Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing: The TAG Heuer Autavia Limited Edition For UAE
If you haven't been following along on HODINKEE Live, I'm over in the UAE for what is quickly becoming an unmissable event on the global horological events calendar C Dubai Watch Week. It's been an absolute blast hosting a few sessions (with the likes of Christian Selmoni and Kurt Klaus), sharing what it is we exactly do at HODINKEE, and meeting tons of new friends. Of course a highlight of coming all the way over to Dubai for Watch Week are the watches. And though I've seen my fair share of the high-comps, this TAG Heuer is the one I'm still thinking about.? Based on the 2017 Autavia, this limited edition has a lot of extra little details that make it ...
Hands-On: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual-Time
Back at Dubai Watch Week 2017, Vacheron Constantin added a dual-time watch back to the Overseas collection (after having phased out the previous model along with the rest of the old Overseas). What we've got here is a new and improved watch that utilizes an in-house movement too. Fortunately for me, I had the opportunity to see the newest pieces up close and personal, and they did not disappoint one bit. The stainless steel version with a blue dial. The Overseas has always been a bit of a polarizing collection. Some people love it, some people dont. I think this simply comes down to people having a hard time accepting a sport...
Introducing: The Audemars Piguet Ladies' Millenary In Three Glitzy New Executions
At Dubai Watch Week, Audemars Piguet unveiled the latest additions to the ladies' Millenary Collection. It's been a while since we heard anything about the Millenary. As Audemars Piguet's second most notable collection C behind the Royal Oak, of course C the Millenary has remained a dressier stalwart option for the manufacture since its introduction in 1995. While the three pieces you see here aren't groundbreakingly new, they do add different looks to the existing ladies' collection. Let's see what the new pieces are all about.? The three new ladies' Millenary watches are similar to the one above but feature aesthetic updates. ...
Found: An Issued And Flown Apollo 7 Speedmaster, Missing For Almost 30 Years
It doesn't happen very often that a Speedmaster Professional that was actually issued to NASA surfaces, and it almost never happens that an issued and flown Speedmaster appears. This is for several good reasons. One of these is that all NASA-issued Speedmasters are government, not personal, property. Among the most famous of all Speedmasters is the one worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface, during the Apollo 11 mission; that watch was, as all Speedmaster fans know, stolen in 1970 while en route to the Smithsonian. However, we've just read on CollectSpace.com that a long-lost flown and issued Speedmaster has surfaced C one which was worn, along with Speedy he owned personally, by...
A Week On The Wrist: Ten Of The Biggest, Baddest HODINKEE Reviews Ever
Here in the United States it's Thanksgiving. That means a day of sitting around with family and friends, overindulging in the good stuff (and probably watching some football, if we're being honest). But between the second serving of turkey and the second half of the game, you're going to want a break. Luckily we've got you covered. Here are 10 of the most in-depth, exhaustive A Week On The Wrist reviews we have ever put together, many complete with thousands of words, dozens of photos, and videos too. If you want a different kind of overindulgence, this is the ticket. The Omega Speedmaster 'First Omega In Space' ...
Hands-On: The Bell & Ross Bellytanker BR V1-92 And BR V2-94 Limited Editions
I have a sort of thesis about Bell & Ross, which is that the company has gone through three distinct incarnations. In the first, it made a fairly wide range of straightforward, technically appealing tool watches, including aviation watches, diver's watches, and so on (no doubt owing partly to the fact that Sinn was an early manufacturing partner). The most representative watch of this era was probably the Hydromax, which was a relatively slim diver's watch with an almost brutally straightforward design, which also had an 11,000 meter depth rating (incredible but true) thanks to its silicone oil-filled case. In its second incarnation, Bell & Ross was a design house C specifically, a d...
Hands-On: The H. Moser Venturer Small Seconds Purity
I honestly cant believe its taken me this long to get around to writing about this watch. When I first saw it at SIHH last January, I was totally taken with it, both in principle and execution. If Mosers well-known Concept dials (those with a fum finish and no text or markings at all) are a little too minimalist for you, the Venturer Small Seconds Purity offers you something one step in the other direction. There are still no logos, but basic markings have been restored at the poles, giving you a just a little bit more. If Moser's Concept watches are a little too minimal for you, the Purity might be the alternative you've been waiting for. ...
