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Results for Day-Date

9,260 articles · 222 videos found · page 263 of 317

Related pages

Wiki · Guide
President Bracelet

Three-link semi-circular Rolex bracelet introduced for the 1956 Day-Date; Crownclasp closure.

Wiki · Guide
Stella Dial Rolex

1970s-80s lacquered colour dials for Rolex Day-Date; red / turquoise / salmon / lavender. Auction range $200k-$1M+.

Reference · Guide
All Rolex Day-Date References (President) Rolex

Every Rolex Day-Date "President": 1803, 18038, 18238, 118238, Day-Date 40 (228xxx), Day-Date 36 (128xxx).

Dimensions · Guide
Case dimensions: Rolex Day-Date 40 Rolex

40 mm × 11.85 mm, lug 21 mm, Cal. 3255

LOOKING BACK: Reviewing The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M - Owner’s Perspective WatchAdvice
Tissot PRS 200 as Jan 27, 2024

LOOKING BACK: Reviewing The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M - Owner’s Perspective

What’s it like to own the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M? In our Owner’s Perspective, we find out! This article was originally published as The Owners Perspective: Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M Why I Bought It A love of James BondLove the dive watch lookWas a grail piece when I was young The Ownership Reality Bracelet a little outdated and chunky claspWore it on the rubber more than notPolished Ceramic dial can be glary Overall Rating: 8.875/10 Value for money: 9/10Wearability: 9/10Design: 8.5/10Build quality: 9/10 This isn’t the first time that I’ve owned a Seamaster. I had a 2005 quartz version almost 20 years ago. At that point I’d only owned a Tissot PRS 200 as a “good” Swiss watch. As a fan of James Bond, (and what young male isn’t?), I always wanted his watch. I mean how cool was the wave dial, the deep blue bezel and at the time, that unmistakable bracelet. It looked great in the office and on weekends at the beach. I loved it. Financial issues meant I had to sell it about 7 months after buying it, and that hurt. About 15 years and many watches later, I decided it was time to purchase another, this time the latest iteration of the SMP 300. I chose the black polished ceramic dial with the laser etched waves, date at 6 o’clock, glossy, almost silky polished ceramic bezel with white inset dive indicators. And this time, on the steel and opting to add the rubber strap too. Very versatile and with the steel bracelet and rubber strap, two very diff...

The Three Watch Collection for $5,000: Reader Edition - Garrett Jones Worn & Wound
Omega Speedmaster Ref 3570.50 ~$3,700 Jan 26, 2024

The Three Watch Collection for $5,000: Reader Edition - Garrett Jones

Editor’s Note: In this week’s installment of our ongoing “3 for 5k” series, reader Garrett Jones submits an affordable collection with cleanly defined categories for each piece. While the classic Speedmaster might not fit everyone’s definition of a “dress watch,” in the context of Garrett’s collection, it makes a lot of sense. These are all sporty and robust watches perfect for an active lifestyle, they just get to that place in different ways, making each well suited to specific circumstances. Garrett had some money left over after picking three watches, so he’s also selected an additional item in a category many would agree is adjacent to watches, and somehow makes Garrett’s watch picks even more logical.  You can make your submission to the Three Watch Collection – Reader Edition by filling out the form right here. Being an avid collector and watch enthusiast, owning only three watches excites and scares me simultaneously. In a world where my watch collection would be limited to three pieces, the perfect collection would feature the following three styles: a dress watch, a travel watch, and an everyday workhorse. With that three-piece combination, you can dress for any occasion and have a watch that fits in anywhere. At first, I thought that a budget of $5,000 would be extremely restrictive, but I quickly realized that one of the best ways to stretch this money is by looking at pre-owned watches.  Omega Speedmaster Ref. 3570.50 ~$3,700 – The Dr...

Fratello’s Top 5 Current Cartier Models - Featuring The Tank Must, Tank Louis Cartier, Santos, And More Fratello
Cartier Models - Featuring Jan 26, 2024

Fratello’s Top 5 Current Cartier Models - Featuring The Tank Must, Tank Louis Cartier, Santos, And More

Another Friday, another Top 5! This week, we decided to leave the affordable watches for a minute to focus on something else. This week’s Top 5 is a look at the five best watches in Cartier’s current catalog. The brand has a wide selection of classics that are widely loved by watch fans all over […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Current Cartier Models - Featuring The Tank Must, Tank Louis Cartier, Santos, And More to read the full article.

