article to read

[Iceheller]

Read about the record-breaking S$24.38 million Daytona here!

Dun waste your time... you know paul?No dis-respect but never hear of him until ppl keep writing paul's daytonna... Elvis maybe but not paul who past away less than two decade. The west like to hype themselves up. Hope is not another omega-mania in the making at this auction...

[Oceanklassik]

From the Straits Times, Life! (Nov 9, 2017)

A watch brand for and by millennials

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NEW YORK - Watch out for Mr Jake Kassan, 26, who likes to play a little game - ask other 20somethings for the time and see if they glance at their wrists or phones.

"More often than not, they reach for their phone," he said. This might seem like a problem, given that he and his business partner Kramer La-Plante, 26, run Mvmt, a watch company that targets millennials. But Mr Kassan couldn't care less.

"Watches have evolved," he said. "Our audience cares more about the style of a watch than its function."

Millennials are often thought to be the lost generation when it comes to watches, since they were raised with cellphones. They are often too busy struggling to carve out careers in an uncertain economy to fritter away money on their yuppie parents' status symbols, so goes the popular opinion.

Funny, then, that a Los Angeles-based watch start-up, founded by a couple of college dropouts in 2013, has become an industry player (the company said revenues were US$60 million, or S$81 million, last year) by selling old-school timepieces to people too young to remember rotary phones.

The business is built on a simple, if implicit, premise: Young adults, with their do-everything smartphones and tablets, may not need another device to help them navigate their daily existence. But they care deeply about any image enhancer that helps them pop up Instagram.

It seems to have worked. Company research shows that 88 per cent of its customers are under 34 years old and 45 per cent are under 24.

"The belief that traditional watches are relics of the past is false," Mr Kassan said. "Our consumers may not be the most formal in their attire, but they are very intentional. They think about what they wear, about what is... up-to-date. That may be ripped jeans and a T-shirt, but it's not a baggy T-shirt with stains on it."

The partners, who met in Santa Barbara, California, after leaving college, each had tried his hand at e-commerce and crowdfunding ventures, with middling success. While neither was what you would call watch-obsessive, both considered timepieces important fashion accessories, but had a hard time finding a brand to fit both their style sensibility and budget.

"You had Nixon which is very action-sports oriented - skater, surfer," Mr Kassan said. "You had Michael Kors which was too blingy." Many entry-level brands were priced at US$400 or US$500, a stretch "when you're barely able to make rent".

They sought to create the kind of watch that they would want to buy. In an era of H&M-style fast fashion, they sought to produce watches that were head-turning, but also inexpensive enough that you could buy four or five.

The strategy was to keep costs under US$200 by selling directly to consumers online, eliminating the standard retail mark-up and relying on social media for marketing.

As the company has grown, however, it has begun selling in stores such as Nordstrom, advertising on radio and television, and has also expanded into sunglasses. The original Mvmt line, which was introduced on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, was tastefully designed.

Watch geeks will draw obvious parallels to minimalist Swiss classics such as Movado Museum Dial series and the IWC Portofino, which are far more expensive. The Mvmt watches delivered sleek, hyper-minimalist design for prices that range from US$95 to US$180. They largely did away with numerals for hour markers or luminescent hands.

To set itself apart in a sea of under-US$200 fashion watches, Mvmt positioned itself as an Instagram-first watch company. Its Instagram feed for its men's line, for example, which has more than 855,000 followers, is a cornucopia of shots of stylish young lovelies cavorting in exotic locales and wearing cool watches.

While the company experimented with celebrity endorsers, including reality TV personality Kylie Jenner and basketball star Klay Thompson, it found its footing with a social media star known largely to other millennials: Sam Kolder.

The latter is a globe-trotting young videographer and thrill-seeker with more than 590,000 Instagram followers and great abs.

"Our whole thing is, 'Dress with intent, live with purpose'," Mr Kassan said. "He scales buildings and scuba-dives with sharks. But he's not going to five-star resorts. He's just doing something everyone can do."

And wearing a watch that everyone can wear.

- NYTIMES

[triton]

best blue dial watches for men

click here to read what are some of the best blue dials watches for men

[Oceanklassik]

What an article to start a blue Monday...

[Oceanklassik]

Will this kick-start a new trend of using another material for future watches?

Casio's G-Shock watch still hitting the big time after 35 years

Its enduring popularity a surprise even to its creator; new sapphire crystal model to be released next year

Its brand longevity has surprised even its creator, especially for a product made so durable it shouldn't need replacing. But with over 100 million watches shipped around the world, the demand for the Casio G-Shock is showing no signs of waning as it turns 35 next year.

