40,967 articles · 6,382 videos found · page 84 of 1579
Monochrome
By now, the history of the Dirty Dozen military watches is probably well known to just about everyone who would be reading an article like this, but here is a brief overview for any of you stragglers. Over 80 years ago, as World War II was raging on, the British Ministry of Defence (M.O.D.) saw […]
Fratello
Our friends over at Monochrome and Habring² are building quite a history together. Their first collaboration, in 2021, celebrated Monochrome’s 15th anniversary. The online watch magazine and the Austrian watchmaking couple teamed up once more in 2023. Their sophomore release, a split-seconds chronograph, raised money for charity. Today, we get a third collaboration in the […] Visit Introducing: The Monochrome Montre De Souscription 4 By Habring² to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Continuing our coverage from the scene at Dubai Watch Week, including yet another unique Rolex and much more from Burj Park.
Teddy Baldassarre
As much as dive watches have become emblematic of the "sports watch" category, so too has the archetypal Rolex Datejust when it comes to the "everyday" category characterized by handsome looks that can rise to a formal occasion when needed and fit right in with a casual afternoon on the weekend. Pair with solid specifi
Monochrome
Founded in 1906 in the Place de Vendôme, Van Cleef & Arpels is the signature behind delightful high jewellery and timepieces inspired by fairies, flowers and butterflies. With its rich history and impressive lineup of artisans, Van Cleef’s Extraordinary Objects collection is home to some of the most spellbinding automata. The Brassée de Lavande (an […]
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Teddy Baldassarre
The Timex Expedition Scout is a military inspired watch that has been around for years now and is a staple in the affordable field watch space. In fact, this is probably among the least expensive quality field watches out there and while it’s far from perfect, it’s got a lot to offer. [toc-section heading="Some Timex history"] Timex dates back to 1854, when the Waterbury Clock Company first set up shop in Connecticut. Following World War I, the brand emerged as a leading producer of affordable wristwatches built for everyday wear, all centered around a reputation for rugged reliability. Their memorable slogan “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” was born in the 50s and was inspired by their well-known televised torture tests that cemented Timex as the watch that simply wouldn’t quit. These stunts became part of pop culture, reinforcing the idea that a Timex was resilient (in addition to affordable). [toc-section heading="Timex and Military Field Watches"] As for field watches like this one, Timex has some genuine (if modest) military credentials. In 1982, the brand produced low-cost, disposable mechanical watches in olive-green plastic cases, echoing the Benrus designs worn by U.S. service members during the Vietnam era. While Timex was never a major military supplier, it does provide some insight into their field-watch cred, and it helps explain why the brand’s modern Expedition line feels so grounded in that utilitarian, no-nonsense tradition. [toc-section ...
Hodinkee
The confluence of watchmaking and cinematic history was the perfect recipe for a record, as the F.P. Journe market shows no sign of slowing.
Teddy Baldassarre
The year has come and gone and it's time for us to recap our favorite watches of 2025. Here we list over 25 of our favorites across a variety of categories. Watches mentioned include: echo/neutra, Beaubleu, Breitling, Rolex, Zenith, Cartier, J.N. Shapiro, Krayon, and more!
Hodinkee
The watch, a part of the late Robert Olmsted's history-changing collection, goes up for sale on December 8.
Teddy Baldassarre
Before getting into the Rolex Yacht-Master Titanium here, we have to address the collection as a whole. The Rolex Yacht-Master is one of the most unsung in the brand’s catalog, with owners who either opted to be left-of-center relative to their other Crown-loving friends, or those who wandered into a watch store one day and said “I want a Rolex, and I’ll take what you got!” While the latter manifests itself on a daily basis and also accounts for the lion’s share of Sky-Dweller and two-tone Daytona purchases, the former has made the Yacht-Master something of a cult classic for those who don’t necessarily need to be submerged in water and would rather just be chilling beside it (with a lunch prepared below deck and a glass of dealers choice in hand). One doesn’t need to be a literal yacht master to own a Yacht-Master. Heck, you don’t need to own a yacht or have a friend that owns one. Instead – at least traditionally – the Yacht-Master was for the ones who took things less seriously, who wanted a watch that toes the line between tool watch and…um, fancier tool watch. It was and still remains – also – for the one that burst through the boutique door without a clue what they're after so long as that coronet is on the dial. But the Yacht-Master has changed. In 2023, Rolex took what had typically been an at least partially precious watch and turned the toolish knobs way up. This is how we ended up with the Yacht-Master Titanium, 42mm of sports wit...
