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Best Super NEWS Watches
A Question To Our Readers: Does Silicon Equal Soulless In Watchmaking?
The first time I saw a watch with silicon components in person was in 2003, when Ulysse Nardin's late managing director (and one of the lions of the fine watchmaking renaissance) Rolf Schnyder brought one to a collector's dinner hosted by what's now PuristsPro.com. The idea of silicon was fascinating and in retrospect, I think the fact that the earliest debut of silicon as a material in fine watchmaking was in such a revolutionary watch as the Freak did a lot to make the idea exciting rather than unsettling. But the adoption by none other than Patek Philippe C and then the assertion from the same company that it would make widespread use of silicon escape wheels, levers, and balance spring...
This Wednesday HODINKEE and Bulgari hosted a celebration of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater C currently the thinnest minute repeater in the world C at the firm's 57th Street boutique. It wasn't just a celebration though C the Finissimo Minute Repeater was shown at this year's Baselworld and generated a lot of interest from enthusiasts and excitement in the watch press but of course, unless you were at the fair and had an appointment you didn't get to see it in person. This was the very first time it was possible to see the repeater in person in North America and over 100 guests turned out to be part of the event, and to hear an in-person presentation on repeaters, and the art and ...
This week marks my one-year anniversary writing Bring A Loupe, so I decided to do something different: limit the picks to the interesting watches seen on Instagram over the past few days. And to shake things up a little, we have a watch with some French heritage: a Tag Heuer Professional worn both by the Marine Nationale and James Bond, with a quartz movement no less. We've also got a "ghost" bezel Red Sub, a dressy Patek, a unique Laurent Ferrier, and a little known but seductive Sigma. This is your Bring A Loupe for June 24, 2016. A Rolex Red Sub Reference 1680 With Patinated Bezel A faded bezel can...
Antiquarian Horologist Seth Kennedy To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
London has a deep horological history, stretching back hundreds of years. How did the horological industry fit in throughout Londons intense urban development? What is it like to work on antique timepieces today in modern London? Antiquarian Horologist Seth Kennedy will discuss these questions and more at the July meeting of the Horological Society of New York on Tuesday, July 5th. In addition, Kennedy will present a detailed look at 18th and 19th century watches that he has restored, including the making of pocket watch cases from scratch. About Seth Kennedy Kennedy came to antiquarian horology afte...
Business Time: Swiss Watch Exports Continued To Fall In May
The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) published the latest watch export figures, confirming the downward trend that has marked the industry in 2016. Exports of Swiss watches fell 9.7 percent to 1.55 billion Swiss francs compared with 2015, according to data released by the Federal Customs Administration last week, with negative results across every one of its top five markets. Exports to Hong Kong were negative for the sixth consecutive month (shooting down by 16.8 percent in May, to CHF 189.6), while the U.S. dropped by 2.1 percent to CHF 172.1 million. The last pocket of gro...
Breaking News: Richard Mille Watches Worth Millions Stolen Overnight In Paris, French Police Confirm
French police have confirmed that two safes containing between 1 and 3 million euros worth of watches have been stolen from a storage area in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The watches belonged to independent watchmaker Richard Mille. According to the French news channel BFMTV, each safe held between 20 and 30 watches. Police were summoned to the scene of the crime on Monday morning and reported no one was injured. This is the fourth high-profile robbery in Paris in as many months. The Chanel store on Avenue Montaigne was robbed twice in the space of three weeks by armed men in April and in May. Both times, the attackers fl...
A Week On The Wrist: The Eterna Super KonTiki Chronograph
It may seem odd to name a watch after a leaky balsa wood raft, or even the Inca sun god, but regardless, the Kon-Tiki has become a well known and much loved staple in Eternas catalog since the 1950s. The watch family was inspired by the 1947 expedition mounted by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew when they sailed East to West across the Pacific on a hand-built wooden raft, wearing Eterna wristwatches. Since the KonTiki was introduced, it has been Eternas best known watch and over the years has taken myriad forms, including chronographs, GMTs and, beginning in 1962, a capable line of dive watches dubbed Super KonTiki. ...
Introducing: The Ochs Und Junior Perpetual Calendar
A basic principle in mechanical engineering is that in general, the most intelligent solution to any mechanical problem is the one that uses the simplest possible design. Despite this the tendency in watchmaking is for manufacturers to boast of the number of parts to be found in a watch. While this doesn't imply in and of itself that any maker is actually saying more complicated equals better, that's the conclusion we often instinctively draw. Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, however, has tended to go in exactly the opposite direction in his work with Ochs und Junior, and has made a specialty of making complicated watches that use an absolute minimum of parts, in combination with novel solutions to the ...
Vacheron Constantin has just announced three new versions of three of its most critically acclaimed watches. The Historiques Cornes de Vache, Historiques American 1921, and Historiques Ultra-Fine 1955 are now offered in three new case metals. The Cornes de Vache is now offered in pink gold, while the Ultra Fine 1955 and American 1921 will be offered for the first time in platinum. First up is a new version of the Historiques American 1921 in platinum. This is definitely one of Vacheron's better known design wins in recent years and it's proven consistently popular with collectors and enthusiasts (as well as being something ...
HODINKEE And Carl F. Bucherer Celebrate At Baselworld With 'Bring Me To Baselworld' Contest Winner
Baselworld is already a fading memory for many of us who attended, but for Hodinkee and Carl F. Bucherer it was a chance to make some really lasting memories for the lucky winner of our "Bring Me To Baselworld" contest, with winner Nathaniel Coghlan of Indiana. Nathaniel was the guest of Carl F. Bucherer for three days and nights, with a chance to experience not only the show itself, but to get a real insider's view of the show and the Brand in a meeting with Carl F. Bucherer CEO and industry veteran Sascha Moeri. Carl F. Bucherer CEO Sascha Moeri at Baselworld 2016. Carl. F. Bucherer is perhaps best known for its TravelTec w...
