Best Super NEWS Watches
Hands-On: The Bremont ALT1-C/PB, A Dress Chronograph With A Difference
From the watch company that specializes in flying instruments, yacht racing instruments, and race driving instruments, comes a timepiece that has all the hallmarks of a classic dress chronograph. The English brothers (thats right, Bart and Tim Gronefeld arent the only fraternity in the watch industry) have unveiled three new models ahead of Baselworld 2016, including their latest chronometer, the Bremont ALT1-C/PB. We went hands-on with the watch this week. Part dress watch, part timekeeping instrument, it strikes an interesting balance between the brawn of the original ALT1-C chronograph, and the elegance of the ALT1-C Ros...
The romantic notion of a handmade watch is one that doesn't stand very much exposure to the present world of watchmaking. For many decades, the overwhelming majority of components found in series produced watches have been produced by multi-axis milling machines, and if today you visit pretty much any watch manufactory from the smallest to the largest, you'll see that most parts are being made by computer controlled (CNC) machines. There are any number of practical reasons why this is so, of course (and in general, everyone has benefited, including consumers) but it's interesting to look back occasionally to watches made at a time when handmade meant just that C and when the skill of the han...
This Bring A Loupe looks at unusual watches, all with a twist that makes them collectible in their own right. We start strong with a rare military Omega, and a minty Rolex GMT-Master retailed by Tiffany. Chronograph love is there this week as well, with an undervalued Minerva and an unexpected Universal Geneve Aero-Compax. And you'll discover a couple of defunct brands, including the ephemeral Takano and the budget-friendly Clebar. This is your Bring A Loupe for February 26, 2016. An Omega Military Reference CK 2777 With Original Thin Arrow Dial You might remember this super rare military Omega from o...
You're Invited: Managing Editor Jack Forster To Speak This Sunday At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
This past fall, we told you all about an exceptional exhibition of historical clocks and watches showing at no less than New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met," as it's called colloquially). You can have a quick look at some of the incredible pieces on display here. Well you're in for a treat, dear readers. Our very own managing editor C one of the great historical minds in horology C Mr. Jack Forster, will be gracing the stage of the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium this Sunday for a conversation and lecture about these wonderful objects. Celestial Globe With Clock Work, Dating to 1579 Indeed, Jack will be speak...
Breaking News: Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck Among Group Who Invested $23 Million Into HYT Watches
Everyone's favorite hydro-mechanical watch company (wait, are they the only hydro-mechanical watch company?) HYT has just received investment to the tune of $23 million. The most notable investor is Swiss executive Peter Brabeck, who also happens to be the chairman of a little company called Nestle. No details are provided on how much he, or others, put in specifically. HYT is one of the few independent brands to publicize funding information We are covering this here on HODINKEE because financial information about independent watch companies is remarkably scarce, and we are often asked by young watch lovers and would-be entre...
Last February 18th, Zenith announced that it would partner this year with the Sports Car Vintage Racing Association, and we were on hand as the partnership was announced. We got together with Zenith right here in downtown Manhattan at the Manhattan Classic Car Club, which makes a wide range of vintage and exotic sports cars available to members (you know, in case you don't happen to have $11 million to spare for your own GT40 C or as is more likely, if you just like variety). It's a big year for Zenith in terms of automotive partnerships; HODINKEE's European Editor Arthur Touchot interviewed Zenith CEO Aldo Magada earlier thi...
If you were watching the Republican primary debate last night you might have noticed a spirited exchange (what were the odds) between contenders Marco Rubio and Donald Trump that culminated in Mr. Rubio asserting that, were it not for his inheritance, Mr. Trump would be "selling watches on the streets of Manhattan." ?This pithy witticism is slightly dated (I've been living in New York since 1984 and the last time I saw anyone trying to sell watches out of a trench coat, Ronald Reagan was in the White House) but apparently there is something eternal in the public imagination about the image of a seedy figure with pockets full of Bolexes, Molexes, and Dolexes (maybe with an Omeqa or two thrown...
