Results for Plasma High-Tech Ceramic

W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Sep 5, 2025

Hands-On: Renaud Tixier Introduces the Monday Organica by Oliver Vaucher, a Visually Stunning Solution to a Horological Problem

Our first meeting at thai year’s Geneva Watch Days might turn out to be one of the best. Renaud Tixier launched during Watches & Wonders week of 2024 with a bold idea: seven revolutionary horological creations, released in a series of watches that will take nearly two decades to complete. Their first watch, the Monday (guess what the others will be called) is an attempt to solve the problem of the micro-rotor. While these small, often heavy rotors are wonderful for creating automatic watches that are nearly as thin as manually wound watches (and for showing off elaborate movement decoration) they are inherently inefficient. The Monday seeks to solve that problem with a completely new horological invention.  The Renaud of Renaud Tixier is Dominique Renaud, the legendary watchmaker who was one half of the famed Renaud & Papi firm, who carved out a niche for themselves in the 1980s and 90s by creating ultra high end complications for the most prestigious brands. Renaud Tixier works along similar lines, but of course is a brand unto itself, and Renaud seems free to pursue whatever horological problem solving might be of interest to him. These watches, while incredibly beautiful, are ultimately for the hardcore movement nerds among us.  The innovation of this first Renaud Tixier caliber is in the behavior of the micro-rotor. The brand refers to it as “the Dancer” because of the way the mechanism seems to dance at even the slightest jostle. Renaud Tixier’s micro-rotor ...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Sep 4, 2025

Why YES Watches Deserve Your Attention (and A Slot in Your Watch Box)

When I started collecting watches many years ago, I vividly remember stumbling upon a blog discussing YES and their array of unique and technologically advanced watches. I’m typically not someone who utilizes many of the functions on a watch besides the basic time and date keeping, but when I saw how complicated the dial and modes were on these, I knew I would have to own at least one at some point. Now with two different models in my collection, I wish I could go back and thank the author of that blog for steering me in the right direction all those years prior. For those of you who haven’t seen or heard of YES before, allow me to shed light on them just like that blog did.   A Brief History of the Company For a more in-depth rundown on how YES came to be, I highly recommend reading the writeup by the brand’s founder himself, Bjorn Kartomten, featured on their website. Here, I want to instead offer some insight on the brand’s models and technological innovations rather than the nuts and bolts of how the brand came to be. As I’m sure you’ve already been able to gather by the included photos thus far, these aren’t your typical three-handers. Throughout YES’ catalog are watches boasting equinox and solstice alerts, lunar phase information, daylight and nighttime readouts and estimates, sun and moon calculators to show lunar data for any locations between the years 2000 and 2100, high and low tide indicators, phase elapse countdown timers, compasses, alarms,...

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T Time+Tide

Time+Tide

TAG Heuer debuts two chronographs Sep 4, 2025

TAG Heuer debuts two chronographs with revolutionary carbon hairsprings, a technology they’ve been developing for almost a decade

Have TAG finally perfected carbon hairspring technology, and will this be a game changer - for them and the rest of the watch industry?The post TAG Heuer debuts two chronographs with revolutionary carbon hairsprings, a technology they’ve been developing for almost a decade appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Mido Sep 3, 2025

Mido Ocean Star: A Complete Guide To The Historic Dive Watch

Mido is not one of the more widely familiar watchmakers in North America - though its watches have enjoyed a longstanding popularity south of the border, in Latin America - despite the fact that the brand, now owned by Swatch Group, has been around for a long time. It was founded on November 11, 1918, the same date of the armistice that ended World War I, by watchmaker Georges G. Schaeren (below) in the Swiss town of Biel-Bienne. Its name comes from the Spanish phrase Yo Mido, meaning “I Measure,” which may or may not indicate that Schaeren had always intended his products to appeal to a large Spanish-speaking audience. What is indisputable is that the Mido brand contributed some significant innovations to watchmaking in the 20th Century, few of which are often acknowledged. The company came up with one of the first solutions to waterproofing watch cases in 1930, developing a sealing system (below) that installed a watertight gasket made of cork between the crown and the case; Mido later named this invention “Aquadura.” The Mido Multifort, still produced today, debuted in 1934 and became the first antimagnetic watch with automatic winding. In 1945, Mido unveiled the Multi-CenterChrono, the first chronograph watch with a central display for the elapsed time, and in 1954 developed the Powerwind automatic winding system that increased efficiency by reducing the number of parts in the mechanism. Of all these milestones, it was the Aquadura waterproofing technolog...

