The watch industry is awash with too much news to cover. Each week, we’ll break down everything worth knowing. This week: Steve Jobs’s old watches are up for sale, TAG Heuer releases a very precise chronograph and MB&F launches a new time-telling robot.
Apple Watches, Before the Apple Watch
Earlier this year, a nondescript quartz Seiko owned by late tech giant Steve Jobs and worn in the iconic photo of him with the first Mac computer sold at auction for $42,500. Now, two more watches owned by Jobs are also going up for auction — another quartz-powered Seiko as well as an 18k gold Baume & Mercier, both dating to the early ‘80s. Bidding is currently live online, with the final auction to be completed on September 23.
A Transformer with More Clockwork, Fewer Explosions
MB&F, known for its avant-garde and sci-fi-inspired timepieces, has partnered with Swiss clockmaker L’Epée 1839 to create Balthazar, a 40-centimeter-tall clockwork robot. The bedside clock has two sides: a “light side,” with a happy-looking robot face and a chest with jump-hour and continuous minute discs telling the time; and a “dark” side, that features a skull and a dual-hemisphere moonphase indicator.
100 Fractions of a Second
TAG Heuer has unveiled the newest version of its impressive Mikrograph — a mechanical chronograph capable of recording times at an incredible 1/100 of a second. Its clean white dial was inspired by the original Mikrograph stopwatch invented by Heuer in 1916.
An Updated Favorite from Vacheron
Vacheron Constantin has been making its Chronograph Perpetual Calendar watch since 2010, but it has recently gotten an overhaul that includes a new dial color, as well as an updated caliber that’s thinner and runs at a quicker 3Hz (the last was 2.5Hz).
The Man Making Old New Rolexes Old Again
Through a painstaking process, Jeremy Davis modifies new Rolex Submariners to create homages to rare timepieces from the brand’s storied past.
Found: A Vintage Rolex OysterDate 6694
Davis’s vintage-inspired Submariners are certainly a great alternative to owning ultra-rare, ultra-expensive vintage Rolexes. But budding collectors looking for something more entry level can find real-deal vintage Rolexes at low prices all day for a fraction of the cost of a Tempus Machina.
