Watch brandsWatch wikiWatch videosVariousWatch calendarSaved articles
PopularRolexOmegaPatek PhilippeAudemars PiguetTudorGrand SeikoCartierSeikoIWCTAG HeuerBreitlingJaeger-LeCoultreA. Lange & SohneZenith

Results for Atelier Wen

311 articles · 170 videos found · page 10 of 17

View Atelier Wen brand page
A History and Guide to Bulova Worn & Wound
Bulova Joseph Bulova was just Oct 19, 2025

A History and Guide to Bulova

Joseph Bulova was just twenty-four when he founded a company that would revolutionize American watchmaking. Immigrating to the United States from Bohemia in 1870, he founded the J. Bulova Company in 1875 on New York City’s Maiden Lane, specializing in jewelry and watch and clock repair. The business grew, and by 1911 the Bulova Company began producing table clocks and pocket watches. The next year, Joseph Bulova opened a Biel, Switzerland plant for the mass production of watches. The J. Bulova Company was reincorporated as the Bulova Watch Company in 1923, symbolizing its shift into watch production. Joseph Bulova was just twenty-four when he founded a company that would revolutionize American watchmaking. Immigrating to the United States from Bohemia in 1870, he founded the J. Bulova Company in 1875 on New York City’s Maiden Lane, specializing in jewelry and watch and clock repair. The business grew, and by 1911 the Bulova Company began producing table clocks and pocket watches. The next year, Joseph Bulova opened a Biel, Switzerland plant for the mass production of watches. The J. Bulova Company was reincorporated as the Bulova Watch Company in 1923, symbolizing its shift into watch production. The post A History and Guide to Bulova appeared first on Worn & Wound.

Read article
First Look – The new Parmigiani Toric Petite Seconde Platinum Golden Hour and Rose Gold Dune Monochrome
Parmigiani Fleurier carries great importance It Aug 28, 2025

First Look – The new Parmigiani Toric Petite Seconde Platinum Golden Hour and Rose Gold Dune

The name Toric at Parmigiani Fleurier carries great importance. It was, after all, the very first made by founder Michel Parmigiani when he decided to fly solo. An elegant watch characterised by its gadroons and knurled surfaces, it underwent a significant update last year with the launch of the new Toric collection. But more than just an […]

Read article
Building a Watch From Scratch In Brooklyn Worn & Wound
Aug 13, 2025

Building a Watch From Scratch In Brooklyn

Have you ever considered what it would take to start a microbrand? I was deep in an instagram doom scroll when a field watch I’d yet to see abruptly stopped my thumb. “I love this watch. My good friend made this by hand and it’s incredible. He makes them in Brooklyn from scratch. Check out his work” my buddy Greg’s caption read. I was digitally introduced to Giles Clement.  Raised in the Catskills, he was always a tinkerer. It probably started with him putting old lawnmower engines on wheels as a makeshift go-kart, but he has always had the gift of creating something from nothing.  A decade ago he stumbled upon a massive petzval lens at a thrift shop outside Chicago. This launched a years-long endeavor of building his own large format camera and teaching himself wet plate photography. Before he knew it, he was in a tent at a music festival in Rhode Island taking a portrait of Kris Kristofferson with a giant camera made of plywood and trash bags. The rest is history.  Photo by Jonah Markowitz He went on to have a successful photography career, capturing portraits of folks like Nick Offerman, Fiona Apple, Channing Tatum, Questlove, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello and various other high profile figures, as well as several fine art series.  Suddenly in 2020, like many others in the film and photography industry (myself included), work disappeared and he found himself on a forced hiatus. Never one to have idle hands, he began repairing watches. Ebay offered access to...

