Latest watch news · Page 44

Amongst Cartier’s crowd favourites launched this year is a new take on its elegant aviator’s watch, now upgraded with a mesh-link bracelet. The standout is the Santos-Dumont LM Obsidian that matches the yellow gold case and bracelet with a dial that is actually volcanic glass. This sticks to the classic Santos-Dumont template with a slim case containing an even slimmer Piaget movement, but the dial gives this a distinctly different feel from the conventional versions of the model. And unusually given the dial material, this is regular production. Initial thoughts Even though the original 1904 Santos was conceived as a professional’s “tool” watch of sorts, the modern-day Santos-Dumont is undoubtedly a dress watch, but one with a little flair. The form case and screws on the bezel set it apart from the average dress watch that is usually plain. This takes the design to another level with the bracelet and obsidian dial. The bracelet is a little showy since it is entirely yellow gold, but the links are fine enough that it still feels elegant. Similarly, the dial is high contrast but arguably passes as a dress watch. The case is compact and slim, so this still passes as a dress watch, one that is both ostentatious and elegant. If anything, I would have wished it was one size larger. This, along with the other variants of the Santos-Dumont on a bracelet, is in the “LM”, or “large model”, format. At under 32 mm in diameter, the case size is reminiscent of a vint...

Zurich's boutique watchmaker celebrates the Swiss Tennis Association's 130th anniversary with the latest chapter in its beloved Rallymaster series. The Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster Swiss Tennis marks 130 years of Swiss Tennis with Carlton DeWoody's signature dial design and limited-edition charm.

The longer I navigate my watch journey, the more I realize it’s a bit like dating. You get a press kit and metaphorically swipe left or right in a very judging-the-book-by-its-cover type of way. The aesthetics are often the first thing to draw you in and make you curious or to turn you away. In either case, as a good journalist, I’m usually compelled to read the press release and gather a bit more information, skim the profile if you will. I can fully admit aesthetics are highly subjective, but substance is vital. Still, I can’t fully assess a watch without going hands-on. Images can either disappoint or not quite do justice to a design, and the promises spelled out in specs need to be put to the test. Seeing a watch is the real make or break moment to determine if we’re a perfect match. I recently went through this dating ritual with Split watches, a London-based independent brand making its U.S. debut with a new GMT. A few things really stood out to me when I first received the announcement. The look of the watches was interesting, combining unique design elements, shapes, and colors. Reading about the vision behind the design was poetic, drawing from elements of music and nature – two of my favorite sources of inspiration. The watches are powered by the Miyota 9075 true GMT movement – calibers I’ve developed even more appreciation for after visiting Citizen’s movement factory earlier this year.  Beyond the watches themselves, I was equally impressed wit...

This story has been republished from our friends at Hodinkee Australia.   Amongst the lots in Sotheby's New York's latest Space Exploration auction, I found some interesting things. In fact, I found 24 of them. Watches - all owned by none other than retired Brigadier General of the U.S. Air Force, and second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. The astronaut, born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., has listed a large portion of his watch collection, primarily Omegas, but there's a smattering of watches from other brands amongst the spacefaring lots. It's no surprise that Buzz's Apollo 11-flown Omega Speedmaster Professional isn't present; that watch is still lost, stolen on the way to the Smithsonian after its sojourn to the moon in 1969 (and it still technically belongs to the U.S. government). Buzz Aldrin in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, wearing that aforementioned lost Omega Speedmaster ref. ST105.012. Image courtesy of NASA There’s a range of Omegas that are meaningful to Aldrin that he’s acquired through decades of collecting, including dive watches he relied on as an experienced scuba diver and a big box of souvenir watches. There’s no denying the man is a collector and a true watch enthusiast. Bidding is open online right now before live bidding sessions begin on July 15th in New York - here are some of the highlights. Jaeger-LeCoultre Shark Deep Sea Chronograph Image courtesy of Sotheby's This is the most interesting watch in the sale that isn’t an Omega: Aldrin’s JLC Shar...

