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Best Super NEWS Watches
IWC's new Ingenieur line received a major refresh last week, and while there are countless complications - think rattrapante, digital perpetual calendar, and tourbillon - it is the Ingenieur in its simplest form that is most appealing to us. Here's why: First. It's small. But not too small. It's 40mm, which is a great size, and perfectly placed between the classic AP Jumbo at 39mm and the new 41mm Royal Oak.? We mention those two watches because the Royal Oak was, of course, designed by Gerald Genta. And so was the Ingenieur SL back in the mid 1970s - the first Ingy to take on this particular shape.? This design just seems to...
Last week, we introduced you to this absolute monster of a watch. The Richard Mille RM59-01 was designed specifically for Olympic sprinter Yohan Blake, and features a few traits inspired by his atypical running style.? Blake is known for wearing his watch on his right hand, and so the case is slightly thinner on the left side, so that when it's on his wrist, it is slightly more aerodynamic.? You might be scoffing, but consider the fact that last year's Olympic 200m final was decided by .12 seconds, and you tell us if every little bit counts. Blake is also known for running with his hands spread wide open, giving him the nick...
Baume & Mercier has really been hitting its stride the past couple of years, fitting in comfortably as the most affordable brand in the Richemont stable. But dont mistake affordable for boring. B&M has been looking to its past for design inspiration, a strategy we wholeheartedly endorse - remember the Capeland Flyback from 2011? One piece that impressed us at SIHH was the new Clifton Complete Calendar, which is a complete dead ringer for a 1950s Baume & Mercier.The Clifton Complete Calendar features a Dubois-Dupraz movement that displays the month, the day, and the phase of the moon (called a poetic complication by B&M design chief, Alexandre Peraldi) in dial apertures, as...
Introducing The Ralph Lauren RL67 Safari Chronometer (Live Pics + Pricing)
RL67 Safari Chronometer This week Ralph Lauren introduced what is arguably the sportiest watch in its Safari lineup, the RL67 Chronometer. The 45-millimeter case is hewn fromunique burnished gunmetal and the dial features oversized Arabic numerals and a striking red sweep seconds hand.Those features, combined with the drab olive canvas strap and gunmetal pin buckle, lenda decidedly weekend-oriented aesthetic to the RL67. Inside this watch ticks a Richemont-modified self-winding calibre that is Ralph Laurens firstchronometer-certified movement. Other watches in the Ralph Lauren collection feature...
The Royal Oak Offshore Diver from AP has become something of a modern classic in the realm of sport watches.? The original (which Jason reviewed in detail here) was considered a worthy successor to the very first Royal Oak with the way that it paired AP's superb in-house caliber 3120 with a beefy mega-diver's case.? It was also the first watch in 39 years to come from AP to feature the double-hash mark at 12 o'clock, subconsciously placing the new Diver in the same realm as the original Jumbo, at least to the die-hards that would even notice something like that.? After the steel-cased Diver was such a success, AP launched it...
Introducing The Hublot Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton, Now In 42mm (Live Pics)
Around this time last year, Hublot shocked us with a watch that, frankly, we never saw coming.? It was called the Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton, and yes, the most surprising part of it was that it, unlike the rest of the Hublot collection, it was actually quite thin!? (BTW, Hublot just announced the same watch in Ceramic this week) Still, the watch was a little too large for us at 45mm, but just this week in Geneva, we saw the Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton show up in a more wearable 42mm.? This is probably our pick of the litter from Hublot as it stands right now - it's a wearable 42mm with a nice thin case, and the Hublot caliber fairly interesting to look at.? It is also relatively affor...
A Guide To Buying Vintage Omega Watches And 10 Omega Watches Currently On eBay
In case you missed it, last month?I wrote an extensive guide to how to buy a vintage watch on eBay. I have been pleased that it has received such warm reviews, so continuing in that theme, I wrote a shortened version providing 10 rules for buying a vintage watch on eBay. And, we have gotten so much interest from people about buying vintage Omega watches that I made an Omega-specific buying guide on eBay as well as highlighted 10 Omega watches I like that are currently for sale on eBay, ranging from watches under $100 at the time of this article to a special gold Speedmaster?with a Buy It Now of over?$10,000.Our hope is that these guides and materials help those looking at buying watches on e...
