3,880 articles · 367 videos found · page 72 of 142
Monochrome
It seems that the integrated sports watch trend shows no signs of slowing down, and for the most part, we’re not complaining about that. It’s always good to see brands adapt and evolve, and to offer diversity and originality in a sense. Of course, following trends can be risky and time-sensitive, but in today’s industry, […]
SJX Watches
In the run up to Watches & Wonders 2025, many commentators expected a breakout year for the GMT-Master II, since it’s the 80th year of the collection. But Rolex took things in a different direction and dominated headlines by launching the Land-Dweller instead. But Rolex didn’t forget about its signature travel watch, and debuted two new precious metal models. The first is the GMT-Master II ref. 126729VTNR, which is in 18k white gold with a left-handed crown and a green ceramic dial; a first for Rolex. The second is the GMT-Master II ref. 126715CHNR in Everose that brings a new dial material to Rolex, tiger iron, one of the oldest minerals on Earth. Both models are available exclusively with an Oyster bracelet in matching 18k gold. The “lefty” with its glossy green ceramic dial Initial thoughts I admit to being laser-focused on the Land-Dweller during Watches & Wonders; the new movement technology captured (and held) my attention throughout the event. But I still made time to check out the GMT-Master II collection, which was one of my favourite Rolex collections at one point in time. Naturally, both of these new references exude quality, which can be experienced directly in the smooth operation of the bezel and the decisive action of the clasp. The watches are decadent, heavy, and show that Rolex has not run out of ideas for interesting dials. In the case of the green ceramic dial in the “destro” variant, I think we can expect to see this material used more wide...
SJX Watches
Bulgari made its debut at Watches & Wonders this year, having previously exhibited outside the fair. It was a fitting occasion to launch the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, the thinnest tourbillon watch ever at just 1.85 mm thick. Housed in the brand’s signature matte grey titanium case and limited to just 20 pieces, the Ultra Tourbillon is paired with an equally thin and silky titanium bracelet. Bulgari is deeply invested in its leadership in ultra-thin watchmaking, and the Ultra Tourbillon shows the brand is willing to do whatever it takes to own as many records in this field as possible. Initial thoughts Despite its record-breaking slimness, there was surprisingly little buzz about the Ultra at Watches & Wonders. This may be due to record fatigue, since the previous record was set just last year by the Piaget AUC Tourbillon. It could also be due to the diminishing returns of these types of records, which are now being broken by almost imperceptible margins. On its exterior, the Ultra Tourbillon is quite similar the 1.7 mm-thick Octo Finissimo Ultra introduced last year. It features a 40 mm case made from a combination of titanium and tungsten carbide, and is impressively open-worked, revealing just about every wheel and pinion on the dial side of the watch. But this watch is all about the headline figure of its 1.85 mm thickness, which endows the Ultra Tourbillon with a delicate, almost weightless feel. The case in profile. Image – Bulgari Like all ultra-thin recor...
Worn & Wound
If you’re into watches, then you’re into Abraham-Louis Breguet. One of the founders of modern horology, his innovations set the course of the industry and remain relevant. Whether that’s in terms of his inventions like the tourbillon, the gong-spring, his signature overcoil, self-winding, or shock protection, to name but a few, or in marketing and selling his timepieces, his contributions set many standards. Of these listed, however, marketing and selling seem the least interesting, and yet, Breguet’s “Souscription” model and the watches created as a result, have served as inspiration for several of the modern Breguet brand’s most iconic timepieces. In 2005, the brand launched the Tradition line, bringing escapements to the dial of a wristwatch, and now, the Classique Souscription 2025, celebrating the company’s 250th anniversary. The Souscription concept is one we are all very familiar with, if a slightly different take that suited the times. Upon ordering one of Breguet’s Souscription pieces, a quarter of the total price was paid to cover the parts. A deposit, if you will. The watch was made, and the remaining three-quarters were sent to acquire it. Sounds familiar, though typically we don’t fund the making of individual watches (though sometimes we do). A highly successful campaign that was advertised via a pamphlet, another innovation, it is said that around 700 watches were produced using this model. The concept wasn’t just a method of payment, b...
Hodinkee
Happy Diamonds and "jewelry brand" no longer, Chopard updates its nine-day power reserve dress option in spectacular fashion.
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Why I sold my original Black Bay Pro and why this new dial is making me reconsider it.
Hodinkee
The French style of watchmaking is having a resurgence, and young names like Cools are leading the charge.
