16 page watch special

16-PAGE WATCH SPECIAL
PHOTOGRAPH: MITCH PAYNE. MONTBLANC 1858 CHRONOGRAPH TACHYMETER LIMITED EDITION, £23,400, AVAILABLE FROM MONTBLANC, 119 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1.
Evening Standard
2
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
From clocking the
latest launch to
Tom Brady’s new
arm candy, there’s
no time like the
present says,
Laura McCreddie
Edited by: Anish Patel
Editorial assistant: Benedict Brown
Art Director: Nick Cave
DAVE BENETT
Time for women
THE brightest stars in the silver
screen’s firmament were out for the
BFI LUMINOUS in partnership with
IWC Schaffhausen gala event, which
kicked off the BFI London Film
Festival last month. Dapper
gent-du-jour Tom Hiddleston,
right, trod the red carpet
along with such screen
legends as Joan Collins,
left, and John Hurt, while
Jonathan Ross was the
master of ceremonies
for the evening.
The highlight of the
night was a charity
auction to raise
money for the
ambitious Film is
Fragile campaign,
which is the BFI’s
initiative to help protect
the UK’s national film
collection — one of the largest
in film archives in the world,
which is stored at the BFI
National Archive in
Berkhamsted in
Hertfordshire.
IWC’s contribution was a
very desirable bespoke
version of its Portugieser
Annual Calendar in
platinum.
It may not be silver but it’s
certainly a more-than fitting
tribute to Britain’s sterling
film industry.
Patek Philippe breaks
records. Again
WE ALL know Patek Philippe watches
are reassuringly expensive, but, at
the weekend, one of its timepieces
became the most expensive
wristwatch in the world. The steel
number (ref 5016), which features a
tourbillon, minute repeater and
perpetual calendar, complete with
moonphase display and retrograde
date hand, sold for 7,300,000CHF
(approx £4.8 million).
The Patek was one of 44 unique
watches, including one-offs from
the likes of Hublot, Van Cleef &
Arpels and Louis Vuitton, sold at
the Only Watch auction, set up in
2005 to raise money for research
into Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy.
The Watch Gallery’s limited editions reach its Zenith
Zenith. The chosen model is
the gorgeously retro Pilot Type
20, left, with a dial that has
been rendered in The Watch
Gallery’s signature blue.
It’s a classic pilot watch
design that works just as
well whether you’re
sporting a threepiece or a flying suit
and is a bargain at a
mere £4,950. Pieces
are limited to just 75 so
get to Selfridges now
while you still have a
chance.
TAG signs Tom Brady as ambassador
ALSO known as Mr Gisele
Bündchen, Tom Brady (below) is
the latest personality to prove he
doesn’t crack under pressure by
becoming the face of TAG Heuer. In
doing so, the New England Patriots
quarterback joins a rather eclectic
roster of names including model
Cara Delevingne, superstar DJ
David Guetta and footballer
Cristiano Ronaldo.
TAG HEUER CARRERA CALIBRE 16 DAY-DATE
Ayrton Senna is celebrated as the most influential
influential
driver in the history of Formula
Formula One. He was never
intimidated by the expectations of others, because his
were even higher. He forever embodies the TAG
Heuer
TAG Heuer
motto – Don’t Crack Under Pressure.
WWW.TAGHEUER.CO.UK
Huawei hits London
IWC and the BFI
light up London
FROM Nicole Kidman, stage-fresh from playing Rosalind
Franklin in Photograph 51, to Ruth Wilson (pictured far left
with Kidman and Sir Ian McKellen), who is getting everyone
hot under the collar in Sky’s drama The Affair, Claridge’s
hotel was awash with most talented women around today
for the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year awards.
And, as partner to the event for the third year running,
Audemars Piguet was on hand to make sure things ran
according to schedule.
The luxury Swiss watch brand not only designed the
trophies, but also donated a generous amount to the Save
the Children charity, which was chosen by Lara Stone as
part of a prize draw during the evening. In keeping with
its reputation as the brand that knows how to throw a
good bash, it hosted the after party, which had Isaac Ferry
on the decks and Tinie Tempah in attendance, complete
with his Royal Oak Extra Thin Tourbillon — a “Frisky”
little number indeed.
IT IS rare that anyone can tell
a Swiss watch brand what to
do. However, The Watch
Gallery has such a fantastic
relationship with the
brands it stocks that, for
the past few years, it
has been able to get
such notable names
as Hublot and Bell &
Ross to make
exclusive editions
just for them.
This year’s
collaboration is with
thinking-man’s brand
3
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
He was presented with the new
Carrera Heuer 01 by Jean-Claude
Biver at the launch of the watch in
New York City last month.
Brady was a fan of the brand even
before he became an ambassador —
the first mechanical watch he
bought after winning his first Super
Bowl in 2002 was a TAG Heuer
Carrera. The man obviously has
taste as well as talent.
THE worlds of MiC and Downton
Abbey collided in the most unlikely of
places — at the launch of new
smartwatch on the block, Huawei.
Laura Carmichael, aka Downton’s
Lady Edith (pictured left with
Henry Holland), was joined by
reality TV star Ollie Proudlock and
fashion designer Henry Holland at
the event at the Mondrian Hotel,
held in association with men’s
style bible GQ.
The watch, far left, described as a
“union of fashion and technology”, is
now available in Selfridges, with more
stores getting their hands on it at the
end of November and priced between
£289-£599, depending on the model.
All you need to do now is work out
how to pronounce the name…
Just step into a Salon…
SALON QP that is: London’s
premier watch showcase, which is
on from now until Saturday at the
Saatchi Gallery.
