Hodinkee
Business News: Oris CEO Doubles Down On Value Amid Challenging Markets
Oris is staying true to its mission, delivering quality Swiss-made watches at the best possible price, and calls on the rest of the industry to follow its lead.
6,621 articles · 60 videos found · page 114 of 223
Hodinkee
Oris is staying true to its mission, delivering quality Swiss-made watches at the best possible price, and calls on the rest of the industry to follow its lead.
Teddy Baldassarre
If there’s one thing Grand Seiko is known for, it is its textured dials….and Spring Drive…and Zaratsu polishing... Okay, one of the things Grand Seiko is known for is its textured dials. Often inspired by the beauty of the natural landscape surrounding Grand Seiko's manufacture in Japan, these dials are now often imitated but never truly replicated. We asked our editorial team here at Teddy to choose their favorite GS dial and, unsurprisingly, we got some really stunning picks here. So, without further ado, here are our Editors’ Picks for favorite Grand Seiko dials. Bilal Khan: SBGA011/SBGA211 "Snowflake" The Grand Seiko SBGA211 (originally the SBGA011), aka the Snowflake, is where it all began. Back in 2004, the watchmakers at the dial workshop in the Shinshu watch studio were given a novel task: create a dial that would capture the beauty of the natural surroundings of where the Spring Drive movement was born. The answer was in front of their eyes when they gazed at the snow-capped mountains that commanded their views for half the year. Creating this dial was a challenge but they found inspiration from an old 56GS watch dating back to 1971, which had a texture similar to what the team wanted to achieve. It took some trial and error but they found success through a silver plating method that would go on to birth the now-iconic "Snowflake" dial. It might look somewhat demure and less dramatic than more recent textured dials, but this is the quintessential Grand Sei...
Fratello
It’s nice to review a truly affordable watch like the Sternglas Hamburg Automatik every so often. After all, entry-level mechanical timepieces are great for daily wear and can provide a start for new collectors. Sternglas does these watches well and adds thoughtful details, including attractive dials with uncommon lume colors. Today, we’ll look at the […] Visit Hands-On With The Sternglas Hamburg Automatik Edition Marine to read the full article.
SJX Watches
The opening salvo in Breguet’s 250th anniversary has just been revealed: the Classique Souscription 2025BH. Although typically Breguet in style, the watch is a novel combination of elements, at least by the conventions of Breguet, a traditionally staid brand. Presented in a case of the new design made of a gold alloy of a new formula, it’s a wristwatch inspired by the one-handed souscription pocket watches of the 18th and 19th centuries. The fired enamel dial replicates that of the pocket watch, while inside is the VS00, a calibre that is descended from the movement of the La Tradition. Initial thoughts As storied a brand as it is, Breguet certainly has a lot to live up to for its 250th anniversary. I expect more to come from Breguet in the coming months, but the Classique Souscription is a strong start, though a little pricey. It’s essentially an elaborately executed time-only watch, precisely the sort of watch that is popular now when made by independent watchmakers, but big brands face more scepticism with such timepieces. The VS00 Though it might seem typical Breguet on its face, the Classique Souscription is an unusual proposition; it’s inspired by various elements from across Breguet’s history, some several centuries apart. The dial and movement are inspired by a 19th century pocket watch, while the case comes much later. But everything works well and the whole manages to look like a Breguet. Traditionalists might mourn the departure from familiar elements ...
