Nick Kenyon, Author at Time and Tide Watches

Nick Kenyon

Posts by Nick:

TAG Heuer Monaco blue dial

16.07.2019

The Mighty Monaco, TAG Heuer's CAW211P

Editors's note: If you are reading this, and I were a gambling man, I'd guess you were aware that 2019 is a special year in the world of watches. One of the significant reasons is that TAG Heuer are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the Monaco Chronograph, their angular cult classic. To mark the occasion, TAG Heuer are releasing five limited edition Monaco watches to appropriately commemorate the half-century birthday (three of which have been released so far, here, here and here). So we wanted to look at this interpretation of the classic Monaco, released in 2015. …

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Rolex Daytona Rainbow

15.07.2019

15 of the best gold watches from 2019

Gold watches are looked on a spectrum. This is typically between gaudy expressions of personal wealth, and precious metal celebrations of horological handiwork. Wherever your personal perspective sits on this scale, at some point in your watch-loving life, you will find yourself looking with adoration at a gold watch (Andy wrote how best to deal with this feeling). As John Mayer said once about the Rolex Rainbow Daytona, "When people see (them) in person, they all kind of give in and go, yeah I get it." This (almost guilty) look down at the heavier part of the watch counter led…

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F.P Journe Elégante 48MM Titalyt

13.07.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Why did auctioneer Aurel Bacs buy a modern quartz watch?

If you haven't heard of Aurel Bacs, that is something that needs to change. While the word influencer has been irreparably ruined by people who use Instagram at the beach, it is one of the most fitting words to describe his impact on the global vintage watch market. The founder of the watch department at Phillips, he still runs the business with his wife Livia Russo under the name Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, responsible for a string of records that places him in a league of his own at the rostrum. As you might expect, given he…

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Marlon Brando Rolex GMT front

12.07.2019

Marlon Brando's Apocalypse Now Rolex to be auctioned by Phillips

Marlon Brando's Rolex GMT-Master ref. 1675, worn by him on the set of Apocalypse Now, is to be auctioned by Phillips Watches Department. The story was broken by the New York Times, with the provenance of the piece being traced from Brando, who in 1995 gave the watch to his adopted daughter Petra Brando Fischer, who in turn gifted the watch to her husband Russel Fischer as a wedding present in 2003. The Rolex GMT-Master in question is a relatively classic ref. 1675, with a few interesting customisations added by Marlon Brando. While shooting Apocalypse Now, a member of the…

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Sarpaneva Korona K0 Northern Lights lume dial

12.07.2019

6 of the best lume dial watches

A brief history of luminous watch dials Murphy's Law states, "A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure." In watch collecting circles this is invariably true, but the number of watches in a collection is likely proportionate to the mania of the addiction, rather than proportionate to how punctual the collector might be. It also seems to be true that you need to know what time it is most urgently when you don't have a clock nearby. This seems to happen generally at night, when you wake in a panic,…

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12.07.2019

Mirka Federer and the coolest Rolex Day-Date ever

Editor's note: Is this the coolest Rolex Day-Date ever? Regardless of how you answer that question, this is objectively one of the rarest watches Rolex has manufactured in recent years, with it being conspicuously absent from any Rolex catalogue or website. We spotted Mark Wahlberg wearing one on Ellen, but more excitingly, we also noticed Mirka Federer wearing one at the Australian Open in 2017. Given her husband is currently playing (quite well) at Wimbledon, we thought it might bring him some good luck if we reminded the world just how good Mirka's taste in watches is. 430,000 euros of…

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Longines Heritage Military COSD

11.07.2019

A look back at the Longines Heritage Military COSD

Editor's note: As evidenced by the release of the popular Heritage Military watch, Longines have a long history in manufacturing reliable tool watches for the world's armed forces. One that is sometimes overlooked today, but got people talking when it was first released, is the Longines Heritage Military COSD. A considered nod to the watches the brand produced around the time of WWII, the Military COSD is another strong contender for an everyday watch — with a 40mm case, super-legible dial, and workhorse movement, there is a lot right about this watch. Felix has the full story below. The story in…

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11.07.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Trust in the Tool Watch

As you might have noticed (here, here and here), I'm quite interested in bulletproof watches being used in situations with bullets (figuratively). I enjoy, as much as the next guy, reading about the (somewhat theoretical) limits of well-made watches, if it be temperature, altitude or water pressure. But what I love even more is reading true stories of watches in dangerous situations and seeing how they perform. I also suspect that I am not alone in being a passionate consumer of horological testimonials that fall outside of a marketing budget, with there being an evident growth in interest in watches…

