WristBuzz
Grand Seiko Elegance SBGW325: A Quiet Anniversary, Done Right
Grand Seiko marks 25 years of the hand-wind 9S movement by going back to where it all started
Results for Mother of Pearl Dial
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WristBuzz
WristBuzz
Ressence Type 9 Jules Wittock: A Solvable Maze Milled Into Titanium
The latest Art Watch from Ressence pairs its orbital dial with a hand-drawn maze by Belgian artist Jules Wittock, and yes, it actually works as a puzzle.
Monochrome
First Look - The Blancpain Lady B, a Small, Spherical and yet Mechanical Wrist-Worn Jewel
With its motto of never producing quartz watches, its manufacturing capabilities and its rich heritage in dive watches, Blancpain is often spontaneously associated with technical, masculine watchmaking. But this overlooks an important chapter in the brand’s history. In the middle of the 20th century, its development was driven by Betty Fiechter, a remarkable figure at […]
Fratello
Mechanical Resurrection: The New Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Chronograph
In a recent discussion I had with someone about Christopher Ward, the question of why the brand doesn’t have any mechanical chronographs in its collection came up. This stands out, as watch enthusiasts tend to love such pieces. But the English brand now has a new series of mechanical chronographs for the enthusiasts. The C63 […] Visit Mechanical Resurrection: The New Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Chronograph to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Business News: Watches And Wonders 2027 To Feature More New Brands Including Berneron And Porsche Design
Watches and Wonders, the year's largest and most significant horology event, held each spring in Geneva, will welcome ten more brands for the 2027 edition, including Berneron, Porsche Design, and Singer Reimagined, bringing the total to 75. This new group will join Breitling's House of Brands, which announced earlier this year that it will participate. Watches and Wonders organizers said the diversity of the 13 brands attending the show for the first time in 2027 underscores the varied slate of watch industry participants now part of the event, ranging from Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe, to now Stollenwurm, an upstart Swiss high-horology marque named for a mythical creature and founded by a former Boston-based biotech executive. Berneron will also join the roster for Watches and Wonders 2027. Launched in 2022 and led by designer (and ex-Breitling executive) Sylvain Berneron, the brand has earned accolades from the industry and collectors; its limited production, shaped case, and full-gold movement pieces have soared in value on the secondary market. A rare example of the Mirage in 34mm, the white gold Viridian with a chrysoprase dial, sold by the brand to a client for about CHF 51,000, recently fetched $521,400 on the auction site Loupe This. The Berneron Quantième is the brand's second model line.Photo credit: Mark Kauzlarich Berneron recently told Hodinkee in an interview that the prices paid for his watches on the secondary market are "unsustainable," and...
Fratello
Hot Take: Grand Seiko Introduces The SBGW325
Grand Seiko has just added the limited-edition SBGW325 to its Elegance Collection, paying tribute to the SBGW003 from 2001. That model was the first Grand Seiko to feature a manually wound 9S mechanical movement, the Caliber 9S54. The new watch revisits one of its most distinctive details, the blocky Arabic numerals, while introducing a deep […] Visit Hot Take: Grand Seiko Introduces The SBGW325 to read the full article.
