22,562 articles · 5,791 videos found · page 815 of 946
Fratello
Alpina has been on a roll lately. The Swiss watchmaker has been busy updating its collection with some great new models. While most of you will probably know the brand’s sports pieces, we have also seen some great watches inspired by its past, which goes back more than a century. Indeed, Alpina is a brand […] Visit Putting The Spotlight On The Best Modern Alpina Watches to read the full article.
Teddy Baldassarre
Back in 2023, LVMH and its high watchmaking workshop La Fabrique du Temps revived the Daniel Roth brand, which had been owned by Bulgari since 2000. Roth was a towering name in independent watchmaking, having been a peer of Philippe Dufour and Francois-Paul Journe. Though the brand only lasted from 1988 to 1995, its resurrection in 2023 was only made more glorious due to the long gap. The resurrected brand debuted with the Tourbillon Souscription, which has been followed up with the new Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription, a faithful remake of the original from the 1990s that was released at LVMH Watch Week 2025. The “Neo-vintage” craze has only gotten more popular in recent years, with the generation of watches sandwiched between vintage and modern gaining the respect and appreciation of collectors and newcomers alike. The Chopard L.U.C 1860 reissue from 2023 was one of the most celebrated neo-vintage reissues in recent years and I’d venture to say that this Roth will join the ranks. Staying true to the original aesthetics — with contemporary concessions for things like movement development — is a recipe for success in these small-batch, high-visibility watches. Small production numbers for relative rarity are helping to keep neo-vintage from becoming overexposed, but for how long? We’ll have to wait and see on that end, but for now let’s get back to the Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription. The simple, two-hand dress watch comes in that recognizable double-e...
Worn & Wound
We probably sound like a broken record, saying it over and over again, but there’s really nothing quite like a genuine surprise in this hobby. It’s just that there’s so much predictability, month after month and year after year, it’s naturally the quirky and strange stuff that stands out and makes us really take notice. There are also, sometimes, watches that come along that present a truly shocking value proposition, which for those of us with watch budgets that fluctuate but are very much finite, is something that really gets us excited. Lately, we’ve taken notice of a number of independent brands offering previously exclusive complications at prices that only a few years ago would have been unheard of. We can call this the Bel Canto Effect, if you’d like, because it’s a trend that, if it didn’t start with Christopher Ward, is still very much exemplified by their affordable chiming watch. Perhaps even more unlikely than Christopher Ward dropping a chiming watch in a haute horlogerie design language, now we have word of Sea-Gull’s release of an affordable split-second chronograph, a complication that for years has been associated with the highest end brands. The Sea-Gull Split-Second Chronograph Limited, as it’s known, is a $3,649 rattrapante chronograph presented in a classical style. It’s extremely under the radar, so much so that we genuinely wonder why more people are not talking about it. Just in case you need a refresher on what a split-secon...
SJX Watches
Hermès is a brand with a distinctive, often whimsical, visual identity that translates well across products, even on its most complicated watches like the Arceau Duc Attelé, which combines a triple-axis central tourbillon (containing a high-frequency escapement) with a minute repeater featuring novel “tuning fork” gongs. Large, thick, and very complex, the Duc Attelé still manages to capture the elegant aesthetic of the brand, even in subtle details of the H1926 movement, like horse-shaped hammers for the repeater. Customised for Hermès, the calibre has an intricate, dense construction but is recognisable as being produced by a specialist. Initial thoughts The Duc Attelé demonstrates the strength of the Hermès house style. On the front, it looks elegant despite the size, while the movement feels appropriate even though it is third party. The watch does sit big on the wrist, though the titanium version is a little lighter in weight and visually smaller due to its dark colours. But the Arceau case has tiny lugs, so it doesn’t feel clunky. And although the case is almost 20 mm high, a good part of that is due to the highly domed crystal that accommodates the tourbillon’s height. All of the design elements, however, give it an elegant feel. These include the Breguet numerals on the domed chapter ring and the “Lift” motif tourbillon cage modelled on the elevator in the brand’s flagship store in Paris. But more than anything else, this is a watch characterise...
![Introducing: The Ulysse Nardin Blast[Amoureuxpeintre]](https://www.fratellowatches.com/cdn-cgi/image/anim=false/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ulysse-Nardin-BlastAmoureuxpeintre-1-2.jpg)
Fratello
Today, we have news of a limited-edition release from Ulysse Nardin - the Blast[Amoureuxpeintre]. This is an interesting take on the brand’s Blast, combining UN’s creative spirit with the artistic focus of an increasingly popular designer. Ulysse Nardin is well known for its distinct watches, which often feature skeletonized dials, highly complicated movements, or both. […] Visit Introducing: The Ulysse Nardin Blast[Amoureuxpeintre] to read the full article.
