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As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. In 1904, Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont approached Louis Cartier, complaining that pocket watches were impractical in flight – he needed both hands on the controls. Louis Cartier’s solution not only marked the birth of an icon but is also widely considered the first purpose-built men’s wristwatch. […]
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A year after Piaget broke the record for the thinnest tourbillon with its 2mm Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, Bulgari, following its decade-long pursuit of ultra-thin watchmaking, unveiled the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon in titanium, now the world’s thinnest flying tourbillon at just 1.85mm. The new Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon Platinum edition does not aim to break […]
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Chopard entered the luxury integrated sports watch sector in 2019 with its Alpine Eagle. While this might seem like a relatively late contestant, the roots of the Alpine Eagle can be traced to a sporty-chic 1980s model known as the St. Moritz. Marking the Chopard Manufacture’s 30th anniversary, the latest Alpine Eagle 41 XPS is […]
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The Grand Seiko Elegance Collection is home to some of the brand’s most restrained and poetic creations. Models such as the Omiwatari, Karasawa, and other hand-wound Spring Drive references demonstrate how minimalism, texture, and mechanical refinement can coexist. The new SBGY043 Iwao Blue keeps the successful, elegant formula that made earlier editions so attractive and […]
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Last year, Roger Dubuis unveiled the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar, a revival of a signature biretrograde complication co-patented by founder Roger Dubuis and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht (Agenhor) in 1989. Although this calendar version is simpler than the double retrograde QP the two men developed, it features the signature retrograde aesthetic intimately associated with Roger Dubuis. Following the […]
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Since the third generation of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas arrived in 2016, the Maison has expanded the collection with everything from simple three-hand models to perpetual calendars and tourbillons. Yet for a watch originally designed with travel in mind, a basic second time zone display was missing. This was addressed in 2018 with the Overseas […]
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Master watchmaker and restorer Michel Parmigiani’s original Toric QP Rétrograde was Parmigiani Fleurier’s foundational watch marking the brand’s launch in 1996. Following the appointment of Guido Terreni in 2021, many of Michel Parmigiani’s models were put on standby to allow Terreni to chart the brand’s new design direction, with a primary focus on the Tonda […]
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When IWC revived the Ingenieur in 2023, it did so by returning to Gérald Genta’s integrated-bracelet design, with functional screws, a structured dial and an emphasis on all things technical. Last year’s full-black ceramic Ingenieur Automatic 42 was quite exemplary. For 2026, IWC takes a more nuanced step with the Ingenieur Automatic 42 in dark […]
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H. Moser & Cie.’s Streamliner, launched in 2020, is the brand’s take on a luxury integrated bracelet sports watch with fluid, sculptural lines. Built around the collection’s streamlined case architecture and ergonomic steel bracelet, the collection welcomes a compact 34mm reference and a petite 28mm model, both of these Streamliner Two Hands being powered by […]
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When Alpina showcased the Startimer back in 2011, it revisited its early 20th-century pilot’s watches. A part of the catalogue ever since, the appeal was simple. Clear cockpit styling, solid specifications, and a price that did not push things too far. At the centre of this collection sits the Startimer Pilot Automatic, the uncomplicated three-hander […]
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Vacheron Constantin’s Métiers d’Art Tribute to Great Civilisations series turns the Louvre’s ancient masterpieces into wearable miniature artworks, blending high watchmaking with some of the Maison’s most demanding decorative crafts. Limited to 15 pieces each, the four watches use the calibre 2460 G4/2, a hand-finished automatic movement with peripheral displays that frees the dial for […]
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Collaborations in watchmaking are nothing new, and the 1902 Synergy by Peter Speake builds on that idea by taking Schwarz Etienne’s 1902 collection and bringing in an independent watchmaker to work on it. In this case, the base is the 1902 Réserve de Marche, a watch built around traditional hand-wound mechanics and following on from […]
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Following CEO Davide Cerrato’s arrival in 2023, many Bremont fans feared that the strong aviation, tool-watch spirit of its founders, the English brothers, would be diluted. Released in 2025, the redesigned Altitude Collection, an evolution of the hyper-resilient Martin-Baker (MB) pilot watches with Trip-Tick cases, proved otherwise. In a move bound to win over collectors, Bremont […]
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Bulgari returns to Watches & Wonders this year with several re-editions of its Octo Finissimo Automatic, in more compact 37mm case sizes and powered by the new BVF micro-rotor automatic movement. Somewhat surreptitiously, though, Bulgari has also slipped in an Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater in a 37mm case. The more compact sibling of the 2016 […]
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From its early adoption of titanium in the 1980s to its extensive work with coloured ceramics in the Top Gun collection, Schaffhausen-based brand IWC has consistently treated materials as a field of innovation. With the introduction of Ceralume as a concept in 2024, IWC explored the idea of a fully luminous ceramic case. Now this […]
