Monochrome
Glashütte Original released its Serenade Luna in 2024, featuring moon phase indications. Unlike the Panomatic Luna, which is essentially a scaled-down adaptation of the men’s PanomaticLunar with its off-centred dial and Panorama date window, the Serenade Luna was conceived from the start as a women’s watch with a petite 32.5mm diameter, a sprinkling of diamonds and […]
Teddy Baldassarre
The tracking and recording of time has always been inextricably linked with the mysterious motions of the heavenly bodies, primarily that of the sun around which Earth revolves and of the moon, Earth’s own satellite, whose monthly trek around our planet has inspired astronomers, poets, navigators, and yes, watchmakers to explore and understand its unique place in our cosmos. Watchmakers over the years have expressed their fascination with Luna, both its romantic and scientific aspects, in some of their most creative and innovative timepieces. Here are 26 of our favorite and best moonphase watches available now that we think shine particularly bright. [toc-section heading="A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Moon Phase"] Price: On Request, Case size: 38.5mm, Thickness: 10.2mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Manually Wound L121.3 The iconic Lange 1, unveiled in 1994 as the flagship of the revived A. Lange & Söhne brand, has been the wellspring of numerous creative variations and additional complications, among them this elegantly appointed model that marries an ultra-precise moon-phase display with an ingenious day-night indicator. The former’s gold moon waxes and wanes over a star-dappled blue disk and tracks the actual lunar cycle with near pinpoint accuracy, requiring adjustment just once every 122.6 years. The watch’s 38.5-mm case houses the German watchmaker’s manufacture Caliber L.121.3, whose luxurious, traditional Saxon deco...
Worn & Wound
A few weeks ago I decided to wear my Tudor Black Bay for the first time in several months. It’s a watch I love that I’ve written about many times on this website, but I’d been enjoying other more recently acquired pieces for some time and the Black Bay had been collecting proverbial dust in the watch box. So on a chilly winter afternoon I wound it up and set the time. But then, instead of closing the bracelet around my wrist and going about my business, I hauled out my little set of watchmaking tools to size the bracelet. Because the actual reason I hadn’t worn it in so long wasn’t entirely a result of being in the honeymoon phase with other watches, it was knowing I had a small chore in front of me if I didn’t want the watch to dangle pathetically from my wrist, and for a while it just seemed easier to ignore it. Over the last year, in an effort to become healthier and, you know, live longer, I’ve lost a significant amount of weight, and it’s had a dramatic effect on how my watches wear, and how I think about them. I’d been putting off an afternoon of resizing all of my watch bracelets in part because I was nervous that once I had my 41mm Black Bay on my now half inch smaller wrist, it would disappoint somehow. I gravitated toward smaller watches all summer and fall of last year as the shape of my body began to noticeably change, wearing my larger watches more sparingly and over shorter stretches of time. The author’s Black Bay on his 7.5 wrist, Oc...
SJX Watches
Orient Star marks a milestone with the M34 F8 Skeleton Hand Winding 75th Anniversary, combining the brand’s technically adept, manually wound skeleton calibre with a novel, laser-engraved meteorite pattern in a maximalist open-worked package. The M34 F8 Skeleton also stands out for the tech inside the mechanical movement: proprietary silicon escape wheel with a novel, optimistic geometry that helps the M34 punch above its weight from a technical standpoint. Initial thoughts Last year, Orient Star launched the brand’s first manually wound moon phase – made of mother-of-pearl no less – for fans of understated, formal watches. Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, Orient Star has cast aside restraint to mark the occasion with something for a more maximalist breed of collector. The new skeleton has a blacked-out case and bracelet and an open-worked version of its top-of-the-line F8 movement. Notably, the movement plates are bridges, which are exposed front and back, are decorated with a laser-etched meteorite motif that is impressively detailed. This skeletonised anniversary limited edition also features the latest technology from its powerhouse parent company Seiko Epson, including a silicon escape wheel with an especially advantageous design. While silicon is increasingly common in the watch industry, it is used primarily for hairsprings. This puts Orient on the list of short brands with a proprietary silicon escape wheel that includes blue-chip names like Patek Phil...