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Monochrome
One of France’s oldest family-owned and run luxury companies, Hermès started life in 1837 as a producer of harnesses and saddles in Paris. Renowned for its impeccable artisanal craftsmanship and intrepid artistic flair, Hermès manages to endow its watches with a singular dash of poetry. The equestrian-inspired profile of the Arceau, which has hosted poetic […]
A Week in Watches is back and off to the races with ep 97, which covers a handful of cool new releases. Despite the beginning of the year slump, there’s still plenty to keep us excited, from a light and fast Longines to a precious metal Fears, to a new steel luxury hype-machine by Vacheron, and finally, another new Speedmaster. This episode was brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop. New to the shop is the G-SHOCK DW5000R-1A origin, a revamp of the very first G-SHOCK, some cool Casio x Pac-Man pieces, including a nerdtastic calculator watch in yellow, the futuristic Prevail field watches, and more – head to windupwatchshop.com to check them out for yourself. The post A Week in Watches Ep. 97: Longines, Fears, Omega, and More! appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Worn & Wound
Micro-indie brand Sartory-Billard, founded by Armand Billard and his friend Ludovic Sartory in 2015, is well-known for its custom bespoke timepieces. In a shift from its usual practices, the brand is set to release two new fully fleshed-out models featuring its standard SB04-E case: the Ruby Platinum, which will be a limited series, and the Tantalum Hand-Engraved, which will enter regular production. Both models aim to showcase the brand’s craftsmanship and expertise, a goal they seem to have achieved based on these brand supplied images. The Ruby Platinum watch features a dial centerpiece made from genuine ruby sourced from a responsibly harvested boulder in Tanzania, Africa. The ruby is crafted into dial inserts in Germany, just an hour away from the Sartory-Billard workshop. Because of the unique nature of the material, no two dials are identical; each displays distinct textures. Completing the dial is a fumé sunray-textured platinum-plated outer ring. Tantalum is one of the most challenging metals to work with due to its remarkable density and hardness. Engraving a delicate design on its surface requires great skill, which is exemplified in the intricate feather-like engraving found in the center of the Tantalum Hand-Engraved dial. Like the previous model, this one also features a surrounding ring; however, this one is made of solid tantalum and finished with a fumé sunray effect. Both watches have a 39.5mm diameter case, measuring 46mm from lug to lug and only 10....
Time+Tide
We asked our audience which 222 they'd prefer to have - and the results were quite surprising.The post Steel or gold? The Time+Tide community has a clear favourite Vacheron Constantin 222 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Worn & Wound
Last week, Peter Speake returned to the independent watchmaking scene when he unveiled the first pieces from his new brand, PS Horology. Peter is something of a legendary figure in the indie watchmaking world. He is the co-founder of Speake-Marin, which launched in 2002 after Peter spent a period of time working as a watchmaker for Renaud & Papi in Le Locle, Switzerland. Speake-Marin is perhaps best known for the Piccadilly case design, named for the London district where Peter spent the early part of his career restoring vintage watches. The Piccadilly case, I’ve always felt, is something of an acquired taste. I’ve come to really love it, and see it as a symbol of an earlier era of independent watchmaking when these artisanal, handcrafted watches made in very small batches were not at the front of anyone’s mind. Times, of course, have changed for the better, and indies are currently having the quite the moment, but it’s worth remembering that a line can be drawn from any of the buzzy new indie watchmakers to surface in the last few years all the way back to Peter and his early 2000s contemporaries. To put it plainly, it’s great that he’s back. Peter founded PS Horology back in 2022 and has been working on the first collection ever since. The Tsuba watches seen here are expected to be the first of several projects for PS Horology in 2025. While it might not look like it on an initial glance, there’s actually connective tissue between the Piccadilly cases of...
