670 articles · 89 videos found · page 5 of 26
Two Broke Watch Snobs
"I don't understand. I told Mr. Baker that it was time to surface," Ramon, their tour guide explained "But he just kept looking at his watch and saying something about ISO standards and asking me if my Apple Watch was ISO COSC.”... Read The Balance Cock Bugle for balanced horological news (probably)
Revolution
Dive watches are probably the most popular type of watch among enthusiasts today, yet relatively few aficionados know of ISO 6425. It sets out the requirements that must be met before a watch can officially be called a diver. The guidelines cover water resistance, underwater legibility, shock and magnetic resistance, air and water pressure, thermal […]
WristBuzz
Every enthusiast has this thought at 3am: sell everything, keep one watch, be done. If we had to pick, we would pick an Explorer 39mm. But is it still a collection with one, and can any watch enthusiast actually sit still?
Worn & Wound
Raymond Weil celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Weil founding his eponymous brand in 1976. And the brand’s first integrated-bracelet watch is a nod to the seventies era of experimentation: where, in the face of impending quartz dominance, watchmakers produced bold designs like they had nothing to lose. This was the era of the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, both launching the concept of the luxury sports watch—in essence, a classier and far pricier interpretation of the Go Anywhere, Do Anything ethos that once took its inspiration from military and field watches. Only this time, going anywhere is to Monaco or St. Moritz, and doing anything is jumping off the back of a yacht into the waters of Bali. Fifty years later, the integrated bracelet watch has never been more popular. Perhaps it’s the trickle-down effect from the cachet of those two OGs, which have taken off so much that people are willing to snap up an anniversary Nautilus desk clock, or storm your nearest Swatch store for a plastic Royal Oak. Or it’s the promise of a certain inherent and integrated toughness, eschewing the notion that we won’t ever reach 1,000-ft deep-water depths and still make it back to the boardroom. In fact, skip the beach-to-boardroom mentality. This category is all upscale by comparison, and the A.R.T. series — which, according to Raymond Weil, stands for “art, refinement, and timekeeping,” with the latter perhaps seeming redundant — captur...
Fratello
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, Mike is in Florida, and Balazs is in Hungary. But we’re here for you! In today’s discussion, we tackle a listener suggestion. We’re talking about entry-level watches and how brands approach this. Hint: it’s very different today, with greater expectations from the buyer. This podcast […] Visit Fratello On Air: Rethinking The Definition Of Entry-Level Watches to read the full article.
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SJX Watches
A visual staple of grande sonnerie watches is a pair of large, highly finished and intriguing-looking click wheels. Continuing our exploration of various horological energy systems — including winding efficiency and the fusee and chain — we examine the linkage of ratchets, clicks and wide-toothed gears that comprise the winding works of some of the industry’s best chiming watches. A Patek Philippe grande sonnerie movement from 1915. One crown for two barrels The grande sonnerie is rightfully considered the pinnacle of chiming complications. With the ability to automatically sound the hours and quarters, a grande sonnerie requires heaps of power to keep it going over the course of a day. As a result, most grande sonnerie movements rely on a second mainspring barrel that is isolated from the timekeeping going train. The requirement for independent barrels stems from the different rates at which the barrels unwind. The striking works require a faster-turning barrel that’s only active for short periods, while the going train feeds from a slow and steady barrel. Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie pocket watch crafted by Philippe Dufour. As the barrels discharge unevenly, it makes sense that they cannot be wound in sync. Winding both mainsprings in sync would typically over-strain one of them since their winding states are rarely the same at any given time. Although the two barrels themselves are separated, they often share the same winding train. Now a signature of Vallée...
Monochrome
Leica’s relationship with mechanical watches is still relatively young (even though some watches have existed during the 1990s), yet it has a solid foundation, as we explained in our article here, and in an interview with Dr Andreas Kaufmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Leica Camera AG, who has been a key player in […]
Worn & Wound
One thing you can’t credibly accuse Christopher Ward of is being afraid of color. Hot on the heels of their Twelve Xander, a colorful and abstract limited edition collaboration with the Dial Artist that sold out in a single day, the UK based brand is back with the Twelve 36 (Ti) Pick ‘n’ Mix Limited Edition, a series of small Twelves that draw on a nostalgic love of sugary, colorful candy, the kind that you used to be able to buy in bulk by the pound at movie theaters to escape a hot summer day (sorry, but that’s a core memory for me). These new 36mm editions of the Twelve are available in a total of six colorways, and their defining feature is a dial texture that the brand says replicates the sugar coating on the types of candy that we’re now, years and years later, told is essentially poison and that we should stay away from. The texture looks great in these Christopher Ward supplied images, but I’ll be honest: I’m not sure I immediately think of candy when viewing them, although I’m happy to make the connection. It begs the question, though, if every similar texture we’ve seen over these last few years is actually a candy dial? Something to think about. OK, the dial colors. The collection consists of Sour Apple (green), Kola Krystals (brown), Fizzy Orange (orange), Cherry Pop (red), Blue Sherbet (blue), and Berry Burst (purple). In terms of candy alone, I feel the strongest pull toward Sour Apple (really, anything sour is immediately at the top of ...
