Hodinkee
Buying, Selling, & Collecting: The Story Of My Life In Three Swatches
Ever since boyhood, this brand has seen me through my milestones.
19,369 articles · 167 videos found · page 214 of 652
Hodinkee
Ever since boyhood, this brand has seen me through my milestones.
Revolution
Independent boutique brands are making punters sit up and take notice. Here are five to watch.
Time+Tide
The 20th annual GPHG was streamed and broadcast live, with digital spectators tuning in around the world to see who would win what some refer to as “the Oscars” of watchmaking. Each year, an academy of industry experts, journalists and influencers is assembled to determine the nominees for these prestigious awards – with 30 of … ContinuedThe post We watched every minute of the GPHG 2020 so you don’t have to. And you owe us a beer, it wasn’t amazing… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Huge shout out and a thank you to our two most recent community guest contributors" Alexander Van Slyke and Fred Nicolaus! The Two Broke Watch Snobs sincerely thank you from the bottom of our snobbish hears for sharing your awesome stories with the site. In relation, serious - what's cassava, guys? Someone has a produce related meltdown pretty early in the show...
SJX Watches
From now until July 18, Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) is exhibiting the sixth edition of its Collectibles programme at the brand’s boutique in London. The occasion offered an opportunity to sit down with CEO Jérôme Lambert to understand what the brand hopes to achieve with its Collectibles exhibitions. Launched in 2023, the concept stems from the eponymous book that assembled a dream collection of vintage JLC watches. Since then, museum-grade pieces have been sourced from around the world, restored in the brand’s dedicated workshop — without altering their patina — and presented for sale through travelling exhibitions. Triple Calendar with Moonphase from 1946. The capsule collection assembled for the London edition features seven Reverso models alongside five other rare watches, including a 1946 Triple Calendar with moon phase. With one exception — a small 1931 Reverso — all 12 watches had found buyers within hours of opening. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Yannick Nardin (YN): What is the purpose of the Collectibles programme? Is it a commercial, strategic or heritage-driven initiative? Jérôme Lambert (JL): All of those dimensions played a role in its creation. First, there were our conversations with collectors. Many expressed a desire to acquire exhibition or museum pieces, while others approached us to authenticate watches they had purchased through dealers. Two-tone Reverso from 1941. At the same time, following the great JLC exhibitions of...
Hodinkee
Happy Friday, friends, and congrats on tackling another week. The days are now growing shorter (if you're north of the equator), and if you, like me, live in a state where fireworks are legal, best of luck for what will presumably be a very loud and long week. But before all that, let's take a moment and enjoy some watches. Scorekeeping last week's picks, the Dugena and Mulco chronographs don't sell till the 27th, but the Rolex 6241 sold for 2,000,000 CHF, the Patek 5960 for 34,000 CHF, the Excelsior Park Monte Carlo passed, the Longines for TKTK (emailed, price not updated), and the Tavannes for TKTK (sells 6/25). Strays For all the Movado heads, this pocket watch looks spectacular, and if that doesn't ring your cherries, here's a gold-plated dual-time that's almost intimidatingly beautiful. My urge to recommend no-name skin divers will apparently never abate, and this week's pick is this Altitude that looks fantastic and is unlikely to sell for more than a few hundred dollars. Speaking of excellent divers, here's a Lip Nautic Ski, and, sure, it's a quartz watch from the 1970s, so (some) headaches await (though the watch is currently running, according to the listing), but I'm lately unable to shake an intense fondness for these latter Piquerez super compressor cases with their huge bezel and recessed crowns. Lastly, this Ebel is perfect; please buy it, someone, so I can stop thinking and debating if I should pursue the thing. Before getting into the main watches, I'd lik...
Hodinkee
I made a decision long ago to never use Hodinkee as a personal platform – rather, to keep it to professional writing about things that impact people who come here solely for watches. Today, I may be breaking my own rule, but sometimes, some things are worth it – or in this case, some people. Om Malik died yesterday at Stanford Hospital after a prolonged fight with issues related to his heart. For those who don't know Om, he was born in India, educated in the UK, and was one of the first people to take legacy media brands online (he was a founding member of the Forbes.com team in 1997!) After that, he launched an early and important digital business publication called GigaOm, as well as contributing to the likes of Business 2.0, the WSJ, and more. He is credited with being among the first people to cite companies that would shape the world, such as Twitter, and being part of their fabric at times. One such example is Hodinkee. Om reached out to me via Twitter in January of 2012. I went back tonight and checked. In those early emails, we talked mostly about watches – he attended an event I hosted for the Harry Winston Opus 12. And another for the Cartier ID2. He came to Nomos launch parties (before they were in the USA), and the same for Tudor. He was early and awesome with Hodinkee, and watches for that matter, but that's not why I'm writing this post tonight. Om practicing his love of time lapse photography with me on a trip to the Bay Area. Om changed my life. ...
