Two Broke Watch Snobs
Timex Expedition vs Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 250: Which Field Watch Wins?
I own the $199 Timex Expedition and the $725 Hamilton Khaki Field 250. Only one field watch stays.
36,913 articles · 256 videos found · page 743 of 1239
Two Broke Watch Snobs
I own the $199 Timex Expedition and the $725 Hamilton Khaki Field 250. Only one field watch stays.
Monochrome
It’s fair to say that TAG Heuer’s history is so closely intertwined with racing history that it is usually the first name that springs to mind when the subject of motorsports crops up. In 1882, Edouard Heuer patented his first stopwatch, and in 1911, Heuer released the Time of Trip, the first dashboard chronograph. Under […]
Fratello
What is the best livery in motorsport history? Is it John Player Special Lotus, Rothmans Porsche, Marlboro McLaren, Martini Lancia, or Silk Cut Jaguar? Are we missing one? For many people, the ultimate race car livery is light blue and marigold. In their eyes, nothing beats the look of a Gulf-sponsored Porsche 917K or Ford […] Visit Is This The Best Livery Ever? Introducing The TAG Heuer Formula 1 Automatic Chronograph × Gulf to read the full article.
Monochrome
The Ocean Star collection has been part of Mido‘s catalogue since 1944, which today has become a solid and affordable choice for those wanting a dive watch with clear legibility, robust construction, and reliable mechanical performance. More recently, the Ocean Star 200C introduced ceramic bezels, colourful dials, and presented a more refined take on the […]
SJX Watches
From now until July 18, Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) is exhibiting the sixth edition of its Collectibles programme at the brand’s boutique in London. The occasion offered an opportunity to sit down with CEO Jérôme Lambert to understand what the brand hopes to achieve with its Collectibles exhibitions. Launched in 2023, the concept stems from the eponymous book that assembled a dream collection of vintage JLC watches. Since then, museum-grade pieces have been sourced from around the world, restored in the brand’s dedicated workshop — without altering their patina — and presented for sale through travelling exhibitions. Triple Calendar with Moonphase from 1946. The capsule collection assembled for the London edition features seven Reverso models alongside five other rare watches, including a 1946 Triple Calendar with moon phase. With one exception — a small 1931 Reverso — all 12 watches had found buyers within hours of opening. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Yannick Nardin (YN): What is the purpose of the Collectibles programme? Is it a commercial, strategic or heritage-driven initiative? Jérôme Lambert (JL): All of those dimensions played a role in its creation. First, there were our conversations with collectors. Many expressed a desire to acquire exhibition or museum pieces, while others approached us to authenticate watches they had purchased through dealers. Two-tone Reverso from 1941. At the same time, following the great JLC exhibitions of...
Quill & Pad
Look closely at the modern Swiss watch industry today and you’re quickly forced to pick a side depending on what actually matters to you in a luxury watch today.
Fratello
Panerai continues its official partnership with the U.S. Navy SEALs with a new Submersible. The watch’s 44mm stainless steel case has the brand’s characteristic cushion shape and a matte black ceramic unidirectional bezel. Following the ultra-limited Afniotech Experience model, this release extracts key design cues in a more grounded steel package. Crucially, PAM01738 skips the […] Visit Panerai Launches The Rugged Yet Reined-In Submersible Navy SEALs PAM01738 to read the full article.
Fratello
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another Sunday Morning Showdown. I don’t know if it’s due to the heatwave we’re experiencing here in Europe, but this week, we’re doing things a little differently. On the other hand, it might simply be that Grand Seiko launched new Evolution 9 models that left us rather impressed. However, […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Grand Seiko’s Hi-Beat 9SA5 Vs. Spring Drive U.F.A. 9RB2 to read the full article.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Citizen's Nighthawk CA0897-04H goes grey-on-grey on a nylon strap. A look at the Eco-Drive pilot chrono, its specs, and more.
Monochrome
Several initiatives exist to promote the development and future of watchmaking, as well as to discover and support the talents of tomorrow. This is crucial to nurture the next generation of watchmakers and protect the art we love and share here on MONOCHROME. Among these initiatives is one that is particularly inspiring, the Cartier Prize […]
Time+Tide
The intelligence of the hand. It comes from ancient Greece, and it holds that manual dexterity isn't some lesser sibling to intellectual thought.
Monochrome
Concept cars are where carmakers and designers go wild and create the craziest, most unhinged experimental vehicles you can imagine. They often showcase never-before-seen technology and ideas, provide a glimpse into design elements for future production cars, or downright do something outrageous for the sake of being outrageous. Most of these are relegated to a […]
Deployant
A new dial for the De Bethune DB25xs which inspired by nature. Introducing the DB25xs Sand Winds. Inspired by nature, and perfected by De Bethune.
