Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time With A Black Dial
Just barely in time for the gift-giving season, Vacheron Constantin has announced a new dial color for their sporty-yet-elegant Overseas Dual Time. The black sunburst satin-finished dial is an addition to the current dial offerings of silver and blue. This new dial is likely something that interested parties have been requesting from Vacheron Constantin ever since the Overseas Dual Time launched in November of 2017. With a steel case, and the model's trio of included tool-less interchangeable strap options (steel, alligator, and rubber), it's hard to argue with the wide appeal of a black dial and red highlights.? Initial Thoughts...
Editors' Picks: Looking Back At Five Under-The-Radar Lots From November's Geneva Auctions
For those of you who don't follow the auction circuit all that closely, November is a big month for watch auctions with or without the razzle-dazzle record setting at Only Watch. It's true, over the course of just a few days, all of the major auctions houses hosted noteworthy sales in Geneva with interesting lots and telling results. Below, a handful of the HODINKEE editorial team has picked over the results to offer a selection that caught their eye. These aren't the typical blue-chip entries from major players like Rolex or Patek C instead, we picked lots we found unusual and interesting for other reasons. With results both high and low, we've got everything from very traditional pocket wa...
Happenings: NASA Engineer Evan Hilgemann To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
The surface of Venus is one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system. It features sulfuric acid clouds, temperatures over 450C, and a pressure 92 times that of the surface of Earth. Only a handful of probes have successfully reached the surface, and even then only survived for about two hours before their electronics failed in the hostile environment.?At the December 9, 2019, meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Evan Hilgemann will discuss a potential solution for exploring Venus. The solution comes from 16th-century automatons, which were mechanical devices capable of performing a series of complex actions to achieve a specific result. The Automaton Rover for Extreme ...
Talking Watches: With Bethenny Frankel
I have been working at HODINKEE for almost five years now. And for five years I have searched high and low for a woman to invite on Talking Watches. Sure, there are plenty of women who wear watches, who love watches, and who want to talk about watches. But none that had that certain pizzazz we were looking for C until now. I am very excited to introduce to you our latest Talking Watches guest: entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and former Real Housewife of New York, Bethenny Frankel. If you're not already familiar with Bethenny Frankel, you should be. She just recently retired from Bravo TV's Real Housewives of New York, on wh...
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 66: HODINKEE Magazine, Volume 5, And Bringing Back Om Malik
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! It's been a really big week here at HODINKEE HQ. Our friends in the HODINKEE Shop became an authorized retailer for Omega and opened an Omega pop-up shop in SoHo, New York, a few of us hopped a flight to Tokyo to prepare for the launch of HODINKEE.jp, and we also released Volume 5 of the HODINKEE Magazine. We also dropped this, this, and this. Like I said C big week. We thought it would be fun to bring Jon and Jack into the studio t...
Photo Report: The Opening Night Launch Party For The OMEGA + HODINKEE Pop-Up
In case you havent heard, we have popped-up in SoHo, and last night we kicked things off with an opening night party. There were Speedies, Seazies, Moonmen, martinis, and plenty of other watches to see. Most importantly, there were the people that support us and keep the idea of HODINKEE alive. So here are some highlights from the festivities. Thank you to Omega and all our readers who made this possible.P.S. If you missed out last night, fear not, we have another event planned for next week, so stay tuned for that announcement in the coming days. ...
Hands-On: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar In White Ceramic
Its safe to say that the Royal Oak is one of the hottest watches on planet Earth right now. Nobody can argue with that, right? Every limited edition sells out nearly instantly and most main line models have waiting lists that range from months to years. Within the Royal Oak family, the complication to have is the perpetual calendar, and within the Royal Oak perpetual calendar family, the watch to have is the black ceramic version. Its been that way since it debuted in January 2017 and demand hasnt slowed down much, if at all. So you can imagine the attention AP garnered when, earlier this year, they announced that the watch would now come in white ceramic.? ...
