It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock here in London. Time to down tools, pour yourself a drink and relax by looking back at what A Prodigal Week it has been.
Drink in hand? Let me offer you canapés of news and views…
WATCHES
I, Watch
You can keep your Harry Winston. I have no interest in Richard Mille. I’m not even sure I could pull off a Greubel Forsey (although I’d give that last one my best shot.) No, for me watches should look like watches. I like the classics. I like the familiar icons.
Except….except when it comes to Urwerk. Since I picked one as part of my selection for Talking Hands live at SalonQP 2013, I’ve had a very soft spot for the brand. Somehow their total reinvention of how watches should look and work never fails to delight - nor does it ever feel contrived, the way those other brands do. There’s a utilitarian theme running through Urwerk design that lends the products credibility and shields them from accusations of pretension. And, this week, Fratello reviewed the brand’s latest triumph, the Urwerk UR-220 SL Asimov.
Dave Sergeant does a great job of summing up Urwerk’s awesome time display:
It’s a combination of both analog and digital indicators. In the case of the UR-220 SL “Asimov”, the hours are displayed on the three rotating pyramid-shaped Super-LumiNova blacks. Each block is connected to a 3D minutes indicator which travels over the 120 degrees of the minute scale.
I adore this thing. I love its innovation, its quirkiness, its spilt power reserve and its gloriously mad ‘oil change’ indicator. And those solid Super-LumiNova hour tips!
Also worth your time
Unique Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15202 Jumbo for Only Watch 2021 unveiled: “The last unique 15202 ever is made of titanium and a new palladium-based alloy.”
Zenith Chronomaster Original returned: “At last, Zenith has made three standard production offerings that speak directly to enthusiasts. The headliner is the Chronomaster Original, sized at 38mm, in stainless steel with an instantly-recognizable grey, black, and blue tri-color dial.”
Laurent Ferrier Montre Ecole Annual Calendar Navy & Orange introduced: “The galvanic navy blue dial, still with a satin-brushed centre and a circular satin-brushed hour ring, is combined with a sprinkling of orange accents on the dial and hands.”
CARS
Fizzling French fun
If you caught the episode of Persiflage in which Eric and I discussed our divergent criteria when it comes to buying cars, you’ll know that pretty much the only thing we could agree on - violently agree on - was that the Alpine A110 is superb. Well, this week the French brand announced its roadmap for the future.
As Evo reports, there’s an electric revolution afoot. Alpine is planning a three-model line up which will transform it from a niche sports car manufacturer into a high performance electric brand that reference models of its past for its high performance electric cars of the future.
On their way are a high performance variant on Renault's retro-styled 5 hatchback, a new all-electric version of the A110 and a new crossover designed to appeal more broadly to non-traditional customers. And I can’t wait to see them all.
Also worth your time
Peugeot 308 put on sale: “The revamped family hatchback ushers in Peugeot's latest design cues and new logo, alongside a new interior and new powertrains.”
Honda's first electric SUV brilliantly named: “The Prologue could be one of Honda's most important cars in recent memory. The company plans to shift completely to EVs by 2040, with 40 percent of major-market sales either using batteries or hydrogen fuel cells by 2030.”
New Audi RS3 technical details revealed: “Hyperhatch war resumes, with a new focus on handling, and not just power - torque-vectoring differential confirmed.”
GADGETS
Round is the new square
Apple fans have been crying out for a round Watch for years, but it’s Samsung that has delivered. And, in these unverified leaked photos published by The Verge, the South Koreans’ Galaxy Watch 4 Classic looks more like a traditional watch than ever.
The round case has two conventional looking buttons on the side, but there’s a rotating bezel too. I sold my soul to Apple long ago and am so invested in its ecosystem that I couldn’t leave. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be quietly impressed with what a great job Samsung has done here.
Also worth your time
Man’s life saved: “A North Carolina man's life was saved when, unknown to him, his Apple Watch detected him falling, and called emergency services automatically.”
Microsoft Windows 11 beta released: “The build shows off the operating system's refined interface, with a centred taskbar and redesigned Start menu.”
iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 previewed: “A major rethinking of either platform, this year’s updates are not. The two updates were clearly born in 2020’s norm-shattering pandemic.”
Don’t miss…
👀 A glimpse inside the watch industry with Robin Swithinbank. It’s a first for Persiflage: in this episode we have a guest, one who actually knows what he’s talking about. Which brands are responding well to digital? Should authorised dealers be worried? Who are the standout execs? What happens next?
Join us to find out >
🏎 Do you have to be mad to take your car on a race track? Eric and I go head to head on this in a new episode of Persiflage. I point out all of the risks, he cares only for the rewards.
Have a listen >
👨🏻💻 Apple’s keynote at WWDC 2021 was a disappointment to those of us who had convinced ourselves that we would see the new MacBook Pro - but was full of clever, incremental software improvements that are much more than the sum of their parts.
Read the highlights >
Welcome to the weekend, folks. 🍸