Latest watch news · Page 7

A Vancouver native who studied watchmaking in Switzerland, Bradley Taylor spent the last four years working on his own movement, an endeavour that is has finally in the Ardea. Manually wound with three hands, the Ardea is powered by a hand-made movement made by Mr Taylor, who incorporated a retrograde seconds, setting this apart from the high-end time-only watches that are now common. Mr Taylor made his debut with time-only watches that were powered by high-quality, but essentially stock, Vaucher movements. The Ardea, in contrast, is of his own making. He fabricated his own movement by building on the vintage Omega cal. 30T2 architecture and then making most of the watch himself, right down to the guilloche dial and solid gold wheels of the gear train. Mr Taylor’s attention to detail extends to surprising aspects of the watch, like the platinum applied numerals in a custom typeface. Initial thoughts The Ardea, and especially its movement, is the product of substantial manual craftsmanship. From milling to filing to drilling to polishing – Mr Taylor does almost all of it himself and has documented the process with many photos and videos. As a result, the Ardea is more artisanal than other recent indie creations that are engineer-conceived timepieces, and Mr Taylor deserves credit. Tapping the main plate Applying guilloche to the dial ring with a hand-cranked rose engine Mr Taylor’s choice of movement construction is not surprising, since the Omega cal. 30T2 architectu...

What We Know Bradley Taylor, a Canadian independent watchmaker working out of a 1,000-square-foot workshop in North Vancouver, has released the Ardea, his third watch and first with an in-house movement. Taylor, a rising talent in the space, trained in Le Locle under Henrik Korpela, earned a Patek Philippe Level II service certification in Geneva, and produced two sold-out series before beginning work on the Ardea in late 2023. The Ardea is offered in stainless steel or platinum 950 and measures 37.8mm in diameter with a 46.4mm lug-to-lug and a thickness of 10.9mm, including the crystals. The sapphire caseback is very slightly domed for wrist comfort, and the watch is rated to 5 ATM.  The dial is 925 sterling silver, engine-turned on a rose engine that Taylor estimates is roughly 120 years old, and he restored it over three months. The pattern is a 36-scallop rosette with a progressive phase shift between each concentric pass, producing a characterful swirling texture. After the engraving, the dial is depletion-gilded, a silversmithing process that involves repeated heating and acid treatment until the dial's surface is pure silver. It is then sealed with Zapon lacquer. The text and markings are pad-printed on a Tampoprint machine that Taylor also restored himself. The applied numerals are machined from solid platinum and hand-polished to a spherical shape. The dial lettering and wordmark were designed by Ian Brignell, a Toronto typographer whose work includes the Paramou...

This month, I’ll be on 12 flights across four cities, two continents and nearly three weeks away from home, so – yeah – I’ve been thinking a lot about planes lately. Perhaps, quite coincidentally, Farer has been, too, with the launch of their new Pilot Collection Series II, with three new models debuting. The collection has been redesigned around a 40mm Grade 2 titanium case, with a bead-blasted finish and a brushed bezel with a coin-edge profile. Across the line, Farer keeps the focus on legibility and performance, using large markers, broad minute tracks and lozenge-shaped hands applied with Grade X2 Super-LumiNova.  Powering each watch is the Sellita SW300-1 Elaboré automatic movement, offering a 56-hour power reserve. Since cockpits can be highly magnetic environments, Farer has protected the movement with an internal soft iron Faraday cage, giving the watches anti-magnetic resistance up to 500 Gauss – these are the little details of Farer that go beyond just theming a watch and making it functional and operational to those that inspired the collection. The Curtis, named for English aviator and flight test engineer Eleanor Lettice Curtis, uses a blue-grey guilloché dial divided into twelve slightly concave sections, catching the light in a way reminiscent, as Farer notes, to the motion of a propeller. It has applied Lumicast markers, pale yellow lume and orange accents, with an additional Curtis Eastern Arabic edition limited to 100 pieces. The Barnwell is...

VC adds 4 new watches to their masterpieces from the Louvre with Métiers d'Art Tribute to Great Civilisations Collection. Here is our live report.

Zenith has introduced a new Chronomaster Revival featuring a totally tropical dial, and that iconic, ladder dial, and it's an instant classic

For many people, 1969 is the year of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Woodstock and the final live performance of The Beatles on a London rooftop. However, for watch enthusiasts, 1969 is the year Zenith unveiled the El Primero, the world’s first automatic, integrated chronograph calibre – and a high-frequency one to boot.  Among the […]

What We Know Today, Zenith adds another variation of its modern revival of the unique A384 chronograph to its catalog, with the Chronomaster Revival A384 Tropical. This is, at a high level, just a new dial that's been added to the collection, and one that's done in a familiar Zenith way at that. Here, the inspiration is very much around tropical dials, with a base dial in a softly grained white, contrasted by brown accents in the subdials and tachymeter scale. Zenith calls it a "chocolate panda" configuration, and I think that's a pretty apt name. Text on the white portion of the dial is printed in black, including the "El Primero" script under the Zenith logo, while printing on the brown portions of the dial, such as the tachymeter and sundial markings, is all done in white. The aged, tropical theme continues with lume on the applied markers and handset executed in Old Radium Super-LumiNova, which certainly complements the warmth of the overall look. A bright red chronograph seconds hand sits front and center, and a date window sits between the four and five o'clock hour markers. The dial sits in that distinctive A384 case, with a compact, angular tonneau silhouette measuring 37mm. Pump pushers and a Zenith star-signed crown sit on the right flank of the case. Finishing is interesting throughout the watch, with radial brushing on the front slab of the case, polished facets, and horizontal brushing on the sides. It's complemented by Zenith's revival of the Gay Frères ladd...

