5,031 articles · 36 videos found · page 63 of 169
Monochrome
Bearing the name of one of the founding fathers of 19th-century German watchmaking, Moritz Grossmann is today an independent high-end Glashütte watch manufacture producing low-volume, hand-finished pieces. Marking the bicentennial of the founder’s birth, Moritz Grossmann presents two more contemporary, dark-themed versions of the elegant Benu Power Reserve. The Benu was the first watch to […]
Hodinkee
Backed by Breitling's House of Brands group, Gallet's return was hotly anticipated and closely scrutinized. Priced between $2,900 for a three-hand Flying Officer model with date and about $6,700 for the vintage-inspired 'Classics' models, replete with Breitling B09 hand-wound calibers, the revived brand's pricing at Breitling boutiques is certainly aggressive. Gallet's rebirth and price-category decision mark the most high-profile and ambitious attempt by the Swiss watch industry to reclaim a space it once owned but has largely ceded in recent years to so-called 'boutique' or micro-brands that have filled the gap left by traditional Swiss brands moving upscale.Over the past decade, brands have climbed the value-category ladder even higher, making fewer watches at higher prices. The so-called mid-tier premium—or luxury watches with an MSRP between $2,000 and $5,000—was once dominated by Swiss brands from Omega to Breitling to TAG Heuer and Jaeger-LeCoultre. And while TAG Heuer still produces plenty of watches in the category, including the solar-powered quartz Formula 1, much of its development and marketing resources have been focused on new pricier versions of classic chronographs housed in titanium or other lightweight materials including the highly innovative, but eye-wateringly expensive, Monaco 'Evergraph' retailing at more than $28,000. Several of the new Gallet watches are available on a steel bracelet that is the same used on some Breitling models. Photo Cre...
Teddy Baldassarre Videos
So, what is the charm of a dive watch in modern watchmaking? You probably aren’t taking your watch 200 meters underwater, but knowing it could handle it gives you a certain peace of mind, and that robustness makes dive watches incredibly compelling everyday watches. The problem is that not every dive watch works everyw
Hodinkee
What We Know Nomos Glasshütte's Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer quickly became a fan favorite among several Hodinkee editors after its early 2025 debut, and it also became a commercial winner for the brand. Since then, Nomos, known for its unique, Bauhaus-influenced contemporary designs paired with German watchmaking and value for money, has released a series of limited-edition colorways to complement its permanent collection, which includes blue, silver, and white dial options. Today, things are getting a bit darker for the Club Sport Worldtimer and a little brighter too. With more lume in more places and a deep noir dial, the new Club Sport Worldtimer Dark joins the Nomos permanent collection. The headline is that the lume now appears on the city ring and the home time indicator, not just on the hands and number indexes as on previous iterations. The blue glow of the newly lumed locations are offset by a dark 'enamel black' dial. There's still a Nomos signature splash of color, though, with blue and red outlining the home indicator subdial, and reminding us that this is a travel watch. The stainless steel case remains 40mm in diameter and a svelte 9.9mm thick, keeping this approachable-priced model among the thinnest world timers on the market. It also uses the same Nomos-manufactured movement (DUW 3202), featuring the brand's 'swing system' escapement developed in-house with help from the local university in Glashütte. The Nomos world timer tracks 24 time zon...
Fratello
Oris and Cervo Volante, a Swiss producer of high-quality leather goods, have released several collaborations in the past few years. For their latest one, the two brands created a 40mm Oris Big Crown Pointer Date with a beautiful burgundy gradient dial and a dark brown Cervo Volante strap made from sustainable deer leather. The watch […] Visit Channeling Autumn: The Newest Oris × Cervo Volante Big Crown Pointer Date to read the full article.
