Blancpain is one of the oldest Swiss watch brands but it was on the verge of death before being taken over by Jean-Claude Biver. This was of course before Bivers purchase of Hublot, and before Blancpain he was at Omega. Biver is said to have pretty much saved Blancpain (just as he did with Hublot)-a good thing because today, despite the brands literal English translation of white bread, very few boring things are going on inside the manufacture.Biver sold Blancpain to the Swatch Group a few year [...]

I love writing about Invicta watches because you readers get so worked up about them with your polarizing viewpoints. Some of you swear by Invicta carrying around your collection of 47 ShopNBC specials in a duffel bag at all times, while other wouldnt touch them with their worst enemys wrist. It is true that Invicta has a lot of hit and misses, as well as a broad range prices to go with their watches. Sometimes it is actually not fair, because you cant compare a $1,000 Invicta with a $50 one bu [...]

Raymond Weil is an independent family-run brand that so many of us began our watch collecting journeys with, and I recall my uncles RW (a simple rectangular model that I just cant place the name of) as being an object of fascination for me as a child. Lately, Raymond Weil has made moves to go ever-so-slightly up-market, and cater to the $2,500+ buyer, with the Freelance Chronograph, one of its more attractive and versatile offerings. Standing out in the cut-throat entry-level Swiss mechanical ch [...]

Here we have one of my favorite chronographs from Baselworld this year. While it is certainly tough to beat Omegas stunning Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon, if youre looking for something a bit more under the radar while still offering the charm of a Moonwatch, its going to be hard to deny the appeal of a titanium Omega Speedmaster Co-Axial Chronograph Moonwatch with a beautiful blue dial and Omegas excellent 9300 automatic co-axial chronograph movement.Dont get me wrong, I love a standard bla [...]

In the spirit of vintage-inspired timepieces, the brand Mido held no punches with its release of the Mido Multifort Patrimony, available in three versions: with a sunburst blue dial, a sunburst gray dial, and a black sunburst dial and bronze PVD coating. These watches feature pulsometer scales on the perimeter of the dials, syringe hands, and very classic text printed on the dial. Mido used Arabic numerals at the quarter-hour marks, as well as a nicely balanced date above the 6 oclock marker. Bo [...]

The Geneva Motor Show will take place just before Baselworld 2017, and one of the most eagerly anticipated cars at the show will be Italdesigns new hypercar. Founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italdesign is a design and engineering company with a long history, and this will be their first foray into making a proper car. To commemorate the occasion, Italdesign has also teamed up with Roger Dubuis to create the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch.But before we talk about the wat [...]

The Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42 is versatile, remarkably well finished to the point that it punches above its weight, and a welcome addition to an underserved category of dressy chronographs. I spent quite a bit of time with the blue dial variant and it was as natural a fit when I was wearing a Fred Perry polo and a pair of Birddogs as it was when I attended a wedding in a tan Gucci suit. If youre a person who depends on your watch for a personality, then this likely isnt the watch for [...]

Elitist watch maker Audemars Piguet sells watches for people who easily remark, my watch cost more than your car. With all this money to spend, they get a bit generous with big shots like Presidents and big-shot actors. In this case Audemars Piguet created timepieces for both former President Bill Clinton and actor/California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Put to the test, we will see whose watch comes out on top. This stringent test of watch pretention and excess can only be determined by test [...]

Breitlings are a bit mainstream for my tastes normally, but once in a while they release something that I notice and keeps my attention. Breitling needs no introduction from me. We all know of this very popular (and rightly so) maker of fine watches for all activities. One thing I appreciate about Breitling is that no matter how glitzy their watch may get, they also stay true to being a well thought out instrument.The Breitling Superocean line has been around for a while. Over 50 years in fact, [...]

PIAGET EMPERADOR COUSSIN XL LARGE MOON ENAMEL WATCHNew watches are being released all the time. Major brands are constantly tweaking their existing ranges to provide a new take on an old classic, a slightly different colorway to breathe life into a tired palette, a new complication slammed into an existing case but it is rarer to see one of the big boys release a whole range of new timepieces at once. Today, on Wednesday September 30th, 2015, Piaget debuts the new Secrets Lights collection, wit [...]