What is the Cheapest Grand Seiko? Five Models You Can Buy for Under $5 Teddy Baldassarre
Grand Seiko ? Five Models You Jan 25, 2024

What is the Cheapest Grand Seiko? Five Models You Can Buy for Under $5

Since its high-profile launch to international markets outside its native Japan in 2010, and its subsequent relaunch as an independent watchmaker separate from parent brand Seiko in 2017, Grand Seiko has become a Holy Grail for many an avid watch enthusiast. Now firmly established, for many, as an upper-echelon luxury brand on the level of Rolex and Omega, Grand Seiko has cultivated its own loyal core of fans - including many budding collectors new to the watch game who might be initially intimidated by the cost of some of the manufacture’s most exclusive, high-profile timepieces. Fortunately, the price of admission to Grand Seiko ownership is actually more reasonable than you might have been led to believe, at least at the entry-level. Here are five Grand Seiko watches, representing a range of product families and movement styles, that fall on the more affordable side of the luxury spectrum.  Cheapest Grand Seiko “Snowflake:” STGF359 ($2,300) Among the most coveted models from Grand Seiko are the so-called ‘snowflake” editions, so nicknamed for their white, elegantly textured dials, made of stamped brass with a silver-plated finish, meant to evoke the blankets of fresh snow on the peaks of the Hokata Mountains that surround Seiko’s Shinshu Watch Studio in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture. The first “snowflake” was the legendary and now very collectible SBGA011, and other models have adopted the motif since then, most of them on the higher end of the brand’...

Christopher Ward Introduces a Slightly Smaller Version of their Popular C63 Sealander GMT Worn & Wound
Christopher Ward Introduces Jan 25, 2024

Christopher Ward Introduces a Slightly Smaller Version of their Popular C63 Sealander GMT

Christopher Ward, the UK-based watch company, has never shied away from a “big umbrella” approach when it comes to making price-accessible timepieces that don’t compromise on style or quality. Their latest C63 Sealander 36 GMT is no exception. Responding to the need for a universally wearable – and affordable – watch, Christopher Ward has released the C63 Sealander 36 GMT, a diminutive cousin to the larger 39mm C63 Sealander GMT. While this may be a condensed version of the Sealander, it’s no less elegant, retaining all of the clean aesthetics of a Christopher Ward watch, such as its finely brushed surfaces and polished chamfers.  True to the Sealander’s ‘Go Anywhere, Do Everything’ mantra, the 36 GMT boasts an ultra-legible dial adorned with applied indices, a twin-flags logo, a symmetrical 6 o’clock date, and brushed and polished hands filled with Super-LumiNova®. The GMT hand, featuring a vibrant orange accent, adds a sporty contrast to the White, Black, and Dragonfly Blue dial choices. The C63 Sealander 36 GMT runs on a Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement, which promises an impressive 56-hour power reserve. As a GMT watch, you can set the fourth hand separately to the time zone of your choice. The C63 Sealander 36 GMT is available now via Christopher Ward’s website, for a price starting at £905. Images from this post: The post Christopher Ward Introduces a Slightly Smaller Version of their Popular C63 Sealander GMT appeared first on Worn & Wound.

Seiko’s Latest Cocktail Inspired Dress Watches are Coming Soon Worn & Wound
Seiko s Latest Cocktail Inspired Jan 24, 2024

