3,776 articles · 15 videos found · page 123 of 127
Revolution
Richard Mille has always been one of the more pioneering watchmakers of our generation. One would assume that his last creation with full sapphire case might have been a little hard to top but last week, he announced his mainstay RM 011 flyback chronograph in silicon nitride, a material commonly associated with automobiles and not […]
Revolution
Time is asymmetrical (at least, to us poor mortals who must perforce follow its apparently irreversible arrow) so why shouldn’t a watch be asymmetrical too? In 1972, Vacheron Constantin introduced a watch with a lozenge shaped, asymmetrical case that combined old-school codes of slimness and simplicity with a jazzy, modern silhouette that became a major […]
Deployant
SIHH 2013 came and went in a blur…this was one of my busiest SIHH in my 12 odd years of attending yet. And one of the most interesting for my friends at Lange. Big, big crop of new watches. Grande Complication, 1815 Perpetual Rattrapante, 1815 Up Down, Lange 1 Lumen, amongst other new case/dial combinations.Read More
Deployant
The Lange Arkade is an underated watch. The movement is beautiful…magnificent even. The case unique, the outsized date was an outrage when it was first introduced in 1994. In many sense, this is an outstanding watch…with one small print…it is a ladies timepiece. The ladies watch market, sadly, is dominated with quartz watches, which featureRead More
Deployant
A quick place marker for next week’s post. Possibly the most beautifully made mechanical ladies watch in production…the Lange Arkade. This specimen is in yellow gold case, champagne dial. Personal timepiece of my wife’s. Photographed simply in a restaurant, while we were having lunch, perched on a plate. One of the original watches introduced byRead More
Revolution
It has the distinct honour of having one of the first immediately recognisable watch case shapes out there- I am talking about the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak of course; but what few people know (and could learn more) about this horological icon is that the Royal Oak pulled Audemars Piguet from the brink of bankruptcy. […]
Revolution
A Conversation with Vartan Sirmakes, Co-founder of Franck Muller It is impossible to examine the rise of Franck Muller Watchland as one of the most technically creative, fully integrated and totally verticalized manufactures in Swiss watchmaking without tapping into the brilliant mind of the brand’s co-founder, Vartan Sirmakes. Sirmakes got his start with a case-manufacturing […]
Deployant
SIHH 2012: Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Royal Oak with beautiful re-issues. Has it been 40 years since Gerald Genta had this brilliant idea of putting a octagonal bezel in a stylized tonneau case? Indeed it has been, and yet, the Royal Oak looks as fresh today as it didRead More
Deployant
I’d like to present some of the watches made by Moser. The Perpetual 1, which I have covered before in a bit detail is still one of the most outstanding perpetual calendars in production. Seen on here on the wrist of my good friend Eddie Also available with a fancy dial…rose gold case Also, aRead More
Deployant
Parmigiani Fleurier Pershing Tourbillon One of the watches which caught my jaded eyes last year (2011) was the Parmigiani Fleurier Pershing Tourbillon with open work dial. Beautifully finished, fully in-house production (movement, dial, case, finishing all done within the company) Parmigiani is an amazing company. Started by watchmaking genius Michel Parmigiani some 30 years agoRead More
Deployant
The De Bethune DB28…amazingly beautiful watch. The design is quite unique…the case is in the design language established by De Bethune. The watch shown is rose gold. The lugs, which are mobile and able to pivot to follow the shape of the wrists and its movements is a contrasting hue of flame treated blued titanium.Read More
Deployant
Property of a good friend… The Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph. Inhouse chronograph after years of using Lemania, PP decided on their own. I quite like the grey dial and platinum case. But remain ambivalent on the red markers on the dial. The case is quite beautiful. Activating of the chrono seems a bit onRead More
Deployant
Jaeger LeCoultre has been pushing the envelope of high horology for some time. With the Gyrotourbillon announced in 2004. The original series is produced in a platinum case, and I had the opportunity to photograph and view the final run of 30 pieces in rose gold. The Gyrotourbillon has grown more beautiful in its newRead More
Deployant
Vacheron Constantin is one of the three Grande Dames of watchmaking…the othe two being Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Interestingly, it is currently the only one which is within a large group, in this case Groupe Richemont, which count amongst the members of its stable luminaries like A. Lange & Sohne, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Cartier,Read More
Deployant
Watchscape of the Patek Philippe Ref. 5101 Tourbillon in a rectangular case with form movement in platinum. A gem of a rare watch.
