6,873 articles · 79 videos found · page 133 of 232
Monochrome
Introduced in 2001, Ulysse Nardin’s Freak watch turned many watchmaking conventions upside down. With no hands, no dial and no crown, the Freak was powered by an in-line movement pivoting on itself every 60 minutes to indicate the time. It was regulated by a dual direct escapement and introduced the watchmaking world to silicium (aka […]
Worn & Wound
If you’ve been paying any attention to H. Moser & Cie. over the last few years, one thing should be abundantly clear - the Swiss watchmaker likes to keep things simple. While they may occasionally indulge themselves with an overwhelming quantity of dial text, or acquiesce to the need for a chronograph scale, Moser has increasingly adopted a minimalist approach in their watch design, with wide open expanses of dial and invisible logos taking center stage alongside hammered enamel finishes, minute repeater strikers, and elegantly finished hands. Today, Moser is throwing all that out, and, in partnership with Massena LAB, the brand is looking back to its history for what is, in many ways, its most traditional release in years. The Endeavour Chronograph Compax would, from anyone else, barely qualify as newsworthy. After all, what brand hasn’t dipped back into the well to create a historically-minded steel sports watch in recent years? Moser hasn’t, and that’s what makes this collaboration so interesting. Even the Heritage model, the closest the brand has come to the format, isn’t so much a recreation as a reimagination, a consideration not of how to make an old watch feel new, but a thought exercise in what H. Moser & Cie. might have made were the modern brand to find themselves in a different era. This new watch is not that. Though not a direct reproduction of any particular model, the new Endeavour Chronograph Compax is a genuine reflection on Moser’s history...
Monochrome
This year, Swiss watchmaking brand Delma celebrates 100 years since the company which led to its creation was founded in Lengnau with a few notable exemplars released to mark the occasion, like the Delma 1924 Tourbillon, made in collaboration with the renowned La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker Olivier Mory, or the Delma Heritage Chronograph 100 years. Also, […]
Teddy Baldassarre
Blancpain is the oldest Swiss watchmaker in existence, founded in 1735, as well as one of the most respected and, it is fair to say, one of the most intimidating for a newcomer to approach. This is not just because of the uniformly high prices - nearly all fall within a five-figure range - but also because of the vast diversity within the maison’s collection, which has emerged naturally after literally centuries of uninterrupted watchmaking. Many savvy watch enthusiasts, even ones relatively new to the game, are at least passingly familiar with the brand’s Fifty Fathoms dive watch and its place in that popular category’s historical pantheon, but remain largely unaware of other intriguing timepieces within Blancpain’s portfolio - some simple and understated, others paragons of horological complexity. Moreover, some of these aspirational aficionados are likely seeking out their first Blancpain watch, and attempting to decipher exactly what an entry-level timepiece from the venerable brand would be - what it costs and what it offers for that price. Continuing our “Price of Admission” series (which kicked off with Bilal Khan’s spotlight on Cartier), I will be examining the least expensive choices for an entry-level Blancpain, covering dress and sport options as well as a variety of case materials. Like most any watch brand in the luxury category, Blancpain’s most approachable models from a price perspective are those in cases of steel, rather than pr...
SJX Watches
Released in 1965 as an inexpensive watch for young people, the Tissot Stylist has just been brought back to life for the same reason. Featuring a minimalist, retro aesthetic with a cushion-shaped case, the Stylist is thin at 7 mm high and contains a quartz movement. Retailing for just US$275, the Stylist is one of the most affordable offerings from an establishment Swiss brand, putting it in the same price range as startup micro-brands sold only online. Initial thoughts Tissot is a Swiss brand with a noteworthy history, but now focuses on (very) affordable watches. Though the Stylist is a basic proposition – steel and quartz – it fits perfectly into the Tissot value equation. The Stylist is a vintage-inspired design with a historical basis – and history is something micro-brands lack – at an extremely low price. The version with a gradient blue dial is particularly retro and appealing. For the teenage (or even child) watch enthusiast, this is a good choice. Retro blue The original Stylist was actually a line of various watches launched in 1965 as a watch for the young. Available in a range of case shapes, the Stylist was conceived to be trendy and affordable. The modern Stylist is modelled on one of the cushion-shaped originals, and retains the compact sizing of the original. Its stainless steel case is 32 mm in diameter and just 7 mm. Though basic, the case has a robust modern construction. It is fitted with a sapphire crystal and water resistant to 50 m. Notably,...