Dive watches are, by nature, rather conservative instruments. Since the 1950s, the basics have barely changed: a robust water-resistant case, luminous hands and markers, and a rotating bezel, often undirectional, graduated over 60 minutes. Blancpain played a big part in setting up these design codes with the Fifty Fathoms during the 1950s. Seventy years later, […]

What We Know Pretty much anything that independent watch brand Krayon produces feels like it rests solidly in the if-you-know-you-know realm of exquisitely engineered high-end complications. The brand's focused catalog contains variations on three main complications—the universal sunrise and sunset calculator that is the Everywhere, the watchmaker-adjustable sunrise and sunset-indicating caliber that is the Anywhere, and the most recently introduced weekday and weekend pointer date display in the Anyday. Sure, Krayon's recent Pac-Man collaboration in a limited run of Anywhere watches might feel like an odd one out, but most of the examples I've seen on the wrists of collectors have all flown well under the radar with tastefully measured executions. But if you've ever wondered what a Krayon would look like with a touch—scratch that, a lot—of bling, well, the new Parhelion might just do the trick. It's hard to mistake this new watch for anything else in the catalog thanks to the sheer number of baguette-cut sapphires set across the entire watch—159 of them, to be exact. To house this number of gemstones, the case is 42mm in diameter, made from an alloy of white gold with a high percentage of palladium for a very white hue to match the brightness of the stones. Thickness, given the complication, is impressive at 9.5mm. When I first saw a prototype of the Parhelion a few months ago, only the bezel was inlaid with sapphires, in a stunning gradient from white to blue. Bu...

Maurice de Mauriac has released their latest in the ongoing Rallymaster series today. The Rallymaster has become a hit in recent years among the growing crowd of overlapping tennis and watch enthusiasts, with a string of limited editions tied to the Grand Slam tennis championships. These watches, designed by Carlton DeWoody, have a real charm to them, and honestly work better than they should given some of the more literal tennis influenced design elements. The watches have always worked though because of their whimsy and a clarity of vision that doesn’t take itself too seriously. DeWoody also has a real knack for color, and has always been able to figure out the right way to reference specific aspects of the sport without it all going completely over the top. In other words, they are just fun, nice looking watches.  The latest in the series, the Rallymaster Swiss Tennis, is perhaps a little more inside baseball for tennis fans (sorry to mix sports metaphors there). Revealed at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, the colorway is dominated by tones found in the Swiss flag, and the watch leans into Swiss tennis heritage and the country’s appreciation for the sport. Maurice de Mauriac is the official timekeeper of Swiss Tennis, the sport’s governing body in Switzerland.  The new Rallymaster features the same tennis net inspired graphic running across the center of the dial that we’ve seen in previous editions, here situated against a brushed silver dial surface. The dial is a...

Here is our review of a 3 week loaner of the Citizen Eco-Drive Photon, a model released to commomerate the 50th anniversary.

What We Know Swiss sport isn't limited to just skiing, soccer, and ice hockey. The Alpine nation is a tennis force. Besides the GOAT himself and Rolex testimonee extraordinaire Roger Federer, Switzerland has produced Grand Slam champs Martina Hingis and Stan Wawrinka; the Swiss team won the Davis Cup in 2014, while current WTA player Belinda Bencic took home singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics.  The global center for fine watchmaking is also a hub for tennis greatness. And with that in mind, Zurich's Maurice de Mauriac is serving up the latest iteration of its tennis-themed Rallymaster series, the Rallymaster Swiss Tennis. A limited edition of 130 pieces in tribute to the 130th anniversary of Swiss Tennis is launching today at the Swiss Open in Gstaad. This isn't the first Rallymaster, that's for sure. Designed by California creative and keen-eyed collector Carlton DeWoody (with whom I once drove to Geneva from La Chaux-de-Fonds - but that's a story for another time), the sporty and practical Rallymaster has been produced in a slew of editions, taking inspiration from the Grand Slams, as well as modern tennis style and culture. With a brushed stainless steel case measuring 39 millimeters in diameter and 12mm thick, and 100 meters of water resistance, the Rallymaster is designed to take you just about anywhere, from the tennis court to the beach and beyond. As Tim Vaux recently revealed, Russell Crowe is a fan of lawn tennis, and a Wimbledon-themed Rallymaster III sits pro...

