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Best Super NEWS Watches
This week, we're leaning into the less obvious. With picks like a Pullman-sized Ermeto and a minuscule ladies chronograph, there's all sorts of otherness going on, all of which is complemented nicely by a strictly mint Zenith chronograph. Condition-obsessed collectors will also appreciate the full-set, near-new old stock Super Autavia. And, just because we couldn't resist, we've got a tropical dial Ed White Speedmaster. There's a lot to love this week, so let's jump in.? Movado Ermeto Pullman It's hard to pin down what exactly Movado's Ermeto is. Is it a pocket watch? Is it a portable desk clock? Is it a ...
Introducing: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Memovox Timer And Master Control Memovox
It bears repeating (to make a weak joke) that the alarm complication is one of the oldest in horology. Indeed, the very earliest mechanical clocks, it is generally conceded, may have had no dials at all, but may have entirely relied on ringing gongs or chimes in order to alert listeners to the time. A frequently cited early use would have been monasteries in which the times for the daily prayers needed to be noted, and failure to attend properly to a clock so that it chimed correctly might get an entire community on God's bad side. On the contra-side of the question, I suppose you could argue that no one really knows who was ?first to do what in the 13th and 14th centuries. And, of course, t...
Each and every Wednesday, we present a fresh installment of "My Watch Story," a video series starring HODINKEE readers and their most prized watches. Today, we have five new stories submitted by Tjodi Van Elk, Marshall Sutcliffe, Wilson Bruno Bunga, Will Thomas, and Salem Al-Mutawa. My Watch Story See all of the videos in the series here. Already sent your video, and don't see it here? Fear not C it's likely to appear here in the weeks to come. Due to the large volume and quality of submissions, we are happy to announce that we will be presenting five more videos each week going forward. Feeling i...
When inexpensive quartz watches, and then digital display timepieces, first came on the scene, they threatened the extinction of a five-hundred-year-old unbroken history of mechanical horology. We all know that, far from becoming extinct, mechanical watches went on to experience a very vital re-birth, and today, we are (accounting for ups and downs in what the industry as a whole is focusing on in any given year) rather more spoiled for choice than not. What is perhaps easy to overlook is that the crisis in mechanical watchmaking was not just a crisis in the art of horological mechanics. There were an innumerable variety of ancillary arts and crafts associated wi...
Introducing: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT is about as avant-garde an offering as one will find from a top-tier Swiss manufacture today, which seems to me to be an interesting thing to consider. The line and the basic design of its case have been with us for 18 years. The first Royal Oak Concept watch, designed by Claude Emmenegger, was presented in 2002 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Royal Oak, and it came with a movement developed by Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APR&P). As its name would lead you to believe, the Royal Oak Concept line tends to be a bit more experimental than, say, the Royal Oak Offshore. It's been a springboard for technical developments. Th...
Best of Watchville: Fratello Examines A Complicated Crystal
Prokop & Broz is a Czech watchmaker that, I have to confess, I'd never heard of before noticing a recent Fratello article on Watchville. A photograph of the watch in question, the company's aptly named Spiral, had me wanting to know more. Clicking in, I learned about the intricate, months-long process that results in the Spiral's sandwich crystal.? Each one is made using ?pieces of metalized glass that have been glued together and inclined at a 51-degree angle. It's this angle of reflection, I learned from the article's author, Tomas Rosputinsky, that allows for a secondary rainbow. You can see a colorful effect in the photo ...
