2,206 articles · 5 videos found · page 60 of 74
Breguet's 1801 rotating-cage escapement, explained.
Alfred Helwig's 1920 tourbillon variant with no upper bridge; the entire cage is visible.
Monochrome
For many years, you’ve probably known Roger Dubuis for its bold, angular watches with openworked movements and tourbillon(s), most of them under the Excalibur collection. And while most are technically very impressive, this isn’t exactly the style that Mister Dubuis defined when he created the brand in the mid-1990s. The earliest watches, known as the […]
SJX Watches
The just-concluded Geneva auction season was mostly a plateau with several striking peaks and a few lows. The peaks were marked by desirable timepieces that outperformed by far, yet shared little in common with one another in terms of style or period. The peaks ranged from multiple F.P. Journe watches to a diamond-set Patek Philippe ref. 3424/1 “Gilbert Albert” to the Breguet four-minute tourbillon pocket watch from 1809 to the Instagram-ready Patek Philippe ref. 3970 in “salmon” with Breguet numerals. Despite such diverse taste, the small pool of bidders seemed to have one thing in common: they were all focused on a “trophy” watch. The Christie’s saleroom in the Four Seasons. Image – Christie’s With few exceptions, contemporary watches from mainstream brands were cold, while vintage watches were mostly lukewarm – but as always there were exceptions. An Patek Philippe ref. 570 with a black dial signed “E. Gubelin” sold for an impressive CHF419,100 including fees, or US$523,000, at Christie’s, while Phillips sold a Rolex Daytona ref. 6263 “RCO” (or “Oyster Sotto”) for an equally impressive CHF1.39 million, or US$1.73 million – close to the historical peak for the model. A vintage watch that surprised on the downside was the 1927 Rolex Oyster worn by Mercedes Gleitze when she became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1927 – a landmark in Rolex lore. Though it sold for CHF1.39 million, or US$1.74 million, there was just one bi...
Fratello
Let me ask you a simple question: if you had to choose between a tourbillon and a Gravity Control System, which would you pick? Well, then again, you might require more information before answering my question since the system I mentioned might not be a household name. Therefore, let me introduce the gravity-defying Zenith Defy […] Visit Introducing: The Gravity-Defying Zenith Defy Zero G Sapphire - 46mm Of Transparent Or Blue Sapphire Goodness to read the full article.
Monochrome
Czapek unveils the second special series created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brand’s rebirth in 2015. Following the Antarctique Tourbillon introduced in April, this new release presents an exceptional interpretation of the maison’s integrated-bracelet sports watch, distinguished by a plique-à-jour enamel dial. Plique-à-jour is an intricate and delicate enamelling technique distinguished by its […]
Monochrome
The Carrera Extreme Sport series by TAG Heuer returns for 2025 with three new references: a travel-ready Twin-Time chronograph that merges a true GMT into the openworked Extreme Sport template; a rose-gold chronograph that disrupts the collection’s tool aesthetic using precious metal; and a Tourbillon Extreme Sport F1 75th Anniversary limited edition that celebrates seven-and-a-half […]
Time+Tide
The 2025 Carrera Extreme Sport collection sees TAG Heuer introduce chronograph, GMT, and tourbillon novelties.The post TAG Heuer tributes 75 years of Formula 1 with a triple Carrera Extreme threat appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
The name Santos at Cartier carries a lot of weight. One of Cartier’s oldest collections, named after Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, who commissioned a watch from his friend Louis Cartier in 1904 to be worn while piloting his flying machines, it took on a slightly different vocation in recent years, becoming the brand’s vision of […]
Hodinkee
The New Montblanc Star Legacy Suspended Exo Tourbillon Château de Versailles Limited Edition celebrates the famous French castle with a unique Swiss timepiece.