Christie's November Geneva sale could very well break $16 million.? It is just an absolute monster of a sale, with so many incredible pieces it's actually overwhelming.? Included are several important Rolexes (James Bond's personal 5513 included) and some incredible vintage Pateks.? The watch you see above is actually the watch with the highest estimate in the entire sale - CHF1,000,000 to CHF1,500,000.What it is is an extremely rare Patek Philippe reference 1579 chronograph dating to the late 1940s.? But what makes this particular Patek chrono so special is that it is housed in platinum. These watches are typically found in yellow and pink gold, occasionally in stainless steel, and practica...
CONTEST: Win A VIP Trip To The Piaget Manufactures In Switzerland By Answering Only Ten Questions
We've given away a lot of cool stuff in our day, but this one, dear readers, will take the cake.The goal of HODINKEE from the day we launched it was to bring the average reader closer to the people that make the watches that we all love so much.? We've done this by filming high-definition video of some of the world's most exciting (and expensive) watches as presented by the men and women who have created them.?We've taken you inside some of the most historic watch manufactures in the world with unparalleled looks at what makes them so special.? Today, we are taking things one step further.? Instead of showing you what it's like to visit a premiere watch manufacture in Switzerland, we're goin...
A Week On The Wrist: The Piaget Altiplano 43 MM Automatic
This is the thinnest automatic wristwatch in the world. It's more than that though, and in this Week on the Wrist review, I came to realize that the Piaget Altiplano 43mm Automatic might just be defining a new category of utterly elegant everyday watches.An ultra-thin doesn't have to be only for a suit and tie type of guy anymore, and this watch proves that.The Altiplano 3mm Automatic was announced at SIHH 2010, and they are just hitting retailers in the U.S. right now.What was Piaget up to all this time? Simple really. They were perfecting an absolutely stunning automatic movement, the 2.35 mm 1208P, a movement that any real watch fan has to appreciate as a work of art. ...
Breaking News: George Daniels, Master Watchmaker, Has Died
According to several sources, master watchmaker George Daniels died this evening in his home in the Isle of Man.? Daniels is, of course, the inventor of the co-axial escapement, which was eventually purchased by Omega, and though he only built 37 timepieces (not including prototypes) in his career, his impact on horology is immeasurable.? Daniels also played mentor to another of the greatest watchmakers of today, Roger Smith.George Daniels is also the only watchmaker to receive the CBE in the Queens New Years Honours list, and is the only watchmaker ever to receive the honour of Master Watchmaker, for services to Horology.For more information on Mr. Daniels and his work, visit his off...
19th Century Henri Stern's Super Awesome, Super Thick Mustache
Do you know who Henri Stern is? Well, you probably know who this Henri Stern is, the founder of the great American Patek Philippe distributorship, eventual President of Patek Philippe, father to Philippe, and grandfather to Thierry. But there was a Henri Stern who played a large role in the Swiss watchmaking industry before the one we all know. The original Henri Stern founded the Stern Creations dial manufacture in 1898 and it was his son Charles who eventually bought Patek Philippe the watch company in 1932. This Henri also had one hell of a serious mustache - a mustache so profound that when we saw it while visiting Stern Creations, we just had to photograph it. The original Henri Ster...
Introducing The Patek Philippe 3670A: A New Chronograph In Stainless Steel Using A Vintage Movement
This is just plain awesome.? Some of my favorite watches in the world are the Patek Philippe chronographs made during the middle of the last century.? True "Gentleman's Chronographs," these watches are absolutely beautiful, incredibly refined, immensely wearable.? Inside those chronographs was, in most cases, a Patek Philippe caliber 13-130 - you'll find it in the reference 1463, for example, and what is still the best value in vintage Patek, the Ref 130.? The thing is, both of these watches haven't been made in the better part of a century. The Patek Philippe Caliber 13-130Today, we caught word of new Patek Philippe chronogr...