Fratello
The Louis Moinet Starman is the latest release from the small Swiss brand that specializes in creating rare and extraordinary watches. The brand often blends exotic materials with high-level complications. Because of their low production numbers, Louis Moinet watches aren’t for everyone, but they’re always worth a look. Every release from Louis Moinet is worth […] Visit Introducing: The Louis Moinet Starman Flying Tourbillon to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Sporting a moon phase and retro design, the Flagship Heritage Moonphase was originally available only in sedate colours of cream and silver. Now the line grows to include dials in Havana beige, anthracite and green. Unlike the recent Conquest Heritage, the Moonphase is not a vintage reproduction, rather it’s a blend of vintage and modern, with the bonus of a solid 18k gold medallion on the back portraying a caravel on a blue sea of grand feu enamel. Initial thoughts The new trio are essentially cosmetic expansions of the line, so they do not seem novel on paper, but they are a smartly conceived products. The traditional styling is preserved, but with dials in striking colours that are now much more lively. The earlier versions were arguably too plain, with the subdued colours seeming a bit flat. The Flagship Heritage Moonphase is one of Longines’ more expensive models at US$3,050, but nonetheless is decent value considering the top-of-the-line ETA movement and solid-gold, hand-enamelled emblem on the back. Calendar complications Like most models in Longines’ vintage-based Heritage Classic collection, the Flagship Heritage Moonphase is compact by modern standards, but larger than the actual vintage originals. The stainless steel case is 38.5 mm in diameter and 12.4 mm in thickness. Simple in style, the case has a domed, polished bezel and short, angular lugs with polished chamfers along their edges. Slightly domed to mimic a vintage watch, the dial is finished with a ...
Fratello
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For the third year in a row, Zenith presents a limited-edition watch to support this noble cause. In 2022, the Swiss brand made a Chronomaster Original with a very pink dial. Last year was the Chronomaster Sport’s turn, and now the Zenith Defy Skyline lends its dial to raise […] Visit Zenith Dresses Its 41mm Defy Skyline In Pink For The Fight Against Breast Cancer to read the full article.
Monochrome
Inspired by some of the most iconic dive watches produced in the 1950s, Titoni introduced its Seascoper 600 dive watch in 2020. Boasting a formidable 600m depth rating and a Swiss-made COSC-certified in-house automatic movement, the Seascoper 600 was joined by a younger brother two years later: the Seascoper 300. With half the water resistance […]
Monochrome
Without a doubt, one of the most iconic chronographs ever produced by the Swiss watchmaking industry is the Omega Speedmaster, born in 1957 (as part of a trilogy of Master watches). However, the Speedmaster shot to notoriety in 1969 when the watch landed on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission – earning its title […]
SJX Watches
Patek Philippe’s new launches for 2024 included novel complications like the World Time Date ref. 5330G and a “salmon” face for the flagship perpetual calendar ref. 5236P, and also a watch that exemplifies formal simplicity, the Golden Ellipse Ref. 5738/1R-001. The new Golden Ellipse is a two-hander in the model’s largest size, but stands out for its bracelet. The only men’s watch in the current catalogue with an integrated bracelet that isn’t a Nautilus, the ref. 5738/1R has a “chain-style” bracelet made by Wellendorff, a German jeweller that has long supplied bracelets to a variety of watch brands. Initial thoughts The Ellipse is one of Patek Philippe’s trademark models but relatively under the radar, especially compared with its famous integrated-bracelet sports watch cousin designed in the same era. But the Ellipse has its appeal, particularly as a no-frills formal watch. Most commonly seen on a strap, the Ellipse feels strikingly different on a bracelet, although it is still easily recognisable. The gold bracelet evokes the mesh bracelets popular in the 1970s and gives the ref. 5738/1R a pronounced retro feel. The bracelet is finely wrought and supple. Up close, the bracelet also reveals a surprisingly intricate design that contrasts with the simplicity of the case. The fact that the bracelet is made by Wellendorff is both a strength and weakness. It has the flexibility of fine jewellery but also the open-ended clasp typical of a jewellery, instead o...
