Best Super NEWS Watches
Business News: Global Uncertainty Unsettles SIHH
Edouard Meylan, the CEO of H. Moser et Cie, has a rule of thumb for instantly gauging how any SIHH show will go.?His barometer is whether the chief executives of top Hong Kong retailers attend the show. Hong Kong is Switzerland's top watch market. "When the big bosses from Hong Kong retailers come to the show, that's a good sign," Meylan says. "When the big boss comes, they order. When the big boss doesn't come, it means they are not going to order." ??So how did the 2019 SIHH, held last week in Geneva, go? "A few came, but overall they are careful," Meylan told me after the show. "There is a lot of uncertainty. And uncertainty makes people put on the brakes."Meylan's big-boss barometer was ...
Hands-On: The IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Edition 'Mojave Desert'
While IWC launched an entire fleet of new pilots watches at SIHH earlier this month, it's arguable that the new Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Edition "Mojave Desert" made the biggest splash. Cased in a warm sand-tone ceramic, this Top Gun is a limited edition blend of colors inspired by the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, and its home in the dramatic landscape of the famed California desert.? With a distinctly militaristic vibe aided by the dark brown dial, tan markings, and the use of a 44.5mm case size (15.7mm thick), the Top Gun...
Hands-On: The Rado Hyperchrome Tradition Captain Cook MK II
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's arrival in Australia. Of course, the antipodal continent was already occupied for millennia before Cook's arrival, so we'll sidestep any debate about the importance of a white European's "discovery," but there is no doubt that the British captain was an intrepid explorer. His sea voyages took him from England to Alaska, Antarctica and the South Pacific, in an age when crossing the oceans was a perilous endeavor. Captain Cook's name will forever be tied to discovery and oceangoing bravery. Rado called its first diving watch the Captain Cook back in 1962 and the name stuck. That first generation Captai...
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 28: Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias
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! There are few personalities in the watch world that loom quite as large as Fran?ois-Henry Bennahmias.?The Audemars Piguet CEO has been with the brand since 1994, when he made the jump to the watch industry from the fashion world, and he's been at the helm of the Le Brassus manufacture for almost six years now. Under his leadership, AP has been one of the hottest watch brands on the planet; he's a super smart guy, and one that isn't afraid to ruffle feathers to ...
Hands-On: The Ming 19.02 Worldtimer
It's difficult to talk about Ming Watches (at least for me) without also thinking about Ming Thein, whom I first got to know in the early 2000s when he and I were both relative newcomers to horology, and were hip-deep in the many very passionate and sometimes quite heated exchanges going on, on what was the ThePuristS.com, and what's now PuristsPro. Most of what we talked about is now ancient history, more or less, but I still remember, vividly, the speculative plans for wildly imaginative watches that he sometimes shared with us, and I felt convinced that sooner or later he'd produce a watch, or watches, of his own. In subsequent years, he became not only a very...
Editors' Picks: Favorite Watches And Biggest Surprises Of SIHH 2019 (VIDEO)
One of the hardest things about covering a show like SIHH is finding the signal through all the noise. There are so many new watches C?some with innovative new calibers and never-before-seen cases, others with just minor aesthetic updates C that it can be hard to know what to pay attention to. This is especially true after a few days spent learning about and photographing literally hundreds of watches and then talking to other watch-loving folks nonstop about the latest novelties. Luckily, at the end of our third day at SIHH 2019, our editors were able to pause for a moment, gather their thoughts, and put together a list of their top picks across a number of categories. The result: a collect...
Hands-On: The A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon With Pink Gold Dial
Salmon dial. Not a salmon dial. I don't even know anymore. All I know for certain is that this latest edition of the A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon has a pink gold dial and it absolutely MELTS. This new limited edition matches a white gold case with a warm pink dial which many have taken to defining as "salmon." Ichthyological assertions aside (look it up), any new Datograph is deserving of a few photos, no less the incredibly complex and enduringly cool Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon.? Lange says this new Dato has a sol...
