Best Super NEWS Watches
A Review Of The 1990s Roger Dubuis Hommage Condottieri
The thing about a simple, three-hand watch is that there's nowhere to hide.?Maybe that's why time-only watches from watchmakers like Philippe Dufour, Roger Smith, or Rexhep Rexhepi resonate with so many of us. These watches are content with what they are, and with fewer components, the utmost attention is paid to every single one, both when the watch is being finished and when it's being worn. This same line of thinking applies to the Roger Dubuis Hommage Condottieri from the mid-'90s that you see here, and yet it's also so much more. You can feel the difference when you pick it up, put it on, and flip through its plush box and p...
In advance of Watches and Wonders 2023, Ressence has unveiled the latest version of the brand's slim and lightweight Type 8 and this new iteration offers its own flavor via a sage green dial. The Type 8 launched around this time last year with the original cobalt blue model and the new Type 8 S ("s" is for sage) expands the lineup with a new colorway.? Sizing though, remains the same, with the Type 8 S rocking a 42.9mm wide titanium case that is just 11mm thick and weighs in at only 42 grams. The case offers a mix of polished and satin finishing and comes fitted with a great leather strap with a titanium buckle.? ...
The New Oris ProPilot Altimeter
After some time away from the brand's active lineup, the deeply cool Oris ProPilot Altimeter is back. Oris has improved this unique offering by increasing its operating ceiling, making it a bit thinner, and producing the case from a high-tech preparation of carbon fiber.? If you might be in the market for an automatic mechanical watch with a mechanical altimeter, well, you should pay attention, because this is the only one. The 2023 ProPilot Altimeter follows closely to the layout and function set of the original mode, but much of the experience has been updated thanks to a new generation of the altim...
New Cartier Tank Louis Watches 2023
With its elongated case and smooth gold edges, the Tank Louis Cartier has always possessed one of the more sophisticated forms in an already sophisticated line of watches. Recently Cartier has treated the space within those brancards as something of a playground. Last year there were the ying and yang releases of the ber-minimalist black dial option and the textured engraved versions. This year the interplay between solid and stripe (ok, patterned) continues with four new releases.? Green lacquer Tank Louis Cartier Each watch runs on the same manual wind 1917 MC movement with the same 33.7mm length and 25.5mm width. No rail t...
The New 39mm TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 'Glassbox'
TAG Heuer's 60th-anniversary celebration continues apace, and today the brand is looking toward the future with a completely reconceived Carrera chronograph in two color configurations: steely blue and reverse-panda black. The model is being touted the "Glassbox" for its domed, curved, crystal, which pays homage to similarly domed hesalite crystal designs from the 1970s. This new Glassbox design allows TAG a new unique way to display the inner tachymeter scale. Where it has typically been displayed C flat C on the outer edges of the dial, now it slopes down, matching the curvature of the crystal. On t...
Introducing the MB&F LM Perpetual in Steel
Since its launch in 2015, MB&F's incredibly three-dimensional Legacy Machine (LM) Perpetual has come in a lot of metals. Red gold, platinum, white gold, titanium, yellow gold, and palladium have all made an appearance. And while it might seem like they worked backward to the most obvious, the brand is announcing today that for the first time, you can now get a taste of LM Perpetual in stainless steel, with a tasty salmon dial to boot. The fully integrated 581-component caliber designed by independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell remains the same, a selling point for a watch that has been designed to be foolproof and tro...
Step aside Rolex, there's a new Kermit in town. While previous watches, like a certain "Kermit" Submariner, got their nicknames from collectors, Oris is doing it the official way by working with Disney's The Muppets for a new ProPilot X Calibre 400 "Kermit Edition." It has all the Oris touches you know and love, plus a bright green dial and a frog inside the date window.? "Kermit Day" on the Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition date wheel. Titanium case, titanium bracelet, in-house movement C yada yada yada C that's all great, but the star of the show is the cultural ico...
