No products in the cart.
Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing: The Zenith El Primero 36,000 vph, Or The Return Of The Panda (Live Pics + Details)
No, "The Return Of The Panda" is not the next animated movie being released by Dreamworks, but rather a serious trend we have seen developing lately, and not only at SIHH. In many ways, it is similar to the revival of the sector dial we also witnessed this past week, since both styles borrow design cues from the vintage world but with new interpretations. This new Zenith El Primero 36,000 vph is just that, bringing contrasting sub-registers to an El Primeo with the freshly released 42mm black ceramicised aluminum case. Since 1969 and the release of the very first model, the El Primero chronograph has held a prominent role within Zenith's portfolio. It makes...
Introducing: The Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary 1957-2017
One of the most recognizable, classic, 1950s-Mad Men era wristwatches ever made is the Longines Flagship, which is as solid a representation of the iconic notion of a "men's dress watch" and/or "a good Swiss watch" as anyone has ever seen (all that buy-in to the latter concept contributed in no small part to the demise of the American watch industry, but that's a story for another day). It was 1957 when the first Flagship came out and these three new commemorative versions are about as picture-perfect as a vintage watch homage gets. There will be three versions offered: steel, yellow gold (not gold plate), and rose gold (ditto). All are powered by the calib...
Just Because: A Solid Chocolate F.P. Journe Vagabondage III C The Best Swag Of SIHH 2017
So F.P. Journe just gave out a few dozen Vagabondage watches to selected press. No joke. The freebie was handed out after a presentation of Mr. Journes latest model, which you can read all about here, and they were carefully distributed by the man Francois-Paul himself. Ok, so technically speaking theyre made out of chocolate, but that only makes them even cooler C and possibly even more Swiss. The chocolate bars were one-to-one scale models of the Vagabondage III, made from delicious milk chocolate, which we can confirm after having taken a large bite out of the left side of the case (all in the name of responsible reporting, of course). Each was elabora...
In-Depth: Vertex, A 'Dirty Dozen' Military Watch Reborn
Most vintage watch and military ephemera collectors will know the name "Vertex" from the brands history on the wrists of British soldiers in World War II. Vertex was one of the so-called "Dirty Dozen," the 12 companies that built and supplied watches to the specifications of the U.K. Ministry of Defense. Arthur covered these watches in an article last year, so I'll leave the explanation at that.?Vertex's history both goes back further and continued long after World War II, before it finally folded under the pressure of the so-called Quartz Crisis. But now Vertex is back. Don Cochrane is the great-grandson of Claude Lyons, Vertexs late founder, and he has revive...
This week we have two amazing Universal Genve Compax watches featured, both the reference 22410, which we love for its large waterproof case. And when it comes with a futuristic looking dial, it gets even better, which explains why one example was sold in a flash for just over $50,000. We also have a gorgeous Rolex Sea-Dweller reference 1665 and a patinated Heuer Autavia reference 2446 with big sub-registers and dauphine hands. This is your Bring A Loupe for February 17, 2017. Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 1665 The "Double Red" nickname of the early Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 obviously comes from the two r...
Live Video Archive: HODINKEE And Omega Celebrate The 60th Anniversary Of The Omega Speedmaster
Tonight, HODINKEE and Omega come together to bring you live coverage of our celebration of 60 years of the Omega Speedmaster. In the first discussion of the evening, members of the HODINKEE editorial team are joined by Omega International Brand Heritage Manager Petros Protopapas to explore the legacy and evolution of the Speedmaster; in the second, we're joined by Omega President and CEO Raynald Aeschilmann to examine the impact of the Speedmaster line on the Omega brand as well as what we can expect from Omega in the future. ...
