885 articles · 397 videos found · page 21 of 43
Fratello
So you want to start a microbrand, do you? Many watch enthusiasts find themselves playing around with the idea of developing a watch of their own. Some actually pursue it. If you plan to be one of them, there are many pitfalls you may find yourself running into. As someone who has recently navigated many […] Visit So You Want To Start A Microbrand? - Here Are 10 Tips to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
Years from now, someone will look back on this period and write about rise of affordable independent watchmaking. We are truly in a golden age if you happen to favor small brands who are inclined to do adventurous, experimental things. I wonder if anyone will identify Louis Erard’s collaborations with Alain Silberstein as a defining moment in this era of watch enthusiasm. From my perspective, it certainly seems like this relatively small Swiss brand and niche designer (who many thought, mistakenly, had reached a peak in terms of his popularity and influence) stand at the center of a lot of what’s happening in our world today. Limited edition collaborations, the mixing of the high and low, and a focus on accessible watches that are still undeniably special in some way are a huge focus of what’s driving interest in the hobby right now, and while Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein didn’t get there first, it’s hard to deny that their continued relationship isn’t one of the key stories of the last several years. That relationship continues this week with the launch of the Le Régulateur Tourbillon Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Black. This is the same tourbillon that we saw as part of a limited edition triptych back in October of last year. That watch, and the others in the set, featured an olive green dial, and it was notable that the tourbillon could only be purchased as part of the set, while the other watches were available separately. At the time, the thinkin...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
A new addition to their growing catalog, Ollech & Wajs has just announced an interesting new Valjoux 7753-powered chronograph. While many of their prior designs we've covered are thoroughly aviation-inspired, this new model exudes serious racing DNA to pay tribute to some of the earliest days of motor racing. Now, I've never been one for motorsports, and I'm definitely more into Ollech & Wajs designs like the reference 2834 24 Hour “Early Bird” GMT, but this new Rallychron is undoubtedly handsome. And, if you are into the whole racing thing, there are some little easter eggs built into the watch's design that you'll probably appreciate.
Quill & Pad
Interest in mezcal has exploded in markets like the United States. Others have been a little slower to get on board but it is happening. And that is thanks to the top shelf, artisanal craft efforts. Here Ken Gargett takes a deep dive into mezcal and warns off drinking the bottles with a worm.
Worn & Wound
VPC is a new brand founded by Thomas van Straaten, who may be familiar to some readers as a longtime writer at Fratello. The first watch from his new endeavor, the Type37HW, feels very much like the type of thing that someone fully engaged in this community would bring to life as a passion project. It has many of the hallmarks of an enthusiast focused watch, with lots of little details that get people in the business of writing about these things excited. Most of all, it feels foundational, like the beginning of a platform for future expansion. If there’s one thing watch writers can’t abide, it’s a watch that feels like a one off, vanity project, and, unsurprisingly, VPC doesn’t even have a whiff of that sentiment. The VPC acronym that gives the brand its name stands for “Venustas Per Constantiam,” which equates to “charm through restraint,” and if you look at the overall presentation of the Type37HW you can really feel the restraint. The watch is sober but doesn’t feel boring, and each individual component part seems to be well considered and thought through. Whether you like the design or not is of course subjective, but I don’t think anyone could reasonably argue that the watch doesn’t have a coherent aesthetic. The broad conceit here is that the Type37HW is a “go anywhere, do anything” style watch, and the specs reflect that. It’s 37.5mm in diameter and measures 9.8mm tall (including the crystal). The stainless steel case and bracelet ha...
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Quill & Pad
Joshua Munchow explains why people are drawn to brightly colored watches. His personal opinion is that everyone should have at least one bright, colorful watch in their collection and he makes the case for why the excitement around the Tiffany Blue Nautilus is perfectly rational - because colorful watches are awesome!
Monochrome
As someone working in the industry seeing hundreds if not thousands of watches each year, I often label a watch as a potential “yes” or “no” based on a press release or a couple of images. I’m sure, to some extent, that the same goes for collectors and enthusiasts. Sometimes, I’ll dismiss a watch for […]
Fratello
Today, we go hands-on with a fairly wild G-Shock. The MTG-B2000YR Illumination City Limited Edition was released in late 2023 and is a colorful, feature-laden watch. It’s a higher-end piece, so expect loads of thoughtful details. Let’s venture into the world of bright lights! It’s not exactly news that G-Shock makes and sells loads of […] Visit Hands-On With The G-Shock MTG-B2000YR Illumination City Limited Edition to read the full article.
