Australian Watch Authority
This is the ultimate dress watch, and it has been for more than 100 years
Editor’s note: Dress watches are one of those timepiece genres with very specific ‘rules’, and can be hard to nail. One watch that always manages to look elegant and on point in a dressy situation is the Cartier Tank. Like this Tank Louis Cartier we looked at a while back … It’s hard to overstate the importance of Cartier’s Tank. Not just in the rarefied world of watch design, but in the much broader fields of fashion and design. In a crowded scene full of pretenders, it stands out — like an enduring style icon in a room full of so-called influencers. This year the Tank celebrates its centenary, and Cartier has released a brace of new Tanks to mark the occasion, in the Française, Américaine, Cintrée and Louis Cartier collections. We’re going to look at the new steel Américaine shortly, but today we’re spending time with the most classical iteration, the large Tank Louis Cartier in pink gold. What you immediately notice about this Louis Cartier is just how little the design has changed since the Tank Louis Cartier was first introduced in 1922. Sure, little details such as the hands and Cartier text have changed, and the case construction is…
INTRODUCING: The TAG Heuer Monaco 1969-1979 Limited Edition
The watch industry likes to throw the word ‘icon’ around, often with very little basis in fact. However, when talking about the TAG Heuer Monaco, that moniker is well and truly earned. The disruptive, innovative square chronograph — one of the first automatic chronos on the market — turned 50 this year. I was expecting to see some big new releases at Baselworld, but TAG Heuer held their fire, focusing instead on the revamped Autavia line. So, no big Monaco news at Baselworld. And, in retrospect, it made sense. For where better to celebrate this significant anniversary than the watch’s spiritual ground zero – the Monaco Grand Prix. TAG Heuer has announced the first of five new limited edition Monacos at the Key Largo Villa in Monaco (one for each decade, with the subsequent four to be unveiled at events around the world). This version is formally called the TAG Heuer Monaco 1969-1979 Limited Edition and I’ve got to say, from press pictures, it looks quite attractive. With a deep green face, the dial has been given an uncommon Côtes de Genève finish on the front, with subtle yellow and red highlights. The form factor appears to be the same…
Spending a month with a beaten-up Omega Seamaster 300 – a watch that wears its scars proudly
Editor’s note: I’ve got a thing for beaten-up watches. It shows they’ve lived a life, and that their owners aren’t thinking primarily about resale value. They’re watches being worn in the spirit in which they’re made. And that’s a good thing. A few months ago I ended up wearing the Omega Seamaster 300 for a month or so. Now, unusually for me, this wasn’t a PR sample or anything, but an actual real watch, that I borrowed off a mate who wanted to try one of my watches on for size. Now, I’m typically hesitant to do this, as I would hate something to happen to the watch when it’s in my care. “Don’t worry,” said my mate, “I’m not precious.” Somewhat comforted by these words, I made my way to a local cafe to complete the hand-off. Several coffees and much amiable watch banter later, I walked off with the Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial (to give it its full name) buckled onto my wrist. My first impression was … jeez, he really wasn’t joking about not being precious — this watch is well-loved. Which is something I don’t get to see too much. The watches I review typically come in…
WHAT SEALED THE DEAL: On Andrew’s TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 11 CAW211P
When we came up with the concept for ‘what sealed the deal’, it was all about those micro-details and micro-decisions that happen in the final stages of a purchase. Tiny things you can’t get out of your head about a watch. That case shape. Those burnt orange indices that are coloured not by paint, but by oxidisation. Most of the factors that sealed the deal on my TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 11 were documented in this video below, but there is always more to the story, so here it is. When did you first see/hear about it? This is a weird way to meet a Monaco, but the first one I saw was in the mid-2000s and it was a V4, that wild creation comprised of belts, ceramic balls and magic. Of course, I’d seen them on wrists before that, but it wasn’t until GQ needed a story on the V4 that I properly deep-dived. At that point, to be completely honest, I found it occupied a weird polarised place, with this insanely innovative and amazing (cough, expensive) version and other really retro models that were out of vogue in the mid-2000s. There was certainly nothing as pitch-perfect as the…
