Two Broke Watch Snobs
Scurfa Watches Review: Wish I Tried This Watch Brand Sooner
For under $300 is Scurfa Watches the full package? Get all the facts, details, and unique photos you need to make the best choice right here!
Results for Alarm Watch
20,324 articles · 5,653 videos found · page 295 of 866
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Deployant
Throwback Sundays: Six Independent Watchmakers which you should know, but may not
Six Independent Watchmakers who you may not know: Ch. Frodsham, McGonigle, Petermann-Bédat, Sylvian Pinaud, Tulloch and James C. Pellaton.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Ep. #104 Black Friday Wish Lists & 2 Years of TBWS
Kaz and Mike celebrate 2 years of TBWS and share a handful of watches they hope to see discounted during the wave of Black Friday sales. What do you have your eye on this year? Be sure to share the watches you're hoping to hunt down this holiday season.
Deployant
Baselworld 2018 Chief Editor’s Choice: Top 5 watches which may blow your budget.
The Chief Editor makes his picks from the crop of Baselworld 2018 watches. All likely to cause heart palpitations from your bank manager. Selection from Rolex, Grand Seiko, Andreas Strehler, H. Moser and Patek Philippe.
Revolution
Christmas Wish List: Suzanne Wong, Revolution Technical Editor at Large
Suzanne’s note to Santa isn’t just a list of watches, but a list of watches in very specific case/strap/dial combinations. Rudolph had better be good at helping take quick notes; just ONE day to Christmas now!
Video
Omega Released a NEW Watch...and Refuses to Fix It.
Monochrome
First Look – The New Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Chronograph with Ocean Grey Lacquer Dial
First released in 2018, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris collection was designed to reintroduce a sports range alongside the brand’s classical Reverso and Master lineups. Deeply inspired by the 1968 Memovox Polaris dive watch with its alarm mechanism, there was more to the collection than just this complication, as the brand also released some pretty attractive chronographs. […]
Monochrome
Buying Guide – Five Watches With Flyer GMT Functionality, And Then Some…
To function properly, a watch first and foremost needs to tell time. On top of that, there’s a world of complexity and practicality to be discovered. One such complication is the GMT function, preferably of the Flyer kind. But what if you want something more than that? What if you want, let’s say, an alarm […]
Monochrome
Introducing – The Vulcain Nautical Legacy by Massena LAB
For its latest collaboration watch, NYC-based design studio Massena LAB is teaming up with venerable, alarm-specialist watchmaker Vulcain, bringing its own take on an emblematic model, the Cricket Nautical. This watch, which relied on the brand’s signature chiming complication, was one of the first of its kind, merging diving credentials with the alarm feature that […]
Quill & Pad
Monterey I & II: The (Almost) Forgotten First Watches of Louis Vuitton
Many think that Louis Vuitton's first watch was the Tambour, which was launched in 2002. However the brand actually began with a watch collection called Monterey in the 1980s. The Monterey I, an unusual worldtime watch designed by Gae Aulenti with date and moon phase, was soon followed by the ceramic-encased Monterey II that added an alarm function.
Fratello
Introducing: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic - A Characteristic Complication Surfaces
The contemporary Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris debuted six years ago. Since then, new variations have emerged, including a chronograph, a perpetual calendar, and the Mariner Memovox alarm model. But a multi-time-zone version was missing from the revived lineup - until today. The Polaris Geographic is a travel watch with one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s signature complications. One glance at […] Visit Introducing: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic - A Characteristic Complication Surfaces to read the full article.
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Why Being a Watch Enthusiast is HARD
Worn & Wound
Here We Go Again: the Swatch x Omega Mission to Moonphase New Moon
Well, here we go again. Just a few weeks after the launch of the Swatch x Omega Mission to Moonphase, which saw Snoopy appearing on a pure white MoonSwatch, we’ve got an entirely new creation featuring our beagle friend. By entirely new of course what I really mean is: another color. The Mission to Moonphase New Moon is an all black rendering of the Mission to Moonphase concept. Swatch has been teasing this release over the past several days on social media, so it’s not exactly a surprise, unless you think about the very existence of these watches in the first place, and the conversation that develops around them whenever a new one drops, which is, on its face, surprising. The new Mission to Moonphase New Moon arrives just before April’s new moon, which is also the date of the total solar eclipse that will be visible to millions of Americans in the eastern part of the country (and many more will see a partial eclipse, which is still quite a thing). One wonders why Omega and Swatch didn’t come up with an eclipse themed watch for the occasion. There are all kinds of ways to play with the idea of blotting out the sun. A Bioceramic rendition of the sun’s corona could have been a pretty cool thing. I shouldn’t say “could have been,” of course. It could well be in the works. Quantum physics has proven that if enough time passes, every possible rendition of the MoonSwatch will eventually come to fruition. Back to the Mission to Moonphase at hand. The New Moon re...
