Latest watch news · Page 259

Greenish-blue déjà vu.

Breitling announces two new Endurance Pro models for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon for 2025. The events occur in Nice, France, and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, with the championship finale in Marbella, Spain. To coincide with the upcoming races, the Endurance Pro uses new color combos to freshen up for the exotic locales. Specifically celebrating the […] Visit Introducing: Two New Breitling Endurance Pro Watches For The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 2025 Edition to read the full article.

Since its introduction in 2002, the Seamaster Aqua Terra has gained the status of the all-terrain watch by Omega, as its name suggests. Despite its clear nautical inspiration, this watch is your perfect everyday all-rounder, capable of tackling most environments and still look classy when needed. By now, the collection has grown to include virtually […]

Calling the new Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Turquoise watches in 38 and 41mm summer watches would sell them short. Because of the vibrant turquoise dial with a black gradient effect, these two newcomers don’t look like “Ibiza watches,” but more like timepieces in the style of Terceira Island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. […] Visit Introducing: New Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Turquoise Watches In 38 And 41mm to read the full article.

Glashütte Original ventures into chromatic futurism with two daring new takes on its Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date. “Plasma” and “Fusion” fuse retro form with shifting, high-impact color-where digital inspiration meets mechanical precision.

Summery yet sultry, the addition of a black ceramic bezel to these turquoise fumé-dialled Aqua Terras makes a surprising difference.The post Omega tweaks the turqouise fumé Seamaster Aqua Terra with an ultra-cool ceramic bezel appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Formex’s Essence line, introduced in 2018, quickly earned respect as the brand’s versatile, go-anywhere sports watch, combining sharp case architecture, great engineering, and chronometer-certified accuracy. In 2020, the collection took on a cosmic turn with the debut of the Space Rock editions, featuring dials cut from the ancient Muonionalusta meteorite. Over time, these rare cosmic […]

Since we’re celebrating the 80th birthday of the Rolex Datejust, we thought it would be a good idea to have Fratello writers pick their favorite one of all time. The biggest challenge of writing an article in the tail-end of this Datejust series is that other writers have already claimed some of my favorite picks. […] Visit Turning Visual Brilliance Up To Eleven With A White Gold Rolex Datejust With A Burl Wood Dial to read the full article.

Timex adds its first GMT to the Marlin collection. Priced from $199, the new Marlin Quartz GMT blends vintage design with travel-ready function.

This week, on Fratello Talks, RJ, Thomas, and Nacho are asking the question: Does storytelling still sell watches? For decades, brands have built emotional bridges to their customers with tales of adventure, endurance, and achievement. Think of the watches strapped to astronauts on lunar missions, divers exploring the ocean’s depths, or pilots navigating across continents. […] Visit Fratello Talks: Does Storytelling Still Sell Watches? to read the full article.

Audemars Piguet (AP) has just announced a majority stake in Inhotec, a supplier of components for high-end mechanical movements. Long a supplier to AP, Inhotec produces parts ranging from base plates to springs, in both raw and fully decorated states. The value of the deal was not revealed, but founder Alexandre Eme will retain a minority stake and continue to serve as chief executive of Inhotec, which was founded in 2011. According to the announcement, AP will “provide strategic and financial support” while leaving Inhotec to retain “operational autonomy” over “managerial decisions, industrial activities and commercial relationships”. Lucas Raggi, the chief industrial officer of AP, explains the acquisition “is about consolidating key strategic skills and supporting the continuity of an expertise that is essential to the future of haute horlogerie“. AP’s acquisition of Inhotec reflects two trends. One is the longstanding and continued development of AP’s production capabilities, exemplified by the recent inauguration of the expansive Arc manufacture in Le Brassus. The other is macro, a slowdown in business for specialised suppliers across the watchmaking value chain.  

