Years ago when the first Hublot Big Bang came out it was an interesting watch to most people. It had an aggressive military and industrial sensibility to it that so many men enjoyed back then, and still enjoy today. Not everyone is in love with Hublot watches, but most tend to agree that the Big Bang was a solid design. So solid that for a long time Hublot became typecast as a firm making only Big Bang watches. That is until a few years ago when watches like the King Power and others came along [...]

2015 has drawn?to a close, which it means that we can turn our eyes towards the watches that are being released for 2016.?For the new year, IWC?is extending their Aquatimer lineup which had a major overhaul back in 2014 (hands-on with those here). Obviously, these do not include any major or radical design changes, but IWC figured some fresh new looks were worth it. While new watches often will pull inspiration from (or pay homage to)?places, people, or past models, the new IWC Aquatimer models [...]

When Baselworld comes around, there are certain things you can count on. One of those is, of course, a new variant of the venerable Omega Speedmaster. This is the first time in a long while that we see them come with a semi-skeletonized dial-some might remember a few pieces from the 90s and early 2000s. On one hand, Im sad to see any portion of that moon-crater dial surface disappear, but they have done it for a really cool reason. Heres the?Omega?Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8.Were [...]

When it comes to models such as the rare Ovale XL Tourbillon, Parmigiani doesnt really need to focus on limited editions. Rather, this individually serialized watch simply gets dial and material updates from time to time as the Parmigiani Fleurier Ovale XL Tourbillon family releases ever-changing models. This particular reference PFH750-1000600-HA3141 adds a new style of dial and was released by Parmigiani Fleurier in 2017.While the design of a watch such as the Ovale XL Tourbillon isnt for ever [...]

For Breitlings 2016 Baselworld showing, the brand debuted an all-new Avenger with a 24-hour movement set in a hulking 50mm Breitlight polymer case-which, as lightweight and deceptively cool as it was, deserved a smaller, more approachable treatment. Well, for those hoping that this years show would bring a wearable 44 or even 46mm variant, keep waiting this is not your watch. The new-for-2017 Breitling Avenger Hurricane is still set in the same 50mm case as its predecessor but is now paired wit [...]

Parmigiani Fleurier has just released a new addition to their Kalpa collection: the Parmigiani Kalpa XL Hebdomadaire watch with an 8-day power reserve in a rose gold case. This latest iteration gives a new twist to the Parmigiani Kalpa XL Hebdomadaire Anniversaire version we recently covered hands-on here. Notably, it takes a more mainstream approach of offering a gold-cased watch, whereas the Anniversaire took the stealth wealth approach of adding a gold movement inside a steel watch.Parmigiani [...]

Bell Ross owes much of their place on the watch landscape to the distinctive and long-standing design of their BR 03 series. With an instantly-recognizable square case shape and circular instrument-inspired dial design, the BR 03 is a watch that most enthusiasts could pick out from across a room. The look, while polarizing, successfully bolsters BRs aviation aesthetic and has become an archetype of its own. Released at Baselworld 2013, the Bell BR 03 Ross Golden Heritage collection offers a BR [...]

Designa Individual (DiW) is one of a series of small companies around the world that, for at least part of their business, customize omega timepieces. As abundant as a aftermarket omega watches are, the industry cant even agree on a term for them. These watches also happen to be quite controversial, as omega officially condemns them and because they often cost significantly more than the retail prices of the original omega timepieces they began as.Nevertheless, the world of aftermarket/customize [...]

New from Glashutte Original for 2010 is the Senator Diary watch.What is it? Basically a mechanical alarm watch that can be set up to 31 days in the future as opposed to tomorrow. It has an in-house made automatic movement with the time, date, and the unique alarm complication. What is the diary part of the watch? You can whisper your hopes, dreams, and celebrity crushes to the watch and it will never share your secrets with anyone else.See my Glashutte Original Senator Diary watch article at Ha [...]

Buglari (Bvlgari) was really proud of the fact that no Maserati branding was on the dial of their special edition Octo watch for Maserati. Turn the piece over and youll see the famous Trident logo, but the word Maserati does not appear anywhere on the watch itself. That is interesting and perhaps wise.Logically, an intersection between a famous auto and watch maker coming together to make timepieces makes sense. Though in reality few have succeeded in such an endeavor. Ferrari had its famous cla [...]