Read article
Reflecting on Twenty Years of MB&F; SJX Watches
MB&F; Aug 4, 2025

Reflecting on Twenty Years of MB&F;

It’s difficult to picture what the independent watchmaking landscape would look like without MB&F;. In some ways, it feels like the brand has always been around, perhaps because for me, it has. I first discovered MB&F; in 2008 when the HM2 was launched, but even back then the brand had an aura of polish that belied its short history. With the benefit of hindsight, Max Büsser’s decision to step away from corporate life, and leave the top job at Harry Winston Rare Timepieces to build his own brand rooted in collaboration, transparency, and imagination, seems obvious. But at the time, it was seen as a risky move that would never work. To understand why it did, we need to go back to the early 2000s. Max Büsser during the launch of the HM1 It’s called what? Let’s rewind. In the early 2000s the watch community was obsessed with the topic of in-house movements. The internet was slowly helping collectors find one another and share insider knowledge, which revealed how many watches were powered by the same handful of movements. If a new brand wanted to be taken seriously, it was increasingly important to be a manufacture and do as much as possible in-house. It was a simpler time, and we had yet to see such widespread misuse of the term.  So when Mr Büsser explained that MB&F; stood for ‘Maximilian Büsser & Friends,’ and that he would actively celebrate the friends and collaborators that he was working with, people told him he was crazy. But he understood that the coll...

Read article
Out of Office: Three Weeks in Spain with the Tudor Black Bay, One of the Best Restaurants in the World, and Plenty of Jamón Ibérico Worn & Wound
Tudor Black Bay One Jul 11, 2025

Out of Office: Three Weeks in Spain with the Tudor Black Bay, One of the Best Restaurants in the World, and Plenty of Jamón Ibérico

I’m fortunate enough to have been to Spain twice, to Seville and to Barcelona in 2018 and 2019. I fell in love with the country, the history, culture, architecture, food and lifestyle, and had wanted to come back ever since. My wife and I are foodies who truly enjoy fine dining and new eating experiences. When we went to Barcelona the first time, I heard of an amazing restaurant called Disfrutar (“enjoy” in Spanish), but was unable to get reservations at the time. Disfrutar has three Michelin Stars and was named the best restaurant in the world in 2024. I tried many times to get a reservation, but they book out one year in advance to the day, and are understandably quite popular. Late one night while watching TV in May of 2024, I randomly went to their website and, lo and behold, was able to procure a reservation for two on Friday, May 9, 2025. Well, that settled it, we were going to Spain in 2025! Spain is a place that we are considering spending a significant amount of time after retirement, so we wanted to use this trip as an opportunity to explore some areas that might be suitable to live/stay part-time in the future. After much research and deliberation, our itinerary was set. We would arrive in Madrid, stay there for five days, take the train to Córdoba for the day, and continue on to Málaga for a five day stay. Then, we’d rent a car and take a few days to drive the Costa Del Sol (the southern coast), ending up in Valencia for three days. And finally, we’...

Read article
Kudoke Celebrates 20 Years with the Kudoke 2 SHH Edition SJX Watches
Jun 17, 2025

Kudoke Celebrates 20 Years with the Kudoke 2 SHH Edition

The Kudoke 2 SHH Edition celebrates 20 years of the independent brand founded by husband-and-wife Stefan and Ev Kudoke. A run of 20 pieces exclusive to Singapore retailer Sincere Fine Watches, the edition sports the “flakes” dial finish in a first for the Kudoke 2, which features a distinctive day-night indicator at 12 o’clock. Initial Thoughts Stefan Kudoke was only in his mid-twenties when he founded his eponymous brand. Kudoke’s focus on detailed, graphic hand engraving has helped the brand differentiate itself as more independents, often focusing on movement finishing and guilloche, have sprung up over the years. While the SHH Edition comes at a considerable premium to the regular production Kudoke 2, it’s easily justified by the champagne rosé dial hand engraved with a “flakes” finish. When considering both the quality and quantity of engraving, the SHH Edition maintains the competitive pricing Kudoke is known for. Dial The SHH Edition brings the “flakes” pattern dial, first launched on the Kudoke 3, to the Kudoke 2 for the first time. The dial surface is covered with hundreds of tiny divots resembling flakes, which give the dial a sparkly finish. Each “flake” is painstakingly free-hand engraved, leaving no two dials exactly alike. Similar care is given to the rotating 24-hour disk at 12 o’clock, which has a deeply engraved, rose-gold plated sun on one half, and on the other half,  a moon and stars motif that’s engraved and lumed in blue. T...

