189 articles found · page 5 of 7
Monochrome
Oris introduces a limited edition of its Divers Sixty-Five created in collaboration with France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and the National Convention of Child Protection Associations charity (CNAPE). The model chosen to promote the annual children’s football tournament is a classic 38mm Divers Sixty-Five powered by an automatic movement – not to be confused […]
Deployant
Last week, we looked at Japanese brands. This week, we turn our attention to France. Here are our pick of six watches from French brands.
Fratello
Le Tour de France, Wimbledon, Copa América, and UEFA Euro 2024 are all happening right now. If that’s not enough, from July 26th to August 11th, the Summer Olympics will take place in Paris. It’s a very intense summer for sports (or winter if you’re watching from the Southern Hemisphere). At some of these events, […] Visit You Can’t Imagine All The Technology Omega Uses As The Official Timekeeper Of The 2024 Paris Olympics to read the full article.
Fratello
The Summer Olympics will kick off in Paris in less than a month. Zenith has created the Defy Skyline Édition Paris to help celebrate the occasion. It uses a different style of dial, which may leave potential buyers wishing that this limited edition watch wasn’t only offered in France. Omega is the first brand that […] Visit Hot Take: The Zenith Defy Skyline Édition Paris to read the full article.
Fratello
Thus far, we’ve seen brands that mix horology with space and land exploration, car racing, coffee, and food. “But what about literature?” you may ask. Well, friends, I’m glad you want to know because, today, we’re going to take a look at Buci. This is a brand hailing from Paris, France, with a first collection […] Visit Introducing: Buci - Where Poetry Intersects With Horology And Horology Meets Vandalism to read the full article.
Monochrome
Behind the name Jacques Bianchi is actually a man who, during the 1980s, in his workshop based in Marseille (south of France) produced watches for French military divers. Working closely with COMEX and Jacques Mayol or Captain Cousteau, he was an important figure there. In 2021, the brand made a resounding comeback, faithfully reissuing the […]
Teddy Baldassarre
When you think of Australia, watches are probably not the first images that come to your mind. Kangaroos, boomerangs, Hugh Jackman, and Nicole Kidman, maybe, but not watches. However, much like Great Britain, France,, and our own United States, Australia in the 21st Century has given rise to a creative and ambitious generation of watch aficionados-turned-entrepreneurs that are eager to establish home-grown watchmaking in the Land Down Under. While a full-fledged horological industry in Australia is still quite a way from becoming reality - unlike those aforementioned nations, it has little watchmaking history to speak of, and outsourced parts and even manufacturing are still the norm - these 10 Australia-based watch brands are making timepieces worthy of enthusiasts’ attention. Melbourne Watch Co. Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia Founder: Sujain Krishnan Notable models: Melbourne, Flinders, Portsea, Fitzroy Melbourne Watch Company started out as a crowd-funded venture in 2013, a passion project for founder, former IT consultant and self-trained watchmaker Sujain Krishnan. It attained early success with its first timepiece, the Flinders Automatic, a business-casual steel watch named for a central train hub in the founder’s home city of Melbourne and sporting a dial inspired by that station’s clock. The brand has expanded its offerings in the decade-plus since, now offering no less than seven collections, all taking their names and some aesthetic cu...
Fratello
In just less than two weeks, on June 15th and 16th, almost 50 independent brands will assemble to exhibit their watches at TimeFest in Bordeaux, France. This is the first time this event is happening, and if I lived a little closer, I’d be very curious to check it out. There’s a nice mix of […] Visit Get Ready For The Very First TimeFest In Bordeaux to read the full article.
Monochrome
A strong advocate of French watchmaking and a brand with history, Yema keeps upgrading its collection with more horological content and designs to please vintage enthusiasts. This blend of modern watchmaking and historic looks was the base of the recently presented Superman Slim CMM.20, the icon of the brand powered by a manufacture micro-rotor calibre developed and assembled in France. Now, it's time for the Navygraf, the other dive watch of Yema to be upgraded and refined with these nice mechanics. Meet the new Navygraf Slim CMM.20 diver.
Quill & Pad
If you dare to compare, make it apples to apples. Ludovic Ballouard (Brittany) and François-Paul Journe (Marseille) both hail from France. Most pertinent to this comparison though is that both men designed quirky jumping-hour watches.