SJX Watches
After a few quiet years, David Candaux has introduced the DC12 MaveriK – the brand’s fourth model and its first without a tourbillon. A deceptively complicated time-only watch, the DC12 features twin escapements linked by a differential, a mechanism deeply rooted in the twentieth century history of the Vallée de Joux. Housed in an organic 39.5 mm titanium case, the DC12 is the most affordable watch yet from the Le Solliat-based watchmaker, but retains the brand’s signature push-button crown below the dial. Initial thoughts An experienced constructor who can count the MB&F; HM6 and Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie among his credits, David Candaux launched his eponymous brand in 2017. But he would be the first to tell you it was not an easy start, managing to sell just 14 watches during his first four years in business. This is not uncommon in the world of independent watchmaking; look around at some of the most popular independent brands today and you’ll hear a similar story about their early days. Mr Candaux’s business subsequently picked up some momentum, and in the past four years the brand claims to have made an additional 42 pieces. If true, it’s an encouraging sign for a watchmaker with something of a chequered past as an independent constructor, who is said to have had difficulty meeting obligations to client brands. In some ways, the DC12 is the embodiment of this journey, being simpler and cheaper than Mr Candaux’s previous models....
SJX Watches
Girard-Perregaux (GP) has just taken the covers off a new in-house movement that will serve as a versatile platform for the brand, the Girard-Perregaux GP4800. Historically a significant producer of automatic movements, GP marks a milestone with the new, high-performance base movement that will gradually replace the 3000 family of movements that was once a workhorse employed by several high-end brands. Initial thoughts GP’s most famous creations are undoubtedly the historical Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges and the more recent Constant Escapement. Significant as they may be, neither illustrates the brand’s past strength as a manufacture in the early decades of contemporary watchmaking post-Quartz Crisis, in particular GP’s position as a leading supplier of automatic movements. It all began with the 3000 family of calibres introduced in 1994. Desirable for its slimness and high performance – the 3000 series was sub-3 mm thick while ticking at 4 Hz – this versatile platform served not only as a base for many of the brand’s own timepieces, but also powered well-known watches made by a number of prominent brands, including Cartier, Daniel Roth, Vacheron Constantin, and even MB&F;. A GP3000 found in the MB&F; HM2 And then inverted in the MB&F; HM8 Mark 2 The new GP4800 is clearly meant to replace the venerable-yet-aging 3000-series. Boasting a modern architecture and fine technical chops, the GP4800 is a step towards reclaiming GP’s past success as a movement ma...
Hodinkee
Indie (and previously affordable) star Jiro Katayama's brand announced the unexpected, with a tourbillon, sonnerie au passage, jump hour watch in a surprisingly compact shape.
Monochrome
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Grande Tradition collection is the repository of the brand’s most complicated timepieces, featuring multi-component calibres and incredible levels of decoration and finishing. Bringing almost 200 years of expertise to the table, the Master Grande Tradition is home to emblematic complications like the tourbillon, the minute repeater and the perpetual calendar, often combined and […]
SJX Watches
On episode 10 of the SJX Podcast, SJX and Brandon Moore discuss the highlights and hands-on impressions from Geneva Watch Days, including the Greubel Forsey QP Balancier, Lange 1815 Tourbillon Black Enamel, Gérald Genta’s new Minute Repeater, and the latest perpetual calendars from Audemars Piguet. We also discuss the significance of Tag Heuer’s carbon hairsprings; after a short-lived launch in 2019, the brand has taken a mulligan and relaunched this technology with a key difference that might make carbon hairsprings a real alternative to silicon. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube.
Fratello
From the record-breaking thinnest-ever tourbillon in the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon to the genre-defying Christopher Ward Twelve 660, thin is in! It seems manufacturers are heeding our outcries for slim watches across (almost) all categories and segments. This is a trend we can get behind at Fratello! It seems like only yesterday when almost […] Visit Thin Is In! - The Return Of Slim Watches Across (Almost) All Categories to read the full article.