Explore the best Rolex Submariner alternatives across affordable, mid-range, and luxury picks, with hands-on notes on wearability, bezel feel, design, and value.

Independent watchmaker Vanguart presented its first timepiece, the impressive Black Hole Tourbillon, in 2021, followed by a “slightly more accessible design,” the Orb Flying Tourbillon (2024). Despite its more approachable concept, this creation remains one of the more unconventional in contemporary haute horlogerie. Now, two new executions soften the radical model: the Orb Pink Ceramic […]

Even if this is the first time that the name “Cleguer” appears on a watch, founder Mathieu Cleguer is far from a newbie. The Breton watchmaker came through the ranks at several high-end independents, working on the technical teams. Now, though, he truly spreads his wings and releases his first creation, the Cleguer Inspiration One. […] Visit Introducing A New Independent Watchmaker In Town: Mathieu Cleguer And His Inspiration One to read the full article.

When Patek Philippe introduced the Cubitus collection in 2024, it drew fierce scrutiny. A square-shaped, angular evolution of the Nautilus concept, it challenged expectations. Yet, over successive releases, from the time-and-date references to the instantaneous grand date 5822P and the more compact 7128 models, the collection has settled into its role as Patek Philippe‘s modern sporty-chic […]

Chopard had another wonderful Watches and Wonders this year. The brand once again displayed a unique range of traditionally styled and modern-looking new releases, all refined and well considered. On top of that, the calibers are always impressive, both technically and visually. It always makes exploring the new additions to the brand’s catalog a nice […] Visit Chopard Cleverly Expands The Alpine Eagle Collection Once More to read the full article.

As Watches & Wonders drew to a close, Patek Philippe opened its annual exhibition of Rare Handcrafts at its salon on Rue du Rhône. It was a peaceful escape from the hustle of the Palexpo, and the perfect setting to view several dozen pieces from the new collection, ranging from Dome Clocks to wristwatches and pocket watches. The exhibition is open to the public until May 9th. Attendance is free, but visitors must register in advance online. Dome Clocks Among the prevailing themes of this year’s collection, the power of nature featured prominently. The Dome Clock ref. 20202N-001 “Magma” is the perfect example. The organic composition is almost shocking in its simplicity and minimal palette of just five colours of transparent enamel — and just seven more used for miniature painting. The volcanic depiction is undeniably violent in a way that creates a pleasing tension with the controlled techniques employed to create it, including silver leaf paillonné and a needle technique for creating the lifelike look of the volcanic rock, outlined with more than 23 g of gold wire. Of course, fired enamel has a lot in common with magma. In short, this choice of molten medium contributes to the authenticity of the work. The glowing lava is mirrored on the dial with 12 large baguette-cut sapphire hour markers totaling about 3 cts. Like the other Dome Clocks featured, the Magma is powered by an electrically wound 17’’’ pocket watch movement that offers a look into the firm...

Bausele's Elemental makes a return, this time with a Coorong Beach-inspired dial, cleverly incorporating beach sand in the crown

You don’t have to be a watchmaking fan to know that the Rolex Oyster Perpetual is one of the few watches that defines the brand and modern horology at large. As the direct descendant of the 1926 Oyster, one of the very first waterproof wristwatches, this time-only, robust, precise, and endlessly wearable watch is what […]

One of the highlights in Christie’s upcoming Geneva auctions taking place on May 11, 2026, is the Audemars Piguet “Coussin Tortue” single-button chronograph wristwatch, serial number 41’849. It is an exceedingly rare watch, being one of a batch of three examples that were the first ever chronograph wristwatches made by Audemars Piguet (AP). Moreover, the watch has been in the same family since new, and is consigned by a descendent of the original owner who bought the watch in 1943. Also notably is the fact that this watch has been comprehensively – but sympathetically and artfully – restored by AP. This “cushion turtle” wristwatch has a platinum case and two-tone, solid gold dial, while the movement is a LeCoultre, just like the others in the batch of three watches. The first of the three was in white gold, following by two in platinum, including this example. Interestingly, this watch was delivered to retailer Veuve Louis Goering in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1937, but only sold six years later. The tepid demand for such watches perhaps explains why, according to Christie’s, AP made a total of six single-button chronograph wristwatch movements, but the remaining three were only cased and sold over a decade after this one. Restored perfectly Besides being extremely rare and also unexpectedly beautiful, this watch stands out for having been enjoyed “extensive” restoration at Audemars Piguet. Ordinarily restoration would be frowned upon, but the watch was pre...

Years after asking for a smaller Lunar Pilot, Bulova answered with the Black Hole. Here's why this 41mm edition might be the best one yet.

The Cartier appointment at Watches & Wonders this year was, as always, a dizzying experience. The incredible breadth of the collection is unlike anything you’ll see at Palexpo during Watches & Wonders week, and it always amazes me how freely these incredibly valuable, intricate creations are freely passed around a table of watch media types to handle, photograph, and try on. It would be absolutely impossible to run down everything we were shown in our meeting, but I keep coming back to a selection of releases that zero in on Cartier’s unique bracelet making capabilities.  This is not something I normally expect from Cartier, but maybe I should. I think for the most part we recognize Cartier as masters of design and shape – there have been so many great case designs over the brand’s history it’s impossible to recount them all here. Some have become genuinely iconic and some have been a bit lost to history, but their ingenuity and creativity is second to none and they have the reputation they deserve as a design first brand for good reason.  In our mind’s eye, collectively, we typically see these watches on straps. But for certain references a bracelet is key to understanding not just the visual design language, but in how these watches wear. Because a great bracelet doesn’t complete the look of a watch, it makes or breaks the experience of having it on your wrist, and can take a watch from being a beautiful design object to something you’d actually want to...