Seiko’s Latest Cocktail Inspired Dress Watches are Coming Soon

It can sometimes be easy to forget that there was a time when finding high-quality, affordable mechanical watches was a bit of a challenge. Back in those days, Seiko was the name of the game, and while plenty of worthy competitors have risen through the ranks to challenge the Japanese brand, Seiko still has a few tricks up its sleeve. Namely, Seiko knows how to make a hell of a dress watch. While there are plenty of iconic tool watches available at a true entry-level price point, finding great dress watches - especially mechanical ones - is harder to do. Since its initial introduction in 2010, the Cocktail Time series has offered collectors a genuinely exciting, and beautiful, dress watch at an almost shocking price. Today, Seiko has expanded its Cocktail Time lineup with the introduction of their latest collaboration with Hisashi Kishi’s famed Ginza watering hole, STAR BAR. This is not the first time Kishi and STAR BAR have collaborated with Seiko either. You might remember that back in 2022, Kishi and Seiko released the SSA455J1 and SSA457J1. That duo, based on the familiar colors of classic cocktails like the Martini, were distinguished by the cutouts in their dials reminiscent of a ripple on the surface of a drink. This time, Kishi and Seiko have released a pair of watches with inspiration taken from proprietary cocktails Kishi has created for STAR BAR inspired by the Tokyo skyline. What results is a pair of watches offered with beautiful gradient dials, perfect ...

An Equation for Watch Buying Satisfaction with the Bulova Hack Worn & Wound
Bulova Hack Jan 24, 2024

An Equation for Watch Buying Satisfaction with the Bulova Hack

In the early days of Facebook, “Facebook official” was a big deal. A status update from “in a relationship” to “single” sent shockwaves through social circles, and an update to “it’s complicated” was always sure to add some confusion and perhaps a few laughs. If such a social media page existed for watches (this is a terrible idea, please don’t do it), my status with the Bulova Hack would be: It’s complicated. I purchased my first Hack back in 2020 based on a subjective infatuation with its aesthetics. Afterall, the decision to purchase a watch is often triggered by an emotional response, and boy did the Hack have me smitten with its clean and legible classic military design. While I’m far from an expert on military watches, in the same way I can geek out over a racing chronograph without being a car guy, I appreciated that the modern Hack stayed relatively true to the Bulova A-11, credited as the watch that won the war. But technology has changed in the decades since the original Bulova Hack was issued to the US Military in World War II. As sapphire crystals and 100 meters of water resistance have become ubiquitous staples of field watches, the Hack remains stuck in the past with a mineral crystal and a mere 30 meters of water resistance. And though the modern Hack features a hackable movement just like the original ones that allowed for synchronizing time with the simple pull of a crown, the chunky Miyota 82S0 that allows for this feature, with an...

REVIEW: Hands On With HZ Watches - The Latest Australian Microbrand! WatchAdvice
Seiko s he got into Jan 24, 2024

REVIEW: Hands On With HZ Watches - The Latest Australian Microbrand!

The latest microbrand from Australia is about to launch, and we’ve been wearing their launch model, the HZ.01 for the last week getting a feel for it and the brand! What We Love The vintage-inspired lookThe ability to dress up or downThe circular graining on the dial and green outer track that pops What We Don’t Slightly on the smaller sizeDate window a little too smallLack of lume on the numerals Overall Rating: 8.5/10 Value for money: 9/10Wearability: 8.5/10Design: 8.5/10Build quality: 8/10 It’s not every day that you get to go hands on with a watch prior to its launch, well, not for an extended period of time and even rarer to wear it for a week or so and have fun with it to review. And when this is the launch model for a brand-new microbrand from Australia, then it is a privilege to test it out, and not only give feedback back to the brand, but let the general watch-buying public know about it and help support a fellow enthusiast-turned-watch maker with their new endeavour. A Bit Of Background HZ Watches is the brainchild of Matthew Zillman, a Melbourne local who, like many of us, developed a love for watches at an early age. Having had some early model Seiko’s, he got into watch modding and building after doing a movement swap on a Seiko 5 with the 7s26 movement. And in his words: “Before I had time to blink, I was modding and creating different custom SKX mods for myself and a few friends at university, which soon blossomed into Seiko Mods Australia” One ...

Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph: The Ultimate Guide Teddy Baldassarre
Accutron tuning-fork technology Jan 23, 2024

Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph: The Ultimate Guide

When we think about watches and space travel, Omega’s Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch” - the first watch qualified for missions by NASA and the first worn on the moon - is the timepiece that inevitably comes to mind. New York-based Bulova Watch Company, however, also played a noteworthy role during the height of the U.S.A.’s Space Race with the Soviet Union in the 1950s and ‘60s. The company, at the time headed by American war hero General Omar Bradley, established a partnership with NASA in which it provided precision instruments and timekeeping devices equipped with Bulova’s signature Accutron tuning-fork technology for 46 space missions.  Bulova even developed a watch built specifically for space travel, the electronic-powered Accutron Astronaut, which was worn in space for the first time in 1963, inside the Mercury Atlas-9 capsule that orbited the Earth. While the Omega Speedmaster established itself as the watch issued to astronauts of the Apollo program, which culminated in the July 1969 moon landing, Accutron Astronaut watches had become standard issue for the pilots of the U.S. Air Force’s X-15 experimental rocket-powered aircraft program and eventually for CIA pilots in their Lockheed A-12 supersonic jets. A Bulova Accutron clock remains in the moon's Sea of Tranquility to this day, placed there by Apollo 11 astronaut (and famous Omega wearer) Buzz Aldrin in 1969.  In 1971, Bulova personally gifted a one-of-a-kind, customized chronograph wa...

First Look - The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic 39mm Blue PVD (Incl. Video) Monochrome
Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic 39mm Blue Jan 23, 2024

First Look - The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic 39mm Blue PVD (Incl. Video)

The Maurice Lacroix Aikon is a regular candidate in our buying guides dedicated to accessibly priced sports watches. With its 1970s-shaped sports watch vibe, integrated bracelet, easy strap exchange system, solid build, automatic movement and competitive price, the Aikon ticks the boxes associated with this popular segment. The latest model to join the family is […]

Introducing - The Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Skeleton by Peter Speake Monochrome
Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Jan 23, 2024

Introducing - The Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Skeleton by Peter Speake

Frederique Constant, renowned, among other things, for its remarkable price-to-quality ratio, surprised the watch community with its original Slimline Perpetual Calendar model 2016. This competitively priced (under EUR 10,000) watch, equipped with the brand’s FC-775 perpetual calendar calibre, quickly gained recognition. In 2022, Frederique Constant presented an unexpected update to this model through a collaboration […]

Blending In This Monday Morning With The Tudor Black Bay Bronze In Slate Gray Fratello
Tudor Black Bay Bronze Jan 22, 2024

Blending In This Monday Morning With The Tudor Black Bay Bronze In Slate Gray

I know, the Tudor Black Bay Bronze is a bit of a golden oldie - or a gold-looking bronze oldie. This version debuted on the Tudor “menu” in 2019, but why not have seconds almost five years later and find out if it’s still as tasty? What the watch does as soon as it comes […] Visit Blending In This Monday Morning With The Tudor Black Bay Bronze In Slate Gray to read the full article.

Exhibition: Seiko Explores the Amusing and Avant-Garde with Power Design Project 2024 SJX Watches
Grand Seiko s distincti Jan 22, 2024

Exhibition: Seiko Explores the Amusing and Avant-Garde with Power Design Project 2024

Seiko has just opened the latest installation of Power Design Project, the annual exhibition that invites watch designers to explore experimental ideas designs centred on a particular theme that diverge from their conventional designs, generating innovative concepts that might one day be incorporated into watches. This year’s exhibition is titled Incredibly Specialized Watches and serves as extension of last year’s event with a continued focus on avant-garde designs with a functional twist. One of this year’s creations is a sukiyaki timer that helps the wearer cook beef in the hotpot dish – complete with a Kobe beef-pattern strap. Originally conceived two decades ago and halted in 2009, Power Design Project was revived in 2022 to capitalise on the increased interest in Seiko’s diverse stable of timekeepers. Taking place at Seiko’s exhibition space in the trendy district of Harajuku, the 2024 exhibition takes place from January 19th to March 31st. For this year’s exhibition, Seiko recruited seven designers to create distinct perspectives on wristwatches, with each design meant to specialise in a specific timekeeping function. As a result, the exhibition features seven watch models, but each with in two different configurations of the dial, case, and strap, resulting in 14 different timepieces in total. The sukiyaki watch Consider the ambidextrous wristwatch concept created Seiko’s in-house designer Kento Ito. This watch epitomises Grand Seiko’s distincti...

