Issue 33

REVOLUTION DIGITAL

Celebrating the Machine with a Heartbeat

REVOLUTION DIGITAL4 min readMedical
Founder’s Note
I have to admit, I got it wrong. When the outbreak of COVID-19 was first announced, I thought in an overly cavalier way that it would be limited to Asia, that it was primarily an issue that had affected and yet was being contained by China, and that
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
Contributors
A US ex-pat who retains a north-of-Boston twang despite living for years in the leafy British countryside, Ken is one of the best-known names in watch journalism. He is also an audio expert who has written four books on luxury hi-fiand also knows a t
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Fears Watches Joins Great Britain Campaign
The Fears Watch Company has announced its partnership with the UK Government’s GREAT Britain campaign. This ambitious international initiative aims to unite the public and private sector to generate jobs by promoting creative industries, start-up fir
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min read
Editor’s note
Welcome to the Armageddon issue of Revolution. As I write, the UK is two weeks into the virus lockdown. Nobody knows when this will end or how many lives will be lost, but it is absolutely certain that the impact will be massive. You don’t need a deg
REVOLUTION DIGITAL1 min read
Revolution Digital
EDITORIAL FOUNDER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Wei Koh EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Richard Holt richard@revolutionmagazines.com EDITOR, REVOLUTION ONLINE Sumit Nag sumit@revolutionmagazines.com SUB-EDITOR Catherine Koh & Eileen Sim LIFESTYLE EDITOR Yong Wei Jian weijian
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Grand Seiko Celebrates 60th In Style At New London Boutique
It was a great party, made all the more memorable by the fact that it was the last public event that most of us attended before the world changed. On a Thursday night just before everyone began withdrawing from contact ahead of the full virus-induced
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
New Museum Plays Omega’s Greatest Hits
Groups of visitors from around the world, back when such a thing was still allowed, were treated to a tour of Omega’s new museum in Cite du Temps, Swatch’s headquarters in Biel, Switzerland. The museum building was designed by Japanese star architect
REVOLUTION DIGITAL1 min read
Tag Heuer Launches Third-gen Connected Watch
Five years ago, TAG Heuer set the watch world aflutter with the first Connected. We knew Silicon Valley would make smartwatches, but this one was from a proper watch company. As you would expect from TAG Heuer, they went about it full steam and the t
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Congratulations To The Class Of 2020
Acouple of issues back, Ross Povey wrote about how the Manchester-based British School of Watchmaking (BSoW) was tackling the serious lack of UK-based watchmakers by training students to help plug the ever-growing gap in the UK workforce. Support for
REVOLUTION DIGITAL1 min read
Spike Lee Among new Rolex Arts Mentors
The award-winning film directors Spike Lee and Phyllida Lloyd are among four new mentors announced for Rolex’s 2020-2021 Arts Initiative. Malcolm X director Lee has chosen to work with Kyle Bell, 33, from the United States, the protégé in the Film ca
REVOLUTION DIGITAL16 min readFashion
The Great Innovator — The Incredible Six-year History Of Bvlgari’s Iconic Octo Finissimo
Sometimes, it takes the world a moment to fully understand genius. This was clearly the case during the first Impressionist exhibition when, upon viewing Monet’s now iconic Impression, Sunrise, the humorist, critic and clearly something of a moron, L
REVOLUTION DIGITAL1 min read
Down In the Valley
HAIR: CHRISTVIAN GOH USING KEVIN MURPHY MAKEUP: ZOEL TEE USING NARS COSMETICS ASSISTED BY EDWIN CHOO MODELS: EMILY STRECKIES / AVE AND NICLAS GONZALES / MANNEQUIN ■
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Bremont Ambassador Scales New Heights
Here is some advice from the wise from anyone worried about the unfolding coronavirus restrictions. “The way some people are talking, it’s as if the world has ended. But if you go back to basics, you can live off very little. We are human, we have ad
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Timeline
2014 In 2014, Bvlgari unveiled the first Octo Finissimos, with an ultrathin hand-wound movement that was just 2.23 mm thick, housed in a platinum case. It also presented a tourbillon caliber, that measured just 1.95mm thin. The Octo Finissimo Tourbil
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Auto
Hamilton’s wartime history gives a snapshot of how watches – and the world around them – changed in a few short years. An early 20th century Hamilton newspaper advert showed a railway engineer holding a pocket watch with the slogan “The Watch of Rail
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Jaeger-lecoultre Master Control Date
Among the most admired ranges from the great houses, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Control collection is, for this hack, one of the most elegant and understated. Launched in 1992, and kept relatively intact, it sees a relaunch in 2020 of four models, wit
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min readFashion
Sky Captain And The Cartier Of Tomorrow
When it comes to the modern wristwatch, few have had as much impact as Cartier’s stylistics. The earliest and well-known example of a #watchonmywrist would have to belong to the rakish Alberto Santos-Dumont, the dashing Brazilian aviation pioneer who
