Category: Other Display

Review – Ressence Type 3, The Oil-Filled Watch That Goes Beyond Hands

When it comes to unique displays of the time, you though you’ve already seen everything: wandering hours, chains, magnetic balls, liquid-filled capillary, rotating prisms… Then, in terms of complications and construction of the overall watch, you thought the same. Well, you’d better look at this watch, the Ressence Type 3, simply because it has both a very special display and an almost unique construction. Certainly, the Type 3 doesn’t have the visual flamboyance of a MB&F, the bold high-tech design of an URWERK or the apparent complexity of an HYT. However, under this restrained attitude and this relative discretion hides a watch filled with oil and that does not use hands to display the time. And that makes the Ressence Type 3 very special to us.

8 years ago

Introducing – MCT S110 Evo Vantablack by Anish Kapoor (featuring the blackest material in the universe after a black hole…)

What is a color? The perception we have of a reflection of light on a surface. What is black, as perceived by human eye? It is the opposite of color. Black is an achromatic color, literally a color without hue. Black is a surface that reflect or emit only very low light and that absorb most of the visible light. What is pitch black, in its purest form? It is the complete absence or complete absorption of light. Real black doesn’t really exist (except a black hole) and what we name black usually is dark grey, dark blue, dark red, etc… And even if pure black can’t be achieved by any material, some tried anyway. And MCT Watches, with the S110 Evo Vantablack made with artist Anish Kapoor, try to get as close as possible from black, with the blackest material ever produced by humankind.

8 years ago

Hands-on with the brand new URWERK UR-105 Raging Gold

With URWERK, you know the deal: super-bold, super-cool, super-technical… Well, we can’t hide our love for the brand here. URWERK is part of the indy watchmakers, meaning small structures full of creativity and with almost no limits. No marketing brainstorms, no year-long debates about the feasibility of a piece or a display… If these guys thinks the product is legitimate, they do it. Of course, this can sometimes lead to quite weird watches, but in the end, watches from URWERK are never cold. And that’s not about to change with this brand new URWERK UR-105 Raging Gold.

8 years ago

Hands-On – The MeisterSinger Circularis Automatic… The single-hand goes self-winding and in-house

Most of you probably know THE main feature of MeisterSinger watches: the mono-aiguille / single-hand display. That alone is already enough to tickle our interest, linked to the fact that their watches are nice, elegant, quite unique and, best of all, rather inexpensive. What some of you probably don’t know is that since 2 years, the brand can also be called a manufacture, as they have their own in-house movement, the Circularis. This year, the upper-end offer of the brand evolves and turns into a self-winding movement. Here is the MeisterSinger Circularis Automatic – and for once, in-house really adds something more.

8 years ago

Speake-Marin introduces a new Edition of the Velsheda Gothic (specs & price)

After the first Velsheda, Speake-Marin’s vision of the mono-aiguille watch (single-hand), a timepiece that was both relatively classical in terms of design and discreetly extravagant, followed later by a Gothic edition, showing a very specific typography for the numerals – something that definitely pushed this watch in the extravagant (in a good way) category – the brand today introduces a new version. What we have here is a model still with gothic inspiration, evolutions on the dial and in a limited edition of 8 pieces. Here is the second iteration of the Speake-Marin Velsheda Gothic.

8 years ago

EXCLUSIVE – Hands-on with the MB&F HM8 Can-Am, a new take on the driver’s watch (with Live Photos)

The MB&F Horological Machine 8 (HM8) is here. It’s become something of a ritual. With the highly-anticipated presentation of the brand’s latest creation, MB&F enthusiasts are getting their fix today. The Horological Machine 8 “Can-Am” is infused with the passion for supercars and 1970s design of Max Büsser: rev up your engines and meet the latest wristwatch from his creative Horological Lab.

8 years ago

My Summer with the Ressence Type 5 (and does it really have zero reflection under water)

If you remember, back in December 2015, when Benoît Mintiens (the founder of Ressence) showed me the Ressence Type 5 for the first time, I actually ended my article with a wish to have this watch as my summer watch. The team of Ressence heard my wish and granted it so here we are, with my review of this great, sort of unique watch, which I’ve been wearing for an entire summer. Usually I tend to be rather technical and factual in my reviews, but here I’m going to be slightly more focused on the wearability and on the feelings, trying to position myself as the owner of this watch. Here are my thoughts after my summer with the Ressence Type 5 on the wrist.

8 years ago

Review – Ulysse Nardin FreakLab, the modern version of the mother of concept watches and silicon

In the small but fascinating world of watchmaking, some timepieces deeply influenced the whole industry. The Submariner almost defined what a dive watch should be. The story behind the Speedmaster is still an immense source of fascination. The Royal Oak created his own and so-respected category, the luxury sports watch. In a much more discreet way, Ulysse Nardin, in 2001, introduced a watch that deeply changed the face of modern watchmaking: the Freak, a watch that can be considered as the mother of concept watches and of silicon. Its time for us to review its successor, the Ulysse Nardin FreakLab.

8 years ago