Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Best Tool Watches We’ve Ever Tested
Looking for a tool watch you can trust and actually rely on? We break down the watches that survived real testing and explain what they do well and where they fall short.
41,565 articles · 261 videos found · page 167 of 1395
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Looking for a tool watch you can trust and actually rely on? We break down the watches that survived real testing and explain what they do well and where they fall short.
Fratello
Be honest: did you know of James Lamb before you saw this article on Fratello? Well, I certainly didn’t before I started researching the brand for this article. James Lamb is a British artisan watchmaker, and handmade silver watch cases and enameled silver dials are his shtick. The watches in his Origin Series are all […] Visit British Watchmaker James Lamb Introduces The Linea Edition - A Joint Effort Between Artisans to read the full article.
Time+Tide
It is often considered the most prolific complication in the watch world, and it has a long, complex, story to tell.The post On your marks, get set, go: the history of the chronograph appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
You would be forgiven for thinking this new Seiko SPB537 looks somewhat familiar. After all, Seiko made numerous Presage models in this tonneau form factor in the past. However, all of them were discontinued, and no new ones were introduced to the collection. Well, until today, that is! This is the new Seiko Presage SPB537 […] Visit Seiko Brings Back The Tonneau Case To The Presage Line With The New SPB537 to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Foreshadowing Credor’s Watches & Wonders debut in April (located alongside sister brand Grand Seiko), the Goldfeather GCBY991 Imari Nabeshima Porcelain is the brand’s first launch of the year. It pairs an ultra-thin hand-wound movement with a dial made using a traditional – and reputedly highly secretive – Japanese porcelain technique. But now the secret is out, cased in steel and limited to 60 pieces worldwide. Initial thoughts Originally envisioned in the 1970s as a vehicle for precious metal quartz watches, Credor later expanded into a catch-all brand for Seiko’s high-end offerings that didn’t fit the Grand Seiko aesthetic. Over the last few years, however, Credor has refocused and shrunk its catalogue from over 200 references in 2021 to fewer than 70 today, shedding legions of ladies’ quartz models while redoubling emphasis on artisanal crafts. The porcelain-dialed GCBY999 embodies this tighter focus and exemplifies the brand’s new motto: “the creativity of artisans”. Despite the Goldfeather branding – and Credor’s original purpose – the GCBY999 is cased in stainless steel. This is a welcome concession given the current price of gold, which is near all-time highs, especially since Seiko generally charges a higher premium for precious metal models than is typical for Swiss brands. As a result, the GCBY999 is good value within the Goldfeather lineup, despite its artisanal dial. The watch retails for JPY1.98 million in Japan, equivalent to about ...
Monochrome
It has been a while since we last saw a tonneau-shaped Seiko Presage… The last to surface on MONOCHROME was the Presage Enamel SPB049 from 2017, a quietly unusual model that stood apart from the round, conservative silhouettes that dominate Seiko’s classical offerings, or the 2019 Zen Garden SARY111 (SRPD05/07) series. But here we are […]
Worn & Wound
If I’m looking back at 2025, it feels like the year I really embraced independent brands across price points. If you’ve listened to the podcast, talked to me at a watch event, or read between the lines of many of the articles I’ve written over the last few years, you’ll know that I’ve become increasingly bored with “big” brands and the new watches they push out to market on predictable release cycles, year in and year out. 2025 was the year that that boredom and frustration really made an impact on the purchases I decided to make. I won’t lie: I went a little overboard on new watches last year. Not having children, owning a car that’s fully paid off, and living in a world where retail therapy is often the most reliable form of comfort will do that to you. In the last year, I picked up new watches from Ming, Otsuka Lotec, Arcanaut, Louis Erard, Selten, Typsim, Christopher Ward, Nomos, and Arken. I’m happy to say that every single one of them is a little weird (Or special? Maybe that’s a better word.) and I’m very pleased to say that in just about every case I have some personal connective tie to the brand or the people behind it. That’s a thing that has become almost essential to me as I consider a new watch: I want to know the people who made it, understand their philosophy, and, if I can, develop an ongoing relationship with them. That’s a goal that’s easier to meet now than ever given the ease with which we all connect on social media, at ...
