Best Super NEWS Watches
Hands-On: The IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition '50th Anniversary Of Mercedes-AMG'
In my experience, very few things are as singularly focused as Formula 1. While I am more of a casual observer than a true fan, Ive been fortunate enough to witness various stages of a Grand Prix weekend on two separate occasions. Both of these first-hand forays into the sport left an immense impression. A brief look into a competitive world of highly specialized technology, fiery politics, and a nearly endless supply of funds C all brought to bear in an attempt to simply go faster than everyone else. Each team operates like a private space program, but instead of putting a man on the moon, theyre shaving tenths off a lap time.? Driving the Mercedes-A...
Live Stream: Watch The Phillips 'Winning Icons' Auction Live (And See Paul Newman's Daytona Sell)
The big day is finally here. This evening, at 6:00 PM ET, the "Winning Icons" sale will begin at Phillips in New York City. While the 50-lot catalog contains a number of incredible watches, the top lot is undoubtedly Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona. It's been the most-talked-about watch on the planet for almost six months now, and with good cause. * HODINKEE App users: click here to view the live stream. Here you can watch a live video stream from the auction room on Park Avenue. The Paul Newman is Lot 8, so you won't have to wait too long to get an answer to the often-asked question, "So, how much do you...
Happenings: Join HODINKEE For An Afternoon Of Watches At Manfredi Jewels In Greenwich, CT
This weekend a few members of the HODINKEE team will be out in Greenwich, Connecticut, visiting our friends at Manfredi Jewels, and we'd love for you to join us. It's going to be a pretty casual affair,?with some football on the big screen TV, great food, and a ton of awesome watches, obviously. The best part? You're all invited. Here are the full details: Saturday, October 283:00 PM C 6:00 PMManfredi Jewels, 121 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich CT Click here to RSVP and feel free to email [email protected] with any questions. ADVERTISEMENT...
Business News: De Bethune Sells Majority Stake To Investment Fund Led By Former CEO Pierre Jacques
De Bethune has just announced that it will sell a majority stake to an investment consortium "led by Pierre Jacques, former CEO of the brand, and private equity investor Giovanni Perin," in a statement released earlier today. It has also announced that co-founder and COO Denis Flageollet will retain some ownership C described as a "substantial stake" C and that David Zanetta, also a co-founder, will be stepping down and "ceding all his shares." Mr. Perin is one of three managing directors at Threestones Capital Management SA, a Luxembourg-based investment fund with a total of 640 million assets under management. In the same statement, Perin remarked, "I am pleas...
Well, it happened. The hammer has fallen on Paul Newman's very own Paul Newman Daytona, and it has become the most expensive watch ever sold at auction, fetching $17,752,500 (including buyer's premium) at Phillips in New York City. While many people thought the iconic watch would surely break records, likely beating the most expensive Daytona ever sold and the most expensive Rolex ever sold, it is still a surprise to see the iconic chronograph break the record for most expensive wristwatch. This is no joke, people. You're now looking at the most expensive wristwatch in the world. Until moments ago, the most expensive wristwatc...
Auctions: Omega Speedmaster Sets A New Record, Selling For $275,508 At Bukowskis In Sweden
While everyone might be focused on the upcoming sale of Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona (t-minus a few hours...), there are in fact still other watches trading hands around the world. Case in point: Bukowskis auction house in Stockholm, Sweden, just sold an Omega Speedmaster ref. CK 2915-1 for $275,508, setting a new Speedy record for the reference. The watch is incredible and the result something that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. You can see just how sharp and crisp the case and bezel are here. Speedmasters might not seem like rare watches, but when you get into the early executions they can be extremely h...
Business News: Chronoswiss Is Now Accepting Payment In Bitcoin
This morning, watchmaker Chronoswiss announced that it will now be accepting payment for its watches in Bitcoin and "other crypto currencies." This will apply both online and in its Lucerne boutique. As many watch brands struggle to figure out how to tackle online retail to begin with, it's definitely surprising to see a brand jump into something like this. I'm not saying it's a bad thing at all (it's not), it just isn't what I expected to find in my inbox on a Friday morning. Chronoswiss, which is best-known for its regulator-style watches, has been selling online since 2015. This is a relatively long time within the watch world, despite being much more recent w...
