Results for Type XX

Albishorn Introduces their Latest “Imaginary Vintage” Type 10

Albishorn is a brand based on one of the most tantalizing concepts that we’ve come across: vintage watches that never existed. I’ve thought about this conceit quite a bit since the brand was launched a few years ago. In some ways, it’s not so different on the surface from any other “vintage inspired” watch. The vast majority of them, after all, never existed. The Black Bay, for instance, takes inspiration from a great many vintage Tudor and Rolex watches, but it’s not a one to one recreation of anything – it never actually existed. But Albishorn is different. They place their watches in an imagined reality. Each one is its own “sliding doors” moment brought to life in watch form – a thought experiment about how things might be if they had turned out just a little differently.  The Type 10 is pitched as an imaginary ancestry to the Type 20, a very real watch that just about everyone reading this will be at least somewhat familiar with. Imagining a predecessor to the Type 20 also means imagining the infrastructure to create it, the timeline on which it would have been made, and even design details that might have been improved or altered in the later (and real) watch.  Today, Albishorn releases a new variant of the Type 10, which they’re calling the Type 10 Officer. Like previous Type 10s, this is a monopusher chronograph designed in the language of military issued watches. This one has a white dial, which the brand explains makes more sense for an Of...

Ressence and The Armoury Team Up for the TYPE 9 Scattering Sun (Live Pics)

There’s something exciting about seeing two brands you admire collaborate, especially when those brands represent relatively different aesthetics, if shared sensibilities. So, when we heard that Ressence, the independent watch brand known for its unique ROCS dial displays and futuristic aesthetic, was teaming up with The Armoury, a traditional menswear retailer and tailor, our collective interest was piqued. And the result is, well, oddly exactly what one might expect: a more formal take on Ressence’s most wearable watch to date, the TYPE 9. Called the TYPE 9 Shattering Sun, it meets the two brands in the middle. The TYPE 9, which came out at the end of last year, is the smallest Ressence in diameter, and very thin at 39mm x 42.5mm x 11mm. Additionally, it’s one of the lightest at 39 grams for the head. Unlike other Ressences, it pushed the minute index from under the glass to an external bezel, which further compresses it visually. I reviewed that watch earlier this year and was taken with its wearability. It puts the unique aesthetic and dial display Ressence is known for into a form that would be easy to wear daily. Identifying this, the ever sartorially-savvy and horologically inclined Mark Cho, founder of The Armoury, took the TYPE 9 and remixed it to lean toward dress watch aesthetics, and, more importantly, work with a suit. The dial, originally in silver or teal, has been rendered in warm, copper-toned salmon with a subtle sandblast finish. The explorer-esque...

First Look - The Revival of the Keyring Watch with the Volan Type One

Dutch watch enthusiast, collector and entrepreneur Diederik van Golen is back at it again, reviving a fun historical piece of watchmaking with his newly founded brand, Volan Watches. Inspired by his love for cars, yachting and watches, the goal is to bring back the Keyring Watch, an item that was very popular in the 1950s […]

Hands-On: the Albishorn Type 10 Chronograph

I’ve reached the age where I regularly feel the temptation to say things along the lines of “back in the day…” This applies to various things, such as life without smartphones, dial-up modems, and Napster, among others, but occasionally, it also applies to watches. You see, it wasn’t that long ago that things were quite different. Dive watches were all north of 40mm, in-house movements were rare under $5k, microbrands were dismissed as a passing trend, and, most relevantly to this review, mechanical chronographs under a certain price were primarily powered by Valjoux 7750s or a close variant. With sub-dials at 12, 6, and 9, day-dates at three, two-pushers, cam-actuated, and always automatic, approachably priced mechanical chronographs were limited in their design options. Even 3, 6, 9 layouts were rare, powered by 7753s or ETA 2894s, and often limited to Swatch group brands. The point is that in 2025, it’s almost hard to imagine a world of such limited chronograph options. Today, thanks largely to Sellitta, 3, 9, and 3, 6, 9 layouts are typical (I actually miss 12, 6, 9 now), monopushers are no big deal, manual winding is an option, flybacks, GMTs, and even column-wheels are on the table. Simply put, it’s a good time to be a chronograph fan. Yet, even in this golden-age of chronographs (ok, that might be a stretch), there is room to stand out. Enter Albishorn, which launched in 2024 with a series of chronographs powered by a bespoke movement, based on a fun r...

