1,573 articles · 652 videos found · page 37 of 75
Monochrome
Ben Küffer hit the ground running with the launch of his start-up watch brand Norqain in 2018. Thanks to a good network of family and friends associated with the watch industry, Ben counted on the support of his father, Marc Küffer, who owned and managed a prominent Swiss private label manufacturer, Ted Schneider, a member […]
SJX Watches
Having explored the origins of the Ulysse Nardin Freak, from its concept by Carole Forestier Kasapi to its realisation by Dr Ludwig Oechslin, we now turn to the Freak’s more recent innovations, starting with the Dual Ulysse Escapement. [This story explains the evolution of the unique, high-performance escapement of the Freak. Part I, covers the origins of the Freak, from its conception to realisation, as well as its distinguishing characteristics, namely the inventive movement construction and innovative escapement. Part III details the history of silicium, the proprietary Ulysse Nardin silicium hairspring, and the patented Grinder rotor.] A new and improved version of the Dual Direct escapement in the original 2001 Freak, the Dual Ulysse made its debut in 2005 inside the Freak 28’000 V/H, colloquially known as the Freak 2. Slightly larger than the original model but otherwise very similar, the Freak 2 operated at 28,000 beats per hour (4 Hz), a higher frequency than the 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz) of the original Freak. One of the factors which made possible the increase in frequency was the revised escapement christened the Dual Ulysse Escapement. A diagram showing the key parts of the Dual Ulysse Escapement. Image – Ulysse Nardin The Dual Ulysse Escapement Another creation of Dr Oechslin’s, the Dual Ulysse departs from the classical natural escapement à la Breguet that the original Dual Direct Escapement was based on, but it still bears some resemblance to its...
Worn & Wound
With 140 years of history, there have been countless milestones for Breitling. One that comes to mind happened on March 21, 1999. It was on that day that an air balloon, called the Breitling Orbiter 3, landed in the Egyptian desert, making Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones the first two men to circumnavigate the globe during this mode of transportation. It’s this tenacity and adventurous spirit which has been imbued in the Swiss brand since 1884 – and there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down. In fact, Breitling’s latest watch, the Aerospace B70 Orbiter 25th Anniversary Edition is a watch to honor Piccard and Jones’ legacy, while hoping to inspire a new generation of adventurers – or those of us who are adventurers at heart. Each watch contains a segment of the original Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon, visible through the transparent caseback. Adorned with the Breitling Orbiter 3 mission logo and the inscription “First non-stop flight around the world 25th anniversary,” this watch serves as a tangible reminder of humanity’s boundless spirit of exploration. The color scheme of the dial matches that of the Breitling Orbiter 3’s capsule, coming in a bright orange that will catch people’s eyes and surely become a conversation starter. The orange dial is complemented by a 43mm titanium case and a choice of a matching bracelet or black rubber strap. The dial itself features the Breitling Orbiter 3 mission logo at 3 o’clock and the numerals, indices, and hand...
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...
Monochrome
When Bernhard Lederer debuts his Central Impulse Chronometer in 2020, it didn’t go unnoticed. Here we had an esteemed independent watchmaker launching a watch with a double escapement inspired by George Daniels’ Independent Double Wheel Escapement pocket watch. Not only did Lederer use it as inspiration, but he also aimed to smooth out its driving force […]
Video
Teddy Baldassarre
The TAG Heuer Carrera is widely regarded as one of the OGs of racing-inspired chronograph wristwatches, and today - decades after both the model and the deadly road race that gave it its name appeared to have been permanently discontinued - it claims a spot atop the leaderboard in the Swiss watchmaker's modern collection. Here's how the Carrera raced to worldwide acclaim, upgraded its engines along the way, and roared back from the Quartz Crisis to engage and energize a new generation of watch enthusiasts. The company we now know as TAG Heuer traces its history to 1860 and its founder Edouard Heuer; “TAG” would be added to the family business’s name in 1985, when the Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) Group obtained a majority share. From its beginnings, the company placed an emphasis on sports timing and on optimizing the precision of the hand-held and dashboard-mounted chronograph timepieces that were its specialty. Edouard Heuer’s most significant contribution to timekeeping was the oscillating pinion, patented in 1887. This device, which simplified the construction of chronograph calibers by decoupling the stopwatch mechanism from the timekeeping function, is still used commonly in movements today. In 1911, Heuer developed what is regarded as the first dashboard chronograph for cars and aircraft, the “Time of Trip,” and in 1914 released its first wrist-mounted chronograph (which, like many of its contemporaries, was a repurposed pocket watch with its sin...