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Worn & Wound
Anyone who reads this site on a regular basis already knows that I can’t resist a Zenith Defy. I’ve long claimed the Defy collection is the great overlooked sports watch line in watchmaking, offering an unparalleled mix of creativity, robustness, and history that no large brand can compete with. It’s evident throughout the collection, even in the most run of the mill, bare bones Defys that Zenith makes. They are inherently weird when you consider the case shapes, styling, and high frequency movements. It’s no surprise, though, that as you get into the higher tiers of the Defy lineup, things get stranger and cooler, and that’s what we have here today with the new Defy Extreme Chroma Limited Editions. We return to the Defy Extreme, the most exotic take on the Defy, for the second time in less than a month. These Chroma executions are admittedly a bit less “extreme” in some ways than the lapis lazuli accented edition we told you about in November, but they’re honestly probably a little better for it. The Chroma concept is not new for Zenith – it allows them to play with color in a very specific way, using a spectrum of bright colors across a very busy dial to great effect. The Defy 21 chronograph received the Chroma treatment last, but now it’s the Extreme’s turn in two limited edition variants: a blacked out titanium as well as a lighter version in titanium and white ceramic. These watches exist, effectively, as two sides of the same coin, with the ...
SJX Watches
Cavasino makes its debut with the Inaugural Tourbillon FT60, a compact flying-tourbillon wristwatch that reflects the industrial engineering background of its founder, Didier Cavasino. Before establishing his eponymous brand, Mr Cavasino spent more than a decade at Rolex working on the industrialisation of new projects, followed by a leadership role at Bulgari focused on process optimisation. That experience informs both the FT60’s ensemble execution and supports the brand’s vision, which emphasises modern manufacturing methods and traditional haute horlogerie craftsmanship in equal measure. Initial thoughts Cavasino is a new brand making its debut with a deceptively intricate flying tourbillon. An engineer by training with dual degrees from École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (ENSAM) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), founder Didier Cavasino entered the watchmaking industry through industrial engineering roles, including more than a decade at Rolex working on the industrialisation of new projects. From there, he moved on to Bulgari where he led a team of 20 people focused primarily on process optimisation and continuous improvement. This background contrasts with the bench training that is more typical among up-and-coming independent watchmakers, but it’s this industrial orientation that makes Mr Cavasino’s plan to produce and deliver 15-20 pieces per year seem quite feasible. While it’s unreasonable to expect to fully derive a new brand...
Teddy Baldassarre
While it’s more widely known for its jewelry these days, Piaget, founded in the small Swiss village of La Cote-aux-Fées by Georges Piaget in 1874, has been a watchmaker from the beginning. Its original trade, in fact, was making movements, and the company began making complete watches in In the 20th century. Before getting into the Piaget Polo, it's worth it to get into the brand's history in thin watchmaking. Since 1957, when Piaget created the historic 2mm-thick Caliber 9P, the company has been world renowned for the elegant thinness of its watches and movements. The world’s thinnest self-winding mechanical movement, Caliber 12P, followed Caliber 9P just three years later, in 1960, and Piaget has building upon these foundations ever since. Its most recent triumph in this area was the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, which debuted in 2018 as a prototype and hit the market in 2020; the entire watch, case and movement, is just 2mm thick, matching the wafer thinness of the original Caliber 9P. Along with Bulgari, another watchmaker known more for its jewelry, Piaget continues to embody the ne plus ultra of what ultra-thin watchmaking can accomplish. [toc-section heading="The Integrated Bracelet Era Begins"] However, while “thin and elegant” remains the calling card of the Piaget watch brand overall, the market was looking for something a little different - a little bolder, perhaps - in the 1970s. Audemars Piguet had introduced its groundbreaking Royal Oak “Jumbo...