Happenings: Register Now For Watches & Wonders Miami 2019
With SIHH now behind us, it's time to start looking forward to the next watch show on the calendar: Watches & Wonders Miami. This is the rare consumer-facing watch show, which means that you're all encouraged to make the trek to South Florida for a full weekend of programming, parties, and, of course, watches. Watches & Wonders Miami runs February 15-17 and we'll be on site the entire time, sometimes playing host and other times just enjoying conversations with fellow collectors and enthusiasts. And we'd love to see you there. This year there are a total of 29 watch brands exhibiting their wares (eight more than last year), and the mix covers just about e...
When it comes to dive watch design, it often seems there is nothing new under the sun. After all, with a limited number of components to work with, fairly strict requirements, 60 years of history, and countless existing examples, its tough to be original anymore. But what if you look back, way back, well before the first dive watches, or even the invention of scuba, for inspiration? Thats exactly what Jacob Hatzidimitriou, the founder of Ianos Watches, did to come up with his first diver: the Avyssos.? If the names Ianos, Avyssos, or the founders surname didnt give it away, this is a watch with Greek roots, which is fitting for a dive watch. Greece has a ...
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 29: Aldis Hodge
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! Here on HODINKEE Radio weve had guests that are actors, weve had guests that are watch collectors, and weve had guests that are watch designers and makers. But weve never had a guest before whos all of the above. That changes right now.Aldis Hodge is a pretty special guy. In addition to collecting watches, he has sketchbooks full of design ideas and technical drawings of new movements he's dreaming up, and he's also the custodian of one of the only rose en...
Happenings: Van Cleef & Arpels Is Exhibiting Poetic Astronomy Watches In New York
Starting today, and continuing over the next two weeks, some very impressive watchmaking will be on hand at Van Cleef & Arpels's Fifth Avenue Boutique for an exhibition highlighting new watches from the recently released Lady Arpels Lumineux and Midnight Zodiac Lumineux lines. There will also be pieces from the Planetarium range and several other complications the company has developed in recent years.? And we'll be there too. On February 12, from 6:00 C 8:00 PM, HODINKEE will host an evening of cocktails and conversation at the boutique. There are still a few spaces remaining for what promises to be a fun-filled evening with the HODINKEE editors and your fel...
Hands-On: The Panerai Submersible Chrono Guillaume Nry Edition 47mm (PAM00983)
When I arrived at Panerai this year, I was greeted with a booth that was fully decked out with images of the Submersible, Panerai's deep-diving technical tool watch. The Submersible, we were told, had been split off from the Luminor line, a move that seemed to make sense on several levels. Sure, the watch comes in a ?Luminor case, but it's a class of watch all its own. It's a dive watch that often comes with 300m of water resistance or more, is 42mm in diameter at its smallest, and is constructed in such a way as to feel like a serious piece of machinery on the wrist. And with more fashion focused iterations of the Luminor, like the Luminor Due 38, coming in recent years, having a category o...
Introducing: The Swatch Pigcasso Limited Edition (Live Pics & Pricing)
This, ladies and gents, is a very real departure from the seriousness of the horological world we can occasionally catch ourselves drifting into. This Swatch, aptly named Pigcasso (after its creator), came across my desk last week and its backstory instantly brought a smile to my face.?It is a quartz (I know, I know) limited edition of 2019 pieces produced to mark the Chinese year of the pig. For those of you who dont know (I didnt), the pig is the twelfth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The years of the pig include 1995, 2007, and now 2019. To celebrate, Swatch has teamed up with one of the worlds only know painting pigs, Ms. Pigcasso.?Pigcasso is a fine specimen, weighing i...
