Results for Co-Axial vs Swiss Lever Escapement

Louis Erard’s Latest Limited Edition is a Collaboration with a Swiss Abstract Artist, and their Most Challenging Work Yet

There’s a whole category of watches that I have come to genuinely love that I think can be fairly described as highly impractical art objects that also tell time. I wrote about one quite extensively here, and if you follow me on Instagram or have chatted with me in real life or in the Worn & Wound+ Slack community (which, to be fair, is technically “real life”) you know that I gravitate more and more toward the avant-garde, and love challenging designs that try to break what a watch even is. The new limited edition regulator from Louis Erard fits into this category nicely, and indeed was made in partnership with a Swiss abstract artist with a reputation for this type of challenging work. The new Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Olivier Mosset is perhaps the brand’s most purely abstract creation yet.  Let’s start with the obvious question: how do you tell the time on this thing? This is not an unreasonable query – many who have encountered this watch on Louis Erard’s Instagram feed since its unveiling on Tuesday morning have been confused enough to send their question into the void. I won’t say it’s “simple” because even I have to admit that telling the time on this thing is probably difficult in a pinch, but the idea is straightforward. It’s a regulator, with the top hand reading the hours, the middle the minutes, and the bottom the seconds. But the task of actually reading the time is intentionally (I’m assuming) made more challenging for a few reas...

Delma Announces an Affordable Swiss Made Tourbillon to Celebrate their 100th Anniversary

Delma is celebrating its Centennial Anniversary in 2024. Family owned and operated in Lengnau, Switzerland, Delma watches has been in continuous production since its inception in 1924. To mark this tremendous milestone, they have created something quite special. Introducing the Delma 1924 Tourbillon. Yes, you read that correctly, a Tourbillon, limited to just 100 pieces. Historically, the Tourbillon complication has been reserved for ultra high-end watch brands to flex their horological muscles, while at the same time commanding equally high prices. In recent years, however, brands like Tag Heuer and Horage have brought these prices down to the realm of relative affordability. Delma wanted to do the same, while also making sure the movement was 100% Swiss. What is the big deal with Tourbillons? Simply put, the Tourbillon places the escapement and regulator within a rotating cage that revolves 360 degrees in 60 seconds, effectively negating any positional errors. Tourbillon calibers have a reputation for being rather delicate, and are often fitted to dress watches in precious metals. With the help of their Swiss supply partners, Delma has gone the extra mile to ensure these watches are shock resistant to 5000g and antimagnetic to 2000 gauss.  This sporty 41mm hand wound watch is made of 316L stainless steel and is nearly completely brushed, except for the beveled edges lining the top of the case. There is a display back, to admire the movement and it is fitted to a matchin...

Head to Head: Sporty vs Dressy GMT Watches

The traveler’s watch. The last truly useful sport watch today. The GMT watch has, as much as its sibling the dive watch, remained a cultural icon and a best-seller for brands both big and small. Every collector wants – or at least has considered – a GMT watch of some kind. There is good and bad news to that end. The good news is that watch brands have labored to create GMT watches of all sorts to appeal to every breed of watch enthusiast. The bad news is that money doesn’t grow on trees. Of all the classic watch archetypes, the GMT has always straddled that line between ritzy and rough, and we can separate them into two stylistic buckets: dressy and sporty. While the line between the two is often blurred and the definitions themselves somewhat subjective, we thought it would be fun to see how this useful complication has found its way into watches of all kinds. So without further ado, this is your Sunday Smackdown: GMT Edition. The traveler’s watch. The last truly useful sport watch today. The GMT watch has, as much as its sibling the dive watch, remained a cultural icon and a best-seller for brands both big and small. Every collector wants – or at least has considered – a GMT watch of some kind. There is good and bad news to that end. The good news is that watch brands have labored to create GMT watches of all sorts to appeal to every breed of watch enthusiast. The bad news is that money doesn’t grow on trees. Of all the classic watch archetypes, the GMT h...

Why is everyone crazy about Tiffany & Co. and Patek Philippe double-stamped dials?

