By Jovan Krstevski
Goodness, another addition to the Tiffany & Co.’s timepiece collections for the East West line of watches… if you are a big fan of this watchmaker then you will be glad about this new watch. Hmmm, it preserves its heritage yet subtly adds new interesting stuff such as a bigger case (to make it look more masculine ??) and a new automatic movement… of course, this is what makes it more interesting since the previous ones run on quartz. Now if you are a fan of the classic ones, fret not because the designers still took the old goodies from the previous timepiece design like the unique rotated dial layout and of course the use of high-quality materials to ensure maximum precision construction that emboldens the Tiffany & Co.’s watchmaking tradition. So without further ado, here goes the rub.
The case of the new Tiffany & Co. East West Automatic 3-Hand Watch is rather big for its desired use which is undeniably for fashion. Pardon me but I do like like fashion although in a different way as for this watch, well let us say you will like it if you are more an outgoing person and you fancy indoor styles. Moreover the 46.5mm x 27.5mm case indeed wears more masculine compared to the previous 42mm x 25mm case of the quartz version released in April 2015. This size also makes it water resistant to 30m which somehow begs the question of whether it is alcohol resistant too, party watch remember? Nonetheless, it does look edgy particularly the horizontal running bezel and the inconspicuous lugs. The crown also looks very manly if you look at it from the side but its thin appearance on any other angles makes it rather boring, although just perfect for its intended design. In short, I’m just saying that it’s great.
As for the dial, well one word, classic. It sports smaller updates yet in unison they yield a more refreshed look. Available ones are in blue or white on a radial guilloché finish with gold or silver powdered numerals. It’s undoubtedly stylistic and personally, I like the white version since with the right set of clothes, it merely blends in the background, that’s the power of black and white design folks. The general appeal of the watch is vintage yet it keeps its trendy impressions. If you say that the hands of the watch are held, well think again, the blued sweeping seconds hand is new plus its size is apt for its main design. I also like that the timepiece sports sapphire crystals for both the front and caseback with the front crystal featuring a multi-layer, uncolored anti-reflective treatment. The caseback ensures plenty of vantage point for the much-decorated movement powering the watch.
Down to the new movement, the TCO 2558 movement based on the Sellita SW1000 automatic movement is a far cry from the quartz models. You’d want a new one just for this I tell you. It has a 4Hz frequency which is capable of running three hands (additional seconds hand) and can also last for over 40 hours, that’s quite remarkable for an automatic. Now compare that to the quartz models that only display hours and minutes plus the unforgiving ritual of one day running out of power, although it does take almost forever to run out.
The watch comes on a versatile and stylistic alligator strap and is priced at $4,750 for the stainless steel version and $12,000 for the 18k rose gold version. For more info, please visit tiffany.com
