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Best Super NEWS Watches
Pre-SIHH: Introducing The Baume & Mercier Capeland Flyback Chronograph In Black
This is the best looking Baume & Mercier we've seen in a while.? In fact, we would even call it downright awesome looking.? What it is is a Pre-SIHH 2012 announcement - a new Capeland Flyback chronograph in the same family as the one we saw launched last January, but with a twist.Last year's Capeland featured a clear white dial, but we are partial to this new rich black iteration with gilt Breguet hands and red scales.? The Capeland is indeed an integrated flyback chronograph, a pretty slick movement and definitely fitting for the aesthetic and 1940s inspiration.?The Capeland Flyback in black is sized at 44mm and will be available in Spring 2012.? Stay Tuned:...
The Essentials: An MB&F, Urwerk, & Harry Winston Opus V For Sale In The Same Room!
You want the best in modern watchmaking? You're looking at it.? Tomorrow in Hong Kong, Christie's will offer up three of the most interesting, provocative, and important examples of today's horology all in one room.?They have an MB&F HM3 in white gold, an Urwerk 202 in a rare configuration of dark Blue PVD coated platinum (blue platinum, you fo' real?) and finally, the rarest of them all, a Harry Winston Opus V.? The Opus V is heralded by many as one of the most important watches of the past decade, combining Maximillian Busser's business sense as then head of Harry Winston Timepieces and the technical skills of the boys at Urwerk.?The Opus V helped pave the way for both MB&F and Urw...
LISTEN: The $400,000 Seiko Credor Minute Repeater
Did you know Seiko makes a $400,000 minute repeater of which only three will be made per annum? You should, because we showed it to you when it was released at Basel this year.? Now we've come across this live video of the Credor Minute Repeater in action and we thought you'd enjoy.? Take a listen.?How does it sound compared to, say a unique vintage Patek Philippe minute repeater, or the new Louis Vuitton repeater?(via SJX)...
The Story Of The Hanhart 417 Chronograph: Steve McQueen's Other, Other Watch
There are two watches that most men of a certain mold would associate with Steve McQueen: the automatic Heuer Monaco with blue matte dial (reference 1133B) and the Submariner reference 5512. But McQueen wore many other watches throughout his life, including the Hanhart 417 (or 417ES) chronograph. Hanhart is a German manufacturer that specialized in producing chronographs for the German Air Force, including the Luftwaffe in World War II through the West German Air Force in the 1950s.The Hanhart 417 is a relatively rare watch. It is estimated that only 500 were made in either pure stainless steel (reference 417ES) or chromed brass (reference 417). A small number were made with white dials for ...
Found: A George Daniels Millennium Watch FOR SALE, Complete With Co-Axial Escapement
The quintessential 20th century watchmaker is, of course, the late George Daniels. We recently showed you the prototype of the looming Co-Axial Anniversary Watch.On December 13, Sotheby's in London will be selling a 18k yellow gold Millennium Watch from 1999 also featuring Daniels' famous Co-Axial escapement. The watch is beautiful and in our opinion, exceptionally important. The pre-sale estimate is 60,000-80,000 GBP. Keep in mind that Mr. Daniels made less than 40 watches in the entirety of his life, so one such as this will not appear publicly very often.For more information, click here....
For Your Post-Thanksgiving Meal Viewing Pleasure: The Most Beautiful Watch Film Ever Created
Today is Thanksgiving in the US, which means most of you are going to be stuffed to the brim with turkey, potatoes, gravy, and well, stuffing.? So, in honor of a day where most US citizens don't do much but sit around eat, drink, and watch TV, we're bringing you the longest video we've ever shown on HODINKEE, but also the most beautiful.Time Piece - Switzerland is a ten minute film produced by the wonderfully talented Kat Mansoor and Animal Monday.? It is, quite simply, the most beautiful film on watchmaking we've come across to date. We aren't the only people who think so either, this film has been seen at many film festivals around the world and even won "Best of the Fest" at the Palm Spri...
You may have heard of the Flying Officer, the Gallet's most famous model: a two register chronograph with cities of the world listed by time zone around the dial and a rotating bezel to track times across said time zones or measure hours elapsed (by placing the 12 at the location of the tip of the hour hand). Harry Truman even wore one that was a gift from his staff. (See the pictures below.)What you are looking at is an original Flying Officer made, according to the serial number on the caseback, just a short time after Truman's with New York as the home location. The Flying Officer was an innovative watch for a few reasons. First, it was part of Gallet's Clamshell line, which was the first...
