3,215 articles · 275 videos found · page 25 of 117
Monochrome
With over 170 years of history, you can easily imagine that Tissot has a few, if not many, important models in its portfolio. Next to watches such as the PR516 or the 1973 Chronograph, the brand has one particular watch that’s worth mentioning, the Visodate. First created in 1954, it was, as you can guess […]
WatchAdvice
The Cherry Blossoms are blooming in Japan, so we’re celebrating with our selection of pink dial watches with the TAG Heuer Monaco Pink Skeleton This article was originally published as The New TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Skeleton Hot Pink Review What We Love: The hot pink dial – trust me, it grows on you! The lightness, combined with the rubber strap, makes it super easy to wear The faceted sapphire crystal is unique and adds depth to the watch What We Don’t: The square shape is not my preferred case shape Lack of a screw-down crown on a 100m WR sports watch The watch is on the thicker side and takes a little to get used to Overall Rating: 8.75 / 10 Value for Money: 8.5/10 Wearability: 8.5/10 Design: 9/10 Build Quality: 9/10 TAG Heuer and Formula 1 seem to be inextricably linked, not surprising given the Swiss brand’s history with motorsport all the way back to the 1960s. This link is further solidified with their watches – one carrying the famed sport’s namesake in the TAG Heuer Formula 1, the other with the Monaco, one of the most iconic F1 races, gaining fame thanks to Steve McQueen wearing the piece in his 1971 film, Le Mans. Yes, it wasn’t F1, but a screen legend wearing a sports watch prominently on the wrist in a film about another iconic motorsport event helped to put the Monaco front and centre. While the materials and designs these days a lot more modern, the classic Monaco DNA is still there and instantly recognisable. So it comes as no surpri...
Monochrome
Forget your Defender, sell your G-Wagon, Mercedes-Benz has just presented the “Final Boss” of Go-Anywhere-Do-Anything luxury cars. What you see here is the Mercedes-Benz Unimog Luxury Show Car. Or truck, rather, as it’s the size of a house and if this were to roll up behind you on the highway, you’d better move out of the way. If not, […]
Teddy Baldassarre
Given the rapid, cyclical nature of trends, it seems that the cultural zeitgeist proclaims every few years that “the 90s are so back.” I think the better question is, did the 90s ever really leave? Well, it's a good a time as any to revisit the 1990s watches that defined this seminal decade. Since the recent release of Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story” limited series retelling of Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s relationship is gripping the pop-cultural imagination, it seems that I can’t open my phone without being digitally transported back to the 90s. While I could resist this specific flavor of nostalgia, it feels more fun to dive right in and lean into the latest obsession with the 90s, translating it into the context of watches. The 90s, after all, is quite a quirky and compelling era of watchmaking. Case sizes were getting bigger, marketing was getting flashier, the industry was still righting itself after the quartz shakeup, and designs that still ring relevant today made their initial debuts. So without further ado, let's hop on in the metaphorical time machine to take a journey through the defining watches of the 90s. [toc-section heading="Cartier Tank Française"] Image: Sotheby's Selfishly, I’m going to kick us off with one of my favorite watches that came out of the 90s. Pretty much an immediate hit when it debuted in 1996, the Tank Française is where Cartier’s iconic design adopted a more laidback attitude. A marked shift from the forma...
Fratello
When these two new Fortis Marinemaster M-44 models landed on my desk, I quickly checked when the Marinemaster collection debuted. It stunned me to read that it has already been almost five years since Fortis introduced the Marinemaster series. While the name hints at a line of dive watches, Fortis seems to see it as […] Visit Hands-On With The Fortis Marinemaster M-44 DLC Gravity Black And Black Resin to read the full article.
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Fratello
The guys at Serica take their vintage-inspired designs very seriously. The brand’s watches are all about the perfect proportions, high legibility, and great wearability. Up until now, a date window wasn’t part of that equation. However, as representatives of many brands tell us, some people won’t buy a watch unless it has a date window. […] Visit Serica Introduces The 5330 Dive Chronometer - The Brand’s First Watch To Feature A Date Window to read the full article.
