Two Broke Watch Snobs
We Reviewed 7 Affordable Dive Watch Alternatives to the Casio Duro
The Casio Duro is hard to beat, but these affordable dive watches offer more personality, better finishing, or a more engaging ownership experience.
19,851 articles · 160 videos found · page 223 of 668
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Casio Duro is hard to beat, but these affordable dive watches offer more personality, better finishing, or a more engaging ownership experience.
Monochrome
Following its global relaunch in 2024 with Patrik Hoffmann at the helm, Favre Leuba retains the spirit of its historical tool watches but with a new focus on extreme wearability. Famous for engineering innovative, well-equipped tool watches, Hoffmann has revisited some of Favre Leuba’s vintage stars in a more contemporary key with slimmer cases and […]
Fratello
About a week ago, I wrote an article about two classic Seiko divers. For many watch fans, including the majority of the Fratello team, Seiko divers hold a special place in their collections. If it wasn’t your first mechanical watch, it was often one of the first that helped grow your love for watches. After […] Visit Finding The Best Seiko Divers In The Brand’s Prospex Collection to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Universal People Universal Dreams is a large-format book that explores, in great detail, a collection of 111 Universal Genève chronographs, and only chronographs. The 384-page book is also a record of the collecting journey of its author, Luca Mignini, who reflects on the lessons learnt and people encountered in his pursuit of watches across the world. A longtime watch collector who is now a professor at Milan’s Bocconi University, Mr Mignini had a long career in the consumer goods industry, culminating in a spell as chief operating officer at Campbell’s, the American food giant famous for its canned soups, after which he retired in 2019. The globe-crossing nature of his career took him from his homeland of Italy to Shanghai and New Jersey, giving him the opportunity to collect internationally, a phenomenon that professionals who travel extensively for work will find familiar. Having been interested in watches since he was a teenager, Mr Mignini made his way through the usual suspects like Rolex and Patek Philippe, before landing on Universal Genève during a trip to Tokyo in 2010. In the time since, he has accumulated the impressive collection of Universal Genève detailed in this book. I met Mr Mignini last year in Geneva and he is clearly obsessed with Universal Genève. His tremendous passion for the brand makes it almost a given Universal People Universal Dreams will be laser focused on Universal chronographs yet exceptionally wide in scope within the narrow s...
WatchRider
Most surf watches stop after telling you when the tide is coming in. The new G-Shock G-LIDE GBX-H5600KI-5 also checks your heart, studies your sleep and expects you to catch the next wave. Casio has released its fourth signature watch with Japanese professional surfer Kanoa Igarashi. The GBX-H5600KI-5 is based on the heart-rate-equipped G-LIDE GBX-H5600, but its brown marbled body and soft purple details give it a look that is easy to separate from the standard models. A colour scheme inspired by Portugal The mixed brown colour is inspired by the cliffs and rocky coast around Ericeira, Portugal, one of Igarashi’s training bases. Casio mixes different colours of bio-based resin during production, so the streaks and marks will not be identical on every watch. That gives each example a slightly different surface pattern without pretending that the watch is hand-finished. The lavender details are a smart contrast to the dark case. A purple vapor-deposited finish around the display is meant to recall the sea during the early morning and evening magic hours. Igarashi’s signature sits below the screen and also appears on the back. His World Surf League competition number, 50, is printed on the lower part of the band. Built for the water, but useful away from it The case measures 51.1mm long, 44.5mm wide and 17.3mm thick. That is a large watch on paper, although 47 grams is impressively light for a G-Shock with an optical heart-rate sensor. The carbon-fibre-reinforced resin ba...
Time+Tide
Trafford Watch Co's new Core Collection focuses on unique looking travel watches, making use of the same Miyota movement in different ways.
