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Results for Swiss vs Japanese Watchmaking

4,700 articles · 45 videos found · page 57 of 159

BaselWorld 2013: TAG Heuer’s Tech Guru Guy Semon Introduces The MikropendulumS Revolution
TAG Heuer s Tech Guru Guy Apr 28, 2013

BaselWorld 2013: TAG Heuer’s Tech Guru Guy Semon Introduces The MikropendulumS

Superlatives are tricky things but we feel safe in saying the MikropendulumS, a new concept watch from TAG Heuer, and developed by their Vice President of Science and Engineering Guy Semon and his R&D; team, is perhaps the most radical departure from conventional watchmaking solutions we’ve seen yet, keeping company with such bleeding edge experiments […]

Glashütte Original Introduces Two New Limited Editions Versions of the SeaQ Worn & Wound
Glashütte Original Introduces Two New Limited 18h ago

Glashütte Original Introduces Two New Limited Editions Versions of the SeaQ

When it comes to luxury divers in the $10,000-$20,000 range, the usual suspects are big Swiss heritage brands. Rolex, Omega, and Blancpain immediately come to mind, and IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and a host of indies offer sporty watches that are dive adjacent if not divers, strictly speaking, that collectors might consider cross shopping. Glashütte Original is a brand that probably doesn’t get mentioned enough in this category, as they actually offer two dive watches in this price range built on their SeaQ platform that are worthy of consideration. The brand has just introduced new versions of their SeaQ Panorama Date and standard SeaQ in a new “Northern Tide” colorway for the North American market that got me thinking about these watches (frankly, reminding me they exist).  I’ve handled both the SeaQ and SeaQ Panorama Date in the past and both watches are very nicely made, but each come with significant tradeoffs that make them tough to commit to, but in different ways. The standard SeaQ is the brand’s stripped down stainless steel diver, measuring 39.5mm in diameter, 12.15mm tall, and 47.2mm from lug to lug. The SeaQ’s case is very nicely executed and gives the feeling of a classic skin diver but with higher end, luxury finishing. The trade off here is really the movement – it runs on GO’s Caliber 39-11, which is a very nicely decorated movement, but has a power reserve of 40 hours, which is low relative to the competition, and is missing the signature Gla...

Introducing - Seiko 5 Sports Launches a Limited Edition with Honda, Celebrating the Iconic Motocompo Monochrome
Seiko 5 Sports Launches Yesterday

Introducing - Seiko 5 Sports Launches a Limited Edition with Honda, Celebrating the Iconic Motocompo

The most accessible side of the Japanese manufacturer, the Seiko 5 Sports range is wide, to say the least. Offering everything from classic dive-inspired models to compact field watches, Seiko also uses this platform to be more creative and introduces some rather unexpected collaborations. Think, for instance, Pepsi-styled watches actually made with Pepsi, a pink […]

Twelve on Time - MB&F;’s Maximilian Büsser and his Personal Relationship with Time and Watches Monochrome
MB&F; ’s Maximilian Büsser Yesterday

Twelve on Time - MB&F;’s Maximilian Büsser and his Personal Relationship with Time and Watches

Twelve on Time is a conversation series that invites leading personalities from the watch industry to step beyond their work and speak more personally about their relationship with time, creativity, and craft. Through a set of twelve questions, the column aims to lift the veil on both the individual and their perspective on watchmaking, revealing […]

Talking Watches: With Michael Friedman - Former Head Of Complications At Audemars Piguet And Founder Of Pattern Recognition Hodinkee
Audemars Piguet Yesterday

Talking Watches: With Michael Friedman - Former Head Of Complications At Audemars Piguet And Founder Of Pattern Recognition