Fratello
The year after Breguet turned 250, the brand celebrates another big milestone, the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon. It does so with several gravity-defying watches, and we had the chance to experience the newest Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047, a platinum 25-piece limited edition outfitted with a spinning one-minute tourbillon and a fascinating fusée-and-chain mechanism. The […] Visit 225 Years After The Tourbillon’s Invention, The Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047 Spins In The Best Of Traditions to read the full article.
Hodinkee
The year was 7 Messidor Year IX—or for those who don't follow the French Republican Calendar, June 26, 1801. After years of intense study and experimentation and some correspondence with his friend John Arnold (who similarly experimented with the concept before his death in 1799), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted a 10-year patent for the "tourbillon." By 1829, Breguet and his workshop would only make 40 watches with the regulating organ, which was designed to eliminate positional errors and distribute oil (which often thickened in place), thereby lubricating parts more evenly. A Breguet four-minute tourbillon watch with échappement naturel, which sold at Sotheby's last year for CHF 1,880,000. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Well, Abraham-Louis Breguet (and John Arnold) would be proud of how far the concept of the tourbillon has come—he may even be spinning himself if he saw some of the things that have happened with the tourbillon, like Alfred Helwig's invention of the flying tourbillon, let alone the first tourbillon wristwatch—and how many of those concepts have been integrated into watches made under his name. Add to that the fact that Breguet annually makes multiple times the number of his lifetime production, and it's just pretty cool how far things have come in 225 years. The Breguet Experimentale 1, which was launched late last year. The 10Hz, 1-minute tourbillon was one of the most extreme tourbillons ever made. Exposition out of the way, Breguet is celebrating t...
Fratello
Another Friday, another list! This week, we will take a look at the five best releases from one of the most talked-about brands in the past few years. Jaeger-LeCoultre made quite a few waves with its releases in 2025 and did so again at Watches and Wonders 2026. But the many great timepieces were not […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Recent Jaeger-LeCoultre Releases to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Tudor surprised with an off-season launch in the form of the Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee”. Coming just two months after Watches & Wonders 2026, the Bumblebee is one of the brand’s outstanding debuts for the year (so far), alongside the atypical Monarch. The Bumblebee is essentially a scaled-down version of the original Black Bay Chrono, which was excellent but half a size too large. Now it’s almost just right, but unquestionably good enough, especially since the downsized chronograph still retains the same high-spec movement and affordable price tag. Initial thoughts I’m a fan of the Black Bay Chrono; I own two earlier iterations of the model. Tudor got everything right with those, except for the size, which was a little too big for the design. The Black Bay Chrono 39 scales it down noticeably, enough that the watch is just right. The case is still a little thick (inevitably due to the movement), but the overall package has been refined to a point where it’s difficult to improve it much more, especially with the constraints of price and the MT5813 movement. The MT5813 is probably the top movement in this price range in terms of features and construction, but it is relatively thick. Still, the thickness is forgivable given the quality of the movement and the price. I certainly hope Tudor rolls out new variants of this chronograph as yellow is not for me, but I rate this highly in terms of proportions, wearability, and of course value. At US$6,725, the Black B...
Teddy Baldassarre
The Microbrand’s retro-chronograph design is no longer just for limited editions.More
Worn & Wound
Is there a brand that more completely blurs the line between the definition of “microbrand” and “independent brand” than Brew? It depends, of course, on how you define each term. If a brand needs to exist in the haute horlogerie space and craft movements or other components from scratch in an artisanal way to be considered “independent,” then Brew will probably never qualify under those terms. But if your criteria is an intentional, well defined point of view on watchmaking with a clear, instantly recognizable design language, all executed according to the singular creative vision of the brand’s founder, Brew easily fits. I’ve never been one to see microbrand as a pejorative or diminishing label, but in Brew’s case I might argue that it doesn’t necessarily reflect the brand’s growth over the last decade, and the widespread recognition and popularity they’ve found outside of the enthusiast space. Importantly, Brew continues to find interesting ways to iterate on the themes established since the brand’s founding by Jonathan Ferrer, the founder and designer behind the brand. It would be easy for Brew to simply pump out new colorways for successful models, but instead they’ve taken steps (sometimes, admittedly, slower than some collectors and enthusiasts would like) to gradually expand what people think of when they consider what Brew actually is. To that end, their latest watch is a new version of their manually wound Metric (with a Swiss movemen...
