This year the SIHH was larger than ever. While this means more great watches in one place, at one time, it also means that more watches have to share the spotlight. That is why we cleared the stage to highlight a few watches that you might have missed, but should definitely know about:
The annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) is, as the name would suggest, a show predominantly made up of watchmakers creating watches that represent the upper echelons of watchmaking. Six-figure price tags are a dime a dozen on the show floor. When I first saw the new Master Control Date with a sector dial at Jaeger-LeCoultre’s booth, I knew I wanted to get some time with it on my wrist, but when every conversation I had with collectors, journalists, and other industry friends kept coming back to a $5,700 time-and-date watch, I knew we had something special on our hands.
The word “caliber” has a number of different meanings, but in watchmaking the word is synonymous with “movement.” Across the entire industry, one of the few absolutely ubiquitous practices is to call a movement “caliber XYZ123.” It’s one of those words you can see a million times without wondering why it’s used in both the world of firearms and the world of watchmaking, which would seem to have little in common. But, have no fear; HODINKEE’s done the wondering (and researching) for you.
Watchmaker Urwerk has turned its engineering skills on a more fluid problem, tying up with Scotch whisky distillery Macallan to build a high-tech flask for its single malts. The Macallan x Urwerk Flask has a aluminium outer shell that contains a pair of titanium tanks, along with a stainless steel mouthpiece. Covered by a hinged, sprung screw cap, […]
If some of you might know this watch manufacture by now (thanks to a coverage here, at Monochrome), Ateliers deMonaco is clearly not the most famous of them all… Which, in all honesty, is rather a pity, as the brand has a lot to offer. Forget about the affiliation with the Frédérique Constant Group. Ateliers deMonaco plays in a different league (with a collection that comprises tourbillons, minute repeaters or Hallmark of Geneva watches…) and their latest creation has some appeal, both aesthetically and technically. Here is our review of the Ateliers deMonaco Admiral Chronograph Flyback Saphir.
Fine watch and fine whiskey, for many the two go together like single malt birds of a feather. Urwerk founders Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei have been known to enjoy a smooth amber tipple or two, and as discerning gentlemen with discerning taste in haute horlogerie, it’s perhaps not surprising that Baumgartner and Frei also have discerning taste when it comes to whiskey: single malt by The Macallan.
In February, IWC focused on its philanthropy through the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation, which empowers underprivileged children through sports.
One of the last people I expected to meet in the middle of the Swiss Alps was Jérome Delafosse. I knew the French diver was an Oris ambassador. I knew also of his commitment to the brand, which far exceeds that of most ambassadors. But I wasn’t sure how Oris had convinced him to trade in his scuba gear for a headlamp and pair of snow boots, or why he had just trekked in the dark with a group of watch journalists, who were almost certainly going to discover the watchmaker’s latest altimeter watch. (Spoiler: That’s exactly what we saw.) But there was something else too, and it made Delafosse’s presence make perfect sense.
This Throwback Thursday we go not as far back in time as we normally would. Instead, we take a closer look at an icon of more recent making, yet an icon it is. We are talking here about the Richard Mille RM 011. Introduced in 2007, it became not only one of the pillars of the brand, but also broke the mold of high-end sports watches. Now almost a decade in existence it is time to look back at some of the most memorable versions of this watch.
Inspired by a jellyfish, the HM7 Aquapod is round, unlike other Horological Machines, but that’s the only thing that’s conventional about it. Though the jellyfish link is not immediately apparent, the Aquapod is immediately recognisable as a marine watch of sorts, with a rotating bezel that’s reminiscent of a lifebuoy. And like it or not, […]