SJX Watches
Swatch Unveils the MoonSwatch “Snoopy” Mission to the Moonphase
Swatch and Omega are once again dropping another collaboration that is bound to be a hit, the MoonSwatch Mission to the Moonphase. Inspired by the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch “Snoopy”, the new MoonSwatch features a moon phase along with an all-white Bioceramic case and matching white strap. Snoopy resides on the moon phase display at two o’clock, which features a hidden quote printed in Super-Luminova, “I can’t sleep without a night light!”, that is invisible except in the dark or when exposed to UV light. The Mission to the Moonphase is not a limited edition and instead part of the permanent collection. Initial thoughts Although the MoonSwatch has been a massive hit in terms of units sold – the total sold to date is in the low millions – recent iterations of the model haven’t been particularly exciting, with most of them simply having the addition of a gold-plated seconds hand. With the MoonSwatch Mission to the Moonphase, however, Swatch is bringing something more interesting to the table. While it certainly isn’t imaginative, the appeal of the watch is obvious. For one, it builds on the capitalises on the desirability of the actual Speedmaster “Snoopy”. At the same time, the all-white livery sets it apart from the other MoonSwatch iterations. Like the other versions of the MoonSwatch, the new Snoopy edition offers decent value at US$310. It is inexpensive, though it does feel inexpensive since the case is essentially plastic mixed with ceramic. B...
Teddy Baldassarre
Chiming Watches: 12 Exceptional Minute Repeaters, Alarms, Sonneries, a
Chiming watches represent one of the most coveted types of complicated watches in the world - despite the fact that they are also one of the most archaic and, in practical terms, obsolete. The most popular type is the minute repeater, which chimes the time audibly on demand; it was invented for pocket watches in the 18th and 19th Century as a practical method of alerting its wearer of the current time in the dark, in the era before electric lighting and luminous details on watch dials. Definitively regarded as more a luxury today than a tool, a minute repeater has an independent chiming mechanism with two small hammers striking coiled metal gongs, generally activated by a slide on the side of the case, to produce different tones for the hour, quarter hour, and minute. The most sophisticated of these chiming watches might also include a grande sonnerie, and/or petite sonnerie: the former perpetually strikes the hour every hour and the hour plus the quarter-hour at every quarter, without any need for the wearer to activate it with a slide; the latter strikes the hour every hour, and the quarter-hour (but not the hour) every quarter, also independently of any activation by the wearer. Sometimes the chiming functions are even coordinated with moving, elaborate dial animations called automata. Watches with chiming functions tend to be rather rare and almost always prodigiously expensive, but a handful of watchmakers have managed to create examples that are slightly less compl...
Monochrome
Opinion – Our take on the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms
A few months ago, Swatch and Blancpain introduced the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms. Yup, quite a mouthful. It’s effectively the follow-up of the Moonswatch, which can be seen as Swatch’s take on the Omega Speedmaster. We didn’t cover it on MONOCHROME for obvious reasons (it’s a quartz watch…) despite being a huge […]
SJX Watches
The Logic and Lavishness of the Patek Philippe Aquanaut “Rainbow” Minute Repeater Ref. 5260
Unveiled barely a week after the reasonably traditional Minute Repeater Alarm ref. 1938P, the Aquanaut Luce “Rainbow” Minute Repeater ref. 5260 is unexpected, over the top, and entirely logical. It’s available in two variants, the simpler ref. 5260/355R-001 on a strap and the no-expense-spared ref. 5260/1455R-001 that’s set with gemstones on practically every surface, even the hour and minute hands. Now the most expensive ladies’ watch in the Patek Philippe catalogue – the ref. 5260/1455R-001 on bracelet costs CHF2.5 million with taxes – the ref. 5260 is a first in several ways. It’s the first Patek Philippe sports model with a minute repeater, and also the first ladies’ sports model with a “grand” complication. In fact, the ref. 5260 is the most complicated sports model of any kind, with the next-most-complicated being the Nautilus Perpetual Calendar ref. 5740. The ref. 5260/1455R-001 Initial thoughts I can certainly comprehend the appeal of the ref. 5260, even though it’s evidently not a watch catered to me. As far as crazily over-the-top ladies watches with impressive sertissage and impeccable horological credentials go, it doesn’t get any better than this. Mechanically the ref. 5260 is identical to Patek Philippe’s revered minute repeating models since it is powered by the R 27, the longstanding self-winding movement found in the current ref. 5178 and all the way back to the ref. 3979. In acoustic and watchmaking terms, the Aquanaut repeater...