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Tudor Black Bay Blue

11.07.2019

Half a decade with the Tudor Black Bay Blue

Editor's note: We remember back when times were simpler. Back before there were half-decade waitlists, before secondhand watches were doubling retail prices, and before everything Tudor made was in-house. It was back in 2014 when Tudor first showed us the versatility of the Black Bay range, and the brand deeply impressed the watch community when they released the Black Bay Blue. This was also the year when Time+Tide started, and Felix's review of this new Black Bay Blue was one of the most popular stories on the site for a long time. So we thought we'd look back at this simple…

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CHANEL BOY.FRIEND SKELETON CALIBRE 3

10.07.2019

The 10 best skeleton dials from 2018

Skeleton dials are interesting, not because they offer a garish look at something exposed but because they showcase the sheer level of complexity involved in modern watchmaking. Without searching for photos of the movement of your watch online, or doing a John Goldberger (and opening your million dollar Rolex 4113 with a cheese knife), the regular watch enthusiast can't just look at the mechanism of their watch. A skeleton dial offers a view of the mechanism that is less invasive, and more intimate, by offering a window into a part of the watch usually saved for the eyes of watchmakers.…

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Nims Bremont S300 Supermarine Bremont

08.07.2019

5 Mount Everest watches that are literally high horology

As long as the internet and watch enthusiasts exist, there will be arguments about what the first watch on Mount Everest was. But rather than discussing semantic possibilities of the interpretation of 60-year-old advertisements, we wanted to look at a selection of Mount Everest watches (not just which was first). Smiths de Luxe The source of much argument and marketing budget, the Smiths de Luxe was taken to the summit of Mount Everest. The dispute lies in whether the watch was worn on the wrist or kept in a pocket, but, regardless, it was carried in some fashion to…

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Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711-1R

08.07.2019

In 2019, rose gold is looking like a steel

Editor's note: The year is 2019, and solid gold is worth less than steel. While this seems strange on the face of it, especially to those more recently in the horological hobbit hole, steel doesn't look like it's getting less shiny anytime soon. So taking a macro view of the watch buying landscape, gold pieces with siblings on the stainless steel hype train represent a comparatively strong value proposition. So we decided to have a look back at one of the best looking rose gold watches from 2015, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711-1R. The story in a second: Patek Philippe…

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Halios Seaforth - summer watches

08.07.2019

A taste of summer (watches), for everyone in winter right now

Editor's note: Wouldn't it be great if you could start every day with a sunrise, without having to get out of bed early? Felix makes the case that this is possible thanks to the Halios Seaforth, featuring a dial as radiant as the morning sun, without a price tag that gives you sunstroke. The other reason it's worth revisiting this watch is, as Type7 noticed, it seems like everyone with an Instagram account is in Greece at the moment, making all of us in the southern hemisphere very jealous. Summer watches like this one will keep us warm till November. …

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07.07.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Cultural perceptions of time aren't all straightforward

Here at Time+Tide, we write a lot about watches. What we don't write about as much is what the watches are actually communicating to us — time. And while time seems fairly straightforward (or is it straightbackward?) as a concept, cultural perceptions of time are highly variable, with these differences impacting language, writing and commercial activity of different people around the world. In Australia, it's common to talk about the past being behind us, with the future in front of us. But some people see the past as downhill and the future uphill, with others thinking about the past as being…

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Dan Henry 1970

06.07.2019

The Dan Henry 1962 is coming soon, will it be as good as the DH 1970?

Editor's note: Yesterday, Dan Henry teased us with the news of a new watch to be released on July 8. The only real clues on what the watch is going to be is the name, the Dan Henry 1962, and that it will be a racing chronograph (confirmed in the comments of the post). The brand has a trend of releasing themed watches tied to quintessential designs of the year in their name (as well as the number of units per edition being the same number as the year), meaning we can look at vintage watches from the likes of…

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A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia

06.07.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: An introduction to the watch internet

Despite what many may think, the birth of the watch internet happened a long time before Instagram was around. Back in those days (in an almost Grecian purity), the forum was king, with moderators wielding the sword of truth, slaying inaccurate idiots with all of the mercy Zeus was known for. These forums, most popularly TimeZone and WatchUSeek, were where WIS from around the world would congregate to politely* discuss watches in all shapes and forms. It was a mandatory introduction to the watch internet for any enthusiast. A few folk rose to notoriety in these online communities, including the…

