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Results for DLC and PVD Coating

31,421 articles · 168 videos found · page 310 of 1053

Introducing - The New Piaget Polo Minute Repeater Monochrome
Piaget Polo Minute Repeater Piaget Aug 31, 2026

Introducing - The New Piaget Polo Minute Repeater

Piaget has long built its watchmaking reputation on a combination of ultra-thin movements and decorative techniques. Founded in 1874 by Georges-Édouard Piaget in La Côte-aux-Fées, the Maison developed its expertise in high-precision movements before making ultra-thin mechanical calibres one of its defining specialities. This expertise has also extended to major complications, including the tourbillon, chronograph, […]

Insight: The Keyless Works SJX Watches
Czapek was going sour Aug 31, 2026

Insight: The Keyless Works

Having previously examined concepts related to energy flow inside watch movements, from automatic winding to barrel capacity and gear tooth profiles, we now turn and look at how energy enters the movement through the keyless works. For the majority of watches, the crown is the sole component through which the owner interacts with the movement, for both setting the indications and winding. While these operations have become a matter of routine, they wouldn’t be possible if not for the keyless works. This underrated mechanism — usually hidden — deserves a closer look. From key to crown We owe today’s user-friendly dual-purpose crown, which can be used for both winding and setting, to French watchmaker Jean Adrien Philippe, whose last name is certainly resonant with all horology enthusiasts. A keen technician who had not found success in his homeland, Philippe was approached in 1845 by Antoine Norbert de Patek, a Polish watch merchant from Geneva. Patek’s then-partnership with François Czapek was going sour and the merchant was looking for a new, technically oriented associate. Shortly thereafter, Philippe was appointed as technical director at Patek’s firm. This unexpected fast track was due to Philippe’s innovation: the keyless, stem-wound movement. Although his French peers weren’t taken with the invention, Patek recognised the potential of keyless timepieces and sought to capitalise on — and further develop — the concept. Later in 1851, Patek, Philipp...

The Other Seiko 6105 “Willard” Story Fratello
Seiko 6105 “Willard” Story Most Aug 30, 2026

The Other Seiko 6105 “Willard” Story

Most people who know the Seiko 6105 know it as the “Captain Willard,” nicknamed for the character Martin Sheen played in Apocalypse Now. That well-told story is worth telling indeed. But there is a second story featuring the same watch, and it has nothing to do with Hollywood. It belongs to a Hawaiian lifeguard and […] Visit The Other Seiko 6105 “Willard” Story to read the full article.

Sunday Morning Showdown: Straum Expedition Vs. Laventure Marine Type 3 Fratello
Straum Aug 30, 2026

Sunday Morning Showdown: Straum Expedition Vs. Laventure Marine Type 3

Welcome, one and all, to the weekly spectacle that is Sunday Morning Showdown. This week, we’re giving Daan a break and bringing our illustrious head of content, Nacho, into the ring. In the red corner, defending his six-win streak, is Jorg. More importantly, the watches going head-to-head today are two angular, adventure-ready titanium timepieces from […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Straum Expedition Vs. Laventure Marine Type 3 to read the full article.

Introducing - The new L.Leroy Vox Temporis Tourbillon Minute Repeater, with Tact-Inspired Single-Hand Display Monochrome
Oris Tourbillon Minute Repeater Aug 29, 2026

Introducing - The new L.Leroy Vox Temporis Tourbillon Minute Repeater, with Tact-Inspired Single-Hand Display

Named after the illustrious 18th-century watchmaker Charles Leroy, L.Leroy made its return over the past couple of years with high-end complications such as the Osmior Bal du Temps Tourbillon Minute Repeater or the Elyor Flying Tourbillon. Yet, the first watch heralding this renaissance was a unique piece combining a minute repeater and a tourbillon that was presented […]

Power To The People: The Fan-Selected Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver Fratello
Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver Aug 29, 2026

Power To The People: The Fan-Selected Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver

Seiko has added something unusual to its Prospex collection — a watch with a design chosen by the brand’s fan community. The new 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch Fan-Selected Limited Edition HBC011 takes the modern interpretation of Seiko’s first diver and gives it a vibrant blue treatment, following a global fan vote held last year. Limited […] Visit Power To The People: The Fan-Selected Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver to read the full article.

