Deployant
The Collector’s View: WatchTalk with Benjamin Laukis - a follow-up
Last year, we interviewed esteemed tattoo artist and watch collector Benjamin Laukis on his horological journey. Now, we are back with an update.
4,368 articles · 121 videos found · page 104 of 150
Deployant
Last year, we interviewed esteemed tattoo artist and watch collector Benjamin Laukis on his horological journey. Now, we are back with an update.
Time+Tide
If you love dive watches but don’t love the wrist-dominating size that typically goes along with the genre, you’ll want to pay close attention to Blancpain this year. Alongside new 38mm versions of the pared-back Bathyscaphe, they’ve also released a particularly hot limited edition – the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Mil-Spec. Not only does this heritage-inspired … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: 3 of the biggest Blancpains from Baselworld appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Last month’s dispatch was written in an airport lounge as I waited to fly out to Basel, via London, for my very first Baselworld experience. Now to report back on what was a big month, to say the least. My trip to Baselworld started in London, where I shook the jetlag and spent a few days … ContinuedThe post SPOTTED! BY AG: Dispatch 7, April 2017 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Today we peel back the hypothetical door on our digital advent calendar (though we’re giving away some real stuff too FYI) to reveal the deep blue dial of the Montblanc 1858 Small Second. We’re big fans of the 1858 in general, as it hits just the right balance between everyday wearability and heritage style. The smart … ContinuedThe post ADVENT CALENDAR 2016: December 4 – The Montblanc 1858 Manual Small Second appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
It’s the small company with a big reputation: A. Lange & Söhne hit the ground running when it was revived by Walter Lange and Gunter Blümlein, and since then has gone from strength to strength, building both its reputation and a worldwide following of enthusiasts for whom the first name in ultra-high-end German watchmaking is […]
Hodinkee
It's a big world out there, Baller, full of seductive objects to pursue beyond watches. In the course of finding stuff to fill out BAL each week, I come across delights galore, and it feels essential to pass along that, should you have an excess of time and money and a dearth of memorabilia, there's a full auction of items from Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman), titled, appropriately enough, Paul Reubens' Big Auction, and yes, there's a bike. Scorekeeping last weeks picks, the Orvis Solunagraph auctions next Thursday and the LIP Mach 2000 later today. The Patek 5107 sold for €13,500, and the Omega DeVille Emerald sold for $650. Strays Photo courtesy of Drouot. Your affordable vintage diver of the week is from that least-loved of brands, Invicta. Yes, Invicta is a punchline now, but their vintage stuff can offer surprises. Here's Alan Bean's personal BA 145.022-69, for all you space cadets, and here's a trio of early electronic Wittnauers that will be 'fun' for someone, depending on how capacious their definition of fun is, given that the watches are listed as not currently running. This gold chronograph from Juvenia felt, on first seeing it, like the most charming watch I'd find this week, but then there's this incredible Zenith purse watch, which takes the cake charm-wise. For all you Pogue heads (the watch/astronaut, not the band), neither of these are 'true' pogues, in that they're both 6139-6002s, but both look great, and Seiko 6139s are great fun. Finally, I covered...
Fratello
Oris revives one of its most distinctive in-house movements with the return of the ProPilot Calibre 111. More than a decade has passed since the 2015 launch of the original Big Crown ProPilot Calibre 111, powered by a manually wound movement boasting an impressive 10-day power reserve. That watch followed the release of the Oris’s […] Visit The Oris ProPilot Calibre 111 Returns More Than A Decade After Its Introduction to read the full article.