Have you ever considered what it would take to start a microbrand? I was deep in an instagram doom scroll when a field watch I’d yet to see abruptly stopped my thumb. “I love this watch. My good friend made this by hand and it’s incredible. He makes them in Brooklyn from scratch. Check out his work” my buddy Greg’s caption read. I was digitally introduced to Giles Clement.  Raised in the Catskills, he was always a tinkerer. It probably started with him putting old lawnmower engines on wheels as a makeshift go-kart, but he has always had the gift of creating something from nothing.  A decade ago he stumbled upon a massive petzval lens at a thrift shop outside Chicago. This launched a years-long endeavor of building his own large format camera and teaching himself wet plate photography. Before he knew it, he was in a tent at a music festival in Rhode Island taking a portrait of Kris Kristofferson with a giant camera made of plywood and trash bags. The rest is history.  Photo by Jonah Markowitz He went on to have a successful photography career, capturing portraits of folks like Nick Offerman, Fiona Apple, Channing Tatum, Questlove, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello and various other high profile figures, as well as several fine art series.  Suddenly in 2020, like many others in the film and photography industry (myself included), work disappeared and he found himself on a forced hiatus. Never one to have idle hands, he began repairing watches. Ebay offered access to...

In recent years, basically since the introduction of the ceramic bezel on the steel edition (the 116500LN), the Daytona has become the hottest watch in Rolex’s portfolio, but also remained a fairly conservative model, with a rather parsimonious use of colours. This hasn’t always been the case, though, and in the past, we’ve seen wild […]

Retro oddballs or haute horlogerie stunners, there's always a time and place for quartz movements, and these are some of the most expensive.The post 8 of the most expensive quartz watches that prove you don’t need a mainspring to look like a millionaire appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Now into the second half of its second century, Piaget unveiled the Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase, an eccentric entrant in the crowded field of luxury sport watches. The charm of the watch lies in its unusual feature set: an extravagant dial and easy wearing format, which includes interchangeable rubber and leather straps. Housed in a sleek, 44 mm titanium case, the Polo Flying Tourbillon is the most complicated watch in the Polo collection since the underrated Polo Tourbillon Relatif introduced two decades ago. Initial thoughts I have a soft spot for watches like the Polo Flying Tourbillon that don’t fit neatly into any pre-conceived category. It’s risky to make watches like this; watches that look a bit odd on the spec sheet but feel good on the wrist. On one hand, it’s overtly sporty with a titanium case, a rubber strap, and a robust 100 m water resistance rating thanks to dual gaskets in the crown. Looked at from another perspective, it’s a piece of true industrial-haute horlogerie with a flying tourbillon and a thoughtfully executed pointer-style moonphase indicator, sans date. This last detail stands out to me, because the date and moonphase complications usually go hand-in-hand. To be clear, I don’t miss the date; its absence contributes to the care-free nature of the watch. The 44 mm titanium case looks large on paper, and indeed, the diameter is accentuated by its 9.8 mm case height, which is on the thinner side as such things go. But the Polo wears w...

There was a period of time in 2020 and 2021 when it felt like you couldn’t have a conversation with someone without hearing about cryptocurrency, the blockchain, or the metaverse. I mean, Facebook literally changed the name of the company to reflect what all signs pointed to being the future of the internet. Of course, watch brands got involved as well, with a variety of projects that sought to integrate watches (physical objects) with the digital world. I actually purchased a watch during that time period that, unbeknownst to me when I handed over the credit card, came with an NFT. The watch is gone, but somewhere on the blockchain, I guess, is an NFT tied to my watch and my watch alone.  Thankfully, in my opinion, metaverse mania has slowed a bit in the watch world. It’s been a while since I saw a press release that really touted any sort of blockchain specific features. But last week, some news from G-SHOCK caught my eye. It’s not a new watch release, but rather the implementation of a new virtual G-SHOCK themed world in the metaverse, produced in partnership with The Sandbox.  The Sandbox. I’ve learned, is a blockchain-based open world game that launched in November 2021. The Virtual G-SHOCK in The Sandbox project is effectively a G-SHOCK themed Sandbox experience, where you can purchase an avatar to play as based on classic G-SHOCK watch designs, play games that take you through G-SHOCK history. According to the brand, the gameplay involves “shock resistan...

