Two Broke Watch Snobs
The New King Seiko Vanac Is Making the Grand Seiko Comparison Harder to Ignore
The new King Seiko Vanac HKF005 pairs a dark, Tokyo-inspired dial with Seiko’s Grand Seiko-derived 8L45 automatic movement.
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Two Broke Watch Snobs
The new King Seiko Vanac HKF005 pairs a dark, Tokyo-inspired dial with Seiko’s Grand Seiko-derived 8L45 automatic movement.
Monochrome
In 2026, Panerai celebrates 100 years of its boutique in Piazza San Giovanni, Florence. Originally opened in 1926 as “Orologeria Svizzera”, the boutique became an important part of the Panerai family’s history, a place where watches were sold but also assembled and repaired. The preserved location, reopened to the public in 2001 following the renovation, […]
Fratello
This year is an important one for Panerai. The brand is commemorating the centenary of its long-standing store, Orologeria Svizzera, in Florence. To celebrate 100 years of the famous boutique with its breathtaking views of the Florence Cathedral, Panerai unveils the Luminor Firenze 8 Giorni PAM01794. This new limited edition of 1,000 pieces takes inspiration […] Visit Back To The Roots With The Panerai Luminor Firenze 8 Giorni PAM01794 to read the full article.
Hodinkee
If you've never collected Rolex Bubblebacks before, you should probably forget nearly everything you know about vintage watches. At least, that's what it feels like you should do when you start wading into the space. Things like reference numbers are much less valuable to remember than movements, case designs, printing details, and a general ability to just remember everything you've seen to get a sense of feel for what is right and what isn't. And trust me, a lot isn't. You could spend decades looking at these watches, but "Bubble Back" by Masahiro Endo, the owner of vintage retailer Private Eyes in Tokyo, is a great reference to jump-start your understanding of an iconic (and currently underappreciated) model. I mentioned this in last week's review of John Nagayama's "96," but the only watch I'd be more afraid to deep-dive into than the Patek ref. 96 is the Rolex "Bubbleback." It's not even an official model, but a nickname for Rolex watches made from 1933 to the mid-1950s with a domed, "bubble-like" caseback. So when you open Endo-san's book, you'll probably immediately be struck by the fact that none of the examples (except the later ref. 6062 and ref. 8171) have reference numbers. According to collectors, that's not the most useful thing for understanding the Bubbleback. Basically, every other detail matters more. We've previously published a story about the bubbleback with a lot of thoughts and tips for understanding these models, courtesy of Ken Jacobs and Justin Gr...
Worn & Wound
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet some of the team from Matador and was let in on a massive secret: Matador had plans to replace almost its entire line of soft goods. Unlike other manufacturers, this wouldn’t be a slow rollout or gradual discontinuation of lines; it was a hard stop, set for early August, almost an “end of an era,” if you will. Among the list of packs that were nearing their end was the GlobeRider line, which has become a regular in my rotation of bags. Thankfully, the Matador team had production samples on hand and was able to walk me through the changes and dispel my worries, and I’ve been putting one of these new models through its paces for about two months now. Back in June of 2025, I took Matador’s GlobeRider 35-liter on an almost two-week-long trip to Atlanta and Alaska and was genuinely impressed by the bag’s performance. In my initial review, I mentioned that while being larger than I needed, the Globerider never felt out of place, whether I was using it for EDC, bringing home groceries, or hauling around a hefty bit of camera kit. Since then, I’ve taken the GR35 on a weekend trip to Paris, used it countless times to haul gear and groceries throughout the city, and it’s earned itself a constant place in my small but packed gear closet. Having spent nearly two months with the new GTP, it has become clear to me that while this bag is something new, a significant amount of previous design DNA has remained. Most notably...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Seiko expands its 5 Sports lineup with the HDB004 and HDB005, bringing fresh silver and green takes to the familiar SNZH-inspired design.
