661 articles · 1 video found · page 3 of 23
Hodinkee
When George Draeb ordered a private label pocket watch with his name on it in 1913, I doubt he thought it would be George Draeb fixing it in 2024.
Revolution
Hodinkee
He has a following of over 25 million, and a watch collection to match.
Worn & Wound
This week marks the unofficial (but also kind of official) beginning of a busy season of new watch releases with LVMH Watch Week. In recent years, LVMH Watch Week has served as an initial showcase for new novelties from the big brands that fall under the LVMH umbrella, and sets the stage for a period that culminates with Watches & Wonders in April. The timeline is a holdover from an era when trade shows were truly trade shows and watch brands would lock in their sales to worldwide dealer networks for the year. These days, that still happens, but it’s also full of very public launches and an all out media blitz by the brands. If the past is any indication, we’re likely to see splashy new release announcements from brands in the other big luxury groups as well as many independents in the coming months, but it kicks off with LVMH, and specifically Zenith, today. Zenith’s big new LVMH Watch Week announcement this year is the return of the El Primero Triple Calendar, a favorite reference among collectors going back decades for its mix of sportiness and old-school refinement. The triple calendar has faded in popularity as a complication over the course of time, largely due to movement availability, but also simply thanks to a trend toward cleaner and less complicated designs. But the El Primero execution of the triple calendar has always been particularly well balanced in the way it conserves dial space and makes use of the chronograph subdials to draw the eye where it n...
Monochrome
In 2001, Mr Pascal Raffy bought the Bovet watch brand, and ever since, he has been carefully building the brand with a strong focus on Haute Horlogerie and doing as much as possible “in-house”. The vertical integration at Bovet 1822, which is the brand’s full name, is pretty impressive, and the number of in-house-made parts […]
Worn & Wound
It is perhaps a reflection of all the good work Zenith has done over the last few years that a new variant of the Chronomaster Original can arrive and it feels like a watch that has simply existed for years. The El Primero 3600 powered line of vintage influenced chronographs feel timeless in a way that only a small handful of watches can – those few that have been around for decades and gone through only incremental changes. Under the hood, the Chronomaster Original is about as tech forward as you can get when it comes to mass market chronos from a heritage Swiss brand, with its impressive 1/10th second counter. But the dial, on this new version, does the neat trick of creating something brand new to the line that seems both obvious and every bit as classic as the “original” Original. When we think of the Chronomaster Original, it’s the tri-colored subdial arrangement that immediately comes to mind for most. That is the design characteristic of the dial that feels most essential. You could be forgiven for asking yourself the question: did this ever come in black? The answer, until now (and for this case size) was “no,” but here Zenith has unveiled a new Chronomaster Original that substitutes the cream white backdrop of the earlier version of the watch for a simple black. White and black as options are so ubiquitous in this segment that it’s genuinely surprising this watch was only just introduced as a secondary option. Zenith, of course, already makes this ...
Worn & Wound
Seiko introduced a new caliber back in March via their Prospex GMT Diver collection, adding caller GMT functionality into the brand’s well understood contemporary dive watch platform. Those watches have generated quite a bit of chatter in the watch community, with many singing their praises with respect to overall fit, finish, and wearability, and others wishing for a more functional flyer GMT complication. While the dust might still be settling, Seiko marches on, with the latest crop of watches to feature their still new 6R54 GMT movement. This time, Seiko brings the movement to the Alpinist family, which seems like a natural place for a GMT equipped watch to land. It takes what has always been cast as an explorer’s watch (with its signature compass bezel) and gives it a modern, practical, mechanical complication for a different kind of exploration. I’ve always been a pretty big fan of the Alpinist for many of the reasons Blake identifies in his Missed Review. There’s something charmingly anachronistic about wearing a watch designed with such an old fashioned aesthetic (those cathedral hands, especially) but built to modern sports watch standards. With a GMT complication added, the Alpinist retains a lot (maybe all) of that old fashioned charm, just slightly tweaked. The Explorer-style steel 24 hour bezel gives these watches a clean and sporty look, and we still get the trademark handset and those big numerals (just at the cardinal positions here, rather than ev...
Revolution
Worn & Wound
If you’ve been interested in Farer’s Lander GMT (which they tell us is their most popular watch…ever) but felt it was just a bit too big, you’ll want to check out the brand’s latest release. The new 36mm GMT collection takes the Lander aesthetic and shrinks it, making for some of the most compact automatic GMTs on the market. It was only a few months ago that the Lorca GMT had us wondering why there weren’t more smaller GMT equipped watches on the market, and now we have a sudden influx. It’s a good time to be a GMT fan, and now there are a selection of colorful options from across the pond. The premise here is fairly simple. These new watches share the same basic design as the Lander, with a trio of distinct colorways. Unlike most Farer releases, which frequently have dramatic differences in hand-sets, hour markers, and dial textures within a single collection, these three watches are all very much “Landers” with the same numeral and hand design. The three colors include the much admired sea green, seen in what Farer is calling the Lander IV, or the Lander Classic, This watch has the same sunburst blue/green color that caught the attention of many watch enthusiasts in Farer’s early days, and set a tone for what to expect in terms of creative color combinations. The sea green dial is offset with a bright red GMT hand and an orange seconds hand, along with a white outer minute track. The next color in the new collection is Sea Coast, with a dial th...
Hodinkee
It had a starring role in Alien and on my great-grandpa's wrist.
Hodinkee
A time-honored tradition returns for another year.