Read article
Bulova Devil Diver Review Teddy Baldassarre
Bulova Jun 3, 2025

Bulova Devil Diver Review

The Bulova Devil Diver (formally known as the Bulova Oceanographer) first debuted back in the 1960s, when it went on to become something of a cult classic. It wasn’t a record-breaking dive watch worn by the world’s most accomplished that-and-that, it just had a striking design, and there was something edgy and subversive about that “666ft” on the dial. Of course, that number has to do with its water resistance and nothing sinister, but the Devil Diver moniker is really catchy and has stuck. Back in 2018, Bulova reissued the Oceanographer, but at 44mm wide it was just not what a lot of people were clamoring for. A few years later, in 2021, came this 41mm wide version that is much truer to the original. Four years later, the affordable dive watch market has gotten more competitive but the Bulova Devil Diver still holds its own, so let’s take a look at what makes this orange-dial diver feel like a slice of heaven for well under $1,000. Bulova Devil Diver Case: When the Bulova Devil Diver was first reintroduced back in 2018, there were quite a few gripes we all heard about the 44mm case being just way too big and not true to the original. Fortunately, the 2021 iteration brought the case back to the 41mm size of the original, a decision that won over the hearts of some jilted purists. To be fair, you do not have to be a vintage purist to see why a 41mm case will always be preferable to 44mm to a vast majority of contemporary buyers. Of course, the ~202 meters of water...

Read article
Auctions: Lavish and Exotic Cartier Clocks at Phillips SJX Watches
Cartier Clocks May 6, 2025

Auctions: Lavish and Exotic Cartier Clocks at Phillips

The spring auction season kicks off in less than a week, and while there are many interesting lots worthy of attention, there are a few museum-grade Cartier clocks at Phillips that demand a close look. All made between 1905 and 1940, the most exceptional pieces date to the roaring twenties when Cartier was synonymous with Art Deco extravagance. The lots are spread across two auctions – Geneva Watch Auction: XXI, which takes place on May 10th and 11th, and Hong Kong Watch Auction: XX which takes place from May 23rd to May 25th. There are three important mystery clocks hitting the block, the most significant being portico clock No. 3, along with a handful of artfully engraved jade desk clocks. Rounding out the bunch, an amusing prism clock should keep things interesting for those bidding with smaller budgets. An introduction to Cartier mystery clocks In the early twentieth century, Cartier was on top of the world. England’s King Edward VII had just granted the firm a royal warrant, calling Cartier the “jeweler of kings” and, perhaps more significantly, “The king of jewelers.” But the Parisian firm wasn’t coasting on this praise, and shortly thereafter stunned the world with a clock with hands that appeared to float in space. This ‘mysterious’ effect was achieved by attaching the hands to rotating glass plates that were driven from the edge. The first such clock was the Modèle A, which debuted in 1912. A Cartier Modèle A. Image – Phillips The mystery cl...

Read article
[VIDEO] Owner’s Review: the Fears Brunswick Aurora Worn & Wound
Fears May 1, 2025

[VIDEO] Owner’s Review: the Fears Brunswick Aurora

I’ve never really thought of myself as someone who jumps on trends. When it comes to music, movies, and other things I enjoy, I don’t pay much attention to whatever is in the zeitgeist at the moment. Or, more accurately, I don’t let whatever that is define my taste. I tend to be somewhat skeptical of whatever is becoming hyper popular at the moment. In watches, it’s fairly easy to spot a trend when it’s happening, but a bit more difficult to figure out what’s going to take hold before it actually happens. Jumping onto a trend in watches always seemed particularly silly to me. Watches have an heir of permanence embedded into them, so a “trend” in this hobby is anachronistic to what watch ownership is all about, and what a “good watch,” or one that ultimately stands the test of time, really is. Being trendy in watches carries a larger risk that you’ll wind up with regrets. Example: I don’t feel bad at all that I got really into Canadian post-rock when it had a moment during my college years. Twenty years later, it’s passed, but I still get excited when a new Godspeed You Black Emperor record is announced. Will watch enthusiasts who have collected every MoonSwatch variant still lose their minds over plastic watches a decade from now? Maybe, but it seems unlikely.  I’m not naive to the fact that we’re experiencing a trend with respect to mother of pearl and stone dials. It’s quite possible that at this very moment we might actually be on the ta...