SJX Watches
After its successful indie-focused First Strike auction last October, upstart auctioneer Marteau & Co is back with The Echo, an online-only auction that opens at noon Geneva time on March 12 with a focus on independent watchmaking. Marteau & Co was founded just last year, and one of its cofounders is Arthur Touchot, an industry veteran who spent several years as a journalist followed by a stint at a prominent auction house. Now all-in with Marteau, Mr Touchot brings his insider’s to Marteau, explaining its unique position in the market. The Swiss auctioneer sets itself apart with its intriguing “Maker’s Fee” concept, which rewards the maker of the timepiece with 3% of the hammer price for each watch sold, allowing a brand to benefit from the appreciation of its products. While artists’ resale rights, or droit de suite, is far from a new concept, and has been codified into law in the European Union and United Kingdom, Marteau & Co’s approach is the first instance of its application in watchmaking. Lot 1 – Daniel Roth Chronograph Ref. 2147 When Daniel Roth launched his eponymous brand in 1988, after helping revitalize Breguet, he also created the genre of independent watchmaking we know today, preceding even Franck Muller and F.P. Journe. With his double ellipse case design Roth pioneered the idea of building a brand around a single strong design language, a contrast to the menagerie offered by other high end brands of the time, an approach later followed by ot...
Worn & Wound
Otsuka Lotec has emerged as one of the most exciting Japanese independent brands, a corner of the enthusiast world that is greatly expanding at the moment. Otsuka Lotec has found a niche with (mostly) affordable watches with a steampunk aesthetic, with lots of exposed gearing and an overtly mechanical look and feel. I’m an owner of the No. 5 Kai, and it’s one of the most satisfying watches in my collection – there’s really nothing else quite like it, at least under $10,000. Prior to this week, the latest release from the brand was an ultra high end complicated piece with a tourbillon and chiming mechanism with a retail price soaring into the low six figures, but they’ve returned to earth with the all new No. 8, which once again combines complications unexpectedly and gives the wearer a unique view of the mechanism inside. Like the haute horlogerie adjacent No. 9 linked above, the No. 8 features a square case fashioned from stainless steel. Time is read via a jumping hour display on the left side of the dial, and a retrograde minute display on the right (there is also a running seconds indicator at roughly the 12:00 position). Figuring out how to read the time when you first encounter a watch like this is part of the fun, but once you grasp what’s going on, it’s quite intuitive. The current hour and minute are easy to see at a glance if you look for the red indicators that correspond to each. A video posted on Otsuka Lotec’s YouTube channel makes the drama...
Teddy Baldassarre
When we look back to mid-century watchmaking, some of the industry’s most iconic designs were originally conceived as essential, life-saving instruments. The Rolex Submariner, for example, was originally created for professional divers working in cold, deep waters while breathing compressed air. The Omega Speedmaster was a vital analog calculator for astronauts traveling through the vacuum of space. The Rolex Explorer is another example, forged to survive the brutal, oxygen-deprived ascent of the Himalayas. These tool watches were designed with a clear purpose and were built to endure knocks, scrapes, and harsh conditions without missing a beat. Fast forward to today, and while modern iterations are undeniably better engineered than their vintage ancestors, boasting superior metallurgy and tighter tolerances, their exorbitant price tags have put some collectors off regular, daily use. A modern steel sports watch can easily demand anywhere from $6,000 to well over $15,000 at retail, and that’s assuming you have the willpower to ensure the waitlists to acquire one. And while some collectors are happy to invest that kind of money, others are on the lookout for something more accessible. Enter Traska watches. This psychological friction has spawned a new enthusiast community for the ultimate Everyday Carry (EDC) watch, or the “go-anywhere, do-anything” (GADA) watch. Many collectors today are looking for a watch that slides effortlessly under a tailored cuff during a hi...
Worn & Wound
As Watches & Wonders approaches, I find myself thinking back to last year’s fair and the various high and lowlights from that crop of releases. I’ve commented before about a pretty big highlight of last year’s show being Parmigiani Fleurier’s output, particularly their very strong Toric perpetual calendar. This is one of those watches that I rarely go a week without thinking about, like the woman in the white dress that Bernstein remembers from the ferry in Citizen Kane. Anyway, Parmigiani is always a fun meeting at Watches & Wonders and my expectations are high after last year. In what I imagine will be their last release before the show next month, the brand has just introduced a new pink colorway to the Tonda PF line in 36mm. I’m not sure if we can consider this a preview of things to come (honestly, we probably can’t) but it’s a strong release nonetheless further bolsters the Tonda PF platform as an important player in the integrated bracelet sports watch landscape. The new Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Alta Rosa brings a lighter dial color to the steel version of the 36mm Tonda PF for the first time – previously this watch had been available in blue and two shades of gray. Pink dials of course are often associated with watches targeted toward a female clientele, but hopefully the greater watch collecting community has moved beyond these types of prohibitive norms around gender and watch preferences. This is a really attractive color that can be worn by a...