Introducing: The Longines Spirit Pilot's Watch In 40mm And 42mm
Announced as a new addition to their?Sport collection, alongside watches like the current-gen Hydroconquest dive watch, this is the new Longines Spirit line. While the new line also includes a matching 42mm chronograph, this post will focus on the time and date models that are available in both 40 and 42mm. Blending Longines' usual ability to make handsome everyday sports watches with classic styling C and a chronometer-certified movement to boot C these pilot's watches are new, but the format is far from unfamiliar.? Initial Thoughts Borrowing some aesthetic elements from a variety of past Longines model...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko 'Soko' U.S. Special Editions
The first day of summer this year is June 20, but Grand Seiko's new Soko special editions for the USA look a bit further ahead. Soko is the name of one of the 24 so-called "solar terms," or sekki (as they are called in Japan) which are part of the traditional luni-solar East Asian calendar. Broadly speaking, they are points which can be found on the plane of the ecliptic, 15o apart from each other, and they are used to keep the lunar and solar years coordinated, as well as to determine the necessity for an intercalary month. The sekki are essential to keeping accurate track of the passage of the seasons, which is essential for agrarian cultures and for making sur...
Introducing: The DPW 01 By Derek Pratt Watches
Derek Pratt (1938-2009) was one of the greatest watchmakers of the modern era. His extraordinary horological talent is evident through his novel escapements and intricate engine-turned dials featured in his pocket watches. He worked with his friend Peter Baumberger to revive Urban Jrgensen & S?nner, a famous 18th-century watch brand. He took on the massive project of recreating John Harrison's H4 marine chronometer. And he helped his friend George Daniels in both the development and promotion of his co-axial escapement. Near the end of his life in 2009, Pratt was involved in a project with friends to make a wristwatch. Pratt passed away before seeing the finished wristwatch, but now tha...
Introducing: The Seiko SPB171 Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition
The proverb "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" touches on the idea that something so beautiful, like the reflection of the moon on still water, is just that C a reflection. It can't be attained. Its beauty can only exist as a mirage. The Japanese term Suigetsu particularly captures the phenomenon of the moon's image on water, and while it may only exist visually, Seiko has recently added a model to the Presage line that can, in fact, be attained. It's designed after the ephemeral nature of the moon's reflection in lakes and ponds throughout Japan.? Blued hands are set against a white Arita porcelain dial in the latest addition to the Pr...
Introducing: The Citizen Satellite Wave GPS F950 Titanium 50th Anniversary Limited Edition
The A-12 was the first airplane made from titanium when it took to the air in 1962. Titanium was scarce in the United States, so the CIA set up a series of bogus companies to source all the raw material from Russia, the leading expert on titanium manufacturing at the time. Working with titanium was one of the largest challenges in the development of the airplane, but it paid off. The successor to the A-12, dubbed the SR-71, is still the fastest known plane to ever grace the skies. Titanium manufacturing practices were at the heart of one of the government's most secretive, shadowy programs at the time. The use of this metal was the largest contributing factor to producing the most advanced a...
When most of us think of Omega, the first thing to come to mind is probably the Speedmaster, followed closely by the Seamaster and other tough, technically advanced sports and tool watches. Something that probably does not readily spring to mind is the tourbillon, although it probably should C Omega made some of the very first generation of tourbillon wristwatches, in a time (the 1940s) when the tourbillon was not a visual entertainment for the titillation of horological enthusiasts, but was instead at the cutting edge of experiments in producing better chronometry. Omega's first generation of tourbillon wristwatches virtually never appear for sale or at auctions, but when one did, at Philli...
Introducing: The New Frederique Constant Flyback Chronograph Manufacture
The Frederique Constant Flyback Chronograph Manufacture was first released at Baselworld in 2017. That watch had a vintage aesthetic evocative of chronographs of the 1930s, and it represented phenomenal value for a flyback chronograph with an in-house movement.? This year, the brand continued the evolution of that watch with two new variations. Both new watches feature the FC-760 Manufacture caliber movement and showcase a new dial design. The watches feature contrasting, two-tone dial and sub-dial configurations in blue or chocolate brown. The blue dial comes fitted in a stainless steel case and the chocolate dial in a rose-gold-plated case, both 42mm in diamete...
