Hodinkee
Introducing: Roger Dubuis Marks 30 Years With The Hommage La Placide
Thirty years in, the Maison celebrates its origins with a tribute to its founder.
Results for Vallée de Joux
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Hodinkee
Teddy Baldassarre
Top 21 Best Watch Brands Of All Time
Watchmaking is a centuries-old craft, and as such, there are brands operating today with no shortage of heritage, not only stewarding the industry as a whole, but also fostering its continued cultural relevancy. Modern relevancy is vital to a crop of young brands looking to make their own mark on history. The complexity of the industry, and the purpose that watchmakers serve in a modern society, may have shifted, but their importance, and indeed their existence, says something deep about the value that humanity places on these things. Today, we find a vast landscape of watch brands and watchmakers operating, providing the most diverse range of watch offerings available to the public than any other time in history. This also begs the question: which are the best? Settling on the best watch brands operating today is no small task, and of course involves a heavy measure of subjectivity. That said, we can bring some structure to the table in an attempt to qualify the very best by an assortment of metrics, from industry leaders, to gateway brands, and even some wild cards that have the potential to shake things up. But what makes a watch brand great? Is it a consistent history of growth and innovation? Annual sales volume? Number of horological contributions made over time? Wholly verticalized manufacturing? Or is it something a little more amorphous, like public sentiment and goodwill, or risks being taken that net a positive influence on the industry as a whole? As with most ...
Monochrome
Hands-on – Up Close With The Manteio Zeus, The First Watch By Self-Taught Watchmaker Alex Goetschi
As we (digitally) scour the globe to bring you some of the most special and unique independent watchmaking projects, we don’t always have the chance to see the watches ourselves. One such opportunity to go hands-on with something intriguing, however, presented itself during Geneva Watch Days, where we met with Alex Goetschi. As a self-taught […]
Worn & Wound
The Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Gets a Wild Lume Treatment with the New Lumiere Edition
The Bel Canto, in its relatively short history, has proven to be a surprisingly versatile watch in the way it can wear different colors and accents. That’s a little surprising when you consider the fixed nature of the exposed chiming mechanism and the way this elements dominates the look of the watch. But color and especially texture can take the Bel Canto completely different directions, conjuring both contemporary “indie” aesthetics as well as something much more classical. The latest version of Christopher Ward’s C1 Bel Canto now dons the “Lumiere” designation that we first saw a year ago in the C60 Trident. Lume was a big part of the story with that C60 Trident, but it wasn’t the whole story as it is with the new Bel Canto, which here sees its most radical reinvention to date. Obviously, this is one for the folks who are never without a high powered flashlight in their EDC. The C1 Bel Canto Lumiere is the most exotic interpretation of the platform yet. It’s built around a platine with a sunray pattern that is intricately coated with two shades of luminescent material. This effectively lights the “dial” of the watch from behind, and below the chiming mechanism. The time-telling ring is now a solid circle of high powered Globolight lume, where the current time is read with lume tipped hands. There are no numerals or indices on this Globolight ring, and I’m sure some will balk at the fact that we now just have an approximation of the time to refere...
