Hodinkee
Found: Carroll Shelby's Prize Patek Philippe From The 1959 24 Hours Of Le Mans
A pink gold Ref. 1463 trophy.
30,257 articles · 1,974 videos found · page 14 of 1075
Hodinkee
A pink gold Ref. 1463 trophy.
Hodinkee
Hobnail has to be one of the better words in the world of watches. Hobnail.
Quill & Pad
Ken Gargett has been reliably informed that there are tequilas now considered quality spirits, designated for sipping – he admits that he swallowed this obvious falsehood on an occasion many years ago, but in the interests of research once again he sallied forth. Sharing the results of his investigations here, he dips into two high-end tequilas: Fortaleza and Calle 23. Olé!
The fourth timepiece to house the new Hi-Beat caliber 9SA5 is also a pretty-in-platinum showcase for the new Series 9 design.
Hodinkee
Two locations, two different experiences of watchmaking.
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Hodinkee
Your weekly edition of hottest watches from around the web.
Hodinkee
Your weekly round-up of watches from around the 'net.
Hodinkee
If there's a watch that seemingly stole the hearts of many collectors this year at Watches and Wonders, it's definitely Chopard's new blue-dialed L.U.C 1860 dress watch. The funniest part is that the new model is really only a dial color change. That's it. And yet, among a sea of new designs and complications, Chopard managed to pull off something much larger than its description on paper, and ended up being one of my personal favorite releases from the show. If you're familiar with the previous, now-discontinued salmon dial version of the L.U.C 1860 released back in 2023, well, chances are you already know much about this watch. But its identical specs are very much a good thing, as I think Chopard has really hit a home run with the 1860 as a proper, compact, and thin (8.2mm) dress watch amongst its larger L.U.C. movement-powered siblings. The 36.5mm case in Chopard's Lucent Steel alloy is very safe in its design, with smooth, curved lines and a fully-polished, rounded bezel and top lugs. While there aren't any little extra design touches that add any additional flair, the sides are vertically brushed to create a bit of contrast. Is the case boring as a result? Certainly not in my eye, as its subdued character works well in the 36.5mm format and, most importantly, it serves as a very nice frame for a spectacular dial. That dial, produced by Chopard's in-house dialmaker Metalem, is an absolute home run. And it surprises me to say this, given that I typically don't care a...
Worn & Wound
I don’t think it’s hyperbole, exactly, to say that one of the things I saw in Geneva last week that I was most excited about was an accessory from a brand that wasn’t even officially exhibiting during Watches & Wonders week. On our first day on the ground in Geneva, sleep deprived and somewhat deliriously walking through the Beau Rivage with no appointments even on the books, we ran into a Ming team member outside a suite, who was happy to show us a number of things we can’t yet talk about that he was carrying around in his bag. That’s the kind of interaction that makes Watches & Wonders week special, in my opinion. Chance encounters, seeing things that are great that you never would have expected to. One of those goodies pulled from that bag is something we can talk about, as of today. The Ming Polymesh bracelet, which we first covered here, has been one of those objects of pure fascination since I first handled it at Geneva Watch Days in the late summer of last year. Now, for the first time, Ming has created a product that is meant to work with watches outside of the Ming catalog with the Polymesh – Straight, a version of the bracelet with straight end pieces that can fit any watch with a 20mm lug width. Of course the previous version of the Polymesh could also be used with watches outside of Ming’s own ecosystem, but the curved spring bars were a limiting factor. Ming’s decision to make a product that is expressly designed for non-Ming watches feels ...
Hodinkee
What We Know Among the more attractive releases from Watches and Wonders this year is the new Chopard L.U.C. Strike One Titanium, now with a beautiful new dial treatment. In ethical 18k rose gold with salmon-colored galvanic treatment, with a hand-guilloché central medallion with a honeycomb motif, the Strike One is a watch that may fly under the radar for some. Not a minute repeater, not a grande et petite sonnerie, but rather a beautiful watch that chimes once at the top of the hour (a sonnerie au passage), it's still got a very romantic quality about it. Despite being a chiming watch, Chopard has (as they usually do) minimized the size as much as possible with a 40mm by 9.86mm case in Grade 5 titanium. That light metal should help emphasize the chime's sound, with the hammer on the dial side visible through an aperture for the full experience. Even better, the gong is made of sapphire and is connected in a monobloc construction (one piece) to the dial crystal to emphasize sound transmission. The dial itself is capped by a snail-shaped chapter ring and has rhodium-plated hour markers and hands, plus anthracite-colored printed transfers. This is all powered by the L.U.C. 96.32-L. With a two-barrel construction and micro-rotor, you get 65 hours of power reserve, automatic winding, and a 4Hz beat rate, all chronometer-certified by COSC, with Poinçon de Genève-certified quality. Chopard really shows bigger brands how to do it when it comes to finishing, so this is the kin...