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SJX Watches
Diversity is arguably a strength – and a weakness – of the Speedmaster – and Omega is proving this with the Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite. In contrast to the recent military-inspired Speedy, the latest model goes for exotic materials: the dial is made of lunar meteorite finished in either grey or black, while the moon phase sports twin moons similarly fashioned from meteorite. The moon phase display is a double moon that depicts the age of the moon in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Completing the celestial scene, the stars on the moon phase disc replicate the night sky when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969, as observed from Omega’s headquarters in Biel. Initial thoughts Maybe the new Speedmaster is an ironic reference to the “Moonwatch” nickname. In fact, it doubles the Moon reference with Moon meteorite fragments and the moon phase. But does the Speedmaster need to be dressed up with a moon phase and meteorite? Intrinsically, the new model has a few things going for it. The in-house movement inside is one of Omega’s top-of-the-line chronograph calibres. And it also has a scaled-down case that improves wearability. Now 43 mm, the watch has a more compact form than its chunky 44.25 mm predecessor. Despite the in-house movement and liberal use of meteorite, the Speedmaster Moonphase still feels pricey with a retail of US$17,100. That said, most recent Speedmaster models are expensive – this costs only US$1,500 more than the Speedmaster C...
Worn & Wound
2025 is the year of the snake in China, and Hublot has been creating special limited releases for the Chinese New Year since 2016. This year’s rendition, which has traditionally been implemented on Hublot’s Spirit of Big Bang has just been announced, and you and I both know, before even seeing images of the new watch – that there’s going to be a snake on it somewhere. By looking at the press images of this watch, it’s quite apparent that the snake theme is in the forefront of the design. It’s cleverly integrated into the serpent like shape of the sub-dial’s borders, which are entirely adjoined in gold plated fashion and flow effortlessly into each other. The snake theme doesn’t stop there, but actually continues on both the bezel and the rubber strap with the integration of a scale like engraving. While the year-end theme of the watch is a big attraction that will initially draw you in, the details of the high horology watchmaking is what’s really going to keep you intrigued. The watch case is fully ceramic and the bezel has been screwed down with visible screws. The watch also features a fully open dial setting, showing off the inner workings of chronograph calibre HUB4700, which is actually based on an original El Primero chronograph movement from 1969, of course with this modified variant having some upgrades such as the low friction silicon escape wheel. The watch is priced at $35,100, but is limited to a tiny production volume of 88 pieces. T...
SJX Watches
I was happy to see Peter Speake return with PS Horology and the Tsuba. Peter was one of the first independent watchmakers I got to know well on a personal basis, and I have followed his career for almost two decades now. I first met Peter sometime in 2005, either at Baselworld (it was my first time there) or in Singapore during his regular round-the-world tours. He was then a fresh face in independent watchmaking, having just founded his brand Speake-Marin in 2002. In the context of the period, when independent watchmaking was a truly niche segment, Peter was a star (although he is modest enough he might disagree). Founded by Peter and Daniela Marin, who were then married, Speake-Marin was a promising brand with many of the ingredients for success, including a strong aesthetic (thick, chunky, and ETA-based but I liked it), good watchmaking and quality thanks to Peter’s own skill, and of course Peter himself – the personality is as important as the product in independent watchmaking. The unique Majestic Monkey of 2008, one of the first custom Speake-Marin watches I saw in person Peter was not the only watchmaker I met around that time, but I got to know him better than most other indie watchmakers, as a result of an annual watch fair that took place in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. Known as A Journey Through Time (AJTT), the watch fair was staged by YTL Corporation, a Malaysian conglomerate with diversified interests ranging from power generation to luxury shoppi...
Monochrome
About a month ago, out of the blue, Omega released a new, rather polarizing and unique-looking version of its emblematic chronograph, the Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified. Well, it wasn’t really out of the blue, but we’ll come back on that in a few. Colourful, tool-oriented and with a dial full of references to the world of […]
Worn & Wound
Over the holiday break, I frequented the local Chinese restaurant not once, not twice, but three times. And each time, before my General Tso was brought to the table, I would pore over the paper placemat, going to the list of everyone’s birth year in my head. Oh, he’s definitely a horse, I’d think. Her? A dragon…eh, I don’t see it. I, myself, am a Sheep, which makes sense considering I’m pretty much useless and wear a lot of wool. But the real star of the show is the Snake. Representing wisdom, rebirth, and vitality – I’m cautiously optimistic about what 2025 may bring for us. And that optimism is only fortified by the string of new watches that are coming from Longines right out of the gate for the New Year. Their latest limited-edition, a Conquest Heritage model designed to honor the Chinese zodiac, is a bold, thoughtful design, and a welcome addition to this year’s Lunar New Year offerings from some of our favorite brands. What’s noticeable first about this new edition to the Conquest Heritage line-up is the sunray gradient dial that’s as eye-catching as it is unique. Being a traditional color in the Chinese New Year tradition, red seems a fitting choice that also helps to set this specific reference apart from the more neutral dial colors of the line, which is all beige, black, and silvers. The gradient is a particularly smart choice, giving the lumed gold indices room to shine, while not being too vibrant against the stainless steel case. On th...