Monochrome
By now, most of you must be familiar with the so-called Horological brothers, the duo of Dutch indie watchmakers behind Grönefeld and its superb, high-end and lavishly decorated watches. Highly desirable watches for sure, not for every pocket though. This is why, in 2024, Tim and Bart Grönefeld created a new brand named Grøne Oldenzaal, […]
Monochrome
Baltic Watches, the French indie brand founded by Etienne Malec in 2017, has transcended its status as a microbrand in less than ten years. Designed in Paris and powered by reliable, outsourced movements assembled in Besançon, France, Baltic’s success can be attributed to its retro-flavoured watches coupled with accessible prices. The flagship Aquascaphe Classic, a […]
Fratello
While searching for the Gallet Boxing Timer, I came across a surprising comment on one of my articles that sparked a discussion and led me to the one and only Longines Boxing Timer. The story behind the stop timer is unclear, but the watch seems authentic. I am not particularly interested in pocket watches or […] Visit Retrospective: Surprising Discovery Of Longines Boxing Timer to read the full article.
SJX Watches
To mark the completion of the Habring² x SJX Chrono-Felix “Medicus”, we have reserved one of the watches from the final batch for a member of the SJX newsletter community. The 50-piece limited edition is now sold out, but we set aside one example with a silver dial for this giveaway. This is intended both as a thank-you to our existing readers (who will get bonus entries) and an invitation for new readers to join the newsletter. How to enter All eligible, confirmed SJX newsletter subscribers at 11:59 PM GMT on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, will be entered into the draw automatically. Readers who were confirmed newsletter subscribers before the publication of the giveaway announcement will each receive three entries in recognition of their existing support — no action is necessary to participate. Readers who subscribe after the announcement and before the giveaway closes on August 12th will receive one entry each. Selecting and contacting the winner The winner will be selected at random from the eligible weighted entry pool and contacted by Wednesday, August 19, 2026. The winner will be contacted at the email address used for their newsletter subscription and must respond within 7 days. If the winner does not respond, declines the prize, or cannot provide the information reasonably required for delivery, tax, or customs purposes, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. The prize The prize is one silver-dial Habring² x SJX Chrono-Felix “Medicus,...
Worn & Wound
Let me take you back to October of 2023. It’s Windup weekend in New York City, and throngs of collectors and enthusiasts have converged on the Altman Building, our old home in Chelsea, to check out new watches from dozens and dozens of brands. That year, I was particularly interested in a new watch from Fears, the Brunswick Aurora, which was unlike anything they’d made up until that point. Yes, it had the familiar Brunswick 40mm case, but the dial was and still is among the most evocative I’ve ever seen. Crafted from multiple pieces of a particularly dynamic mother-of-pearl, I was transfixed and knew that this would be the Fears watch I’d eventually own. I made good on that hunch a few months later, and wrote about my ownership experience in a fairly extensive way. It remains one of my most worn and loved watches. Years later, I can’t help but think of the Aurora as a point where something shifted. I’m sure there were other MOP and stone dials popping up in unexpected ways by that time, but that’s the one that got me, so the memory of that particular moment in watch culture feels very fresh. Since then, we’ve seen a deluge of watches with mother-of-pearl and stone dials that sometimes makes me wonder if we’ve time traveled back to a more groovy era. The saturation of these things in the market, at every conceivable price range, is unlike any trend I’ve witnessed in my years writing about watches professionally. And I’m here to say: we have to make...
Hodinkee
We're taking the show uptown—join us next Monday for the next installment of our Hodinkee Happy Hour series at Vandy Club, an event space located just above the Watches of Switzerland One Vanderbilt showroom. New venue, same vibe. Space will be extremely limited, so be sure to RSVP right away! Our Deputy Editor, Tim Jeffreys, will be there, along with members of the Hodinkee team. Whether you've been to several of our events or this is your first, we'd love to have you! It's a great, casual way to get to know members of the Hodinkee team and the watch community here in New York City. Date:Monday, August 10, 2026, 6-8 PM Location:Vandy Club1 Vanderbilt Avenue, 3rd floorNew York, NY 10017 RSVP Here.Note: Be sure to check your email upon registration for more details about getting into the venue.
Teddy Baldassarre Videos
An authorized retailer of watches from TUDOR, Grand Seiko, OMEGA and more, Teddy Baldassarre is your destination to learn watches and discover your next watch.
