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Originally a low-key, perhaps even boring, vintage remake, the Commander 1959 Pixel Dial livens things up with a vibrant array of blue, purple, and pink squares printed on the black dial. The new Mido departs from our usual focus on higher-end mechanical watchmaking, but at a little over US$700, it combines affordability, good-enough quality, and fun. The blue and pink squares are actually Super-LumiNova on matte black, creating a striking illuminated pixel dial in the dark. The dial is housed in the classic Commander 1959 case characterised by a “Milanese” mesh bracelet, flat bezel, and domed acrylic crystal, which evokes an unmistakable mid-century aesthetic that contrasts with the funky pixel dial. Initial thoughts Several of Mido’s recent releases, including the Ocean Star Decompression Timer 1961, combine inject vibrant colours and details into vintage-inspired designs. The new Commander 1959 continues this with its unmistakably 1950s-style case paired with a modern dial. Despite the dial’s array of colours, legibility is excellent thanks to the wide hands and markers. The Pixel Dial is a simple iteration of the original, and consequently remains affordable at US$740. Like many other watches in the same price range made by Mido’s parent Swatch Group (which also owns Tissot and Longines amongst others), the Commander 1959 is equipped with the Powermatic 80, a no-frills, economical movement that nonetheless provides an impressive 80-hour power reserve. Pattern...

A year after being tapped to head the LVMH Watch Division, Frédéric Arnault has been named the next chief executive of Loro Piana. Mr Arnault will assume the top job at the Italian maker of clothing and shoes in June 2025. Loro Piana is synonymous with “quiet luxury” for its emphasis on materials, restrained colours, and discreet branding, but it has become successful enough that the Loro Piana look is ironically recognisable while its trademark Summer Walk boat shoes have become footwear’s equivalent of the steel Rolex Daytona. Though only 18 months long, Mr Arnault’s leadership of the French group’s watch brands saw a management renewal across all its three brands, namely TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith, as well as the announcement of a group-wide strategy for movement industrialisation and production. The period has also been a challenging one for the watch industry, with a sustained pullback in demand for watches that peaked during the pandemic. According to insiders, Mr Arnault also played a leading role in sealing the decade-long sponsorship deal with Formula 1. His ascension to the top job at Loro Piana part of succession planning at LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group. Mr Arnault’s successor at the watch division has yet to be announced, but his predecessor at Loro Piana, Damien Bertrand, will move onto the deputy chief executive job at Louis Vuitton.  

We would all love to have an unlimited watch budget, but that’s not the case for most of us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some hypothetical fun and select the watches we’d buy with €10K, €20K, and €30K. On today’s episode of Fratello Talks, Nacho, RJ, and Lex run through their picks at […] Visit Fratello Talks: The Watches We’d Buy With €10K, €20K, And €30K to read the full article.

For all my love of complicated watches with obtuse use-cases, few things could be better than a creative mechanical solution that makes life easier.

Hamilton is no stranger to working with creative teams behind movies to produce imaginative watches. Now, with the introduction of the Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition, the brand has a watch appearing in an upcoming video game. It’s a fusion between a traditional tank and a futuristic techno-apocalyptic creation. This watch is most definitely […] Visit Introducing: The Hamilton Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition to read the full article.

Space travel-themed watches tend to stir up excitement, whether a timepiece has spent actual time in space, or is just inspired by the concept. A new collaboration between Italian watchmakers Unimatic and creative horological studio Massena LAB called the U1-SPG “NASA Artemis” Limited Edition, however, is one of the few space-inspired watches that wears NASA’s signature.  As the hefty name suggests, the U1-SPG “NASA Artemis” pays tribute to the ongoing NASA Artemis campaign; the next launch is the Artemis II mission, scheduled for April 2026. As the first crewed venture to the moon since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, the Artemis campaign is understandably drumming up excitement in the scientific community and beyond.  The U1-SPG “NASA Artemis” immediately announces its presence with a 40mm stainless steel case coated in vivid orange Cerakote-an anti-corrosive and durable material used in the aerospace industry.. This particular hue of orange matches that of the SLS rocket to be used in the Artemis missions, adding a touch of authenticity to the palette choice. The mono-directional safety bezel and screw-down crown are additionally coated in charcoal-black Cerakote for a sharp contrast that is furthered by the matte black dial.  Coated with “Old Radium” Super-LumiNova, the beige hour markers, numerals, and hands-along with the old-school NASA logo above the 6 o’clock position-add to a retro-futuristic dial design that UNIMATIC foun...

