Hodinkee
Recommended Reading: Our Five Favorite New Books On Watches (And More)
It's getting close to winter, maybe it's time to cozy up with a few new books.
25,557 articles · 183 videos found · page 402 of 858
Hodinkee
It's getting close to winter, maybe it's time to cozy up with a few new books.
Teddy Baldassarre
All watchmakers with decades or even centuries of history have some designs, lines, or collections that become timeless icons, and others that get lost to history. Here in the 21st century, all of them are subject to various revivals and reissues before being shelved again. Today, we’re going in-depth with a watch that’s recently gotten the axe from Rolex’s contemporary catalog - and one that might be its quirkiest tool watch ever - the Rolex Milgauss. With its easily identifiable lightning-bolt hand and origins as a companion for scientists, the Milgauss has never quite achieved the years-long waitlist fandom that many other staples from the brand have achieved over the years, and back in 2023, the Crown shelved its unconventional tool watch from production. Maybe it’s an example of always wanting what you can’t easily have, but in recent years, the Milgauss has been attracting a renewed interest at odds with its overlooked reputation. Down below, we’re going to walk through the history of how the Milgauss came to be, explore how the collection has changed over time, and use one model as a case study for its sudden spike in popularity. So, if any of that piques your interest, or if you are already in the cult of Milgauss fandom, keep scrolling, and away we go. Rolex Milgauss History As we all are already well aware, Rolex's 120-year historical archive is full of record-breaking, boundary-clearing leaps in mechanical timekeeping. From releasing the first ...
Hodinkee
The auction blends reflection with foresight on the next ten years. It will also likely set the record for the largest total sale price in the history of watches.
Fratello
Apollo 8 was the first space flight to reach the Moon. On board were NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders. It took them 68 hours to travel to the Moon, and during the first 66 hours, the spacecraft’s windows were facing Earth. Apollo 8 needed to swing behind the Moon (in total, […] Visit Hands-On: The New Omega Speedmaster Grey Side Of The Moon With Caliber 3869 to read the full article.
Monochrome
Dive watches span the spectrum: retro throwbacks that trade on romance, do-it-all desk divers that split time between meetings and marinas, and true instruments built for cold, dark water. This segmentation is very much in place at Oris, and the Aquis Pro 1000m belongs in the last category. Previously available with a manufacture Calibre 400 […]
Fratello
Minim is an independent watch brand founded by Chloe Chan, and just like her, it is a balance of East and West. According to the founder, the three watches in the debut MN01 collection reflect her journey from Hong Kong to London and are a contemporary tribute to traditional watchmaking. The inspiration from vintage pocket […] Visit Introducing: The Brand Minim And Its Three-Watch-Strong MN01 Collection to read the full article.
SJX Watches
The Seiko Collection 1 is the first commercial release from the brand’s revived Power Design Project. The look revisits the Tissé, one of many popular Seiko designs from the 1980s. A delicate watch on a beaded bracelet, it was a big hit in Japan. Four decades later, its spirit returns in a compact, unisex format designed to be worn loosely like jewellery. Designed by Yuya Suganuma, the Collection 1 debuts as a 500-piece limited edition in each of three colours, blending typical Seiko build quality with a playful, accessory-first design. Initial thoughts For much of the Swiss watch industry, the 1980s was an era marked by the painful triumph of quartz technology. But on the other side of the world, quartz pioneer Seiko was thriving. The brand’s catalogues of the era reflects the optimism of the moment with an astonishing number of interesting designs, many of which have been reimagined over the years; we’ll likely see more of them in the future. The Tissé was one such model, introduced as a ladies watch in 1984. A tiny watch on a beaded steel bracelet, the Tissé was designed to be worn loosely, and became a big hit in the home market. The Tissé was eventually discontinued, but the concept was reimagined in 2022 as part of the brand’s re-launched Power Design Project, an internal design initiative with the theme of “rebirth”. The watch that would become the Collection 1 drew attention for questioning traditional norms for wristwatch ergonomics. It was designe...
Fratello
Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we talk about the best-value used watches. Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list but just a sampling of some great pre-owned picks. If you’re expecting the usual suspects, prepare to be surprised. Enjoy the show! This podcast player is blocked because you did […] Visit Fratello On Air: The Best-Value Used Watches to read the full article.
