Results for Mainspring Types and Alloys

Rock On! Stone-Dial Watches For Every Budget - Including Dennison, Piaget, Baltic, And Rolex

Would you rock a stone-dial watch? I would. And I also could. Previously, only a handful of brands ventured into stone dials, and those that did reserved them for highly expensive pieces. Today, however, technological advancements have made stone dials far more accessible to produce. This benefits watchmakers and watch fans: smaller brands can now […] Visit Rock On! Stone-Dial Watches For Every Budget - Including Dennison, Piaget, Baltic, And Rolex to read the full article.

IWC Pilot's Watches: The History and Ultimate Guide

Few watch brands are as readily identified with aviation and the history of pilot’s watches than IWC, which not only gave the watch world two of the genre’s most iconic (and widely emulated) timepieces, the Big Pilot’s Watch and the Mark 11, but also has used both these groundbreaking models as foundations for a sprawling and diverse collection of contemporary aviation-inspired watches today. Here is the story of IWC Pilot’s Watches, from the Special Watch for Pilots to the Spitfire to the Top Gun, from simple three-hand to perpetual calendar, and everything in between.  F.A. Jones’ International Dream (1860s - 1930s)   IWC founder Florentine Ariosto Jones Other than the fact that he came to Switzerland in 1868, at the relatively tender age of 27, to become the first American-born founder of a Swiss watch company, little is known about the life of IWC patriarch Florentine Ariosto Jones. He was born in New Hampshire in 1841 and fought in the American Civil War for the Massachusetts Infantry. His postwar career at the renowned Massachusetts watchmaker E. Howard & Co. led to his European sojourn and the establishment of the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. From the outset, Jones’ business plan was to marry the generational watchmaking expertise of the Swiss with the then-new, assembly-line production techniques of the U.S.A. His decision to locate his factory in Schaffhausen, near Switzerland’s northern border with Germany, rather tha...

The Greatest Collectors of All Time: James Ward Packard – American Industrialist And Highly Competitive Discerning Collector

James Ward Packard (1863–1928) was a prominent American industrialist, inventor, and watch collector. Best known as the founder of the Packard Motor Car Company, which manufactured some of the most luxurious automobiles of the early 20th century, Packard was also an avid horology enthusiast and one of the most influential watch collectors of his era. His rivalry with Henry Graves Jr. over acquiring the most complicated and exquisite timepieces played a pivotal role in advancing the art of watchmaking. James Ward Packard was an engineer both in and out of the classroom. He wired the door and alarm clock of his dormitory room with switching mechanisms and rigged telegraph lines to friends’ rooms. Five years after graduating, he applied for the first of over forty patents. Upon graduation he and his brother started manufacturing incandescent carbon arc lamps. In 1890, Packard opened the Packard Electric Company with his brother in their hometown of Warren, Ohio. Packard and his first business partner, George Lewis Weiss, initially purchased a Winton automobile in 1898. After experiencing multiple issues with it, Packard personally suggested improvements to Alexander Winton. When Winton dismissed him, Packard decided to build a better car himself, leading to the creation of the first Packard automobile. Their company, the Packard Electric Company, made automotive electric systems. It was purchased by General Motors in 1932. The Packard Automobile Company was purchased by S...

Ōtsuka Lōtec bursts through the affordable barrier with the epic, tourbillon-equipped and chiming No. 9

The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 9 becomes by far the most expensive watch by the young brand, but also the most complicated.The post Ōtsuka Lōtec bursts through the affordable barrier with the epic, tourbillon-equipped and chiming No. 9 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Orient Star’s Manual-Wind Moon Phase is Slick and Silicon

