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.