Bulgari Octo Finissimo With "Tuscan Copper" Dial
Bulgari is back with another tweak to its famous Octo Finissimo. This time the brand behind ultra-thin record makers and breakers releases a new Octo featuring a "Tuscan Copper" colored dial, which is a sunray-finished metallic dial in a warm hue. According to Bulgari, the color of the dial is inspired by "the supernatural light present in the paintings of an Italian artist of the 16th century Florentine school."? Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Executive Director of Product Creation, cited the Mannerism movement (which saw a movement away from naturalistic realism towards a more expressive way of painting) and the work of Jacopo da Pontormo. "The Octo Finissimo o...
Tudor Pop-Up In Geneva For Watches & Wonders
If you're in Geneva and have access to an umbrella, a comfortable pair of shoes, and no shortage of Tudor enthusiasm, have I got a special shop for you. Announced earlier this week, and soon-to-be actively attracting a crowd, Tudor is running a Geneva-only pop-up shop for their entire lineup C including the watches they'll release Monday morning for Watches & Wonders 2023.? That's right, when the brand new Tudor models are unveiled to the world at 8:30 a.m. CEST, the Tudor pop-up shop in Geneva will have those exact watches?C whatever they may be C in stock and ready for any wrist that is willing to wait in line (presumably on a first-come-first-served basis)...
Tudor's New METAS-Certified Black Bay With Burgundy Bezel
Fresh out of Tudor's brand new manufacture in Le Locle, we find a full-bodied unidirectional burgundy bezel Black Bay. This watch is now METAS Master Chronometer certified, meaning it was put through hell and tested for waterproofness, power reserve, magnetic resistance, and accuracy. This is a nod towards Tudor's future plans to make their entire range METAS. The watch is powered by Tudor's Manufacture Calibre MT5602-U, which among other things, has been "weekend proofed" meaning you can take it off for 70 hours without having to wind it (that was in the in-house movement before but still nice to have). It can operate within a t...
Patek Philippes New Pilot-Style Travel Time Chronograph
Patek Philippe has introduced a new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Chronograph ref. 5924G, the brand's first-ever chronograph in the Pilot watch line with a flyback chronograph. In a white gold case measuring 42mm wide and 13.05mm thick with 30m water resistance, the watch comes in two dial variations: a sunburst blue-gray, and a particularly military-inspired lacquered khaki green, each with a matching calfskin strap. Both feature gold applied numerals with luminescent coating. Inside the case, Patek has placed the Caliber CH 28?520 C FUS, a flyback chronograph with a 6...
Patek Philippe New Aquanauats in Rose Gold 2023
It's the year of rose gold for the Aquanaut. Patek has introduced a trio of new models for the Aquanaut, all in rose gold: an Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar, the Aquanaut Chronograph, and for good measure, an Aquanaut with 48 diamonds on the bezel. First up is the Aquanaut Chronograph 5968R to the collection. Here, the rose gold case measures 42.2mm by 11.9mm, and a composite brown strap matches the brown dial. The 5968R takes the familiar form of the Aquanaut chronograph and renders it in rose gold.? That means the 42mm case has 120 meters of water resistance, and the brown dial has a sunburst effect ...
Forty-one. Then 39. Now 37. It's a new Black Bay formula from Tudor as the brand has officially unveiled the Black Bay 54, a purist-driven 37mm steel take on the Black Bay that makes direct reference to the 7922.? From the perspective of the modern Tudor lineup, this is as close as you can get to 1954, and this new model C which is being launched in a single colorway C also sports a no-date manufacture caliber. Look closely, as the new Black Bay 54 is more than a downsized Black Bay Fifty-Eight. Keen eyes will notice no intermediate hash marks on the bezel, a new profile for the grip-edge of the bezel...
