Baltic threw a rooftop party in NYC and teased some unreleased watches
Zach BlassIt is a rare privilege for people to get hands-on with microbrand watches ‘in the metal’, at least beyond watch events, but such events can be rather exclusive in terms of both receiving an invitation and geographically speaking such festivities are not always close by. This is in part why we opened up our Melbourne Discovery Studio and will soon be opening our London Studio. However, as brands like Baltic continue to grow, they are beginning to create their own spaces to exhibit and sell watches in person.
Baltic has showrooms in Paris, London, and New York City, the latter of which I just paid a visit to for Baltic’s first-ever event in the space. Located at 110 Greene Street in Soho, Baltic founder Etienne Malec and the team hosted everyone on the building’s rooftop for both an incredible view of the New York City skyline and a sneak peek of a special upcoming release you will have to stay tuned for.
Suffice it to say, I suspect it will leave you stoned. Sorry… That is not the right expression. It will leave you floored. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Zach and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: that’s one small step for brands
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Everyone got very excited this week when Swatch announced that they’d finally be selling MoonSwatches online… But only four colourways, and only in the US and China. Does your country have to have an active space program in order to get MoonSwatches online, then?
Wristshot of the week: a bracing shot
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Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury and co-owner of Drake’s, excited many watch fans this week when he teased that The Armoury will start offering custom-order gold brick bracelets – showing off a tri-tone example on his mosaic dial Cartier Tank. There’s something almost Minecraft-like about this combo… Guess he’s really hit gold.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Hamilton Khaki Field Quartz
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Hamilton is consistently considered one of the best-value Swiss watch brands, even if it did start out in America. Aside from its legendary love affair with the silver screen, Hamilton watches have proven particularly popular as budget-friendly watches that can survive a pretty active lifestyle. The Khaki Field catalogue is purpose-built for that exact reason, and it’s just become even more affordable and durable thanks to a quartz movement. Available in four different colourways and both 38mm and 33mm sizes, these are versatile no matter your wrist size.
Discover the Hamilton Khaki Field Quartz collection in the Time+Tide Shop, either online or in our Melbourne Discovery Studio. Price: US$395 / A$650
Accessory of the month: Artem 2.5mm “fat” spring bars
Anyone familiar with Seiko dive watches knows just how annoying it is to find straps and spring bars that fit these watches sometimes. Many Seiko models not only have larger lug holes than usual – meaning that if you use a standard spring bar, your strap or bracelet will rattle around between the lugs – but they also require “fatter” spring bars. Some straps don’t fit fat spring bars, and some spring bars don’t fit Seiko’s fat holes. It’s a pain! Artem has the solution: not only do they now offer 2.5mm thick spring bars designed for Seikos, but all of their straps now come with the option to fit fat spring bars. Made from stainless steel, Artem’s fat spring bars are available in 18mm, 19mm, 20mm, 21mm, 22mm and 23mm lug widths, meaning they’ll fit just about anything out there.
Artem’s fat spring bars retail for US$14 / A$23 for a pack of 2. Find out more at Artem’s online store here.
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
The Time+Tide team picks their GPHG favourites and snubs
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, or GPHG, is always referred to as the Oscars of the watch industry. And just like the Oscars, these awards generate plenty of conversation and controversy when the nominations are announced, with this year proving to be no different. We went around the team and asked everyone to pick just one watch as their favourite from all the nominated timepieces, and one watch they felt got snubbed and should have made it – here’s what we thought.
The Grand Seiko SLGW005 tributes a 1968 45GS with a double-signed Seiko dial
In a move that we’re confident saying nobody expected, Grand Seiko has brought back a double-signed dial for a revival of the 1968 4520-8000 45GS in the form of the Grand Seiko SLGW005 Heritage Collection model. It’s a faithful recreation of a classic Grand Seiko model, with the kind of upgrades worthy of the vintage name. Read Borna’s full review of this retro beauty here.
The intersection of watches and culture with famed tattoo artist, Maxime Plescia-Büchi
Andrew sits down with tattoo artist, creative director, graphic designer and Sang Bleu founder Maxime Plescia-Büchi for a wide-ranging discussion in the latest episode of our podcast, Watches And, which takes the pair from video games, living in La Chaux-de-Fonds during the Quartz Crisis, a deep love of hip-hop, and interviewing Jean-Claude Biver. It’s clear from this chat that Maxime has led an incredibly colourful life. This is reflected in his artwork today, whether he is inking one of his highly detailed, full-body tattoos or using his understanding of geometry to design his latest work with Hublot. Read on here for more details.