Deployant
This year’s novelties at SIHH 2010 finally made it to our shores. I attended an evening hosted by Vacheron Constantin…great food, wonderful company, and of course, fine watches. The Historique Ultra-Fine 1968 in a square case, and the Historique Ultra-fine 1955 in the round case. The watches are truly thin, the 1956’s hand wound movementRead More
Fratello
Making a dive watch stand out today is genuinely tough. The archetype has been reinterpreted so many times that most releases blur together. The Aera D-1 Diver, however, managed to catch my attention with its less-is-more design philosophy. This modern diver uses fairly minimalist visual cues and combines them with a beautifully sculpted case. Add […] Visit A Promising First Encounter With The Updated Aera D-1 Diver to read the full article.
WristBuzz
2,130 pieces, Yankee pinstripes on the dial, and a cause worth supporting, all wrapped around one of Oris's most iconic movements
Hodinkee
What We Know There's a new Tudor chronograph in town, and guess what, it's smaller. After kicking off the format in 41mm back in 2017, Tudor has now downsized the brand's dive/drive chronograph design to a new 39mm case width. The new Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 "Bumblebee" sports a bright and vivid yellow dial with black counters, giving the new reference (79310N) a link to the preceding Pink and Flamingo Blue versions of the Black Bay Chronograph. We can get to the dial in a moment, but for a smaller take on any Tudor, let's start with millimeters. The new Black Bay Chronograph 39 measures 39mm wide, 13.1mm thick, and 47mm lug-to-lug. Compare that to 41 x 14.4 x 49.9 of the current 41mm model, be it white, black, blue, black & gold, pink, or flamingo. Water resistance remains at 200m with screw-down crowns for the chronograph controls, and that bright yellow dial is framed by a fixed tachymeter scale rendered in black aluminum. On to the dial, which is colored a bright and punchy yellow as a nod to the brand's "Tiger" chronographs of the 1990s. The markers and hands have black surrounds, and the water resistance is shown in red (as it is on the Black Bay Chrono 39's larger counterparts). Tudor also notes that the snowflake hands have been redesigned to aid in chronograph legibility. While I have yet to measure more accurately, if you compare the reach of the hour hand toward the 60 marker on the running seconds subdial, it appears shorter than in the 41mm models. Tic...
Hodinkee
We're a few months removed from Watches & Wonders, which gives us some clarity about what was buzz, what was hype, what fell off the wish lists, and what will be a long-term winner. It's looking like Jaeger-LeCoultre had one of the best releases of the fair with the Master Control Chronomètre series. The Master Control line has largely been a dressy take on traditional design cues for a brand people usually think of first for its Reverso. But now, JLC has shown that Master Control can do more. More than just a new case and bracelet, all watches are in-house chronometer-certified 4Hz, 70-hour power reserve movements (COSC does the certification) with a new High Precision Guarantee (HPG) seal, which supplants the former 1000 Hours Control. That new HPG seal means that the brand trials cased watches on four daily-wear specific issues—shocks, positions, altitude, and temperature—over three days, while guaranteeing eight traditional techniques of quality aesthetic finishing. The watches I photographed were brand new and wrapped in plastic, so you have to look past a bit of that to see the quality, but it certainly is there in person. Now with three models in steel and rose gold, with five SKUs (one watch only comes in steel and not gold), measuring 38mm by 8.4mm or 39mm or 9.2mm with 50m of water resistance, the new line brings a lot to the table. Inspired by the brand's Master Mariner Chronomètre line, launched in 1973 as their offering for an integrated bracelet (or adj...
SJX Watches
Phillips’ spring auction season goes east for The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXII on May 30 – 31. As usual, Phillips has put together a very strong lineup, and, as is often the case at watch auctions, Patek Philippe watches — both vintage and modern — have an outsized share of the catalogue. Lot 940 – Patek Philippe Bailey Banks & Biddle Triple Complication Patek Philippe produced this watch for Philadelphian jeweler Bailey Banks & Biddle around 1895, and it bears only the retailer’s name on the dial, which was not unusual. While the company came to a rather undignified end in the 21st century, it was once a manufacturing jeweller, medalist, and major Patek Philippe retailer. The dial is in rather rough condition by the standards of enamel dials, and while the dial may the most important thing to many wristwatch collectors, here the triple-complication movement is what matters. It features a minute repeater, chronograph, and perpetual calendar — which is presumably instantaneous. Note the lack of a minutes counter for the chronograph. While taken for granted on modern chronographs, most Patek Philippe triple complications did without it. In fact, the most common upgrade path for triple complications was a rattrapante, not minutes counter. The counterweighted pallet fork is also worth mention — this refinement disappeared as the Swiss lever matured and watchmakers realised a lighter pallet fork was better than a balanced one. The movement is fully functional, ...