Tudor Black Bay GMT Opaline White Dial
At Watches & Wonders, Tudor has introduced a new opaline dial to its Black Bay GMT. It's the same Black Bay GMT we know (and a lot of you love) C?41mm steel case, "Pepsi" bezel, manufacture caliber, just with a new, off-white, "polar" dial.? Tudor is calling the new dial "opaline," telling us it isn't quite white, but is finished with a galvanic process that gives it a matte white-grey finish. It gives the dial a silvery hint.? The markers have contrasting surrounds that look like a dark grey, that matches the seconds hand. Tudor's familiar manufacture caliber MT5652 sits inside. Like the existing...
The New Tudor Black Bays with In-House Movements
Tudor just revamped its staple Black Bay collection with 31, 36, 39, and 41mm cases now featuring a variety of in-house COSC-certified calibers and a five-link bracelet with C get this C a T-fit rapid-adjustment clasp. These new steel Black Bays feature an array of sunray dials in blue, anthracite (black with gilt indices), and light champagne. The in-house calibers all have a 70-hour power reserve except for the 31mm model which has a 50-hour power reserve. It's not a major revamp of the line-up but with these subtle changes, the brand is making a point of honoring t...
The New Patek Philippe Calatrava Travel Time 52224R
Earlier today, we introduced you to the Patek Philippe Travel Time Chronograph ref. 5924G, a new take on a watch from Patek that combines a chronograph with a travel time function, the latter a complication that's become something of a signature for the brand. Well, here's that signature complication in another form: the Patek Philippe Calatrava 24-Hour Display Travel Time ref. 5224R-001. It's a travel time, but distinguished by its 24-hour display.? The new Calatrava 5224R keeps home and local time with two central hands that track a 24-hour dial. Patek has produced 24-hour dials like this in past C notably for Gondolo pocket wa...
The Tudor Black Bay GMT has taunted me for years. I've been waiting for the call for a Rolex Pepsi C the modern iteration of the ref. 1675 I fell in love with when I started getting back into watches C for years. I remember walking into the RRL store in SoHo and seeing that watch in a case. I tried it on and in that moment felt like I was wearing the most valuable watch in the world. It's all I've wanted ever since. A while after I bought my Black Bay 58 and put my name down for a Rolex Pepsi C hopeful, I know C the wait started to drag on, andthere was the Black Bay GMT calling my name. ...
Earlier today, Tudor announced all of their novelties for Watches & Wonders 2023. And, among everything from an opaline-dial BB GMT to a METAS-certified steel Black Bay 41, the brand also took the wraps off of a new expression of the Black Bay format C the 54. Intended as a sort of modern take on Tudor's first dive watch (the reference 7922 of, you guessed it, the year 1954), the new Black By 54 (which goes by reference 79000) follows the downsizing pattern we've seen applied to the Black Bay line over the past few years, going from 41mm to 39 in the Black Bay Fifty-Eight, and now 37mm for the Black Bay 54.? ...
HODINKEE Radio: Daily Episodes From Watches & Wonders 2023
We're back with the 2023 edition of the daily face-to-face episodes recorded in Geneva during Watches & Wonders 2023. Stay tuned for recaps of our favorite new releases, show-only experiences, and just general nerdery surrounding the latest and greatest from the fair. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss any of these special episodes (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn).?Each episode will be added to the list below so be sure to check in every day for the show notes for each new episode. Thanks so much for listening.? Day 4 C Cartier, Chopard, Parmigiani, F.P. Journe, and Sinn Episode 4 was delayed due to an eveni...
Hands-On Review of the Grand Seiko SBGY026 'Hana-ikida'
If you're Grand Seiko, how do you make your best-seller, the SBGA413 "Shunbun," even better? Put it in rose gold, of course. That's exactly what Grand Seiko has done with the new SBGY026 "Hana-ikada," a new limited edition of 100 pieces that features a familiar, pale pink dial, but now in a rose gold case. If you know Grand Seiko, you're probably asking yourself: "from which pale pink corner of Japan's beautiful natural world did Grand Seiko take inspiration for this delightful new limited edition?" Well, after the spring equinox (i.e., the "Shunbun"), comes real spring C "warm winds flutter Jap...