Best Super NEWS Watches
Hands-On: With The (Often) Cheapest Watch On Amazon
On any given day, the answer to the question, Whats the cheapest watch in the world depends on where you look and what you look at, but a good candidate is often a humble little piece from Casio that doesnt have any name other than EAW-MQ-24-7B2. Its a small (35mm) round, plastic quartz watch that comes in a blue and white cardboard box, inside of which is a plastic bag (you can call it a pouch if you want) that contains the actual watch, along with a six-language instruction manual. Im looking at mine as I write C it cost 14 dollars and 79 cents on Amazon C and while theres no mistaking it for anything other than exactly what it is, what it is is not without charms of its own. ...
One Year With My Seiko SPB143 - Any Questions?
Last year, towards the end of August 2020, I published a Week On The Wrist story about the Seiko Prospex SPB143. On paper, the SPB143 looked like an ideal blend of features, proportion, and price that offered a distinct step up from an SKX007 or an SRP777 without going deeper into the four-figure range for something like an SLA017. And in the metal, it delivered. As I remain entirely enamored with this Seiko C Ive been wearing it almost constantly over the past year, and both talking about it on my podcast and posting images of it on Instagram C I thought Id take a few minutes to share my long-term feelings about the watch and address some of the most common qu...
The Cut interviews Cartier North America CEO Mercedes Abramo
The Richemont Group has a lot of luxury brands in its portfolio, but Cartier is the jewel in the crown. "Jeweler of Kings, and king of jewelers," the company, which for much of its history consisted of just three stores in London, Paris, and New York, is now a sprawling global entity with, according to Forbes, nearly three hundred boutiques worldwide. Mercedes Abramo is the president and CEO of Cartier North America and is both the first woman and the first American to hold the position. An industry veteran, Abramo began her professional life with Cartier back in 2008, when she became director of the New York flagship boutique. S...
Hodinkee Interviews Brian Shul About Watches and the SR-71
Brian Shul is one of just 85 pilots to ever fly the SR-71, ?one of the fastest man-made machines to have ever graced the skies. He's the author of Sled Driver, a collection of personal stories from flying the world's most lauded aircraft. He's known for the legendary Speed Check story that almost every aviation enthusiast has heard by now. If you haven't read or heard the story, find it here. And now, long after retiring from the Air Force, Shul can add "watch designer" to his list of accolades and accomplishments. In collaboration with Ball Watch Co., Shul guided the creation of the Engineer Hydrocar...
Leon Bridges On His First Vintage Watch
Texas soul singer Leon Bridges broke into the mainstream back in 2016 with his debut album, Coming Home, which made retro rhythm and blues modern all over again. Since then he's won a Grammy, become a fashion icon, and dipped into the world of watches. Today, on the occasion of his new album, Gold-Diggers Sound, the man himself tells us how his love of gold led to his love of watches. Here's the story, in Bridges' own words, as told to Danny Milton. My knowledge of watches is pretty minuscule, but I was first put onto them through a friend of mine. He has the Bulova Accutron SpaceView. I saw it once and I was like, "This is clean." No...
Its my beater.– you, me, probably that guy over there This is a statement Ive heard echo through the watch community for years, applied to timepieces ranging from $15 Casios to $9,000 divers. The term has gotten so drenched in subjectivity that means everything and nothing. Is beater pejorative? Is it synonymous with disposable? Should you be proud of your beater? Do you need a beater? Basically C why is beater?I think this nebulous term should mean something specific and play a particular role in a watch collection. Not a watch that I dont care about, but rather one that doesnt need to be cared for. ...
HODINKEE At Geneva Auction Week 2021
I have returned. My six-day sojourn into the Genevois wilderness has come to an end. I wrote before I left that I expected the entire week to be an extended dalliance with absurdity C?the kind only found in the Swiss watch industry C?and I wasn't wrong. I witnessed broken record after broken record, insane amounts of money being thrown around, and an industry surging to new heights in both interest and intrigue, all while inching closer and closer to a post-pandemic world, whatever that may be. This was a genuinely novel experience compared to the New York auctions I've attended in the past. As far as...
