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Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing: Grand Seiko SBGH351 'Rikka' And SBGH353 'Shbun'
On Monday, we covered the year's first limited-edition Grand Seiko release, the SLGH027. Today, we are introducing two new additions to the Grand Seiko Heritage Collectionthe SBGH351 "Rikka" and SBGH353 "Shbun." Consider these two natural complements to the popular Four Seasons Collection released in 2019, as both are named after one of Japan's twenty-four sekki or seasons. Rikka, the seventh of the seasons, signifies the end of spring and the beginning of summer, while Shbun, the sixteenth, falls around the time of the autumn equinox. SBGH351 The SBGH351 and SBGH353 have the 9S85 high-beat automatic movements housed in 40m...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko SLGH027 In Ever-Brilliant Steel
Late last night (New York time), Grand Seiko launched one of its first releases of the year: the new SLGH027, a 40mm by 11.7mm Ever-Brilliant steel watch on a bracelet housing the brand's 9SA5 hi-beat 80-hour movement. That movement features the Grand Seiko Dual Impulse Escapement, which is only the second serially produced escapement that isn't a Swiss lever escapement (after the coaxial). But in quintessential Grand Seiko fashion, this watch is most captivating for its dial. Time and time again (at least since 2006), Grand Seiko has looked to Mt. Iwate (one of the most active volcanoes in Japan) for inspiration for its mechanic...
Bring a Loupe: A Pre-Brand Franck Muller, A Boucheron, And eBay Picks Galore
Happy Friday, and welcome back to Bring A Loupe! After bringing out a heavy hitter vintage Rolex to headline last week's edition, we'll stick to the niche this go around. One note about that great GMT-Master before we get to the picks. I mentioned that the asking price was a "reasonable $160,000," and I should have given more context, such as previous auction results of $301,297 and $318,507 for similar examples. To recap the results from last week, the Movado that I fell in love with on eBay has been marked as sold; the asking price was $795 C someone picked up a great watch. I hope it was one of you! And a reminder, the two Cartier London pieces up for auction ...
Photo Report: Tripping The Snow Fantastic At F.A.T. Ice Race Aspen
This past weekend, Ben and I hopped a couple of flights out to Aspen, Colorado, for the first-ever stateside running of the F.A.T Ice Race. Nestled in the mountains north of the iconic American ski town turned playground for the rich and the famous, the event spanned two full days of truly special cars taking to a snow track to bang out laps in the high-alpine pursuit of good old-fashioned automotive camaraderie. And while the cars on site spanned well over 70 years of production, the idea of the Ice Race dates back to the 1950s when, in Zell am See, Austria, a group of car enthusiasts started racing their cars on a local f...
House Of Craft: Alessandro Fanciulli Turned His Passion For Collecting Into A Career
In partnership with UBS, we hosted a get-together and series of talks in New York City called "House of Craft." The event featured a who's who of watch-world luminaries, including industry legend Jean-Claude Biver, actor Keegan Allen, author Alton Brown, AP CEO of the Americas Ginny Wright, actor Daniel Dae Kim, journalist Jay Fielden, independent watchmaker Simon Brette, actor and comedian Ronny Chieng, dealer and collector Alessandro Fanciulli, auction specialist Geoff Hess, and menswear designer Todd Snyder. Photo by Chris Eckert We love talking to Alessandro Fanciulli (@mr.a) here at Hodinkee, and many of you will recall h...
Breaking News: The Holiest Of Holy Grails, A Steel Patek Phillipe 1518 Has Hit The Market
We?often discuss?'holy grails?'?in watch collecting. In?essence, the term has?become a way of saying,?"This is on my wishlist of watches I?aspire?to someday own,"?even if the?likelihood?of that?day is incredibly slim. I've heard many responses?to the holy grail question from?collectors over the years ?ranging?from a Rolex Daytona with?a?Paul Newman dial to a?piece unique?Cartier from the 1930s.?The spectrum?is?vast. While each of us?has?our?list of grails,?if we compare notes and distill it?to a universal definition, we can all agree that a unified grail in watch collecting is a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel. In my?view, if a collector?doesn't consider?this a grail, they either?don't know of...