If you love watches, you need to
bag yourself a ticket because this is
your chance to get up close — and
hands on — with some of this year’s
most talked-about launches.
From names you will know, such
as Vacheron Constantin, Cartier
and Bell & Ross, to ones you might
not, such as Halda, Bruggler and
Sarpaneva, there will be something
to tantalise, whatever your taste in
timepieces.
It’s a little slice of horological
heaven you won’t want to miss.
4
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
GOING HAND IN HAND
WITH TAILORING
Breitling
Transocean
Chronograph
1915 on brown
croc strap
£6,710, Breitling
(Breitling.com )
Collecting watches is a natural fit with making clothes, the top
designer duo behind Thom Sweeney tell Teo van den Broeke
T
HERE are very few creative
directors who look good
enough to wear the clothes
they produce. Tom Ford,
sure, and maybe Stefano
Pilati at Ermenegildo Zegna, but that’s
about it. Thom Whiddett and Luke
Sweeney, the handsome duo behind
modern British tailoring house Thom
Sweeney, are another addition to the
fortunate few. Perfectly turned out in
their self-made bespoke suits and with
not a hair out of place, the pair — who
founded their eponymous company in
2007 with a view to producing “grown-
up yet modern clothing” — now make
suits for London’s young and discerning men; Michael Fassbender, David
Gandy and Dermot O’Leary included.
While Sweeney (36) sharpened his
shears working for his father on the high
street side of the fashion industry, Whiddett (35) acquired his taste for menswear during an internship at Esquire
magazine in 1998. The pair met working
for east London tailoring leviathan
Timothy Everest in the mid-Noughties
and the rest, as they say, is history.
Aside from being the best-dressed
tailors in town, Sweeney and also boast
a rather impressive watch collection
between them. “I got my first real
watch in 2007 when I got married,”
says Sweeney. “It was a really simple
Rolex Datejust in silver. I started
researching and reading and [watches]
became a bit of an obsession.” He continues: “[Tailoring and watches] go
hand in hand, when you start making
clothes for yourself it’s a really natural
thing to get into. I’ve built my collection
based on my outfits.”
■ Teo van den Broeke is style director
of British Esquire and deputy editor of
Esquire’s Big Watch Book
5
1
2
1 Patek Philippe 18ct gold
Calatrava
“This one has sentimental value, it
was a gift from my wife for my
birthday. I’m still a novice but Patek
Philippe is the next level up from
Rolex in terms of investment. It’s the
ultimate for a watch collector. This is a
great piece, it’s a dress watch with a
black strap, it’s incredible and special,
and it feels great with a tux. The level
of work that goes into these things is
incredible. It was new when I got it but
people think it’s vintage, it’s got an
understated, vintage look to it.” —
Luke Sweeney
2 Vintage Omega
The best-dressed
tailors in town:
Thom Whiddett
(standing) and
Luke Sweeney
boast an
impressive watch
collection
between them
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUPERT PEACE
Omega
Dark Side of the
Moon Co-Axial
Chronograph
Calibre 9300 in
Vintage black
£8,205, Omega,
(omegawatches.
com)
5
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
Seamaster 1960s
“I bought this watch during my old
flatmate’s stag do in Amsterdam. It was
our second day and I wanted to do
something productive, so I randomly
walked into a watch shop (probably
when I was a bit drunk) and bought this
1966 Omega Seamaster. It was made in
the year England won the World Cup
3
but that wasn’t the reason I bought it. I
also liked it because it was slim and
understated, it went with everything.”
— Thom Whiddett
3 IWC Portugeiser
“This was a 30th birthday gift to
myself, it was the first proper watch
that I bought. I didn’t wear them before
that, I didn’t see the point if I couldn’t
wear a nice one. I wear it as a casual
piece now. At the time IWC seemed like
the watch, it wasn’t too blingy or too
big. It just seemed a bit understated for
a new watch, and relatively small. It
seemed like a watch I could wear in the
future.” — Thom Whiddett
4 1972 Gold Rolex Datejust
“All-gold Datejusts with gold faces are
hard to come by. I’d been looking for
one for about a year, with the box and
papers they’re very hard to find.
There’s a dealer from Sheffield whom
I’ve worked with in the past, he called
me and said he’d found one and that
was that! This one’s got a black leather
4
strap; it’s kind of understated. I can’t
wear all gold as it looks too
pretentious. It’s a really cool watch,
and because it’s vintage the gold has
become a bit distressed, it looks like its
got history.” — Luke Sweeney
5 1978 Vintage Rolex Red
writing Sub Mark VI
“When you read the watch collector’s
rule book you learn that the Rolex
Submariner is a good starting point for
a collection. This is a great watch, I
wear it casually, it goes with blazers
and trousers and knitwear; it’s a
beautiful piece. The Mark 6 has
become a real collectors’ item. When I
bought mine it was an investment
piece and over the years it’s gone up in
value. I put a brown suede strap on it
but I’ve got the original strap (it’s
really important to keep the original
strap when you collect vintage
watches). The only one I’ve kept the
original strap on is Daytona. Most of
mine have leather or Nato straps.” —
Luke Sweeney
6
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
‘SOME MONTHS I BUY TWO WATCHES. I OWN 50 TO 60’
LONGINES BRINGS A TOUCH OF
LUXURY TO OXFORD STREET
Proper military
heritage:
Longines’Heritage
Military COSD has
a genuine Nato
strap and hasn’t
tried to gussy up
its ruggedly
functional look
4
1
2
5
3
1 Linde Werdelin
Spidospeed full
18k rose gold
Anish Blatt: “My
collection] is
made up of a lot
of vintage Rolexes
and Patek
Philippes but I
also have many
modern pieces
from independent
brands”
RUPERT PEACE
WITH its Omega, Swatch and Hour Passion boutiques,
the Swatch Group has been slowly establishing a little
watch mecca on Oxford Street.