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Sep 3, 2025

What is a Chronograph Watch?

Chronograph watches are among the most popular styles of timepieces: iconic models like the Rolex Daytona, Omega Speedmaster, TAG Heuer Carrera, and Breitling Navitimer, for example, have become some of the most famous and collectible watches in the modern era and have contributed to the enduring appeal of the chronograph to generations of enthusiasts. If you're new to the watch game, however, you might be wondering not only what all the buzz is about but what these watches actually do that makes them so special. Read on for a comprehensive primer on chronograph watches, from their earliest ancestors to the most ambitious, avant-garde timekeeping technology available in chronographs today. Chronograph vs. Chronometer As I explore in depth in our guide to chronometers, one of the first hurdles to clear for newcomers to watch appreciation is the clarification of two very common horological categories: Chronometer and Chronograph. Quite simply, a chronometer (from the Greek chronos, meaning time, and meter, meaning measure) is any watch or clock that keeps reliably accurate time, usually as determined by an outside independent testing agency, whereas a chronograph (from chronos and graph, i.e., to “write time”) is any watch or clock with the ability to track and record intervals of time, aka a stopwatch. The terms are not interchangeable but they are also not mutually exclusive: a watch equipped with chronograph functions can also be a chronometer if it has met a s...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Aug 29, 2025

Driving Design: European Cars and a Family Heirloom Seamaster

Ansel Iisaka is an industrial designer, watch lover, and European car enthusiast.  Laid back with a thick beard, and often dressed in 1970s-esque attire, Iisaka doesn’t seem like your average mechanic, nor does he reveal much about his deep knowledge of watches. When asked about his propensity for both, he admits that growing up among the enthusiast cars that his father collected, drove hard, and cycled through may have caused him to feel “desensitized to rare or exotic cars.” Instead, he focused on what he calls, “really well-made, practical cars that I could use every day.” The first of these workhorse vehicles? A Volvo 240, one of the most iconic and reliable European cars ever built. Despite earning ASE certification in automotive service while still in high school, Iisaka chose to pursue the pen-and-paper side of his passion for mechanical artistry, and after completing a degree in industrial design, he found himself drafting concepts for several microbrand watch companies-an area he’d never considered before. While Iisaka states that he can’t reveal those projects due to contractual obligations, he has had a hand in designing field watches and vintage skin divers for a well-known microbrand. “I love all well-built mechanical things, especially those that were designed for longevity and repairability,” he explains.  That appreciation for watches wasn’t immediate, though. It took a very special timepiece, handed down to him from his grandfather ...

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Citizen Aug 28, 2025

Seiko vs. Citizen: Comparing the Icons of Japanese Watchmaking

Seiko and Citizen are the two undisputed titans among Japanese watch brands, known and admired worldwide for their technical excellence, design acumen, and legendary price-to-value ratio, not to mention the role that both brands have played in the technological and cultural evolution of watchmaking in general. And while these world-renowned companies have been fierce competitors from the beginning, they have a lot in common as well. Here we present a side-by-side comparison of Seiko vs. Citizen, starting with their earliest days and concluding with an overview of what each brand is doing today.  Seiko vs. Citizen: Origins of Two Japanese Watch Pioneers With its very high-tech lineup and avant-garde designs, one might be inclined to think Citizen Watch Company is a relatively new player on the worldwide watch scene, but one would be mistaken. The company today known as Citizen was founded in 1918 by Kamakechi Yamazaki as the Shokosha Watch Research Institute. The name “Citizen” first appeared on the dial of a pocket watch that Shokosha produced in 1924; it is believed to have been suggested by Yamazaki’s close friend Shinpei Goto, then the mayor of Tokyo, who believed such a watch should be universally appealing and accessible to all “citizens” of Japan.  Shokosha merged with the Schmid company, a Japan-based manufacturing firm founded by expatriate Swiss watchmaker Rodolphe Schmid, in 1930 to become Citizen. Joining the expertise of Shokosha’s Japanese watchm...