Casio kicked off the brand's 35th anniversary celebration last Thursday in New York City - the venue was selected because it was in the United States where the G-Shock craze started - with a press conference followed by music from designer, DJ and founder of fashion label Off-White, Virgil Abloh, and performances by members of popular US hip-hop collective A$AP Mob.

Created in 1983 by Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe, the G-Shock watch is famed for its extreme sturdiness and toughness.

"Actually, I never imagined that it (G-Shock) could last this long. I am just grateful that it has sustained for so long," Mr Ibe told The Straits Times before the press conference.

This is especially so since a G-Shock watch can last so long that wearers do not really need to replace their watches.

"Generally speaking, for any product, we should develop products that can last at least 10 years," said Mr Ibe, adding that he was glad that Casio's management was not concerned about the longevity of the product.

"Whenever there are new models (of G-Shock), there are collectors who buy the new products even though their old watches are still working." And this has helped the G-Shock to thrive.

During the press conference, Mr Ibe announced a sapphire crystal G-Shock that he has been working on. Details of this watch are scarce at present. But it is said that its case is protected by sapphire crystal and will be almost unscratchable. The sapphire crystal G-Shock is scheduled for release some time next year.

Mr Kazuhiro Kashio, president and chief operating officer of Casio, recalled how a Casio commercial in the US 25 years ago - showing an ice hockey player using a G-Shock as a puck and how the watch still worked despite being hit - triggered interest in G-Shock watches.

"A US TV programme then tried to verify the commercial's claim and found the watch to be truly unbreakable," he said.

Sales surged and the G-Shock's popularity was then "imported" back to Japan and subsequently spread worldwide. Mr Kashio feels that Casio did "something unprecedented". And with users wearing G-Shock all the time because it is unbreakable, he feels that Casio is contributing to society in a way.

"The G-Shock is a watch. But at the same time, it is something beyond a watch," said Mr Kashio, pointing to how Casio has created a culture on its own.

Over the years, the G-Shock has found fans among military figures and famous adventurers. It has also transcended into a pop and fashion icon. Casio has done several collaborations with many artists, celebrities and designers, such as Eric Haze and Robert Geller.

Mr Haze, an American artist and designer, has worked with Casio for 20 years to create special editions of the watches. He also designed the G-Shock's 30th and 35th anniversary logos. He feels that unlike his own works, which might be limited in reach, working with Casio has allowed him to expand to more audiences around the world.

"The idea that my ideas and style go so far out into the world and are well-received is the most satisfying part," said Mr Haze.


- Trevor Tan
New York City

[triton]

is tudor better than rolex?

click here to read the article.

first, tudor and rolex was targeted at different segment markets. hence there is no comparison.

in the article, i agree with the comment that tudor is value for money but i don't agree with author using specifications to compare.

• the power reserve is higher for a tudor compared to rolex hence value for money.

• the author then mentions about helium escape valve with 500m depth rating and compared it with submariner? yes depth rating with 500m for a tudor is deeper compared with submariner at 300m. it fails to mention that the submariner does not have a helium escape valve. if the author wants to compare pelagos with helium escape valve then it should be compared against the sea dweller (3900m)at the least as it has helium escape valve as well. but the depth rating between pelagos and sea dweller is a big gap of 3400m.

• it then mentions about adventurous spirit citing that tudor has a dive watch with chronograph. since tudor and rolex are under the same company, it makes no sense to have "duplicates". it then uses case material like PVD case and bronze as examples. there are PVD/DLC cases of rolex watches but what is the take up rate? did some of the other brands like panerai coming up with bronze cases become a mainstream? bronze cases are novelty. it last for awhile when everyone is interested. some are interested to get one bronze case watch but the stock availability is near zero in sg AD. by the time the AD has stock of the watch, are those interested to buy initially still have the interest?

• it then move on to combining old with new. did rolex not do something similar with the ever popular pepsi GMT? rolex introduced the ceramic pepsi dial on a different case material - white gold. look at what has happen to the resale value and cult status of panerai vintage models such as pam 2B after they start re-make their vintage?

[Oceanklassik]

Tx for the article. Think I'll have to agree.

[Oceanklassik]

Instagram watch craze

Instagram posts of vintage and classic watches are turbocharging the collector's market

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On Thursday, it was a stylishly retro 1962 Bulova Super Compressor on @analogshift that won my heart. On Wednesday, it had been an elegantly understated 1970 Rolex Submariner, courtesy of @jasonheaton, that quickened the pulse. Tuesday had brought its own obsession, a vintage Heuer 3647 Carrera chronograph, regrammed on @hodinkee.

D***you, Instagram.

Daily, if not hourly, my social-media addiction causes flare-ups of a second, closely related, malady: vintage watch deficit disorder, a chronic form of watch envy that inspires thoughts of raiding my retirement savings.

