Latest watch news · Page 306

IWC Schaffhausen continues to expand its “Colours of Top Gun” series with the latest Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert. This new iteration introduces a compact, sand-toned variant to the series, a colour normally found in large watches. Drawing inspiration from the arid terrain surrounding the U.S. Navy’s China Lake testing facility and the […]

Whenever I visit Paris, I try to stop by the Merci store on Boulevard Beaumarchais. It offers such a surprising palette of brands that you don’t often see in other stores. I also appreciate the variety of products, like clothing, stationery, and household items. Another thing I thoroughly enjoy, of course, is the watch department. […] Visit Merci Instruments Adds A Diverse Quartet To The LMM-01 Collection to read the full article.

IWC’s releases this year are proving something that I’ve always felt was true, but lacked hard evidence: if you’re patient, the watch you’ve always wanted will one day appear. Perseverance takes many forms, and there’s no doubt that one of them is telling your IWC sales rep that you’ll actually pass on the Mojave Big Pilot, Perpetual Calendar, and Pilot’s Chronograph, and wait for the simple three hander in a casual, everyday size. Today, IWC announced a watch many in the Worn & Wound office have been attempting to conjure since the very first Mojave watch appeared back in 2019, a limited edition Pilot’s Watch Chronograph measuring in at 44.5mm. The aforementioned perpetual calendar and Big Pilot in the Mojave colorway followed, as did another chronograph in a smaller, 41mm size. But this is the one many enthusiasts, I think, have been waiting for, and it follows a larger trend of predictable (and desirable) iteration within the larger IWC family.  What we have here is relatively simple on its face: the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert takes the tan ceramic IWC has been using in the Top Gun line over the last six years and puts in the most straightforward IWC pilot watch concept of them all. While it’s not technically a Mark series watch (IWC draws a distinction between the Mark line and their more experimental, ceramic dominated Top Gun pilot’s watches) the form factor and principle here are both similar. The 41mm case measures a com...

Move over Darude. IWC just dropped a new (smaller) Sandstorm.

Patrick Aoun takes over as head of the Longines brand amid a downturn in China sales.

Looking back at the history of watchmaking, there are some inevitable names to be mentioned: Abraham-Louis Breguet, John Harrison, Thomas Mudge, John Arnold, Antide Janvier, Jean-Marc Vacheron and Christiaan Huygens, just to name a few. Moving up North, in the city of Copenhagen, to be precise, we have to talk about one of the most […]

If you’ve opened Instagram or TikTok in the last few weeks, there’s a very good chance you’ve seen the “Propaganda I’m Not Falling For” trend served up to you in one way or another. The format is relatively straightforward, and involves a creator listing the sacred cows in his or her particular area of expertise that they refuse to buy into.  The watch community, of course, is filled with conventional wisdom, ideas passed from collector to collector, rarely if ever questioned. As I encountered these social media clips over the last week, I couldn’t help but think of the watch world propaganda, as it were, that we all just seem to take at face value.  Here, then, are four principles I think are ripe for questioning. There are a lot more – credit here to Ben’s Watches and Pulse on the Wrist for being first out of the gate among watch industry personalities to participate. Be sure to let us know in the comments what watch related propaganda you refuse to accept.  A Vintage Watch Must Be Unpolished and All Original  Let’s get the most controversial one out of the way first. When I started collecting watches, it was an era when it was still relatively easy and straightforward to buy a nice, honest vintage watch on eBay for not a lot of money. Times have changed. The best examples, watches that are truly unpolished and all original, are harder and harder to find, and eBay is filled with watches that have been passed around and sold by pro dealers and amat...

For those with a little more cash to splash, here are some more bastions of great value from big and micro brands alike.The post Best watches under $1,000, featuring some bona fide classics and big micro players appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Come help us celebrate the first Hodinkee Magazine of 2025!

For the sixth year in a row, Oris has launched a watch on the anniversary of their founding. The Hölstein Edition watches, which debut each year on June 1, are an opportunity for Oris to celebrate their heritage, release a watch that’s perhaps a little outside the box, and have some fun in the process. Previous Hölstein Editions include an Aquis diver with a bold purple dial, the revival of a classic complication, and, most recently, an unusual and very cool blacked out edition of their classic Divers Sixty-FIve. A throughline through these watches is the appearance of the Oris Bear, and for this year’s Hölstein Edition we get a particularly fun cameo from the brand’s mascot via a fully lumed dial. This year’s watch is a fresh take on the ProPilot, Oris’s contemporary, aviation inspired watch. For this limited edition (as with previous Hölstein Editions, this one is limited to 250 pieces) the stainless steel case has been given an aggressive black DLC treatment. It’s still, of course, unmistakably a ProPilot, with the hallmark fluted bezel and the gently curved 41mm case.  This is much more than a blacked out ProPilot, though. Oris is having a lot of fun with the dial, giving it a full lume treatment that appears white in the daylight and glows green in the dark when the luminescent material is activated. The Arabic numerals, dial text, and hands are all in matte black, which makes the dial easy to read in both well lit situations and, importantly, in the ...

Vacheron releases their first minute repeater in the Overseas Collection with the Overseas Grand Complication Openface. Released on May 13, 2025.

A look at the past, present, and future of spaceflight with the Omega Speedmaster.