Monochrome
Introducing - The Grand Seiko Elegance SBGW325, Tribute to the First Manual-Winding 9S Model
Some watches have shaped the perception we have of a brand in a striking way. At Grand Seiko, if we look at more recent times, the Spring Drive Snowflake SBGA211 is one of these watches. Some, however, did this in a far more discreet way, but nevertheless helped write the story. You can think of […]
Worn & Wound
The IWC Ingenieur Celebrates a Big Anniversary
The watch industry, as we know, never misses an opportunity to celebrate a milestone. This week marks 50 years of Gerald Genta’s Ingenieur, a watch that has existed in a variety of forms over the years, but was relaunched a few years ago in a widely celebrated new guise that feels almost spiritually connected to the original. The new limited editions released this week by IWC are available in both the standard 40mm size and the newer, more compact 35mm case, both with dials that play up the design’s inherent starkness. The Ingenieur’s dial is most commonly associated with a distinctive grid pattern, but these LEs depart from that playbook for a dial that feels very metallic with vertical brushing and silver plating. It’s a reference, according to IWC, to an obscure Ingenieur reference from the original launch in 1976. I’m struck by how simple and muted this dial is for a limited edition. We’ve been trained, I think, to think that special releases and limited editions should be louder than this, and recontextualize a watch into something that couldn’t exist in the main collection. This dial execution is about as simple as it gets, and while it presents quite differently than the mainline Ingenieurs with patterned dials, it wouldn’t be a challenge at all to imagine this watch as a permanent part of the IWC collection. It’s a clear play to history, which of course is fitting and expected for a 50th anniversary watch. It’s nice but maybe not particularl...
Hodinkee
Photo Report: Geneva Watch Days 2026
I'll admit it, Geneva Watch Days is one of my favourite times in the city. It's when our industry reunites after a long, heatwave-themed summer to meet friends from all corners of the watch world and get hands-on with the latest pieces from some of the hottest and most interesting brands. And that's the thing about this summer show: while Watches & Wonders draws our attention to the larger players, Geneva Watch Days lets us take a breather, slow this rapidly moving industry right down, and spend time with watches and brands of all sizes. Don't get me wrong, Bvlgari, Zenith, Daniel Roth, Girard Perregaux, MB&F;, and Breitling attend, but its city-centered format and later date on the calendar mean there's much more time to see smaller names and discover new ones. The 2026 edition set a new record with 71 participating brands, unveiling nearly 400 new releases. More than 2,500 private clients, collectors, and watch enthusiasts attended, alongside more than 500 international media and content creators. However, this year's edition drew 15,000 people in total, down from last year's peak of 17,000. News from the brands exhibiting was certainly plentiful and felt increasingly significant compared to previous iterations of the show (Breitling's House of Brands used the show to unveil Gallet to the world, and MAD Editions by MB&F; announced the MAD 3 - more on those in a moment). Yet on more than one occasion, conversations centered around how the show felt a little quieter than pre...
Worn & Wound
E.C. Andersson Introduces the Timepod, with a Unique Lug Release System
The Swedish brand E.C. Andersson is one of my favorite “IYKYK” watchmakers. They had a modest hit a few years ago with their Mytilus, at least among a very specific type of watch collector who was ahead of the curve on the current trend for industrially finishished, retro-futuristic designs in odd case shapes that are having a moment right now (see: Otsuka Lotec and others). What makes E.C. Andersson compelling to me though is not just their aesthetic and design language, which is certainly very interesting, but their business model, and what they actually do as a brand. They are, essentially, a machine shop, fabricating cases and other components from their own designs, and selling watches off a reservation system. Interested parties add their names to a list, and when a watch is available, you get an email letting you know your watch is ready. Their new watch, introduced this week, is called the Timepod, and like the Mytilus before it, the case (and crystal integration) set the design apart and make it unique. The quirkiest thing about the Timepod is the lug release system, which allows the user to detach the wire lugs via the push of a button on the caseband. The lugs simply pop out of the square shaped case and (presumably) reattach easily by hand. E.C. Andersson says the system is specifically designed to inhibit debris from entering the case while still allowing ease of access to the movement and other components in the event a service is needed. Is this lug ...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Citizen Is Coming for the Rolex Datejust With Its New Affordable Automatic Watch
Citizen’s new Tsuyosa 60 pairs a 37mm case, textured dial, five-link bracelet and 60-hour automatic movement for $595.