Business News: Swiss Watch Exports Surge In October
Swiss watch exports rose sharply in October, jumping 9.3% in value to CFH1.85 billion ($1.87 billion), according to data released yesterday by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH). Exports were up to 24 of the 30 markets that account for 92% of Switzerlands global watch sales. Asian markets led the way with big jumps in Hong Kong (+15.8%), China (+18.2%), Japan (+21.7%), Singapore (+16.2%) and South Korea (+16.6%). All of those rank in Switzerlands top 11 markets. Europe also had a solid performance. Overall growth stood at 5.9%, the FH noted. ??Among Switzerlands top markets, the notable exception to the October bump ...
In case you didn't notice, we spent the past week in Dubai for the incredible Dubai Watch Week. There were many things to do and see (more on that later), but the watches and the people were of course highlights of the trip. We saw watches from almost every brand you can think of, from Moser & Cie and TAG Heuer to MB&F and Rolex, and of course Richard Mille. It's no secret that Richard Mille is big in Dubai and there were plenty on display during Dubai Watch Week (including on the wrist of a lady next to me during an engraving class with Bovet). But the coolest Richard Mille for me was the one on the wrist of Amanda Mille-Bey, the daughter of Richard Mille himself. ...
Photo Report: Watch Spotting At Dubai Watch Week 2017
You may remember Dubai Watch Week from last year, when Stephen and Arthur attended, but this year, the event was back with a bang, growing significantly in size and scope. There were over 6,500 people in attendance this year, up from the 846 that attended back in 2015. Truth be told, I didnt know what to expect. Was it like Baselworld? SIHH? Both? Neither? But after spending a week in Dubai I can certainly say that this fair is not to be missed.? A view from The Gate, Dubai International Financial Center. Dubai Watch Week featured a series of tents throughout the Gate at the DIFC. ...
Technical Perspective: Herms, Parmigiani Fleurier, And Richard Mille C Three Takes On One Movement
The idea of an in-house movement is a fairly modern one. Historically, much of the watch manufacturing in Switzerland was done by component manufacturers, who provided movement blanks and movement components to final assemblers known as tablisseurs. Depending on when and where manufacturing was being done, there could be hundreds of suppliers providing movements to an tablisseur, with much of the work being done in private homes. Specialization was an essential characteristic of the system; some suppliers produced only mainplates and bridges; others, balance springs, levers, and balances; others wheels and pinons, and on and on. Gradually, over the second half of the 19th century, movement...
Just Because: The High-Impact Horological Sculptures Of Berd Vaye
Making works of art out of watch and clock parts is a long-standing sideline in the history of horology C there is something intrinsically fascinating about the shapes of gears, and pinions, and the snakelike loops of springs. I'm not sure when exactly it was that the first unsung genius thought of embedding watch parts in a transparent medium, but it's been done for many years and small Lucite blocks with parts embedded within like so many butterflies in amber C often with the name of a watch brand on them C have been floating around for almost as long as I can remember being interested in watches, which is longer than I'd like to think. However, as is so often the case, it is not what do s...
Just Because: The Longest Sentence In Karl Marx's 'Capital' (Yes, It's About Watches)
Perhaps one of the more surprising things about watchmaking in Switzerland, is that it turns out it's a little easier to understand it if you know a little something about Switzerland. This is not as trivially easy as it sounds. Switzerland can be a surprisingly difficult country to get to know C its political system is so complex as to defy not only easy description, but indeed, any description at all (each canton still functions, to some degree, as an independent state) you can visit for decades and even have friends there for decades, without ever being invited into a Swiss home (the only time most of us see the inside of a Swiss home is thanks to renting an apartment for Baselworld) and ...