SJX Watches
FVF Genève founder Franc Vila has created a unique piece of his flagship tourbillon for a noted European collector of independent and complicated watches who goes by @thedeadwatchsociety on Instagram. The FVF1 Tourbillon “Seven Poets” is a romantic twist on the day complication that assigns a daily reading from one of seven historical poets. Initial thoughts Franc Vila is a man of many passions. His atelier in central Geneva is packed with art, and each piece has a story — I can’t think of anyone better to create a poetry-themed watch. Neither, it seems, could the lucky owner who commissioned the Seven Poets. The watch is fundamentally similar to the standard FVF1 C2 Tourbillon Superligero, with its 42.5 mm case, titanium monocoque construction, seven-sided day roller, and flying tourbillon architecture. Even in its basic configuration, the FVF1 is a distinctive offering that relaunched Mr Vila’s career after he parted ways with his eponymous brand. But the Seven Poets is anything but basic. Like the “Today” edition reviewed last year, the Seven Poets deviates from the norms of traditional watchmaking. Instead of indicating the day of the week, the day roller has been repurposed to feature the hand-engraved names of seven poets that are personally meaningful to the owner who commissioned the watch. I liked the conceptual, philosophical statement made by the “Today” edition, and the Seven Poets takes it one step further. This simple change to an indicat...
Worn & Wound
As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life, and with Breitling’s release of a staggering 22 new models to its Chronomat lineup, it just might be true. The model is pretty iconic, starting as a pilot’s watch for military forces and later becoming a cultural phenomenon, with one of its claims to fame being its appearance on Jerry’s wrist across Seinfeld. The latest chapter of the collection covers the Chronomat B01 42, Chronomat Automatic B31 40, and Chronomat Automatic 36, giving Breitling’s signature sport watch a full refresh across size, movement, and material options. The Chronomat B01 42 remains the main chronograph in the revamp, with a few updates aimed at making the watch look (and feel) a little better on the wrist. For starters, the case thickness has been slimmed from 15.1mm to 13.77mm, the crown guard has been reduced, and Breitling has removed the 1/100 scale from the rehaut for a cleaner dial. All of these updates may seem a bit inconsequential, but when brought together, they add up to an overall sleeker profile that’s meant to “enhance its simplicity,” as noted by Breitling’s Head of Design, Pablo Widmer. The B01 42 is powered by the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, which offers approximately 70 hours of power reserve. In stainless steel, it comes with the choice of a white, blue, or green dial, each with black chronograph counters. The range extends with several additional variations, including a two-tone steel and ...
SJX Watches
Interesting news just out of Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), the venerable Swiss chronometer testing body, which has just announced a major revamp to its testing to honour the COSC’s standard’s 50th anniversary. Excellence Chronometer, COSC’s new and improved certification program, goes beyond the ISO 3159 norm that has defined its tests for decades. Instead of just testing movements, Excellence Chronometer will require completed, cased watches to run within -2/+4 seconds a day, as well as pass wear simulation and magnetism tests. Initial thoughts While COSC remains the primary chronometer testing body in Switzerland, thanks largely to Rolex, its protocols have been due for an update for some time now. With the rise of alternative and in-house precision testing programs, the standard chronometer certification can sometimes feel left behind. Rolex’s own Superlative Chronometer certification first requires a COSC certificate, but then makes sure the watches run at -2/+2 seconds per day after further in-house testing. The METAS Chronometer program also requires the standard COSC certificate, but guarantees a regulation of 0/+5 seconds per day and a great resistance to magnetic fields. Seeing that COSC slowly updates and imposes more stringent criteria is a good sign, but it may still not be good enough. With the rise of advanced internal certification programs, it looks like some brands submit their models to COSC testing just to make sure they can...
