Two Broke Watch Snobs
What’s in a Name (Brand)? Department Store Watches for the Masses
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Results for The Nautilus Launch Story
41,584 articles · 258 videos found · page 30 of 1395
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Hodinkee
Happenings: A HODINKEE Meet-Up At The Leica Store San Francisco On Wednesday, August 21
Come out to talk watches, cameras, and more.
Hodinkee
Recommended Reading: The Entire Europa Star Archive Of Magazines Going All The Way Back To 1959
What a long, strange trip it's been.
Hodinkee
Watch Spotting: Soccer Star Alex Morgan Wearing A Hublot Big Bang One Click At The USWNT World Cup Championship Parade
A watch that's equal parts patriotic and celebratory.
Deployant
Story time: pilot ejects from fighter jet with his Rolex
In 1978, a Rolex GMT-Master "Pepsi" was on the wrist of the pilot who ejected from his US Air Force F-105 fighter jet. Here is the story.
Video
Longines' Spirit Pilot Checks Off All The Boxes For Its Price
On this channel, we review watches that are available for purchase on TeddyBaldassarre.com
Monochrome
First Look – A Smaller Case and Fresh Colours for the Powerful Tissot Seastar 2000 Professional
Since its launch in 2021, the Seastar 2000 Professional has occupied an interesting spot in Tissot’s catalogue. For around EUR 1,000, it delivers a specification sheet that normally comes with more expensive dive watches: a helium escape valve, a ceramic insert bezel, 600m water-resistance, ISO 6425 certification, and a robust Swiss movement. In short, this […]
Fratello
Hands-On: The Norqain Wild One Skeleton X-Lite & Wild One Skeleton Chrono
Since their official launch in the UK in 2025, Norqain has been on a tear. The brand is growing here and abroad, which says something in the current climate. Sure, the watches are a luxurious expenditure, but they’re fun, wearable, and capable. Today, I’ll briefly share some hands-on thoughts on two recently released Wild One […] Visit Hands-On: The Norqain Wild One Skeleton X-Lite & Wild One Skeleton Chrono to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Auctions: The Last Steve McQueen Heuer Monaco From Le Mans Is Coming Up For Sale At Sotheby's
When lot 71 hammers at Sotheby's New York Auction this weekend, it will punctuate a story that was started nearly sixty years ago in France—the lot number surely a nod to the year Le Mans debuted, 1971. The story of Steve McQueen and the film has been well told over the past half century, immortalizing a man and bolstering two industries in the process. It's essentially canon at this point, yet the story was never complete—until now. A cache of documents from the film's property master, held onto for decades after production closed, has finally set the record straight. And the last watch is coming up for sale this weekend. The Heuer Reference 1133B Monaco Screenworn by Steve McQueen in Le Mans, Circa 1969, up for auction at Sotheby's this weekend. Photo courtesy of Sotheby's. The 1960s were a formative decade for Heuer. The Autavia launched in 1962, the Carrera in 1963, and the Monaco in 1969—the latter completing a trio of Heuer chronographs all released that year with the Calibre 11, a movement developed jointly by Heuer and Breitling, built around a Buren micro-rotor with a Dubois-Depraz chronograph module layered on top, creating the first commercially available automatic Swiss-made chronograph. The Autavia and Carrera received redesigned cases for the occasion. The Monaco was something else entirely: a completely new watch, built around a patented square case sourced from EPSA, creating the world's first water-resistant square chronograph. With its angular form,...
Monochrome
First Look – The New MB&F; HM12 The Guardian, A Sci-Fi Horological Machine with a Robot Companion
Childhood imagination and science fiction to inspire high-end watchmaking? Why not, and MB&F; is proof that it can be a successful combination. Since the launch of HM1 in 2007, Maximilian Büsser’s concept laboratory has consistently transformed memories of spaceships, supercars, aircraft and robots into complex mechanical creations for the wrist. Some of the brand’s memorable […]
Hodinkee
Introducing: MING And J.N. Shapiro Team Up For The 37.06 Lightning
What We Know When Ming, Fleming, and J.N. Shapiro teamed up in 2024 to launch the Alternative Horological Alliance, they did so with a product: a "universal" tantalum bracelet. But I've been waiting to see if the AHA (now including Fears and Massena LAB) would team up in other ways. Today, Ming and J.N. Shapiro announce the 37.06 "Lightning," which blends the dial work Shapiro's team is known for with Ming's signature design language into something that's both new yet familiar. It's not a trick of the light. The dial is really that striking (no pun intended, I promise). Each dial is made from grade-2 titanium and hand-guillochéd in Los Angeles through engine-turning on a traditional rose-engine lathe to create a pattern called "Lightning guilloché." It's a pattern J.N. Shapiro hasn't used on a wristwatch before. The dials are then shipped to Kuala Lumpur, where Ming Thein himself hand-colors each dial by heat-staining it with a butane torch. It's not as easy as just sticking a torch on a dial. A time too long or too short by even a few seconds, and the color might be uneven. Even if you do it right, the final result might still fail because the guilloché process exposes variations in titanium's crystalline structure. Only one in three dials works out. The dial is still very Ming, as is the rest of the watch, with the flared lugs and engraved crystal that's filled with HyCeram luminous indices. The hands have Super-LumiNova X1. The case is 38mm in diameter, 10.9mm in t...
