Latest watch news · Page 258

Vanguart is surprisingly under the radar, despite having been eight years old. The brand was founded in 2017 by a quartet that includes alumni of Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APRP), and last year introduced its most notable product yet, the Orb. The watch arguably goes against the grain of independent watchmaking today. Instead of being traditional, simple, and brightly finished, it is appears intricately mechanical and distinctly modern in style. A flying tourbillon wristwatch with an inventive, thoughtful technical approach, the Orb is powered by a layered, skeleton movement with a novel winding-function selector that allows for switching between manual and automatic winding. And it’s been trending recently after having been spotted on the wrist of singer Ed Sheeran during a concert in Germany. Initial thoughts I first encountered Vanguart when it launched the Black Hole Tourbillon in 2021. The brand caught my interest because it was set up by an all-star team that included two technical experts from APRP. Though the Black Hole was technically impressive, the oversized, space-ship shape felt overdone and way too much on the wrist (and also twice as expensive). The Orb, on the other hand, is (almost) just right. When I first saw the Orb, I thought it might be yet another basic tourbillon movement in fancy dress but priced exorbitantly. I was wrong. The movement is impressive in many respects. The Black Hole Tourbillon. Image – Vanguart The Orb is both minimalist and...

Today, we’ll take a look at the latest release from Hanhart. The German brand may be best known for its aviation chronographs, but there’s a rather comprehensive catalog on offer. One example of this diversity is the company’s dive watch, the Aquasphere. Until now, the sub-collection consisted of one watch. Now, there are two with […] Visit Introducing: The Hanhart Aquasphere Ocean Fade to read the full article.

Hanhart, the storied German watchmaker best known for its excellent and iconic pilot chronograph watches and signature red pushers, continues to expand its reach into the depths of the ocean. Following its first dedicated diver, the rugged Aquasphere FreeFall Blue launched last year, the brand now unveils the Aquasphere Ocean Fade with a dial that […]

Hanhart releases a new diving watch which they dub as Ocean Face in their Aquasphere lineup with a new dial with a gentle colour gradient.

Bold all-round, but with a subtle dial gradient.The post Not just about the chronos: Hanhart targets pro divers with the Aquasphere Ocean Fade appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

When I shared my “Five Facts You Probably Did Not Know About The Rolex Datejust” article a few weeks back, I promised we would do more to celebrate 80 years of the Datejust. Well, here we are! I get to kick off a series of articles in which each Fratello writer shares his favorite Rolex […] Visit Keeping It Simple: Why The Archetypal Rolex 1601 Datejust Is King to read the full article.

Our first introduction to a brand can often set the stage for our initial relationship with it. That can be especially tricky for small brands launching their first model, hoping to latch onto an enthusiast market. So when I lay this all out for you, keep that in mind.  London has been close to the top of my list of travel destinations for quite some time, so even when seven hours of flight delays burned my only free night before British Watchmakers Day, I was still teeming with excitement just to be going. That same energy, though, began to slowly leave my body, as Zach Kazan and I made our way to the upstairs section of the pub where we hosted our meetup with Arken. Ken graciously provided us with a bottle of whisky, ensuring my tumbler stayed wet as the growing crowd conversed around us, and the conversation grew loud. It was then that I met Thomas Hill-a warm, soft-spoken individual who, like me, seemed more at home on the periphery of the crowd than in its throes. It was in that setting, in the middle of the conversation that I thought had been going well, that Tom looked right at me and called me a nimrod. Or so I thought. Seeing the puzzlement on my face, he laughed, put me out of my misery, and produced a trio of sample watches adorned with the name “Nimrod” on the dial. Thus, I was properly introduced to his brand, Abinger. Joking aside, Tom was very polite and a bit sheepish about showing off his project, as they were his first prototypes of the model, yet...

The master watchmakers at Breguet have tapped an intriguing, elegant, historical “subscription” pocket watch as inspiration for celebrating the maison’s semiquincentennial anniversary.

Collector Matt Fisher invites us into his world of rare Universal Genève watches

While British microbrand Aera's new M-1 may draw inspiration from the iconic Dirty Dozen field watches, it is not bound to or limited by its source material.

The French-Chinese brand dips its toes into grand feu enamel with the first new design in three years.

Are you ready to immerse yourself in Chinese culture and tradition? Atelier Wen was founded in 2018 by two young Frenchmen looking to remove the stigma of Chinese watches being cheap and poorly made. The inaugural collection captured the essence of traditional Chinese porcelain, but it wasn’t until the release of acclaimed Perception that things […]

Since 2022, you could be forgiven for thinking of Atelier Wen as “the Perception company.” The brand didn’t start with their popular integrated bracelet sports watch, but as the demand for these types of watches grew, Atelier Wen has done their best to keep the Perception at the forefront of the conversation. They’ve done this through small runs of new dial colors and limited editions with various partners that allow them to play not just with color but the guilloche work that is the Perception’s calling card.  But it was never Atelier Wen’s goal to make the Perception their own version of the Royal Oak, a watch that completely defines the brand to the point that other collections are barely playing second fiddle. The conceit of the brand has always been to celebrate traditional craft techniques through the lens of Chinese culture. Look at their first release, the porcelain dialed Odyssey, alongside the Perception and you begin to see the brand’s vision more clearly. Now, a new collection has been unveiled, that will hopefully continue to broaden the brand’s appeal.  The Ancestra is a rather ambitious dress watch that’s quite complex in its design, but in a somewhat under the radar way. The centerpiece of the watch is the 925 silver dial which incorporates two traditional artistic crafts: hand hammering and grand feu enamel. The dial is produced by Kong Lingjun, a master Chinese enameler. After the dial is hammered, Lingjun gets to work on the enamel pr...

