Results for Le Brassus

Introducing: The MB&F; + L'Epée 1839 Starfleet Explorer

A downsized spin on the brand's out-of-this-world desk clock.

“La Musique du Temps” Les Cabinotiers Grand Complication Split-seconds Chronograph - Tempo

Vacheron Constantin creates a pair of exceptional, highly complicated, and romantic wristwatches conceived by the master watchmakers of Les Cabinotiers.

“La Musique du Temps” Les Cabinotiers Astronomical Striking Grand Complication - Ode to Music

Vacheron Constantin finds musical inspiration from the heavens above.

Introducing: The Hermès Arceau L’Heure De La Lune With Five New Dials (Including One From Mars)

These watches give "otherworldly" a whole new meaning.

Retailer Spotlight: Grenon's Of Newport, RI, And Brent L. Miller Jewelers & Goldsmiths Of Lancaster, PA

Straight from America's horological homeland.

The Low-Key Debut of the Coolest Recent IWC Big Pilot

Last month IWC premiered a limited edition that has all the qualities of a hit: a bestselling classic in an exotic material, made in a very small run – and also incorporating nerdy, collector-oriented details. Instead, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Black Carbon was debuted quietly, delivered to clients, and pretty much went unnoticed around the world. The first ever Big Pilot with a carbon fibre composite case, the Big Pilot Black Carbon has a black dial with grey hands and markings, replicating the colour of the composite case. It’s livened up by red accents on the power reserve indicator and seconds hand (and also the date disc, for a small number of special watches, more on that below). The famous “fish” More unusually, the Big Pilot Black Carbon has a “fish” crown – the oversized, onion-shaped winding crown has a stylised fish logo on its top. Despite being a seemingly trivial detail, the “fish” crown is dear to IWC enthusiasts, being a memorable element from IWC’s 20th century history – one many collectors regard as a golden age. From the 1950s until the mid-2000s, most water-resistant IWC watches featured a “fish” crown. The very first generation of the Big Pilot, the ref. 5002 introduced in 2002, featured a “fish” crown. Not long after, the “fish” crown was dispensed with in favour of a crown featuring the IWC “Probus Scafusia” emblem. This happened sometime in 2006, first with a “transitional” ref. 5002 that was equi...

Hands-On: Avantist La Majesté Tourbillon

Now four years old, Avantist was founded by Bruneian entrepreneur Keeran Janin and probably most famous for its tennis watches that incorporate string taken from the racquet used by Martina Navratilova when she won Wimbledon 1987. The brand has since diversified into other memorabilia timepieces, including one that contains strings from one of John Mayer’s guitars and another featuring threads from the national flag flown on the day of the Sultan of Brunei’s coronation. But Avantist’s most notable timepieces are the series of skeleton tourbillon watches that are entirely customisable, the La Majesté Tourbillon. These custom watches have so far been created for notable personalities, including sportsmen and heads of state; the first example – the model name translates as “His Majesty” – was conceived for the Sultan of Brunei. Powered by a hand-wound, skeleton movement from complications specialist Concepto, the La Majeste is customisable in its entirety, from the case and movement material to the design of the barrel ratchet wheel. Though the La Majeste is yet another watch in the sporty-skeleton-tourbillon genre, it manages to be a different take on a familiar look. At the same time, it combines an interesting movement with a surprisingly light and tactile feel in the hand. Thoughtfully detailed From design to production, the La Majeste Tourbillon is the work of leading names in Swiss watchmaking, most notably with Concepto supplying the movement. Best kno...

Happenings: Dover Street Market LA To Hold Exhibition Of Rare Cartiers

The high-fashion retailer is holding a watch show you won't want to miss.

HODINKEE Radio: Episode 53: Summer Watches, Unrest In Hong Kong, And The LA Times's Daniel Miller

We're covering a lot of ground this week.

Artisans de Genève Introduces the Daytona “La Barrichello”