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Teddy Baldassarre
The Vostok Amphibia has long been recognized by in-the-know enthusiasts as one of the most affordable yet reliable dive watches on the market, as well as one that retains a quirky appeal like no other, owing both to its origins in Soviet Russia as well as its more recent turn as a character-defining prop in a cult-classic Wes Anderson movie. Here’s everything you need to know about the Vostok Amphibia and a brief hands-on review of one of the current models. [toc-section heading="Russia’s Watchmaker: Chistopol Watch Factory"] The backstory of the Vostok Amphibia is one that is winding and complex, and it actually can be traced back not only as far as World War II Russia but even farther, to the Hampden Watch Company of Canton, Ohio. In 1930, the bankrupt Hampden sold its machinery, equipment, and technical designs to the First State Watch Factory, soon to become the First Moscow Watch Factory, founded in Russia (then the Soviet Union) on the order of Joseph Stalin. It was the nation’s first state-owned manufacturer of watches and mechanical movements. With Nazi Germany’s army advancing on Moscow in 1941, the factory was evacuated to Chistopol, a town in Tatarstan on the banks of the Kama River. The renamed Chistopol Watch Factory produced not only watches and movements but also equipment for the Soviet military, both during the war and in the decades afterwards. Chistopol Watch Factory became the official watch supplier of the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1965 and...
Time+Tide
We chat with the Aussie tennis star about his bona fide passion for watchmaking, as well as whether he's ever broken a watch playing tennis.The post Australia’s very own tennis Maestro, Alex de Minaur, on falling in love with watches and designing his ideal daily appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
The Audemars Piguet (AP) Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked 39 mm is an appealing new variant of a watch that’s already in short supply, famous as much for its scarcity as its octagonal bezel. Seen previously in white gold, the Jumbo Openworked returns at the top of its class with a case made from lightweight titanium and palladium bulk metallic glass (BMG), a material that gives the bezel its almost ethereal mirror finish. The Jumbo Openworked is not a limited edition, but its undeniable appeal will make it hard to come by, even by Royal Oak standards. Ideal configuration The Royal Oak is one of the most sought-after watches in the industry, and one of the few collections that consistently trades at a premium to retail, according to WatchCharts. With its iconic Genta design, slim form factor, and high-end calibre, it’s easy to see why. That said, some configurations are more appealing than others, and this titanium and palladium version of the Jumbo Openworked ranks highly in the Royal Oak pantheon. It’s worth exploring why it works. Starting with the sizing. In 1972, the Royal Oak was broad and flat by industry standards, but the “Jumbo” moniker now feels misleading for a 39 mm watch. Ironically, the “Extra-Thin” designation also feels misleading for the opposite reason - 8.1 mm is plenty thin, but there are now so many thinner watches that the terminology feels out of date. Setting aside AP’s historical naming conventions, the Jumbo Openworked...
Fratello
While Hanhart is known for its historically inspired pilot’s chronographs, today’s latest model takes its cues from a very different form of motor-powered conveyance. The 417 Ti Desert Pilot Limited Edition is rooted in desert rally racing. As we’ll see, though, this isn’t just a dial color variation. Plus, the watch is available in two […] Visit Introducing: The Hanhart 417 Ti Desert Pilot Limited Editions to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
The Seiko SNA411 has been an icon of the watch industry for years. Frequently appearing on “Best Affordable Watches” lists, it’s no wonder Seiko’s other two variants would eventually catch the eye of collectors as well. The SN413 is far and away the most sought-after variant of the Flightmaster formula, but what about the often overlooked SNA414? I’ll be the first to admit that gold-tone watches are typically not in habitual rotation within my collection––aside from a few special pieces––but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot to enjoy about this model. What makes the SNA414 a good candidate for your next acquisition? Let’s find out. The SNA414 History and Design Nailing down a definite release date for the SNA414 is difficult, but according to numerous blogs, press releases, and wristwatch websites, it appears this variant began production sometime between late 2007 and early 2008. I’m unsure whether all three variants of the lineup were released at the same time, but from sources consulted online, it appears they were at least announced and brought to market around the same time. I must note that the name “Flightmaster” may confuse a few collectors out there who may have seen another model of Seiko’s catalog nicknamed with the same moniker. In the 1990s, the first iteration of the Flightmaster was released with the 7T34 movement. The -6A09 variant is technically the first gold Flightmaster the brand produced, making the subject of this art...