Monochrome
Before the Big Bang exploded on the watch scene in 2005, Carlo Crocco had already set the wheels of Hublot’s universe in motion. His 1980 watch, with its unorthodox mix of gold and rubber, introduced the Art of Fusion that would later become the brand’s calling card. Returning to the source, the Classic Fusion Tributo […]
Monochrome
Breguet’s maritime pedigree dates to 1815, when Louis XVIII appointed Abraham-Louis Breguet as watchmaker to the French Royal Navy. Although Breguet did not invent the marine chronometer (that was John Harrison), he improved its robustness and precision, enabling sailors to calculate longitude at sea more accurately. It wasn’t until 1990, though, that the brand tapped […]
Hodinkee
What We Know It seems as though Raymond Weil has been everywhere this year as the Geneva-based, family-owned independent brand celebrates its 50th anniversary. The company entered the integrated-bracelet sport watch realm in June with its A.R.T. collection, launching a lovely chronograph—The Fifty—featuring a vintage, new old stock Valjoux movement from the year the brand was born, 1976. But RW is marking another milestone this year. Today, on October 10th (also World Watch Day, btw), Raymond Weil himself would have turned 100 if he were still with us. A frequent and enthusiastic traveler, the brand is paying tribute to its founder with a limited-edition model, the Freelancer World-Traveller. The star of the show for this run of 260 pieces is, most certainly, the dial. It's a relief-rendered world map in the style of the Mercator projection, rendered in textured champagne, against a dark blue background, representing the oceans. Rather than the brand logo, Raymond Weil's signature sits at 6 o'clock and above the date window. The indexes are applied and surrounded by a 24-hour scale in blue for the evening and beige for the daytime. The outer ring of the dial features 24 world cities and their corresponding time zones. Turning the knurled bezel rotates the city ring to allow for shifting time zones or tracking. The local time display features tapering baton hands filled with Super-LumiNova, while the GMT hand, which can be manipulated by moving the screw-down cro...
Hodinkee
It's that time of the year again! And no, I'm not talking about pumpkin spice season (but no shade if you're into it). I'm talking about the busiest time of the year for watches in New York, with New York Watch Week coming up in full swing. That means some of the most exciting watch shows in the Big Apple are happening over that weekend, with some cool talks, brand events, and more bringing it all together. Image courtesy WatchTime The two big shows that we all know and love will be very much present. WatchTime magazine continues the collector-favorite event centered around high-end watchmaking, WatchTime New York, happening from October 16th through the 18th. WatchTime seems to get bigger and bigger every year, and this year they'll be hosting a whopping 48 brands at Gotham Hall. Yes, it's hard to imagine how more brands can somehow fit into the space, but they've managed to make it happen. Along with many familiar names returning, some of the new brands making their debut at WatchTime will be Ferdinand Berthoud, Kudoke, Kollokium, Daniel Roth, and more. While Friday night tickets are sold out, single-day admission is available for sale at WatchTime for both Saturday and Sunday. To complement the high-end showcase at Gotham Hall, Windup Watch Fair (from our friends at Worn & Wound) returns also from October 16th through October 18th, at Center415 on Fifth Ave. between 37th and 38th St. The show will continue to be a delightfully overwhelming mix of everything watches and ...
Worn & Wound
When the Tudor North Flag came out in 2015, it was met with a collective “what?” Tudor had chosen it to debut its in-house movements, a genuinely big moment for the brand. But the watch itself was a totally unexpected throwback to the fairly obscure Ranger II, an integrated bracelet sports watch from the ’70s that I don’t think anyone expected to see revived. It was interesting, though. The North Flag had a design language entirely separate from the Black Bay and Pelagos lines, plus a hybrid steel-and-ceramic bezel, a display caseback, and a power reserve. That last feature is still the only time Tudor has used a power reserve on one of its modern movements. The reaction was mixed. Tudor was arguably too far ahead of the curve: integrated bracelet sports watches weren’t trending; vintage divers were. Six years later, the North Flag was discontinued. In the meantime, integrated bracelet sports watches didn’t just become popular; they became almost a requirement. It feels like every brand has released one in the last five years, at prices ranging from a couple hundred dollars to a couple hundred thousand. People now look back at the original North Flag and think, “Oh, wait a second. Maybe that was a pretty cool watch after all.” So while the first North Flag was ahead of the curve, the new Northflag is right on time, or maybe even a touch late. It’s also a GMT, though you won’t find “GMT” in the name. The question is whether Tudor has made a better wa...
Hodinkee
Reporting directly from Milan, we have a brand-new watch from Patek Philippe, and man, this is a big one. For only the seventh time in the 187 years of the world's most important high-end watchmaker, we have a new perpetual calendar chronograph! The 1518 was shown in 1941, the 2499 in 1951, the 3970 in 1986, the 5020 (forgot about that one, didnt ya!?) in 1994, the 5970 in 2004, and the 5270 in 2011 – which means this new watch, the reference 5978P, is only the second to be shown in my entire career covering this space. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear about it! Say hello to the 5978P. For only the seventh time in 187 years, we have a new perpetual calendar chronograph! What you're looking at is something so familiar, and yet so different. It is the first hand-wound perpetual chronograph to feature an instantaneous calendar mechanism, all shown in windows along a curved arch at the top of the dial, making the watch immensely legible, much more so than any previous PPC to date. The instantaneous jumping – which happens within 30 milliseconds – is one heck of a party trick. If you're thinking this looks like something you may have seen in the 5208 or 5308 Grand Complications, you'd be exactly right. The long and short is that Patek has taken that ingenious instantaneous perpetual calendar mechanism from its big, big dog watches and applied it to the base chronograph caliber CH 29-535 that powers Patek's finest watches. It makes a shocking amount of sen...