Monochrome
Maurice Lacroix introduced the 1975 collection last year to mark its 50th anniversary. Since then, the line has expanded to include GMT and day-date models, as well as the 1975 Master Grand Date Retrograde, which was released earlier this year. Now, the Swiss brand welcomes the new 1975 Legacy with a machine-guilloché petite seconde display that sits […]
Worn & Wound
I got my start in the watch industry in the pre-owned and vintage arena. With that entry point, the foundation of my horological knowledge was based largely in the traditional sector (think the big three, Cartier, Heuer, Omega, and the like). As my career path has led me to watch journalism, my appetite has expanded exponentially, but I have to confess: more traditional brands are still my safe space if you will. In my years contributing to Worn & Wound, I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone in the most rewarding way – discovering a vast world of watchmaking beyond traditional brands that regularly energizes and surprises me. So, once again, a brand came across my virtual desk that was new to me despite being a staple at Worn & Wound: echo/neutra. As I scrolled through the stories on the site, I landed on one by Zach Kazan from 2024 detailing the launch of the collection that’s expanding today, the Rivanera, and I immediately noticed his sentiments on the element of surprise, “those moments of surprise, seeing or reading about a watch that you didn’t expect or couldn’t have conceived of.”Just like his first impressions of the echo/neutra Rivanera collection two years back, I too am surprised by how instantly drawn I was to this model in its latest incarnation. Today, the Ros’Antico joins the lineup, bringing both a liveliness and a softness to the collection with a simple touch of color. The surprises continue with how profoundly color can ignite a new pe...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Two vintage-inspired divers, two very different approaches. We compare the Squale Sub 37 Legend and Baltic Aquascaphe to see which one works better.
Monochrome
Tourbillon and Breguet are two words that belong in the same story. Indeed, on 26 June 1801, and thus exactly 225 years ago, Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted the patent for his invention, an anti-gravity device that he would name the tourbillon. And today, the brand celebrates this crucial invention by releasing a series of new […]
SJX Watches
Enjoying a new lease of life under chief executive Gregory Kissling, Breguet is continuing with the revamp and revival of its product range, this time marking the 225th anniversary of Abraham-Louis Breguet invention of the tourbillon. Breguet is rolling out a quartet of models for the occasion, starting with the compact and enthusiast-oriented Classique Tourbillon ref. 7357 that’s an old school 35 mm in diameter. That’s followed by variants of existing models. The Classique Tourbillon Sidéral ref. 7255PT takes things up a notch with a “mysterious” flying tourbillon and aventurine enamel dial, while the Tradition Tourbillon ref. 7047PT is a new look for the long-tenured model featuring a chain-and-fusee transmission. Lastly the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT gains a translucent, luminous grand feu enamel dial. The enamel dial of the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT features a Super-Luminova star chart Initial thoughts Breguet has steadily refreshed its current line up since Mr Kissling took over, while releasing a handful of all new models, like the innovative Experimentale 1. The new tourbillons mostly fall into the former category; all are based on existing models to varying degrees. Ironically, of the four new models, it’s the entry-level piece that’s arguably the most novel. The Classique Tourbillon 7357 is clearly based on the ref. 3350 of 1989, but it has a new case and dial (but retaining the small case size). The mov...
Monochrome
Van Cleef & Arpels approaches watchmaking as a medium for storytelling. The brand’s Poetic Complications line, launched in 2006, unites its high jewellery and artistic expertise with sophisticated mechanical movements to bring these stories to life. Expanding its Jour Nuit collection, Van Cleef adds a moon phase complication with on-demand animation inside the majestic Midnight […]
SJX Watches
The 28th edition of the Cartier Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow has announced the winners of the annual competition, which seeks to recognise and nurture promising young watchmakers and technicians. In total, six prizes were awarded to students from France and Belgium. Aymeric Peters won first prize in the Apprentice Watchmakers category for “Silence Choisi” Understanding the Cartier Prize The watchmaking industry faces a well-known shortage of young talent, and awards like the Cartier Prize, the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition, and the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives enhance the appeal and visibility of the profession in a meaningful way. The theme of the 28th edition of the Cartier Prize was “Shifting the Balance: Reading and Perceiving Time Differently”. This theme explains why almost all entries featured heavily abstracted time displays. Layla Sluysmans tied for second prize in the Apprentice Watchmakers category with her creation “Nymphéa” The format of the Cartier Prize differs from that of other similar awards. Finalists were chosen based on sketches and presentations, and were given just 80 hours (over three months) to complete their creations with the help of dedicated mentors. To ensure a level playing field, each candidate is provided with a Cartier cal. 012 alarm clock movement and a CHF500 budget cap. Eléonor Picciotto presided over the ceremony, and the prizes were awarded by a jury comprised of Roy Davidoff, P...