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Worn & Wound
Once again, here I am late to the party as our own Zach Kazan blows my mind with another brand specializing in artistic dials featuring my favorite métiers d’art craft: enameling. You may recall when he first covered the partnership between De Rijke & Co. and the illustrator Guy Allen two years ago. Now the duo is back with another trio of driver’s watches spanning on the previous Amalfi theme, this time with a stronger focus on the automotive angle. While the Dutch watchmaker and the British artist have been teaming up for nearly a decade, the pair took their work to the next level in 2024 by collaborating on their first set of watches, establishing the Amalfi special editions. The initial set of three watches focused on the themes of air, land, and sea with distinct designs and color palettes reflecting each element. Thanks to champlevé enamel, the illustrations come to life with texture and depth. For the uninitiated, the specific technique of champlevé enamel (French for “raised field”) is similar to cloisonné. However, instead of raised sections to hold enamel, reservoirs to hold the material are created by carving directly into the metal base. The newest trio builds on these designs, but now takes the automotive theme more literally on both the enamel dial and the engraved caseback. The names of the models draw from three regions, the Amazon, Sahara, and Turini, and each gets a corresponding vehicle you might drive there. For the Amazon, you get the Landr...
Teddy Baldassarre
When surveying the horological landscape, most roads lead back to Switzerland, Germany, or Japan. But there is a burgeoning watchmaking scene emerging in India of all places and it certainly deserves our attention. Here we are going to adjust our loupe to the vibrant, burgeoning powerhouse that is Indian horology, specifically the microbrand Bangalore Watch Company. When you survey the broader horological landscape today, microbrands have become the absolute frontier of enthusiast watchmaking. These small independents are giving collectors access to serious mechanical specifications and originality without the traditional luxury markups. India is finally translating its massive cultural and technological footprint into this segment of watch collecting, and Bangalore Watch Company appears to be at the forefront of this transition. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into what makes these watches so unique and what you need to know before you add one to your collection. [toc-section heading="Filling the Void After HMT"] To truly understand what you’re getting with Bangalore Watch Company, you have to understand the massive void it stepped into. For decades, the Indian watch market had been dominated by state-run enterprise Hindustan Machine Tools, better known as HMT (the undisputed king of South Asian watchmaking during the 1960s and 80s). Estimates suggest that HMT’s lifetime production exceeded a staggering one hundred million timepieces, generating an appetite ...
Worn & Wound
Despite frequently being (in my opinion, falsely) labeled as a boring, neutral color, beige has been making a splash across the watch world recently. When paired with the right auxiliary colors, beige can appear adventurous, rugged, and even classy, in the right circumstances. Perhaps I’m biased, as my 1983 Volvo 240 DL sports a handsome Rose Beige exterior, but it really is one of the most versatile colors, especially when paired with the right contrasting shades. One of beige’s best applications is in vintage-inspired timepieces, and Hanhart has jumped on the retro field watch trend with their latest, the 417 TI Desert Pilot Limited Edition, available in 39 and 42mm case sizes. Hanhart has long been known for their military-style sport watches, and across the German brand’s 144-year history, they’ve had no shortage of classically-styled pilot watch variants. The 417 TI Desert Pilot combines sharp legibility thanks to black details on the beige dial, with robust functionality and case construction. Both sizes sport a Grade 5 titanium case with a matte finish, giving the watch a rugged, utilitarian look; this is furthered by the crown at 3 o’clock, flanked by two pushers that control the dual chronographs on the dial, positioned at 3 and 9 respectively. The hand-wound, Sellita-based AMT 5100 caliber movement is responsible for the flyback column-wheel chronograph functionality, and is visible through an exhibition caseback, which feels unusual but not unwelcome...
