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Best Super NEWS Watches
You're Invited: An Evening Celebrating Independent Watchmaking With Kari Voutilainen
Kari Voutilainen is one of the most respected watchmakers on the planet. He is truly one of the leading independent craftsmen making high-end watchmaking what it is today, and his timepieces are as rare and valuable as any in the world.? HODINKEE's Benjamin Clymer will host a Q&A session with Mr. Voutilainen at The Tribeca Cinema's Varick Room, starting at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. with a two-hour open bar. Tickets are available at the Horological Society of New York. Join us for what is sure to be a memorable evening! Proceeds from this event benefit th...
Inside The Restoration Of A World War II Hamilton 37500 Cockpit Clock
New York City based-watchmaker Aaron Berlow specializes in restoration of vintage timepieces. Enjoy this fascinating look at the restoration of an important World War II timepiece, told from a watchmaker's perspective. War has a way of making things hard to get, and when it came to getting precision time instruments from Switzerland, one can imagine the priority the United States placed on that. As a result, the U.S. Government set about creating military specifications for timepieces. One of these specifications called for the development and manufacture of the Hamilton/Elgin 37500 aircraft clock, also known as the AN-5741-1. ...
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher
Let's get this out of the way. Audemars Piguet and Michael Schumacher, perhaps the greatest driver in the history of motorsports, have had a longstanding relationship. In 2012, Schumacher even had his own limited edition Offshore built. It quickly sold out, and though a short-run Offshore wasn't, at the time, a particularly noteworthy thing, there was something special about Schumacher's. In December of 2013, Schumacher suffered a terrible skiing accident while on vacation with his family, and after months in a medically induced coma, he is wheel-chair bound recovering slowly at his home outside Geneva. Since the accident, Michael Schumacher's corporate sponsors have slowly but steadily reco...
In the words of Little Griddle Founder Jon Stein, "everyone either loves to cook outside or knows someone who loves to cook outside," and the GrillTimer? is bound to be a grill master's new best friend. The GrillTimer? is the first wristwatch ever designed specifically to time outdoor cooking. Seriously. The sturdy design is reminiscent of a Rolex Submariner with its "sauce-resistant" stainless-steel case, black dial, and dot and dagger luminescent indexes. The patent-pending rotating "Grill Bezel" is calibrated for different types of meats and vegetables including, but not limited to: chicken breasts, salmon, Portobello mush...
The IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince"
IWC has just released a new special edition watch to benefit the Antoine de Saint-Exupry Youth Foundation. Antoine de Saint-Exupry was a famous pilot and author from the early 20th century, best known for his book Le Petit Prince. This year's Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince" features a jumping star display for the day of the week. The 44 mm, stainless-steel case houses the automatic caliber 79420 split seconds chronograph movement. The glimmering navy blue dial has three subsidiary dials for constant seconds, 12-hour and 30-minute registers, and seven stars in the center of the dial. ?Each of these...
Photo Report: Event Recap: An Evening With Independent Watchmaker Kari Voutilainen
Last night HODINKEE co-hosted a fascinating event with the Horological Society of New York, to celebrate independent watchmaking and the great Kari Voutilainen. The Q&A event took place at The Varick Room at Tribeca Cinemas. The event started at 7 p.m. with an open bar. The room was buzzing with fellow watchmakers, collectors and enthusiasts alike, all excited to meet and hear Mr. Voutilainen speak. Benjamin Clymer led the Q&A, starting at 8 p.m., where he and Mr. Voutilainen spoke of his childhood dream of working with his hands and being independent and how he managed to achieve this through dedication, hard work, a...
The official status of Omegas Speedmaster Professional as that of Moonwatch is widely known and celebrated amongst enthusiasts and certainly by Omega themselves. Unlike many brand partnerships, the relationship between Omega and NASA has yielded real, tangible benefits, with the Speedmaster itself making appearances in each of the manned missions to the Moon, and even contributing to one of the greatest dramas of the 20th century, helping the astronauts of Apollo 13 return safely to Earth after an oxygen tank explosion two days into the mission. To gain a more personal perspective on this relationship, Omega sent us to NASA headquarters in Houston, where we had access to astronauts Jim Lo...