Hands-On: With The Zenith Captain Winsor, The $8,700 Annual Calendar Chronograph (GALLERY)
Well, we finally got to put our hands on what could possibly be the watch of the year (in our very humble opinion).? The Zenith Captain Winsor is everything a watch guy should want in a watch - it's classical, handsome, complicated, and innovative.? Ben Clymer wrote a Letter From The Editor saying it was a watch worthy of the whole industry's attention, and the feedback on this watch has been deservingly enthusiastic.The Zenith Captain Winsor is an annual calendar chronograph, and in steel (as pictured above), MSRP is only $8700.? To the average non-watch person, that may sound like a lot. To anyone that has ever spec'd out an annual calendar chrono from any other watch manufacture, $8700 is...
Found: A Mythical MilSub - Issued To The Special Forces Of Iran By The British Government
Rolex Milsubs are among the most desirable watches to bear the Rolex coronet and perhaps the most desirable military watches ever made. Of course, we have told you about them. The vast majority were made for the British Ministry of Defense (MoD). Yet a small number, some estimate about 10, ended up in the hands of members of Iran's Special Forces. Coming up for auction at Sothebys on December 6 in New York City is one of these Iranian Milsubs.Back in the years preceding the revolution in Iran that overthrew Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 and saw Ruhollah Khomeini rise to power, the Iranian military had a strong relationship with the?British and US militaries. In fact, a number of Irans elit...
Steve McQueen's Racing Suit From Le Mans Coming Up For Auction
Coming up for auction next month in Beverly Hills is the driving suit that Steve McQueen wore in Le Mans. How is this watch-related? Well, it happens to have a Heuer Chronograph patch in a very prominent place. The suit was given away as part of a 3 question trivia contest by the British newspaper "The Observer" and a 12 year old won it. The suit is expected to sell for $200,000 to $300,000 and will be auctioned as part of the "Icons of Hollywood" sale on December 15-17. For more information, click here....
The Full List of Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix Award Winners (With Live Pictures)
The Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix took place over the weekend, and we already told you that De Bethune took home top honors with their silicon'd-out DB28.? Now we're here to show the rest of the winners in a variety of categories.? By clicking on the links below, you'll be taken to our articles on the winning watches where you will be able to see live photographs and videos.- Aiguille dOr Grand Prix: De Bethune, DB28- Best Ladies Watch Prize: Boucheron, Crazy Jungle Hathi- Best Mens Watch Prize:? Herms, Arceau Le Temps Suspendu- Best Design Watch Prize: Urwerk, UR-110- Best Jewellery and Artistic Crafts Watch Prize:? Van Cleef & Arpels, Lady Arpels Polar Landscape- Best Complicated...
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of visiting Omega's renovated museum space across the street from the brand's headquarters in Biel, Switzerland. Omega has a history that stretches back to 1848 and the museum tells the story of one generation to the next with great pride and impeccable curation. With a brand that conjures images of James Bond, Astronauts and the Olympics, it's easy to overlook its modest founder and historic manufacturing abilities. The museum handles the task well though, devoting space and attention to each chapter in the company's evolution. In the museum you will see some of the most important Omegas ever made - the watches that made it into outerspace, those that ...
De Bethune DB28 Wins Geneva Grand Prix Watch Of The Year, We Go Hands-On (GALLERY)
No less than one hour ago, the 11th Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) took place in grand fashion.? These are essentially the Oscars of watchmaking.? The winner?? The watch you see above - the absolutely awesome De Bethune DB28.So what is the DB28 exactly?"The DB28 is a watch with a large dial opening that allows you to easily observe both the heart of the unique movement as well as the platinum and blued-steel spherical moon phase rotating on its own axis."?The moonphase on this watch is probably the coolest in the world.? The watch shows hours, minutes, moon phases and power reserve, plus even has a performance indicator at 3 o'clock.? Powered by the completely in-house developed DB21...