Monochrome
Although Eska is a “newcomer” today, it’s actually a historic Swiss brand that goes back over a century. In early 2024, the first watch from the revived brand (now based in France) emerged as the Amphibian 250 (ref. 1094), a close remake of the 1959 Eska Amphibian 600. That watch was inspired by the Blancpain […]
For this latest edition of our ongoing Enthusiast Spotlight series, we’re excited to introduce you to 2nd Class Petty Officer Brock Stevens, a Navy Diver with over 5 years of active duty experience. During his service, he’s accumulated more than 9,000 minutes of bottom time. He is currently stationed at the MARMC Dive Locker in Norfolk, VA, and serves as a Ship Husbandry Repair Specialist, maintaining aircraft carriers, submarines, and other surface ships. As a proud co-founder of the MARMC Dive Locker ROV team, Brock leads a group dedicated to utilizing cutting-edge ROVs for underwater inspections and retrievals. Outside of his military role, Brock is a tool watch enthusiast with an ever-growing collection of dive watches. Additionally, he’s passionate about photography and pursues this passion by documenting his adventures, watches, and EDC on Instagram as @deepsea.edc. For this edition, we’ve equipped him with Marathon’s brand new reissue of the first of their iconic SAR line. The watch famously featured a MIL-SPEC Type I dial with a cyclops date. It relaunches today as the 41mm OSAR-D (Original Search and Rescue with Date). Hey Brock, Thanks for joining us for this latest edition of Enthusiast Spotlight. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for a living. My name is Brock Stevens. I’m a US Navy diver. I’ve been a diver for a little over five years now as a Ships Husbandry Specialist working on repairing aircraft carriers and submarines. When...
Hodinkee
The movement maker's Director of Innovation and Marketing discusses collecting chronographs, Sellita, and what the Swiss watch industry can do better.
Monochrome
Himself a watchmaker and at one time the co-owner of Patek, Philippe & Cie, the name Edouard Koehn (1839-1908) resurfaced in the modern watchmaking scene in 2020 thanks to Bernard F. Fleury, a seasoned veteran in the industry known for his work as the CEO of Vulcain in the early 2000s. The latest Edouard Koehn […]
Monochrome
ART IN TIME was founded in Monaco by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele in 2019, Co-President of Chopard and President of Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud. The gallery was established with the vision of creating a unique platform for watch aficionados, curating a select group of brands representing the pinnacle of independent watchmaking. To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the […]
Teddy Baldassarre
When A. Lange & Söhne makes a contribution to watchmaking, whether in the areas of technology, design, materials, or any combination of these or other elements, it tends to go above and beyond the call - to challenge itself to reach a little higher, to put its own distinctly Saxon spin on things. This philosophy is evident particularly in the brand’s approach to complications: not just a moon-phase, but a moon-phase that’s accurate for more than a century. Not just a tourbillon, but the first tourbillon with a stop-seconds mechanism. Not just a split-seconds chronograph, but the first “triple split” chronograph to make comparative time measurements of not just seconds and minutes but multiple hours. It was in that overachieving spirit, no doubt, that Lange developed its own signature illumination system for watch dials, rolling it out in 2010 on the second generation of the groundbreaking Zeitwerk model that it had introduced the year prior. The system, called “Lumen” and patented in 2013, illuminates not only dial elements like hands and indexes in the dark but also components normally hidden beneath the dial’s surface, like date disks and decorated plates, wheels and bridges. Lange’s technical solution to the challenge of charging all of the elements uniformly - luminous-treated surface details like hands, hour markers and subdials, as well as non-treated parts beneath the surface - was a dial made of sapphire and coated with a semi-transparent ...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
It's hard to believe it's been over a decade since the Raven Trekker was introduced to the watch world. Back then, it was a watch I read about constantly, and I was always drawn to the value the watch presented as an early collector. Over the years, it's been a pleasure to see Steve Laughlin's brand grow-as it brought us hits like the Venture and newer co-branded projects like the TrailTrekker. But in my eyes, the Trekker has always stood at the heart of his brand. We were always hungry to see how the model would grow with each new iteration, and now, Raven has announced the latest 2024 lineup of Raven Trekker models along with a version that calls back to an earlier Raven model-the Raven Vintage.