Monochrome
Introducing – Artya Unveils Exclusive Watch with Quadricoloured Sapphire Bezel for Dubai Watch Week 2025
Artya, the brand created by Yvan Arpa, is never shy to break the rules and to create watches with impressive character. Even though recent models have toned things down a bit, specifically the sleek and organic Purity Wavy or Luminity Wavy, the family-run business is always answering the call for innovation and creativity. As part […]
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A Vintage Watch To Sell Your Car For | Lug2Lug
Monochrome
Introducing – The C by Romain Gauthier Carbonium Edition
By now, most of you should be familiar with the C collection by independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier. This sporty watch, with its shaped case and integrated design, has been the indie brand’s focus for about 4 years now; the initial model was indeed presented in 2021. As a side note, I’m slightly disappointed not to […]
SJX Watches
Highlights: Pocket Watches at Phillips Hong Kong
The upcoming Phillips Hong Kong auction includes a diverse and spectacular selection of pocket watches spanning two centuries. From early 19th‑century enamel masterpieces crafted for the Chinese market to 20th‑century tourbillon chronometers that triumphed at observatory trials, the lots on offer demonstrate the technical and aesthetic evolution of the watch over the last two hundred years. Lot 1086 – S. Smith and Son No. 1899-1 Tourbillon Chronometer with Kew Class A Certificate Albert Pellaton-Favre constructed the first of two tourbillons in the auction, which was later retailed by S. Smith & Son. The other, by Patek Philippe, is the work of his son, Jämes-César Pellaton. Both are depicted in Reinhard Meis’s famous Das Tourbillon. The English and Swiss disagreed on what constitutes a chronometer. The English argued that a chronometer must use a chronometer (detent) escapement, while the Swiss considered any watch a chronometer if performed well enough – which the English would call a “Half-Chronometer”. As the Willis enamel dial boasts, the first is a chronometer by both English and Swiss reckoning, with a spring detent escapement and “Especially Good” certificate from the Kew Observatory. While S. Smith and Son retailed quite a number of tourbillons, including others with detent escapements, most were sourced locally, while the present lot uses a Swiss movement. The London branch of Baume Frères ordered six tourbillon chronometers from Albert Pella...
Worn & Wound
Join Junghans at the Windup Watch Shop Brooklyn Showroom for an Evening of Bauhaus and Beer
On Thursday, November 20, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, we are hosting a special evening with our friends from Junghans at the Windup Watch Shop Brooklyn Showroom. The theme is simple and fun, Bauhaus meets Biergarten, a mix of great design, great watches, and great beer. RSVP HERE Guests will be able to browse a selection of special Junghans models and hear more about the brand’s connection to 100 years of Bauhaus. Members of both the Junghans team and the Worn and Wound crew will be on hand to talk watches, design, and the ideas that have shaped the brand’s legacy. We will have snacks and beverages throughout the night, including a Biergarten flight tasting that pairs perfectly with your favorite Junghans pieces. At the end of the night, one attendee will be selected to win a 2025 edition of the 1972 Chronoscope Sports Edition from the Windup Watch Shop. Event Details Date and Time: Thursday, November 20, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM Location: Windup Watch Shop Showroom, 540 President Street, Suite 1G, Brooklyn, NY 11215 RSVP Required: An RSVP is required to attend the kick off event. Please submit the form below to register. If attending with others, complete the form once per guest. RSVP HERE We look forward to seeing you there! The post Join Junghans at the Windup Watch Shop Brooklyn Showroom for an Evening of Bauhaus and Beer appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Worn & Wound
Driving Design: An Audi Enthusiast Finds His Place in the Watch Community
Joey is a pianist, watch collector, and Volkswagen/Audi enthusiast. Joey and I met as many watch enthusiasts do; overhearing a wrist check conversation and nudging our individual ways into it at the same time. Of course, this conversation was also at a car show, which served as the catalyst for this eventual article, and over the course of six months, a real friendship forged through timepieces and an Audi TT RS. A San Francisco native with an eye for custom style, Joey naturally started his car journey with custom Volkswagens. “From the specific years you bought, how you lowered it, interior to the color scheme you could tell you were from San Francisco,” he says, motioning to a VW Kharmann Ghia across the sea of car enthusiasts that we stand distanced from on a warm and clear Sunday morning in September. Family and friends modified air-cooled V-Dubs, introducing him to the art of modifying cars-a topic that remains contentious among enthusiasts, some of whom prefer to keep their classic machines stock, in stark opposition to the hot rodders and lowriders of the scene. A fleeting glance of a late-model Volkswagen Scirocco 16V in Brilliant Black kickstarted Joey’s personal pursuit of vehicular perfection, but his first automotive love was that car’s little brother. “I ended up going to the local dealer and bought a Mk2 big bumper Jetta GLI with the 2.0L bubble-block 16V instead”, Joey admits, showing a hint of his present self’s penchant for practical...