Introducing: The Moritz Grossmann ATUM GMT
When I think of Moritz Grossmann, I think sharp brown-violet annealed hands, cantilevered balance cocks, and crisp Glashtte hand finishing. These three new additions to the ATUM line-up have all of that and more. Available in three colorways C rose gold with argente? dial, white gold with argente? dial, and white gold with champagne dial C the new ATUM GMT has a 41mm case and all that distinctive Moritz Grossmann styling.?For this GMT, home time is centrally exhibited as one would expect, while the second time zone is displayed via an arrow indication on a 24-hour chapter ring which runs around the perimeter of the dial. Adjustments are made via the second crown at 10 oclock and can be qui...
Business News: 2018 Swiss Watch Exports: Strong Start, Weak Finish
The Swiss watch industry turned in a strong performance last year, as measured by the value of its global watch exports. Ex-factory sales of Swiss watches rose 6.3% in value over 2017 to CHF21.2 billion (the figure is nearly the same in U.S. dollars).?It marks the second consecutive year of export growth after downturns in 2015 (-3.3%) and 2016 (-9.9%). It is also the largest annual increase in six years. It is a measure of the industry's recent sluggishness that all three growth years since 2012 were under 3%.?The data, released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) on Tuesday, measures wholesale sales (i.e., sales of watch companies to their subsidiaries and dealers), not sale...
Dont go looking for a theme in this weeks roundup, as there is none to be found. I thought Id give you a little bit of variety today, with a collection of pieces sure to satisfy a wide range of collecting tastes. At the more accessible end of the spectrum, theres a 30T2-equipped Omega, along with a Zodiac powered by the venerable Valjoux 72. Slightly older than the rest are the Universal Genve Tri-Compax and Lemania CH27 chronograph, both of which ought to impress those that appreciate seldom-seen retailer signatures and impressive early chronographs alike. For the more avant-garde, theres an innovative Tissot that paved the way for a more recent Swatch release, along with a Movado tha...
Hands-On: The Laurent Ferrier Bridge One
To many, myself included, so much of Laurent Ferrier's identity as a contemporary independent watchmaker is tied up in the elegantly rounded Galet case shape, and in the Ferrier natural escapement (a variation on the Breguet chappement naturel, for which Laurent Ferrier is well known). What we have here is definitely not a Galet, and for that matter, its movement doesn't have a natural escapement. The watch consists of a shaped case matched to an all-new manually wound movement, with a rectangular form.? But a Laurent Ferrier it is. Aesthetically, this watch manages to strike a familiar note, and we can safely attribute this to a collaboration between Ferrier an...
Sunday Rewind: Everything You Need To Know About The Very First Heuer Carrera
We say it all the time, but the word "icon" might be the most overused word in the marketing of fine wristwatches. Let's be honest: Not everything is an icon. In fact, very few watches are. One that can, without a doubt, hold this vaunted title is the Heuer Carrera. The clean, no-nonsense watch debuted over half a century ago and helped set a course for decades of watch design that goes far beyond the confines of racing watches or chronographs. The earliest models, from 1964, have achieved cult status and understanding them properly offers many insights into the Carrera line more generally and how Heuer (and then TAG Heuer) made this watch what it is today. ...
The Grey NATO: Episode 74: All The SIHH Feels
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.? James is back from SIHH and both of the boys are battling the polar vortex with fireplaces, warm socks, and a splash of whiskey. With the world outside their windows cold, the microphones are hot as Jason and James dig into their favorite selections from SIHH. From jellyfish clocks to some sweet Spitfires and a bit of two-tone for James, SIHH always offers a variety of horological eye candy. ? ...
The Value Proposition: The Citizen Eco-Drive Promaster Tough
I've had a recurring fascination, for as long as I can remember, with the idea of a watch that would for all intents and purposes run forever, with perfect accuracy, more or less without human intervention. (In theory, anyway; in practice, I'll take "for the remainder of my natural span of years," of which I notice that there are fewer than there used to be.) This of course runs counter to the nature of watches as machines C half the fun of owning a good watch is caring for it properly, after all C and for most of the history of watchmaking, a forever watch wasn't even a remote possibility; regular servicing and regular replacement of parts like mainsprings were all part of the game. In rece...