Video
Watch Expert Reviews The Best Watches Under $1,000
Worn & Wound
Swatch and The Simpsons Meet for a Watch Honoring the Long Running Series
I am an unabashed fan of Swatch. I’ve always loved Swatch watches, and as I’ve gotten deeper and deeper into the hobby over the years, my appreciation for them has only grown. They occupy a position that only a few other brands can claim, which is that they’re both an entry point into the hobby, and an arena for very serious collecting. Seriously, Swatch collecting is almost a separate category from watch collecting entirely, and requires a completely different base of knowledge, and, often, an appreciation for things that more mainstream collectors don’t often think about (like packaging, to name just one example). Swatch has been on something of a roll lately in my opinion, releasing a slew of watches that are genuinely interesting and visually striking, and sometimes paying homage to the brand’s early days in unexpected ways. One of my favorite pastimes around here is calling out the great things Swatch does besides the neverending collaborations with their luxury group siblings (it’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of the MoonSwatch and new Blancpain collabs), and a recent release, a collaboration of a different sort, caught my eye. Yes, Swatch has a new watch featuring classic iconography from The Simpsons, one of the most omnipresent pieces of pop culture in our lives over the last three decades. It’s a perfectly cromulent watch if there ever was one. The Seconds of Sweetness watch uses Homer’s famous pink donut as a motif, with ever pres...
Time+Tide
Wear this Pride-themed Swatch in Malaysia and you face a three-year jail term
A couple of weeks ago, T+T reported how Swatch were suing the Malaysian government after it seized 172 of their watches from stores. The reason for the seizure? The watches, which come in either rainbow colours or a single colour with a rainbow trim, were released in support of Pride, the movement that promotes the … ContinuedThe post Wear this Pride-themed Swatch in Malaysia and you face a three-year jail term appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Worn & Wound
Vulcain Continues Revival With New Chronograph 1970’s
Vulcain has been around in one form or another since the mid-1800s. A few ownership changes, some rocky years, a shutdown, and two eventual revivals make up the long and rocky road that is the Vulcain brand. If you’ve heard of the brand before, it’s most likely that the Cricket is the watch you’re familiar with. The Cricket gets the most attention, being worn on the wrists of American Presidents and having a unique alarm complication that made it stand out from the pack. While the Cricket is great, there’s another watch that doesn’t get quite as much attention, but definitely deserves it, and that’s the Chronograph 1970’s. This new release from Vulcain is a true-to-form recreation of a watch they released back in the 1970s, right down to the spot-on vintage proportions. Let’s dig in and take a closer look at this charming 38mm chronograph from Vulcain. $2781 Vulcain Continues Revival With New Chronograph 1970’s Case Stainless Steel Movement Sellita SW510 M BH Dial Black on Black, semi-gloss sunray Lume Yes, hands and markers Lens Double domed sapphire with AR coating Strap Black leather Water Resistance 5 ATM Dimensions 38x46mm Thickness 12.4mm Lug Width 20mm Crown Push/Pull Warranty 2yr Price $2781 Case Vulcain’s vintage proportions and style are spot-on here. Measuring 38mm wide by 12.4mm thick (a hefty portion of that taken up by the double domed sapphire crystal), the Chronograph wears like a dream. It’s not just about the dimensions, because the ...
Time+Tide
“I don’t like cricket – I love it!” Why the new Vulcain Cricket is one of the best vintage re-issues to date
As the first mechanical alarm wristwatch and a watch that graced the wrists of presidents since 1953 – the Vulcain Cricket was always a great vintage proposition. For 2022, however, Vulcain is releasing two model lines across two sizes that will continue the Cricket’s legacy, comprising of the Vulcain Cricket Classic and Cricket Tradition. The … ContinuedThe post “I don’t like cricket – I love it!” Why the new Vulcain Cricket is one of the best vintage re-issues to date appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
WATCHES & WONDERS: Hublot hit a purple patch and release a brand new case shape
Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders means a bombardment of fresh releases, so we’re offering a quick overview of each brand’s new novelties – touching on each new reference or collection and their headlining points. Stay tuned throughout the week for deeper coverage, some of which will include live pics and our hands-on perspective. But for … ContinuedThe post WATCHES & WONDERS: Hublot hit a purple patch and release a brand new case shape appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Video
FINALLY A Christopher Ward Watch Review! Is It ACTUALLY Good?
