Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing The New Cartier Pebble Limited Edition Gold
Something weird happened in the world of vintage Cartier last year. An uber-rare Cartier London Pebble sold at Phillips for CHF 403,000; then, a month later, another one sold at Bonham's for slightly less. See, of all Cartier's crazy creations, the Pebble made by Cartier London is one of the rarest: Many have estimated that only six large Pebbles were ever made (and perhaps another few in a smaller size). This obscure, vintage watch from Cartier London had a bit of a moment, and suddenly it was on every collector's radar. Well, today it's having another moment: Cartier has announced it's releasing a new limited-edition Pebble. This time 150 individually numbered ...
William Li On His Father's Omega Constellation
In Watch of the Week, we invite Hodinkee staffers and friends to tell us a personal story they have about a watch. The author of today's feature is William Li, the co-founder of The Hao Life, a modern Chinese wellness brand, and a former executive at Cond Nast and Ralph Lauren Home. My mom used to tell me that it would take my dad longer than her to get dressed and ready to go out. He was apparently quite the dapper gentleman, someone who cared about every little detail. I know that the two of them made for a very beautiful couple, but I unfortunately never really knew him personally. My dad died in his early 40s when I was just three years old. He was a very yo...
Grand Seiko introduces the SBGY013 Omiwatari, among 4 new releases
The Snowy New 'Omiwatari' SBGY013 ?A few days ago, Grand Seiko released four new watches, highlighted by a new "Omiwatari." Officially dubbed the SBGY013 for those following along with Grand Seiko's utilitarian naming schema, this new Omiwatari is a snow-white take on last year's Omiwatari, the icy blue SBGY007.?As a quick reminder, the name "Omiwatari" is derived from Lake Suwa, in Central Japan, which freezes over if the winter cold is deep enough, and as it does, enormous ridges are formed, said to be the track left by the Shinto deity,?Takeminakata-no-kami C?"Omiwatari" literally translates to "the pathway of the gods." ...
Introducing: Hold the Phone! Richard Mille Released An Emoji Watch
Richard Mille definitely knows how to make a splash C and how to irritate the purists. As if to symbolically represent its happy position as a fantastically lucrative watchmaker, and to gently troll all the haters who are just so mad about that fact, the most recent RM is a happy-face collaboration with licensing company Smiley. It arrives just in time for the 50th anniversary of the world's most famous ideograph. A man named Harvey Ball designed the famous yellow grinning visage back in 1963. Smiley, founded by Franklin Loufrani, licensed it in 1972 and now owns the rights to this little guy in more than 100 countries. Smiley has done licensing deals and collabo...
Introducing The 5373P-001 S Split-Seconds Monopusher Chronograph
Patek Philippe blessed the watch world early this morning with a plethora of new watch releases. Tony and Danny have already tackled the flock of new Nautili, led by the introduction of the brand-new 5811/1G, a next-gen 5711. For a lot of fans, those would be the highlights. My own reaction: Why focus on an iterative release like that when Patek also released one of the oddest and most downright fascinating high complications in recent memory? That's exactly what the just-announced 5373P-001 is, a split-seconds monopusher chronograph combined with a perpetual calendar mechanism inside of a 38.3mm 12.93mm round case made of heavy-hit...
Meet The Seiko 5 Sports Honda Super Cub Limited Edition SRPJ49
Seiko is releasing two limited edition watches in their popular 5 Sports line, both inspired by the world's best-selling motorcycle, the Honda Super Cub.The pair of watches are built on Seiko's popular SKX dive-style platform, but these limited editions carry unique dials featuring the two-tone face of the Super Cub motorcycle when seen straight on. A clever mix of square and round applied hour markers sees the latter playing the role of headlight and turn signals. Completing the familiar Super Cub visage is an applied Super Cub emblem above the six o'clock marker, much like that found on the front of the motorcycle. The SPRJ49 ...
