Just when we gambled that Harry Winston might not be able to outdo its mind-boggling Histoire de Tourbillon 7 released last year, the renowned jeweler has just announced the Histoire de Tourbillon 8-the latest in an ongoing series of tourbillon watches whose degree of complication and unconventional design seems to grow exponentially with each new addition. However, while each new entry had somehow managed to up the ante, the HDT 8 seems to recycle the bi-axial tourbillon complication of its pre [...]

Grand Seiko makes many GMTs. At current count, there are no fewer than 40 watches that feature a GMT complication across the Elegance, Heritage, and Sport collections with options in Spring Drive, Hi-Beat, and 9F quartz movements. The issue, of course, has been that the sporty GMTs with Spring Drive or Hi-Beat movements have only been available in a hefty 44mm-wide case. That is, until recently.The calls for a smaller GMT reached a steady din over the last few years, and in 2020, Grand Seiko del [...]

2015 sees Jaeger-LeCoultre releasing a new titanium and blue ref. Q203T541 (203T541) version of its most impressive sport watch. Timepieces like the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Extreme Lab 2 are why I continue to find myself in love with the world of watches. If it wasnt for an Extreme Lab 2 or similar type of watch coming along now and again, Id probably go off and find something else to write about, because writing about three-hand vintage style dress watches bores me most of the time. [...]

Behold the Graham Fortress Monopusher Chronograph, a quintessentially Graham watch thats nevertheless been toned down just a bit so as to improve its chances. For many of us, Graham has been characterized by its massive, trigger-like chronograph pushers, novel use of colors and materials, grand proportions, underappreciated build quality, and, lets be frank, some controversial styling that often borders on cartoonish. The Graham Fortress Monopusher Chronograph re-tunes a lot of those loud compon [...]

746 components inside a 52 millimeter wide, perfectly round case in red gold: this is the Montblanc Metamorphosis II in one sentence. As the name and those whopping figures suggest, there is a lot more going on, however-especially since we are talking about not one, but two watches here-so let us give this new-for-2014 piece the attention it deserves. The Montblanc Metamorphosis II watch follows its first transforming predecessor, the Montblanc Metamorphosis from 2010 (which we debuted here).In [...]

Launched at SIHH 2019, the Cartier Santos Skeleton ADLC Noctambule is among the very, very few genuinely new watches of the fair, which I reckon has at least a long shot at raising the pulse of watch-lovers. So many regurgitations, misses, and/or flat-out unattainably priced watches have been launched that the humbly sized, yet boldly styled Night Owl could really make a case for itself - were it not for its pricing. Theres always got to be a catch, right?Images by David Bredan, except where not [...]

In September 2019, Paris-based Bell Ross debuted its most ambitious watch in years: the Bell Ross BR 05 ( hands-on here). The BR 05 (BR05) was ambitious because, for the first time, Bell Ross was producing a watch simply designed to look and feel good, as opposed to needing inspiration from a particular world of sport or activity (such as flying, racing, or diving). The BR 05s development was fueled by popular watch collector demand for easy-to-wear steel watches that came on integrated steel [...]

Sponsored PostIn 2014, we wrote a hands-on sponsored post of the then new Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer Regulator released at Basel 2013. It was the first new Chronometer model to come out since the original debuted in 2009. At Baselworld this year, Glashutte Original came out with a new variant of the Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer, a white gold piece with a blue dial. The sapphire window on the screwed caseback gives an unencumbered view of the highly decorated and manual-win [...]

The experimental designs of the 1960s and 1970s seem to offer a deep well of inspiration for watch companies, and apparently the perfect mix of distinctive originality and nostalgia to win over 21st-century consumers. While some of those yesteryear watches might be too far-out to be brought back, even as modern reinterpretations, Swiss Rado has never shied away from the quirky. The horizontally rectangular Rado Manhattan represents the era well, and now reborn for 2018 with a titanium case and t [...]

Sometimes you just really want a big watch and, apparently, other times you want a huge one. Have no doubt that this 55mm-wide IWC Big Pilots Heritage Watch 55 timepiece is barely wearable in most instances. I mean, yes, you can rather easily (and surprisingly comfortably) attach the titanium case to your wrist on the plush leather strap but this is a pure novelty watch through and through.Its sort of a shame that timepieces like this need to cost so much money. That means only a handful of wel [...]

