Category: News

It will be a while before I can look at a Boldr without becoming sad that the incredibly fun Pokémon collection is an Asian exclusive. Come on Boldr, let me buy a Pikachu! However, something we can buy are the new watches in the Boldr summer collection, which consists of the Venture Field Medic Lagoon Blue, Venture Rally SRW and Venture Fuel Blue.

All three watches have 38mm cases in titanium with the signature tonneau shape of the Venture. At that size in titanium, they’re incredibly lightweight and durable, which is perfect for their tool and field watch design. I know plenty of people who prefer some weight in their watches but if you’re out and about, staying active all day, then a lighter watch makes a dramatic difference. It’s worth noting that the three cases aren’t completely identical. One version, the Rally SRW, has a black PVD coating and the Fuel Blue is the only non-chronograph so it has its crown in a different position to the other two.

It’s the same story when it comes to the dials. They’re broadly similar with some key differences. First is the Field Medic Lagoon Blue, based on the original Field Medic model that was released during the 2020 pandemic. It’s designed for use by frontline doctors and features pulsometer and asthmometer scales which allow you to use the chronograph function to calculate the pulse and respiration rate of a patient. For the summer edition, it now has light blue chronograph counters, which is where the name Lagoon Blue comes from.

Second up is the Venture Fuel Blue which is the time and date model sans chronograph. The reason it’s called Fuel Blue is pretty obvious as the entire dial and NATO bracelet are in a colour called petrol blue. Although the bigger mystery is why a blue-green tone is named after petrol in the first place – nobody knows the answer, although it’s speculated to be related to paraffin. It’s the most understated of the summer watches as it’s the only single colour reference.

Lastly we have the Venture Rally SRW, which is actually a watch made in collaboration with Boldr’s brand ambassador Daniel Wells, an Australian rally driver. The watch’s name features the initials of Danial’s firstborn daughter, Sophie Rose Wells. It’s also no accident that the watch is being launched now as it follows in the wake of Danial’s near-fatal crash last year and is a sign of support celebrating his commitment to recovery and growth. The watch itself has a black dial with light blue and grey accents across the chronograph hand, counters and tachymeter.

Beneath the surface of the trio are two movements. The chronograph models both use the Seiko SII VK64 meca-quartz movement while the time-and-date model houses the Seiko SII NH35A automatic. It would be nice to see a fully mechanical chronograph join the collection at some point, but the Seiko meca-quartz is great if you’re strictly looking at quartz. And the NH35A is solid with its 41-hour power reserve and great value.

When it comes to value, the Field Medic Lagoon Blue is £241, as is the Rally SRW. The Fuel Blue is slightly higher at £273. Of the three, I like the Field Medic the most, the combination of the pale grey and blue looks good, and its scales make it the more unusual of the three. But any of them make for a great summer watch, accessible, colourful and ready for adventures with their titanium cases.

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Campfire Audio Trifecta “Astral Plane”, $3,375 (approx. £2,800)

Campfire Audio produce handcrafted earphones for discerning audiophiles. This is the latest edition of the Trifecta, which features earphones made from clear nylon tinted blue that reveal the three internal, gold-plated, 10mm ADLC diaphragm dynamic drivers. The triangular configuration creates a performance enhancing acoustically tuned chamber to create a surprisingly rich and massive sound from such a small piece of technology. Limited to 333 pieces

Available at Campfire Audio.

Bang & Olufsen Beosystem 72-23 Nordic Dawn, £550,000

The Bang & Olufsen limited edition Beosystem 72-23 Nordic Dawn is designed to connect music listeners from 1972 to 2023, hence the 72-23 designation. It achieves this by combining a traditional vinyl music system with digital streaming. It comes with a pair of Beolab 28 speakers, a Beosound Core, Beolab Transmitter units, Beogram 4000c and dedicated birch storage cabinet. It has a light, rosy colourway inspired by Scandinavian sunrises. Limited to 100 pieces,

Available at Bang & Olufsen.

Sonos Era 300, £449

The Sonos Era 300 is Sonos’ latest generation of smart speaker designed for spatial audio. What that means is it houses six drivers that direct sound right, left, forward and up, creating the impression of a multi-directional system with a single compact speaker. Multiple Era 300s can also be paired together to create a genuine surround sound experience. In order to achieve this depth of sound and quality Sonos collaborated with Dolby Atmos.

Available at Sonos.