Monochrome
We return to the intriguing world of car collecting and the subsequent auctions that often go hand-in-hand. A couple of months ago it was announced that one of the most coveted collections in Europe would be offered for sale through Artcurial, the relatively young auction house headquartered in Paris, France. Catering to vintage car enthusiasts, […]
Worn & Wound
The Tour Auto, rooted in the historic Tour de France Automobile dating back to 1899, has become a pinnacle of motorsport, featuring legendary drivers like Maurice Trintignant and iconic brands such as Ferrari and Porsche. Today, over 250 competing crews traverse France’s scenic roads and racetracks, captivating spectators. Baltic returns for a second year in the row as the Official Timekeeper, and, in commemoration of the event, has produced 500 Tricompax timepieces. The Tricompax’s colorway strikes a balance between tradition and modernity, drawing inspiration from the excitement and iconography of the race. Its dial, in a matte light beige, complements three black-ringed subdials, reminiscent of the Tour de France Automobile’s colors. Accentuated by a black railway track, it pairs harmoniously with the tachymeter scale bezel, designed for speeds of up to 200 km/h. The Tricompax is encased in a 39.5mm 316L stainless steel case, clocking in at a thin 13.5mm profile. With a 63-hour power reserve from the Sellita SW510-M manually wound movement, 50-meter water resistance, and its double-domed sapphire crystal, each feature of this watch is meant for the long-haul. Each watch comes with both a steel flat link bracelet and a navy blue Alcantara strap, housed in a beautifully presented custom-made case. Also included in the case is a Rally Timer comprising two emblematic motorsport tools: a stopwatch with a matte light gray dial, operated by a Hanhart hand-wound movemen...
Fratello
Drivers, start your engines because the race is about to start! And this is not just any race - it’s the Tour Auto 2024, a classic road rally, also known as the Tour de France Automobile. The race uses France’s open roads and iconic race tracks, such as Le Mans, as its scenery. This year […] Visit Introducing: The Baltic × Tour Auto 2024 Tricompax - This Chronograph Is Ready For The Classic Road Rally to read the full article.
Time+Tide
France's pithy watch vandalizer du jour teams up with a poetic Parisian microbrand.The post Buci & seconde/seconde/ produce a poetic timepiece that bleeds for its craft appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
The people at Swedish brand Bravur are about as crazy about watches as they are about cycling. Last year, the brand from Båstad gave us the Grand Tour Chronograph series inspired by the three grand tours - Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. This year, the inspiration comes from iconic cycling teams […] Visit Attention, Fans Of Both Cycling And Watches: Bravur Launches The Three-Watch-Strong Team Heritage Collection to read the full article.
Monochrome
As the leading watchmaker of his day, Abraham-Louis Breguet enjoyed the patronage of France’s royalty and aristocracy. Among the names on his A-list was Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest sister, Caroline Murat, also known as the Queen of Naples. A keen collector of Breguet’s timepieces, one of the 30 pieces she commissioned from Breguet was a watch […]
Deployant
Hot off the manufacture is the latest iteration of Yema's Superman Slim CMM .20. The Superman is one of Yema and France's most iconic dive watch, after several iterations after it's revival in 2018, the latest iteration now features an in-house movement along side a micro rotor. Here's our take of it after a week on the wrist.
Monochrome
The world of independent watchmaking has always been a place of passion, inspiration and excitement for us. It has been at the heart of MONOCHROME from the get-go, and even today we find joy in discovering new and intriguing watchmaking adventures from all corners of the world. This time we stop in Morbihan, France, to […]
Fratello
Welcome to another edition of Sunday Morning Showdown! Grab a hot drink and settle in for a brawl between two affordable field watches. Like the upcoming Six Nations game, it’s France versus England, with Serica facing off against Studio Underd0g. Serica started its journey in watches by releasing the 4512 field watch, the predecessor of […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Serica 6190 Field Chronometer Vs. Studio Underd0g 02Series Field to read the full article.
