Category: Dress Watches

Independent Watchmaking – Laurent Ferrier Galet Minute Repeater (Hands-On)

Laurent Ferrier is known to be on the simple side of things. Well, at least, when it comes to the design. Indeed, when your 3-hand watches are fitted with a tourbillon double hairspring or a natural escapement (direct double impulse) and a micro-rotor, you can’t be named “simple” anymore. With its latest creation, the most complex in the collection so far, Laurent Ferrier doesn’t break his habits. Meet the impressively clean Laurent Ferrier Galet Minute Repeater.

7 years ago

Value Proposition – Junghans Meister Hand-Winding – An Elegant and Attainable Dress Watch (Review)

When a watch company celebrated its centenary in 1961, there’s no doubt that it’s very well established. Founded in 1861 by Erhard Junghans in Schramberg, Germany, Junghans took inspiration from American watch companies to mass produce timepieces in a way that allowed them to undercut the competition on price. That philosophy remains today as many of their mechanical pieces, some with multiple complications, can be had for under EUR 2,000. Their Meister Hand-Winding line brings elegance and simplicity in an affordable package, although a couple of models like the Meister Driver Handaufzug add some vintage flair to the dials. I’ve had one of their Meister Hand-Winding dress watches for a couple of weeks now, so let’s take a closer look.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Complet GMT – Discreetly Complex

Despite what you may see on Instagram and Facebook, there are still plenty of watch connoisseurs who enjoy wearing a more traditionally styled watch. Something like the sophisticated yet practical Blancpain Villeret Quantieme Complet GMT. Introduced earlier in the year, this new model epitomises the classic aesthetic Blancpain is well known for, bringing together two genuinely useful complications in the form of the complete calendar and the GMT function. An ideal choice for the business traveller, we recently spent some time getting to know this latest version better.

7 years ago

Hands-on – The Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Hemisphères Rétrograde Now in Steel

Designed in 1996, the Toric is Parmigiani Fleurier’s dress watch. The model staged a comeback a few months ago with the Toric Chronometer and the smart Toric Hemisphères Rétrograde. The latter features a second time zone indication that can be adjusted to the minute via an additional crown. Unlike the vast majority of travel watches, the […]

7 years ago

Hands-on – H.Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Automatic: a Simply Perfect 3-Hand Watch?

It’s always a little daunting to review a simple 3-hand dress watch because, on the whole, they tend to steer on the side of ‘conservative, classic, understated elegance’ and can have you thumbing through your Thesaurus in search of yet another way to express ‘conservative, classic, understated elegance’. Luckily, when it comes to H.Moser & Cie., things are different. Although the Endeavour Centre Seconds Automatic is Moser’s simplest 3-hand dress watch and is the brand’s interpretation of a ‘classic in the making’, it speaks a far more contemporary language than many of its peers, more in-tune with the times and the brand’s pervasive philosophy. The two watches we are looking at today – one in red gold and the other in white gold – might be related but the attitude they transmit couldn’t be more different.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Panorama Date And Moon Phase

These days everybody’s scratching their heads trying to figure out how to create products that appeal to the “next” generation, aka millennials. Watch brands are certainly not immune to this and many are making a concerted effort to bring a touch of youth to their more traditional offerings. Among them is Glashütte Original. Over the past few years, the German watch manufacturer has been steadily introducing more contemporary versions of its classic models. Granted, not all have been hits but there are definitely a few stand-outs, including the new Senator Excellence Panorama Date and Moon watch that we are looking at today.

7 years ago

Review – Glashütte Original Sixties Annual Edition 39mm – The Temptation of the Green Dial

Just like any other luxury industry, the watchmaking world is driven by trends. After a massive invasion of blue dials – a predominant trend over the last five years – brands are now trying to find new directions. One of them, slowly inching its way into the limelight, is the colour green. And if blue was already a difficult colour, which could easily result in a plain, boring watch, green is even more complex to master. Few have succeeded but one truly great example has been presented by Glashütte Original, with the Sixties 2018 Annual Editions. Comprising two models, including one with a larger case and a Panorama Date, it is the simplest of the two that caught my eye. Let’s look at it in detail.

7 years ago

Review – Ophion OPH 786 – Affordable but Truly Refined

For its first endeavour, the fledgeling brand Ophion surprised us with a nicely designed watch equipped with an interesting hand-wound movement. This first model, the OPH 960, was probably lacking a bit of personality and personalisation – standard movement, plain dial… With its new watch, the OPH 786, Ophion sets the bar much, much higher.  With a convincing design, a great looking movement and multiple details that you usually find in a different price range, Ophion has resorted to several well-thought-out tricks to keep the watch at an affordable price. Let’s look at this 18th-century inspired watch in detail.

7 years ago

In-Depth – Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Qualité Fleurier (and what this quality label stands for)

Designed back in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani, the Toric made a comeback a few months ago with the Toric Chronometer. Displaying time and date only, it is much more than a traditional three-hander. And this year, it has been fitted with a tasteful guilloche dial and it has been submitted with success to the demanding Qualité Fleurier criteria. A good reason to go hands-on with this superbly crafted dress watch.

7 years ago