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Monochrome
Chopard celebrates 30 years since the founding of its Manufacture in Fleurier, and the L.U.C collection, named after Louis-Ulysse Chopard, continues to highlight the brand’s most technical and refined timepieces. Among the anniversary releases, the new L.U.C XPS Prussian Blue presents an evolution of the sector-dial model in green introduced in 2024. This new edition […]
SJX Watches
To mark 30 years of its Fleurier manufacture, Chopard has introduced a new variant of the watch that started it all. The new Lucent steel L.U.C 1860 adds a blue dial to the brand’s flagship time-only dress watch. The L.U.C 1860 is short on novelty, being merely a new colour for a model that debuted in 2023, but the incremental improvements result in a sleek and sophisticated steel dress watch. Initial thoughts The L.U.C 1860 is very traditional dress watch in the sense that nothing feels exaggerated. At the same time, it doesn’t feel boring thanks to its guilloché dial and the obvious quality of the movement within. While there are some who believe that a proper dress watch must come in precious metal, the popularity of the steel-and-salmon L.U.C 1860 released in 2023 proves there’s an alternate perspective. The brand’s proprietary ‘Lucent’ steel makes the watch more accessible, especially in the age of near-record gold prices. Despite the use of a comparatively humble material, the case finishing remains high-end - though the design is generation behind the new case profile introduced for the Grand Strike. Since the original L.U.C 1860 debuted in 1997, it has always been a small watch. For a time, that left it out of step with consumer preferences, especially in the early 2000s, but tastes have once again shifted back in favour of smaller cases. In this context, the vintage-leaning 36.5 mm size feels just right. That said, while it makes sense for Chopar...
Worn & Wound
Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded his eponymous watch company in 1860, but it took over 100 years for the brand to truly come into its own. In 1996, and after three years of development, the company debuted its own in-house movement. The wait seemed to have been worth it. The L.U.C 96.01-L immediately drew acclaim for beautiful finishing, embracing the microrotor, and COSC certification. It, and the subsequent L.U.C. 1860 dress watch, marked a sea change from reliance on third parties to true independence, arriving at a resurgence in fine mechanical watchmaking. Thirty years later, the L.U.C. family has expanded into dozens of variants, complications, and movements. But at 2026’s Watches & Wonders, Chopard pays tribute to 30 years of in-house manufacturing with a continuation of that vaunted original. The L.U.C 1860 Chronometer uses the same dial and microrotor movement from 1996, albeit with their own upgrades and unique design tweaks. The intricate white-gold dial features guilloché finishing in the center, emanating in scalloped waves from the Chopard logo and nameplate. The concentric circles are separated by thin bands of white gold, and delicate spear-shaped markers point inward, toward the dauphine hands. At 6 o’clock, the small-seconds dial echoes the twin-circle pattern of the overall dial, and Chopard specifically mentions the lack of a date window “to preserve purity.” Where the first L.U.C. 1860 had a white dial with gold accents, this Chronometer wears...
Monochrome
Chopard marks the 30th anniversary of its first in-house movement produced in the brand’s Fleurier Manufacture. A pivotal moment for Chopard, the calibre 1.96 was released in 1996 and is still regarded as one of the finest ultra-thin micro-rotor movements today. The first watch to feature the calibre was the L.U.C 1860, presented in a […]
Fratello
Although eagles are not an endangered species, you don’t see too many of them around, especially the very thin ones. Alpine Eagles, I mean. Luckily, refinement rules at Chopard, and that means the hatching of the Alpine Eagle 41 XPS “Mountain Glow,” an 8mm-thick version of the brand’s luxury sports watch in bright Lucent Steel […] Visit Refinement Rules At Chopard: The New Lucent Steel Alpine Eagle 41 XPS “Mountain Glow” And L.U.C 1860 With An Areuse Blue Dial to read the full article.
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Fratello
How do you feel about the combination of art and watches? The mix of the two is almost always polarizing. Quite often, an art-themed watch raises the question, “Is it for me?” A straightforward answer to that question comes in the form of a watch, the Louis Erard × Monica Bonvicini “Not For You.” There […] Visit Introducing: The Louis Erard × Monica Bonvicini “Not For You” Limited Edition Of 178 Pieces to read the full article.