Hodinkee
When it comes to collecting vintage watches, all roads lead back to Rome. Literally. Well, Rome’s home country, at least, where the passion for horology (and vintage Patek Philippe) permeates the culture, and has done so for decades, in a way that you really can’t find anywhere else. Add to that Milan’s status as fashion capital of the world, and it makes sense that Patek Philippe would host the seventh Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Milan. The free exhibition (with reserved tickets) is meant to celebrate the art of watchmaking viewed through the lens of the craftsmanship (both technically and artistically) of Patek past and future. It opens tomorrow, October 2, and runs until October 18. As is tradition, the brand has launched new watches to celebrate the moment—7 new limited editions and 25 Rare Handcrafts models using various métiers d’art. Ben wrote about the big news of a new manual-wind perpetual calendar chronograph (limited to 120 pieces) here. We'll also be sharing all the Rare Handcrafts pieces soon in a Photo Report from Milan. But while they're not all new references, the new treatments of a few pretty outstanding watches deserve their own story. First things first, all of these watches are ostensibly for the Italian market. But hey, better to have loved and lost (...out on a chance to buy them) than to never know they existed. As of launch, Patek has not released pricing for this model. We will update the article when more information becomes avail...
Hodinkee
Earlier this summer, I sat down in a fluorescent-lit meeting room in Yamagata, Japan, as a group of Casio associates plopped down a heavy box in front of me. I thought I was just going to Casio's Yamagata factory for a tour of the production line, but I had no idea that I was about to see something absolutely bonkers. Turns out, they were about to show me the watch released to the world today—G-SHOCK's first-ever production watch constructed out of sapphire crystal, in a limited edition of 20 pieces. Let's get to the important detail first—the new MRG-D5000 is priced at $80,000 (JPY 1.1 million). Is this the craziest new G-SHOCK we've seen in a while? Certainly yes. But is it surprising? Well, maybe not quite. The clues were kind of there all along. In the MR-G series, which already represents G-SHOCK at its highest end, the new Blue Rose Project stands out for its material choice and a price tag still an order of magnitude higher than even the most expensive typical MR-G models. If you're not familiar with the series, it's essentially G-SHOCK's flagship lineup: it takes the familiar digital module and durability specs demanded of G-SHOCK and combines them with a much higher level of materials and finishing, along with a much more complex construction. I've owned an MR-G (the MRGB5000R-1, to be specific) for a few years now, and I have to say that I'm a big fan. Yes, it's certainly one of the easier watch concepts to ridicule online, but these models feel extremely imp...
WatchRider
Here is my honest opinion after years of collecting and wearing watches: men’s watches are just better. And no, 41mm is not too big for a woman’s wrist. I’ve had this watch for a few years now, and honestly, our relationship has only gotten better with time. It isn’t my everyday beat-it-up-and-forget-it watch; I wear it occasionally. But whenever I open my watch box and pull it out, it still gives me that instant “oh yeah, this is the one” feeling. Let’s start with the face, because that is what hooked me in the first place. This specific model is famously known as the “Panda,” and it earns every bit of that adorable nickname. You’ve got a crisp, opaline white dial contrasted against two deep, matte-black sub-dials. It is clean, legible, and visually balanced in a way that tickles the design-obsessed part of my brain. Add in TUDOR’s signature snowflake hands and the subtle red accent on the tip of the chronograph hand, plus the red depth rating text, and you have a watch face that looks like it belongs on a vintage racing grid in the 1970s. It has personality. It doesn’t scream for attention, but if someone catches a glance of it across a table, they know it’s something special. It’s powered by the manufacture Calibre MT5813, which boasts a 70-hour power reserve and a column-wheel chronograph mechanism with a vertical clutch. It is also water-resistant to 200 meters. Am I ever going to strap on a scuba tank and dive 200 meters into the freezing ...
