Monthly Archives: October 2016

Two Roger Smith’s for sale!

Those clever people at Hodinkee tweeted a few days ago that they have discovered not one but two early example of British watchmaker Roger Smith’s work for sale.

Series 2 & Daniels Anniversary

Series 2 & Daniels Anniversary

Clearly these are not cheap. The gold Series 2 is up for £150,000 , the Daniel’s Anniversary for £235,000 .

For the complete story  https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/two-early-roger-w-smith-watches-watch-xchange

 

Christopher Ward – announcement

Well after the tease we have the official announcement.

C1 Grand Malvern Power Reserve

£1,550£1,576
The C1 Grand Malvern Power Reserve has a new automatic power reserve version of the in-house movement, Calibre SH21, making this a hugely significant timepiece for Christopher Ward.

– Three face options, Blue, White & Black
– 40.5mm case
– 5 strap options
As I had previously mentioned you will be be able to see these watches at the Salon QP.
Personally this looks a great value watch, I am still not convinced by the new logo.

Christopher Ward – Teaser

 

https://vimeo.com/187628436

This is a teaser for the new C1 Malvern from Christopher Ward, as usual for a teaser it doesn’t give much away.

One detail though is pretty cool – the crown symbolising, “Swiss movement, English heart”

The official launch date is October 20th and examples will be shown to the public at the Salon QP.

My Watch Week

My blogger life is a little different this week. firstly because given the arrival of the Salon QP “news” is a little thin on the ground. Secondly because I am wearing a watch that until now I have only been able to make occasional comments about – A Meerson Altitude Officier in black. Please do not be too jealous this is a temporary arrangement.

Smiths & Meerson

Smiths & Meerson

My first reaction on putting the watch on was to be careful, however the lovely Laura that brought me the watch assured me it was tough, all the same I won’t be using it on my cycle commute for fear of falling off.

Once over this initial trepidation the experience of wearing this very unusual timepiece is interesting. The 42mm case sits very nicely on my wrist and being made of titanium is very light. So far so good.

Clearly the build quality is impressive, especially compared to the Smiths Deluxe I had on my wrist earlier. I am also a little surprised at the lack of any particular comment from my colleagues, who being largely Italian have a keen I for detail. In the past my Tudor Submariner on a leather strap and my 1970’s Seiko 5 have both provoked comments. The reason might be that as Alexandre Meerson himself says this is a re-invention of the “round watch”.  Without close examination this watch can pass under the radar very easily. For many people this could be a attractive attribute.

At this point the only detail I would change is the strap colour, I think the watch would look more “me” with a brown strap but this may be down to my minority skin colouring.

I will now start to compose a fuller assessment of my time with the watch.

Time to buy a British watch

Google analytics tells me that I do have some readers from outside of the UK. From a watch point of view you are lucky people because the recent Brexit decision has had a considerable effect on the value of the British pound.

Both GasGasBones and Pinion have recently communicated this.

Here is what Pinion have published.

Pinion price promotion

Pinion price promotion

That looks like quiet a saving. The same is clearly true for all watches priced in Sterling. I imagine though this will not last long though as soon British companies using Swiss parts will be hit by higher costs.

Neither Schofield or Pinion will be attending Salon QP

The salon QP is where I first met with both Schofield and Pinion, so I am a little disappointed to discover that after the absence of Pinion last year, Schofield have decided not to attend either this year.

For the first year since Schofield launched its Signalman model watches they are not exhibiting .  The reasons are simple; wthey are very busy with a completely new watch called the Daymark and very busy with the production of the new bronze Beater B2. There is a risk that none of their new watches would be ready .

On the up side there will still be a significant presence from British watch brands such as Fears, who will be launching at the event, Dennison, Robert Loomes and Garrick. The last two with new movements.

A brand I’ve missed – Farer

Farer is a British watch brand that is marketing some very nice looking watches. I am guilty of ignoring them up until now, the only excuse I can put forward in my defence is I automatically put them into the “quartz fashion brand” category. My mistake !

Farer Beagle Automatic

Farer Beagle Automatic

To try and justify this admission I now have a reason to write about them, they have launched an automatic range. As you can see from the example above their watches do look very cool and refreshingly do not follow the fashionable “minimalist” style.

The automatic range consists of three colour variations on the three hand and date style of the Beagle (shown above).

As with the quartz range the watches are designed in Britain and made by Rowena-Henex in Switzerland. Again, like the existing range, they feature a classic 39.5mm case. For the movement they have fitted the tried and tested ETA 2824-2. They are currently priced at £875.

I am really looking forward to seeing an actual example of these watches, I hope they are attending the Salon QP.