There are a handful of people in the watch industry whose fingerprints are on nearly every era of watchmaking and enthusiasm, and Michael Friedman is one of them. He's been the kid in the archives of the National Watch and Clock Museum, the specialist at Christie's fielding calls from Eric Clapton, the American who moved to Switzerland to become Audemars Piguet's Head of Complications, and, as of this year, the founder of his own independent watch company. Somewhere in between, he became the answer to a trivia question about a Kendrick Lamar lyric. Friedman will tell you none of that was the plan. Instead, it's the result of a decades-long fascination with why humans decided time was worth decorating in the first place, and he's spent every job since trying to answer that question from a different angle. That fascination started at Clark University in the 1990s, not in a watchmaking program but in a psychology class, where a professor named Bernie Kaplan got Friedman thinking about pattern recognition. From there he wandered into time theory: how different cultures measured it, ordered it, gave it meaning. The throughline he kept coming back to was that objects built to track time, like water clocks, obelisks, and wristwatches, have always been embellished, regardless of what they were worth. That idea, that timekeeping and decoration are inseparable, has quietly run underneath everything Friedman has done since, from advising Clapton on vintage Patek Philippe and Rolex at...

SJX Podcast: Horological Heatwave SJX Watches
Vacheron Constantin 2 days ago

SJX Podcast: Horological Heatwave

As Swiss watchmakers prepare for their summer holidays, episode 48 of the SJX Podcast rounds up some of the best summer-ready watches released in the first half of 2026, spanning nearly every price category. Affordable highlights include colourful and practical options from Kollokium, Baltic, and Seiko, while the higher-priced selections range from Tudor and Hermès to Grand Seiko, Vacheron Constantin, and Laurent Ferrier. At the very top, the Greubel Forsey Balancier 3 faces off against a unique quartet of gem-set Rolex Daytonas. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.  

Hands-On: The Laps Arche Collection Hodinkee
Baltic but 4 days ago

Hands-On: The Laps Arche Collection

Over the last ten years, Paris has emerged as a leading city worldwide in microbrand-style watchmaking—led by Serica and Baltic—but a lesser-known brand is making a case for entry into that conversation, and that brand is Laps. Founded in 2015 by Antonin Mercier, Laps built its name on graphic dials that were hand-assembled in limited editions using unconventional materials like wood, tobacco leaf, exotic skins, and archival prints. With its latest release, the brand steps away from the loud, design-forward quartz pieces that made its name and into something more restrained—an automatic watch built with subtle and balanced style. Paris is obviously known for its major fashion houses, institutions that have stood for centuries, but I come from a world of menswear, and especially over the last few years there's been a wave of smaller, standalone shops popping up alongside those institutions—Husbands, Rubirosa, De Bonne Facture, among others—and I'd argue the same divide is playing out in watches. Complementing the stalwarts are names like Baltic and Serica, and with their new Arche line, I think Laps can now enter that conversation too. Form and function always stay top of mind for me, and sometimes I struggle with watches that skew too far in one direction or the other. Perhaps like a pendulum, my own taste sways from one side to the other from time to time, but its natural resting point is the middle—which is exactly where the brand's latest release, the Arche,...

TAG Heuer Introduces a New Glassbox Carrera in Partnership with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Worn & Wound
TAG Heuer Introduces 4 days ago

TAG Heuer Introduces a New Glassbox Carrera in Partnership with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford

TAG Heuer has released a new three-way collaboration and a sequel of sorts in their new Carrera Chronograph made in partnership with Team Ikuzawa with a design assist from Bamford. Team Ikuzawa is a legendary Japanese motorsport team founded by driver Tetsu Ikuzawa and continues today under the stewardship of his daughter Mai Ikuzawa as an all encompassing motorsport, design, fashion, and luxury brand. And Bamford is, of course, Bamford, founded by George Bamford and well known for being a pioneer in high end luxury watch modding and now making watches under their own name, and frequently collaborating as a design partner for the likes of G-SHOCK, Zenith, and countless others.  The new Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa release seen here follows a 2023 Carrera release with a similar look, but offered on the prior Carrera platform. Here, all parties involved benefit from the new Glassbox case design, which includes a 39mm case and a gorgeous vintage style “glassbox” crystal that accentuates and magnifies the dial’s perimeter and offers a ton of visual interest at odd angles. We’ve covered these watches pretty extensively and are big fans of the case proportions and the approach TAG Heuer is taking here. They seem to please both the mass market and the enthusiast crowd, which is a vanishingly rare trick for a large brand like TAG Heuer to pull off.  For this release, TAG, Team Ikuzawa, and Bamford have leaned into the red and white colorway most associated with the...