If you are a British GQ reader, you may have noticed something shiny on the wrist of cover boy Ed Sheeran for their March 2017 issue C a Patek Philippe reference 5524G Calatrava Pilot. And not just any reference 5524G, but Sheeran's own 5524G. While this watch received mixed reviews?when it was released at Baselworld in 2015, it has clearly made its way onto some wrists. In fact, it remains one of the most difficult to acquire modern Pateks on the planet, at present. The Patek Philippe reference 5524G Calatrava Pilot. Based on two of Patek's early 1930s hour-angle watches, the 42mm white gold Patek Philippe 5524G Pilot watch ...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently announced that it would make hundreds of thousands of public domain images and artworks contained in its vast collections, many of which are not on public view, available online. The enormous number of hours that could be lost to browsing those archives, and the unknown treasures to be discovered, I'll leave to your imagination. But, among the archives are a huge number of images of clocks and watches that warrant more than a little exploration. In the February 7 announcement, the museum said, "Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today its adoption of a new policy: all ima...
Introducing: The MB&F Legacy Machine LM2, Now In Titanium
The Legacy Machine 2 from MB&F was first launched in 2013 and has been released in red gold, white gold, and platinum. Today MB&F announced the latest iteration of the Legacy Machine 2: a grade 5 titanium-cased limited edition with a blue-green dial, in just 18 pieces. ? The Legacy Machine series are MB&F's interpretation of traditional haute horlogerie watchmaking codes, and the first C LM1 C was introduced in 2011. LM1 featured a movement developed by independent watchmakers Kari Voutilainen and Jean-Fran?ois Mojon. LM1 has two independent time zone dials; LM2 features two independent balances, linked by a differential to produce a single aver...
There's a running joke here at HODINKEE that one of the most fundamental laws of watch journalism is, "everyone loves the Speedmaster." It might sound like hyperbole, but in the case of the Speedmaster, however, it's true. The Speedmaster is one of the most respected, revered, collectible, and beloved wristwatches of all time. There's no one single factor that makes the Speedmaster the true icon that it is, but its incredible and unmatched history of use in manned space flight doesn't hurt, nor does the fact that the purity of its design has stood the test of six decades.C?WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE?C Tonight, HODINKEE and Ome...
Historical Perspectives: What Exactly Is A Sigma Dial? (And Why Does It Matter?)
With vintage watches, small details matter a lot. In fact, they're basically everything. When it comes to assessing the originality of a dial, this goes double, since any re-dial or service dial will dramatically impact the overall value of a watch. This explains the multiple questions surrounding the weird, round little marks sometimes found surrounding the "Swiss" or "Swiss Made" on watch dials from the 1970s. Those little marks are actually the lower case Greek letter sigma, and the dials are aptly called "sigma dials." The issue, you see, is that most of the plentiful information you find out there about sigma dials is wrong, plain and simple. So I decided to dig deeper and figure out wh...
Introducing: The TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-01 43mm, A Familiar Watch In A (Slightly) Smaller Size
Back in 2015, TAG Heuer unveiled the Carrera 01, setting a whole new direction for the famous line of racing chronographs. The Carrera Heuer-01 is big, it's a little brash, and instead of having a streamlined black-and-white look it shows off the movement though a mostly transparent dial. But today TAG is offering an evolution of the Heuer-01, sizing it down to an ever-so-slightly-more-modest 43mm. When that first Heuer-01 was first shown, it definitely startled some people. Very little was there to remind vintage enthusiasts of the classic 60s and 70s Carreras, and it was even a pretty big departure from the other current Carreras such as the 1887 models. ...
Watch Spotting: At The London School Of Economics Watch Society
The London School Of Economics C one of the most famous academic institutions in the world C has a watch club. How cool is that? The club was formed this year by three friends with a common passion for watches, and it aims to bring together fellow enthusiasts to engage with members of the industry. We met a couple of the students back in December, and were thrilled to be asked to inaugurate a series of talks that will take place on campus this year. In addition to giving a talk to the group of collectors, I had to walk around and take a look at some watches on wrists too. Obviously. And there were certainly some good pi...
Graham is a company with some very different faces. If you know the company at all, it's probably thanks to the Chronofighter series of chronographs, which have a left-handed crown, with a love-it-or-hate it trigger system for starting and stopping the chronograph, and a separate button for re-set. This watch is not one of those watches. Not even close. Personally I've always kind of liked the Chronofighter C sure, it's a niche product, but they're an awful lot of fun to play with and in a world of me-too chronographs it's always nice to see someone doing something different. The Chronofighter series has been a successful one for Graham and over the years t...