SJX Watches
Bulgari made its debut at Watches & Wonders this year, having previously exhibited outside the fair. It was a fitting occasion to launch the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, the thinnest tourbillon watch ever at just 1.85 mm thick. Housed in the brand’s signature matte grey titanium case and limited to just 20 pieces, the Ultra Tourbillon is paired with an equally thin and silky titanium bracelet. Bulgari is deeply invested in its leadership in ultra-thin watchmaking, and the Ultra Tourbillon shows the brand is willing to do whatever it takes to own as many records in this field as possible. Initial thoughts Despite its record-breaking slimness, there was surprisingly little buzz about the Ultra at Watches & Wonders. This may be due to record fatigue, since the previous record was set just last year by the Piaget AUC Tourbillon. It could also be due to the diminishing returns of these types of records, which are now being broken by almost imperceptible margins. On its exterior, the Ultra Tourbillon is quite similar the 1.7 mm-thick Octo Finissimo Ultra introduced last year. It features a 40 mm case made from a combination of titanium and tungsten carbide, and is impressively open-worked, revealing just about every wheel and pinion on the dial side of the watch. But this watch is all about the headline figure of its 1.85 mm thickness, which endows the Ultra Tourbillon with a delicate, almost weightless feel. The case in profile. Image – Bulgari Like all ultra-thin recor...
Teddy Baldassarre
There have always been thin watches, and always watchmakers who have dedicated their craft to reduce the essentials of timekeeping, as well as other additional complications, into as slimmed down and wearable a package as humanly (and horologically) possible. Lately, however, as 21st century technological developments impact watchmaking as they have every other industry, it seems there are more exceptionally thin watches than ever before -some of them aimed at a customer simply seeking an elegantly understated and luxuriously lightweight timepiece for regular wear, others almost defiantly unobtainable to all but a few, but intended to boldly shatter records for both thinness and complexity. We offer some of both types in our roundup of ultra-thin watches below (which we're defining as 10mm thick or under, based on average watch sizes), in ascending order of case thickness, starting from the top with the current category record holders. Under 2mm Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari (1.75mm) In the world of high horology, Richard Mille has been pushing the envelope in the areas of materials, technologies, and (let’s face it) prices for quite some time. In 2022, the brand probably best known for making the watch that tennis champ Rafael Nadal wears to play in Grand Slams entered a new partnership with Ferrari, and the result was, to many watch enthusiasts’ surprise, the current record-holder for world’s thinnest watch. The RM UP-01 Ferrari is an almost unimaginable 1.7...
Fratello
Christopher Ward’s latest flagship pushes the envelope of design and mechanics. Put simply, this is a big deal for the brand and the industry as a whole. The C12 Loco proves that higher-end watchmaking can be found at a more accessible price point. I spent a week with the new C12 Loco in its striking […] Visit Hands-On: The New Christopher Ward C12 Loco Shows White-Hot Ambition to read the full article.
Deployant
Another maison who was exhibiting at downtown during the WWG week. We did not visit, so here is our coverage on the new Garrick S3 Dead Beat Seconds.
Fratello
Last year, for the brand’s 50th anniversary, Christiaan van der Klaauw introduced the Grand Planetarium Eccentric. It was a 44mm watch in platinum or rose gold with eight hand-painted celestial bodies circling its aventurine dial. That already sounds quite impressive, right? Well, when I met Pim Koeslag, CEO of the Dutch brand, at Watches and […] Visit Hands-On With The Christiaan Van Der Klaauw Grand Planetarium Eccentric Meteorite to read the full article.
Fratello
Chopard had another great showing at Watches and Wonders this year. The brand garnered much praise with the new L.U.C Quattro Mark IV series. It’s another brilliant addition to Chopard’s lineup that will draw in excited buyers for the two new models as well as spark many enthusiasts to explore the past L.U.C Quattro collections. This […] Visit The Great Versatility Of The Chopard Alpine Eagle As Demonstrated By Its Two Latest Models to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
The latest from Ming, the 37.02 Ghost, is something of a study in titanium, a favorite material here at Worn & Wound. Members of our team have been fans of titanium for years for its light weight and its frequent association with many of the tool watches we’ve come to love. Titanium was a rarely used material in watchmaking not that long ago, but it’s so prevalent now that it’s easy to forget that at one time it was considered quite exotic. The Ghost taps into some of that exoticism, and reminds us just how strange and, at least in some ways, how ill suited titanium can be to watchmaking – a fact that makes a watch like this all the more impressive. The 37.02 Ghost is made entirely from grade 2 titanium, a material often referred to as “pure” titanium. This material is distinct from grade 5 titanium, which is much more common in modern watchmaking, in a number of ways. Grade 5 titanium is made up of significant quantities of aluminum and was developed to be relatively easy to machine for applications in aerospace and other industries. Those qualities also, eventually, made it well suited to watchmaking, and it’s really a special bonus that grade 5 titanium can be finished with a polish and has an overall brighter appearance than other titanium allows. Grade 2 titanium is an entirely different animal. Ming notes that pure titanium is extremely difficult to cut, and there’s even a significant risk that grade 2 titanium shavings and dust can catch fire dur...