Found: An Original PVD Black Monaco For Sale (AKA The King of the Vintage Heuer World)
Vintage Heuer is a really fun category for new (and seasoned) collectors because there are just so many unquestionably awesome watches that are relatively affordable.? Camaros, Autavias, and even Carreras can all be had for roughly the same price as a modern TAG Heuer.? But, like with all beautiful, inexpensive things, there are few that have tapped into the super-duper expensive collectors worlds.? Siffert Autavias are pretty expensive, as are the original automatic Monacos, but neither of those compares to the watch you see above.The PVD Monaco is without a doubt the most expensive vintage Heuer one can buy.? Last year, one of them belonging to noted Heuer expert Arno Haslinger sold for 48...
VIDEO: Ressence Watches, The Watch With No Hands, Explained By Founder And Designer Benoit Mintiens
This watch has no hands.? Ressence was launched just last year by Belgian Benoit Mintiens, a revered industrial designer.? He describes his "platform watches" as presenting time in a way that avoid superimposed information and enhances readability based on traditional cognitive patters applied in watches with hands.What does that mean? It means that instead of having hands that rotate around the dial, Ressence watches have a dial that rotates itself.? The revolving dial indicates the minutes, the sub-dials indicate the hours, seconds, and am-pm.? The sub-dials orbit around a virtual axis similar to the moons around Saturn.?Each Ressence is based on a modified ETA automatic movement (although...
Found: A Killer Omega Memomatic From 1975
When it comes to vintage Omegas from the 70s its usually the speedies and the divers that get all the love, and deservedly so. But Omega was nothing if not prolific, and they produced some other great models, like this Omega Memomatic.The Memomatic is a cracker of a watch C its an alarm watch C and it was produced in a few variants, but the one weve found for you today is, in our humble opinion the coolest and the most iconic.? The memomatic is an interesting alarm watch for a few reasons. Most alarms allow you to set the time on a single 12 hour chapter ring, meaning that its pretty easy to set it to the hour or half hour, but anything beyond that enters the realm of guesswork. The Memo...
There seems to be a growing trend of really wealthy guys taking their really expensive watches swimming, photographing the experience with an iPhone, and then putting pictures online.?First, there was the guy who took a Patek Philippe 5970 underwater. Then the guy who tried to see if the $500,000+ Richard Mille RM027 Rafa Nadal would float, and now we've arrived here.Somebody had the brilliant idea of taking a Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30 Degrees Technique in platinum into the pool. This watch, in today's dollars, is $600,000.? The watch survived quite well as far as we can tell, but do you really think this was such a smart idea?? Fools and their money...(via)...
A Wristshot Of Brobdingnagian Stature: A George Daniels Co-Axial Anniversary Wristwatch Prototype
Click to enlarge.It doesn't get much better than this.? In fact, I'm not sure I can think of a watch that would warrant more respect from a room full of watchsnobs than the watch seen here.? It is an early prototype of a George Daniels Co-Axial 35th Anniversary Watch.While the finished prototype remained behind glass at Salon QP, Mr. Roger Smith did allow us to fondle this early example of what will be the lasting legacy of the greatest watchmaker of the last 200 years, George Daniels.When completed, the Daniels Co-Axial Anniversary watch will be made in a series of 35 pieces and retail for 182,000 pounds.? For more details on this exceptional timepiece, click here....
New Brand Alert: Introducing Autodromo Motoring Instruments, Classical Driving Watches For Today
This is something brand new (seen here first!) and very cool.? Autodromo makes watches for motoring.? Inspired by the classic dashboards of mid-20th century European racers, designer Bradley Price has taken the passion of these instruments and translated them into contemporary wristwear.? Launching today with three models, Autodromo watches retail for $425 but hold attention to detail seen in far pricier timepieces.For example, look at the casework, the texture of the straps, and is that a big date we see there?? Autodromos will use Swiss Ronda quartz movements and K1 sapphire-coated glass.? The brand stresses the level of quality and finishing in every aspect of the product, even down to th...
Question: What Does a $2 Million Pocketwatch Look Like? Answer: This.
You are looking at a $2,000,000 pocket watch.? Sold over the weekend by Antiquorum, this newly discovered Patek Philippe is not only incredibly complicated, it is in practically mint condition with even the original bill of sale and papers from almost 120 years ago.? If that isn't reason enough to keep your apartment organized, I don't know what is.The final sale price for this Patek was 2,098,500 CHF, or $2.29 million as of today.? Click here fore more details. Did You Know? Over at Christie's, they actually had TWO watches well for over $2 million, and we've written about them both - this one, and this one....