Monochrome
Founded in 1882 in Switzerland before relocating to Germany in 1902, Hanhart gained fame as a producer of stopwatches in the early 1920s, followed by Flieger chronographs for pilots in the late 1930s. The Hanhart 417 was introduced in the 1950s as a pilot’s chronograph for the German armed forces and re-edited in 2020. While the […]
Teddy Baldassarre
You’ve heard of Seiko. By now, you’ve heard of Grand Seiko. But Credor, for many enthusiasts outside of Japan, remains mostly a mystery, despite its connection to both. But for those who are aware of Credor, it represents a Holy Grail of high-horological craftsmanship worthy of its venerated designation as “Japan’s Patek Philippe,” and perhaps no single timepiece represents its signature balance of technical complexity and sublime simplicity of design than the Credor Eichi II. [toc-section heading="Credor History"] The legend of Credor began in 1974, when it was launched as a luxury offshoot of parent brand Seiko, initially to produce exclusively precious-metal watches. The name, which became official in the 1980s, is a Japanified version of the French phrase "Crêt D'or," which translates as “pinnacle of gold.” This lofty claim is visualized in the now-iconic triple-peaked logo capped by three stars. Throughout the ‘90s, Credor watches (like Grand Seiko watches, before that sub-brand’s emergence as a separate, independent brand in 2017), were co-branded, with both the Credor and Seiko logos on their dials. Also like Grand Seiko (the first of which was made way back in 1960), Credor products were sold only exclusively in Japan. In the early 2000s, well ahead of Grand Seiko’s more famous coming-out party, Credor became a standalone brand, hosting all of the Japanese watchmaking giant’s forays into haute horlogerie as well as some very impressive hi...
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Monochrome
Spring is in the air, and French brand March LA.B celebrates its favourite month with a limited edition of its flagship AM2 watch collection. Founded in 2009 by three friends, united by a passion for surfing and retro design, the LA.B part of the brand’s name does not refer to a laboratory but to the […]
SJX Watches
The dinner in Basel had reached the stage where the porcelain was being cleared, but the tension at the table remained heavier than the silverware. Dr Eugen Gschwind, a man who wore his erudition as comfortably as his tailored suits, watched his guest with the predator’s patience that had defined his four decades of collecting. Across from him sat George Daniels, the English horologist and watchmaker who had single-handedly dragged the concept of the handmade watch out of the grave of history. Daniels was brilliant, notoriously opinionated, and, according to some, firmly convinced that he was the spiritual reincarnation of Abraham-Louis Breguet. François-Paul Journe´s 3/84 pocketwatch, Dr Gscwind´s first commission. Image SJX composite – F.P. Journe Gschwind liked Daniels. He championed the Englishman’s genius, yet remained too dogmatic to ever buy his work. He had famously toasted Daniels at a society dinner as the ‘greatest living watchmaker,’ only to follow it with the dry, smiling addendum: ‘But only the second-best watchmaker who ever lived.’ Tonight, however, was not about jests. It was the culmination of a long-simmering technical argument. For years, Gschwind had chided Daniels about his reliance on the 15-second remontoir d’égalité. To Daniels, this mechanism, which rewound a secondary spring every quarter-minute to smooth out the torque of the mainspring, was the ultimate solution to the problem of isochronism. Gschwind viewed it was a compro...
Monochrome
With the Royale Paris, Pequignet started to reshape its identity as one of the rare true French watch manufactures. Following the recent redesign of the collection and the introduction of a more contemporary 39.5mm case, the brand now adds a fresh new variant: the Royale Paris Icy Blue. The case is unchanged from the latest […]
Teddy Baldassarre
Despite being one of the quirkiest watches in the Seiko catalog, the Seiko Alpinist SPB121 is one of the brand's best-selling watches; in fact, it was the single best-selling Seiko watch we saw during the holidays. As much as its strange attributes, when compiled as a list of features, sound like it could never work in
SJX Watches
The Expérimentale 1 debuted last year as the capstone to the first quarter-millennium of the house of Breguet. We attended the launch event and shared immediate hands-on impressions, but watches like this don’t come along every day, or even every year, so it’s worth a fresh look now that some time has passed and the dust has settled. On paper, the Expérimentale 1 arguably represents the highest form of the mechanical watch. To understand the technical details of what makes the watch so groundbreaking, this in-depth analysis should be considered required reading. In short, the cal. 7250 housed within introduces the first-ever contactless mechanical escapement that simultaneously achieves two feats that Abraham-Louis Breguet himself toiled to accomplish throughout his entire career, namely, an oil-free escapement and stable amplitude. The Expérimentale 1 delivers both, and more. That said, as a wristwatch the Expérimentale 1 is tantalisingly imperfect owing to its polarising design. In fairness, this arguably says more about the difficultly of communicating technical breakthroughs to a non-technical public than it does about the design process at Breguet. It could also be the result of Breguet learning lessons from its own past. A modern (Marine) chronometer The Expérimentale 1 is most notable for its novel escapement and what it signals about the future direction of the brand, but it’s also worth analysing the updated Marine-style case, which is the most challeng...
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