Monochrome
Given our passion for mechanical watchmaking, a craft that is, in theory, obsolete in today’s digital age, I am well aware we have a thing for “doing it the old-fashioned way“. We often speak of tradition, craftsmanship, history and so on when it comes to watches. Sure, there are plenty of brands out there that […]
Worn & Wound
A series of features identifying the most extraordinary mechanical masterpieces in history, blending precision, innovation, and craftsmanship. We all have our favourite timepieces either in our collection or those incredible horological masterpieces that have been invented or created through the ages. This series will showcase examples from the previous centuries up to the present day and look at the importance and impact on modern day timekeeping. Few watches in history have captivated the world quite like Breguet No. 160, often referred to as the Marie Antoinette Watch. Commissioned in 1783, this masterpiece of horology was intended as the ultimate expression of luxury, precision, and mechanical complexity. Crafted by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the legendary Swiss watchmaker, it would take over 44 years to complete, long after Marie Antoinette’s tragic execution and Breguet’s death. Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess and the wife of King Louis XVI. Born on the 2nd November 1755 in Vienna, Austria, she was the 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Emperor Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. She grew up in the lavish Schönbrunn Palace centre of the court of Vienna, surrounded by wealth, music, and political intrigue. Marie Antoinette with a Rose. Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1783. Oil on Canvas. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Palace of Versailles was a major site of scientific thinking in the 17th and 18th centuries. It hos...
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Monochrome
Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud marks a significant moment in its modern history, with the release of the Chronomètre FB 3SPC Seddiqi 75th Anniversary. A three-piece platinum edition created for the 75th anniversary of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the influential Dubai retailer and one of the manufacture’s first partners when the brand was revived in 2015. The […]
Fratello
Dubai Watch Week has built a reputation for giving brands the freedom to do more than show new watches, and Audemars Piguet has taken full advantage of that. The House of Wonders exhibition forms the core of its presence this year. It is a traveling setup that blends history, design, and the landscapes of the […] Visit Audemars Piguet Brings Innovation To Dubai Watch Week With The Intelligent Watch Box to read the full article.
Teddy Baldassarre
The Oris Big Crown ProPilot Date has a prestigious history starting with the founding of the independent Swiss brand that makes it. Oris began making watches in 1904, when it was founded in Hölstein, Switzerland, by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian, who named the company after a nearby brook. A maker of pocket watches and, by 1925, the increasingly popular wristwatches, Oris enjoyed a long period of growth and expansion throughout the following decades and even made its own movements. Losing its independence during the consolidation years of the Quartz Crisis, Oris regained it in the 1980s, when a management buyout transformed the company and solidified its mission to make only mechanical watches going forward. Today, Oris has become a staple for value-conscious collectors of Swiss-made watches, particularly sport-oriented models. Among the brand’s modern pillars are the dressy Big Crown Pointer Date and the more aviation-centric Big Crown ProPilot, which trace their existence all the way back to 1938. That year marked the launch of the first Oris watch dubbed “Big Crown,” named after its signature element, an oversized, fluted winding crown meant to be easy to grasp and to operate by a pilot wearing heavy gloves. The modern edition of the Big Crown ProPilot debuted in 2014 (example above), notably adding what is today one of its signature features: a knurled bezel that resembles a jet turbine. Oris has revamped, tweaked, and added complications to the original, ...
