Latest watch news · Page 16

Twelve on Time is a conversation series that invites leading personalities from the watch industry to step beyond their work and speak more personally about their relationship with time, creativity, and craft. Through a set of twelve questions, the column aims to lift the veil on both the individual and their perspective on watchmaking – […]

Win a $100K Rolex Daytona for charity, discover Drake’s one-of-one Ice Gradient Daytona, and enter Mr Jones Watches’ design competition.

Customisation or unique pieces are nothing new in the Swiss watch industry, but are usually reserved for high horology or smaller ateliers, necessitating a level of flexibility that more established and mainstream brands can hardly achieve. That said, we had the opportunity to go hands-on with a unique piece recently that, besides its intrinsic singularity […]

If you don’t like what you see, ask the maker to make something just for you. That’s sort of the principle behind bespoke watches. And all the historical high-end watchmakers have plenty of experience with that because custom-made timepieces are exactly how the watchmaking industry started centuries ago. Creating one-of-a-kind timepieces for demanding customers is […] Visit Bespoke One-Of-A-Kind And Off-Catalog Watches: A Story As Old As Time to read the full article.

Another Friday, another list! This week, we follow up on last week’s list that was based on a discussion we had on Fratello Talks three weeks ago. In that episode, Robert-Jan, Nacho, and I discussed the ultimate decade for watches. RJ and I chose the ’90s as our favorite because new technology significantly improved overall […] Visit The Top 5 Omega Models From The 1990s to read the full article.

Orient has given its long-running Mako sports watch a GMT function for the first time. Five references have appeared for the Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, comprising four regular models and one 4,000-piece limited edition. The watches were listed as in stock by an authorised UK retailer on 20 August 2026. Orient’s own global catalogue and press archive had not yet added them at the time of writing, so broader regional availability remains unconfirmed. A Larger Mako With Familiar Equipment The Mako GMT uses a 42.8 mm case made from brushed and polished 316L stainless steel. It measures 49.5 mm from lug to lug and 13.4 mm thick, making this a substantial watch rather than a compact travel companion. Each version has a sapphire crystal, a solid caseback and 20 bar, or 200 metres, of water resistance. The three-link steel bracelet has solid end pieces and a deployant clasp. Around the dial is a 120-notch unidirectional bezel carrying a 24-hour scale instead of the usual elapsed-time markings. The New F6P22 Automatic GMT Calibre Inside is Orient’s F6P22 automatic GMT movement. The current listings state a power reserve of approximately 40 hours, hacking seconds and an accuracy range of +25 to -15 seconds per day. The movement drives the normal hour, minute and seconds hands, the date at 3 o’clock and a fourth central hand that completes one turn every 24 hours. There is an important limitation. The GMT hand cannot be adjusted independently on this first version. To show ...

Blancpain is marking the 70th anniversary of its lesser-known dive watch with the 1960s-inspired Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. With a faithful 37.4 mm steel case and high-end movement, the Bathyscaphe will likely be welcomed by collectors who have been waiting for a more compact Fifty Fathoms. Initial thoughts Blancpain has an unusually rich history of producing dive watches — the Fifty Fathoms dates to 1953 and introduced the now-ubiquitous rotating dive bezel at roughly the same time as the Rolex Submariner. Blancpain’s early divers were commercial products aimed at military customers — then the only sizable market for such watches. That changed in 1956, when growing consumer interest in diving led to the release of the Bathyscaphe. This historic name was reborn in 2013, but the contemporary interpretation of the line was a significant aesthetic departure from the look of the original 1950s and 1960s models. Somewhat confusingly, Blancpain is marking the 70th anniversary of the Bathyscaphe with an homage to a 1968 model. Timeline aside, the anniversary edition features a period-correct 37.4 mm case and beige Super-LumiNova to capture the aged look of surviving originals. The arrow-tipped running seconds hand is another charming detail that reproduces the original look to good effect. During the 1950s and 1960s, Blancpain waffled between serif and sans-serif wordmarks, and the brand has opted for the latter for the anniversary edition. To my eye it strikes just the rig...

