Results for Mechanical vs Quartz

Watch Case Sizes vs Lug-to-Lug - A Lesson from HYT’s H-Zero

Does NASA certification end the debate of Column Wheel Vs. Cam Chronographs?

Debates of technical superiority between Column Wheel and Cam Actuated Chronographs have gone back and forth. Does NASA certification settle the issue?

Cramer vs. Cramer: When George Fell in Love with the URWERK 103.03

Collector and writer, George Cramer is known the world over for his love and scholarly pursuit of Cartier’s watchmaking. But did you know that the man also happens to be an URWERK fan and even owns an early 103.03?

Transparency vs. Legitimacy: Demystifying the Luxury Watch Industry Pt 1.

Legitimacy and provenance for watchmaking brands in particular are a very delicate matter, is it necessary for a brand to be completely transparent?

Servicing of a mechanical object on a grand scale: London’s Big Ben

The average cost of servicing a wristwatch is 3 to 5 figures. The estimated cost of servicing London's Big Ben? Approximately £29.2 million pounds

Mechanical Magic: MCT Sequential TWO - S200

Last year we heard rumours that MCT (Manufacture Contemperaine du Temps), one of the most creative Swiss Independent brands would announce their second model. In March, this year the brand confirmed that the Sequence TWO would be presented at Basel World. We reported briefly about the watch HERE. The Sequential ONE, with its gorgeous cushion […]

10 Historic Quartz Watches You’ve Got To Love

Accuracy Vs. Precision: Understanding Watch Performance

[Backdrop] A. Lange & Söhne Sax-O-Mat Perpetual Calendar, Adjusted To Positions, Temperature, And Isochronism When it comes to performance in watches, the single most important element to the owner is generally “accuracy,” and by that, is usually meant the ability of a watch to keep time as measured against a certain reliable external standard. Internet […]

Baume & Mercier’s Clifton vs. Montblanc’s Star Date Automatic

The rumours are true: one can pick out very decent deals amid the top-dollar tickers brandished at the annual Swiss watch fairs. To save you the legwork, we’ve sussed out two of the handsomest and most wallet-friendly models from the 2013 Geneva watch fairs. In one corner is the 1950s-inspired Clifton Automatic in stainless steel, […]

HYT H1: Hydro Mechanical Watch…tres intersting.

The HYT watch broke new ground when it was introduced in Basel in 2012. Interesting because the concept of showing time in a continuous fashion using water has existed since the begining of civilizations…both the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians. And yet, with the HYT, a most advanced methodology is used to allow liquids toRead More

Introducing - The New Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Jour Nuit Phase de Lune

Van Cleef & Arpels approaches watchmaking as a medium for storytelling. The brand’s Poetic Complications line, launched in 2006, unites its high jewellery and artistic expertise with sophisticated mechanical movements to bring these stories to life. Expanding its Jour Nuit collection, Van Cleef adds a moon phase complication with on-demand animation inside the majestic Midnight […]

Would You Spend Over $3,000 on an Orient Star Moon Phase? I Would.

Orient Star introduces the M45 F8 Moon Phase, a $3,000+ mechanical dress watch aimed squarely at dedicated collectors.

Orient Star’s Manual-Wind Moon Phase is Slick and Silicon

The Orient Star M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase Hand Winding is the brand’s first manual-wind moon phase, and also the first in years with a solid dial, making it a refreshing change of pace from the brand’s usual fare that leans towards open-worked and occasionally over-designed styling. Initial Thoughts Excepting the vintage inspired Diver 1964, the M45 F8 moon phase is the most attractive watch in the Orient catalog to my eye. Most of the brand’s designs are too busy for my tastes, so these entries are a welcome departure that will certainly appeal to enthusiasts with more classical tastes. The moon phase disk itself, with mother-of-pearl inlay, is a highlight. And the absence of a seconds hand is a pleasant surprise, though the moon phase sub-dial feels naked without the traditional co-axial small seconds hand. Since the small seconds version of this calibre is not compatible with the moon phase module, Orient could have moved the Orient Star logo onto the sub-dial for more visual balance. Most importantly, this is a manually wound watch – with a competent movement – in a price segment where such things are hard to find. Looking at Japanese watches in particular, manual wind options from Grand Seiko and Credor are significantly more expensive, while Seiko, Orient, and Citizen dropped their entry-level manual watches years ago. Pleiades About two years ago, Orient Star reorganised its catalog by launching M Collections, a family of watches each named after astron...