In-Depth: The Genius Behind the Audemars Piguet Universelle RD#4 Ultra-Complication SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet Universelle RD#4 Ultra-Complication Compl... Jan 22, 2024

In-Depth: The Genius Behind the Audemars Piguet Universelle RD#4 Ultra-Complication

Complicated watches are crucial to Audemars Piguet’s history, starting from its establishment in 1875 to the modern day; Audemars Piguet (AP) even supplied “ultra” complication movements to other brands in the late 19th and early 20th century. But it was in 2022 that the brand debuted its most impressive complicated watch – arguably the most impressive ever – the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4. “Ultra” complications with multiple functions are de rigueur for important watch brands, from Patek Philippe to F.P. Journe, so the Universelle RD#4 is unsurprising given the status of Audemars Piguet as one of the traditional “holy trinity” of Swiss watchmaking. The Universelle RD#4 is surprising, however, in its execution. The Universelle RD#4 is not merely another oversized and extremely complicated watch. Instead it has been thoughtfully designed to be unexpectedly user-friendly and wearable. In fact, the slim and sophisticated construction of its cal. 1000 is as much of an accomplishment as the long list of complications it offers. Put another way, the cal. 1000 is a masterclass in achieving the right balance between complexity, usability, and wearability. The historical Universelle pocket watch from 1899 in the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet that served as inspiration for its modern-day namesake An overview The Universelle RD#4 is an “ultra” complication – there’s no other way to describe it. The watch ticks the boxe...

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Baltic Farer Jan 21, 2024

A Week in Watches Ep. 72: A Year in Watches 2023 - Lorier, Baltic, Farer, and Friends!

Welcome to episode 72 of A Week in Watches. This week’s episode is part two of A Year in Watches 2023. This week, we focus on independent brands like Nodus, Lorier, Farer, Baltic, a fully American-made watch, and more. Naturally, there was way too much to cover again, so these were just a few highlights. This week’s episode was brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop. The best way to start the new year is a new watch. Head over to WindupWatchShop.com to check out new watches, limited editions, accessories, EDC, clocks, and more. The holidays are over, it’s time to get yourself something nice. The post A Week in Watches Ep. 72: A Year in Watches 2023 – Lorier, Baltic, Farer, and Friends! appeared first on Worn & Wound.

Sunday Morning Showdown: Formex Reef 39.5mm Vs. Seiko Prospex Marinemaster Fratello
Formex Reef 39.5mm Vs Seiko Jan 21, 2024

Sunday Morning Showdown: Formex Reef 39.5mm Vs. Seiko Prospex Marinemaster

Welcome to another Sunday Morning Showdown! We hope you woke up with a nice cup of coffee this Sunday morning and are ready to vote for your favorite watch in this week’s battle of the divers. This week, it’s going to be like David versus Goliath. In one corner, we have the new Formex Reef […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Formex Reef 39.5mm Vs. Seiko Prospex Marinemaster to read the full article.

A Studio Underd0g April Fool’s Joke Becomes a Reality, Proving that Everyone Loves a Pizza Party Worn & Wound
Studio Underd0g April Fool’s Joke Becomes Jan 19, 2024

A Studio Underd0g April Fool’s Joke Becomes a Reality, Proving that Everyone Loves a Pizza Party

What do Canned Unicorn Meat, a Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, an Apple Store Playmobil set with optional Line Pack, and the Studio Underd0g 01 SERIES Chronograph Pepper0ni have in common? All of these were introduced first as April Fool’s pranks before eventually transforming into real products (except the Apple Store Playmobil set - still a little mad at that one never making the leap). Back in the halcyon days of the internet, ThinkGeek specialized in this sort of April Fool’s nonsense. Today, Studio Underd0g is joining forces with Time+Tide to bring a little bit of that fun back. You may remember that back in April, Studio Underd0g founder Richard Benc (with some help from Time+Tide’s Andrew McUtchen) released a teaser video for another in the brand’s line of food-inspired watches. But where previous releases like the Watermel0n, Strawberries & Cream, or Pink Lem0nade have been mostly content to draw their bright color palettes from eponymous inspirations, the Pepper0ni promised a more… overt take on its namesake. While it quickly became apparent that the idea of a pizza-inspired 01SERIES Chronograph was meant as a one-off gag to celebrate the internet’s favorite holiday, apparently a huge number of you pizza/watch enthusiasts reached out asking after the watch. Now, nine months later, what was once a joke has become a reality - well, actually, two realities - because the real-life version of the Pizza Party chronograph comes in two distinct flavors: Pepper0n...

