Best Super NEWS Watches
Happenings: Come See Us This Weekend At Watches & Wonders Miami 2019
It's here! Tomorrow morning, Watches & Wonders Miami 2019 officially kicks off in the Miami Design District. In addition to exhibitions from 29 participating watch brands and loads of programming from the FHH, we'll also have a team on the ground, providing you with some awesome opportunities over the course of the weekend. If you're going to be in Miami (or are up for making the last-minute trip), here's what you can expect to find at this year's Watches & Wonders. First off, as a reminder, the 29 watch brands participating in this year's festivities are: A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet, Bvlgari, Cartier, De Bethune, Dior, F.P. Journe, Girard-Perre...
If there's one thing I've learned throughout the years of hunting down watches, it's that the market never stops. There's always something exciting waiting for you around the corner, that'll delight and surprise when you least expect it. While a little chronograph heavy, there's still something to captivate the interests of a wide variety of collectors in this week's roundup. Whether your interests lie in Omega chronographs, triple-date Eberhards, Heuer chronographs of the golden era, or rare ladies pieces produced by Rolex, we've got you covered. Are clocks more your thing? We've got you covered, too. Let's get down to it. Omega Seamaster Chronostop Ref. 145.007...
Happenings: Youre Invited To A HODINKEE Meet-Up This Tuesday In NYC
It's been a few months since our last HODINKEE meet-up, so we figured it was high time for another get-together here in New York City. ?We want to invite you and your watch-loving pals to hang out on Tuesday, February 19 (aka tomorrow), in downtown New York City from 6-8 PM. We hope you can join us! As always, we will have a handful of our editors there along with the rest of the HODINKEE crew, plus drinks, snacks, and of course lots of watches (and watch talk). If you would like to attend, please RSVP using this link. Space is limited, but we will do our best to accommodate you. Looking forward to it!...
Introducing: The Zenith Pilot Type 20 Extra Special Silver
While not unheard of, silver cases are pretty unusual in watchmaking today. With much more durable white metals like steel and titanium readily available, watchmakers typically go in that direction, and then opt for ?platinum or white gold when aiming for a higher-end execution. In a way, the relative rarity of silver watches is a pity, because silver has a warmth all its own, and it tends to patina in a way that many watch lovers, especially those who are into vintage aesthetics, would appreciate. The Zenith Pilot Type 20 Extra Special we see here is the first silver-cased wristwatch from Zenith. This is the first of the pre-Bas...
HODINKEE Radio: Episode 31: Hannah Elliott And Magnus Walker
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! Bonnie and Clyde. Beyonc and Jay Z. Theres nothing quite like a good old fashioned power couple. And, personally, I think its about time we add todays guests, Hannah Elliott and Magnus Walker, to that list.Hannah Elliott is a car writer and critic, currently writing for Bloomberg (full disclosure, we were co-workers there for the better part of two years). Before that though, she worked at Forbes, where she wrote about cars, watches, travel C?you know, basi...
Found: A Longines Retail Display Case From The Golden Age Of Aviation
The fundamental retail watch buying experience of the late 1930s wasn't entirely different than it is today, with rows of shiny watches neatly organized behind glass windows of authorized retailers in major shopping districts around the world. Perhaps there's a bit of copy present highlighting unique selling points of the brand's latest models, and plenty of visible branding. But there's been a paradigm shift in the kind of celebrity ties modern marketing departments use to sell watches. Today we see mostly pop musicians, film stars, and professional athletes positioned as ambassadors for the horological brands with budgets that allow it. ...
Happenings: Eric Wind To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
With the explosive growth of interest in vintage watches in recent years, how can new collectors successfully navigate and enjoy the often-confusing world of older timepieces? The field of vintage watches is in an interesting place with more minefields than ever in the realm of collecting, a staggering amount of animosity on social media and watch fora, and a concerning lack of curiosity around new watch scholarship today. At the March 4, 2019, meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Eric Wind will discuss the common mistakes he sees beginning collectors making and also will raise important questions for the collector community to discuss, including restoration, tracking provenance, ...