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Monochrome
This is it… Here’s the last retrospective article of the year, retracing 2024 through the best watches per category. Following the best chronographs, the best dive watches or the best dress watches, we’re now unleashing the beasts. What if money was not an issue? What if there was no limit to either watchmakers’ creativity or […]
Worn & Wound
When I first met Rafael Guimarães a few months ago, Statera hadn’t crossed my radar in a big way. The small brand, which has a fair claim to being the first watch brand born and built in Brazil, had already sold through a few production runs of nice-looking watches, but the brand had yet to make a real splash or to break out from the typical microbrand mold. Their first few releases certainly showed evidence of an eye for quality and detail, but for Rafael and his longtime friend and co-founder Antonio Almir dos Santos Neto (the two have known each other since they were five), it wasn’t enough. “For the first watch, the ST01, we made the design, and then the watch was fabricated in France… it was more like a [proof of concept] to see if we are able to sell watches,” Rafael explained. The obvious next step was to turn inward, to move away from external manufacturing and create what would be (and now is) the first independent watch not only conceived in Brazil, but made there as well. The result is the ST02 Esmalte Grand Feu, a handsome take on the everyday watch born out of a unique perspective paired with a generation’s worth of accumulated knowledge. How We Learn The path to the ST02 was neither short nor simple. Reaching the next level when you live and work in a part of the world with no history of watchmaking isn’t easy, and it’s not made any easier by Brazil’s restrictive tax structure. “We are fascinated by métier d’art. and we are fascinated ...
SJX Watches
Independent watchmaking continued its hot streak in 2024, with interest and demand for this niche segment holding up better amidst an industry-wide slowdown. But surprisingly – or unsurprisingly depending on how you look at it – there were relatively few outstanding new creations from the indies. A handful, however, did stand out. We look at the team’s highlights of the year, which range from Konstantin Chaykin’s thinnest-watch-ever to the debut by Swiss-based Japanese watchmaker Takahiro Aigaki. Aigaki Direct-Impulse Tourbillon – Brandon Moore I still remember the moment I stumbled across Takahiko Aigaki’s Instagram profile earlier this year, because the close-up image of the tourbillon cage made me do a double take. Sure, it was well finished, but in 2024 good finishing no longer provides the competitive advantage it once did; the top end of the market is just too competitive. No, what struck me was the unusual double direct-impulse escapement. When the Direct-Impulse Tourbillon was finally revealed, it was worth the wait. While arguably a bit plain on the outside, the movement exhibits a degree of grace and technicality that is still quite rare. The watch is truly a sleeper, in the sense that the case and dial reveal little of the horological magic within. Daniel Roth Tourbillon – Brandon Moore It’s counterintuitive to be writing about the launch of the Daniel Roth brand in 2024, considering the man himself was one of the seminal independent watchmakers ...
Time+Tide
Hamilton Murph 38 or Seiko Alpinist SPB121? Which of the two field watches walks away the winner?The post VERSUS: The Hamilton Murph 38 comes up against the Seiko Alpinist SPB121 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
Another Friday, another Top 5! This week, we continue our series of best-of-the-year lists with our favorite affordable watches of 2024. This has been a great year for fans of affordable watches, with tons of releases over the last 12 months. We have seen many well-executed affordable tool watches over the past couple of years, […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Affordable Watches Of 2024 - Featuring Seiko, Echo/Neutra, Nodus, And More to read the full article.
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SJX Watches
Over the last decade, metal alloy hairsprings seem to fallen out of favour across watchmaking, with even conservative, haute horlogerie brands like Breguet and Patek Philippe turning to silicon balance springs. Not to mention large-scale makers of sporty watches like Omega and Tudor, which already transitioned to silicon balance springs. Rolex, however, stands out. The Geneva marque continues to employ a hairspring fabricated of its proprietary blue alloy – the Parachrom hairspring. The Parachrom hairspring inside the cal. 4131 of the Cosmograph Daytona The advantages of alloy The use of blue Parachrom is rooted in the simple fact that the right metal alloy boasts performance that is at least on par with its silicon counterpart – while offering some distinct advantages missing in silicon. Alloy hairsprings are traditionally made of Nivarox (and its family of related alloys), a special alloy that neither oxidises nor change its dimensions with variations in temperature. Invented in 1933 and almost a century old, Nivarox is a mix of nickel and iron, making it a ferromagnetic alloy, thus susceptible to influence from magnetic fields. The cal. 3255 of the Day-Date 40 is equipped with a Parachrom hairspring. Image – Rolex In order to make its hairsprings more resistant to magnetism and to bypass the Swatch-imposed monopoly on Nivarox hairsprings (Nivarox-FAR being one of the key companies of Swatch Group), Rolex set out to develop its own hairspring alloy in the early 2...