A Week On The Wrist: The Omega Speedmaster 'First Omega In Space'
This week on my wrist is the Omega Speedmaster First Omega In Space, a watch inspired by a historically important model worn in space on October 3, 1962, by U.S. astronaut Walter Schirra C an event to which the new model owes its name. We raved about the FOIS when it was introduced in 2012. An affordable manually wound chronograph with great history, it seemed to hit a chord with both the nostalgic, and those new to the brand. It certainly looks the part, but how does it feel on the wrist? The story goes that Walter Schirra decided to go watch shopping in Houston, Texas, a few months before the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, knowing ...
You're Invited: Celebrate Leap Day With The 'Dink In NYC
February 29th is a big day in the world of #watchnerds. Why? Because it's the one day every four years where we can turn to our non watch-nerd friends, say "hey, check this out!" C point to our wristwatch, and actually have them be impressed. OK so the above may only apply to those lucky enough to own a perpetual calendar, but still, this complication is one of the most beautiful, difficult to produce, but easy to understand in the realm of true grand complications. So this day, on the only February 29th to come this way for the next 1,459 days, we've decided to get some people together for a few cocktails to toast the perpetual calendar. Details after the jump. ...
Your Official HODINKEE Leap Day Perpetual Calendar Buyer's Guide
Today, as you surely know, is leap day C February 29th. You know this because that one guy in your life who spent his life's savings on a perpetual calendar can't stop talking about it. The perpetual calendar is an amazing complication C able to account for not only the varying lengths of your average 12 months C but also for leap years. The perpetual is, in my experience, the grand complication that gets the most people excited about what mechanical watchmaking can do and today, in honor of that, we're going to look at a few of our favorite perpetuals currently on the market, and what makes them so special. For The Classicist ...
Watch Photographer Atom Moore To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York This Coming Monday
Next Monday evening at the Horological Society of New York, acclaimed watch photographer Atom Moore will lecture on Watch Portraiture: Taking a Closer Look With Macro Photography. No doubt you have seen his work before; perhaps on Instagram, and even on HODINKEE from time to time. The lecture is free, open to the public and will be held at HSNY's new meeting venue, the General Society Library in Midtown Manhattan. Photography is a very important part of keeping people engaged with horology. Since gaining access to a wide variety of watches through the community at RedBar Crew, Atom Moore has focused his lens ever closer into the intricate details of these fascina...
Here is the "Dollfus" Perpetual Calendar, nicknamed after its original owner C sold at auction in 2011, and not seen in public since. ?Though it's well known in enthusiast circles both by name and reputation, we thought today C Leap Day C would be a great opportunity to look back at this historic watch - the first perpetual calendar wristwatch. When this particular watch was first sold, the price to the new owner, Mr. Jean Dollfus, was 11,000 Swiss Francs. ?It was a lot of money then, and today it would be considerably more, but even the inflation adjusted price pales in comparison to what it fetched at auction at Christie's, in 2011: $475,618. ?It's obviously an enormous sum of money, but t...
Six Missing Explorer's Watches Whose Fate We'd Love To Know
Watches, like people, are born with certain traits, but are also, and often, the most interesting when they have led interesting lives. The 20th century was one in which technology innovations made it possible to explore the world around us in ways impossible in previous centuries and of course, watches were an essential part of any explorer's kit. Here are five that helped their owners make history, and which have disappeared from view C and whose fate we'd love to know. Lindbergh's Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle It seems odd, but a Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle watch actually owned and used by Ch...
Watch Stuff You Loved To Fight Over In 2015
A detailed diary from John Arnold would have settled many of the continuing arguments about the originator of the lever escapement, albeit many keen horologists would have been denied the pleasure of getting angry with each other. C Kenneth Ullyett, "Watch Collecting," 1970 Watches, it must be said, are not a rational preoccupation; we tend to love them, or hate them, and because we don't all love or hate the same thing, a lot of the time we argue over things that must seem unlikely, or even outlandish, to people who don't share our fascination for mechanical timepieces. Here are five things that produced divided opinions among HODINKEE readers in 2015 (a...