Happenings: Kathleen McGivney To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
Radioluminescence, the process by which light is produced by bombarding a reactive material with ionizing radiation, was widely used as the demand for watches that were readable at night grew. At the November 2017 meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Kathleen McGivney will discuss the history of luminescence in watches and instrument dials. In her talk, McGivney will visit the beginning of the use of radioactive material in watch and instrument dials, the reason for the use of radium as the specific material to achieve that goal, the context of the prevailing wisdom of the day of the safety of radium, and how and why watch manufacturers moved on to other materials to achieve lumin...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 GMT SBGJ227 'Peacock'
Some of the most popular Grand Seiko models are the various GMT models, which add a very useful complication to the always appealing Grand Seiko aesthetic. The GMT hand came somewhat late to Grand Seiko, with the first model launching in 2002, but they've been very successful since then, and one model C a limited edition Hi-Beat, with a green dial C became not only a fan and critic's favorite, but also won the Petit Aiguille prize at the 2014 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genve. Now, Seiko's announced a new green dial Hi-Beat GMT, with a dial treatment Seiko says was inspired by the iridescent feathers of a peacock. There are sever...
Happenings: Join HODINKEE At Dubai Watch Week 2017
Last year we had the incredible opportunity to participate in Dubai Watch Week, the annual watch fair founded by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. This year marks the third annual Dubai Watch Week, and HODINKEE is back! We will be participating in various events throughout the week, and you'll be able to enjoy them live from Dubai, here on the dot com, and across social media. Dubai Watch Week is a really special event that brings together modern brands, independent watchmakers, auction houses, collectors, and journalists to discuss the current state of the watch industry. We are thrilled to be a part of it again. Last year we were able to see the collection of...
Introducing: The TAG Heuer Autavia Jack Heuer Edition
As part of their upcoming Heuer Parade auction on November 11, Phillips is offering the very first example of a new Autavia created to celebrate Jack Heuers 85th birthday. The yet-to-be-released Tag Heuer Autavia Jack Heuer Special Edition is the next iteration of the 2017 Autavia that was shown earlier this year after a final design was selected via TAGs Autavia Cup online community selection process. Identical to the TAG Heuer Heritage Calibre Heuer 02 (aka the 2017 Autavia) in both dimension and functionality, the Jack Heuer edition differentiates itself with a handful of aesthetic tweaks. For those a bit foggy on the details, the 2017 Autavias 42mm steel ...
Auctions: This Barn Find Omega Speedmaster Reference 2998-1 Just Sold For $110,700
Well, this is downright interesting. Here we have the second found in a drawer Omega to surpass the $100k mark in a little over a week. It sold for $103,500 (including buyers premium) through Live Auctioneers, which represented Flannery's Estate Services in the digital auction. This Speedmaster Ref. 2998-1 sold for $110,700 on a pre-sale estimate of $500 to $1,000. There's something curious about this, though. We noticed that bidding went all the way up to $130,000 on this one, sans buyer's premium, though now it seems to have reverted to $90,000 before the premium, giving us the final $103,500 figure. I have reached out to...
Introducing: The Herms Arceau Chrono Titane
Sometimes you can learn a lot from a name. The new Arceau Chrono Titane from Herme?s is exactly what it sounds like: an Arceau watch that has a chronograph function and a titanium case. It really is that simple. And, luckily, the results look quite intriguing, drawing on the classic design while injecting enough new life to make this watch intriguing all on its own.? The Arceau was first designed by Herni d'Origny back in 1978 and it's been a part of the Herme?s watch collection ever since. It's defined by a round case with the semi-wire lugs (which Herme?s says are inspired by stirrups) and the fancy Arabic numerals that swirl a...
