4,678 articles · 439 videos found · page 20 of 171
Revolution
This story is something of a mea culpa. Many years ago, when I was yet green with youth and correspondingly filled with overweening self-confidence, an independent watchmaker –a respected one; a student of the work of such luminaries as Janvier and Breguet –named Francois Paul Journe, came out with a most intriguing watch. That watch was […]
Revolution
There is no watchmaker, independent or otherwise, quite like Francois Paul Journe –a notable iconoclast; famously perfectionistic; famously idiosyncratic in approach; famously irascible; a man who sees himself as the spiritual heir to the great French watchmaking traditions and masters of the late 18th and early 19th century –Berthoud, Breguet, Janvier, Le Roy. F. P. […]
Revolution
Despite the hyperbole that sometimes accompanies news from the watch world, the truth is this: the hairspring and balance got together in 1660, Mudge made his first lever-escapement watch in 1755, and, with respect to repeaters, Barlow and Quare (both Englishmen) applied for patents for repeating watches in the late 17th century. Breguet developed the […]
Hodinkee
Breguet celebrated its 250th Anniversary with a big technical achievement that has a lot to do with its founder’s vision and a decent amount to do with an odd little American pocket watch. We go deep on the Expérimentale 1.
Hodinkee
Technicality and beautiful design is what Breguet was all about, today as much as 250 years ago.
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Hodinkee
This is what the Breguet Type XX should have been all along.
SJX Watches
Sotheby’s upcoming Geneva auction includes Treasures of Time, a small but impressive collection of watches consigned by a European gentleman of evidently sophisticated taste. While the most valuable of the 31 lots in the collection is a first-series ref. 2499 in pink gold, the most striking watch is arguably this Patek Philippe ref. 2499 third series with a glossy black dial featuring Breguet numerals. Only six examples of the ref. 2499 are known to have a black dial, and this is one of them. The black dial with Breguet numerals gives the watch tremendous appeal and presence on the wrist. Beautiful as it is, however, this ref. 2499 is not absolute perfect from a historical perspective as the black dial was added long after the watch was made. The watch was originally sold by Patek Philippe in 1964, probably with the typical silver dial, and it gained this black dial sometime in the 1980s. According to its well documented history, the owner of the watch in the 1980s was an important enough collector that when he asked for a black dial with Breguet numerals, Patek Philippe said yes. The dial was thus produced by Stern Frères and installed in the watch. It’s worth noting that most of the six known ref. 2499s with a black dial have a similar history in that the black dials were subsequent additions. Though it’s clearly not a vintage dial, Stern Frères executed it well. The dial is finished with a glossy black lacquer and gold powder print, while the indices are applie...
SJX Watches
The upcoming Only Watch auction is an impressive catalogue of 53 one-off timepieces, a good number of which – more than a quarter of the total – are chronographs. Among the dozen chronographs, a couple caught my eye. One is the Breguet Type XX Only Watch 2021. It’s essentially an evolution of the Breguet Type 20 created for Only Watch 2019, simple in design and execution but attractive in that simplicity. The Breguet Type XX Only Watch 2021 Initial thoughts Like another notable chronograph in the sale, the TAG Heuer Monaco, the Type XX is reinterpretation of an iconic model of the brand. But the Type XX Only Watch 2021 is a nostalgic reinterpretation with a chocolate-brown dial that evokes the aged, “tropical” effect found on vintage examples. That said, the vintage styling is its only weakness. The Type XX is almost identical to the Type 20 Only Watch 2019 – right down to the strap – though the point can be made that the two make a perfect pair. The Type XX (left), and Type 20 They are each inspired by historical aviator’s watches made for the military and civilian markets respectively (the vintage Type XX was marketed to civilians, while the Type 20 was supplied to the French military). So this year’s Type XX should go home with the owner of the Type 20 from 2019. Almost a doppelgänger – the Type 20 Only Watch 2019 Notably, the Type XX is powered by a vintage movement, though one that is from a later period from an actual vintage Type XX. Still, giv...