SJX Watches
Daniel Roth continues its thoughtful return with the Tourbillon Platinum, a contemporary take on the brand’s signature double-ellipse design. While the design remains faithful to the original, the latest version elevates every element, from the crisp pinstripe guilloche to the slightly thinner case. The first platinum model in the brand’s recent history, the watch features the same purpose-built DR001 movement we’ve seen previously, which encapsulates the blend of traditional craft and contemporary styling that defines the brand. Initial thoughts The rebirth of Daniel Roth under the aegis of La Fabrique du Temps (LFT) is something that I’ve followed with interest. With a team led by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, contemporaries and friends of Mr Roth, LFT has pulled off the rare feat of a remake that, at least in a tangible sense, exceeds the original. While the romance of a founder-led operation is impossible to fully replicate, it’s difficult to point to any single aspect of the Tourbillon Platinum that isn’t substantively improved compared to the original C187 of 1988. This speaks to the vast resources of LFT, which was able to design a form movement from the ground up to fit the brand’s supremely elegant double-ellipse case. This bespoke development cycle differs from what Mr Roth had to deal with when he became the first independent watchmaker to produce a tourbillon wristwatch in series. By starting over from scratch, LFT was able to produce a thinn...
Teddy Baldassarre
The story of Tornek-Rayville is one that represents a significant chapter in both watchmaking and military history, from the earliest purpose-built watches for divers in the 1950s up to the re-emergence of the cult-classic brand (in a notably new form) in the 21st Century. And it begins with the development of the world’s first modern dive watch: the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. [toc-section heading="Blancpain Fifty Fathoms History"] Founded in 1735 in Villeret, Switzerland, Blancpain is the oldest luxury watchmaker in the world, but its most famous timepiece in this modern era began its life as a tool watch for military divers in the (relatively) recent year of 1953. Jean-Jacques Fiechter, who headed Blancpain at the time, was an avid diving enthusiast who had long wanted to develop a watch that would be ideal for his hobby. Fiechter worked with Captain Robert Maloubier, a French naval officer, to design a reliable, mission-ready timepiece that Maloubier’s elite combat diving team could wear. The watch’s 42mm steel case - exceptionally large for the time - was water-resistant to 91.45 meters, or 50 fathoms, the maximum depth recommended for scuba divers. Its dial was black and its numerals were luminescent for greater legibility underwater. It was the first divers’ watch with a self-winding movement, the first with an antimagnetic case, and the first to employ the patented, double-sealed crown that Fiechter had developed. Most notably, the Fifty Fathoms was the ...
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Worn & Wound
The Bel Canto, in its relatively short history, has proven to be a surprisingly versatile watch in the way it can wear different colors and accents. That’s a little surprising when you consider the fixed nature of the exposed chiming mechanism and the way this elements dominates the look of the watch. But color and especially texture can take the Bel Canto completely different directions, conjuring both contemporary “indie” aesthetics as well as something much more classical. The latest version of Christopher Ward’s C1 Bel Canto now dons the “Lumiere” designation that we first saw a year ago in the C60 Trident. Lume was a big part of the story with that C60 Trident, but it wasn’t the whole story as it is with the new Bel Canto, which here sees its most radical reinvention to date. Obviously, this is one for the folks who are never without a high powered flashlight in their EDC. The C1 Bel Canto Lumiere is the most exotic interpretation of the platform yet. It’s built around a platine with a sunray pattern that is intricately coated with two shades of luminescent material. This effectively lights the “dial” of the watch from behind, and below the chiming mechanism. The time-telling ring is now a solid circle of high powered Globolight lume, where the current time is read with lume tipped hands. There are no numerals or indices on this Globolight ring, and I’m sure some will balk at the fact that we now just have an approximation of the time to refere...
Hodinkee
Rolex presented the clock to the U.S. people as part of a visit by business leaders last week aimed at strengthening relations, according to a letter.
Worn & Wound
The post A History and Guide to Citizen Watches appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Fratello
Yes, it’s that time again - time for another Sunday Morning Showdown! This week, we picked two technologically impressive watches. The first is the Rolex Land-Dweller, which debuted during Watches and Wonders in April of this year. The Land-Dweller will go up against the Grand Seiko SLGB005 that was introduced in September of this year. […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Rolex Land-Dweller 36 Vs. Grand Seiko SLGB005 to read the full article.
Monochrome
At this point in watchmaking history, we can say, without taking too many risks, that Bulgari has become the undisputed master of ultra-thin horology. Breaking one record after another, the Italian/Swiss manufacture has been at the forefront of creativity and ingenuity, and while we are undoubtedly in a golden age of the ultra-thin watch, with […]
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