Monochrome
Konstantin Chaykin has steadily brought unexpected cultural references in his Wristmon series, both international and from his home country, into watchmaking, converting the dial into a small stage for artistic characters. The new editions come from the world of video games. The Twins are among the most recognisable characters in Mundfish’s Atomic Heart, a first-person […]
Monochrome
Baume & Mercier has been appointed the Official Timekeeper of the 2026 Gran Premio Storico d’Italia. This new partnership brings the Swiss watchmaker to the motorsport event at the Mugello Circuit. Taking place October 2 to 4, the event focuses on celebrating Italy’s automotive heritage, bringing iconic cars and some of the most daring drivers […]
Worn & Wound
Nousseima Baraket founded Buci in 2022 with a Kickstarter campaign that funded her first collection aptly and simply named “Garde-temps” or “timepiece.” Baraket is of African and French origins, with her parents hailing from Tunisia and raising her and her siblings in the French watchmaking region of Franche-Comte, located on the northwest border with Switzerland. The name Buci comes from a street in an artistic area of Paris, a city Baraket later lived in and used as a source of motivation and inspiration to create her own watch brand (but more on that later). In addition, her North African roots also help lay the foundation for the literary-inspired watches she’d create. “My parents grew up in a farming community in an area known for its olive trees,” Baraket shares, “Neither of my parents went to school. So, for me and my siblings, education was very important. My mother would take us to the library every week and encourage us to read. As I got older, I would also go to museums to learn about authors and poets. So, poetry and literature were always very important to me.” Watches were also a big part of Baraket’s life. “Growing up in this part of France on the Swiss border, watchmaking was all around us. In my family, we began to give watches as gifts for birthdays or special occasions, and a lot of my friends went on to work at watch companies in the area.” Still, it wasn’t until Baraket was working in Paris and wanted to make a watch purchase ...
Monochrome
Founded in 2022 by Nousseïma Baraket, Buci approaches watchmaking through the written word, taking ideas from books, poetry and different forms of writing. Its debut Garde-Temps collection established this identity, followed by collaborations with seconde/seconde/ and Revolution Watch magazine. With Nouvelle, its second collection, Buci turns to the short story, using the passage of time […]
Worn & Wound
I had heard the name but was not aware of the unforgettable spelling until I got a sample of my first BA111OD watch, the latest addition to the brand’s catalog: the Chapter 7 Skeleton. While BA111OD traces its roots back deep into the history of watchmaking, its modern incarnation has taken shape over the past seven years with several different chapters. One of the biggest evolutions we have seen in the brand’s contemporary catalog is in its movements. While early chapters got flack for keeping costs accessible with Chinese calibers, Chapter 3 incorporated the first Swiss caliber into the Swiss-based Maison’s lineup in 2022. The brand’s next installment, Chapter 4, continued to build on this trajectory with the BA111OD caliber BA.01. This movement was notably developed in collaboration with watchmaker Olivier Mory whose La Chaux de Fonds workshop has given rise to movements for brands across the industry, from Louis Erard to Yema. Then, BA111OD’s Chapter 5 went on to introduce the Maison’s first automatic chronograph thanks to the ETA Valjoux 7750. Next, Chapter Delta entered the lineup with a major shakeup thanks to another movement co-created with Olivier Mory, this time featuring a unique hypocycloidal mechanism. Instead of a standard central rotating hand, a satellite hour wheel rolls around a fixed central wheel. This creates a deltoid path where the hour dot naturally slows down and speeds up during its rotation cycle. Here, traditional circular minutes c...
Monochrome
Founded in Geneva in 1988, Frederique Constant is now a globally respected name in watchmaking, offering classic designs at reasonable prices, with a growing portfolio of complications developed and assembled at its Plan-les-Ouates manufacture. Part of the Citizen Group since 2016, the brand was created by Peter Stas, who left his native Netherlands for Switzerland, […]
Monochrome
Grönefeld, the Dutch independent watchmaking atelier created by Tim and Bart Grönefled, a.k.a. The Horological Brothers, should need little introduction by now. The duo gained recognition from their peers and collectors with their GTM-06, One Hertz and Parallax Tourbillon models, all celebrated watches that introduced several signature design elements and functions, such as movements with […]
Monochrome
With Rolf Schynder at the helm, Ulysse Nardin released an unorthodox timepiece in 2001 that smashed conventions and rewrote watchmaking in one fell swoop. With no dial, no hands and no crown, the Freak, master watchmaker Dr Ludwig Oechslin’s renegade watch, indicated time with its linear gear train featured on the dial. The Freak also […]
SJX Watches
The charming and compact Lady B extends Blancpain’s collection of elegant ladies watches while upholding the brand’s longstanding commitment to mechanical calibres. At just 19 mm in size and almost spherical in form, the Lady B contains an upmarket automatic movement that transcends the quartz-powered norms for this segment of watchmaking. Initial thoughts The Lady B is the spiritual successor to the Ladybird Bullet, which introduced the world’s smallest round mechanical movement when it debuted 70 years ago under the leadership of Betty Fiechter, the first woman to lead a major Swiss watch brand. The “round” qualifier is important because the smallest mechanical movement — then, as now — was the Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 101, which is still in production but in extremely limited numbers, and reserved for high jewellery collections. The Lady B (left) with the original Ladybird Bullet from 1956 The Lady B is larger than the vintage Bullet, but at just 19 mm it’s still small enough that the size is the main point of intrigue. The watch is almost spherical being 13 mm thick, but rather than feeling too thick this aspect gives the watch a charming bead-like feel similar to the original Bullet. The spherical feel is completed by the absence of conventional lugs; the Lady B instead features a pass-through channel for a selection of interchangeable straps. This hypothetically allows multiple Lady B’s to be “stacked” on the same strap for a jewellery-like look, b...