WristBuzz
Blancpain shrinks its ultra-thin dress watch to 38mm and debuts a first-ever sunburst salmon dial for the Villeret line
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Explore the best British watch brands through real wrist time, with picks focused on value, design, utility, craft, and long-term enthusiast appeal.
Worn & Wound
For many Americans, the Fourth of July means fireworks, backyard barbecues, and the one day a year that a stars-and-stripes t-shirt somehow feels perfectly acceptable. Yet beyond the spectacle and celebration, Independence Day is ultimately about something much simpler: coming together with friends and family to celebrate the history and ideals that continue to define […]
Worn & Wound
Is there a brand that more completely blurs the line between the definition of “microbrand” and “independent brand” than Brew? It depends, of course, on how you define each term. If a brand needs to exist in the haute horlogerie space and craft movements or other components from scratch in an artisanal way to be considered “independent,” then Brew will probably never qualify under those terms. But if your criteria is an intentional, well defined point of view on watchmaking with a clear, instantly recognizable design language, all executed according to the singular creative vision of the brand’s founder, Brew easily fits. I’ve never been one to see microbrand as a pejorative or diminishing label, but in Brew’s case I might argue that it doesn’t necessarily reflect the brand’s growth over the last decade, and the widespread recognition and popularity they’ve found outside of the enthusiast space. Importantly, Brew continues to find interesting ways to iterate on the themes established since the brand’s founding by Jonathan Ferrer, the founder and designer behind the brand. It would be easy for Brew to simply pump out new colorways for successful models, but instead they’ve taken steps (sometimes, admittedly, slower than some collectors and enthusiasts would like) to gradually expand what people think of when they consider what Brew actually is. To that end, their latest watch is a new version of their manually wound Metric (with a Swiss movemen...
Monochrome
Over the past couple of years, we’ve come to the conclusion that Union Glashütte is quite a stand-out brand among the predominantly Swiss Made brands under the Swatch Group umbrella. It benefits from the group’s vertical integration yet is able to put its own mark on things, allowing it to hallmark its watches as Made […]
Hodinkee
Continuing Doxa's focus on its core late-60s aesthetic, the brand recently unveiled the T.Graph II, the latest iteration of its core dive chronograph. Reborn but largely faithful to the original (and indeed to some more recent T.Graph forays), the new T.Graph II ports the Sub 300's classic look into a burly yet entirely wearable automatic chronograph that comes in Doxa's classic trio of colors, along with the surprise inclusion of a blue "Caribbean" execution. With a flagship price tag, it's a model that has previously been hard to source and often even more expensive, so the question becomes: is the new T.Graph II the dive-ready Doxa chronograph we've been waiting for? Don't fret, we'll get to all that and more. But first, a quick history lesson to bring us all loosely up to speed on the T.Graph, as it's a model with a cult following but was previously never made in any considerable quantity. T.Graphs Past To keep things as basic as possible (because Jason Heaton has written extensively about, and dived with, vintage T.Graphs – here with a Searambler, and here with a Sharkhunter), the new Sub 200 T.Graph II is based on a low-production design from 1969 called the Sub 200 T.Graph. While there is some contention over production numbers, it is believed that ~300 of each of the original colorways (Sharkhunter, Searambler, and Professional) were produced. Again, I recommend both of Jason's stories, even if only so you can see how absolutely gorgeous a vintage Sub 200 T.Graph...
Time+Tide
Baltic just updated its popular Scalegraph, introducing a revised dial in three colours, and an upgraded, redesigned case
Time+Tide
Sartory-Billard joins forces with Time+Tide to create an ode to the New York City skyline, and the iconic architecture within it
Deployant
I attended a special Leica SL preview showing of the new Leica SL3-P at Leica Singapore recently. Here are the specifications and my hand-on experience
Fratello
Ask watch fans what makes Farer stand out, and chances are that you’ll quickly get an answer involving colors. The London-based brand has a knack for them. A great example is the Lissom collection that I reviewed last year. It’s a group of daily wearers that shows the importance of colors in creating a great […] Visit Channeling The Colorful Racing Culture Of The 1970s With The New Farer Racing Chronographs to read the full article.
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