WristBuzz
It is July, wrists have grown, and half the industry still ships bracelets without on-the-fly micro-adjust. A serious question, delivered with love.
WristBuzz
Diameter is the number every product page leads with. Lug-to-lug is the number that decides whether the watch stays on your wrist.
Video
Does anyone care about the AP X Swatch anymore? It feels like the "luxury" watch industry has been playing a different game and I think a lot of enthusiasts and people who love watches are getting sick of this game. T...
WristBuzz
Ref. SSX01B700. Solid 18K Moonshine gold dial, gold crown and pushers, 11 grams of gold, CHF 500 because Swatch decided to charge 1969 gold prices. 1969 pieces, ESTA lottery is live.
WristBuzz
It launched in 1996 at €430. It got discontinued in 2019 at roughly the same price. Now the J-market version trades at €800+. The SKX007 is the mechanical watch a whole generation of collectors started with.
WristBuzz
The Dial Artist brings hand-painted colour to Christopher Ward's The Twelve, and the result is one of the most visually striking affordable watches of the year
WristBuzz
Every Rolex conversation starts here. The digit count decodes the era: acrylic vs sapphire, aluminium vs Cerachrom, tritium vs Chromalight, cal. 15xx vs 3135 vs 3235. And why 5-digit is the sweet spot most collectors quietly agree on.
SJX Watches
Episode 44 of the SJX Podcast covers new releases from Grand Seiko, Greubel Forsey, Vacheron Constantin, and Breguet. The common thread that ties these releases together is that each is an incremental update to a previous model. Grand Seiko’s updates to the Evolution 9 collection are perhaps most notable simply due to the brand’s larger scale, and for what this refresh indicates about how the brand is listening to collector feedback. We also shares our condolences with the Stern family over the passing of Philippe Stern, and discuss his towering legacy. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
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SJX Watches
Patek Philippe has just offered a peek at the Rare Handcrafts collection conceived for the upcoming Watch Art Grand Exhibition Milan 2026 that begins in October at the CityOval exhibition hall in Milan. As is traditional for the exhibition collection, the watches are centred on themes local to the host country or region. Italy, unsurprisingly, offers abundant inspiration and the pair of watches revealed so far certainly evoke la dolce vita. The first is the pocket watch ref. 992/193J-001 “Burano” that features an enamel decoration modelled on the streets of the Venetian island known for its compact houses painted in bright colours. A variety of enamelling techniques were employed for this motif, including cloisonné for the buildings and figures and paillonné for the waterway. The second timepiece is the Dome Clock ref. 20179M-001 “Sicilian Oranges”. This depicts Palermo seen from a distance, with an orange grove in the foreground. As is traditional for Dome Clocks, majority of the decoration is in cloisonné enamel. Because of the size of the clock, some 15 m of gold wire was required to complete the motif. The Grand Exhibition takes places October 2-18, 2026, at CityOval in Milan. Entry is free but complimentary tickets are required and available via online registration at Watchart2026.patek.com.
Hodinkee
What We Know Less than a year ago, Greubel Forsey discontinued the most emblematic pillar of its particularly well-finished watchmaking, the Balancier Contemporain. The Balancier is dead. Long live the Balancier. The new Balancier QM, that is. Very much grown out of the lessons, successes, and even the architecture of the Balancier Contemporain, the Balancier QM is the first to carry the brand's new Qualité Musée standard. While it looks somewhat different, with a floating balance cock and rearranged location of the power reserve, the Balancier QM is a familiar watch to anyone who has seen a GF before. That's because the movement borrows much of its architecture from the old Balancier Contemporain, as well as its identical sizing (39.6mm by 12.25mm for both models), now in white gold. What the Balancier QM is instead is more of a codification of a new Qualité Musée (QM) certification for this and future GF watches. Like the Patek seal, Qualité Fleurier, Breguet Hallmark, and other in-house standards (all three of which have also just added chronometric certification not found here), this guarantees a certain—particularly extreme—level of hand-finishing quality. Finishing has been one of the key raisons d'être for GF since its founding. There's been an "if you know, you know" quality to the brand that signaled that, included in their extreme pricing, you get extreme finishing from the brand. That was a novelty in the past, but now it's a "must" for any high-en...