WatchRider
Here is my honest opinion after years of collecting and wearing watches: men’s watches are just better. And no, 41mm is not too big for a woman’s wrist. I’ve had this watch for a few years now, and honestly, our relationship has only gotten better with time. It isn’t my everyday beat-it-up-and-forget-it watch; I wear it occasionally. But whenever I open my watch box and pull it out, it still gives me that instant “oh yeah, this is the one” feeling. Let’s start with the face, because that is what hooked me in the first place. This specific model is famously known as the “Panda,” and it earns every bit of that adorable nickname. You’ve got a crisp, opaline white dial contrasted against two deep, matte-black sub-dials. It is clean, legible, and visually balanced in a way that tickles the design-obsessed part of my brain. Add in TUDOR’s signature snowflake hands and the subtle red accent on the tip of the chronograph hand, plus the red depth rating text, and you have a watch face that looks like it belongs on a vintage racing grid in the 1970s. It has personality. It doesn’t scream for attention, but if someone catches a glance of it across a table, they know it’s something special. It’s powered by the manufacture Calibre MT5813, which boasts a 70-hour power reserve and a column-wheel chronograph mechanism with a vertical clutch. It is also water-resistant to 200 meters. Am I ever going to strap on a scuba tank and dive 200 meters into the freezing ...
Hodinkee
What We Know Don't call it a comeback—they've been here for years, but if today's release is any indication, Panerai seems on the verge of "having a moment," or whatever you'd call it in a hyper-masculine, intensely Italian way. The feedback for a while, even from people who love the brand, is that the brand (which was on the forefront or even progenitor of the large watch trend that dominated the early 2000s) hadn't adapted as well or as quickly as big watch brands. Size was one sticking point; price another. Privately, I have heard multiple people say that if Panerai could fight it out closer to Tudor pricing, they'd be printing money at a new clip. Today, the brand is showing that it's listening, with three new (and newly smaller) 42mm Luminors at an attractive price. Let's go back to 1993, to the pre-Vendome days of Panerai. Brand representatives stood aboard the Italian destroyer Durand de la Penne (D560) to revive the Luminor's design language—the big case, bold numerals, and unusual crown lock—and bring it to a civilian audience. The original references, Luminor Ref. 5218-201/A and Luminor Marina Militare ref. 5218-202/A, became collectible icons, and the latter was revived last year with the PAM05218, in a 44mm case with a new automatic movement. If you looked closely at that caliber—the P.980 with hours, minutes, and hacking seconds—you'd see it was small enough to fit in an even smaller case. Yes, it's similar in architecture to a few in-group IWC and B...
Worn & Wound
More commonly found in the sky than the field, Stowa watches are well known for their lineup of classic Pilot’s watches. They’ve branched out a bit over the years, but the Pilot lineup is what comes to mind for me most often when thinking about the brand. Today, we’re taking a look at their modern take on the field watch, aptly named the Fieldwatch Terra. The Terra comes in at 38mm, features a PVD coated steel case, and an impressive spec sheet that makes for an excellent watch to complement your EDC. Let’s take a closer look. $950 Review: the Stowa Fieldwatch Terra Case PVD coated stainless steel Movement Sellita SW 200 Dial textured matte green Lume white and orange SuperLuminova Lens Sapphire Strap woven elastic nylon Water Resistance 200 meters Dimensions 38 x 46.9mm Thickness 11.5mm Lug Width 20mm Crown screw down Warranty yes Price $950 Case Measuring in at a very comfortable 38mm wide by 46.9mm lug-to-lug, the Terra complements my 6.75” wrist nicely. The compact proportions are balanced out by the relatively large, wide open, and highly legible dial. Now that I’m thinking about it a little bit more, the watch probably wears bigger than the measurements imply, and that’s due to the slim outer bezel and large dial. More on that later. The case itself is crafted from stainless steel and then treated with a dark grey PVD coating. PVD stands for physical vapor deposition — it’s a technique that turns a solid material (the coating) into a vapor, and then...