In the midst of a middling SIHH 2019, Montblanc released a handful of watches truly worth peoples attention. Theyve carefully rolled out interesting uses of green- and salmon-dialed watches, and Im going to discuss two pieces in the latter category that demonstrate how Montblancs Heritage Collection is delivering on their higher-end as well as entry-level pieces. The alluringly arcane Montblanc Heritage Pulsometer Limited Edition has gotten the most attention for the brand this year. The 100-wat [...]

The Omega Constellation has never been one of the main Omega watches on my radar. This fact is interesting to me since I am a big fan of Omega watches overall. If you speak to Omega you learn something interesting that makes sense if you think about it. The world is split up into two major types of Omega markets. Those are Omega Speedmaster and Seamaster markets, as well as Omega Constellation and De Ville markets.The United States is for the most part an Omega Speedmaster and Seamaster market. [...]

Perhaps no other combination of factors excites vintage watch enthusiasts quite like early dive watches with military provenance. The blend of classic design, field-proven durability, and the romantic warmth of patina is a difficult one to beat, and few brands capture this magic formula better than Blancpain. The brands Fifty Fathoms line is one of the longest-running and most celebrated diver lines in all of watchmaking, and Blancpain certainly has no lack of historic points to reference with i [...]

For SIHH 2013,?Piaget will once again break a record when it comes to being thin with the Emperador Coussin XL Ultra Thin Minute Repeater. No we are not talking about anything related to The Biggest Loser, but rather a new movement which is the thinnest of its kind. Traditionally, Piaget has been known for making very thin mechanical movements. A few years ago they revisited this pursuit and started to produce movements of various types and complications that are the thinnest of their kind.If yo [...]

It is 10 years now since Bulgari set off on its course to become the new king of ultra-thin mechanical watches. When the first Octo Finissimo debuted, little did we - or anyone - know Bulgari would want to attain more than a one-off feat, let alone such a hot streak. The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is the brands eighth record-thin luxury watch, and with a watch case thats 1.80mm-thick, it marks a thinness world record for a mechanical watch.It is rare for long-established world records to be be [...]

At SIHH 2019, Hermes gave me a sneak peak at this Slim dHermes Titane watch, which is a titanium version of the Hermes Slim in steel that has a full review here. Hands-on images should follow in a forthcoming article. More or less priced within earshot of the steel model, the titanium version of the Slim dHermes has a slightly sportier look that is still slick and elegant in the way a modern dress watch should be. Certainly, this is a fashion watch, but one of a high pedigree in both construct [...]

Bell Ross has not forgotten about you BR02 lovers! The BR02 is Bell Rosss most modern dive watch and a piece that, I think, has gone too far under the radar in the last few years. It makes sense that with all their focus on vintage/heritage/original aviation pieces there wasnt very much room in the spotlight for a thoroughly modern Bell Ross diving watch.Here is a bit of attention for the collection, though, in the form of two new pieces that borrow heavily from some of the coolest BR01 watch [...]

Recently, the Gerald Genta designed classic Patek Philippe Nautilus watch underwent a modern re-sizing. Up to about 43mm wide, the new size of the classic looking diving reinvigorates the watchs character. I must admit that I was not taken by the Nautilus design when I first viewed it a few years back. It looked too simple, and a bit dated. It is of course a design from the 1970s. The long and thin rounded hands and hour markers felt basic, and the horizontal texturing on the dial was something [...]

In the history of Japanese art, no other name looms larger than Katsushika Hokusai. Over a career spanning the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century, Hokusai created thousands of ukiyo-e paintings, sketches, and woodblock prints celebrating the serene natural beauty of Japan, including the single most globally recognizable piece of Japanese art, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. With its extensive expertise in enamel work, Jaeger-LeCoultre is well-positioned to translate these intricate wo [...]

While the Patek Philippe Annual Calendar has been a staple of the brands lineup since its introduction in 1996, the wide variety of Annual Calendar models over the years have been offered exclusively in precious metals. Patek Philippe breaks this 25 year streak in 2021, offering a stainless steel variant for the first time with a textured dial and a classically refined look. The new Patek Philippe Ref. 4947/1A-001 Annual Calendar builds on the timeless stainless steel Calatrava case design with [...]