Anyone who followed Formula 1 in the 1990s to the early 2000s would remember Rubens Barrichello as effective driver. Though the Brazilian did not win any championships, he notched up 11 wins and 68 podium finishes. Like many fellow Formula 1 drivers, Mr Barrichello likes watches and was once an Audemars Piguet ambassador; the Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello II of 2006 was one of the hottest watches of the era.  Unsurprisingly, Mr Barrichello is apparently a fan of the Rolex Daytona – arguably the auto racing watch – explaining his collaboration with Artisans de Genève, a Swiss outfit that specialises in customising Rolex watches. They gave his Rolex Daytona a makeover to create “La Barrichello”, a strikingly and heavily modified Cosmograph Daytona with an open-worked movement. Notably, Artisans de Genève just last year performed a similar custom job on a Daytona belonging to Juan-Pablo Montoya, another F1 driver who was active in the sport at the same time as Mr Barrichello. Both drivers’ skeletonised watches are novel in a good way; much of Artisans de Genève’s other creations are modern Daytonas modified to look like vintage “Paul Newman” Daytonas, which is arguably less interesting. Creative differences “La Barrichello” started out as the all-steel Daytona ref. 116520, which is the preceding generation of Daytona that was first introduced in 2000 before being replaced by the ref. 116500LN (distinguished by its ceramic bezel) in 2...

Best Law Enforcement Watches Part #4: The Retirement Watch

While I have accumulated a nice collection of timepieces , my pursuit of watches does not stop. I still see watches I like and will buy some here and there just because I know I can utilize them in my off time with the family.

Best Law Enforcement Watches Part #3: First Line Supervisor

Well, at this point in a career you are beginning to think about promotion and gravitating towards the managing and leading people role, as opposed to focusing on yourself for the most part. It's a lot like having children, except without the cuddling and bedtime stories. So, why not take this time, focus on yourself for just a little bit, and be selfish about what goes on your wrist.

Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph Review: Why I Sold Mine & Why I’ll Probably Buy Another

The Bulova Lunar Pilot chronograph is a watch that has plagued my mind for such a long time, I figured it was time to get my thoughts down and share them with the community. Close to a year ago, I pulled the trigger and purchased it from a small family jeweler selling the watch well below MSRP.

Basel 2018: MB&F; & L’Epée 1839 Introduce The Fifth Element

Playing Secret Santa: Sophie Furley to Revolution’s Hong Kong Editorial Director, Sean Li

Revolution’s editors pick holiday watches for each other - in secret.

The Lengths Of Time: La Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud

Extraordinary moment. A watch that transmits all the achievements of Berthoud as the father of French marine chronometer in a brilliantly contemporary timepiece. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has revived the mythology of one of horology’s most mythical names with beautiful modern eloquence. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is better known as the head honcho of Chopard timepieces, but he has […]

Video: New York’s Frick Collection Takes You Inside A Masterpiece By A. L. Breguet

“Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at the Frick Collection” is an exhibit at New York’s Frick Collection of a stunning group of priceless clocks and watches, many from the collection of Winthrop K. Edey, who bequeathed his collection of clocks and watches –which includes remarkable timepieces dating all the way back to the Renaissance […]

Beyond the Familiar: A History of A. Lange & Söhne’s 1815 Collection

Ferdinand Adolph Lange was born in Dresden on February 18th, 1815. Thirty years later he’d found his eponymous company, and 145 years after that a new A. Lange & Söhne would rise from the proverbial ashes of East Germany. The A. Lange & Söhne we know today debuted in 1994 when the brand launched four watches: the Arkade, Saxonia, Lange 1, and the flagship Tourbillon Pour le Mérite, which established a set of visual codes that would later define the 1815 collection. Today, the 1815 family is primarily known for its many time-only variants, the 1815 Up/Down, and, of course, the 1815 Chronograph. However, the 1815 collection also includes some of the brand’s most extraordinary, unusual, and rarely seen models. Lange 1815 Emil Lange Moon Phase (1999) The Tourbillon Pour le Mérite of 1994 defined the 1815 collection’s design codes, specifically the printed Arabic dial that is vaguely reminiscent of a pocket watch despite being an almost from-scratch design. However, it was not officially badged as an 1815. That designation arrived the following year with the refs. 206.021 in yellow gold and 206.025 in white gold. These introductions saw the rectangular movement inside the Arkade and Saxonia reformatted to make it presentable through a display case back. The extra space was put to use in the followup 1815 Up/Down, which added the namesake power reserve indicator and recreated the running seconds. In 1999, Lange launched the 1815 Moonphase Emil Lange (1849-1921) to mark...

A Surprising Series Of Three-Handers: The New Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport

In 2021, Zenith introduced the Chronomaster Sport as its modern sports chronograph. The new series was widely discussed immediately after its release, and despite (or perhaps due to) its hotly debated Rolex Daytona-like aesthetic, it became a massive commercial success for the Le Locle-based brand. Over time, Zenith introduced several new versions that widened the […] Visit A Surprising Series Of Three-Handers: The New Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport to read the full article.