REVOLUTION DIGITAL8 min readFashion
Porsche Design Watches Part I: The 20th Century
Uniquely among watches associated with cars, this third entry in our series differs from Bugatti and Ferrari timepieces in that the automotive connection was, initially, only a shared family name. The roots of the watches have nothing to do with the
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min readFashion
60 Years Since Grand Seiko Put Japanese Watchmaking On The Map
There is no doubt that 1960 was a big year at the start of an even bigger decade, characterised by intermingling swirls of free love, the civil rights movement and military misadventures. The first year of the Sixties saw a young John F Kennedy elect
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
When The Stars Align
The Constellation is just about as storied a name in the annals of watchmaking as one could hope for. Launched in 1952, the Constellation collection is one of the oldest in Omega’s stable of already legendary collections, and throughout its long hist
REVOLUTION DIGITAL7 min readFashion
The Tag Heuer Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition
Jack Heuer writes in his autobiography, The Times of My Life, that in January of 1962, having lent the organisers of the race a handful of Heuer pocket watch chronographs with split seconds, he was invited by the Sports Car Club of America to attend
REVOLUTION DIGITAL6 min readFashion
The Game Change – Lvmh Watch Fair In Dubai
The man who spoke of the desert’s potential most eloquently, T.E. Lawrence, is renowned for saying, “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dr
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min readFashion
WHISKY HOUR: HAKUSHU 18 & BVLGARI OCTO FINISSIMO
Hakushu hails from Suntory’s Hakushu Distillery (pronounced hack-shoo, meaning “white sand bar”). It stands 2,300 feet above sea level – more than twice the altitude of Scotland’s highest distillery – in the shadow of the pale granite pyramid of Moun
REVOLUTION DIGITAL11 min readFashion
Skeleton Crew
The enjoyment of a mechanical watch can take many forms; for some it is the meditative, quotidian ritual of winding and setting the time. Others enjoy the private pleasure of a display caseback, a sequestered window into the heart of the movement tuc
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min read
It’s Hip To Be Square
They say that it isn’t easy to reinvent the wheel, but what about the square? For Bell & Ross this has been a singular pursuit since the introduction of the now-iconic BR Instrument series, which seemingly created the square watch trend overnight. Fa
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaithe Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater
The Octo Finissimo has always been, since its inception, a pot still that distills the raw mass of innovation from within Bvlgari’s watch division, into a fine eau de vie. It’s undeniably handsome and sophisticated, whether simply to admire or to don
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaicloser Look: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo In Steel
At luxury conglomerate LVMH’s first-ever watch fair, held recently in Dubai, Bvlgari came out shooting with their absolutely stunning new Octo Finissimo in steel, and it’s poised to become the new darling of the integrated bracelet set. At first blus
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaicloser Look: The Zenith Defy 21 Land Rover Edition
In 1983, Land Rover created one of the most famous multi-purpose vehicles in history: the Land Rover 90 and its companion, the elongated 110. These unstoppable automobiles became the benchmark utility vehicle for cruising all over the British islands
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min readFashion
Smooth As Silk
Christian Selmoni is keen to emphasise the influence that women have on Vacheron Constantin. “The feminine watches in our archives are incredibly important,” the brand’s Style and Heritage Director stresses. “They are proof of our links with women go
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaiintroducing The Zenith Defy 21 Carl Cox
When watch brands develop collaborations with music personalities, it’s typically with those in specific genres, say jazz. But Zenith has never been one to conform to industry norms, and with its latest music partnership — DJ Carl Cox — CEO Julien To
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min readFashion
Ahead Of The Curve
As a fashion house in a watchmaking world, Louis Vuitton differentiates itself as a virtuoso of newness, a king in creating and harnessing novelty. That expertise clearly drove its latest haute horlogerie watch, the Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon, a
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaimade Of Stardust
Gold is one of the rarest metals in the world, its beauty admired across the globe and cultures that span the entire of documented human history. In fact, all the gold you see today is truly stardust, the result of a cosmic collision of black holes o
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min read
The Heart Of Breguet
In the last few months, Breguet has been dishing out excellent timepieces. After the reference 5395 and Marine Dame models, it offered up a beautiful Type XX in steel with a chocolate dial and domed crystal, faithful to an original model from the 195
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
Lvmh Watch Week Dubaithe Big Bang Turns 15