Watch Spotting: The HODINKEE #LeapDay Celebration In NYC
As you heard yesterday, the 29th of February is a big day for us watch nerds. It's the one day out of every for years where the calendar on your watch actually belongs on the 29th. And at midnight, those lucky enough to own a perpetual calendar get to see that awesome little jump to March 1st. In honor of such a dramatically important day in our lives, we decided to throw a party. And by that, I mean we basically put up a blog post and had a bunch of people meet at the bar across the street. But it was awesome! And we saw some great friends with some absolutely killer watches. Have a look at what walked into a bar on a Monday night in February C the 29th of February C below....
Watch Spotting: HODINKEE Checks Out The Oscars C And Finds Some Surprisingly On-Point Watches
They say people watch the Academy Awardsfor the awards. Here at HODINKEE, it's not just a chance for us to see what the Academy did and didn't think were there top performances, performers, technical talent, and movies of the year C it's a chance to see what watches some of the world's most famous people decided to wear at the single most public event of the year. Now, some of these folks wore watches provided by a brand (because obviously it's a great place to get your products in the public eye) but some of the stars on the red carpet wore their own watches as well. Either way, there were some so-so fits, eyebrow-raising choices C and some that were surprisingly apt. ? ...
Introducing: The Slim d'Hermes Limited Edition With Enamel Dial (Live Pics, Details, Pricing)
A surprise hit of the 2015 Baselworld show was the Slim d'Hermes watch, an absolutely stunning modern dress watch from Hermes that features an in-house caliber and downright beautiful facade C not to mention an elegant profile. We reviewed it right here, and our resident Frenchman Louis found it to be positively charming. This year, the watch returns in new dial colors but also in a 100 piece limited edition featuring a three-layer grand feu enamel dial that is absolutely remarkable. Slim d'Hermes Grand Feu Email The Slim d'Hermes Grand Feu Email is identical to the existing Slim d'Hermes C the same 39.5 mm case, the same cali...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8 Day Power Reserve
I think every hardcore watch nerd dreams of owning a piece hand-crafted by Seiko's Micro Artist Studio in Shiojiri, located in Japan's central Nagano region. The Micro Artist Studio is a tiny subset of the Seiko manufacture that is the absolute elite unit, responsible for hand-crafting not only the incredible Eichi II, but also the Credor Minute Repeater and Sonnerie. Today, for the first time, we saw a Grand Seiko that was given the Micro Artist treatment, and it did not disappoint. First, one must understand that the craftsman in the Micro Artist Studio are top, top tier. They are the group that visits no one short of Mr. Phili...
Introducing: The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Dual Time, A User-Friendly And Cost-Friendly Travel Companion
When Girard-Perregaux released their 1966 Dual Time in 2014, we applauded their efforts for making a gorgeous, and very wearable, travelers watch. The only criticism it received was its high price point, dictated by the precious metal it was made in. Two years later, its back, and were happy to announce its being offered in stainless steel, for $10,500.Girard-Perregaux has paired the 40 mm steel case with a clean white dial, an option which was already available with the rose-gold version. Its a very sound decision by all accounts. Some tweaks have been made to increase the legibility of the dial, and overall this years model looks a lot more conventional than the original. ...
Introducing: The Bulova CURV Chronographs, With High Frequency Shaped Quartz Movements
Since 2007, Bulova has been owned by the Citizen Watch Co. of Japan, but it was for many decades before that an upstanding member of the American horological community, with many innovations to its credit C including, of course, the Accutron. The tuning-fork-based Accutron is largely a thing of the past, but Bulova still innovates in timekeeping technology, with its high-frequency, high-accuracy quartz calibers C and now, with its CURV family of chronographs, it presents the first curved-movement quartz chronographs ever made. The CURV chronographs are, as they say, just what it says on t...