Hodinkee
The latest version of the classic 5177 features an enamel dial that references blued steel watch hands.
Hodinkee
The ultimate Breguet Marine adds a new colorway with unique details to match.
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Deployant
Review of the Breguet Type XX Aeronavale
Hodinkee
Digging into the details, date window and all, to understand the design decisions and what the future might hold for the latest from an iconic line of pilot's watches.
Hodinkee
The latest dual time Hora Mundi is a technical achievement and a feast for the eyes.
Hodinkee
A whirlwind in blue.
Hodinkee
A handwound vintage movement and on-point military looks make this one a winner.
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Hodinkee
Two queens are better than one.
Time+Tide
Few things are as tactile and pleasing as manually winding a watch, and I’ve got to say the levels of satisfaction achieved in watching the power reserve indicator on this plus-sized IWC Portofino are pretty intense. On one level it’s because there’s a lot of winding to be had, thanks to the eight days of … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: Big-hearted – the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Moon Phase appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Is the IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition “150 Years” might be the best version of the Portugieser yet? We think so.The post HANDS-ON: The IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition “150 Years” appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
In a fortuitous turn of events, Mark Zuckerberg was spotted with the Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 just a week ago – just in time for the debut of the Hand Made 2. Unlike its predecessor that was equipped with a tourbillon, the Hand Made 2 is “merely” a three-hander with a power reserve indicator, presented in a more compact case that’s just under 41 mm. But like the first model, the Hand Made 2 is mostly made with traditional, hand-operated tools – specifically, 96% of the watch is made this way, an endeavour that requires 5,000 hours of work according to Greubel Forsey. (NB: The watch pictured is a prototype and is not perfectly clean.) Initial thoughts The Hand Made 2 is essentially the Hand Made 1 scaled down in every respect – dimensions, complexity, and price – except for the manual production methods and fine finishing, which remain impressive and outstanding. Even at arm’s length the quality of the Hand Made 2 is obvious. Up close, it is evident all of the details have been properly taken care of. As it was with the Hand Made 1, the second edition is also impressive for what cannot be seen – tolerances and precision that are equivalent to Greubel Forsey’s serial-production watches made with automated equipment. Achieving that with manual equipment is impressive and no doubt explains a good deal of the price. Surprisingly, the Hand Made 2 looks more complicated than its predecessor, despite doing away with the tourbillon. That’s because the archit...
Revolution
We are proud to present our first collaboration with the revived Nivada Grenchen, an all blacked-out version of the historic Depthmaster, one of the first dive watches to be rated to a depth of a thousand meters! Shop the Nivada x Revolution & The Rake Depthmaster “No Barracuda”
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Time+Tide
With Only Watch 2019 now just a mere 11 days away from kicking off, we thought we’d take a look at Blancpain’s Only entrant – the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda. The unique piece from the storied Swiss marque is, rather obviously, based on the standard Fifty Fathoms Barakuda. However, the Only Watch Barakuda sports very … ContinuedThe post The only Barakuda you’ll ever need – the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda Only Watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms looks like a lot of other watches out there, and there’s a reason for that. The Fifty Fathoms was first. It was one of the first watches ever designed for diving and, as a result, has become almost the Universal Man of dive watches, where all watches that follow are derivative. … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Wei and Jeremiah talk about Nivada Grenchen, a brand that has been recently resurrected by Guillaume Laidet and Remi Chabrat, and some of its incredibly well-made historical models that were field-tested and found to be superb tool watches. The Depthmaster is one of those models and we are honored to collaborate with Nivada to present […]
Revolution
On a trip to Paris, Wei met with Guillaume Laidet, the architect of recently revived vintage darling, Nivada Grenchen to talk about our first collaboration – a fully black Depthmaster with unique dial markers that resemble the video game character Pac-Man. The original Depthmaster was incredibly well made and depth-rated to 1,000m and our watch […]
Revolution
Fans of one of the world’s pioneering diving watches will have reason to join the queue straight away – the latest Blancpain Fifty is drop-dead gorgeous.
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