Best Super NEWS Watches
Pre-Owned Picks Ceramic Watches From The HODINKEE Shop
With the dog days of summer upon us C a term given to us from the Greeks and Romans for when Sirius rises with the sun C it's time to put away the leather straps and heavy steel watches in favor of something a little more lightweight on the wrist. Ceramic has gone from being an unusual material for watches in the 1980s to being a common sight on watch bezels, dials, cases, and even bracelets today, thanks to its ability to resist scratches better than stainless steel. Here are some options from our pre-owned collection that are heavy in style and yet light on the wrist. IWC Pilot Fliegerchronograph Keramik IW3705 ...
Perri Dash has lived many lives. "I've never been afraid to reinvent myself," the 35-year-old Dash tells me from his home in New Jersey. "I'm constantly growing and maturing." The proof is in his resum. Once a supply chain manager for David Yurman, he started an event collective (after a stint working for Pharrell's brand, Billionaire Boys Club) that led him to the art world, where he began collecting and curating shows on his own. "I worked with a lot of pioneering artists," he says. "I gave Mr. Star City his first show." After taking a break to start a family, he found himself in retail. "I was still afforded the opportunity to run a business without hav...
Baltic Just Made It's Most Modern Watch: The Aquascaphe Titanium
I have been writing about Baltic watches since basically my first week at HODINKEE. Since that time, a good deal of their vintage-inspired pieces have come across my desk. From the Bicompax to the Dual-Crown to the Aquascaphe GMT and a whole lot else in between, I've seen my fair share of the Baltic collection in all manner of case shapes and materials. When word got to me a few weeks ago that the brand was releasing a titanium version of its now well-known Aquascaphe, I didn't really react. "Alright, so it's the same watch in titanium? I'll have a think on it." Then I saw the images and noticed something C something different. I needed to see these new pieces in the metal. ...
H. Moser's Most Affordable Watch
I seriously hesitate to describe a time-only wristwatch that costs $14,000 as a "value proposition," but when you start to dig deeper into the rarefied world of independent Swiss luxury watchmaking, it becomes easier and easier to understand the inherent merit that some five- and six-figure watches hold over their peers. The Pioneer Swiss Mad Red from H. Moser & Cie. is one such watch.? At $14,200, it's solidly outside of my personal (three-figure) purchasing power, but there's a lot to appreciate about this crimson contender. And for me, the story starts with the self-winding manufacture caliber HMC 200 inside. It's fully vi...
The Watch Collection Of Tyler Lyle, Lead Singer Of The Midnight
As one half of synth-pop duo The Midnight, Tyler Lyle records music that's steeped in nostalgia and will make you want to dance.? It's the kind of thing you listen to when you want main-character energy for the movie of your life.? "We try to think of nostalgia as a prompt," Lyle says. "The sounds we use are recognizable to people our age C it's the classic synthesizers and drums they might have heard playing in a K-Mart when they were very young. We like to create music that operates in the sandbox of memory." Lyle's philosophy of nostalgia carries over to his watch collecting approach, as well. He w...
Swiss Watch Exports Experience Double-Digit Growth In First-Half Of 2022
It's a good time to work in the Swiss watch industry.?At least that's what the official numbers are indicating. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) reported last week that the first six months of 2022 saw nearly 12 percent growth in the value of exports compared to the same period in 2021; the total export value for all Swiss watches in this period was an impressive 11.9 billion Swiss francs.* (These FH figures solely represent the wholesale activity between Swiss watchmakers and their network of international retail partners.) Source, Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Additional positive mid-year reports have...
G-Shock's New GMB2100 Is A Stainless Steel 'CasiOak'
Finally! The fine folks at G-Shock have just announced a series of three new watches combining two of the company's most popular and most recent collections. The brand-new GMB2100 series utilizes the octagonal bezel and ana-digi dial display of G-Shock's best-selling "CasiOak" series, and surrounds it in an all-encompassing stainless steel case and bracelet, first seen in the fan-favorite "Full Metal" line-up which debuted all the way back in 2018.? The just-announced G-Shock GMB2100D-1A "Full Metal" "CasiOak." Image, G-Shock The new GMB2100 is the most premium expression of the CasiOak identity yet, containing zero external r...
What Watch Does Blake Lively Wear In 'The Shallows?'
There's a special place in cinema history for the "genre film." These movies are less about being, shall we say, "good" C and are more about playing with the conventions of a cinematic sub-category, like horror or noir or sci-fi or mob pictures. Movies like this can err on the side of the absurd, and that is part of their charm.? The Shallows (with a thrifty 86-minute runtime) is a shark-attack genre film starring Blake Lively as a med-school dropout who travels to a remote beach in Mexico for a little frolic in the waves C alone C only to find herself attacked by, and in a one-on-one battle with, a killer shark. The only thing she has at her disposal to save her...
Always Wanted To Own James Bond's Watch? Well, Now's Your Chance
The watch featured in the lead image is the same model as the Christie's watch, but it is not the exact watch. Calling all James Bond superfans C The actual Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 007 Edition worn (shaken, and stirred), by Daniel Craig in his swan song, No Time To Die, is set to cross the block at Christie's. The well known auction house has just announced a new partnership with London's Eon Productions (the company behind the Bond movies) and an exciting live auction that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. Scheduled for September 28, 2022, the "Sixty Years of James Bond: Live Auction" is packed with ...
[Editors' Note: The author of this story, a former undercover officer for the CIA, has asked to remain anonymous.] I have a confession. I recently bought a watch on Amazon. I had heard from even the most venerable scholars that it was sometimes possible to find horological joy on America's superstore. But until this recent purchase, I didn't believe it. As a traditionalist who values the thrill of the hunt C where the knowledge and experiences gained on the journey often exceed the pleasure of the destination C the idea of buying a timepiece on Amazon is sacrilegious. Is it really possible to find an inspiring piece from the sam...