The Orient Star M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase Hand Winding is the brand’s first manual-wind moon phase, and also the first in years with a solid dial, making it a refreshing change of pace from the brand’s usual fare that leans towards open-worked and occasionally over-designed styling. Initial Thoughts Excepting the vintage inspired Diver 1964, the M45 F8 moon phase is the most attractive watch in the Orient catalog to my eye. Most of the brand’s designs are too busy for my tastes, so these entries are a welcome departure that will certainly appeal to enthusiasts with more classical tastes. The moon phase disk itself, with mother-of-pearl inlay, is a highlight. And the absence of a seconds hand is a pleasant surprise, though the moon phase sub-dial feels naked without the traditional co-axial small seconds hand. Since the small seconds version of this calibre is not compatible with the moon phase module, Orient could have moved the Orient Star logo onto the sub-dial for more visual balance. Most importantly, this is a manually wound watch – with a competent movement – in a price segment where such things are hard to find. Looking at Japanese watches in particular, manual wind options from Grand Seiko and Credor are significantly more expensive, while Seiko, Orient, and Citizen dropped their entry-level manual watches years ago. Pleiades About two years ago, Orient Star reorganised its catalog by launching M Collections, a family of watches each named after astron...

Report: Toronto Timepiece Show And Timepiece World Awards 2025

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Toronto Timepiece Show. I was also a jury member for the Timepiece World Awards, so I had some formalities to attend to. But more about that later; let’s talk about the show first. Toronto Timepiece Show Over 75 watch brands exhibited at the Toronto Timepiece Show, […] Visit Report: Toronto Timepiece Show And Timepiece World Awards 2025 to read the full article.

Tissot’s Beating Heart: The Powermatic 80 And Powermatic 80 COSC

Tissot is one of our favorite brands here at Fratello. The company’s blend of history and industry-leading value also makes it a popular pick among buyers. Often, at the heart of this value proposition is an impressive movement. The Powermatic 80 has been in production since 2012, but it still offers impressive specs. Watches such […] Visit Tissot’s Beating Heart: The Powermatic 80 And Powermatic 80 COSC to read the full article.

Pedals and Precision: Tudor Pro Cycling at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec

Québec City carries its history on every corner-stone walls, cobblestones, cafés spilling into narrow streets. For a few days in September, it also carried the buzz of race bikes and the weight of a UCI WorldTour peloton. Tudor brought us here to see their Pro Cycling team take on the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. The race is unusual compared to most on the calendar. Instead of rolling through countryside, the riders loop through Old Québec, climbing and descending the same punishing circuit until it breaks them. Crowds lean over barricades, the sound of cheers bouncing off limestone walls as the peloton flashes past again and again. Our trip began with a chance to meet the Tudor Pro Cycling riders. They rolled in straight from training, relaxed but sharp, already thinking about the course. Later, in the subterranean car park beneath Hotel 71, we were shown the workshop: rows of bikes worth thousands apiece, mechanics tuning, polishing, preparing. A hidden paddock carved out of concrete, the quiet backbone of the sport. Dinner that evening was with Tudor and a handful of other journalists at Laurie Raphaël. It was polished dining, but the conversation stayed grounded-how a team operates at this level, what it means to link a watch brand with a sport that demands grit and repetition. FXD watches at the table looked at home: tough, precise, made for use. Race day carried a nervous hum. The morning was cool, the sun cutting through by midday. From Tudor’s hospital...

Fortis Introduces The Stealthy Stratoliner S-41 Gravity Black And The Wild Reentry Edition

Fortis is well known in the world of horology for creating amazing tool watches. It is also one of the few brands with a track record of successfully sending watches into space. The Fortis Stratoliner S-41 collection is a modern-day space traveler’s watch that has achieved just that. Now, the Swiss brand is extending the […] Visit Fortis Introduces The Stealthy Stratoliner S-41 Gravity Black And The Wild Reentry Edition to read the full article.