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S SJX Watches

SJX Watches

Aug 25, 2025

Prix Gaïa 2025 Awarded to Dr Helmut Crott for Scholarship

Awarded annually by the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH), one of Switzerland’s leading timekeeping museums, the Prix Gaïa recognises individuals who have contributed to watchmaking in three categories. This year’s winner in the “History [and] Research” category is Dr Helmut Crott. Best known for having founded the eponymous auction house, Dr Crott is also an author, scholar, and former owner of Urban Jürgensen, amongst other roles. In 2021 he authored Le Cadran, an in-depth study of dials and dial making techniques of 20th century wristwatches. Le Cadran by Dr Helmut Crott Past winners of the Prix Gaïa include Reinhard Meis, Jonathan Betts, Pierre-Yves Donzé, Kathleen Pritschard, and Ludwig Oechslin, all scholars and authors who have contributed substantively to the body of knowledge in the field. Alongside Dr Crott, this year’s winners are Jean-Jacques Paolini for “Entrepreneurship”, and Roger W. Smith for “Craftsmanship [and] Creation”. As the successor to Georges Daniels’ brand of English watchmaking, Mr Smith now produces watches under his own name, with his achievements and timepieces well known. Jean-Jacques Paolini Mr Paolini, on the other hand, is less known outside the industry, but he is arguably most responsible for building the enterprise that’s the largest employer in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1980, Mr Paolini took over his family’s case and bracelet manufacturing business, developing its operations sufficiently that it was acq...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Hamilton factory Aug 23, 2025

Watches, Stories, and Gear: The Severance keyboard, Lancaster Watch Weekend, and more

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear. Lancaster Watch Weekend   Lancaster Watch Weekend is almost here, and it’s an event that you should absolutely have marked on your calendar if you’re a fan of American watchmaking, and watchmaking history more broadly. Lancaster, PA is home, of course, to the original Hamilton factory and company headquarters, and the small Pennsylvania city remains a haven for watch lovers even decades after the brand moved to Switzerland. That’s largely thanks to the work of the NAWCC, whose museum resides in nearby Columbia, and will be hosting guests and special presentations throughout the weekend. You can also check out an open house at RGM Watch Co.’s headquarters in Mt. Joy (about a half hour from Lancaster) and hit up events at Lancaster’s Hamilton boutique over the course of the weekend. Lancaster Watch Weekend will run from September 26-28, in and around Lancaster. A full schedule of events can be found here.   The MDR Dasher: An Innie’s Keyboard, for Your Outie   In the midst of searching for retrofuturistic technology that would eventually be featured in Apple TV’s “Severance”, the product team rediscovered a 1970’s keyboard from Data General called ...

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Q Quill & Pad

Quill & Pad

Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante Flying Tourbillon Aug 23, 2025

New Release: Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante Flying Tourbillon Flyback Chronograph

Foudroyante, which is French for lightning bolt), chronographs have always been very rare because in measuring fractions of a second by driving a hand that rotates every second uses a lot of energy. With the Nano Foudroyante: Greubel Forsey has solved the inherent drawbacks in foudroyante chronographs by using nanotechnology to reduce power consumption by an incredible 1,800 times!

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Casio s Ultra Modern Factory Aug 21, 2025

What I Learned Touring Casio’s Ultra Modern Factory (and Museum)