Hands-on - The Genus GNS2, Sleeker but Still Mechanically Fascinating

A masterpiece of ingenuity and complexity, the GNS1 dazzled the watchmaking scene with its incredible free-moving train travelling around the two central counters on the dial like a mechanical caterpillar. Marking the indie brand’s debut in 2019, the GNS1 was ten years in the making and protected by two patents. Earlier this year, Genus introduced […]

Hamilton Introduces a Wild New Jazzmaster Face-2-Face

A few weeks ago, Zach Weiss told us about a little watch from Vario with a neat party trick. The Versa is actually two (quartz) watches in one, and thanks to a hinge, the dials can be flipped around to your liking, giving the owner options for a second time zone, or just a fun tactile sensation that is rarely seen at the Versa’s modest price point. Now, in a proverbial “Hold my beer…” moment, Hamilton has introduced a watch in their Face-2-Face series, a Jazzmaster that’s somehow both a business and a party on the front and back thanks to a clever rotating case design.  The Face-2-Face III continues a line that Hamilton has been working with since 2013, creating elaborate double-sided dial watches within the updated Art Deco framework of the Jazzmaster collection. These watches take a maximalist approach that is the antithesis of Hamilton’s pilot and military watch bread and butter, but in doing so serve as a reminder of the brand’s sometimes surprising ability to create a design that is truly off the wall. This is the brand that created the X-01, after all.  The Face-2-Face III starts with a 44mm case that can be flipped around on its axis by the wearer to display one of two distinct dials. The primary display is for time telling and chronograph functionality, while the secondary dial provides a view of the movement and a series of scales that one can use in concert with the chronograph. The architecture of the main dial is multi-layered, creating a sense ...

Reinventing The Micro-Rotor: Renaud Tixier Makes A Mechanically Innovative Debut

Some 25 kilometers north of Geneva, on the shore of the city’s eponymous lake, lies the town of Nyon. This is the place that Renaud Tixier, the latest Swiss independent watch brand launching today, calls its home. It’s the latest collaborative effort between Dominique Renaud - the renowned watchmaker and co-founder of Renaud & Papi […] Visit Reinventing The Micro-Rotor: Renaud Tixier Makes A Mechanically Innovative Debut to read the full article.

Artisans de Genève Unveils the Submariner Moon Phase

A custom shop best known for its extensively reworking of popular sports watches – occasionally created in collaboration with celebrity sportsmen  – Artisans de Genève has a diverse portfolio of work that range from the intriguing to the mystifying. Certainly one of its more intriguing timepieces is the Sea Shepherd Challenge, a Submariner with a moon phase display surrounded by much aventurine glass that was commissioned by the founder of the eponymous marine conservation group. Initial thoughts Aftermarket customisation of fashionable watches is common. It can often be merely opportunistic, with customisers taking advantage of the watchmaker’s well-established brand and design. Rarely are customised watches interesting in a technical sense. The Sea Shepherd Challenge is interesting, being a mechanical customisation rather than the change of colours that’s the usual formula applied to such watches. It incorporates an oversized moon phase display (driven by a mechanically simple, but elaborately-constructed mechanism going by this animation), along with an aventurine-glass dial and bezel insert. Add to that the added decoration to the movement, and the watch does have its appeal. The customisation alone costs about US$35,000 (and the client either provides the watch or purchases one), which is probably too much for the work done, but within reason given the benchmark prices of such customised watches. A mariner’s watch This customised Submariner was a request...