I am hardly alone. Among watch obsessives, the impact of Instagram can hardly be overstated. Facebook's explosively popular photo-sharing app not only serves to unite members of this fusty, long-obscure subculture the world over, but it has also helped spread watch obsession among the digital generation, turbocharging the vintage market in the process, several prominent dealers said.

"Istagram is absolutely driving the enthusiasm for watches," said Mr Paul Altieri, who runs Bob's Watches, an online retailer of vintage Rolexes, in Huntington Beach, California, a company I have purchased from before.

"It's a major thrust in our business."

In the last three years, his company's Instagram following has surged to over 71,000, from fewer than 5,000. And business has boomed right along with it, with revenue up some 30 per cent this year.

To Mr Altieri, the twin spikes seem like more than a coincidence.

"We'll post a new green Rolex anniversary model Submariner from 2004, complete with box and papers, and, usually within minutes, people will message me and say: 'Hey, let me know the price."

It's a big change for a hobby long associated with panelled studies, elbow patches and discretion. Indeed, until recently, watch enthusiasts had few opportunities to show off prized pieces aside from dinner parties with friends or geeks-only online forums such as TimeZone or WatchUSeek.

Instagram, by contrast, is everything that traditional watch collecting was not: young, colourful, brazenly digital and populist. (The app has some 700 million users worldwide.)

And showing off? It is the lingua franca of the medium, a wellspring of covetousness that inspires FOMO (fear of missing out) and a gotta-have-it hunger among users regarding seemingly any and all Instagram subjects: travel, food, fashion and, lately, watches.

"Watch collecting is a very tactile hobby and if it can't be tactile, it is visual," said Mr James Lamdin, the 33-year-old founder of Analog/Shift, a high-end Manhattan vintage watch boutique with more than 72,000 Instagram followers.

Those visuals were once limited on old-school online forums, where "uploading images of watches basically required a degree in coding", he said.

Not so with Instagram, where lovingly styled "wrist shots" of vintage Omega Speedmasters or Heuer Autavias can be enhanced, sharpened and uploaded within seconds for all the world to see. Images of rare collector pieces on Instagram can create a feeding frenzy among collectors.

Last year, for example, after Hodinkee, the watch site with more than 378,000 Instagram followers, posted a photograph of the coveted 1969 Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona reference 6241 available for sale on its online shop at around 9am one day, messages were pouring in within seconds. Five minutes later, a buyer in his 30s snapped up the treasured Rolex for US$175,000 (S$235,600), a record price for the site, said Ms Ashley Kinder, who manages Hodinkee's retail operation.

she added: "Before that, the buyer had only ordered with us once to purchase a $150 watch strap."

Certainly, marketing fine timepieces on Instagram has its limits. Because most use the app as a forum for sharing photos among friends, many users chafe at overt salesmanship by retailers, said Mr Yoni Ben-Yehuda of Material Good, a New York seller of luxury goods known for its salon-like retail space in SoHo.

That is why his company tends to emphasise arty photos celebrating the lifestyle associated with fine timepieces (say, street shots of fashionably dressed New Yorkers), rather than catalogue-style shots of specific timepieces for sale, he added.

But the landscape could change quickly.

Thousands of apparel, jewellery and beauty retailers, including the likes of Kate Spade, have begun to experiment with Instagram's recently introduced shoppable photo tag, which allows users to buy directly through the app without interrupting their scrolling.

Mr Altieri reckoned things will get interesting when watch retailers start using this technology.

"It's going to be like a tidal wave that hits the shore."


Alex Williams
NYTimes

[Oceanklassik]

In Life!, The Straits Times on Thursday, Dec 14, 2017

Luxury at a lower price

Many watchmakers are launching entry-level offerings to keep sales up

It is probably inevitable in a difficult market, but value is the new name of the game in the watch industry these days. That is hardly surprising. For the last three years, luxury mechanical timepieces have been plagued by back-to-back slumps for reasons ranging from the strong Swiss franc to China's crackdown on corruption.

Although recent spikes in Swiss watch exports indicate the market may finally be clambering out of a rut, industry players are under no illusions that they will soon be scaling dizzying heights again.

According to the Swiss watch federation, prices of luxury watches climbed by 53 per cent between 2005 and 2015. But in a gloomy economic climate, sky high prices are unrealistic and no longer tenable. Demand has not kept up. Bad times demand smart responses and many watchmakers are hoping to keep sales up with entry-level offerings.

They opt for steel instead of precious metals, pare down the bling and complicated features, and simplify movements without compromising on their brand's character, style and reputation.

About three years ago, Montblanc released the Heritage Perpetual Calendar which, at $16,800 in steel, is the most affordable perpetual calendar from a big name. Last year, Tag Heuer did the same with a tourbillon chronograph: the Carrera Heuer-02T, which retails for $21,800 in steel.