Worn & Wound
When it comes to luxury divers in the $10,000-$20,000 range, the usual suspects are big Swiss heritage brands. Rolex, Omega, and Blancpain immediately come to mind, and IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and a host of indies offer sporty watches that are dive adjacent if not divers, strictly speaking, that collectors might consider cross shopping. Glashütte Original is a brand that probably doesn’t get mentioned enough in this category, as they actually offer two dive watches in this price range built on their SeaQ platform that are worthy of consideration. The brand has just introduced new versions of their SeaQ Panorama Date and standard SeaQ in a new “Northern Tide” colorway for the North American market that got me thinking about these watches (frankly, reminding me they exist). I’ve handled both the SeaQ and SeaQ Panorama Date in the past and both watches are very nicely made, but each come with significant tradeoffs that make them tough to commit to, but in different ways. The standard SeaQ is the brand’s stripped down stainless steel diver, measuring 39.5mm in diameter, 12.15mm tall, and 47.2mm from lug to lug. The SeaQ’s case is very nicely executed and gives the feeling of a classic skin diver but with higher end, luxury finishing. The trade off here is really the movement – it runs on GO’s Caliber 39-11, which is a very nicely decorated movement, but has a power reserve of 40 hours, which is low relative to the competition, and is missing the signature Gla...
Deployant
Seiko 5 releases the Seiko 5 Sports in a special collaboration with Honda Motocompo. Limited Edition of 8000 watches in a bright yellow dial.
Fratello
When you’re into watches, you sometimes come across new brands on Instagram that spark your interest. The recently introduced Arche by French watch design studio Laps is a great example of this phenomenon. Somehow, the bold case design and asymmetric dial design caught my eye. However, I do not always reach out to these brands […] Visit The Arche By Laps Bridges The Gap Between Architecture And Watchmaking to read the full article.
Monochrome
The most accessible side of the Japanese manufacturer, the Seiko 5 Sports range is wide, to say the least. Offering everything from classic dive-inspired models to compact field watches, Seiko also uses this platform to be more creative and introduces some rather unexpected collaborations. Think, for instance, Pepsi-styled watches actually made with Pepsi, a pink […]
Fratello
Exactly a month ago, Thomas kicked off a series on the best watches we’ve ever owned. The idea is for each writer to describe his favorite watch, the one that served him most loyally and brought the most joy. Mine comes with a twist: it’s a watch I never technically owned, yet for over a […] Visit The Best Watch I Have Ever Owned: How The Tudor Black Bay Pro Became The Best Watch I Almost Owned to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
Louis Erard has been making collaborative watches for years. In fact, you can pretty easily point to limited edition collaborations as a venture that has sustained the brand over the last several years, and made them newly relevant to a broad spectrum of enthusiasts and collectors. Their collaborations tend to follow a familiar, tried and true format. For the most part, they work with established, often higher end, independent watchmakers, and graft the design signatures of those watchmakers onto various Louis Erard platforms, most often their Regulator. The list of collaborators at this point is extensive, with names like Chaykin, Kudoke, and Vianney Halter contributing to Louis Erard’s ongoing project. Their latest, though, is a little different. The Solstice Collection, a line unveiled last month with Brilliant Earth, represents a new approach, and takes Louis Erard’s name off the dial entirely. Brilliant Earth is a jewelry brand founded in 2005 that has gained traction for their commitment to transparency in the sourcing of their precious metals and stones. Their public face is one focused on sustainability, and are known to use recycled precious metals as well as lab grown diamonds in their engagement rings and other jewelry. The Solstice Collection represents their first watch line. The Solstice Collection consists of two watches, Summer and Winter. They are built on Louis Erard’s La Petite Seconde platform, and feature 39mm stainless steel cases and run on...
Fratello
Chronoswiss unveils two new stone-dial configurations for its Small Second collection — the Small Second Jasper and Serpentine. These two watches mark the first use of natural stone dials in the brand’s Modern Mechanical era. Each limited edition of 50 pieces retains the same 40 × 50 × 11.5mm case introduced in 2025. Along with […] Visit Chronoswiss Recalls Its Rich History Through Two Stone-Dial Small Second Novelties to read the full article.
