Best Super NEWS Watches
Introducing: The Oris Clean Ocean Limited Edition
This limited edition floods the Oris Aquis with design details like a gradient blue dial and an aqua-blue ceramic blue insert. In addition, there's a token made from recycled PET plastic on the caseback. 2,000 of these watches will be made, and presented in a box made from algae with plastic inlays.? The focal point of this watch isn't a geographic location or expedition, like the 2017 Clipperton Limited Edition, but instead it's based on an effort being put forth by a firm called Pacific Garbage Screening. They're currently working on a prototype floating platform designed to clean up plastic from the world's oceans. The platfor...
Introducing: The Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon GMT
This is the latest example of Greubel Forsey's GMT complication, which was the first GMT watch from the small-batch, extremely high touch tourbillon and chronometry specialists. It debuted in 2013, and it combines a 24 second inclined tourbillon, which is tilted at 25o, with a very beautiful spherical model of the Earth which rotates once every 24 hours, and which is driven by the same gearing that drives the GMT complication on the back of the watch. This newest and very spectacular version of the Greubel Forsey GMT combines two double tourbillons with the GMT complication. The two double tourbillons are based on the original Gr...
Introducing: Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III
Following up on the format established by the Source of Life limited editions, Oris has announced the third generation of their Great Barrier Reef limited editions by way of the brand new Oris Aquis Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III. 43.5mm wide in steel with an aqua blue dial and a lovely radial date display, the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III expands the brand's efforts in ocean conservation and awareness.? Initial Thoughts Limited to 2000 shining pieces, this third gen of Oris' Great Barrier Reef LE blends some of the appeal of the Clipperton LE with the date display seen on the Source of Life LE to make for a handsome wat...
Introducing: The TAG Heuer Autavia Isograph Collection
Remember when Heuer made Autavias for the Kenyan and Argentine Air Force? Even the most dedicated Heuer fans would only be able to name a small number of instances when the Autavia was actually used as a pilot's watch. For most, the watch made its mark on the F1 grid. Now TAG Heuer is experimenting with a side of the Autavia that's mostly forgotten; after all, the Autavia was conceptualized as a motorsports and aviation watch, right? Auto + Aviation = Autavia. Some might say it was about time the Autavia embraced its identity as a pilot's watch, but die-hard Heuer fans might also tell you there's a reason why it never originally caught on with the aviation crowd. Either way, here we are with...
Introducing: The Tudor Black Bay P01
Drawing inspiration from a prototype military diver they developed in the 1960s, Tudor has just announced a wild new spin on the Black Bay, called the P01. With a 12-hour bezel and a new case shape defined by a four o'clock crown and a chunky bezel locking mechanism that uses a claw-like system fitted between the lugs, it's a Black Bay, but not at all what we've come to expect from the form.? Initial Thoughts The new Black Bay P01 is 42mm wide in steel and comes only as shown on a proprietary strap that integrates with the unique lugs and bezel lock. Water resistant to 200m and featuring a very handy 12-h...
Introducing: The NOMOS Glashtte Duo Collection
All four of these watches should look pretty familiar to you if you're a NOMOS fan. The new Duo collection takes the Ludwig, Tangente, Orion, and Tetra and reinterprets them as simple two-hand watches with extremely clean dials and beautiful gold hands. The three round models measure up at just a hair under 33mm across, while the Tetra measures 27.5mm on each side, approximating the same feel on the wrist. The dials are the signature NOMOS galvanic silver color, but the addition of gold hands adds a bit of warmth that pairs nicely with the beige straps.?All four of the Duo models come with solid steel casebacks. While this has the pleasant side effect of keeping the prices down a bit (all fo...
