‘American Classic Spirit of Liberty’ might sound like a presidential campaign slogan, but Hamilton transports this idea to Swiss watchmaking. And the result shows in a stylish yet affordable piece. Let’s have a closer look at what the most American of Swiss brands has to offer with the American Classic Spirit of Liberty Auto. “Without […]
Hamilton has recently been looking at its past, with multiple models in the “Heritage” line, including the 1970s Intra-Matic Chronograph and, of course, the military-inspired, accessible, cool-looking Khaki Field Mechanical. Really, there’s a lot to love in these collections. Today, the Swatch Group-owned brand takes another of its glorious military models, the W10, and reissues it in a (very) faithful way. Let’s take a look at the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Pioneer Mechanical.
The DS Concept put Certina on the map and was a big step to making Swiss watches more reliable and water-resistant while keeping them affordable. Now that system celebrates its 60th birthday and of course that had to be celebrated with a watch. So meet the new Certina DS1 Big Date 60th Anniversary and its combination of style, good mechanics and affordability.
Lewis Heath founded anOrdain a few years ago and assembled a team of jewelery designers, a typographer, graphic designer, product designer and watchmaker to collaborate on something truly unique. The principle focus was on Grand Feu enamel dials, a difficult craft that’s almost always reserved for much pricier, luxury timepieces. Many such brands outsource their enamel dials, but anOrdain spent the better part of three years perfecting its own in-house production. The result was the Model 1 in 2018 with the deep richness of enamel in assorted colors, limited to a production of only eight dials per week. The Model 2, their second attempt in creating nice and affordable pieces, adds a sportier touch with new hands, typography and a smaller case, but enamel dials remain the centerpiece. Let’s take a closer look at the sequel from this independent Scottish brand.
Meistersinger made a name for itself by offering products with a distinctive feature: single-hand watches. With its simple designed, frill-free watches the German manufacturer provides its own cool, offbeat, take on watchmaking. The brand was founded in 2001 by Manfred Brassler and is founded on the idea of ‘creating an alternative to wristwatches that show time as something constantly racing along’, crafting distinctive timepieces for those who want to keep track of time but are not obsessed by seconds.
When I think of Hamilton, either a Ventura or Khaki Field Mechanical immediately come to mind. The Swiss brand is much more than that, of course, with a wide collection of models that are among the best value propositions in the industry. Hamilton is also no stranger to quirky designs as the Ventura line attests, and fun ones like the Jazzmaster Regulator Cinema and Khaki Field Murph keep things interesting. I’ve never really associated the brand with chronographs, despite its solid history with them, but its recent Intra-Matic 68 Chronograph definitely changed my mind.
The United Kingdom seems to be a hotbed for independent watch brands these days with names like Vertex, Garrick, Bremont and Pinion, among many others. Farer Universal is a relative newcomer that takes inspiration from 1960’s and 1970’s watchmaking, adding colourful and sophisticated dials to a variety of styles. We reviewed their Aqua Compressor Endeavour last year and walked away impressed, and their most recent chronographs are right up there with established brands like Hamilton and Tissot (see our editorial on Microbrands vs. Accessible Established Brands). The Stanhope was introduced in 2018 with the brand’s smallest case to date and a hand-wound ETA movement, joining two others in the collection, the Lansdell and Hudson. Most of Farer’s portfolio contains automatic watches with a couple of quartz options, so the 37mm hand-wound collection stands out in both size and movement. The Stanhope proved to be the most popular of the trio with the first batch selling out quickly. Let’s take a closer look at this classic design with a contemporary twist.
Some names might not ring a bell with a broader audience, but can still be well-known and highly respected in some collectors’ communities. Ollech & Wajs, a Swiss brand born in 1956 and specialized in tool watches, is a case in point. It took more than 10 years to convince Albert Wajs to pass on […]
Tissot has solid ties with racing. Swiss driver Loris Kessel wore a Navigator chronograph in the 1970s and was officially sponsored by Tissot in the 1976 Formula 1 Grand Prix. The brand is once again working with Kessel Racing, this time with Ronnie Kessel (son of Loris) to launch the limited edition Heritage 1973. The […]
Hamilton is no stranger to the silver screen as movie stars have been wearing their timepieces on camera since 1932’s Shanghai Express. The Hamilton Jazzmaster Regulator Cinema was even created to celebrate 86 years in films and the brand recently released the Murph “Khaki Field” after being part of Interstellar movie. The Ventura collection, first released in 1957 […]