Time+Tide
The watch world’s biggest moment just got even bigger. Earlier today, Watches and Wonders announced nine new brands joining its extensive roster of exhibitors: Akhor, Alain Silberstein, Berneron, Breva Genève, Fortis, Kerbedanz, Porsche Design, Singer Reimagined and Stollenwurm. This brings the total number of new exhibitors for 2027 to 13, with Breitling, Damiani, Gallet and … Continued
WatchAdvice
Longines has put a new spin on another classic complication, but does the function translate to form? Let’s find out! What We Love: Modernised take on heritage design Big but easy to wear Ludicrous value proposition What We Don’t: Dial feels slightly shrunken Unusual clasp system Is a manual wind chrono still the way to go? Overall Rating: 9.25/10 Value for Money: 10/10 Wearability: 9/10 Design: 9/10 Build Quality: 9/10 Watch brands pay tribute to their heritage in different ways. Some do this by way of lineage, where iconic aspects of their design or craftsmanship are carried forward into the modern day. Others do this through innovation, respecting their history of disruptive advancement by introducing new technical breakthroughs with every consecutive piece. However, esteemed watch brand Longines takes a different route: reviving and overhauling watches from its exhaustive archives. Even a slight glance towards its catalogue is indicative of such dedication. Almost all of Longines’ watches, through both design and engineering, uphold what is nearing two centuries’ worth of tradition. But for as often as it loves to resurrect archival pieces, it does so in a way that feels organic to the brand’s longstanding philosophies. Earlier this year, that ethos manifested itself in the Conquest Heritage Central Power Reserve, a reintroduction of a timepiece from the lesser-known horological history of the 1950s. This time, they’ve gone even further back to the early...
Hodinkee
Hublot is no stranger to opening its doors to outside creativity, with some of its most memorable (and often infamous) releases of the past few years in collaborations with artists and designers—Takashi Murakami, Daniel Arsham, and Samuel Ross, to name a few. Late last week, the brand dropped the news that the next big name in line for a collaboration would be the contemporary American artist Jeff Koons, most widely known for his series of bright, shiny balloon dog sculptures in a whole range of colors. Image courtesy of Hublot Balloon Dog (Orange) - Image courtesy of Christie's Rabbit - Image courtesy of Christie's Koons' name has reached a certain level of infamy and popularity alike in the art world, as the world's most expensive living artist today. His Balloon Dog (Orange) piece hammered at Christie's in 2013 for a whopping $58.4 million dollars, breaking auction records for an artwork by a living artist. Then, in 2019, his 1986 Rabbit piece shattered that result, selling for more than $91 million and taking the title. To this day, both pieces remain among the top ten most expensive artworks by living artists. Naturally, Koons faces criticism from critics and the wider public, from the overt commercialism and kitchiness of the art to the factory-style production methods he employs. Regardless, it's impossible to deny how iconic and recognizable the Balloon Dog series is worldwide. With that iconic look and a touch of infamy, the Balloon Dog feels like the perfect su...
Worn & Wound
Maybe this would be better saved for a Hot Takes episode of the podcast, but I’ll go ahead and spill it here instead: the new Bremont Terra Nova 35mm Jumping Hour watches are the best they’ve made since the big rebrand a few years ago. The fact that they are part of the Terra Nova collection is itself interesting, as this collection in particular was met with so much skepticism (including by us) when they were launched. But now, over two years removed from the drama of the brand’s big shift, there is a real sense that they’ve settled in, and the watches, when laid out on a table together in the way you experience them at a Geneva Watch Days meeting, feel more coherent. I’ve always felt that these Terra Nova Jumping Hour watches were charming, but there was something a little ungainly about the size. The smaller montre à guichet style jump hour pieces at 38mm in diameter, wear every bit of that dimension and a little more simply because most of what you see when you look down to check the time is bare metal. The larger 40.5mm Jumping Hour pieces with an aperture arrangement running right to left across the dial felt similarly oversized for a complication that historically is characterized as something kind of delicate. But when I picked up the new 35mm pieces, particularly the montre à guichet on a bracelet, the size felt really dialed in. I’ve been thinking a lot about the “correct” size for certain watches after reviewing smaller versions of Moser’...