Monochrome
Just four years ago, Andrea Furlan and Hamad Al Marri launched their first timepiece on Kickstarter, a vintage-inspired chronograph powered by a MechaQuartz movement and offered at an accessible price point. At the time, few could’ve predicted how quickly the Furlan Marri brand would take off. But it’s been 4 years now, and Furlan Marri […]
SJX Watches
Patek Philippe came to Watches & Wonders 2025 with a deep bench of strong new releases, but for fans of the classic Calatrava, the standout was without question the Calatrava Ref. 6196P-001. It’s an easy watch to love, with good proportions, a hefty 38 mm platinum case, a lively “salmon” dial, and is powered by the brand’s latest generation movement. Though the brand was arguably overshadowed this year by its suburban Geneva neighbors Rolex and Vacheron Constantin, at lower and higher ends of the price spectrum, respectively, Patek Philippe demonstrated its ability to deliver in every category, from simple dress and sport watches to mid and high complications. Initial thoughts In February 2017 I was asked what I wished to see from Baselworld that year. I said I’d like to see a successor to the ref. 5196 with a case-filling movement and a large balance. Eight years later, Patek Philippe delivered more or less exactly what I imagined, keeping the proportions and details of the classic Calatrava with a more advanced movement than the outdated cal. 215 that was used at the time. So in a sense, this watch was made for me. But I had not anticipated a “salmon” dial. Officially labelled “rose-gilt opaline” by Patek Philippe, such dials have become popular among collectors, and are now a staple across the Patek Philippe collection. Naturally, a vivid colour like this helps an otherwise simple watch stand out, but personally I look forward to more toned down iter...
Fratello
The 1990s were a period of significant change in the watch industry. Those years were very much a time of realignment and ongoing recovery after the crippling Quartz Crisis two decades earlier. Today, we’re looking at 1990s watches and design principles from that era to consider whether they could inspire the next trends in the […] Visit Could The 1990s Inspire The Next Cycle Of Watch Fashion? to read the full article.
Fratello
There were plenty of standout releases at Watches and Wonders 2025, but one watch keeps coming up in my memories. The Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon 11 was a delight in the metal. Plus, the reason for the watch centers on a story with actual meaning. Watch companies indeed find a reason to celebrate […] Visit Introducing: The Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon 11 to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
Did Watches & Wonders even happen if we don’t do a full team “Best Of” post? Hopefully, we’ll never find out. The verdict on this year’s show seems to be that it was stronger than expected, with plenty of iterative releases, but iterative releases that people generally seem to like, and want to buy (a good thing for the industry at a tricky moment, for sure). One thing that we get more sure of every year, though, is that no matter what the consensus happens to be on the show itself, there are always great watches there, and our contributors and Editorial team pick their favorites below. Zach Weiss One of the best experiences at Watches & Wonders is simply being surprised. We often go into meetings having already read the press releases, and thus pretty much know what to expect. Well, this year I had the rare and fun opportunity to go in fairly blind to my meeting with Angelus as I simply hadn’t gone through their materials yet, and as a relatively quiet “indie” (quotes because they are technically under the umbrella of Citizen, though clearly operate independently), their watches hadn’t been splashed across my social media yet. So, with fresh eyes, I was presented this year’s main novelty, a trio of exceptional chronographs that I haven’t stopped thinking about since. In 2023, Angelus debuted the Le Fabrique collection via a collaboration with Massena LAB called the Chronographe Médical. A spiritual recreation of an archival piece, this monopusher ...
