Latest watch news · Page 649

Audemars Piguet has just launched its “first semester collection” that’ll take us through the first half of the year. Most are variations of current models, with two of the most striking sharing the same dial in “smoked yellow gold”, namely the Royal Oak Frosted Gold Selfwinding 37 mm (ref. 15550BA) and the Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph 41 mm (ref. 26240BA). Both are fashioned in yellow gold and complemented by a striking dial with a gradient yellow gold finish, conceived to homage to the brand’s yellow gold Royal Oak models of the 1970s. Initial thoughts The smoked yellow gold finish was introduced on the Royal Oak “Jumbo” in 2022, so the new releases aren’t a surprise. Nonetheless, it is satisfying to see this dial finish on more compact models like the 37 mm ref. 15550. Between the two releases, the time-only ref. 15550 is the standout. The clean, radially brushed dial pairs perfectly with the finely grained texture of the frosted case. On the other hand, the dial finish is less punchy on the chronograph due to the traditional tapisserie guilloche. The chronograph, however, is an imposing watch overall due to its size and weight. The time-only model retails for CHF55,000, while the chronograph is priced at CHF63,000 – both sit in the current range for similar Royal Oak models. Neither is a value proposition, though both are appealing variants of the design. Smoked yellow gold dials Both new launches are variants of existing models, compact Royal ...

Audemars Piguet's annual Social Club festivities kick off this year with a new AP House and a boatload of new APs.The post Audemars Piguet Social Club 2024 kicks off with the debut of a new ‘Sand Gold’ alloy & a John Mayer collab appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

It’s no secret that Audemars Piguet has long been involved with celebrities and influential people from the world of music. It usually goes well beyond ambassadors and AP has launched several watches in collaboration with musicians – the latest to surface was the chocolate ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar “Cactus Jack” made with Travis Scott. […]

Audemars Piguet is making sure its 5134 caliber gets a proper goodbye. The successor of the legendary 2120 movement is being discontinued…but not just in any watch. None other than John Mayer had the honor of coming up with one last dial and case design for a limited-edition Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. In addition to […] Visit Audemars Piguet Lays Its Cards Out For 2024 - Including A Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar John Mayer Limited Edition to read the full article.

The inaugural event will be held at Lindley Hall in Westminster, London, with over 40 confirmed exhibitors.

I don’t know if there are any left today. Late-19th-century biorhythm theory, which got another 15 seconds of fame in the 1970s, is the pseudoscientific idea that people’s daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles with periods. There is a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectual cycle. In the […] Visit #TBT Plan Your Life With The Certina Biostar to read the full article.

Refining Seiko's hit diver for 2024 with new proportions, deeper depths, and a new position for the date.

Big news from Seiko today, as the brand announces a follow up to their wildly popular SPB143 diver (and its many siblings). The new SPB453, SPB451, and SPB455 use the same 62MAS derived format but offer small changes in specs that make the new versions of the watch correspondingly more appealing. It’s not a revolutionary update in design or anything, but a series of small changes that should result in a better experience for just about everyone, and reinforces the idea that this watch, the “1966 Diver’s Re-Interpretation,” is the core diver in Seiko’s lineup and will be forever tinkered with in an almost Rolex kind of way. Let’s start with the big changes, which are actually quite small in a literally sense. The new references have been tidied up a bit in their dimensions and are slightly smaller in every dimension watch enthusiasts care about than their predecessors. The diameter is down half a millimeter to a clean 40mm, and the case height has been reduced to 13mm, which is a barely perceptible 0.2mm thinner than the SPB143. The lug to lug measurement is 46.4mm, which is a more noticeable 1.4mm shorter.  The new case size is welcome, in my opinion. It’s not that the SPB143 wore too large or was too aggressively chunky, but for a diver like this a little extra refinement is a good thing. A skin diver style dive watch isn’t meant to be a behemoth on the wrist, but rather the ideal combination of wearability and performance for regular folks. Getting this ...

Hot off the manufacture is the latest iteration of Yema's Superman Slim CMM .20. The Superman is one of Yema and France's most iconic dive watch, after several iterations after it's revival in 2018, the latest iteration now features an in-house movement along side a micro rotor. Here's our take of it after a week on the wrist.

With all the little nitpicks us reviewers pick up on, this has to be the ultimate WIS watch, right?The post The VPC Type 37HW shows that watch reviewers make great watch designers appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

After many months in the making, the VPC Type 37HW is here, and I have the distinct pleasure of penning this hands-on introduction. We often ask ourselves, “Is it impossible to be original when endeavoring to design a new watch? Have all paths in crafting this functional object truly been taken? Have we seen it […] Visit Introducing: The VPC Type 37HW to read the full article.

Founded last year by Thomas van Straaten, VPC is a Dutch micro brand making its debut with the Type 37HW. Mr van Straaten, who formerly works for an Amsterdam-based watch dealer and now writes for media platform Fratello, started VPC with the goal of creating the “ultimate” everyday watch in his words. VPC is short for Venustas Per Constantiam, Latin that translates as either  “beauty through constancy” or “charm through restraint.”  Featuring numerous clever details, the Type 37HW is the result of Mr van Straaten’s own experience owning, and later growing bored with, numerous watches that, in his view, featured compromised designs. He appears to have approached this problem forensically, considering everything from the bracelet end-links to the typography on the dial. Initial Thoughts The Type 37HW is an impressive debut that manages to stand out in a crowded segment of the watch market thanks to several interesting details. The central premise of the Type 37HW is that it is a “go anywhere, do anything”, or GADA, watch. Almost every aspect of the watch appears to have been designed with this use case in mind.  The Type 37HW offers goldilocks proportions, and is unusually slim at just 9.8 mm thick (including 2 mm for the domed sapphire crystal). The svelte profile is likely possible thanks to the use of a manually wound Sellita SW216-1. Unfortunately, the combination of a screw-down crown and a manually wound movement – one with a relatively short 45...

