check out our regular Saturday feature, Watching the Web, where we get to point out interesting watch related articles on other sites, as well as highlight our own most popular posts. This week, I am skewing toward the higher end of the market, with a lady’s diver just in time for Mother’s Day, a high end Montblanc tourbillon, and an ever higher end Panerai. From our site, we have the Deep Blue Sea Quest, the Torgoen T32 and the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane.
I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger of late, so I did not get a chance to pull together a Mother’s Day gift guide. If you are the procrastinating type, and mom is of the sportier style, you may consider the Tag Heuer Lady Aquaracer. Ocean Time has a nice write up on the watch, which features a diamond ringed ceramic unidirectional bezel.
Stepping up the price point just a wee bit, Montblanc has a seriously dangerous and cool looking tourbillon tipping the scales at around $300,000. Watch Anish runs down the details on this 110th anniversary watch from the luxury brand.
Finally, if the Montblanc is too pedestrian for you, may I interest you in the Panerai Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon GMT? The watch starts in the $400,000, with customization options to make yours truly a one of a kind watch. The chimes ring in two time zones, perfect for the bi-coastal mogul on the go. Check out A Blog to Watch for an in depth review of the watch.
Our most popular post of the week was Ken’s look at the Deep Blue Sea Quest Automatic. Overbuilt, with a 1,500 meter depth rating and a reliable Miyota movement, this entry level technical diving watch is currently an even better deal with a $399 sale price.
Ken also snags the #2 spot with his hands on look at the Torgoen T32 Automatic. This modern take on a pilot’s watch is very attractive and functional, with a splash of color in the orange second hand and the orange stitching around the lugs on the band. At just under $800 for a Swiss made automatic, it is also a really good deal.
Finally this week we have John’s look at the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane. The quartz watch has a day/date display, but the day of the week is shown laid out across the dial, with the white spot above the day tuning red in turn to show the passage of the week. I have seen a few AVI-8s (and I wear one regularly), and their build quality is quite nice.
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 read (check those out here). 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.
Today is the first Saturday of the month, so it is time to start talking about our newest giveaway, the Gavox Squadron. Patrick reviewed it for A Blog To watch, but he has a nice summary on the contest page. There is a two-part entry process, so follow the directions and enter for a chance at this cool military themed chono.
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.
With that, I will wrap up this edition of Watching the Web by saying that yesterday was my 50th birthday. I am always interested in seeing who reads all the way to the bottom on this page, so if you wish me a happy birthday in the comments, you are entered into a flash giveaway for a watch. I am not sure which one I will send your way, but all it takes is a quick post before midnight (Pacific) on Monday. 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