What were you doing when you were 19?Last winter, we told you the heartwarming story about a teenaged, self-taught Dutch watch enthusiast who was the recipient of a generous gesture from the CEO of Zenith. Well, that little Dutch boy is all grown up and just last week launched his own watch brand. Mick Mooren, all of 19 years old, introduced his new brand, aptly named Mooren Watch, to the world in a launch event in his home country of the Netherlands. The first offering from Mooren is the New Vintage model, an attractively simple timepiece that lives up to its name thanks to its mix of a modern, lugless case with a dial t...
Introducing The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Golf
Golf is really hot right now. Richard Mille is big into golf, so is AP, and with the signing of Tiger Woods as a Rolex ambassador, Omega didn't want to lose any steam as the newly declared official timekeeper of the PGA.? So, with that in mind, we now have the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Golf.The Golf watch is the standard Aqua Terra in 41mm, featuring the brand's Caliber 8500 movement, only this time the minute track is in "golf green".? The word "Seamaster" is in green, as are the tips of the hands.? But, the watch is not designed to, you know, actually be worn while playing golf.? So, this watch is really to be worn while watching golf, or talking about golf, but not actually golfing. Stil...
With the world focused on Occupy Wall Street, we thought it was time to highlight two watches coming up for sale in the near future that have a special tie to the #ows movement, or rather the very institution which it opposes.? We're talking about the American banking industry, and what we've found today are two very expensive mechanical timepieces owned by two of the founding fathers of this industry - one owned by John Pierpont Morgan (think JP Morgan Chase), and another owned by Dean Witter (think Morgan Stanley). And, these aren't just any watches, but true BSD, real OG watches befitting of men of their relative stature.? These watches are complicated, and very expensive.? So, we wanna k...
Mike Horn operates on a 30-hour day, 24 just didn't make sense to him.? He divides the day into six five-hour intervals broken up concisely into sleeping, eating, working, walking, and whatever else he may have to do that day.? Horn has traveled around the world on the equator three times without the help of a motorized vehicle.? He's swam the entire length of the Amazon river with a broken knee.? He's circumnavigated the arctic circle by himself (it took him two years and three months).? He did so with a specially developed, tripled cased Panerai on his wrist. While many explorers have taken to wearing digital watches on expeditions, where Horn goes, a digital instrument would simply freeze...
Found: A Whole Bunch of New-Old-Stock 1970s Breitlings For Sale on Park & Bond
Our homeboys over at Park & Bond have something special in their vintage watch shop right now - a really amazing collection of new old stock Breitling chronographs from the 1970s.? Actually, they've secured a downright crazy lot of 80 of them, most with original stickers on the caseback and funky NATO straps. These watches aren't the iconic Navitimers or Cosmonautes, but rather the esoteric models with Vajoux movements like the Datora, Sprint, and our favorite, the Pupitre Bullhead.Again, they have 80 of these watches, so while only 10 or so are listed on the site right now, you can expect to see a lot more come through Park & Bond in the coming weeks.? If you're looking for a vintag...
A Week On The Wrist: The Ochs And Junior Selene Tinta Moonphase
The most accurate moonphase watch in the world doesn't come from who you might expect. It's not from Patek or Lange, AP or Vacheron. It's not Dufour or Voutilainen, or even Urwerk or Hautlence. The most accurate moonphase in the world comes from a small brand that doesn't take itself too seriously, a brand called Ochs and Junior. The brainchild of MIH watch creator, Ulysse Nardin Freak designer, and Zenith Captain Winsor inspiration Ludwig Oechslin, Ochs and Junior is a small batch independent watch company that takes on a playful and practical tone. Its watches are beautiful and unpretentious, void of branding. The brilliant Oechslin, with the brand's Tinta line of watch...
Former FP Journe watchmaker Ludovic Ballouard makes a pretty serious timepiece in the Upside Down watch, the first ticker under his eponymous new brand.? The watch sells for over $50,000, and yet he decided to strap the thing to the bottom of a helicopter and sends it up to about 3000 feet.? Why? We're not too sure. But he did it, and he flimed it, and that's what you can see above. Did You Know? The very first Ballouard Upside Down watch was delivered to Count Philippe de Nicolay, President of the Supervisory board of Rothschild & Cie Bank? It's true. Here's proof....