Introducing – The New Ressence Type 9 x The Armoury “Scattering Sun”

Ressence is renowned for its dynamic, no-hand display of the time. Animated by the brand’s patented Orbital Convex System (ROCS), time circles around the dial like planets orbiting the Sun. Ressence’s Type 9, its most compact, spartan, and accessibly priced watch, was introduced in 2024. Not only was it the smallest model in the brand’s […]

Ressence And The Armoury Team Up To Create A Salmon-Dial TYPE 9 For The Sartorial Collector

Hanhart and German Magazine Armbanduhren Unveil a Limited Edition Preventor HD12 in Purple

I’ve long had a contentious relationship with the color purple; between youth softball teams and grad school alma maters, it’s always difficult to find anything to wear with the color that isn’t immediately clashing. But purple is also a color associated with luxury and royalty, so I am approaching the new Silk Purple Hanhart Preventor HD12, a collaboration with German watch magazine Armbanduhren, with an open mind.  Hanhart’s Preventor HD12 was originally launched in August 2024, and has fast become one of the Swiss-German brand’s most popular pieces. A field watch-style dial design paired with HD12 scratch-resistant steel, and powered by a Sellita caliber SW200-1 or Soprod SOP P024 automatic movement, the Preventor combines the vintage styling that Hanhart is known for with robust construction and durability.  With easy-wearing case dimensions of 39mm in diameter and 46mm lug-to-lug, the Preventor positions itself as an everyday timekeeping watch with few complications-even lacking a date window. The HD12 steel is made scratch-resistant through a multi-stage hardening process, in which carbon is diffused into the steel and the case is covered in an additional PVD coating. Hanhart continues to tout the “hardness” factor of the Preventor by protecting the dial with a scratch-resistant convex-curved sapphire crystal.  Of course, the dial is where the fun happens for this limited edition Preventor. The matte Silk Purple contrasts starkly with the white Ara...

H. Moser and Azuki Partner on a New Collaboration

It’s hard to believe, but with Labor Day just over the horizon, the first days of tolerable weather breaking into the mix, and the whole world picking up pace, there’s no denying that we’re fast approaching the end of summer. For many, the end of summer also marks the end of dive watch season, but we at Worn & Wound aren’t quite ready to pack up one of our favorite styles of watch for the year, and neither is one of our favorite brands, H. Moser & Cie. In fact, they’re doubling down with the release of what just may be the best collab dive watch of 2025, in partnership with anime-inspired digital art collective, Azuki. Their latest collection - which Moser and Azuki have dubbed the “Elements of Time” - draws from Azuki’s Elementals NFT Collection, with four new dial designs inspired by the elements of Azuki’s Element Universe: Fire, Earth, Water, and Lightning. Playing host to these elemental dials - each of which boasts a unique blend of guillochage and fumé finishing - is the Pioneer Centre Seconds Rotating Bezel, a dive watch–esque sports watch that has long been one of Moser’s great under-the-radar offerings. Though not technically a dive watch by the strictest ISO definitions, the Pioneer Centre Seconds Rotating Bezel certainly plays all the dive watch hits, and plays them well. First introduced as a stainless steel 42mm watch in 2019, the Centre Seconds RB has been subject to several reinterpretations over the years, including in collab...

Introducing The Formex Essence 41mm Space Ghost - A New Medium Size With A Meteorite Dial And Even More Technical Ingenuity

The Essence is one of Formex’s most innovative and all-around watches. It’s also the most popular one because of the specs it features for the price, and its comfortable wearing experience. Today, the brand introduces the Essence Space Ghost in stainless steel and a new 41mm size. But this is not just another Essence that’s […] Visit Introducing The Formex Essence 41mm Space Ghost - A New Medium Size With A Meteorite Dial And Even More Technical Ingenuity to read the full article.

