Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing The New Maurice de Mauriac Skeleton Chronograph, Without ETA Movements!
Our old buddy Daniel from Maurice de Mauriac just sent us some pics of his new watches, new watches that do not run on ETA / Valjoux movements.? His new skeleton chronograph use top-grade Concepto movements with 25 jewels and finishing not before seen on his watches such as: perlage, Geneva stripes, a skeleton rotor and a PVD finish to the entire movement.?The Skeleton Chronograph will be available in 39mm, 42mm, and 45mm and clients can choose from steel, titanium, or gold either as they come, or with PVD or DLC treatments.? Each watch will be hand assembled in the Maurice de Mauriac studio, the studio we took you inside here.For more details, contact Maurice de Mauriac directly via their w...
A Doxa Worn By A Cousteau Comes Up For Sale: Orange Dial Nerds, Wake Up!
There is no better cachet for a dive watch than an association with Jacques-Yves Cousteau. A lot of watches have been linked with the father of SCUBA diving and his posse over the years. The Rolex Submariner, LIP Nautic-Ski, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Aquastar Deepstar and numerous Omega models, including the Ploprof, were all seen on crew members of the Calypso. Though weve never seen an historical photo of an IWC on Cousteau or his dive buddies, the brand has a special edition Aquatimer dedicated to him, complete with a caseback engraving of the man himself. But there is one watch brand that was worn and endorsed by Cousteau himself, and can attribute a lot to that association: DOXA. ...
We were hanging out with the fine folks at Agenhor over the weekend. And, if you don't know who Agenhor is, you should. They are the module makers who have brought some of the most beautiful timepieces in recent memory to life. Think MB&F HM2 and HM3, the award-winning Hermes Acreau Le Temps Suspendu, pretty much everything Milus has ever made, The Harry Winston Opus IX, several perpetual calendars from many big brands whose spot we choose to not blow up, and the beautiful poetic complications from Van Cleef & Arpels, among many others.Jean-Marc Wiederrecht is the founder and owner of Agenhor, and the 2007 watchmaker of the year is considered by many to be one of the most creative...
Swatch To Trim Sales Of Watch Parts To Rivals...Once And For All
This seems like old news, doesn't it? Well, that's because Swatch, which made their intentions clear about cutting back on the supply of ETA movements several years ago, has been sued a number of times by a number of different watch firms in hopes of keeping the flow alive. But, finally, it is becoming clear that Swatch does not have to sell its movements to competitors and in this weekend's NY Times, there is an interesting article on the matter. It is interesting to hear what Olivier Muller of Laurent Ferrier has to say about things, especially after being a Swatch exec in the past.Click here for the full article.Btw, was anyone else shocked to hear that the average Hublot costs $27,000? ...
Bonhams Sells One Of The Rarest Modern Patek Philippes For A Record Price: All Hail The TV Watch!
Ever heard of the Patek 5020? Probably not, unless you read Eric's introduction to the rare perpetual calendar chronograph a few months back. The Reference 5020, sometimes called the "TV watch," was introduced in 1994 as an alternative to the traditional 3970.? The 3970, of course, is the natural successor to the great line of Patek perpetual chronos which launched decades before with the 1518.? The 5020, however, was something entirely different because it used such a funky, tonneau style case.?The movement inside the 5020 was exactly the same as was used in the 3970, the Lemania based Cal. 27-70 Q, but the tonneau case did not sit well with the mega-Patek buyers of the mid-1990s and after ...
A Watch Purchase You Can Feel Good About, Giving Back With Epic Watches
With holiday season hitting full stride, we've found a watch that will not only make a great gift, it'll make a difference in less fortunate areas of the world. The watch company is Epic, and for every timepiece sold, they'll provide clean water to an individual in a developing country for a full year. This gives you the opportunity to get that nephew of yours into watches, and to potentially save some lives along the way. It's a win win.?The founders of Epic, Jeff and Jackie Bird, were inspired for the project by a trip to Haiti where they lent a hand in the earthquake relief efforts (something I've also had the pleasure of doing). It was clear that, even in the months that continue to pass...