Monochrome
Last week’s selection of novelties from Geneva Watch Days were our personal picks from everything new we’ve seen during our stay in the Swiss capital. Looking back at the list, we stand by our choices, but one thing stood out: all but one watch cost tens of thousands of euros, if not more. While that’s […]
Worn & Wound
While Tissot is a storied Swiss watchmaker, having been founded in 1880, right now they are best known for their line of sexy, 70s-inspired sports watches called PRX. A throwback to an era of bell bottoms, big cars, record players, etc… the PRXs feature an “integrated bracelet” design, meaning the case and bracelet or strap seamlessly flow into each other. A sleek-looking concept, it became the rage in the 70s, exuding a certain luxurious bravado, and had a recent resurgence. The PRX executes the concept with style to spare, all at an affordable price point. While Tissot is a storied Swiss watchmaker, having been founded in 1880, right now they are best known for their line of sexy, 70s-inspired sports watches called PRX. A throwback to an era of bell bottoms, big cars, record players, etc… the PRXs feature an “integrated bracelet” design, meaning the case and bracelet or strap seamlessly flow into each other. A sleek-looking concept, it became the rage in the 70s, exuding a certain luxurious bravado, and had a recent resurgence. The PRX executes the concept with style to spare, all at an affordable price point. The post Just A Minute With The Tissot PRX appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Monochrome
Considering its position as the leader of the Swiss watch industry, it’s fair for Rolex to be the centre of all attention. As such, everything The Crown does is subject to comments, opinions and discussions. Every new model, something that’s happening most of the time only once a year, will be up to strong debates. […]
Teddy Baldassarre
The Omega Seamaster is not only a modern icon among divers’ watches; it’s also the cornerstone of one of the Swiss brand’s most prominent and versatile collections: today’s connoisseur can choose between robust, sporty utility (the Seamaster Diver 300M), nautical-inspired elegance (the Aqua Terra), and understated vintage flair (the Heritage models like the Seamaster 1948), as well as an array of colorways and case materials ranging from steel to titanium to high-tech ceramics and proprietary gold alloys. Nowadays, it can be difficult to believe that such a diverse collection with such a dominant presence traces its roots back to just two groundbreaking models: a post-war gents’ watch from 1948 and its descendant, built for recreational divers, in 1957. MILITARY STYLE Introduced in 1948, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the firm that became Omega, the Seamaster was perhaps always destined to become a mainstay of the Omega portfolio. The watch, however, bore little resemblance to the one we’re familiar with today, the model worn on the screen by James Bond. The “dive watch,” as we know it in the modern sense, didn’t really exist, and the original Seamaster was instead positioned in contemporary advertisements as a watch for “town, sea, and country” - a dress watch for gentlemen that was distinguished from its many competitors by its adoption of a new waterproofing system that Omega had developed for the wartime watches it produced for Britis...