Monochrome
Renowned for its contemporary and minimalist designs, Ming, the indie watch brand founded by Malaysian photographer Ming Thein in 2017, has gone from strength to strength. Design is king at Ming, and a common design thread runs through all the collections, ranging from time-only to sophisticated chronographs and from world timers to dive watches. Following […]
Fratello
We met with Ming at Time to Watches in Geneva and left excited about all the releases in the pipeline. In addition to some innovative higher-end upcoming introductions, the brand still knows how to cater to its core audience. The new 37.02 Ghost exemplifies this as an automatic, time-only watch, but it’s still infused with […] Visit Hands-On With The New Ming 37.02 Ghost to read the full article.
Fratello
Another Friday, another Top 5! This week, we continue our series of lists inspired by Watches and Wonders 2025 and take a look at some of our favorite Rolex watches with stone dials. But as we wanted to make it a bit more specific, we decided to list five Rolex sports models with them. For […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Rolex Sports Watches With Stone Dials - Featuring Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli, Meteorite, And More to read the full article.
Hodinkee
In part three of this series, we look at the advanced manufacturing and testing processes that go hand in hand with old-school watchmaking at Panerai.
Monochrome
We, at MONOCHROME, have long been strong advocates of the GMT, Worldtimer and Dual-Time complications. Why? Simply because when rightfully implemented, these additional features make some of the most practical watches possible – and we’re talking real-life practicality here, not an equation of time that no one has ever really understood (sorry, I had to […]
Monochrome
Delma’s Shell Star dive watch combines the groove of its 1970s ancestor with modern specifications. A rugged 500m water-resistant diving companion, the latest Shell Star models feature a new complication with a Big Date window at noon and on-trend gradient dials. Delma’s first dive watch surfaced in 1969 with the Periscope, followed by the more […]
Fratello
Brellum releases many small runs of watches during any given year, so I was surprised to find that it’s been nearly six months since our last review. Now we’re back with a look at the new Duobox Triple Calendar Moonphase LE Chronometer. Yes, that’s a mouthful, but the welcome news is that the watch now […] Visit Introducing: The Salmon-Dial Brellum Duobox Triple Calendar Moonphase to read the full article.
SJX Watches
René Beyer, the eighth-generation owner of Beyer Chronometrie in Zurich, died suddenly on April 13, 2025, at the age of 61. Beyer was a towering figure in Swiss watchmaking circles, known not only for helming his family’s 260-year-old business, but also for his passionate stewardship of its famed clock and watch museum, his warm ties with independent watchmakers, and his family’s close relationship with Patek Philippe. He is survived by his wife. Beyer’s passing was first reported by Zurich newspaper Inside Paradeplatz. Born in 1963 into the Beyer dynasty that began in Germany in 1760, Beyer grew up surrounded by clocks and watches. Like his father, Theodor “Teddy” René Beyer, he qualified as a watchmaker himself, learning the business from the ground up. Beyer’s role in the family business started in 1986 when his father suffered a heart attack and was forced to step back. A decade later, Beyer had formally taken over as managing director and proprietor of Beyer Chronometrie, becoming the eighth generation to run the venerable retailer, which first opened in Zurich in 1822. Unlike many of its peers that expanded nationally and internationally, the business remained a local operation in Zurich. Like many watch retailers of the old-school, Beyer was synonymous with his store. The store on Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street of Zurich A retailer and curator During his nearly three decades at the helm, Beyer carried on his father’s legacy and bol...
Hodinkee
An in-depth look at the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 with one of its most ardent collectors.
