While I still can’t quite afford them, I continue to find the “hydro-mechanical” watches from Swiss HYT very cool and desirable. The newest limited-edition “fashion” models are known as the HYT H1 Colorblock and come in very limited numbers in red, yellow, or blue.
There is something intrinsically ornate about annual calendars like the Patek Philippe 5396, an undeniable X factor that seems well-suited to a dressy watch with an old-school charm. Maybe the annual calendar has less to prove than a perpetual calendar, having enough chill to just let February be itself.
To this day, Rolex still makes some extremely rare watches. And when you encounter one, things start as unassumingly as a green box, different from the one most of their watches come in, with a Rolex crown at “6 o’clock.” You might agree that this is the typical presentation of a watch built “The Rolex Way.” What we are looking at today, however, is not your well-known Rolex.
The Bell & Ross BR 01-CM Instrument De Marine is one of the most interesting watches from the brand, and features an exquisite case crafted out of bronze, titanium, and even wood!
The unrestrained use of floral motifs on ladies’ watches continues, and despite my objection to this feminine cliche, I acknowledge that it is really well-executed in some cases, resulting in watches that actually appear to be made for adult women. The best floral applications on timepieces are applied in either abstract or unexpected ways, and the Chopard L.U.C XP Esprit de Fleurier Peony does both.
We see a lot of car-inspired watches, don’t we? What about watches inspired in part by motorcycles? Not as much. Well, the Azimuth SP-1 Crazy Rider watch offers a very literal interpretation of that design theme.
The still newly relaunched Waltham watch brand recently released their second major model family with the Waltham AeroNaval AN-01 43mm collection. Smaller and lower-priced than the brand’s beefier 47mm-wide AeroNaval collection, the Waltham AeroNaval AN-01 43mm also comes in a range of colors.
Tissot’s new COSC-certified automatic Powermatic 80.111 caliber is a major step toward improving the traditional approach to ladies’ mechanical watchmaking. The new movement is used in the Tissot Ballade, a 32mm ladies’ classic watch that is priced at under $1,000, proof once and for all that buying a high-luxury or over-decorated timepiece is not the only option for women who want a top-quality mechanical ladies’ wristwatch.
As former Chief Artistic Officer at Audemars Piguet, Octavio Garcia has about as much watch industry cred as most could hope for. So it is interesting that he has chosen to strike out on his own, leaving behind the comfortable heritage of the Swiss luxury establishment to follow his dream, start a new brand, and produce a democratically priced watch at under €1,000. The brand debuts with the Gorilla Fastback watch that is an exercise in automotive-inspired design and materials.
Bulgari is right to be heavily focused on further fleshing out the Octo watch collection given the attractive and distinctive shape of the Gerald Genta-designed case. Bulgari today has taken this now iconic design and created a collection of modern, edgy, bold, yet elegant and refined men’s watches.