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Results for Tungsten Carbide Watch Cases

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H. Moser Introduces a Pair of Streamliners as Part of their Partnership with Alpine Motorsports, Including an Ana-Digi Smartwatch Worn & Wound
H. Moser Introduces Jun 3, 2025

H. Moser Introduces a Pair of Streamliners as Part of their Partnership with Alpine Motorsports, Including an Ana-Digi Smartwatch

Just when you thought watches associated with F1 teams were getting stale and predictable, here comes H. Moser with a release that I definitely did not have on my bingo card. There are actually two releases here, both introduced last week as part of the brand’s partnership with the Alpine Motorsports F1 team. Both part of the Streamliner family, one is a skeletonized chronograph (which is cool, but not exactly the most exotic thing in the indie watch world) and the other is…a smart watch. Yes, a Streamliner smart watch from the brand that started their recent rise to prominence by, basically, trolling the most popular wearable ever created. The loose concept here is that this pair of watches consists of a “Drivers Edition” Streamliner as well as a corresponding “Mechanics Edition.” We’ll start with the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition, a “measuring instrument” designed specifically for an F1 team and the highly specialized work they do to support their drivers. The watch does a nice job of evoking what we’ve come to know as the Moser aesthetic, with a blue lacquer dial for the time at 12:00, surrounded by black when the watch is on standby mode (Moser of course loves a deep and dark black). But that black negative space is actually a screen, and when digital functions are activated the watch effectively transforms into something we simply aren’t used to seeing from high end independent brands.  The Mechanics Edition is powered by a movement made ...

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Up Close: Breguet Classique Souscription SJX Watches
Breguet Classique Souscription Breguet got May 30, 2025

Up Close: Breguet Classique Souscription

Breguet got off to a good start for its 250th anniversary with the Classique Souscription, which despite being not an entirely new model in technical terms, is arguably the best watch the brand has launched in years, perhaps reflecting the influence of a new chief executive. Powered by a calibre based on the longstanding Tradition movement, the one-handed Classique Souscription marries an atypical (for Breguet) 20th century case with a dial inspired by 19th century pocket watches – resulting in a surprisingly coherent creation that still feels quintessentially Breguet. Initial thoughts I was pleasantly surprised by the Classique Souscription. Breguet managed to take a familiar model and transform it into something different and appealing. The brand didn’t manage to do the same with the second anniversary model, which is essentially a rehash of the Tradition but with an enamel dial. Sized just right, the Classique Souscription feels like it was conceived by an enthusiast with knowledge of vintage watches; the red leather-covered presentation box underlines that. The design is simple overall, but enhanced with details like a sharply finished single hand and “secret signature” engraved the old fashion way. The form of the case is clearly early to mid 20th century, while the dial evokes the original Souscription pocket watch. Although the case and dial styles are 150 years apart, they complement each other almost perfectly; the result still looks very much like a Breg...

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Hands On: Rolex Daytona “Turquoise Blue” Ref. 126518LN SJX Watches
Rolex Daytona “Turquoise Blue” Ref May 30, 2025

Hands On: Rolex Daytona “Turquoise Blue” Ref. 126518LN

At Watches & Wonders 2025, all eyes were on Rolex. But the polarising Land-Dweller grabbed most of the headlines, relegating new versions of existing models, including the mighty Cosmograph Daytona Turquoise Blue ref. 126518LN, to second billing. Regardless, the Daytona remains one of the most iconic watches in the industry and its inherent quality makes any new version worthy of a close look. In this case, those who probed the depths of the Rolex catalogue were rewarded with the unusual combination of an 18k yellow gold case and a turquoise lacquer “Stella” dial. (And those lucky enough would have seen the “off-catalogue” Daytona ref. 126538TBR with an actual turquoise stone dial and diamond-set case.) Initial thoughts Let’s just say this was not love at first sight. I initially found this new colourway overly garish, but I am a sucker for turquoise, whether natural stone or, in this case, lacquer, so the look has grown on me over time. I think I’d have preferred a different treatment for the sub-dials, which to my eye dull the vibrancy of the turquoise, but this is a subjective critique of an objectively well-made watch. Dial colour aside, the new Daytona benefits from the model’s 60th anniversary updates rolled out two years ago, including the gold rim for the ceramic bezel. The case offers roughly ideal proportions for a sporty chronograph, 40 mm in diameter and around 12 mm thick. It also comes equipped with the brand’s rubberised Oysterflex bracelet, ...