Worn & Wound
If you were to sit me down at a desk and ask me to write down 41 watch complications off the top of my head, I think the result would be rather like Ross Geller trying to name the 50 states in that one episode of Friends. There’s just no way I could do it. Forty-one is an absurd number of complications to even conceive of, let alone cram into one surprisingly wearable watch. And yet, that is what Vacheron Constantin’s one-of-a-kind watchmaking department, Les Cabinotiers, has managed to do. Just about a year after introducing the world’s most complicated watch of any kind - a pocket watch containing 63 complications - Vacheron has unveiled the Les Cabinotiers ‘Solaria Ultra Grand Complication.’ It’s hard to know where to start with a watch like this, especially since I haven’t had the opportunity to see it in person, so to begin, I’ll just say this: I am wildly impressed by this watch, and you should be too. It’s a serious step up from their previous most complicated wristwatch - the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication 3600, which housed 23 complications. It’s worth saying here that, even before getting to the Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, Vacheron Constantin had a very good Watches & Wonders. The brand is celebrating its 270th anniversary this year and they’ve done a hell of a job with it. Their new 127-piece limited edition Traditionelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, with its novel movement and ann...
Worn & Wound
It’s a common refrain here at Worn & Wound: every year is an anniversary. Like death, taxes, and Photoshop renders of what collectors predict the new Rolex will look like, the celebration of anniversaries in the watch industry is a certainty. We’re not complaining. An anniversary of an important watch or collection is a great time to take stock, and there have certainly been plenty of desirable releases over the years centered around big anniversaries. This year, Bell & Ross is celebrating 20 years of the BR-03 collection, their iconic square watch that has become the “face” of the brand over the past two decades. The celebration begins with the new BR-03 Skeleton, a collection of three watches that capitalizes on a big trend across all sectors of watchmaking while removing the BR-03 from its aviation themed roots, at least a little bit. Bell & Ross has been making skeletonized watches for years (often as part of their Skull series), and these watches highlight their proficiency in that area, and also take advantage of their creativity with lume. The new BR-03 Skeleton is available in three variants: Black Ceramic, Grey Steel, and Lum Ceramic. All three feature 41mm cases and a new movement, the BR-CAL.328, designed specifically for these watches. While the specs of the caliber are in line with previous time only movements used in recent BR-03 releases (like those, it has a 54 hour power reserve) its architecture has been adjusted, highlighting an “X” motif...
Monochrome
The world’s leading luxury group, LVMH, has just announced its sales revenues for the first quarter of 2025, which ended March 31st. At the end of the year 2024, when the conglomerate was still reporting strong results, revenues showed a slight improvement, offsetting the losses of mid-2024. However, the global geopolitical and economic environment is uncertain due […]
SJX Watches
With Phillips’ Geneva auction in May selling several watches to benefit the Philippe and Elisabeth Dufour Foundation, Philippe Dufour himself will be in Singapore during the preview exhibition for the sale. On April 18, 2025, the noted independent watchmaker will be the guest at a fireside chat alongside Thomas Perazzi, Phillips’ head of watches for Asia, moderated by myself. *Registrations are closed as venue is at max capacity. Thank you for the interest.* Mr Dufour will be speaking about his life and work, as well as the foundation’s mission and the upcoming charity auction where several watches will be sold to benefit the foundation. The highlight of the sale is the unique Philippe Dufour Simplicity with a 37 mm pink gold case with a dial inlaid with butterfly wings (pictured above). Registration and preview Seats are limited due to venue capacity and registration is required to attend the panel. Please RSVP on Phillips.com. *Registrations are closed as venue is at max capacity. Thank you for the interest.* The preview exhibition for the Phillips’ spring auction season, including lots from the Geneva, Hong Kong, and New York sales, takes place on April 18 and 19, 2025, 11 am-6 pm daily, at the Singapore Edition hotel.
Fratello
Over the last two weeks, we’ve spent much time with the new Panerai Luminor Marina collection. Today’s watch, the Titanio PAM03325, visited our headquarters for a comprehensive photo shoot. We saw it again, and the rest of the collection, at Watches and Wonders 2025 a week later. Suffice it to say, the changes to the […] Visit Hands-On With The Panerai Luminor Marina Titanio PAM03325 to read the full article.
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