Monochrome
First Look - Hublot and Jeff Koons Turn the Balloon Dog into a Watch
Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog is one of those works that has become part of popular culture, taking the form of a balloon animal and turning something quite temporary and playful into a permanent, almost monumental object. Hublot‘s new collaboration transforms the normally sleek Classic Fusion into a watch that, like the balloon dog, looks inflated: […]
Hodinkee
Hands-On: The Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog By Jeff Koons
Hublot is no stranger to opening its doors to outside creativity, with some of its most memorable (and often infamous) releases of the past few years in collaborations with artists and designers—Takashi Murakami, Daniel Arsham, and Samuel Ross, to name a few. Late last week, the brand dropped the news that the next big name in line for a collaboration would be the contemporary American artist Jeff Koons, most widely known for his series of bright, shiny balloon dog sculptures in a whole range of colors. Image courtesy of Hublot Balloon Dog (Orange) - Image courtesy of Christie's Rabbit - Image courtesy of Christie's Koons' name has reached a certain level of infamy and popularity alike in the art world, as the world's most expensive living artist today. His Balloon Dog (Orange) piece hammered at Christie's in 2013 for a whopping $58.4 million dollars, breaking auction records for an artwork by a living artist. Then, in 2019, his 1986 Rabbit piece shattered that result, selling for more than $91 million and taking the title. To this day, both pieces remain among the top ten most expensive artworks by living artists. Naturally, Koons faces criticism from critics and the wider public, from the overt commercialism and kitchiness of the art to the factory-style production methods he employs. Regardless, it's impossible to deny how iconic and recognizable the Balloon Dog series is worldwide. With that iconic look and a touch of infamy, the Balloon Dog feels like the perfect su...
Time+Tide
Does a balloon dog watch sound like fiction? Hublot and Jeff Koons made it a reality
The new Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons Limited Editions fuse an iconic work of art with an iconic watch design.
Monochrome
Introducing - The Updated Charlie Paris Concordia GMT Gets New Colours and a Much Lower Price
It looks like Charlie Paris has been updating its catalogue one collection at a time. It was only recently that it refreshed the Alliance line-up with new sapphire-dial models, and now the French brand takes up the Concordia. This collection in the past has delivered the blacked-out Concordia Automatic Kraken, as well as the original Concordia […]
Fratello
Singer Reimagined Keeps The GMT Hits Coming With The 1970 DualTrack
About two weeks ago, during Geneva Watch Days, I visited the Singer atelier in Geneva. It’s a beautiful place, slightly hidden on a street near the lake, where Singer Reimagined works on its watches. There, I got a first glimpse of what the brand introduced today — the Singer Reimagined 1970 DualTrack. The Singer Reimagined […] Visit Singer Reimagined Keeps The GMT Hits Coming With The 1970 DualTrack to read the full article.
Monochrome
Introducing - The new Glashütte Original 70s Collection, a Reworked Take on the Integrated Sports Watch
While Glashütte Original‘s Seventies collection has become associated with its bold, square-shaped chronographs, the German manufacture also once offered Seventies Panaroma Date models without the chronograph function. Revisiting the decade with a substantially reworked watch, the brand returns to that time-and-date simplicity and presents the new 70s collection of integrated sports watches, alongside the existing […]
SJX Watches
A Rolex Icon Returns as the Perpetual Padellone
Rolex expands its complicated offerings with the unexpected Perpetual Padellone, a vintage-inspired, instantaneous annual calendar named after the ref. 8171, a saucepan-shaped triple calendar from Rolex’s past. Despite the padellone nickname, first coined by Italian collectors, the Perpetual Padellone is a very different watch from its namesake. It is a modern Rolex through and through, with the quality and functions expected of a modern Rolex. The mechanics are latest generation, with aesthetic choices give the watch a contemporary look, putting the Perpetual Padellone at the intersection between vintage collectors and the wider public. Initial Thoughts Rolex is a forward-looking brand, which explains why this Padellone goes without the namesake sauce pan-esque case, and employs a base movement at the frontier of mechanical timekeeping. The Padellone of today is naturally a far better watch than the ref. 8171 “Padellone” of the 1950s. It is modern and it is a Rolex, which means essentially perfect quality. A very well-preserved 8171 in steel But it is more than just a triple calendar built to Rolex standards. The new Padellone contains an incredible base movement shared with the Land-Dweller, a new calendar that changes instantaneously around midnight and can handle both 30- and 31-day months on its own, and a moon phase that will err by a day in 122 years. Then, there are also the dramatic upgrades to finishing – both outside and in – and build quality, especia...
