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Best Super NEWS Watches
What's It Like Being A Hand Model?
Its Halloween at a club in central Birmingham (the one in the UK, not the one in Alabama), and the men are out with their traffic-accident faces and the women with their spray tans, fake eyelashes, and black sequined angel wings. Drinking his third spiced rum and Coke of the evening, Thomas King, 31, one of Englands hardest-working hand models, shouts over the music the secret to his success. Its all about the nail beds, he says. You see mine are quite narrow and long? Being a hand model is 80 percent about the nail beds. If youve got nice fingernails youre more than halfway there. He adjusts a pesky section on the Knight in ...
The NBA Shot Clock Shouldn't Be 24 Seconds
On November 22nd, 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons tipped off against the Minneapolis Lakers in a game of NBA basketball. The league itself was only four years old, and the game barely resembled what we know of it today. Shorts were short. Shots were stiff. At center for the Lakers was a bespectacled giant named George Mikan, widely considered the best player in the first half of the 20th century. Mikan towered over his puny competitors, and scored basically at will. So the Pistons devised a plan to stop him: Theyd simply hold the ball. That was it. A professional game of keep-away. And the Lakers couldnt do anything about it.?Fort Wayne won by a final score ...
This New Titanium Pilot's Watch From Longines Will Blow Your Mind
Two months ago, Longines introduced a new titanium timepiece into its fledgling, but quite popular, Spirit collection. Upon its release, our own Logan Baker proclaimed it to be the "best pilot's watch of the year." In a year with some stiff competition, including the little Big Pilot from IWC, my interest was piqued after seeing that. I first saw the watch in the metal the very same day our introductory coverage hit the HODINKEE website. I C along with our Deputy Editor, Nora Taylor C was attending the Longines Heritage Classic, a competitive equestrian event. Seated at a long table with an impressive spread of food, surrounded by horses (and bees) and jock...
Happenings: Stphane Belmont To Lecture At The Horological Society Of New York
Ninety years after the emblematic Reverso was born, Jaeger-LeCoultre invites watch enthusiasts to explore the history of one of watchmakings greatest legends. A unique and timeless expression of the Art Deco movement, the legend of the Reverso began on the polo fields of India, where the idea of a case that could be flipped over was born. Presented by Jaeger-LeCoultres Patrimony Director, Stphane Belmont, the December 2021 meeting of the Horological Society of New York will be a unique opportunity to discover the inside story of a true icon through the decades C not only as a canvas for personalization and artistic expression, but also as a home to high watchmaking complications and furth...
How to double-wrist with a mechanical watch and an Apple Watch
One of the biggest points of disagreement among the horological faithful is whether or not a smartwatch C the Apple Watch, let's say, although of course you can say this about any smartwatch C is really a watch. The argument is, of course, less one about definitions and more a way of expressing either a commendable broad-mindedness about what can go on the wrist, or expressing a commendable detestation of electronic wrist devices and all they stand for. Perhaps the only thing more divisive than smartwatches and their ilk, is the question of how to wear one. I doubt that anyone reading this substitutes a smartwatch for a mechanical watch with any regularity, but t...
Breitling Makes One Of The Best Affordable Watches
In Entry Level, we consider the least expensive watches from luxury watchmakers. They're still not cheap, but hey every brand has to start somewhere. Baselworld 2019 was a blur. Of watches. Of late nights at Les Trois Rois. Of sausage and muesli. I had no idea it would be my last. But Georges Kern knew. He and Breitling had already figured it out. A few days after the fair ended in April 2019, the Breitling boss announced he would no longer be exhibiting at the annual Basel showcase, citing scheduling conflicts. It was at that last Baselworld that Breitling's star had shone the brightest in as...
