Skip the waitlist: win an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 50th Anniversary and support kids in hospital
Jamie WeissWaitlists are for suckers. What isn’t for suckers, however, is contributing to charity – especially one that helps sick kids. Enter Toys for Hospitalized Children, which is holding its fourth annual luxury watch raffle. Time+Tide is proud to be a supporter of Toys for Hospitalised Children: we’ve covered this raffle for the last three years, and this year’s edition has perhaps the most exciting prizes yet.
As you may have guessed from the title of this article, the grand prize is an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding 50th Anniversary (ref. 15510ST.OO.1320ST.04). Released in 2022 to celebrate the iconic luxury sports watch’s half-centenary, it features a 41mm case, three hands, a khaki green dial and a limited-edition, 50th anniversary automatic rotor. In short, it’s quite a hot version of quite a coveted watch. Even if you were on the waitlist, it’s not available any more, making it an even hotter property.
For 2024’s raffle, there’s also a pretty banging second prize, too. Recognising that previously they’ve only offered a single men’s watch as a grand prize, this year, Toys for Hospitalized Children is also offering a two-tone, diamond-bezel Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas as the second prize in the raffle.
Founded in 1953, Toys for Hospitalized Children is a particularly worthy cause that “brings happiness and healing to children grappling with illness and loneliness,” gifting iPads, toys, and educational games to promote therapeutic play and aid relaxation. Their motto – “happy kids heal faster” – explains it all. “To a sick child, a toy is much more than just a gift – it’s a gesture of love,” they explain. “It uplifts fragile spirits and boosts morale.”
A ticket in the raffle costs US$56, with larger bundles also available. The donor of the AP is hosting the drawing party at his house on Long Island on Saturday, September 7th, with Toys for Hospitalized Children to livestream the party and the actual raffle on Instagram. You have just over a month to get a ticket, so get amongst it if helping out sick kids and potentially scoring a hard-to-get timepiece sounds like something you’re interested in. Enter the raffle and find out more here.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Jamie and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: T-fat
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Thankfully all my fat goes straight to my hips, so I’ve never needed to let out the micro-adjust because my wrists have got too pudgy. Maybe thankfully is the wrong word…
Wristshot of the week: globetrotting
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World time watches have been on my mind lately – I recently spent a week wearing a Chopard L.U.C Time Traveller One Black for a review – and lo and behold, this arrives on my Instagram feed. It must be fate. This is a first-edition Andersen Genève Worldtime “Communication” dating back to the early 1990s, which has aged very gracefully. Svend Andersen is particularly famous for his world timers, and this was his very first under his own name: boasting cornes de vache lugs and a broad city bezel, it’s powered by an F. Piguet Caliber 9.51 base with an in-house world timer module. Lovely stuff.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Nivada Grenchen Chronosport
A reimagined jewel from the 1970s, the Chronosport is a reissue of an extremely limited vintage Nivada Grenchen model. Originally, only ten pieces were produced, making it a rare treasure for collectors and a must-have for those who appreciate vintage elegance. One of the most notable elements of the Chronosport is its dial, which features an eclectic subdial layout and a design by Jean Singer, a legendary name in Swiss watchmaking known for iconic creations like the Omega Speedmaster Racing, Heuer Skipper and most famously, “exotic” or Paul Newman-dialled Rolex Daytonas. Available with either white or cream Super-LumiNova, it’s available now for pre-orders from the Time+Tide Shop. Price: A$3,990.
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
The underappreciated history of Mido, and where it stands today
As a member of the Swatch Group catering to mid-level price brackets, Mido can get unjustly overlooked. None of its watches are technologically revolutionary, but they’re not exactly cheap either, so what exactly is the draw? How come Mido has pockets of soaring popularity in certain countries, even outselling Tissot, Grand Seiko, and Patek Philippe in Mexico? Well, the brand has a history of its own before the Swatch Group, and it’s one that asserts its reputation for quality, value, and design. Buffy dives into Mido’s history.
Learning about the madness of Magic Gold at the Hublot manufacture
Hublot’s Magic Gold purports to be the world’s first-ever scratch-resistant gold – something which seems too good to be true. So what is it, and how does Hublot produce it? I had the chance to visit Hublot’s manufacture in Nyon, Switzerland earlier this year during Watches and Wonders to discover exactly how the brand makes this magic material – as well as put its properties to the test. Follow along with me.
Have modern Omega dress watches been slept on for far too long?
A recent Omega novelty within the Paris 2024 special collection sent Zach spiralling down a rabbit hole, leaving him with the question: why did we all celebrate the Rolex 1908 when we have long overlooked modern Omega dress watches like the De Ville Tresor? Zach argues the case for Omega’s dress watches.