Since its debut in 1998, the Bulgari Aluminium collection has challenged traditional watchmaking norms by combining lightweight aluminium with resilient rubber. In 2020, Bulgari relaunched the collection with a design that was faithful to the original series and enhanced according to modern technical sensibilities. In 2023, the brand introduced refreshed chronograph and limited edition models, […]

Although Francois-Paul Journe is best known for his inventions like the Tourbillon Remontoir d’Egalite and Resonance, not to mention the whole suite of Octa models, the Chronomètre Souverain was also arguably one of his brand’s foundational models. This year F.P. Journe is marking two decades of the watch with the Chronomètre Souverain 20th Anniversary, which is essentially the original in new dress – the dial is now dark blue with applied gold numerals. Initial thoughts When the Chronomètre Souverain debuted in 2005 – the same year as the Breguet Tradition that was recently revived – it was novel and exciting; I remember the buzz amongst enthusiasts then. The F.P. Journe brand was barely six years old. The Chronomètre Souverain was then one of the rare few time-only watches from an independent watchmaker, and it had an all-new movement to boot. Today it is less exciting for sure, but the movement remains surprising novel for a basic calibre. As an entry-level watch, the Chronomètre Souverain remains excellent (even if availability is an obstacle). Although the Chronomètre Souverain is the simplest mechanical F.P. Journe watch, the cal. 1304 inside still retains the technical hallmarks of the brand, namely elegant, concise engineering and symmetry. Clever touches include the “invisible” gear train; only the regulator and barrels are visible on the main plate. From its conception, the cal. 1304 was conceived for chronometry. The utility and strength of t...

Breguet appears to be struggling to live up to its reputation as one of the oldest and most iconic Swiss watch brands, but the brand hit the ball out of the park the Tradition collection. And this Seconde Rétrograde is yet another home run.

A solar quartz-powered, military-inspired field watch with specs that pack a punch in an affordable package.The post Vario broadens its range with a new field watch with a twist, the new 1945 A-11S WW2 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

While the invention of the spiral hairspring by Christiaan Huygens in 1675 kickstarted a revolution in terms of portable precision timekeeping, the concept was far from fully developed. It was arguably only with the later invention of the overcoil hairspring that the ideal oscillator in portable watches emerged. For many years horologists - theoreticians and artisans alike - worked to perfect the balance-hairspring assembly to optimise its performance, notably in terms of isochronism. True isochronism became a sort of holy grail for watchmakers all around the world, who all sought to ameliorate the inherent quirks of the sprung oscillator. The recent Breguet Soucription features an overcoil hairspring of non-magnetic Nivachron alloy The need for end curves The quest for isochronism was a true challenge for horologists. Isochronism is the ability of the balance-hairspring assembly the have the same period of oscillation for small and large amplitudes alike. In other words, the balance oscillation takes the same period of time regardless of the degree travelled. This is very important, since a balance usually swings with high amplitude with a fully wound mainspring and then runs at progressively smaller amplitude as the barrel unwinds. As a timepiece is required to keep good time regardless of  its winding state, an oscillator whose period is independent from its amplitude is needed. (Another solution to this is to optimise the energy delivery from the mainspring with a...

I am sure you are familiar with the Oris Hölstein Editions. If not, the principle is simple: Oris introduces a limited-edition watch every year to celebrate the brand’s birthday. This year, the house turns 121, which is certainly a justifiable reason to celebrate. What’s the watch to commemorate this occasion? It’s the Oris ProPilot Hölstein […] Visit Hide The Bear With Oris! - Meet The ProPilot Hölstein Edition 2025 to read the full article.

Our guide to the best Grand Seiko references of the modern era, and why they're so important.The post 14 of the greatest Grand Seikos yet, and why they matter appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Since 2020, Oris has marked each summer with a special release paying homage to its roots in Hölstein, the Swiss village where the brand was founded in 1904. These Hölstein Editions have become an annual tradition, offering something distinct. Whether it was the retro-cool Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph from 2020, the Big Crown Pointer Date from […]

More than a platinum creation with an ice-blue dial, the combination of yellow gold and green is the ultimate expression of Rolex luxury. Luscious and alluring yellow gold dates back to ancient civilizations, and green is the brand’s signature color, often used in a celebratory way, that puts Rolex connoisseurs on high alert. Mix the […] Visit Hands-On: The New Yellow Gold Rolex Daytona With A Green Dial - Don’t Call It The “John Mayer II” to read the full article.

As the Hong Kong auctions have wrapped, we move to the final sales of the spring season in New York City. Phillips will offer a healthy mix of new and old, common and rare, across 144 lots. The sale includes many of the expected top-of-the-line offerings, with the headline lot a Patek Philippe ref. 1518 in yellow gold, and staples like a pair of ref. 5004s. But there are plenty of interesting watches to be down catalog too, including some fresh faces and value buys. Highlights include the best of English watchmaking made by Charles Frodsham a century apart, the auction debut of American independent Keaton Myrick, an unusual F.P. Journe Résonance, along with a Cartier pocket watch made by complications specialist THA. We round up these and a few more from The New York Watch Auction: XII, which takes place from June 7-8, 2025. The full catalogue is available on Phillips.com. Lot 11 – A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph “2022 Best of Show, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este” Since 2012, A. Lange & Söhne has been a sponsor of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, a classic car shown that takes place in spring on the picturesque shores of Lake Como. Each year, the owner of the event’s best car is presented with a unique Lange watch. While past winners have received a fairly conventional Lange 1 Time Zone, the brand upgraded the prize in recent years to a striking 1815 Chronograph. In 2022, the winner was Andrew Pisker with a Bugatti 57 S from 1937. He received th...

I must confess that I am not a big gamer, so I had to brush up on my knowledge of Death Stranding to create a bit more context before putting the Hamilton Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition on my wrist. The watch was created to celebrate the release of the hit game’s sequel. As […] Visit Hands-On With The Futurustic Hamilton Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition to read the full article.

Adding a bit of luminous levity to a black and white design.

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