Worn & Wound
Rolex Introduces the Perpetual Padellone, a New Annual Calendar
Big news from Rolex today as the brand has released a complicated dress watch, their first in recent memory. The Perpetual Padellon is an instantaneous annual calendar with a moonphase complication and sits within the 1908 collection, which launched three years ago. This new watch appears to be a very explicit and direct homage to one of the brand’s most revered vintage references, the 8171 “Padellone”. It shares more than a few visual characteristics with that piece, and of course the name of the new watch is lifted straight from the nickname given to the vintage piece by collectors and dealers. The Perpetual Padellone is available in 18k Everose gold and 950 platinum, and measures 39mm in diameter, 12.2mm tall, and 45.1mm from lug to lug. It’s worth noting that the original 8171 was a fairly large watch for its day, measuring 38mm in diameter, so the new reference comes surprisingly close to being right on the money in terms of sizing if we’re comparing it to the vintage watch. The biggest difference between the 8171 and the Perpetual Padellone is likely mechanical. The 8171 was not a true annual or perpetual calendar, but a “simple” triple calendar, which was quite common in the 1950s. Each indicator simply advanced in sequence and not in relation to any other, which means a correction is going to be necessary virtually every month. The Perpetual Padellone is a true annual calendar and only needs to be corrected once per year. The case, whether plati...
Fratello
Hot Take: Rolex’s Perpetual Padellone Annual Calendar Takes A Nod From The Past
Rolex has added a rather unexpected complication to its Perpetual collection with the new Perpetual Padellone. Taking its name from the vintage reference 8171, the watch combines a 39mm case with an annual calendar and a moonphase display. At first glance, it is perhaps the dial that grabs your attention, particularly the blue enamel moonphase […] Visit Hot Take: Rolex’s Perpetual Padellone Annual Calendar Takes A Nod From The Past to read the full article.
![Introducing: The Rolex Perpetual Padellone [Hands-On, Live Pics, Technical Brief, Competition, & Personal Thoughts]](https://hodinkee.imgix.net/uploads/images/2480c45f-6114-4c76-ab81-106e31ebbecd/Rolex-Perpetual-Padellone-2026-1-2.jpg?ixlib=rails-1.1.0&fm=jpg&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&w=2000)
Hodinkee
Introducing: The Rolex Perpetual Padellone [Hands-On, Live Pics, Technical Brief, Competition, & Personal Thoughts]
It's a watch that has been long-awaited: Rolex has just announced the new Perpetual Padellone—a very classic and technically impressive instantaneous annual calendar with moonphase. The new release comes three years after the launch of the 1908, which replaced the discontinued Cellini collection and introduced the Perpetual line. Now, that new collection goes in a more complicated direction. James Stacey is in Milan for the launch—and even got to see the watch in advance—so read on for a section later in this article featuring his hands-on impressions. The new 2026 Rolex Perpetual Padellone. Let's start with a piece of fun trivia. This is the first Rolex model—to my knowledge—to take its *actual* name from a nickname given by collectors to its historical predecessor. The ref. 8171—which Rolex explicitly cites as the inspiration for the new watch—was nicknamed the Padellone, Italian for "large frying pan," for its wide 38mm flat case and slightly domed dial. So it's appropriate that Rolex would return to Milan—arguably the birthplace of vintage watch collecting—to launch a watch that will likely make a lot of vintage lovers happy. A vintage Rolex ref. 8171 "Padellone." Even if you don't know the history of vintage Rolex or the 8171—which we'll cover in a minute—a new watch from Rolex (especially one launched off-cycle, so to speak, outside Watches & Wonders) is always a big deal. The only recent similar release was the surprise launch of the white go...
