Hasta La Ideas

Complete your look with these favorite vintage timepieces culled from online watch boutiques

With the launch of their editorially-driven online shop, Park & Bond not only became the most recent retailer to adopt the “curated’ approach, but with it introduced a vintage watch store that makes it easy to find that ultimate man’s accessory. Here we highlight our favorites from the crop of statement-makers they debuted today, along with some others we’re currently coveting from similarly great resources.

Park & Bond

Park & Bond’s perpetually rotating inventory of vintage timepieces are chosen primarily by “a gentleman who lives, breathes and sleeps watches,” explains Divisional Merchandising Manager Brooke Cundiff. Working side by side, the top-secret buyer and Cundiff seem to know what they’re doing; Breitling’s 1970s Navitimer ($5,500) is one of our all-time favorite vintage watches. Beautifully-designed dials feature a circular slide rule and multiple rings of numbers for timing and calculating, and the colorful hands give it a subtly sporty edge. The 1950s LeCoultre ($8,495) 3 register chronograph has an uncommon dial with raised dots at the hour marks, lending a functional detail for a dressy watch with a twist. Rolex’s late 1960s GMT Master ($7,150) has a bi-colored bezel that brings all of the fun without crossing into gimmicky territory.

Herr Judit

From the 19 watches currently stocked by Stockholm’s Herr Judit, we were drawn to the Zenith and Omega dress watches—the crisp dials of the two brands’ post-war dress watches can’t be beat.
From the ’60s-era Omega that has an Italian leather band (€3,500) to a steel Zenith two-tone from the ’40s (€3,500) and a 1950s Omega with an elegant black clock face and genuine lizard leather band (€3,200), these are all classics without an overly antique look.

Matt Singer

Former Jack Spade designer Matt Singer has a natural talent for scouting classically masculine and American military-style watches that are easy to wear, and look just as good in the office as they do on the weekend. Due to his keen eye and lower price points, his stock often sells out fast, like the Helbros manual wind chronograph ($985) that has a 30-minute register and lizard leather band. The others that caught out attention are a 1951 Omega Seamaster featuring a Swiss-made 17-jewel movement ($975) and a 1966 Benrus black dial manual wind military watch with the serial number and date engraved on the back ($475).

Extensive car porn from the most prestigious annual automotive weekend

Pebble Beach is to vintage automobiles what the Superbowl is to football and Art Basel is to art fairs. The group of events, anchored by the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, include shows, auctions and races each presenting the most celebrated works of automotive design and engineering. Drawing collectors, racers and enthusiasts from all over the world, we felt it was about time to see what this weekend is all about.

Thousands of cars and tens of thousands of fans provide an incredible opportunity to see some of the most beautiful and most innovative examples of automobile design. Driving around town is a sensory overload, with whiplash-inducing head turns to see everything from an Ariel Atom 3 to a pristine 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible. It’s also an increasingly important event for auto manufacturers, many of whom introduce new cars, offer test drives of new models, and premier concept cars. Many of the events differentiate the years by hosting specific makes, models or celebrating anniversaries, and this year was no exception. We covered many of the activities and captured more than 2,500 images. Here are some of our favorites.

The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari’s America and Superamerica models, Pre- and Post-War Racing Cars, Post-War Sports Cars, Super Cars, and Sports and Racing Motorcycles. The 1952 Glocker/Porsche Roadster was one of our favorites.

A highlight at The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was seeing so many Jaguars on the track celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the E Type.

Getting up close with the beautiful cars at the auctions—from barnyard finds to impeccably restored rarities of all types—provides unlimited fantasies of ownership. Favorites from The RM and Gooding & Company auctions included a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT and a 1956 Volkswagen Karman-Ghia.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which takes place on the celebrated 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links, is arguably the world’s most prestigious vintage automobile show. Each year 200 cars are selected to participate. This year’s focus included Stutz, Jaguar E-Types, Ferrari GTO, early Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts and Italian Motorcycles. We were there as the cars were driven onto the fairway at sunrise—an opportunity to not only see these vintage beauties actually drive, but also a chance to see the incredible pride, passion and focus of their owners.

All photos by Josh Rubin. More after the jump.

Solitary Arts’ Geoff McFetridge-designed skateboard now available for a limited time as a deck

Solitary Arts‘ first and most popular skateboard to date, Big Red, is now available for a very limited time as a standalone deck. The board, inspired by a thrift store find in San Francisco years ago, mimics the plastic banana board cruisers of the ’70s, but with a contemporary feel. Made with seven-ply maple and updated with a slight concave and an upturned nose, the board hits eight inches at its widest for the perfect cruiser style while still being totally skateable.

Rad screen printed graphics by Solitary Arts’ co-founder Geoff McFetridge, combined with the footprint-shaped custom grip, guarantee it will look just as sweet on your wall as it will under your feet. Previously only available as a complete setup through Solitary Arts directly, you can now pick up the deck itself for only $50 through Huckberry, the recently-launched flash sale site that features guest buyers for each collection of goods. This round, picked by CH contributor Mike Giles, is available only through this Thursday, 18 August 2011.

Our rare look inside three of Ferrari’s most exclusive facilities

After making the trip to Maranello, Italy to check out Ferrari’s new Jean Nouvel-designed production facility and restaurant a year ago, we were lucky enough to be invited back for this year’s World Design Contest in July 2011.

This time we toured the amazing V8 production line again, but also had the rare privilege of seeing many of the standout cars in Ferrari’s extensive vintage collection, as well as getting an exclusive glimpse inside the
FXX, Forumula 1 Clienti, and
Classiche garages.

The FXX garage houses and maintains a few dozen independently-owned Ferrari FXXs, the $1.8 million non-street-legal versions of the Enzo. These superior limited production cars are significantly modified specifically for racing. Storing your FXX here gives you access to Ferrari’s private track—so private we weren’t even allowed to photograph it.

Every year Ferrari produces between three and six Formula One race cars. At the end of the season, Ferrari keeps one, putting the rest up for sale to private clients. Like for owners of the FXX, with the Formula One Clienti garage you get storage, maintenance and access to the track—providing you have the funds of course.

For the classic car connoisseur, Ferrari also offers complete factory renovation and restoration assistance in their Classiche garage. Here the brilliant craftspeople will restore your vintage Ferrari to its former glory. Every little detail is remanufactured to its original specs in order to receive a proper Ferrari seal of authenticity.

For more exclusive images from our trip check out the gallery below.

All images by Evan Orensten

The obscure (Hamilton Woodtype Museum) meets mainstream (Target).