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The Reverso has lent itself to artistic expression quite naturally. Since its creation in 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s reversible case has provided a perfect canvas for decoration, engraving and enamel work. In recent years, the Manufacture and its Métiers Rares atelier used this possibility extensively and offered tributes to the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Following earlier interpretations […]
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IWC’s Ingenieur watch with a soft-iron inner cage was conceived as an antimagnetic tool watch for civilians working in magnetic environments. In 1974, IWC turned to designer Gerald Genta to revamp the watch, resulting in the Ingenieur SL luxury integrated sports watch of 1976. Sometimes, moving forward in the watch world means going back in […]
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The iconic distorted profile of the Cartier Crash returns in 2026 as part of a trio of emblematic shaped watches in the Cartier Privé – Les Opus annual capsule. Cartier has selected the Tank Normale, the Tortue Chronographe Monopoussoir, and the Crash Squelette as candidates for its 10th Opus, all revisited in platinum cases, a […]
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Chopard celebrates 30 years since the founding of its Manufacture in Fleurier, and the L.U.C collection, named after Louis-Ulysse Chopard, continues to highlight the brand’s most technical and refined timepieces. Among the anniversary releases, the new L.U.C XPS Prussian Blue presents an evolution of the sector-dial model in green introduced in 2024. This new edition […]
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Following a global relaunch in 2024 under the leadership of CEO Patrik P. Hoffmann, Favre Leuba’s modern revival focuses on precision-driven timepieces that honour the brand’s extensive archives while meeting contemporary mechanical expectations. Marking the brand’s debut at Watches & Wonders this year, Favre Leuba releases the Harpoon Revival, a faithful 60th-anniversary tribute to the […]
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Grand Seiko is renowned for its nature-inspired, handcrafted dials that capture Japan’s seasonal landscapes. The annual flowering of the cherry blossom heralds the arrival of spring and inspires profound reverence in Japan as a symbol of life’s fleeting beauty and renewal. Grand Seiko captures the evanescent beauty of the cherry blossom for a lifetime on […]
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Anyone familiar with H. Moser & Cie.’s Concept watches knows that ‘concept’, in the brand’s vocabulary, means extreme minimalism with dials purged of logos, indices and numerals. Perpetual calendar complications are typically burdened with sub-dials, a profusion of hands and copious information; however, Moser’s transformation of the perpetual calendar into a Concept watch yields one of the […]
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Long before the civilian world discovered the brand, Panerai was producing precision naval instruments for the Royal Italian Navy. A military secret until the early 1990s, Panerai’s work with the Italian Navy led to the development, in 1916, of a radium-based luminous compound patented by the brand as Radiomir. Following the first-generation Radiomir combat dive […]
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Piaget’s iconic Polo watch debuted in 1979 as a slim, sensual, all-gold integrated bracelet watch covered from head to toe with horizontal gadroons. In 2016, Piaget resuscitated the Polo name and transformed it quite radically into a steel, cushion-shaped luxury sports watch closer in shape to the brand’s Emperador collection. Recouping some of the Polo […]
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When Zenith brought back the legendary Calibre 135 last year in the G.F.J. collection, it was a tribute to its 160-year history. Also, it signalled the return of one of the most celebrated chronometer movements. Now, the brand expands the collection with two new G.F.J interpretations: a tantalum edition with an onyx dial and diamonds, […]
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The Saxonia Annual Calendar is a relatively young but important member of A. Lange & Söhne’s repertoire. Launched in 2010 as an “everyday” complication, the annual calendar offers a more practical, slightly less complex alternative to the brand’s high-end perpetual calendars while maintaining Lange’s classic Saxon aesthetics. Initially available in 38.5mm cases – but discontinued […]
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After the large impact of the main release of 2025 for Rolex, the highly discussed, technical and unexpected Land-Dweller, it is time this year for the Crown to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the legendary Oyster case. And for that, the main focus of the year is the entry-level, playful Oyster Perpetual collection. But that’s […]
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The Historiques American 1921 is one of Vacheron Constantin’s most recognisable heritage revivals: a cushion-cased, asymmetrical wristwatch inspired by early-1920s designs. Made for the American market in 1921, the distinctive wristwatch, with its 45-degree-rotated dial and unconventional crown placement, made it practical for motorists who could read the time without taking their hands off the […]
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Last year, Roger Dubuis released a nostalgic watch that paid homage to Mr Dubuis, the brand’s talented watchmaker and founder. Using a restored and remanufactured RD72 bi-retrograde perpetual calendar module (launched in 1999) combined with the automatic RD14 base calibre, the Hommage La Placide was presented in a compact and classically styled 38mm gold case, […]
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Since its debut in 2012, the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture, like its Perpetual Calendar, has become one of the brand’s defining watches. Combining a practical travel complication with in-house mechanics at accessible pricing, it quickly became a cornerstone of the catalogue. Now, more than a decade later, Frederique Constant introduces a thoroughly updated version […]
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