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Best Super NEWS Watches
Announcing: Fifth Annual Madison Avenue Watch Week, April 20-25 In New York City
Following SIHH and Baselworld 2015, its that time of year again for Madison Avenue Watch Week here in New York City. During the week of April 20-25, participating boutiques located on Madison Avenue will offer special events and previews of their newest timepieces. For its fifth year, MAWW has several new brands on board. In addition to general previews of their latest collections, boutiques will offer a variety of events ranging from educational workshops to the opportunity to try your own hand at deconstructing a movement. Be sure to request invitatio...
Petrolicious Profiles Bathys Hawaii Founder John Patterson And His Vintage Volvo P1800 (VIDEO)
There is something about vintage cars that speak to mechanical watch lovers. I say vintage cars because they are void of circuitry and electronic doodadery that bloat today's automobiles. Several of the largest vintage car collectors in the world are also watch collectors, but it doesn't take millions of dollars to enjoy either a great watch or a vintage car. Today, our friends at Petrolicious profile John Patterson, the ex-professor and cancer researcher turned Bathys Hawaii founder and his beautiful Bertone-design Volvo P1800. Watch above and check out the original story here. More on Bathys Hawaii here....
Swatch "Superlot" Achieves US $6 Million At Sotheby's Hong Kong
A collection that took more than 25 years to amass, and consisted of more than 5,800 Swatch & Art pieces sold on Tuesday for USD $6 Million. The winning bidder was a European institution, claiming the win after over 30 bids with two other opponents in the action. Swatch has been making Swatch & Art models since 1983 as collectible watches inspired by pop culture. Artists, musicians and fashion designers have contributed designs over the decades. An example is the model above, designed by artist Markus Linnenbrink whose work can be found in museums all around the world - in addition to people's wrists, thanks to Swatch...
Hands-On: With The Manufacture Royale 1770 Flying Tourbillon Openworked
Manufacture Royale is a modern watch manufacture thats recently been resurrected from a 230 year hiatus. The marque was originally founded in 1770 by Fran?ois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, who, in addition to his writing, produced watches for royalty and social elites of the day. It is here that the brands current proprietors have found inspiration for a family of three collections: 1770, Opera, and Androgyne. We introduced you to the Androgyne earlier this year, and last month, we saw the more classically styled 1770 Flying Tourbillon Openworked in Basel. The 1770 collection is named for the founding year of Manu...
New York City Premiere Of The Watchmaker's Apprentice
Traditionally, students have learned watchmaking through an apprenticeship with a master watchmaker. Today that arrangement is rare, as most students enroll in full-time watchmaking schools. However, there is one very notable instance of an apprenticeship in modern times: George Daniels and Roger Smith. The Watchmaker's Apprentice is a new film that tells the story of these two great watchmakers. This is an important story to tell and remember. George Daniels passed away in 2011, and the film contains his last interview. It is especially touching to hear how Daniels left such positive memories with those who knew him personally....
A Brief History Of Escapement Development
The escapement is a fascinating and very important horological invention. While its function can seem complex, it can be better understood through a simple experiment: imagine you have a coiled spring in your hand. Compress it with your other hand and quickly release it. All of the springs energy is released immediately without control. Now repeat the experiment. This time use a finger to let one coil of the spring release at a time. Energy is being released in a controlled manner and your finger is acting as an escapement. New manufacturing techniques and materials have opened up intriguing possibilities for escapement development. Exam...
Hands-On: With the Alpina Alpiner 4 Flyback Chronograph And In-House AL-760 Caliber
Weve brought you Alpina in the past and, for the most part, Alpina sportwatches in the past C but none were guaranteed to surprise you like the new Alpiner 4 Chronograph. Recent Alpina releases focused on models like the Startimer Pilot, which, despite its functional looks and performance, sported a quartz movement (something that doesnt fare too well with the vast majority of mechanical maniacs out there). Rest assured that Alpina answered those sighs with vigor, by introducing its newest model with an in-house flyback chronograph caliber.The new Alpiner 4 Chronograph comes in a 45 mm stainless steel case that glimmers under the lights thanks to a polished bezel and pushers (and center li...