The Best Watches Found In The Government Archives
I rise today to celebrate government bureaucracy, or at least one single facet of it. Its ability to catalog, track, and organize information is awe-inspiring, and in the case of the United States of America, there are thorough records dating back to the era before we became an independent nation, all the way up to multimedia archives of events that happened yesterday. It's all there.? If youve listened to an investigative podcast in the past five years, you're probably familiar with? journalists using the Freedom of Information Act to uncover important details and back up stories holding institutions and individuals accountable. Instead I used it to ask the US government to send me documen...
Trying Out The Universal Genve Polerouter
Grald Genta designed the Patek Philippe Nautilus. He designed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. He's a legend by any stretch of the imagination. But even legends have to start somewhere. And the Universal Genve Polerouter, from 1954, is not only his first masterpiece, but it's also the ideal starting place for any vintage watch collection. In the early '50s, Universal Genve enlisted an unknown 23-year-old Genta to design a watch in honor of the newly opened "polar route" operated by Scandinavian Airlines Systems. The route opened up a quicker way between Los Angeles and Copenhagen, flying over the magnetic North Pole. The watch G...
The Conversation: We Respond To Your Comments On Ikepod, Oris, And That Lefty Rolex
Oh my god, we're back again. You know the drill C we gather the comments that deserve a second look, a thorough answer, their time to shine and toss them to our editors for a little response. Happy reading.? Doing More With Less The story: A collector parts with a few fantastic pieces.? The comment: I think that as you get older, you learn what you really like, and you also lose some of the 'pack following' mentality that it's easy to fall into. In my twenties and early 30s I wanted to experience every type of watch, so I bought and sold a lot, but I bought things that sometim...
Kathleen McGivney's Universal Genve Polerouter
In Watch of the Week, we invite Hodinkee staffers and friends to explain why they love a certain watch. This week's columnist is Kathleen McGivney, who serves as the CEO of the RedBar Group, the Board Chair at Bailey House, and the Director of Customer Success at Gather. My approach to watch collecting has always been fairly eclectic. I don't stick to a particular brand, time period, complication, or aesthetic, though I do have slight preferences in each area. The one thing that all of my watches have in common is that when I glance down at my wrist, I feel joy, and my vintage Universal Genve Polerouter is no exception. There are man...
This year, for the first time ever, Hodinkee will run a comprehensive editorial Year In Review. Oh, we dabbled last year. We ran a grand total of, let's see here C three stories. But this time we're going all in, with more than a dozen original articles that digest, dissect, ponder, puzzle over, and make sense of this utterly unpredictable year. Think about it. This year was nutso! In 2022, we saw a new watch release so popular that it nearly caused multiple riots. We saw the latest iterations of two pieces by the most acclaimed designer in the history of timekeeping: one, the undisputed most hyped watch on the planet, and the other a stainless-steel icon w...
New Vintage Watches In The Hodinkee Shop
To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the Hodinkee Shop, click here. This Week's Vintage Watches Some of the weekly drops in the Hodinkee Shop are loosely themed around an idea while others, like the one we have here, aim to offer a little something for everyone. Whether you have been holding out to find that perfect dress watch or need a hard-wearing tool watch from the 1970s, this selection should have you covered. Just take in some of the buzz words from this week: Polerouter, El Primero, Turtle, Submariner, Audemars, Sherpa! ...
What Is The Nivada Grenchen Pac-Man Watch?
Watch collecting, and appreciation, have both come a long way in the last decade. What was once esoteric is now mainstream, and insider-speak is now public domain. In some ways, it takes a bit of the mystique out of the hobby, but in others, it produces something truly special (or bonkers, depending on your point of view). Today, we are looking at a new collaboration between Nivada Grenchen and watch customization house Undone (as in Space Jam's own Undone) that represents the perfect marriage of special and bonkers C and limited editions. It's called the Nivada x Undone Depthmaster Pixel Art. This is a watch I saw in a press rel...