Teddy Baldassarre
Founded in 1853 in the Swiss Jura town of Le Locle, Tissot is today one of the largest Swiss watchmakers in the world, with a vast and diverse collection of timepieces, from dressy to sporty to high-tech, all offering one of the industry’s best value propositions across the board. Throughout its history, and starting as early as 1938, when a Tissot watch was used to time a series of Alpine ski races, Tissot has also been a watchmaker with close ties to sports - from tennis’s Davis Cup in 1957, to its close timing partnerships with bicycling and motorcycling championships from the 1980s to today, to its recent high-profile status as official timing partner of the NBA. And while Tissot is probably not the first brand that leaps to mind when you think of motorsports-inspired timepieces, it was indisputably one of the pioneers of that genre, a style most clearly and boldly expressed in the PR516 collection, a mainstay of the Tissot portfolio that has undergone a significant, vintage-inspired refresh in 2024. Tissot’s association with motor racing, and the seed from which the original PR 516 (originally spelled with a space between letters and numerals, and later hyphenated) would spring, began with what was essentially a fan letter from a satisfied customer. In 1958, Tissot received a signed photograph from a Swiss racing driver named Harry Zweifel, which was accompanied by a note in German that read, “Meine Tissot ist an jedem Rennen dabei,” or “My Tissot is ...
Monochrome
A phygital retailer with headquarters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 10TenLabs operates a hybrid online business – with physical activities in the form of lounges/galleries by appointment and a club dedicated to showcasing independent watchmakers. In celebration of the opening of their galleries in Saudi Arabia, 10TenLabs is launching the Klepcys GMT Palm Najid […]
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Worn & Wound
Snob is a loaded, and sometimes divisive word in horology. Being called a snob, or calling someone a snob, is a quick way to draw blood by attacking someone’s particular approach to enthusiasm. As an enthusiast who cherishes the community aspect of this hobby, I’ve always been proud that my foundation in this hobby was built on the absence of snobbery. Or so I thought. I’m a frugal guy, and enthusiasm on a budget is a common theme in most of my articles. A keen eye for value shaped my early days in the hobby- an approach I haven’t managed to shake. For years, I assumed that embracing watches in all price brackets was enough to rid myself of any snobbery. But the more I “learned” about watches, the more I noticed snobbery seeping into my opinions, and in some cases stopping me from experiencing some truly awesome watches. I’d fawn over the latest Lorier release, only to question how a Hesalite crystal would hold up to an active lifestyle. Or I’d opt not to experience a 5 ATM field watch that I truly liked, instead compromising for 10 and 20 ATM alternatives. A quartz crystal, a small part of which is bound for a Grand Seiko 9F caliber I’ve since gone through an un-learning process thanks to a handful of watches that challenged what I thought I knew and allowed me to expand my horological horizons by kicking some snobby tendencies. For the next few installments of Selling Points That Don’t Sell Me, let’s explore some selling points that DO sell me a...
The Citizen Promaster Aqualand JP2007-09W is now available in the Worn & Wound Shop Twenty meters down, I slowed my descent by squirting a puff of air into my buoyancy wing. I hovered just under the overhanging edge of the massive wreck. In contrast to the bright tropical sun streaming down from far above, the maw inside this upturned ship was in deep shadow. To venture inside was to go from day to night, and despite years of exploring shipwrecks, it always gave me pause to penetrate the bowels of one. There’s nothing particularly dangerous about the Hilma Hooker, and indeed it sees hundreds of divers a year, due to its proximity to shore, warm water, and relatively accessible depth. The wreck rests at the bottom of a lush coral reef, hard on the sand at just over 30 meters. Most divers are content to kick along its hull, snap some hero shots near the propeller, and marvel at the huge tarpon and barracuda that spend the daylight hours hovering in the shadows. But somehow, the yawning darkness inside beckons-hollowed-out cargo holds and engine room, long empty compartments that once purportedly held contraband drugs before the ship was seized, abandoned, and then mysteriously sunk. I hesitated, then switched on my powerful dive torch and swam into the darkness. Truth be told, I wasn’t really penetrating the Hilma Hooker to search for sunken treasure. I’d been inside this wreck many times before, in over a dozen trips to Bonaire. I had a different, more quixotic goal...
Hodinkee
From enamel dials to giant sculptural automatons, brands have jumped fully on board for one of the coolest zodiac signs out there.