Monochrome
Part of the nouvelle vague of watch brands born in France, March LAB was created in 2008 with a focus on design and vintage inspiration. A distinguishing element that has to do with the founders’ origins is France’s Atlantic coast; to be precise, France’s top surf spot on the Basque Country’s coastline. Moving from a […]
Monochrome
Born in 1963, the Superman quickly became Yema’s most emblematic watch and, incidentally, one of France’s most famous watches too. A so-called skin diver, meaning a dive watch intended for recreational dives and more restrained proportions, it remained nevertheless a competent aquatic tool. Revived in 2018 with a faithful re-edition, Yema has, for the past […]
Monochrome
Stating that Grand Seiko is Japanese is like saying that the Eiffel Tower belongs to Paris. It seems so obvious at first that you might forget that France’s most famous monument wasn’t meant to become a permanent fixture. With Grand Seiko, the Japaneseness of the brand isn’t just about the location. It’s not about making […]
Time+Tide
Independent vs micro. France vs France. Yema vs Baltic.The post Battle of the French independents – Yema Superman 500 versus the Baltic Aquascaphe appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
As the leading watchmaker of his day, Abraham-Louis Breguet hobnobbed with France’s royalty and aristocracy. Apart from his commissions for gentlemen, his celebrity client list also included Queen Marie-Antoinette, Empress Josephine, and Caroline Murat, Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest sister, aka the Queen of Naples. A keen collector of Breguet’s revolutionary timekeepers, in 1810, Caroline Murat placed […]
Worn & Wound
Over the course of the last year, we’ve been keeping regular tabs on Awake, a microbrand with roots in France that operates within very narrow niches. Their watches are high concept and put a premium on storytelling, which admittedly is not everyone’s cup of tea. But we appreciate their creativity, and believe that this hobby is better and more interesting when brands like Awake are around to remind us that the watch world is encompasses a lot more than black dialed dive watches and vintage reissues. Their latest project, the Summetria collection, is based on perhaps their most abstract idea yet: the inherent beauty in nature, and the symmetry of all living things. The specific idea of symmetry is tackled here through guilloche dial treatments, which Awake relates to the natural symmetry of things like a butterfly’s wings or flower petals. Awake notes in their press materials for the Summetria collection that to human beings, symmetry seen in nature appears almost unimaginably complex, but the reason it exists at all is because “nature prefers simplicity.” From Awake’s perspective, it’s all about simplicity, and there’s a clear dichotomy there between the inherent complexity of watchmaking (and the application of guilloche) and the visual and functional simplicity of natural symmetry. Like I said, it’s abstract. But I appreciate that Awake is trying to draw connections between their watch designs and the natural world in ways that other brands do not ...
SJX Watches
Following our look at notable complications and artisanal masterpieces on offer at Sotheby’s Important Watches I in Hong Kong, we now consider the independent watchmaking highlights in the sale that takes place on October 7. The offerings in the sale range from establishment names like Philippe Dufour – on offer is a Simplicity 37 mm in platinum made after the original run – to newcomers like Pascal Coyon with a Besançon Observatory-certified chronometer. And the highlights also include the headline lot of the auction, the extravagant Richard Mille RM 53-02 in blue sapphire crystal. Important Watches I happens on October 7, 2023. Registration for bidding and the full catalogue can be accessed here. The Richard Mille RM 53-02 Lot 2116: Pascal Coyon Chronometre One of the most affordable offerings in the sale is the Pascal Coyon Chronometre, a watch inspired by the French watchmaker’s career as a watch and clock repairer in Bayonne. Though based on a Unitas 6498, Mr Coyon’s hand-wound movement bears a strong resemblance to classical 19th-century pocket watches from the likes of Longines. While the movement is still a Unitas 6498 at its core, it has been dressed up with frosted bridges and a snail cam regulator, amongst other things. Being one of his earlier watches, this has a plain, 42 mm polished steel case with a stepped bezel and a white lacquered dial with red numerals for “12” and “60”, complemented by Breguet-style hour and minute hands. This ...
Worn & Wound
Originally introduced in the early 1930s, Lebois & Co was a brand that flew a bit under the radar for most of its original existence. Based out of France, the brand began making fine Swiss-made timepieces which were used regularly in the military. After going out of business in 1972, the brand sat dormant for 40 years or so, coming back into the world thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. The new stewards of the brand kept much of what made Lebois & Co what it was - quality Swiss manufacturing, and handsome designs. After a few years of crowdfunding, Lebois decided to keep the crowd involved in the design and production in an interesting way. By creating their own “CoLAB” community, fans of the brand can have a direct say in what the next watch from Lebois would look like. $2750 Hands-On: the Lebois & Co Heritage Chronograph Case Stainless steel Movement LC-450 manual wind column wheel chronograph Dial Silver / Salmon Lume None Lens Sapphire Strap Leather/Suede Water Resistance 50 meters Dimensions 39 x 47.35mm Thickness 10.5mm Lug Width 20mm Crown Push/Pull Warranty Yes Price $2750 That watch is what we’re looking at now - the Heritage Chronograph, a faithful reissue of Lebois & Co’s original chronograph watch from the 1940s. WIth several options open for voting, the people have spoken, and the watches here are a result of feedback from the community. It is really cool to be able to go back to the CoLAB page and see the number of votes and steps in ma...
Quill & Pad
For those not familiar with what was a monumental shift in the tectonic plates of the world of wine, the Judgement of Paris is a legendary moment when the spotlight’s glare revealed that it was entirely possible to make great wine outside France.
Hodinkee
A new Monaco takes inspiration from France's Racing Blue.
Deployant
We review the new Depancel Legend 60s Chronograph, a 1960s inspired timepiece that is produced by a microbrand based in France.
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