3-Watch Thursday #59
A Love Letter to Watchmaking, Customisation and Rolex Government/Military dials
Hello team,
Welcome to 3-Watch Thursday #59.
If this newsletter were a person, it would be gearing up for it’s 60th Birthday.
But it isn’t, so it’s not.
Niche British pop-culture references aside, it’s been an interesting week in the world of watches.
Every influencer under the sun was paid by companies to go to Dubai Watch Week.
5-ish years into the hobby and I’m still none the wiser as to what Dubai Watch Week actually is.
That said, this time next year if any watch brands or publications want to send yours truly 👀 *hint* *hint*, I wouldn’t say no.
Anyway, you’re not here to read me pushing my luck with the few people who subscribe to this newsletter.
Let’s dive into this week’s content.
A love letter to timekeeping: How clocks have shaped our world
This week spotted on the BBC (you know that watch media outlet), a piece by Rebecca Struthers on the history of how we’ve kept and measured time.
Starting in the Valley of the Kings in ancient Egypt and running through to the quartz and smartwatch eras, Struthers covers everything you need to know.
For example, the first escapements date to AD1088 in what is now Henan province in China. This can be attributed as the first “tick-tock“.
I’d highly recommend giving it a read here.
The Basics and Beyond: Perpetual Calendar
While scrolling through the depths of the watch internet this week, I stumbled across this piece over on Revolution.
Nico Leonard said in a video recently, that the perpetual calendar is one of the more complicated and highly revered watch movements along with a flyback chronograph.
A really interesting and technically detailed article, thoroughly worth a read in order to understand how a PPC deals with the months and leap years.
You can read it here.
Another Special Double Signed Tudor
This time from breguet_numerals on Instagram with the caption:
I’m excited to share this. A project more than two and a half years in the making, this is a custom Black Bay 58 for Amazon. Conceptualized, designed, and ordered by an outstanding community of watch geeks, it has a diver mascot on the dial with the words DIVE DEEP. A play on words to remember to pay close attention to the details as well as actually using your diving watch for what it is, a capable dive tool watch.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone at @benbridgejwlr that made this happen. An incredible amount of work and passion from everyone there. A special thanks to Shari there of course, who is a saint.
Super stuff! Can’t wait to maybe one day if I’m lucky, see one.
Have the full shot below:
That’s all from me this week!
I’m pondering switching to a monthly schedule in order to pull more and hopefully longer form content together.
At the minute I’m feeling inspired in a photography sense more than in a writing sense, so hopefully more content on Instagram.
Regardless, I’ll keep you updated in due course.
Have a great weekend when we get there.
Owen