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FRIDAY WIND DOWN: To all the girls (and boys) who have written to us over the years … FRIDAY WIND DOWN: To all the girls (and boys) who have written to us over the years …

FRIDAY WIND DOWN: To all the girls (and boys) who have written to us over the years …

Andrew McUtchen

Despite the temptation to re-tune our tiny violins and cry to the world that our virus numbers have skyrocketed and that we’re all on the brink of yet another endless day indoors, I’m going to flip this one to the positive and talk about the kinds of amazing, heartening and impressive letters and emails we get in here on a daily basis. Not every few days, or every few weeks. Every single day. It’s incredible. Please don’t stop. And if you’d like to start, do it here. (There is, as always, a standard and perpetual apology here to those who have not received a reply, please forgive me.)  

So let me start this Friday Wind Down by addressing all who have ever taken the time to pen us a letter, or send an email. Be assured of this: we have not only read it. We have shared it. Forwarded it to other team members. Sometimes to family members and friends to say — see, we have real people! See, my job matters! But in all seriousness, it’s usually to say, look at this effing cool letter we just received. As for the complaints, we read them too. And yes, my mates have had a few of them forwarded on for entertainment value. As true friends, they usually side with the complainant, hrumph, but I digress.

One such email — the happy, flattering kind — was from a gentleman in the United States, Bill. He wanted to share a film his 18-year-old son had made about the journey he took to acquire a Grönefeld Bespoke 1941 Remontoire, which is essentially a customised version of the model pictured above.

Now this journey was extensive, as part of the customisation process required Bill to work on sketches of the watch in question. Achieving his vision was not a piece of cake, as Bill had some pretty bold ideas about some bold colours. I won’t spoil the rest, but let me just say that the result — a short film called ‘Watching Time’ — is well worth your time. Since its publication, it has achieved some plaudits, including a nomination for the Pinewood Studios (yes, where many Bond movies were filmed!) ‘First-Time Filmmaker’ award. 

It’s one small piece of content that has inspired me, and the team, at a time when we — like you — have more time to watch and read than ever. So thank you to all of the creators out there who are helping us get through hard times with entertaining and heartfelt videos and articles. 

In other news, we discovered the new Longines Heritage Collection, which is nothing short of an embarrassment of riches for vintage watch aesthetes. We noted that an Aussie had reached out to potentially give Baselworld a lifeline. And we revisited the badass and boldly priced Seiko LX Collection. 

Stay safe might be seen as a pro forma farewell, but in this case, it’s very much felt. 

See you next week, have a great weekend, wherever you are, 

Andrew 

Why on earth did I buy that?!

Friday wind down 17 07 20

Frequently associated with the purchase of expensive items like a house or a car, buyer’s remorse is a very real thing in the watch world. After all, we all know that our much-loved pieces of wrist candy can sometimes come attached to hefty price tags. Click here for six tips to avoid this most harrowing of maladies.

Old school is the gold school 

Friday wind down 17 07 20

If you’re a regular reader of Time+Tide, it should come as no surprise that the Longines Heritage Collection has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. An early sign of the success that was to come was the Longines Heritage Diver 1967 in 2015 (a watch that was kindly donated to the Time+Tide Watch & Act! auction for the Australian bushfire crisis), and again with the Longines Heritage 1945 in 2017. But while you might expect that Longines had used all its dry powder over the last half-decade, they have released one of the best Heritage Collections yet in 2020. Click here to take a look at five of our favourites.

They love me … they love me not

Friday wind down 17 07 20

Patek Philippe’s first wristwatch of 2020 didn’t go down quite as well as the complicated models that have followed this week to practically unanimous praise. Why? Well, according to many, it didn’t quite manage that delicate dance between being inspired by existing models and, uh, borrowing too heavily from them. Click here to see some other watches that look scarily similar to the PP.

From the artist’s hand to your wrist

Friday wind down 17 07 20

Handmade in Sydney, Artisan Straps create bespoke custom straps tailored for your wrist. Time+Tide is proud to announce that we’re stocking a number of Artisan Straps’ wonderful handmade leather straps at the T+T store, and you can check them all out by clicking right here.