Worn & Wound
The trajectory of my watch enthusiasm over the past several years can be boiled down to one basic principle: seeking things that are different. It’s what led me to Arcanaut, briefly owning a M.A.D.1S, a devotion to the works of Jiro Katayama, and, ultimately, boredom with brands owned by the big conglomerates. It’s been, honestly, an exciting time to reject the mainstream, as there seems to be a neverending stream of microbrands doing interesting things either well outside the norm or just slightly tilted away from it. Benjamin James is a Hong Kong based microbrand that falls into the latter category. Their watches are not avant garde or challenging works of outsider art, exactly, but they represent the distilled point of view of their founder, and the Deerhurst regulator surprised me with its overall quality and some of its touchpoints. $1702 Hands-On: the Benjamin James Deerhurst Regulator Case Stainless steel Movement Sellita SW266-1 M Dial Burgundy Lume None Lens Sapphire Strap Leather strap or bracelet Water Resistance 50 meters Dimensions 36 x 42mm Thickness 9.1mm Lug Width 20mm Crown Push/pull Warranty Yes Price $1702 The Deerhurst is a slim, 36mm dress watch available in three dial variations. My sample is in burgundy, but it’s also available in “Old English White” and “Denim Blue.” The design feature of the watch that will either charm you or make you roll your eyes is the Clous de Paris bezel, which in 2026 is perhaps one of the most old-fashioned...
Hodinkee
It's been a big year for Tudor. The brand is in the midst of a major anniversary celebration, with 2026 marking 100 years since Hans Wilsdorf filed the first paperwork that eventually led to Tudor's creation. Appropriately, that anniversary has been the dominant story this year, and it was reflected in their major novelty for Watches & Wonders 2026: the Tudor Monarch. That watch was, I think, largely a successful launch for the brand, and the supporting releases, though subtle, were meaningful and (in some cases) necessary. Still, for those of us who find ourselves generally drawn to Tudor's more utilitarian offerings, it was easy to feel a little overlooked coming out of Watches & Wonders. That changed last week with the launch of the new Northflag. The new watch is an update on the North Flag from 2015, and is aimed squarely at those looking for a compelling everyday adventure and exploration–ready watch. It does that, but it also brings the same maturity that has begun to permeate the Tudor lineup. But more on that in a minute, because before we talk about the Northflag, I want to talk about the North Flag (I know, vaguely confusing), and to do that, I need to talk about anniversaries. The Tudor North Flag I'm on record in several places as having my doubts about whether this was really the year for Tudor to mark the 100-year milestone. An even cursory look at Tudor's history quickly reveals that, while the Tudor wordmark may have been trademarked in 1926, and while e...
Hodinkee
Two weeks ago, we managed to fit in one more Hodinkee Happy Hour before summer slips away. We gathered at the Watches of Switzerland store in SoHo, where friends old and new escaped the rain to enjoy an evening of good conversation, food from Upside Pizza, and beer from our local friends at Grotta. Despite the weather, the turnout—for both people and watches—did not disappoint. If you made it out that night, thank you for coming. Please note that the next Hodinkee Happy Hour won't be until October, so please keep an eye on the site and our Instagram for the October RSVPs. Until then, scroll through the photos below for a recap of the night and to see some cool watches. Our Editor-in-Chief, James Stacey, sporting a Doxa Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee Limited Edition t-shirt. A vintage Movado Triple Calendar. An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding with a blue "Grande Tapisserie" dial. A Sinn T50 titanium diving watch and a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with a black dial and contrasting subdials. F.P. Journe Octa Automatique Réserve De Marche. From left to right: a Doxa Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee Limited Edition, a Rolex Daytona Ref. 16520 with a "Patrizzi" dial from 1996, and a Grand Seiko. From top to bottom: a Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Regulator Ref. 5235G, a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time "Deep Stream," and an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15510 ST Green Dial from 2022. Rolex Zenith Daytona Ref. 16520 "Arabic prototype." From top to bottom: the Rolex Zenith Dayto...
Hodinkee
What We Know Today, amongst a slate of other launches and re-releases, Gallet — now a part of the Breitling "House of Brands" — lifted the curtain on the Gallet Multichron Pilot. The new watch takes the recipe of the original 1969 Multichron Pilot and updates it, and the result is a watch that is recognizable but also, arguably, the most contemporary model in the very fresh Gallet lineup. The new watch does borrow heavily from its namesake, and seeing the two watches next to each other highlights the similarities. The new Multichron Pilot is still a tri-compax chronograph, with a bi-directional twelve-hour bezel, pump pushers, stick hands, and cut-off arrow-shaped markers. By way of comparison, a vintage Gallet Multichron Pilot. Image, courtesy Analog Shift. But there are definite differences too, many of which are concessions to modern taste. For one thing, those cut-off arrow-shaped indices are now lumed instead of polished, but there's also a date — visible through an aperture at 6 o'clock — and while the telemeter remains on the new watch, the tachymeter (which appeared as a second scale on vintage examples) is omitted. The watch is also bigger than vintage Multichrons. The new watch has been upsized from 38 to 42mm, is 11.3mm thick, and measures 45.59mm lug-to-lug. At that size, the new Multichron Pilot is the largest watch in the new Gallet catalog but is still quite reasonable and a far cry from some of the oversized watches that still seem to populate Bre...