First Look – The New Watch Ho & Co. x Selten Jui, a Celebration of Community and Craft

Watches are built to tell time, but also to impress, and to connect. The Jui is a collaboration between Watch Ho & Co., a Hong Kong-based watch community and club founded by Jackie Ho, and indie brand Selten, and it belongs firmly in the latter category. Created to mark Watch Ho & Co.’s second anniversary, […]

Industry News – The Impact of the 39% U.S. Tariff on the Swiss Watch Industry, And The Reactions of A Major CEO, the Swiss Fed and an Analyst

On August 1st – also known as Switzerland’s National Day – the Trump Administration announced a 39% tariff on Swiss imports, coinciding with Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly praising Switzerland… A political and economic shockwave has gripped the country for nearly two weeks. Rightfully so, Switzerland is heavily export-oriented, and the U.S. is one […]

Interview: Kari Voutilianen on Urban Jürgensen and Artisanal Watchmaking

Urban Jürgensen made its comeback earlier this year with an impressive line-up that includes the flagship UJ-1 Tourbillon. Much of the credit for the brand’s watches and watchmaking goes to Kari Voutilainen. Mr Voutilainen has imbued Urban Jürgensen’s watches with the high standards of quality synonymous with his own brand, resulting in watches that are equally exquisitely craft and steeply priced, but arguably worth it. Though best known for his eponymous brand, Mr Voutilainen is also co-chief executive of Urban Jürgensen (and also a minority shareholder). His fellow steward of the Danish marque that is now headquartered in Bienne, Switzerland, is Alex Rosenfield. While Mr Voutilainen is in charge of watchmaking, Mr Rosenfield leads marketing and branding. From left: Kari Voutilainen, Andrew Rosenfield, and Alex Rosenfield. Image – Urban Jürgensen Given the opportunity to speak at length with Mr Voutilainen, I could not refuse. We discussed the true nature of artisanal work, ranging from movement decoration to guilloche, the details of Urban Jürgensen’s movements, and more. You can find his insightful answers below. But interestingly, my conversation with Mr Voutilainen reminded me of the first time I met him, which was at Baselworld 2006 when he launched the Masterpiece Chronograph (with a special hairspring from what turned out to be a questionable supplier). Even two decades ago, well before he was famous, Mr Voutilainen was passionate about the same thing...

Five Mistakes I Made While Collecting Omega Speedmasters (And How To Avoid Them)

I bought my first Omega Speedmaster Professional in 1999. This is also when my Speedy collecting officially began. During those 25 years of buying (and selling) Speedmaster watches, I made my fair share of mistakes. This was mainly because, back then, there wasn’t as much information available as there is today. But I also made […] Visit Five Mistakes I Made While Collecting Omega Speedmasters (And How To Avoid Them) to read the full article.

The Op Art-Inspired Anoma A1 Optical is Not an Illusion

Anoma made its debut last summer and has just released its third model, the A1 Optical. Without departing too far from what made the previous models attractive and affordable, the latest variant features a CNC guilloché dial with a shimmering optical effect. For the design of the dial, Anoma founder Matteo Violet-Vianello was inspired by the works of Bridget Riley and Ferruccio Gard, instrumental figures in the optical art movement. There are two dial options for the Optical; copper and silver. The copper option is the livelier of the two and will inevitably be called a salmon dial. Alternatively, the silver-treated option gives the watch a distinctly black-and-white feel. Interestingly, the first 150 pieces in each dial finish will be delivered with a related artwork commissioned from optical artist Adam Fuhrer. After the first 300 pieces have been delivered, regular production (sans artwork) will commence. Initial thoughts It’s rare to find watchmaking at this price point that is distinctive enough to sell without a name on the dial, but Anoma is betting the A1’s pebble-like triangular case is a recognisable enough calling card to dispense with the branding. It was the right call, because the Optical is all about its dial and the shimmering optical illusion created by programmatic guilloché. In some ways the dial motif is similar in concept to the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando, but the triangular pattern and three-dimensional texture will result in a more engag...