We Took The Oris Big Crown Wings Of Hope LE Into The Amazon
At HODINKEE, we believe watches are for everyone C everywhere. So we're very proud to present a special edition of Watches in the Wild, a series which celebrates the collectors and creators thriving in every corner of the globe. In this installment, we travel to Ecuador. When it comes to bush flying in the Amazon, weather is a pilot's biggest concern. I recently traveled to Ecuador with a special limited-edition Oris strapped to my wrist: A white-dial Big Crown 5 Days that was released last week. That watch was created in support of Wings of Hope, a humanitarian non-profit that uses aviation to ...
Is Every Season Grand Seiko Season?
Grand Seiko remains one of world's more mysterious luxury watch brands. Up until about 2017, it was considered to be the luxe watchmaking side of Seiko writ large. That was until Grand Seiko became its own entity. They may have shared the word "Seiko" on the dial, but GS was a thing unto itself.? For years Grand Seiko had no American boutiques, which meant collectors here had to hop on a plane to see them in person. When Grand Seiko America was formed and the first GS boutique arrived in the US in 2018, it opened the floodgates just like Tudor's reintroduction into the US market a decade ago. Today, both brands stand among the most popular in all of horology for ...
Yes, There Are Watches At NYC Basketball Courts.
New York City is home to the Mecca of Basketball: Madison Square Garden. It's where the ever-disappointing Knickerbockers take on the NBA's best 41 times per year. It's also played host to some of most legendary matchups in college basketball history going back to "old days" of the Big East. But step outside MSG, and walk the streets of NYC, and you'll find countless outdoor basketball courts featuring some of the most entertaining street ball you're likely to ever see. Come at the right time, and you might even catch some pro players brushing up on their skills. There's a strong cohort of basketball junkies here at HODINKEE. And...
Sarah Miller's Last 'Newbie' Column
Regular readers of this column will know that, over the past year, I have subjected myself to numerous experiments and encounters in an attempt to see if I C a person who, quite recently, knew absolutely zero about watches C could gain a working knowledge. Recently I put together that silly clock (and then the even sillier watch) in hopes it would bring me one step closer to graduating from being a newbie. But I had to admit, I didn't feel quite ready. I was close. I just needed a little push C the right event, the right moment, the right intelligence. How would I find one or all of these things? I needed to do something not silly.? ...
New Vintage Watches In The HODINKEE Shop
To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the HODINKEE Shop, click here. This Week's Vintage Watches After an Omega-heavy drop last Wednesday, it's time to mix it up with some classic HODINKEE Vintage selections. By the way, how great was that Omega Seamaster Cosmic 2000? We saw your calls in the comments for OMEGA to bring back the Seamaster Cosmic and we hope that the brand did, as well! There's nothing better than offering something a bit out of the ordinary and hearing our community resonate with the watch. ...
The Citizen Orca Is Back From the 2000s
When I got back into the modern watch scene a few years ago, I was struck by the feeling that I missed out on an important period of collecting during my hiatus: The "forum days," as I like to call them. Sure, watch forums are still alive and well, but listening to Cole or James talk about microbrand kickstarters, forum brands, and forum fan-favorites, the early 2000s sound like they were the golden age for affordable timepieces. Looking at those watches C especially the oversized models of the time C always left me with a weird kind of nostalgia (one for an era I never experienced) and left me wondering what I missed out on when I was a teenager. ...
Pre-Owned Picks of Rolex Watches Worth Collecting
Every week, we bring you a selection of our favorite watches from the HODINKEE Pre-Owned Collection. This week we are focusing on Rolex, the king of the luxury watch world. It is the brand known by everyone, even those who have never read HODINKEE. With a long history of manufacturing some of the most desirable, timeless, and hard-to-get watches, the brand's popularity over time has only increased, creating years-long waitlists to obtain some of the most popular models. With all the hype around the newer Rolex models why not skip the line and buy an out of production timepiece that has already proven to be a modern classic. 16610LV Submariner ...
The NAWCC 2022 Symposium - Horology's Great Collectors
Since the invention of mechanical timekeeping, passionate collectors have recognized the enduring historical, technological, cultural, and aesthetic values of horology. To awe and inspire themselves and others, they built fine collections that are in museums around the world or have been dispersed but are well-documented. These collectors deserve our attention, study, and everlasting gratitude. The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors (NAWCC) 2022 Symposium will focus on the lives and collections of some of those men and women who are no longer with us. They enriched our appreciation and understanding of horology and had significant collections known to the public. They wrote...
Sarah Miller wears a large Glashtte green watch
I do not tend to gravitate toward interesting watches. Telling the time is a straightforward business, basic in the best way, and adding any layer of quirk or complication seems to me to miss the point C and really the opportunity C?watches have to be good at this very important function of helping people situate themselves in reality and to show up at the same time the other guy is supposed to show up. I can like an interesting watch, but I don't know if I can love one. This harsh, humorless pronouncement, which I reserve the right to C and am in fact certain to C retract at any time, very much includes asymmetrical watches. I ...
Everything You Need To Know About The Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope
There are few names in the watch galaxy that you can say without uttering the brand C the horological equivalent to the one-name celebrity. The Madonna of watches. For me, two stand out above all else. At the top of the list are the Submariner and the Speedmaster. The Speedy is known the world over because it permeated watch nerdery and entered the broader consciousness. Much of that has to do with the chronograph's well-known connection to the NASA space program. And Omega knows how important the Speedmaster is to the brand, writ large. James Stacey and I spoke recently about how you could almost consider the Speedmaster a subsidiary brand in its own right. That...