In-Depth: The F. P. Journe Astronomic Souveraine
The F. P. Journe Astronomic Souverain was originally introduced last July, as a unique piece for Only Watch. The unique piece, dubbed the Astronomic Blue, has a tantalum case and blue dial, and it was a resounding success at the auction, eventually hammering for CHF 1.8 million. There were some expressions of surprise, when F. P. Journe, shortly after the auction, announced that the watch would go into production, with a different dial, and in a steel case; the announcement was made on November 14th, in Tokyo. However, the initial press release from July 1 for the prototype, clearly noted that the prototype would be followed by a production model, albeit one made in very small numbers per ye...
Introducing: The Chronoswiss Regulator Classic Carbon Racer
Today we have the latest addition to Chronoswiss's Regulator Classic watch family to introduce. While far from common, watches of the regulator type follow a design template that emphasizes readability first and foremost, and they have long been represented in Chronoswiss's lineup. Presenting the hours, the minutes, and the seconds in three separate areas, regulator displays have traditionally been used in situations where accuracy and legibility are of utmost importance C for example, in a watchmaker's workshop as the reference time against which all other timepieces were to be "regulated."?While not typically associated with racing, one could certainly argue that this type of watch, with i...
Last Thursday we opened up a pop-up shop with Omega in the old Supreme space at 274 Lafayette Street in New York City to celebrate Omega joining our shop! Many of you have stopped by since, but in case you haven't, we're hosting a little meet-up on Tuesday (tomorrow) night from 6-8 PM. But that's not all! Retired astronaut, Omega ambassador, and general boss Nicole Stott will be there to answer all your space-related questions, which will be really cool.? If you are interested in attending please register here, but please note that signing up does not guarantee entry; everyone will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis C...
The Conversation: Readers Respond To Cara Barrett's Inaugural Column
On Tuesday, we published Cara Barrett's essay All Watches Should Be Unisex C And Here's Why, the first installment of her monthly column. We published this piece in hopes of starting a conversation, and start one we did C with 400+ comments on the article and counting. Robust, healthy conversation is what makes this community so great. Today, we'd like to highlight some of your thoughtful responses: "It is often said 'you can tell a lot about someone from the watch they wear', it could also be said 'you can tell a lot about someone by how they judge another based on their watch.' On another note, if you look at the websites of NOMOS, ...
Watch Spotting: Dave Chappelle Wearing The Apple Watch Black Unity Limited Edition
Dave Chappelle is a watch guy. He's worn Breitling courtside at NBA games and a Rolex Daytona in Studio 8H for Saturday Night Live.? But under the bright lights of a BBQ joint in Austin, Texas for a comedy show with Joe Rogan, Chappelle left the mechanical grails at home. Instead, he threw on a limited-edition watch C with a limited-edition strap C and a custom dial featuring his own damn logo.? The timepiece in question was the Apple Watch Series 6 Black Unity Limited Edition released in honor of Black History Month C easily spotted by its strikingly colorful strap. ...
Just yesterday, we explained why it isn't easy being Patek Philippe C even the tiniest experimentation can cause the watch cognoscenti to howl. Collectors, dealers, and internet commenters desperately want Patek to play the hits.Too bad. In a new interview, company president Thierry Stern answers the questions we've all been asking since we learned he'd decided to stop producing one of the most popular stainless-steel sport watches in the world. Stern told The New York Times' Nazanin Lankarani why he halted the Nautilus ref. 5711, why we learned about it from a run-out list and not an official announc...
In-Depth: The Rise Of The Skipperera
Lead image, Wind Vintage The opening of the TAG Heuer Museum, in Switzerland in January 2008, was a magical moment for collectors. After years of studying the most famous Heuer timepieces in books and on websites, we were finally able to see them in the metal. There they were, on display: The Monaco chronograph worn by Steve McQueen in the filming of Le Mans. A recreation of the strap and stopwatch worn by John Glenn as he orbited the earth. And the "Time-of-Trip," Heuer's first dashboard timer, from 1911. But there was one oddball chronograph that seemed to have crashed the party.? This blurry image of the Skipperera was sh...