I have a confession to make: I (politely) turn down 90% of press junkets offered to me. So, when Casio reached out to me earlier this year with the opportunity to visit their Yamagata factory and the Tokyo headquarters, I was not too sure. I thought about it for three days on how this would be different from any other watch factory visit, and how I would narrate my visit without the usual “Maison’s” PR team influencing my writing. There were two reasons I accepted Casio’s invitation. First, Casio is unlike any other watch company, so it will make for an interesting visit and observations. And second, Casio culture is different from other watch companies, including their PR and marketing folks. They are transparent about everything; they allowed me to ask the tough questions and did not influence my story. I will touch on both points further in this article. The original G-SHOCK There were three journalists on this trip including me, so it was a small group for this visit. We visited Casio’s Yamagata factory the first day, their museum in Tokyo the following day, and on the final day we visited the headquarters to meet and interview executives overseeing the watch division. All three visits were so different from each other – the first was so technical, the second was all about design and history, and the final visit was about strategy.  For our visit to the Yamagata factory, we woke up early to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Higashine city, in Yamagata ...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Aug 15, 2025

Hands-On: the Apiar Gen1.0

The British brand Apiar has an intriguing slogan emblazoned across the front page of their website: Impossible Watches. Made Possible. If you spend enough time thinking about watches, collecting watches, and learning about watches, you begin to realize their limitations. Whether they’re chronometry related or have to do with the design and build of the watch itself, there are certain things that just can’t be done, or else stretch the limits of our current technology to the point where those things aren’t remotely feasible. The crazy idea you had for a watch case that defies the laws of physics might be something that only exists on paper.  Additive manufacturing and 3D printing technologies have the potential to change that. When a metal object is formed by adding material to it rather than stripping it away, a manufacturer can create shapes, textures, and structures that would be impossible otherwise. Apiar’s Gen1.0 is a thrilling example of the possibilities of 3D printing in watch manufacturing. They’re by no means the first to create watches this way, of course, but they’re part of a new class of brands using the technology in an experimental way that seems to finally make the most of it, creating not just beautiful objects that defy watchmaking convention, but watches that redefine our expectations around durability, lightness, and other metrics by which all of us evaluate these things. Importantly, the use of additive manufacturing also democratizes wat...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Tudor Black Bay P01 It Aug 14, 2025

Five Underrated Watches Under $5,000

There’s a universal appeal to the idea of the hidden gem. Whether it’s a watch, a movie, or a vacation destination, we all enjoy reveling in the underrated to some extent. It’s part of that sense of discovery that draws us to an enthusiast pursuit in the first place. As the watch world, and enthusiasm around the hobby grows, it gets harder to identify watches that are truly underrated – every watch seems to have its moment in the sun.  We thought it would be fun to identify a handful of watches that feel genuinely underrated at this particular moment, all under $5,000. Let us know your picks in the comments!  Zach Kazan – Tudor Black Bay P01 It was surprisingly challenging for me to think of the right underrated watch to discuss here. One of the problems with the way we talk about watches in 2025 is that everything, from the most mundane, black dialed diver, to highly experimental haute horlology, is heaped with praise. It’s not that the praise isn’t always warranted – there are a lot of great watches out there – but the inverse of this question, the most overrated watches on the market, would probably be a little easier to respond to. But, in the interest of keeping things positive, we thought, for now, we’d try to shine a light on some watches that don’t get enough attention.  Usually when we’re creating a group oriented list like this, my mind immediately goes to the independents. You could say I’m always trying to highlight the underrated s...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Aug 13, 2025

Building a Watch From Scratch In Brooklyn

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...

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Aug 11, 2025

18 Great Panda-Dial Watches (2026)

Panda-dial watches - a category of chronographs that derive their nickname from their two-tone dial colorways, generally defined by black subdials on a white main dial - have gone from a niche favorite to a widely popular genre for collectors and enthusiasts, who prize their high-contrast sharpness and legibility. Even in an era of watchmaking when bolder and brighter colorways seem more dominant than ever, there is something about the black-and-white simplicity of pandas, and their mirror-image cousins, the so-called “reverse pandas” (white subdials on black dial), that still strike a chord. Here are 18 of our favorites. Dan Henry 1964 Chronograph Price: $300, Case Size: 38mm, Thickness: 12.9mm, Lug-to-Lug: 44.7mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Seiko VK63 Mechaquartz A longtime watch collector, and founder of the historical-watch website Timeline Watch, Dan Henry established his eponymous watch brand in 2016, inspired by his extensive collection of vintage pieces to produce contemporary watches with recognizably retro design language. Each Dan Henry watch model is limited and numbered, and named after the year from which it draws its main aesthetic influence. The mechaquartz-powered 1964 Gran Turismo Chronograph brings to mind iconic racing watches born in the ‘60s like the Heuer Carrera and Rolex Daytona, and Dan Henry makes it in both 36mm and 38mm case sizes, with either a two- or three-register dial design, with o...