Introducing: The Grand Seiko SBGJ237 & SBGJ239
In terms of complications, I can think of none that I more closely identify with Grand Seiko than the GMT. It is offered across the full suite of Grand Seiko movement types C from Hi-Beat, to regular?beat, to Spring Drive, and even high-end quartz. Though there are exceptions, for the most part, the Grand Seiko GMT has occupied a territory that I would consider to be that of a dress watch, or at least a dressy-leaning watch. Take, for example, my own 30-meter-water-resistant SBGM221, which I routinely wear with a suit and, in fact, even wore to my wedding. It's a hugely versatile watch, and I wear it often in the fall, winter, and spring, but I would hesitate to call it a good summer watch. ...
The Grey NATO: Episode 114: The Isolation Tapes // Topic Not Found
Subscribe to the show: (Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Google Play and Spotify). Already heard it once or twice? Please leave a short review here, and tell us what topics you'd like us to chat about (or email [email protected]). thegreynato The Grey NATO - Ep 114 - The Isolation Tapes // Topic Not Found After a week's break, the show returns with a loose chat about whats going on in the world and how it all aligns with TGN and the communities the guys love to cover. This episode does not have a formal topic, but rather serves as Jason and James' attempt to support those in the watch world and encourage everyone to listen, learn, an...
Introducing: The Breguet Marine Alarme Musicale, Now On Matching Gold Bracelets
The most popular and widely used alarm watches, such as the JLC Memovox and the Vulcain Cricket, have all tended to have one thing in common, which is that the alarm is usually designed to be as loud as possible, rather than necessarily pleasant to listen to per se. This seems more than reasonable, and to me, very much in accord with the intended function of an alarm watch which, after all, is not to beguile the spirit of a pleasant hour with melodious harmonies, but rather to simply mark an important point in time and to summon a sleeper forth into the daylight world from the realm of Morpheus, however seductive it may seem to remain there. With all that said, i...
Introducing: The Longines Spirit 42mm Automatic Chronometer Chronograph
Earlier this week, we brought you the three-hand version of Longines' new Spirit pilot's watch and mentioned that the new line also included a chronograph version. Well, here it is. Carrying largely identical styling to that of its siblings, the Longines Spirit Automatic Chronometer Chronograph sticks to the same format while providing a column-wheel-equipped movement wrapped in a 42mm steel case.? Initial Thoughts As with the other models in this new collection, the styling for the for Spirit Chronograph is inoffensive and derivative of many other pilot's watches in the market (again, think Breitling and...
Hands-On: The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 36th America's Cup Limited Edition
This year, Omega announced that it has been named Official Timekeeper of the 36th America's Cup. For the past 25 years, the brand has been the watch on-board with Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ). Today, we go hands-on with a limited edition timepiece which celebrates that very partnership and the upcoming competition: the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 36th Americas Cup Limited-Edition. This is not the first time the brand has unveiled a limited edition watch to commemorate the America's Cup. For the 35th America's Cup in 2017, Omega released a commemorative Seamaster 300m, X-33, and Planet Ocean GMT 600m. That year, ETNZ won the competition, with the boat's engi...
Friday is here, and so is your weekly roundup of what's hot in the vintage watch world. Keeping things interesting, we've got an anonymous chronograph with military provenance, along with the estate of a German watchmaker to further impress the value of a good story. While chronograph fans will enjoy the inclusion of a rare, stepped-bezel Vetta, those looking for value play alternatives are sure to get a kick out of the luxuriously configured C and perhaps "neo-vintage" C Patek Philippe Calatrava. And, just because, a vintage Rolex Submariner display, because who doesn't need one of those?? Clamshell Chronograph w/ Military Provenance...
Hands-On: The Hublot Big Bang MP-11 Red Magic
Back in the year 2006, I happened to see in person a very unexpected watch from a very unexpected company. The watch was the Quenttin Tourbillon, from Jacob & Co., which was (and is) a massive timepiece with a then-unprecedented 31-day power reserve and vertical tourbillon. The Quenttin kicked off a whole new genre of competition among watchmakers. The longest power reserves in watches prior to the Quenttin were usually found in pocket watches, for which eight days was generally pushing it. Long power reserves mean either multiple mainspring barrels, or one very whopping big one, and the long power reserve generally meant sketchy chronometry at either extreme of the running time. The com...