Doxa Streamlines the “Army” Diver for Hodinkee SJX Watches
Doxa Streamlines 5 days ago

Doxa Streamlines the “Army” Diver for Hodinkee

One of the cult brands when it comes to affordable, 1970s dive watches, Doxa’s latest is a vintage remake with a twist: the Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee is modelled on a dive watch developed for the Swiss army’s elite divers in 1969, but scaled down to a wearable 39 mm, compared to the chunky 42.5 mm (or even 45 mm) of most Doxa dive watches. Doxa has long mined its short but rich history of watches for underwater professionals, most famous amongst them the fictional adventurer created by novelist Clive Cussler. The Sub Army turns to a mil spec watch made for the commando divers of a landlocked country, preserving the design but refining it in size and style. It’s a 250-piece limited edition that sticks to Doxa’s sweet spot in terms of pricing with a retail of US$2,000. Initial thoughts I’ve always liked Doxa’s retro dive watches, especially the signature, oversized Sub 300 with an orange dial. Most of them have an appealing, recognisable look that’s backed up by the brand’s history. That said, Doxa makes a lot of dive watch models, enough of them that I have a hard time keeping up. Fortunately, the Sub Army for Hodinkee stands out in both style and size. At 39 mm and under 11 mm high, this has an easily wearable case that’s amongst the smallest in the Doxa catalogue, but still in the cushion-shaped format that’s a must-have for a retro dive watch of this type. The dial design is unique to the “Army” model and evokes vintage military equipment withou...

Do New Dials And Colors For Hamilton’s Khaki Navy Scuba Lineup Do The Trick? Fratello
Hamilton s Khaki Navy Scuba 5 days ago

Do New Dials And Colors For Hamilton’s Khaki Navy Scuba Lineup Do The Trick?

When I hear the name Hamilton, dive watches aren’t the first things that come to mind. The Swiss brand with American roots is mostly known for its great lineup of military field watches. On top of that, the classic Ventura and the Intra-Matic Chronograph are among its more famous offerings. That said, the Khaki Navy […] Visit Do New Dials And Colors For Hamilton’s Khaki Navy Scuba Lineup Do The Trick? to read the full article.

Moser’s Repeater is Cosmic, Cylindrical, and Skeleton SJX Watches
H. Moser & Cie has unveiled 5 days ago

Moser’s Repeater is Cosmic, Cylindrical, and Skeleton

While most Swiss watchmakers are taking their summer holidays, H. Moser & Cie. has unveiled the Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain — the latest variant of the brand’s most complicated movement platform. The Cosmic Rain takes its name from its dial, which features mother-of-pearl inlays on an aventurine glass dial base. Devoid of a brand logo or wordmark — a long-running Moser motif — the dial effectively evokes a night sky filled with streaking comets. Initial thoughts H. Moser & Cie. is probably best known for its minimalist designs, but the Cosmic Rain’s openworked construction reveals another side of the brand. So, too, does its raden dial, which is dressed up with shimmering strips of mother-of-pearl. The Cosmic Rain is quite compact for such a complicated watch at 40 mm in diameter and 14.4 mm thick — barely larger than some time-only watches. These wrist-friendly dimensions, combined with a lightweight titanium case, should make for a comfortable wearing experience. The calibre HMC 909 features an off-centre time display that reveals both the strike train and the tourbillon, which has been elevated — literally and figuratively — with a cylindrical hairspring. Unfortunately, the vestigial centre wheel pinion is unnecessarily exposed, revealing the calibre’s roots as a movement designed for central hour and minutes hands. There’s a lot to like about the Cosmic Rain, but it’s hard to find justification for the CHF...