Teddy Baldassarre
The Best Watch Straps For Every Budget
In every watch enthusiast's journey, there comes a day when you notice a piece that you used to wear constantly has suddenly lost some of its sparkle, and the watch that was once a constant companion has now been displaced into storage. That initial charm has been dulled by routine, and it doesn’t spark the same feeling of joy that it once had. But, before you accept that the piece has now been replaced by a shiny new favorite, there is one way to ignite the passion you once felt: try putting it on a new, fresh strap or bracelet. Here I will share with you some of the best watch strap brands out there to help shake things up. I will admit that this is quite a mundane suggestion, but we mortals crave novelty. A simple switch to a different strap can make an old, reliable piece feel suddenly new in our eyes. It can open up new ideas for what or when to wear it with, and, especially for more classic pieces, it can be an avenue to experiment with more boldness, more play with color and texture. So, today, instead of rounding up a list of watches that you might add to your collection or wish list, I’m going to break down some of the most steadfast watch strap makers on the market in an effort to help you breathe new life into a piece you already have that isn’t getting as much wrist time. We’re going to be running the gamut in terms of style, material, and design, and, hopefully, you’ll walk away from this humble article with renewed ideas on how to shake up your coll...
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From Patek to Breitling, Reviewing A Collector's Sports Watches | Rant&h; Collection Review
Monochrome
Live Stream – Watch the GPHG 2025 Ceremony, the Oscars of the Watchmaking Industry
As every year, it is time for the watch industry to celebrate watchmaking, watchmakers and watches in general. The so-called 2025 Oscars of the Watchmaking industry, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève or GPHG 2025, is about to begin, and the best watches introduced during the year are about to be awarded. From time-only watches […]
Worn & Wound
Straum and The Real Time Show Podcast Collaborate on the Jan Mayen Titanium “Stormy Seas”
Straum has teamed up with The Real Time Show, the watch podcast founded by Alon Ben Joseph and Rob Nudds back in 2022, on a new limited edition version of the brand’s popular Jan Mayen sports watch. The new Straum x TRTS Jan Mayen Titanium Stormy Seas complements other editions of the watch well in that it fits in nicely with Straum’s dedication to exploration and adventure, something the brand founders spoke about at length on our own podcast last year. The new dial variant seen here was inspired directly by an experience Rob had during the 2022 Straum Explorers Club expedition to Jan Mayen, a Norwegian volcanic island that is key to the brand’s story and the genesis for much of its design direction. The dark blue tone is meant to evoke, as the name suggests, a stormy sea. Using blue to represent the ocean on a sports watch is of course not a new concept. If anything, it’s been done to the point where it’s tough to see a blue dial and think of anything but the ocean. Usually, however, it’s done in the service of aspiration. This is an intimidating, ominous blue that would have most level headed people backing away from the ocean and heading to the shore. It communicates something about the brand that Straum would choose to embrace this particular vision of adventure. The deeply textured dial is complemented by a bright orange seconds hand, a color taken from immersion survival suits used in emergencies at sea. Applied and lume filled hour markers circle the ...
