Category: News

Editor’s note: Trust Breguet to take the comparatively uncomplicated act of adding a second time zone into something extra. Rather than your typical GMT hand scenario, the Breguet Classique Hora Mundi ref. 5717 demonstrates a very cool, very technical twist on the complication. Read on for Sandra’s review …  The remarkable Hora Mundi ref. 5717 made its first appearance in 2011, to an enthusiastic reception. Then, in 2016, when Breguet launched an updated version (ref. 5727) they spoke of it as a replacement for the original. But some things are simply too special to discontinue. Thank goodness – for we rarely encounter a watch that combines technical genius, great beauty and immense charm in the way that this version of Hora Mundi does. For those of us who are constantly on the move, a multiple-time-zone complication is one of the most useful things to have in a watch – and, unsurprisingly, it’s offered by almost all of the top makers. More surprising, though, is how little variety there is in the style of display: a pointer hand or a sub-dial and that’s pretty much where the choice ends. Breguet, however, chose to give a highly original visual expression to its…

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OK, so on the surface this story is nice and simple. Philip McColl, a sailor who had his engraved Rolex Submariner (a commemoration of his 1988 World Championship win) stolen in 1998 returned to him by Christie’s auction house. Good news story, right? Well, the actual story is a little more complex.  Turns out that Christie’s contacted Mr McColl way back in 2016, asking if he wanted to buy his watch back. Click here for more on that. Mr McColl, presumably miffed that an auction house was trying to sell him his own stolen watch, went ahead and sued Christie’s.  Fast forward to 2019 and Christie’s has returned the watch to McColl, after a court order. A happy ending for McColl, and a big ’ol caveat emptor for everyone else. Read the full story here.  Our biggest takeaway, though? Get your watch engraved. Just in case … 

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Editor’s note: If you want to impress someone with how cool your watch is, it’s hard to beat the Breitling Emergency. We revisit Ben’s story from a few years back to find out why …  There are few watches that live up to their marketing hype, and even fewer that can claim to have genuinely saved lives. Breitling has long been considered the pilot’s watch of choice, but it was the Breitling Emergency that solidified the company’s commitment to aviators and adventurers around the world with one truly unique complication — the personal locator beacon. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, we explore one of the most unique watches ever made. The story began with Ernest Schneider, the man who acquired Breitling in 1979 when it was on the verge of collapse, and kept it afloat during the quartz crisis, thanks to a new generation of iconic Breitling models. An officer with the Swiss Army signal corps during World War II as well as a passionate pilot and engineer, he was involved in discussions at a NATO conference in the mid-1980s about emergency beacons and the high incidence of false activations that cost the relevant authorities significant time and money.…

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Editor’s note: Cam wrote this snappy little opinion piece for us last year, and you know what — we still don’t know how many watches he owns. More than two, and less than 20 … we think.  I think we’ve all found ourselves in a similar situation. You’re at a BBQ, surrounded by friends and family, and everything is going great. The food is good, the drinks are cold, and the stereo is pumping out banger after banger, like it was playing straight from your Spotify playlist. While all around you the conversations are flowing and everyone is happily mingling. Next thing you find yourself chatting to a friend of a friend who you’ve heard of but never actually met. And they’ve just found out that you’re a watch guy. “So, you’re into watches, huh … how many do you have?” And that instant feeling rushes over you. You know the one. It’s kind of like when you’re on a date and they ask that other inevitable “number of” question. And even though you knew it would come eventually, you’re still put on the spot and have to suddenly do the quick math in your head and remember if you’re…

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Two years can be a long time in the life of a product – long enough for it to go from controversial to comfortably accepted, or even loved, as its challenging elements become softened by familiarity. That’s certainly true for two of the watches introduced by Tudor in 2017, which attracted attention and controversy in equal measure. For the Black Bay Heritage S&G, it was a matter of aesthetics: the (then) courageous reintroduction of two-tone – a stylistic blast from the past that was either cool or cringe-making, depending on where you were during its previous heyday, the 1980s. The other was more than skin-deep: the Black Bay Chronograph [read Felix’s review here] is a mash-up of diver’s watch and chronograph – and purists don’t like hybrids (remember the howling that greeted the Porsche Cayenne when it made its debut in 2002?). The rotating bezel of the dive watch became a fixed bezel with a tachymeter scale and the square tip of the snowflake hour hand – so great for underwater visibility – conceals part of the chronograph minutes register between 2 and 4 o’clock (shock!). Skip ahead to 2019 (a world where genre-fluid watches have become almost as familiar…

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Editor’s note: It’s an tricky question, but the new Railmaster makes a compelling case for the ‘yes’ camp …  Yesterday, we showed you the Seamaster Railmaster, a modern incarnation of the classic professional model. But it wasn’t the only Railmaster released last year. No, there’s also this watch, the limited edition 60th anniversary commemorative watch that formed (along with the Speedmaster and the Seamaster) one part of the triumvirate of watches that makes up the 1957 Trilogy series. The version not included in the boxed set is limited to 3557 pieces, and, like the rest of the trilogy, is a near perfect facsimile of the original. In fact, you could argue it’s more than perfect, as it preserves the form and proportions of the original, but adds modern construction and movement quality into the mix. Speaking of form, this Railmaster is superb: 38mm case, with polished and brushed finishes, a 19mm bracelet, a solid link update of the original, and a solid caseback, concealing the thoroughly contemporary Master Chronometer 8806 movement (which is, as you’d expect, significantly more resistant to magnetism than the ’57 version). And then there’s the dial. Pared back to the essentials — printed Omega logo and…

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One of the most beautiful elements of the mechanical watch is it doesn’t rely on disposable units of lithium to function. If you keep moving, your watch will too. This forms a dependent partnership that for many collectors is a huge emotional attraction to the mechanical watch. The energy from your fingertips directly transfers power into the micro-mechanical marvel that keeps you on time. This was the reason I wanted to wear a mechanical watch on my first attempt at an ultramarathon. My brother had convinced me to run 100km along the stunning coastline between Apollo Bay and the Twelve Apostles, and while I was definitely taking my (ancient) Garmin Forerunner 910XT, I was also very tempted to wear my Seiko SRP777. This dive watch has been reliable on a few adventures (significantly further above sea level than below), and I while it did mysteriously stop ticking on a Mongolian mountain range once, it is still the watch I trust the most. On the morning of the run we rose at 3am to get on the trail by 4am. With only around 10 hours of daylight and our prediction of at least 15 hours to complete the distance, we started…

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