Fratello’s Top 5 Current Seiko Watches Under €500 - Featuring Seiko 5, Prospex, And Presage Models Fratello
Seiko Watches Under €500 - Jan 19, 2024

Fratello’s Top 5 Current Seiko Watches Under €500 - Featuring Seiko 5, Prospex, And Presage Models

Another Friday, another Top 5! After two lists of the best watches under €1,000, we’re staying on the topic of affordable watches. This week’s list focuses on the best Seiko watches under €500. The Japanese brand used to be the undisputed king of affordable mechanical timepieces. However, with rising prices, we sometimes think those days […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Current Seiko Watches Under €500 - Featuring Seiko 5, Prospex, And Presage Models to read the full article.

Industry News - Richemont Reports Sales up by 8% For Third Quarter, Jewellery Taking the Lead over Watches Monochrome
Cartier IWC JLC Jan 18, 2024

Industry News - Richemont Reports Sales up by 8% For Third Quarter, Jewellery Taking the Lead over Watches

Switzerland-based luxury conglomerate Richemont Group has just issued its trading update for the nine months ended 31 December 2023. The group, which includes brands such as Cartier, IWC, JLC and Vacheron, reports sales up by 8% at constant exchange rates and by 4% at actual exchange rates to EUR 5.6 billion for the last quarter […]

Zenith’s First New Release of the Year is a Pair of Blue Dialed Boutique Editions from their Pilot Collection Worn & Wound
Zenith s First New Release Jan 17, 2024

Zenith’s First New Release of the Year is a Pair of Blue Dialed Boutique Editions from their Pilot Collection

After a period of relative quiet in the watch industry over the holidays, as we head into mid-January it’s clear that we are not being fully launched into New Release Season, with news coming across our desks about watch releases from some of our favorite brands. Some we can share now, and some will have to wait, but it’s clear whatever respite we had between Thanksgiving and New Years is, well, completely over. First out of the gate among the big Swiss luxury brands is Zenith, with news about an addition to their Pilot collection, which was their big launch in 2023.  The Pilot collection took us by surprise last year. After several years of focusing on the Defy and Chronomaster lines, it felt like a left turn of sorts. But Zenith is rightfully incredibly proud of the Pilot and the heritage it represents. Zenith trademarked “Pilot” in 1904, and is famously the only watchmaker who can use the word solo on a watch dial. The watches we saw last year represented a new twist on a format we know well. They aren’t regurgitations of a historic reference, but feel like a modern realization of an aviation themed watch with contemporary proportions and materials.  The new boutique editions seen here take the Pilot Automatic and Pilot Big Date Flyback and add blue dials, offering an alternative to the jet black seen on last year’s collection. According to Zenith, the shade of blue seen on these dials is meant to evoke the night sky as seen by a pilot, but blue is a commo...

Parmigiani’s Mastery Showcased in Dragon Chiming-Automaton Clock SJX Watches
Ming Automaton Clock Originally presented Jan 16, 2024

