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Revolution
The governor is one of the most critical components in a chiming watch. It’s responsible for setting the tempo at which the watch chimes and ensuring that it’s neither too fast nor too slow. If the hammer and gongs are the orchestra, the governor is the conductor. Ideally, the governor of a repeater does its […]
Deployant
The Gronefeld brothers in Holland are one of the secrets of high end horology. Independents, they were both trained in the stables of Renaud et Papi. And have been making their own watches, as well as contracting for others from their little workshop in The Netherlands. I had the opportunity to meet them several timesRead More
Deployant
The Philippe Dufour Duality...ultimate in discreteness, and totally unassuming in character, but what a gorgeous, and ultra-complicated movement within.
Hodinkee
"Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come." – Hamlet
Monochrome
Part of the Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate with revenues of over USD 150 billion, Titan Watches has been around for a long time and covers a wide range of watches, from everyday quartz pieces to youth-focused lines like Fastrack. More recently, the Indian brand has also been getting more serious about mechanical watchmaking, something […]
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Teddy Baldassarre Videos
Today we sit down with Robin Wilson, frontman for the multi-platinum rock group known as Gin Blossoms. We explore highlights of his collection ranging from G-SHOCK, TAG Heuer, Hamilton, and more pieces with stories from his life and career on stage.
Monochrome
This year was a big one for the Rolex group, as the Crown was celebrating the 100th anniversary of its emblematic Oyster case, while Tudor turned 100 years, being founded in 1926. With this in mind, expectations were high, and some predicted fireworks of novelties, huge innovations, entirely new collections all around… And the celebrations […]
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Swatch Scubaqua returns with four new affordable dive watches at $155, including two with built-in Swatch Pay at no added cost.
Hodinkee
'House of Brands,' the group of watchmakers including Breitling, Universal Genéve, and the soon-to-be-revived Gallet, announced executive changes that will see the flagship brand led by new leadership, with Georges Kern becoming the group's Chief Executive Officer. Jean-Marc Pontroué, a long-time Richemont executive and the former CEO of Panerai and Roger Dubuis, is the new Chief Executive Officer of Breitling, the group says in a statement. The changes take effect in May. Georges Kern Georges Kern, who has led Breitling under new ownership since 2017, overseeing a more than doubling of annual sales to above CHF 800 million, according to analyst estimates, and one of the most dramatic turnarounds in modern watchmaking, becomes the new CEO of the House of Brands, overseeing the three marques and their leadership in a newly created role.At Universal Genève, which relaunched this month in the high-end segment in what's likely the most ambitious watch brand return and repositioning in decades, Grégory Bruttin remains Managing Director. Meanwhile, at Gallet, the approachable-priced brand known for its Flying Officer and Multichron models, to be revived in August this year, Erwan Rossignol, who is already leading the team preparing the relaunch, becomes Managing Director. The changes confirm the multi-brand ambitions of the private-equity-backed Grenchen, Switzerland-based company, and provide a structure similar to that of other groups with portfolios of several watch bra...
Hodinkee
The spring auction season is sneaking up on us quickly. Things start early with Sotheby's Hong Kong auction (with its boatload of Cartier), which slightly edges Monaco Legend Group out of the gate, as their auction starts one day earlier. But on April 25 and 26, MLG will open its spring auction, which promises to be one of the more interesting and eclectic vintage-focused auctions of the season. That's not to say it's all vintage, of course. The auction starts out with a Bamford-modified blackout GMT (that the Parmegiani family behind the auction house seems to have an affinity for), an RM35-02 Nadal, a Journe Répétition Souveraine, and more Patek 5004s than you can shake a stick at, keeping things spicy. Lot 109 – F.P. Journe Répétition Souveraine – €400,000 to €800,000. There are 288 lots, and while the top lots sometimes feel a bit obvious to call out (mostly because everyone likely peers longingly at these watches and wishes they could bid), it's incredibly important to examine what is driving the top end of the market. And if you weren't paying close enough attention, you'd potentially miss the top lot. While it might look like a Rolex Daytona, like the ref. 116509 with a Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial and different indices, this is a whole different ballgame. Lot 78 of the auction is one of the "FAB 4" Daytonas, four unique platinum Zenith Daytonas, each executed with a hardstone dial (one with turquoise, one with lapis lazuli, two mother-of-pearl) made at...