Introducing: The Tudor Black Bay Chronograph Steel & Gold
You can't keep a Tudor Black Bay away from the steel and gold treatment, and finally the Tudor Black Bay Chrono's number has come up for the two-tone transformation. The new Black Bay Chrono Steel & Gold features similar design elements to the Heritage Black Bay Steel & Gold, but it really puts it over the top with gold registers, gold pushers, a gold tachy scale on the bezel, and a gilt chapter ring. Truthfully its only a few steps away from an all-gold-everything Black Bay. With two-tone fever in full swing, it only made sense that the Chrono get the treatment, but of course Tudor is related to Rolex, and Rolex has also been in the chrono game with the ...
Hands-On: The Patek Philippe 5212A Calatrava Weekly Calendar
One of the best things about Baselworld is the rush of receiving the press releases and then finally getting to see the watches in the metal (sometimes just moments later). Press images often don't do a watch justice and the 5212A Calatrava Weekly Calendar is a perfect example. It is no secret that steel watches are very popular right now, whether it's the 5711, no-date Sub, or Pepsi GMT, people loooove steel watches. So today we are going to take a closer look at the 5212 in steel, which presents a totally new complication in a totally new case with a totally new (and unusual) dial. The 5212A Calatrava Weekly Calendar. Jack c...
HODINKEE Radio: Baselworld 2019 Round-Up, Day 1
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! While Baselworld technically doesn't open until tomorrow, today was the press preview day and thus our first day at the 2019 fair. After our first few appointments, we gathered some of the team in the living room of an Airbnb and downloaded on our first thoughts after seeing the new layout of the fair, a few early product leaks, and the new watches from Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Tudor. It might have only been a half-day at the show, but there was still a ton t...
Hands-On: The Tudor Black Bay P01
The 1950s and '60s were a time of wild experimentation by the U.S. Navy?C?and thats only counting the declassified projects we actually know about. Take the Convair Sea Dart for example, a supersonic fighter prototype that took off from hydrofoils. The plane acted almost like a boat, with its wings touching the water during taxi until it built up enough speed to lift out of the water. It was engineered as a way around having to launch supersonic fighters from battleships. After a prototype disintegrated during testing and killed the test pilot, the program was cancelled. When it came to watches, the same sort of experimentation was happening.?For real. ...
First Photos: The Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G-010 In Khaki Green
It's spring in Basel, so why not launch a khaki green version of Patek's fullsized "Jumbo" Aquanaut? The new 5168G-010 is a 42.2mm Aquanaut with a green dial that I would describe more as "olive drab" than "khaki." But you do you. That warm green dial is surrounded by a white gold case and a matching khaki green rubber strap with a proper Patek fold-over clasp. This is color used for effect and this Aquanaut is fun, trendy, and really good on wrist. It retails for $35,000, and you can get all of the specs right here....
Introducing: The NOMOS Glashtte Club Sport Neomatik (Live Pics & Pricing)
The NOMOS Club Sport, on paper, flies in the face of what NOMOS is all about. Its rather large at 42mm, its water-resistant to 300 meters, and theres a lot of Superluminova on the deep black dial. It also comes on a what looks to be reminiscent of old stretch bracelets. In other words, this is a NOMOS thats designed to be knocked around.? As a design exercise, this watch proves that a dive watch does not have to be a massive hunk of metal. The Club Sport does still adhere to the clean aesthetic that put NOMOS on the map. The neomatik caliber used is already incredibly slim, and somehow theyve managed to design a case around the movement thats specd to the ...
First Photos: The Patek Philippe 5172G Hand-Wound Chronograph
The 5172G is a new evolution of the 5170 and offers an interesting and everyday-friendly mix of casual and dressy Patek styling. Shown with a matte dark blue dial and a matching leather strap, this old-school-yet-sporty chronograph replaces the longstanding 5170 with a larger case but retains the lovely CH 29-533 PS movement within. Details like the triple-stepped lugs, syringe hands, and ref. 1463-inspired pushers balance nicely with more modern elements like the luminous Arabic numerals and clean lines, and the overall dial and hand design is inspired by a unique version of the 1463 that was made for Briggs Cunningham (how cool is that?). If you want all of the details and specs, click her...