The year has just begun, but LVMH’s watch division has wasted no time releasing its first wave of novelties in Dubai. Among the novelties announced, Hublot’s Big Bang Integral is, no doubt, one that garnered a lot of attention. The Big Bang is not on
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min read
An Improved Skelet-one
The Grande Seconde has been a Jaquet Droz design staple for centuries and remains a cool representative of the brand, one that crosses design paths from classic to contemporary. When the brand introduced the Skelet-One in 2018, a skeletonised and mod
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
Blancpain’s Rhapsody In Blue
The small town of Villeret, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland is where Blancpain was founded some 285 years ago, in 1735. And while modern day Blancpain operates between Le Brassus and Le Sentier, Villeret still holds an important place in the heart
REVOLUTION DIGITAL8 min readFashion
La Grande Dame
The Seiko company was first founded in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori as an importer of fine quality watch and jewellery products, and post-incorporation in 1892, Mr Hattori soon began to develop Japanese watchmaking, believing that the country’s craftsmen
REVOLUTION DIGITAL8 min readFashion
Gem-set Day-dates: The Complete Guide
In the first installment of this two-part speed-walk through the fascinating world of Rolex Bling we pressed our noses against the glass of the King of Chronos, the mighty Daytona and the ways in which it’s been lifted beyond mere timing instrument (
REVOLUTION DIGITAL2 min readFashion
The 21st Century Men’s Watch
In 1989, when Harry Winston first ventured into the realm of high watchmaking, it did so with a big splash and bold move — a perpetual calendar with a bi-retrograde display, one that thoroughly changed how the complication had been presented on wrist
REVOLUTION DIGITAL18 min read
The Making Of A New Old-stock Watch Part 1:the Rolex Gmt Officially Certified Chronometer (occ) Pcg 1.60
First and foremost, let me begin by emphatically stating that this story has nothing at all to do with Rolex, which I consider to be one of the greatest watch brands in existence. Rather, it is a story about vintage watch collecting and the dangers i
REVOLUTION DIGITAL4 min read
Linear Progression: How The Linear Display Came To Exist
When designs appear both old and new together, there is a term for it: retro-futurism. This is not the remembrance of times gone by but a past impression of a possible future; a nostalgia for anticipation if you like. When it comes to information dis
REVOLUTION DIGITAL4 min read
Interview: Christian Knoop
You have really made your mark at IWC, but is it true that you had no background in watch design before joining the company? Yes, that’s right. I have been at IWC for around 12 years and it was actually my first job in the watch industry. Before that
REVOLUTION DIGITAL6 min read
The Brightly Glowing History Of The Panerai Luminor
Paneristi, those doughty devotees of Italy’s most famous military timepieces, can rattle off a number of reasons why they love the brand. Not least is that Panerais are among the most distinctive, and therefore recognisable watches on the market, the
REVOLUTION DIGITAL6 min readFashion
Revive, Relive, Remaster
It goes without saying that the people manning the Heritage Department at Audemars Piguet are big on history. Not just history of watches, per se, but history in general. We’ve previously spoken to Michael Friedman, AP’s Historian, a bibliophile who
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min readFashion
Introducing The Zenith X The Rake And Revolution Chronomaster Revival Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl”
In the pantheon of watchmaking’s most iconic watches, many have received nicknames that eternally link them to famous individuals, a material or even a shape. Take, for example, names such as Paul Newman, Jo Siffert, Padellone, Bronzo, Batman… Just t
REVOLUTION DIGITAL9 min readFashion
Call Collect: Mark Cho
MOOREIf you tell Mark Cho, founder of the menswear atelier The Armoury, that he’s a bona fide style icon, he’ll deny it with his usual modesty. Even so, what cannot be denied that in the 10 years since he first opened shop in Hong Kong, is that he an
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min read
The High Art Of Watchmaking
For such a highly technical watch company, do people find it surprising to see a watch with “Sport” in the name? “This is a very exciting piece for us, but it is not necessarily something people would expect Greubel Forsey to do. We are known for com
REVOLUTION DIGITAL5 min read
Man About Monaco Town
Horologically, when quality and rarity collide, the resulting timepiece will inevitably end up in the inventory of Monaco-based watch dealer Corrado Mattarelli. A well-known, dapper and highly influential figure on the international watch scene, Matt
REVOLUTION DIGITAL3 min read
The Gentleman Racer
Tom Howard had a belief in the power of shared images before Instagram existed, and long before he was able to make a career out of it. While he enjoyed a successful career in retail, first with Tesco and then Ralph Lauren, Howard was quietly posting
REVOLUTION DIGITAL8 min read
Pedal To The Mettle
You’ve shown incredible resilience coming back from crashes and Epstein-Barr and the mental effects that being out of competition must bring. What are the most important things when it comes to recovery, both physical and mental? The hardest thing ha

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