Sicura Makes A Comeback After 47 Years With The Hexa 400 Fratello
5 days ago

Sicura Makes A Comeback After 47 Years With The Hexa 400

In the past decade, we have seen many once-defunct Swiss brands return to the watch industry. A few recent returnees that come to mind are Gallet and Universal Genève. Today, another legendary brand joins the ranks. It’s the return of the classic Swiss brand Sicura. Under the leadership of the famous Ernest Schneider in the […] Visit Sicura Makes A Comeback After 47 Years With The Hexa 400 to read the full article.

Hands-on - The Dominique Renaud Pulse 60 and the Fascination of a One-Hertz Regulating Organ Monochrome
Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi APRP 6 days ago

Hands-on - The Dominique Renaud Pulse 60 and the Fascination of a One-Hertz Regulating Organ

Dominique Renaud hardly needs an introduction. Co-founder of Renaud & Papi, later to become Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APRP), he helped shape modern haute horlogerie by developing complications for Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, A. Lange & Söhne and many others. His workshop also became a breeding ground for independent watchmaking, with Robert Greubel, Stephen […]

Video: Meet The Artisans De Genève And Discover Their Exceptional Craft Fratello
6 days ago

Video: Meet The Artisans De Genève And Discover Their Exceptional Craft

Artisans de Genève is an independent watchmaking workshop offering handcrafted timepiece customization and restoration services. AdG is neither associated nor affiliated with the makers/brands of those timepieces. Artisans de Genève carries out work at the sole request of its customers, on their timepieces, for their private use only. The Artisans de Genève are a group […] Visit Video: Meet The Artisans De Genève And Discover Their Exceptional Craft to read the full article.

Introducing - The Fascinating Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck is back in Rose Gold Monochrome
Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck Jul 28, 2026

Introducing - The Fascinating Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck is back in Rose Gold

Astronomical watches are part of Ulysse Nardin‘s identity, and Dr Ludwig Oechslin, like no other, shaped this chapter of the manufacture’s history. Shortly after entrepreneur Rolf Schnyder acquired the brand in 1983, he challenged the Swiss astronomer, mathematician and watchmaker to create a wristwatch capable of displaying the movements of celestial bodies. The result was […]

Introducing - Platinum Editions of the Parmigiani Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Minute Rattrapante and Chronographe Mystérieux Monochrome
Parmigiani Fleurier marks Jul 27, 2026

Introducing - Platinum Editions of the Parmigiani Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Minute Rattrapante and Chronographe Mystérieux

Parmigiani Fleurier marks its thirty years of independent watchmaking with a platinum trilogy of mechanically sophisticated models that offer on-demand complications. Reflecting the collection’s spirit of understated elegance, the complications appear almost magically when required and then disappear to restore the dial’s visual purity. Crafted from head to toe in luxurious 950 platinum, the trilogy […]

SJX Podcast: A Rolling Rolex SJX Watches
Rolex Jul 27, 2026

SJX Podcast: A Rolling Rolex

In episode 46 of the SJX Podcast, we examine the Swiss watch industry’s June export figures, which confirm the strength of the American market and reveal the impact of the Royal Pop. The episode also explores Rolex’s unexpected activity in clockmaking, beginning with the brand’s patents for a traditional inclined-plane clock that was hiding in plain sight at Watches & Wonders. We also share impressions of the Rolex Submariner Desk Clock released late last year — a conservative-looking but impressively constructed object powered by an unusually sophisticated quartz movement. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Ready For A Treat? Hands-On With The Lebois & Co Heritage Atelier Small Seconds Fratello
Jul 24, 2026

Ready For A Treat? Hands-On With The Lebois & Co Heritage Atelier Small Seconds

Lebois & Co doesn’t need an introduction here on Fratello. We’ve been covering the brand since its (re)introduction in 2014. Last year, Lebois & Co introduced the Heritage Small Seconds collection, inspired by the original models from the 1940s and 1950s. Today, we see two new variations featuring special dials made by Swiss dial specialist […] Visit Ready For A Treat? Hands-On With The Lebois & Co Heritage Atelier Small Seconds to read the full article.

