Has Rolex evolved into a brand that’s For Exhibition Only” And what if Rolex no longer made physical watches? Could this be the future of global luxury brands in the centuries to come?
Has Rolex evolved into a brand that’s For Exhibition Only” And what if Rolex no longer made physical watches? Could this be the future of global luxury brands in the centuries to come?
Allen went to the UK for the launch of Bremont’s first serially produced watches with their in-house movement, but what Allen got was a ride in an old plane that showed him the unique authenticity at the center of the brand set on reviving British industrial watchmaking.
The Rolex Oysterdate 6494 comes in a 34mm Oyster case which is 11mm thick with a modest lug-to-lug measurement of 43mm. The lugs are 19mm across. The 6494 came with a variety of dials, but most were variations on white paint, black lacquer, or honeycomb engraved models also in white or cream. All Rolex 6494s sport a roulette date wheel: black for odd numbers and red for the evens. Hands are dauphine with a blued second hand.
Where I once thought of my Seiko Speedtimer 6139 as the anomaly in my Rolex-centric collection, I’ve since started to see that it actually plays an important role somewhere near center stage. The 6139 has somehow managed to work its way through my tangle of collecting rules and straight onto my wrist with nearly the frequency of any other watch I own.
The Skinny 41mm x 14.6mm Tudor Manufacture Calibre MT5652 GMT, 70-hour power reserve, COSC certification Steel and Gold 200m water resistance Release year: 2022 $4300 on straps, $5500 with bracelet Imitating Its Way to Uniqueness It can be difficult to intellectually separate Tudor from Rolex. Rolex owns Tudor, their mutual technologies are well known, and the… Read more »
An essay exploring the confusing meanings of In-House in regards to watch movement production, and how to clarify the use of the phrase in-house
The Skinny Dimensions: 39 x 47.6 x 11.8mm Case: Stainless Steel, Silver or Gold Water Resistance: 200m Movement: MT5402 In-House Price: $3,800 (steel on bracelet), $4400 (silver on leather), $4,625 (bronze on bronze bracelet), $16,825 (gold on leather) What Is The Tudor Black Bay 58? Tudor’s foray into dive watches began in 1954 when the… Read more »
The Birth Year Watch Concept The birth-year watch is a simple collecting archetype: you own a watch from the year you were born. Breaking down the underlying concept, however, reveals an unexpected complexity. Excuse my satirical lens, but I’ve been through the birth year watch journey three times. The technicality of the birth year watch… Read more »
Just admit it: you, like me, give more than two shits about what people think of your watch collection, and the reason is clear: our collections represent us. Every little detail that we’ve allowed past the velvet rope into our personal horological disco is out on the floor for others to judge. We really wouldn’t give two shits about that judgement if we didn’t understand that what’s being judged is not watches but our most intimate expression of our mostly solipsistic and, thus, often lonely subjectivity inner lives. You, dear reader of horological essays, like me who writes them, give two shits about how people judge you if not your watches, I’m sure of it.