The Watch News You Missed This Week

The watch industry is awash with too much news to cover. Each week, we’ll break down everything worth knowing. This week: Stan Wawrinka wins the US Open with an Audemars Piguet on his wrist, Seiko unveils a limited-edition Hi-Beat and a look at the upcoming TAG Heuer Autavia.

Wawrinka Loves the Royal Oak

If you follow tennis, you’ll know that Stan Wawrinka won the US Open after beating Novak Djokovic in three straight sets. What you may not know is that he did it while wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore on a custom-made pink rubber strap. Wawrinka’s been known to wear the Offshore before, and we have to give him props for wearing something considerably heavier than Rafael Nadal’s featherweight Richard Mille.

Seiko Sees the Sunrise

Seiko has announced a limited edition of its Hi-Beat GMT, supposedly meant to evoke the sunrise over Mount Iwate, the mountain visible through the windows of Grand Seiko’s workshop in Iwate Prefecture. The dial on the SBGJ021 comes in a deep burgundy, with a light radial pattern shining through. Meanwhile, the rotor, visible through the transparent case back, is now made from titanium and tungsten, and is oxidized to achieve a gradient of blue, purple, orange and yellow colors.

A First Look at the New Autavia

Hodinkee got a sneak peak at the prototype for the upcoming TAG Heuer Autavia reissue this week, and it seems the new watch will be pretty beefy: 42mm in diameter and 15.6mm thick. Still, love for ’60s chronographs is strong in the watch community, and you just don’t see enough panda dials anymore. Expect it to be a favorite when the fully finished version debuts at next year’s Baselworld.

Shinola Comes in Like a Cannonball

Shinola continues its relentless Americana vibes with a 1,000-piece limited-edition “Canfield Cannonball,” inspired by America’s great railroad pocket watches and, apparently, “Wabash Cannonball,” the 19th-century folk song that may or may not be about a fictional train that carries a dying hobo’s soul to the afterlife.

A Wearable Worth Wearing?

Cupertino’s second go at the Apple Watch brings a whole lot of improvements, including a new operating system, water resistance and GPS. It might be worth taking seriously, especially considering Apple was second in worldwide watch sales in 2015, falling only to Rolex and leaving Fossil in third and Omega in fourth.

Found: Heuer Autavia “Jo Siffert”

Not digging the direction of the new Autavia? Might we suggest the real article, this beautiful panda-dialed and blue-accented “Jo Siffert” version from the 1970s?

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