Worn & Wound
Hands-On: the Benjamin James Deerhurst Regulator
The trajectory of my watch enthusiasm over the past several years can be boiled down to one basic principle: seeking things that are different. It’s what led me to Arcanaut, briefly owning a M.A.D.1S, a devotion to the works of Jiro Katayama, and, ultimately, boredom with brands owned by the big conglomerates. It’s been, honestly, an exciting time to reject the mainstream, as there seems to be a neverending stream of microbrands doing interesting things either well outside the norm or just slightly tilted away from it. Benjamin James is a Hong Kong based microbrand that falls into the latter category. Their watches are not avant garde or challenging works of outsider art, exactly, but they represent the distilled point of view of their founder, and the Deerhurst regulator surprised me with its overall quality and some of its touchpoints. $1702 Hands-On: the Benjamin James Deerhurst Regulator Case Stainless steel Movement Sellita SW266-1 M Dial Burgundy Lume None Lens Sapphire Strap Leather strap or bracelet Water Resistance 50 meters Dimensions 36 x 42mm Thickness 9.1mm Lug Width 20mm Crown Push/pull Warranty Yes Price $1702 The Deerhurst is a slim, 36mm dress watch available in three dial variations. My sample is in burgundy, but it’s also available in “Old English White” and “Denim Blue.” The design feature of the watch that will either charm you or make you roll your eyes is the Clous de Paris bezel, which in 2026 is perhaps one of the most old-fashioned...
Fratello
Six Omega Stopwatches And A Lost NZ Racetrack
Here at Fratello, we get to cover all manner of watch-related stories. These include so many different watchmakers, from Rolex to Seiko to IWC. Omega, however, occupies a special place within the pantheon of watch brands for us. Today, we have a slightly different Omega story featuring stopwatches and a slice of New Zealand history. […] Visit Six Omega Stopwatches And A Lost NZ Racetrack to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Auctions: Six Observations From Sotheby's September 18 Hong Kong Sale
Ready or not, auction season is back. I don't know about you, but I wasn't expecting it so soon. While the auction cycle is generally synced up for Geneva and New York sales a bit later in the fall, Sotheby's is doing the earliest big sale of the fall with "Important Watches" in Hong Kong on September 18. Personally, I'm still working through the best way to handle auction coverage, as the number of watches is often daunting. That challenge gets worse with Hong Kong sales, which we've generally struggled to stay on top of for a number of reasons. One of which, and this is a complaint for all auction houses, is that there are too many lots in Hong Kong sales. This is driven by both the market location (many of these watches were sourced locally—something I know because I know a decent number of these watches) and the forces behind the auction house and its metrics. Sometimes you have to make sellers happy and take what they want to get at other things (like taking random Hermès bags in a watch sale, as we see this time). It can be overwhelming for a buyer, and for you and me as readers. I want to find the interesting, great deals in the mid- and low-range and share them with you, but I also can't ignore the impressive pieces that might shape the broader market. One important note: for Hong Kong sales, I never get to see the watches in person. It's a lot easier for me to stand in front of a case of watches and pick things up by feel, closely evaluate condition and origi...
SJX Watches
Hands On: Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1
The slate of truly new releases from Geneva Watch Days was fairly limited, but among the many new variants of existing models, the Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1 stood out for its lightweight and richly tactile ceramised titanium case and casual, almost sporty look. Initial thoughts Ferdinand Berthoud (FB) is no stranger to exotic case materials, having used ceramised titanium before (for the FB 1RES.4) as well as carburised stainless steel and bronze. But the FB 3SPC.4-1 is just the second FB 3SPC to come dressed in a non-precious metal case, and the first with a ceramised coating. The FB 3SPC arguably gives up some ground in the looks department, though this is subjective; many collectors find the exposed movement preferable to a conventional dial, since it makes it easier to appreciate the finishing without taking off the watch. That said, the design impacts legibility and some aspects of the layout seem counterintuitive, such as the upside-down orientation of the dial-side balance wheel. The FB 3SPC debuted in 2022 and remains the high-end brand’s entry level model, though with a retail price approaching US$200,000, it’s priced in line with complicated models from established brands. The value proposition of this time-only watch hinges on the appeal of the cylindrical hairspring — which while not unique in contemporary watchmaking is executed superbly — and the no-expense-spared approach to finishing that FB is known for. The pricing also reflects the low-volum...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
I Love the Omega Seamaster, but These 7 Dive Watches Fix Its Biggest Annoyances
If the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M isn’t quite right for you, these 7 alternatives bring their own mix of comfort, legibility, and character.