In the span of six short years, independent brand Studio Underd0g has positioned itself as a leader in the contemporary British watchmaking wave. Founded by designer Richard Benc in 2020, the brand quickly made a name for itself in the industry with an irreverent and cheeky style that adds a refreshing spin to the sometimes stodgy business of watch design. Studio Underd0g pairs unique colors with quality finishing while “reject[ing] all that needs to go, like stuffiness, pomposity, and the reluctance to try anything new.” The 02SERIES brings together that fun-loving spirit and the brand’s commitment to boundary-pushing innovation. This summer’s release of Gen2 – the second iteration of the field watch collection – makes meaningful improvements to a fan-favorite. Studio Underd0g’s 02SERIES offers a modern take on the famous Dirty Dozen – a group of twelve watch brands tasked by the British Ministry of Defence to create a field watch for military-issue during the last half of World War II. Chief among a long list of specifications the brands had to meet, the watches were to be tough, reliable, and highly legible. Nearly all field watches today pull their aesthetic from the form-factor popularized by the Dirty Dozen, and I was curious to find out what Studio Underd0g could offer apart from the typical iterations so often seen in this space. After a week on the wrist, I can say that the 02SERIES (Gen2) is unlike any field watch I’ve encountered before and is ...

To say that the PRX collection by Tissot is wide would be a genuine understatement… The range is vast, comprising classic automatic versions, quartz models, several sizes (40mm, 38mm, 35mm and even 25mm recently), standard steel editions, but also unexpected materials (titanium, damascuss steel, carbon) and all the colours you can imagine. And here, I’m […]

What We Know Today, Czapek has lifted the curtain on a new limited-edition addition to its Promenade line of everyday dress watches. The Czapek Promenade Transparencies "Aqua Blue" expands on a design motif first introduced with the Fratello x Czapek Promenade Transparencies "Veridian Green," this time applying the Transparency concept to a wholly in-house-devised model. Here, the "Veridian Green" sapphire-gradient dial has been swapped for a similar "Aqua Blue" variant, with the fumé effect achieved through a special metallization process in which small dots of metallic coating are applied to a sapphire disc. The dots themselves — which measure just eight microns each — are laid out in varying density to achieve the gradient effect, which radiates out from the small seconds subdial at 4:30. Unlike the Fratello limited edition, which had applied markers, the Promenade Transparencies "Aqua Blue" uses light blue 3D Super-LumiNova markers, which match the lume on the handset. Visible through the translucent dial is the SXH7, a skeletonized take on Czapek's in-house SXH5 micro-rotor automatic caliber. The SXH5 was first launched by the brand in 2020, and now finds itself at the heart of a number of watches in the Czapek lineup, including the Antarctique and, as the SXH5.1, in the solid dial Promenade. The SXH7, which is visible from both directions, is handsome, with plenty of modern, somewhat industrial touches (like sandblasted plates) and enough handcraft to keep tradi...

Just ahead of Geneva Watch Days, we see the debut of a new haute horlogerie brand, brought to us in part by Wei Koh, founder of Revolution and the Rake, and a longtime fixture in the watch media landscape. The new brand, Legare, was founded by Koh and Guillaume Tetu, a watch industry veteran who counts Hautlence as well as TAG Heuer and Ralph Lauren on his resume. Koh and Tetu are incredibly well connected professionally, and the first watch out of the gate for Legare reflects that particularly well – this is the product of a lot of collaboration between many partners, and has plenty of pure watch nerd DNA in its inspiration as well.  The brand’s first watch is the Chapter 1 AGP Inverted, and takes inspiration from a rare pocket watch made by Albert-Gustave Piguet, who would ultimately become well known in the watch industry for his work on the Lemania 2310 caliber. But the watch that Legare credits with shaping the Chapter 1 is a pocket watch he created while a student at the Vallee de Joux School of Watchmaking in 1932, when he was just 17 years old. That watch featured two large split bi-metallic balance wheels, whose rates were averaged by a differential. According to Legare, only six total examples of this pocket watch were completed.  Legare’s conceit in making the Chapter 1 is essentially an answer to the hypothetical question of what if Piguet’s idea behind this movement had continued to evolve? This is an entirely original movement architecture (and diff...

Independent watchmaking brand Czapek introduced the Promenade collection in 2024 as a more classic and elegant vision of its contemporary watchmaking. Since then, the model has been used for several creative dial executions, such as the Plissé, Diamond Drops, and Goutte de Rosée editions, as well as the Promenade Transparencies Viridian Green, made in collaboration […]