Read article
Inside Greubel Forsey: CEO Michel Nydegger On Strategy, Craftsmanship, And The Future Fratello
Greubel Forsey CEO Michel Nydegger Apr 22, 2025

Inside Greubel Forsey: CEO Michel Nydegger On Strategy, Craftsmanship, And The Future

Visiting Greubel Forsey is unlike stepping into most watch ateliers. Tucked away in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the brand has always carried an aura of mystery, spoken about with reverence among collectors but less visible in mainstream luxury circles. That is partly by design. When I sat down with Michel Nyddegger, the brand’s recently appointed CEO, it […] Visit Inside Greubel Forsey: CEO Michel Nydegger On Strategy, Craftsmanship, And The Future to read the full article.

Read article
Kallinich Claeys Brings Creative Independent Watchmaking to Glashütte Worn & Wound
Nomos headquarters Apr 14, 2025

Kallinich Claeys Brings Creative Independent Watchmaking to Glashütte

In the Fall of 2023, I organized a RedBar event in Prague for Marco Lang, Stefan Kudoke, and Jochen Benzinger. During the event I met two young guys who looked in their early twenties, enjoying fresh Pilsner beer. When we raised our glasses to cheer, I noticed his wrist and had a hard time believing what I saw.  The young man introduced himself as Thibault Claeys and said this is their first watch. The other young man introduced himself as Johannes Kallinich. While I looked at the watch, Thibault told me that both of them worked at A. Lange & Söhne until recently. Johannes was the head of the Lange 1 department and a certified Master Watchmaker with a deep understanding of technical construction. Thibault, on the other hand, graduated from watchmaking school in Antwerp, and joined the Lange 1815 department. His expertise lies in finishing techniques, and he plays MacGyver with all the machines and tooling.  The next encounter with Thibault and Johannes was a planned visit to their atelier in the summer of 2024. Their small workshop is located right next to Nomos headquarters, and directly opposite from the SUG case workshop in Glashütte. The workshop is framed all around by large windows, an inspiration they took from Akrivia and Rexhep Rexhepi.  Thibault walked me through “his side” of the workshop first where he built his own CNC milling machine. You see all the contraptions he built himself for making parts or for finishing of the parts. He says it actually all...

Read article
Hamilton Introduces the American Classic Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition Worn & Wound
Hamilton Introduces Mar 13, 2025

Hamilton Introduces the American Classic Boulton Death Stranding 2 Limited Edition

I have to start this one off with an admission: I am not a gamer. I really, really enjoy the Grand Theft Auto franchise and have fond memories of playing them deep into the wee hours of the morning with college friends in my younger, slightly less responsible days, but as a capital A “adult” I’ve never given all that much attention to the gaming world. Movies have always been my thing when it comes to getting lost in a narrative on a giant flatscreen TV. I make the comparison to movies here because it’s been frequently discussed how games have nearly replaced movies for a younger generation when it comes to immersive storytelling. Few things make me feel like an old fuddy-duddy more than talking to twenty year olds who have logged more hours watching Twitch streams than Scorsese movies.  The new watch from Hamilton, a watch brand long associated with the silver screen, is an example of the gradual shift in interest from filmed entertainment to gaming, and represents a pretty big swing for a brand that has carved out a very clear spot in the mindset of most watch enthusiasts. Hamilton conjures thoughts of American watchmaking history, countless appearances in films over the course of many decades, and classically designed value oriented tools (among many other things – their catalog is vast and they make watches in every style imaginable). But one thing they aren’t frequently associated with is the avant-garde, or truly experimental design, their 2001 inspired ...

Read article
Hands-On: the Chronofixe Astérix Worn & Wound
Timex Ironmans were character watches Mar 12, 2025

Hands-On: the Chronofixe Astérix

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...

Read article
Sunday Morning Showdown: Girard-Perregaux Laureato 38mm Vs. IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 Fratello
Girard-Perregaux Laureato 38mm Vs IWC Feb 23, 2025

Sunday Morning Showdown: Girard-Perregaux Laureato 38mm Vs. IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40

It’s Sunday again, so it’s time for another Sunday Morning Showdown. Mike and Jorg go head to head in a battle over integrated-bracelet sports watches this week. Two weeks ago, we had a similar match-up when Vacheron’s 222 went up against the Royal Oak. This week, two more famous watches in the same category fight […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Girard-Perregaux Laureato 38mm Vs. IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 to read the full article.