Monochrome
Forgive the lyrical tone, but to encounter a Moritz Grossmann watch is to feel time transformed into form and substance. These are timepieces that are great to look at and study in detail with a loupe, but also wonderful to experience through touch, balance, and inner rhythm. Since Christine Hutter revived the storied name in […]
Worn & Wound
One of the most reliable events on the watch release calendar every year is a glut of new watches in January celebrating the lunar new year, which this year begins on February 17. This is a very important holiday in many Asian countries, and brands with an international focus are not shy about dropping limited editions throughout the month to appeal (primarily) to customers in those territories. Of course, very often the watches themselves are quite cool outside the context of the lunar new year celebration itself, and it’s always kind of a fun spectator sport to see what brands come up with. Typically, brands will riff on the animal associated with a given year, and this year it’s the fire horse. First out of the gate: Oris, with the new Year of the Horse Limited Edition. The Year of the Horse Limited Edition can be defined by two prominent features: deep red tones, and the use of the Calibre 113 movement. The movement is somewhat unusual and not used frequently in the Oris catalog, so we’ll start there. This is a manually wound caliber with an impressive ten day power reserve, and also includes a “business calendar” that provides the day, date, and also displays the week of the year via a scale at the dial’s perimeter. The week indicator is an unusual, old-fashioned feature that holds a lot of charm, and provides an easy visual reference for how deep we are into a given year. The watch has a dark red dial with lighter red fumé subdials at 3 and 9 that in...
Time+Tide
We caught up with Georges Kern at Dubai Watch Week, and true to form, the Breitling CEO didn't shy away from the challenging questions.The post Georges Kern answers the tough questions: Breitling’s bold vision at Dubai Watch Week appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Unveiled on 26 June 2025, a nod to the date Abraham-Louis Breguet secured a patent for his gravity-defying tourbillon (26 June 1801), the Tourbillon Sidéral 7255 takes his groundbreaking regulator on a fascinating ride through time and space. Released for the brand’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the Breguet Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255 pays homage to its illustrious […]
Fratello
What happens when sartorialists Mark Cho and Elliot Hammer (respectively, the founder and the creative director of The Armoury) come up with a watch brand of their own? Let’s find out in this hands-on review of the Temporal Works Series A line. The Armoury’s Temporal Works In case you are unfamiliar with The Armoury, it’s […] Visit Hands-On: The Temporal Works Series A to read the full article.
Monochrome
Fitting for a brand that harnesses the horsepower of the racetrack in its watches, TAG Heuer releases a Carrera Chronograph to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse. Representing the seventh animal sign in the Chinese zodiac, the horse will rule the roost of the 12 zodiac animals starting on 17 February 2026. The model […]
Time+Tide
Jamie's top three most-worn watches of 2025 were something old, something new, and something borrowed (but not something blue...)The post The three watches Jamie wore most in 2025 are… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
After the now-cult-classic MIH Watch of 2005, an overtly minimalist Annual Calendar Chronograph developed by Ludwig Oechslin and Paul Gerber, and the Gaïa Watch series launched in 2019, the 2024 edition continues the museum’s approach to watchmaking. Indeed, before launching his own brand, Ochs und Junior, Oechslin was the curator of the Musée International d’Horologerie […]
Worn & Wound
I’m not going to lie to you, I love a bit of intrigue. When I was a child, I would write notes to my mother in invisible ink made of lemon juice. When someone tells me to keep a secret (which is always a surprise, given my big mouth), I can hardly contain my excitement. And, even now, I fancy myself a real James Bond type when I hide the Amazon boxes from my husband before he comes home from work. Luckily for me, Bernhardt Watch Company just announced their Cipher Diver, which sits right at the cross-section of two of my hobbies: watches and subterfuge. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson (and, impressively, made in partnership with Monticello), the watch nods more to the third president’s inventive streak than his political career – including the rotating wheel cipher, a mechanical concept designed to encode messages through a specific alignment of letters across a series of discs. The result is a diver that cleverly allows you to keep a secret message right on your wrist. Beneath the bezel, Bernhardt has included the alphabet printed on UV-reactive ink. By aligning the bezel to a designated hour key and referencing minute markers on the dial, one is able to use the clock’s timekeeping functionality to decode the message. If that’s not some National Treasure type of ingenuity, I don’t know what is. Each diver comes with a UV decoding torch and an initial cipher card, with new encrypted messages released weekly through July 4, 2026 (the 250th anniversary of the Unit...
Time+Tide
The Mido Ocean Star Decompression Timer is back in black, with a PVD-coated case and three interchangeable straps.The post Mido contrasts stealth and crazy colours with the Ocean Star Decompression Timer 1961 in black PVD appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
In this video, we go hands-on with Omega’s recently released Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon. We covered it in-depth here, but also decided to shoot a video with this new ceramic Speedmaster. If the video above doesn’t play, please visit our YouTube channel to watch it there. Inspired by Apollo 8 In this video, I went […] Visit Video: Hands-On With The Omega Speedmaster Grey Side Of The Moon to read the full article.