Hodinkee
Two weeks ago, we managed to fit in one more Hodinkee Happy Hour before summer slips away. We gathered at the Watches of Switzerland store in SoHo, where friends old and new escaped the rain to enjoy an evening of good conversation, food from Upside Pizza, and beer from our local friends at Grotta. Despite the weather, the turnout—for both people and watches—did not disappoint. If you made it out that night, thank you for coming. Please note that the next Hodinkee Happy Hour won't be until October, so please keep an eye on the site and our Instagram for the October RSVPs. Until then, scroll through the photos below for a recap of the night and to see some cool watches. Our Editor-in-Chief, James Stacey, sporting a Doxa Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee Limited Edition t-shirt. A vintage Movado Triple Calendar. An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding with a blue "Grande Tapisserie" dial. A Sinn T50 titanium diving watch and a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with a black dial and contrasting subdials. F.P. Journe Octa Automatique Réserve De Marche. From left to right: a Doxa Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee Limited Edition, a Rolex Daytona Ref. 16520 with a "Patrizzi" dial from 1996, and a Grand Seiko. From top to bottom: a Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Regulator Ref. 5235G, a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time "Deep Stream," and an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15510 ST Green Dial from 2022. Rolex Zenith Daytona Ref. 16520 "Arabic prototype." From top to bottom: the Rolex Zenith Dayto...
Monochrome
While Tutima gained popularity thanks to its purposeful pilot watches, aviation-themed chronographs and robust adventure-driven collections, one of the brand’s lineups certainly stands apart from the rest and shouldn’t go unnoticed. A tribute to the German school of watchmaking and the manufacture’s roots, the Patria collection celebrates classic designs and in-house watchmaking, done the Glashütte way. Elegant, […]
Time+Tide
Launching at FounderFest, meet the Furlan Marri Outback Songlines, with a chocolate dial, hunter caseback and a new three-link bracelet.
Fratello
Back in 2020, TAG Heuer introduced the Carrera Chronograph Sport for its 160th anniversary. The collection consisted of 44mm chronographs with either a stainless steel or ceramic bezel. Of course, they were attractive, with designs inspired by TAG Heuer’s rich racing history. However, I feel the 2023 Carrera Glassbox took much of the attention away […] Visit A Lap Around The Track With The Facelifted And Downsized TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Sport to read the full article.
Deployant
Reuben picks three standout releases from Geneva Watch Days 2026: the GP Laureato Fifty Tourbillon, MING 57.05 Comet and L’Epée The Football.
Monochrome
Chronoswiss founder Gerd Lang will forever be remembered as the watchmaker who produced the world’s first serially produced wristwatch with a regulator layout in 1987. Without a shared central axis, the separation of hours, minutes and seconds characteristic of regulators connects directly to the Digiteur of 2005, a digital regulator with jumping hours at noon, […]
Fratello
The way we tell time matters, and not just because we want to miss the train. The way we read time is also an experience. Digital time is just a series of numbers, while an analog timekeeper sweeps through time, showing you where it has been and where it is going. Call me a hopeless […] Visit The Chronoswiss Neo Digiteur Pastel Code Puts A Softer Spin On A Peculiar Watch to read the full article.
Time+Tide
The Chronoswiss Neo Digiteur Pastel Code collection brings Rose, Sky and Mint dials to its distinctive handless mechanical digital display
Fratello
Vintage watches can seem intimidating when you first start looking. There are unfamiliar references, decades of production changes, questions about originality, and the ever-present possibility of an expensive service bill. But you don’t necessarily need a huge budget to get into vintage watches. In fact, €5,000 opens up a surprisingly broad selection. In this episode of Fratello […] Visit Fratello Talks: The Vintage Watches We’d Buy Under €5,000 to read the full article.