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Bell & Ross Introduces the Stealthy New BR-03 Diver Lum Outline Worn & Wound
Bell & Ross Introduces May 29, 2025

Bell & Ross Introduces the Stealthy New BR-03 Diver Lum Outline

Love it or hate it, Bell & Ross is committed to their iconic, oversized, and squared-off designs. But despite what their haters say, they don’t just do squares. Or rather, they layer other shapes over squares sometimes. Confused? Good. Let’s get into it.  The brand’s popular BR-03 Diver platform is home to a healthy handful of references, all of which measure in at 42mm in diameter, and feature the brand’s classic “circle within a square” design that varies in color and material between models. Basically, the iconic Bell & Ross square case remains, with a diver’s bezel laying on top, giving each model a stacked, utilitarian aesthetic. The design is effectively functional and deeply polarizing, as is B&R;’s forte.  Last year, the French brand began updating BR-03 Diver timepieces by introducing optimized changes to the movement and materials, ceramic bezels and inserts, and revised typeface, hands, and strap designs. The latest BR-03 Diver release, the Lum Outline, is perhaps the most emblematic of the line’s emphasis on functionality and capability without sacrificing stylistic panache.  The Lum Outline’s case, bezel, dial, and strap options-one rubber, and the other black synthetic fabric-are all a uniform matte black. Normally, I would say that this is tame or even boring, but the micro-blasted texture of the ceramic gives the watch a more interesting and layered look than a monochrome design usually would. The case is a solid 13.35mm thick, and...

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Hands-On With The Special Yema Superman Tropical CMM.10 Limited Edition Fratello
Yema May 28, 2025

Hands-On With The Special Yema Superman Tropical CMM.10 Limited Edition

Yema’s Superman is undoubtedly my favorite model in the French brand’s extensive collection. I have enjoyed trying many of the Superman versions released in the past few years. My absolute favorite has long been the Superman FAF Search And Rescue Limited Edition, which came out in 2022. That watch presented a retro style with a […] Visit Hands-On With The Special Yema Superman Tropical CMM.10 Limited Edition to read the full article.

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Hands-On With The Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Collection Fratello
May 27, 2025

Hands-On With The Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Collection

Awake has a hit on its hands with the Sơn Mài watches. The pieces, which feature traditional Vietnamese lacquerware dials, are hot! Now the latest batch of limited-edition releases is here. The Frosted Leaf collection consists of three models, all containing dials inspired by a view of Earth’s surface from space. It’s been a whirlwind […] Visit Hands-On With The Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Collection to read the full article.

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Black Badger and Micromilspec Team Up for an Intergalactic Adventure, and a Limited Edition Milgraph Worn & Wound
May 26, 2025

Black Badger and Micromilspec Team Up for an Intergalactic Adventure, and a Limited Edition Milgraph

Micromilspec has been around for a while, and has carved out a niche for themselves by producing unapologetically tactical watches, often made in collaboration with military units all over the world. Their vibe tends to be somewhat serious, which is what you’d expect given the type of watches they make, and their focus on performance and durability. I mean, it’s all there in the name, right? “Micromilspec” conjures a certain idea of a watch in your brain, and it’s probably not, well, whatever it is that Black Badger has come up with for this limited edition.  Black Badger (otherwise known as James Thompson, the Chief of Materials at Arcanaut and the designer behind many lume forward watches over the years), has partnered with Micromilspec for a new take on their popular chronograph, the Milgraph. The so-called “Sabotage” edition of the Milgraph features healthy amounts of X1-grade Super-LumiNova on the indices and hands, for that signature Black Badger glow, but this is much more than a heavily lumed Milgraph. It’s a high concept art piece that imagines an entire alternate anime universe referenced in the watch as well as the little extras that come with it (a dog tag that has been laser engraved and blowtorch oxidized, which I think just means the guys lit it on fire). It’s way more playful and fun than what we’d typically expect from Micromilspec, but is somehow exactly what we’d expect from Black Badger.  The story Micromilspec and Black Badger h...