And, this month, it will be adding Longines to the
list, just in time to tempt Christmas shoppers.
This will be the brand’s first stand-alone store in the
UK and will showcase iconic heritage pieces as well as
modern classics from the collections.
One such number that will be on sale there will be
the recently launched Heritage Military COSD. This
stylish slice of a reissue has proper military heritage,
genuine Nato strap and hasn’t tried to gussy up its
ruggedly functional look. In other words, it’s bang on
trend and demands a space in your watch wardrobe
and on your wrist.
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EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
Anish Blatt is the man behind Watchanish,
the Instagram feed whose 1.5 million
followers every watch brand wants to
reach. Teo van den Broeke meets him
W
H E R E once glossy
magazines and flash
window displays were
the only places the
world’s major watch
brands wanted their timepieces to be
seen, now the digital world is beginning
to gain traction. Blogs, Instagram
accounts and online retail stores are
becoming increasingly important in
terms of customer engagement, a fact
no one understands better than Anish
Bhatt.
A former pharmacology student and
fashion industry businessman, British
born Bhatt gave up his job in 2011 to
found the Tumblr blog watch-anish.
com — a glittering stream of supersaturated iPhone shots featuring the
world’s most exclusive timepieces.
The blog spawned the Instagram feed
@watchanish in 2012, and it’s this
account that has quickly transformed
Bhatt from unknown bedroom blogger into watch industry mainstay.
Today Bhatt’s account boasts some
1.5 million followers and a long list of
watch brands clamouring to be featured.
Bhatt’s personal watch collection is
unsurprisingly vast. “I own around 50
or 60 [watches] but it chops and
changes,” he tells me.
“I add to my collection every so
often. Some months I might buy two
watches; some months I buy none,
so it depends. [My collection] is made
up of a lot of vintage Rolexes and
Patek Philippes but I also have many
modern pieces from independent
brands.”
■ Teo van den Broeke is style director
of British Esquire and deputy editor of
Esquire’s Big Watch Book
“So this is an independent brand, the
watches are designed in Copenhagen
and made in Switzerland. I really like
the ideology of the brand. It’s very
sports-orientated. This watch is
specifically a ski watch and the
skeletonised case allows the wearer to
attach a ski computer (which holds all
the guides for all the European slopes)
to the top of it. Linde Werdelin was one
of the first brands I started working
with on @watchanish and I get on
really well with the owners. This piece
was also the first watch I bought when
I started @watchanish, so it’s
sentinmental to me for that reason. I
have it on a custom Goyard strap,
which was made for me by a friend.”
2 Rolex 1675/8 from 1970s
“Another vintage Rolex, this model has a
full yellow gold GMT. It’s known as the
’Root Beer’ because it has a brown bezel
and dial. This was the most recent piece
in my collection. I purchased it a few
weeks ago in New York. I’ve always been
a fan of vintage gold Rolexes as through
wear and age the gold turns a rosy
colour. It’s not quite as exceptional as
some of my other pieces, but it’s a very
cool watch.”
3 Romain Jerome unique
piece Moon Invader
“This was the first unique piece that
was made for me by a brand. Romain
Jerome made this for me with my logo
on the dial — it’s also the seconds
indicator. I’m a big fan of the lugs of
the Moon Invader as they shape to
your wrist — it doesn’t matter your
wrist size, this watch will always fit
very comfortably. I loved the design of
the watch.”
4 Hublot Classic Fusion
Visions II with Arabic dial
“The watch was given to me as a
birthday present two years ago by the
Seddiqi family in Dubai. The Seddiqis
own the biggest watch retail group in
the UAE. The watch was limited to a run
of 100 pieces and I was given number
10. Mohammed Seddiqi is a close friend
and he designed this watch with Hublot
to resemble the watches commissioned
by Middle Eastern people in the Fifties
and Sixties from brands such as Rolex.
The text on the dial is Arabic. A few
weeks ago a piece went to auction in
Dubai for $87,000— around 10 times its
retail price. It’s already in very high
demand.”
5 Rolex 1680 with Sheikh
Maktoum signed dial
“This is a watch from the 1970s. The
1680 is my favourite Submariner
reference because it has a plastic
crystal which stands a lot prouder
than a sapphire crystal. The dial also
ages better, there’s a mix of matte and
gloss. This piece special because it
was one of only five pieces
commissioned by Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum for him to give
as gifts to important political figures
or heads of state. His name is actually
on the dial in red text. If you imagine a
regular 1680 is worth around £4-5K,
the value of this piece is probably
somewhere around £70-75K+.”
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9
ALLSTAR
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
ALLSTAR
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
WHAT MAKES
BOND TICK?
From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, 007 has always killed it
in the style stakes — with cool timepieces to match. Ken Kessler
chronicles half a century of horology with a licence to thrill
Literary Bond
Purists such as me, who think of Bond
as a figure from books, regard his first
watch as the definitive. Although only
identified as a Rolex, the money is that
it was an early Explorer, because that
is what author and Bond creator
Ian Fleming wore.