You can tell by the title that this watch has a lot going for it. The?Montblanc Heritage Spirit Perpetual Calendar Skeleton Sapphire Dial watch is an aesthetic?tour de force, but is it all that it appears to be at first glance? It has the name, the look, the complication-clout, but does it tickle the purists collective fancy, or fall short because of one highly contentious fact: The movement is not an in-house product.What you can see through the sapphire display back above is the movement-side [...]

Swiss independent brand Oris has been on a roll lately with bronze watches, a niche that it has found success in. Over the last several years, the watch industry has embraced bronze as a material for watch cases, and in some instances like these Oris watches, as a bracelet material as well. Today, Oris introduces a new collection of its Big Crown Pointer Date watches, featuring both a bronze case and matching bronze bracelet. The watches are handsome and offer an intriguing alternative to steel [...]

Welcome back to an original interview series, My First Grail Watch. In this series, we ask prominent people in the watch industry about the first timepiece that they lusted after. Today, were speaking with Peter Roberts, who is, well, is hard to pin down in a single sentence, in terms of his relation to the watch industry. Hes been in it for four and a half decades, going through many brands in a many capacities. Hes also taught horology (teaching some other names well-known to us), writes on w [...]

How I love this luxury watch, let me count the ways: It has amazing internal mechanics, is totally original for a luxury watch while being extremely functional, and it looks great! What more could I want? Well aside from enough money to actually get one. Starting at about $55,000 I should start saving up. This is Germanys A. Lange Sohne new Lange Zeitwek watch. If anything, it is a solid way for Lange Uhren to position themselves as a creatively innovative watch makers, in addition to being cre [...]

While it does not surprise me much, I cant say that I would have guessed Rado?would bring out a watch with the aesthetic of Tron. In a way I get it. Rado had a nice time in the 1980s when it started to popularize ceramic cased watches, and Tron came out in the 1980s. Both were futuristic in their own avant garde manner. The Rado R-One (R-1) isnt per se a Tron watch as there is no official connection, but youd be amiss to find the R-Ones design not wholly inspired by the movie franchise.It is a l [...]

At the IWC watches booth at SIHH 2016, the theme will be all about pilot watches with two of the flagship limited edition models being the new IWC Big Pilots Heritage 55 and the related IWC Big Pilots Heritage 48. Each of these watches is directly inspired by the 55mm-wide IWC Big Pilots Watch (52-calibre T.S.C.) the company produced in 1940 for military purposes. Pictures of the original 52-calibre T.S.C. (Tirette Seconde Centrale) are below, with one amusing one showing the comparative 55mm-wi [...]

As I write this review I am actually freshly back from a visit of the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture in Le Sentier, Switzerland. In the watch industry the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture is considered a special place because it is a serious factory where both cases and movements are made which is a rare combo. I got to see a lot of Reverso cases being produced and realized just how complex they are to manufacture. A simple case requires dozens of steps that involve both hand and machine work. The ef [...]

Leaving Baselworld each year is bitter sweet because I tend to have such a good time. I dont get to see even a third of what I would like to check out, and it is great to be among my friends and close colleagues for over a week. It is tiring however, and during final days you end up forgetting you are there for watches. I love it though, and am proud to be part of the worlds biggest watch show. Next year I have decided I need to attend the show with a posse. Who is with me? I can promise there w [...]

Easily my favorite new Panerai of SIHH 2010 is an unexpected model. The brand that made it a point to hide the tourbillon complication on their first tourbillon watch has now made an about face. This is the first skeletonized Panerai watch that I know of, and does not let down. It is actually the same movement from their normal tourbillon watch but skeletonized. This is in contrast to what some makers do by making a watch movement specially designed to be skeletonized. Good that the watch moveme [...]

In a reinterpretation of their famous diving line, we see the?Blancpain?Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in gray plasma ceramic for Baselworld 2016.?Blancpain has created various iterations of this iconic watch in the past, and this vintage-inspired piece is another hit youll likely admire.The ceramic dial is a gorgeous, deep blue that references the very depths of the ocean.?The hour markers are Liquidmetal?, and the thick, illuminated hands ensure legibility in the deepest of dives, especially with t [...]