It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock in London. That means it’s time to down tools, pour yourself a drink and look back at what A Prodigal Week it has been. And this week is all about watches. Were you expecting anything else, what with Geneva Watch Days 2021 in full swing?
Glass in hand? Let me offer you some canapés of news and views.
AUDEMARS PIGUET
Five Royal Oaks. But not the good kind
If you’ve watched our last episode of Talking Hands, you’ll know how dear to my heart the Royal Oak is. I’d argue it’s pretty damn close to being the perfect watch and it’s certainly the piece I’d choose if you told me I could only wear one watch from now on. But my relationship with its offspring - the big, brash, and frankly often gauche Offshore - is a more complicated affair.
I like the idea of a butch ‘beater’ of a watch for summer holidays and the like. And taking Royal Oak design cues then applying them to a rugged, sports model certainly appeals as a concept but most Offshores somehow end up looking ungainly to my eyes - especially as they were scaled up to a massive 48mm in some instances. The Offshore’s other crime is that it ushered in a new category of blingy sport watches that appealed to, er, let’s call them ‘a certain type of person’. The Hublot Big Bang and Richard Mille certainly owe the Offshore a debt for creating a market for them.
So, it was with mixed feelings that I read about Audemars Piguet announcing five new ones this week. Hodinkee reports:
The new arrivals range from the five Royal Oak Offshores in a 43mm size, dropped back in March, to five additional Offshores in a 42mm. Of these 42mm versions, we have two models with a Mega Tapisserie pattern on their dials – light blue and dark green, with applied numerals and rubber straps matching the dials. The green version has a titanium case and the light blue has steel. Then there are three additional models with the Petite Tapisserie pattern, which pay homage to the original Royal Oak Offshore of 1993.
As I perused the photos, I found myself oddly - and I must say in complete contradiction to my preference for the smaller, simpler models - drawn to the 43mm model above. Perhaps for no other reason than I find the colours, ceramic and dial layout a knockout combination. That and those glorious pushers. Maybe, could it be…I’m a certain type of person?
GERALD GENTA
A bit Mickey Mouse
Nestled in our ‘also worth your time’ section last week was a link to an article about Gérald Genta’s original Mickey Mouse watch. That grew into one of the more interesting discussions we had during that week’s Persiflage session on Clubhouse. Quite understandably since the watch is both charming and mechanically interesting. So, I welcomed the news this week that Bulgari, which now owns the Gérald Genta brand, has announced a new Arena Retro Mickey Mouse Disney. And a cool little thing it is too.
The design is not an exact copy-paste of any particular Retro Fantasy Mickey (at least as far as I have been able to determine) and the case is an Arena, which Genta used for the non-Fantasy Bi-Retro watches. However the Mickey design is taken directly from a watch from the mid-1990s, and the design feels like it could easily have come from that period, as well.
A Mickey Mouse watch is surely the only acceptable ‘character’ watch. What I particularly love about this one is that it proves that the man who brought us the Royal Oak and the Nautilus was much more than just a ‘one design’ guy.
GREUBEL FORSEY
All around the world
When Eric and I started writing The Prodigal Guide many years ago, it’s fair to say our watch knowledge was limited (some might levy the same accusation at us today!) and Rolex was about as ‘special’ as I could imagine a watch being. One of the many benefits of creating TPG though was the opportunity it afforded us to meet real watch nerds who were as generous with their time as they were with their knowledge. One such expert was Ian Skellern of Quill & Pad. Over a boozy lunch in Paris, I recall him demonstrating the amazing Roland Iten belt buckle he was wearing before regaling us about ‘proper’ watchmaker Greubel Forsey.
It was a year or so later before he was able to show us one up close. We were at SIHH and Ian arranged for us to meet the Stephen Forsey and see the pieces for ourselves. The star of the show was the GMT and its incredible three dimensional model of the world magically rotating within the case. That was the day I began to understand what ‘special’ really meant in the watch world.
This week, Hodinkee reports on the GMT’s final incarnation:
Available in a limited 11-piece run, the GMT Earth Final Edition evolves the design of the original watch – previously crafted in white gold and platinum – with a new titanium construction for the case as well as the movement bridges. In order to better complement the sleek, lightweight nature of the metal, Greubel Forsey opted for a blackened finish on the dial and movement, including the bottom plate and frosted bridges.
If you haven’t had the chance yet, I urge you to seek one out. They’re wonderful.
Also worth your time
Audi Grandsphere concept car unveild: “If you want the car to drive itself, the steering wheel and pedals retract, leaving you sitting in a minimally designed living room setting with wood trim and wool textures. Instead of a screen, the car’s operating system is projected on the surface of the wood dashboard under the windshield. And when you’re ready to drive yourself, the manual controls simply appear.”
Bose QuietComfort 45 released: “Bose isn’t known as a music lover’s brand, but the company is considered a leader when it comes to ANC headphones. With the QC 45, Bose has improved the active noise cancellation to include a new Aware Mode, which is exactly what it sounds like: a transparency or ambient mode that lets you keep your headphones on without sacrificing situational awareness.”
IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch reviewed: “When it comes to something matte like this IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch, there’s a fine line between looking like a plastic or a PVD/DLC material. This case looks good to me, but I do wish that IWC had livened things up by offering a different color for the dial.”
Don’t miss…
👑 The relevance of Rolex is the rather lofty topic Marcus Hanna has taken it upon himself to cover in the first piece for his new column, Hanna Time! Heavy is the head that wears the crown…
Read Hanna Time! >
🧭 The Rolex Explorer II takes centre stage in the latest instalment of The Wish List.
Explore the Explorer >
💩 Why is Eric such a tit for tat? Our latest episode of Persiflage is what you might kindly refer to as ‘tired and emotional’. Is Eric insane to walk away from a collection of vintage sports Rolex in favour of cheap Japanese imitators?
Decide for yourself >
Welcome to the weekend, folks. 🍸