Nalla Neram is a new brand established near Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and launched by a passion-driven watch aficionado, Krishnamani Raman. After a long career in multinational companies across different industries, his love for watches brought him to launch his indie brand. His intention is not just to present another watch, but to infuse his creations with […]

Sowind Group's Girard-Perregaux named Marc Michel-Amadry as Managing Director as the Laureato-maker looks to recharge sales.

I’ve always had a bit of a thing for character watches. I know they’re divisive, but a character watch - whether it be a ridiculously expensive Spider-Man AP or a cheap quartz Armitron with a basketball-playing Bugs Bunny on the dial - can help create a shockingly profound connection between a watch and its wearer and be (when done well) a fun reminder not to take watches too seriously. I’ve owned a lot of character watches. Many of my earliest and most favorite childhood watches, if they weren’t Timex Ironmans, were character watches, and even today, I still find myself picking up a character watch here and there, though they rarely stick in my collection for very long. Most find their way to their next owners as gifts - a vintage Snoopy tennis watch went to my mother, while the aforementioned Bugs Bunny Armitron now sits on my younger brother’s wrist most days (though, much to my annoyance, he pointedly refuses to put a battery in it). Still, most of the character watches I’ve owned over the years have found their way into the trash or were lost in various moves or purges because, for as delightful a thing as character watches are, most aren’t that good, at least as watches. To generalize wildly, most character watches I’ve owned have felt, at best, transient and, at worst, disposable (admittedly, I’ve never owned an AP Spider-Man watch, so I can’t speak to that experience). Still, my love for the concept remains, and when a watch comes along t...

From the mind of George R. R. Martin, "In the Lost Lands" stars Milla Jovovich, Dave Bautista, and a very complicated Blancpain watch.The post George R. R. Martin’s “In the Lost Lands” stars one of Blancpain’s most complicated watches appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

As winter winds down and we say goodbye to the cold, we’re celebrating the changing seasons with our End of Winter Sale at the Windup Watch Shop! It’s the perfect time to upgrade your wrist game with some fantastic timepieces at unbeatable prices. Whether you’re looking for something rugged, refined, or just downright stylish, we’ve got a range of watches that will have you ticking into spring with a smile. Don’t miss out on these limited-time discounts-winter may be leaving, but the deals are still here! The post End-of-Season Sales in the Windup Watch Shop appeared first on Worn & Wound.

The limited edition run offers a tribute to past and future spaceflight in a very orange package.

Moon exploration has been a source of inspiration for generations, back in the 1960s with the Apollo Program. Of course, things stopped in 1972, but mankind is once again on its way to step foot again on the Moon’s surface, as NASA is preparing the Artemis program. Intended to reestablish a human presence on the […]

An iconic brand and beloved video game designer team up for this new, futuristic release.

Breva Geneve is reborn this year and unveils a new collection: the Segreto di Lario with a movement created by Jean-François Mojon.

The world time complication makes its debut in the Planet Ocean family with these two unapologetically large watches. The post Omega introduces a worldtimer function to the Planet Ocean line appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Slightly overlooked and possibly in the shadows of the classic Seamaster Diver 300M, the Planet Ocean is the most capable collection of dive watches in Omega’s range, comprising models from 600m up to 6000m water-resistance (without counting the all-mighty Ultra-Deep that survived the Mariana Trench). Born in 2005, it will be celebrating its 20th anniversary […]

Omega’s Deep Black series is a sub-collection within its Seamaster Planet Ocean line. The watches all have a 45.5mm brushed black ceramic case with a 600m depth rating. Today, the brand from Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, adds two new references to the four current ones by introducing the popular worldtimer complication. You have the choice between versions […] Visit Introducing: The New Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer In Deep Black With Turquoise Or Gray Accents to read the full article.