Riverside HiFi

Imagine being able to walk into your home and pressing one button on a touch panel or on your mobile device to control your audio/visual equipment, air-con/heating, lighting, blinds, CCTV and more. Riverside HiFi have over three decades of experience making dreams like this a reality. Whether you’d like a stereo system, home cinema room or your tv hidden in a cabinet that only appears when you turn it on. They also work with client’s interior designers in all areas and can offer a full installation service along with home surveys.

Available at Riverside HiFi.

Qobuz

Qobuz are a music steaming platform available on desktop and mobile dedicated to curating a complete audio experience for audiophiles. As  such, in addition to producing their own music- centred magazine, they utilise the highest quality  audio files possible for the 100 million+ songs they have available, so that you can listen to them the way the artists and recording engineers intended. Plus, with their download purchases system, you can own still own your music collection and tailor it to your preferences. From £10.83/month,.

Available at Qobuz.

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It’s getting tricky to start an article about a new Farer watch without talking about how colourful and British they are. Fortunately, Farer are clearly cognizant of the plight of watch journalists and have given us something new to talk about with the Palmer GMT, one of their most minimalist designs to date. In their own words, it’s ‘almost Bauhaus’.

To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the idea of a watch being ‘almost Bauhaus’ for a while now and the conclusion that I’ve reached is that it’s actually an incredibly accurate way of describing the watch. Individually, the elements of the watch have nothing to do with Bauhaus but they’re all adjacent to Bauhaus concepts.

Take the colour palette for example, the Palmer GMT has a white dial, a teal GMT scale and an orange minute scale. Each of those colours is a variation on the signature colours of Bauhaus, which are yellow, blue and red. It might be a stretch to call white a variation of yellow but if you make it pale enough then it will eventually become white, so it almost works – hence almost Bauhaus. The same thing can be seen in the shape language being used. The signature shapes of Bauhaus are the triangle, circle and square and the Palmer GMT is circular with baton indexes and triangular seconds and GMT hands. Again, not a perfect match but close enough that the correlation can be seen.

In terms of the watch’s structure, it has a 39.5mm diameter case made from stainless steel with a round crown featuring Farer’s logo in bronze. It’s a design you’ll be familiar with if you know the lovely Lander Midnight GMT, Which makes sense as both watches are technically part of the same collection. Although with the differences in the dials they feel more like cousins than siblings.

Under the surface is housed the SW330-2 Top Grade automatic movement. Between the Incabloc anti-shock system and the 56-hour power reserve it’s a really solid calibre and one that’s well suited to extended periods of travel, which is the GMT specialty. In fact, the watch is named after a famous historical traveller and explorer Edward Henry Palmer, who was known for his exploits in the Middle East during the late 1800s.

The Farer Palmer GMT is a limited edition of just 150 pieces, at a price of £1,225. At that price and availability, I wouldn’t be surprised if it sold out quickly. The minimalist angle is different enough from traditional Farer designs to make it interesting to existing Farer fans while also appealing to collectors who aren’t ready to take the plunge into the glorious colour wheel of Farer’s other watches. It’s a tried and tested methodology, it’s why their naturally subtle models like the Endeavour are constantly sold out.

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Everyone says that the watch industry moves slowly and while that’s true to a certain extent, there’s no stopping the relentless march of trends and what’s popular among collectors. A trend I’m noticing in 2023 is the proliferation of titanium watches. It makes sense, titanium is the perfect material for wristwatches being both lightweight and durable. The latest watch to be reimagined in the robust metal is the Oceaneva Deep Marine Explorer II Titanium.

What makes the Deep Marine Explorer II a great watch regardless of the material it’s produced in is its value for money. This is a watch with 1,250m water resistance for less than £500. If you’re serious about swimming with your watch but can’t justify the cost of an Omega Planet Ocean or Sea-Dweller then the Deep Marine Explorer II Titanium is a serious proposition – especially as the titanium makes it much more wearable and corrosion resistant.

Aesthetically it keeps pace with the watches of Omega and Rolex too, which is no accident as it’s inspired by the iconic dive watches of the 20th century. The brushed titanium looks good, as does the broad bezel, smooth lugs and crown guards. In terms of size, it’s 42mm in diameter, which is standard for dive watches as it allows the watch to feature a strong, water-resistant construction and a thick bezel while also having a wide dial for legibility. Plus, the Oceaneva Deep Marine Explorer II Titanium is lightweight, so it’s easy to wear for most people.

Speaking of the dial, there are multiple versions to choose from – 16 to be specific. It sees the return of fan favourites from the existing stainless-steel model such as the blue-black gradient, Mother of Pearl, full green, yellow, and an opaline silver with two-tone bezel in black and blue. Whichever colourway is your favourite, it comes with lume filled hour markers in hyper legible circle, rectangle and triangle shapes. The different shapes are designed so that you can still read the time in the dark even if the watch is at an odd angle.

