Wristwatch Check, a gathering of Australian microbrands, went off without a hitch last night in Melbourne
Jamie WeissAustralia punches above its weight when it comes to most things – Olympic gold medals, scientific advancements, quality of living indexes – but compared to the UK or US, the Australian watch scene is still pretty nascent. That’s why it was so cool to attend Wristwatch Check, a brand-new watch event showcasing some of the country’s notable microbrands, last night in Melbourne.
The brainchild of the team behind Grip Auto Timepieces and held at Benzina Stables, a prestige car storage and sales facility in Melbourne’s north that’s home to some of the most drool-worthy cars in the country, Wristwatch Check saw seven brands – Bausele, Erebus, Hz Watches, Melbourne Watch Company, Ocean To Orbit, Second Hour and of course, Grip Auto – show off their latest range of watches, including more than a few prototypes (that we were sadly not allowed to photograph).
Naturally, the T+T Team were out in force to check out what was on show – as well as to chew the fat with the city’s watch cognoscenti, who made it out to Preston in droves despite the stormy weather. I was particularly impressed with the Mandala Burst from Second Hour, which I hadn’t seen in the metal before and features a beautiful guilloché-effect stamped dial plus a super-supple nine-link bracelet.
From what I heard on the night, it was a successful event for all brands involved, with preorder books for new or upcoming releases getting filled up fast. Erebus and Ocean To Orbit seemed like particular crowd favourites on the night – stay tuned to T+T for more on those brands’ newest creations soon.
Thanks so much to Dom from the Grip Auto team as well as all the brands exhibiting at Wristwatch Check for putting on such a great show – it bodes well for the development of the watch scene in Australia.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Jamie and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: lume-acy
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Last weekend, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton was spotted at the Monaco Grand Prix wearing a prototype IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 with a fully luminous ceramic case – which turned more than a few heads. Personally, I love it, but a lot of people think there is such a thing as too much lume. I wouldn’t wear it to the movies, but I might wear it to the club…
Wristshot of the week: a rare treat
We get all sorts of cool watches coming through the Time+Tide Discovery Studio here in Melbourne, but it’s extra special when we get to play around with some vintage watches. A particular treat lately was this Mido Ocean Star Rainbow Diver from the 60s, as modelled by our Assistant Manager (and social media extraordinaire) Alex. The inspiration for the modern Ocean Star Decompression range, these Rainbow Divers are becoming increasingly collectible and hard to come by, especially in Australia, so this was truly a rare treat.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Zodiac x RedBar Super Sea Wolf Pro-Diver
Speaking of treats, it’s always cool to see watch brands collaborate with the watch community on special editions, and this latest collab between Zodiac and RedBar Group is particularly hot. Inspired by the Zodiac Point Series from the 1990s, it features a pistachio-coloured full lume dial punctuated by a red dot between 4 and 5 o’clock – an old-school industry symbol that denotes that a watch can withstand the tough business of diving. Measuring 42mm wide and with an ISO-certified depth rating of 300 metres, this limited edition of 200 pieces comes with a seven-link steel bracelet with a folding clasp as well as an additional black and red Velcro strap.
Discover the Zodiac x RedBar Super Sea Wolf Pro-Diver in the Time+Tide Shop, either online or in our Melbourne Discovery Studio. Price: US$2,513, A$3,799.
Accessory of the month: Artem HydroFlex
Artem Straps is an Australian watch accessories brand based out of Adelaide, South Australia. Founded by two mates with a passion for horology, Artem Straps has gained a cult following for their exceptional attention to detail and premium materials. A hybrid strap crafted with a premium FKM rubber base and layered with Artem’s signature synthetic embossed material, the HydroFlex is Artem’s flagship product and is water-resistant, flexible, and durable – yet butter-soft in a way few rubber straps can match.
The Artem HydroFlex retails for US$218 / A$332 and is available in grey, green, blue and black. Find out more at Artem Straps’ online store here.
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
Porsche Design’s Custom-Built Chronograph brings the luxury car optioning experience to the world of watches
Like many watch collectors, I love Porsche. Not only has the German marque been responsible for some of the most iconic sports cars of all time, chief among them the 911, but Porsche Design – the design firm founded by Prof. Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche, the mastermind behind the 911 – is also known for its compelling watch designs. The Custom-Built Chronograph, however, puts watch design in the hands of the customer: featuring a personalisation program that emulates the same dizzying array of options one can spec a Porsche car with, there are more than 1.5 million unique variations of this watch, and you can personalise it to exactly match your Porsche car. Read my full hands-on review here.
In The Metal: Marcus explains how to recover from a f*ck up
At Time+Tide, we pride ourselves on having some of the best watch videography in the game – courtesy of our fantastic creative director, Marcus Flack. But just because everything looks so effortless on the outside, doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally screw up along the way. In the latest episode of In The Metal, Marcus lifts the curtain and shows the reality of video production: sometimes you take the wrong direction for a shoot, and need to start from scratch. As he puts it, it’s “a grade-A lesson in when to stop”. Give it a geez here.
The Grand Seiko SLGW002 and SLGW003 are classier White Birch evolutions
When we played “kiss, marry, kill” at Watches and Wonders this year in Geneva, I picked the Grand Seiko SLGW002 as my “marry”. Featuring a classy new take on a ‘White Birch’ dial, a dressy 9.95mm form factor and powered by the first high-beat manually-wound movement Grand Seiko has made in half a century, it’s an extremely compelling watch, as is its SLGW003 sibling. Read Buffy’s review of the watch here, and watch our video review (as narrated by Marcus) above.