Monochrome
On the 17th of February 2026, the Chinese Zodiac will welcome the Year of the Horse. Like many watch brands, IWC jumped on the Chinese Lunar New Year bandwagon a couple of years ago with limited editions of its icon, the Portugieser, with burgundy-coloured dials and a restrained approach when it comes to depicting the […]
Fratello
In the current watch landscape, Parmigiani Fleurier has a special position. The brand’s standout designs and clever use of colors have earned it much praise. I admire what Parmigiani has achieved, so I am always curious to find out what is next. For its newest creation, the Parmigiani team decided to spice up the 36mm […] Visit Introducing: The Steel And Gold Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Deep Ruby to read the full article.
SJX Watches
It took a while, but Audemars Piguet’s Code 11.59 has matured enough that the new debuts are more likely to be interesting than not. The Code 11.59 Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon 38 mm with stone dials aren’t a novel proposition, but they are a trio of good looking watches that use the dial design of the Code 11.59 to maximum effect, while also scaling down the case to 38 mm and relying on the impressively constructed cal. 2968. Audemars Piguet (AP) has experimented with various unusual materials for the Code 11.59 dial – the onyx version was launched three years ago – all of which have evidently been commercially successful, explaining the three new models with dials in mineral stones of red ruby root, blue sodalite, and green malachite, respectively. Initial thoughts The Code 11.59 was widely panned at launch in 2019, occasionally unfairly, but it’s evolved in the right direction since. The new tourbillon line-up illustrates this. The wide, relatively deep-set dial of the Code 11.59 makes it a good platform to show off dial patterns and textures, especially when executed in a minimalist way as it is done here. Mineral stone dials are recent fad, so the new Code 11.59 tourbillons aren’t revolutionary, but they look good. The three watches are each in a different colour of gold, but share the same case dimensions of 38 mm by 9.6 mm, making them smaller and thinner than the original, 41 mm version of the Code 11.59 tourbillon. The downsizing gives the case a sur...
Teddy Baldassarre
If you were to ask the average person on the street in any part of the world which nation comes to mind when they think about luxury watches, they’d likely not hesitate in naming Switzerland. While the realities of the international watch industry are more complex, and several other nations, such as Japan and Germany, are also prominent makers of excellent luxury watches, Switzerland will always, justifiably, be regarded as the world center of fine watchmaking. The country's longtime reputation for watch excellence springs not only from the sheer number of industry giants that call it home - including household names like Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet - but also from its world-renowned reputation for expertise in all the various crafts that go into fine watchmaking. The Swiss watch industry is as vast as it is complex, with different brands offering varying specialties in a wide range of price points for export around the globe.With all of that in mind, trying to boil down the Swiss watch industry to a subjective list of major players is a bit of a daunting task, as there are many dozens of brands worthy of inclusion. Here we attempt to provide a brief overview of some of the most prominent brands in the Swiss watch industry to give you a basic understanding of what makes each one special. For each brand, we'll provide a bit of history, showcase its major milestones and most important watches, and offer a bit of insight on w...
Teddy Baldassarre
Usually, when we think of Cartier, our thoughts turn to classical luxury and elegance rather than military-style minimalism. However, the world-famous maison and “jeweler of kings” has long dabbled in both worlds, at least when it comes to watchmaking. And there is no better example of a timepiece that embodies that ethos than the rather unexpected headliner of Cartier’s new releases at the 2025 Watches & Wonders salon: the Cartier Privé Tank à Guichets. The Tank à Guichets, of course, is an evolution of the original Cartier Tank watch, which is itself a historical example of a modern luxury item with clearly military inspiration (it’s right there in the name, actually). Throughout its prestigious history since being unveiled in 1917 by its inventor, Louis Cartier, the Tank has evolved in ways that are both subtle and revolutionary and has appeared in forms of which many of us might not even be aware. Some of these more exotic and unusual Tank pieces have found their way back into the main collection in recent years as part of the Cartier Privé series, and it is from this series that the new Guichets, in its three distinctive iterations, does indeed hail. The Original Cartier Tank But let’s start off by establishing where this watch’s design legacy began. The classic, original Cartier Tank, which didn’t actually go into serial production until 1919, derived its name and its rectangular, curvilinear case shape from the World War I-era Renault FT-17 t...
