In virtually all the watch auctions I see, Patek Philippe watches are of the most common high yield lots. It amazes me that even Patek Philippe watches that are just a few years old auction for more than the retail price. This is certainly not the case with most watches, but it can safely be said that Patek Philippe watches are investment grade. To a degree it is difficult to determine which watches will be worth the most. This depends on many factors, but the good news is that virtually all lim [...]
This is a good show in term of content, but the recording was done while I lost my voice, and while John was in China (he couldnt even test to see if we posted it online properly because the Internet is so heavily censored in China!). So pardon our oddities or faintness in sound. Just turn that volume way up! Enjoy folks.We talk about the Grey Market for watches, watch companies animosity toward allowing you to buy online, and the Internets and Bell Ross role in changing what the Watch Grey Mar [...]
Limited to just 50 pieces, this particular version of the Breitling Superocean Heritage II watch was designed in collaboration with Breitlings boutique retail partners in Los Angeles and honors the opening of the still-new Breitling boutique in Beverly Hills located on Via Rodeo off the famed Rodeo Drive shopping avenue. The watch is officially known as the Breitling Superocean Heritage B20 Automatic 44 Beverly Hills Limited Edition (reference UB20303A1B1S1), co-created with Westime, the retail [...]
The week after the official availability date of the Apple Watch, while many are trying to formulate an opinion after having tried or received the new smartwatch, Audemars Piguet, one of the few remaining family-owned, independent watchmaking giants held a master watchmaking class in the center of Silicon Valley, San Francisco.Having taken part in various watch industry events, I sort of knew to expect a first class glitzy affair, as luxury brands tend to offer to their precious clientele. What [...]
In the world of limited edition Panerai watches there are cool ones and boring ones. This is one of the really cool ones. I also love that they all (limited to 100 pieces) sold out within one hour of being released. This is the Panerai Luminor Submersible PAM 358, and was specially made for the Parisian high-end watch store Chronopassion. The PAM 358 is a pretty crazy watch. Water resistant to 2500 meters (over 8,000 feet), the watch is shaped like a diving vessel with a large rounded bottom. It [...]
Review by reader and guest contributor Paul Piazza who purchased the IWC Portugieser Automatic Ref. IW500705 and was kind enough to share his experiences and thoughts on the watch.The IWC Portugieser Automatic with date display debuted back in 2004 and?has always been furnished with one of the biggest and most powerful?automatic movements. The 52010 caliber as we know it today shows how far movement architecture has come since the original Portugieser from the 1930s used?a pocket watch movement [...]
Welcome back to an original feature, My First Grail Watch.? In this series, we ask prominent people in the watch industry about the first timepiece that they lusted after. (ABTW): ?Who are you and what is your relationship to the watch industry? Hartmut Kraft (HK): ?I am the German-American Watch Collector turned Industry Executive that everybody simply refers to as the H, President of Maurice Lacroix North America.ABTW: ?What was your?first?grail?watch?HK: ?A Patek Calatrava Ref. 3919. ?I saw [...]
Here at , we have covered our fair share of chronograph watches, and oftentimes they can be bunched into the sportier side of life. This isnt to say that there arent chronographs out there that can be seen as dressy; in fact, with so many brands evolving their lines to include new?materials and classier touches, the range of options have grown vastly to broaden the role?that a chronograph can serve.Whether it be a cleaner,?uncluttered dial or a gold case, a chronograph can be just as much at hom [...]
I love this watch. Ive always loved Bulgari anything, but this watch is just so sensuous and harmoniousI want it now.Inspired by Italian Style and Design with Swiss watchmaking expertise, the Bulgari-Bulgari Moonphase model features the automatic Bulgari caliber B77 movement with moonphase complication. With launches such as this, Bulgari is definitely making some bold moves. Then again, what else should we expect from this brand? With the introduction of the Bulgari-Bulgari Moonphase to be rel [...]
The Germans have a reputation for efficiency and engineering prowess, and these two qualities are also reflected in their watchmaking sensibilities. A good example is Glashutte Originals Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar. Perpetual calendars are one of the most useful complications, but because they need to display so much information the time, day, date, month, leap year some perpetual calendar watches can also be difficult to read. This isnt a problem with the Senator Excellence Perpetua [...]