SJX Watches
As Swiss watchmakers prepare for their summer holidays, episode 48 of the SJX Podcast rounds up some of the best summer-ready watches released in the first half of 2026, spanning nearly every price category. Affordable highlights include colourful and practical options from Kollokium, Baltic, and Seiko, while the higher-priced selections range from Tudor and Hermès to Grand Seiko, Vacheron Constantin, and Laurent Ferrier. At the very top, the Greubel Forsey Balancier 3 faces off against a unique quartet of gem-set Rolex Daytonas. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Fratello
Today, we take a look at a surprising release. While Snoopy has been featured on watches ranging from Timex to Omega, I can’t say that I was expecting the character to arrive on an RGM. However, the small Pennsylvania-based brand now joins the club with a unique take on the Peanuts character. As the company […] Visit Up, Up, And Away With The RGM Model 151 Snoopy Flying Ace to read the full article.
Time+Tide
Papar Watch Co is an exciting, husband-and-wife-led brand from Mexico, and its watches feature some of the boldest, unique details out there
Fratello
On this summery Sunday morning, we dive into a Swatch Group battle. This week, we picked two dive watches from popular Swatch Group brands to determine which you prefer. Daan will back the revamped Khaki Navy Scuba Auto that Hamilton unveiled recently. The brand updated the dial design with new indexes and a wave pattern […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Auto Vs. Mido Ocean Star 200 to read the full article.
WatchRider
In my opinion, panda watches are probably the most beautiful and classic watch designs ever made, which explains why I own around ten of them. In this article, we are looking at two models from Casio that I own: the Edifice EFB-730D-7AV on a stainless steel bracelet, that has a clean silver dial with black subdials, and the Edifice EFB-730L-7AV on a brown leather strap, but with a more vintage off-white dial and orange accents. And to make this even more interesting I will compare them with my Tudor Black Bay Chrono Panda M79360N-0002. In the following sections, I will cover what I like, what I do not like, or rather what I would like to see in future versions, whether these watches feel premium, and two questions you probably have in mind: why I own both and whether I am going to sell them. Panda Design, Case Size and Comfort The panda dial is clearly the main attraction, but what makes these Casio models stand out from the many affordable panda chronographs is the shape of the case. Instead of using the familiar round design seen on watches such as the Tudor Black Bay Chrono, the EFB-730 has a tonneau shape that immediately reminded me of the legendary Zenith El Primero A384. Introduced in 1969, the A384 combined a distinctive tonneau-shaped case (often referred to as a barrel shape) with a white dial, three black chronograph counters and a date window positioned between four and five o’clock. The modern A384 Revival faithfully recreates that design with a 37 mm tonnea...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Casio Duro vs Swatch Sea Wasp: a hands-on comparison of two very different affordable dive watches, from build quality and bezels to price and personality.
Monochrome
Seiko’s Prospex collection is wide… Even by narrowing it down to dive watches only, there’s plenty to choose from, starting with the accessible Samurai and Turtle, followed by the robust 1968 Heritage Diver, up to the high-spec Marinemasters. There’s another one, however, that both carries great historical importance and visual appeal, the Prospex 1965 Heritage […]
Monochrome
We’ve come to know and love Bell & Ross for its unbridled devotion to the world of aviation and its many flight instrument-inspired watches. The recently launched BR-X3 Micro-Rotor, however, which is a less complex spin-off from last year’s BR-X3 Micro-Rotor Tourbillon, goes in an entirely different direction. It’s not tied to flight instruments, nor […]
Deployant
We had our hands on with the new Grand Seiko Evolution 9 watches, and review the SLBG007 Spring Drive U.F.A. Lake Suwqa Moonlit.
Monochrome
Glashütte Original expands its SeaQ collection of dive watches with two limited editions created exclusively for the North American market. Named “Northern Tide”, the limited editions are based on the existing SeaQ and SeaQ Panorama Date, introducing an all-new turquoise dégradé dial. Aside from the new colourway, both models retain the design, movements and specifications […]
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