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Aug 6, 2025

MechaQuartz: The Hybrid Chronograph Movement Explained

Watches with mechaquartz movements are a small but quietly growing niche within the industry, particularly in the ambitious, creative, and extremely budget-conscious world of small independent watchmaking. Watchmakers have discovered that these “hybrid” movements, which offer quartz-level accuracy along with a dose of mechanical appeal, can often provide the opportunity to make chronograph watches that entice watch enthusiasts while still maintaining the affordable price points that keep their brands competitive. But what is a mechaquartz movement, exactly, and what watch brands are currently offering the most interesting examples of this technology? Read on. What is a MechaQuartz Movement? In a nutshell, mechaquartz (which various brands and other sources have also spelled mecaquartz, meca-quartz, or mecha-quartz) refers to a chronograph movement that combines a battery-powered quartz crystal oscillator for the main timekeeping (i.e., the hours, minutes, and running seconds) with a mechanical module for the stopwatch functions. The latter element ensures that the chronograph seconds hand sweeps smoothly over the dial, as in a fully automatic watch, rather than in short jumps, as it would operate in a fully quartz one, and that the seconds hand will snap back instantly to zero at the end of a time measurement.  A mecaquartz movement is often referred to as a hybrid movement, but it’s not a hybrid in the same technical sense as, say, Seiko’s Spring Drive calibers, ...

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F Fratello

Fratello

Aug 5, 2025

Fratello On Air: How The Watch Industry Can Reignite The Passions Of Collectors

In the nearly 15 years since I began collecting watches in earnest, the watch industry has experienced significant growth. The last couple of years, however, have been a challenge. Inflation, geopolitical events, and other headwinds have now emerged. This has resulted in a tough market and high retail prices. So, what should brands do to […] Visit Fratello On Air: How The Watch Industry Can Reignite The Passions Of Collectors to read the full article.

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F Fratello

Fratello

Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Models Aug 4, 2025

Introducing: New Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Models PAM01697 And PAM01698

Panerai is no stranger to working with the Italian Navy. The two have joined forces on watches, technical tools, and other products for over a century. As watch enthusiasts, we’ve become accustomed to these collaborative projects featuring the bold Marina Militare typography on the dial. Today, the partnership expands and is dedicated to the Aviazione […] Visit Introducing: New Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Models PAM01697 And PAM01698 to read the full article.

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Citizen Ad Appears Jul 31, 2025

Vintage Citizen Ad Appears in Fantastic Four: First Steps, and There’s a New Watch Too

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been in theaters for about a week as I type. I just saw it last night, after the first-weekend crowds have dissipated significantly. There’s been a great deal of conversation about the importance of this Fantastic Four film in the movie community. Marvel, it’s no secret, has been slipping a bit as of late. Their splashy superhero action films are no longer guaranteed to approach a billion dollars in revenue. Add to that, a new Superman film is also in theaters, and has been pretty well received thus far. For the first time in years, it feels like DC film adaptations might be having a moment. The conventional wisdom is that Fantastic Four needs to be huge, shepherding the MCU faithful with excitement into a big and even higher stakes Avengers film next year.  I personally didn’t care all that much for First Steps. I thought the CGI looked, well, kinda bad. And the principal characters were mostly miscast. But there were silver linings, if you looked for them. Mole Man, played by Paul Walter Hauser, is a character worthy of a spin-off if there ever was one. Please, just put this character in every MCU movie from here on out. We’re still in a multi-verse arc, so it should be pretty easy to write him into movies he otherwise doesn’t belong in. The other great strength of the movie is the production design. Unlike just about every other MCU movie, this one is effectively a standalone piece that doesn’t really require a deep famil...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Stowa Jul 28, 2025

