1,495 articles · 161 videos found · page 36 of 56
Quill & Pad
In 2015 with the launch of LM Perpetual. Irish watchmaker and movement designer extraordinaire Stephen McDonnell reinvented the previously breakage-prone perpetual calendar complication and LM Perpetual transformed MB&F; from a serious design-led boutique brand into a very serious horological brand. Now MB&F; has introduced LM Perpetual EVO BLUE, in titanium with light blue dial plate.
Teddy Baldassarre
Founded in 1853 in the Swiss Jura town of Le Locle, Tissot is today one of the largest Swiss watchmakers in the world, with a vast and diverse collection of timepieces, from dressy to sporty to high-tech, all offering one of the industry’s best value propositions across the board. Throughout its history, and starting as early as 1938, when a Tissot watch was used to time a series of Alpine ski races, Tissot has also been a watchmaker with close ties to sports - from tennis’s Davis Cup in 1957, to its close timing partnerships with bicycling and motorcycling championships from the 1980s to today, to its recent high-profile status as official timing partner of the NBA. And while Tissot is probably not the first brand that leaps to mind when you think of motorsports-inspired timepieces, it was indisputably one of the pioneers of that genre, a style most clearly and boldly expressed in the PR516 collection, a mainstay of the Tissot portfolio that has undergone a significant, vintage-inspired refresh in 2024. Tissot’s association with motor racing, and the seed from which the original PR 516 (originally spelled with a space between letters and numerals, and later hyphenated) would spring, began with what was essentially a fan letter from a satisfied customer. In 1958, Tissot received a signed photograph from a Swiss racing driver named Harry Zweifel, which was accompanied by a note in German that read, “Meine Tissot ist an jedem Rennen dabei,” or “My Tissot is ...
Monochrome
Pulling out all the stops before Watches & Wonders 2024, watchmaker Arnold & Son presents two skeletonised models powered by one of the world’s thinnest flying tourbillon movements, now dubbed Ultrathin Tourbillon Skeleton. While these new models have been treated to some design tweaks and a new tourbillon carriage, these editions of the Ultrathin Flying […]
Monochrome
German watchmaker Union Glashütte aptly labels its Noramis collection as “charming classics”, a description that is hard to dispute. The collection offers an array of chronographs and sporty and car-racing-inspired timepieces, yet the Noramis Date stands out as the most quintessentially classic in the lineup. Despite a range of special editions boasting themed dials and […]
Monochrome
The brainchild of Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, known for his high-end tourbillons or chronographs, Kurono Tokyo is the man’s vision of a more accessible brand. Still driven by an almost obsessive attention to detail, which somehow explains the low availability of these watches, Asaoka is here focussing on design more than watchmaking. Following the […]
Fratello
Daniel Roth and Gérald Genta are two names that resonate with watch fans. The first was a watchmaker who made Breguet great again and later started a brand of his own. The second gave the world some of its most iconic watch designs. Both names are now on the LVMH payroll, so to speak. In […] Visit Shop The Look: Finding Alternatives For Future Unobtainable Watches From Daniel Roth And Gérald Genta to read the full article.
Quill & Pad
Vladimir Négault, founder of Ataelier Haute Complication, a relatively new independent watchmaker based in Geneva who is making some of the most interesting and inventive watches Ian Skellern has ever seen.
Monochrome
Unveiled in 2022 and already a great success worldwide for the brand, the Citizen Tsuyosa Automatic NJ015 was the direct descendant of another important collection for the Japanese watchmaker, the NH299 series. But above all, the Tsuyosa collection offered the ability for many watch enthusiasts to access the highly desirable sporty-chic integrated style of high-end […]
Worn & Wound
Building on a rich heritage spanning over 165 years, Swiss watchmaker Vulcain continues to draw attention in the watch industry with each new reissue. Under the leadership of Guillaume Laidet, Vulcain’s Chief Revival Officer, the brand has been on a trajectory of reinterpreting its iconic timepieces, breathing new life into past references. Since 2022, Vulcain has been setting the tone for each season with strategic launches of emblematic collections, including the Cricket, Skindiver, Nautical, and more. Today, Vulcain has rereleased another popular model, the highly anticipated Grand Prix. Originally introduced in the 1960s to commemorate Vulcain’s triumph at the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition, the Grand Prix returns with a diameter of 39mm, a great contemporary size with plenty of presence for a variety of wrists. The Vulcain Grand Prix 39mm really exemplifies Swiss elegance. Its slim and uncluttered design is a no-fuss interpretation of a clean, vintage watch that will surely garner the attention of those looking for that “Old Money” aesthetic we hear so much about on TikTok nowadays. Equipped with a Swiss Landeron automatic movement, the time-only watch features a domed crystal over a dial in Champagne, Light Grey, or Black with a semi-glossy sunray finish. With a brushed/polished steel case and polished hour markers on the dial, these vintage-inspired elements are complemented by a double-dome sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, ensuring op...