Fratello
In all four seasons of the Fratello Talks podcast, we’ve never dedicated an episode to watch dials. We thought it was about time to change that. The dial is one of the most important parts of a watch, as it’s the “face” that gets the most attention when checking the time. It often draws the […] Visit Fratello Talks: Texture, Color, Stone — Let’s Talk Dials to read the full article.
Hodinkee
One of the largest watch group holdouts is heading to Watches and Wonders in 2027 as Breitling's House of Brands will join the world's premier luxury watch fair for the first time. Scheduled to take place April 5 to 11 in Geneva at Palexpo, with supplementary programs and exhibitions including the In The City events that debuted at the most recent edition, brands including Breitling, Gallet, Universal Genève and Italy's Damiani will exhibit alongside founding partners Rolex, Patek Philippe and Richemont brands, among others, according to a statement from the non-profit Watches and Wonders Foundation. The inclusion of the House of Brands group marks a significant addition for Watches and Wonders, underscoring its position as the most important annual gathering of Swiss and international luxury watchmakers, retailers, media, and the public each spring. The announcement follows news that Basel will return to the watch fair schedule with a new watch and jewelry show called Basilia that will follow during the same month, and leaves Swatch Group as the only major Swiss watchmaking conglomerate not participating in Watches and Wonders. "The arrival of these new names represents an important milestone in the evolution of Watches and Wonders Geneva, and reflects the desire of major watchmaking Maisons to unite around a shared vision," Watches and Wonders organizers said in a prepared statement. A record 65 brands participated in the event in 2026, including, for the first time...
Fratello
Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we talk about car watches, a curious subgenre within our hobby. Sure, the automobile industry is massive and has an equally huge fan base, but collaborations between watch and car brands often misfire. This draws us into a conversation about what we think of […] Visit Fratello On Air: The Curious Case Of Car Watches to read the full article.
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WristBuzz
Ronaldo brought a Rainbow Daytona, Messi pulled out a turquoise-dial Day-Date, and Casemiro is the surprise of the bunch with an F.P. Journe. Every wrist worth talking about so far.
Fratello
Just a couple of weeks ago, we were recording an episode of Fratello On Air when Balazs brought up the new Timex Atelier collection. Frankly, I had no idea what he was talking about, which is odd because I check out the brand’s website every so often. Lo and behold, when I did hit the […] Visit Watch Out, World: The New Timex Atelier Chronographs Are Really Good to read the full article.
Fratello
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we talk about how hype can help or hurt brands. Naturally, there are plenty of other topics on the docket, including television, German culture, and more! This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Hype is a funny […] Visit Fratello On Air: How Hype Can Help Or Hurt A Brand to read the full article.
SJX Watches
The fusee and chain system is one of those terms in high horology parlance that instantly elevates the status of a given watch. And yet few appreciate the elegance and subtle complexities of this horological contraption that surprisingly predates the invention of the hairspring itself. The need for constant torque A high-performance oscillating system requires a somewhat constant power source in order to keep it swinging consistently. This issue relates to isochronism and the insufficiencies of real-world oscillators. For a watch, this means that its precision is, to a degree, dependent on how constant the torque reaching the escapement is. This is not as easy as one might think. The mainspring stores potential energy in its wound coils, which it then slowly feeds into the gear train as the barrel unwinds. Because of how the system is built, and due to physics-related constraints, the power coming from the mainspring barrel is all but constant. Ideally, the torque would be linearly decreasing — meaning that the slope of the barrel torque is directly proportional to the arming angle. Coiled mainspring inside a barrel. When a mainspring barrel is fully wound, the torque it feeds into the going train is maximal, sometimes causing the balance wheel to swing too wide and over-bank. As the mainspring unwinds, the torque stabilises to a steadily declining rate. But as the movement enters its last hours of power reserve, the torque from the barrel decreases considerably and more...
WristBuzz
MB&F;'s twelfth Horological Machine is a flying-tourbillon wristwatch that docks inside a 15 kg, nearly 400 mm tall transforming robot companion, and only 36 will ever exist
Video
I used to be a die hard Omega fan, and Longines did nothing for me. This was the status quo for decades and continued into the first 10 years of The Urban Gentry, but fast forward to 2026, when I not only don't have a...
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