SJX Watches
The 30th anniversary of the Chopard L.U.C. manufacture was one anniversary among many this year, but it will likely be remembered thanks to the Grand Strike, the most complicated watch in Chopard’s history and its first grande sonnerie. Building on the successful Full Strike minute repeater architecture and making full use of the brand’s patented sapphire gongs, the Grand Strike is a chronometer-certified two-train clock watch with a push-button minute repeater. In this context, the presence of the tourbillon is almost a footnote. Initial thoughts I can count on one hand the number of brands that have created their own grande sonnerie wristwatch. It’s one of the few things in watchmaking that’s proven challenging enough to still be rare, even in the days of computer-aided design (CAD) and advanced manufacturing technology like wire erosion. For this reason, the grande sonnerie has a towering cultural presence among watchmakers and collectors, looming above all other complications. For Chopard, the Grand Strike represents the culmination of 30 years of the L.U.C. manufacture, the brand’s haute horlogerie division. The first impression of the Grand Strike is one of extraordinary depth. There’s not much of a dial, save for the minutes scale etched on the inside of the sapphire crystal, and the small concentric sub-dials for the dual power reserve displays. This depth shrinks the watch visually, and it feels dense and compact despite its rather large 43 mm size and...
Time+Tide
This impressive piece is Chopard's most complex watch design yet, the fruit of over 11,000 hours of research and development.The post Chopard’s new L.U.C Grand Strike is the most complex horological creation the Maison has ever made appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
It certainly seems like 2025 is the year of anniversaries. Big names are celebrating many centuries of watchmaking, and many brands, young and old, are releasing exceptional commemorative creations. Some are intricate masterpieces that express their maker’s savoir-faire, while others represent an evolution of a historical benchmark creation. The Roger Dubuis Hommage La Placide is […] Visit Introducing: The Roger Dubuis Hommage La Placide - A 28-Piece Limited-Edition Biretrograde Perpetual Calendar to read the full article.
Time+Tide
The Les Cabinotiers Homage to Epic Warriors Minute Repeater and The Labours of Heracles unite grand feu enamel and hand‑engraving.The post These Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers La Quête métiers d’art pieces tell centuries-old stories appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Time+Tide
Vacheron Constantin has followed up its boatload of Les Cabinotiers La Quête piece uniques with additional Chinese Zodiac novelties.The post New releases from Universal Genève, Minase, Vacheron Constantin and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Launched in 2021 for the Manufacture’s 25th anniversary, the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 was Chopard’s first in-house jumping hour watch, pairing a pure 40mm case with the long-autonomy L.U.C 98 calibre and a Grand Feu enamel dial. That model has since spawned further variants (including rose-gold reference with a gold-based dial graced with green straw […]
SJX Watches
Vacheron Constantin’s 270th anniversary tour de force continues with the La Quête Du Temps ‘Mecanique D’art’, a metre-tall astronomical clock, automata, and decorative object. While the brand teased us with the most complicated wristwatch ever made earlier this year, it’s been planning something much, much grander – a true monument to time. Initial thoughts I see La Quête Du Temps as part of a near millennia old tradition of astronomical clocks and mechanical follies. During the very late 12th century, an Artuqid king commissioned an exceptional astronomical water clock from famed Islamic inventor Ismail al-Jazari. Al-Jazari’s “castle clock” kept time, but only as an ancillary function. The clock tracked the passage of the sun, the passage and phase of the moon and the zodiacs, and on the sixth, ninth and twelfth hours a cast of five life-sized automata sprung to life, playing drums and trumpets to dazzle the royal court. Other kings commissioned similar astronomical clocks from inventor in their courts, as symbols of their power and sophistication. If not kings, it was congregations and city councils raising these models of the heavens on Earth as symbols of prosperity and prestige. And today, Vacheron Constantin, the oldest watch manufacturer, builds one for itself. The Solaria, the most complicated wristwatch yet made, was not the brand’s 270th anniversary flagship – this is. Image – Vacheron Constantin/Stephane Sby Balmy This year has been mor...
Fratello
Even though it’s only July, it feels like it’s been summer for months here in the UK. It’s been hot and dry, two descriptors rarely used here in Blighty. So, I’ve had ample time to practice my summer watch game. So far, I’ve been away from the pool, so the choices may seem strange. I’ll […] Visit Fratello Summer Watch Picks 2025: Mike’s Favorites From G-Shock, Norqain, And Ming to read the full article.
Fratello
As you might know, Chopard produces watches with two distinct certifications. In its Geneva atelier, the brand creates L.U.C timepieces that bear the engraved Poinçon de Genève. The Geneva Seal is primarily concerned with the aesthetic quality and craftsmanship of the movement. While watches bearing it must also meet specific, strict chronometric requirements, the sternest […] Visit Hands-On With The Exquisite Chopard L.U.C Qualité Fleurier 20th Anniversary Edition - A Certified Dream Watch to read the full article.
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