Latest watch news · Page 774

Another one from the man who made watch modification a mainstream art form.

Ever wondered what National Swiss Day looks like on a chronograph seconds hand?

The last Bell & Ross I wrote about had a celestial feel to it, but with the new BR 05 Chrono Green Steel, we’ve landed back on earth. With its mixture of steel and vibrant green, this BR 05 mixes urbanism with an architectural lean to it. Think Central Park in New York or the Tiergarten in Berlin – a respite of greenery in the middle of a steel-and-concrete jungle. Like all BR 05 models, the Chrono Green Steel retains its aviation-inspired squared dial that Bell & Ross now markets to the urban explorer crowd. And with its integrated steel bracelet and sleek design, it’s easy to see why. All models in the Chrono collection are equipped with a circular seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and a 30-second timer at 3 o’clock, creating a balance to the visuals of the watch that somehow fit neatly within the linear confines of the square dial. The date is cleverly tucked away in the small recess between 4 and 5 o’clock, hardly noticeable but definitely there. Like an urban planner, Bell & Ross has ensured that no bit of real estate has gone unnoticed. The green sunray dial and Super-LumiNova indices and numbers soften the overall feel of the watch itself. Coming in at 42mm of satin-polished steel, the use of green feels more inviting and less, well, cold.  The BR 05 Chrono Green Steel is equipped with a Swiss-made self-winding BR-CAL.326 movement, which can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back, and supplies the wearer with 60-hours of power reserve.  The BR 05 Ch...

Bell & Ross adds a green dial to their BR 05 Chrono in Steel to 11 watches in the collection. Available with a steel bracelet or a green rubber strap.

There are those rare times when the watch industry seemingly comes together to do something great, causing even the most devoted online trolls to retreat beneath their virtual bridges and save us from their dubious wisdom. One such occasion is the Only Watch charity auction, running since 2005 and created to benefit those affected by … ContinuedThe post Borna’s 5 favourite Only Watch 2023 lots appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Wandering hours has become an essential part of Urwerk's DNA. Unlike any other brand out there, they have explored, lived through, and lost sleep over wandering hours. Over the years, Urwerk have introduced different varieties of this way of displaying time, of which the UR-120 is one of the most spectacular.

Tucked away on a wooded island in the Pacific Northwest lies one of the most important horological workshops in the United States. Known as Memoria Technica, the workshop is owned by Brittany Nicole “Nico” Cox, a renowned conservator of mechanical objects. I was first introduced to Nico in 2019 by Joshua Shapiro, the California-based watchmaker and guillocheur behind J.N. Shapiro. Joshua and I happened to visit Nico’s workshop on a day when she was teaching a beginner’s course on the art of guilloche. Since that encounter, I’d always had it in mind to return and take her class, but life (and a global pandemic) got in the way until I was finally able to secure a spot in her July class this year. But what is guilloche? Within the context of decorative techniques, guilloche, also known as engine turning, occupies a niche all its own. Characterised by intricate, recurring, and overlapping patterns, guilloche techniques have been used to decorate some of the most coveted objects in history. Meet your instructor In the rarified world of antiquarian horology, Nico is practically a household name – a bit like Beyonce. Nico specialises in the conservation and restoration of all types of mechanical objects, from watches and clocks to music boxes and automata. Having trained as a conservator at the Museum Speelklok in the Netherlands, which houses one of the world’s largest collections of mechanical musical objects, Nico is especially passionate about automata. Not onl...

Swatch keeps the MoonSwatch mania alive with a Mission to Moonshine Gold watch released to coincide with National Swiss Day.The post Another month, another MoonSwatch Mission to Moonshine Gold – this time with more lanterns! appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

It's not perfect, but Longines has added a worthy complication to its Flagship collection.

Fears is celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of their flagship showroom in Bristol, England with the release of a pair of watches in Mallard Green, a color that has never been used on a regular production Fears watch before. This release marks what the brand says will be the beginning of a new “Boutique Editions” collection that will expand to every future model in the Fears catalog.  The first watches in the Boutique Editions collection are the Brunswick 38 and Brunswick 40, two representations of the classic cushion cased design that is at the core of the Fears design language. The dark green color used for the new dials is based on the tones seen on the mallard drake duck, and has hints of gray and blue that give the green an additional depth. The finishing process for these dials involves a silver galvanic coating being applied prior to the hand painting of each individual dial with a translucent varnish. Fears says that green pigment is added a drop at a time to achieve the desired tone. The dials also have a sunburst finish which is designed to catch light in interesting ways, and showcase the depth of the green tones.  The dial layout differs slightly from the 38mm watch to the 40mm version. The larger watch is effectively a sector dial design, with an outer ring for the Arabic numerals and minute track in a high contrast white. The inner section has a very subtle “micro guilloche” pattern that contrasts with the outer portion, which is giv...

Is it even summer if you go the whole thing without some cotton candy? If the sugary-sweet treat isn’t for you, then you can get your fix in watch form with this trio of cotton candy divers from Oris. Originally encased in bronze, this fun and colorful trio of Divers Sixty-Fives were certainly unique, but the patina-heavy cases may not have been for everyone. Not only does this new release of 38mm divers come in stainless steel, but it also makes the dial colors pop even more, since they’re the center of attention. Is it even summer if you go the whole thing without some cotton candy? If the sugary-sweet treat isn’t for you, then you can get your fix in watch form with this trio of cotton candy divers from Oris. Originally encased in bronze, this fun and colorful trio of Divers Sixty-Fives were certainly unique, but the patina-heavy cases may not have been for everyone. Not only does this new release of 38mm divers come in stainless steel, but it also makes the dial colors pop even more, since they’re the center of attention. The post Now in the Shop: A Trio of Oris Cotton Candy Flavors, Now in Steel appeared first on Worn & Wound.