Ressence Collaborates with German Artist Daniel Engelberg on a Pair of Limited Edition Versions of the Type 8

Ressence is one of my favorite independent watch brands for a number of reasons. Chief among them, of course, is the novel time telling system invented by the brand, which is unlike anything else in watchmaking. It’s an example of both mechanical ingenuity and a design triumph, and like others who have had a chance to experience it, I’m continually blown away by the intuitive layout of these watches and the creativity in rethinking something as basic as telling the time. Another reason Ressence has such a strong appeal is that this design language has proven to be incredibly flexible, something we’ve observed over the years as the brand has collaborated with a variety of partners on interesting limited edition projects. The Grail Watch release with Alain Silberstein remains a personal favorite, as does their Dubai Watch Week LE from a few years ago (a new limited edition celebrating the 75th anniversary of Ahmed Seddiqi is also pretty great). A pair of new watches made in collaboration with the artist Daniel Engelberg might just be my favorite Ressence limited edition yet. We got a very quick preview of these watches when we met with Ressence at Watches & Wonders earlier this year, and were immediately taken with their bold color palettes and a design that really leans into the brand’s aesthetic while still being wholly unique works. Engelbert is a German artist and a quick look at his Instagram feed reveals his interest in color and shape, and these dials immediat...

Introducing - Naoya Hida Presents the NH Type 6A, Its First Perpetual Calendar

It’s certainly not the first time we’re talking about Naoya Hida & Co., a niche, artisanal watchmaking company from Japan, but it’s always with great pleasure that I write these articles. NH is one of these hidden gems from the Land of the Rising Sun, a rather young company that focuses on high-end, classic designs […]

IWC Releases a Titanium Mark XX in Petronas Colors

IWC holds a special place in my heart. One of my first “ultra-performance” sports watches was an IWC Aquatimer GST on a matching titanium bracelet. This was a 2000-meter water-resistant dive watch that featured a push-down locking unidirectional bezel and a mix of Luminova and tritium luminescence. This was in the late 1990s, and shortly after, I was tasked with reviewing their new IWC TZC UTC Pilot Watch, reference 3251. This model featured a sublime 5-piece bracelet with a push-button easy link removal system still in use today. It also had a display opening on the dial indicating a second time zone. Over the past twenty years, I have had the opportunity to get to know many IWC watches. Last year, one of their releases particularly caught my attention. While their pilot series has generally been quite conservative, they have recently experimented with different dial colors, but nothing like this release. As a Mercedes F1 team sponsor, IWC released a Petronas-AMG-themed Pilot Chronograph featuring bright Petronas green dial accents. This was a 41mm version of their standard day-date chronograph featuring their in-house caliber 69385 automatic movement in a grade 5 titanium case. For 2025, IWC has released the Mark XX Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS, essentially a time-and-date version of their previously issued chronograph. This one also features a grade 5 titanium case, but this time with a solid case back. Dimensions are 40mm across the case, with a slender height of only 10....

Introducing - IWC Warms Up for the 2025 F1 Season with a New Pilot Mark XX Mercedes-AMG Petronas Team

It’s only January, and yet the upcoming 2025 Formula One season is already in the starting blocks. We had the recent announcement of a new official timekeeper, and there are watch-related things to be expected on this side soon. But the first to kick off the F1 watch game this year is IWC, which presents […]

Ressence Introduces the Type 8 “Indigo”

When you think of Ressence, the first things that come to mind are likely the brand’s forward thinking, non traditional design language, and their completely unique mechanical solution for telling time via a series of rotating circles as opposed to traditional hands. You probably don’t think of traditional craft – given the hyper-modern aesthetic of the brand, most of their signature designs forego the tenets of classical watchmaking. There are exceptions to be found, of course, in the Ressence’s library of one-offs and limited editions, but classifying their approach, on the whole, as somewhat “industrial” isn’t too far off the mark. That’s what makes a watch like the Type 8 Indigo so interesting. It’s one of those exceptions, and in it we can see the many different things a Ressence watch can be.  The Type 8 Indigo is Ressence’s contribution to the The Indigo Project, led by Shellman, the brand’s Tokyo based Japanese retail partner. The design of the dial incorporates a single indigo dyed silk thread, placed in a spiral pattern by a skilled artisan. Indigo dyeing is part of a craft tradition in Japan spanning centuries, and the watch is a tribute to both Japanese tradition and an impressive design object on its own. Because of the dye and the nature of the thread itself, a range of blue tones are visible on the dial. According to Ressence, the total length of the thread is 2.5 meters, and it measures just 0.2mm in diameter, which underscores the in...

