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Best Super NEWS Watches
Photo Report: An Evening With Seiko In New York City
Earlier this week, Seiko and HODINKEE hosted an evening of classic cocktails and watches Chumley's, a historic downtown Manhattan pub and former speakeasy long known as a preferred haunt of famous writers. Seiko brought along several of its most exciting recent Prospex and Presage releases, including watches from the colorfully dialed Cocktail Time collection, the Automatic Chronograph 50th Anniversary Limited Edition (SRQ029) and the Chronograph 55th Anniversary Limited Edition (SRQ031), as well as a number of popular dive watches.?Guests tried on these and other timepieces, learning how Seiko enamel, porcelain, and Urushi lacquer dials are crafted by experts in...
Bring a Loupe: A Rolex From The '30s, A Philippe Dufour Simplicity, And A 'Sikorsky' Tudor Prince
Auction season is upon us, which means some of the most exciting watches in existence are emerging from the woodwork. This year's spread is particularly epic, with a number of historically significant and important offerings, but instead of focusing on what's already been covered, why not look into some pieces that might have perhaps been overlooked? With this theme in mind, we've cherry-picked a selection of subtle but superb timepieces, including a Tudor Prince with aviation provenance, an impossibly sharp Movado chronograph, and a rare Ref. 2508 by Rolex. Those who appreciate a sharp watch will also enjoy Dennison-cased Omega coming from a descendant of the original owner, along with a Ph...
Subscribe to the show: (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn). Already heard it once or twice? Please leave a short review here, and tell us which guests we should have on! Way back in 2012, the very first HODINKEE collaboration of any kind was a set of limited edition ties inspired by a pair of vintage Submariners, and they were made in partnership with London-based tie maker, haberdasher, and tailor, Drake's. The brand's creative director, Michael Hill, quite literally grew up in the business and is someone I'm very proud to call a long time friend. On a recent trip to New York City, we had him up to the office to sit down for a...
Editors' Picks: Three Watches That Dazzle From Phillips Geneva Watch Auction X
There are two types of watches I'm drawn to: Those over-engineered to tell time reliably in an adverse environment, and those that are over-engineered simply for the sake of telling time C in short, tool watches and restrained examples of high horology. Both are fantastic feats of engineering and craftsmanship. Beauty, in my eyes, often stems from a functional aesthetic or next-level finishing. The best watches have both.? Bling never got my attention, but who are we as collectors if we can't learn to, at the very least, appreciate and respect all traditions in watchmaking? I can't find it in me to fall in love with iced-out watches, but that's just me. Humankind...
Introducing: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar In Platinum
Recently announced as part of a special edition series with Yoshida, a Japan-based retailer, this latest Royal Oak rocks a black dial and a full platinum case and bracelet. All of that precious metal is wrapped around the updated automatic perpetual calendar movement that we've seen in several other 41mm Royal Oak QPs, the Audemars Piguet calibre 5134 (also used here, though admittedly in a somewhat less subtle execution). Considerably more low-key than many of the other known platinum Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars, the black dial really makes this reference (26597PT.OO.1220PT.01) an especially stealthy way of wearing a precious metal Royal Oak C at least to those who haven't felt that plati...
Introducing: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie
Out of the blue, some pretty big news appeared on the AP website this week. What you are looking at is an Audemars Piguet Supersonnerie in a conventional Royal Oak case shape. Originally announced as the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie back in 2014, the Supersonnerie was (and is) a groundbreaking chiming wristwatch that came with the unusual distinction of actually being louder on the wrist than off. The key to the Supersonnerie's loud and clear sound are its gongs mounted on a sound board that's covered by a caseback with openings.Following the release of the first Supersonnerie, AP came with a one cased up in the platinum Jules Audemars case that featured a striking blue dial. Then came th...
Well, this is a big one! Ahead of Only Watch 2019, taking place right now in Geneva, there was speculation that the unique stainless steel Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime ref. 6300A might become the most expensive wristwatch to ever sell at auction, and it turns out that was well founded. It just happened. The watch, with its two dials, reversible case, and 20 complications, sold for CHF 31,000,000, officially making it the most expensive watch in the world.? This watch selling for big money isn't a surprise at all. Historically, Patek Philippe watches perform particularly well at Only Watch, and the last few years it's always been a Patek selling for the highes...