First Look - The Piaget Polo 79 Returns in White Gold with a Blue Sodalite Dial

Yves Piaget, fourth-generation member of the Piaget family, joined the company in the 1960s and cultivated the brand into a visible and global luxury player. Pushing the brand’s historical ultra-thin mechanical calibres 9P and 12P, and its ultra-slim quartz 7P movement into jewellery terrain, a new generation of fashionable jewellery watches with bright-coloured hardstone dials […]

Introducing - Redesigned Inside and Out, The new Longines PrimaLuna Moonphase Automatic

Longines introduced its PrimaLuna collection of women’s watches in 2009 with a name designed to evoke the romantic nature of the Moon. However, unlike the PrimaLuna time-and-date models powered by automatic calibres, the PrimaLunas featuring moon phase complications were fitted with quartz movements that might not appeal to women who prefer mechanical movements. For 2025, […]

The Arnold & Son HM Perpetual Moon Aventurine

The HM Perpetual Moon Aventurine offers a spectacular solid gold moon phase sitting above the sparkling blue aventurine quartz dial and paired with an in-house Arnold & Son mechanical calibre. Demonstrating its British history and Swiss savoir-faire, Arnold & Son presents the HM Perpetual Moon with a beautifully decorative blue aventurine quartz dial, limited toRead More

Jaeger LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie

The JLC Gyrotourbillon 2 is an amazing watch, but for me, the Hybris Mechanical Grande Sonnerie is even more amazing. As usual, specifications can easily be googled, so readers are encouraged to do so, but I try and show the watch in its beauty, from a collector’s eye, hopefully with photographs which will stir theRead More

SJX Podcast: Freak Face-Off: Original vs. Freak S

On Episode 16 of the SJX Podcast, SJX and Brandon discuss ongoing horology events in Paris and Singapore, and debrief on the new Piaget Andy Warhol. It’s also the debut of a new segment comparing two watches head-to-head. First up is the Ulysse Nardin Freak – how does the original, now 25 years old, stack up to the new Freak S? Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube.  

Face-Off: Seiko Credor Eichi II 7R14 vs. Grand Seiko Spring Drive 9R02

When it comes to finely-finished, time-only movements, the ultimate Seiko offerings are the Credor Eichi II and Grand Seiko Spring Drive 20th Anniversary. The Japanese equivalent of watches like the Akrivia Chronometre Contemporain and Philippe Dufour Simplicity, the pair are the work of the Micro Artist Studio and finished to the same magnificent level, broadly speaking. (The Grand Seiko 8 Day is of the same quality, but it is a much larger and more complex watch.) Because the movements, the 7R14 in the Eichi II and 9R02 in Grand Seiko SBGZ001 and SBGZ003, are fundamentally identical, comparing the finer details of the two – an enlightened, obsessive nitpicking – makes for some interesting conclusions. The 7R14 in the Eichi II (left) and the 9R02 of the Grand Seiko SBGZ001 The sampled are both finished examples that were purchased in stores, and not prototypes, so both are representative of their respective model and movement. Though both were made in the Seiko-Epson’s Micro Artist Studio, probably by the very same craftsmen, the Eichi II was produced in 2015, while the Grand Seiko SBGZ001 dates to 2019, which is the year of its launch, and is the property of Mark Cho, founder of menswear retailer The Armoury. Same but different Both movements share the same architecture and layout, with the key functional difference being the power reserve, in both duration and display. The Eichi II’s 7R14 has a single barrel and a 60-hour power reserve, indicated on a fan-sha...