Friday Live: Episode 22: Talking About The New Book 'A Man and His Watch' With Author Matt Hranek
After taking last week off C or, rather, spending it bringing you this in-depth story about Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona becoming the world's most expensive wristwatch C we're back with another episode of Friday Live. This week, we'll be joined by author and photographer Matt Hranek, who will be talking about his new book, A Man and His Watch. Matt's got a lot of great stories to share, and we're looking forward to bringing them to you live. As always, we want to hear from you first though. In A Man and His Watch, Hranek interviews notable men about their favorite watch(es) and why those pieces are important to their owners....
Historical Perspectives: AWCI Publishes A Rarely Seen George Daniels Lecture From 1990
The American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute (AWCI) is the professional organization for watch and clock makers in the USA. Every year, the AWCI holds a national convention with classes and lectures focused on horological education. At the 1990 convention George Daniels delivered a fascinating lecture to the Institute, which was recorded but unfortunately relegated to storage shortly thereafter. Luckily for all of us today, the VHS tape was recently rediscovered and digitized. Daniels lectured on the development of his watches and escapement, touching on the difficulties he encountered while trying to commercialize his invention. The lecture is accompanied by animations of escapements, sho...
Introducing: The Ming 19.01, With 100-Hour Movement By Schwarz-Etienne
When we introduced the Ming 17.01 in August, we thought it was one of the best values we'd seen in a new watch in some time; you got an interesting and instantly recognizable aesthetic, a ton of technical value (including a nitrogen filled case and a hand-wound movement adjusted to five positions) and all at a price that meant whether you got one was largely not a question of being able to afford it, but how fast you could click the order button on the company's website: $900. Quite a lot of people did quite a lot of clicking, as it turned out. The Ming 17.01 sold out quickly, and the next version, we heard, would hew to a similar philosophy. The next Ming watch is the Ming 19.01, and it bri...
A Week On The Wrist: The Cartier Tank Amricaine In Steel
Anniversary watches are a difficult breed. Contemporary watchmakers have a tendency to use any birthday ending in a "5" or a "0" as an excuse to create some dolled-up version of a well-known (or sometimes not-so-well-known) product as a way to manufacture demand, scarcity, and press. I often find that these watches leave me cold when taken on their own, and feeling disappointed when they interrupt an otherwise interesting and compelling history. Imagine my concern when it was announced in January that sometime this year we would be getting a collection of watches celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Cartier Tank. This is no 45th birthday and no "I think I've ...
Auctions: My Eleven Favorite Watches From Only Watch 2017
The 2017 edition of Only Watch is this weekend, and it's definitely something worth getting excited about. The charity auction supports a great cause by selling piece-unique watches from a variety of brands, each of which creates a piece dedicated to the sale itself. There are usually a few big-ticket watches in the mix, some more of a surprise than others. This year's catalog is no exception, but rather than give you an overview of the whole portfolio (which you can see here), I thought I'd call out a few of my favorites and why I think each is something special. Here we go. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar C Dial Appeal ...
Editorial: Price, Value, And The Strange Case Of The Nine Million Dollar Postage Stamp
The Paul Newman Daytona, owned by Paul Newman, and given by him to his daughter's boyfriend, has been called overhyped, and there is no denying that the accusation is essentially correct C in fact, you could say that for the PNPND (so I'll call the Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona, for the sake of brevity) being overhyped is essential for it to be what it is. Without the hype, what you have, after all, is a somewhat quirky take on a mass-produced, mid-century sports watch, with slightly offbeat aesthetics, good quality construction given the manufacturing technology available at the time, and a reliable if ubiquitous chronograph movement, of interest (in terms of horological history) for wh...
Introducing: The Habring2 Felix And Erwin UK Limited Editions
You know when a guy walks into a bar and you spot a Speedy on his wrist, you find yourself subconsciously giving him a gentle nod of appreciation. Well, I found myself doing it recently when a gent walk into a drinks party here in London wearing a TimeZone 20th Anniversary Habring2 (the one with that killer dial inspired by an early 20th century sector dial). It was almost like a secret handshake. I have to confess, Ive been a mega fan of the small independent Austrian brand and its team (husband and wife Richard and Maria Habring) for a few years now. Though the brand has been doing interesting things for much longer, my introduction came when Habring2 released...