Parmigiani’s Mastery Showcased in Dragon Chiming-Automaton Clock

Originally presented in 2012 to that Year of the Dragon – and reputedly priced at over US$3 million at the time – the Parmigiani Le Dragon et la Perle du Savoir has been restored just in time for this Year of the Dragon that soon begins in February 2024. Now renamed Tempus Fugit, the automaton made up of a dragon chasing a flaming pearl, a traditional motif in Chinese culture. Initial thoughts This exemplifies Parmigiani’s mastery of ultra-high-end automatons and clocks that were a key part of its offerings in the 1990s. During that period, only Parmigiani and Gerald Genta specialised in such extraordinary creations. Although this was produced in 2012, it certainly evokes the sculptural automaton clocks of that earlier period. Such extravagant automatons clocks are rare today – only Van Cleef & Arpels regularly creates such one-offs now – but are undeniably impressive. Like its peers, the dragon automaton combines goldsmithing, gem-setting, automata construction, and of course clockmaking, all techniques mastered by Parmigiani thanks to its restoration department, which was historically the best in Switzerland. Naturally, the brand’s affordable and relatively more ordinary wristwatch offerings don’t possess the same extravagant craft, but it is good to know the scope of the brand’s capabilities. The dragon chasing a pearl A familiar motif in Chinese folklore, the dragon chasing a flaming pearl represents the pursuit of wisdom, prosperity, or power. Here it ...

Hands-On: the Direnzo DRZ06 Wandering Star Worn & Wound
Ming little more than Jan 15, 2024

Hands-On: the Direnzo DRZ06 Wandering Star

I always look forward to checking out a new release from Direnzo. There’s always more than meets the eye, and the DRZ06 Wandering Star is no exception. The watch is a marriage of the familiar and the unexpected. In this case, the ‘familiar’ is an evolution of Direnzo’s retro-futuristic design language, including a dish-shaped dial, bold colors, and organic-feeling markers cut into a sandwich dial. The ‘unexpected’ is the presence of a mystery dial. It’s now some years since I wrote about the originals and heyday of the Mystery Dial here, but it’s still a feature I’d like to see more of. I guess many watchmakers might be deterred from attempting this as it’s difficult to avoid the mystery being the interesting thing about a watch and therefore becoming little more than a gimmick. Perhaps the reason it has been implemented successfully as part of the DRZ06 Wandering Star is that we just have a mystery sub-dial for the running seconds, with a lone red dot slowly spinning around against the lumed backdrop. Last summer I spent some time with Direnzo’s previous release – a reworking of one of their earliest models. The case of the new DRZ06 is similar in shape to that of the DRZ02 Aerolite, but with some subtle changes that blend to give a different character. For starters, the brushed steel bezel is larger in every way. Despite the main watch case being a soft square shape, this strong bezel makes the watch feel far rounder. The Wandering Star still pull...

Hands-on - The Accessible Tissot Le Locle Powermatic 80 20th Anniversary Edition Monochrome
Tissot Le Locle Powermatic 80 Jan 15, 2024

Hands-on - The Accessible Tissot Le Locle Powermatic 80 20th Anniversary Edition

I won’t hide the reality: finding a genuinely elegant watch at a fair price isn’t the easiest of tasks. Dress watches, while often free of any complications, are not the most represented timepieces within the portfolios of accessible brands. Naturally,  there are some candidates to consider, but finding an affordable dive watch is far easier. In […]

Jaeger-LeCoultre Enhances the Master Ultra Thin Power Reserve with Subtle Updates Worn & Wound
Jaeger-LeCoultre Enhances Jan 15, 2024

Jaeger-LeCoultre Enhances the Master Ultra Thin Power Reserve with Subtle Updates

Many in the watch community are predicting that 2024 will be year where we see a wider adoption of avant-garde and modern design as the pendulum continues to swing away from vintage inspired classicism. This is a good thing, and worth celebrating. But there will always be a market for elegant, classic designs. The kind that have been nailed down and perfect for decades, and define the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. There isn’t a brand out there that is more in tune with this style of watchmaking than Jaeger-LeCoultre. Similar to Rolex, they iterate slowly, and don’t adhere to the (false) notion that buzzy new releases are required as part of an industry cycle. They just kind of do their thing, and it almost always results in a beautiful object. Their latest, the Master Ultra Thin Power Reserve, is familiar in many ways but has several small changes that make it even more refined.  Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ultra thin watches are a niche of a niche unto themselves. For years, even before the current Thinness Wars really took shape, JLC has been adept at getting the best possible performance from impossibly thin movements, and taking advantage of their diminutive dimensions by housing them in exceedingly well designed watches that take full advantage of their size. For the new Master Ultra Thin Power Reserve, JLC’s Caliber 938 has been reworked slightly to increase the total power reserve to a healthy 70 hours without drastically changing the movement...