Introducing: The Baltic Hermtique Dual Time Enduropale Edition
In 2023, Baltic released a new design that has stuck with me as one of the best watches under a thousand dollars in the Hermtique Tourer. This 37mm "GADA" (that's: go anywhere, do anything) winner offered a beautiful dial in a vintage-Borgel-inspired case at a value-packed price, and it's one of the easiest recommendations I've given friends who are looking for a solid watch with a unique vintage sensibility to start their watch journeys. While the brand introduced the second Hermtique Tourer variation late last year with four new bronze-cased offerings, today marks the first time we've seen an evolution of the platform with the Hermtique Dual Time Enduropale Edition. ...
Just Because: The Wacky Watches Of Seikos Incredibly Specialized Watch Exhibition 2
Last year, Seiko brought back a tradition from a 13-year hiatus, its internal Power Design Project. It's a fascinating idea that offers Seiko Watch Corporation's internal designers a way to let off some steam by exploring watch concepts entirely off the beaten path. Last year's prompt, the "Incredibly Specialized Watch Exhibition," was meant to have designers create seriously utilitarian watches, but perhaps not in the way we're used to. If you weren't paying attention last year when the project introduced the most epic literal take on a "Panda" chronograph, you missed out. But do not fretthe Japanese brand is back again with the straightforward yet apt title of...
By now, you likely know that Omega and the Olympics are one of the watch world's most significant and longest-lived sponsorships/partnerships. One year and one day from now, on February 6, 2026, the Olympics will return with the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. As an unofficial kick-off to the countdown to the Games for watch fans, Omega just released a new 37mm Seamaster in Moonshine Gold. The watch has ties to past Olympic watches from Omega (as early as the 1950s and as recent as 2008), which I'll get to later. Despite the "dog leg" lugs and austere white dial with applied Moonshine Gold indices that might skew more vintag...
Last year, I had a chance encounter at Geneva Watch Days with a well-dressed character that I wasn't expecting to see at the fair. His well-tailored suits and thick-rimmed glasses belie Mo Coppoletta's complex creative background, spanning from tattoo artist to designer collaborating on everything from cars, interiors, spirits, and menswear. Now, he's the creative mind behind a relatively new brand called Gag Laboratorio, described as "Italian design meets Swiss precision in luxury watchmaking." The brand's current model C called the Labormatic C had an unusual and striking design, so after a call with their brand manager, I called in two examples for a closer look. ...
Hands-On: The Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver Gets A Green Dial
Ever since Nivada Grenchen released the Antarctic Diver back in 2023, the assortment page has remained largely stoic, with the vintage-inspired black dial remaining as the brand's singular SKU in its skin-diver assortment. But if you've been following what they've been up to, you know that founder Guillaume Laidet is always sniffing around archives, websites, and private collections to find the next inspiration for the brand's historical self-homages and recreations. This time, Guillaume cites a 70's Nivada Antarctic-Sea, found at a vintage watch shop, as the reference. While the original watch featured a more unconventional cushion case, its emerald green dial finds its place within the mod...
Five Things I Still *Can Not* Believe Are A Thing In Modern, High-End Watchmaking
This is an article written out of love, I swear. And it's one that's a long time coming (actually, I started outlining this over the summer of 2024!) C because many of these thoughts (or, er, grievances/gripes) have been in the back of my mind for years. YEARS. These are things that, today, in 2025, as I step back into a very active role within the watch industry, I still can not believe are real things in the world of high-end watchmaking. These are things that I thinkafter spending 17 years touching, feeling, writing about, and, of course, spending my own money on far too many watchesI just do not understand as an owner. Things that, while we all know nobody needs a single mechanical wat...
Review of the MB&F x Bulgari Serpenti
The word icon gets thrown around a lot in the watch world. Too much, in fact. But Bulgari's Serpenti C with its snake's head design C certainly qualifies as an icon. The Serpenti Tubogas that wraps the wrist (once, twice, or multiple times) as a cuff is one of the hottest "it" watches. The Serpenti Seduttori is a more traditional braceleted watch with similar design language. Taken to the extreme, the Serpenti Misteriosi is a watch hidden in the head of a snake that's often coated with some of the best gem-setting, lacquerwork, or other jewelry craftsmanship in the world. The Serpenti Misteriosi Dragone. ...
