Best Super NEWS Watches
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 20: Stellene Volandes
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! Some people are just magazine people. Everybody knows people like this C the kind who are always talking about something they read here or that story you absolutely have to check out there. Weekend mornings are reserved for cups of coffee and big stacks of paper. When those people are making magazines though, things get really special. Stellene Volandes is as dyed-in-the-wool a magazine person as you're ever going to meet and she's currently the editor-in-chief...
Sunday Rewind: When World Record Watches Start To Get Weird
We're coming off a big, interesting week of auctions in Geneva. There were strong sales from Phillips, Sotheby's, and Christies, with more parity between the trio of auction houses than we've seen in quite a while. This was also an auction season less dominated by one or two big-ticket lots, with the catalogs showing strong mid-to-high tier pieces throughout. We did get one new world record of note, with the only known Asprey-signed Patek Philippe ref. 2499 setting a record for the reference at Sotheby's on Tuesday. So now seemed as good a time as any to look back at what it takes for a watch to set a record and how sometimes both the process and the watches themselves are anything but strai...
Introducing: The Bamford London GMT
While the Bamford Watch Department made its name customizing mostly Rolex watches (and later becoming the official customization partner of the LVMH watch brands), the London-based brand also makes watches under its own name. The Mayfair, a quartz-powered time-only watch, was released in 2017, and now Bamford is coming out with its sophomore effort, the London GMT. This watch has a 40mm stainless steel case in a semi-cushion shape with a fitted link bracelet to complete the package. Powering the watch is a Sellita GMT movement that uses a central hand and a rotating inner bezel to track a second timezone (the bezel is operated by the second crown at 10 o'clock), making this Bamford's first h...
In-Depth: Movado, MVMT, And Millennials
Efraim Grinberg is a man on a mission. The mission is to prove that millennials do like and will wear analog watches.?Grinberg is Chairman and CEO of Movado Group Inc., an analog watch powerhouse. Its lineup of 11 brands, most of them analog quartz fashion-watch labels, generated revenue of $568 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 of this year. Its flagship Movado brand is the best-selling watch in the $500 to $2,000 segment of the U.S. watch market.?For years now, confronted with questions about whether the traditional watch with hands C mechanical or quartz C will survive, Grinberg has been an unabashed believer in the enduring appeal of the classic wristwatch. ...
H10: My Favorite HODINKEE Story: Stephen Pulvirent
Editor's Note: The HODINKEE 10th Anniversary Weekend, or H10 as we're calling it here at HQ, is now just two weeks away. We thought it would be fun leading up to the big weekend to ask our editors and writers to each pick one of their favorite stories from the first decade of HODINKEE to share again with you all. It could be a story with personal significance, a story that changed their relationship to watches, or just one that they really want everyone to check out again. Each day from now until December 7 we'll be publishing a different person's selection. Enjoy. As you can imagine, picking my favorite story from 10 years of HODINKEE is one of the harder things...
H10: My Favorite HODINKEE Story: Will Holloway
Editor's Note: The HODINKEE 10th Anniversary Weekend, or H10 as we're calling it here at HQ, is now just a few days away. We thought it would be fun leading up to the big weekend to ask our editors and writers to each pick one of their favorite stories from the first decade of HODINKEE to share again with you all. It could be a story with personal significance, a story that changed their relationship to watches, or just one that they really want everyone to check out again. Each day until December 7 we'll be publishing a different person's selection. Enjoy. It was in the spring of 2012, if memory serves, and Ben and I were hustling, part-time, slightly-older-than...
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 21: Matt Jacobson
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! Regular HODINKEE readers will immediately recognize the name Matt Jacobson. We first introduced you all to Matt in early 2015 with his episode of Talking Watches, in which he became a bit famous for his "one in, one out" collecting policy and his love of some slightly idiosyncratic watches (Patek Beta 21, I'm looking at you here). I've been fortunate enough to get to know Matt pretty well in the years since that first video shoot, and one of my favorite things ...
