With its bright white color shot through with dramatic darker streaks, white marble has caught the eye of sculptors, architects, and the general populace for millennia. Its a material almost intrinsically tied with feelings of power, authority, and luxury, so in theory white marble should be no stranger to the world of luxe horology. While the stone does make an occasional appearance as an exotic dial material, the bright and striated look of white marble has made its latest watchmaking appearan [...]
The trend of vintage-inspired watches is still going strong in 2017 and one of the most talked about watches at Baselworld this year was the Intra-Matic 68 by Hamilton. Not only is it inspired by a vintage Hamilton chronograph, it also has a reverse panda dial, which is in fashion right now. To me, this new Hamilton Intra-Matic 68 is a logical progression from the two-handed Intra-Matic watch that was introduced by Hamilton in 2012. The two are not identical, but similar in spirit. So does the I [...]
Not to be outdone by Audemars Piguet and their claims to Formula 1 racing, Hublot, the official watch brand of F1, has announced the F1 King Power Austin as a tribute to the United States Grand Prix which was held in Austin, Texas this past weekend. Limited to just 250 units, this titanium cased chronograph boasts a carbon and titanium bezel which has been styled to look like a cross-drilled? performance brake rotor. Measuring 48mm across, the F1 King Power Austin is powered by the HUB4100 autom [...]
Italian watch and fashion brand Bulgari has collaborated with Italian car maker Maserati on special edition watches since 2012. The latest fruits of that collaboration were released at the Frankfurt motor show, and they are a pair of Bulgari Octo Maserati Mono-Retro watches that despite being individually named are essentially different material versions of an Octo with a dial design based on a Maserati cars rev counter. The GranSport is the one in black DLC coated steel, and the GranLusso is 18 [...]
The Omega Seamaster 300M Co-Axial Chronograph 41.5mm sure has been around for a good while now, and it admittedly is not the sort of Omega thats been taking headlines in recent years, but boy, have I grown to love it for all these-and a variety of other-reasons. It is not without its own quirks either, so lets see how it fares in the long run.DesignLet me begin with some of those cool design elements and quirks before we talk size, wearability, and legibility. When the Seamaster 300M Chronograph [...]
To commemorate the inauguration of their new boutique in Caesars Palace Forum Shops in Las Vegas, Hublot launched the Vegas boutique-exclusive Hublot Big Bang Las Vegas Edition timepieces. While there are technically four different references, they are all functionally the same watch offered with different case materials and diamond configurations.At their heart, these watches are the Hublot Big Bang Chronograph powered by the calibre HUB4100, which is an automatic movement that offers 42h of po [...]
Omega, as a sponsor of the PGA, is rather excited about the upcoming golfing event. Golf is a serious sport for many people and whether or not you are into the game, you cant deny the power it has over many peoples lives. For years, the worlds biggest watch brands such as omega, Omega, and TAG Heuer have all had serious relationships with golf.Why am I mentioning golf when discussing the new Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra collection that was founded on dive watch principles? Well, the Omega Seamaste [...]
Parked in front of the booth for watch- and jewelry-maker Jacob Co. at Baselworld 2019 was a sleek, black Bugatti supercar. Bugatti is one of the most powerful names (and engines) in the automotive world, as well as one of the most exclusive. The German-owned, Italian car maker was previously associated with watchmaker Parmigiani, but this year we see them developing a relationship with Jacob Co. In a lot of ways, that makes sense. A member of the team casually noted that Bugatti is about mak [...]
Episode three of the quickly evolving podcast how HourTime (starring myself and John Biggs) is now online.We discuss some winners of the watch industry version of the Oscars, the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve 2009. Winners included Richard Mille, Greubal Forsey, the Hublot Black Caviar $1 million watch, Audemars Piguet and A. Lange Sohne. We also discuss the watch business what groups own what brands, how well they are doing, and like that. Then, we say a few words about Panerai, and more [...]
Tuesday, September 29th 2015, saw the official opening of Hublot 2, Hublots new workspace that adds a massive 8,000 m2 to their operational space. Located in Nyon, a literal stones throw from Hublot 1 (built in 2009), Hublot 2 will enable the brand?to delve deeper into the manufacturing process, conduct more essential research and development, and increase their assembly and after-sales production-a pressing necessity given the explosion of popularity the brand has enjoyed over the past decade.T [...]