Video
Audemars Piguet Royal OakJumbo 5402 Restoration on Progress - Reshaping the Sides #audemarspiguet
Monochrome
Industry News – The Rise of Manufacture AMT and an Exclusive Look at Its Two New Movement Families
For once, we won’t talk about a new product – understand here, the launch of a new watch. Instead, we’ll look at the other side of the industry, with a movement supplier, Manufacture AMT, the sister company of Sellita (as part of the Sellita Holding). One of the largest movement makers in the Swiss watch industry, […]
Monochrome
Introducing – The New, More Compact Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 Bumblebee
An important and yet slightly different member of the wide Black Bay family of dive watches, the Black Bay Chrono was released in 2017, not without some comments from the crowd. Indeed, the watch featured diving elements, the signature Snowflake hands, solid water-resistance, but also racing cues such as a tachymeter scale. Since its launch, […]
SJX Watches
Insight: the Compliant Mechanism Inside the Patek Philippe Celestial 6105G
The standout piece from Patek Philippe at Watches & Wonders 2026 was certainly the Celestial Sunrise and Sunset Ref. 6105G-001. The astronomy-oriented watch was a decade in the making and compared to its more conservative predecessor, the ref. 6102, the new model benefits from a complete makeover, both aesthetically and mechanically. Hidden within the 47 mm white gold case is an unusual component that didn’t get the attention it deserved at launch: a butterfly-shaped compliant cam-and-rack mechanism. The system is used for the sunrise/sunset indicators and proves Patek Philippe’s almost savant-like mastery of compliant micro-mechanics. The Celestial ref. 6105 is pictured showing a sunrise of around 8 AM, and a sunset time of about 7 PM. Note the date ring pulls double duty as the sunrise/sunset scale. Fixing something that may be broken Although still quite rare compared to other complications, there are more sunrise/sunset watches on the market than seemingly ever before. They mostly follow the same basic construction: a cam that works with a follower. As the year progresses, the cam slowly turns, displacing the follower. In pairs, such systems are used to show both the sunrise and sunset times, which synchronously vary throughout the year. So why fix something that doesn’t appear to be broken? Or more specifically, why use an elaborate compliant system when a basic cam and follower is a fixture in classical watchmaking? European patent EP3740821B1 granted to ...
Hodinkee
Happenings: Roger W. Smith OBE To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
At the June 2026 lecture of the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), independent watchmaker Roger W. Smith OBE will trace the remarkable story of the co-axial escapement from George Daniels' original invention in the early 1970s through to its continuing modern evolution. Beginning with Daniels' determination to address the fundamental limitations of the Swiss lever escapement, the talk explores the development of his early experimental pocket watches, together with the long and often difficult process of persuading a skeptical Swiss watch industry to adopt an entirely new escapement system. Drawing on firsthand experience working alongside Daniels during the Millennium Watch project and the launch of the first Omega co-axial wristwatch in 1999, Smith will provide a rare personal insight into a pivotal moment in modern horological history. The second half of the presentation will examine the subsequent technical evolution of the escapement from 2005 onwards, including the development of the single-wheel co-axial and the changing philosophy behind escapement design — moving beyond pure chronometric performance towards long-term stability, durability, and extended service intervals. Due to limited seating, tickets will be released according to this schedule: Gold Members...............May 26 (12 PM ET)Silver Members..............May 28 (12 PM ET)Bronze Members............June 2 (12 PM ET)General Public................June 4 (12 PM ET) A dedicated email with a unique cod...
Fratello
Zenith Introduces The Chronomaster Revival Liberty II
Zenith marks the 250th anniversary of the United States with the release of the Chronomaster Revival Liberty II. This launch follows the original North American exclusive from several years ago. The new model strengthens the historical link between the Swiss manufacture and American industrial history. Zenith founder Georges Favre-Jacot famously visited the United States in […] Visit Zenith Introduces The Chronomaster Revival Liberty II to read the full article.
