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Best Super NEWS Watches
At first glance the Hong Kong Watch Sale: Two was an even greater success than the auctions Phillips held earlier this month in Geneva. The auction house sold HK $150 million worth of watches C almost two-thirds of the total achieved by the two Swiss sales combined C and broke multiple records, including the highest price ever paid for a wristwatch at auction in Asia for this third series reference 2499 featured in our preview of the sale, as well as the highest price ever paid for a Patek Philippe reference 2523/1 World Time. Lot 373: Patek Philippe Reference 2523/1 World Time. However, there was another figure, much less p...
You're Invited To Join HODINKEE In London For A Celebratory Cocktail Reception
As you may have heard, we are hosting our first ever Pop-Up Shop with Harrods in London June 9th to the 12th and we couldn't be more excited. In addition to that we are hosting an evening of drinks for all you London-based folks on Tuesday, June 7th. It is our first official event in London, so we hope that you can join us and meet Arthur, Cara, and Louis. Spaces are limited so be sure to RSVP to [email protected] to secure your spot. Upon receiving your RSVP, we will send you the location and timing details. We can't wait to meet you!...
Introducing: The Glashtte Original Senator Excellence Panorama Date (And Moon Phase)
At Baselworld 2016, Glashtte Original release a simple three-hand watch called the Senator Excellence as a home for its new high-performance automatic movement, the caliber 36. Now the German watchmaker has released two new watches additions to the Senator Excellence collection, adding some complications to the caliber 36 base. The Senator Excellence Panorama Date and the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase start the same way as their predecessor, just bringing a little more to the mix. The Glashtte Original Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase in steel and rose gold. The Senator Excellence Panorama Date ...
Just Because: In The Office With A Different Royal Oak (Spoiler, You'd Better Like The 1970s)
Talking about the Royal Oak reference 5402SA is an interesting experience, for what it represents, and what it doesn't. Two-tone goes pretty strongly against the basic spirit of the Royal Oak, which was designed to be the most expensive steel watch ever made back in 1972. Yet, this did not stop Audemars Piguet from offering, a few years later, a full gold AP and a blend of both steel and gold: the two-tone phenomenon that we will cover here.? You can't fail to notice the AP logo at 6 o'clock. As with the stainless steel 5402, the very first examples of ref. 5402SA exhibit the applied AP logo at 6 oclock, which would later mov...
The Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Fire is one of the most ingenious and interesting watches we've had in the office in quite a while. It's a new take on a resonance watch C one that takes a very clever, but also technically extremely difficult, approach to getting two balances to beat in sync with each other. The Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Fire presents a new take on resonance timekeepers. We had an opportunity to take a look at a working prototype of the Mirrored Force Resonance with Claude Greisler, Armin Strom's Director. According to Greisler, the development of the resonance system for the Mirrored Force ...
Amid the general worldwide downturn in luxury sales in general, and in luxury watches in particular, there's one place where, according to a report today on Luxury Daily, jewelry and luxury watch sales are up 74%. Where is this place that defies the industry slump? London Heathrow. According to the report, last August "$5 million alone was spent on Rolex watches" and in October, "sales of luxury watches in the UK rose by 53.5%." The reason? A major boost in buying power for visitors, thanks to the decline in the pound sterling, driven by Brexit. Quoted in the story, David Coleridge of The Watch Gallery, a major English luxury...
Auctions are funny things, and there is no telling what can happen. The most dramatic results can be influenced by something as frivolous as literally one man forgetting to set his alarm clock on time, but I suppose that is why we find them so fascinating. Since the big sales took place earlier this week in Hong Kong (Christie's and Phillips, the latter with two separate auctions)?I've been poring over the results to try to find a theme or two on which to report.? Instead, I found a handful of occurrences that are, well, kinda silly C as in actually amusing. At least to me. I'm not saying they're wrong, or anyone involved in making them happen is wrong or m...
NOMOS Has An Advent Calendar (With A Prize You Can Win Behind Every Door)
Advent is the name given to the four week period leading up to Christmas and the countdown to the 25th is often tracked, in homes celebrating the holiday, with a special calendar called an Advent calendar. Usually the calendar is cardboard, with little doors numbered 1-24, and behind each door, depending on the calendar, can be almost anything: a small prize, a chocolate, an inspirational poem or prayer. NOMOS Glashtte has one online, and behind each door is a greeting from a NOMOS watchmaker, and a special holiday gift each one has chosen, and you can enter your contact details to win the gift.(Calendar nerds might be interested in knowing that the Advent Calendar's beginning is also the s...
Today, Sunday, December 4, Is The Last Day Of The HODINKEE Holiday Pop-Up At Harrods In London
For the last three days, the HODINKEE team has been set up at one end of the Fine Watch Room at Harrods in London, with a killer selection of vintage watches and a great selection of HODINKEE straps, pouches, rolls, and spring bar tools. It's been tons of fun meeting readers, collectors, friends, and new horological devotees, while shooting wristshots, of course, but all good things must come to an end. Today, Sunday, December 4, is the last day for you to visit Arthur, Ashley, Cara, Louis, Sarah, and Stephen and to find your new favorite watch or strap. Our selection of watches is extremely diverse, with pieces ranging from 650 to 20,000. A few favorites...
We've come across, fondled, and photographed / filmed some absolutely amazing watches since launching this site C and many of them you surely remember. Think the $24 million Henry Graves Supercomplication, the Patek $2.6 Philippe Grandmaster Chime, and the now $11 million steel 1518. But those are all Pateks! And Patek isn't the only game in town, and three years ago this very week, we published a detailed look at the Grand Complication from A. Lange & Sohne, one of the most impressive (and large, and expensive) wristwatches of the modern era.Watch the video above and read the story here. ADVERTISEMENT...