Watch Spotting: Stephen Curry Wearing A Cartier Santos Skeleton Courtside
There are certain watches that we're pretty used to seeing courtside at basketball games these days. Hublot Big Bang chronographs, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores of different kinds, a few variations on the Nautilus, and basically any Richard Mille you can think of. But something you don't see everyday? A skeletonized Cartier Santos. Saturday night in Dallas though, an injured Steph Curry was watching his team play the Mavericks from the bench and was rocking a rose gold Santos de Cartier Skeleton, clearly visible as he cheered on his teammates all night (including Talking Watches alum Andre Iguodala). Photo: Ron Jenkins/AP ...
Introducing: The Unimatic U3 Dive Chronograph And U2 Field Watch
By now, most of you are well aware of the Italian microbrand Unimatic and their distinctive and handsome dive watch designs. As their brand grows, so too does their model range as they continue to massage their signature look into a wider variety of watch forms. As such, the brand has just announced two new models, the U3 Dive Chronograph and the U2 Field Watch. Thanks to the application of their dive-specific dial design, both watches are adjacent to the style established by their U1 divers. Each model is available in steel or brushed black DLC, and all four of the variations are, as is common to Unimatic, limited in production. Initial Thoughts ...
Auctions: Moritz Grossmann Marks Its 10th Anniversary With Sale Of 24 Unique Pieces At Christie's
The first time I saw a Moritz Grossmann watch was the first year that the company offered watches to the public, in 2010 (the company was founded in 2008). I met the company's founder and CEO, Christine Hutter, in the lobby of a Geneva hotel and I didn't have terribly high expectations C not for any particular reason, but merely because many startup watch companies struggle to find an audience for one reason or another, and I was quite prepared to see something competent but unexciting, make some polite noises, and go on with life. I couldn't have been more mistaken C the quality of that first watch, the Benu, was absolutely astonishing. Everything from the spectrally flawless finishing of t...
H10: My Favorite HODINKEE Story: Nicholas Manousos
Editor's Note: The HODINKEE 10th Anniversary Weekend, or H10 as we're calling it here at HQ, is now just two weeks away. We thought it would be fun leading up to the big weekend to ask our editors and writers to each pick one of their favorite stories from the first decade of HODINKEE to share again with you all. It could be a story with personal significance, a story that changed their relationship to watches, or just one that they really want everyone to check out again. Each day from now until December 7 we'll be publishing a different person's selection. Enjoy. Five open letters have been published on HODINKEE over the past decade. The first was from Ben in 2...
H10: My Favorite HODINKEE Story: James Stacey
Editor's Note: The HODINKEE 10th Anniversary Weekend, or H10 as we're calling it here at HQ, is now just two weeks away. We thought it would be fun leading up to the big weekend to ask our editors and writers to each pick one of their favorite stories from the first decade of HODINKEE to share again with you all. It could be a story with personal significance, a story that changed their relationship to watches, or just one that they really want everyone to check out again. Each day from now until December 7 we'll be publishing a different person's selection. Enjoy. There is some narcissism in selecting one's favorite anything, and in this case it's because this i...
Hands-On: The Vacheron Constantin Mtiers dArt Les Arostiers
We tend to think of the history of aviation in the context of heavier-than-air crafts, America, and the names Orville and Wilbur Wright. But there is an earlier chapter in man's journey into the skies that played out in pre-Revolutionary France. To this day, a champagne toast for passengers C though not for pilots C is a fairly common, traditionally French vestige in modern hot air ballooning. On a recent trip above Napa, a balloonist told me this practice has its origins in the French king requiring early pilots to carry a bottle of bubbly in their baskets as proof that they were God-fearing Frenchmen. Back during SIHH, Vacheron Constantin presented?a quintet of...