Seiko Samurai Review: Smaller And Better Than Ever

Last year, we saw a trio of new Seiko Samurai watches that aimed to broaden the collection’s appeal within the Prospex family. It’s fairly well understood that the Samurai has been seen as the odd man out among the “Seiko with a nickname” family, but why exactly is that? Well, it doesn’t have that vintage heritage, having only debuted in 2004. Also, the second generation has been around since 2017, and since then, tastes have certainly changed. The 44mm-wide case is a little too big for today’s tastes, where conventional wisdom puts anything above 42mm safely in the “huge” category (the case has been pretty thick, as well) . And while models like the Turtle, SKX007, or Willard (or even Tuna and Arnie) have rounded cases, the Samurai’s case has a very sharp and almost aggressively angular design that, again, is not for everyone. Wisely, Seiko’s third-generation Samurai addresses that persistent case-size issue while giving the dial a refresh too. Fortunately, the angular case is a bit more refined, yet no less geometrical. Sorry, that’s just part of the Samurai’s identity. Seiko Samurai Case and Bracelet First off, yes - the new Seiko Samurai has taken design cues from the Shogun. If that makes it not a “true Samurai,” then so be it, but the end result is one good-looking watch. The case improves over that of the second generation in just about every meaningful way (the older case is still available alongside this new iteration). First off, it ...

Fratello EDC: Daan Shares His Everyday Carry Essentials From The North Face, Montblanc, Bellroy, Serengeti, And More

I am not entirely sure why, but back in 2022, I didn’t participate in the Fratello EDC (Everyday Carry) series. That’s great because it allows me to go all out this time. Some of the things I’ll mention today have been with me for quite a few years now, while others are more recent acquisitions. […] Visit Fratello EDC: Daan Shares His Everyday Carry Essentials From The North Face, Montblanc, Bellroy, Serengeti, And More to read the full article.

Professional Diver Nigel Band and the Unusual Rolex Sea-Dweller and Oyster Perpetual Models that Plumbed the Depths and Scaled the Heights – Reprise

Nigel Band is a professional diver with over 30 years’ worth of commercial and teaching experience. He also owns two rather unusual Rolex watches: a 1986 “triple-six” Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 16660 and a Himalayan mountain climbing 1952 Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Put on your breathing apparatus as the fascinating stories of these two watches are told by Colin Alexander Smith here.

A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Reviewed by Tim Mosso: A Machine with Heart and Soul

The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon lives up to its name. It has a date, a chronograph, a perpetual calendar, and a tourbillon. But it has more: this watch has character. Assigning human traits to a cold machine is a – romantic – fool’s errand, but it’s also irresistible in the presence of a masterpiece. A. Lange & Söhne’s warmest watch is more than a machine with a heartbeat. It has soul.

Bulgari “Beyond Time” Exhibition and a Singapore-Exclusive Octo Worldtimer

Bulgari has just opened Beyond Time in Singapore, which takes place in Paragon Mall from July 18 to August 10, 2025 and is open to the public daily. An exhibition dedicated to the brand’s watches and jewelled timepieces, Beyond Time also marks the launch of the Octo Roma Worldtimer SG60, a limited edition only for Singapore. The exhibition includes the record setting Octo Finissimo complications – some of the thinnest wristwatches ever made – as well as a watchmaking “masterclass” led by a watchmaker from Bulgari’s Neuchâtel manufacture. Singapore National Day The event coincides with Singapore’s 60th year of independence on August 9. For the occasion, Bulgari has created the Octo Roma Worldtimer SG60, a limited edition accented in white and red, the national colours of Singapore, with a case in black DLC-coated steel. Other goodies specific to Singapore’s National Day weekend include postcards by Singaporean artists, and personalised poetry verses. The Octo Roma Worldtimer SG60 is delivered on a pair of straps in red and black Located on the ground floor of the mall, the B-shaped exhibition space is inspired by the work of German architect Mies van der Rohe and his close collaborator, designer Lilly Reich. The exhibits are organised thematically, with the Serpenti and Octo collections each having a space of their own, but the complicated watches are the centrepiece. The complicated watch display showcases the brand’s accomplishments in pushing the bound...

SJX Podcast: Are Watches Too Expensive? And Discussing Bundling.

This week’s podcast starts with two hot topics – retail prices of watches and “bundling”, or having to buy one watch (or several) in order to get something desirable. The episode also includes several watches we covered recently, including the Vacheron Constantin “Tribute to the Celestial” and the Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Spin Time. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.