Results for The Dirty Dozen

New: Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time Chronograph

Seiko releases yet another novelty as their celebration of the 145 years of their founding in 1881 with the Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time Chronograph.

Favre Leuba Revives the Harpoon, and a Little of Itself

Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop - The Most Unexpected Swatch Collaboration Yet

After weeks of teasing, today, we got an unexpected embargo lift on the Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop. Only a very few AI mock-ups were somewhat close to what Swatch has just released. And the young guys we saw on TikTok hoping to be sporting a very affordable Royal Oak on the wrist (or […] Visit Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop — The Most Unexpected Swatch Collaboration Yet to read the full article.

Seiko Adds New Seiko 5 References with Compass Bezels

Every watch enthusiast has gotten the question from a newly watch-curious friend: “what should be my first real watch?”  Of course, designating any watch as “real” over another is a bit silly, but the sentiment remains. For newbies to the horological hobby, there are few “first” watches better than any model from the ever-expanding and always-iconic Seiko 5 lineup. From skin divers to field watches and way beyond (especially if you look at vintage…), there’s a Seiko 5 for everyone, and not just new fans, either. Most serious enthusiasts can attest to having a 5 in their collection, or at least having owned one (or many) in the past. So, when Seiko comes out with a new 5 entry, it’s hard not to be excited, and four new Seiko 5 Field models have arrived to continue that tradition. The HDB006, HDB007, HDB008, and HDB009 bring a lot of the hallmarks of Seiko 5 field watches, including wearable dimensions at 41mm in diameter and 13.2mm in thickness, strong LumiBrite coating on the hands, indices, and bezel markings, and trademark Seiko robustness and reliability thanks to the 4R36 caliber automatic movement, which provides 41 hours of power reserve, a stop second hand function, and a day/date complication. While none of these features are particularly remarkable or innovative, they prove the everlasting utility of a field watch as an everyday timepiece. The new HDB00- models do have an extra party trick up their sleeves in the form of a simple compass on the ...

Auctions: The Five Results That Actually Mattered, From The Spring 2026 Auction Season

The watch world hasn't seen an auction season like this in quite some time. Well, ever, frankly. Phillips set multiple records (43 by their count, though many are quite obscure), including a new record for the highest single sale of $96,328,083, besting their result from just last fall. If you add in their online auction, they passed $100 million for the first time ever. Sotheby's smashed the record for the most expensive A. Lange & Söhne ever (for a pocket watch, we might add)—a record that only stood for a few weeks, set during the house's Hong Kong sale. But it wasn't so much the overall numbers that were shocking as the fact of which watches were selling for what prices. So, what the heck is going on? Well, we were watching; some of us from afar, others (Andy Hoffman) in the auction rooms. Instead of focusing solely on broad strokes, let's look at five specific results and why they matter for the market. A Bog-Standard Stainless Steel Akrivia AK-06 is Now a $3.8 Million Watch, 30 Times Its Original Retail Rexhep Rexhepi is the hottest watchmaker of the new, young generation, and it's not particularly close. That's not a dig on his contemporaries, but rather a reflection of the realities of the market, where people are clamoring (to an unbelievable degree) to buy a watch from a man who has made very few watches in the first place, and the few that have come to market reach astronomical prices. There aren't many data points to go off of. Only twelve Akrivia or Rexhep ...

Ming, How’s the Peeping? Introducing the 29.06 Peep Show

Naming a watch is important. This goes without saying, probably, but it’s something we don’t really talk about or think about enough. Just last week I was having a conversation with a colleague about how unfortunate it is that Grand Seiko seems to keep missing the mark with naming conventions. With so many releases, it’s tough to keep individual reference numbers at the front of the mind, and “Tentagraph” has yet to permeate watch culture in the way the brand perhaps thought it would. Some brands have a knack for coming up with catchy and distinctive names for watches that both make a ton of sense and are easily remembered and associated with a given watch. The team at Ulysse Nardin are the kings of this. The Freak? The Super Freak?? The Blast??? All immediately iconic in my opinion.  Today, Ming joins the Watch Name Hall of Fame (side note: that’s an article idea we’ll be pursuing shortly, I’ve just decided) with the Peep Show. When the Ming team first showed us a prototype of the Peep Show at Geneva Watch Days last year, we were led to believe it was a working name, or a code word for a product that was not fully fleshed out. Obviously we all thought it was pretty amusing at the time. But just last month, during Watches & Wonders week, when I learned that Peep Show was indeed the official name of the watch, well, let’s just say I was surprised and delighted, because it’s honestly perfect.  What is the Peep Show, you might be asking yourself at this ...