You Don’t Wanna Mess With The Black-Dial Certina DS-2 Powermatic 80 On A Steel Mesh Bracelet Fratello
Certina DS-2 Powermatic 80 Aug 29, 2026

You Don’t Wanna Mess With The Black-Dial Certina DS-2 Powermatic 80 On A Steel Mesh Bracelet

Yes, this watch’s origins unmistakably lie in the 1960s. Still, the black-dial Certina DS-2 on a steel mesh bracelet seems to be in the right place at the right time. Its black lacquered dial, sharp lines, and steel mesh bracelet give it a look you don’t want to mess with. We almost didn’t dare tell […] Visit You Don’t Wanna Mess With The Black-Dial Certina DS-2 Powermatic 80 On A Steel Mesh Bracelet to read the full article.

Introducing: Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver's Watch HBC011 Hodinkee
Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver's Aug 28, 2026

Introducing: Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver's Watch HBC011

What We Know Seiko has launched a new version of their popular vintage-inspired 1965 Heritage Diver, with a dial and color palette chosen by you. Okay, well, maybe not you directly, but through a fan-selection process that Seiko launched last year to mark the 60th anniversary of the original 62MAS diver. Seiko fans were presented with four variants of a watch that would eventually reach production, each inspired by a different tone and color the ocean can take on over the course of a day. In the end, the winner of last summer's campaign was this "Daytime Blue" color, which evokes the clear blue waters you'll find in tropical locales where the water is clear and the sun is shining. Other options included a bright yellow, deep green, and orange-y red. It's not wholly surprising that the blue dial would have won in a public ballot, but each is compelling, and I'll be curious to see whether Seiko, having developed and shown off the full range, ever chooses to release any of the other colors. The watch itself is a familiar one. The HBC011 shares a spec sheet with the enthusiast-favorite (and James') favorite SPB lineup of dive watches, specifically with the '20MAS' generation released in 2024, which brought with it a host of quality-of-life improvements, including a refined case and new movement. That case, which Seiko claims to be 40mm wide, 13mm thick, and 46.6mm lug-to-lug (and which James measured at 40.2mm wide, 13.4mm thick, and 46.6mm lug-to-lug in his Hands-On), is agai...

The New Unimatic Impronte Collection Leaves A Permanent Imprint Fratello
Unimatic Impronte Collection Leaves Aug 28, 2026

The New Unimatic Impronte Collection Leaves A Permanent Imprint

Over the years, we have seen Unimatic deliver great creativity with every new release. After reviewing the Modello Uno UT1-IPP from the Swimming Pool collection in June, I briefly wondered how the brand could make me smile again. Leave it up to its founders, Giovanni Moro and Simone Nunziato, to do exactly that. Industrial designers […] Visit The New Unimatic Impronte Collection Leaves A Permanent Imprint to read the full article.

Introducing - The Hanhart MAD Preventor HD12, Launching a new 36mm Case Monochrome
Aug 28, 2026

Introducing - The Hanhart MAD Preventor HD12, Launching a new 36mm Case

Last year, Hanhart introduced the Preventor HD12 as its vision of a robust and versatile everyday watch. Positioned alongside the brand’s historically inspired pilot’s watches and chronographs, the series offered a compact case with enhanced surface hardness and a straightforward time-only display. The watch now returns in a smaller format as a limited edition presented […]

Introducing - The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom Monochrome
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute Aug 28, 2026

Introducing - The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom

Vacheron Constantin has long been one of the great names in artistic watchmaking, regularly using engraving, enamelling, guilloché and other traditional crafts to transform the dial into a canvas. For this new collection, part of the Maison’s “One of Not Many Crafts Programme”, the project brings together six artists and six disciplines into the world […]

Unleash Your Inner Beast With The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute To The Animal Kingdom Watches Fratello
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute Aug 28, 2026

Unleash Your Inner Beast With The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute To The Animal Kingdom Watches

You know you’re looking at something extremely exclusive if a watch is part of the One of Not Many Crafts Program. And that’s what the six Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom watches are. The project explores how crafts outside the traditional watchmaking repertoire can be adapted to the scale and technical […] Visit Unleash Your Inner Beast With The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute To The Animal Kingdom Watches to read the full article.