Hands-On: The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Diver
In the early days of my enthusiasm for watches, one of the first watches I bought was a Zodiac Sea Dragon Chronograph. A large, '70s-inspired quartz chronograph with a look that felt a bit like a Monaco crossed with a big vintage diver. Now, with the Super Sea Wolf diver, we find a similar general motif, applied to a traditional dive watch in a way that feels more thoughtfully designed and made, not to mention aimed more directly at enthusiasts.? The 40mm Super Sea Wolf with a blue dial and bright orange accents. First up, I think the starting point with this Zodiac is the styling, which I rather like in both its ability to su...
Happenings: Andreas Strehler To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
Tradition means doing things the way they have always been done. It also has the connotation of dismissing all things new. Innovation, by contrast, stands for doing things differently from how they have been done in the past C i.e. for breaking with tradition. In his upcoming December 3 lecture at the Horological Society of New York, Andreas Strehler will argue that, in watchmaking, true innovation is actually only possible when it's based on tradition and that the two are not in contradiction with one another.? Trans-axial Rementoir Tourbillon by Andreas Strehler About Andreas Strehler Andre...
The Grey NATO: Episode 69: TGN Film Club 1
Subscribe to the show: (Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Google Play). Already heard it once or twice? Please leave a short review here, and tell us what topics you'd like us to chat about.? For Episode 69, Jason and James are trying something new. After a quick chat about what watches and adventures they've gotten into over the past few weeks, the boys introduce the first installment of the TGN Film Club. Essentially the start of a list of movies that suit the TGN aesthetic; these aren't all blockbusters, but rather movies that James and Jason believe will be of interest to anyone listening. ??? Jason has been trying out the new...
Business News: First-Half Watch Sales Rise At Richemont
Watch sales at the Swiss luxury goods group Richemont increased 7% to 2.49 billion ($2.89 billion) for the six-month period ended Sept. 30 versus the same period in 2017.?Richemont cited strong sales for the reinvigorated Cartier watch brand as a major factor behind the increase. The company reported "high single digit growth in watches" for its Jewelry Maisons division, which consists of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.That contrasted with what Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert called "muted sales growth" for the eight brands in the group's Specialist Watchmakers division. Watch division sales grew 2% versus the same period in 2017 to 1.55 billion ($1.80 billion). The softness was due t...
Introducing: The Montblanc TimeWalker Automatic Chronograph 41mm (Live Pics & Pricing)
One of a handful of new models Montblanc recently previewed ahead of SIHH is a new downsized version of their standard TimeWalker Automatic Chronograph. Newly sized at 41mm, the brand already produces a 43mm version of this chronograph and a 41mm TimeWalker three-hander. This new sizing can be had in one of two dial layouts, silver-white sub-dials on a black dial or the inverse of black on silver. Initial Thoughts I mean, what's not to like about 41mm? While I prefer the 12-hour bezel of the 43mm version to the 41mm's ceramic tachymeter scale, the bezel speaks directly to the automotive design inspiration...
Refreshed from 2008 and originally shown at SIHH in January of this year, Montblanc's Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph is an impressive feat of watchmaking and design. As part of a recent preview for SIHH 2019, Montblanc has created two new versions of this lovely yet oddball monopusher chronograph. Now offered with an anthracite dial in either rose gold or steel, these two versions sit alongside last year's model, which was shown in steel with a silver-white dial.? Initial Thoughts While the Star Legacy Nico...
Business News: Swiss Watch Exports Back On Track
Swiss watch exports rebounded in October on a surge in orders for luxury watches.?In September, exports fell 6.9% in value, the first drop in 16 months. That was an "isolated fall," said the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH). In October, exports rose 7.2% versus October 2017 to 1.99 billion Swiss francs (the figure is virtually the same in dollars), according to the FH, which issues the data.?The data indicates the value of watch shipments from Switzerland to watch company subsidiaries and agents around the world. It does not reflect sales to end-users. The October increase came almost entirely from shipments of watches...