Two Pateks Boost Sotheby's Important Watch & Clocks Auction To Record Levels
Earlier this week, Sotheby's held their auction of Important Watches & Clocks in New York, the event saw a record number in sales, totaling more than $8.8 million. Of the 384 lots that hit the block, 350 of them sold, 93% of which brought prices within or above pre-sale estimates. The biggest sellers of the day? A pair of very special Patek Philippe wristwatches that fetched $482,500 each.?One of the big selling Pateks was a Ref 96 HU (Heure Universelle), which is a yellow gold worldtime watch dating to 1937. It is in fact, one of the earliest known examples of a worldtime wristwatch, and being a Patek, it is exceedingly rare. We're suckers for worldtime complications, and this watch is...
An Andrew Jackson-Martin Van Buren Jugate Pocket Watch Commemorating Their Visit to NYC
Recently sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas was a special President Andrew Jackson and then-Vice President Martin Van Buren jugate (the term for any piece of American political memorabilia showing the pictures of two political figures next to each other, typically the picture of a President and Vice President or those running for those offices) pocketwatch. The watch was made in commemoration of an unfortunate incident that happened at Castle Garden, which was Americas first official immigration center, welcoming over 10 million immigrants to New York from 1830 to 1892, when Ellis Island opened.Jackson and Van Buren were on a goodwill tour that went awry after Jackson on horseback crossed ...
The World's First Tourbillon Wristwatch Caliber (In New Digs)
Admittedly, when the term "tourbillon" is thrown around, Omega is rarely in the mix of referenced examples. Sure they've got their Central Tourbillon in the DeVille range, but let's face it, this watch isn't clamoring for attention alongside offerings from the likes of Patek or Vacheron. It's worth mentioning then, none of us would be talking about tourbillon wristwatches if it weren't for Omega, as they produced the first tourbillon movement intentioned for a wristwatch. Of course, Abraham Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon in 1801. It effectively negated adverse effects of gravity on the escapements of the day by placing the mechanism within a rotating cage, thus reducing positional er...
FOR SALE: A Hamilton For Someone Who Bowled A 300
We love watches with specialty branding or seals, whether a Vulcain Cricket with a Presidential Seal, Rolex with the Venezuelan retailer Serpico y Laino?or Rolex Explorer II with the national emblem of the Sultanate of Oman. Pictured is a 14k Hamilton with the American Bowling Congress (ABC) 300 Award, likely available for purchase from ABC for those certified to have a 300. Our friends at Honolulu Time Company are selling this watch here....
Bonhams Highlight: Signed Omega Single Button Chronograph Made For The RAF
Remember those unsigned single button chronographs from Breitling and Omega we showed you a few months back? How about the Omega signed RAF single button chronograph we found way back when? Good, because we've found another one hitting the block at the upcoming Bonhams auction on Dec. 14th in London.We've explained how rare this particular watch is, in fact this is only the second to come across our radar. The details on this example are impeccable, considering it was issued in 1962 and likely saw some active duty in the Canadian Royal Air Force in its day. Inside is the manual winding Cal. 2221 Lemania chronograph, which is made that much cooler by the fact that it hacks. Adding a little mo...
A Vintage Buying Tip: The Beauty Of The "LeC" Signed Crown On Vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre
So, if you've read HODINKEE with any regularity, you should know that historically, watches designated for the US-market by Jaeger-LeCoultre often bear the solitary "LeCoultre" on the dial instead of "Jaeger-LeCoultre."? This was the case in the middle part of the last century, not so any more (in spite of the limited edition US Deep Sea Alarm with LeCoultre on the dial).So, when you stumble across a vintage LeCoultre wristwatch, one thing you want to make sure is that the movement is also signed "LeCoultre" and not "Jaeger-LeCoultre".? For years dealers were perpetuating the idea that a hodgepodge dial / mvmt signature combo was OK and likely original, though now we tend to believe that is ...
VIDEO: Montblanc's Gorgeous "The Beauty of A Second Challenge" Compilation
What a person can witness in one second is astonishing.? The video above was compiled by Montblanc from entries in its "The Beauty of A Second" competition. It is one minute long and consists of 60 individual 1-second clips that, when put together, make for just an incredible viewing experience.? There are a few rounds of this competition, and the winner will win a Mont Blanc chronograph.Click here for more details.(via HypeBeast)...