Fears Celebrates Its (Re-)Birthday With The New Brunswick 39 -  The Brand’s First Perpetual Calendar Fratello
Fears Celebrates Aug 27, 2026

Fears Celebrates Its (Re-)Birthday With The New Brunswick 39 -  The Brand’s First Perpetual Calendar

This year, Fears celebrates 180 years since its founding and 10 years since its revival by Nicholas Bowman-Scargill. Over the past decade, the British brand has established an understated and elegant collection, with the Brunswick as its most recognizable reference point. Now, the watch, with its signature cushion-shaped case, onion crown, and pipette hands, gets […] Visit Fears Celebrates Its (Re-)Birthday With The New Brunswick 39 — The Brand’s First Perpetual Calendar to read the full article.

Review: the Autodromo Group C Turbo Sport Worn & Wound
Hamilton Aug 27, 2026

Review: the Autodromo Group C Turbo Sport

It’s hard to believe in our era of always-online smart watches and AI-everything (eye rolls welcome), but there was a time when the digital watch was the new kid on the block, challenging analog conventions. Cries of “kids these days” abounded, and though the then-genuine worry of traditional timekeeping going obsolete seems a bit silly in retrospect, the modern electronic digital watch was a very real and groundbreaking thing when it was first introduced by Hamilton with the Pulsar in 1970. A battery-powered quartz crystal oscillator and LED display made it a marvel at the time, and it still commands respect on the collector market today.  Like many kids of the 1990s and 2000s, my first “real” watch was a digital example, mainly because I was enamored with the ever-beeping buttons and light-up face. Still, I eventually wandered over to the analog side of watch fandom, and haven’t wavered since, a trajectory most enthusiasts will probably relate to. But in the wise words of an El Paso ad executive, “por que no los dos?” The Millennial and Zillenial era of nostalgia is here, creating a new clamoring for “retro” digital displays without sacrificing the pedigree (and social clout) that comes with an analog watch.  Enter the ana-digi, a combo of both types of timekeeping. It’s not a new concept by any means, with huge brands like Casio and Citizen offering examples for decades, but those tend to be big, bulky tool watches. Not so with the new slate of s...

Hands-On: The Laurent Ferrier Sport Traveller Hodinkee
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Cardinal Points Aug 27, 2026

Hands-On: The Laurent Ferrier Sport Traveller

There were three watches I was disappointed to have missed at Watches & Wonders. To be fair, I missed all the releases at Watches & Wonders this year, but in my mind, the three most interesting watches from the show were the Vacheron Constantin Overseas "Cardinal Points," the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux, and this watch from Laurent Ferrier: the Sport Traveller. I like the Laurent Ferrier brand a lot. But I've been wondering whether, in hindsight, I was a bit harsh on their entry-level Sport Auto when it was released in 2023. I liked the watch in theory, but in practice I had a few minor issues with the bracelet fit and tolerance, the thickness, and the price. I know a few people who own the watch, and my feelings have softened over time. But reading that old review, I wonder if I was right or just picking nits. This year's release of the Sport Traveller combined one of my two favorite complications—travel time/GMT—with lightweight titanium, which seems to be le matériel du jour.  It also gave me a chance to reevaluate my take on the watch, especially in a market that's become even more crowded and an audience that's more price-sensitive. Let's tackle the specs first and then move on to the feelings. Measuring 42mm by 13.3mm thick in grade 5 titanium, with 100m of water resistance, the watch is only 0.5mm wider and 0.6mm thicker than the original Sport Auto, which shows the strength of the movement design in being able to pack an extra complic...

Introducing - Bianchet Unveils the UltraFino Tonneau in Full Ceramic Monochrome
Bianchet Aug 27, 2026

Introducing - Bianchet Unveils the UltraFino Tonneau in Full Ceramic

Unveiled in 2025, the Bianchet UltraFino Tonneau (to differentiate it from the circular-shaped Ultrafino Rotondo) was an important release for the young independent watch brand. It was its first ultra-thin model, its first self-winding watch and its first timepiece with an integrated bracelet. Since the initial launch in grade 5 titanium cases, we’ve seen several […]