SJX Watches
Hands On: Double-Faced Grand Comps for Vacheron Constantin’s 270th
Marking its 270th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin (VC) has celebrated in grand style, exemplified by the year’s latest, a pair of double-dial grand complications: Les Cabinotiers Cosmica Duo and Les Cabinotiers Moon Dust. Initial thoughts Each of the new Les Cabinotiers watches expresses a different facet of VC’s watchmaking identity. The Cosmica Duo stands out as a true wrist-worn observatory, combining 24 astronomical indications with a reversible construction that makes it unusually wearable for its complexity, while the baguette-set Moon Dust translates horological ambition into pure jewellery, with hundreds of diamonds framing a movement that remains uncompromisingly mechanical. As a group, these watches reinforce the idea that VC’s greatest strength lies in synthesis. Few manufactures can move so fluidly between engineering precision and artistic refinement, or treat engraving, gem-setting, and chiming mechanisms as parallel forms of expression. As unique pieces, pricing is largely outside the scope of this hands-on evaluation. As is typical for VC’s bespoke Les Cabinotiers department, each watch was almost certainly developed in close collaboration with its eventual owner, making them more commissions than catalogue items. Their value, therefore, lies not only in their material complexity but also in the fact that each represents a personal chapter in the continuing story of Geneva’s oldest watchmaker. The layered architecture of the Cosmica Duo. Image ...
Monochrome
Introducing – Back in Blue, Meet the Kollokium Projekt 01 Variant G
What is Kollokium…? Well, a bit of a UFO, really. Is it a brand, a design studio, a concept that thinks out of the box, a project from a group of friends that turned out to be more successful than anticipated? A bit of everything, actually. What Kollokium is not claiming to be is a […]
Fratello
Introducing: The Czapek Time Jumper - A Flying-Saucer-Shaped Half-Hunter Watch With A Spacy Optical Effect
A decade after its revival, Czapek once again surprises with an intriguing creation - the Time Jumper. This is a modern interpretation of a 19th-century pocket watch crafted by François Czapek. The 40.5mm wristwatch with a half-hunter cover presents a fresh twist on traditional guilloché and partially conceals the new open-worked caliber 10.01. In celebration […] Visit Introducing: The Czapek Time Jumper - A Flying-Saucer-Shaped Half-Hunter Watch With A Spacy Optical Effect to read the full article.
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Tudor Day-Date, Vintage Chronographs, & An Alarm | In The Metal
Hodinkee
Introducing: Unimatic and Todd Snyder Team Up Again for the Modello Quattro U4-GMT
Another collaboration between the two brands brings a new complication to Todd Snyder's Unimatic stable.
Teddy Baldassarre
What Is A Fluted Bezel On A Watch?
If you’re new to the watch-collecting hobby, you’ve undoubtedly seen or heard references to watches with fluted bezels, but what does that description actually mean? Are fluted bezels a feature of sports watches or dress watches, of watches for men or for ladies? Are they designed for practical use or purely as an aesthetic touch? As is common in the world of watches, the answers to all of these questions are not as simple as you might think. Before getting into the fluted type in particular, let’s get really basic and review what a watch’s bezel is and what it’s for. As we explore in more detail here, a bezel is the front part of a watch’s case (often but not always ring-shaped) that frames the dial and secures the crystal. Bezels can be made of the same material as the case middle and/or the caseback, but can also be made of a different material. They can also be thin or wide; stationary or built to rotate in either one direction or both; purely decorative (i.e., set with diamonds) or utilitarian in nature (i.e., inscribed with a scale for some type of calculation). Fluting is defined as “a groove or set of grooves forming a surface decoration,” so a fluted bezel is one that features this type of grooved or ribbed texture on its top surface. Initially, as with most every element of a watch, a fluted bezel design was designed with a practical purpose in mind: the grooved surface made it easier for a watchmaker to screw the bezel tightly into the case to...
