A week of celebrating winners and creating new ones: world champion divers, the year’s best watches, and our contribution
Borna BošnjakAt times, a slow week goes by, and as a result, the Friday Wind Down can be the perfect place for a funky watch story that you might not have otherwise come across. This week, however, was the complete opposite, with almost too much going on in that seven-day span that it’ll be hard to do it all justice.
We start off in Sydney, where the finals of Red Bull’s Cliff Diving World Championship would come to a close. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with World Champion-elect, Mido athlete, and overall cool dude Aidan Heslop before the event started, which included a trip to the very top of the platform from which he’d clinch his title later in the day. I have never met someone who talks about plummeting from a height of 27 metres so casually, adding that his diving routine just happens to have one of the highest difficulty ratings. Stepping out onto the platform, I instantly gained a newfound appreciation for what these athletes do, which was amplified by actually watching the event live later on. And if you’re at all like me, you’d be wondering what that is on his wrist. The eagle-eyed among you might recognise the domed crystal and mesh bracelet of the Mido Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer (which you can find in the T+T Shop, by the way).
And of course, how can we not mention the watch Oscars? Geneva saw all the watch glitterati join together in celebrating the best the industry had to offer in 2024. We’d already made our predictions when the nominations dropped – and I have to say, we did pretty well. As many had expected, the deservedly hyped IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar took home the Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix, taking over from AP’s ultra-complicated 11.59 RD#4 in 2023. Van Cleef swept the women’s categories with the Lady Jour Nuit and Lady Arpels Brise d’Été, Bovet was recognised for its uniquely complex Récital 28 Prowess 1, with the Audacity and Horological Revelation prizes deservedly going to industry newcomers Berneron and Rémy Cools.
And what better way to wrap up the week than with our latest limited edition – the TAG Heuer Solargraph Sundowner. If you haven’t yet checked out the video for the full low-down from Andrew, make sure you do. In a nutshell, it’s a tribute to the Australian Outback and the unique shade of gold that the skies take on at dusk over the Pacific Ocean, depicted with flashes of gold in the muted grade 2 titanium case. With a launch event in London all wrapped up and one to come in Melbourne, we’re still in celebration mode. We love it, and we sincerely hope you do too. On that note, have a wonderful weekend!
Borna and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: smh these boomers
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Whether it’s Yahoo Japan, Chrono24, or the deep, murky waters of eBay, we’ve all spent too much time looking for that perfect watch that doesn’t exist and that we don’t need. Oh, just me?
Wrist shot of the week: Holy lugs, Batman!
The association was immediate when I noticed this stunning Vacheron Constantin ref. 6089 pop up on my feed, courtesy of @a_universalman and @thehourlounge. Vacheron is well-known for its curvaceous cow horn lugs, but this was something completely different. The herringbone dial, aggressive indices, and Batman lugs (as I shall now refer to them) make for a stunning mid-century dress watch with a twist.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: TAG Heuer x Time+Tide Aquaracer Solargraph ‘Sundowner’
It could only ever be this one, right? Limited to just 250 pieces, make sure to head to our online T+T Shop or our Discovery Studios in London and Melbourne to pick one up when it drops on the 19th of November at 07:00 AEDT.
Register for priority access to the TAG Heuer x Time+Tide Aquaracer Solargraph ‘Sundowner’ in the Time+Tide Shop, either online or in our Melbourne Discovery Studio. Price: US$3,050, A$4,450, £2,700
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
The full circle moment for TAG Heuer’s dive watch collection
If you’re wondering how we got to the Aquaracer Solargraph, this piece will take you from the inception of the Heuer diver, the heyday of the TAG Heuer 2000 Series in the 1980s and ’90s, all the way to today. Read the full history of the TAG Heuer dive watch here.
The Nivada Grenchen Antarctic GMT improves upon the 1960s original while being very faithful
The first post-revival Nivada Grenchen GMT is an absolute cracker, and we got our hands on it for a full video review. The vintage-sized case and actually well-done fauxtina make the Antarctic GMT stand shoulders above its competition. Check out the full review here.
How Junghans went from making straw hats to becoming a global power
Even though German watchmaking has long been appreciated, it seems as if Junghans always sits on the periphery of this, despite its long, decorated history and models that pioneered Bauhaus in watches. Buffy has the full breakdown of Junghans’ history, and you can also see a special selection of the brand’s watches in our London Discovery Studio for a limited time.