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Tudor expands their FXD family today with a new regular production reference that features a black dial and bezel. The watch follows the same formula as the Marine Nationale FXD that was released in late 2021, a flat 12.7mm thick, 42mm titanium case with a fixed lug design. There are a few changes here worth noting, however, and this might just be the most approachable FXD to date. While there is no official affiliation with this watch, the latest FXD was released alongside a display of the brand’s rich history in issued watches, right next to the original Sealab I at the Man In The Sea museum in Panama City Florida.  The setting is a fitting reminder of the remarkable Sealab program, and an era when watches like this were used as indispensable tools, the same as a compass or knife. This the spirit of the FXD and even the broader Pelagos collection as a whole, and as such we’ll be putting the new watch through its paces on a dive in the Gulf of Mexico, keep an eye out for the full report from the experience coming soon. The black FXD welcomes the same bit of red text at the bottom of the dial that we saw in the Pelagos 39 released last year. It provides the same benefit here, serving to reduce the visual weight of the 4 lines of text at the bottom of the dial. The matte black dial is joined by a matte black bezel insert (no sunburst pattern here), and the bezel is the biggest departure from the original FXD. Rather than counting down, and bi-directional (features done...

Tudor’s release on September 14th lived up to the anticipation, particularly for enthusiasts who appreciate vintage-inspired design. The Pelagos FXD ref. 25717N is a variant of the model developed together with the French navy and shares the same specs, including a 42 mm titanium case. But the new FXD “Single Red” pays homage to the brand’s historical affiliation with the US Navy, which turned to Tudor for military-issue timepieces starting in 1950s. Initial thoughts While this may be fairly unsurprising given the nature of Tudor’s catalogue, the new FXD is well executed and ticks all the right boxes for those who love military-inspired tool watches. The no-nonsense black dial with the “single red” marking instantly evokes well-known dive watches of the 1970s. The watch itself is not new. It’s essentially identical to the Pelagos FXD “Marine Nationale” from in 2021, but with black dial and bezel that gives it a more purposeful look. It’s a predictable evolution of the model given Tudor’s emphasis on its historical ties with navies and other professional organisations. Like the original FXD in blue, this has a clean dial that allows the design to be unobstructed. Notably, the designers should be commending for going with pure white Super-Luminova on this, instead of faux-vintage lume that might have looked too affected. However, its designers could have been even more striking by dialling back the text on the dial even more, perhaps having just the ...

In this edition of Inside the Collection, Blake Buettner and Zach Kazan are focusing on microbrands. Or small independents. Or micro-indies. This flavor of watch brand goes by many names, but the thing that binds them all together is a sense of independence and real personality in the design. These watches are the singular visions of the brand founders, and to have access to that kind of creativity at the price points of the watches on the table in this video, well, that’s pretty special.    Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s some overlap in the microbrand watches Zach and Blake chose to talk about. Both selected watches made by Brew and Lorier, two Windup Watch Fair mainstays who have been part of the community for years. Zach’s Retromatic and Blake’s Metric are great examples of brand founder Jonathan Ferrer’s design sensibility, with compact, easy to wear square cases and funky, just slightly off-kilter dial designs. The Gemini and Hydra, both from Lorier, are likewise great examples of the charming, vintage inspired vibes the NYC based brand is so skilled at cultivating.  Rounding out this selection of micros are Blake’s pair of Autodromo Group B “Night Stage” editions, and Zach’s anOrdain Model 1, which is a limited edition version made in collaboration with the Windup Watch Shop. Like all of the watches seen here, these are special not just because the watches are great, but because of the talented people behind them, who pour everything they have i...

Glashütte Original's annual update to their Sixties Chronograph brings a sportier vibe to the vintage-inspired watch, with an intriguingly-textured grey dégradé dial and a new fabric strap.The post Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2023 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Very few will have missed the news of Rolex buying Bucherer, and all of the reactions to it. Given the big change this poses to the world of watch retail, when we were recently given the chance to speak with Wilhelm Schmid, chief executive of A. Lange & Söhne, we thought it the perfect opportunity to get his insight on the current retail landscape.  We sat down with the seasoned leader – now the longest-serving brand boss in Richemont – at this year’s Concours of Elegance, the classic car show at Hampton Court Palace, surrounded by the sounds of vintage V8s revving in the distance. Now that the world has exited the pandemic for good, the way we shop seems to be going back to normal and the shifts that brands made during those turbulent years are either being undone or slowly wound down in the hope that customers are willing to go back to the old ways of doing things and getting out to physical stores. Mr Schmid is certainly of the mindset that a face-to-face connection is the only way to sell one of their watches, as we discovered in our discussion below.  Not only did we talk about how the German brand plans to change their retail strategy moving forward, we also queried him on the Bucherer takeover and how Lange is adapting the to rising tide of brands developing certified pre-owned (CPO) offerings.  The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.  Wilhelm Schmid (left) with the best-in-show winner at the Concours of Elegance 2023 RPS: Perhaps...