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Monochrome
As announced about a year ago, Corum is back in Swiss hands following a management buyout after the exit of Chinese Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group. As Watches and Wonders is fast approaching, it is time for the new management to lift the veil on their strategy to get the brand back on track and […]
Monochrome
Since its recent revival under the MELB Group (owner of Moser and Agenhor too), Hautlence has focused on unconventional time displays with mechanical animation rather than traditional indications. The Sphere, first introduced in 2022, quickly became the brand’s signature series, combining a multi-axis spherical jumping hour with a retrograde minute. The new Sphere Series 4 […]
Monochrome
Since its acquisition by the Richemont Group in 2006, historic and highly revered brand Minerva has lived under the control of Montblanc, its watches bearing double-signed dials. 20 years later, under the direction of Laurent Lecamp, Global Managing Director for both Montblanc and Minerva, the venerable hidden gem of haute horology emancipates again and now becomes […]
SJX Watches
Announced last year, Swatch’s AI-DADA platform is now live, enabling customers to design and build their own custom Swatch with a design that will never be repeated. With a low entry price and quick turnaround, I took the platform for a spin. Why AI Swatch has been a design-oriented brand since its debut in 1983. Not only has Swatch produced a dizzying array of original designs of its own, over the years the brand has collaborated with celebrated artists and leading institutions to democratise access to wearable art. About a decade ago, Swatch’s world-class logistics infrastructure enabled it to offer customised watches via an online configurator that enabled customers to mix and match different elements from a pre-selected range of options. That was quickly followed by the ability to generate a custom-printed design, by dragging a Swatch template over a selection of human-created patterns and designs. The AI-DADA system, launched earlier this year, builds on this basis in way that only Swatch could pull off. The system leverages an undisclosed large language model (LLM) to generate a custom design based on a user’s 300-character prompt. The result is a made-to-order Swatch of the customer’s own design, delivered in as few as five days. What’s more, the cost is little more than an off-the-shelf model, at just US$195. With little to lose, I took the plunge. AI-DADA Swatch watches are powered by standard quartz movements in the typical New Gent case size. Three str...
Fratello
During Dubai Watch Week, I sat down with Georges Kern to discuss his House of Brands group, which consists of Gallet, Breitling, and Universal Genève. His work on adding Gallet and Universal Genève to his portfolio has not gone under the radar. In recent times, we noticed a lot of speculation, rumors, previews, and advisory-board […] Visit “Collectors Are Helping Me Avoid Mistakes” - A Talk With Georges Kern On The House Of Brands to read the full article.
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SJX Watches
Having previously collaborated with almost every major art museum in the world, from MoMA to the Louvre, Swatch has licensed four masterpieces of 20th-century art from the Guggenheim, including works on display in New York and Venice. Accessibly priced, non-limited and available online, the Swatch x Guggenheim collection brings works from Monet, Degas, Klee, and Pollock to a wrist near you. Initial thoughts Painted dials have a long history in watchmaking, but the difficult nature of the work meant that for most of history they remained out of reach for all but the wealthiest clientele. While hand-painted dials are vanishingly rare and breathtakingly expensive, modern production methods mean that legendary masterpieces can now be easily scaled down and mass produced. Swatch was a pioneer in this regard, introducing its first artist collaboration with Kiki Picasso in 1985, just two years after the company launched its revolutionary plastic watch. The Picasso collaboration was the first of many, and since then there’s hardly a major art museum that hasn’t licensed selected works to Swatch. The works selected for this collaboration come from two different Guggenheim collections. Three of them are famously on display at the Guggenheim New York, while the fourth may be seen at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The odd-looking double-length seconds hand is an homage to this transatlantic duality. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. Functionally, the four quar...
Worn & Wound
LVMH Watch Week has become the first of the blast waves of new releases we can expect every year. Siloed to one group, it leans toward the high end. Actually, very high end, with the most eye-catching releases relegated to Daniel Roth, Gerald Genta, and the eponymous Louis Vuitton, the latter of which actually had the most intriguing releases of them all. “Über collector” brands the lot; there’s plenty to appreciate, especially as they lean into haute-indie aesthetics. Yet, the lack of accessibility for us mere mortals takes a bit of the fun out of it. LVMH is not exactly known as an “approachable” luxury mega-conglomerate, but at least with Zenith and TAG Heuer in its portfolio, it has some brands that lean toward enthusiasts. After spending an afternoon with Hublot, Zenith, and TAG Heuer, getting to see a sample of novelties (it was pretty clear that all are holding back for Watches & Wonders), the watch that left the strongest impression a day later was TAG’s Carrera Seafarer. A follow-up to their 2024 Hodinkee collaboration, the major differences are the new color, which is exquisite, the “beads of rice” bracelet, and widespread availability. Having never encountered the Hodinkee collab in the metal, getting to try the Seafarer on for the first time left an impression. IMAGE COURTESY OF ANALOG/SHIFT For those unfamiliar with the Seafarer’s heritage, here’s a tl;dr: they were a line of chronographs that included a unique additional complication, a t...
