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Best Super NEWS Watches
Watch companies love celebrating anniversaries - about as much as we love reporting on them.? And it makes sense, after all, horology and watchmaking is literally the study and measurement of time, and when an important watch turns an important age, it's time to celebrate!This year, two of our favorites in the world of sport watches turn a half-century: the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona and the TAG Heuer Carrera.? These two watches share a lot in common, and though you will never hear much about their similarities from Rolex or TAG, you will from us.What you will hear from Rolex and TAG this year is how each model helped form what we think of as the racing chronograph today - and both have valid ...
Photo Report: Inside The New A. Lange & Sohne Boutique In Palm Beach
A. Lange & Sohne is one of the finest watchmakers in the world. They make all their own movements and have a cult-like following of collectors around the world and yet, up until last month, they did not have a boutique in the United States. And then along came this. The eighth A. Lange & Sohne boutique to open, this first American shop is located at 252 W...
It's January, 2013 and that means SIHH is just around the corner. Actually, it's about 2.5 weeks away. Which means you're about to start seeing a whole bunch of new releases from some of the best brands in the world. We're starting off the new year with one of them - what is likely to be Piaget's biggest story of the show this year, the new Emperador Coussin Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater - the thinnest self-winding minute repeater ever made. This new record-setting repeater sits at just 9.4mm thick, while the in-house c...
The 2012 HODINKEE Year-End Recap + Our Ten (+/-) Most Popular Posts Of The Year
Here we go again. As the remaining minutes of the year 2012 tick away, it's time to recap the past 12 months in the land of HODINKEE. And, we'll run the numbers to show you which ten (ok, maybe twenty) posts were the most popular this year.To say 2012 was a big year for us would be an understatement. ?The site has grown immensely over the past twelve months, and thinking back, it seems like there was something big happening for us almost every week! ?We were the first in the world to show you the brand new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo with "AP" at six, the first in the world to show you the first truly complicated Rolex in a generation, the Sky-Dweller, and the first in the world to show ...
Hands-On: With The Raymond Weil Freelancer Urban Black Chronograph (Live Pics)
Raymond Weil Freelancer Urban Black We talk a lot about iconic vintage chronographs like the Rolex Daytona and the Heuer Carrera, but they're not the only options out there. Still, one area where it can be a struggle to find respectable choices is modern, entry-level, automatic chronographs. Raymond Weil's Urban Black Freelancer comes in at just over $3,000 and is a good option to consider. Here we go hands-on to give you the full story. Raymond Weil Caliber 5000 - An ETA-Made Valjoux 7750 Released last year, the Urban Black is built on Raymond Weil's Automatic Freelancer platform - it's important to...
The Bulgari Octo Maserati Chronograph is limited to 1914 pieces, a reference to the year Bulgari was founded in Bologna, Italy. Usually when big brands present co-branded watches, whether with fictional crime-fighting superheroes or prominent aviation firms, there tends to be a what is perhaps a fair amount?of eye-rolling on the part of watch enthusiasts. In essence, these co-branding exercises tend to be much more about quick marketing, buoyed by lots and lots of legal paperwork. I don't think that the Bulgari Octo Maserati is necessarily an exception to this rule, but there is undoubtedly something to say about the understated way that this old Italian brand cont...
The Man's Guide to Buying a Watch Episode 5: How do you maintain a watch?
Well, it's time we bring our special five part video series "The Man's Guide To Buying A Watch" to an end.? In this final installment, we'll hear how to go about keeping these little mechanical wonders in top working order.? Enjoy and don't forget to check out episodes 1-4 right here in case you missed them....
Hands-On: With The Sarpaneva Korona K0 Wuoksi (Live Pics)
The Original Korona K0 And The K0 Wuoksi? Finnish independant watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva is best known for his intriguing moonphase complication. But earlier this year Sarpaneva introduced the Korona K0, a dive watch conspicuously missing his moon's signature face. With the Korona K0 Wuoksi he takes the Kornoa K0 architecture and reintroduces the moonphase in an entirely new way.We first told you about the Korona K0 here, and the Wuoksi starts much the same way as the original. The Wuoksi's 46mm scalloped case is crafted in steel (as opposed the titanium in the original) and houses a modified Soprod A10 movement. This movement features a new rotor for Sarpaneva, w...
The Clock Clock White By humans since 1982
The clock clock white by Swedish designers humans since 1982 is a mock-digital clock made from an array of 24 two-hand clocks. An interesting piece of horological design, the clock clock white was first made in 2011 and you can see the piece in action in the video above.?The clock clock white is at its most basic level an array of clocks 3 high and 8 wide, with 6 clocks (3x2) making up each number in the display. By positioning their hands in just the right combination, each set of six clocks shows the correct number to produce a 24-hour digital display when all viewed together.Because of the complex integration of electronics and mechanics needed to achieve this, humans since 1982 collabora...
Weekend Report: Photo Report: Car Spotting At The Goodwood Revival
We've shown you some of the incredible timepieces we came across at the Goodwood Revival C the world's eminent display of high-end vintage automobiles that took place back in September. And now that you've had a little bit of time to process some of the amazing watches we saw, we thought it was time to show you some of the vehicles on display, and on the track at Goodwood. You won't see better cars anywhere in the world, and below is just a small sample C but you'll see some race-proven 1950's Maseratis, a fleet of Ford GT40s on the track, 15 (yes 15!) Ferrari 250 GTOs sitting in a row, and even a few original Silver Arrows (to which IWC is paying tribute this year with a new Ingeniuer) both...
