Introducing: The RGM 801 Skeleton
A new version of the American brand’s famous movement.
Auction Report: Sotheby’s Announces Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Sale (Rare Speedmasters!)
A collection of special and rare Omega Speedmasters hits the block as Apollo 11 turns 50.
Hands-on – The Redesigned MeisterSinger Pangaea Day-Date
MeisterSinger stands out from the crowded watch scene with its unique identity. Before the invention of the minute hand, early mechanical clocks showed only hours… And just like these, the German brand produces single-hand mechanical timepieces. The latest watch in the collection sticks to this “mono-aiguille” display and adds some useful calendar indications. Meet the […]
Introducing: The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Chronograph
The first Grande Seconde chronographs from Jaquet Droz are a classic take on the complication.
Value Proposition – Vario Empire Automatic – Art Deco Inspiration and an Affordable Price
Ivan Chua, a Singapore-based designer has launched his second watch collection via crowdfunding. It follows his Retro Eclipse collection from 2017. That watch series had a simple, elegant dress aesthetic with inspiration from Chinese mythology (featuring an etching of the Heavenly Hound that devours the Moon on the caseback). The new Empire series goes in […]
Introducing – Zenith El Primero A384 Revival – The Final Piece in the El Primero 50-Years Revival Series (Live Pics)
This year, as you’ve probably noticed, is the 50th anniversary of two important milestones for the watchmaking industry. On one side is the Moon-Landing. More important for today’s topic, 1969 marked the introduction of the Zenith El Primero, part of the first automatic chronographs launched on the market. In order to celebrate 50-years of this iconic movement, Zenith has already released several great pieces, all based on the reference A386 – in steel as part of a special revival box, or in gold with 3 limited edition watches. Today, it is another of the inaugural 1969 El Primero watches that will be re-issued, the reference A384 – and its availability will make quite some enthusiasts happy.
5 of the best quartz watches that watch snobs approve of
A lot of the discussion about what makes a watch good value is centred on the mechanics responsible for keeping the time. When those glorious mechanics are removed in favour of a soulless electronic module, many enthusiasts switch off. But this needn’t be the end of the discussion. Quartz watches, for all their sins and the brazen mutiny of the ’70s, have a lot of good things going for them. Firstly, they are more accurate. That’s a pretty short discussion, but it’s true. Even if a traditional mechanical watch were able to be so finely tuned that it could keep time as well as a quartz equivalent in a controlled environment, the minute these competing watches hit a wrist in the real world (along with its frequent shocks, temperature fluctuations, and evermore present magnetic fields that come with it), the mechanical watch would almost certainly experience the odd fluctuation. For fans of hyper-accuracy, the arguments are obvious. But what quartz also enables established luxury watchmakers to do is offer the same build quality (in terms of cases, dials, hands, straps, packaging, and so forth) at a fraction of the cost. Not only are quartz modules incredibly cheap (with many that…
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RECOMMENDED READI – uh – LISTENING: Halios, Autodromo and Baltic over on the Worn & Wound podcast
It’s 2019. So podcasts and niche indie brands are where. it’s. at. Which is why today’s recommendation is the perfect package — offering both in spades. The Worn & Wound podcast is one of the best in the space, and it only gets better when they assemble the veritable avengers of “micro” brands, the guys behind Halios, Autodromo and Baltic. These guys drop some serious insights into the small indie scene, and what it’s like to run a small brand. Great insights, well recommended. These three brands offer some amazing value and are killing it on the design front. Forty-five minutes well spent. Get it where you get your podcasts, or listen here.
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4 of the best GMT watches from 2018
Editor’s note: There’s something about GMTs. Even if you don’t travel or do business in far-flung parts of the world, there’s a romance and sense of adventure to these timepieces. And 2018 was a particularly strong year for the complication, with a brace of strong offerings. So here’s that time Andy and I made awkward puns and chatted about the best GMT watches of Basel 2018. Oh, and if you’re really observant, you might notice we mention five watches at the start of the video, but only show four. That’s because we had to hold off on talking about this one until later. But even if it didn’t make the final cut, it’s still in the list. It very quickly became apparent — after only a few hours on the ground at Basel 2018 — that GMTs were everywhere, and not just the obvious Pepsi-bezelled, Jubilee-braceleted option from the Big Crown. So Andy and I took some time out from our busy schedules to discuss this phenomena, and some prime examples. So, in addition to the Rolex GMT-Master II, we noted that Patek had doubled down on their Calatrava Travel Time. TAG Heuer added a little more complication to their…
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Remember when that guy bought a broken Rolex-made Panerai at a car boot sale for £10?
Editor’s pick: Whenever I pop into an op shop (or thrift store for our American readers), I always make sure to have a look at the watches, JUST IN CASE. Because you never know, you might just have the level of luck of this guy who, in 2016, picked up a Panerai that turned out to be worth a shade more than the 10 pound asking price … It’s happened again. First, this guy found an original LeCoultre Deep Sea Alarm in a thrift store. And now, the son of a Cheshire man who bought a Rolex-made Panerai issued to the Italian Navy in WW2 at a car boot sale for 10 quid has sold the watch for £46,000 at auction. It turns out the timepiece was one of only 618 Rolex 17 Rubis Panerai 3636 watches made between 1941 and 1943. Your pain is our pain. “He was so shocked by the result he had to be told the final sale price three times by the auctioneer — as he had expected the antique to go for around £500,” reports the Daily Mail. “Made by the Italian company Panerai, in a collaboration using a Rolex movement, the oversized wristwatch was sold without…
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