March 29, 2024

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.

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Apple Watches, Before the Apple Watch

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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.

Learn More: Here

A Transformer with More Clockwork, Fewer Explosions

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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.

Learn More: Here

100 Fractions of a Second

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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.

Learn More: Here

An Updated Favorite from Vacheron

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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).

Learn More: Here

The Man Making Old New Rolexes Old Again

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Through a painstaking process, Jeremy Davis modifies new Rolex Submariners to create homages to rare timepieces from the brand’s storied past.

Learn More: Here

Found: A Vintage Rolex OysterDate 6694

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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.

Buy Now: $2,886