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Best Super NEWS Watches
The Seiko WristMac Is The First Apple Watch
It would seem that auction season hasn't quite had its way with us yet C only today's auction item is far from our mechanically oriented, million-dollar-estimated, regularly scheduled programming. You won't find it in the blue-chip auction houses of Christie's, Sotheby's, or Bonhams. No, today we are looking at a very specific, late 1980s digital Seiko. What makes this watch so special is that it may very well be the first Apple smartwatch. Confused? Let's dive a little deeper. Photo from Comic Connect Yesterday, news broke that an auction website called Comic Connect would be listing a seemingly esoteric battery-powered Seiko...
Introducing The Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403
Despite competition from its easy-going dive watch, Aquis, Oriss signature model has always been and probably always will be the Big Crown Pointer Date. The classic pilots watch has been in constant production since 1938, says Oris, but commercial realities meant that when the independent company was looking for a shell for its Calibre 400 Series project, it was the much newer Aquis that got the call. The younger model, in short, does bigger money. The Big Crown Pointer Date didnt get its first Calibre 400 Series moment until last summer. The grey-toned Holstein Edition 2021 was powered by the Calibre 403 variant of Oriss own...
Inside Lung Lung Thun's Collection
By the time Hong Kong-based financier Lung Lung Thun, 32, had found celebrity in the watch world, it was too late. She'd already been pigeonholed as a leading "lady collector," even having been profiled in a New York Times piece highlighting female collectors. She's been typecast as an agent of change in the watch world, but she doesn't see it that way. "I've always thought, man, I wish some other girl would come on Instagram and take the load off me. Because I just want to focus on the watches," she says. She's been focusing on watches for about a decade now, long before she became a name in the watch scene. She's one one-fifth ...
The Ming 37.05 is the first moonphase date watch from Ming
Ming watches have become a fixture of the modern horological landscape in something like record time. The first of the 17 series watches came out in August of 2017 (which is kind of a brilliant time to launch a microbrand because most of the rest of the industry's taking the month off) and since then, they've done a number of different types of watches, and complications, including a diver's watch, a GMT model, and an ultra-thin model, with movements ranging from modified Sellita calibers to custom versions of movements from Schwartz-Etienne. What the company has never done before is either a date complication or a moonphase complication. The new Ming 37.05 is th...
HODINKEE Thanksgiving Story On Five Turkeys Of Watchmaking
Let me say right now, that I like watches a lot. However, it's also absolutely true that no matter how good you are and no matter how good your colleagues and company are, there are going to be times C hopefully, damned few of them C when you produce something that might charitably be called sub-par. Now, if we're talking about something that's a real turkey, we need to say what that means. "Turkey" in American slang usually means something which is, for lack of a better word, not only bad, but really bad. We're not talking merely mediocre, or thoughtless, or lacking in imagination, or even tasteless. What's tasteless, after all, is very different from one person...
The New H. Moser & Cie. Heritage Bronze Since 1828 Limited Edition
If your Russians a little rusty, it may not be immediately clear that the lettering on the dial of H. Moser & Cie.s Heritage Bronze Since 1828 Limited Edition C launched today at Dubai Watch Week C is the Cyrillic form of the independent companys logo. Curious though it is, this isnt a first for the modern-day Moser. A few years ago, it put out the Venturer XL Stoletniy Krasniy, which, like this new watch, celebrated the Swiss companys Russian roots. Indeed, Moser says its latest is another nod to its origin story, which began in St. Petersburg nearly two centuries ago when the company was founded by Heinrich Moser. Th...
What Are The Watches In Planes, Trains, & Automobiles?
New York City, Two Days Before Thanksgiving. These two title cards fading onto the screen set up a rollicking 1980s slapstick adventure that only John Hughes could put to film. We're talking Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) today on Watching Movies C? a holiday romp that may very well be the most quintessential Thanksgiving movie ever made. But it might also be one of the best, true, watch movies ever made, with direct call-outs to the wristwear in the film, and an excellent close-up to boot.? I'll admit, it had been years since I last saw this one, but it will surely become seasonal viewing if for no other reason than the way ...
The gift-giving season is upon us again, so I asked Nora and Danny to join me for this episode and discuss the merits of giving a watch as a gift. From the types of people who might be right for a surprise watch to actual watch suggestions and watch-adjacent alternatives, it's a fun, lighthearted episode, and many of the suggestions linked below are even available in the HODINKEE Shop.? Though Danny and Nora started the episode diametrically opposed in their viewpoints, in the spirit of the holidays we came together to try and simplify this one facet of watch-related gift-giving and I think they even managed to find some common ground....
When fashion designer Virgil Abloh died Sunday at the shockingly young age of 41 from a rare form of cancer, he left behind an immense cultural legacy C most obviously as the founder of the luxe streetwear brand Off-White, and as the first Black artistic director at Louis Vuitton. But also as a watch collector. He approached his watches (particularly the Patek Philippe Nautilus) the same way he approached his clothes, as if the raw materials were hip-hop beats to be sampled and improved upon. He clashed high and low until the distinctions became inverted. And in this way, he redefined the very notion of luxury. He was known for three Pateks: A gold Nautilus and a...
Introducing the Ming 20.01 Special Projects Cave Series 2 20.01 Chronograph
The new 20.01 Series 2 chronograph from Ming started out as a unique piece concept watch, back in early 2020, as the 20.01 S1 Concept. The watch uses a modified Agengraphe chronograph caliber, developed by complications specialist Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, who established a complications workshop called Agenhor in 1996. The 20.01 S1 concept was followed later in 2020 by an eight-piece limited edition with a Mosaic crystal (first seen in July in the 20.11 Mosaic time-only watch) and last week, Ming announced the largest limited series production version of a Ming Agengraphe chronograph yet.? Front, the new 20.01 Series 2; behind it, its predecessor, the 20....