Worn & Wound
Swiss brand Maurice Lacroix, in collaboration with Label Noir, unveils the latest iteration of its Masterpiece Skeleton, the Masterpiece Skeleton Label Noir. While many in the industry may be getting collab fatigue, it’s hard to deny that this new release isn’t the perfect example of a partnership done right: each party leaning on the other’s strength to make something truly impressive. Building upon the success of their previous collaboration on the AIKON model in 2020, Maurice Lacroix and Label Noir join forces again to recreate the magic that was this original release. The Masterpiece Skeleton Label Noir pushes the boundaries of design even further for Maurice Lacroix, showcasing that a well-crafted timepiece can, at times, venture outside the box to make something that expands the brand’s identity in new ways. With the Masterpiece Skeleton, Maurice Lacroix pays homage to skeleton watches while embracing modern technology. In particular, the Masterpiece Skeleton uses both CNC and CAD technology to bring a level of minute detail to their eye-catching design. In doing so, Maurice Lacroix’s artisans have produced a product in which every detail of the movement is both precise and reliable, while still maintaining its captivating filigreed appearance. The mechanical movement of the Masterpiece Skeleton is the Manufacture ML134 caliber, adorned with Grand Colimaçon, sand-blasted finishing and bridges with polished edges. As with all Maurice Lacroix watches, ...
Fratello
Some 25 kilometers north of Geneva, on the shore of the city’s eponymous lake, lies the town of Nyon. This is the place that Renaud Tixier, the latest Swiss independent watch brand launching today, calls its home. It’s the latest collaborative effort between Dominique Renaud - the renowned watchmaker and co-founder of Renaud & Papi […] Visit Reinventing The Micro-Rotor: Renaud Tixier Makes A Mechanically Innovative Debut to read the full article.
Monochrome
A veteran of the Swiss industry, Dominique Renaud joins forces with a young independent watchmaker, Julien Tixier. They aim to revisit fundamental principles of mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanics introducing innovative solutions. The first opus of this newly created brand Renaud Tixier reimagines a classic of fine watchmaking, the micro-rotor, with an auxiliary mechanism to enhance […]
Fratello
Swiss brand Genus is known for the quirky extravagance of the GNS1. It won the GPHG award for Mechanical Exception in 2019 and spawned some delightful variations. We also know the challenges of the “second album” for any hot new artist, as well as for wristwear. By introducing the Genus GNS2, I feel the brand […] Visit Introducing: The Genus GNS2 - Radical Chic With A Blue Twist to read the full article.
Video
Monochrome
Five months in as CEO of one of the most luxurious watch brands, Audemars Piguet, Mrs Ilaria Resta offers her view on the current market and how she sees the future of the esteemed Le Brassus-based Maison. Dressed in a green suit with a 38mm purple dial Code 11:59 on the wrist, Italian-Swiss Ilaria Resta […]
Hodinkee
Talking Laurent Ferrier, the Morgan Stanley report on the Swiss watch industry, new releases from AP and Omega, and more.
Monochrome
The pandemic has opened the door to countless opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Thomas Fleming, an avid American watch collector, saw his dream of starting his own independent watch brand take shape during this time. To make this project a reality, Fleming brought together an impressive cast of Swiss partners, including renowned independent watchmaker Jean-François Mojon […]
Worn & Wound
Of all the countries with prominent watchmaking industries, it’s possible that Japan’s is least understood. There’s a mythology around Swiss, German, and even American watchmaking that transcends any particular brand, but for many “Japanese watchmaking” is akin to saying “Seiko” or “G-SHOCK.” It’s unfair, for sure, as there are many interesting brands in the independent space making a name for themselves in Japan, and while it can be argued that Japanese brands share a certain sensibility when it comes to craftsmanship and quality, the aesthetc and design range is incredibly wide. Minase is one of my favorite examples of a brand that really illustrates this concept, as there’s a huge range within their own catalog, and they very much do their own thing while adhering to certain Japanese design and craft principles. Compare their execution of urushi lacquered dials to Seiko and you’ll begin to get the idea. Their newest release, the limited edition Horizon GEN DLC. The Horizon is a classic Minase case shape with an elongated, rectangular profile. The design is inspired by the horizon line stretching over the sea, which you really pick up in the subtle curves of the midcase. Like all Minase cases, however, this one is deceptively complex, with plenty of facets and other flourishes that make it visually interesting and appealing from every angle. The curve of the crystal, for instance, follows the curve of the case, and the case and bracelet appear on ...