I’m happy to go along with it: my
Explorer dates from 1956 (admittedly
a few years later than the publication
of the first Bond novel, Casino Royale,
as was Fleming’s), but I suspect that
the Bond/Fleming connection has
upped its value considerably. Why the
Explorer? Because it fits the
description, and the model was born
around the time of Casino Royale,
based on a Rolex worn by Sir Edmund
Hillary when assaulting a mountain
called Everest.
Photos show Fleming wearing his Rolex
Explorer, which still exists. Now called
an Explorer I so as not to be confused
with the later, more butch Explorer II
with second time zone, the first Explorer
was and is a model of horological purity,
an automatic with only hours, minutes
and seconds on display, with a “Mercedes” hand and numerals at 3, 6 and 9
o’clock, a stainless steel case and Oyster
bracelet.
Bond on screen
In the early Sean Connery-era Bond
films, he was wearing a watch now so
lusted after that I am kicking myself for
flogging at least a half-dozen for under
£300 before the craze for it materialised. It is the early Submariner, the
model without the protective guards on
either side of the crown. According to
legend, the watch belonged to the movie’s producer, Cubby Broccoli, when
Rolex declined to be involved with the
films.
[Anorak Detail: Instead of a bracelet,
Bond’s had a striped over/under cloth
strap, incorrectly called a “Nato strap”
when it is nothing of the sort: Nato straps
didn’t appear until 1973 and are issued
only in shades of grey.]
Prices for Submariners without crown
guards are all over the place: it depends
on who’s bidding in the auction, or who
has deep pockets and no concept of
restraint. I’ve seen them as low as
£6,000 this past year, but double or
treble that is more likely. And if the
actual watch worn by Connery went on
sale, I have no doubt it would crack the
£1,000,000 mark. And why not? Someone paid more than that for a Rolex
once owned by Eric Clapton, of which
three exist.
Bond watch experts suggest that
Connery may have worn any one of four
models, including the references
6538A, 6538, 5510 or even the 6200
with “3/6/9” numerals. Even today’s
high res and Blu-ray playback do not
allow one to zoom in on the dial, but all
Dangerous times:
right, Sean
Connery wears a
Rolex Submariner
in Thunderball
(1965). Top left,
Roger Moore’s
Seiko contained a
ticker-tape printer
in The Spy Who
Loved Me (1977).
Top right, Pierce
Brosnan sports an
Omega Seamaster
in The World Is Not
Enough (1999)
ALLSTAR
H
ERO worship being what it
is, the watch industry knows
how to use its ambassadors
— whether paid for or incidental. From Paul Newman
to JFK to Steve McQueen, a sprinkling of
stardust gives a watch a level of appeal
that all the technological might in the
world cannot endow. The best thing ever
happen to any wristwatch was the benediction of a fictional character, rather
than a flesh-and-blood celebrity.
For more than a half-century, boys of
all ages have wanted to be James Bond.
None of us will own his Beretta or
Walther PPK. A lucky few might secure
an Aston Martin. But his wristwatches
are accessible, and there’s a delicious
buzz when looking at the time and seeing
what one of the Bonds — whether in the
books or in one of the 24 films — saw
when he needed to know the hour.
What most people do not realise, unless
they’re fans of both the books and the
entire cinematic canon or above a certain
age, is that 007 was issued a plethora of
watches other than Omegas. That brand,
however (which celebrates its 20-year
association with Bond with the release of
Spectre), has done more to exploit the
connection than any other, so for an
entire generation, an Omega is the Bond
watch to own. But before we deal with
the latest, here’s a look back at what Bond
wore, and what you might like to look for
in second-hand shops or at auction.
versions lack crown guards and any
would serve the enthusiast well.
Rolexes continued to feature into the
Roger Moore era, while the list of detours
for Bond and others used as plot developments embrace brands you might not
suspect as 007-worthy. The Breitling
Top-Time seen in Thunderball was an
early example of a gadget watch, as it
featured a Geiger counter. The actual
watch was found at a boot fair for £25
and was sold in auction in 2013 for
£103,875.
Moore’s Bond — which signalled the
more commercial and deliberate product placement we now take for granted,
as opposed to watches and cars that
were actually right for the role — wore
Seikos. It’s in the Moore era, too, when
many of the watches were “weaponised” — but not all. Hard-core watch
connoisseurs might balk at Seiko’s digital timepieces, but the prop-masters of
the films were always cognisant of the
latest “tech” and digital watches define
the Roger Moore era.
Bond wore Rolex Submariners in Dr
No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger,
Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service, Live and Let Die (the one with
magnet and buzz-saw) and The Man
With the Golden Gun. Seiko emerged
as the Bond watch for The Spy Who
Loved Me (the watch featuring a tickertape printer), Moonraker, For Your Eyes
Only (presaging the Apple watch with
a Seiko that included a satellite phone),
Octopussy (again, the prescient Seiko
included a homing device) and A
View to a Kill.
In The Living Daylights, Timothy
Dalton had a TAG-Heuer Professional Night Dive, while Licence to
Kill brought back the Rolex Submariner Date. From Goldeneye
onward, Bond has worn Omegas,
Pierce Brosnan donning Omega
Seamaster Professionals, usually
gadget-equipped, for Tomorrow
Never Dies (the watch featured a
detonator), The World Is Not Enough
(an Omega fitted with piton wire) and
Die Another Day (with a watch-based
detonator and laser cutter).