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Rolex GMT Pepsi BLRO

05.07.2019

The most interesting watch bracelets of 2018

Thanks to their central function in the time-telling process, watch dials often get a significant amount of coverage in the horological media. But this often ignores the thing that keeps the dial on your wrist in the first place — the bracelet or strap. Considering the most customisable part of a watch is the bracelet — and what it looks like has significant impact on how the watch actually looks on the wrist — we wanted to look into the most interesting watch bracelets of 2018. G-SHOCK GMWB5000TFG-9 35TH ANNIVERSARY GOLD ALL METAL MASTERPIECE The one that started it all 35 years ago…

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Dirty Dozen British World War 2 Military Watches

04.07.2019

Which of the Dirty Dozen survive today?

The "Dirty Dozen" are watches produced by the 12 British Ministry of Defence contractors during World War II who were tasked with strapping watches to the wrists of allied forces. While some of the brands are bigger and better than ever before, a few have slid into relative obscurity or the books of insolvency firms. I wanted to take a look at which of the Dirty Dozen survive today … Which of the Dirty Dozen survive today? During the Second World War, the MoD took the opinion that civilian watches weren't up to the task of providing accurate timekeeping to…

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Omega Seamaster 1948 Small Seconds

03.07.2019

Old is the new black, 8 of the best heritage watches of 2018

While orange might be the new black, another obvious trend in the contemporary watch market is the lean towards heritage styling. This has been a consistent motif across the industry for a number of years now, but 2018 was a year when the number of heritage watches almost eclipsed those with more contemporary design. In the spirit of people loving old stuff better than new stuff, I wanted to shine the spotlight on a few pieces that are some of the best heritage watches of 2018. HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD MECHANICAL Sometimes we come across watches that present such a…

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Cartier-Panther-Revelation-3

03.07.2019

6 of the best women's watches of 2018

Half a decade ago, Time+Tide published a story, citing that by 2020 there would be more female millionaires in Britain than male, leaving it to the brands to respond to this shift. As we also mentioned here, women's watches are so often an afterthought from brands, typically taking a men's model and either shrinking it down or sinking a few stones into the bezel/lugs. While this still occurs, there are a number of brands that are working hard to have an independent women's collection under their roof, which is refreshing to see. Last year, Baselworld had a number of women's watches…

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Akrivia Chronometre Contemporain Rexhep Rexhepi Blue Dial

02.07.2019

LIST: Our favourite watches of Only Watch 2019

The eighth edition of Only Watch is underway, with the release of the unique pieces offered by the 50 brand partners. After raising 40 million Swiss francs in the last seven editions, Only Watch is one of the most important charity auctions on the calendar, with Only Watch raising money for research into muscular dystrophy. The watches are set to depart on a global tour of Christie's salesrooms, starting in Monaco, under the patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, who is a strong supporter of the auction. With more than four-dozen brands offering unique watches for…

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Grand-Seiko-SBGH267-5

02.07.2019

Dialled in – the 10 most interesting watch dials of 2018

As we naturally personify the objects we come into contact with, the hour and minute indicators on a watch become articulating hands, and the dial becomes a face. Just as we will closely study the faces of the people around us, we search for meaning in the faces of our watches as we read the time, giving watchmakers huge incentive to design the most interesting dials for our viewing pleasure. With this in mind, it wasn't hard to find a good-looking dial, making it a challenge to narrow down the 10 most interesting watch dials of 2018. Keep reading for…

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Undone Urban Killy Chronograph

01.07.2019

In 2018, these were the best watches under $1K

When you are first getting into watches, spending a thousand dollars seems like a ridiculous thing to do. Hell, even when you have started your journey into the rabbit hole, $1000 is still a lot of money for the vast majority of people living on planet earth. So with that in mind, I wanted to have a look at some of the best watches under $1K. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I would love to hear what you would add in the comments, but these were some pieces that stood out to me (I even bought…

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Grand Seiko SBGT241

30.06.2019

These are 6 of the best quartz watches of 2018

Quartz often gets a bad rap as the ugly duckling of the watch world. With pejoratives such as "soulless", and "the quartz watch is entirely dependent on its battery and it has the dedicated ambition to commit suicide as soon as possible", it takes a beating. And while the latter quote was by a not-insignificant contributor to the horological canon, it also implies literally no technological innovation in quartz watchmaking, which obviously isn't the reality. Quartz watches can be cheap and cheerful, but some quartz watches contain genuine watchmaking expertise, and a taste of something slightly different than laborious crown-winding…

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29.06.2019

Seiko vs. Garmin – who will survive an ultramarathon?