Monochrome
Renowned for its rugged all-terrain watches for outdoor adventures, Alpina goes off-piste with its new Alpiner Manufacture Date watch made in collaboration with Geneva customisation expert, Label Noir. Reflecting Alpina’s close ties to the alpine world, the Alpina x Label Noir features a snow-white dial and an unprecedented (for the brand) hammered case. The 130-piece […]
SJX Watches
Seiko founder established a watch store in Tokyo’s Ginza district in 1881, and for the occasion the watchmaker has unveiled a quartet of 145th anniversary watches representing the best of its affordable offerings. While each model is different, all share gilded elements as a unifying motif. The collection is led by a pair of three-hand watches, the King Seiko KS1969 SJE121 and Presage Classic Series “Craftsmanship” Enamel Dial SPB538. While the two three-hand editions are arguably the more interesting of the 145th anniversary line-up, the collection also includes a pair of chronographs, the automatic Prospex Speedtimer SRQ059 and solar-powered Astron GPS SSH186. King Seiko SJE12 (left), and Presage Classic SPB538 Initial thoughts Seiko rolls out numerous anniversary watches on a frequent basis, so the anniversary theme itself isn’t a big deal. The 145th anniversary models, however, are appealing in themselves, especially the pair of three-hand models. The top-of-the-line anniversary edition is the King Seiko KS1969, which is far more striking than the regular production model, and certainly worth the modest premium in price. The Presage, on the other hand, is another iteration of the early-wristwatch-style case that Seiko has done before, but not that often. Gold plating is not appropriate on an expensive watch, but the Presage is affordable so it gets a pass. The enamel dial and cuff-style strap are a nice touch that gives the watch a surprisingly vintage feel. ...
SJX Watches
Ressence has unveiled the Type 3 Marc Newson, an 80-piece limited edition that unites Marc Newson’s softly contoured, playful futurism with Ressence founder Benoît Mintiens’ long-running pursuit of a ‘dematerialised’ time display. Functionally unchanged from the standard Type 3, the MN edition introduces a colourway and set of visual cues drawn directly from the famed industrial designer’s archives, resulting in a new watch that feels instantly familiar. The Type 3 MN retains Ressence’s signature oil-filled upper chamber, which eliminates optical distortion and makes the indications appear projected onto the underside of the crystal - an effect that reads almost digital at first glance. Initial thoughts Some collaborations seem almost predestined; the partnership between Benoît Mintiens and Marc Newson is one of them. Both men share an affinity for modern minimalism and pebble-like organic forms, so their first joint project feels like an overdue meeting of minds. Benoît Mintiens and Marc Newson. Image – Ressence The Type 3 MN manages to combine the best instincts of both designers, resulting in a watch that lends an Ikepod-like lug-less case to Ressence’s signature oil-filled display. We’ll come back to the design, but one of the most impactful aspects of the Type 3 MN is its comfort on the wrist. Mr Newson is well known for his ergonomic designs; the strap he designed for Ikepod was later licensed by Apple, making it possibly the world’s most pop...
Fratello
There’s something special about gold watches that goes beyond the opulent, warm tone of their shiny exteriors. In the past, they served to mark significant milestones, special occasions, or outstanding achievements. These are often immortalized with an engraving on the case back. Today, on Fratello Talks, we’ve found inspiration to revisit the topic of gold […] Visit Fratello Talks: Gold Watches Revisited to read the full article.
WatchAdvice
Launched at the Seiko x Watch Advice event in October, the new Seiko Prospex Sea “Kame” Australasian Edition was a hit, and now it’s time for an Owner’s Perspective Review! What We Love An Australasian edition with design cues from North Queensland – the colours are great! The ease of wearing, even for a “larger” watch Value for money at under A$1,000 What We Don’t The pin buckle has a habbit of sticking out a little and catching on my pocket The bracelet could be more refined for a divers watch The steel strap minder looks good, but it’s not as functional as a rubber one would be Overall Rating: 8.9 / 10 Value for money: 9.5/10 Wearability: 9/10 Design: 9/10 Build quality: 8/10 When it comes to Seiko, there are many iconic models in the catalogue, but few hold as much love arguably as the Prospex, and even more so, the “Turtle” with its turtle-shaped case, dive bezel and offset crown at 4 o’clock. Models like the Captain Willard, named after Martin Sheen’s character in the cinema classic “Apocalypse Now” are sought after and collectable. Just walk down a popular beach, and the likelihood is you’ll see several Seiko Turtles strapped to wrists. I was on the Gold Coast a few weeks ago, with the new “Kame” strapped to my wrist, and I saw no less than about 5 other Seiko Prospex Turtles on other wrists. Although none were quite as good-looking (in my opinion) as the new Australasian limited edition “Kame”. One reason I bought it at our e...
Fratello
Please don’t call it an upgrade; it goes beyond that. When everything is new, you cannot speak of an upgrade anymore. The new Baltic Aquascaphe MK2 comes in blue, green, warm silver, and gray, all available in a 37mm or 39.5mm steel case. Its components are technically more advanced, and the design has been revised. […] Visit Introducing: The New Baltic Aquascaphe MK2 - An Updated Retro Cult Classic In Eight Variants to read the full article.
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