Video
IWC Yacht Club 2 Jumbo Restoration on Progress, Lapping the Lugs - Rare Genta Design Reference 3312
Fratello
Introducing: The Handmade-In-Scandinavia Von Doren 1814 Nordic Made
Øyvind VonDoren Asbjørnsen knows how to tell a story. The Norwegian studied film production at London Film School in the late 1980s before beginning his career in television. He then served as executive producer and cinematographer on the feature documentary Magnus about Norwegian chess champion Magnus Carlsen, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in […] Visit Introducing: The Handmade-In-Scandinavia Von Doren 1814 Nordic Made to read the full article.
Fratello
Micromilspec And Black Badger Team Up For The Adventurous Broken Hour
Early last year, Micromilspec teamed up with James Thompson, aka Black Badger, to release the Micromilspec Milgraph Sabotage Edition. The fun take on the Milgraph came with a story and a healthy dose of luminescent power, as we are used to seeing from Thompson. Accompanying the release was an animated setting known as The Time […] Visit Micromilspec And Black Badger Team Up For The Adventurous Broken Hour to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Announcements: You Can Now Reserve The New Watches From Universal Genève Right Here
If there's one brand that remains near and dear to the heart of Hodinkee, it's Universal Genève. In some ways, my own love of watches may not have flourished the way it did without the incredibly broad range of designs and concepts from Universal in that period. Simple chronographs, calendar chronographs, calendar watches, dress watches, oversized Aviator watches, and even convertible watches were all part of the Universal story. It just did SO many things back then, and when it was announced that the House of Brands (the parent company of Breitling, and now Gallet and Universal) would be re-launching it in full force, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. And I think it's fair to say that many felt that way. But Mr. Kern, who led the project along with a great team of young enthusiasts, knew they needed feedback from the long-standing group of collectors to ensure what they made hit all the right notes. So they assembled a group of advisers to give feedback along the way. The group included Mr. Fred Mandelbaum, Mr. Eric Wind, myself, Mr. Alessandro Fanciulli (Mr. A), Mr. Auro Montanari, and many more die-hard Universal lovers. You can see some photos of one of our meet-ups right here, dating back more than two years ago. The advisory board would give notes, and the internal team would process them accordingly – mostly in design details. And in the end, Universal Genève was fully reborn with an astonishingly wide range of watches just last month in Geneva. It includes tw...
Hodinkee
Video: Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern Sits Down With Ben Clymer To Discuss The 2026 Novelties
Thierry Stern sat down with Ben Clymer at Watches & Wonders 2026 to walk through Patek Philippe's novelties, and his passion for the product comes through immediately. Nowhere is that more evident than with the Nautilus's 50th anniversary pieces. Compared to the 40th, this is an exercise in restraint. "My idea is to do the counter-steps," Stern said. The three limited-edition anniversary Nautiluses are stripped to hours and minutes only—no date, no seconds—perhaps the most compelling of which is a 38mm platinum case recalling the medium-size Nautilus models of the 1980s, powered by the 2.53mm Calibre 240, its micro-rotor engraved with "50 1976–2026". The wildcard—a personal highlight for Ben—was something genuinely unexpected: Patek's first-ever Nautilus desk clock, the ref. 958G, limited to just 100 pieces. Its white gold case translates the porthole-inspired Nautilus design to 50.65mm, with a hinged caseback that doubles as a stand. Technically a pocket watch, yet perhaps it's better suited to the table. Mr. Stern gives us a peek behind the curtain on how it came to be—and the story behind it is one you'll definitely want to hear. Thierry also walked Ben through the 5840P—the Cubitus's first grand complication, a skeletonized perpetual calendar he'd conceived early in the collection's development but deliberately held back, wanting the design language to land before the mechanics got complicated. The vintage Patek market is certainly booming, with the ref. ...
SJX Watches
The Longines Legend Diver 59 is Bigger and Better
Longines is carrying momentum into the summer after the well-received launch of the refreshed Hydroconquest line. The brand hopes to continue that winning streak with a nipped and tucked 42 mm Legend Diver 59. As the name suggests, the LLD 59 references the 42 mm ref. 7042 launched in 1959, and offers a different take on the dive watch that gives it a distinct character compared to many Submariner-inspired peers. Initial thoughts The original LLD of 2007 was a pioneer of the now-common practice of reissuing historical models. While faux patina and period-correct details seem to be everywhere today, they seemed novel back then. Many brands followed — quickly enough to suggest concurrent development — but the launch of the LLD helped usher in a design trend that still dominates the industry. The LLD 59 offers a straightforward value proposition — a high-fidelity historical design, an advanced proprietary calibre, and an affordable price of US$4,100. The ‘Super Compressor’-style case — characterised by its dual crowns and internal rotating bezel — offers an alternative perspective on the dive watch compared to category mainstays like the Tudor Black Bay. For collectors and enthusiasts troubled by the notion that a Black Bay might been perceived as a ‘poor man’s Submariner’, the LLD is a similarly priced and similarly equipped vintage-inspired diver with an entirely different look. While Tudor might be the most obvious point of reference, the LLD 59 will li...