Introducing - The Montford Watch Co. Rubus, A Cool Field Watch with Charity in Mind

It can get a bit tiring introducing “another” affordable field watch from “another” new microbrand, but the Rubus from Montford Watch Company is different, supporting Tusk’s charity work in Africa with a well-thought timepiece that’s anything but an afterthought. From the textured steel grey dial, proven automatic movement and a pair of cool straps, the […]

Up Close with Furlan Marri x Auro Montanari x Revolution Swiss-Made Mechanical Flyback Chronographs

Being the first Furlan Marri with a mechanical chronograph movement, we also want to focus on the beautiful dials and just the fact of the amount of attention to detail given to individual pieces. These pieces all come with the elevated inner dial which is brushed nicely to finish, accompanied by the pulsation indicator chapter […]

Seiko’s New High-End Diver Is Gunning for Your Swiss Watch Money

Girard-Perregaux introduce the Neo Constant Escapement

Introducing: The Timex Giorgio Galli S2 Automatic Is the First Swiss-Made Timex In Four Decades

This sequel to the S1 shows that Galli and the team know how to push the envelope.

Hart Davis Hart Watch Auction Co. is a new digital-first watch auctioneer focusing on independent watches

Watch Spotting: Rihanna Wears A 47mm Baguette-Set Jacob & Co. Watch As A Choker During Paris Fashion Week

All eyes were on Pharrell's debut Louis Vuitton Menswear show… and then Rihanna showed up.

Breitling Introduces New Classic AVI “Co-Pilot” With 42mm Case

Breitling revealed their modern Super AVI collection in 2021 at an airstrip in Dallas, with actual war planes and pilots on hand. We brought you live coverage right here, and as nice as we found some of the designs, the cases themselves, which clocked in at 46×15.9mm, were a tougher pill to swallow. In an attempt to address this, Breitling has introduced a new Classic AVI family into the collection, which features a more wrist-friendly 42×14.7mm case at the expense of the GMT complication found in the Super AVI family. Further still, within this release is a 41mm ref. 765 1964 Re-Edition that stays true to old school form both inside and out.  The new Classic AVI watches bring the same design language we saw in the Super AVI, which itself is a reference to the Breitling reference 765 from the early ‘50s, a watch that earned the nickname “Co-Pilot” for its usefulness to pilots of the time. The Super AVI watches featured designs that drew inspiration from iconic WWII planes, and the Classic AVI collection makes use of the same schemes to great effect. This includes the P-51 Mustang, Vought F4U Corsair, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, and Mosquito planes, which are each represented in the 4 different colorways. The newest AVI watches use the Breitling Caliber 23, which is their modified Valjoux 7753. This means the pricing is also considerably more attractive than the Super AVI collection, with prices starting at $5,800 for leather strap equipped watches, and $6,200 if you pre...

Pre-Owned Picks: Co-Branded Watches From The Hodinkee Shop

Why have one brand, when you can have two?

TGIFridays: best of the best Alpagon/Rodenstock HR 50 vs value king Fujinon GF 50

We compare the megabuck Rodenstock HR50 lens to the value priced Fujinon GF 50. Both attached to the Fujifilm GFX 50S II as the digital back.

Photo Report: How A Small Swiss Watchmaking Museum Keeps History - And Community - Alive

Supported by some of the greatest brands and individual watchmakers today, the Espace Horloger shows how collaboration started the industry and has helped it survive.

Buying, Selling, & Collecting: Why Mark Cho, Co-founder Of The Armoury, Is Letting (Almost) Everything Go

Ahead of selling the lion's share of his collection through Phillips this month, Cho shares his thoughts about walking away from so many watches.

Business News: Swiss Watch Exports Drop In September

Shipments fall for the first time in 16 months.

Watch Sizes vs. Wrist Sizes: What’s the Right Size for You?