Introducing: The Maison Alcée x MB&F; Nostromo

What We Know Maison Alcée jumped headlong into the watch community consciousness in 2023, winning the GPHG 'Audacity Prize' in recognition of the brand's unique do-it-yourself, high horology, clock-building kits. Championed by Ben, who served on the GPHG jury that year, the French husband-and-wife team of Alcée and Benoit Montfort went on to craft a highly successful LE collaboration with Hodinkee (with lume!) that quickly sold out. Now Alcée and Benoit are back with another collaboration that takes their clock-making kit to the next level. Collaborating with MB&F;, who have long supported Maison Alcée by showcasing and selling their work at their Mad Gallery locations, the Maison Alcée x MB&F; Nostromo leans hard into the well-established alien aesthetic the Geneva-based creative force is known for.  Adding to the intrigue is that this clock was designed by MB&F;'s Creative Designer, Maximilian Maertens. He's the young German who is slowly and purposefully starting to take the lead on some of MB&F;'s pieces, as Max Büsser begins to step back and give up a bit of creative control over the collective brand project he founded more than two decades ago.  So what makes this Maison Alcée kit interesting and different? It's certainly expressive of the MB&F; design language, with the arched base legs or feet giving it an extraterrestrial personality. Maertens says he's a fan of and inspired by the late Swiss artist H.R. Giger (check out the wild Giger Museum in Gruyères if y...

Introducing - Henri Grandjean & Cie Unveils the Magician Atrivm Green Sapphire and Atrivm Red Sapphire

Henri Grandjean (1803-1879) was a master watchmaker from Le Locle, renowned for his precision marine chronometers and for his pioneering role in Swiss chronometry. The name was recently revived by entrepreneur and collector Sohail Aziz and positioned as an independent brand specialising in exquisite high-end contemporary haute horlogerie. Making an impressive debut, Henri Grandjean & […]

Dispatch: A Love Letter To "The Valley of Complications"

Two months ago, I spent a Friday lunch eating a sandwich called the Crazy Poulet at Notos Bar Restaurant in Le Sentier with Mark Schmid, who is a sort of jack-of-all-trades in the marketing and communications department at Audemars Piguet. Schmid has quickly become someone I'd consider a friend, whom I appreciate for our candid conversations, his willingness (and frequency) to correct my confusion between l'accent aigu and l'accent grave in articles, and, more recently, his gastronomic suggestions. I'm sure this story will require a few more corrections from Mark, for which I apologize (mostly to him) in advance, but I wanted to share a recent experience that illustrates why I love Switzerland's Vallée de Joux, past and present. Le Sentier, pictured back in 2022 on the author's first trip to Switzerland. The town, now home to the headquarters of Jaeger-LeCoultre, was the hometown of Samuel-Olivier Meylan, the first watchmaker in the valley who began crafting timepieces around 1743 and set the stage for what is arguably the most important geographic location in watchmaking. "People ask me what I'd want to do if I didn't work at Hodinkee," I said. "Sometimes I say that I wish I could be the head of the tourism bureau for the Vallée de Joux." "Well, maybe you could be our advocate in New York," he said. "But if you came back here on a Thursday night at 4 o'clock, this place would be full. You'd hear watchmakers talking about all the things they were up to at AP, JLC, Blancp...

Introducing: The Doxa Sub 200 T-Graph II

What We Know Just in time for the hot and humid summer ahead, Doxa has just unveiled a new generation of its distinctive, cushion-cased dive-watch-slash-chronograph with the new Sub 200 T.Graph II. The best part? It's no longer a limited edition, but rather a permanent offering for the brand. Oh, and thankfully, it's priced less than that previous 300-piece LE. At a quick glance, nothing seems to have changed on Doxa's tribute to its 1969 design, and you'd be sort of correct. The dial layout, with two subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock, along with an oversized arrowhead chronograph seconds hand, remains the same in this new generation. But the main changes here are sure to make almost everyone happy: a slight reduction in diameter and case thickness. While the previous Sub 200 T.Graph measured at 43mm in diameter with a thickness of 15.15mm, the steel case on the Sub 200 T.Graph II measures 42mm in diameter and 14.6mm in thickness.  Rather than the new old stock Valjoux 7734 chronograph caliber that the limited edition housed, this new T.Graph II uses a contemporary automatic Sellita SW510 chronograph caliber, with a slightly higher 56-hour power reserve and a much higher beat rate of 28,800 VpH. New to the Sub 200 T.Graph II is also another dial color, Caribbean (Doxa's name for blue), which is a familiar livery within the brand's other models but never before offered on a T.Graph. The dark, slightly dusty navy dial joins the three other colorways found in the original design: ...