When Bulgari launched the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar in 2021, it did what the Octo Finissimo line has done repeatedly over the past decade. It broke another record. At just 5.80mm thick, it became the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar wristwatch, a title it still holds today. Since then, we have seen it in its original […]

You want to relax this summer. You want to go to a nice place and chill, re-energize, and enjoy life without a worry in the world. And what is your biggest worry? No, it’s not picking the right summer watch. As always, it’s the kids. Napping on the beach, for example? With one eye on […] Visit Fratello Summer Tip: Keep Track Of Your Kids With Cybex Collection Watches to read the full article.

The new Maurice de Mauriac Rallymaster Swiss Tennis serves as a patriotic tribute to the 130th anniversary of the Swiss Tennis Association.

Everyone loves a maverick. The definition comes from husbandry: an unbranded stray calf that belongs to no one. Or a person or organization that refuses to conform.

Speake Marin introduced the Ripples in 2022, and with it, the independent brand entered the crowded luxury sports watch category with its own, slightly eccentric creation. The rounded-square La City case, the strongly textured dial, and the small seconds at 1:30 made it instantly recognisable. Infinity Date, Dune Date, Ripples Skeleton and even a full […]

There is a particular type of movement inside almost every mechanical watch you own, and it does something so fundamental to how we experience watchmaking today that it has become entirely invisible. Of course, that is precisely the point: it winds itself. It harvests energy from your wrist as you move through your day, topping […] Visit A Century Of Automatic Watch Movements With Fortis And John Harwood to read the full article.

Anoma's A1 gets its most radical rework yet, trading polished geometry for a texture straight out of the Stone Age. The Anoma A1 Prehistoric introduces a hand-chiselled case to the brand's signature triangular watch, marking a major shift from previous dial-only updates.

The legendary manufacture returns with six new Compax references, a proper in-house Calibre UG-200 chronograph, and the two configurations everyone actually wanted: Nina panda and Evil Nina reverse-panda. 39.5mm, column wheel, vertical clutch, 72-hour reserve, from CHF 15,500. Universal Genève relaunches the Compax for 2026: 39.5mm, in-house cal. UG-200 column-wheel chronograph, 72h reserve. Nina, Evil Nina and Capsule dials from CHF 15,500.

Kiwame Tokyo’s new KUBO (窪) collection pairs three lacquered dials and a recessed small-seconds display with Japanese design philosophy.

Looking for a statement timepiece to level up your current watch collection? We have six watches that may be worth your consideration.

If you’re anything like us, independent watchmaking will be on your watch radar pretty much all the time. We’ve never hidden the fact that we absolutely love the creative, experimental nature of small, indie watchmakers. Some have grown into industry leaders, while others have deliberately stayed small and produce watches in double- or even single-digit […]

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Hermès H08 is one of the best summer watches available under €10k. Had I waited a week, this new titanium Cape Cod might have challenged for that spot. The Cape Cod has been part of the Hermès lineup since 1991 and celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. […] Visit The Hermès Cape Cod Gets A Masculine Makeover In Titanium For The First Time to read the full article.

The Chanel J12 Watch Calibre 12.1 38mm introduces a stealthy, light-absorbing matte blue ceramic to the 38mm platform.

Good morning, and welcome to another Sunday Morning Showdown. This week, Seiko released three new models in its Presage Cocktail Time collection. With a 38.5mm diameter, they are smaller, feature a less in-your-face date window at 4:30, and come in three color options. All in all, it’s a nice new offering from Seiko at the […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Seiko Presage Cocktail Time (38.5mm) Vs. Baltic HMS 002 to read the full article.

It launched in 1996 with a US MSRP of €395, but most buyers paid closer to €185-250 for years. Discontinued in 2019, now the J-market version trades at €800+. The SKX007 is the mechanical watch a whole generation of collectors started with, and it deserves a proper look back. The Seiko SKX007 memory lane: 1996 launch (US MSRP €395, street €185-250), 42.5mm case, 7S26 movement, ISO 6425, discontinued 2019, now €400-800 secondary. The beater diver.