SJX Watches
Based in Pennsylvania, Dewey Vicknair is a respected gunsmith who specialises in restoring rifles and shotguns, and has been doing so for decades, gaining an esteemed reputation in the process. Now in his mid-fifties, he is also a self-taught watchmaker who has been performing watch servicing on the side. Recently Mr Vicknair made the leap from fixing watches to making one. Mr Vicknair explained the genesis of his first watch: “When I saw your stories about Atelier de Chronometrie and what they do with vintage Omega movements, I was inspired.” His inaugural creation is a hand-wound wristwatch of his own making, literally. Although the movement started out as a 1950s Omega cal. 266, Mr Vicknair reworked majority of it and made many parts from scratch, including the going train bridge, as he did for the case, dial, and even the gasket for the crown tube. Because he made most of the parts himself, Mr Vicknair had to fabricate the equipment required to make the parts, including a cutter for the gasket and a screw holder for black polishing. He even did the silver plating of the movement parts himself. It is an unexpected accomplishment for a first-time watchmaker. Initial thoughts Ordinarily I would be sceptical of an unknown watchmaker seeking publicity for a new project with a five-figure price tag. But a few things changed my mind. One was seeing Mr Vicknair’s unusually thorough documentation of his production process, which is almost entirely manual – even the mach...
Worn & Wound
This month I had the pleasure of speaking with Nathan Bobinchak, Head of Watchmaking for the independent brand Oak & Oscar. Nathan is a former journalist and TV news writer turned watchmaker, with an obsession for finding the best way to experience sound through home audio setups. Watches “I had my midlife crisis at 26.” Nathan delivers a dry joke as he recounts his career shift from local TV news, to his decision to go to watchmaking school. Specifically, Nathan attended The Litiz Watch Technicum, a watchmaking school outside Lancaster, PA that was founded in 2001 by Rolex. After graduating from Litiz, Nathan worked for a shop in Connecticut, eventually moving to Chicago at the beginning of 2020 and landing the job at Oak & Oscar. “I first got into Oak & Oscar with the Jackson. The Jackson is a very cool chronograph with the Eterna 3916 movement in it. It’s a very neat, super complicated, pretty movement. It has a column wheel and flyback chrono…just very cool.” Nathan explained to me that in modern watchmaking you do a lot of the same things, but said he was fortunately certified to work on watches like the Rolex Daytona, as he has a lot of fun servicing chronographs. “I can go on all day about the art of lubricating a chronograph. That is some nerdy stuff. It’s like paint drying.” I was interested, so I asked him to expound. “The only thing that makes watches hard to work on is the user. We knock them, move them around, a movement will run grea...
SJX Watches
In its first year, the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives has been awarded to Raúl Pagès and his RP1 Régulateur à Détente. Selected by a five-person jury, the RP1 triumphed over five finalists, including Andreas Strehler with his Tischkalender Sympathique and Petermann Bedat and its Reference 2941 split-seconds chronograph. A watchmaker, restorer, and automaton maker, Mr Pagès’ winning entry is a time-only wristwatch with a regulator-style display, and more importantly, a movement of his own design with a detent escapement. Historically found in precision marine chronometers, detent escapements are highly accurate but typically not shock resistant, a problem Mr Pagès solved by taking inspiration from a 19th century escapement design. As a result, his escapement is shock resistant enough for everyday use in a wristwatch. Besides technical features, the RP1 movement also boasts a high level of decoration that is artisanal in nature and accomplished by hand. The finishing, architecture, and construction are all classical in style, reflecting Mr Pagès experience as a restorer, most notably at Parmigiani, perhaps the most respected restoration workshop in Switzerland. A drawing a traditional detent escapement (left), and the RP1 detent escapement Tearing up as he gave his acceptance speech, Mr Pagès’ win is a milestone in a career that actually started over a decade ago. His skill and dedication were recognised by the jury, made up of Carole Forest...
Hodinkee
The independent watchmaker's detent escapement wins the inaugural award.
Hodinkee
The Glasgow watchmaker's founder talks waitlists, moonphases, and being known as a watchmaker, not an enameler.