Hands-On: The Ochs Und Junior Perpetual Calendar In Full Titanium
Ochs und Junior doesn't make traditional watches, and the brand's perpetual calendar doesn't look like any QP you've seen before. Most traditional perpetuals use ?a set of clearly marked sub-dials, a group of window-and-disc displays, or some combination of the two to clearly articulate the day, date, month, and year in the leap year cycle (sometimes the actual year and the phases of the moon too). Instead, this watch uses nothing more than concentric sets of dots C there's not a numeral or letter in sight. The Perpetual Calendar comes in a pouch that matches the custom-made strap. Around this time last year, I got to spend so...
Technical Perspective: A Tale Of Two ISOs, Or What Water Resistance Ratings Really Mean
One of the most perennially popular subjects for discussion on watch forums, at watch meet-ups, at trade shows, at watch shows, and indeed at any horological conclave you'd care to mention (real or virtual) is what depth ratings on watches really mean. You'll hear all sorts of things C some say 100 meters is inadequate for anything but showering (to HODINKEE contributor and diver Jason Heaton, them's fightin' words), some say you should never shower with anything, even a dive watch, lest heat and soap do their devil's work upon your gaskets, and pretty much everything in between.? However, as it turns out, there are fairly specif...
Inside Grand Seiko: The Master Craftsman
This has been something of a watershed year for Grand Seiko. For the first time in the history of Grand Seiko, it's no longer a subcategory of Seiko watches in general, but rather, a brand in its own right. The change reflects a long-standing reality, which is that Grand Seiko watches are made in a very particular way, and in very specific places.? Mechanical Grand Seiko watches are all assembled at the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio, in the city of Morioka, which is located in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. This is well known to Grand Seiko enthusiasts. What's perhaps less well known is that quartz and Spring Drive Grand Seiko w...
Interview: Longines VP Juan-Carlos Capelli On Why His Company Continues To Invest In Quartz
I doubt I was alone in my surprise earlier this year when I learned of Longiness investment in a new series of quartz movements with greater accuracy than standard ETA offerings. Sure, from a heritage angle, this makes a certain amount of sense. Longines was there during pivotal moments when electronic timing took off, and they pioneered a range of highly accurate quartz watches back in the '80s. But I'd come to view quartz as more or less stagnant tech. For a few years now, the trend?has been to delve deeper into affordable mechanical movements with upgraded specs.?Longines's own recent collections offer more than a few great examples of this. Juan-Ca...
The world of watches is a small one, and if invited to a few of the larger international horological events, one begins to realize that there are indeed some special people without which the landscape simply wouldn't be the same. Wei Koh, the founder of Revolution magazine is one of them. He is a uniquely gregarious man C raised and educated in the United States as the son of a diplomat, he changed schools often and seldom felt at ease. In fact, he describes his childhood as one where he simply didn't fit in. It's a notion hard to believe if you share a meal with Wei Koh today. He is perpetually the life of the party, dressed in only the finest bespoke suits from the likes of Rubinacci and C...
Business News: Signs Of Recovery For Japanese Watchmakers
A weaker yen and stronger watch sales in Asia are bringing some relief to Japanese watch producers. Japans Citizen and Seiko reported a surge in profits for the first six months of fiscal 2017, ended September 30.? Citizen Watch Co. Ltd. reported flat watch sales of 77.4 billion ($697.3 million) and a 32% jump in operating profit in the watch division to 8.5 billion ($76.6 million). Watch sales at Seiko Holdings Corp. jumped 5% to 67.9 billion ($611.7 million). Operating profit rose 21% to 4.3 billion ($38.7 million. (Casio, Japans third major watch producer, reports its watch data differently. Its six-month watch sales were up 1.8% to 80.5 billion ($725 m...
Introducing: A Preview Of The IWC 150th Anniversary Jubilee Collection (Live Pics & Pricing)
This is a big year for IWC C the watchmaker is turning 150 years old. To celebrate, we're getting a pretty expansive collection of watches that range from the very simple to the unbelievable complicated, most based on existing models to some degree or another. The full collection will be unveiled in just a few weeks at SIHH 2018, but for now we've got five watches to start with. The most striking of the bunch is the Pallweber, which is based on an archival pocket watch from the nineteenth century C?Jack has a full story about that one right here. What I've got for you here is a quartet of limited edition models that give a pretty good sense of what's to come in January and how IWC is celebra...