Worn & Wound
Certain watch niches are riskier than others; for instance, seemingly every brand has tried a dive watch or chronograph because they are guaranteed crowd pleasers with straightforward functionality, whereas a world timer or moonphase complication is a little trickier to market to a general audience. In that corner of hyperniche sits the jumping hour watch, which to a non-watch nerd, is both visually and functionally baffling. But Bremont is no stranger to the jumping hour concept, having released successful models with the complication in the recent past. How have they fared with their latest iteration, the Terra Nova 38 Stealth Black? Let’s jump in and find out. While a seasoned horological expert may be familiar with a jumping hour complication, the casual shopper likely isn’t: basically, instead of displaying a sweeping hour hand, a jumping hour watch points to the current hour and “jumps” to the next hour once 60 minutes have elapsed. Conversely, it may instead display the hour in a window, with an imprinted disc moving below that ticks over to the next digit, much like a date window. The Stealth Black opts for the latter presentation, which gives it a clean, retro-futuristic design that differs from previous models in the brand’s jumping hour catalog, and their Terra Nova line more broadly. As the name suggests, the Stealth Black is characterized by its 38mm black DLC stainless steel case, finished in black diamond carbon-like coating, which gives it a sci-f...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Discover how the Marathon TSAR and Luminox Pacific Diver perform beyond the honeymoon phase. Compare wearability, durability, ownership trade-offs, and more.
SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet (AP) has updated the coveted Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked, which makes its debut on the next-generation perpetual calendar platform that debuted last year. The new calibre allows for individual adjustment of each calendar indication using just the crown – no stylus (or toothpick) necessary. The first outing for the skeletonised version of this class-leading perpetual calendar is in titanium, with mirror polished accents in scratch-resistant Palladium BMG and pops of rose gold on the dial and case back, though more colourways are sure to come in due time. Initial thoughts The latest generation of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar is arguably AP’s strongest product. It is heir to the archetypal integrated bracelet perpetual calendar sports watch, which, until recently, was held back to some extent by what had become a dated movement. In fairness, the same can be said of its obvious competitors from Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. That changed in 2025 when the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar was upgraded with the AP’s latest perpetual calendar movement, a significant release befitting the brand’s 150th anniversary year. The calibre 7138 introduced individual correction of the date, day, month, and moon phase using only the crown, allowing for quick adjustment without tools and with greater flexibility, and support for more indications, than existing solutions. And while we already understood the movement’s clever functionality, it rema...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Weeks of real wrist time settled the Omega Speedmaster vs Zenith El Primero debate. Find out which chronograph proved more livable long after the honeymoon phase faded.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Orient Star introduces the M45 F8 Moon Phase, a $3,000+ mechanical dress watch aimed squarely at dedicated collectors.
Fratello
Orient Star unveils a duo of classy timepieces that reflect the graceful passage of time. Compared with recent Orient Star designs, the M45 F8 pares it back to pure functionality and traditional layouts. The Roman numerals add a sense of dignity, and the moonphase complication connects our world to the cosmos. A white-dial variant joins […] Visit Introducing: The Orient Star M45 F8 Mechanical Moon Phase Hand Winding to read the full article.
Monochrome
Blancpain unveiled its Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar in 2012, an extraordinarily complex watch that fuses the traditional lunisolar Chinese system, elements of the Gregorian calendar, and a moon phase. A world first, Blancpain’s masterpiece coincided with the Chinese Year of the Dragon. For 2026, Blancpain returns with a 50-piece limited edition in platinum dedicated to […]
SJX Watches
TAG Heuer rides the vintage reissue wave with the Carrera Seafarer, a chronograph that tracks the tides with a quirky mechanical complication originally developed for the American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch in the early 1950s. Delivered in the brand’s popular ‘Glassbox’ case, the sun-bleached aesthetic features a champagne-coloured dial and Intrepid Teal accents to capture the spirit of mid-century maritime instruments in a modern, wearable package. Initial thoughts The past year has shown that TAG Heuer is doubling down on technical credibility. The brand launched carbon hairsprings that are now ready for mass production as an alternative to silicon hairsprings, and the brand has also regained the coveted position as the official timekeeper of Formula 1. Furthering its bid to recapture lost magic, the Seafarer is a modern Carrera ‘Glassbox’ infused with the immense charm of the original Seafarer models signed by Abercrombie & Fitch. The Carrera Seafarer is powered by the modern TH20-04 movement, derived from the TH20-00, that’s been tweaked to show the times of high and low tide using a mechanism likely adapted from a moon phase indictor. While still reliant on the simplistic concept developed for the 1950s models, the complication’s gear ratios have been refined and modernised by TAG Heuer engineers. As a result, the Seafarer displays the local tide times for a given place, serving as a proper tool watch for birdwatchers, anglers and fishermen in gene...
Fratello
There’s more to the Time+Tide × Frederique Constant Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture Onyx Moon than a stunningly powerful black dial. This is an evolved version of the Highlife luxury sports watch that debuted in 2020. The limited-edition model, available in a run of 100 pieces, features a smaller 39mm diameter compared to the usual 41mm […] Visit Hands-On With The Limited-Edition Time+Tide × Frederique Constant Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture Onyx Moon to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Kari Voutilainen bids farewell to the VINGT-8 movement platform as of December 31, 2025, and introduced a new KV21 hand-wound that will be the brand's base for the future.