SJX Watches
Vacheron Constantin is marking its 270th anniversary with the record-setting, most-complicated-watch-ever, the Solaria Ultra Grand Complication. Fortunately, the celebratory line-up also includes the more affordable: one step down in the collection is the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar 270th Anniversary. Less complicated than the Solaria, but still one of the top-of-the-line anniversary offerings, the Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar is an entirely new model, rather than an existing model dressed in anniversary livery. The Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar combines the self-winding cal. 2160 with a perpetual calendar mechanism, while both the dial and movement get the 270th anniversary-exclusive treatment. Initial thoughts The Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar is a fairly large but thin watch, with a clean, traditional design with tasteful elaboration. Formal on its face, the watch gets more interesting up close with the anniversary decor on the dial and movement. Overall, the look and feel is elegant; essentially the type of watch that Vacheron Constantin (VC) does well. The execution is high quality and typical of an established, industrial-artisanal brand. The tourbillon bridge and cage stand out as being especially finely finished. Notably, the guilloche on the dial is done the traditional way, on a hand-operated straight-line engine – which is necessary for a watch of this price – while on the entry-level anniversary models the same pattern is achieved via stam...
Monochrome
Even though it has lived in the shadows of the Black Bay range, the Tudor Pelagos is an important one. First, it was one of the very first models launched for the brand’s rebirth in 2012, the same year as the BB was presented. Over the years, it has evolved but has kept its highly […]
Worn & Wound
For many pocket-dumping EDCers, the knife has pride of place in one’s kit. Bags are commonly rotated depending on the use-case. You likely wouldn’t bring a hiking rucksack to the office. Watches, too, are usually swapped out daily (and for our crowd… maybe more). However, a good pocket knife can be a consistent staple in one’s everyday carry. Especially one small enough to fit conveniently on your keyring – like the Elko from the James Brand – which I’ve gotten to put through its paces the past few weeks. My love of pocket knives predates my watch collecting interests by over a decade. In fact, getting into the mechanical minutiae of blades likely helped pave my way into the field of horology. I think knives are one of the best tools to keep with you daily, and as a result, I’ve lost more than a handful to unplanned metal detectors and security screening processes. So it goes. Therefore, I’m always looking to increase the size of my collection and have a variety of styles on hand, so I’m never without one close by. My knife collection ranges widely, though I tend to opt for blades that are legal to conceal in Colorado: 3.50 inches. It goes without saying that this measurement changes based on someone’s country and state, so do your own research here. The Elko is well under my state’s legal limit – the blade is a petite 1.74 inches – with a total length, including the handle, of 4.33 inches I was smitten with the Elko from the moment of my unboxi...
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Hodinkee
A refined take on the 1998 classic Reverso.
Quill & Pad
Cartier Tank à Guichets: George Cramer hardly dares to say the name out loud. This is the Tank he has always dreamed of handling, but has never been able to do until now.
SJX Watches
Patek Philippe came to Watches & Wonders 2025 with a deep bench of strong new releases, but for fans of the classic Calatrava, the standout was without question the Calatrava Ref. 6196P-001. It’s an easy watch to love, with good proportions, a hefty 38 mm platinum case, a lively “salmon” dial, and is powered by the brand’s latest generation movement. Though the brand was arguably overshadowed this year by its suburban Geneva neighbors Rolex and Vacheron Constantin, at lower and higher ends of the price spectrum, respectively, Patek Philippe demonstrated its ability to deliver in every category, from simple dress and sport watches to mid and high complications. Initial thoughts In February 2017 I was asked what I wished to see from Baselworld that year. I said I’d like to see a successor to the ref. 5196 with a case-filling movement and a large balance. Eight years later, Patek Philippe delivered more or less exactly what I imagined, keeping the proportions and details of the classic Calatrava with a more advanced movement than the outdated cal. 215 that was used at the time. So in a sense, this watch was made for me. But I had not anticipated a “salmon” dial. Officially labelled “rose-gilt opaline” by Patek Philippe, such dials have become popular among collectors, and are now a staple across the Patek Philippe collection. Naturally, a vivid colour like this helps an otherwise simple watch stand out, but personally I look forward to more toned down iter...
![[VIDEO] Hands-On: the Trematic Archive One 502](https://wornandwound.com/library/uploads/2025/04/Trematic_12.jpg)
Worn & Wound
There’s that moment we all know too well-you’re deep in the rabbit hole of late-night doom scrolling through Instagram’s discovery feed, mindlessly thumbing through the same photos. Then, suddenly, one catches your eye and stops you dead in your tracks. You actually click on the post, you spread the image to zoom in, and then you do the unthinkable and read the caption. That is exactly how I ended up discovering Trematic and this specific model, the Archive One 501. I was completely unfamiliar with the brand, which, when combined with a design language that spoke to me, immediately sparked my curiosity. Specifically, it was the typeface used for the indices. Those quirky, alien-like 4, 6, and 10 markers, cast in rose gold tone, immediately grabbed my attention. They looked like something from a different time, maybe from a different planet, yet the watch overall felt refreshingly modern. A worn-out phrase lately, but the blend of vintage style and contemporary sensibilities didn’t feel tired, which is something I can’t say about many “retro-inspired” designs in the microbrand space. For those who haven’t encountered Trematic, let me give you a quick rundown: the brand dates back to the 1950s but faded into obscurity after the Quartz Crisis, just like many of its contemporaries. In 2022, Daniele Campagnano breathed new life into the brand, seeking to revive its forgotten legacy. The first model to re-enter the market was the Zy6, a watch we recently mentio...