A decade into the Omega era, in the
first film to star Daniel Craig, product
placement reached its apotheosis — or
should that be “crossed the line” — in the
scene where Vesper asks Bond, “Rolex?”
and he replies, “No, Omega”. Some feel
Precious moments:
above, Daniel Craig
in Spectre with the
Omega Seamaster
300 that can now
be bought as part
of a limited edition
of 7,007, below.
Top right, the
Rolex Submariner
used by Roger
Moore in Live and
Let Die that has
just sold at auction
for £240,000 and,
below it, an Omega
Seamaster CoAxial diver watch
as worn by Craig in
Casino Royale
that it ought to go down in the annals of
product placement as a watch too far.
Seamasters And Seamaster Planet
Oceans have served Craig’s Bond since
Casino Royale, through Quantum of
Solace and Skyfall. But Spectre has
brought about a change because, for
the first time, Omega has issued a limited edition precisely like the one Bond
wears in the film, as opposed to a model
simply festooned with 007 logos. And
it’s a honey.
The best Bond watch
of them all?
By now, you know that Spectre just may
be the best Bond movie ever. Yeah, I’m
still a Connery fan, and feel that Messrs
Brosnan and Dalton are underappreciated, but Spectre nailed me to my seat.
And when I saw it at a showing hosted
by Omega, the chap next to me was a
customer who had just purchased one
of the fabulous Seamaster 300s as featured on screen — but I will not spoil the
plot by saying what the watch does for
Bond, beyond telling the time.
Along with an Omega Seamaster
AquaTerra 150M worn in the early
scenes, Craig sports this sublime, revised
version of the Seamaster 300, launched
in 1957. A serious diving watch, it has all
the classic touches needed to make it
suitable for the task, including rotating
bezel and high legibility, with superior
resistance to water ingress. Inside,
however, is the latest Omega Co-axial
movement, while the film’s logo is
engraved on the caseback.
Omega has paid homage to the
Connery era by fitting it with a cloth
strap in the same stripes as the
watch in Dr No. One might
speculate how Omega will top
this, but we’ll have to wait two
years or so for the next
instalment.
Alas, the Spectre model is a limited edition of 7,007 watches. If it
doesn’t sound all that limited to you,
factor in that the Bond movies form
the longest-running franchise in history, and the third most successful after
Harry Potter and the collective Marvel
films. Then think about how all those
10-year-olds who have been hooked on
Bond since Dr No are now senior citizens
who can raid their pensions. Trust me,
7,007 — as Bond once said of the world
— is not enough.
10
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
11
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
ALL A MODERN MAN SHOULD WEAR ON A WELL DRESSED WRIST
UNDENIABLY, the rise in popularity
of men’s wristwear has never been
more evident and now more than
ever there seems to be the obligation
to pair your timepiece with an
accessory that highlights its
opulence. Thankfully Links of
London is here to assist you and its
latest SS16 collection does the trick.
First of all start by working around
your watch, deciding whether you
would like to dress it up or down
while remaining true to your
personal style. A great starting point
is Links’ Sterling Silver and Leather
Venture Bracelets, minimal, sleek
and they won’t take any of the justly
THE BEST
OF BRITISH
DESIGNERS
Making it:
Uniform Wares,
left and far left,
has won fans
worldwide with its
killer combination
of slimline cases,
straightforward
faces and sleek
straps
They may be made with Swiss expertise
but the inspiration for some of today’s finest
pieces is homegrown, says Nick Carvell
Uniform Wares
IN 2009, at a time when men were in
the grip of a craze for bling-out watches
that dwarfed the wrist (barely)
supporting it, Uniform Wares burst
onto the British watch scene with its
sleek, beautifully Bauhaus-inspired
models— and quickly became one of
the country’s most coveted quartz
timepiece makers. Founded by two
product designers, Oliver Fowles and
Patrick Bek, the line’s killer combination
of slimline cases, straightforward faces
and sleek straps has become the label’s
signature, winning fans across the
world (Mos Def owns one) — not to
mention spawning plenty of pretenders
to their throne.
Ironically, it is the watches’ lack of
branding that has become the
trademark of the brand itself. The only
mention of the company name you’ll
find on their un-numeralled faces is a
small “Uniform Wares” that straddles
the six o’clock marker, written small
enough that it’s almost illegible unless
your nose is pressed up to the
(sapphire) glass.
However, brand fans will tell you the
brand’s true USP is the quality of materials these watchmakers use: straps
crafted from Louisiana alligator skin,
Italian shell cordovan leather, Veronan
nitrile rubber or German metal mesh,
beautiful brushed metal cases and
premium Ronda or ETA Swiss quartz
movements — all assembled in Switzerland with Swiss expertise.
It isn’t all about the looks — it’s about
what’s under the hood too. And while
it’s hard to deny the beauty of these
minimalistic models, Uniform Wares
is known for making design-led
watches that are more democratic in
pricing than many of its rivals. While
you can spend up to £800 on one of
these timepieces (the generously
appointed, sporty C41 Chronograph
with Milanese mesh bracelet), the
seriously stylish M37 starts at a very
reasonable £250.
However, if you’re keen to get one of
Uniform Wares’ products on your
wrist, you’d better act fast. Unlike
many other watch companies, Fowles
and Bek tend to make only small runs
of their models, testing and tweaking
m ate r ials, fini she s a n d d e sig n
improvements with each new iteration.
The good news? This means each
becomes a limited edition as soon as it
emerges from the workshop — but you
might just have to beat a worldful of
fans to get your favourite.
Inspired by vintage shapes from the
Fifties and Sixties, the watches have
been brought right up to date with
electric bursts of colour, arrowhead
second hands and sporty-yet-sleek
straps — straps that, we should also
add, can easily be snapped off and
swapped out to suit the occasion. You
want a watch as adept at multitasking
as you? You’ve found it.