Quill & Pad
As we all know quartz became a Greek tragedy, but fortunately one with an eventual happy end for most brands. Well, happy for the Swiss brands but not so much for the American brands, in particular Bulova. Martin Green thinks heat may have played a role here and may well again with the technology showcased by the new Matrix PowerWatch.
Video
SJX Watches
Girard-Perregaux (GP) is dressing up its entry-level “bridge” model with meteorite panels that flank the visible barrel and going train. The Girard-Perregaux Free Bridge Meteorite retains the model’s 44 mm steel case with a domed crystal and ergonomic lugs, with the centrepiece being the free-sprung balance wheel and escapement in silicon. Initial Thoughts GP’s flagship complication, historically speaking, was the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges. The Free Bridge is an abbreviated, affordable take on the Three Bridge concept. Although the Free Bridge is a simple watch – it’s a two-hand timepiece indicating just hours and minutes – it has been executed fairly elaborately in terms of the movement. In that sense, the Free Bridge is similar to the Ulysse Nardin Freak X, which is not surprising since the two are sister companies. However, past versions of the Free Bridge were fairly plain in terms of design. The Free Bridge Meteorite is a bit more stylish in terms of aesthetics thanks to the meteorite panels that frame the open-worked movement. The silvery-grey tone of the meteorite is a good match for the black and grey palette of the watch. At CHF24,600, the Free Bridge Meteorite isn’t too expensive, though it isn’t the same sort of value proposition that the Freak X is. Though the two watches are similar thematically, the Freak X has a more complex movement but only costs about 10% more. The Free Bridge Meteorite would have been a similar value propositio...
SJX Watches
Every mechanical watch employs at least one mainspring barrel as its energy source. When a watch is wound, the coils of the mainspring tighten, storing potential energy which is then slowly released through the gear train to the escapement. The mainspring is enclosed in a toothed barrel, essentially a drum covered by gear teeth. As a result the barrel is often considered to be the first wheel of the going train. Although one is the norm, two or even more barrels can be employed, typically to generate more energy. Double barrel movements usually feature two mainsprings kinematically linked in one of two ways: in parallel or in series. The number of mainsprings, energy stored, and power reserve are illustrated with equations (1), (2), and (3): As described by equation (1), the energy of a single barrel E is a function of its torque, angular discharge velocity and running time (autonomy). Linking two identical barrels naturally means having twice the energy, so 2E. By convenient association, equation (2) exploits the available energy to double the torque sent to the gear train, while equation (3) takes advantage of the total energy by doubling the running time. Parallel barrels The parallel arrangement of barrels embodies equation (2), which delivers twice the torque, increasing the energy available to run the movement (but not increasing the running time). Here two barrels unwind at the same time on a centre pinion connected to a second mobile of the going train. An embo...
Teddy Baldassarre
Louis Erard is one of those Swiss watch brands that may have registered on your radar only recently - earning both enthusiast buzz and critical acclaim in the past few years thanks to its very high-profile partnerships with indie watchmakers whose own timepieces might otherwise be unattainable. How did Louis Erard, which actually traces its origins all the way back to the Great Depression, manage to finally find its niche in the 21st Century? Family Foundations Born in 1893 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a historical hub of Swiss watchmaking, Louis Erard discovered his horological vocation early. In the early 1900s, he began plying his trade as a watchmaker for several of the town’s workshops, and in 1929 founded a watchmaking school where he served as instructor. At the same time, Erard started a watchmaking business with a partner named André Perret, originally as an “assembler” of complete timepieces for third parties using parts supplied by independent artisans. By 1931, the partnership was dissolved and Erard became a producer of watches under his own eponymous brand name. The company grew in the following decades, with Erard’s two sons, René and Jean-Louis, joining in 1945. Among the company’s milestones during this early period was helping to develop the now-legendary Valjoux 72 chronograph caliber. In 1956, Louis Erard, which still used third-party movements in its own watches, advanced to the next stage of horological prestige, starting production of it...
