The absolute classic that is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was launched around the time of the quartz crisis and here was a steel watch at the same price as a gold watch with a rather controversial design. It was simply bad timing and it was in fact a failure upon launch, even to the point where some employees were rumoured to have been given one to boost numbers. But, Audemar Piguet kept investing and marketing the watch and of course it is now a modern day classic!

Living in Australia, snorkelling and diving is in our blood. Taking a deep breath and dive down to see what’s hiding under the coral is a fun thing to do. If you’ve done this yourself, you know what it does to your ears. One of the first things you have to master when learning to dive even a couple of metres down is the skill of equalising the pressure in your ears. Imagine then what kind of engineering has to go into a device that can withstand such pressure!

There is a classic Top Gear episode where James May reviews a Honda Civic. Paraphrasing, he says something along the lines of, “if you come out of a grey office and have to go to a marketing conference on the latest tissue paper, that little red starter button might be THE thing that makes not want to drive into a wall.” 

The Hanhart Pioneer Monoscope is no ordinary watch. This is a watch with heritage. And, it has a red button.