Time+Tide
Leroy returns to high-end watchmaking, reviving the Osmior collection with a tourbillon and a minute repeater all in one.The post L.Leroy is staging another comeback with the complicated Osmior Bal du Temps appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
Unveiled at Geneva Watch Days 2025, the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium marks a new chapter in the brand’s ongoing exploration of mechanical and material innovation. Limited to just 50 pieces, this 43mm timepiece features a ruthenium-based Crystalium hour disc-each one uniquely formed through a vapor-deposition crystallization process. Priced at CHF 40,000, the watch pairs its shimmering dial with a black DLC-coated titanium case and the automatic UN-230 flying carousel movement.
Monochrome
Dragons have become a recurring motif for Jacob & Co., appearing in elaborate Astronomia models such as the 50mm Astronomia Dragon with its double-axis tourbillon or a Mystery Tourbillon Twin Dragons. In 2025, Jacob & Co. refines this formula in a more wearable format, unveiling the Astronomia Solar Dragon. The Astronomia Solar Dragon case measures […]
SJX Watches
TAG Heuer is marking the rollout of its new-and-improved, and in-house, carbon hairsprings – timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the hairspring’s invention – with a pair of chronographs: the Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring and Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring. More than just two new watches, the TH-Carbonspring is a notable technical achievement that might promise an entirely new generation of TAG Heuer movements equipped with oscillators that boast all of the advantages of silicon, but with added robustness. Protected by several patents, TH-Carbonspring is also the result of a fascinating process of research and development to overcome a surprising problem. Kitted out in carbon composite dials and cases, the two watches are centred on TAG Heuer’s latest-generation carbon-nanocomposite balance springs, with each being a limited edition of just 50 pieces Initial thoughts Both models serve as a launch platform for TAG Heuer’s improved and industrialisation-ready carbon hairspring. While the brand has been flirting with carbon hairsprings since 2019, its use of the technology has been intermittent and on limited scale. TAG Heuer explains previous attempts at carbon springs were not up to the brand’s standards, which is to say the hairsprings did not perform as expected and could not be produced at scale. The new TH-Carbonspring indicates TAG Heuer has perfected the technology to make reliable hairsprings, which m...
Hodinkee
A natural onyx dial and lab-grown diamonds combines with a modernized take on the Disco Volante for an attractive-and limited-release. We look at the history of precious stone indices and historical takes on the "flying saucer" design.
Monochrome
It might seem like aeons ago, but MB&F;’s Legacy Machine dynasty is still a teenager in watchmaking terms. Launched in 2011, the LM family turned our perceptions of MB&F;’s galactic design language inside out and upside down. Flying back to 19th-century watchmaking for inspiration, Max Büsser’s vision of a monumental balance wheel suspended on the […]
Monochrome
Bianchet is a relatively young high-end brand founded by Rodolfo and Emmanuelle Festa-Bianchet, and based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Since 2021, the brand has been offering modern tonneau-shaped watches powered by architectural openworked tourbillon movements. Early 2025 marked the launch of an important model for the brand, the UltraFino, its first ultra-thin model, its first […]
Deployant
Piaget releases two new in Kaki Green. The first is the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon and the second is the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic.
SJX Watches
Launched last year as a concept watch of sorts – and the brand’s first-ever chronograph – the Nano Foudroyante now joins Greubel Forsey’s regular production catalogue, albeit in a small-run limited edition as is convention for the brand. The new Nano Foudroyante retains all of the key elements of the original Experimental Watch Technology (EWT) version – we examined that watch in-depth earlier this year – including the miniaturised lightning seconds mounted on the tourbillon cage. The design also remains the same, but gains colour in the form of a blued seconds scale and blued steel hands, while the case is now entirely in white gold. Initial thoughts The Nano Foudroyante is essentially a cosmetic variation on the original, but it looks notably different, though it feels the same; the watch is dense, heavy, and clearly high quality. The blue accents and faux-fabric rubber strap give the sort of informal, but not quite sporty, appearance that is popular today. In contrast, the original EWT version of the watch was old-school complicated watchmaking in its monochromatic grey-and-silver livery. The two versions still look pretty similar, however, and I would have hoped Greubel Forsey did more to set this apart from the EWT version. Alternatively the EWT iteration could have been made more radical or extreme, which is not a bridge too far for a “experimental” limited edition. That said, the watch is still technically impressive with its novel approach to the fo...