Introducing: Frederique Constant Highlife Moonphase Date And Classics Moneta Handwinding

What We Know At Geneva Watch Days this year, Frederique Constant introduces two new references that continue to build on the momentum the brand generated at Watches and Wonders. The Highlife Moonphase Date adds a moonphase complication to the Highlife collection; the Classics Moneta Handwinding is the first mechanical movement in a collection that launched in 2024 with a quartz movement and added a solar version earlier this year. Together, the two references display the range of what the manufacture builds in-house, from a complicated moonphase module to a hand-wound caliber developed exclusively for the brand. The Highlife Moonphase Date measures 39mm and comes in two dial colors. The rosé champagne dial uses a sunray finish that radiates outward from the moonphase window at 6 o'clock rather than from the center, with gold and copper tones set against a blue moon disc. The night blue dial uses a lighter sunray finish closer in tone to its own moon disc, with a red "31" marking the final day of longer months.  The moon disc is rendered with grey shading and surface relief rather than a flat metallic disc. Both versions use applied, mirror-polished, lume-filled indexes and hands. By comparison, the Classics Moneta Handwinding measures 38.5mm and comes in a single dial color: a smoked salmon-tone gradient that darkens to black at the edges, with applied mirror-polished hour markers, two dauphine hands, and a small seconds sub-dial at 6 o'clock. The Highlife Moonphase Date...

The Value Proposition: Caravelle Sea Hunter By Bulova

There is a particular kind of relish in finding a watch that makes it feel as if the Quartz Crisis never happened. That was exactly the case with the new Caravelle Sea Hunter. At €270 delivered to me in Sydney, Australia, this is not a particularly expensive mechanical dive watch, nor is it one that […] Visit The Value Proposition: Caravelle Sea Hunter By Bulova to read the full article.

11 Dress Watches Under $1k We Reviewed That Impressed Us

Explore the best dress watches under $1,000 that we'd actually buy, including mechanical classics, standout quartz picks, and overlooked microbrand options.

Fratello On Air: Sleeper ’90s And ’00s Watches Worth Waking Up For

Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we discuss sleeper watches from the ’90s and ’00s. It was an interesting period for timepieces, representing a transition from smaller, often quartz-powered models to mechanical ones. Let’s just say that watchmakers were finding their collective feet again with interesting results. Still, there were gems, […] Visit Fratello On Air: Sleeper ’90s And ’00s Watches Worth Waking Up For to read the full article.

Introducing - Timex Goes Upscale with the Atelier Chronograph Automatic M1a Ti

Timex is one of those names in watchmaking that dominated with radically affordable, mass-produced watches. Like many others, the brand felt the crunch of the quartz crisis, largely shelving mechanical production. It did not have much choice but to embrace quartz. It was a smart move then, but they never truly lost their mechanical watchmaking […]

Honorary Patek Philippe President Philippe Stern Passes Away: 1938-2026

Philippe Stern, the visionary executive who led Patek Philippe through the end of the quartz crisis, kept the family company independent and secured its position at the top of Swiss mechanical high horology, died on June 14th at the age of 88. The Geneva-based company announced Philippe Stern's passing in a statement calling the Patek Philippe Honorary President a "pioneering and visionary spirit" who "left an indelible mark on the history of the family manufacture, preserving its independence and establishing its global stature." Philippe Stern. Photo courtesy Patek Philippe. Stern led Patek Philippe as President from 1993 to 2009. During his tenure, he consolidated Patek Philippe's manufacturing at a new flagship manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. He integrated its production capabilities to bring as much as possible in-house. He also oversaw the launch of the Nautilus sport watch in the 1970s, the multi-year project to build the Caliber 89, the most complicated portable mechanical watch at the time, boasting 33 complications. In 2001, he inaugurated the Patek Philippe museum in Geneva, an unparalleled exhibition of not only Patek Philippe but of the entire history of horology. Philippe Stern was born in 1938 into a family already at the center of Swiss watchmaking: his grandfather, Charles Stern, had recently acquired the Patek Philippe manufacture in 1932, and his father, Henri Stern, had just joined the company. After studying economics and commerce, Philippe Ste...

Hands-on - The Giorgio Galli S2Ti, When Timex Moves Upmarket

Timex and affordable quartz watches are synonymous and have been since the brand ceased mechanical watch production in 1982, following the Quartz Crisis. Few brands have found as much success as Timex with quartz, and innovations like Indiglo (bright, uniform dial electroluminescence introduced in 1992) have kept them on top for decades. Only a few […]