Timex have some Coca-Cola themed watches in the pipeline. The pics on the Timex site suggest that there’sa classic 80s retro digital model, an automatic featuring a 70s Peace graphic, plus a basic quartz with an onion crown and pocket watch style case, in the range.
All have Coke branding on the dials. Soon as we get more info we shall let you know. As you were.
And yeah, that’s a good thing we say at Northern Watch Co magazine, because for all the perfection and art of Grand Seiko, and the unbeatable value of a cooking Seiko 5 model, you need more to survive in the modern world where every jackass with money wants an AP Royal Oak or a Rolex Daytona.
You can never be that Swiss Tony fashionista brand, so what do you do? Embrace the fanboi base you have; innovate, learn, adapt and bend like the tree.
Hats off then to Seiko for recognising that MOD means remixing the elements of a brand, or a model line, to make your fave watch. By asking its fanbase for inspiration, Seiko shows that it has a keen interest in what its buyers want to see. That is a refreshing change from the Swiss brand ethos of `take it or leave it.’
Here’s the word from Seiko;
Seiko is proud to announce the winning Seiko 5 Sports watch from the CUSTOM WATCH BEATMAKER campaign.
Participants created their original Seiko 5 Sports watch by selecting and combining five watch parts on the website and voted on their favourite models. Each watch was paired with one of 32 original pieces of music created by eight up-and-coming artists who share the same value as the brand’s concept ‘‘Show Your Style.’’
The campaign ran from October 2020 to January 2021, and the winning watch with the most ‘‘likes’’ was selected from over 48,000 original designs and won about 8,500,000 votes out of the 16,000,000 total votes worldwide.
This watch incorporates a gold colour dial combined with a bezel with red and blue accents, adding a fresh timepiece to the Seiko 5 Sports collection. It will be available as a limited edition of 2,021 on selected Seiko Boutique Online websites in August 2021.
The great thing is that this will inspire more Modders out there to create gold dial Seiko watches, and tribute watches using the NH35/36 movement.
Torgoen has revived its T21 Flight GMT watch, which has a slide rule function. Not our thing, but if you love GMT watches then it’s worth a look.
RRP is £217 and there are cream, blue and black dial options.
The TorgoenT21 Flight GMT is a one-of-a-kind timepiece that incorporates a functional E6B analog flight computer. Developed by US naval pilots in the late 1930’s, the E6B is a circular slide rule used during flight planning to calculate fuel burn, wind correction, time en route and other stats.
Although modern aircrafts now use electronic systems to make these calculations, the E6B is still used in flight training to teach pilots how to manually compute these important factors.
Complete with GMT function, the T21 Flight GMT is the ultimate watch for pilots and aviation enthusiasts alike.
The latest from Boldr;
The Wells family has a brand new addition – both in our watch range AND in real life! While our Brand Ambassador Daniel Wells & his family anticipate the arrival of their firstborn child, we named our latest Venture Rally model after the little champion.
Seiko VK64 movement, sapphire crystal and beautiful lume make this one a winner for us at NWC mag.
Daniel and the Wells family continue to push the boundaries of achievement in Rally Racing in Australia, recently topping their category at the April 2021 Sunraysia Motor Sports Club desert dash!
Complete with a racing stripe NATO strap, The Rally Wells Junior is housed in a super-tough & lightweight titanium chronograph with a tachymeter for gearheads to play with. Just like it’s parents, the Wells 201 & Wells 008, it delivers the quintessential field watch experience that has made the Venture a global favorite.
This one retails at $299, plus import duty and VAT.
Torgoen are well known for making stand out designs and the new Lazuli GMT is in that ballpark. Big numbers on the dial, vivid colours, decent price. It’s all you could want in a fashion quartz watch and you have the bonus of a mineral crystal, Swiss Ronda movement plus a good choice of Italian leather straps too.
At £146 it’s in the same price bracket as many Indie meca-quartz GMT watches, or some entry level Citizen, Seiko or Armani/Boss brands. Worth a look we think.
More here.
The Hamilton Khaki is arguably one of the most authentic modern takes on the famous Dirty Dozen watches from the WW2 movie.
For starters, it’s a Hamilton and yes, they were actually used in combat back then. Secondly, it’s just got that military look off to a tee. Green NATO strap, aged lume that carries a bit of old school radium patina – not real radium of course. Plus a Swiss movement inside and a 24 hr dial diplay that’s just punchy, sharp and readable in any light.
Best of all, they made it a bit bigger this year, with a 42mm case size. Yep, a 38mm is more in keeping with wartime watches, which had to be small and hidden under your sleeve, because well…snipers n stuff. But we think the 42mm case will prove more popular today where dudes like to show off their watches a bit more.
All this for £470. Not too pricey considering it’s a Swiss watch. OK, Hamilton are entry level but this is a cheaper option than a Tudor Field Ranger, by about 1700 quid.
Cheaper rivals from Timex, Seiko and Luminox are more serious for Hamilton, especially the Seiko Field watch which can be found online for about £100.
If you are a fan of the classic Austin Healey sports cars, then Frederique Constant have the perfect watch for you.
The Vintage Rally Small Seconds has a classic dashboard design, with a small sub-seconds dial at the 9pm marker, plus a deep blue dial and a great Healey car graphic embossed onto the caseback.
It has an automatic FC Cal.345, 31 jewel movement inside a 40mm case, which is rose gold-plated. This model is limited to 888 pieces, which must be a lucky number somewhere.
There is also a green dial, or grey dial option.
Price is £1495.
Yep, this old school Swiss watch brands is still going. Mido, often overlooked, is still making watches as part of the mighty Swatch Group and the Ocean Star GMT is quite a decent looker, at a not too scary price.