The Best Watches for Summer 2026 SJX Watches
Seiko Jul 24, 2026

The Best Watches for Summer 2026

As Swiss watchmakers prepare for their summer holidays, we’re taking a look at some of the best beach-ready watches released in the first half of 2026. While the definition of a “summer watch” is subjective, the best examples tend to be robust, comfortable, and colourful, with enough personality to work well with short sleeves. We round up the most promising candidates of the year, spanning nearly all price categories. Under US$5,000 Seiko is a perennial favourite when it comes to value-oriented watchmaking, and so it’s no surprise that the brand has more than one candidate in the entry level pricing tier. First up is the Seiko 5 Sports HUF Limited Edition, a collaboration with the American streetwear brand founded by the late professional skateboarder Keith Hufnagel. But the appeal of the translucent green dial — which reveals parts of the day and date mechanism below — is obvious even if you plan to summer at the beach rather than the skate park. The look is inspired by Seiko’s Time Sonar flyback chronographs of the 1970s, though the new watch is a conventional three-hander powered by the cal. 4R36. It is robust enough for almost anything one might reasonably do on holiday, and cheap enough — just US$400 — that its owner can actually relax while wearing it. The ‘Seiko summer’ theme continues with the Seiko Prospex Marinemaster 1968 Heritage Diver’s Watch HBF001, the latest evolution of the brand’s no-nonsense diver, now upgraded in nearly every ...

Toledano & Chan Introduces the Breutalist, a Limited Edition for the Horology Club Worn & Wound
Jul 20, 2026

Toledano & Chan Introduces the Breutalist, a Limited Edition for the Horology Club

We’re about half a year removed from the release of Toledano & Chan’s b/1.3r, certainly the brand’s most ambitious release to date with a solid gold dial, subtly updated case construction, and their first “Swiss Made” designation. They’ve followed up that launch with their first collaboration with The Horologly Club, the Hong Kong based watch collecting community (which actually has members all over the world, including T&C; cofounder Alfred Chan), just announced this morning. The new limited edition, which they’ve called the Breutalist, takes on a familiar form with some very specific design codes that fans of the brand will likely welcome. The distinctive shape of Toledano & Chan’s watches have taken inspiration from the former Whitney Museum building, designed by Marcel Breuer, from the very beginning. The building is considered a masterpiece of Brutalism, an architectural discipline often cited as inspiration by watch designers, but rarely actually “getting it” in the way Toledano & Chan does (they ship their watches in concrete presentation boxes, which puts them miles ahead of other so-called Brutalist brands, in my opinion). The design of the iconic windows in that building, specifically, is what lends T&C;’s watches their distinctive, asymmetrical shape, and informs the shape of the crystal, which has become a T&C; calling card.  The idea behind the Breutalist is to be far more straightforward and literal in what it takes from Brutalism and Breu...

Introducing: Breitling Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute To Aston Martin DB5 Hodinkee
Breitling Top Time B01 Chronograph Jul 20, 2026

Introducing: Breitling Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute To Aston Martin DB5