One of the most beautiful elements of the mechanical watch is it doesn't rely on disposable units of lithium to function. If you keep moving, your watch will too. This forms a dependent partnership that for many collectors is a huge emotional attraction to the mechanical watch. The energy from your fingertips directly transfers power into the micro-mechanical marvel that keeps you on time. This was the reason I wanted to wear a mechanical watch on my first attempt at an ultramarathon. My brother had convinced me to run 100km along the stunning coastline between Apollo Bay and the Twelve…

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Rolex-GMT-Master-II-Rolesor-Root-beer

29.06.2019

Two-Timing – 10 of the best GMT watches of 2018

As the internet hits scale, connecting humanity in ways previously unthinkable, it is more important than ever to track more than one time zone. This used to be the specific domain of intercontinental pilots, diplomats and finance professionals, but no longer. Thankfully, watch brands are recognising this demand for watches that track multiple time zones, meaning there are more on the market than ever before. Here are the best GMT watches of 2018. G-SHOCK GMW-B5000TFG-9 35TH ANNIVERSARY GOLD ALL METAL MASTERPIECE The one that started it all 35 years ago has been reborn, with everything, from its case and…

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Ming 18.01 Abyss Concept

28.06.2019

Don't stare into the Ming 18.01 Abyss Concept

Like all good stories filled with plot and intrigue, this one involves acquiring a pressure testing machine, and the decision to design a dive watch with it. Just like that, the Ming 18.01 Abyss Concept was born. In case you're not familiar with Ming, they're a relatively young brand that's been making a lot of noise thanks to their attractive and distinctive designs. After taking possession of the pressure testing machine, the team at Ming put their heads together on what this watch was going to look like. They started work on an experimental prototype for a watch that could…

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Patek-Philippe-Aquanaut-Chronograph-Ref.-5968A-5

26.06.2019

Orange you glad we wrote this list? Our six favourite orange watches from last year

Last year we collected more than 200 of the best watches in the ultimate watch buying guide, with prices covering everything from $200 to $200,000+. Pulling from that archive, we thought we'd put together the best watches for summer, themed around orange tones. Here are our top six (+1) favourite orange watches from last year. DAN HENRY 1970 AUTOMATIC DIVER Over the course of 30 years, Mr Dan Henry has amassed a collection of more than 1500 watches. And what began as a simple desire to share his passion with others, quickly turned into the beginning of his eponymous microbrand…

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1927 Patek Philippe Mono-Pusher Doctors Chronograph Ref. 130 from Phillips Auction

26.06.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Peculiar economics of the vintage watch market

The watch auction market has hit serious momentum over the last four or five years, with record-breaking results being produced every season. While a portion of the soaring prices can be attributed to macro factors — such as democratised information on vintage watches through the explosion of sites that cover the topic — this isn't the whole picture. As we have previously discussed, watches owned by celebrities appreciate in value particularly well, but this doesn't explain the boom in auction prices for references without significant provenance. As vintage dealer Sean Song discusses, the auction room itself plays a large part in the…

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26.06.2019

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms that tells the story of the frogmen who used them

Editor's note: The Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC, aside from being a damn good-looking dive watch, serves as a reminder that brands can reissue mid-century military watches without breaking the internet. We thought we'd take a look back at this Blancpain Fifty Fathoms tribute, which tells the story of when watches were specially designed tools that meant the difference between life and death. Blancpain has an excellent history in dive watches, and among the most coveted are the military-issued pieces. In this already hyper-specialised niche, the MIL-SPEC I and MIL-SPEC II watches stand head and shoulders above the rest.…

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25.06.2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Can you get rich from collecting watches?