Deployant
Seiko 145 anniversary of the founding of Seiko by Kintaro Hattori releases 4 new models in their key collections of King Seiko, Prospex, Pressage and Aston.
Monochrome
On 17 February 2026, the Chinese New Year kicks off with the Year of the Fire Horse, the seventh animal in the Chinese Zodiac and a symbol of power, speed and confidence. Echoing the attributes of the zodiac animal, Oris has equipped this 43mm stainless steel model with its powerful calibre 113, an advanced hand-wound […]
Two Broke Watch Snobs
See which vintage reissue watches actually held up during our testing. Use our hands-on insights to choose the one that fits your lifestyle and budget.
Fratello
It has become a tradition for Seiko to be the first brand to introduce new watches every year. This time, it’s not just one or two but a full quartet of new pieces. To celebrate the brand’s 145th anniversary, Seiko has announced four models that perfectly represent different pillars of the collection. We had the […] Visit Seiko Introduces A Series of 145th-Anniversary Watches To Start The New Year to read the full article.
Hodinkee
The same great framework with a new beige twist results in a really attractive watch.
Hodinkee
Artist and educator Suzanne Dirks asks a deceptively simple question: Do public clocks still organize how we move through New York City, or have they begun to fade into the background?
Worn & Wound
I’ve never had many gold-tone watches in my collection, and it’s simply because I don’t have much gold jewelry to match. The benefit to this is that I’ve always been incredibly critical of the gold-tone watches I contemplate adding to my collection, knowing that I only want a few in my watch box overall. I acquired this 5T52-7A19 a couple of months ago after a spur-of-the-moment faceoff between me and the “buy it now” button on eBay. While I had owned a model from Seiko’s Age of Discovery line many years ago, I had never come into contact with one of the higher-end models from the collection. I’ve remained true to my self-implemented rule for gold-tone watches, meaning that this model will have the honor of forcing my hand to sell off another piece from the watch box. If you’ve been thinking about adding another gold-tone watch to your collection, let me introduce you to a staunch contender. Brief Overview of the Age of Discovery Line and -7A19 Model The Seiko Age of Discovery was introduced sometime between 1990 and 1992 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage. Based on the historical time period of the same name, the Age of Discovery series is heavily influenced by the nautical theming associated with the many expeditions of European travelers between the 15th and 17th centuries. Many of the line’s watches feature motifs that harken back to crucial aspects of seafaring travel, sporting iconography such as maps, ...
Teddy Baldassarre
One of the first hurdles to clear for newcomers to watch appreciation is the clarification of two very common horological categories: chronograph vs. chronometer. Quite simply, a chronometer (from the Greek chronos, meaning time, and meter, meaning measure) is any watch or clock that keeps reliably accurate time, usually as determined by an outside independent testing agency, whereas a chronograph (from chronos and graph, i.e., to “write time”) is any watch or clock with the ability to track and record intervals of time, aka a stopwatch. This is, again, the simplest way to look at it. But there’s a bit more to both chronometers and chronographs that a knowledge-hungry watch enthusiast might want to digest - including the fact that the terms are not interchangeable but also not mutually exclusive. [toc-section heading="Chronometers Defined"] Our original, classical definition of a chronometer can be traced back to the golden age of seafaring exploration in the 18th Century, when ships required the use of a highly accurate onboard clock that enabled their navigators to determine longitude in order to avoid the perils of running aground or veering hopelessly off course. The man credited with developing the first of these “marine chronometers” was legendary British watchmaker John Harrison; his invention facilitated the celestial navigation used at the time by navigators at sea to determine their ship’s position in coordination with a sextant. Marine chronome...
Monochrome
Kurono Tokyo, the accessible brand of independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, had quite a run last year, with a lot of impressive new models, most dedicated to celebrating its founder’s 60th anniversary. This includes the handsome Grand Jubilee Calendar Salmon, the Ice Blue 2025 Jubilee Sensu EOL, or the 34mm Star Dial watches. Starting 2026 with […]
Time+Tide
There's something refreshing about a brand that doesn't give a damn about pleasing everyone. MING Watches is that brand.The post MING Watches: the industry villain making uncompromising design appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
TAG Heuer's release for the Chinese New Year of the Horse is now released and available immediately. The watch is based on the Carrera Chronograph.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
A hands-on review of the Aquastar Benthos Professional, exploring its slimmer case, bright lume, ISOfrane strap, and real-world wearability.
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