Introducing: Transparent G-Shocks!
G-Shocks come in countless iterations. They're black, white, pink, and gold. Plastic and metal. Inspired by snakes, samurai helmets, and volcanic lightning. And now, thanks to a new drop, they're clear. Clear as a glass bottle, clear as a fishbowl. All the better to focus on their iconic shape (and, perhaps, the skin of your wrist).? Building on last year's clear anniversary-edition 6900, G-Shock is calling its new collection the Transparent Pack Series. The watches feature semi-transparent resin bezels and straps wrapping several of the designs we already know and love. There are technically two colorways, Transparent White and Transparent Grey, the former light...
HODINKEE Spouses Pick Their Favorite watches
It's Valentine's Day again, and while we at HODINKEE certainly hope you remembered and maybe even treated a special someone to (at minimum!) a handsome chocolate sampler, we'd be remiss in our duties if we didn't suggest a gift that's slightly less caloric and slightly more...permanent.? Our partners patiently tolerate our watch obsessions, but they have tastes all their own. So this year, rather than guess what they might like, we straight-up asked our boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, and significant others which horological wonder they might hypothetically want to receive as a token of our endless love and gratitude.? And w...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko SLGH005 'White Birch' With The New Hi-Beat Caliber 9SA5
One of the biggest pieces of news from Grand Seiko in 2020 was an introduction not just of a new watch, nor even a new movement, but a new escapement C something which happens in watchmaking seldom enough that you can count the occurrences per century on the fingers of one hand. The new escapement, which Grand Seiko simply calls the Dual Impulse Escapement, first debuted in a limited edition 60th Anniversary model, in gold, priced at $43,000, but it seemed obvious that the new caliber would find its way into other watches in the Hi-Beat collection eventually. Grand Seiko's now rolling out the movement in a new Hi-Beat watch: the SLGH005 "White Birch," in steel, with a birch-bark pattern dial...
HODINKEE Radio: Photographer And Pilot Evan Robinson Tells Us Why Good Tools Make Us Better People
Subscribe to the show: (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn). Already heard it once or twice? Please leave a short review, and tell us which guests we should have on! This week we've got an awesome double-header for you, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Up first is my conversation with photographer and pilot Evan Robinson, who you might remember from The Pilots Journey, a video series we created with IWC back in 2019. While Evan's day job is creating incredible photographs and films for a wide variety of brands and clients, he's a passionate aviator who also always has a camera with him in the cockpit. You want Instagram...
Sunday Rewind: A Look Back Through History At Who Invented The Flying Tourbillon
The flying tourbillon has become, if not common, at least a recognizable mainstay of modern watchmaking. A tourbillon, you'll recall, is a rotating cage or carriage, on which are mounted the regulating organs of the watch: the balance, balance spring, lever, and escape wheel (or other escapement components if a different escapement is being used; there are tourbillons with chronometer detent escapements, for instance).The tourbillon was patented by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1801, although he appears to have been mulling the idea over in the years preceding the patent. The basic idea behind the tourbillon was to address the problem of the effect of gravity on the rate of the watch in different...
It's Complicated: The Beating-Heart Minute Hand On The Breguet Reine De Naples 'C?ur Eternal Love'
The Reine de Naples watches from Breguet are based on a timepiece originally made for Caroline Murat, ne Bonaparte, a younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. Caroline Murat reigned as Queen of Naples for a relatively brief period C 1808 to 1815 C but she was one of Abraham Louis Breguet's best clients, and one of her best-known watches was an unusual, egg-shaped chiming wristwatch, with thermometer. A thermometer on a wristwatch has always seemed a little sketchy to me unless you're trying to keep track of your skin temperature, but who knows C maybe in the early 19th century, one took a morbid curiosity in how cold one's boudoir got at night. In any case, while I think you'd be on slightly s...