Editor’s Note: This year, instead of making out wish lists, the Revolution editorial team played secret Santa to one another. Here’s what Editor-at-Large, Ken Kessler dreamt up for Australia & Asia Editor-in-Chief, Adi Soon when he picked his name out of the hat.
Adi’s never hidden his love for Grand Seiko, so it’s appropriate that he has the first of the breed, but not the 57-year-old original; instead, he deserves this year’s Grand Seiko “re‑creation”, the company’s homage to the model that started the Seiko high-end line. But which update would work best for a representative of Revolution? It has to be the version in platinum, with 18K gold hour markers and the in-house 9S64 manual-winding caliber, which has been adjusted to an even higher level of precision than the norm for this edition, to a chronometer-worrying −1 to +5 seconds per day.
As Wei and Bruce are paying for this, why not allow Adi to wallow in the glory of a Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Mérite”, the pinnacle of A. Lange & Söhne’s achievements? This is the fifth in the series that dates back to the tourbillon of 1994, the key to the brand’s rebirth. Adi loves Lange as much as he loves Seiko, so it’s only right that the best of each brand finds space in his watch safe. Just as the Grand Seiko gives him a time-only three-hander, this affords the opposite sensation, that of a plethora of complications, including the super-rare fusée-and-chain transmission, tourbillon, chronograph, rattrapante function and a perpetual calendar. That should keep Adi busy, while those around him watch It’s A Wonderful Life.
At under £900 in the UK, the terrific Farer Beagle watch represents a new genre — that of a wholly classical, purely mechanical watch that won’t break the bank, yet which has horophile credibility thanks to its ETA 2824‑2 movement. (Normally, watches at this level get a Miyota or a Seagull. Not that they’re bad, but Adi has an image to maintain.) What this watch will provide are two things that the Lange and Seiko cannot. The first is that it’s inexpensive enough to serve as a “beater” — that is, a watch you can wear all the time, knock it about and still enjoy its purity without paranoia. No matter what anyone says, however wealthy they may be, nobody can chill out when wearing a watch costing $50,000 or more. The other thing about the Farer? It will remind Adi that out in the real world, normal people wear watches like this. We all need the occasional reality check.