I was recently watching a video on the excellent 5 Watt World guitar channel on YouTube. Host Keith Williams discussed catch-and-release guitar collecting as a way to enjoy the hobby. This makes a lot of sense for guitars as each has a different feel and sound, triggering different playing. You could even argue that you […] Visit Making A Case For Catch-And-Release Watch Collecting to read the full article.

Primarily vintage-inspired, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was given a modern makeover with the first “Tech” model launched in 2023. Now Blancpain follows up with the Fifty Fathoms Tech Ocean Commitment IV. While retaining the same lug-less case, the latest model is more compact and streamlined than its Tech predecessor, though it’s still 45 mm in diameter. And it features an “absolute black” dial - coated with a substance that absorbs 97% of incident light - ensuring maximum contrast for the luminescent hands and block-shaped hour markers. Like earlier Ocean Commitment editions, which were all vintage-inspired, this watch will help support the Blancpain’s marine conservation efforts, specifically the Blancpain x Sulubaaï Marine Research Center in Palawan, Philippines. Initial thoughts The new Fifty Fathoms Tech offers notable refinements over the earlier Tech Gombessa edition from two years ago. While the oversized, 47 mm Tech Gombessa was designed primarily as a specialised diving instrument, making it arguably too large for everyday wear, the new model adopts a more conventional dive watch dimensions. At 45 mm, it’s still large but more manageable, improving its wearability. The “absolute black” dial is also an interesting upgrade that makes sense in a dive watch given the need for legibility. While Blancpain doesn’t specify the details of the dial coating, it appears to be similar to Vantablack and other blacker-than-black coatings used by other ...

Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve seen some of the guys pick favorites among some of the best vintage watches on the market for less than €5,000. I set them out to complete this task, so it only seems fair that I join in. Today, I’ve scratched the surface of the vast selection of […] Visit Fratello Favorites: The Best Vintage Watches Under €5K - Nacho’s Picks From Breitling, Omega, And Doxa to read the full article.

The story of Citizen goes as far back as 1918, and the first pocket watch bearing the name was introduced in 1924. Today, the brand is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its flagship collection, The Citizen. It was introduced in 1995 as a line that is committed to the fundamental functions of a watch: “accurate […]

Ben and Cara host a casual event at a legacy retailer in Connecticut.

Last year, one of the most intriguing watches I had a chance to handle was Havid Nagan’s debut, the HN00. I spent a few weeks with it right around the time brand founder Aren Bazerkanian was promoting his second release, the HN01. Now, another year later, and Havid Nagan is back with their third effort, the Classic One. The new naming convention speaks to just how different the Classic One is from its predecessors, and reflects the brand pivoting and changing in real time. In speaking with Bazerkanian, however, it’s clear that those shifts reflect a deep confidence in his own vision, and not merely commercial practicality.  “About two years ago, I found myself digging deeper and deeper into the vintage market,” Bazerkanian explained to me, when asked about the inspiration for the Classic One. “Namely, I was very interested in learning about vintage Patek 96 references, Urban Jurgensen, and Parmigiani Fleurier.” The Classic One, as the name implies, evokes classic dress watches like the ones mentioned by Bazerkanian, and many others. The 38mm case is just 9mm tall, making for an ideal wearing experience that isn’t exactly “vintage” in feel, but it’s adjacent to it. The case construction and finishing is very much that of a modern watch, with sharp transitions and clearly defined lines.  But it wasn’t just vintage watches on Bazerkanian’s mind when he set about to create the Classic One. “My wife and I had welcomed our daughter,” he told me, “...

As we will see in a few days in an interview we have done with the recently appointed director of Schwarz Etienne, Florian Brossard, the independent watchmaker is about to open a new chapter in its history, with revamped collections and great ambitions to meet with the incredible capacities of this manufacturer, one of the […]