WatchAdvice
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new Master Control Chronometre collection is a hit. Now we put the Date Power Reserve model under the microscope… What We Love Great integrated bracelet design, & a first for Jaeger-LeCoultre Super comfortable on the wrist Bridges both sports and dress watch genres easily What We Don’t No lume, so a better watch for day wear vs an all-around sports watch The bezel could be larger or have more detailing for greater balance Need a corrector tool to change the date, so it isn’t easy to do when out and about. Overall Rating: 9.25 / 10 Value for Money: 9/10 Wearability: 9.5/10 Design: 9/10 Build Quality: 9.5/10 Mario has had his say on the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronometre Date, but now it’s my turn, and for this review, I’m getting hands-on with the Master Control Chronometre Date Power Reserve. Yes, the name is a mouthful, but that is ok, I’ll forgive Jaeger-LeCoultre as this is (spoiler alert) a fantastic watch that I really had a hard time faulting. Since seeing the full collection first-hand at Watches & Wonders this year, I had been keen on trying them for a longer-term review. I do love the rose gold variants, but the sensible part of me thought it best to give the steel version a try, as this is probably the more everyday-wearing watch, and design-wise, sits nicely between the date model and the perpetual calendar. First Impressions I’ll say this. My first impressions of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronomet...
Worn & Wound
Vintage Seiko, as most collectors know, is a rich tapestry. Once you learn the story of Colonel William Pogue, or try to track down the funky bracelet that Bruce Lee paired with his own Speed-Timer, the wormholes naturally open themselves, each with their own dizzying amounts of reference numbers, specific models, and fun nicknames for the mind to notice and then squirrel away for later. But what about the ones you might have overlooked? Midcentury Seiko chronographs are a riot of design variations, bold patterns, and contrasting color schemes—and all backed by genuine innovation in the guise of the first automatic chronograph, flyback movements with stacked register hands, collaborations with luminary designers, and freakish dabbles with postmodernism. It’s what makes them so much fun to pay attention to. Hence, these six Seiko chronographs that play with the form, proving that even across the decades there are still surprises to rediscover. Not just familiar references, but obscure offshoots. Seiko 6138-8000 “Baby Panda” Seiko’s dual-register chronograph debuted shortly after the 6139, which we all know as the world’s first automatic chronograph. And while both watches represent futuristic seventies design, the slimmer 6139 takes a backseat to this lineup’s exaggeratedly bulky cases and clashing, patterned color schemes that have garnered nicknames like “UFO,” “Kakume” (“square eyes”), and “John Player Special” (a nickname popularized ...
Hodinkee
Hello from (rather warm) Cupertino, California. Yet another year has flown by, which means once again we continue our more than a decade-long tradition of taking an extremely brief pause from traditional watchmaking to see what's up with the newest editions of the most popular and widely adopted watches in the world. They just happen to be fully digital. And yes, another year of us unpacking what it truly means to be a watch in the comments section. If you're like me and also a tech nerd, you've undoubtedly been following the rumors recently ahead of the launch. It's the first launch event since John Ternus' succession to Tim Cook as Apple's new CEO, and while Ternus stepped into the role a week ago, eyes are undoubtedly peeled to see what the next generation of Apple's designs might entail. But most of the noise was on the rumored foldable iPhone, with very little attention being paid to Apple Watch. Last year's updates were largely subtle changes from a design perspective, mostly around new functionality and small visual improvements. Series 12 — What's New? In short, not much. Those of us (me included) may be disappointed that there isn't a new physical redesign, with the current generation of design language carrying forward and no major changes to speak of. The real changes are under the hood: a new Health Sensing System paired with the S11 chip now takes a heart rate reading every five seconds, all day, and measures HRV up to 24 times more often than before—numbe...
Monochrome
Since the launch of his eponymous Le Solliat-based brand in 2017, David Candaux has developed his own visual and mechanical language, offering highly technical movements and an unusual case construction and display. The DC6, introduced after his first creation, the DC1, established many of the elements that have become signatures of the brand: a basin-shaped […]
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Timex gives the Ironman Adrenaline an update with a 46.5mm case, 100m water resistance, and a price that raises some interesting questions.