Atelier Wen has created some of my favorite watches over the past several years. The brand’s Perception series fits like a dream and is beautifully finished. Plus, the company is never content to leave well enough alone. Once a model has been released, the team continues to make minor updates to improve fit and quality. […] Visit Hands-On With The New Atelier Wen Ancestra Jiāo to read the full article.

A perceptible leap, if you will.The post The Atelier Wen Ancestra Jiāo goes all out with grand feu enamel, diamonds, and a high-end Pequignet movement appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Independent watch brand Awake adds a snakeskin motif to their dial made with Vietnamese lacquerware pigments. Introducing Sơn Mài - Year of the The Sssnake.

One of Bremont’s best known pilot’s watches is undoubtedly the “MB”, now in its latest iteration as the Altitude MB Meteor. Now led by Davide Cerrato and controlled by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, Bremont has focused on aviator’s watch since its founding. The MB was one of its earliest models – “MB” is short for Martin-Baker, the British company that produces ejection seats, primarily for jet fighter aircraft, including the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35. The original MBI was produced exclusively for pilots who successfully ejected with a Martin-Baker ejection seat, and that spawned a line of commercially available MB models. The MB Meteor continues the collection with a redesigned case in titanium, now with a striking orange “barrel”, a knurled case middle that gets its colour from a ceramic coating. Initial thoughts I’ve always liked the MB series because of the ejection seat connection. Admittedly, the link is a good dose of marketing, but it’s good storytelling that makes for a cool watch. The fact that the MB models in general are robust, no-frills, and relatively affordable also add to their appeal. The MB Meteor is the latest generation in the series. The model was already launched some months ago, but with a case “barrel” in plain colours. The new orange barrel is a standout feature, because it is the closest thing to the red barrel of the model that is available only to pilots who have ejected from a Martin-Baker seat. ...

Founded in 2002, Bremont earned its reputation for producing robust aviation watches, developed in collaboration with Martin-Baker, the British manufacturer of ejector seats. The original MB series, launched with the MBII, was tested to survive the forces of a real ejection and featured the distinctive case with its coloured barrel, a hallmark design ever since. […]

The Reverso took a prominent spot during Watches and Wonders 2025. Not only were the new Reverso watches the highlight of the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth, but they were also the talk of the town. Earlier this year, before Watches and Wonders, I traveled to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s headquarters in Le Sentier to see the new Reverso collection in […] Visit An Interview With Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jérôme Lambert to read the full article.

David Arthur Wetherfield (1845-1928) was a prominent collector of English domestic clocks, amassing one of the most significant private collections of its kind. His collection, known as the Wetherfield Collection, particularly from the ‘Golden Age’ of English clockmaking (late 17th to early 18th century), consisted of over 220 clocks, including longcase clocks, bracket clocks, and lantern clocks. The collection was particularly notable for its focus on English craftsmanship, featuring works by master clockmakers such as Edward East, Daniel Quare, Joseph Knibb, George Graham and Thomas Tompion (known as the ‘Father of English Clockmaking’). David Wetherfield lived in Blackheath, Southeast London, and for many years, was the senior partner of the coal exporters and marine insurance brokers W.S. Partridge and Co. The firm went out of business when he retired at an advanced age. His interest in clocks was said to have started when he wanted to own a longcase (grandfather) clock, employing an ‘expert’ to advise him on which one he should buy. Apparently, he was deceived into buying a worthless imitation and when he realised this, decided to put together a collection of timepieces that would be unsurpassed by anyone else. His entire collection was housed at his home in Blackheath and remained there until his death, aged 83 in 1928. According to one visitor, the house was three or four storeys high with a basement, where grandfather clocks stood on every other stair ...

I always enjoy seeing ArtyA’s latest releases. The brand often blends fun themes that appeal to rock stars and artists. Over the last several years, though, the Purity collection has ushered in a new design language. The watches are still quite modern, but the case shapes are more organic. Importantly, the case sizes work better […] Visit Introducing: The ArtyA Purity Curvy HMS Mirror Titanium to read the full article.

Continuing with its longstanding support for charities in Singapore, one of its key markets globally, Audemars Piguet (AP) has just revealed the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Starwheel SG60, a unique piece created expressly to raise funds for the National Museum of Singapore (NMS). Featuring a red lacquer dial and customised rotor, this one-of-a-kind Starwheel will be sold at auction on August 15, 2025, with all proceeds going to the museum. The watch is also a nod to Singapore’s 60th year as an independent nation, hence the “SG60”. [Update August 15, 2025: The unique Code 11.59 Starwheel sold for 480,000 Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$375,000.] Initial thoughts The Starwheel is my favourite Code 11.59 model, but the regular production version is only available in one guise for now. Unlike the standard model that’s dressed in dark, muted colours, the SG60 edition is bold and striking. The elements specific to the occasion are subtle, like the red “60” on the minute scale, but this is easily distinct from the regular production equivalent. I certainly think it is more appealing. That said, I would have preferred more extensive changes to the dial colour, especially since the black hour discs are now at odds with the rest of the dial that is mostly in red and silver. The only downside, of course, is the fact that it’s a unique piece that will probably sell for three times the retail price (and probably more). More generally, I like the fact that AP is doin...

With an integrated manufacture in Morteau, a French town close to the Swiss border, Pequignet is proud to proclaim its status as “one of the only French manufactures of Haute Horlogerie” and can back up the statement with its four in-house calibres. One of the newest collections, the sporty cushion-shaped Concorde, was released just two […]

Timeless and traditional, here's our guide to some of the best moonphase watches on the market.The post 12 of the best moonphase watches making the most of the romantic complication appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Many think that the Rolex Submariner is the first modern dive watch, however that crown belongs to the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, which became the blueprint for all modern divers’ watches.