The contrasting brass-coated crown
is a perhaps the brand’s most eyecatching trademark, but it’s also
notable for only offering one case
diameter (39.5mm) intended to hit the
sweet spot for both sexes — reflecting
a recent Baselworld trend we’ve
noticed of men opting for smaller dials
(bye-bye, oversized divers) and women
opting for bigger, more traditionally
masculine-sized ones.
And while there are only seven
models on the books right now, expect
big things from this adventurous brand
in the future. Click into the “classic”
section of Farer’s site and you’ll notice
that there’s also a small, curated
selection collection of classic cars from
the Seventies that you can buy to match
your timepiece. And here you were
thinking that the watch was the
accessory...
Henry London
In perhaps the most romantic founding
story of any watch company, the design
duo behind Henry London were
inspired to start the brand when one
stumbled across a beaten-up but beautiful Swiss watch at Portobello Road
market with the words “Henry, August
1965” engraved on the case back.
The result was a watch company
dedicated to producing mid-Sixties style
timepieces with unashamedly sophisticated styling. Think double-domed
lenses, curved dials, elongated second
hands and tall, elegant numerals floating over a quartz movement — the sort
of sleek style that could have been
passed down from your grandfather,
but would still look right at home in 2015
whether it was poking out from under
a grey sweatshirt or a smoking jacket.
And while the monochrome models
are perhaps most indicative of the era
that inspired the brand, many
of the models have been
brought right up-to-date with
bold dials and eye-catching
straps. Want a blue-faced
Milanese Chronograph or a
plum- strapped three hander? These guys have
got it covered.
However, it wasn’t just the throwback
style of the watch they found in Notting
Hill that has become a cornerstone of
the brand — it’s also the element of
personalisation. Whichever watch you
go for, they can all be engraved with a
name on the back of the case in a
variety of fonts to suit your
style.
Don’t get us wrong, these
watches look great from the
front but, just like a great
fitting Savile Row suit, it’s
those details no one else
sees that make all the
difference.
Farer
As you might guess from the name,
Farer is a new British watch brand with
adventure in its DNA — look through
the collection and you’ll notice all of
its seven models are named after
notable homegrown explorers: (Amy)
Johnson, (Martin) Frobisher, (Howard)
Carter to name three.
Designed in Britain and made in
Switzerland, Farer’s timepieces set
themselves apart from the crowd by
giving modern design with a retro edge.
Adventures in
time: Farer offers
modern design
with a retro edge
while Henry
London (near left)
combines midSixties style with
unashamed
sophistication
Well armed: from
left, Links of
London’s leather
Venture bracelet
and Camden skull
bracelet, from £85
deserved attention away from your
watch.
For the more outgoing and
adventurous, either the Camden
Skull or the 20/20 would work well,
both together if you do so please, and
if you are after a classic then look no
further than the Friendship bracelet,
which is timeless. Less is certainly
more in this scenario, so try not to
equip your wrist with more than three
items, it will only distract the
onlookers. Lastly, keep those charity
bands of yours to your bedside
drawer.
Ben Browne
12
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
13
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
SWISS AIM TO
OUTSMART
SILICON VALLEY
Blueprint for a breakthrough: “It’s a watch, not a computer on your wrist”
TAG Heuer aims to succeed where Apple
stumbled with its new Connected Watch.
John Arlidge assesses its chances
W
HEN a popular electronics company based in
Cupertino launched a
digital watch last year,
posh Swiss watchmakers scoffed. Stephane Linder, then chief
executive of TAG Heuer, the venerable
brand owned by LVMH, the world’s
largest luxury goods group, told the
Evening Standard that the Apple watch
was “not a luxury product”.
He explained: “Luxury is about being
unique and rare. At $350, the Apple
watch looks more mass market. Luxury
is about longevity. A smart watch will
be outdated and replaced every year.
Luxury is about ease and elegance.
There is nothing easy and elegant
about carrying around another charger.
Oh my God!” TAG Heuer had no plans
to make a smart watch, he added.
What a difference a year — and a
change of CEO — makes. In New York
on Monday Jean-Claude Biver, the new
boss of TAG Heuer, took to the stage
with Bernard Arnault, le patron of
LVMH and the richest man in France,
to unveil the TAG Heuer Connected
Watch, with, yes, a new charger.
“This is a milestone for us and for the
Swiss watch industry — the marriage of
Switzerland’s watch valley and Silicon
Valley. The Swiss watch industry is connected to the future,” Biver bellowed
in his trademark bombastic style,
before cutting up a giant cheese from
his own farm in Switzerland and handing out slabs to bemused-looking journalists and fashion folk.
At first glance, Biver’s timing looks as
lousy as his cheese is excellent. Apple
won’t say how many watches it has sold
but analysts and casual observers —
look at the wrists of people in your
office or on the train you take to work
— say it’s far fewer than the firm had
hoped. The iPhone it certainly ain’t.
It’s a brave man who says “I can do
what the most successful consumer
electronics firm ever can’t” but Biver
is convinced he has created the first
smart watch that will have mass appeal.
The funny thing is, he might be right.
Biver has studied the Apple watch
closely — he has five — and has
addressed what he regards as its shortcomings. First and most important,
“it’s a watch, not a computer on your
wrist,” he says.