Introducing: The Ressence Type 5G, The Oil-Filled Diver Goes All Grey
When Ressence announced it was making a dive watch in December 2015, there were more than a few furrowed brows and puzzled glances here at HODINKEE HQ. However, the Type 5 ended up being every bit the high-tech, high-design watch that we'd come to expect from Ressence, just with a sporty twist. Now we're getting another iteration of the Type 5, the Type 5G, a greyed-out version with more colorful markings and an all-matte finish. Technically, this watch is very much the same as the original Type 5. The watch's biggest innovation was the use of an oil-filled chamber in a dive watch to create something supremely legible under water. This isn't just some crazy...
Introducing: The Oris Aquis Hammerhead Limited Edition Diver (Live Pics + Pricing)
One of the last people I expected to meet in the middle of the Swiss Alps was Jrome Delafosse. I knew the French diver was an Oris ambassador. I knew also of his commitment to the brand, which far exceeds that of most ambassadors. But I wasnt sure how Oris had convinced him to trade in his scuba gear for a headlamp and pair of snow boots, or why he had just trekked in the dark with a group of watch journalists, who were almost certainly going to discover the watchmaker's latest altimeter watch. (Spoiler: That's exactly what we saw.) But there was something else too, and it made Delafosse's presence make perfect sense. The French diver has been friendly wi...
Recommended Reading: How To Make Complicated 18th-Century Clocks Work (And Look) Like New Again
Finding a good watchmaker to take care of your favorite vintage Submariner is tough. Finding a good clockmaker to lovingly restore an 18th-century clock with chiming bird automata and delicate gold leaf finish is something else entirely. But luckily for us, the folks at Atlas Obscura?discovered one such person, clockmaker Nico Cox, and asked her for insights into her nearly-forgotten craft.? It's easy to forget that not all horology comes in wristwatch form C there are clocks, sundials, and all manner of other timekeepers out there too. Cox is what we'd call an "antiquarian horologist," meaning she specializes in the kinds of pieces you just don't see anymo...
This week we're making a special place for some special chronographs. Some are military issue, like the Breguet Type 20, and others have unusual features, like the full set Heuer Carrera 3647S, or the "Fab. Suisse" dial of the Longines 30CH. We have also included an early Patek Philippe Nautilus, the Jumbo reference 3700, as well as a colorful Zenith Super Sub-Sea reference A3736. This is your Bring A Loupe for February 24, 2017. Breguet Type 20 Reference 5101/54, Issued To The French Military This Breguet Type 20 presents all the characteristics of the first configurations, from the anonymous d...
Photo Report: HODINKEE And Omega Celebrate The 60th Anniversary Of The Speedmaster
Earlier this week, we were fortunate enough to co-host an amazing evening in New York City with Omega, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster. We welcomed more than 60 guests to the Soho Grand Hotel, where they were greeted with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and a selection of modern Speedmasters. But there was a lot more to come from there. The main event was a pair of talks, the first a discussion between our own editor-in-chief Jack Forster and?Petros Protopapas, Omega International Heritage Brand Manager. Petros is the man in charge of the Omega Museum and he brought along a few legendary Speedmasters from the collection to share from the stage. ...
One of the most famous photographs of Steve Jobs is one taken in Jobs's home in Woodside, California, in 1984, by photographer Norman Seeff. The image shows Jobs sitting on the floor with the very first Apple Macintosh computer perched on his lap. On his wrist is a small, unfussy, unobtrusive wristwatch made by Seiko, originally from the Seiko Chariot series. That actual watch?sold at auction last year for $42,500 and we've just heard that Seiko will be re-issuing the watch as a limited edition exclusive to the Japanese domestic market, in partnership with Tokyo-based clothing designer and retailer Nano Universe. The famous image of Jobs by Norman Seeff...