Auctions: Tudor Black Bay Ceramic One For Only Watch 2019 Sells For CHF 350,000
One of the craziest bits of blockbuster news to come out of Only Watch in years past was the sale of the Tudor Black Bay One in 2015 for over 100 times the retail price of a normal Black Bay. People knew the watch would do well, but the CHF 375,000 hammer was definitely more than people were expecting. Well, this year we've got yet another strong Tudor result, with the Black Bay Ceramic One pulling in CHF 350,000. This time it's no surprise at all. This is the third unique Tudor to sell at Only Watch, with the Black Bay Bronze One serving as a follow-up to that headline-grabbing Black Bay One from 2015. When it sold in 2017, it brought in CHF 350,000, falling jus...
Auctions: The F.P. Journe Astronomic Blue Sells For CHF 1.8 Million At Only Watch 2019
Heading into Only Watch 2019, one of the most-talked-about watches was the F.P. Journe Astronomical Blue. This is the second time that Journe has chosen to introduce a totally new complication in a unique piece for this charity auction, with the last one being the CHF 1.15 million Monopusher Split-Seconds Chronograph in 2017. Expectations were high and the Astronomical Blue did not disappoint: It sold for CHF 1.8 million, making it one of the most expensive independent watches ever sold at auction. When the bidding started, the room was electric. Someone from the crowd yelled out "one million Swiss Francs" just seconds after the watch was announced, getting the b...
And Now, A Message From Ed Sheeran
Editor's Note: At the end of the day, HODINKEE is nothing if not a vibrant community of watch lovers and enthusiasts. If we are doing things right, this community is continually growing C but every now and then a collector of particular note joins us, and in so doing spreads that enthusiasm to an even larger audience. Today is one such time. Please give a hearty welcome to a four-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, and watch guy, named Ed Sheeran. Yes, that Ed Sheeran. Hello there, I'm Ed. I've been collecting watches since I was 20 years old. Before then I had Swatches and what not, but I never really knew the extent of watch collecting. I remember meet...
In-Depth: The Ochs Und Junior Day/Night
Ochs und Junior is an anomaly in many respects. The company was founded in 2006 by Dr. Ludwig Oechslin and Beat Weinmann, and has as its guiding principle the rejection of much of what is traditionally considered high craft in fine watchmaking, substituting instead a dedication to radical simplification in materials, design, and especially in the engineering of its complications. The company makes relatively few watches per year C about 130, more or less C and has no ambitions to grow beyond its current size, which allows it to maintain the purity of the aesthetic vision of its founders. Relative newcomers to fine watchmaking may not be familiar with just how pro...
Youre Invited: We Are Popping Up With Omega In SoHo, New York
It's been a while since we last popped-up. In 2018 we celebrated our ten-year anniversary with H10 and hosted our first (and only) West Coast pop-up with UTA. This year, we wanted to do something a little different. Something a little closer to home. Something with Omega. That's right, we have partnered with Omega to launch a 10-day pop-up in SoHo, New York City, kicking off this Thursday, November 14, and running until Sunday, November 24.? The OMEGA + HODINKEE pop-up shop is located at 274 Lafayette Street in downtown New York City. We will have almost every modern watch from the Speedmaster and Seamaster collections available ...
Editorial: The (Almost) Inexplicable Popularity Of The Diver's Watch
I spent last week in Geneva, during which time it poured incessantly for four straight days, which gave me the time to consider a number of questions. Naturally, given the location a lot of what I thought about had to do with watches and watchmaking, and it occurred to me to wonder why exactly it is that dive watches, in general, seem to be so overwhelmingly popular as a general category of timepieces.?(Maybe all the rain inclined me unconsciously to thoughts aquatic). The obvious answer is that they are as a rule, more durable and dependable than non-dive watches but the more I thought about it, the less clear it seemed to me that they are as a class better in a...