Worn & Wound
It comes up, somehow, in almost every article you read about Ming: they have an incredibly distinct design language all their own. How many times have you read something like, “you can spot a Ming from across the room!” I admit, we’re as guilty as anyone. But it’s undeniable that the look of these watches defines them, and that they’ve landed on something with that flying blade lug design that is both easily identifiable and well suited to building a supremely comfortable case. It’s something that’s always been there, but has slowly evolved over the course of Ming’s still relatively short history. Today, the brand announces the new 57.04 Iris, the first watch in what the brand terms as their fifth generation design. It’s at once both a radical departure from previous Ming designs, and very much related to all that’s come before. The new 57.04 is influenced rather unapologetically by Art Deco design cues, particularly the dramatic stepped lugs, still with the same flared design. Ming says that the lugs make use of nine separate pieces in what has to be one of the most complex case designs the brand has attempted to date. The top of each step is polished and sides (which have very small surface areas by design) are brushed. It’s a bold design for sure, and makes an immediate impression, and strikes me as being quite a bit more ornate than the inherently minimalistic case designs Ming has produced in the past. Still, the shape is unmistakably Ming. T...
SJX Watches
Jaquet Droz is enjoying a good run with unique, dragon-themed watches. While last month’s debut was firmly in the mould of Anglo-Saxon fantasy lore, the Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold “Dragon Mask” is inspired by the Chinese dragon. A unique piece created at the behest of a client, like most of brand’s current repertoire, the Dragon Mask has an open-worked dial engraved and painted by hand – and set with emeralds – installed on a skeletonised, self-winding tourbillon movement. Initial thoughts Personalised commissions are, by definition, personal and not for everyone. This watch is over the top in its decoration, maybe even overdone to the point of kitsch, but I like it. Dragon-themed watches don’t always get the motif right – Breguet’s dragon was a little too fat – but this one is done well in its own way. The case is a little large for what it is, but the size is useful as it results in a larger canvas for the dial decoration. And because this is a Jaquet Droz, the execution, both in terms of dial and movement, will be good quality, as is usually the case with the high-end brands owned by Swatch Group. I imagine the client who commissioned this will be pleased – except maybe for the CHF450,000 price tag, which is steep but typical for a watch like this. A dragon in all its colours Despite its strikingly different look, the Dragon Mask is actually a variation of the clean and modern Tourbillon Skelet. Both share the same movement and case, but the Drago...
SJX Watches
Urban Jürgensen made its comeback earlier this year with an impressive line-up that includes the flagship UJ-1 Tourbillon. Much of the credit for the brand’s watches and watchmaking goes to Kari Voutilainen. Mr Voutilainen has imbued Urban Jürgensen’s watches with the high standards of quality synonymous with his own brand, resulting in watches that are equally exquisitely craft and steeply priced, but arguably worth it. Though best known for his eponymous brand, Mr Voutilainen is also co-chief executive of Urban Jürgensen (and also a minority shareholder). His fellow steward of the Danish marque that is now headquartered in Bienne, Switzerland, is Alex Rosenfield. While Mr Voutilainen is in charge of watchmaking, Mr Rosenfield leads marketing and branding. From left: Kari Voutilainen, Andrew Rosenfield, and Alex Rosenfield. Image – Urban Jürgensen Given the opportunity to speak at length with Mr Voutilainen, I could not refuse. We discussed the true nature of artisanal work, ranging from movement decoration to guilloche, the details of Urban Jürgensen’s movements, and more. You can find his insightful answers below. But interestingly, my conversation with Mr Voutilainen reminded me of the first time I met him, which was at Baselworld 2006 when he launched the Masterpiece Chronograph (with a special hairspring from what turned out to be a questionable supplier). Even two decades ago, well before he was famous, Mr Voutilainen was passionate about the same thing...