The Best, Most Extravagant Watches We Want
Even with our close-up knowledge of soaring auction prices and competitive buying markets, we humble watch writers aren't immune to the odd horological daydream. While we may handle rare and expensive watches more than most, we, unfortunately, have to return them at the end of the day, richer in knowledge but not much else. So here are the watches that have caught our eyes and haunted our dreams, presented purely for editorial value, not at all as a hint to some benevolent moneybags and/or white-bearded present bringer willing to make our deepest wishes come true. Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds Blue ...
How I Used The Apple Watch To Get In Shape
In Watch of the Week, we invite HODINKEE staffers and friends to explain why they love a certain piece. This week's columnist is a tech reporter for Consumer Reports. One hundred and ninety-five pounds?!? What the heck!It was the morning of December 30, 2017, and I was standing on a scale at a blood donation center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, embarrassed by the number staring back at me. It was my second time there in as many months. The first time, in mid-October, was to donate blood for the sole purpose of finding out my blood type in order to wrap up my Colombian citizenship application process. It turned out that my...
The IWC Big Pilots Watch Monopusher Edition Le Petit Prince.
Just when we thought it was time?to settle in for a long holiday nap, IWC roused us from slumber with a release early this morning. We're looking at a new Big Pilot with a twist. This is the first time the brand has paired its iconic pilot's tool watch with chronograph functionality. It's called the Big Pilots Watch Monopusher Edition "Le Petit Prince" and is limited to 500 pieces. What we have is a large monopusher chronograph inside the large, 46mm-plus Big Pilot case with a Le Petit Prince-inspired blue dial and distinct vintage-inspired Arabic numerals. The sub-registers are aligned in a vertical configuration and there is a date window at three o'clock. ...
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 Nine new vintage watches. That's it, that's all. If you're still looking for that perfect holiday gift for a watch lover in your life, vintage may just do the trick. While a smaller vintage collection hits the HODINKEE Shop this week, quality could not be higher. The Vintage Team has managed to fit all of the expected variety into nine ...
Roger Smith Wears A Speedmaster
The great independent watchmaker Roger Smith has produced just over 100 pieces in his 20-year career. Before striking out on his own, Smith was the apprentice of one of the all-time greats, George Daniels, the father of the coaxial escapement. Smith's work has long been appreciated by in-the-know collectors, but recently his horological genius has been recognized by a much wider audience. Last May, his Series 1 "Onely Theo Fennell" piece unique shattered all expectations at auction and brought in CHF541,800 without buyer's premium C blasting past the initial CHF 80,000 estimate. ...
Vaer Makes Field And Dive Watches In The United States
Vaer isn't talking to you. Yeah, you. Reading HODINKEE right now. It's not that they don't want to. In fact, their designs frequently riff on inside-baseball vintage watches, which you'd think would be a tacit acknowledgement of the HODINKEE audience. It's that they want to bring more people into this hobby. People who don't already own a watch. People who look like founders Ryan Torres and Reagan Cook C young, tech savvy, and fashion-forward. But instead of becoming another "lifestyle" watch brand that pays more attention to Instagram influencer marketing campaigns than quality control, they want to get people hooked on classical watch aesthetics. ...
Robin Swithinbank Shares His Thoughts On Dubai Watch Week
Imagine if you will, youre at Dubai Watch Weeks chi-chi Cipriani pop-up, and who do you see noshing nonchalantly on gnocchi and chatting idly in the midday sun but Jean-Frdric Dufour and Fran?ois-Paul Journe.Such is the unbound informality of Dubais biennial micro-fair that for the seasoned visitor, this little mise en scne wouldnt have done much to surprise, even if it did leave intrigued diners to pretend we werent talking about what it was the industry overlords C one corporate behemoth, one all-conquering indie C might be talking about. (The burrata? The wisdom of wearing a jacket and tie in 90-degree heat? Whether Francis Ford Coppola could be persuaded to make a film about Dufo...
HODINKEE Radio: Navigator And Explorer, Two
In this episode we have the tale of two adventurous watches, the latest generation of the Rolex Explorer II and the more budget-friendly Marathon Navigator. Given that they've each authored a story about one of these watches over the course of the past week, I asked Jon and Cole to join me on the mics to chat about this latest evolution of the Explorer II's fifty-year history and a humble pilot's watch with ample do-it-all charm. ? As something of an Explorer II nerd myself, I have been curious about this latest reference since it was announced back in April and thankfully Jon got a chance to go hands-on and help me fill in a few blank...
Did you know there are over 500 pre-owned watches currently available in the HODINKEE Shop? Take a look for yourself C?right here. Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Cartier, IWC, Grand Seiko,?and so many more C?all available right now, with plenty of time to decide before the holidays. Whether you're shopping for your loved ones C?or yourself C?we've put together a short list of highlight-worthy watches to help you out.? And if you're still in the gift-giving spirit after perusing the HODINKEE Pre-Owned for yourself, don't miss out on our special Holiday Gift Guide, curated by us for you. ? Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Medium Small Seconds...
This is the Watch the Military Wears
Marathon is a brand more watch enthusiasts should know about. It's a lesser-known maker of purpose-built wristwatches that offers tremendous value, and the $360 Navigator is the way in. It sits as the entry point into the range of watches built for various military forces and organizations that carry out their work in the field. This includes publicly funded scientists, aid workers, and military-adjacent agencies. There's a reason Marathon isn't as well-known as I (and many other fans) think it should be, and that's because they haven't invested in brand positioning and marketing campaigns until very recently in their history. For most of the brand's existence, t...