Stop Buying So Many Cheap Dive Watches: 6 Tested Divers That Explain Why

Cheap dive watches can be great, but too many start to feel the same. These 6 tested divers show what value, compromise, and upgrading really look like.

First Look - The Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph in Navy Blue

Rado’s foray into the world of dive watches in 1962 resulted in the Captain Cook, a somewhat quirky watch that didn’t emulate the rugged tool watches populating the underwater scene. Defined by its less utilitarian character, the Captain Cook had a compact 35mm case, an inward-sloping bezel, a domed acrylic crystal, a pivoting anchor at […]

Hands-On With The New Citizen Tsuyosa Shore Series

When discussing super-affordable entry-level watches with enthusiasts, the name Citizen Tsuyosa is likely to come up. Since the Japanese brand first unveiled the Tsuyosa in 2022, the line has become incredibly popular. Over the past four years, we have seen striking new dial variations of the inaugural 40mm versions, smaller 37mm variations, and a series […] Visit Hands-On With The New Citizen Tsuyosa Shore Series to read the full article.

Audemars Piguet - The Établisseur, Rehabilitated

This year Audemars Piguet (AP) walked into Watches & Wonders Geneva for the first time in seven years, and it did so carrying a word it had not used in public for the better part of a century. The brand had departed the predecessor of the fair, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), in 2019 alongside Richard Mille, declaring its intention to forge direct relationships with collectors through its own channels and AP Houses rather than through the shared theatre of a trade fair. The return to Geneva in 2026, under CEO Ilaria Resta, was already a signal of strategic realignment, but the word it brought with it made the move more interesting: établisseur. The watches it presented — three of them — each made in very limited numbers by a network of named artisans working within and around the Musée Atelier in Le Brassus, were introduced under the name Atelier des Établisseurs, a project AP described in its launch communications as a revival of the collaborative spirit that had driven the watchmaking industry for generations. The établissage system The framing was historically accurate, as far as it went. The établissage system did shape the Vallée de Joux from the late 18th century onward. Farmers working through the long alpine winters crafted individual components like wheels, bridges, and screws in home workshops, coordinated by an établisseur who assembled the finished watch and brought it to market. The Audemars Piguet Établisseurs Gallets hand-w...

Hands-on - The Giorgio Galli S2Ti, When Timex Moves Upmarket

Timex and affordable quartz watches are synonymous and have been since the brand ceased mechanical watch production in 1982, following the Quartz Crisis. Few brands have found as much success as Timex with quartz, and innovations like Indiglo (bright, uniform dial electroluminescence introduced in 1992) have kept them on top for decades. Only a few […]

Business News: The Importance Of Being Cartier

Among top-level, mainstream Swiss-made watch brands, few can match Cartier's performance over the last half-decade. The Paris-based jewelry marque has vaulted ever higher to become the second biggest watch brand by sales, according to analyst estimates from both Vontobel and Morgan Stanley. While the jewelry unit of Cartier remains its primary driver, analysts say estimated sales from the watch division grew about 10% in 2025 to exceed CHF 3 billion, up from less than CHF 2 billion in 2019. What's perhaps more notable is the performance of Cartier's watch division relative to the broader market. As most brands have surfed the undulating wave of the post-COVID boom, followed by a downturn in demand, Cartier's watch unit has outpaced the market while remaining relatively affordable and accessible, with prices averaging about CHF 6,000 per watch and implementing lower price increases than most competitors, according to analysts. That has allowed Cartier to consolidate its position as one of just a handful of high-volume, long-established, and approachable-priced brands that are top choices on mainstream watch consumers' want lists, particularly among younger buyers.  Tortue Chronographe Monopoussoir with oversized "XII". At the same time, Cartier has also grown in standing among watch enthusiasts and collectors, with prices for models on the secondary market gaining 8.6% in a year, according to WatchCharts.com's Cartier index. Auction results for vintage pieces have performe...

Crossing The Finish Line With The Bravur Grand Tour Sprinter

What do Mark “The Manx Missile” Cavendish, Djamolidin “The Tasjkent Terror” Abdoujaparov, and André “The Gorilla” Greipel have in common? Nicknames that say something about their character and their profession — winning sprints. In pro cycling, sprinters are a different breed. They hide in the belly of the peloton, only to emerge in the final […] Visit Crossing The Finish Line With The Bravur Grand Tour Sprinter to read the full article.

Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal POp: Here’s What We Know!