The year was 1985, and there was something in the air that everyone seemed to be tapping into. It was a time of flying DeLoreans and Breakfast Clubs, of Simple Minds and Talking Heads. It was the era of Knight Riders and Airwolves, where P.I.s and vice cops drove Ferraris. Everyone seemed to be chasing the same thing-a quest for cool. And amid all of that, Citizen created a sledgehammer of a dive watch, in ana-digi form and with the world’s first electronic depth sensor. It was the age of Aqualand. With the first wave of dive computers on the horizon, Citizen asked a bold question: how do you create the most sophisticated and useful dive watch in the world, one that still wears like a daily, walk-of-life analog timepiece? The answer was the original Aqualand. Its unmistakable silhouette, anchored by an asymmetrical case and a protruding depth sensor, may as well have come straight out of an ’80s prop master’s imagination-an electrified vision of futurism and function. The post The Citizen Promaster Aqualand, Reliving the ’80s, and the Windup in a Lake That Didn’t Go to Plan appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Monochrome
With its continuing pursuit of offering aesthetic variations of unconventional mechanical design, Ulysse Nardin expands its Blast Free Wheel series with the new Blast Free Wheel Maillechort. The concept was introduced in 2018 with the Executive Tourbillon Skeleton Free Wheel and UN added spectacular limited editions with exotic dials a year later, and a Blast […]
SJX Watches
Ulysse Nardin presents a surprisingly striking new version of its most forward-thinking tourbillon, the Blast Free Wheel Maillechort. An interesting blend of classic finishing and bold, three-dimensional architecture, the limited edition piece is unlike the generally future-forward aesthetic pushed by Ulysse Nardin in recent years. The latest Blast Free Wheel retains the novel movement construction with elevated moving parts and a constant force mechanism integrated inside the tourbillon, but now set against a traditional, grained plate in maillechort, or German silver. Initial thoughts The Free Wheel is a long established collection, having been rolled out in several case styles over time, but this new incarnation is arguably the best one yet. The Le Locle-based brand is known for its overall loud designs and its tendency to push a very modernist look, so the old-school approach with maillechort is unexpected but appealing. The Blast Free Wheel still retains a somewhat loud case design, but the modernism here is more restrained and the futuristic movement is toned down by its finishing. As the name suggests, the main point is maillechort, a brass alloy better known as German silver. Long employed in historical watches, the material is usually associated with classic timepieces from the likes of A. Lange & Söhne or artisanal watchmakers, but here it compliments the avant-garde movement well. The soft silver-grey hue of the German silver serves as an excellent backdrop for...
Worn & Wound
Though the more famous forms of rally racing would come later in the 1970s and 1980s, the ‘50s and ‘60s hosted some of the most daring, grueling, and downright perilous rally races in history. Without the comforts and safety considerations of our modern cars, rally drivers in the “golden age of motor racing” were just a few layers of sheet metal away from careening off mountain faces and flying into crevasses, paving the way for even more extreme rally categories, like Group B, to follow. In a celebration of the raw emotion of the Coupes Des Alpes, or “Alpine Rally”-one of the most hairball (and scenic) rally races of the midcentury-Zurich-based watchmakers Ollech & Wajs have partnered with automotive event organizer Rallystory to create the Rallychron “Coupe Des Alpes” Edition chronograph. Founded in 1956, the Swiss brand has based the design and functionality of the Rallychron on their own competition timers from the 1960s. The brushed 316L stainless steel case measures in at a sporty 39.5mm in diameter and 15.3mm in thickness; appropriate sizing for both legibility at high speeds and comfort in high-endurance situations, like motorsport. Twin pushers and a screw-down crown fill out the heritage-style construction of the case, while the date is manipulated with a pusher at the 10 o’clock position. The unidirectional bezel is PVD-coated in black and features a tachymetric scale and inscriptions of “11 perfect lap times”, a fun motorsport Easter...
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