Konstantin Chaykin and Behrens present a new collaboration...with a curiously notorious name: presenting the Kremlin Edition.

Long considered a low-end production site for accessible timepieces (which is still partially true), the Chinese watch industry is fast changing and evolving in a positive direction. Besides industry giants such as Peacock and Seagull (the latter capable of making split-second chronographs), there’s a burgeoning indie scene that needs to be explored. We can name […]

UK-founded independent watchmaker Isotope Watches made a name by releasing remarkable watches that stood out through their original designs, whimsical details, and robust engineering. The brand helps you break from convention and embrace the eccentric side everybody has, no matter how deeply tucked away. You could do that with the four new Isotope Watches Hydrium […] Visit Introducing: Four Unique New Isotope Watches Hydrium Limited Editions to read the full article.

Watches are built to tell time, but also to impress, and to connect. The Jui is a collaboration between Watch Ho & Co., a Hong Kong-based watch community and club founded by Jackie Ho, and indie brand Selten, and it belongs firmly in the latter category. Created to mark Watch Ho & Co.’s second anniversary, […]

I am sure that most of you have read about Switzerland being hit with the harshest tariffs of all European countries last week. A whopping 39% tariff on goods imported to the US from the Alpine country came into effect on August 7th. The watch world is shaking as a result. Today, I would like […] Visit US Import Tariffs On Swiss Watches-How They Affect Watch Brands And Enthusiasts to read the full article.

Black Tahitian MOP graced the Toledano & Chan B/1.2 - and now Selten leverages its allure.The post Watch Ho & Co. team up with Selten to offer an engraved Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial for just under US$1,100 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

I’ve written several articles about Armin Strom. From normal reviews to a closer look at the brand’s resonance calibers, it’s fun to take a closer look at this brand. But why is that? In my view, the brand stands out among other haute horlogerie brands for several reasons. The watches seamlessly combine technical chops in […] Visit Not Another Indie: How Armin Strom Stands Out in a Crowded Playing Field to read the full article.

It is a global phenomenon: some of the most exclusive independent watch brands have in the last five years created more accessible and more affordable sister brands or collections. These are undoubtedly linked to the main brand thanks to similar design features and a similar spirit. Just look at MB&F; and its M.A.D.Editions in Switzerland, Grönefeld and Grøne in the Netherlands, and Hajime Asaoka with Kurono Tokyo. Their normal offering is in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and now their sister brands offer watches for a few thousand – and you don’t have to wait for years to get a watch.  Why are they doing this? What effect does it have on the general perception of the main brand? What are the collectors’ reactions to the more accessible offerings? Occasionally, it goes in the other direction. The Finnish brand Leijona’s Heritage 1907 Collection punches above its weight. It shows that a quartz based, mass market brand can make Swiss Made mechanicals together with a legend like Kari Voutilainen. We’ll get back to that. Just as we’ll get to Swatch’s recent collaborations with its fancier siblings within the Swatch Group. This phenomenon is all but new. Just look at Rolex and Tudor, the latter registered in 1926. “It was exactly the same as what we see today. Rolex founder (Hans) Wilsdorf wanted to offer high-quality watches at more affordable prices,” said watch expert Gianfranco Ritschel. Another example, half a century removed, is Cartie...

The watch that found me the night my grandma died.

The Odysseus disembarked at A. Lange & Söhne in 2019, making a big splash as the brand’s first serially produced stainless steel luxury sports watch with an “integrated” steel bracelet and 120m water-resistance. Thanks to its unique personality and unmistakable provenance, the Odysseus rowed against many stylistic conventions established by top-tier luxury sports watches. During […]