Just two days ago at Phillips’ Hong Kong watch auction a pair of timepieces that are masterpieces of contemporary independent watchmaking went under the hammer with dramatically different results. The first was a Philippe Dufour Simplicity that sold for US$258,000, about five times its original retail price some 12 years ago and just a day after Christie’s accomplished the same […]
Vintage timepieces are a hot topic right now. But that is not the reason that Sébastien Chaulmontet and Joël Pynson chose to write and publish a book on vintage chronographs: Vintage chronographs, one might say, is their thing. And spreading their love of these objects and their knowledge of them is the sole purpose of this book. And it shows!
The Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante is back. Introduced in 1995, and updated in 2006, IWC’s split-second chronograph returns in a limited run. IWC announced three new models, in honor of the company’s European flagships in Milan, Paris, and Munich.
When it has been first launched in 1995, the IWC Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante (Ref. 3712) quickly obtained the status of icon, first for being a Portugieser (which alone makes this watch totally emblematic of the Schaffhausen-based manufacture) but also for being a quite special split-second. Yes, it is a rattrapante but that’s not the point. It’s special because it is a simple and accessible rattrapante, and that was very cool. Unfortunately, this watch was discontinued in 2006… Until earlier this year, when it came back in a gold limited edition for Milano, today joined by two stainless versions – and that is really cool. Here is the “new” Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante with two Boutique Editions, for Munich and Rue de la Paix / Paris.
As the watch world gears up for the 2017 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), Cartier has quietly begun to announce their plans for the luxury timepiece exhibition held in Geneva every year. While they certainly aren’t strangers to read more…
Last year Tissot announced a massive partnership deal with the NBA, making it the official timekeeper of the world’s top basketball league. This obviously included sponsorships, special watches, and other run-of-the-mill marketing activations, but it also included developing and installing special shot clocks in each NBA arena to standardize timing across the league. Well, now Tissot’s taking it a step further, introducing the PRS 516 NBA Championship Watch 2016, the first watch ever created for the NBA champions.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure to write here about two truly splendid minute repeaters, both property of a good friend: Patek Philippe Reference 5074P and Reference 5078P. They both look great, but I’m guessing that if you’ve been following this series you’re most interested in how they sound. Well, here’s your chance. Welcome to the great Patek Philippe chime-off!
About a few months ago, we asked you, the readers, what you would like to see more of on Instagram. We received several suggestions, but the one that we heard the most was that you wanted to read about more “affordable” watches. I put “affordable” in quotations, because it is nearly impossible to discuss affordability in the luxury watch market, and it is also hard to define the meaning of affordability (i.e. one person’s trash is another person’s treasure).
After going through some of 2016’s best sport watches and 2016’s best dress watches, it is now time for our Christmas shopping guide to gather some of the most striking complicated watches released in 2016. Be ready to break the piggy bank open as we’ll go at the cutting edge of watchmaking, with some of the most inventive, complex and intricate mechanisms unveiled in 2016. We sat down with the team aiming at picking 5 and we ended up with 8 watches (it has been a tough choice and we do what we want…), and a few special mentions.
2016 has been remarkable for the amount of gloom and doom in luxury industry results in general and in fine watchmaking in particular, but in a recent report, Reuters says that “China’s wealthiest shoppers are spending at home again, roused from a three year slumber by a weaker yuan, lower prices, and a crackdown on overseas sales agents – a welcome boost for the world’s luxury brands.”