Recommended Reading: Karl Lagerfeld And His Famous All Black Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
I was disappointed to wake up this morning to the news that fashion designer and genuine icon of all things creative Karl Lagerfeld had died last night in Paris. Regardless of whether you're deeply interested in fashion or couldn't care less, Lagerfeld is a legend and was a force of nature that has had a massive influence over the fields of fashion, art, design, and popular culture for more than 50 years (and likely will continue to do so). It seemed like an appropriate time to remember one of the ways he influenced our little corner of the world too, regularly wearing an extremely unusual and interesting watch: an all-black Audemars Piguet Royal Oak from the 1970s.Today a blacked-out watch ...
In-Depth: The Infinity Series From J.N. Shapiro Watches
Often seen in nature, fractals are all around us. Think about the repeating patterns of a snowflake, the supercharged plasma of a lightning bolt, or the spiral form of a nautilus sea shell. Fractals are defined by Merriam-Webster as "any of various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size." For all of the examples of fractals in nature, it is rare to find fractals in mechanical devices, and specifically in watchmaking. But one watchmaker has pioneered a new engine-turning pattern based on a fractal. Meet Joshua Shapiro and his new watch featuring an incredibly compl...
There might be no two words that can elicit a more intense, heart-pumping reaction from a watch collector than "piece unique." The thought of owning something not just limited, but actually unique is catnip to most enthusiasts, and we just learned that Audemars Piguet has a new one-of-one watch coming up for auction on March 8. The special Royal Oak Chronograph will be sold as part of the One Night For One Drop charity auction hosted by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas to benefit One Drop, a safe water charity founded by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibert. The watch is awesome and the cause worthy. What more could you really ask for? First up, let's look at the ...
Hands-On: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds With Burgundy Dial
This great-looking, classically proportioned Reverso, which caught pretty much everybody on the team's eyes at SIHH in Geneva, and then again at Watches & Wonders in Miami, somehow managed to escape the rush of editorial coverage we produced at SIHH. Perhaps that's because this isn't a new watch per se, but it is one of my favorite Reversos to date, and I think that fact is easily attributable to the great looking burgundy-colored dial and matching Casa Fagliano strap. A similar model featuring a Casa Fagliano strap and matching dial, though in blue, came out at a year earlier. But for my money, this burgundy guy ($7,900) is the one to get. ...
H10: The Green Room Interviews: What Was The First Watch That Had An Impact On You?
We all remember that one watch. You know, the first one that really caught your eye, drew you in, and made you think that maybe these complicated little contraptions could be something so much more. For some it's a colorful watch received as a gift for a childhood birthday, while for others it's not discovered until later in life and comes as a surprise. During the HODINKEE 10th Anniversary Weekend in December, we asked our panelists and moderators to sit down and answer a few questions after they'd left the main stage, and it only seemed right to start with this one: What was the first watch that had an impact on you? From the very first Swatch chronograph coveted by Omega CEO Raynald Aesch...
Personalities: Piaget CEO Chabi Nouri
In February 2017, the Richemont Group announced that Piaget executive Chabi Nouri would become Piagets CEO, subsequent to Richemont chairman Johann Ruperts remark in November 2016 that he wanted to see less gray men, less gray Frenchmen in senior positions. Nouri was and is one of the very few women to hold a CEO position in the Group (Isabelle Guichot was CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels from 1999 to 2005) and she brought with her a considerable degree of prior experience in the luxury world C a Swiss native and graduate of the University of Fribourg, she joined Cartier in 1998, and after a stint at British American Tobacco beginning in 2009, she rejoined the Richemont Group and Piaget in ...
The Grey NATO: Episode 75: Watches And...
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.? Episode 75! For this episode, Jason and James consider the many ways in which we (attempt) to balance our many proclivities, from watches to adventuring to gear and even cameras. How can one do it all? The boys dig into balancing the cost and lifecycle of gear, the need to adventure, and the endless desire to upgrade. Considering both the casual and the professional side of the game, Jason and James offer their thoughts on how we can all explore our hobbies without needing to eat ...