Time+Tide
MICRO MONDAYS: The William Wood Triumph collection is a set of chronographs ready to catch fire
William Wood is known for their well built and accessibly priced timepieces, all of which are inspired by fire rescue and the brave people who put their lives on the line every day. We’ve covered the full backstory of the brand and its name before, but just to recap: William Wood was the name of … ContinuedThe post MICRO MONDAYS: The William Wood Triumph collection is a set of chronographs ready to catch fire appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
A barn find to give you hope – the story of a very special NOS vintage Gruen Ocean Chief
Editor’s note: This week, Eric Ku, vintage watch dealer and friend of Time+Tide, posted about five years having passed since the remarkable watch barn find story involving a LeCoultre Deep Sea Alarm. A man by the name of Zach Norris came across an interesting-looking watch at a local Goodwill store, featuring a price tag of … ContinuedThe post A barn find to give you hope – the story of a very special NOS vintage Gruen Ocean Chief appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Business News: Swatch Group Sales Plunge on Pandemic Closures
Swiss watchmaking conglomerate Swatch Group just announced its half-year 2020 results and unsurprisingly, it took a huge hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the group, which owns brands like Omega and Longines, had a good start in January with an operating margin of 17.3% – with the watch and jewellery brands performing a bit better than movement- and component-production division – the lockdown progressively imposed across the world since February severely impacted sales, leading to a steep declines in revenue and half-year operating loss, a first for the group. Group sales for the first half plunged 43.4% at constant exchange rates from a year earlier, resulting in an operating loss of CHF327m, compared to a profit of CHF547m for the same period in 2019. Most of the drop in sales was attributed to the lockdowns in most countries, resulting in widespread store closures. The Swatch Group saw up to 80% of both its own boutiques and third-party retailers close, meaning it had to rely on partially “partially feasible” e-commerce. And even after lockdowns were lifted, the group permanently vacated some of its retail space, as evidenced by disputes with its former landlord in Hong Kong, which has sued the Swatch Group for several million in allegedly unpaid rent. Due to its swiftly-streamlining retail network, the group’s employee count was trimmed by 6.5% since December 2019 to approximately 33,700 employees. This was also confirmed by anecdotal evidence fro...
SJX Watches
Business News: Swatch Group Annual Profit Falls with Hong Kong Slowdown
Hong Kong’s political unrest has resulted in the first fall in annual profits at the Swatch Group since 2018. The world’s biggest watchmaking group, which owns brands like Omega and Longines, just announced its 2019 results, showing declines in both sales and profits. Net profit fell 13.7%, while sales declined 1.8% at constant exchange rates, or 2.7% at current rates, to 8.24 billion francs. The drops in profit and sales were primarily due to a drastic contraction of its business in Hong Kong – a city with a population of just 7.4 million – where Swatch Group owns over 90 retail stores, largely catering to shoppers from the China. Sales in Hong Kong for the second half of 2019 fell by 200 million francs. While Hong Kong was the key driver of the decline, it was not the only one. The luxury watch business in general is suffering from anaemic growth, which is also evidenced by the watch division results at diversified luxury groups like LVMH and Kering. On a more positive note, Swatch Group has managed to fulfil its stated aims of reducing operating expenditure and thinning inventory. Operating expenses dipped about 6%, while operating cash flow rose 30% in 2019. And after several consecutive years of growth, the group’s inventories declined by 1% in 2019, to a still-substantial 6.85 billion francs at cost. It’ll be a slow 2020… With Swatch Group predicting the situation in Hong Kong will continue to be “challenging” in 2020, it is in a weaker positio...
SJX Watches
Swatch Introduces the Big Bold Jelly
One of the iconic Swatch watches from its 1980s heyday was the Jelly Fish (ref. GZ010), which was unveiled in 1983, the same year Swatch itself was launched. A quartz movement entirely exposed in a clear plastic case – accented with brightly coloured hands – the Jelly Fish was a bestseller that encapsulated what Swatch was all about: no-frills but fun watchmaking. The Jelly Fish remained in production, in one form or another – there was even a COSC-certified chronometer limited edition (GK124) in 1990 – for over two decades. Now the spirit of the Jelly Fish returns as the Big Bold Jelly, essentially the same idea but in a larger watch case. The Big Bold Jelly features a quartz movement inside a Big Bold case, just like the recent limited editions created in collaboration with fashion label A Bathing Ape (BAPE). The case is a large 47mm in diameter, with the crown unusually positioned at two o’clock. But just as with the original Jelly Fish, the case is clear plastic, while the band is translucent silicone. And the hands are rendered in bright colours – red, yellow and blue – with a bit more colour provided by the gilded wheels within the movement. Key facts and price Big Bold Jelly Ref. SO27E100 Diameter: 47mm Height: 11.75mm Material: Clear plastic Water resistance: 30m Movement: Quartz Functions: Hours, minutes, and seconds Strap: Silicone with aluminium pin buckle Availability: At Swatch stores Price: US$110 For more information, visit Swatch.co...
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