Worn & Wound
Summer means Windup Watch Fair returns to Chicago, and we’re thrilled to once again bring hundreds of watches, great conversations, and unforgettable experiences to our brand-new venue, Morgan MFG. Alongside more than 70 exhibiting brands, special events, and panel discussions, we’re proud to announce our Lead Sponsors for Windup Watch Fair Chicago 2026: Atelier Wen, Christopher Ward, Citizen, eBay Live, and Oris. First, here are the necessary details: Windup Watch Fair Chicago Friday, July 10 – Sunday, July 12, 2026 Morgan MFG 401 N Morgan St Suite #100 Chicago, IL 60642 Free and open to everyone. No registration necessary. Each of our Lead Sponsors is bringing exciting new products and experiences to Chicago that you won’t want to miss. Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of the highlights you’ll find during Windup weekend in the Windy City. Atelier Wen: Perception V3 Founded to celebrate the richness of Chinese craftsmanship through a modern lens, Atelier Wen has become one of the most compelling independent brands in contemporary watchmaking. Their latest release, the Perception V3, elevates the integrated sports watch with hand-turned guilloché dials and a beautifully finished French-made Pequignet movement, representing the fullest expression yet of the brand’s unique identity. With a hand-guilloché dial crafted by master artisan Cheng Yucai and a French-made Pequignet caliber featuring bespoke finishing inspired by Chinese motifs, the Perception V3 ...
Monochrome
Over the past couple of years, we’ve come to the conclusion that Union Glashütte is quite a stand-out brand among the predominantly Swiss Made brands under the Swatch Group umbrella. It benefits from the group’s vertical integration yet is able to put its own mark on things, allowing it to hallmark its watches as Made […]
Worn & Wound
Baltic expands their Scalegraph collection today with the launch of a pair of new sporty chronographs that the brand says will be part of their permanent collection. First introduced a year ago as a limited edition, this new iteration of the Scalegraph has a number of improvements that should add up to a more refined package overall. It’s also something of a return to the brand’s roots as a maker of vintage inspired sports watches, after getting more press as of late for dabbling in affordable haute horlogerie and watches defined by the blinding bling of lab grown diamonds. As a sports chrono, the aesthetic of the Scalegraph is about as classic as you can get. It has a traditional three register layout with a tachymeter bezel, beads of rice style bracelet, and screwdown pushers. It’s heavily racing inspired, and has the simple, classic case lines of many a familiar vintage sports watch. The stainless steel case is the same 39.5mm diameter as the original Scalegraph, but Baltic says the lugs are now wider, which should give the watch some additional presence on the wrist. Baltic has also replaced circular finishing on the top of the lugs with vertical brushing, which is certainly more reminiscent of the historic chronographs manufactured by Rolex, Universal Geneve, and others, that the Scalegraph is clearly emulating, at least somewhat. The Scalegraph is available in three new colorways: Champagne, Blue, and Grey. All have tan colored contrasting subdials at 3, 6,...
Hodinkee
What We Know Today, Blancpain has downsized its ultra-thin Villeret Ultraplate dress watch, with new options in 38mm for greater wearability. The previous 40mm options of the 'Golden Hour' series, which I covered last October, remain, but the 38mm options are going to be much more appealing all around as proper dress watches. The case still remains incredibly thin, especially for a self-winding watch, at 8.35mm, but the 38mm downsizing now offers a short 43.35mm lug-to-lug measurement for small wrists and those who prefer the more traditional proportion of how a dress watch should look on the wrist. Here, four options are presented within these new measurements: three with stainless steel cases, and one in 18K red gold. The dial design continues the visual update introduced last October in the Villeret series, with simplified Roman numerals, the applied "JB" logo at 12 o'clock (standing for Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, who the brand credits as the founder), slim but still lumed leaf hands, and a skeletonized rotor. In stainless steel, there are three dial colors available. Salmon is a first for the Villeret collection, with a copper-hued dial paired with anthracite-coated 18K gold numerals. My favorite of the lineup, the Villeret Ultraplate featuring a warm champagne-hued dial with 18K yellow gold numerals set within a steel case with a green nubuck strap, will be offered as a boutique exclusive. More classic pairings of white gold numerals in a steel case and red gold numeral...