Read article
Introducing: The Panerai Luminor Due PAM01539 With A Bold Burgundy Dial - Just In Time For Valentine’s Day Fratello
Panerai Luminor Due PAM01539 Feb 9, 2025

Introducing: The Panerai Luminor Due PAM01539 With A Bold Burgundy Dial - Just In Time For Valentine’s Day

It has been a while since we covered Panerai’s Luminor Due collection. Mike wrote an article in 2019 when the brand went from the OPXXXIV to the new P.900 movement. He was a fan of the simpler Luminor Due models, mainly because of their dial design, the crown system, and the case shape. We thought […] Visit Introducing: The Panerai Luminor Due PAM01539 With A Bold Burgundy Dial - Just In Time For Valentine’s Day to read the full article.

Read article
[VIDEO] The Bozeman: Yeti Innovation Upon Mystery Ranch Lineage Worn & Wound
Feb 6, 2025

[VIDEO] The Bozeman: Yeti Innovation Upon Mystery Ranch Lineage

When it was announced that Yeti, a company best known for its ice-cold coolers and drinkware, had acquired Mystery Ranch in early 2024, it raised a ton of questions among the brand’s fans. Almost a year later, Yeti, working alongside designers from Mystery Ranch, has released its first “collaborative” backpack: The Bozeman. While many questions remain about Yeti’s plans for Mystery Ranch, I’d like to think that we might have some answers with this first release. Who is Mystery Ranch? Before we dive into this pack, and what makes it special, we need to take a brief look at Dana Gleason and Mystery Ranch. While working in an outdoor store in the 70’s, Dana Gleason began offering backpack repairs, which led him to begin creating his own designs. Over the next twenty-five-ish years, Dana would make a name for himself through founding Kletterworks (1975), Dana Designs (1985), and developing pack features that have become a staple across the industry. A year after leaving Dana Designs in 1999, Dana co-founded Mystery Ranch with one purpose in mind, “to minimize the burden on your back.” Mystery Ranch would develop and patent industry changing features like the Futura Harness system, the 3-Zip, and modular frame systems, just to name a few. To put it simply, Mystery Ranch has created some of the toughest, purpose-built packs for the Military, Outdoor, Travel, and Fire industries ever released. While it would take 20 something years for me to discover the brand, it...

Read article
A Travel Watch Inspired by Travelers: the J.M. LeBoy Bedouin Worn & Wound
TAG Heuer Feb 5, 2025

A Travel Watch Inspired by Travelers: the J.M. LeBoy Bedouin

It’s hard to understand Budapest without being there. On its surface, it seems like any other major European capital, but in practice, Budapest is a singular experience. I was lucky enough to visit Budapest when I was 14, and what I encountered was a city replete with contradictions, one that wears its history on its sleeve, and which evokes a unique perspective. In other words, it’s exactly the sort of city where you would expect to find someone like Jake LeBoy. “I went there for vacation a few years ago and I thought, you know, I’m just going to get an apartment here,” he told me. “It’s pretty nice. And I’ve been enjoying it ever since.” Jake LeBoy, the founder and designer behind the newly launched watch brand J.M. LeBoy, expresses a similar sort of contradiction. Talking to Jake, it would be hard to guess that the remarkably chipper native Californian had served as an enlisted Marine, or that he has spent much of the time since working as a military contractor all around the world. What wasn’t hard to see was his love of watches. Soft spoken and warm, Jake is a passionate watch enthusiast, driven by detail and with a strong sense of what it means to do right by the collectors whose attention he’s looking to grab. “I’ve always been a huge watch nerd,” he explained. “Even from the time I was a little kid, I saw Goldfinger and the famous Submariner, and then I saw Jason Bourne, the first one with the TAG Heuer… that for me, dude - I final...