In this week's Bring A Loupe, we've got a wide range of incredibly rare vintage pieces C some of which are offered by dealers that are, more or less, "off the grid," but that I've encountered in my travels C and rare and special contemporary pieces from modern favorites Journe and Lange. Further, if you've been hunting a rare vintage chronograph, boy do we have some options for you today C think an Hermes-signed Universal, a mythical Heuer "Dark Lord," and a 1930's AP chrono in pink gold. This is your Bring A Loupe for May 22, 2015. Heuer Monaco "Dark Lord" PVD The indisputable king of the v...
Sir Roger Bannister's Four-Minute-Mile Watch Sells For $31,000 At Auction
One of the stopwatches used to time Sir Roger Bannister's record-breaking four-minute mile sold at auction for a cool 20,000 (approximately $31,000) in London on Monday. The silver Swiss chronometer was made by Nero Lemania, and features an outer second track for 30-seconds and a subsidiary dial with constant seconds and 30-minute register.The race took place on May 6th, 1954, at an athletics meet in Oxford. Sir Roger, along with five other participants, took to the track where 3,000 spectators watched history unfold. The chronometer was used by timekeeper W.K. Burfitt, who captured the final time of 3 minutes and 58 seconds.The watch was listed by sports memorabilia specialist Graham Budd ...
Two New Richard Mille Watches In Partnership With Rafael Nadal
Richard Mille continues to support Rafael Nadal in his bid to win his 10th title in this year's French Open. The tennis star will rock the latest version, a tourbillon made of NTPT carbon with a red-clay-colored strap, when he takes to the Roland Garros courts this week. The case is made of titanium and NTPT carbon, which consists of many fine layers of silica and TPT quartz, creating a more resilient structure. Additionally, the RM 27-02 Tourbillon introduces the very first skeletonized baseplate known as the "unibody," in which the case band and baseplate are fused into a single piece. This new and improved structure was in...
The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M ETNZ, To Commemorate The 35th America's Cup
Omega has just released the Seamaster Diver 300M ETNZ, a new timepiece to commemorate the 35th America's Cup, which will take place in Bermuda in June of 2017. Omega proudly sponsors the yachtsmen of the Emirates Team New Zealand. This new, sporty model has a 44 mm, grade 5 titanium case with a ceramic uni-directional bezel calibrated to 60 units, with the dot at 12 o'clock emitting a green light due to the Super-LumiNova coating. The brushed-titanium dial has applied dot indexes, which are also coated with white Super-LumiNova and emit a blue light. With all chronograph functions in red, this Seamaster has registers for cons...
Hands-On: The Voutilainen Vingt-8, In Platinum And White Gold
Kari Voutilainen was recently in New York for an event sponsored by HODINKEE and the Horological Society of New York. Heres what he was wearing on his wrist. Actually, make that wrists, because the master watchmaker was double-wristing it. What we have here is a pair of Voutilainens Vingt-8 watches. Both are in nicely moderate 39 mm cases C the one on the left in platinum and the one on the right in white gold. The dials are amazing on both watches, and there is so much work that goes into creating them. More so than most watchmakers, Voutilainen is known for being open to customization in the appearance of his watches....
Interview: A Collector's Discussion With Kari Voutilainen
Kari Voutilainen is one of a small handful of independent watchmakers considered to be at the pinnacle of watchmaking today. His watches are known for their beautiful finishing and multitude of customization options. We recently sat down with Voutilainen to discuss his early career, talk about the watches hes made since going independent, and get some background on his notable collaborations with other watch companies.Voutilainen was born in Finland in 1962. He attended watchmaking school in Tapiola, Finland, and later attended the WOSTEP complicated watch course in Switzerland, which was focused on the restoration of complicated watches. From there he was recruited by Parmigiani Mesure et ...