Worn & Wound
On the surface, the new Grand Seiko SBGW325 ‘Arabic Blue’ Limited Edition is almost aggressively normal. This is a 37mm dress watch that is part of a well established line for the Japanese brand with a tried and true 9S64 manually wound movement. Grand Seiko has made a bunch of these over the years in an endless series of dial variants, often in limited editions made for specific regions, tied to ADs, or to highlight different aspects of Japanese culture. So why does the SBGW325 feel almost confrontational in its boldness? The answer lies right there in the name of the watch. It is so incredibly rare for Grand Seiko to use Arabic numerals on their watch dials, that a watch built around them feels like it’s from another planet, or an alternate reality. For that reason, I think the SBGW325 is probably destined to be some kind of cult classic. This isn’t a judgment based on the success of the visual design of the watch (though I do quite like it), but more a comment on how the Grand Seiko community will seize on this reference as a special thing and hang to it, probably for years. Mark my words: there will be collectors who miss out on this watch, and forlornly make “WTB” posts on Reddit and elsewhere in search of one well into the 2030s. Let’s see if I’m right. You can set your reminders on your smart phone to DM me in October 2033 to check my work. For now, let’s take a closer look at the SBGW325, which becomes available through Grand Seiko channels ne...
Teddy Baldassarre Videos
Few brands can match the watchmaking credentials of Jaeger-LeCoultre. This nearly 200 year old manufacture has been a powerhouse of movement production for generations, creating more than 1,400 calibers throughout its history. While icons like the Reverso understandably carry much of the brand’s modern identity, there
SJX Watches
Mechanical movements attract most of the technical interest in watchmaking, but considerable engineering also goes into keeping them dry. For an everyday watch, the waterproof construction of the case and crown is central to its reliability, yet the way these components keep water out is often misunderstood. Screw-down crowns and case backs are widely regarded as the best way to seal a watch. But the choice is not always straightforward. On a hand-wound watch, for example, a screw-down crown must be unscrewed and tightened regularly, adding an extra step to winding and potentially compromising the threads. The Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch, on the other hand, features a conventional crown and is rated to 50 m. Even so, some owners remain wary of exposing it to more than an occasional splash. So the question is, how much protection can a conventional crown provide, and what does a screw-down construction add? To understand the distinction, we take a closer look at the crown, its tube and the gaskets that form the seal. As a disclaimer, this discussion concerns modern watches with seals in good condition; vintage watches and those long overdue for service should be checked for waterproofness prior to contact with water. A common misconception The actual waterproofness of a joint relates to the uniformity of the seal pressure. In this case, “waterproofness” is used broadly as the ability of a mechanical joint to keep water from seeping in under normal functioning conditions...
Worn & Wound
Moser has long been a brand who’s unafraid to experiment and test boundaries, creating many designs that have elicited conversation or even debate. Now, the brand is making waves with a new digital timepiece. Here, a skeletonized dial reveals an architecture that combines digital technology with traditional watchmaking in the new Limited Edition Streamliner Off-Grid. Moser first experimented with a hybrid analog/digital timepiece last year with the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition. The model features a sober black dial evoking the same vibe as the brand’s trademark Vantablack, but instead of the innovative coating, this black backdrop reveals a digital display at 6 o’clock. Appearing to hover above is the classic analog component in Moser’s typical blue fume. The model was released as a part of the brand’s collaboration with Alpine Motorsports and marked a world first as a timepiece engineered specifically for the needs of a Formula 1 crew, helping them communicate faster, shave off those crucial fractions of a second, and overall streamline operations (pun intended) through the capabilities of the digital display. Now, we get the next evolution of this hybrid style design. While Moser is certainly no stranger to rather out-there designs, the brand does have its own distinct design language, and even with this digital timepiece, we still see those stylistic signatures come through. At the base is, once again, the brand’s iconic Streamliner case with its ple...