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8 Great Watches under $8,000 from Watches & Wonders 2025 Quill & Pad
May 22, 2025

8 Great Watches under $8,000 from Watches & Wonders 2025

After replacing her heating system, Carol Besler has been considering all the other thingsshe could have had for $8,000, which naturally led to thoughts about all the nice watches she could have had for around that price. Here are a few that stand out. Since then, I’ve been watching for them, and although it’s a challenging price point for a luxury watch, I’ve come up with a few contenders that offer real value for the money.

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Tudor Pelagos 39 Review Teddy Baldassarre
Tudor May 21, 2025

Tudor Pelagos 39 Review

Back in 2012, Tudor unveiled its action-ready diver, capable of surviving depths up to a whopping 500 meters (that’s over 1,640 feet) with the Pelagos. To achieve that extensive depth rating, for many, the necessary tradeoff came with the 42mm sizing that the Pelagos debuted, which is the caveat made with the inclusion of a helium escape valve to make the case more secure in deeper diving excursions. In the years since its release, Tudor has riffed upon the Pelagos in various ways, even including teaming up with the French Marine Nationale to create the FXD extension on the line, and recently, throwing in a GMT complication into the mix. And let's not forget this year's Pelagos Ultra. But we are gathered here today to take a good, long look at the Pelagos many asked for, with the more versatile-sized Tudor Pelagos 39. Despite listening to the audience and essentially delivering what they ordered on a silver platter, the Pelagos 39mm has largely remained in the shadow of the brand’s golden child, the Black Bay 58. When comparing the two, there’s a lot of common ground between the two watches on the surface: they’re of comparable size (the Pelagos 39mm is actually .1mm slimmer), identical levels of water resistance at 200m, and the price difference between the two is under $1,000, which doesn’t seem incredibly significant given the Pelagos 39mm is all in Titanium, which always more costly. So, what is the secret sauce that the Black Bay 58 has that the Pelagos lack...

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Casio F-91W Review Teddy Baldassarre
Casio May 20, 2025

Casio F-91W Review

The Casio F-91W is the best-selling wristwatch of all time, with more than 100 million units sold. This statement comes a pretty significant caveat, which depends on whether or not you consider the Apple Watch - well, a watch. I am a defender of “smartwatches,” but I think they have evolved to the point where “wearable” is a more appropriate term given the fact that their functionality when it comes to communication and health monitoring exceeds what any watch has ever done. So, with that established for the sake of this article, let’s put the 300 million Apple Watch sales aside for now. Casio F-91W History And "Controversy" The Casio F-91W was introduced all the way back in 1989 and is still in production, with the astonishing figure of 3 million units per year. What's even more remarkable is the fact that the Casio F-91W you can buy in 2025 basically looks the same as one you could have bought when it first launched 36 years ago. It was also the first watch designed by Ryuusake Morai, the prolific designer behind some of the most iconic Casio G-Shocks seen today. When a watch has been around as long as this, it can transcend fads and trends, but few can claim immunity/teflon status to an unfortunate PR association like the F-91W when it was used as a timer for explosives. I would absolutely not call it a “controversy,” because that would just be silly, but the always-excellent Watches of Espionage has a fantastic article dedicated to the topic, which you ...

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Hands On: MB&F; SP One SJX Watches
Bulgari May 20, 2025

Hands On: MB&F; SP One

With its fifth new model in as many months, MB&F; has been on quite the run to kick off its third decade. Fresh off the launch of the fun and affordable M.A.D.2, which followed closely on the heels of a collaboration with Bulgari and the introduction of the the Legacy Machine Longhorn editions, the brand has returned with the SP One, a contemporary take on the open-worked dress watch. Sleeker than the typical Horological Machine yet more avant garde than a Legacy Machine, the pebble-like SP One is the first model in a new “Special Projects” collection that packages the brand’s signature contemporary aesthetic in a smaller more wearable 38 mm footprint. The SP One joins the collection as a regular production model in either platinum or 18k rose gold. Initial thoughts Picking up the SP One for the first time, one is struck by the light and airy nature of the watch. On the wrist, the minimalist case almost disappears, making the the SP One something of a wrist-worn display case for the Y-shaped movement. This effect is accentuated with a brushed internal flange dubbed ‘the amphitheater’ that focuses attention on the spectacularly three-dimensional mechanical architecture. The smooth pebble-like case measures 38 mm and is just 12 mm thick, making it the most compact MB&F; watch to-date. The front and rear sapphire crystals are cambered to blend seamlessly with the case, giving the SP One the feel of a polished stone. Visually, the smoothness is emphasised by lugs that ...