For 1130 CHF, or about £890 you get a steel cased dive watch that can handle 200m depth and has the useful GMT hand for international travel. There’s a neat worldtimer graphic etched onto the caseback as well, featuring all those cities you are free to visit as part of your UEFA duties.
Inside there’s an ETA derived automatic movement, with some 80 hours of power reserve, just like the Tissot Powermatic models. Sapphire crystal and a 44mm case width, so it has some presence on the wrist.
Nope, you won’t impress anyone at the golf club with a Mido. Or a Tissot for that matter. But the fact that Swatch still produces these entry level brands is to be admired, because it would be easy for Swatch to just bin them off and concentrate on Breguet, Omega, Harry Winston and Longines, maybe some Blancpain divers on the side.
So check out Mido, they make some decent looking alternatives to a budget TAG, Raymond Weil, Lacroix and others.
The word from Grand Seiko who have built a watch that kinda looks hewn from solid platinum by hand;
In celebration of the 140th anniversary of the foundation of the company, Grand Seiko presents a new Spring Drive masterpiece made by the elite team of watchmakers at the Micro Artist Studio in Grand Seiko’s manufacturing facility in Shiojiri, located in the same Shinshu region as Achi.
The watch will be available as a limited edition of 50 at the Grand Seiko Boutiques in August 2021.
The blue of the dial has a remarkable depth that is accentuated by the quiet and delicate sparkle of what appear to be distant stars. A unique manufacturing and finishing technique combining stamping, plating and painting gives the dial a different aspect at each and every viewing angle, just as does the sky above Achi.
The Platinum 950 case is carefully engraved with a pattern which is replicated in different directions on the Zaratsu polished case, again capturing the exquisite order and ever changing aspect of Achi’s starry skies.
The watch presents a refined and slim profile with a diameter of 38.5mm and depth of 9.8mm.The hour and minute hands and hour markers are made of 14k white gold to ensure that their brilliance endures for decades. The Grand Seiko name, the minute markers and all the other markings are etched into the dial.
Every aspect of the movement is designed without compromise. The power reserve indicator is on the back side of the movement next to the barrel whose shape echoes that of the bellflower that is the symbol of Shiojiri.
The rims of the bridges, the holes for the rubies and the screws are all expertly hand polished to a perfect mirror finish and the tempered blue screws stand out in contrast to the hairline finish of the bridges to heighten the perception of the perfection of the engineering. The caliber also incorporates an 18k yellow gold plaque on the lower bridge, which carries the engraved words “Micro Artist” but which can, if the owner so wishes, be replaced with a word of his or her choice.
The outstanding 84 hour power reserve of Caliber 9R02 is realized thanks to the Dual Spring Barrel, in which two mainsprings are set in parallel within a single barrel, and the Torque Return System.
When the mainspring has been fully wound and the torque output is at its highest, approximately 30% of the available power is not needed to maintain the precision of the watch and is in effect wasted in a normal movement.
The Torque Return System uses this energy to rewind the mainspring, resulting in an increase in the power reserve. In Caliber 9R02, this system is activated for 48 hours after the mainspring has been fully wound.
The price for perfection? A mere 80,000 euros.
OK, we are not sure how Rado are getting away with naming a watch after Captain Cook, that well known colonialist type explorer and general all-round white privilege guy. These are the times we live in, we don’t buy into cancel culture by the way.
Anyway the popular Captain Cook watch now has a ceramic case edition, and although we just aren’t that keen on wearing watches – or bracelets – made from pottery, here’s the press info for you Rado fans out there;
The Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic is the culmination of many years of research and development together with the history and tradition of the Rado Captain Cook.
The further development of the Captain Cook collection in high-tech ceramic is Rado’s DNA in its purest form. It features some of the brand’s most stellar achievements such as Rado’s innovative high-tech ceramic monobloc case construction, scratch-resistant and hypoallergenic high-tech ceramic, powered by the premium Rado calibre R734 featuring a Nivachron™ hairspring.
The innovative Nivachron™ hairspring provides an advantage in everyday life by protecting the timepiece from magnetic fields.
The Captain Cook Ceramic is presented for the first time in a case size of 43mm, and in four versions.
A first version in black high-tech ceramic case and bracelet with a hardened stainless steel turning bezel and black high-tech ceramic insert.
A second model holds this same case and dial but is offered with a rubber strap for those who prefer a more casual look. A third version is offered similarly in black high-tech ceramic case and bracelet but with contrasting rose gold coloured PVD coated stainless steel turning bezel, and black high-tech ceramic insert.
Followed by the fourth model, a highly distinct plasma high-tech ceramic case and bracelet, with hardened stainless steel bezel, and blue high-tech ceramic insert.
All the references are powered by the Rado calibre R734 characterised by a strong 80 hours power reserve, and up to 30 bar (300m) water resistance. The dial and case back are stunningly crafted in black tinted sapphire crystal allowing its wearer to explore and admire the inner workings of the skeletonised movement in a subtle manner, whilst still proving to be legible.
As the triangle on the bezel, the indexes, and the classic Captain Cook chunky arrow hands on the dial are filled with white Super-LumiNova®, the watch offers clear visibility in the dark.
This magnificent sapphire dial is also home to the iconic Rado rotating anchor at 12 o’clock, and is protected by a chevé box sapphire crystal.
The new Captain Cook Ceramic is a mechanical masterpiece that needs to be felt to appreciate its lightness and wearer comfort besides its stunning looks. The Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic is Rado’s DNA at its fullest. Welcome aboard.
Prices start at £3345 in the UK. More here.