What We Know Breitling's Top Time has long been a unique outlier in the Swiss brand's line-up. A chronograph model with a square (ish) cushion case launched in 1964, it aimed to attract a new crop of younger consumers with its hipster design.  The Top Time soon made it onto the wrist of no less an icon than James Bond in the 1965 film adaptation of Ian Fleming's Thunderball, which saw Sean Connery's 007 sport the watch while driving an elegant and refined British sports car, the Aston Martin DB5.  The rest, as they say, is history. The U.K.-built Aston became synonymous with the U.K. secret agent. The Top Time? Not so much. While it thrived as a model line for Breitling, Bond moved on to a series of other watch brands in subsequent installments of the film series, from Rolex to Seiko, and these days, Omega, via a longstanding product placement deal.  Now Breitling, following the successful launch last year of the limited edition Top Time B01 'Racing' Series in 38mm, and the deal this year to hook up with Aston Martin as a sponsor of its F1 team and other motoring endeavors, is giving us its tribute to the DB5 in three limited edition models that aim to capture the refined elegance and power of the grand touring car on the wrist.  The new Top Time Chronograph B01 Tribute To Aston Martin DB5 case measures 41 millimeters by 47.9 millimeters and13.8 millimeters thick. The dial of each limited-edition model features a wood inlay rehaut, meant to evoke the wooden steering w...

Introducing - American Indie Watchmaker RGM Launches the Model 151 Snoopy Flying Ace Monochrome
RGM Jul 20, 2026

Introducing - American Indie Watchmaker RGM Launches the Model 151 Snoopy Flying Ace

RGM Watch Company has never been a brand to chase trends or pop culture. Founded in 1992 by Roland G. Murphy in Pennsylvania, the brand has built its reputation on traditional watchmaking, producing around 400 watches annually while preserving crafts such as engine turning, movement decoration, and even in-house calibre production. Its latest release, however, […]

Introducing - Gerald Charles Releases a Trio of Gem Set Masterlink Models with Stone Dials Monochrome
Gerald Charles Jul 20, 2026

Introducing - Gerald Charles Releases a Trio of Gem Set Masterlink Models with Stone Dials

Stone dials have long held a special place in fine watchmaking. No two are ever alike, each preserving colours, textures and patterns formed over millions of years. For Gerald Charles, working with stone means embracing a challenge. The Masterlink is anything but round, and its asymmetrical silhouette leaves almost no margin for error. See how […]

Complicated Collectors: King Farouk I SJX Watches
Vacheron Constantin before Plan-les-Ouates Image – Jul 20, 2026

Complicated Collectors: King Farouk I

On the morning of March 30, 1937, 16-year-old King Farouk I of Egypt visited the workshops of Vacheron & Constantin in Geneva. He had been on the throne for less than a year. His father, Fouad I, had died in April 1936, leaving him the crown, the palaces, and a collection that included one of the most complicated watches the Swiss had ever produced. The welcome was formal, as the company’s records and the following morning’s edition of La Suisse both confirm. The young king was received by the company’s directors and shown the workshops. He was already, by multiple accounts, deeply interested in watches as objects to be understood from the inside — the tour of the manufacture was a pilgrimage. Vacheron Constantin, before Plan-les-Ouates. Image – SJX composite/Vacheron Constantin At some point during the visit, Farouk made a remark that passed into the house lore of Vacheron & Constantin and into several of his subsequent biographies, though seldom accurately. The original French, as La Suisse reported it, was precise: “C’est qu’on n’abîmera jamais autant de montres que je n’en ai abîmé étant enfant!”, which translates as “One will never ruin as many watches as I ruined as a child.” Secondary sources have rendered this with démontées — dismantled — in place of abîmé; a small but telling substitution that transforms an admission of destruction into evidence of mechanical curiosity. A child who dismantles watches is a nascent watchmaker. ...

New releases from Nomos, Maurice de Mauriac, Krayon and more Time+Tide
Nomos Maurice de Mauriac Krayon Jul 18, 2026

New releases from Nomos, Maurice de Mauriac, Krayon and more

With Wimbledon having concluded just last week, the tennis inspiration is still strong in our minds. Maurice de Mauriac expands its Rallymaster collection with a new colourway celebrating Swiss tennis. NOMOS introduces two models whose crisp, clean dials would perfectly echo the tournament’s all-white dress code. At the same time, Krayon offers an escape from … Continued