An ad for the original Omega Ploprof stated, It may not look pretty on the surface, but deep down its beautiful. It is a curious statement for an official advertisement, but well sums up a lot of what the original early 1970s super diver was all about. Omega was one of the lead innovators along with omega in the market to supply serious professional divers (most notably the likes of Jacques Cousteau) with reliable diving watch instruments. In its heyday, the Ploprof (a contraction of Plongeur Pr [...]
With the Superocean 44 Special, Breitling introduces their second (at the time of writing) timepiece which uses a ceramic bezel. If you recall, last year in 2015 Breitling released the well-priced and good-looking Chronoliner (hands-on here) that has a solid black ceramic bezel. Competing watch brands such as omega and Omega had introduced ceramic as a material into their lineup years previously, so it was about time Breitling offered their own take on the use of the material. For 2016, Breitlin [...]
In addition to a revamped omega Submariner watch collection, 2020 sees omega release a new 41mm wide version of the entry-level omega Oyster Perpetual in a larger case and with a new generation movement as the reference 124300 collection. The omega Oyster Perpetual 41 watch debut with seven exciting dial colors, including those which have not been featured on omega dials for a long time. omega has certainly needed the bright colors are in trend, and created both conservative and genuinely fun ve [...]
Swiss watchmaker Hublot are celebrating their ongoing HUBLOT LOVES ART campaign by partnering with street artists Hush and Tristan Eaton. The results of this collaboration are two new limited edition watches based loosely on the concepts of Fame and Fortune, as embodied by Hollywood on Americas West Coast and Wall Street in New Yorks Financial District respectively. Hush was tasked with designing Fame, in the form of the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang West Coast Ceramic Black and White. Tristan Eaton [...]
When it comes to grand complications, there are very few watch makers that can raise the bar quite like Patek Philippe. Yet, what really sets them apart is their ability to create pieces with timeless appeal that can actually be worn by their owners. For example, the new MECCANICO dG from those masters of time de GRISOGONO, is an incredibly complicated timepiece, but is it really practical? One would suggest not. Not to detract in any way from the MECCANICO dG, it has been designed for a specifi [...]
It finally happened, Bell Ross is giving everyones favorite square watch a metal bracelet. Actually, let me clarify. They are testing it out on the BR03 watch models. Seen here is one of the first of these types maybe the first ever in a retail store. It is the BR03-92 watch with the new style metal bracelet that you can now get in addition to the rubber or other straps available with this watch line.Bell Ross does not currently have any plans to give the larger BR01 (46mm wide) watches a brac [...]
Of all of the worlds many thousands of hotels, very few ever become an icon for the city or country in which they are based. Consider Haitis Hotel Oloffson, Dubais Burj Khalifa (as seen in MI4: Ghost Protocol) or the Bellagio Hotel of Las Vegas. These are hotels that have become international set pieces and back drops that make up part of the visual mindscape that many people have for locations that they may have never visited. Some hotels are so longstanding that they can become a pillar for gl [...]
Article contributed by E.M. Maximilien: Omega is known for being the brand with the first watch (Speedmaster) on the moon, however, the best selling Omega watch might be the Seamaster series; which includes the very watch worn by secret agent 007 since 1995 and more recently in the 2008Quantum of Solace James Bond movie.In 2012, Omega is marking the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise. The result was the release of a limited edition James Bond Seamaster. However, the older version [...]
It is mid-summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and Hublot is bringing the beach party with two new boutiques in the glitzy French coastal towns of Cannes and Saint-Tropez along the famously glamorous French Riviera, or C?te dAzur. You already see where this is going, right? The new boutiques have been outfitted with a beachy and nautical design featuring azure blue facades and the new, simply named Hublot Big Bang Blue limited edition watch in a blue ceramic case thematically follows suit.Blue co [...]
Omega and the James Bond franchise have been partners in style since 1995, with the watchmaker supplying Seamasters for the worlds most famous spy in an array of versions and complications (occasionally even including lasers). For the ninth film in this partnership, the upcoming No Time To Die, Omega has created a unique and ruggedly handsome new Seamaster 007 Edition: the reference 210.90.42.20.01.001.Like most of the watches that have graced Bonds wrist in the 57 years of 007 films from big cr [...]