Bring a Loupe: An Observatory Dial Audemars Piguet, A Square Patek, And Not A Single Rolex
Welcome back to Bring A Loupe, and happy Friday! This column is typically offered with a subhead of "the best watches available for sale on the web." The problem is, I already covered the "best" vintage watch for sale right now on Tuesday. So, I must direct you back to a story on the Patek Philippe ref. 1518 in steel on offer for "in excess of $20,000,000"C if that is your kind of thing. If your kind of thing is an odd-ball Doxa with a Sun and Moon display rather than an hour hand and a dead-beat seconds complication, you can stay right here. Although I remain confident in the picks, last week was a bit of a strikeout in terms of results! Our highlights, the earl...
Hands-On: The Omega Speedmaster 'First Omega In Space'
It's taken me a while to become a Speedmaster believer. Last year, during my Week on the Wrist with the white lacquer dial Speedmaster I recapped my evolution from incredulous to inquisitive. Now, you could say I am downright obsessed. The Omega Speedmaster "First Omega in Space" (or FOiS), released last October, feels like a game-changer for me.? Yes, I said that last year about the white-dialed release. My main qualm with the Speedmaster is that the same consistency of design language that has kept it an icon since the moon landing can make it kind of boring. Yes, there are minor changes from generation to generation, but those...
Indie Brand ALTO Taps Into 70s Design With The ART 01
Last summer, I was a little shocked to hear that Rapha?l Abeillon C Cartier's then-Senior Watch Designer and one of the members of the team contributing to their designs under the direction of Cartier Creative Director Marie-Laure Crde C was leaving Cartier to join a brand I had never heard of before called ALTO. And yet, in many ways, it makes sense.? ALTO, a new Paris-based brand, was founded by Thibaud Guittard, a passionate fan of cars, art, and architecture. Guittard, a former employee of Audemars Piguet, connected with Abeillon a few years ago and floated the idea of working together, but at the time, Abeillon was content...
This story was originally published on February 13, 2022. But love is patient, love is kind, and love is sometimes reminding someone that they should insure their watch.? I'm Marc Hajjar, the Director of Hodinkee Insurance. This wasn't the meet-cute I intended, but I'm here to wax poetically on something that seems to weigh on the hearts of a lot of Hodinkee's readers: the passion for collecting. Like many of you, I'm a collector. For some time now, I have been collecting other objectsmostly art and art-related books. This hobby, which began with my studies, morphed into a career and then a passion.What I've always found interesting ...
Introducing: Cherry Blossoms Return With The Grand Seiko SBGH368
There's been a lot of Grand Seiko on the site recently, from three new releases to a great video interview with President Akio Naito and Senior VP of Seiko Watch Corp. Munehisa Shibasaki published just last week. I'd usually suggest a break so you don't get overloaded, but Grand Seiko just dropped what might be my favorite gold-cased Grand Seiko in the lineup today. The 62GS case reinterpretation in rose gold is matched with a creamy version of the beloved cherry blossom dial in the new SBGH368. In 2023, Grand Seiko launched the 100-piece limited edition SBGY026 with the manual-wind Spring Drive caliber 9R31. This is the first no...
Introducing: Gaku Okada's Unique Graduation Project C The Tempo Rubato Wrist Metronome
At first glance, the "Tempo Rubato" appears to be missing something essential to any timepiecehands. But this ingenious graduation project from 22-year-old Gaku Okada isn't meant to tell time at all. Instead, its distinctively loud ticking serves a unique purpose: it's the world's first pure wrist metronome. Okada, a graduate student at Tokyo's Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery, has created an innovative design that combines his dual passions for watchmaking and jazz drumming. Originally from Hokkaido, he developed an early fascination with horology, which led him to an apprenticeship at Precision Watch Tokyo under the prestigiou...
Introducing: The Muppets Are Back With The Oris ProPilot X Miss Piggy Edition
During Watches and Wonders 2023, Oris came out of nowhere and released a wild and unabashedly green collaboration with The Muppets in the Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition. Its success was in its restraint, and we saw a new bright green dial introduced with the Kermit Edition. Most importantly, the date window on the first of the month was printed with a smiling Kermit. Just enough to remind you that it's a Kermit watch, but only for one out of the thirty-one days. Or, if you're like me and bought the watch, you just set it to the first of the month each time you wear it. The date window on the 2023 release, the ProPilot X Kermit Edition. ...