A Week On The Wrist: The Ball Trainmaster Kelvin
A temperature gauge isnt usually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of high-end mechanical watches. Its a complication relegated to digital fare and the screens of our phones. With the Trainmaster Kelvin, Ball brings the temperature readout back into mechanical territory, incorporating it into a heritage design complete with Swiss movement. The watch, so named for Irish Physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin, is meant to honor his work in absolute temperatures, but how well does it hold up as formal wear? We spent a week with the Trainmaster Kelvin in 18k gold to find out. Introduction ...
Hands-On: With The Breguet 7077 La Tradition Chronograph Indpendant
Breguet introduced somewhat of a show-stopper with its new 7077 La Tradition Chronograph this year. The La Tradition line is no stranger to innovation - e.g. the Fuse Tourbillon - but the 7077 Chronograph represents quite a bit of technical innovation. For starters, it essentially contains two movements and a complete separation of timekeeping versus chronograph-ing accuracy. Literally. One balance is always in full swing, while the other springs into higher-frequency action when activating the chronograph. The new 7077 Chronograph is almost completely open-worked. Front and center at 12 o'clock is a sub dial with hob-nail p...
Hands-On: With The Bulgari Diagono Magnesium
Bulgari and great timepieces have gone hand in hand ever since it introduced the Octo Finnisimo Tourbillon. Now Bulgari looks to upgrade the external components of a watch with the stuff that space-stations are made of, and the internal components with, actually, more stuff that space stations are made of. While this automatic timepiece employs Bulgari's style and mechanics, it also flirts with a 21st century dilemma about which many brands have been curious.The Diagono Magnesium is named after the material that makes up the center of the case. Magnesium is both durable and extremely light - making this watch somewhat of a slim tough-guy. Magnesium might not even be the most impressive mater...
The RGM 801 Corps Of Engineers Watch With Enamel Dial
RGM announced the release of another enamel piece inspired by vintage American horology. After my interview with Mr. Roland Murphy (RGM's founder) when we covered his previous Grand Feu piece, Baseball in Enamel, I anticipated that one successful project would lead to another. The Corps of Engineers Watch is that succeeding endeavor. Grand Feu (grand fire) enameling consists of applying powdered glass to a metal plate and subsequently heating the glass until it melts into a newly-formed surface. Superimposed layers (e.g. dial, sub-dials, numerals) are then baked in succession at around 1500 F (800 C). Without a doubt, it's a fine process full of risks and with an unmistakable result. ...
In this weeks Bring A Loupe, we are bringing you a wide assortment of watches, from an extraordinarily uncommon and special WWII Longines dive watch for British Royal Navy frogrmen on eBay to a Cartier $20 U.S. gold coin watch marking Victory in Europe. Longines Hydrographic Survey (H.S.) Diving Watch Longines collectors around the world were amazed to see this silver Hydrographic Survey watch made for the British Royal Navy with a Longines calibre 12.68N movement. The seller stated that it is one of six known to survive, which seems to be accurate from other sources I have seen. It is just such a fu...
Hands-On: The Peter Speake-Marin Bi-Tourbillon
Peter Speake-Marin is introducing a new member of the J Class collection this year and its called the Bi-Tourbillon. The watch is a technical tour de force, featuring a pair of vertically aligned tourbillons linked by a spring clutch system. The Bi-Tourbillon is a nod to the rich history that ties Peter Speake-Marin to the tourbillon, a complication that accompanied the first timepiece to bear his name (a pocket watch in 2000). We got our hands on the watch in Basel last month, and theres a healthy amount of recognizable Speake-Marin style in the new watch, as well. The Bi-Tourbillon is reminiscent of the Vintage Tourbillon...