Monochrome
Over the past few years, Swiss watchmaker Formex has managed to build quite a solid reputation by delivering impressive horological content for a fair price. While some focus on complications, Formex decided to create watches that are solid, resistant and mostly, packed with practicality. A very pragmatic approach centred around the user. This idea is […]
Monochrome
Coinciding with the arrival of Guido Terreni as CEO of the brand, high-end Swiss watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier has undergone a complete restructuring for the past years. This move was initiated by the launch of a significant collection, the Tonda PF, which not only modernized the vision we had of PF but also pushed it into […]
Monochrome
One of the Swiss watch industry’s main successes from recent years, and Tissot‘s star collection, the PRX range has become a true hit since its inaugural release in 2021. Since then, this collection has been drastically enlarged to offer more movements, more colours, more materials, more straps and more dimensions. While we thought the mint […]
Fratello
Hello, and welcome to Fratello Talks! Today, we’re talking about Geneva Watch Days 2024. Nacho, RJ, and Lex come together after spending some time in the Swiss capital and recount their experience. They start by giving you a taste of what made this year’s show feel different from the previous three and end up walking […] Visit Fratello Talks: Geneva Watch Days 2024 - Fair Recap And Highlights to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
For more than 140 years, Alpina has made a name for itself as a premier watch brand for sportsmen and adventurers alike. Now under the Citizen Watch family, the Swiss brand continues to bring to market exciting watches that often punch way above their weight class. Take, for example, the latest release by the brand: the Alpiner Extreme Skeleton. Coming in two references, depending on the strap chosen, these watches mark an interesting advent for the brand: marrying sports watch performance with a skeletonized dial in one. Every millimeter of this Alpiner iteration has been consciously redesigned for both aesthetics and performance. It’s hard to talk about this watch without mentioning the namesake skeleton architecture of the watch. Of course, the lack of a proper dial gives us a peek into the inner workings of the movement; it’s the small finishes throughout the watch that make it truly impressive. Take, for instance, the finishing on the movement that alternates between satin and polished surfaces. Or the hour markers applied by hand to the crystal, giving them a floating appearance against a dialless backdrop. Or the luminescent hands which tie it all together and remind one that this is, first and foremost, a sports watch. It’s all packed into a compact and wearable 39mm x 40.55 mm cushion case. Noted earlier, this watch comes in two references. The first (AL-520GSKT3AE6B) is a monochromatic gray variant that’s inspired by the Alpine foothills. This reference...
Worn & Wound
At Watches & Wonders 2024, Grand Seiko announced the new 9SA4 caliber and the first two watches featuring it, the SLGW002 and SLGW003. As a refresher, the 9SA4 is a manual hi-beat (36,000 bph), 80-hour, time-only caliber featuring their in-house dual-impulse escapement, first seen in the 9SA5. With a power reserve on the back of the movement, beautiful bridge designs and finishing, and a unique “wagtail-bird-shaped” winding click, it set a new bar for Grand Seiko’s mechanical calibers. But, perhaps just as exciting as the movement itself was that the watches featuring it were sized at an idyllic 38.6mm diameter and 9.95mm thickness with a 20mm lug, addressing the naysayer’s concerns around Grand Seiko’s sizing. While a pair of fantastic releases, since introduction, we have been wondering where we will see this movement next. Well, we just got our answer, and I have to tell you, I’m equally surprised and delighted. They went vintage rather than with the new case and a different dial, which would have been most expected. Yes, they decided to bring back, as a limited edition, of course, a “recreation” of the 45GS from 1968. A little history, the 45GS came out a year after the 44GS and featured the same case design, but differed in that it featured the brand’s first hi-beat manual wound movement, the 4520. The SLGW005 – the return of the 45GS The 44/45GS case defines the Grand Seiko “Grammar of Design” as set out by Taro Tanaka, with flat, Zaratsu poli...
Deployant
Swiss independent watch brand Armin Strom celebrates the 15th anniversary of its fully-integrated Manufacture by reimagining its most historically significant innovation, the resonance complication, in an entirely new Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition. The new timepiece is presented in a hotly-anticipated 39-mm case size made in 18-karat white gold and limited to 25 pieces.
Hodinkee
A Swiss-made movement, a refined design, and only 1,500 pieces to start. Enter the raffle while you can.
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