Stowa General Manager Kevin Müller Continues the Brand’s Long Enthusiast Legacy

Change is a scary thing. Change at a small, enthusiast-favorite brand is downright terrifying. As watch collectors and enthusiasts, we’re constantly on the lookout for the next thing - the new exciting brand, the unexpected novelty, the rising watchmaker yet to be truly discovered. But that search for the ‘new’ is only possible thanks to the reliable backstop certain brands have built for enthusiasts since the modern enthusiast market developed in the latter part of the 20th century. Stowa is absolutely one of these backstop brands. A reliable step on the ladder for developing enthusiasts, Stowa - which was founded in 1927 but has existed in its modern form since 1996 - has sat squarely at the heart of the watch community as long as I’ve been interested in watches. As long as I’ve been aware of them, Stowa has been the place to go for high-quality, affordable pilots’ and marine watches, and has paired those standards with elegant Bauhaus-inspired dress watches and chronographs (among other things). That much is absolutely still true, but you’d be forgiven for expressing concern when, in 2021, Jörg Schauer (who had owned and operated the brand since 1996) sold Stowa to Tempus Arte, the German watch group best known for their ownership of Dresden-based Lang & Heyne (who in turn are best known for their highly finished tri-lugged case architecture). Since then, there has been a tremendous amount of hemming and hawing over the existential question of Stowa...

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T Time+Tide

Time+Tide

Louis Vuitton s Independent Creatives Prize Jul 28, 2025

The 5 up-and-coming artisans to look out for in Louis Vuitton’s Independent Creatives Prize 2025

Borna highlights 5 up-and-coming watches from makers you might not have heard from before, all gunning for LV's prestigious new prize.The post The 5 up-and-coming artisans to look out for in Louis Vuitton’s Independent Creatives Prize 2025 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Jul 25, 2025

The 77 Best Microbrand Watches In 2026

When it comes to watch consumers' interest, there has over the past several years been a rising level of interest in watch brands that deviate from what might be viable for the mass market luxury watch brands but appeal to a niche but passionate audience. These so-called microbrands have represented one of the fastest-growing segments of the mechanical watch market, in which small shops can produce quality products that compete for connoisseurs' attention with the titans of the business. In the past several years, we've handled hundreds of watches from different microbrands out there; In this blog, we take a closer look at some of the best microbrand watches that the market has to offer in a variety of price ranges. What makes a Microbrand Watch? Now first, it is important to try to best classify what a microbrand is and what it isn’t. To me, a microbrand is a limited-production watch company that typically specializes in a particular style that does not have extensive resources to produce its own in-house calibers or other proprietary parts. This classification can get a little grey in the area of independent watchmakers that typically either have higher levels of watchmaking, like a Habring2, who have a master watchmaker like Richard Habring at the helm, or are a brand like Christopher Ward, who produce a high number of pieces and has in-house production capacities. The Best Microbrand Watches: The Latest Additions Santurce  A microbrand with a strong Puerto Rican per...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Casio Jul 22, 2025

G-SHOCK and The Surfrider Foundation Japan Focus on Conservation with the New G5600SFJ-9

Here in the wild year of 2025, you can buy watches made from all sorts of sci-fi sounding materials: titaniums of all types, fancy plastics, stalwarts like stainless steels, and yes, bio-ceramics. Casio and their iconic built-tough subbrand, G-SHOCK, have never been strangers to experimenting with the affordable end of material innovation, and in a new collaboration with environmental nonprofit The Surfrider Foundation Japan, they’ve taken up bio-based resin and mixed-color molding to create the new G5600SFJ-9. As is the case with all of G-SHOCK’s watches, the G5600SFJ-9 boasts a plethora of durability-first features. The brand’s Tough Solar and Super Illuminator tech power the digital readout, while the case enjoys shock resistance and 200 meters of water resistance. G-SHOCK fans will be pleased to see expected functions like a 48-city world timer, a 1/100-second stopwatch, a countdown timer, daily and hourly alarms and time signals, and both 12 and 24-hour time formatting. While none of this is particularly groundbreaking, it is reassuring to see G-SHOCK’s consistency across their frequent collaborations.  Speaking of collaboration, The Surfrider Foundation Japan-a marine-focused nonprofit that celebrates the intersection of conservation and surfer lifestyle-lends its logo and #oceanfriendlylifestyle slogan to the face, caseback, and band loop. For thematic cohesion, the watch’s bright yellow hue is intended to bring to mind a sunrise on the coastline, and...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Doxa Happy Saturday! Dive watch Jul 19, 2025