Swatch has been teasing us for the last week about a secret release scheduled to debut on May 16th. The teasers refer to the Swatch POP (a watch introduced in 1986), a lanyard, a “clac” sound, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, and a Sistem51 mechanical movement.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared […] Visit Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal POp: Here’s What We Know! to read the full article.

Introducing - The New Bell & Ross BR-03 Green Steel

The BR-03 collection by Bell & Ross has been around for nearly two decades, and by now, its square case with a round dial is one of the most recognisable designs out there. Originally launched in 2006 as a 42mm alternative to the larger 46mm BR-01, the collection was updated in 2023 with a slightly slimmer […]

Hands-On With The New Nivada Grenchen × Le Petit Poussoir F77 Polar White MK1 Limited Edition

Sometimes, you don’t want a color or a fancy finish on your dial, and occasionally, the second version isn’t always better than the first. That must be exactly what Ludovic Barrois from the French watch publication Le Petit Poussoir was thinking. That’s probably why, with his friend Guillaume Laidet, he released the Nivada Grenchen F77 […] Visit Hands-On With The New Nivada Grenchen × Le Petit Poussoir F77 Polar White MK1 Limited Edition to read the full article.

Hands On: Ulysse Nardin Super Freak

Ulysse Nardin (UN) celebrates 25 years of the landmark Freak with the aptly named Super Freak — a timepiece that pays homage to its predecessors while asserting its own distinct identity. Showcased at UN’s eccentric booth at Watches & Wonders 2026, the Super Freak was advertised as the most complicated time-only watch ever made — an ambitious claim that appears to be true.  Blending cutting-edge mechanics with an artisanal touch, the exuberant Super Freak comfortably reaches into the “hyper-watch” echelon, echoing the first groundbreaking Freak launched back in 2001. Ulysse Nardin also celebrates its 180th anniversary this year, so something extraordinary was to be expected.  Initial thoughts Even before going hands on with the Super Freak, just visiting UN’s booth at Watches & Wonders 2026 was an experience. Passers-by were greeted by two humanoid robots and a large sculpture of Dr Ludwig Oechslin’s head, with his eyes peering down over the proceedings.  The extravagant entrance hinted at the research-focused Super Freak, which looks and feels more like the product of some advanced laboratory rather than a 180-year-old manufacture. A very dynamic watch, the Super Freak’s face now more than ever resembles a space craft.  The Super Freak pays tribute to 25 years of the Freak while also adding something truly new to the mix. The result is the UN 252, the first Freak movement featuring running seconds and two flying tourbillons (2010’s Freak Diavolo was ...

Recap - Exploring Watchmaking Through Materials Spotted at Watches & Wonders 2026

Although the vast majority of mechanical watches are still made in steel, there are plenty of alternative materials, of course. One of the oldest and most widespread ones is gold, followed by titanium and perhaps platinum. On the more uncommon end of the spectrum, we find watches made in other types of metals, cutting-edge composite […]

Hands-On With The New Chanel J12 Superleggera Caliber 12.1 - Is It Worthy Of The Famous Automotive Moniker?

Superleggera is Italian for “super light.” But to a petrolhead, the word means more. The term refers to a custom automobile body-construction method developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni at the Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Patented in 1936, the Superleggera system uses a framework of thin steel tubes shaped to the contours of the car […] Visit Hands-On With The New Chanel J12 Superleggera Caliber 12.1 — Is It Worthy Of The Famous Automotive Moniker? to read the full article.

L. Leroy brings us its second offering in its comeback with the Elyor flying tourbillon

A classical take on the flying tourbillon with modern twists that will please modern collectors and traditionalists alike.

New releases from Beaucroft, Baltic, Daniel Roth and more

A week marked by collaborations, we have a host of new releases that show working together is often the best way to do it.

The ABCs of Time - The History of English Watchmaking

In our recent ABCs of Time article, The Top Five Countries Where Watchmaking Reigns Supreme, England didn’t quite make the cut (and some of you took issue with that), so let’s take a look at the history of English watchmaking and give the country its due. After all, several of the most important inventions actually […]

Best Chronograph At Every Tier (Up to $10,000)

Today we’re looking at the best points of value among chronographs in today’s watch market. If a friend was looking for a chronograph under $10,000, these would be the watches on our shortlist. We’ll break it down into three price tiers: under $1,000, $1,000 up to $5,000, and 5 to $10,000. These are the chronographs th

Weird Watches Collectors Secretly Love: Hands-on Reviewed Oddballs

Explore the weird watches collectors secretly love, with hands-on analysis on watches from Russia, Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and Switzerland.

