It’s a dress watch, full stop. Yes, mine is rated to 50m of water resistance (previous versions were marked at 30m, much to the chagrin of forum-dwellers who like to bitch about nothing remotely important), but it has, and will always have, a leather strap, so it’s not for swimming or showering or anything wet. It’s just 10mm tall, elegantly appointed, and the ever-present leather strap goes great with dressy attire. Again, this is a dress watch, and even the lovely sales-dude in Milan said so.
But it struck me as a big deal anyways, because for the longest time the relationship between cycling and watches has been nearly non-existent. Back in the day you didn’t see Bartali or Eddy Merckx sporting a watch or a Swiss endorsement. Hinault or Hincappe, no. Even the endorsement-heavy Lance Armstrong didn’t land anything from a watch company. It shows an incredible lack of imagination, really. Over the years Tissot has flirted with cycling as a timekeeper. The unremarkable Festina brand back in the 1990s had a cycling team that kicked some ass in the mountains. More recently, Tudor sponsors an eponymous team with Swiss cycling champion Fabien Cancellara as director. But on the whole, cycling and watches have not really consummated their relationship.
While I was away from BTD, I acquired two neo-vintage Rolex Subs. One is a two-tone 16803 from 1984 I got in a bizarre cash deal. It doesn’t glow, as the tritium has burnt through it’s half life a couple times. 1984 was the first year of the two-tone Sub, so eventually this will be a significant watch for collectors. The other Rolex Sub is a perfectly ghosted 16800 from 1981, making it a “transitional Sub,” which has a sapphire crystal and the quick-set date, but the old-school matte dial of the earlier 1680s. As my colleague, friend and well-known Sub-fanatic Greg Bredosian says, “That’s peak Sub right there.”
Sometimes vintage watches can take much longer to bring back to life than expected. This MACV-SOG Seiko was no exception.
Is SWATCH’s BIOCERAMIC anything more than a petrolium-based plastic? Find out in this episode as Allen shares his investigation into this divisive material, its history, its current context, its chemical makeup, and even an email about it from a SWATCH representative.
The ultimate collector guide to Seiko’s 6139 ‘Pogue’ detailing its history and all the 600X variants.
This guide will help anyone interested in any era of pre-owned/vintage Rolex begin their investigation.
Editor’s Note: Allen here. I’ve worn a 40mm Bremont S301 for many years now, and it is not only my favorite Bremont but one of my favorite watches of all time. A Sub-killer, I’ve called it. When Davide Cerrato took over for Bremont he said that one of his challenges was finding a watch that would jump to mind when one heard the word “Bremont.” Arguably, he was right that by the early 2020s no single watch jumped to mind. I immediately thought “put the 40mm divers at the center of the brand.” I’ve argued that the 40mm models are already early classics of the 21st century. If this release tells us anything about the bigger picture for Bremont, perhaps it is that Davide’s ability to anchor a brand with iconic models is coming into play. I hope so, as I’d love to watch Bremont capitalize on the classic lines of these 40mm divers.
And lastly – if redundantly – wearing the PAM01347 and 01348 in an entirely elegant experience. I can’t stress enough how fine these watches feel to wear. Which isn’t at all what most people have been saying about these models, which are crafted to appear as if they’ve been through decades of hard use. Panerai simply can’t make a watch that’s not finished exquisitely, and that finishing along with brave treatments and unique historical designs simply adds up to elegance.
In March of 2023, Tudor released the Black Bay 54 at the Watches & Wonders tradeshow. I’ve seen this feeding frenzy before with the Baselworld 2018 release of the Black Bay 58. Another Black Bay. Should I care? Curiosity manifested and I asked my local Rolex/Tudor AD to let me know when they got one in (even if it’s already allocated).