Other watchmakers are going for cheaper iterations of classic models. Earlier this year, Cartier came out with a whole range of Panthere de Cartier. The steel model starts at $5,500.

Here are a few entry-level offerings from major brands.

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by Wong Kim Hoh

[triton]

what is the right term for multiple rolex watches

when you have more than 1 rolex watch, is it called many rolex watches or rolexes or ....

click here to find out

[triton]

some good practice to adopt for using your mechanical watches

do read this article to prevent accidental damage to your mechanical watch

[Oceanklassik]

do read this article to prevent accidental damage to your mechanical watch

Good read, especially beneficial for a newbie like me

Tx!

[Oceanklassik]

Straits Times, Life! - January 12, 2018

Watch club founder on the best of 2017

Watch releases of recent years have been offering value for money, says the founder of Singapore Watch Club

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Mr Tom Chng (above), founder of the Singapore Watch Club, believes the luxury watch industry is in an interesting phase right now. It is struggling to come to grips with a downturn that has plagued it for the last couple of years. Before that, he says, the industry was booming, with fortunes spent on research, development and design.

"But now, we're looking at a lot less innovation. Watchmakers are becoming more conservative: producing in steel, scaling back production and going for facelifts and brighter colours as opposed to completely new horological designs," says the 29-year-old finance professional.

Other coping strategies include reissuing vintage pieces, lowering price points and introducing entry-level models. It is not necessarily a bad state of affairs, says Mr Chng, whose two-year-old club boasts about 70 members. They meet once a month to talk passionately about watches over beer and coffee at The Fullerton Hotel.

New watch releases in the last couple of years may not have been as horologically significant, but he says they offer, for example, value for money. "And a few of them are still quite groundbreaking, boasting R&D elements which have trickled down from earlier and better years," says the watch aficionado, who has been collecting watches for the past five years.

Here are his picks for the best watch releases last year:

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Ulysse Nardin Classico Enamel for Singapore Watch Club
"This is a special limited-edition piece commissioned by the Singapore Watch Club for its second anniversary last year. It features flinque - engraving done by hand or machine using a rose engine - enamel, a feature usually reserved for higher-end pieces. It also boasts a unique black dial as Ulysse Nardin enamel dials are typically white or blue. The watch has interesting lugs and also an in-house movement: the self-winding UN320."

[Oceanklassik]

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Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ceramic
"I believe Aumedars Piguet has the best bracelet in the business because it is so beautifully finished. Unfortunately, it also tends to be a scratch magnet. But with this model, AP has licked the problem by fashioning the bracelet from ceramic which, while scratch-resistant, is a very difficult material to work with. I also love this model because I think it has one of the most beautiful moon phases I've seen."

Singer Track1 Chronograph
"This watch, by a small independent watchmaker, reinvented the chronograph layout and did a grand job. It boasts a vintage vibe, inspired by elements of vintage dashboards. The time display is now peripheral; the chrono now commands centre stage. The radical change, however, has not comprised time telling. The styling works well, with the back case featuring the intricate movement that powers this watch."

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Lange 1 Moonphase in white gold (black dial)
"This is one of the strongest staples in the Lange collection. It boasts a black dial and a white gold case and comes updated with a new Lange 1 movement with a new day/night indication incorporated into the moonphase indication. The design is brilliant, with different hues of blue to signify different times of the day and a moon which almost looks three-dimensional."

Patek Philippe 5320 Perpetual Calendar
"This is inspired by the Ref 1591, a unique steel perpetual calendar which now resides in the Patek Philippe Museum in Switzerland. I love the 5320's Art Deco design, vintage vibes and solid construction. The layout is beautiful and extremely clean. The case is striking and the lugs, intricate. It also boasts unusual 'syringe' hands filled with luminous material."

[Oceanklassik]

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Romain Gauthier Insight Micro Rotor
"This is by one of the most talented watchmakers in the realm of artisanal watchmaking. Beautifully finished with a wonderfully designed movement, it boasts a micro rotor which is visible from both front and back. I'm a bit of a purist and like manual winding, but Romain Gauthier has don the micro rotor so beautifully that I find this superior to many manual winding pieces."

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Omega speedmaster 60th anniversary 1957 reissue
"A reissue of the 1957 classic, this is faithfully true to the original, down to its 38.6mm case. I think that's a good and smart way to commemorate one of the most important timepieces ever. The Speedmaster - the only watch approved by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for manned space flights - was used by the crew of Apollo 13 to time a 14-second manoeuvre to put the craft on a safe trajectory back to Earth after it experienced a host of technical failures. It's like a runway winner. It will pull in new fans and allow them to subscribe to Omega's rich history."


by Wong Kim Hoh