Hodinkee
What We Know Last year, I wrote about Moser's interesting play in its ongoing partnership with Formula 1 team Alpine Motorsports, when it introduced a pair of Streamliners, including its first ana-digi effort in the Streamliner Mechanics Edition. Developed with Sequent, a Swiss watch brand focused on producing its own self-charging smartwatches, Moser revealed this (not self-charging) new Streamliner as a connected watch for the Alpine mechanics team. For the general public, Moser released a 500-piece run of the Mechanics Edition watch. That edition was evidently successful enough for Moser to follow up with two new references of this ana-digi Streamliner, in a collection called the Off-Grid. And yes, the irony is not lost on me that any of Moser's mechanical creations are, in principle, way more "off-grid" than a watch you need to recharge. Moser leans into that kind of stuff, and it wouldn't be surprising to me if this was at least partially tongue-in-cheek. But I digress. The Streamliner silhouette on these new Off-Grid watches, with a diameter of 42.6mm and height of 14.4mm, certainly should feel familiar at this point. The diameter seems intimidating, but there is a very compact lug-to-lug fit here, given that there are no lugs to really speak of; rather, the strap attaches directly to the case (see how it looks on my 6.5" wrist). There are two versions here, both in steel—one with a blue PVD coating and one with black. The blue PVD version, which feels much more in...
Monochrome
Lang & Heyne has practised the Saxon approach to independent watchmaking since 2001, working near Dresden and offering watches that combine classical German design with highly elaborate hand-finishing. The manufacture names its collections after figures from the House of Wettin, the Saxon dynasty with an 800-year history in the region. The Friedrich III, originally introduced more […]
SJX Watches
This weekend’s results at Sotheby’s Hong Kong typify contemporary interest in independent watchmaking, and in special editions of series-produced watches. In contrast, the Sandberg Collection, assembled by former HSBC chairman Baron Michael Sandberg, paints a picture of another era of watch collecting, when elaborately decorated pocket watches and exotic automata ruled the auction room. The latest chapter in our Complicated Collectors series explores some of the most emblematic pieces of this extraordinary collection. Before it was dispersed at Antiquorum in 2001, the Sandberg Collection ranked among the most ambitious private assemblies of horological art formed in the latter half of the 20th century. Comprising over 400 timepieces, it reflected sustained engagement with both the mechanical and symbolic dimensions of watchmaking. Lord Sandberg, in his office in Hong Kong. Image – South China Morning Post The holdings spanned time and geography, from Geneva enamels and French musical complications to English automata and Islamic and Chinese adaptations, alongside early German and English forms, yet they build a coherent whole. Instead of building around a single school or brand, Sandberg assembled a collection participating in a larger conversation: between European and Oriental markets, between religious and secular symbolism, and between utility and ornament. Lord Sandberg’s long residence in Hong Kong likely shaped both his access and his perspective. Chinese...
Monochrome
In watchmaking, pretty much every complication started with the quest for a solution to a common problem. The tourbillon solved the influence of gravity on the balance spring, the chronograph provided the ability to time events as they happened, and repeater watches served as an audible timepiece for when the lights went down. Perhaps above […]
Worn & Wound
Think about where we are in watchmaking in 2026. You could argue, pretty reasonably I think, that the problem of chronometry has basically been solved. We have access to mechanical watches that are accurate to seconds per month, and quartz watches that are accurate to seconds per year. There are advancements around the edges (Grand Seiko’s new U.F.A. movement comes to mind, the most accurate watch powered by a mainspring, accurate to 20 seconds per year), but it’s hard to imagine an advancement in timekeeping at this point that would actually be meaningful in our daily lives. For movement geeks, sure, shaving off seconds here and there will always be a fun new development, but for many we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns, where all that really matters are bragging rights by the brands (and those matter a lot – big marketing campaigns are built around them). So where do the advancements come from in the years ahead? Many people with a lot more experience in this industry than me have discussed materials science as the next big step for watch brands, and we’ve certainly seen a lot of alternative materials used in cases and movements over the last few years. Once you go beyond the traditional steel, titanium, and precious metals that watch cases are normally made from, you open yourself up to manufacturing and creative options that are typically encountered across other industries, like the aerospace sector and medical manufacturing. The UK based brand ...
