Sakura Time
Every spring throughout Japan, busy citizens take time out to enact an age-old tradition: hanami. People flock in droves to parks, walkways, and gardens – wherever sakura (cherry blossom) blooms – to celebrate flowers that symbolise hope and new life. The ancient custom has its roots in the peasant’s belief that the gods of the […]
Tissot Goes Full Throttle
Anybody that is a fan of MotoGP will be more than familiar with the Swiss watch brand Tissot, which has been a partner of the sport since 2001. Over these 25 years, Tissot has created a series of watches that celebrate the excitement of racing and the qualities it requires: precision, passion, power; all of […]
British Watchmakers’ Day
When Roger Smith, Mike France and Alistair Audsley founded the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers in October 2020, their intention was to champion and represent the interests of British watch and clock makers, nurture the talent and promote the sector around the world. Less than four years later, the association has 93 trade members, 44 of which took part […]
Bremont Bamford Aurora
What could sound like the start of a joke: “George Bamford, Davide Cerrato and the English brothers walk into a room…” was actually the genesis of something quite magical, the Bremont Bamford Aurora. Let me give you some background here. Nick and Giles English, founders of Bremont watches, are well-known for their sense of adventure, […]
Piaget Polo 79
It was a symbol of its time, the decade of excess, the 1980s, when financial markets were uncoupled from national dictates, the world was simply not enough, and Wall Street was symbolic of everything the new finance world could offer. Gordon Gecko’s war cry of “Greed is good” was seen as the justification for unshackled […]
Enter the Dragon
The traditional Chinese calendar is a complex system, developed over millennia, according to astronomical phenomena and calculations of the correlation of the solar and lunar cycles. Typical features of early calendars included the use of the sexagenary cycles based on the rotation of 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches (the animal zodiac signs). At […]
Extra help on Santa’s wrist
You probably know the fateful song, “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, with which Gene Autry topped the US Billboard charts in 1949. It tells the story of how the oddball reindeer with the bright shiny red nose got to lead all the others. The weather was terrible, there was hardly any visibility and Santa realised the […]
Bovet 1822 Récital 20 Astérium
Back in the 18th century, watchmakers were concerned with making timepieces that would not only measure average solar time – the one we apply in our everyday lives – but also sidereal time, which we use for the celestial map in the heavens, traditionally for navigation purposes. The Bovet Récital 20 Astérium (the sky seen […]
Superyacht T52 by Baglietto
Almost 170 years ago, the oldest shipyard still in operation opened in La Spezia, Italy: Baglietto. The brand, which is synonymous with elegance and luxury, has had a renaissance. New from the brand’s T (for traditional) line is the T52, a hybrid electric-diesel propulsion superyacht, part of the company’s tailor-made production and the most historic […]
BMW Z4 M40i
A self-confessed convertible lover and not having driven one in quite a long time, I had felt the whole summer that something was amiss. My longing came to an end when I managed to get my hands on a 2023 BMW Z4 M40i. I’ve always liked the Z4. Its long bonnet, compact “derrière” and wide […]
