Favre Leuba is known for its rugged functional watches. The brand’s unique mountaineering credentials owe much to the Bivouac collection. Back in the 1960s, the watch was one of the first to be fitted with a mechanical altimeter. In 1975, Japanese alpinist Junko Tabel, the first women to summit Everest, did so with a Bivouac […]
With a multi-axis tourbillon, a meteorite dial, a fully integrated chronograph, hand-guillochage, engraving and a Grand Feu enamel dial, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition GyroTourbillon 3 Meteorite really showcases some of the most amazing skills in watchmaking. But if you want this on your Christmas wish list, you better act fast (and call your banker […]
Editor’s note: It’s easy for the Rolex Yacht-Master 40 Everose Rolesor to get lost in the perpetual noise caused by some of its more popular siblings within Rolex’s Professional range. But to simply overlook this wristwatch would be a categorical mistake, because the Yacht-Master 40 has a great many positives when compared not just to timepieces from other manufacturers, but even other watches within the aforementioned Professional collection. For a start, because the Yacht-Master 40 is only waterproof to 100 metres, its case is actually a fair bit slimmer than something like the Submariner. This means that it’s arguably more versatile, fitting under a cuff, for example, far more easily. In addition, the Yacht-Master 40 houses Rolex’s Calibre 3235 movement, which is the Swiss marque’s latest generation movement and features the patented “Chronergy” escapement, Paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring and offers customers 70 hours of power reserve. And lastly, as our man Felix Scholz mentioned when he went hands-on with the watch, due to its distinctively dazzling 18k Everose Rolesor metal combination and arresting sunburst brown dial, the Yacht-Master 40 Everose Rolesor has proper genderless bandwidth, and could be the perfect ‘his and hers’ timepiece. Last year Rolex released the stealth-wealthy…
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The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms looks like a lot of other watches out there, and there’s a reason for that. The Fifty Fathoms was first. It was one of the first watches ever designed for diving and, as a result, has become almost the Universal Man of dive watches, where all watches that follow are derivative. Within the Fifty Fathoms family, there are many variations, but one of the most eye-catching of them all has inspired the reissue of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda Limited Edition. Originally, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was designed for French navy divers known as Nageurs de combat, but the first Blancpain Barakuda was designed for an armed force over the border in Germany. Known at the time as the Bundesmarine, the German Navy needed a watch that was both easy to read and robust, and looked to Blancpain to produce them a watch that did both. The Barakuda was developed and issued to their own combat swimmers, and is characterised by its unique two-tone hour markers that feature a red strip at their base. In this reissue, the attention to detail is historically faithful, right down to the Automatique lettering, and proportions of the oversized hour…
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It’s all very well and good having a mainstay, go-to timepiece that you can rely on for daily duties Monday to Friday, but what happens if you want to change it up for the weekend? For most enthusiasts, the criteria for watches worn on Saturday and Sunday are very different to that of a weekday-warrior: they need to be casual, potentially novel and, if possible, relatively inexpensive. With all these conditions in mind, here are four weekend watches that are chock-full of character and won’t break the bank: Q Timex Reissue Becoming an instant cult classic when it was released earlier this year, the Q Timex Reissue is an excellent example of a deeply characterful yet economical weekend watch. Replete with its ’70s charm, 38mm stainless steel case and conforming woven mesh bracelet and iconic bezel colour scheme, this watch screams to be paired with a white T-shirt and some blue jeans. Though currently sold out, it is expected that the Q Timex Reissue will be available again soon on the Timex website. $179 USD Undone Classic Original Presenting an aesthetic that is perhaps the most archetypal of a great weekender, the Undone Classic Original offers all of…
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An inside look at a special enamel dial and the modern artisans looking to recreate its original charm.
The Luxury Sports Watch category is dominated by iconic classics such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus – two watches that defined the genre back in the 1970s. It is also one of the most successful categories these days, with these two models being almost impossible to find at retailers. […]
With the watchmaking industry’s famed awards ceremony, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève — or as it’s more commonly known, GPHG — fast approaching, we thought we’d mention a few more nominated watches that you should be keeping an eye on. Now, we’ve already covered a host of brilliant timepieces from Bulgari and Zenith that have been nominated, and we’ve also been lucky enough to see the entire 84 nominated pieces in person. But we thought it would also be pertinent to mention three of the best ladies timepieces that have been given the nod from the award ceremony’s expert judges. Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time Air Paved Featuring the most modern jumping hours complication in the world, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time Air stunned the horological community when it was first unveiled a decade ago. This particular Spin Time has been given the full pavé diamond treatment, and when combined with the aforementioned complication, we reckon this exquisite timepiece will be a pretty compelling candidate for the “Ladies Complication” genre. Chanel J12 Calibre 12.1 The Chanel J12 has been a stalwart of the luxury ladies watch genus since its debut back in 1999. However, not wanting the J12…
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Grand Seiko has expanded their offerings of ladies watches with two new additions to their Elegance Collection – the Grand Seiko STGK011 and STGK013. The bezel-less beauties have drawn inspiration from the Japanese watchmaker’s original sans-bezel timepiece, the Grand Seiko 62GS, which was first unveiled in 1967. And, to really dial up the glitz, the new timepieces’ unique tonneau-like cases are adorned with no fewer than 38 diamonds, measuring 0.41 carats in total, lining the flanks of the svelte 30.6mm steel cases. Available in two different dial designs: a shimmering silver dial reminiscent of freshly fallen snow (STGK011) and a deep, purple coloured mother-of-pearl dial (STGK013), known as “Koki-murasaki”, which is said to be a Japanese symbol of status. Both dials are also affixed with two diamonds, which are diagonally stacked upon one another and located at the 12 o’clock position. Capping both of the eye-catching dials is a highly defined, dual-curved sapphire crystal that has been treated to an anti-reflective coating, ensuring superior levels of legibility. In addition, the case backs also utilise sapphire crystal, so owners can appreciate the watches’ mechanical power source, which is finished to exacting standards typical of Grand Seiko. Speaking of the movement, it’s…
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For most of us today, snakes evoke a mixture of fascination and fear – but since Ancient times they have been a mythological symbol for countless cultures and civilisations. Although, in the Christian tradition, a serpent represented the devil in the Garden of Eden, snakes mostly had positive associations. For Native Americans, Mayans and Aztecs, Persians, Chinese, Hindus, Africans and Australian First Nation tribes, they represented, variously, power, wisdom, eternity, fertility, sexual desire, protection, and a direct link to ancestral spirits. Unsurprisingly, then, since humans first adorned their bodies with jewellery, snakes have been a constant motif – the shape of their sinuous bodies being perfectly suited to wrapping around wrists or necks. The Egyptian Pharaohs and Queens (we’ll come back to Cleopatra later) wore serpentine bracelets and adorned their headdresses with a rearing cobra to signify their quasi-divine status. From there, the powerful symbolism of snakes spread to Greece, becoming associated with Asclepius, the God of medicine (a serpent coiled around a rod remains the emblem of physicians to this day), and thence to Rome, where they represented wisdom and everlasting love. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria’s engagement ring – which took the form of an emerald and…
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