Description
Watches can be totemic. For Joel in the game and HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, his watch is a reminder of the life he had (and lost) and now found again in Ellie, his young charge. This year, Watches & Wonders took it back to the basics – gone were the overtly technical novelties of yesteryear and in their place, timepieces grounded in the evergreen classics of watchmaking’s first golden age. Check out our coverage of the fair from p. 36 to 55, paying special attention to Rolex, Cartier, Tudor, TAG Heuer and Zenith. Special mention has to be made for Parmigiani Fleurier as the brand continues its rapid ascent, building upon its momentum from the last edition of the watch fair after a significant stall. Furthermore, nothing goes better with emotional introspection than whisky, we cast our eye on Glenrothes – no longer than overwhelming peaty tipple but something more nuanced (p. 70) and then there’s Royal Salut (p. 72). We got realistic about staycations as well, so many of us spend them in Orchard Road which fails to live up to the vacation part of the term, so we recommended The Outpost Hotel (p. 80) As Joel continues to seek his “Tao” in his stewardship of Ellie, our cover star Xu Bin (p. 108) has already found his. Having left Fuzhou at a young age for Singapore, his “hero’s journey” is one shaped by Jin Yong’s wuxia, and he knows that even if he enjoys a modicum of success now, his journey of learning is only just beginning.