Hands-On: With The Oris Divers Sixty-Five
When we've covered Oris in the past, we've usually introduced pieces that provide you with your altitude or your depth. Oris has a knack for fitting mechanical watches with mechanical tools like altimeters and depth gauges. This is why it was surprising to see them offer an expeditionary watch that did a lot less. The new Divers Sixty-Five is a reissue of their popular vintage reference from 60s. Where their other offerings have always tried to do more than the average dive watch, the Divers Sixty-Five is a do-less watch, and that's a good thing. This is a simple watch with details that are spot on. The reissue is very faith...
Lets get right down to it. There are four watches in Phillips upcoming sale that I believe could, and maybe even should, break $1,000,000. Two of them are from Rolex, two of them are Pateks, two of them are steel, and two of them are gold. What is perhaps even more interesting is that two of them are, in my belief, almost obvious top lots and two of them are slightly more under the radar. The Obvious Heavy-Hitters These first two pieces are absolutely incredible watches. They are the things that many of us dream about, and their excellence is universally appreciated by anyone that knows anything about collectible watches. ...
Photo Report: Inside The New IWC Boutique In London
The new London IWC boutique on Bond Street opened its doors just before Christmas last year, and is the first ever location in the UK for the manufacture from Schaffhausen. The 90-square-meter, two-level boutique is also the first to use a new design concept from IWC C a concept where all boutiques around the globe will eventually share the same displays and furniture, but mixed with elements capturing the essence of the city it's in. The outcome is a lovely Art Deco mix of stainless steel, polished wood, and marble. The impressive level of detail put into everything, as well as the vast range of watches in stock, makes the b...
A New Edition Of Salomons' Breguet (1747-1823) Book Now For Sale, Benefitting The HODINKEE Fund
Abraham-Louis Breguet was an illustrious watchmaker responsible for a plethora of inventions, including the tourbillon, equation of time, the first wristwatch, the first reliable automatic watches (perpetuelles), and the first gong spring for repeaters. It is hard to imagine what the horological world would look like today without Breguets contributions. Sir David Salomons was one of Breguet's greatest collectors and historians, and his 1921 book Breguet is considered one of the finest texts on the watchmaker's life and works. Only 1,000 copies were produced almost a century ago, and few have survived. The book has since been out of print and unavailable to the public. Today that changes. ...
We've been busy hosting events all over the country for the past two weeks C including a one-day stop back in our home city to welcome 50 of our favorite readers to an exclusive preview with Phillips Watch Department head Aurel Bacs, Paul Boutros, and their team. Guests were able to view and try on many of the most incredible watches from this auction season, including all four of the watches in Phillips' sale that could break $1,000,000.You can see the entire Glamorous Day-Date catalog here, and the Geneva Auction: One catalog here....
Hands-On: The Arnold & Son Golden Wheel
Arnold & Son is offering their take on the historic "wandering hours" concept with their new Golden Wheel watch. Introduced at Basel earlier this year, the Golden Wheel is reminiscent of modern watches like Audemars Piguets Star Wheel collection, and Urwerks imaginative UR-103. The wandering hours complication itself dates back to the mid-17th century in the form of table clocks, and made its way into pocket watches by the following century. Arnold & Son is putting their own classical spin on the complication with the Golden Wheel. The Golden Wheel is unmistakably Arnold & Son. A variety of materials, decoration...
Hands-On: With The Meistersinger Circularis And New MSH01 Proprietary Movement
We introduced the Meistersinger Circularis last year, and were curious to see it in the metal since that release. The brand has been offering the single-hand concept for some time now, and while we're well-briefed on most of the lineup, it was the new MSH01 proprietary movement that caught our eye, naturally. The dial of the Circularis comes in three configurations C blue sunburst, silver sunburst, and ivory. The sunburst finish nicely accentuates the overall appearance of what is otherwise a very modest timekeeper. Why modest? Well, the Circularis has only one hand, and time can be accurately read only to five-minute increm...