Teddy Baldassarre
When the editorial team here at Teddy was tasked with picking some of our favorite complicated watches of 2025, there was an important distinction that had to be drawn. Of course, this was the fine line between our favorite watches that absolutely nail or master a specific complication rather than just the“most complicated” watches or watches with the most complications. This year we saw one of the best world timers for the money, a novel take on the moon-phase, and Audemars Piguet’s final Research & Development watch. So without further ado, here are our picks for our favorite complicated watches of 2025. [toc-section heading="Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Power Reserve 40mm"] Sometimes we overlook the power reserve indicator as a complication in a watch - but indeed it is and Hamilton outfitted one of its most popular watches with a power reserve indicator on the dial thus setting the new Khaki Field Power Reserve to take its place among our favorite complicates watches of 2025. You will recognize this watch for bearing so many of the hallmarks of the Khaki Field Mechanical but with the added gas-tank indicator style gauge at the nine o’clock portion of the dial. It’s 40mm in diameter and a touch under 12mm in case height and boasts a new movement under the hood by way of the H23 manual winding caliber with 80 hours of power reserve and a slipping spring that allows for winding to exceed the manual maximum in a “quirk” that also serves to aid the watch...
Deployant
Longines celebrates the Year of the Horse 2026 with a special edition with moonphase. A collaboration with Chinese artist Peon Xu.
Fratello
Orient Star unveils three new versions of its flagship F7 Mechanical Moon Phase. Dials in white and navy blue join the regular lineup, while the light blue dial is a limited edition of 190 pieces. Having debuted in 2017, the F7 Mechanical Moon Phase combines three striking elements. The namesake moon phase sits at 6 […] Visit Introducing: The Orient Star M45 F7 Mechanical Moon Phase to read the full article.
Monochrome
The Chinese Lunar New Year, which kicks off on the 17th of February 2026 and lasts until the 5th of February 2027, welcomes the seventh animal of the zodiac, the Horse. Given the importance of the Moon in determining the cycle of the 12 zodiac animals, Longines has selected a moon phase model from its […]
Hodinkee
Time+Tide is heading into the black, inky dark days of winter and sending off the end of 2025 with a new release with plenty of firsts from Frederique Constant.
Monochrome
frederiqueconstant.timeandtidewatches.comFounded in 1988, Frederique Constant has gone from strength to strength with its policy of high-quality watches at affordable prices. Far from an empty catchphrase, the brand’s “accessible luxury” slogan materialised with the release of a perpetual calendar, followed by a tourbillon and a QP in steel, all with unbelievably restrained price tags. In 2020, […]
Time+Tide
Our first collaborative watch with Frederique Constant introduces a string of exciting firsts from the brand (and for us, too!)The post Our Frederique Constant x Time+Tide Highlife Moonphase Manufacture Onyx Moon is a benchmark built on firsts appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
On 27 April 1927 a nurse walked into a room at the Cleveland Clinic carrying a leather case. The patient was sixty-four, a section of skull removed, the ache of radiation still working behind his eyes. On the charts he appeared as James Ward Packard, co-founder of Packard Electric and Packard Motor Car Company. To the nurse he was a difficult case. To Geneva he remained the client for whom Patek Philippe had just completed movement number 198’023, an astronomical watch that had absorbed three years of calculation and bench work. James Ward Packard. Image – Lehigh University Photograph Collection Inside the case lay a carillon minute repeater on three gongs, coupled to a full perpetual calendar with moon phase, equation of time, and sunrise and sunset indications calculated for Warren, Ohio. On the reverse, a deep blue sky disk carried five hundred and twelve gold stars, turning at sidereal speed around a small Polaris. The sky above his birthplace had been compressed into a circle of lapis and gold, moving in his hands as it moved above the town where he had been born, built factories, endowed an engineering laboratory, and which he now understood lay beyond any realistic hope of return. Consolation held little appeal for him. Packard placed his trust in precision, in the ability to describe a situation so exactly that it became bearable. The watch answered a question he had circled since childhood: if the world always exceeds your grasp, can you still know, to the min...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The SeaQ is often overlooked in the shadow of the Sub. We tested both watches to see which feels better beyond the honeymoon phase and which one we’d actually buy.
Monochrome
With its streamlined case, flexible integrated bracelet and sensual contours, H. Moser & Cie.’s sleek Streamliner luxury sports watch continues its journey onwards, and in this case upwards, with no signs of losing steam. Coinciding with Dubai Watch Week 2025, Moser unveils the new Streamliner Perpetual Moon Concept Meteorite, a hyper-accurate moon phase complication framed […]
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