Worn & Wound
Orion Watches has a way of making one see a simple design in new light. Take, for instance, the isometric patterned dial on their Tesseract model. Or perhaps the tonal verdency of their Calamity diver is more your speed? Throughout the Orion catalog, one gets the sense that founder Nick Harris understands that a good watchmaker doesn’t rely on old tropes, but finds ways to add an element of surprise with each wear. That’s exactly what we’re seeing with the newest collection, the Orion Sylph. Coming in three distinct styles, the Sylph plays with color and texture against the shared sunburst dial. Customers can choose from a Graphite, Burgundy, and Black Mother-of-Pearl option, each with a bit of contrast to give a unique personality to each reference. Take, for instance, the Burgundy, which features a honey-colored dial accent and second hand. Then there is the dark charm of the Graphite option, which is contrasted with a sporty orange accent. And finally, the pièce de résistance, the Black Mother-of-Pearl reference, whose dial captures light beautifully and is accented in teal. The Sylph stands out in its price segment with stainless steel indices, setting it apart from the softer appearance of plated plastic or brass alternatives. The silver ink dial printing adds warmth and reduces harsh contrast, while the diamond-cut hands, inspired by the Calamity, feature a thinner lume strip for a harmonious design. The Sylph is adapted from the Hellcat platform. The thin ...
Monochrome
An exceptional collaboration between renowned Swiss abstract artist Olivier Mosset and watchmaker Louis Erard results in a minimalist black-on-black model destined to become a sought-after collector’s piece. Translating the artist’s abstract, reductionist codes into the miniature canvas of a watch, the Louis Erard Regulator flaunts the monochromatic palette of the rebellious Swiss artist. Produced in […]
Quill & Pad
This Breguet souscription pocket watch number 1836 was created just after the French Revolution in 1796 and was sold in 1807 for £600. A testament to the quality of the movement’s design and the skill of its watchmaker, after more than 200 years it still runs impeccably today, which makes it the perfect role model for Breguet's modern Tradition line.
Deployant
To welcome the Year of Dragon, leading Swiss watchmaker Breitling proudly presents a limited edition timepiece of only 88 pieces-the Chronomat B01 42 Year of Dragon-a perfect combination of Chinese culture and Swiss watchmaking heritage. Available exclusively at Breitling boutiques in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and South East Asia. Press release with commentary in italics.Read More
Fratello
In 2022, Frederique Constant launched a special version of its Slimline Perpetual Calendar in collaboration with The Naked Watchmaker. Roughly 18 months later, this joint effort gets a new chapter with another version of the same watch. This time around, however, the new edition comes courtesy of Peter Speake. He is no longer part of […] Visit Frederique Constant Introduces The Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Skeleton by Peter Speake to read the full article.
Quill & Pad
Most will agree that re-painting a dial is a big no-no. Vintage pieces with re-painted dials can be had for a steal as they are difficult to shift and mostly unwanted. But not all dial restorations are created equal, and we do encounter varying degrees of “upgrades.” Some of these upgrades are purposeful deception, while others are not. Here is what one watchmaker feels about the subject.
Teddy Baldassarre
Since its high-profile launch to international markets outside its native Japan in 2010, and its subsequent relaunch as an independent watchmaker separate from parent brand Seiko in 2017, Grand Seiko has become a Holy Grail for many an avid watch enthusiast. Now firmly established, for many, as an upper-echelon luxury brand on the level of Rolex and Omega, Grand Seiko has cultivated its own loyal core of fans - including many budding collectors new to the watch game who might be initially intimidated by the cost of some of the manufacture’s most exclusive, high-profile timepieces. Fortunately, the price of admission to Grand Seiko ownership is actually more reasonable than you might have been led to believe, at least at the entry-level. Here are five Grand Seiko watches, representing a range of product families and movement styles, that fall on the more affordable side of the luxury spectrum. Cheapest Grand Seiko “Snowflake:” STGF359 ($2,300) Among the most coveted models from Grand Seiko are the so-called ‘snowflake” editions, so nicknamed for their white, elegantly textured dials, made of stamped brass with a silver-plated finish, meant to evoke the blankets of fresh snow on the peaks of the Hokata Mountains that surround Seiko’s Shinshu Watch Studio in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture. The first “snowflake” was the legendary and now very collectible SBGA011, and other models have adopted the motif since then, most of them on the higher end of the brand’...
Fratello
As a keen observer of the independent side of Japanese watchmaking, I felt honored when Precision Watch Co. reached out on behalf of Jiro Katayama. Katayama-san is a small-scale watchmaker I have been following for a few years. What I find fascinating is his self-taught watchmaking, a quality he shares with Hajime Asaoka that beggars […] Visit Hands-On With The Otsuka Lotec No.7.5 - A Jump-Hour Watch With Monochromatic Swagger to read the full article.