Catching Up on New Releases from Ming, Wren, Squale, and Doxa

Happy Saturday! Dive watch summer continues – we’ve noticed some fun new divers, all limited editions, come across the transom lately. New water ready releases from Doxa, Wren, and Doxa are profiled below. We’re also spotlight the latest from Ming – while not a diver, it has a stealthiness to it that feels appropriate for the season. Let us know in the comments what you think of these new releases, and what we might have missed. Wren Diver 38 Wren is back with their second watch, the all new Diver 38. The brand, founded by Wrist Enthusiast’s Craig Karger, launched last year with the Diver One, and the new piece is a scaled down, and perhaps more refined take on the original concept. The new version of the watch is smaller, coming in at, you guessed it, 38mm, and is just 10.7mm tall (the original was 41mm in diameter and over 13mm thick). The dial has a sandwich style design, in either a gradient seafoam green or aqua colorway. According to Karger, the goal here was to move Wren into a new category that “balances practicality, comfort, and refined execution.”  The Wren Diver 38 is available in date and no-date versions for $1,595. It runs on a ETA  2892 automatic caliber, and has 200 meters of water resistance. It’s mounted to a flat-link, stainless steel bracelet, and the ceramic bezel insert is fully lumed. Another nice touch: the rotor is skeletonized in the shape of a wren. More information on the Wren Diver 38 can be found on the Wren website here. Mi...

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Jul 17, 2025

Craft, Precision, and the Future of American Watchmaking: an Interview with Josh Shapiro

To pursue the level of watchmaking American independent brand J.N. Shapiro has, you need more than a bit of talent and a dash of ambition. Even if you manage to master the skills required to craft the impressively detailed neo-vintage watches J.N. Shapiro makes, having a unique enough take on a traditional aesthetic and the business savvy to compete on the world’s stage of independent watchmaking is another story altogether. It demands a near-monastic lifestyle to pull off. J.N. Shapiro’s founder and visionary, Josh Shapiro, hasn’t just answered the call – he’s actually making it work.  More remarkable still, Shapiro produces his premier line of watches, the Resurgence, entirely in the United States and almost entirely in-house. Notably, “in-house” is used in the literal sense here, meaning under one roof – a very different thing from what that term has come to mean as a shadowy marketing tool that tends to gloss over some subcontracting and outside manufacturing. Every component in the Resurgence, save for jewels and springs, is entirely produced and finished by Shapiro and his team in California.  While a watch of the Resurgence’s caliber being produced both in-house and domestically is as impressive as it is unexpected, there’s more at play here than just an inflated sense of national pride. Bootstrapping high-level American watchmaking and parts manufacturing certainly benefits Shapiro’s operation first and foremost, but it’s also part of a la...

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F Fratello

Fratello

Tissot Inside Jul 5, 2025

Behind The Scenes At Tissot: Inside The Light-Powered Tissot PRC 100 Solar Quartz

Quartz movements took a next step when light started charging the power source. Tissot started using light as a “fuel” in 2014 when it introduced the T-Touch Expert Solar. This year, the brand from Le Locle presents the next technological step in the shape of the Lightmaster solar quartz movement. The movement is the heart […] Visit Behind The Scenes At Tissot: Inside The Light-Powered Tissot PRC 100 Solar Quartz to read the full article.

