The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Texasmade]

Who on earth would dive with a Patek?

Same type of people who dive with a gold Rolex Sub.

 

[Edmund Dorf]

bunch of heuers

 

[Neville Southall]

Same type of people who dive with a gold Rolex Sub.

I FEEL SEEN

 

[Scuppers]

Yeah, I think the Calatrava should be its own thing (kind of like JLC Master Control line). Everything seems to be a Calatrava now-a-days.



I think we are going to see a sports watch. And I truly have zero clue what it will look like.

I was thinking the other day about the new 6007G, which I think it awful. To me, the 6007G is perhaps an attempt to compete with something like the Code 11.59, which I would take over a 6007G any day of the week. I think we are going to see something that competes with the Code 11.59, if I could hazard a guess.

View attachment 1930113

Given W&W releases, will have bucket on standby

 

[UnFacconable]

I wish Rolex would make their GMTs more convenient, and allow you to advance the GMT hand only by way of recessed pusher.

I know you are being facetious, but if Rolex were interested in even the smallest amount of innovation to their staid product line and their customer base were more demanding, they could quite easily turn the 2pm or 4pm (or both!) into sneaky pushers to adjust the GMT hand. It wouldn't even have to change the aesthetics one iota but would require a mindset that doesn't exist at Rolex.

It'll never happen because Rolex has is more of an homage to 1950's Rolex than it is a functional brand. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my 2 Rolexes, but I have very little capacity to pretend that what they market as meaningful changes to their product line actually are. And I do appreciate that they make small incremental improvements to the movements and durability (even if they sometimes screw it up) but the breathless coverage of minor aesthetic updates I find to be ridiculous.

It's quite similar to how Porschephiles pretend that the minor aesthetic changes Porsche makes to each generation are somehow revolutionary. The headlights are round! OMG now they're oval! They're round again! Who could have imagined such progress? I love me some 911, but I can recognize that Porsche has chosen a very limited palette to draw from without being drawn into the hysterics over the smallest of aesthetic changes.

See outsized reaction to the Explorer moving from 36 to 39 to 36 to 36 and 40 but with 1% different lugs.

 

[NakedYoga]

BORING 😴

 

[Texasmade]

View attachment 1930691

BORING 😴

Lights off missionary sex is better than no sex.

 

[am55]

Alright, W&W is pretty much over and, while the dust has not settled, my interest is starting to abate. Here are my personal favorites of the show, that are not in the stratospheric price range, in no particular order. Not sure I want to own any of them, but still.

• Tag Glassbox Carrera

View attachment 1929217

This is cool! It is hard to design something new, and this is a really modern interpretation of the Carrera. I like the big domed sapphire, and the canted tachy scale. LVMH has done some good things with Tag recently. Of course, it is still no Heuer.

• Gold GMT

View attachment 1929219

Solid gold GMT Master is sex-positive and sleazy. The grey bezel looks subtle. I love the gold GMT Master II text. Also, I just imagine feeling so comfortable walking the streets of London with this thing on.

• Patek 5224R

View attachment 1929215

Alright, it is chaotic, and odd, and big - but I am already coming around to this one. 42mm is a no-go for me, but I do like that it is under 10mm. Sure, I wish that it was smaller, or did not have a sub-seconds dial. But the base caliber in this one is very compelling (same movement as the 5326P), and I like anything that is weird that no one was asking for.

• Baby Black Bay

View attachment 1929223

This one is absolutely inexplicable to me and I dig it. A 37mm diver? One that is 2mm smaller than a diver that everyone says has just about the perfect proportions? And it is even thinner? Again, this is just such an odd thing to make. I am excited to try this one on.

• Chopard Salmon

View attachment 1929227

36.5, steel, salmon, fantastic micro rotor movement? What else is there to say. The only downside is I think I would just go for the OG model.

• IWC Ingy, particularly in TI

View attachment 1929229
Initially I was not too hot on it, but this is a lovely looking watch. I love to **** on IWC, but they did a good job with this one. The only thing I will complain about is the price, which is crazy. I think it is nearing 16,000 CHF, which is ludicrous when the same movement is contained in a Baume & Mercier. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the price.

• Rolex 1908

View attachment 1929231
I think Rolex knocked it out of the park. I love the details on this one. Wish it were maybe a hair smaller, at 37-38mm. And I think it is priced in a range that it is impossible not to cross shop. But with VC, Patek, and likely Lange continuing to go upmarket, perhaps this will be one of the better dress watches in the low-20s. I remember, only 6-7 years ago, when you could get a VC for 18.5k, and a Lange for $13k. Oh, the times they are a-changing.