SJX Watches
With 2022 revenue of S$716.9 million (equivalent to US$532 million), Cortina Watch is one of the world’s biggest watch retailers. It was founded in 1972 as a single store but has grown into a regional giant with stores across Southeast Asia as well as outposts in Taiwan and Australia. Cortina marked its 50th anniversary this year with a slew of limited editions that reflect its importance, including the Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 5057 made specifically for it. Though publicly listed, the company remains controlled by the founding Lim family, with the third generation having recently joined the business. A crucial member of management is Jeremy Lim, the younger son of Cortina founder Anthony Lim. Jeremy helms the business alongside his siblings Raymond and Sharon. I spoke with Jeremy recently to uncover the factors behind the longevity and success of Cortina. Three generations of the Lim family, with Jeremy Lim second from left. Image – Cortina Watch SJX: When Cortina was founded 50 years ago by your father, it was one of many watch stores in Singapore. But now Cortina is one of the few left, in fact it’s one of the biggest in the region. What is the secret to the longevity and success? Jeremy Lim (JL): We were lucky that we had a lot of help from the family when my dad started the business with my mom. [My brother] Raymond started early in the business, then my sister got interested in the business as well, and subsequently I was reeled in. The old school method o...
Hodinkee
And my mom's Rolex Yacht-Master started it all.
Hodinkee
Six dive watches that are sweet as pecan pie.
Hodinkee
Oren Hartov, watch writer and fourth-generation veteran, has a question. Can a solid-gold dress watch also be a military watch?
Hodinkee
In which we say goodbye to the numerals on the dial, and hello to a new movement (and longer power reserve) from the design-focused, Paris-based watchmaker.
Hodinkee
And utters the name of a rare Patek in our watch-related movie of the week.
Hodinkee
This marks the beginning of a brand new partnership
SJX Watches
This is the story of a man, my great grandfather Dominik “Dinko” Bakuk Kovacevic, his Waltham pocket watch, and the legacy of the American watch industry. Though he died before I was born, Dinko is a significant figure in my life because I was given my middle name, Dominic, in his honor. Dinko was born in 1875 in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar on the Dalmation coast of what is now Croatia, but was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a young man, Dinko joined the short-lived Austro-Hungarian Navy and quickly rose through the ranks to become an officer. My great grandparents, Dominik and Aloisia Kovacevic, on their wedding day in 1908 Following his military service, at the age of 27, he set sail from the French port of Le Havre for New York City, aboard the SS La Lorraine. He arrived on Ellis Island in New York Harbor on August 16, 1902. He was joined by his fiancee Aloisia six years later, and they were married a few days after her arrival in the US in 1908. The SS La Lorraine, the ship that brought Dinko to the United States in 1902. Image – Library of Congress After his arrival in the US, Dinko moved west, like many entrepreneurial immigrants of his generation. By 1920, he was the proprietor of a grocery store in Tonopah, Nevada, before eventually settling near Berkeley, California where my mother’s family still lives. Dinko passed away in 1953, by which time he was affectionately known within the family as “Grandpa Old Man.” My great grandmother, ...
Hodinkee
The year on our wrists.
Hodinkee
It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Hodinkee
For Patek, history isn't just something you remember – it's something you make.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
"To my beloved Janet, I wish to honor our original agreement of ‘until death do we part’-and so I’ll be parting you with my Newman in tow..."
Hodinkee
Five video stories from HODINKEE readers.
Hodinkee
Five video stories from HODINKEE readers.
Deployant
At BaselWorld this year, Glashütte Original presents sophisticated masterpieces of the German art of engineering. Innovation and tradition, reliability and timeless aesthetics are again the core themes of this year’s new products of the Saxon manufactory.
Revolution
Revolution
Baume & Mercier CEO Alain Zimmermann speaks to us on the new pieces from the Clifton Collection at SIHH 2014 where we see extensions to the very well received line launched last year. Among the highlights, a Flying Tourbillon, Chronograph, Retrograde Date and new Ladies watches. Interviewed by Wei Koh. Read Revolution International Digital […]
Revolution
One of the advantages of the SIHH is of course that you see all you’d expect in terms of wonderful new watches. Some of the greatest pleasures, though, are the unexpected ones. During a walk through the Audemars Piguet booth I was captivated by a fantastic display of complicated pocket watches, and noticed a tall, […]
Hodinkee
Quincy Jones was an absolute king. He was a towering figure in the music industry, leaving an indelible stamp on popular culture through his producing, arranging, and film score work. From early collaborations with Count Basie, Ray Charles, and Frank Sinatra to producing one of the top-selling albums of all time (Thriller by Michael Jackson), not to mention We Are The World, he made the soundtrack for many of our lives. During a well-lived lifetime spanning 91 years, he was rewarded with accolades, including the entertainment industry grand slam 'EGOT' (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards). There were also plenty of watches and jewelry gifted and collected during his epic life and career. Now some of Quincy Jones' unique pieces are heading to auction at Christie's in Geneva this month. We got a sneak preview of some of the catalog, including these three pieces, that the family has consigned. A couple of them were gifts from notable celebrities to Jones. They all give a sense of some of the objects worn and cherished by one of the most important figures in entertainment history. Girard-Perregaux World Time Control Shadow 'Quincy Jones' Sized at 43mm in diameter with both a flyback chronograph and a worldtime complication, this Girard-Perregaux, dated from 2011, has a lot going on. The beefy case features a smooth black ceramic exterior, a titanium caseback, and an interior housing, in a size and style that's very representative of the era for the Swiss brand. The watch...
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.