Monochrome
Our visit earlier this year to India’s prime watchmaking company, Titan, was a genuine eye-opening experience. Besides witnessing the impressive scale of production (it is immense, and a whole different level than Swiss watchmaking), we also discovered that the industry giant had some unexpected horological capacities. Titan, to celebrate its 40th anniversary, unveiled India’s first […]
Worn & Wound
The Chicago based brand Haim celebrates their five year anniversary this year with what is certainly their most ambitious watch to date, the Annum. When brand founder Zakir Miah showed me an early prototype of the watch months ago at a Windup Watch Fair, I was surprised and impressed that he would even think to attempt making a watch with such a niche complication. It resets the brand in some ways, and will likely force people to consider Haim in a different way. As surprising as an annual calendar from Haim is, if you pull back far enough, there were signs that Miah wanted to move the brand into a slightly higher end and more refined direction going back a few years. The Legacy Automatic, for example, featured a custom decorated movement by an American company, Maryland Watch Works, and the whole watch was a significant step up in terms of finishing and build quality compared to prior efforts. But the real shift came with the Viajero Worldtimer released last year. This watch featured a rather clever modification of a common Seiko-made GMT caliber, replacing the hand for the second time zone with a cities ring akin to what you’d find on a classic world timer. The old-school “globe” dial was meant to recall the most famous worldtimers from the Jet Age, and while the Viajero doesn’t have nearly the watchmaking complexity of those timepieces, it was able to mimic the style of those watches to an impressive degree when you consider the price tag of $799. The Annum ar...
Monochrome
Young French brand Serica has built a loyal following by incorporating vintage cues into clean, modern tool watches and addressing the details that many brands often ignore. After field-ready divers and GMTs put the Paris-based maker on the map, the Serica Parade Ref. 1174 shifted the conversation to the dress watch category – without abandoning […]
Fratello
Hermès surprised us a couple of years ago when the French fashion house launched a chronograph among its colorful time-and-date H08 editions. Stealth-launching products is not new for Hermès. The low-key tactic allows clients to discover new pieces for themselves without a deluge of flashy hype campaigns. The gentle marketing ripple in the brand’s horology […] Visit Introducing: The Hermès H08 Chronographe In Naples Yellow to read the full article.
Monochrome
Founded by master watchmaker Gerd R. Lang (1943-2023) in 1983, Chronoswiss rowed against the tide of quartz to become a key player in the renaissance of mechanical watchmaking. Renowned for exceptional craftsmanship and a penchant for regulator displays, Lang’s brand released the Opus chronograph in 1995, the world’s first serially produced skeletonised automatic chronograph, revealing […]
Monochrome
Last November, Piaget announced a licensed collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This allowed the brand to officially rename its cult 1970s black tie dress watch “The Andy Warhol Watch“. Indeed, the revolutionary artist and undisputed king of Pop Art, was the owner of seven Piaget watches, including a 45mm yellow gold […]
SJX Watches
Piaget pays tribute to the pop-art pioneer and prolific watch collector with the Andy Warhol Watch Collage Limited Edition in the best way it knows how – with an exotic stone dial. Like the watch owned by Warhol himself, the Collage has a black onyx dial, but in between the onyx is yellow serpentine, pink opal, and green chrysoprase, forming a precious stone puzzle carefully assembled by hand. To bring things full circle, this 50 piece limited edition has a yellow gold case, the same alloy Warhol himself wore, and a metal that’s absent from the regular production Any Warhol lineup. Initial Thoughts The first Swiss quartz watches hit the market mere months after the Seiko Astron, powered by the CEH Beta 21 – a large and rectangular movement that gave the oversized watches it powered a distinctive look that I am fond of. Piaget’s ref. 15101, launched in 1972, was one of the most appealing Beta 21 designs by my reckoning. The renowned American artist must have agreed with that assessment as he purchased one in 1973, which Piaget bought back at auction after Warhol’s death. It is also worth noting that Yves Piaget, president of Piaget since 1980, knew Warhol personally. Andy Warhol with Yves Piaget. Image – Piaget The marquetry dial of the Collage puts Piaget’s expertise to good use. It is surprisingly creative, and is not based on a specific Warhol work as already done many times before. Rather, Piaget attempted to recreate Warhol’s process to create a new wor...