One of the most important factors one considers when choosing a new watch is the watch's size - as in, its appropriateness relative to the size of one's own wrist as well as the general statement that it's making on said wrist. Trying watches on before buying them is, of course, the easiest and most sensible way to determine these factors, but when you're buying watches online, like so many of us are these days, the eyeballing and hands-on experience must give way to some carefully conducted research instead. Here we pose and answer (to the best of our knowledge and experience) some of the questions a prospective online watch purchaser is likely to have regarding watch sizes and wrist sizes.  What watch size is right for my wrist? While there are obviously some practical calculations that you can make, it all comes down to comfort and personal style. Some people with very slender wrists like to rock a big, attention-grabbing timepiece, and occasionally a linebacker type with thicker forearms might prefer to keep it more subtle with a smaller watch that hides under a sleeve. Acknowledging that these tend to be the outliers, however, most watch wearers will want some aesthetic harmony between their watch size and wrist size, which means that you’ll want to get an accurate idea of both actual measurements. This is particularly important if you’re buying a watch online without actually physically trying it on. You can measure your wrist size easily by wrapping a ...

Patria Brigadier Flyback Chronograph: Run, Don’t Walk, It Was The Best Value Swiss Made Automatic Chronograph Available Today (Until Sold Out)- Reprise

Every time Ian Skellern writes the words “relatively affordable” here on Quill & Pad, he braces himself for the stream of comments reminding him that he must live in an alternative reality to most of the world. So he doesn't describe the Patria Brigadier Flyback Chrono as relatively affordable (though compared to most of the watches we review on Quill & Pad he thinks it well merits that description), but he does think that it’s fantastic value and the bargain of the year. And here he explains why.

Business News: Swatch Sold One Million MoonSwatches in '22, Leading A Record Year For Swiss Watches

But can it last?

There’s Something Very Strange About the New Timex Collaboration with Pop Trading Co.

When you were a kid, did you ever attempt that prank where you’d move the clock in the classroom ahead in an effort to trick the teacher into letting you out of class early? I feel like that’s a thing that almost every kid has tried, or at least it feels that way. It’s one of those activities that’s burned into our collective consciousness from sitcoms, comic strips, and stories told in the school cafeteria whether or not you were an active participant. This is what the latest release from Timex immediately made me think of. It’s playful and almost subversive in the way it taps into your inner juvenile delinquent.  The new watch is a collaboration with Pop Trading Co., a Dutch apparel company I was heretofore unfamiliar with that is deeply rooted in skateboarding culture. The watch, dubbed simply the Timex MK1 x Pop Trading Co. takes the familiar 36mm Timex field watch design and shifts the hours such that the “1” is at the 12:00 position, “2” is at 1:00, and so on around the dial. Pop’s unique wordmark, a grouping of the letter “P” in a square with an “O” at the center, is recreated on the dial with the hand stack standing in for the “O.” A black resin case matches the tone of the dial and keeps the focus on the unusual layout.  There’s no other way to say this, but looking at the dial of the Timex x Pop collab is an immediately disorienting and disconcerting experience. It really reminds you, if you look at watches everyday, like we do...

The king of affordable Swiss tourbillons: Ba1110d Chapter 4.1

Ba111od releases a new model - the Chapter 4, for less than CHF 5,000. Here is our comprehensive review of the Ba1110d Chapter 4.

Hands-On: What Do Aerial Firefighting And Swiss-German Railroads Have To Do With Watchmaking?

Oris has the answer with the new ProPilot Coulson and Big Crown Pointer Date Waldenburgerbahn.

The Swiss Institute’s TimeForArt Auction at Phillips New York

In Conversation with Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, Co-owner and CEO of Château Angelus

In Saint-Émilion, part of the winemaking region of Bordeaux, France, stands Château Angelus, a vineyard that has remained in ownership of the Boüard de Laforest family for almost two and half centuries. The château is a mecca for wine lovers the world over and vintages from this Premier Grand Cru Classe A estate are renowned […]

Steal Vs. Splurge: Toolish Titanium Timing With Tudor and Scurfa

Two similar takes with two very different price tags.

Introducing: The Spanish Watchmaker Bringing Back The Detent Escapement

Raúl Pagès' third creation features his first in-house movement.

Steal Vs. Splurge: Intergalactic Design From Rado And Patek Philippe

Which watch would you wear on a mission to Mars?

Steal Vs. Splurge: Jaeger-LeCoultre Or Longines: Which Ultra Thin Gets The Win?

It feels good to have a whisper-thin watch on the wrist. Does it feel six times better when it costs $8,600 instead of $1,275? Today, the JLC Master Ultra Thin Date takes on the La Grande Classique de Longines.

Introducing the MB&F; Legacy Machine Split Escapement EVO