Toys

Toys

Lamborghini Temerario

Raging against the dying V10 light

The new Lamborghini Temerario – named after a Spanish bull that fought in the arena of Madrid in 1875 – is a crucial model for Lamborghini, designed to take over the super sports car baton from the Huracán.

The Huracán is nearing the end of production with a full order book. Nearly 30,000 units of the baby Lamborghini have been sold. Its design, crafted by Filippo Perini, has aged well, so the new Temerario, while different, is not a radical departure. It retains Lamborghini’s historic hexagonal design elements, with a curvier, less edgy twist by the current Design Director, Mitja Borkert.

While Lamborghini claims the new car revs to 10,000rpm, it downplays the fact that EU emissions regulations forced it to adopt a twin-turbo V8 with a hybrid battery, abandoning the iconic V10. With 907 horsepower, the Temerario can hit 210 mph and accelerate from 0-62 mph in just 2.7 seconds. A true super sports car. The shrieking V10 of the Huracán is now consigned to Lamborghini’s history books and directly onto a drive-before-you-die wish list of Lamborghini lovers.

The cabin of the Temerario mirrors…

Toys

Jaguar Type 00

A new dawn

In the last four weeks, between the multimedia campaign, the new logo and the partial reveal of the Type 00, Jaguar has probably been in the news more often than in the last four years put together. The dramatic change of direction taken by the brand has divided opinion not just in the UK, but […]

Toys

Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Carbon SR_A by Samuel Ross

The “art of fushion” meets “social architecture for the body”

The thirst for ongoing innovation by Hublot combined with the creativity of Samuel Ross when it comes to materials and forms has resulted in the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Carbon SR_A. In this, the latest collaboration between the Swiss luxury watch brand and the international artist and designer, technical and aesthetic boundaries have been pushed […]

Toys

Watches & Wonders 2023

Confessions of an English watch-writer

“So, what have you seen?” was the stock-in-trade small talk, working the hallowed, beige-wash halls of Watches & Wonders (W&W). However, this year, it took less than a morning for, “I’ve only seen the massive queue” to become the stock-in-trade punchline. Unpractised, post-pandemic hiccups in people-processing aside – and with full awareness of how ‘first-world […]

Toys

Black and Blue

The pitfalls of modern-day formal men’s wristwear

Things used to be simple when it came to dress attire – a dinner suit, traditionally in black and accessorised with a slim, precious metal three-hander just peeping from under a perfectly starched cuff. Not anymore. A cursory glance around the awards’ season red carpets quickly reveals that an old-school penguin suit just won’t cut […]

Toys

Time Is a Jewel

The gems that stole the show

As one would expect, all kinds of creations, innovations and variations were revealed at Watches & Wonders 2023. New materials, new technologies, new designs… one could not stop taking notes and writing down article ideas while queuing to access Palexpo. At the risk of sounding superficial, I chose this year to focus on jewelled timepieces. […]

Toys

Standing ovation

Watches that take the plaudits at W&W 2023

Watches & Wonders 2023 has been a great show for the main maisons. Patek Philippe had new versions of the ref. 6300 Grandmaster Chime, Vacheron Constantin produced another wonder in their Cabinotiers series, and Roger Dubuis introduced a new idea into its hyper horology universe with some justification, re-thinking the tourbillon and micro-rotor winding system […]

Toys

Bovet 1822 Virtuoso XI

Naked beauty

There is an art to producing a skeleton watch, and the new Bovet 1822 Virtuoso XI is a pure expression of that art. The trick is to remove sufficient material to enhance the aesthetics and completely show the inner workings, while still keeping the movement robust enough to function. Take away too much metal from […]

Toys

IWC Ingenieur 40

Form und Technik

Launched in 1957, the IWC Ingenieur was always intended as a technical watch, named after engineers for engineers. But it was not until Gérald Genta designed the reference 1832 – released in 1976 – that it took on a modern form. The 1970s were a decade of change in many ways and in terms of […]

Lifestyle, Toys

Her Time

Omega Celebrates Women

Although ladies wristwatches date back to the mid 19th century (coincidently, Omega’s founder Louis Brandt started making watches in 1848), it wasn’t really until the early 1900s that women who were not from the upper-classes began to wear watches, which kick-started mass-production and the development of a complete new sector in the industry. By this […]

Toys

Mercedes-AMG SL 55 4MATIC+ Roadster

Some like it hot, very hot

I feel very privileged that my job allows me to drive dozens of wonderful cars every year, but by the same token, it takes a lot to impress me, let alone make want to chain myself to the car when it’s time to return it after my testing period; but that is exactly what happened […]

Toys

Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa

Seventy Years of Ocean Commitment by Blancpain

Belabouring the hoary old puns declaring that watches are “all about timing”, it is timing that graced Blancpain with not one but two matters to celebrate with the latest incarnation of the Fifty Fathoms. 2023 marks both the 70th anniversary of this pioneering diving watch and the 10th anniversary of Gombessa, an environmental project that […]