While antique categories such as art, furniture and artefacts have long been recognised as stores of value, watches are a relative newcomer to the game of "buy low, sell high". And this poses an interesting question – can watches help you get rich? It seems like every auction season, old records are broken, and new ones are set for vintage references, and not just with the usual suspects of Patek Philippe and Rolex. While quality examples of Nautilus and Daytona models reach eye-watering prices, enthusiasts and collectors are seeing brands such as Universal Genève, Omega and Cartier climbing in value…

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25.06.2019

How Fidel Castro kept a mid-century Longines in a time-capsule of collectibles

Editor's note: I met Adam for the first time recently at a Longines event, and was blown away when he produced a roll of five watches from his pocket. Apart from some stunning Enicar watches from the '60s, he also had a rather large, time-only watch, with an interesting dial. We got chatting and he told me the story of his mid-century Longines double signed with the retailer Cuervo y Sobrinos. Adam found it in Havana after persisting with a watch dealer for three days to show him the most interesting pieces from the back of his safe. Adam also…

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24.06.2019

5 other deep diving watches

With the news that Omega has pushed the bar (pun obviously intended) to a record-breaking point with their new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional, we thought we would look at the best-performing deep diving watches on the market. Rolex Deepsea Sea-Dweller With a water resistance to 3900m, the Rolex DSSD is a strong contender for champion of the deep. Featuring the unarguably comfortable oyster bracelet, a case manufactured in the brands own Oystersteel, and a genuinely wearable 44mm on the wrist, it's a fantastic watch for any dive enthusiast. Sinn Model UX The German manufacturer pulled…

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24.06.2019

Vintage Collector: From Grand Seiko to minute repeaters

Editor's note: Felix interviewed Anders a few years ago to discuss his journey as a vintage collector and what he looks for when purchasing watches. One thing he mentioned then was his motto to never sell, which got us wondering: If nothing ever leaves the collection, what else has been added since then? Have a browse through his Instagram to see an incredibly uncommon minute repeater, a trio of Gérald Genta designed beauties and one of the best Cartier designs of all time. Here's the original chat Felix had with Anders: The world of watches is very small and very…

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20.06.2019

Skip the waitlist – 10 of the best steel sports watches you can buy right now

Ten years ago, this phenomenon only existed in the uppermost echelons of the watchmaking world – the waiting list. There's a lot of wild speculation around why waitlists for certain models exist, with some suggesting market forces, and others suggesting less passive forces. Regardless of their cause, they don't appear to be disappearing anytime soon, which gave us reason to pause and wonder – what are the best steel sports watches you can buy without suffering on a waitlist? After some consideration, here is our list of the best steel sports watches currently on the market – which you can…

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20.06.2019

What it's like to live with the H. Moser & Cie Pioneer

As we all know, the H. Moser & Cie Pioneer is a very rare watch, made by a manufacturer that prides itself on keeping rarity at the core of what it does. What makes this specific H. Moser & Cie Pioneer rare is that of the hundreds of watches Time + Tide Watches Founder Andrew has reviewed, this is a piece he decided to buy. After seeing it on his wrist this week, I thought it was time to revisit why he bought it in the first place. I'm eternally fascinated by the drivers of a watch purchase. The behaviours…

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19.06.2019

INTRODUCING: Why the Zenith El Primero A384 Revival is one of the best reissues of 2019

This year, Zenith is lucky enough to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the El Primero automatic chronograph, which is being marked with the release of the Zenith El Primero A384 Revival. This is a very cool watch for a number of reasons, but first, let's look back a half century. The birth of the El Primero It was an important year in the history of watchmaking, as in 1969 the first ever quartz watch was released, as well as the first ever automatic chronograph. While a number of brands completed designs of an automatic chronograph that year (including Seiko and…

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18.06.2019

This guy did a survey and found that 38mm is the perfect watch size – here are our other takeaways

The guy in question is none other than Mark Cho, who's kind of a big deal in the world of menswear. One of the co-founders of The Armoury and co-owner of Drake's. He's also a watch fanatic. He spent one of his first paychecks on an Omega Chronostop, and admits that after falling down the rabbit hole, he has bought close to 60 watches over the last 15 years. Mark was curious about what the perfect watch size was, as well as how this stacked up against the average wrist, so he put together a survey to find some answers. Given…

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17.06.2019

People are clearly still polarised by the Tudor Black Bay P01 – which team are you in?

Chatter about controversial watches happens everywhere from the halls of Baselworld to the comments section of Instagram, but the fury is often short-lived. A couple of notable exceptions released in 2019 included the 11.59 Collection by Audemars Piguet, and for different reasons – the Tudor P01. When we posted a pic of it on Instagram this morning, we were sharply reminded that this model is not done polarising people. While it seemed that the delivery of a more steady stream of Black Bay Fifty-Eights (as well as a recent flourish of Black Bay S&G Chronographs) to retailers' cabinets had taken the…

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