A Week Underwater: Diving With The Vulcain Nautical Cricket (Live Pics & Video)
With a dive trip coming up and having read Blakes excellent review of the Vulcain Nautical Cricket, it seemed like a good idea to put this rare dive watch to the test. I packed it along for a week of diving in Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). While this gorgeous timepiece is not without its shortcomings as a dive watch, it proved to be a useful and fun companion while exploring Caribbean reefs and wrecks. Ever wanted to know what the Cricket sounds like underwater? We've got you covered. The Vulcain Cricket Nautical As Blake pointed out in his Week On The Wrist" with the Vulcain, this watch was originally developed in the lat...
Weekend Report: John Reardon Learns to Service a Pocket Watch at NAWCC's Weekend Crash Course
Not too long ago, I had theopportunity to attend a two-day "Servicing a Pocket Watchfor the Beginner" workshop at the NAWCC in Columbia, PA. After experiencing this classfirst hand, I recommend this watchmaking experience to anyone interested inlearning more about how their watches work and appreciating the incredible talent thatwatchmakers have in keeping a vintage or modern timepiece properly preserved andin good running order. For the watch enthusiast, this is about as good as it getsfor a?horological?weekend getaway.The three-hour-plus drivefrom NYC to the sleepy town of Columbia, PA seemed endless, but it was well worththe time. A tour of the NAWCC Watch and Clock Museum was rewardenoug...
Pre-SIHH 2013: Introducing The Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
It's the day before Christmas, and that means one and one thing only - SIHH is less than one month away! ?Ok fine, it means more than that, but today we thought we'd tune you into a pre-SIHH release from the good folks at Cartier Fine Watchmaking, because, it's kinda big news.As we've told you before, Cartier is making a concerted and highly credible push into the realm of high-end watchmaking, and over the past few years, has become a true force. ?Today, we are happy to announce an entirely new watch for Cartier, the Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Sized at 42mm and available in both rose and white gold, t...
What is it about spy movies and watches? Bond had his Rolex (and now his OMEGA) and Bourne had his TAG Heuer. Those characters movies featured watches as subtle (okay, sometimes not so subtle) product placements. But the forthcoming spy action?thriller?Kingsman: The Secret Service not only has watches front and center, its producers and costume designers also actually had three watches commissioned especially for it. Those watches are from Bremont, based on two of the brands existing chronographs, but with some unique features and the fictional secret organizations logo on their dials. The Bremont Kingsman DLC The three K...
The Man's Guide to Buying a Watch: Episode 4: IWC's Icons Through The Years
Today we've got the fourth installment of The Man's Guide To Buying A Watch, focusing on iconic pieces from IWC's collection. You get a real sense of what makes IWC's legendary models so special and where you can still see their influence today.David Seyffer, Curator of the IWC Museum, shares his thoughts on the Mark XI pilot's watch and the Genta-designed Ingenieur SL, while watchmaker Kurt Klaus offers some insight into his IWC Perpetual Calendar....
Hands-On: With The Seiko Astron - A Solar Powered GPS Watch (Live Pics)
The Seiko Astron GPS Solar We don't cover too many quartz watches here at HODINKEE, but every once in a while one grabs our attention. Seiko's new GPS Solar Astron is one such watch. Using actual GPS technology, the Astron can pinpoint your location on planet Earth and automatically set itself accordingly. We decided to take the Astron for a test run and here are the results.You might recognized the Astron name, since that was what Seiko called their first quartz watch in 1969. But that's where the similarities end. This Astron is solar powered and contains GPS technology, requiring very careful management of power to run properly. Because of this power management ...
About three weeks back, we introduced a special set of hand-made knit ties in collaboration with the incredible Drake's of London.? These 100 ties - 50 in black, 50 in grey - were inspired by two of our favorite vintage watches, and the response has been incredible.? Up until today, however, these ties were on pre-order.? But, now we've got all 100 ties in stock and they are ready to go out to you today! And, what's more, if you order your tie today (Thurs) or Tomorrow (Friday), we'll eat the cost and FedEx you your orders to make sure they get to you by Monday (US-only).? You can order the grey tie here, and the black tie here....
VIDEO: Inside The Vault Of Girard-Perregaux North America
Girard-Perregaux is going through a bit of re-building at the moment, with an entirely new line of sports watches (shown here in video), a new president in the US (former Hublot-man and all-around stand-up guy Mike Margolis), and what we've been promised will be a truly remarkable Basel World coming up in 2013. Because GP is pushing so hard towards the future, we thought it would be fun to dig around some of their back offices C and in fact, go inside their vault.In this exclusive video, we visit Girard-Perregaux's North American headquarters and go where no one has ever gone before C inside the vault. You will see some incredible pieces, many of which rarely see the daylight. Enjoy!...
John Mayer On Watches: Why I Bought The Patek Philippe 5396G Limited Edition For Tiffany & Co.
It's an interesting time for Patek Philippe from a collector's standpoint. The company has stopped production of some of its greatest complications ?(the 3970, 5970, 5070, 5004, etc.), theyve raised their prices substantially (in what I believe to be an attempt to sideline the secondary market), and a new generation of Stern has taken over as president. Ive been somewhat skeptical about the direction of the brand based on some of the latest design updates, but after cutting the seal on the new ref. 5396G for Tiffany & Co., I know that the brand still cares about collectors. A lot.In fact, I think this watch is a message to collectors everywhere that Patek Philippe will continue to crea...
Have you ever found yourself in a watch boutique and realized that the salesperson may not be able to answer all of your questions? How about the awkward situation where the salesperson doesn't know what they don't know and begins to make things up? It is a problematic situation for all involved and it happens, frankly, all too often. In other words, the salesman may sound like this: Today in New York City, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) took a large step toward addressing these issues. Pascal O. Ravessoud, FHH Director of Missions & General Secretary of the Cultural Council, introduced the HH Certification. The H...