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Ming Introduces the New 29.01 “Midnight” Worldtimer Worn & Wound
Ming May 14, 2025

Ming Introduces the New 29.01 “Midnight” Worldtimer

Ming has announced their latest release, a follow up to the 29.01 Worldtimer which launched in 2023. The new 29.01 Midnight is conceived as the flipside to the original, which was presented in titanium with a blue/black gradient dial. The new watch is a blacked out version, with a DLC coating on the titanium case, and a black dial with layers of sapphire and, as we often see with Ming, loaded with lume. The release follows a bit of a pattern we saw with the 37.09, which debuted with the bright and colorful Bluefin about one year ago, and saw a darker sibling emerge several months later with the Uni. The colorway of the 29.01 Midnight is, in fact, directly lifted from the Uni, providing yet another connection between Ming watch families.  The 29.01 is one of my personal favorite examples of Ming’s higher end, haute horlogery offerings, as the worldtimer format really allows the brand to flex a bit. While I think many probably associate Ming with a certain strain of minimalism, the 29.01, by necessity, is throwing a lot at you, and it’s a great accomplishment on Ming’s part that the watch is able to communicate so much so clearly.  Here’s how it works. The cities representing the world’s time zones are printed on a sapphire upper dial. Below that, a metal base dial with a very subtle grained finish has the 24 hour scale printed on it. Throughout the day, the base dial rotates so that the 24 hour scale lines up with the correct time in each world city, hour by hou...

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Report: Geneva Spring Auctions 2025 SJX Watches
Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari May 14, 2025

Report: Geneva Spring Auctions 2025

Despite everything, including tariffs and a strong Swiss franc, the Geneva auction season turned out to be a strong one, with some of the strongest results being in the most surprising segments. The bigger winner this season was Phillips, which sold a bit under 200 lots for CHF43.4 million including fees, while also claiming the most valuable lots for the season, reflecting Phillips’ strong leadership and team. Despite being the market leader by some margin, the Phillips catalogue was arguably the riskiest as it included several high-value pocket watches and clocks – timepieces that not part of mainstream collecting today. Yet the gamble paid off with the most valuable timepiece this season being its Breguet Sympathique no. 1 that sold for CHF5.51 million. Christie’s achieved CHF21.2 million with a similar number of lots that were arguably more conventional in taste and format than at Phillips. One of its most valuable lots was a Cartier Crash “NSO” with a special order dial that sold for CHF736,000 – one of the biggest surprises of the season but proof that being eye-catching enough for social media is a big factor in desirability and value today. Interestingly, the Crash sold for exactly the same as the Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari. The Crash went for about 15 times the original retail, while the RM UP-01 was about half of retail. The Crash NSO “nickele” grey. Image – Christie’s Over at Antiquorum, the tally was CHF10 million – from almost 800 lot...

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Portrait - Löbner Watches, “Vom Guten das Beste” or The Best of The Best Monochrome
Seiko May 12, 2025

Portrait - Löbner Watches, “Vom Guten das Beste” or The Best of The Best

Swiss watchmaking captures all the attention. The most prestigious brands, trusted by the market, are “Swiss Made”, which acts as an absolute guarantee. The only one to dominate the watch landscape, historically, outside of Switzerland, is the great Japanese classic: Seiko. On closer inspection, however, watch-related know-how has developed outside of Switzerland, particularly in Eastern […]

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In-Depth: Hidden Innovation in the Urwerk UR-150 “Scorpion” SJX Watches
Urwerk UR-150 “Scorpion” Urwerk May 2, 2025

In-Depth: Hidden Innovation in the Urwerk UR-150 “Scorpion”