Monochrome
The latest release from independent watchmaker Cyrus, the Klepcys Dice Saffron, represents a fresh iteration of its groundbreaking Double Independent Chronograph Evolution, initially unveiled in 2021. While the Saffron edition primarily distinguishes itself with a new colour scheme, the technical prowess of this innovative watch series compelled us to delve into a hands-on experience to […]
Monochrome
Eska isn’t a brand that many are familiar with, but the Swiss watchmaker started production over a century ago. It shut its doors in the late 1980s, like many following the quartz crisis, but has now reemerged with the Amphibian 250, a faithful recreation of the old brand’s rarest diver, the Amphibian 600. Very few […]
SJX Watches
Based in the southernmost corner of Russia, Rashid Tsoroev is a watchmaker who got his start in 2019 with fairly simple time-only watches powered by the oversized ETA Unitas calibre. Now Mr Tsoroev has upgraded his work, both stylistically and mechanically, with the debut of the Evo Arrow that is priced affordably at US$5,000. Still a three-hand watch but now equipped with a La Joux-Perret (LJP) automatic, the Evo Arrow sports a hand-hammered brass dial – a technique is sometimes described as tremblage – that he makes himself. Mr Tsoroev relies on suppliers for other components like the case, but he finishes all the components in his own workshop. Initial thoughts Like many independent makers in this price segment, Mr Tsoroev outsources several aspects the watch, but he applies his skill to key aspects, including producing and finishing the dial and hands; this contrasts with brands that merely design and assemble watches. Mr Tsoroev’s attention to detail is admirable, considering the price of the watch. Elements like the font he designed for the watch and the rounded arms of the hands reflect the thought put into the design and execution. Granted, there are constraints imposed by the retail price and presumably Mr Tsoroev’s location (where there are probably no suppliers in a radius of hundreds of kilometres), but the Evo Arrow feels like an honest creation by a craftsman. The only thing I would change is the movement. I would swap the LJP calibre for a Russian ...
Monochrome
Karl Moritz Grossmann, a prominent figure from the 19th century, was the founder and director of the German School of Watchmaking. In our contemporary era, in 2007, Christine Hutter, a skilled watchmaker with experience at Maurice Lacroix, Glashütte Original and A. Lange & Söhne, acquired the right to use the name “Moritz Grossmann“. In 2008, […]
Teddy Baldassarre
The Patek Philippe Aquanaut is one of the younger members in Patek Philippe’s historic family of timepieces but it has already gained an avid following and represents to many collectors the most accessible entrée into the Swiss watchmaker’s luxurious universe. Here is everything you need to know about the Aquanaut, from its origins to its current status as a versatile and wide-ranging collection. A History of Watchmaking Milestones Since its founding in 1839 in Geneva, Patek Philippe has been a leader in high watchmaking, pioneering many complications and design elements that are now ubiquitous throughout the watch industry. Polish watchmakers Antoine Norbert de Patek and Francois Czapek partnered to form the original company, Patek, Czapek, & Cie.; French horologist Jean Adrien Philippe, who invented the keyless winding and setting system still standard on watches today, joined in 1845, and the Genevan manufacture has been known as Patek Philippe ever since. Among its many horological milestones are the first annual calendar watch and the first wristwatches with perpetual calendars and split-seconds chronographs. In 1932, brothers Jean and Henri Stern acquired Patek Philippe and the same year launched the watch that would become its signature, the Calatrava (above), inspired by the ancient Calatrava cross that had served as the maison’s logo since 1887. The following year, Patek Philippe made timekeeping history when it commissioned a record-setting complicated ...
Worn & Wound
If you’ve been following along on the website and podcast over the last several months, you already know about how much I enjoy Arcanaut, the small independent watchmaker based in Denmark. I reviewed my own Arc II Fordite earlier this year, a watch that, when it was all said and done, was likely my most worn of the year. We’ve also covered recent releases that are a bit more straightforward than their dials created with paint drippings from American auto factories. The latest news from Denmark, though, is strange enough that Arcanaut has put their next two pieces in the “Experimental” category, and if the avant-garde nature of their previous work is appealing, these are likely to scratch a similar itch. The new watches coming to the Arc II platform in the third quarter of next year both incorporate a creative use of materials (the brand’s primary guiding principle) in exciting ways. First out of the gate, we’ve got the Bonehead, named for the marrow-like pattern on the dial. That dial is fully lumed, but that’s not really what makes it interesting. What makes it compelling is the manufacturing process devised by Arcanaut’s James Thompson, which involves combining electric blue discs of lume, aerospace grade aluminum foam, and industrial resin, which Arcanaut has used previously to bind together the non-traditional materials that go into each dial. The end result is a uniquely textured, full lume dial that should be pretty impressive in its final form. T...
Revolution
Bernhard Lederer, a highly skilled Master Watchmaker of German origin, has established himself in the heart of Swiss watchmaking, Saint Blaise near Neuchâtel. His exceptional craftsmanship and innovative concepts stem from a unique perspective of “Thinking Different.” With a deep appreciation for the horological heritage and a profound respect for esteemed figures like John Harrison, […]
Monochrome
With its superb movement and innovative escapement, the Bernhard Lederer Central Impulse Chronometer (CIC) is a fascinating watch and technical development. 4 different variations of the CIC have been presented so far: two initial limited editions in white gold followed by rose gold and steel editions. The independent watchmaker has just dropped the first pictures […]
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