Worn & Wound
One of the splashiest Geneva Watch Days releases this year was the all new M.A.D.3, the latest entry in the ongoing series from M.A.D.Editions, the popular MB&F; spinoff. You’re probably pretty familiar with the M.A.D. project at this point, but just in case you’re stumbling onto it here for the first time, a brief primer. Coming from many of the same people behind MB&F;, M.A.D.Editions was originally conceived as a way for brand founder Max Busser to thank his many longtime collaborators with an affordable watch that kept to the same avant-garde spirit of the high end luxury watches MB&F; has been making for years. That first watch was, apparently, not intended to ever be made widely available, a story that is perhaps apocryphal given the incredible success of the project across several release cycles. M.A.D.Editions is now a full fledged microbrand, with watches made available via highly competitive raffles on a regular basis. The brand has pledged to keep their watches affordable, relatively speaking, even as the overall quality of the pieces has been leveled up since the first watches appeared (they have moved to Swiss movements, and the finishing is noticeably nicer on newer watches, including the M.A.D.2 introduced last year). The new M.A.D.3 leans deeper into an idea we saw with the M.A.D.2, which is to make these watches a genuine collaboration with a friend of the brand. That watch was designed by Eric Giroud, a longtime MB&F; collaborator and one of the more ...
Time+Tide
Zelos just launched a new set of dials for the Helmsmann SS, with combinations of carbon fibre, natural stone and mother-of-pearl
Deployant
GWD2026 which watches will Daryll pick this year? Daryl, ever the contrarian, makes his unconventional picks of the best of GWD26.
Monochrome
You might have heard of diamonds as endstones on the balance staff and the escapement, but putting them onto the balance wheel? Now, if you were to think of one watchmaker to do it, though, it would be Jacob & Co, never shy about challenging the conventions of high watchmaking. The new Brilliant Flying Tourbillon […]
Fratello
Whenever I review a genuinely fascinating example of haute horlogerie, I’m constantly reminded that one never stops learning about watches. Yes, these wildly creative pieces make me feel like a neophyte. And so it is whenever I hold a David Candaux creation. The watches look like nothing else, yet they’re pleasingly tactile and meant to […] Visit The David Candaux DC6 Wildfire Is A Scorcher On The Wrist! to read the full article.
Time+Tide
Studio Underd0g unleashes a new, highly limited 02SERIES with a vibrant, fully luminescent green dial. This, is the Mantis
Monochrome
Alexandre Beauregard is a friendly character who has been gravitating toward the world of independent watchmaking for a few years now – although he is, above all, known for his expertise as a jeweller and gemmologist at his workshop in Montréal, Canada. Until recently, he had presented exclusively watch collections for women; in 2024, he […]
Fratello
Louis Vuitton is expanding the Tambour Spin Time collection with five new references, moving the latest generation of its distinctive jump-hour watch from limited editions into the permanent collection. The new watches retain the architecture introduced in 2025 but bring new colors, materials, gemstones, and a more varied set of executions. So, before your head […] Visit Louis Vuitton Expands The Tambour Spin Time With Five Colorful Permanent-Collection Models to read the full article.
Fratello
Welcome back to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we’re all back home. Balazs has returned from Geneva, and Mike has come in after three weeks of being on the road. In this episode, we review the overarching trends at Geneva Watch Days 2026 along with the top releases. Enjoy the show! This podcast […] Visit Fratello On Air: The Trends At Geneva Watch Days 2026 to read the full article.
Fratello
Seiko has slowly but consistently expanded its King Seiko collection. For its newest release, the brand introduces a Vanac with a black dial. It sounds pretty simple — almost too simple. But there is a little more to the story. The black dial of the King Seiko Vanac HKF005 mimics the Tokyo skyline at night. […] Visit The King Seiko Vanac HKF005 Brings The Toyko Skyline To Your Wrist to read the full article.
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