Introducing: The Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 5231J (Live Pics & Pricing)
Patek Philippe is known for many things C insane complications, melodious minute repeaters, the Nautilus, and world timers chief among them. The world time is kind of what watch dreams are made of. The cloisonn enamel dials, convenient world time function, and old-world glamour all make for an incredibly aspirational timepiece. Patek has been in the business of making world timers since the 1940s with the reference 1415. They have continued to produce them over the decades and the last example they made was launched during the Grand Exhibition in New York City in the summer of 2017.This year they have a completely new version, the ref. 5231J, which has both a new case and signature. The pre...
First Photos: The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic
The more watches you see in your life, the harder it becomes to be thoroughly impressed by something. So when you see something truly remarkable in the metal, its pretty wild. Yesterday we announced the new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic, the worlds thinnest automatic chronograph ever. After seeing it in person I can certainly say, that this thing is THIN. Not Piaget concept watch thin, but pretty stinking thin (6.9mm to be exact). But the incredibly thing is holding it your hand and working the chronograph and GMT function. Both sets of buttons have that incredibly satisfying click and are easy to use. The OFCGMTA also feels very durable which is reassuring if you plan...
Introducing: The Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806 1959 Re-Edition
What we have here is a very accurate re-edition of a Breitling Navitimer from 1959. This isn't just a watch with vintage cues or a design that was inspired by something from the past C it's pretty close to a carbon copy. The design of the classic Navitimer is bound to be familiar to many of the people reading this site. It's iconic among pilot's watches for its design, which combines a chronograph with a rotating slide rule bezel, a scale that can be used by pilots to manually compute various useful calculations for things like fuel consumption and and air spreed.? Details that can be traced to the original include the plexiglass...
Hands-On: The Montres KF Spirograph Sport
For a moment put yourself into the shoes of a horological engineer tasked with building the most precise mechanical timekeeper possible. What features would you need to include to see the highest level of performance? Marine chronometers are a great starting point as their precision was responsible for navigating ships across oceans before the advent of the satellite-based global positioning system. A gain or loss of just 4 seconds meant a navigational error of 1 nautical mile. In many cases the precision of marine chronometers was the difference between successfully crossing an ocean, or being lost at sea. Precision chronometry is often overlooked in modern watchmaking in favor of aesthetic...
HODINKEE Radio: Baselworld 2019 Round-Up, Day 2
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! Day two is in the books. After a somewhat calm press preview day (which you can hear all about right here), we got right into the thick of Baselworld 2019 bright and early this morning and saw a ton of watches from a variety of brands. Cole, James, and I get into all of the most interesting novelties from the Zenith El Primero A386 Revival pieces to the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic to the TAG Heuer Autatvia Isograph. Before that though, we h...
Introducing: The Tudor Black Bay Bronze With Slate Grey Dial (Live Pics & Pricing)
Tudor first introduced introduced the Heritage Black Bay Bronze at Baselworld 2016, and it created quite a stir, adding a new case material (bronze), a larger case size (43mm), and an in-house movement (caliber MT5601) to the brand's dive watch arsenal. Since then, we've seen a few variations on that theme, ?including a special edition in blue for Bucherer and a piece unique for Only Watch. At Baselworld 2019 Tudor has introduced yet another BB Bronze, this time with an absolutely knock-out slate grey dial and bezel. Technically, the watch is the same as the original from three years ago, but this new color scheme changes everything, giving the watch a new layer of depth due to the sunburst ...
First Photos: The TAG Heuer Autavia Isograph
The new Autavia Isograph is a considerable departure from the format established by the history of Autavia, offering a time-and-date layout with a bi-directional bezel crossed with the bold time display of a pilot's watch. You can read more about the new line here, but feel free to scroll down for an in-the-metal look at the new models in all of their variety. Take note of the sporty 42mm steel or bronze cases, the gradient dials, the copious lume, the bevy of straps (including a bracelet with tool-less quick-release), and the strong legibility and balance which is aided by the six o'clock date. Enjoy the photos and stay tuned for a much more in-depth look at how the Autavia Isograph was des...