Seiko’s current lineup is one of the strongest in its price range. From the accessible 5 Sports series to the popular Prospex diver designs and the reintroduction of the King Seiko name, Seiko has consistently introduced impressive new timepieces since the turn of the century. The all-new Presage Classic line deserves significant attention as it […]

With the revival of watchmaking in the British Isles, the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers announces its first exhibition. The British Watchmakers’ Day will take place on Saturday, March 9th, 2024, at Lindley Hall (Royal Horticultural Halls) in Westminster. The event is dedicated to showcasing over 30 new and old member brands within […] Visit Everything You Need To Know About The British Watchmakers’ Day to read the full article.

The Tissot T-Race series holds a prominent position in Tissot’s catalogue, a testament to the brand’s history in sports timing, including motor racing. Tissot has been the official MotoGP timekeeper since 2001, and colleagues report Tissot’s T-Race watches are frequently spotted at race events globally, underlining their association with the fast-paced world of racing. Special […]

Tom talks about life with one of Rolex's most polarising releases in recent times.The post Life on the left side with the Rolex GMT-Master II “Sprite” appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

The Seiko SPB143 is a veritable fan favorite among lovers of Seiko dive watches. And that’s for good reason. It combined the mid-range quality we know from this level of Seiko offerings with subtle, timeless dive-watch aesthetics. Today, Seiko releases the spiritual successors to this watch. These are the standard-production SPB451 (blue dial) and SPB453 […] Visit Introducing: The Seiko Prospex SPB451, SPB453, And SPB455 - Successors To The SPB143 to read the full article.

Joshua Munchow explains why people are drawn to brightly colored watches. His personal opinion is that everyone should have at least one bright, colorful watch in their collection and he makes the case for why the excitement around the Tiffany Blue Nautilus is perfectly rational - because colorful watches are awesome!

Welcome to this week’s episode of Fratello Talks. Today, you join Nacho, Morgan, and Thomas, who join forces to discuss a number of their watch pet peeves. The guys are feeling particularly grumpy today, so they decided to go on an extensive rant, listing some of the things watch brands do that rub them the […] Visit Fratello Talks: Watch Pet Peeves to read the full article.

What brand do you turn to when you’re looking for a watch with a classic design? Well, to be honest, there are many such brands out there. But one brand that certainly comes to my mind is Seiko. It looks like the people at Seiko think similarly about their watches because, today, the Japanese watchmaker […] Visit Seiko Introduces The Classic Series With Five New Soft And Gentle References to read the full article.

Although Seiko’s expertise in waterproof watchmaking goes back a very long way, it wasn’t until 1965 that the Japanese manufacturer entered the professional dive watch market. Ever since, plenty of low- and high-end dive watches have been introduced with a good number of them becoming genuine icons. Collections like the 5 Sports, the Turtle, the […]

Usually focused on decorative and artisanal dials made affordable, the Seiko Presage collection now turns to traditional textiles for inspiration. Comprising five models, the Presage Classic Series features textured dials in a range of discreet colours, each inspired by the textures and colours of Japanese silk. The dials are matched with a redesigned case conceived to feel thinner, along with retro-style bracelets. Initial thoughts Unusual dials inspired by Japanese culture and priced affordably are precisely the appeal of the Presage. The Classic Series carries on with this specialty. The domed, silk-texture dials set them apart from similarly-priced watches. The SPB467, for instance, appears to have a fashionable salmon dial, but the fine texturing – inspired by araigaki (or “washed persimmon”) silk – distinguishes it from the competition. The texturing is finer than most dials in the same price range. That said, there are actually two distinct dial patterns in the Classic Series (and four different colours across five references). Three are time-and-date models that are concise and elegant. The two “open heart” models, on the other hand, are not for everyone since the aperture revealing the balance wheel disrupts the aesthetics of the dial. Besides the dial, the Classic Series also features a new case design that camouflages the height of the case with curved lugs and a thinner case middle. This is matched with a vintage-style bracelet that brings to mind o...

A bestseller available in several variants to date, the modern-day “62MAS” now gets a substantive upgrade with the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch. The new diver is a direct successor of cal. 6R35-powered models, including the SPB143 and SPB239 of 2021. Released in two regular-production models (SPB451 and SPB453), plus a 100th anniversary special edition (SPB455), the latest Prospex “62MAS” improves on earlier models in three key areas: water resistance is now 300 m, the case is slightly more compact, and the movement is now the cal. 6R55 with a 72-hour power reserve. SPB451 Initial Thoughts As is usually the case with Prospex dive watches, the latest take on the 62MAS is robust and good looking. The new divers are safe bets as they rely on a proven formula – the classic 62MAS design with improved technical features. The SPB455 in particular stands out with its vintage-flavoured gilt accents. That said, the designs stay traditional; these are difficult to distinguish from their predecessors at a distance. A more distinctive design, perhaps with patterned dials that Seiko excels in, would have made these more compelling. SPB453 Importantly, the new trio also stays in the sub-US$1,500 price segment. Few dive watches in this price range have the same historical provenance, since Seiko was a pioneer in dive watch development. The regular production pair are only US$100 pricier than the SPB143 (and the special edition an extra US$200). The premium is easily ju...

Casio announced the release of the new and updated Mudmaster in September of 2023. The highly anticipated new series of Mudmasters promised not only a new case construction but also some firsts in terms of functionality. We had a chance to go hands-on with two new Mudmaster GWG-B1000 models in green and red. After reviewing […] Visit Hands-On: The G-Shock Master Of G Mudmaster GWG-B1000 Is Nothing Short Of Impressive to read the full article.