Time+Tide
Limited to just 50 pieces, this Andy Warhol Watch features a marquetry stone dial based upon one of the artist's most famous self-portraits.The post A pop art performance from Piaget: introducing the Andy Warhol “Collage” appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
There are few self-inflicted experiences in life worse than a hangover. What often starts as a fun night out turns into a rough next morning. The “hair of the dog” is a well-known “cure” with drinks such as the Bloody Mary and Mimosa serving as popular tonics. It’s the latter beverage that inspires today’s Studio […] Visit Introducing: The Studio Underd0g × Fears 02Series Mim0sa to read the full article.
Time+Tide
Borna highlights three incredibly rare and historically significant Seikos set to go under the hammer with Phillips in November 2025.The post Look out for these ultra-rare Seikos at Phillips’ Decade One auction appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
The cal. 4132 inside the Rolex Daytona “Le Mans” is a rare evolution of one of the most revered chronograph movements in modern watchmaking. Based on the long-running cal. 4130 platform, the new movement was developed specifically for the Daytona “Le Mans” unveiled in 2023 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the famed endurance race. While visually similar to the cal. 4131 found in current-production Daytonas, the cal. 4132 incorporates a clever mechanical upgrade that allows it to record up to 24 hours of elapsed time. Given the relatively simple upgrade from a 12-hour to 24-hour counter, the cal. 4132 might seem like a weekend project for a brand with the engineering might of Rolex, but the reality is more nuanced. To achieve this, Rolex engineered a compact differential gear set that doubles the timing capacity without altering the core movement architecture, leaving the movement dimensions unchanged. As with many Rolex innovations, the cal. 4132 reflects the brand’s quiet obsession with functional longevity and serviceability. The latest Daytona movements reveal a degree of decorative finishing unseen in past generations of Rolex movements An already quirky base For over two decades, the Rolex cal. 4130 stood as the benchmark for industrial chronograph movements. Launched in 2000, the cal. 4130 was the first in-house chronograph movement developed by Rolex. The movement was lauded for its compact architecture, low component count, and ease of service – a...
SJX Watches
On Episode 15 of the SJX Podcast, Brandon shares insights picked up at Citizen’s Super Titanium event in Paris, where he had the opportunity to speak with the brand’s materials engineer. Still on the theme of titanium, SJX shares his views on the new Cartier Santos in the lightweight metal, and the different strategies of these brands which are playing to their respective strengths. Another big story from this week is the launch of the new Petermann Bédat Reference 1825. Though it’s not made of titanium, it’s a strong third act (and a hint of what’s next) for the brand. Is there still white space in the market for highly finished time-only watches? Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube.
Hodinkee
The latest in the cocktail-inspired series from the two British brands is also the first example to be available online.
Time+Tide
The trilogy of cocktail-inspired collaboration pieces from Fears & Studio Underd0g is now complete, with a tasty 3D-dialled chaser.The post Studio Underd0g & Fears get behind the bar for one more cocktail with the 02SERIES Mim0sa appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to go hands-on with several new Norqain watches. It’s been a positive experience and somewhat surprising. Generally, I’m not a fan of open-worked dials, but on the wrist, the brand’s pieces shine. Comfortable straps and wrist-conforming case designs help too. Today, I’m taking my first spin […] Visit Hands-On With The Norqain Independence Skeleton Chrono 42mm Orange to read the full article.
Monochrome
Chronographs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours, so it’s hard to pinpoint the very best. What helps is the possibility to sub-categorise them, thanks to the fact that there are so many different ones. One class of chronographs that always seems to gather plenty of attention is the two-register, or bicompax chronograph. […]
Fratello
Bell & Ross’s X series has been one of the brand’s most interesting evolutions to follow. The BR-X1 was pure concept-watch territory, a showcase for skeletonized tourbillons and high-end engineering that pushed the brand into experimental horology. Then came the BR-X5, a more accessible, sporty, and urban expression of the same design DNA. The BR-X3, […] Visit Introducing: The Bell & Ross BR-X3 Night Vision - Carbon, Lume, And Tactical Cool to read the full article.
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