Video
The latest ROLEX TEASER shows: It's ALL about to change!
Are we seriously getting a new watch AGAIN?! Didn't think we're going to see another introduction so soon after last years Land-Dweller release .. only 2 more days to go :-)!
Monochrome
Introducing – The Eska Amphibian 250 Blue Dolphin, Now with a Blue Dial
Retro design, cool diver, reliable engine, fair price: all the boxes checked when it comes to the Eska Amphibian 250. Like many brands that disappeared during the quartz crisis, Eska also has its own revival story with the Amphibian 250 leading that comeback. A version released earlier this year introduced a left-handed configuration with warm […]
Fratello
Hands-On With The Stylish And Practical Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 5396R-016 Annual Calendar Moon Phase
In 1996, Patek Philippe launched a watch to bridge the gap between its dress watches and perpetual calendars. The brand needed more sales; the Nautilus was not a hype watch yet, so what did Patek do? It launched a classic calendar watch that looked like a perpetual calendar, but it actually was a watch with […] Visit Hands-On With The Stylish And Practical Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 5396R-016 Annual Calendar Moon Phase to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Hands-On: The Quietly Launched Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface “Or Deco Cocktail”
Last year's launch of a new Reverso Tribute Monoface "Or Deco" in pink gold (with a gorgeous Milanese mesh bracelet) was probably the most outstanding release from Jaeger-LeCoultre in a while. Its time in the sun was somewhat brief, though, as it was a bit upstaged this year by the new Master Control Chronometre line (for which a Hands-On is forthcoming soon, I promise). Yet, at Watches and Wonders last month, the brand showed it could do more with the "Or Deco" platform, introducing three new Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds "Or Deco Cocktail" watches, including two in a new material. Last year's release is still a stunner. You may have missed these new watches. That's in part because the brand is set to make a more complete announcement in a few weeks, with an immersive pop-up of its "Reverso Stories" series from May 21 to May 31 in the Miami Design District, ahead of the opening of a new boutique there this summer. The idea is to focus on rare pieces, including historic high-jewelry models, and to premiere some new Reverso pieces that play into that concept, including this trio. However, before the watches were shipped to South Beach, we got to see them in New York and get to spill the tea, as the kids say, before their Miami feature debut. The standouts, at least in terms of novelty, are the two new white-gold versions. The framework remains the same, a 45.6 x 27.4 x 7.56mm case, now in white gold, housing a manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 822 movement....
SJX Watches
The Surprising Royal Pop from Swatch and Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet (AP) and Swatch have teamed up to launch the Royal Pop, a series of lanyard-borne pocket swatches in eight pop art-inspired colourways set to hit stores on May 16th. It also debuts new manually wound Sistem 51 movements, including one with small seconds, to capture the pocket watch feel. This could be seen as AP having a little fun on a project set in motion by a Swatch-obsessed former CEO, or long-term thinking to cultivate the next generation of customers. Initial thoughts I imagine ambivalence will define the general reaction to the Royal Pop, as it should. A pop art-inspired pocket Swatch is a challenging product to casual watch buyers and enthusiasts alike. And I mean that as praise — it would have been much easier to go the MoonSwatch or Scuba Fifty Fathoms route, but much less interesting. Ref. SSX03L101N. Case in point, a non-enthusiast friend texted me over the weekend expressing interest in the Royal Pop under the common assumption that it would take after the MoonSwatch. In short, he was expecting a plastic Royal Oak. He was less enthusiastic — but not entirely put off — when I asked him how he’d feel about a manually wound pocket watch. Ref. SSX03R100N. While my favourite watches are overwhelmingly pocket watches (or pocket chronometers), I can’t see myself wearing one regularly, be it a Swatch Pop or a Nicole Nielsen tourbillon. I do, however, see myself attaching an Otg Roz Royal Pop to my keychain or workbag. Considering the recent ...
Monochrome
The Petrolhead Corner – The Auto Union Lucca, a Record-Breaking Speed Machine Reborn
It wasn’t too long ago that we brought you the story of the brilliantly cool Auto Union Type 52 Schnellsportwagen. This was a car that, before this coachbuilt creation, existed on paper only, as Auto Union had the plans ready but never got around to actually building it for various reasons. Along the same concept, […]
Video
Honey I Shrunk the Collection (SOTC 2026)
I promised I'd do a new SOTC if I sold most of my collection. Here goes...