Welcome to the mid-January New Watch Update. Once again, we present a carefully curated assortment of new-to-the-market timepieces, chosen for their ability to inspire snarky comments and pithy pronouncements. As Jackie Gleason would say and awaaaay we go! Starting with the horological content vomit above . . .
The press embargo on the TAG Heuer Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition lifted yesterday, unleashing a tsunami of horological hosannahs from TAG’s media minions. If you want the usual watchmaker history and PR fluff, feel free to click over to the usual suspects. I’d like to use the new watch as a jumping off point for a rant about TAG’s waywards ways and retro designs . . .
Back when I was a kid, $85 bought you a small house in the suburbs. Not really. But it wasn’t nothing. These days, you can’t buy a lot with $85. O.K., sure, a gram of cocaine. In terms of watches, you’d be scraping the bottom of the barrel marked “made in China by poor people in wretched conditions.” Unless you bought a Seiko Solar SUP873. Now let me be VERY clear about something . . .
It’s not Seiko Credor. It’s Credor Seiko. Or just plain Credor – in the same way it’s Lexus, not Toyota Lexus (even though Toyota owns Lexus). No matter how you say it, Seiko’s Credor sub-brand makes superb luxury watches. Hang on, isn’t that Grand Seiko’s gig? Yes and no . . .
I didn’t take an immediate shine to the Carpenter G2 Brooklyn Gent. The watch was too shiny. As far as I could tell. the G2’s acrylic crystal lacked sufficient anti-reflective coating to see the indices in direct light. At the same time, the dial’s rich dark hue was MIA. And then I had a realization . . .
Welcome back to Room For Squares. I’m your host, Jack Baruth. Today we’re going to discuss a watch – the G-SHOCK GMW-B5000TCM-1JR – that’s proven more than a little controversial in the profoundly uncool world of G-SHOCK collectors . . .
A quartz Vacheron? While I’m a huge fan of the battery-powered Longines Conquest VHP, I was under the impression that watch buyers beyond a certain price point expect – demand – a mechanical movement. Nope. Apparently there’s one demographic that can and does prefer battery-powered watches, no matter what the cost . . .