Honorable Mentions: the Lange Odysseus is cool but unobtainium. I like the JLC Reverso with chrono, they did a nice job with that, but I would love to see JLC do something outside of 1931 Reverso. I dig some of the fun things Rolex did this year. Rolex Daytona is nice, and I like that solid white gold with black dial but could only find renders. Cartier Tank Normale and the new LCs are nice, but I have liked other CP watches.

Disappointments: Patek, overall. Lange, which only released one watch? VC, which was completely forgettable. Zenith had a down year. I do not think Parmigiani hit it out of the park - wish they moved into some new watches from their PF line. Biver is laughable.

Vastly prefer 1908 to the Cellinis, but haven't seen one in the flesh yet.

Ingenieur is a good idea. Just the right amount of livening it up, although indices are a bit fat and out of proportion with the implied design by history and bezel proportions. The original design is a little dull today.

Small divers... well, the original divers were not the dinner plates of today. I like a small pebble on the wrist. I'll get shot at by the fanatics here for getting it wrong but I think the OG Rolex Sub was 37mm, the Oris Diver 37mm, a quick google shows the Blancpain Aqualung released in 34/37/41, Seiko (original) 62MAS was 37mm. You can see a lot of cool divers on the first Cousteau movie (which is amazing for many other reasons) and these former combat divers were all wearing small pebbles, women's watches by modern standards. I hope they can make 37mm happen (again).

 

[am55]

I kind of like it too. As others have said it looks like a fun watch to wear on rare occasions. My problem is being asked to spend $6400 on a watch you’d likely not get a lot of use out of. Playful designs like this work better at lower price points.

The more I think about it the more I think it has a market amongst normal people as a one or one-of-few watch. It reminds me a bit of that Keith Haring painting in the Al Safwa lounge in Doha:

Very safe, friendly design, a bit like Hirst but less mass market, suitable both for the (very conservative) country and the airline's typical lounge customers. It's not the type of art that will be the subject of a wild conversation once ("fun") then disappear or be mildly annoying to live with after.

 

[Scuppers]

The more I think about it the more I think it has a market amongst normal people as a one or one-of-few watch. It reminds me a bit of that Keith Haring painting in the Al Safwa lounge in Doha:

Very safe, friendly design, a bit like Hirst but less mass market, suitable both for the (very conservative) country and the airline's typical lounge customers. It's not the type of art that will be the subject of a wild conversation once ("fun") then disappear or be mildly annoying to live with after.

Never been to Doha, that said: clearly it was a value piece, as they would never hang that if the appreciated it.

 

[Clouseau]

Small divers... well, the original divers were not the dinner plates of today. I like a small pebble on the wrist. I'll get shot at by the fanatics here for getting it wrong but I think the OG Rolex Sub was 37mm, the Oris Diver 37mm, a quick google shows the Blancpain Aqualung released in 34/37/41, Seiko (original) 62MAS was 37mm. You can see a lot of cool divers on the first Cousteau movie (which is amazing for many other reasons) and these former combat divers were all wearing small pebbles, women's watches by modern standards. I hope they can make 37mm happen (again).

La Tudor Submariner Ref 7922 d'André Laban en vente par la mdv Leclere

La Tudor Submariner REF 7922 d'André Laban sera mise en vente lors de la prochaine vente de montres de la maison Leclere le 4 juin prochain à Paris.

www.lesrhabilleurs.com

La Rolex de Cousteau vendue pour 150 000 €

Philippe Cousteau a passé sa vie à explorer toutes les mers du monde avant de disparaître tragiquement. Sa Rolex de plongée s'est envolée aux enchères à New York.

www.lepoint.fr

 

[Clouseau]

If Rolex released a reedition of its first Sub (37mm), it would probably work, but as the actual model already sells like hot cakes, what’s the need?
Better to leave the smaller-size Diver niche to Tudor, that will most probably attract a new clientele with the BB54.
I went to a Tudor boutique yesterday, of course they don’t have it yet nor know when they will…

 

[mebiuspower]

Am I lucky or what???

 

[Clouseau]

Am I lucky or what???

View attachment 1930819

Most probably as in this toy watch category it is the most wanted with the Mercury and the Neptune 😉.

Think I remember you were not a big fan though?…

 

[mebiuspower]

Only ran across the swatch boutique just now. Never even been to a swatch boutique to look for these nor have I seen these in person anywhere... but they happen to have the last last one.

I might have a weakness for Parisian chicks so I couldn't say non.