Found: A Cool Dutch Wall Clock (VIDEO)
Wall clocks are one of those ubiquitous everyday objects that we rarely think about, but if you think about it theres no reason that these functional objects cant be cool as well. Weve certainly shown you awesome examples in the past; like the McIntosh mantle clock and Nookas version.Weve noticed that this sort of well-designed office accessory tends not to be cheap, and the one weve found for you today is no exception.Dutch design firm, Sander Mulder created the Continue Time kinetic sculpture/wall clock after their old wall clock fell and broke. And being the clever designer-y types they are, they used the opportunity of a broken clock to build a better one. ...
MB&F Gives HM4 Some WWII Flare In Two Limited Editions
Since its introduction in the summer of 2010, MB&F's HM4 Thunderbolt has redefined how most of us look at mechanical wrist wear. The watch's inspiration? WWII model plane kits that Max Busser put together as a child. It's only fitting then that these new Limited Editions take that a step further, outfitting each "fuselage" with period style detailing and artwork. The two Limited Editions are referred to as Razzle Dazzle and Double Trouble.A big part of the HM4's charm is the way it tugs at your imagination, giving you something new to discover at every angle. Yet, at its core is a practical application of displaying the time, with a traditional pilot style dial on the right, and a power ...
In-Depth: A Look At The Wristwatches Of Elizabeth Taylor
If youre the sort of person who owns a 33.19-carat diamond, do you ever really need to know what time it is? In short, no. But the legendarily late-for-everything Elizabeth Taylor still managed to amass a fine collection of jewelry watches that are a part of the years most anticipated auction. The exhibit fills two floors of Christies Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York with Taylors clothing, accessories, and jewels, including the aforementioned Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, the 50.56 carat La Peregrina Pearl set into a massive pearl, diamond, and ruby necklace by Cartier, and a few hundred carats worth of an emerald-and-diamond Bulgari suite. But if you can tear yourself away from t...
A Week On The Wrist: The Baume & Mercier Capeland Flyback Chronograph
Baume & Mercier used to make some really beautiful chronographs in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Then, they just kinda stopped. But, in this Week on the Wrist review, Jason Heaton makes a convincing argument for Baume's latest flagship chrono, the Capeland Flyback, and says this may be a brand reborn. In fact, our very own dive-watch expert almost sounds like a man converted. For Jason's excellent feature review of Baume & Mercier's awesome new Capeland Flyback chronograph, read on - you might be surprised by this one. After years of languishing as the often overlooked little brother in la famlia de Richemont, Baume & Mercier is coming back. Flying back, you m...
The Meistersinger Neo: Less Hands = More Vintage Style, We Guess
In the world of the one-handed watch, Meistersinger is king.For a good few years now they have dominated the (admittedly niche) market of single-handed watches for those after a more relaxed approach to timekeeping. A little while ago Blake got his hands on their Singular C a chronograph with an interesting juxtaposition of to-the-second accuracy in timing and lack thereof in timekeeping.Of course, if the whimsy of a one-handed watch appeals to you, you don't have many options. And, aesthetically speaking, youre stuck with the modern dress watch looks that dominate and define the Meistersinger brand.The Meistersinger weve stumbled across today was released earlier this year and represent...
Announcing The First HODINKEE Pop-Up Store: This Weekend At The Pop-Up Flea In NYC
You asked for it, now you've got it.? We're launching the very first HODINKEE Pop-Up store this weekend at the venerable Pop-Up Flea (A Continuous Goldberg production).? So what exactly will we have at our first evern Pop-Up shop?? Well, all the good stuff we write about, only this time it's for sale.So, you'll see a killer selection of vintage watches (more on those below), old clocks, pocket watches, vintage watch advertisements and posters, and other old-timey watch miscellanea.? Oh, and we'll have a bunch of NATO straps in different colors, along with some super high-grade leather (Horween!) and suede NATOs and straps.?This isn't your typical vintage watch sale though, we wouldn't do tha...
Found: A Mint James Bond Submariner (Reference 6538)
There is no question that one of the most famous Rolex watches ever strapped on was the Rolex Submariner reference 6538 worn by Sean Connery in Dr. No. These watches with large crowns are amazingly beautiful and highly desirable, but often in varying levels of condition and rarely including the original bezel insert. Coming up for auction at Christie's today in Hong Kong was a spectacular, mint 6538 with the original bezel insert and luminous pearl in the red triangle. The watch looks to be unpolished and absolutely deadstock.?This Bond Submariner had a pre-sale estimate of $50,000-$75,000, but sold for over $92,000. It can be seen here.Sean Connery as James Bond wearing a reference 6538 on ...