Urwerk is universally known for its unique approach to time-telling, usually marrying the classic concept of wandering hours with avant-garde styling and reinvented mechanics. The brand’s signature brand of watchmaking is exemplified by the UR-150 “Scorpion”, which demonstrates the brand’s ability to reinvent the wheel in displaying the time. The UR-150 is a time-only watch, showing just the hours and minutes, but with a technical execution that is sophisticated and elaborate. Nicknamed “Scorpion” due to its crisp retrograde hour hand that brings to mind the desert creature’s swift sting, the UR-150 features a central carousel that creeps slowly over the course of one hour, only for the hour hand to snap back and reset with a lively action at the top of each hour. The concept of satellite and retrograde hours is not new to Urwerk – in fact the idea dates back to the Opus V – but in the UR-150 the mechanics underlying the time display have been refined, upgraded, and elaborated upon. Dissecting the time display module of the UR-150 is a fascinating process that speaks to the talent of the watchmakers and constructors at Urwerk who conceived these radical time displays. The mechanics are inventive, especially in the interconnected nature of the various sub-assemblies ranging from the retrograde to the satellite discs. The construction also incorporates finer engineering details like main shaft that supports two concentric but independent axes of the carrier...

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Timekeeping at the Edge of the World: Four Watches Across Iceland Two Broke Watch Snobs
Apr 28, 2025

Timekeeping at the Edge of the World: Four Watches Across Iceland

Iceland is a place of extremes: glaciers, geothermal hot springs, and black sand beaches shaped by volcanic fury. It’s also a place where time seems to slow down and I thought it was ideal for reflecting on both nature and time spent with family-shaping memories I'll never forget. Watches were also part of the journey, of course. And as I prepared for the trip, the exercise behind choosing which timepieces to bring was something I deeply enjoyed. Now that I'm back, I just wanted to reflect on those choices and how they played a role in my first trip outside the US since the COVID era. I needed it, and it was awesome.

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Sunday Morning Showdown: Rolex Land-Dweller 127336 Vs. Patek Philippe Cubitus 7128/1G Fratello
Patek Philippe Cubitus 7128/1G It’s Sunday Apr 27, 2025

Sunday Morning Showdown: Rolex Land-Dweller 127336 Vs. Patek Philippe Cubitus 7128/1G

It’s Sunday again, and for our showdown this week, we set up a clash between two polarizing watches that inspire no shortage of fervid opinions. First, there is the brand-new Rolex Land-Dweller that the brand unveiled during Watches and Wonders a few weeks back. It goes up against the much-debated Patek Philippe Cubitus, which debuted […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Rolex Land-Dweller 127336 Vs. Patek Philippe Cubitus 7128/1G to read the full article.

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Hands-On With A Quintet Of Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary Watches Fratello
Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary Apr 21, 2025

Hands-On With A Quintet Of Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary Watches

My favorite guilty-pleasure brand is, without a shadow of a doubt, Hublot. The colorful ceramic models, in particular, have the X factor. Guess what: the quintet of Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary watches is made in different materials, one of which is bright red ceramic. The other four are titanium, King Gold, Magic Gold, and […] Visit Hands-On With A Quintet Of Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary Watches to read the full article.

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Hands-On With The Oak & Oscar Atwood Flyback Chronograph Fratello
Oak & Oscar Apr 17, 2025

Hands-On With The Oak & Oscar Atwood Flyback Chronograph

Today, almost a year after its introduction, we’re taking the Oak & Oscar Atwood flyback chronograph for a spin. Unlike my colleague Mike, I’m not very familiar with the Chicago-based brand, which has been in the watch business for 10 years. Next to the Atwood, the brand currently also offers the Humboldt GMT and the […] Visit Hands-On With The Oak & Oscar Atwood Flyback Chronograph to read the full article.

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A Closer Look At The Brand-New Zenith G.F.J. 160th-Anniversary Model Fratello
Zenith G.F.J 160th-Anniversary Model Apr 16, 2025

A Closer Look At The Brand-New Zenith G.F.J. 160th-Anniversary Model

This year, many brands are celebrating different milestones. One of the most relevant anniversaries in 2025 is Zenith’s 160th, which you probably read about during Watches and Wonders. Although it is a significant milestone, Zenith treated us to a very select number of anniversary models during the fair. I can greatly appreciate that because it […] Visit A Closer Look At The Brand-New Zenith G.F.J. 160th-Anniversary Model to read the full article.