While most objects and technologies that we engage with on a daily basis will be upgraded in a matter of a couple years or less, expertly crafted mechanical watches are designed and constructed to last "forever." Mechanical watches are among a tiny category of objects of permanence that stand in defiance of the planned obsolescence that defines the vast majority of contemporary consumerism. This special place that watches holds in the present day is directly connected to the fact that watchmaking is among the most interdisciplinary fields in existence, deeply rooted in various spheres within both the arts and sciences.? At the December meeting of the Horolo...
2016 has been remarkable for the amount of gloom and doom in luxury industry results in general and in fine watchmaking in particular (in July, we reported a "perfect storm" of negative factors and results) but in a recent report, Reuters says that "China's wealthiest shoppers are spending at home again, roused from a three year slumber by a weaker yuan, lower prices, and a crackdown on overseas sales agents C a welcome boost for the world's luxury brands." Kering, which owns Gucci and Yves St. Laurent, reported a 24% uptick in the third quarter, according to the report, which also notes that while Hong Kong is still under par relative to previous years, lu...
In-Depth: A Game Of Tones III: The Chopard L.U.C. Full Strike (With Live Recording)
Chopard has unveiled its first minute repeating watch, and the manufacture hasnt gone for the least complicated design. The Full Strike is a crown-operated minute repeater with sapphire gongs and a slew of patents on security devices to make sure the watch does not break if (and when) it is mishandled. Lucky for us, we received a demonstration from its creators during a recent visit to the Chopard manufacture (which is celebrating 20 years in 2016), and we were there just in time to shoot a video at 12:59. What were the odds. Here is Chopard's Full Strike. Take it in, because there's a lot to look at. We have heard a Chopar...
Hands-On: The Unimatic Modello Uno (U1-B), A Minimalist Dive Watch Goes To The Caribbean
In the current bleak climate of the watch world, with almost every news story full of doom and gloom, there glows a bright spot that of the so-called "micro" or "boutique" brands that have come of age in the past decade. These small, often one-person companies have taken advantage of the increasingly egalitarian playing field of internet watch forums, crowdfunding, and contract manufacturing that has emerged to challenge huge marketing budgets and giant workshops full of watchmakers. Of course, among these, quality is hit or miss, many designs are downright derivative, and a lot of these small marques have folded as quickly as they appeared. But to the die-hard watch enthusiast crowd, some...
Introducing: The First Ever NBA Championship Watch, By Tissot For the Cleveland Cavaliers
Last year Tissot announced a massive partnership deal with the NBA, making it the official timekeeper of the world's top basketball league. This obviously included sponsorships, special watches, and other run-of-the-mill marketing activations, but it also included developing and installing special shot clocks in each NBA arena to standardize timing across the league. Well, now Tissot's taking it a step further, introducing the PRS 516 NBA Championship Watch 2016, the first watch ever created for the NBA champions. ? The watch itself is very much in line with Tissot's more affordable chronographs from the past few years. The PRS 516 is a 42mm three-register ...
We hold these truths to be self-evident: at watch auctions, there's Patek and Rolex, and then there's everything and everyone else. However, not every Patek or Rolex is necessarily a six or seven figure hammer, and even within Patek and Rolex, there can be found timepieces that show how different tastes, and auction results, can be.? If you're collecting, you tend (of course) to focus on whatever it is that is in the bullseye for your tastes, tendencies, and budget, but it's interesting to step back a little and see just how diverse offerings C even at roughly the same estimate C can be. Here are four coming up tomorrow from Christie's New York's Rare Watch...
Introducing: Three New Split-Second Chronographs From IWC (For The First Time Since 2006)
The Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante is back. Introduced in 1995, and updated in 2006, IWCs slim split-seconds chronograph returns in a limited run. IWC announced three new models, in honor of the companys European flagships in Milan, Paris, and Munich. The original, 1995 split-seconds chronograph from IWC. What were getting (for the first time in 10 years, we should add) is not one model presented three times with small variations, but three very different models, each with its own dial configuration and engraving at the back.? The Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante Edition "Boutique ...
Introducing: The Baume & Mercier Clifton GMT Power Reserve
Ahead of SIHH 2017 (which is coming up quickly, folks), Baume & Mercier has given us a peek at a new addition to the Clifton collection, the Clifton GMT Power Reserve. The collection has been a bastion of good design and affordable complications for Baume & Mercier since it debuted back in 2012. The new watch looks nice at first glance, and here's what we know so far. The Clifton GMT Power Reserve introduces a new travel time complication to the Clifton collection, but draws on a lot of the same cues as previous models. The 43mm stainless steel case has the same soft lines and mix of brushed and polished finishes. The satin-finished blue sunburst di...
The pre-SIHH 2017 releases are really starting to roll in now, and Montblanc has quite a few cool new additions to its collection. Two of these are the 1858 Automatic and 1858 Automatic Dual Time, a pair of two-tone watches that combine brushed stainless steel and matte bronze for a softer look. They take inspiration from military watches found in Montblanc's Minerva archive and are fun takes on a well-known style. Let's take a closer look at each. 1858 Automatic The 1858 Automatic is a two-hander based on an old military watch. We'll start with the more basic watch first, the 1858 Automatic. Thi...
Very rarely will you be able to meet six members of HODINKEE outside of New York. It usually happens only twice a year, during SIHH and Baselworld. But last week, and because HODINKEE was hosting a pop-up at Harrods, an exceptionally large number of us were in London. To celebrate this very rare occasion, we sent out an invitation for drinks with the team. Naturally, we documented the whole thing, so in case we missed you, here are just some of the watches we saw.?Oh, and we almost forgot to mention we left some goodies behind in London, including a few watches and your favorite HODINKEE accessories. Make sure to visit the Harrods website?before December 31st, because there's still a lot of ...