Worn & Wound
Few watch brands enjoy the instant brand recognition of Swatch, especially non-luxury brands. Sure, Swatch has its haters-though I’ve always found said haters unimaginative and lacking in whimsy-but the fact that their social cache and cultural relevance has stayed steady for decades is impressive. A self-proclaimed horology superfan could argue that there is nothing mechanically impressive about the brand’s offerings, but that misses the point of Swatch entirely; after all, fashion is not a dirty word. All of this sounds like vindictive talk from a Swatch sympathizer, but really, it comes from a place of genuine admiration for the brand’s ability to stick to their guns, both aesthetically and from a business standpoint. Even with recent splashy collab offerings like the Omega MoonSwatch line, they’ve managed to stay affordable, accessible, and above all, collectable. Swatch is no stranger to collaborations with museums and artists, but even so, the new Guggenheim Collection promises some snazzy new wrist candy for fine art enthusiasts. Inspired by the works of Edgar Degas, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, and Jackson Pollock, and created in tandem with the Guggenheim New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the line is just the latest entry in Swatch’s long-standing relationship with the fine art world. Four watches are available from the collection: two feature 34mm biosourced material cases, while the other two measure in at 41mm. Biosourced mat...
SJX Watches
Southeast Asia may be better known for tropical heat than snow-covered slopes, but that has not stopped Seiko from launching a pair of winter sports-themed Seiko 5 Sports Winter Sports limited editions in collaboration with Thong Sia Group (TSG), the brand’s exclusive retail partner in Singapore, Hong Kong, and other key Asian markets. Executed in unconventional purple and brown colourways, the two models build on the familiar “5KX” platform, pairing the line’s accessible pricing and diver-inspired design with hues said to be inspired by winter sports equipment. Produced in limited quantities and exclusive to TSG’s markets, the watches reflect Seiko’s ongoing willingness to use the Seiko 5 Sports collection as a platform for bolder aesthetics that might feel risky at higher price points, but feel entirely at home here. Initial thoughts While some brands have caught flack for releasing endless limited editions, that is arguably a strength of the Seiko 5 Sports line, which is an ideal canvas for iteration by virtue of its already ubiquitous diver style and impulse buy-friendly pricing. While collectors often gravitate towards safer colours such as black, blue or white when spending thousands of dollars, purple and brown (and even pink) are much less intimidating when priced under US$400. According to Seiko, the purple and brown colour choices were inspired by winter sports equipment; I can imagine the purple pairs perfectly with Patagonia. Snowbound Both colourwa...
Fratello
It’s October 9th, 2006, and this news flash appears on the Richemont website: “Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Fabrique d’Horlogerie Minerva SA in a private transaction from G. P. P. International SA, Luxembourg. The watch brand Minerva was established by Charles Robert in 1858 and is […] Visit A Deep Dive Into Minerva In The Montblanc Era to read the full article.
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Monochrome
What is Kollokium…? Well, a bit of a UFO, really. Is it a brand, a design studio, a concept that thinks out of the box, a project from a group of friends that turned out to be more successful than anticipated? A bit of everything, actually. What Kollokium is not claiming to be is a […]
Deployant
We take the latest Seiko Prosptx Alpinist for a spin. This release is a Thong Sia Group Exvclusive, with a beautiful snowy white dial.
Hodinkee
Swatch mixes up a few key elements with its What If? model to note its displeasure with the financial burden faced by Swiss watchmakers exporting to the key U.S. market.
Teddy Baldassarre
Within the last few years, one watch has received more hype - or overhype - than any other: the multi-brand collaboration that set the watch world on fire three years ago, the Omega x Swatch Moonswatch. People waited hours in line for it. Flippers grabbed as many as they could and listed them well above their retail cost all over the internet. People were charmed. People were horrified. Either way, people were talking. Wherever you stand on the old Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch debate, no one can argue that its very existence didn’t change the landscape of watches irrevocably. We have firmly entered the post-MoonSwatch era. But now, three years later, what change did this unlikely Bioceramic collaboration incite? What’s up with this collaboration now? And will this duo of watch giants ever be stopped? Below, I will tackle the controversial topic we’re gathered here today to mull over: the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. Further, I will do my best to break down the context of it all in an easily digestible manner, mix in my own philosophical musings on ways to look at this Frankenstein hybrid of luxury-meets-mass-production, and dive into one specific piece from the 11 original models, in form and function. So without further ado, let’s get into the good stuff. Some Context When the first round of the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch blasted onto the scene, it was something of an example of right product, right time. The hallowed (or blasphemous) year was 2022, which, as ...
Time+Tide
From watches made from mountain rocks to automata that rock our world, there were more than a few big releases this week.The post New releases from Tissot, Swatch, Vacheron Constantin and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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