The Petrolhead Corner - The Auto Union Lucca, a Record-Breaking Speed Machine Reborn

It wasn’t too long ago that we brought you the story of the brilliantly cool Auto Union Type 52 Schnellsportwagen. This was a car that, before this coachbuilt creation, existed on paper only, as Auto Union had the plans ready but never got around to actually building it for various reasons. Along the same concept, […]

The Beaucroft Solaris GMT special edition proves the sun never sets on British watchmaking

Beaucroft teams up with Time+Tide for a special limited edition, marking the British Weekender in NYC, and the global reach of Time+Tide

Hands-On: The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Tourbillon Lumen

The watches of A. Lange & Söhne very rarely gets a chance to step out of the stoically traditional design language the brand has established since its relaunch in 1994, but one collection from the brand offers a unique respite from it all. Lange's Lumen series is now in its 16th year since the introduction of the Zeitwerk "Luminous" back in 2010, with its inaugural display of smoked sapphire, blacked-out details, and, of course, luminous numerals for the hour and minute discs. But while that model was the first to be executed, the following Grand Lange 1 Lumen in 2012 was the first model officially given the name "Lumen." Last month, at Watches and Wonders, Lange introduced the seventh Lumen in the lineup, with the new Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Lumen. Following the absolutely bonkers Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon in Honeygold released in 2025 for the Datograph's twenty-fifth anniversary, this new glow-in-the-dark take on the very complicated Lange 1 model marks a pattern of increasing complication (and resulting price points) for the Lumen series. A closer look reveals that there's a lot going on, and for nerds, it's certainly a feast for the eyes. In person, the cold, austere look of the chunky, 41.9mm case in platinum immediately struck me, as it was a welcome return to the combination of a smoky, black look with white metal from the past two Lumen iterations in Honeygold (that Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon and its predecessor, the Zeitwerk). For a design ...

Baltic and SpaceOne Launch the Seconde Majeure

Baltic and SpaceOne have unveiled their first collaboration: the Seconde Majeure, an architectural time-only watch that employs a newly-developed jumping hours module developed by French independent watchmaker — and F.P. Journe Young Talent Winner — Théo Auffret. This collaboration was born from a meeting of the minds at Baltic’s offices more than four years ago when Mr Auffret first met Guillame Laidet. That encounter ultimately led to the creation of SpaceOne, an inventive entry level brand with space-age designs. From that chance meeting at Baltic, the two brands have teamed up on their first collaborative project. Initial thoughts On paper, these two brands are near-diametrically opposed. Baltic makes vintage-inspired watches in a traditional form, while SpaceOne takes a deconstructed and highly creative approach to watches that look like they’ve just fallen from orbit. What ties the two brands together for this collaboration is a friendship, and shared vision for how to bring thoughtful design to a lower price point. As the year unfolds, 2026 continues to feel like the year of the jumping hours watch. The Seconde Majeure is another watch reinforcing that trend, but it also taps into the growing desire for architectural watchmaking and hand finishing across wider price points in the market. In that sense, it reminds me of the Christopher Ward C12 Loco. Baltic and SpaceOne have taken an interesting path in bringing the Seconde Majeure to market, making it avail...

Baltic and SpaceOne Collaborate on the All New Seconde Majeure

It’s tough to think of two accessible indie brands that are more diametrically opposed in terms of their general aesthetic than Baltic and SpaceOne. One is focused largely on classic, vintage influenced designs, while the other is firmly contemporary, futuristic, even, and has made a name for itself by innovating new ways to make high end complications accessible. But they have similar sensibilities, I think, when it comes to widening the aperture of watch enthusiasm in general. They make it feel easy to break into a once difficult to access hobby with watches that are genuinely interesting and cool irrespective of price.  And so a collaboration between Baltic and SpaceOne (both French brands) is maybe not as absurd as it would appear at first blush. Their first watch made in partnership, the Seconde Majeure, takes elements of what makes both brands special and smashes them together in a very satisfying way. It’s one of the best watches I’ve had a chance to see so far this year (it was being previewed at Chronopolis in Geneva last month, and at our Windup event in San Francisco just last week).  The Seconde Majeure is designed around a jumping hour module designed by Theo Auffret with three visible components. A large minute disc sits atop a control wheel that makes a full rotation every 60 minutes, and provides a hand-free readout of the minutes from a central location on the dial. As the minute disc completes a rotation, it engages with a star wheel that has 12 t...

An Overview of the New Czapek & Cie Antarctique Titanium Cosmic Blue Releases

Those lucky enough to have walked the carpeted halls of Palexpo during the annual Watches and Wonders exhibition this year may have found the sheer volume of novelties both fascinating and overwhelming all at once.