Just a few more days to enter for a chance to win a Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day Date Automatic watch, this month on . For a chance to win, please visit the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day Date watch giveaway page here. [...]
Remember all your friends and coworkers who tried to get you to buy into bitcoin about a year ago, and when you heard the term blockchain at least once an hour? Well, Hublot does, and theyve released the Hublot Big Bang Meca-10 P2P watch for the all savvy and successful bitcoin investors of the world. The Hublot Meca-10 P2P is a limited edition, fully bitcoin-themed Big Bang Meca-10 which you can naturally purchase via bitcoin.Hublot has taken the Big Bang Meca-10 which we saw hands-on and discu [...]
There are some watches out there that, one might feel, appear to have always been around. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph works so well as a natural extension to the Diver collection that, to me, it is certainly such a watch. A couple weeks ago at SIHH 2016, Audemars Piguet finally enhanced their ROO Diver-originally released?at SIHH 2010-by adding a chronograph function to it. Do the math, and youll find that It took six years for the brand to make the first considerabl [...]
From a strictly military?perspective, wearing a white dial dive watch on a mission would possibly cause your fellow commando soldiers to smack you in the back of the head. But what the Panerai Luminor Base 8 Days Acciaio PAM561 lacks in historical accuracy and stealth capabilities it makes up for by being one of the more affordable, in-house-movement-equipped and refreshing-looking alternatives in a?sea of boring black and blue dial watches.Panerai may be a brand of only a handful of-admittedly [...]
It was back in 2009 when first debuted the original Perrelet Turbine watch collection. The whimsical spinning-dial-based timepiece was a hit for the brand, which, at the time, was undergoing a major visual refresh and semi-rebranding. Perrelet is a high-end brand that is part of the Spanish Festina group. (The same entity also owns the Swiss movement maker Soprod.) Perrelets initial success with the jet engine-inspired Turbine watch collection birthed numerous versions and editions, including t [...]
The old-new?Da Vinci collection from IWC made its return at SIHH 2017, ditching the not very successful angular case from some ten years ago in favor of a classical, round design. As safe-play as that may sound, the?IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph has, sort of unexpectedly, stepped up to be one of my favorites from this years new releases and heres why that is.Ill go out on a limb and say this: IWC perpetual calendars-especially the Portugieser variants, of course-have for a long tim [...]
Japans Citizen watches is a fortunate group because it has one of the most valuable licensing agreements around - with Disney and all of its brands. This allows Citizen to produce Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more styles of watches. The design universe available to them is enormous. Many of these watches are for more mainstream appeal, and thus not, per see, enthusiast-grade. That said, all Citizen watches are a great value for the money, and it is certainly true that an awful lot of wa [...]
Aviation has always been at the core of the Bell Ross brand ethos. From its very earliest pilot watches onward, the marque has always turned its eye towards flight, and nowhere is this inspiration more literal than in the cockpit instrument-themed BR 03 series. For the latest interpretation in the series, Bell Ross has taken aim at one of the centerpieces of the modern fighter jet - the heads-up display, or HUD - and created the aggressive, modern limited-edition Bell Ross BR 03-92 HUD. This [...]
When I first saw this Piaget watch almost a year ago it was safely put away behind glass, teasing me with its no-so-thin charms. At 43mm wide and just 5.25mm thick, this is a dream come true for people who want a stately looking watch in diameter, but also one that offers an extremely thin profile on the wrist. So thin in fact, that this watch holds the record for being the thinnest automatic watch in the world.The movement also holds a record for being the thinnest automatic movement (thinnest [...]
As official timekeeper for the Olympic games on 27 occasions since 1932, Omega certainly has earned the right to get a little carried away with its commemorative, Olympiad-themed limited editions. Coming once every two years, these colorful offerings have typically been re-skinned versions of Omegas most popular sport watch collections, with details paying tribute to the host cities of the current games; like the maple leaf-inspired Seamaster Professional for Vancouver, an Aqua Terra with a Copa [...]