The 10 Best Hamilton Watches for Every Type of Enthusiast

While it’s been making its timepieces in Switzerland since the 1970s, Hamilton Watch Company, founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1892, has few peers when it comes to being a vital thread in the historical tapestry of American watchmaking. The heritage brand, today a part of the Swiss Swatch Group conglomerate of companies, continues to lean heavily into its New World roots for its diverse collection of product families, which ranges from military tool watches to sporty divers, from elegantly appointed dress pieces to retro-futuristic curiosities - while also maintaining a price-to-value ratio for which the brand has long been renowned. It can fairly be said that there is a Hamilton watch for just about everyone, no matter what style they’re seeking. Here, in the tradition of our previous guide to the best Longines watches, we run down 10 of our favorite Hamilton watches that run the stylistic gamut from sporty to dressy, from high-tech to classically mechanical. For the Military Buff: Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Price: $595, Case Size: 38mm, Thickness: 9.5mm, Lug width: 20mm, Lug to Lug: 47mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Mechanical Hamilton Caliber H-50 Field watches are an enduringly popular category of timepiece, and without Hamilton, the style as we know it might not even exist. Hamilton basically invented the genre with the “trench watches” that it supplied to American troops during World War I, kicking off a long tradit...

Chivas Regal Ultis XX: A Blended Whisky to Rival Great Single Malts

In Ken Gargett’s opinion, the Chivas Ultis XX exhibits a depth and complexity that puts to rest any argument that blended whiskies cannot sit with the finest malts. We have a burnished orange colour. The aromas move through toffee and cinnamon, vanilla and red apples, caramel, cigar box and more. Balanced, mellow, complex and ever so long, this is a gorgeous whisky.

A Brief Encounter with the Naoya Hida Watches, Including the New Type 4

It’s hard to imagine how fine a more or less simple steel watch can be. You’ve likely encountered high-end steel watches from the typical luxury houses that come to mind. For example, Omega, Rolex, or Grand Seiko make stunning steel watches with excellent finishing. It’s fair to ask yourself, how much better or different can finishing get? And then, if you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity, you get to see Naoya Hida’s watches, and you realize that a seemingly simple steel watch still has plenty of room for elevation. The difference isn’t in broad strokes, it’s in the minutia. “Fit and finish” turned up that much more. Details are finished by hand for that wabi-sabi effect of subtle variations and vibrations that add life. I once heard a person refer to something as having “gravity” to define the “X” factor that sets something of quality apart. As a physical, unavoidable force of attraction, this makes sense. While it might take a loupe to truly appreciate the subtleties of the finish on a Naoya Hida watch, it pulls you in with a force beyond your control. I’ve had the experience of seeing the Naoya Hida watches twice now, about a year apart from each other, both times at Mark Cho’s Armoury location in NYC’s Tribeca. The first time was certainly exciting, but the second, which was just a few weeks ago, was revelatory. Perhaps that is because Mr. Hida, and his engraver Keisuke Kano, came to the US to present the watches in person. The ad...

Ressence Adds a Sage Green Dial Option for the Entry Level Type 8

When I think back to last year’s Watches & Wonders, there are only a handful of watches and experiences that really stand out in my memory now that time has done its thing. The one-off Streamliner that H. Moser coated entirely in Vantablack comes to mind, as does that giant purple Hublot that has become a point of personal obsession.. As I reflect back though on my first Watches & Wonders, there’s another meeting that stands out, somewhat surprisingly, from all the others, and that’s our experience with Ressence. I’ve always admired Ressence and had limited hands-on experience with them in boutiques and at meetups prior to seeing them in Geneva, but it was another thing entirely to have a whole bunch of them laid out on a table with brand founder Benoit Mintiens personally taking us through the collection. These watches are truly special, quite rare, and try them all on in rapid fire succession was just a lot of fun. The big new release at the time, the Type 8 C, made a particularly strong impression as the new entry level Ressence. It was lightweight, beautiful, and approachable in a way that no other Ressence had felt like to me.  Now, just in time for Watches & Wonders ‘23, Ressence has introduced another Type 8, this one in a gorgeous shade of green. The new Type 8 S (for “sage green”) has exactly the same specs as last year’s version in blue. That means it still has a lugless 43mm case made from grade 5 titanium, that’s just 11mm tall. It has a flyi...

Introducing: The Naoya Hida & Co. NH Type 2A (Live Pics & Pricing)

A novelty from an aspiring Japanese brand with 1950s vintage vibes.

Hands-On: The Mirco Type 02

Japan's break-out microbrand gives us something big.