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S SJX Watches

SJX Watches

Patek Philippe consider enamel Jul 4, 2025

Inside Akrivia’s Enamel Workshop in Geneva

The world of Swiss watchmaking is a small one; everyone seems to know everyone. This is especially true among the exclusive ranks of enamellers. In total, there are about 120 practicing enamellers in Switzerland, largely concentrated in Geneva, which has been a leading hub for fine enamelling for more the 400 years. Of these, four artisans have recently taken up residence at Émailleurs de la Cité (EC) in Geneva’s Old Town. A newly established enamel workshop founded by Rexhep Rexhepi of Akrivia and Florent Olivier Martin, EC crafts a small number of grand feu enamel dials annually for Mr Rexhepi’s own watches and for select clients like Biver. Though recently opened, the workshop has the feel of a mature and highly organised operation, benefiting from the obvious experience of the staff – Mr Martin was formerly the production director at the respected dial specialist Olivier Vaucher – and the attention to detail for which Mr Rexhepi is known. The enamel workshop is a fitting addition to his growing empire, and is conveniently located just steps away from Akrivia’s watchmaking atelier on Grand-Rue, the picturesque cobblestone thoroughfare that runs through the Old Town. The hand-engraved gratté pattern is applied personally by Mr Rexhepi. The art of enamel Brands like Patek Philippe consider enamel a “rare handcraft”, and for good reason. While industrial groups like the Swatch Group seem to have largely mastered the production of quality enamel dials at (v...

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T Teddy Baldassarre

Teddy Baldassarre

Rolex Jul 2, 2025

Paul Newman Rolex Daytona: The World's Most Valuable Watch

If you are into watches and watch collecting, you have heard of the “Paul Newman Rolex,” have heard of it spoken of with reverence and awe, and have perhaps even longed to possess or at least see one yourself. But how did this watch - a very specific version of the Rolex Daytona - become the celebrity watch of all celebrity watches, as well as the né plus ultra representing the absolute highest echelon of watch connoisseurship? It’s a story of watch marketing savvy and market serendipity that spans the globe from Geneva to Daytona, from Cleveland to Hollywood. Rolex was riding a hot streak of successes in the 1950s and early ‘60s. The Swiss company had already introduced to the market the definitive luxury divers’ watch, the Submariner; the quintessential luxury travel watch, the GMT-Master; and even an understated, rugged outdoor watch, the Explorer, that became a star in its one right by virtue of its role in the historic summit of Mount Everest. The one popular category that Rolex had yet to really crack was the emerging genre of motorsport-inspired wrist chronographs, an area in which brands like Heuer (today’s TAG Heuer), Longines, and Breitling had a substantial head start. Rolex boldly jumped into the fray, introducing its first “pre-Daytona” wristwatch chronograph, Ref. 6234, in 1955, and its successor, Ref. 6238, in 1962. Both were 36mm steel watches outfitted with manually wound Valjoux 72 calibers, and both had dials that read simply “Chro...

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M Monochrome

Monochrome

Jaeger-LeCoultre His Plans Jul 2, 2025

Interview – Jérôme Lambert on his Comeback as CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, His Plans and The Collectibles

I have known Jérôme Lambert for longer than I want to admit. The man started his watchmaking career right there, at La Grande Maison, or the Watchmaker of Watchmakers. Lambert has already been CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre from 2002 to 2013, and he left his mark on the brand. Strong collections, focus on complications and high-end […]

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W Worn & Wound

Worn & Wound

Jul 1, 2025

A Keepsake in Time: The Wedding Watch Gift Guide with Hampden

When the wedding invitations start rolling in and the summer air warms with celebration, there’s a timeless question every groom and wedding party must answer: What gifts can truly mark this moment? For the groom and his closest friends, a Hampden watch does more than tell time-it tells stories, turning a single day’s memory into a lifetime keepsake. A Heritage of Craft and Personal Touch Hampden has earned the distinction of America’s oldest family watch brand, now in its fourth-generation of continuous family ownership. Founded in 1922 and rooted in Chicago’s rich horological past, its relaunch this year to mark a century in business balances classic American watchmaking sensibilities with contemporary Swiss precision. While their dials and movements are built to endure decades of wear, it’s Hampden’s mastery of custom caseback engraving that makes each watch singularly meaningful. From precise monograms to heartfelt messages and even sketches or handwritten notes, Hampden’s engraving technology is among the best in the industry-a nod to its historical reputation for innovation and personalization. The post A Keepsake in Time: The Wedding Watch Gift Guide with Hampden appeared first on Worn & Wound.

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