I have a friend in the local watch collecting community – let’s call him “Eric,” because that’s his name – and in the ongoing group chat between us and a handful of (sometimes) like-minded watch enthusiasts, a concept has emerged that we like to refer to as the “Eric Watch.” Eric has a very particular taste. He likes big watches, lots of lume, and is almost always drawn to the unusual. His collection, if you grouped all the watches he’s over owned together in a lineup, would be a real Island of Misfit Toys scenario. Watches go in and out of his collection at a rapid clip (instead of saying “congrats” when he posts a new acquisition, we like to say “good luck with sale”) but at various times he’s owned at least four different quartz Speedmasters, the Mario Kart Carrera, a black coated Cartier Santos, and a whole bunch of Breitlings made from materials ranging from “Breitlight” to gold. His ultimate grail watch is Grand Seiko’s “Godzilla” anniversary piece. You get the idea.  When I saw the press release for the new Monaco Night Driver from TAG Heuer, I thought to myself, “This might be the ultimate Eric Watch,” and in fact wondered if it was designed by an artificial intelligence that had somehow downloaded his consciousness. First of all, it’s a Monaco. I’ve lost count of the number of Monaco pics he’s sent to the group chat over the years – let’s just stipulate that he’s a fan. Also, the titanium case is coated in bla...

With a "Dark Lord"-esque case and fully lumed dial, there's a lot to like in a classic package.

TAG Heuer has been synonymous with motorsport for decades, and they’re back with an eye-popping new edition of their classic Monaco chronograph. The Monaco is one of the cornerstones of the brand’s legendary foundation, and has been since it burst into the spotlight way back in 1969, as one of the very first automatic chronographs … ContinuedThe post TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Night Driver appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Following its recent run of strikingly modern iterations of the classic Monaco, like the Skeleton Dial and the one-of-a-kind Only Watch split-seconds chronograph, TAG Heuer debuts the Monaco Chronograph Night Driver Limited Edition alongside the side of the 2023 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. Dressed in shades of grey during the day, the Night Driver transforms into something else altogether at night. It retains the outlines of the vintage original in terms of design, but the Night Driver gets a luminescent chapter ring and sub-dials for nighttime legibility – a nod to the Singapore Grand Prix’s status as the first-ever Formula 1 night race. Initial thoughts After the recent Monaco models that were very contemporary, the more traditional looks of the Night Driver are a positive development. And even then the Night Driver incorporates an intriguing twist, making it more than just a vintage-ish watch. The Night Driver has a dial that uses Super-Luminova as a key element of the design, bringing to mind the Monza Flyback Chronometer. But here the lume is even more generously applied than on the Monza.  Moreover, the grey tones of anthracite, grey opaline, and case coated in diamond-like carbon (DLC), complement the lume well, creating a vintage feel that evokes faded “ghost” dials while still being a modern watch. Like other titanium Monaco models, the Night Driver is light in hand and on the wrist, despite the relatively large case. The thickness of the case, a cons...

Tag Heuer releases a new Monaco Chronograph dubbed the Night Driver in time for the Singapore Grand Prix, the only race in F1 which is at night.

IWC’s latest is an inspired by the legendary off-roader made by its longtime partner Mercedes-Benz, the G-Wagen. More specifically, the Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 is named after the luxury, high-performance G 63 made by the carmaker’s performance tuning subsidiary AMG. Available in two variants, the G 63 edition retains the traditional outline of the model, but brings along novel new materials, namely a hardened gold alloy known as Armor Gold and ceramic matrix composite (CMC), a carbon fibre composite containing silicon carbide ceramic for added hardness. The Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 in 18k Armor Gold Initial thoughts IWC rolls out a lot of Big Pilot limited editions, probably too many, but this is one of the more appealing recent editions. The basic features of the Big Pilot G 63 are appealing – novel materials, a functional design, and IWC’s seven-day movement. The textured dials and sub-seconds are both novel features for a Big Pilot. They set the new pair part from other models in the line, but don’t stray too far from the traditional Big Pilot look. More interesting are the case materials – hardened gold or silicon-infused carbon composite – which are both a first for IWC. Though brands like Hublot and Richard Mille have long made such materials a specialty, they are unusual for IWC. Notably, both versions have Super-Luminova matched with the case material, beige for the gold model and grey for CMC, which feels a bit forced. I would have preferred...