Some watchmaker-and-carmaker collaborations are a great success; others fail miserably; most, of course, fall somewhere in the middle. Many of the variables, the partners obviously cant control - timing and luck, for example - but others, they can govern and refine. The now five-year-strong Hublot and Ferrari alliance proves a success story to learn from.Perhaps two of the most noteworthy modern car/watch partnerships are Breitling for Bentley and the recently concluded Jaeger-LeCoultre and Asto [...]

For many enthusiasts, the IWC name is virtually synonymous with its bold and functional line of pilots watches. The IWC Pilots Watch Chronograph in particular has come to largely define the look and feel of modern military pilots watches, and the brands close relationship with the U.S. Navy is proof of just how influential its design has become. In addition to its famous collaboration with the U.S. Navys TOP GUN fighter pilot training academy, since 2018 IWC has worked with over a dozen U.S. Nav [...]

Piaget makes some of the most beautiful exclusive luxury watches out there. The Swiss company combines its more than 100 years of experience producing mechanical watch movements with the contemporary values of the company that include an ultra-thin wearing experience and high-jewelry expertise. Today, I look at two members of the Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon family that includes the reference G0A44053 with a meteorite dial and the reference G0A44031 that has an entirely diamond-decorated dial.Bot [...]

The 2017 Blancpain St. Valentines Day Special Edition.When it comes to fine watches, it sometimes seems like every day is Fathers Day. No need to create a special watch to celebrate men, since most mechanical timepieces are already geared to male aficionados. Blancpain, however, thoughtfully singles out women once a year for a special-edition watch designed to be gifted to a woman on St. Valentines Day. Blancpain, the maker of such tough-guy timepieces as the Fifty Fathoms and sophisticated comp [...]

The major new watch release for German Porsche Design at Baselworld 2019 is the Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC. Germans typically prefer to use the term UTC (coordinated universal time) as opposed to Greenwich mean time (GMT) as a matter of style but, effectively, they are the same thing. Porsche Design didnt want to merely release a GMT (UTC) watch during this new era of the brand, but rather wanted something technically interesting, exclusive, and, of course, practical. The Porsche Design [...]

Few watch lines can claim as strong a connection with the history of aviation as Breitlings cornerstone Navitimer, and over the years the Navitimer line has built deep bonds with both military and civil flying groups. 2019 saw Breitling celebrate its long-standing airline connections with a vintage airline-themed capsule connection inspired by the iconic jet liveries of TWA, Pan Am, and Swissair. For 2021, the brand revisits this high-flying 60s and 70s-inspired concept with a new Navitimer payi [...]

In the world of automobiles, cars that have immense performance, but appear near stock and hence rather unassuming on the outside, are called sleepers. Well, if there has ever been a sleeper Richard Mille, the Richard Mille RM033 is definitely it.This is the second Richard Mille watch that I get to review and wear for several weeks-the last one was the RM011 NTPT last year, reviewed here-and on both occasions I have them on the wrist?as much as I can, to gauge not only how it performs as a watch [...]

I love spotting watches in movies, and there were a few of interest in Iron Man, which I saw last night. To tell you right away, the watch that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.s character in Iron Man) wore that received the most screen time is very new, and I could not get an image of it to you show, though I will describe it. I was able to get pictures of all the watches, check them out below. The movie by the way was very well done. Perhaps not as much action as I would have liked, but Jon Favrea [...]

Remember Travolta? Remember Beckham? Remember the weirdly sexist undertones of a brand that for the longest while couldnt quite seem to pin down who it was trying to make watches for and how to talk to them? In case you still do, it might finally be time to go ahead and forget this awkward period of now-ancient history in the grand scheme of Breitlings meteoric return to relevance. As Breitling CEO Georges Kern continues to put distance between his brand direction and that of his predecessors fr [...]

The Swiss manufacture, Parmigiani Fleurier, launched its new and very important Tonda Metro collection (including the Metrograph) in Lausanne, just a few days before SIHH 2014. What you have here is worth taking note of because it is perhaps the best choice for men looking for their first piece from the brand. Parmigiani is a well-known and deservedly respected name among those at a more severe stage of watch addiction. The main reason for that lies in the brands rather unique position: it is [...]