Photo Report: Watches & Wonders Miami 2019
This past weekend saw the global watch community descend on warm, sunny South Florida for the second iteration of Watches & Wonders Miami. Unlike most major watch events, Watches & Wonders is open to consumers and enthusiasts, not just retailers and press, giving it a completely different feel from the likes of SIHH and Baselworld. Watches & Wonders was hosted in the Miami Design District, home to more than a dozen top-tier watch boutiques, augmented this year by the introduction of a pop-up space that allowed another 14 brands to participate. There was truly something for everyone and tons of collectors turned out to see the latest 2019 novelties during their first trip to the U...
Business News: Consumer Focus Lifts Watches & Wonders Miami
Two years ago, the FHH (Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie), the Swiss organization that runs the well-known SIHH exhibition in Geneva, took a chance on a luxury-watch show in the United States.?The foundation teamed up with the Miami Design District to launch Watches & Wonders Miami (WWM), an educational and promotional event for luxury watches aimed at consumers, from hard-core watch collectors to the merely curious.?Last year's launch event went well. But this year's show, held over the Presidents' Day weekend, went better. Much better. Thirty watch brands participated, up from 21 in 2018; attendance increased 40% to 28,000 visitors. Fabienne Lupo,...
Introducing: The Carl F. Bucherer Manero Flyback In Rose Gold
With the introduction of the Manero Flyback Chronograph last year, Carl F. Bucherer gave us a watch that struck all the right notes of '40s chronograph cool. Now theyve gone ahead and propelled it squarely into the dress category by introducing the Manero Flyback in a lustrous rose gold case. The watch strikes a careful balance between sporty looks and modern elegance, with the rose gold case edging it ever so slightly towards the elegant end of the spectrum. In short, this is a chronograph for people who might typically wear a dress watch, or a dress watch for people who might prefer chronographs.? At a sizeable 43mm, the curved lines of the case mimic the desi...
Hands-On: The Ulysse Nardin Marine Mega Yacht
They say honesty is the best policy, and Ulysse Nardin seems to have had the maxim in mind when they named this watch: behold the Marine Mega Yacht, coming soon to the wrist of your favorite high roller, yacht-owning plutocrat. The Marine Mega Yacht is an unapologetic paean to the pleasures of the life aquatic, but from the bridge of one of the multimillion dollar floating palaces populating the world's oceans, from the Casino in Monte Carlo, or from a private island somewhere off the C?te d'Azur for that matter. It is a power watch C aside from the sheer cost, its unabashed celebration of superfluous complexity leaves no doubt as to its raison d'tre. ?as However, it would be too much to di...
Introducing: The Zenith Defy Inventor, The Next Evolution Of The Zenith Oscillator
The Zenith Defy Lab was introduced in September of 2017, and the heart of that watch was the Zenith Oscillator. The Zenith Oscillator is a single silicon component which incorporates the functions of the balance wheel, balance spring, and lever (in a conventional lever escapement). It's one of a very small group of experimental oscillators which take advantage of the compliant, or spring-like, qualities of silicon, and which also includes the Ulysse Anchor Escapement, from Ulysse Nardin, as well as the Genequand oscillator, which was introduced by Parmigiani Fleurier in June of 2016.? The Defy Lab was announced as a very limited series of what were essentially co...
Baselworld 2019: Follow Along With The Entire HODINKEE Team
It's that time of year again: Baselworld time. The HODINKEE team has already started traveling over to Switzerland to get ready for what is certainly the biggest week of the year for watch nerds. We will have a dozen people on the ground for Baselworld 2019, and, despite some changes to the show, it is looking like it's going to be a pretty incredible few days. You'll be getting the usual wall-to-wall coverage all week, plus a few new things that we're excited to show you. Baselworld officially opens to the press at 12:00 PM CET on Wednesday, so while you'll get a few early looks before then, that's when the wave of new watches starts breaking.We've got tons of ways for you to learn about al...