Hodinkee
Two very different materials make an appearance on Rolex dials for the first time: Cerachrom and tiger iron.
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Hodinkee
Two years after Xhevdet Rexhepi's original announcement, the watches are finally close to delivery – and they're one of the strongest independent releases I've seen in that time.
Hodinkee
Two new Florida-inspired colorways for the recently-launched Sub 250T, in collaboration with Naples, Florida retailer Exquisite Timepieces.
Hodinkee
Eighteen references is a lot, but each plays with bright colors in a different way.
SJX Watches
One of the most beautiful, albeit not particularly novel, debuts at Watches & Wonders recently was the Patek Philippe Ref. 5370R-001 Split-Seconds Chronograph with a two-tone grand feu enamel dial in brown and cream. It’s merely a new variant of a longstanding model, but it is striking. Prior versions were in platinum with a black and then blue enamel dial; this is the first model in rose gold and perhaps the first-ever modern-day Patek Philippe with a multi-part, two-tone enamel dial. Design aside, the ref. 5370R retains the same specs and movement as its predecessors. Initial thoughts I usually don’t like brown dials, and the ref. 5370R is merely a cosmetic tweak. The movement remains the same CHR 29-535 PS that is good looking and contains some clever technical features, but its decoration could be a little more artisanal for the price. Overall, the ref. 5370R isn’t fundamentally new. And despite being in rose gold, it’s even more expensive than its predecessors in platinum, with a retail price crossing US$300,000. Being a Patek Philippe, the ref. 5370R is expensive, in the same manner that Ferrari and Hermes can charge more than the competition. But despite so much going against it, the ref. 5370R is one of the few watches that has remained in my memory in the weeks after W&W;. It is simply that beautiful. As the saying goes, if I could, I would. The new ref. 5370 looks classical yet modern, and still captures the old school Patek Philippe aesthetic. The two-ton...
Hodinkee
The new Calatrava 8-Day may have gotten overshadowed by a platinum and salmon release, but it's still a watch worth coveting.
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Monochrome
Traditionally, Rolex sports (a.k.a. professional) watches are very often paired with black dials. As for the GMT-Master II, of all references available in the collection – and there are quite a lot of them, in all possible materials except platinum – only the white gold editions have had the privilege of colours: Pepsi with a […]
Hodinkee
When two really strong releases aren't just about the watches themselves, they're about the future.
SJX Watches
Take a moment to think about the characteristics that would make the perfect everyday watch; what would you come up with? The list would probably include things like maximum precision, minimum weight, an agreeable size with good ergonomics, and a design that is at home in both formal and casual environments. It also wouldn’t cost a fortune. That might as well have been the design brief for the new Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Spring Drive Ultra Fine Accuracy (UFA) SLGB001 and SLGB003, which ticks about as many boxes as any single watch can. In fact, just about the worst thing you can say about the UFA is that the design isn’t taking any risks, but that’s the cost of chameleon-like versatility. While the watch is also available in an 80-piece limited edition in platinum (the SLGB001, pictured above), the primary focus of this review will be the more crowd-pleasing titanium version with matching bracelet (the SLGB003), which is a regular production model and priced right. The SLGB003 Initial thoughts Putting it bluntly, the UFA is an absolute spec-sheet monster. If you’re onboard with the idea of a quartz oscillator in an otherwise mechanical watch, there’s very little to nitpick. It’s simply one of the most accurate, wearable, and well-made watches on the market. In true Grand Seiko style, the UFA is fitted with a nature-inspired dial motif that is modeled on a hillside of frost-covered trees. It’s a fairly abstract representation, which means it will look like d...
SJX Watches
Zenith has finally started to look beyond the El Primero with the G.F.J., which features a new version of the storied chronometer cal. 135. Conceived to mark the brand’s 160th anniversary, the G.F.J. moniker is a reference to the brand’s founder, Georges Favre-Jacot, whose initials grace the facade at the manufacture in Le Locle. This new model marks the return of the famous movement phased out about 60 years ago. But production has officially restarted, and the new cal. 135 features modern upgrades that differentiate it from the vintage original used in the Calibre 135 Observatoire introduced in 2022. The “new old stock” cal. 135 that Zenith dusted off for the 2022 edition. Image – Zenith The movement returns to market in a 160-piece limited edition in platinum and features an elaborate blue dial that that is made from lapis lazuli and mother of pearl. For about double the price, owners can request a full platinum bracelet, which endows the watch with impressive heft. Initial thoughts I’ve always liked the cal. 135 and wished Zenith would bring it back. That said, I was not convinced by the first stock images I saw of the G.F.J. I felt like the dial was overwrought, and the basketweave pattern on the movement was distracting. Having spent some time with the watch, I would soften my criticism of the dial as it’s more subtle on the wrist and up close the details are finely done. Moreover, subsequent non-anniversary versions will likely have these details toned...
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Patek expands its smoked sapphire dial collection with a second new release.
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