Hands-On: The Cl de Cartier Women's Collection
It is not news that Cartier released their new collection, Cl de Cartier, earlier this year. HODINKEE actually did a wonderful review on the men's collection in February C however I want to further explore the womens pieces in the collection. You may have noticed that womens watches are having a moment. With brands focusing the majority of their marketing towards attracting female buyers, women are wearing watches more than ever. Additionally, fashion editorials are featuring wristwatches in more advertisements and accessory spreads than in previous years, and not just womens watches, men's watches C think pink-gold AP Ro...
Hands-On: An Afternoon With Manufacture Royale
Mad Max: Fury Road is in theaters and everyone is talking about it. A post-apocalyptic wasteland where gasoline and water are scarce resources C seems like the perfect place to wear a mechanical watch, right? If you were racing across the Australian desert with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, what watch would you wear? One brand comes to mind right away C Manufacture Royale. David Gouten, co-founder and managing partner of Manufacture Royale, recently stopped by the HODINKEE office with a suitcase full of steampunk horological wonders. Gouten was raised in a watchmaking family, with his father running Piaget & Cartier for ...
Introducing: The Autodromo Brian Redman Edition Prototipo
Autodromo, no stranger to HODINKEE, has released a new limited edition chronograph, the Brian Redman Edition Prototipo, commemorating Brian's victory at the 1969 Nrburgring 1000 km race with teammate Jo Siffert. Brian Redman was a race-car driver from the 1960s '70s known for his skill and ease behind the wheel. He raced some of the great cars of the time, including, but not limited to, the Ford GT40, Porsche 908 and 917, Ferrari 312 PB, Alfa Tipo 33, and BMW CSL. He was a Formula 5000 champion three times in a row from 1974-1976 and continues to race v...
Photo Report: A Selection Of The Omega Museum's Private Collection
In April of this year, the Omega boutique in NYC showcased some of the most legendary and iconic timepieces from the company's private collection. HODINKEE was there to document this, including some true grail Omegas. The Omega Wristwatch Delivered to the Signal Corps. U.S.A., 1917 This particular watch signifies the important connection between Omega and military watches. This particular chrome-plated watch was worn by a member of the military communications unit of the American expeditionary forces that engaged with the Allies during WWI. A World First, the Omega "M...
Hands-On: The Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Tourbillon With Gold Bridges
After Girard-Perregaux took home the Aiguille dOr at the 2013 GPHG with its Constant Force Escapement piece, it claimed a staggering level of haute horology. Thats why a tourbillon minute repeater turned inside out for your viewing pleasure is really no surprise from the manufacture. We were big fans of the enamel dial 1966 Minute Repeater a couple of years ago, and, if aiming to surpass that was the goal, bringing the back to the front and adding a tourbillon is certainly a way to do it. The Tourbillon Minute Repeater is rather stunning to behold. The open-worked concept displays the striking mechanisms components up fron...
Hands-On: The Romain Jerome Steampunk Tourbillon Gunmetal
Romain Jerome is a brand that aims to combine quite a few elements when it comes to watchmaking. Thats a literal statement. Sometimes those elements are particles from space or material from an Apollo mission. Combined with elements of haute horology, Romain Jerome pieces appeal to collectors who desire exclusivity in the constituents of their watches. Such is the case with Romain Jeromes latest offering, the Steampunk Tourbillon Gunmetal, a second version of which is titled the Steampunk Tourbillon Titanic. The case and overall design of the Steampunk Tourbillon aims to emulate machines and engines of the early 20th centur...
This week we are going hard into the upcoming Hong Kong auctions from Christie's and Bonhams, focusing on some absolute mega-modern pieces as well as a few that could fly under the radar. Further, we've dug up an amazing two-tone Universal Geneve, a full box and papers gilt 1016, a tropical-dial 1950s Zenith chronograph, a rare Rolex clock, a killer vintage Memovox C oh, and an insanely mint and complete Omega Seamaster purchased at a military base in 1962 for under $1,000! This is your Bring A Loupe for Friday, May 29th, 2015. Bonhams Hong Kong, June 4th The June Hong Kong auctions are, to be totally honest, my least favorite of the year...