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Notes From a Very Busy Day at Watches & Wonders Worn & Wound
Cartier Apr 15, 2025

Notes From a Very Busy Day at Watches & Wonders

Wednesday April 2, 2025 5:30 AM: 9Hotel Paquis  I’m awake for day two of Watches & Wonders an hour before my (first) alarm, which was probably an hour earlier than it needed to be anyway. Am I refreshed? I am not. My internal clock is still on east coast time, which means if I were back home I’d be settling in on the couch getting ready to stream some movie that I’ve seen a million times and am comfortable falling asleep to. Maybe Prometheus, a favorite among members of the watch media for reasons I can’t quite articulate.   8:30 AM: the shuttle to Palexpo We are at a new hotel this year deeper into the red light district which is the second or third stop on the shuttle line. By the time the shuttle gets to us, it’s quite crowded, standing room only. A shorter trip though, which is welcome.  I always find myself wondering who these people on the shuttle are. The answer, almost certainly, is that they are retailers. Retailers are everywhere – they outnumber media by a significant percentage. Watches & Wonders is an important business event for retailers, hence the suits. European retailers are almost always wearing Cartier. American retailers are almost always wearing those sneakers that look like dress shoes.  A note on shuttle etiquette: when you board a crowded shuttle, move as deep into the center as possible. Don’t stand by the door – it makes it more difficult for people to board at the next stop. 9:30 AM: Palexpo I’m at a table in a section of ...

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The Seiko King Turtle: Does This Budget-Friendly Diver Reign Supreme? Teddy Baldassarre
Seiko Apr 15, 2025

The Seiko King Turtle: Does This Budget-Friendly Diver Reign Supreme?

Japan’s Seiko has never been shy about going bold and unconventional with its designs, especially when it comes to its divers’ watches, a genre in which the brand has been an undisputed industry pioneer since the 1960s. One of its most off-the-wall and yet most enduringly popular designs is the so-called Turtle, which made its debut in the 1970s and has undergone a successful renaissance here in the 21st Century as part of Seiko’s rugged and sport-centric Prospex line. At the pinnacle of the Turtle sub-family, in terms of luxurious  finishing and dominant wrist presence, is the grandly named King Turtle, best represented by the Refs. SRPE03 and SRPE05 released in 2019. Here’s what you should know about them. By the time this watch’s ancestors made their debut, Seiko had already produced some highly unusual, unexpectedly iconic, and cleverly nicknamed dive watches, like the Ref. 6159 “Tuna” (for its chunky tuna-can-like case shape) and the Ref. 6105 “Captain Willard” (thanks to its being famously worn by Martin Sheen’s character in Apocalypse Now.) The “Turtle” nickname first surfaced in 1976, applied to the References 6306 and 6309 - the former, made for the Japanese market, and the latter, for international customers. These watches were notable for their cushion-shaped cases with softly rounded lugs, which brought to mind the silhouette of a turtle when viewed from above. The Turtle gained a modicum of pop-culture visibility when actor Ed Harri...

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Exploring Evergreens: The Cartier Santos Galbée XL Fratello
Cartier Santos Galbée XL Welcome Apr 15, 2025

Exploring Evergreens: The Cartier Santos Galbée XL

Welcome to another installment of Exploring Evergreens, a series here on Fratello in which we get our hands on watches that have been around for over a decade - or long enough to feel ubiquitous - and ask ourselves if they’ve managed to stand the test of time. We’ll address whether they’re still relevant, how […] Visit Exploring Evergreens: The Cartier Santos Galbée XL to read the full article.