In the lead up to Geneva Watch Days, Czapek has unveiled the Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue — a gradient blue variant of a sapphire-dialled dress watch the brand released in late 2024. The watch breaks little new ground but the blue-on-blue look reveals a keen eye and an awareness of colour theory. Initial thoughts I have mixed feelings about sapphire dials, but I liked Czapek’s approach to opening up the Promenade when the brand launched its “Viridian Green” collaboration with Fratello in 2024. The “Aqua Blue” edition gets many of the same things right, with a dark-enough tint that the exposed movement elements don’t overwhelm the design. In fact, at some angles, the exposed movement looks more like a graphic element, akin to the Octo Finissimo Automatic BVL 138 Sketch. On the wrist, when the movement is not back-lit, the dial appears much darker, and the movement components are even less obvious. This split personality extends to the overall format of the Promenade, which is conveniently sized at 38 mm and is about 11 mm thick. The latter dimension is a bit chunky for an automatic dress watch with a micro-rotor movement, but it gives the watch a robust, almost sporty feel. And the extra thickness likely contributes to the reassuring 50 m test depth. An optional milanese-style steel bracelet completes the transformation from dressy to sporty, should one wish to do it all with one watch. A close look reveals thousands of printed dots that are responsible...

Czapek & Cie introduces the Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue, a new 38-piece limited edition that takes the transparency concept from the Czapek × Fratello Promenade Transparencies Viridian Green and gives it a new color palette and dial execution. The watch combines a 38mm stainless steel case with a blue fumé metallized sapphire dial, allowing Czapek’s […] Visit Movement And Dial Hand In Hand: Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue to read the full article.

Czapek expands the Promenade collection with the Transparencies Aqua Blue with a smoked sapphire dial to subtly showcase the movement.

You can surf the web all you want, but there is nothing like actually seeing a watch in the metal, feeling its weight on your wrist, the firm yet gentle grip of the strap, and gazing into the depth of its dial and realizing: "This is The One." And a fair is one of the best places to find a match.

Blancpain revives a 1968 Bathyscaphe for its 70th anniversary, with a 37.4mm case, vintage-inspired details and a 100-hour movement.

What We Know The 1950s were big years for Blancpain—first in 1953 with the introduction of the Fifty Fathoms, then a few short years later in 1956, when the Bathyscaphe arrived as a "civilian counterpart" as diving gained popularity. Revived in 2013, it's remained a core part of the modern Fifty Fathoms lineup ever since. We're not strangers to the Bathyscaphe here at Hodinkee, either—we teamed up with Blancpain on our own limited edition back in 2019. Today, to mark the Bathyscaphe's 70th anniversary, Blancpain is releasing a 300-piece limited edition that takes inspiration from the 1968 reference and updates it in all the right ways. The homage to the '68 piece is evident at a quick glance; the first thing I noticed was the vintage Blancpain logo, which sets the tone for what the brand is trying to do here. The sunburst meteor grey dial is lifted straight from the 1968 piece as well, as are the baton hands and indexes in 18k white gold, both filled with a vintage-colored Super-LumiNova that gives the lume a warmer, aged look straight out of the box. The steel bezel extends into a ring at the base of the box crystal—another detail pulled directly from the '68 watch—and its ceramic insert with lacquered numerals swaps out the original's black hesalite. That same fidelity carries through to the case. At 37.4mm in stainless steel, it's sized to match the 1968 piece on which it draws inspiration, rather than the smaller 35mm case Blancpain used on the original 1956 Ba...

The new Glashütte Original Senator Chronograph and Senator Chronograph Navigator pay tribute to the history of German chronograph watches.

Glashütte Original has a long history with chronographs, going back more than 80 years to the development of wristwatches for short-time measurement in the Saxon watchmaking town. Among the important chapters in that history was the UROFA calibre 59, developed in the early 1940s as one of the first modern Glashütte wristwatch chronographs. The contemporary […]

What We Know Today, Glashütte Original introduces two new flyback chronographs, replacing the Senator Chronograph Panorama Date models currently in the collection. While both models fall under the brand's Senator line, the new Senator Chronograph and Senator Chronograph Navigator could not be more opposed in aesthetics and spirit. First is the new Senator Chronograph Navigator, which departs significantly from the Senator line's overarching classical design language. With only a few exceptions, you're most likely expecting to see at least a few Roman numerals on any Senator dial. But the Navigator takes the chronograph down a much more utilitarian route, with what I believe is the brand's only conventional tool-watch design outside the SeaQ dive watch lineup. The matte black dial features three-dimensional, solid, luminescent applied Arabic hour numerals, while the rest of the dial text is printed in white to provide sharp contrast and improve legibility. The large subdials for the running seconds and elapsed minutes are snailed in texture, while a recessed faceting frames the oversized Panorama Date at six o'clock. The sword hands here are filled with a generous proportion of Super-LumiNova, and the remaining hands are all finished in white lacquer. The Senator Chronograph, sans Navigator, streamlines the layout of the outgoing Senator Chronograph Panorama Date for a more conventional look while still feeling familiar. A galvanic silver dial in soft white holds solid-gol...