Nomos' version of a dive watch is now in a more approachable case size.

I have to start this review by being honest about something: I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about calendar watches. I just don’t.  When I think “calendar watch,” for some reason that I can’t quite put my finger on, my mind jumps to “perpetual calendar,” even though a watch with a simple date function is also technically a calendar watch as well. My curse, I guess, is that I immediately start thinking about a complication that is, for the most part, completely out of my reach. So when someone says there’s a cool new calendar watch to check out (I can count on one hand the number of times this has actually happened) I’m usually less interested than if someone were to, for example, suggest we go out and get dumplings at the Chinese restaurant down the street, or go see Oppenheimer for a second time, or some combination of those two things.  The other problem, because I tend to associate the very idea of calendar watches with the most complex watches in production, is that when talk turns to calendars, I think of very expensive service costs. A local watch friend once owned a vintage triple calendar made by one of the most respected and admired Swiss brands. It broke, and the bill was, how can I put it this…kind of brutal. Again, not something I want in my life.  This line of thinking, of course, is deeply unfair, and a bias that I freely admit and am trying to break out of. A new watch from MAEN, a Swedish brand with a Dutch name, reminded me rece...

Despite what some marketing departments would have you think, there’s almost never such a thing as a centuries-old watch brand with an unbroken history. Whether it’s a change of ownership, bankruptcy during the Quartz Crisis, or a pivot to an entirely different technology, consistent survival as a watch brand requires adaptation. Raketa don’t come up … ContinuedThe post From emperors to astronauts - the colourful history of Raketa appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Released in March at Watches & Wonders, the Black Bay GMT “Opaline” is perhaps the most notable travel watch in Tudor’s line up thanks to a silvery-white dial that may or may not have been inspired by the Rolex GMT-Master “Pan Am”. A variant of the original model in black, the Black Bay GMT with a white dial is typical Tudor – namely excellent quality and outstanding value – but it might be a subtle reference to the mythical, and sometimes controversial, GMT-Master “Pan Am”. Though there’s no official reference to the potential historical inspiration, the GMT “Opaline” is an in-joke that a historically-minded enthusiast will appreciate. Initial thoughts To the casual observer, the Black Bay GMT “Opaline” might seem like yet another iteration of Tudor’s bestselling dive watch. In fact, the GMT might seem less appealing when set against the equally recent Black Bay 54 with its properly-vintage proportions. But the GMT “Opaline” deserves a second look. The softly-grained dial with its “polar” palette is clear, clean, and well-executed, and most importantly possesses a different feel compared to the black dial of the original version, especially since black is the de facto dial colour for sports watches and very, very common. Being a dual time zone and silvery-white, the GMT “Opaline” is different despite its traditional design. That said, the GMT “Opaline” is otherwise entirely the same as the model introduced in 2018, which mea...

You could say there are one of a few ways to make a dive watch stand out – a unique design, a superior movement, an unbeatable price/value ratio, or all of the above. Unfortunately, unique often means expensive, even though the brand cannot always truly justify the why. Often, it’s the fact that something is … ContinuedThe post MICRO MONDAYS: Helicon paints the sunset with the 62 Master Blue Hour appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Swatch release four new references in Bioceramic in a square case in black, gray, green and beige (blue dial). Introducing the BIOCERAMIC WHAT IF?

The first Black Tot Day was in 1970, the last day on which sailors in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy were issued their daily rum rations (“tots”). Pusser's has taken the exact recipe used by the Royal Navy when it discontinued the daily ration on July 31, 1970 and used it to make its rums, the only producer in the world to do so. Here, Ken Gargett fills us in on everything tot - he luckily doesn't go "sipping the admiral," though.

Tritium is hands-down the best option for those who need good lume on their watch. Here are the top tritium watches we've reviewed!

The Ball Roadmaster First Responder is designed to save lives on the wrists of paramedics and first responders. The inner bezel can be turned by twisting the outer bezel, reducing the need to fiddle with other timing devices. The scales on the chapter ring allow for calculating pulse and breaths per minute. Demanding situations call … ContinuedThe post The Ball Roadmaster First Responder shows that mechanical watches can even save lives appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

We will warn you right now – this one gets nerdy. But, we mean that in the best possible way.

We here at the Windup Watch Shop love the summer for a variety of reasons. Barbeque’s, picnics, and long hikes are just a few of the things that stand out. And we as watch enthusiasts get to reap the benefits of hanging out in nature all day when we look on our nightstand at night and see our watches glowing amongst the darkness. It truly makes us smile, remembering  the completely awesome day we had outdoors with friends and family. We’re not going to lie, we’re kind of snobby when it comes to lume because we love it so much and as they say “Go big or go home”. So today, we’re going to highlight just a few of our absolute favorite watches with fully lumed dials that are incredible to look at in the dark! We here at the Windup Watch Shop love the summer for a variety of reasons. Barbeque’s, picnics, and long hikes are just a few of the things that stand out. And we as watch enthusiasts get to reap the benefits of hanging out in nature all day when we look on our nightstand at night and see our watches glowing amongst the darkness. It truly makes us smile, remembering  the completely awesome day we had outdoors with friends and family. We’re not going to lie, we’re kind of snobby when it comes to lume because we love it so much and as they say “Go big or go home”. So today, we’re going to highlight just a few of our absolute favorite watches with fully lumed dials that are incredible to look at in the dark! The post Light It Up: Our Favorite Full L...

The Only Watch auction not only benefits a great cause (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research), but it’s also an event that really lets watchmakers run rampant and show off their horological chops. It’s almost like the watch world’s version of the Met Gala, where designers can truly cut loose, free of the bonds of commerce, and … ContinuedThe post D.C.’s 5 favourite Only Watch 2023 lots appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.