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Hands On: Zenith G.F.J., Calibre 135 Revived SJX Watches
Zenith G.F.J Calibre 135 Revived Apr 12, 2025

Hands On: Zenith G.F.J., Calibre 135 Revived

Zenith has finally started to look beyond the El Primero with the G.F.J., which features a new version of the storied chronometer cal. 135. Conceived to mark the brand’s 160th anniversary, the G.F.J. moniker is a reference to the brand’s founder, Georges Favre-Jacot, whose initials grace the facade at the manufacture in Le Locle. This new model marks the return of the famous movement phased out about 60 years ago. But production has officially restarted, and the new cal. 135 features modern upgrades that differentiate it from the vintage original used in the Calibre 135 Observatoire introduced in 2022. The “new old stock” cal. 135 that Zenith dusted off for the 2022 edition. Image – Zenith The movement returns to market in a 160-piece limited edition in platinum and features an elaborate blue dial that that is made from lapis lazuli and mother of pearl. For about double the price, owners can request a full platinum bracelet, which endows the watch with impressive heft. Initial thoughts I’ve always liked the cal. 135 and wished Zenith would bring it back. That said, I was not convinced by the first stock images I saw of the G.F.J. I felt like the dial was overwrought, and the basketweave pattern on the movement was distracting. Having spent some time with the watch, I would soften my criticism of the dial as it’s more subtle on the wrist and up close the details are finely done. Moreover, subsequent non-anniversary versions will likely have these details toned...

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Two New Divers from Timex: One Pulling Heavily on 90s Nostalgia, Another with Contemporary Design Codes Worn & Wound
Timex One Pulling Heavily Apr 11, 2025

Two New Divers from Timex: One Pulling Heavily on 90s Nostalgia, Another with Contemporary Design Codes

Like it or not, the ‘90s are in right now, and Timex is banking on that Millennial and Gen X nostalgia with a swath of new releases. First up is the 1995 Intrepid Reissue, which harkens back to a time when the compact discs were flowing and JFK Jr. was rocking a Timex. A collaboration between Timex, Dimepiece, and foundwell, the Intrepid Reissue aims for dive functionality and retro-cool style in tandem.  The Intrepid Reissue rests within a 46mm stainless steel case, giving it a full-bodied brawn that’s a little unusual for a Timex. A proper skin-diver, it offers 100 meters of water resistance, powered by a quartz movement. It also gets the full iconic INDIGLO treatment, with a full back light controlled by a dedicated pusher at the 9 o’clock position. A slide rule unidirectional top ring with logarithmic scales allows for complex calculating-something I’ve never been able to learn how to do on a watch, but am very happy to boast about to anyone who will listen.  The dial of the Intrepid Reissue is a bold white, with luminous hands that make legibility a breeze, and the crown, placed unusually at 4 o’clock, adds a touch of quirky character. A synthetic rubber strap is nestled within the 22mm lug width. The contrasting black slide rule ring matches the strap, and gives the Intrepid a faux-panda colorway that is effectively stylish, especially with the small green accents of the pusher and other details.  Does all this talk of diving get you excited, but you w...

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Bell & Ross Introduces a New, Smaller BR-05 36MM Worn & Wound
Bell & Ross Introduces Apr 8, 2025

Bell & Ross Introduces a New, Smaller BR-05 36MM

Twenty years after the release of the Bell & Ross BR-01, which first showcased the square case shape and bold legibility that would become their aesthetic hallmarks, the Franco-Swiss brand is celebrating with new iterations of their most popular and recognizable watches. Among these new editions are four versions of the BR-05 36mm, which gives the model a smaller size and new dial colorways.  The most noticeable update to the BR-05 is right there in its name-the smaller and thinner satin-polished steel case measures at 36mm in diameter and 8.5mm in thickness, giving it significantly less heft than the previous 40, 41, and 42mm models. Four screws ensure that the upper section of the case is hermetically sealed to the bottom, and give the iconic rounded square extra urban-industrial character. An integrated bracelet furthers the watch’s sporty-yet-elegant silhouette, secured by a folding satin-finished buckle. A screw-down crown flanked by guards and emblazoned with the Bell & Ross ampersand logo ensures 100 meters of water resistance, while a Caliber BR-CAL.329 automatic movement ticks away inside, maintaining a 54-hour power reserve.  Each of the four new models features identical applique numerals and indexes, and skeletonised hour and minute hands (all filled with white Super-LumiNova X1). However, each dial varies in both color and material, all of which lean towards chic-versatility (yes, I did make that phrase up), but maintain a cohesive aesthetic. The first o...

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