Worn & Wound
Among watch brands, Omega won the race to the moon–it also won the PR war, and now whenever someone uses the term “moon watch,” your mind invariably turns to the Speedmaster. But while the Omega Speedmaster may have been the first watch to the moon, it isn’t the only one. In 1971, Apollo 15 mission commander Dave Scott became the seventh man to walk on the moon, and when he looked at his wrist to check how long he’d been out of the lunar lander, it was a Bulova that gave him the time. Forty-five years later, Bulova released a re-creation of this watch: the Lunar Pilot. Now, they’ve leaned into the space angle even more, with the Lunar Pilot Meteorite, which, as the name suggests, features a dial made of actual space rock. The Lunar Pilot was built to NASA’s specifications and, as such, bears some superficial resemblance to the Speedmaster as a three-register chronograph with a tachymeter. (Coincidentally, the Lunar Pilot Meteorite was also released shortly after the latest Dark Side of the Moon Speedmaster from Omega, which features a dial made to look like the lunar surface.) But a more rounded and slightly larger case–43.5 mm versus the 42 mm of the Speedmaster–with slim, rectangular pushers that span from the crown to almost the lugs gives the Lunar Pilot a unique silhouette. The meteorite model features a dial crafted from a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite that Bulova promises gives each of the 5,000 limited edition watches a unique crystalline pattern...
Monochrome
Hublot, deeply ingrained in contemporary pop culture, took a noteworthy step eight years ago by collaborating with the popular and flamboyant French artist Richard Orlinski. According to Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s CEO, the timepieces Orlinski created are “instantly snapped up by art and watch collectors alike.” Orlinski’s signature faceted, bright-coloured creations include shiny beasts, King Kong […]
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Monochrome
Mainly known for its discreet, minimalist Bauhaus-inspired watches with a slight twist, German brand Nomos has recently revealed a more creative and colourful side, with bold and bright funky models such as the Club Campus or the Club Sport. But not every collection has to be like this in Glashütte. The Orion collection, in particular, […]
Monochrome
When you look at this watch, you might think that someone opened a wooden drawer in the attic of a venerable manufacture, found a dusty box and opened it to reveal a well-preserved late-1930s watch. A representative of the brand’s heritage, which would become the base for a re-edition. Except that here, we’re talking about […]
Monochrome
Legends are created whenever something is achieved that was deemed impossible before that point in time. It happens through sheer determination, or the perfect coming together of all variable circumstances to allow someone, or something, to make a statement that lasts on for years, decades even. Throughout racing history, there are countless legendary events, drivers […]
Monochrome
From the brand with the most explosive named collection in watch history comes the loud, eye-popping Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon. Upholding the brand’s preference for fusing disparate materials on board its bold, shaped cases, Hublot offered Chinese artist Chen Fenwan the Spirit of Big Bang as a blank canvas to exercise her creativity. […]
Hodinkee
Should you get a watch serviced? When should you do it, and what should you expect, and how much should it cost? Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, the little machines we all love so dearly aren't immune to the laws of physics --sooner or later, if you expect them to keep working, someone's going to have to go under the hood. When you hand a watch off to a brand serviced center, are you in for a treat, or a nightmare? Find out what happened to one Speedmaster Professional when its number came up.
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Time+Tide
The potentially detrimental outcomes of the current trend of hailing in-house movements as the greatest thing since sliced bread.The post Why the emphasis on in-house needs to end appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
With watch brands across the board riding the Chinese New Year wave, there are no prizes for guessing which of the twelve animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac will be in the limelight this year. Admittedly one of the more attractive beasts to depict on a watch, the dragon replaces the rabbit of 2023 and […]
Deployant
February 14 is well and truly on the way. Time to look at something special for that someone special! here are 6 suggestions for that lady.
Quill & Pad
London, one day in the not-too-distant future, the final board meeting of the Lux Timepieces III Fund had been a stormy one. Principal investor Igor Abramovich had flounced out after throwing his Roger W Smith Series 1 on the boardroom table, where it shattered into dozens of meticulously handmade pieces . . . hang on to your hats because this is a wild and laugh-out-loud ride!
Worn & Wound
Paulin celebrated its 10th year in 2023 and on this anniversary, they embarked on a new chapter by officially merging with fellow Scottish and celebrated watch brand, anOrdain. Since COVID played havoc on traditional brick and mortar retailers, Paulin had to rethink their business model and joining anOrdain was the perfect solution. Their future never looked so bright! Their newest model is called the Modul, and the name is quite fitting due to its modular construction. The steel body that houses the movement sits within a brushed steel outer case, which is held together by two hex screws on either side of the crown. This type of structure allows the owner to swap out the inner module, should they want to change dial color or movement type (manual wind or quartz). Inspired by a recent trip to Scotland the good folks at The Armoury joined forces with Paulin, to create the Honk Kong Dial and a new Modul watch was born. Instead of Roman and Arabic numerals, as on California dials, they have chosen Roman and Chinese, which is appropriate considering The Armoury’s Eastern and Western locations. The visual weight of the Chinese numerals at 4, 5, 7 and 8 o’clock match their Roman counterparts above perfectly. This vintage infused design comes in four colorways: black dial (more like gray) with gold numerals and minute track, light blue dial with silver numerals and track, purple dial with lavender numerals and track, and lastly yellow dial with black numerals and white tr...
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