It certainly looks like a watch. It
comes from the Carrera family of TAG
Heuers, so is round. The dial is digital
but looks analogue, with hour and
minute markings and even shadows
under the hands in bright light. It is
always on, with the hands turning. By
contrast, the Apple watch is square and
only turns itself on when you turn your
wrist to your face, so you walk around
most of the time with an inert, black
slab of glass on your wrist that critics
say is far from chic.
“I said to my team, ‘If the Connected
Watch looks like the Connected Watch
and not a watch, then we have failed’,”
Biver says. “I wore the Connected
Watch for three weeks before the
launch and I’m glad to say no one spotted it was a Connected Watch.”
Critics say the Apple watch is hard to
use. The icons are too small to read,
even on the larger of the two models.
Using the crown to help to navigate is
remarkably fiddly for the company that
popularised touch-screen computing
with the iPhone and the iPad. By contrast, the TAG Heuer Connected Watch
is instantly easy to understand and
operate. A few taps and swipes take
you to your Calendar, email, messages
and key apps. The large screen is easy
to read.
The Connected Watch does a lot
untethered to your mobile phone,
unlike the Apple watch which only
really works when you have your
iPhone with you. Calendar, email and
messages are cached and generate
alerts even if your phone is switched
off. Music can be downloaded and
streamed via Bluetooth headphones.
Better still, the Connected Watch has
its own wifi connector, unlike the Apple
watch. That means that provided you
keep your mobile phone connected to
wifi or the GSM network — say in your
office, home or hotel room — you can
use all the functions of the watch on
any wifi network you encounter. That
enables you to go out and relax, say by
the pool, without taking your phone,
safe in the knowledge that you won’t
miss anything important.
And it does not matter if your mobile
is an iPhone or a Samsung, Nexus or
HTC or any other handset that runs on
Google’s Android operating system.
The Connected Watch, that comes with
4G of memory and textured rubber or
leather straps, works with both iOS and
Android.
After Apple was lambasted for offering less than a day’s battery life, TAG
Heuer, aided by chip-maker Intel, says
it has ensured that most users will have
around 30 per cent charge left at the
end of a 16-hour day. TAG knows the
last thing any of us wants to carry
around is another bulky charger, so it
has made its Connected Watch charger
light and very small.
T
HE Apple watch has been
marketed largely towards
women, leaving many men
feeling it is too feminine.
Three-quarters of TAG Heuer’s sales are to men and Biver has
deliberately made the Connected
Watch “larger than it strictly needs to
be to accommodate the electronics”
— 46mm to be precise — to appeal to
men. “It is a big, strong, sexy statement,” he says. Yet it is still light,
thanks to its titanium body. A smaller
Connected Watch for women will be
launched next year.
Of all the criticisms of the Apple watch,
perhaps the most pertinent is that while
Apple claims it is a luxury product — it
hired former Burberry boss Angela
Ahrendts, and former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve to create special
luxury sections of its Apple stores and
allowed modish retailers, notably
Colette in Paris and Selfridges in London to sell the watch — it is not because
it is outdated the moment you buy it and
has to be thrown away when a new better model arrives every two years. Privately, Jony Ive and Marc Newson, the
designers of the Apple watch who are
both lovers of traditional mechanical
watches that get better and more cherished with age, admit they have no real
answer to this question.
The same could easily apply to the
Connected Watch but Biver has leveraged his firm’s watch-making history to
find a neat solution. When a new model
of the Connected Watch comes out,
owners can pay to have TAG Heuer
install a mechanical movement to con-
Christopher Ward
C9 Moonphase
40mm watch,
£1,375
(christopher
ward.co.uk)
vert their old Connected Watch into a
traditional Carrera.
“The TAG Heuer Connected watch
gives you the means not only to connect
to the future, but also to connect to
eternity,” Biver says. “A computer company cannot do that because they do
not have the movement.”
Converting a Connected Watch into
a mechanical one “will end up costing
only $200 more than if you had bought
a mechanical Carrera to start with,”
Biver says.
Hublot
Classic Fusion
Ultra-Thin All
Black Skeleton
watch (45mm),
£12,600
(Hublot.co.uk)
To drive home its luxury pedigree,
the Connected Watch is reassuringly
expensive. It starts at £1,100, compared
with as little as £300 for the Apple
watch. New red gold models for men
and women will come soon and will
cost around £7,000.
The Connected Watch, which goes on
sale in two weeks, is not perfect.
Although it works with iOS, it works
better with an Android phone. Crucially,
while you receive all messages and
alerts via an iPhone, you cannot
Only connect:
TAG Heuer’s new
boss Jean-Claude
Biver is convinced
he has created the
first smart watch
that will have
mass appeal
IWC
Portugieser
Perpetual
Calendar in 18ct
white gold,
£31,900
(IWC, 138 New
Bond Street)
respond to anything other than Gmail.
At the launch, nobody, not even the
cocksure Biver, seemed sure whether
you can swim in it or not. That’s not
good enough for the most sporty watch
brand on the market. How easy it is to
read the screen in bright sunlight
remains to be seen. Battery life also
awaits the crucial real-world consumer
test.
Although receiving alerts and messages is simple, responding to them is
as tricky as it is on any tiny screen with
no keyboard. Biver insists you can
speak your response to an email or a
text message but talking to your watch
does not make you look like Dick Tracy.
It makes you look like a dick. And, for
those who care about these things, it is
not made in Switzerland, merely
“assembled” there.
One thing, however, is certain. After
all the hundreds of millions of dollars
spent making and marketing the Apple
watch, it has taken a good old-fashioned Swiss watchmaker to come up
with the first desirable smart watch.