Three New Patek Philippe Nautilus Models (One Steel With A Blue Dial)
Before we get into what we know now, let's talk about what we knew. We knew that the Patek Nautilus 5711 was discontinued, and the 5990/1A, aka the Travel Time Chronograph in steel, along with it. That watch had a distinctive grey dial that separated it somewhat from the blue hue of the 5711 and the 5712 (more on that reference in a moment). And then it disappeared, vanishing like Marty McFly's hand in the middle of Earth Angel. But every film has a happy ending, and so too does the 5990/1A as today Patek announces its rebirthin steeland a blue dial. This is in tandem with news of a new reference, the 41mm Nautilus 5811, also w...
The New Patek Philippe Nautilus 5811/1G In White Gold
Here it is: The new Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 5811/1G-001. In Patek-speak, "G" stands in for white gold, meaning the new 5811/1G has a 41mm white gold case, one millimeter bigger than our dearly departed steel 5711. Other than these two changes C one of them admittedly pretty weighty C?the new Nautilus is a lot like the old blue-dial Nautilus we bid farewell at the beginning of 2021, with a few other aesthetic updates and technical upgrades. And after a brief green and Tiffany Blue victory lap, we're back to a familiar (blue) face; the new 5811/1G features a sunburst blue dial with black gradation. But those who appreciat...
Introducing: Watch Out, 'Rainbow' Daytona C Patek Philippe Drops A Gem-Set Aquanaut
It's International Patek Philippe day! Not really, but the old-school Swiss watchmaker is dropping new release bombs left, right, and center, so it might as well be. And some of the releases aren't the least bit old-school. Like, for instance, this gem of a chronograph. I present to you the Aquanaut Luce "Rainbow" chronograph Ref. 7968/300R-001. A rainbow, a unicorn, a rare Pokemonwhatever this piece becomes in watch world parlance, it's covered in 50 baguette diamonds and 52 colored sapphires. And it's incredible. The rainbow watch is not a new concept. Hardly. Several other brands partake in this phenom...
Pre-Owned Picks That Mark Hackman Has A Soft Spot For.
Each week, I highlight a select handful of the thousand-plus different models that are available, pre-owned, in the Hodinkee Shop. The picks often revolve around a theme: ceramic watches, watches under three thousand dollars, or selections from a specific watchmaker. This week's theme is watches I personally think are interesting and deserving of a spare moment of your time. My preferences tend to skew away from the zeitgeist of the watch world. If I've seen a watch on a dozen or so different Instagram accounts, it starts to lose some luster. This doesn't mean a popular watch is not a very good timepiece (this level of popularity usually comes from a well-deserved reputation), but it does di...
The Spec Sheet: Going Beyond Fifty Fathoms With The Blancpain Bathyscaphe In Black Ceramic
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is a foundational dive watch C one of the original pieces of diving tech from which all other divers are derived (depending on who you ask). From the 1950s onward, the Fifty Fathoms has persisted in a horological world where the dive watch form factor has become ubiquitous.? Wrist Size: 6.25 in | 15.87 cm Fast forward to today and the watch you see here C the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 43 in black ceramic C has not fallen far from its tree of origin, yet the differences are very clear. Based on the original Bathyscaphe, itself meant to be a more consumer-friendly flavor of the laser-focused Fifty Fat...
The AP Rainbow Chronograph Set
Audemars Piguet may have just redefined the rainbow watch.? In case yesterday's technicolor news at Patek Philippe wasn't enough for gem-set fiends, AP just dropped its own rainbow bomb: a stealthy lineup (10 different watches, in two differently sized sets, to be exact) of multi-colored gem-set Royal Oak self-winding timepieces, each in 37mm and 41mm. Each watch is made of white gold and set with approximately 800 baguette-cut stones (861 total stones in 179 sizes for the 41mm; 790 total stones in 153 sizes for the 37mm), all of which were hand-selected and custom-cut to ensure the perfect uniform color. AP worked with the Geneva-bas...
How To Buy A Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference 5711
Thierry Stern warned us the end was coming. "I have to be very tough on the quantity of steel watches. I don't want steel taking over the lead in the whole collection." He explained that he'd seen other brands produce too many steel watches C?and once they go down that road, there's no going back. "I am limiting the steel versions, mostly the Nautilus," he added. Stern was insistent that, of the 62,000 watches Patek produced annually, no more than 25 to 30 percent be made in steel. Less than two years after that interview, the Nautilus reference 5711 was officially discontinued in 2021 without announcement...