Read article
Christopher Ward Introduces the Dune Aeolian Collection Worn & Wound
Christopher Ward Introduces Jan 24, 2025

Christopher Ward Introduces the Dune Aeolian Collection

Watching Christopher Ward’s progression over the last twenty years has been a joy. From a plucky micro-brand, it has grown into the most significant watch brand in the UK. When watch industry veteran Mike Pearson joined their team as North American Brand Director about a year ago, I knew our side of the pond was in for a treat. It wasn’t long before he took Christopher Ward on the road throughout the continent, and luckily for me, one of the stops was in my backyard. We had been friends for years online, and this was finally an opportunity to meet in person. Seeing many Christopher Ward watches in the metal was also a great opportunity. It was a real treat to experience the Bel Canto in person and handle the newly released C60 Lumière dive watches. I was also incredibly excited to see the Twelve X, a piece I had written about a few months earlier. One item that was notably missing from the lineup was their Oracle collaborative piece, the C65 Dune Shoreline. This omission was understandable since it was limited to just 100 pieces. However, if you liked that design, we have some great news. Christopher Ward is launching a new collection called C65 Dune Aeolian, featuring textured wave dials, available in two case materials, with a GMT option. The Dune Aeolian Automatic features the stainless steel C65 light catcher case, which has a diameter of 38mm, a thickness of 11.9mm, and a lug-to-lug length of 43.7mm. This makes it universally wearable on wrists of all sizes. Ther...

Read article
My Year in Watches: Defining “Affordable Watch Collector” Worn & Wound
Seiko 6139-6002 Pogue I couldn’t Dec 20, 2024

My Year in Watches: Defining “Affordable Watch Collector”

My original idea when I was asked to contribute to this series was to focus on my favorite watch acquisitions of the year, explain why they’re noteworthy, and describe my thought process behind purchasing or trading for each. While I was writing about my Universal Geneve Ref. 842116 Tank and Seiko 6139-6002 Pogue, I couldn’t help but notice how far my collection has come over the last year or so. Since the purchase of my first wristwatch in 2012, it’s always been my goal to cultivate watch boxes filled with both timeless classics and rare oddities. Looking at my collection as this year concludes, I’m proud to say I’ve never changed this philosophy. It was with this realization that my plans for this article began to transform into a conversation about watch collecting identity. While 2024 has been quite the successful year for my collection and I, it’s also the year that I went from being an affordable watch collector to being …an affordable watch collector.  You see, the watch collecting hobby is filled with subjective terminology. Words and phrases like “rare,” “new old stock,” “like-new old stock,” “budget-friendly,” and of course “affordable” frequently see usage on online auction platforms, social media, forums, and advertisements. While these are often used as buzzwords for sellers wanting their post to be boosted in search algorithms or by collectors wanting to flaunt their new purchase, I’ve always been fascinated by how pliable...

Read article
Hands-On With The New Black Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Fratello
Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Dec 11, 2024

Hands-On With The New Black Omega Seamaster Diver 300M

This story all started with Daniel Craig…again! Indeed, many Omega stories do nowadays. The former on-screen secret agent wasn’t that secretive about wearing a new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M during the Paris Olympics earlier this year. As always, watch enthusiasts took notice, and that’s when the internet went crazy. It started the rumor mill that […] Visit Hands-On With The New Black Omega Seamaster Diver 300M to read the full article.

Read article
Review: Is The IWC Portugieser Chronograph Dune The Watch You Didn’t Know You Wanted? WatchAdvice
IWC Portugieser Chronograph Dune Dec 11, 2024

Review: Is The IWC Portugieser Chronograph Dune The Watch You Didn’t Know You Wanted?

The IWC Portugieser is one of the Schaffhausen brand’s most iconic models, and with a new lineup this year, we thought we would take the new Portugieser Chronograph ‘Dune’ out to see how it feels on the wrist. What We Love The watch’s ability to pair with most outfits The dial finishing is excellent, with the sunray finish looking stunning The design is timeless and won’t date easily What We Don’t The monochromatic coloured dial could use some contrast to aid with legibility The clasp is a little hard to open The lack of a date window gives it less functionality Overall Score: 8.6 / 10 Value for Money: 8/10 Wearability: 9/10 Design: 8.5/10 Build Quality: 9/10 2024 has been a stellar year for IWC Schaffhausen. They launched the new look Portugieser collection at Watches & Wonders 2024, which I felt was one of the best collections released at the fair this year. Whilst other brands focused their efforts on just a few models or high complications, IWC took the opportunity to re-vamp the entire line, with new colourways reflecting the times of the day and in steel and precious metals. They also had an epic soundtrack playing in their booth, which could be heard throughout the Palexpo, so it was almost as if IWC provided the soundtrack to Watches & Wonders 2024. They also released the Portugieser Eternal Calendar as part of this collection which was the brand’s contribution to the high-end pieces we saw throughout the fair, which then went on to break the Guin...