One To Watch: The Ardra Labs Delta Type Offers A Unique GMT Display For All Time Zones

A distinctive travel watch featuring a clever new system that accommodates both thirty-minute and forty-five-minute offset time zones.

Ressence Hits Warp Speed with the new Type 9 IKE

When we create a post on the Worn & Wound blog, we check a little box on the sidebar of our backend system to categorize the watch we’re writing about. The options are things like “Diver,” and “Chronograph” and “Dress,” which is about what you’d expect, and these well understood categories are appropriate for most of the watches we write about. But my absolute favorite thing is when a news release (or an actual watch!) comes across my desk that can only fit into one category, at the very bottom of the list: Unique. More than any other brand (besides perhaps MB&F; and Urwerk), Ressence really has a lock on the Unique category here at Worn & Wound. One of many reasons we continue to be drawn to them year after year.  Their latest, the  Type 9 IKE, is unique even within the Ressence catalog. Built on the (relatively) approachable Type 9 platform, which features an easy to wear 39mm case and a simplified version of the already incredibly stripped down Ressence Orbital Convex System (ROCS), the new limited edition is a collaboration with Japanese artist Terumasa Ikeda. It’s also a twist on a trend we’ve been seeing play out in the watch industry over the last few years, but you probably wouldn’t think at first glance that this is actually a very intricately crafted mother of pearl dial.  Ikeda’s work has a style that can be described as mixing very old craft techniques with a futuristic, almost sci-fi inspired design code. The Type 9 IKE’s dial looks...

Introducing: Albishorn Lightens Things Up With The Type 10 "Officer"

The same great framework with a new beige twist results in a really attractive watch.

Ressence and Marc Newson Reimagine the TYPE 3 in a Landmark Design Collaboration

This Watch Is CRAZY In The Best Way - Ressence Type 3BB Review & Expla

Teddy Baldassarre is an authorized luxury watch retailer of brands like TUDOR, OMEGA, IWC, Grand Seiko, Breitling, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Zenith, Longines, ORIS, MIDO, Tissot, Hamilton, NOMOS Glashütte, Baume & Mercier, and more.

A Luxury Pilot Watch That Sets The Standard In Many Ways - IWC Mark XX

Teddy Baldassarre is an authorized luxury watch retailer of brands like TUDOR, OMEGA, IWC, Grand Seiko, Breitling, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Zenith, Longines, ORIS, MIDO, Tissot, Hamilton, NOMOS Glashütte, Baume & Mercier, and more.

Every Type Of Dive Watch You Should Know

Teddy Baldassarre is an authorized luxury watch retailer of brands like TUDOR, OMEGA, IWC, Grand Seiko, Breitling, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Zenith, Longines, ORIS, MIDO, Tissot, Hamilton, NOMOS Glashütte, Baume & Mercier, and more.

Watch Bezels: Every Type Explained

If you’re new to your appreciation of fine watches, you have undoubtedly read a lot of references to and heard a lot of opinions about watches’ bezels. It is somewhat of an esoteric term but it describes something very simple and essential. The bezel is the front part of the case (often but not always ring-shaped) that frames the dial and secures the crystal. Bezels can be made of the same material as the case middle and/or the caseback, but can also be made of a different material. Here we run down the various types of watch bezels you’re likely to encounter. Polygons and Exposed Screws Watch cases, of course, are not uniformly round, which means that bezels, the front-facing parts of those cases, can also be found in a variety of shapes - sharply squared or rectangular, like the Cartier Tank and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (above); softy cushion-shaped, like the Panerai Luminor and Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921; oval-shaped, like the Breguet Reine de Naples and other luxury ladies’ models; tonneau (“barrel”-shaped), like the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang and many Richard Mille models; and a host of others that combine elements of these and other polygonal shapes.  The shape that has proven to be the most popular and influential is the octagon: eight-sided bezels have proliferated ever since Audemars Piguet launched the Royal Oak (above) in 1972, and watchmakers have also dabbled in other unconventional shapes: the sharply faceted bezel of the Zeni...

Ressence And The Armoury Team Up To Create A Salmon-Dial TYPE 9 For The Sartorial Collector

First Look - The 2025 Benrus Type 1 MilSpec, a Tough and Purposeful Combat Tool

Benrus is one of the few American watch companies with a claim to fame for practical, no-nonsense timepieces. Founded in 1921 by the Lazrus brothers, Benjamin, Oscar, and Ralph, the company combined Swiss precision with American assembly and marketing to carve out a spot in watchmaking history. Starting in New York City, the brothers pooled […]