New Vintage Watches In The HODINKEE Shop
To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the Hodinkee Shop, click here. Since the start of Hodinkee Vintage, Wednesday drops have always been about offering excellent examples of watches that collectors are talking about and most interested in. In 2011, when we worked in partnership with GiltMAN, in 2012 posting up at the Pop-Up Flea, and the Wednesday drop cadence on the site that followed in 2016, vintage watches by definition were what collectors were most interested in. While vintage always has a place in the Hodinkee Shop and in auction catalogs all over the world, "Neo-Vintage" and even newer watches have become more and more a p...
I hope you'll forgive me for going back before moving forward. As a newcomer to the watch space it helps me to orient myself and I imagine there are some readers for whom this is necessary and others who don't mind a refresher.? The BR X5 is the latest offering from French airplane cockpit instrument-obsessed duo, Bruno Belamich (Bell) and Carlos A. Rosillo (Ross). The BR-01 is the first watch in their circle-in-a-square family; it came out in 2005. The BR 03 came out in 2006. Here it is: To the untrained eye or casual observer, in several iterations these watches have certainly chan...
A Hands-On Review Of The Massena Lab Magraph
"William Massena is one of the few men in this industry that has seen many sides of watches C from journalism to retail, to consulting, to auctions C and his influence on watches is tough to overstate." Ben wrote those words when Massena appeared on Talking Watches in 2015, and they still hold true nearly seven full years later. You can't spend too much time on the so-called "watch internet" before you come across Massena's name. The big difference these days, however, is where you might first see it.?Instead of an online forum like Timezone (where he worked as managing director of the site), or an auction house like Antiquorum (Massena served a three-year stint ...
The Most Affordable Nomos Glashtte Watch
In Entry Level, we consider the least expensive watches from high-end watchmakers. They're still not cheap, but hey every brand has to start somewhere. No one does it quite like Nomos.?Where else can you find an independently owned European watchmaker offering genuine in-house watchmaking in the low four figures? You can't. The list starts and ends with Nomos Glashtte.? Nomos Glashtte Ludwig 33 Noir That means that every watch produced by Nomos is created with value in mind C?but there still has to be an entry point into the collection. And at Nomos, that watch comes from the house of Ludwig.Th...
Introducing: The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 F.A.T. 2025 Edition
The boys and girls of F.A.T. International are back with another installment of the always wonderful Ice Race in the event's ancestral home of Zell am See, Austria. And with the return of the event for another year, we get yet another special edition Porsche Design Chronograph 1. For the F.A.T. 2025 Edition, the Chronograph 1's blacked-out appeal is met with a bright white dial, black markings, bright red accents, and a couple of easter eggs, including some F.A.T.-specific modifications, and the fact that the crisp polar dial is actually a full lume dial. That's right; it's a Chronograph 1 with a lume dial. Ice cold. ? For those ...
Dispatch: Motorsports Ultimate Trophy Doesnt Live In A Display Case
On Sunday morning, just outside IMSA's race control, Mark Raffauf summarized the Rolex 24 at Daytona. "It's all about the watches!" he decreed, pausing for a beat. "Well, maybe it's about winning too." The field at the Rolex 24 at Daytona (photo credit: Rolex). Raffauf, IMSA's Senior Director of Race Operations, would know. As of 2025, he has worked on 50 editions of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the annual endurance classic that kicks off America's racing calendar. While Rolex began awarding its Oyster Cosmograph Daytona to race winners in 1992officially linking the watch to the racethe Swiss brand s...
Reading Time at HSNY: Decimal Time in America
This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by HSNY's librarians. Today's post was written by St John Karp. Whenever I start talking about decimal time, people tend to roll their eyes at me and say, "Oh there goes St John again, talking about alternative time-keeping systems." And they're not wrong! I love the quirky, vaguely utopian attempts to make something better than what we have, even if those ideas failed somewhere in the execution. It's probably why I also love constructed languages such as Esperanto and Toki Pona. Eagle-eyed readers might even remember that my last post on this blog, See You in the Chat Room, was also about alternative m...