Monochrome
First Look - Get Your Kicks with the New MeisterSinger Edition Route 66 as It Marks a Century on the Open Road
MeisterSinger has built most of its catalogue around unhurried, single-hand time-reading. The brand’s latest special edition enters a faster lane, where key indications like the car’s speed are shown with just one hand on traditional displays. Route 66, officially opened in 1926, celebrates its centenary, and MeisterSinger marks the occasion with a limited edition inspired […]
Hodinkee
Introducing: Supernova Serena Williams Gets Her Own Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Serena Williams has been playing professional tennis since 1995. In the decades since, she has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, but perhaps more importantly, she has broken through barriers of race, age, and background while upending tennis's traditional dress codes. Clothes, and by extension accessories, have always been part of that story. In 2022, New York Times chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman called Williams "the game-changing tennis player" who used her clothes "as a statement of self and a weapon of change." Williams understood early on that what she wore on court could be another form of expression: sometimes provocative, sometimes playful. At the 2002 US Open, she broke conservative norms in a skin-tight black Puma catsuit, accessorized with a Harry Winston diamond bracelet. Seventeen years later, at the 2019 French Open, she wore a Nike look designed by Virgil Abloh for Off-White printed with the words "Mother, Champion, Queen, Goddess" in French, an especially pointed choice given that, just a year earlier, the tournament had taken issue with the black Nike catsuit she wore on court. Serena Williams at the 2024 Met Gala, wearing an Audemars Piguet Sandgold Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Openworked . That influence has extended far beyond the baseline. A Vogue cover star, Met Gala co-chairwoman, perennial tennis-court style-setter, and personal friend of Anna Wintour, Williams occupied the increasingly porous space between sport and fashion long before the res...
Fratello
Modern Venetian Elegance Gets A Name: The Venezianico Redentore Levius
Venezianico has been raising the bar constantly with its varied collection of watches. While my favorites from the Venetian brand are in the Arsenale collection, we have seen some impressive developments in the Bucintoro and Redentore lines. The high-end models in those two show the brand’s interesting progress with Italian-made calibers and special dials. With […] Visit Modern Venetian Elegance Gets A Name: The Venezianico Redentore Levius to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
Benrus Brings Its Military History into the Modern Era with the New Type 3X Collection
The Benrus Type I and Type II are among the category of iconic military watches that first took root in the 1940s around WWII with the famous Dirty Dozen. The Type I and II are an extension of this lineage with designs that met the U.S. military’s formal specifications for wristwatches better known as MILSPEC during the Vietnam War in the 1970s and later throughout the special operations community, particularly among CIA paramilitary forces, Navy SEAL, and UDT teams conducting maritime missions. Benrus has kept this piece of horological history alive in its contemporary catalog, with modern interpretations of both models becoming part of the brand’s permanent collection in the new millennium. Now, that legacy continues with a brand new twist and a brand new collection: the Type 3X. Today, the needs of military forces look very different than decades ago when the Type I and Type II were originally developed. Technology has transformed warfare, but there’s still a need for simple, dependable tools that work if technology fails. This sparked a simple question among a group of former special operations veterans: what would a modern version of the Type I and Type II look like if it was designed by the people who actually use it? Instead of beginning in a design studio, the project started the way many special operations ideas do – around a table, with this small group of individuals who had spent their careers solving problems in demanding environments. Their approach w...