Worn & Wound
Czapek Celebrates Ten Years with the All New Time Jumper
We’re heading into a big new release period as much of the watch industry descends on Geneva for the upcoming GPHG awards ceremony, and then heads to Dubai for the Dubai Watch Week festivities. There’s sure to be a ton of news made in the next two weeks as this year’s best watches receive their flowers and we get a first look at many of the new novelties that will close out the year as head into the holiday rush, and tempt us for 2026. Czapek, the Swiss indie best known for their Antarctique line of integrated bracelet sports watches, is first out of the gate among higher end independents with a new novelty just announced today. The Time Jumper is an audacious new piece made to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary, reaching back into Czapek’s roots before the current incarnation of the brand was incorporated, and also putting a new spin on a complication that has been all the rage this year. When I first heard that Czapek would be releasing something new and splashy to celebrate their tenth anniversary, my mind immediately began wondering “I wonder what kind of Antarctique they’ve come up with?” I should not have been so cynical, but it’s an unavoidable fact that the brand has really leaned into the popularity of the integrated bracelet sports watch platform since the first of these watches was introduced around five years ago. There have, of course, been many iterations, limited editions, and complications, and it probably would have been easy enoug...
Hodinkee
The Business of Watches Podcast: Audience Q&A; Special With Hodinkee's Editor-In-Chief James Stacey
Andy and James answer your questions on watch pricing, surging Swiss watch exports to the U.K., what to consider when buying your first 'nice watch', and what Halloween is like in Switzerland.
Monochrome
First Look – The New Chronoswiss Neo Digiteur, The Return of the Brand’s Jumping Hour Guichet Watch
Chronoswiss has always moved in its own rhythm. From the regulator wristwatches that defined its 1980s identity to today’s bold Lucerne-built timepieces, the brand has never shied away from doing things differently. Few statements were as radical as the Digiteur, a watch without hands, powered by a mechanical calibre, yet read like an early digital […]
Video
The Interstellar Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day Date - The Best Automatic Aviation Watch Under $600?
Deployant
New: Czapek Time Jumper – 10th anniversary caliber 10
Czapek adds to their impressive repertoire with a new model with a new in-house caliber 10 movement. Introducing the Time Jumper.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Citizen Promaster vs Seiko Turtle: Affordable Dive Watch Showdown
Explore our head-to-head testing comparison of the Seiko Turtle vs the Citizen Promaster. Find out which diver nails design, durability, and comfort.
Hodinkee
Business News: Confirmed: President Trump’s Mystery Desk Clock Came From Rolex
Rolex presented the clock to the U.S. people as part of a visit by business leaders last week aimed at strengthening relations, according to a letter.
Monochrome
First Look – The new Mido Multifort TV Big Date S01E02, a Fun Take on the Retro TV Test Card Motif
Mido’s TV-shaped Multifort has quietly become one of the most distinctive value propositions in the sports-chic bracket. The core model provided you with the compact square-with-rounded-corners, TV-shaped case, a big date at 12 o’clock, and a modern Powermatic-based calibre, while last year’s S01E01 Test Screen showed how playful the format could be without losing seriousness […]
SJX Watches
Bi-Retrograde’s Back: Roger Dubuis Hommage La Placide
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Roger Dubuis (RD) revisits its earliest triumph with the Hommage La Placide, a 28-piece limited edition that reimagines the brand’s signature bi-retrograde perpetual calendar. Named for the late Dubuis’ childhood Boy Scouts nickname, the Placide celebrates the classical roots of the Geneva-based manufacture while honouring the design codes that first put RD on the map three decades ago. Faithful to the originals yet refined in execution, the Placide reaffirms the brand’s ability to merge mechanical ingenuity with expressive design - a reminder that beneath its modern flamboyance lies genuine horological pedigree. Initial thoughts Roger Dubuis today is best known for its over-the-top, modern design - skeletonised movements, sharp case lines, and a visual language that often borders on the theatrical. It’s a far cry from the brand’s origins three decades ago, when Dubuis himself was focused on classical watchmaking rooted in Genevan tradition. Paying tribute to those early creations, the Placide reimagines the bi-retrograde perpetual calendar that first established the horloger genevois 30 years ago. The bi-retrograde perpetual calendar was first conceived in the late 1980s, when Dubuis collaborated with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht to develop a novel perpetual calendar mechanism featuring twin retrograde indicators for Harry Winston. It was only in 1995, upon founding his own brand, that Dubuis introduced the complication ...
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