Picking a favourite colourway is difficult. The two-tone bezels are nice, but I personally prefer them on GMT watches rather than divers. I think I would have to say the yellow as it’s the most vibrant of the bunch and I tend to consider it a good colour for diving watches as it contrasts with the water. That’s the same reason orange is popular on professional dive watches like the Doxa Sub 300.

Beneath the surface of the Oceaneva Deep Marine Explorer II Titanium is the Sellita SW200-1. It’s an automatic movement with a power reserve of 38-hours and a calibre that’s used in more watches than I can count. A real staple of the watch industry, although it could probably use a spruced-up power reserve.

The Oceaneva Deep Marine Explorer II Titanium is limited to 1,000 pieces per colourway. Which is celebrated through the “Limited Edition” inscription on the flange opposite “Helium Escape Valve”. As for price, it’s available for pre-order now at $499 (approx. £390), which is absolutely insane value for a titanium watch with 1,250m water resistance.

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There has been a real renaissance in British watchmaking over the past decade with many British brands reaching wider audiences than ever before. Studio Underd0g and Christopher Ward are having great success in the region of popular, accessible watchmaking. When it comes to haute horology and luxury, bespoke timepieces though, you need to be looking at Garrick, who have just launched the latest generation of their Regulator watch from 2018, the new Garrick Regulator MK2.

At the outset, it’s important to note that Garrick work on a made to order basis. What this means is that they produce less than 80 watches per year but each and every one is developed and built in-house to the customers’ specifications. In short, Garrick watches are almost entirely customisable, and the customer can choose from a huge range of finishes, dials and colours, making the watches pictured here the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Garrick Regulator MK2 can actually look like.

Naturally, some of the core aspects of the watch are set in stone, such as the 42mm stainless steel case. The case itself has a smooth, round shape that flows naturally into relatively long lugs. At 3 o’clock there’s an oversize crown with pronounced grip in what’s known as an onion crown style, a nod to Garrick’s love of British nautical heritage. Completing the design of the case is the sapphire crystal with AR coating that protects the dial.

Then we get to the dial, which, as the name of the watch suggests, has a regulator display with hours, minutes and seconds each having separate indicators. The hours are on a subdial at 3 o’clock, the minutes are central, and the seconds are off set at 10 o’clock. Regulator watches were designed to replace the concept of a master clock, that being a very accurate clock that all other timepieces in a house or workshop would be regulated from.

It reminds me of a puzzle about a man who was trying to set the time on the clocks in each room of his house, moving from room to room. He set them all to 2 o’clock but when he put all the clocks in the same room afterwards, they each showed a different time. How could he set each of the clocks in their respective rooms but make sure they all tell the exact same time? The solution was for him to buy a wristwatch that he could carry with him to each room and check the clocks in relation to that instead. The Garrick Regulator MK2 would’ve saved him a lot of trouble.

However, there’s more to this dial than the regulator time indicators because at 6 o’clock is an open-heart aperture that reveals the Garrick Trinity balance. It’s the beating heart of the watch, adding an impressive visual element to the piece. It’s also part of the wider UT-G02 automatic movement with 45-hour power reserve and accuracy of +/- 5 seconds per day.

So, the case, the display and the movement are the core features of the Garrick Regulator MK2 but beyond that almost everything is customisable. Perhaps the most obvious aspect of this is the dial, which can be virtually any colour from black to green to crimson. There’s also a variety of finishes available such as guilloché waves or frosted. Similarly, the hands can be polished, grained or heat-blued. In fact, even the finishing on the movement can be customised with gold, silver, rhodium or black frosted designs. In short, the Regulator MK2 is a complete chameleon with any number of these bespoke elements totally changing the character of the watch. And with so few being produced, chances are high that yours will be unique.

All that leaves is the price, which can differ depending on your custom choices with the frosted dial variant at £11,994 and the guilloché engine turned dial at £13,194. Considering the amount of high quality, in house finishing and bespoke elements, that’s a pretty reasonable price. If I were to order one, I think it would be the green guilloché with polished finishes for a vibrant aesthetic – got to lean into that British brightness.

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The Oris Divers Sixty-Five is, at least in my mind, one of the coolest retro divers on the market at the moment. With its slim profile and 40mm sizing it leans into the skin diver aesthetic beautifully. Admittedly there are more hardcore dive watches out there if you actually want to go diving as the Oris only has 100m water resistance – enough for a quick dip in the pool only. But if you wear it as a desk diver designed to look good on land, it really comes into its own. Plus, doing so opens up a wide variety of straps that you could wear it on. With this in mind, here are some of our favourite alternative straps for the Oris Divers Sixty-Five from French Maison Jean Rousseau.