Hodinkee Gambier Leather Strap Collection
At Hodinkee, we think about the straps we put on our watches almost as much as the watches themselves. In fact, making straps we love for the watches we love is the origin story of the Hodinkee Shop. Now, we're introducing a new strap line to the collection: The Gambier. It's a calfskin leather strap made in France. Here's the thing about French calfskin: It's thin, but tough. The leather is cut slim, making for a flexible strap that drapes around the wrist. It's still a tough leather, though: it's hard-wearing and will hold its shape over time. The leather has a subtle pebble texture to give it a little personality and make for a strap that's not too dressy. However, the tonal (matching) st...
The Best Independent Watchmaking Of 2022
Lead illustration of the Sylvain Pinaud Origine by Andy Gottschalk. As far as I'm concerned, the most exciting part of the horological landscape is the world of independent watchmaking. It's the most diverse and compelling part of this hobby and industry. It's about individuals instead of corporations, personalities instead of press releases, and the most important attribute is almost always the skill of the craftsperson.?But what does "independent watchmaking" even mean, exactly? Know-it-alls are often quick to point out that, yes, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and even Rolex are all technically "independent" as well, as none of those companies answer to shar...
A Hands-On Review Of The Oris ProPilot Coulson Limited Edition
Oris has closed the year out with a pair of watches with unexpected backgrounds. The ProPilot Coulson Caliber 400 Limited Edition is crafted from an unusual next-gen case material and released in the support of raising awareness for Coulson Aviation, a family-operated aerial firefighting outfit based out of Canada that since 1960 has flown across North America to help extinguish large fires.? The delightfully named Waldenburgerbahn Limited Edition, on the other hand, builds on Oris' Big Crown Pointer Date heritage platform. It pays tribute to the Swiss company's local railroad, the Waldenburgerbahn, which has connected Oris' hometown of Holstein with Swiss hubs, ...
The Vacheron Historiques 222 Is The Best Revival Watch Of 2022
If you're a brand with a proud history stretching back a century or two, and you want to make a "revival watch," you can take a few different approaches. For instance, you can faithfully recreate an original, like say the Omega Speedmaster "Ed White," where Omega literally scanned an original caliber 321 to bring back the legendary chronograph movement inside. Or you can pull loose inspirations from your old catalog, throw them into a pot like a bunch of cheese to make fondue, remaining faithful to no reference in particular, like, for example, the Tudor Black Bay line. One strategy isn't any better than the other, and to be sure there's a wide spectrum of option...
Design Trend of the Year: Rainbow Watches
There's absolutely no denying that the modern rainbow-watch lineage begins with Rolex. Many enthusiasts and collectors would argue that it also ends with Rolex. For this story, I spoke with a large sampling of watch lovers, most of whom confessed that no other watch brand came close to being a legitimate rival in the rainbow-colored playing field. The Daytona ref. 116598RBOW and ref. 116599RBOW kick-started the rainbow wave back in 2012, and Rainbow Mania became even more widespread with the 2018 release of ref. 116595RBOW in Everose gold. The glitz and glam of this watch has grabbed everyone from Miley Cyrus to John Mayer. ...
New York Watch Auction Preview 2022, Featuring Rolex, Cartier, and Patek
Over the years, we've written about watch auctions in all kinds of ways. So for this week's upcoming New York sales, we thought we'd try something different: Simply opening up a Slack chat between five staffers here at Hodinkee to see what happened. The five of us C?Ben Clymer, Malaika Crawford, Rich Fordon, Mark Kauzlarich, and Tony Traina C?discuss this week's New York auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips, as well as Bonhams London. What followed was an informal chat about trends, some of our favorite lots, Ben telling us stories about the watch world in 2008, and freaky Gyrotourbillons. Tony (Anthony Traina, Editor): Let's start with a vibe ch...