Time+Tide
The landmark shopping street gets a little more whimsical, courtesy of the Swiss giantsThe post Swatch opens the biggest Australian store on Melbourne’s Collins Street appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
This elevated take on the Overseas is the first retrograde display in a sports watch for this storied Swiss brand.The post The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Moon Phase Retrograde Date blends old-school complications with new-school sports watch vibes appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Video
SJX Watches
As we approach the leap day of February 29, the unofficial day of commemoration for perpetual calendar owners, it’s worth considering the technical advances in perpetual calendar movements of the past 20 years. The perpetual calendar is, and has always been, a staple of haute horlogerie. But for most of its history, the technology remained largely stagnant. It wasn’t until the beginning of the modern era, in the 1980s when Swiss watchmaking was regrouping after the Quartz Crisis, that a new generation of watchmakers revisited this complication in earnest. In particular, they sought to address fundamental weaknesses in the way traditional perpetual calendar designs switch from one date to the next. The quintessential perpetual calendar layout, here in the first serially-produced perpetual calendar wristwatch with a leap year indicator, the Audemars Piguet ref. 5516, which was produced in the late 1950s One of the more recent – and most notable – efforts at reimagining the complication came from Stephen McDonnell, who developed the MB&F; Legacy Machine Perpetual. According to Mr McDonnell, the traditional approach to the perpetual calendar was a flawed premise. “For decades in the Swiss watch industry, and even until the present day, it has been accepted and expected that [perpetual calendar] watches would often be damaged by owners while trying to correct them,” explains Mr McDonnell, “This was seen simply as an unavoidable factor of [perpetual calendar] owner...
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
Last year, we introduced the Ace Jewelers x Elka Watch Co Diversity Series, which artfully blended the cultural influences of the Middle East and Asia, presenting the four distinct watches showcasing Western Arabic, Eastern Arabic, Chinese, and Hebrew signed dials. Before that, we also delved into the narrative of the new Swiss brand led by […]
Fratello
Since 2011, Omega has been one of the partners of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital. With ambassadors like Daniel Craig and Cindy Crawford, the Swiss watch brand aims to get more attention for Orbis’s initiatives. The Flying Eye Hospital Orbis is fighting against preventable blindness. Since 1982, this non-profit organization has had a flying hospital […] Visit Supporting Orbis With The MoonSwatch Auction to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
Maurice de Mauriac isn’t afraid to make a bold statement. And their latest release, the Pillow Watch, might be their boldest yet. Not because it’s overly-designed or flashy, but for the quiet confidence this collection possesses. The Pillow Watch is a set of three references (Black, Bronze, and Titanium), each with a cushion case design and a corresponding calf leather strap that showcases the exceptional craftsmanship and design philosophy of this Swiss brand. Drawing inspiration from the architectural movement of brutalism, the Pillow Watch possesses clean lines and a bold design. For those who love a cushion case, you can agree that it’s a design built on a bit of opposites: daring, but subtle; delicate; but strong. For a brand that has put out some pretty eye-catching designs lately, some might consider this a departure for Maurice de Mauriac; but I say it’s the opposite. The Pillow Watch is a natural evolution for the brand, eschewing the bells and whistles for something simple, timeless, and sophisticated. Coming in at 45mm, this is a watch with presence, made all the more so with its Fabian Schwaerzler-design dials. Designed with thick applications of Superluminova, it’s at once retro and modern. The minimalist dial, displaying only hours via large lume plots, underscores the brand’s commitment to restraint for this collection, ensuring the watch remains balanced in its design. The Pillow Watch runs on a La Joux-Perret G100 automatic movement, designed b...
Video
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.