Read article
Hands-On: the Dennison ALD Collection Worn & Wound
Zenith Nov 25, 2024

Hands-On: the Dennison ALD Collection

Watch history is often the story of unsung heroes. Zenith is commonly credited as the creator of the first automatic chronograph, while their collaborator Movado is often a footnote, if mentioned at all. The Omega Speedmaster, famously the first watch worn on the moon, gets most of the street cred when discussing out-of-this-world watches. However, any mention of the actual first watch worn in space, the Sturmanskie, is a deep cut rarely discussed. Mid-century watch cases tend to follow the same trend. While brands like Rolex, IWC and Zenith were busy becoming household names, the third party manufacturers making the cases of their renowned classics worked diligently in the shadows. One such case designer and manufacturer was Dennison, a brand you may never have heard of, but undoubtedly handled if you are a fan of vintage luxury Swiss watches. Founded in 1874 by Aaron Lufkin Dennison (who the ALD collection is named after), Dennison became a powerhouse of both design forward and spec focused watch cases. Their patented air and water tight cases could be found on the wrists of members of the British Military, housed the famous Smith dials that submitted Everest in 1953 and even accompanied Lt. Commander Lithgow when he broke the world air speed record. Dennison went dormant after the 1960’s and, like many other once-defunct brands that followed suit with the emergence of the quartz crisis, has risen from the ashes. Resurrection stories can be hit and miss, leading many e...

Read article
Editorial: Geneva Auctions Fall 2024 SJX Watches
Rolex GMT-Master II “SARU” Nov 12, 2024

Editorial: Geneva Auctions Fall 2024

Perhaps the most surprising moment of the fall auction season in Geneva was when the hammer came down on an MoonSwatch at Christie’s for CHF69,300 including fees – exactly the same as a Rolex GMT-Master II “SARU” that sold later in the day. But as is almost always the case with record prices at auction, there was a story behind the price and a method to the madness. The MoonSwatch was the unique “millionth” example conceived specifically for this auction, where all proceeds went to ELA, a French medical charity. The ELA sale was spearheaded by Francois-Henri Pinault, the chief of Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns Christie’s, and certainly one of the most influential people in the luxury goods business. Sitting in the room and opening the sale was Mr Pinault’s fellow trustee at ELA, Zinedine Zidane, the French footballer better known as Zizou who’s regarded as one of the all-time best players and coaches. Christie’s auctioneer Rahul Kadakia with Zizou. Image – Christie’s Bidding via phone, the winning bidder of the MoonSwatch – which sold for over 150 times the retail price – announced to the room via a Christie’s rep that his winning bid was for “ELA and Zizou”. It was clearly a statement that he or she would have paid up for whatever watch was on sale, regardless if it was plastic or precious metal. It was a good deed done that was no bearing on the MoonSwatch or watches in general. To the moon MoonSwatch aside, the season was pos...

Read article
Geared Up: Packing for the Unexpected Worn & Wound
Casio nal threat Nov 7, 2024

Geared Up: Packing for the Unexpected

Life has an uncanny way of throwing a curveball at you when you least expect it. As I sat down to eat dinner and plan out some upcoming travel, I got the phone call that no one ever wants to get: “Your parent is in the hospital.” Being a younger guy, I still assume that my parents are somewhere between human and superhuman, always available to answer questions, and impart wisdom. Like many, I’ve viewed my parents as invincible for much of my life. As the phone call went on, two things immediately popped into my mind: I needed to book a flight home as soon as possible, and I needed to pack a bag. The concept of having an “emergency bag” isn’t new to me – being prepared was drilled into my head while I was in Boy Scouts, and the occasional threat of tornadoes in Kentucky meant I always had something ready, but between moving to NYC a year ago and just generally being busy, I hadn’t taken the time to repack such a bag, which bit me when I got the call about my father. I’m happy to report that several weeks out from that phone call he’s doing well and recovering.  While I hope that you don’t get the same call anytime soon, it was a stark reminder that things are unpredictable and you need to be willing and able to react quickly. Now, I need to preface the rest of this article and say that this isn’t a definitive guide to what you should have in your bag, but rather an overview of the items that I had (and will have) in my bag as I work to be more prepa...

Read article