The January-February 2019 issue of WatchTime hits newsstands (and our online shop) today, with highlights including a review of the IWC Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun in Ceratanium; historical features on the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk; an in-depth overview of Longines’s Heritage Collection; a profile of master watchmaker Francois-Paul Journe on the occasion of his eponymous brand’s 20th anniversary; and more. Read on for details…
- IWC has outfitted its popular split-seconds chronograph equipped pilots’ watch with a new scratch- and shatter-resistant case made of a high tech material called ceratanium. Jens Koch tests this recently launched model from IWC’s Top Gun collection in “The Hard Way,” featuring original photos from WatchTime’s Nik Schölzel.
- The thinnest mechanical timepiece with a stopwatch function is the fifth world record to be held by Bulgari. The Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic is an automatic chronograph with peripheral rotor, column wheel control, classical horizontal clutch, and a practical time zone function. Martina Richter examines this “Multifaceted” watch, and Olaf Köster provides original photography.
- For the photo essay “Race Back in Time,” we took seven classic watches to Germany’s Oldtimer Grand Prix 2019, one of the most popular vintage car racing events in the world, pairing up models from Rolex, TAG Heuer, Tudor, and others with race cars from the likes of BMW and Porsche.
- First launched in 2000, the Chronomètre à Résonance became an essential part of Francois-Paul Journe’s quest to create “the link between the golden age of horological science and contemporary watchmaking.” In the profile “In Sync,” Roger Ruegger takes a look back at how the French watchmaker became the first to master the phenomenon of resonance in a wristwatch.
- The vintage-look trend continues apace, and one watch brand has devoted an entire family within its portfolio to resurrecting timepieces from its long and creative history. Mark Bernardo explores the origins, inspirations, and varied offerings from “The History Channelers” of Longines’ ever-expanding Heritage Collection, including some rare insights from Longines CEO Walter Von Känel.
- Two iconic models get the WatchTime historical treatment this issue. WatchTime Middle East editor Nitin Nair contributes “A Digital Decade,” a retrospective of A. Lange & Sohne’s iconoclastic timepiece, the Zeitwerk, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019; while Jens Koch’s “The Birth of the Divers’ Watch” examines Blancpain’s invention of the Fifty Fathoms and its rotatable dive-time scale in 1953.
- WatchTime New York 2019, the largest yet in our annual series of watch collector events, is celebrated in a special insert, with full event coverage and photos and showcasing each of the record 37 sponsoring watch brands and their highlight timepieces.
- Plus: a review of the Tissot Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80 Silicium; a roundup of new rose-gold dress watches; a Q&A with A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid on the new Odysseus collection; a review of Patek Philippe auction highlights from Christie’s; and much more.
- You can buy the issue here for $8.95.
