Watches & Wonders 2024 had a lot of amazing new watch releases from Tudor’s Black Bay 58 GMT, Cartier’s Santos-Dumont Rewind and Tortue Monopusher, Grand Seiko among other great watches!
As a watch collector for almost 30 yrs, it still surprises me Cartier is so big right now. Once it was a brand that gets dismissed by collector as a "jewellery" brand and a company that destroyed its own watches (last reported around 2019), is now a company people have to make reservation to buy something. Good move with them buying Watchfinder and destroy watches in the 2nd hand market to reduce supply and at the same time hype up the marketing with "well known" watch collectors/dealers + social media.
Cartier imo really had the best showing with these wide range of watches. Was really hoping they would introduce a small Santos for smaller wrist, since they have M & L but no S. Maybe to next year
Bought a Bremont Descent 2 - Diver GMT for the exact reasons you gave. Looked at and tried on the hydroconquest gmt - bezel action was awful and found the flat case back fit poorly on my wrist. Btw I enjoy your content. Thx.
I love the Cartier Panthere in Rose Gold. (Your image looks more rose than yellow gold on my screen.) It's so visually soft, stunning and luxurious in the metal. Cartier however have been mean....it's a Quartz movement (well fair enough it's jewellery) but they have done away with both the seconds hand which gave the dial kinetic life and also the date window. Really!? for 25K plus. They have also changed the concealed clasp of the bracelet. On my earlier model the links are entirely seamless. (It might be an issue for some to learn how to open the clasp...but it really is not difficult!) The medium/ large rose gold Cartier Panthere just oozes style.
Longines Hydroconquest GMT is so good with its function set. An alternative would be the Seiko SPB381J1 (or 383 for Derek and others liking more versatile colors). I'm torn on which one to get. A direct answer from Tudor would be great.
Hey Derek...what is the rubber strap you have on your 925? I have the brown rubber b but I'm a bit tired of the look. Thanks for another fantastic episode!
I love the way you thought about the Santos Rewind - the detail that if the very idea of timekeeping originated and got popular from somewhere in the SOuthern Hemisphere (not just as an alternate reality but as an homage to Alberto Santos-Dumont) can inform the direction of the watch is completely insane.
Also, it's tough that the time-only Vacheron green dial had to come with diamond-sets. Other women in my T&F session with VC complained that they wanted it without the diamonds just for a sportier, casual option at that size and with a cleaner dial than the other variations.
I have pretty much the exact same wrist size and shape as you. Do you think the 58 GMT would be a viable daily wear at that size? Or is the BB36 more sensible?
I have been a Cartier collector for over 20 years and their AD’s have been respectful. However, their treatment of you was very disappointing, regardless of what the metrics. Their marketing leadership need an infusion of class. Seeing you with all those great watch people reminds me that birds of a feather’s flock together. Great content as always:) By the way, were you or Ken the older twin?
ALSO also regarding Swatch Group at the show - you bet that we wouldn't have heard about the Longines Conquest Heritage Central Power Reserve until March if they were a part of the fair. So many of their brands deserve to cut loose and do their best at the fair - Breguet NEEDS to do it, Jaquet Droz deserves a spot next to Van Cleef as a high-jewellery/automata giant (Harry WInston too I guess). An then there's Omega, Glashutte Original (next to Lange) etc. It woudl've been a fuller fair with these guys involved. And let's not talk about the Citizen and Breitling Groups (which I then feel like Seiko-Epson should be involved in a smaller capacity...)
From the sidelines, i say that Tudor developed a watch following from the Rolex 16710 GMT II that was somewhat happy to see the coke colors on a watch but definitely disappointed to not see the GMT remade from Rolex. Had it been a GMT with coke colors from Rolex, the brand would have stroke GOLD. You are going to get a following of buyers who will want it. However, as an owner of Rolex 16710 coke dial, honestly the tudor is not even close or charming as the real deal coke. For sure the coke dial GMT will now increase in value, I thank Tudor for that.
Cartier is such a great brand, but also extremely frustrating for the enthusiast collector who isn't a billionaire. They make super cool limited edtions you can't actually get, and then they put a quartz movement in a key watch like the Santos-Dumont size large. Nice that they make backward time telling hype pieces for the media, but they could do a lot better job selling actual watches in the $10-20k range.
I feel like it should’ve been an update to the Black Bay pro with the addition of a white dial. That’s the only black bay model I will buy because I don’t like how big the current Explorer 2 is.
*no to dive bezel on a GMT. If someone wants a dive bezel get a diver. I'm a GMT power user so I need to be able to track 3 timezones with the bezel. A GMT watch without a rotating 24 hour bezel is useless and lost. No one needs a GMT function underwater. Much less do we need the max depth ratings for a diver in the office.*
I agree to no diver bezel on the GMT. Tudor is basically Rolex homage brand for the mssses. People buy Tudor GMT to scratch the itch for the GMT Master2.
Can’t justify the BB58 GMT, because it looks too much like my 54. Have the Pelagos 39, too, because it’s drastically different than a black bay. Tudor has become a tad stale. One trick pony. If I get another luxury watch, it won’t be a Tudor.
This watch releases are turning into academia like peer reviewed papers, that the real world its being turn off by. Rolex is turning to Sophie's Choice, would you like this watch with this bracelet and that color, or the other way around, pathetic. No innovation just color changes and materials! OH yeah, and you look like the other guy, or vice versa, oh wait, Rolex marketing again! lol
I am not an expert but for the sake of me how on earth can you talk about a Tudor Coke as a different watch to a Rolex.Even the Black Bay looks like a Rolex.Tudor will never get away from being a poor mans Rolex as long it continues to look like one.