Over to you, Apple, for the iWatch 2…
Patek Philippe
World Time
watch, POA
(patek.com)
14
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
15
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2015
ACROSS A WORLD
OF ADVENTURE
2
From Everest to the Arctic, watches have been a vital
piece of kit for the hardiest explorers, says Chris Hall
onwards, no expedition, challenge,
adventure or extreme sport was complete without a watch manufacturer
eager to prove the virtues of its latest
model. Most famously, Rolex put the
Explorer on the wrist of Edmund Hillary as he scaled Everest.
Today’s brands continue to engineer hard-as-nails watches for
situations where computers can’t
or won’t work, serving a purpose for
those men and women brave (and
foolhardy!) enough to throw themselves into the wild.
One such example is Tudor, which has
partnered up with British explorer and
film-maker James Bowthorpe as he
undertakes a winter trek up the course
of the Hudson River — followed by
1
3
FIVE FOR A
GENTLEMAN
TO RELISH
4
canoeing back down. Bowthorpe’s
project has environmentalism at its
heart; intended to highlight the onesided nature of New York’s relationship
with its river. Building a boat — equal
parts kayak, coracle and, er, bicycle —
from waste he finds on Manhattan’s
streets, Bowthorpe will carry his craft
all the way from the city to the river’s
source, 1,400m high in the Adirondack
mountains, then use it to travel back
down to the river’s Atlantic estuary.
The 650-mile round trip will see
Bowthorpe traverse some of Upstate
New York’s most difficult terrain, at the
height of winter. Fittingly, then, the
watch on his wrist will be a Tudor North
Flag — a model that has its roots in Arctic expeditions half a century ago.
Like its big brother Rolex, Tudor
started backing intrepid adventurers
in the post-war years. It provided Oyster Prince watches to the British North
Time travellers:
top, the America’s
Cup: above left,
Jimmy Spithill,
skipper of Team
Oracle USA.
Above right,
explorer James
Bowthorpe
Greenland Expedition. The point of the
exercise was to prove that Rolex’s more
affordable sibling could make a watch
capable of toughing it out with the best
of them — a theme that’s unchanged
with 2015’s North Flag.
Aesthetically simple, the North Flag
does bear a passing resemblance to
Rolex’s Explorer I, with its large 12 and
6 numerals and plain bezel. But it’s a
whole lot more dynamic, with bright
yellow accents to the ultra-legible
hands, a chunky, almost cartoonish
power reserve at nine o’clock, and a
ceramic, knock-proof bezel insert.
Inside it boasts Tudor’s first-ever inhouse movement, calibre MT5621. It’s
certified to chronometer levels of accuracy, and the watch is water-resistant
to 100m. Although, given the winter
temperatures of the Hudson, that’s one
attribute Bowthorpe will be eager not
to put to the test.
1. Hublot
Classic Fusion Ultra-Thin Skeleton All
Black (45mm)
£12,600, Hublot (31 New Bond Street W1)
5
2. IWC
Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days
Edition ‘75th Anniversary’
£8,250 (Available from the IWC Boutique,
138 New Bond Street W1, iwc.com)
3. Piaget
Altiplano Chronograph 41mm manualwinding bracelet watch
£30,700, Piaget (169 New Bond Street, W1)
4. Patek Philippe
Split second chronograph,
POA, Patek Philippe, (patek.com)
Two more watches on the wrists of daring yachtsmen
Bremont Oracle II
This GMT-equipped model is most
commonly found on the wrist of Jimmy
Spithill, skipper of Team
Oracle USA — current
champs of the America’s
Cup, gearing up to defend
their title in 2016.
Descended from
Bremont’s Terra Nova
(which earned its
exploring stripes on a
2013 expedition to
the South Pole), it’s
cased in titanium,
water-resistant to 500m,
shock proof and
chronometer-certified for
accuracy.
5. Romain Gauthier:
Prestige HMS in titanium with black
crocodile strap
£42,500 (williamandson.com)
IWC Portugieser Yacht Club
Chronograph
IWC’s “Ocean Racer” limited edition is
the sportiest of the Portugieser range
by far — which makes sense, as it’s
given to the crew of the Abu
Dhabi Ocean Racing team,
winners of this year’s 39,000mile round-the-world Volvo
Ocean Race. The 45mm
watch adds protective
crown guards and a rubber
strap to the standard
Portugieser. Water
resistance is just 60m but
inside beats one of the most
robust and reliable flyback
chronograph movements — vital
for timing legs of the race.
Bell & Ross
BR X1 Carbone
Forge
£14,900, Bell
& Ross UK,
(Burlington
Arcade W1)
Piaget
Piaget Altiplano
38mm bracelet
watch
£42,000, Piaget
(169 New Bond
Street W1)
Rado
Centrix Black
CeramicSkeletal
Bracelet Watch
£1,440, Rado,
(rado.com)
Cartier
Rotonde de
Cartier
Astrotourbillon
Skeleton
POA
(cartier.co.uk)
PHOTOGRAPH: MITCH PAYNE
T
HERE is a long and proud
history between the world of
watches and that of exploration and adventure. For
decades, the wristwatch
was the pre-eminent piece of goeverywhere tech, able to perform
the potentially life-saving functions of measuring time, navigating and performing calculations
in pretty much every environment
known to man.
Since the Second World War put a
watch on the wrists of soldiers, sailors,
divers and pilots, the concept of the
tool watch was born. Swiss brands were
justly proud of the service their timepieces had provided to the world’s
military forces, and from the 1950s
16