Mad Men Designer Janie Bryant's Hamilton Watch Capsule
Whether you knew it or not, if you were getting dressed in the early aughts, Janie Bryant's influence was somewhere in your closet. Her work on Mad Men ushered in a mainstream resurgence of skinny ties and pencil skirts, with the early adaptors haunting vintage stores and the rest of us breathing a sigh of relief when we could get our Joan Holloway looks served up neatly at the local Banana Republic. But the time has come for Bryant to turn her research skills and careful eye to another part of our wardrobes C our wrists. Her capsule collection takes three of Hamilton's American Classic pieces and reimagines them for today and tomorrow. Hamilton is a natural part...
The Breitling Super AVI Collection: In Depth
Breitling has just released an entirely new series of five watches that draw on the lore of four of the meanest fighters of the WWII Allied forces: the P-51 Mustang, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Vought F4U Corsair, and the de Havilland Mosquito. These planes not only contributed to an ultimate victory through their groundbreaking aerodynamic designs, they've become a symbol of humankind's triumph over evil. Although these planes must operate within the confines of earthly physics, on an ideological level, they remind us that there are no limits. The significance of these planes is ...
Choosing A "Desert Island Watch"
Imagine you're stranded on an uninhabited island. You don't know when help will arrive, or if it ever will, but you've got the basics of survival down. There's enough water to sustain you. You have some form of shelter. Eating means embracing your natural instincts and hunting and foraging. The watch on your wrist during this imaginative ordeal? That's your "desert island watch." Though I have to note, it should probably be called the "deserted island watch," unless you really are on island that hosts a desert climate.? This thought exercise seems to crop up time and again in watch enthusiast circles (and other hobbyist circles, as we...
Hey HODINKEE on Bumper Automatics, Being A Watch Brand President, And What's In Store For Tudor
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Hey, HODINKEE! where you ask, and we do our level best to answer. Your hosts, as usual, are HODINKEE Editor in Chief Jack Forster, with HODINKEE Deputy Editor Nora Taylor as the voice of the audience. This week, we look at some of the more over-the-top moves we've seen this year from Tudor, and wonder what might be coming next. And, we wonder what it might be like to be president of a watch brand. Is being the boss at Rolex an endless cavalcade of high-stress, high-wire decisions, full of color and incident, or does the average day in the life of a brand boss maybe have a slightly more mellow vibe? ...
Just when I was feeling as though the whole vintage re-issue trend had run its course for my tastes, Aquastar pulled me back in. The brand was reborn in 2020 under the watchful eye of Rick Marei, a man who knows a thing or two about creating a vintage re-issue, and Aquastar has just announced the new Deepstar II. As a follow-up to the popular Deepstar Chronograph Re-Edition of 2020, the Deepstar II leans heavily on the early '60s Aquastar aesthetic in offering a sort of hypothetical answer to what Aquastar might have made if the brand had not faded from relevancy during the quartz crisis. Aquastar fans are most likely looking at ...
Want To See What A HODINKEE Magazine Launch Party Looks Like
HODINKEE Magazine is a true labor of love. Twice a year, our own editors, along with a variety of truly great voices in journalism, get together to compile a broad collection of stories meant to be enjoyed away from the internet in the hand (and also displayed on your lovely bookshelves and coffee tables). While we were able to deliver our last three issues in spite of the challenges surrounding the pandemic, there was something missing with each launch. That would be you, the HODINKEE Community, our readers who share in this crazy hobby with us. We sent issues to your homes but didnt get a chance to connect until now. With the r...
Did You Know Brooke Shields Collects Watches?
One moment, you're writing 600 words on the supply of Rolex steel sport watches, and the next you find yourself standing in the kitchen of one Brooke Shields, preparing to sit down for a little conversation about C what else C watches. In a gorgeous 19th century townhouse in the heart of New York City's historic (and iconic) West Village, Shields pulled out all the stops, and all the timepieces, for an honest discussion about her career, and how it's mirrored through the watches she's owned and worn. Through her collection, which is a bit different from some we've seen in the past, you get a sense of a story. Look at each component individually, and you'll surely...
So, You Want To Be A Watch Writer?