The Value Proposition: The Mido Baroncelli Heritage, Take Two
Back in March, we did something some readers thought was a little cheeky, which was give a watch the nod as a Value Proposition on the basis of a press release. While we stand by the original story, the criticism that a watch ought to be in hand and on the wrist before finding its place in the Value Proposition pantheon is a fair one, so we decided to do the right thing and see if the Baroncelli Heritage from Mido was as good in person as we thought it would be. I'm happy to say that the watch exceeded expectations considerably. The Baroncelli Heritage was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the product line with M...
Introducing: Two New Limited Edition Runabout Watches From Frdrique Constant
For many years, Frdrique Constant has harbored ambitions of becoming the new gatekeepers for entry into the fine watchmaking, vying for the position traditionally held by brands like TAG Heuer, Longines, and Baume & Mercier. Despite tough competition from these, and many other younger companies, their effort has been hugely impressive, and quite successful too, thanks to classic but handsome watches at very competitive prices, including this year's ?Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture. The new Frdrique Constant Runabout in rose gold-plated steel. The partnership with RHS dates back to 2009, and since then has resu...
Bring a Loupe: Unusual Vintage Watches From Zenith, Omega, Heuer, Certina, And More
This week we will focus on some vintage watches that are a little off the beaten path. You know the names Zenith, Omega, and Heuer, of course, and their more famous models, but I bet you are much less familiar with the Zenith S.58 Diver, the Certina Argonaut, and the Montblanc chronograph we found (and no, it's not from the pen company). Yet, all these uncommon pieces have a little special something C this is your Bring A Loupe for July 1, 2016. A Dressy Omega Reference 6899 In Pink Gold Omega is well known for the Speedmaster, and of course for its sports and technical watches in general, but they ha...
William L. 1985 is the Kickstarter-funded brainchild of Guillaume Laidet, who asked himself a simple question: what if you made a modern, reliable, unapologetically vintage-styled watch for next to nothing? The answer seems to be, at least in this case, build it, and they will come. Fresh from the big success of his quartz watch lineup, which offers amazingly attractive vintage-style quartz chronographs starting at under 200, he's made good on his original promise in his Kickstarter to do the same thing with automatic watches. The same basic idea is at play here for the automatics, as for the quartz watches: take the best ...
Mass Appeal: We Weigh Every Watch Worn In The HODINKEE Office In One Day
One of the single most common complaints voiced about watches C from what for lack of a less unwieldy term, we'll call the enthusiast base C is "it's too big." What is or is not too big, of course, varies from one person to the next. That much is obvious, but it does make evaluating whether or not a watch is really too big or too small, or just right, a little difficult to figure out unless you actually get a chance to try one on. There are really two questions when it comes to figuring out if a watch is too big. The first, of course, is, "is it so large that the majority of its intended audience are going to find it uncomfortable to wear?" The second question is, "is it so large that the si...
There is not a more fascinating watchmaker in the world than Francois-Paul Journe. He is indisputably talented, a savant-style technical genius who cares not for the traditional pleasantries that are typically associated with being a watch industry executive. This is likely because he is not in fact a watch industry executive at all C F.P. Journe himself sits on the upper level of his downtown Geneva manufacture, far away from the marketing and operations managers, with all the other watchmakers. He's charming when he wants to be, abrasive when he doesn't. His creations are innovative enough to inspire a fawning cabal of global collectors to await his next creation and, in some cases, to pur...
Introducing: A New Dial Color For The A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Automatic
A. Lange & Sohne celebrated the grand reopening of their Tokyo boutique on Thursday by introducing two Saxonia Automatic models with a new dial color. Had Lange been concerned with current trends, they would certainly have unveiled a more colorful Saxonia. But following the industrys current mood is not the Lange way. Instead, the German watch manufacture continues to expand its palette of neutrals with a terra brown dial. Its the first time this particular color has been used in the Saxonia line, which also includes grey as of 2015, and which included a slate-blue shade in the past, as well as mother-of-pearl. The S...
Vacheron Constantin has just announced a new limited edition for North America of its Traditionelle Day-Date and Power Reserve watch. The new version of the VC Day-Date will feature an engine-turned guilloch dial, rather than the white dials found in the current collection pink-gold model and the Collection Excellence Platine platinum model. Guilloch is a form of engraving done with a so-called rose engine, which is a kind of lathe. The dial is mounted on the lathe, brought into contact with the cutting head, and then rotated by a hand-crank. As the piece to be engraved rotates, a cam moves the cutting head in and out of ...
Today is Independence Day in the USA, but independence and self-determination aren't just American ideas. To celebrate the universal spirit of independence, we invite you to check out five HODINKEE articles which celebrate the independent spirit found in the watchmaking industry C the determination it takes, yes, but also the originality it fosters. A Private Tour Of The Laurent Ferrier Workshop, From Laurent Ferrier Himself Located in the village of Vernier, Switzerland, the Laurent Ferrier workshop resides in a converted single-family home. There is absolutely zero signage from the road, and it is surr...
Rewind: Seven Of Our Most American Watch Stories Ever, For The Fourth Of July
For 2018 we've updated this HODINKEE classic with a few additional stories for your holiday reading pleasure. When you think of watches and watchmaking, you mostly think of Switzerland, Germany, Japan . . . but probably not America. ?But America was not only the first country to undertake industrial scale watch and clockmaking, it's also a country with a deep and abiding fascination for machines and what they represent. ?From modernity to efficiency to precision, to sheer beauty; from the Speedmaster on the wrists of American astronauts, to public clocks, to an avaricious appetite from some of our greatest captains of industry for the very finest and most complic...