Worn & Wound
Grand Seiko has announced a major refresh in their Evolution 9 collection across multiple metals and movements, and incorporating enthusiast favorite dial designs. A total of nine new watches have been announced as part of the update, and together they serve as what appears to be a new standard for Grand Seiko’s flagship collection. There’s a lot to chew on here, and depending on what interests you about Grand Seiko (or where you feel they have shortcomings) a number of different aspects of this update might be what draws you in. Everything they’ve announced, though, represents tangible improvement over what came before. First, the news that many enthusiasts will probably zero in on immediately: Grand Seiko’s micro-adjustable clasp now appears to be standard. After introducing it last year in a limited fashion, there were plenty of gripes about backwards compatibility and options for the future. The message here seems to be that the more heavily tapered bracelet with micro-adjustment built into the clasp will be a regular feature across Evolution 9 watches. Importantly, for these releases, that applies to both 37mm and 40mm references. Grand Seiko is also standardizing their premium alloys in steel and titanium in the Evolution 9 collection. Of the new watches introduced this week, the seven in steel are all in Grand Seiko’s Ever-Brilliant Steel alloy, which has a more lustrous shine and shows off Grand Seiko’s finishing more dramatically than standard stee...
Hodinkee
What We Know Today, Grand Seiko introduces nine new variants to the three-hander, time-and-date models in its Evolution 9 collection. If you're feeling overwhelmed by that already, don't worry. Yes, there's quite a bit of nuance to unpack here among all these references, but not all nine are really new watches, per se. Many of them are existing models, just slightly modified. If you've read the title of this article, you'll already know that the biggest updates to these Evolution 9 models are things that collectors have long clamored for— tapered bracelets and clasps with tool-free microadjustment. Yes, for those who weren't able to achieve a perfect fit with previous Evolution 9 models, they will be able to now and can adjust accordingly, especially in hotter months with more wrist swelling. The clasp design comes from the original Evolution UFA SLGB003 model introduced last year, but now has spread to the rest of the collection, in both steel and titanium versions, and both 37mm and 40mm. Gone are the 5-day Spring Drive 9RA2 calibers used in the collection, replaced entirely with the U.F.A caliber 9RB2. This means that for those who found the 37mm U.F.A models too small, the more classic 40mm versions now get the ultra-accurate caliber that features an annual rated accuracy of +/- 20 seconds (timing per month is quoted at +/- 3 seconds). This is a big deal, and I think it suggests that Grand Seiko could be making a move to replace all of its Spring Drive calibers down ...
Fratello
Every summer, when I go to southern Europe, I make sure to take a Unimatic diver with me. I am fortunate enough to have bought a few over the past few years, and I always pick one that will be one of my two or three watches that I bring with me. The usual pick […] Visit Built For Long Summer Days: The Unimatic Modello Uno UT1-IPP to read the full article.
Monochrome
Back in April 2025, as the highlight of Watches and Wonders, Grand Seiko unveiled an important new duo of models for its Evolution 9 collection: the titanium SLGB003 and the platinum SLGB001. A new 37mm case, an unprecedented and appealing new dial texture, finally a micro-adjustment on the clasp and, most importantly, the launch of the new calibre 9RB2, also known […]
Fratello
Here we are, just a couple of short months after Watches and Wonders 2026, and Grand Seiko is pressing the launch button in a major way. Today, we’ve got live photos of the refreshed Evolution 9 collection, which encompasses five new Spring Drive and four new Hi-Beat models. This is one of the most important […] Visit Grand Seiko Launches Four New References In The Updated Evolution 9 Hi-Beat Collection to read the full article.
Monochrome
When Amida returned in 2024, it brought back one of the most distinctive watch designs of the 1970s. The Digitrend, originally launched in 1976, stood apart from conventional watches with its horizontal digital display viewed through a prism, giving it the appearance of a futuristic LED watch. The concept was faithfully revived in 2025 by […]
Fratello
The Amida Digitrend is one of those out-of-the-box watches that always gets me. The combination of its unconventional shape, prism display, and jump-hour complication makes it unlike any other watch. That was already true of the 1976 original Amida Digitrend. Designer Matthieu Allègre and Depancel founder Clément Meynier relaunched the Digitrend in 2024 and tried […] Visit Get “Tunnel Vision” With The New Amida Digitrend OSII Black to read the full article.
Fratello
Whether you are a seasoned collector or just starting with a watch or two, storing your watches quickly becomes a matter of serious consideration. Should you get a safe at home, store your watches in an external safe, or hide them around the house, perhaps? The options are plentiful, but the implications can be serious […] Visit Your Sock Drawer Is Not Secure — Should Your Next Watch Purchase Be A Safe? to read the full article.