Hodinkee
What We Know Mixed in with the new releases from Gallet today is the Gallet Multichron Sport. The watch, which, instead of modeling itself on any specific Gallet model, draws its inspiration from mid-century Gallet chronographs as a whole, is meant to act as a general-purpose, automotive-inspired, everyday, and "all-terrain" sports chronograph. What does that mean? Well, largely, it just means that the Multichron Sport is exactly what it says it is on the tin. It's a reasonably sized (by modern standards), reasonably priced (again, by modern standards), straightforward, to-the-point, legible, contemporary chronograph. It's a watch that will withstand anything a reasonable buyer throws at it. It's also the only watch in the lineup without a directly corresponding heritage model for comparison. That said, when lined up next to the other new offerings from the new Gallet, it still makes a lot of sense. Practically speaking, the Multichron Sport measures 41 mm across, 13.87mm thick, and 49.20mm lug-to-lug. Like the slightly larger Multichron Pilot and slightly smaller Flying Officer Chronograph, the Multichron Sport is powered by the Gallet 23 chronograph caliber. That movement, based on the Sellita SW510, is a cam-actuated chronograph with a 62-hour power reserve and a date at 6 o'clock. The Multichron Sport is available today in two configurations: a black and silver reverse panda dial with a silver tachymeter ring, and a blue dial with black subdials and a black tachymeter ...
Hodinkee
What We Know Today, at Geneva Watch Days, Gérald Genta has announced the latest version of its Geneva Minute Repeater. This new version of the watch, which was originally released around this time last year, swaps the black Onyx dial of that release for a novel dial in Golden Obsidian. Other details are largely unchanged, continuing the trend of the revived Gérald Genta expanding its lineup with caution and deliberation. As with last year's Gérald Genta Geneva Minute Repeater, the Golden Obsidian uses the 40mm-wide, 9.6mm-thick yellow-gold version of the cushion-shaped Geneva case (as opposed to the 38mm version introduced earlier this year in the time-only models, which you can read about here). The protruding single-lug design, found on a handful of Genta watches from the later stages of his career (including the Credor Locomotive), means this watch wears pretty close to 40mm lug-to-lug. Inside the Geneva Minute Repeater is the in-house GG-002 movement, developed by La Fabrique du Temps. It's a 3 Hz movement with 80 hours of power reserve and an impressively loud minute repeater. It's a nice bit of watchmaking, and — as Mark intimated when he went hands-on with the Onyx-dialed version of this watch last year — it fits nicely into the lineage of Genta-designed minute repeaters. The big talking point with this year's Geneva Minute Repeater is the Golden Obsidian dial. Golden Obsidian — a material I had not encountered before this watch — is a volcanic glass that...
Worn & Wound
We knew some big moments would come as Tudor notches its impressive 100th anniversary as a brand this year, and this is one of them: the revival of the North Flag. The aptly named collection has come to serve as the north star for Tudor’s modern offerings and set the tone for the brand in the past decade. When the model first debuted in 2015, it marked the first Tudor watch to house an in-house movement coupled with an exhibition caseback to show it off. The COSC-certified Caliber MT5621 that powered the original was just the jumping off point for Tudor to upgrade models across its catalog with manufacture movements and chronometer certification. Now, in the newly revived North Flag line, we get even greater attention on technical capabilities with METAS certification, giving it Master Chronometer status, as well as the addition of a GMT complication.Despite the advancements we’ve seen throughout the North Flag collection and in the newest edition today, the model remains deeply rooted in Tudor’s history and makes for a fitting addition to its 100th anniversary offerings. The Ranger II from 1973 has served as the historic touchpoint for the collection since its inception. There are several key design codes that create a throughline from the Ranger II to the original North Flag and now the latest edition. These include the black dial with large Arabic numeral hour markers, the arrow-shaped 24-hour and hours hands coupled with an angular seconds hand and a baton-shaped...
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