Worn & Wound
A few weeks ago we told you about the Ressence Type 8 Indigo, a high craft variation on the most simple and accessible Ressence model. It turns out that the Type 8 only held the distinction of being the brand’s entry level timepiece for a few days after the launch of the Indigo, as the new Type 9 which the brand debuted mere hours later now represents the cleanest point of entry to the brand. The Type 9 has much of the same minimalist appeal as the Type 8 (the display is as straightforward as Ressence gets and not materially different from the Type 8) but the new watch offers a significant change to the case, and should give enthusiasts and collectors with a smaller wrist something to consider if they’ve ever balked at a Ressence for being a little too big. This is the smallest Ressence yet, coming in at 39mm in diameter in titanium. Unlike the Type 8, a 43mm watch with a flying saucer like shape, the Type 9 is more traditional and has small, short lugs to which a strap is mounted at either end of the case. The real space saving here comes from the addition of a bezel which acts as a minute track, whereas in other Ressence designs the outer minute track is simply at the dial’s perimeter. This tightens things up considerably, and also, in my opinion, offers a little more visual interest. With the minute track now outboard of the dial, options begin to open up with respect to finishing, color, materials, and so forth. The execution here isn’t particularly adventuro...
Monochrome
Swiss watchmakers are ushering in Chinese New Year with exclusive limited-edition models inspired by zodiac animals and Asian cultural traditions. To celebrate the year 2025, which is believed to bring personal growth, strategic planning and embrace transformation, Oris releases a special Year of the Snake timepiece, a modern, highly technical 44mm watch featuring a skeletonized […]
Teddy Baldassarre
Just over two years ago, Longines launched the Ultra-Chron, a revival of the super-accurate 1968 original that gained notoriety as the world’s first high-frequency diver. Now Longines has released the Ultra-Chron Carbon, which is the brand’s first watch with a case made from carbon fiber, which, of course, is known for its lightweight durability. The watch, in fact, comes in at just 80 grams for the case and strap. The original Ultra-Chron Diver Ref. 7970 from 1968 was a cushion-cased steel watch that measured 41mm wide with 200 meters of water resistance. It was outfitted with the 5Hz Caliber 431 movement, which was accurate to 2 seconds per day. Our resident expert Mark Bernardo went into all the details of this model as well as the brand’s history with high-frequency timekeeping, in an article you can read here. The 2022 revival was a little bigger, coming in at 43mm wide, but also beefed up the water resistance to 300 meters. This new Ultra-Chron Carbon shares the same basic specs as this revival model but the blacked-out design kind of makes all the difference in terms of style versatility. Rather than a red minutes hand and matching red accents on the bezel, we see a sleek, monochrome aesthetic that is more stealth than sporty. The use of a contemporary material like carbon also offsets some of that overt “vintage-inspired” design language in favor of its own identity. The cushion-shaped case measures 43mm wide and 14mm thick with a 48mm lug-to-lug measu...
Teddy Baldassarre
Glashütte Original’s Seventies collection is one of the two pillars that make up the German maker’s Vintage series, which pays tribute to the distinctive designs of two seminal decades in watchmaking, the 1960s and 1970s. Whereas the Sixties branch of the family is notable for more traditional, rounded cases, the Seventies watches stand apart, not just from the rest of the Vintage models but from the entirety of the Glashütte Original portfolio, with their softly squared “TV”-style cases, a hallmark of timepieces from that eponymous decade. The Seventies — like the Sixties, initially positioned as part of Glashütte Original’s Senator collection before becoming a Vintage model — debuted in its simpler, three-handed iteration in 2011, with the Chronograph following in 2014. In recent years, the original appears to have been gradually phased out (it’s no longer featured on G.O. 's website) to make way for more colorful and creative versions of the Chronograph, like the version with a sunray-finished, “Radiant Blue” dial featured here. This may have been a wise decision, as it is the more complicated model that brings more of the Saxon brand’s familiar formula to the table — namely, retro charm mixed with avant-garde modernity. Despite its era-evocative name, and many of its aesthetic hallmarks, the Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date is a watch that is decidedly at home in the 21st Century. As Exhibit A, take the large, rectangular “Panorama...
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