Sometimes, people have really good ideas. Not something I normally say about marketing departments of any kind, but whoever first came up with the concept of the annual Diageo Special Releases deserves all the credit which can be showered upon them. A fabulous idea and one that other regions, spirits, producers could adopt and adapt.

As soon as John Harrison realised that a pocket watch could be made to be just as accurate as his 60cm-tall chronometer sea clocks, the road to wristwatch chronometry had begun. Most watch enthusiasts are familiar with how wristwatches became popular after WWI, thanks to the convenience of keeping your hands free while soldiering. It … ContinuedThe post How chronometers went from ships to wrists appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

When Hintaro Hattori set up shop in Tokyo’s Ginza at the age of 21, he would eventually change the watchmaking landscape forever. The business, which initially focused on importing and wholesaling Swiss pieces, would go on to manufacture Japan’s first wristwatch, the Laurel, in 1913. It would also eventually be known as Seiko. Not one to waste an anniversary, Seiko is commemorating 110 years since the Laurel with a flurry of releases up and down the lineup. From Presage to Prospex, here is an overview of the new watches. Seiko Presage Bearing the closest resemblance to the original Laurel, the SPB401 bears the trademark red twelve o’clock numeral and two subdials for the date and power reserve. Its enamel dial comes from the work of the venerable Mitsuru Yokosawa and his team. It will be limited to 1,500 pieces with a retail price of $1,250. The SPB413 features an angular case not too unlike the King Seiko line and showcases a “hemp leaf” pattern on the dial. A red mark along the rehaut at twelve is its nod to the Laurel. It’s the most modern of the new releases but perhaps is also one of the most wearable. It is limited to 2,000 pieces with a retail price of $1,050. The least limited of the new Presage releases (3,500 pieces) is the SSK015, a new variation on the existing SSK GMT watches. It pays homage to the Laurel with its four blue hands and red triangle at twelve and will set you back $625. Seiko Prospex Sure to be a fan favorite, the SPB409 Alpinist GMT...

Before I was really into watches as a collector or enthusiast, I can remember walking into a Tourneau store in a mall in the Boston suburbs and being drawn to the strange, square cased watches displayed prominently as I entered the space. I’m sure I was just killing time before a movie or meeting a friend, but somehow those watches, made by a brand I had no knowledge of, imprinted something on me. I don’t remember any of the other watches I encountered that day, or any other, at that same Tourneau. But the Bell & Ross BR 03 made an impression. It wasn’t even that I liked it – I just found them so unusual and distinctive. And for someone on the outside of the watch world looking in, these watches were an early point of fascination.  The BR 03, in my view, is one of the truly iconic modern watch designs for this very reason. It pulls in the curious window shopper in a way that a traditionally shaped watch can’t. Now, Bell & Ross is updating the BR 03 with a subtly reworked case. In these Bell & Ross supplied images, it’s honestly hard to see the changes (I’d really like to see one side by side with an older version of the watch), but based on the tale of the tape, it should make for an improved and more ergonomic wearing experience, which is no small feat for a watch that is known (and loved) for its inherent, charming, ungainliness. The big change is a full millimeter reduction in the case size, going from 42mm to 41mm. On a square watch, that’s going to ma...

Diver-centred brand Edox introduce the slimmer, and more dressed-up Neptunian Grande RéserveThe post Edox Neptunian Grande Réserve appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Charlie Paris shows off an evolution of the Concordia diver, powered by the Soprod C125 GMT calibreThe post Charlie Paris Concordia GMT appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar gets a new model, released for Watches & Wonders Shanghai 2023, now in a platinum case with black dial.

While tastes and fashions are constantly changing and continuously evolving in the field of mechanical wristwatches, they seem to be at a standstill in the field of table clocks and wall clocks. Master enameler Vanessa Lecci hopes to change that with her modern take on Pendules Neuchâteloises clocks.

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