A Fine Madness: Looking Back At The Three Most Expensive Watches Ever Sold At Auction
The collecting compulsion is an interesting one. It seems to exist independently of wealth or poverty, and it may be focused on almost anything. The first thing I can remember collecting were leaves from various trees in the forests around my childhood home in Pennsylvania; I collected rather unsystematically, and pressed the leaves between the pages of a very large illustrated Bible that was one of many hundreds of volumes in my father's equally unsystematic book collection. I didn't realize it at the time, but pressing leaves and other botanical samples has a long and illustrious history; the 18th century naturalist Linnaeus, who invented the system of plant and animal classification we st...
Introducing: The White, The First Series Of Wristwatches From Renowned Clockmaker David Walter
For a moment, consider the double pendulum resonance clock. These extraordinarily accurate clocks utilize the resonance phenomenon with their two pendulums hanging in close proximity to each other, swinging in anti-phase. Besides being extraordinarily accurate, double pendulum resonance clocks are also extraordinarily difficult to manufacture and adjust. Throughout history only a handful of these clocks have been made, with David Walter having made five of them. Walter is unquestionably one of the finest clockmakers of the modern era, and now he is setting his sights on wristwatches. David Walter with his one of his double pendulum resonance clocks. ...
Historical Perspectives: A Collection Of Tutima Watches Issued To Military Units
In 1989, the U.S. Air Force awarded a contract to German watchmaker Tutima to supply watches to its aviators. The model of the watch delivered to American forces was ironically dubbed the NATO, in honor of the European forces that had been wearing it since its introduction in 1984. The watch was initially produced for the German Air Force, but had success with a number of units around Europe. It was a known quantity; it had proven to be a reliable instrument in the cockpit. The U.S. Air Force took a shot on the Tutima NATO Chronograph and a few hundred examples were delivered the following year.? Unfortunately, the contract was rather short-lived due to the...
HODINKEE Radio: Bonus Episode: 2019 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genve Results
Subscribe to the show: (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn). Already heard it once or twice? Please leave a short review here, and tell us which guests we should have on! Last week was the 2019 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genve (GPHG), the biggest awards in watchmaking. In case you don't already know, the annual ceremony takes place in Geneva and is one of the few nights of the year that the majority of the watch industry converges on one place at one time to celebrate the art and craft that we all love. I was lucky enough to be there again this year, and it was an exciting event to say the least. If you haven't already listened...
Introducing: The Longines Heritage Military 1938
Pictured above is the the Longines Heritage Military 1938, a recent introduction to Longines' Heritage range. Below is the watch that this modern interpretation is based on. It was released a year before the world would be turned completely upside down. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history.? The design of the watch is classified as "interwar" by Longines because the world hadn't yet been swept up in a global conflict when the watch was born, but the hallmark design elements typically associated with WWII watches are very much present: sub-seco...
Announcements: The OMEGA + HODINKEE Pop-Up Is Open In SoHo
It's been a wild few days, and along with some big news from the H Shop, we have now opened the doors to the OMEGA + HODINKEE Pop-Up shop in SoHo. You may know the space as the former Supreme location at 274 Lafayette Street, but we are hunkering down here from now until November 24th. As promised, we have a ton of new Omega watches available to buy (including a platinum 1948, and much more) plus some incredible vintage pieces from the Omega Museum (sadly NFS). Oh, and we have some astronauts on site C three to be exact. We will be open today from 11 AM to 4 PM, and 11 AM to 7 PM daily until the 24th. We'll also be hosting a meet-up with a special guest next week, so stay tuned for that anno...
Bring a Loupe: A Commemorative Speedmaster, A Ceramic IWC Fliegerchronograph, And A Rolex Precision
Since we last checked in, it's been an interesting week in the vintage watch world to say the least. Auction season in Geneva was a mixed bag of results if there ever was one, befuddling many attentive collectors who put in the time to go over the numbers. Despite this, the wheels of progress keep turning, and exciting watches continue to surface, including pieces like a Rolex Precision Dustproof with a rare tuxedo dial, along with the elusive Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic Porthole, and a Zenith Pilot with petrol provenance. At the extra special end of the spectrum, there's the highly desirable Ref. 3705 in ceramic from IWC, and an important Speedmaster with a mysterious original owner.? ...