Introducing: The Autodromo Group C Turbo Sport Chronograph

What We Know It's been a while since we've heard from Autodromo. The motorsports-inspired boutique brand is a longtime favorite of many here at Hodinkee. Heck, we did a pretty cool LE with them back in 2023, featuring a special-edition series of Group B Chronographs. That same year, the brand unveiled its Group C, a watch that captured the spirit of digital '80s watches rather nicely.   Today, Autodromo is launching its first totally new model since then. Meet the Autodromo Group C Turbo Sport, a fresh take on the practical analog-digital (ana-digi) watches like the Tissot Two Timer, the Heuer Manhattan Chronosplit GMT, and, of course, Breitling's Aerospace and Pluton that once adorned wrists behind the wheel and at the track a couple of decades back.   The case is 38.5 millimeters in diameter and made from anodized aluminum – that's the alloy that your BMX bike parts used to be made from back in the day – or at least mine were. The new Group C Turbo comes in three anodized aluminum flavors, clear, grey, and gold. Each has a stainless steel caseback and features a grid dial that's meant to evoke the tachymeter instruments of the Group C Turbo racing era that ran from the early 1980s until about 1993, and was defined by European endurance events including the 24 hours of Le Mans. The Group C cars of the era that inspired these watches featured clean lines, ground effects that delivered high downforce, and turbochargers, offering outsized horsepower that demanded physi...

First Look - The DUG Glashutte Purist Typ 2 Is Good-Old Honest Watchmaking

If there’s one epicentre of watchmaking outside of Switzerland that can measure itself with Le Locle or the Vallée du Joux, it’s Glashütte. This small region in the far east of Germany was once known for its rich iron ore deposits and very active mining culture. But as deposits ran dry and prosperity dwindled, people […]

First Look - The DUG Glashütte Purist Typ 1 Is Good-Old Honest Watchmaking

If there’s one epicentre of watchmaking outside of Switzerland that can measure itself with Le Locle or the Vallée du Joux, it’s Glashütte. This small region in the far east of Germany was once known for its rich iron ore deposits and very active mining culture. But as deposits ran dry and prosperity dwindled, people […]

Introducing - The New Hermès Arceau Cavalier en Formes

Designed in 1978 by Henri d’Origny, the acclaimed artistic director of Hermès who defined le gout Hermès, the elegantly asymmetrical Arceau echoes the brand’s longstanding equestrian ties with its stirrup-shaped lugs. The latest Arceau Cavalier en Formes is an amalgamation of the collection’s strengths, combining a highly sophisticated tourbillon and minute repeater complication with a […]

Hands-on - The Pequignet Royale Paris Chronograph (Incl. Video Review)

Just a stone’s throw north of Neuchâtel, Switzerland and crossing the border into France, you will stumble upon a town called Morteau. Much like Le Locle and the Vallée de Joux are for the Swiss, Morteau is the heart of French mechanical watchmaking. It is here that you will find the Pequignet manufacture, a company […]

Zenith and Naoya Hida & Co. Team Up for a Double-Signed G.F.J. Calibre 135

The Le Locle manufacture launches a new collaboration program, and its first partner is the most talked-about independent in Japan

Dispatch: A Visit to Philippe Dufour's Workshop, Twelve Years Since Our Last

It's been some time since we visited Philippe Dufour's workshop—at least officially. I'm not sure if my colleagues have stopped in before, which wouldn't surprise me. Once you know Dufour, stopping by his workshop in Le Solliat becomes much more informal. But until two weeks ago, I actually hadn't stepped foot inside the old building that was once his kids' schoolhouse and that has become his workshop.  Back in 2013, Ben stopped by during the "Road to Basel" series, but a lot has changed since then. Or has it? Despite being a watchmaker for over 59 years now, all Philippe Dufour seems to want to do is make watches. And where better to do it than the famed "Valley of Complications"?  When we last left him, Ben noted that he had just delivered the last of his Simplicities, after about 200 watches. "He will never make another," said Ben, and that Dufour was working on a more complicated follow-up. Well, since then, he certainly has delivered more Simplicities, including one with an aventurine dial that was auctioned for charity, and there are still more watches on the bench. And it's not just him at the workshop; his daughter Danièla is also working away as well. Tools on the display cases inside Philippe Dufour's workshop and a selection of pocket watches  In 2022, I traveled to Switzerland and the Vallée de Joux for the first time to research and photograph a story on the watchmaker Charles-Henri Meylan. I immediately fell in love with the place. The three-dimensiona...