Vintage Brown Calf, £130

The Vintage Brown Calf from Jean Rousseau is the closest in style to the dark brown leather strap that the Divers Sixty-Five comes on. It works particularly well with this model thanks to the gradient brown dial and bronze bezel. The primary difference between this strap and the Oris original is that the Oris has black sides while the Jean Rousseau maintains a nice brown leather colouration.

Completing the look of the piece is the vintage texture that makes it look aged. It also has white stitching across the top and tip in the style of vintage straps. That vintage aesthetic pairs beautifully with the retro vibe of the watch.

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Alligator Camouflage Green, £320

Well, this combination is definitely one of the more daring choices, as a patterned alligator strap always will be. However, I think it works quite well. The darker black and green tones mirror the black bezel while the tan portions are almost an exact match with the vintage style beige lume. It really helps to make the hour markers stand out, they feel brighter and more impactful to the overall piece.

Compared to the Vintage leather straps, the Alligator is a bit thicker, with slightly more padding and a noticeable taper from 3.5mm at the strap head to 2.5mm at the pin holes. The main benefit of the added thickness, beyond being comfortable to wear, is that it makes the scale pattern more prominent beneath the camo.

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Rubber 3.5 Camel, £190

If you’re looking to be active with your Divers Sixty-Five, the Rubber 3.5 Camel is an excellent choice. It’s kind of the halfway point between a leather strap and the robust, waterproof Atlantis strap [LINK TO: https://oracleoftime.com/picking-the-right-material-for-your-summer-watch-strap-with-jean-rousseau/] in that it has the style of the former but is made from rubber like the latter.

It’s the epitome of a strap that’s suitable for any occasion as you wouldn’t even be able to tell that it’s rubber without touching it. Speaking of, to the touch it’s very soft and flexible while having that slight grip that’s common with rubber. It makes it well suited to more strenuous activity as you know your watch will stay firmly in place, while looking good at the same time.

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Vintage Green Calf, £130

In terms of structure and design the Vintage Green Calf strap is identical to its brown sibling that we looked at earlier. However, what makes it an intriguing prospect is the colour. Unlike the various shades of brown or dark tones that make sense on a surface level for the watch because they mirror colours already present on the piece, the rich green here sits in contrast to the watch.

Picking out a strap that contrasts with the watch can be a great way to change the character of the watch or emphasise different qualities. For example, the cold tone of the green accentuates the warm tone of the brown. Plus the brown and green combination gives it a really earthy vibe that I like.

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NATO Green Cordura, £190

NATO straps are most commonly associated with field and tool watches due to their history in military environments as well as their durability and water resistant properties. Those are also properties that make them an ideal alternative strap for the Oris Divers Sixty-Five. The Jean Rousseau NATO Green Cordura is the perfect example with its characteristic NATO loops and one piece construction – NATO straps are one of the few strap designs that pass between your watch and your skin.

Speaking of touching the skin, this strap has a leather lining so that it remains super comfortable to wear at all times. It’s a slight deviation from traditional NATO style but one that works.

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For more like this, check out our articles on alternative straps for the Tudor Ranger and Omega Speedmaster.

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Thanks to The_Other_Shazbot on Reddit for sharing that the G-Shock DW-6600PC-5 displays a large red “G” when the LED backlight is activated, like some of the original DW-6600 models did with their EL backlights in the 1990s. It is a little different, as the LED backlight of the new DW-6600 models has a white color […]

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Excerpts from the upcoming “G-SHOCK” book by Ariel Adams were recently published on his website aBlogtoWatch. The book appears to have a new cover in place of the more colorful one that was initially shown. The excerpts include part of the introduction, writing on the history of G-Shock (which doesn’t appear to have been published […]

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As we mainly cover new releases at G-Central (starting in the mid-2010s), there isn’t much content here about older discontinued models from the 1980s-2000s. Fortunately, there are other sites out there with an abundance of retro G-Shock information that is useful to collectors and fans wanting to explore the past. G-Peopleland and 50 Gs Renowned […]

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The gray G-Shock GA2100CA-8A featuring a subtle camouflage pattern on the dial is currently available for $49.99 at the BrandsMart USA website (link below). That is nearly 50% off the MSRP of $99. (You need to put the item in your shopping cart to see the price, unless you are a member. Shipping is available […]

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