Monochrome
Few modern moon-phase watches place the lunar display at the centre of the experience quite like Arnold & Son’s Perpetual Moon. Since its introduction over 10 years ago, the collection has served as a showcase for the brand’s fascination with astronomy, with numerous variants released. Now, Arnold & Son revisits this signature model with three […]
SJX Watches
Seiko’s Presage series has long been the brand’s standard-bearer for affordable dress watches, and the latest Presage Classic Series ‘Tomioka Silk’ celebrates Japan’s 19th-century silk industry, which earned a UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2014. With an easy-wearing 38 mm case and an enthusiast-oriented no-date format, the ‘Tomioka Silk’ collection spans four colourways including an on-trend pistachio green flavour dubbed wakatake-iro. The embossed dial pattern results in a silk-like texture shimmer Initial thoughts Seiko’s Presage Classic Series has been treating watch collectors to a tour of historical Japanese hand crafts, with dials made from materials like Arita porcelain and urushi lacquer. The ‘Tomioka Silk’ collection toes a similar line, but uses a clever optical illusion to simulate the shimmer of the region’s famous silk more convincingly than past editions. While real silk dials do exist, they are understandably uncommon. Seiko’s time-tested approach to textile-textured dials involves embossing a metal dial with a pattern that, at arm’s length, resembles the source material, such as linen, or in this case, Tomioka silk. HCC002 Most watch brands would call this concentric multi-lobed motif ‘guilloche‘, but Seiko correctly avoids this term, choosing instead to emphasise the silk-like visual presentation of the stamped pattern. The dial quality is quite good for the price, which barely breaks four figures. I understand Seiko’...
SJX Watches
Chanel christened its watch collection for the year “Coco Game”, a theme that informs the pixellated video game motifs found on some watches and also the flagship creation that is the endgame as such things go. The Chessboard is self descriptive, but it is much more than an 8×8 board with 32 chess pieces. A one-off creation that is already sold, the Chessboard is impressive by the numbers alone: 1.5 kg of gold, 110 carats of diamonds, and a retail price of over US$4 million. But where is the watch you might ask? There are two: each of the queens is actually a pendant watch with a tiny dial on its base, and the set is delivered with a single chain for the winner to wear a pendant watch. The queen takes the form of Coco Chanel dressed in the brand’s signature tweed suit Initial thoughts I’ve always been a fan of Chanel’s impossibly extravagant objet d’art, which in past years have ranged from a musical automaton clock to a planetarium-clock. This year’s one-off creation trumps them all in scale, complexity, decoration, and of course price. In tangible terms, the Chessboard is clearly a trophy for the home or office, or a game board for a wealthy chess fan. Ridiculously lavish board games and toys have a long history — jewellers like Faberge and Cartier made such items in times past. In fact, some of Faberge’s fabled Imperial Easter Eggs contained surprises that were actually tiny toys. The Chessboard, however, is distinctively 21st century in both material...
Hodinkee
We've had a fantastic response to our happy hour series, which we launched this year, and we're keeping the momentum going into the summer! The next installment will take place at Grotta Local on Thursday, June 25. Located a few blocks away from our office, it's a Hodinkee staff favorite. We'll have the entire restaurant and bar for some great drinks, food, and watches. Our Editor-in-Chief, James Stacey, will be there, along with members of the Hodinkee team. Whether you've been to several of our events or this is your first, we'd love to have you! It's a great, casual way to get to know members of the Hodinkee team and the watch community here in New York City. Date:Thursday, June 25, 2026, 4:30 - 6:30 PM Location:Grotta Local177 Mulberry StreetNew York, NY 10012 Click here to RSVP.
Worn & Wound
Citizen is one of those brands that conjures a certain image in the mind of a watch collector as soon as you utter the brand name. The watches, for the most part, are pretty ubiquitous, and the brand name is easily recognized by most people who have ever shopped for a watch at a department store, or noticed an advertisement in a magazine. Which is to say, they are huge, and make watches that are largely appealing to a broad swath of the public, which in turn means that many of them are affordable or at least accessible. But it would be a mistake to diminish Citizen as simply a brand that produces affordable mall watches. Their size means that not only do they play a significant role in the mass market and enthusiast watch spaces, but that they have the resources to operate at the higher end as well. My favorite example of this, by far, is Citizen’s “The Citizen” line of watches. We’ve covered these many times before (I reviewed one here), and while they are somewhat awkwardly named, they do a great job of distilling with I think Citizen really is at their best, marrying competent manufacturing, their own Eco-Drive technology, and some cultural references to Japan that actually make sense in the context of the watch and how it works. As part of the brand’s ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of Eco-Drive, Citizen has just announced a new limited edition version of The Citizen, reference AQ4094-58L. It follows the format of many of the previous iteratio...
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