Have you ever wanted to be a watch writer? While perhaps not as glamorous as Instagram can make it seem, it's a wonderful job if you love watches and happen to have a talent for the written word. In this episode, our own Ben Clymer and Jack Forster join me to chat about how they got their start in watch writing, what has changed over the past several years, and what it takes to build a real career in the space.? Covering one of our most frequently asked questions, this episode is a mix of rose-tinted memories, early lessons as a writer, and a consideration of what it is to be a media professional in today's always-evolving landscape. D...
Using Data Analytics To Tell Stories About The Watch World
Most watch writing is purely observational. We use primary sources when researching stories that involve necessary historical context, but for the most part, raw data isn't part of the equation. When I came across the blog of Goldammer Vintage Watches, a small vintage watch shop in Germany, I was impressed with the way the author, Marcus Siems, used raw data to back up C and in some cases, find C the story. Siems is a neuroscientist with over a decade in the field, but he uses his methods on watches just for fun. "I'm personally fascinated by data analysis C even without a clear hypothesis; if there's a clear trend in the data, you'll see it and can visualize it," Siems says.? ...
The MB&F X Bulgari Legacy Machine Flying T 'Allegra' Collaboration
The MB&F Legacy Machine Flying T (the "T" stands for tourbillon) was first introduced in early 2019 and at that time, it was billed as a ladies' watch and came in two versions C one with a diamond-set bezel and case, as well as one that added a diamond pav dial. The watch attracted quite a lot of interest from the enthusiast and MB&F collector community in general, and as it turned out, there were quite a few C irrespective of gender C who opined that they'd love a version of the watch without the ice. Their wish was granted, and in February of 2020, the second version of the Flying T was introduced, with guilloch dial plates by Kari Voutilainen's dial-making company, Comblmine. ...
Daisy Alioto On Her Longines Watch With A Mysterious Inscription
In Watch of the Week, we invite HODINKEE staffers and friends to explain why they love a certain piece. This week's columnist is our own Audience Engagement Manager. Our friend H said we should look out the window on the descent into Hailey, Idaho to take in the formations of the landscape. Then again, we might not want to look out the window, as we passed between the mountains like a croquet ball before landing at an angle more commonly used in wartime. (Though I think his memories may have been exaggerated.) Whats going on out there? I heard someone say, several rows ahead of me. I pressed my han...
Oliver Smith Jeweler has been at it for 40 years. Between their Aspen and Scottsdale locations, they've built a sterling reputation; we've profiled the business before. For their 40th anniversary, they've paired with Parmigiani Fleurier to create a watch that tips its hat to the mid-century tradition of double-signed dials. Parmigiani has created two models for the occasion C Tonda GT and Tondagraph GT. "Brown is the signature Oliver Smith Jeweler color," says Elizabeth Smith, the heiress to the Oliver Smith empire who earned her stripes in the industry running the company's brand-new Aspen Panerai boutique, "and you don't see many brown-dialed watches in the market. Also, we know first-hand...
When Your Watch Becomes A Deserted Island Dilemma
If you're going to visit a mostly deserted and possibly treacherous tropical island C what watch would you want on your wrist? In this episode of HODINKEE Radio, I sat down with our own Cole Pennington to chat over his decision to take an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver to The Dry Tortugas, which includes a 19th-century-fort-turned-national-park near the Florida Keys. As you might assume, things didn't exactly go to plan.? After his island adventure, Cole also talks with me about his recent trip to Dallas for Breitling's launch of the Super AVI line. If you like vintage warplanes and burly mid-century themed chronographs, be s...
New Vintage Watches In The HODINKEE Shop
To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the HODINKEE Shop, click?here.Questions? Send us a note, or let us know in the comments. Want to sell your vintage watch through the HODINKEE Shop? Click?here. Want to sell your pre-owned watch? Click?here. This Week's Vintage Watches We told you to mark your calendars for a new collection of vintage watches every Wednesday morning and Thanksgiving being tomorrow is not going to stop that from happening. Vintage watches are as core to HODINKEE as Ben's collection of sweaters and neither take breaks. Just because tomorrow is a holiday, there's no reason not to offer a...