Monochrome
For RGM Watch Co., the return of the E.F. Bowman name reconnects the Lancaster-based independent with a local watchmaking legacy that goes back to the 19th century, and one that has a direct connection to RGM founder Roland G. Murphy. RGM, based in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, is reviving the name from within the same regional […]
Monochrome
Since its launch, British independent brand Studio Underd0g has built a strong following with colourful, playful interpretations of familiar watchmaking formats and through collaborations with brands like H. Moser & Cie for the Passion Fruit, or the more accessible Gimlet with Fears. After the brand’s inaugural 01SERIES chronographs, released in multiple versions powered by a […]
Worn & Wound
In 2014, the Foundation Haute Horlogerie (FHH) introduced the FHH Academy, a series of courses that span the fundamentals of watchmaking to culture and heritage as well as more advanced technical curriculums, catering to both industry professionals and enthusiasts. One of the most unique aspects of the program is that it’s offered entirely online in 11 different languages, resulting in participants across 20 countries worldwide. While accessibility has been at the FHH Academy’s core, there are also select courses offered in-person at the FHH headquarters in Geneva as an extension of the platform. Now, the academy is expanding once again as the FHH announces a new partnership with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The GIA is globally acknowledged as the foremost authority in gemology and a leader in the gem and jewelry sector. Since its founding in 1931, the organization has set the standard, educating more than 200,000 professionals worldwide across its seven campuses throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. With its longstanding commitment to education and the dissemination of specialist knowledge within the luxury jewelry industry along with its global reputation and reach, the GIA presented itself as an incredible partner to expand its offerings into the world of horology and for the FHH to expand its in-person training. The partnership marks the first time the GIA has worked with an external entity and allowed trainers outside the institute to teac...
Monochrome
Hajime Asaoka, the celebrated Japanese master watchmaker, is renowned for his bespoke, high-end handmade watches. Aware that his pieces are beyond the reach of most mortals, Asaoka created Kurono Tokyo, a small independent brand that offers more accessible watches with Seiko or Miyota movements, imbued with a strong Japanese spirit. However, Kurono’s success means its […]
Monochrome
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 […]
Hodinkee
What We Know In 1932, a 36-year-old woman took a massive gamble early in her career at Blancpain. Betty Fiechter, who had worked for the brand since she was 16, faced a dilemma after the sudden death of the brand's owner, Frederic-Emile Blancpain. Together with commercial director Andre Leal, she helped secure loans to buy the company, even navigating the need to rename the manufacture because the Swiss government prevented anyone but someone with that name from using Blancpain. Fiechter would eventually mentor her nephew, Jean-Jacques Fiechter, and together they would inaugurate two of the brand's most successful icons: the Fifty Fathoms and the Ladybird. The original Ladybird Bullet The launch of the Ladybird in 1956 was a big deal, not just because a woman led a manufacturer in an era when women couldn't even vote in Switzerland. Inside the original Ladybird "Bullet" was the R55, the smallest round mechanical movement, and one with extra durability, with a fifth wheel to limit the force on the escapement and a shock protector on the balance wheel. It remains the smallest round mechanical movement to this day. To honor that watch, Fiechter, and the 70th anniversary of the Ladybird, Blancpain is releasing a new Lady B (for bullet, I'm sure, but also Betty and, according to the brand, bijou or "jewel") with very tiny dimensions. The watch measures a tiny 19mm by 13.2mm in either stainless steel or 18k red gold, with a total volume of only 2.9 cm³. Despite its size, it has...
Monochrome
Independent watchmaking has attracted designers from outside traditional horology before. Still, few have arrived with such a clearly defined architectural vision as Neode (from neod, an Old English word meaning desire and earnest endeavour). Architect Marius-Daniel Dumitrascu founded Neode, stepping away from architecture to devote himself entirely to developing the timepieces. Driven by a desire […]
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