Hi, Im John Biggs, East Coast Editor of TechCrunch, Ariels partner on the HourTime Show, and owner of WristWatchReview.com. Id like to share a chapter from my new book Marie Antoinettes Watch (now available in e-book and paperback) with you. Its one of the greatest stories in the watch world and one of the saddest. Commissioned in 1782, reportedly by one of Marie Antoinettes lovers, the watch took decades to complete and had over twenty complications. It was an horological miracle at the time a [...]

Yes, I wrote about this watch before on aBlogtoRead.com. The Omega Limited Edition Olympics watch for Vancouver in 2010 is just an awesome timepiece and AskMen.com was right to want it featured. The Canada flag colors of this watch and the cute little Olympic logo as the second hands counter weight just make be very happy. Other than the engraved caseback, the watch is the same as the universally popular Omega Seamaster Professional 300m dive watch. Read the review on AskMen.com here.[phpbay]ome [...]

As we charge straight into the Year of the Ox, in the watch world, its really starting to look like the Year of the Chronograph, with blockbuster releases dominating the conversation thus far. Leading that charge has been the long-awaited update to the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional. And while demand for the venerable Speedy Pro has never formally waned in the collecting community, Omegas hesitancy to modernize its most important property had maybe started to get a little long in the t [...]

Brave explorers. Meaningful partnerships. Classic, purposeful tool watches with interesting design flourishes. These were the core values that first endeared me to Omega as a brand many years ago, so Ill be the first to admit its pretty cool to see the new Seamaster Diver 300m Nekton Edition adopt a similar nostalgic ethos, despite being quite modern and dripping with all the latest Omega technologies. Its a return to form of sorts for the Biel manufacture - one thats practical, charitable, and [...]

When it comes to watches in film, perhaps no brand has a more impressive track record than Hamilton. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Men In Black and Interstellar, the marque has a long history of providing distinctive timepieces to Hollywood, and for its latest star turn Hamilton has once again partnered with acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, creating a unique version of its rugged Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO diver for his upcoming thriller Tenet, set to release July 31, 2020. While the watch featu [...]

We battle it out over the coolness or lameness of the Morgenwerk Satellite Precision watches. We then talk about the final versions of the HYT H1 hydromechanical watch, as well as the awesome new Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX 7 Chronograph. Then we try to understand and sum up the new watch brand by, and featuring his royal undeadness, Karl Lagerfeld. Listen to the HourTime Show Watch Podcast Episode 122 here. Download the MP3. [...]

The funkiest straightforward tourbillon watch for 2011 might just be this limited edition Sixties Square Tourbillon from Glashutte Original. The 41mm by 41mm wide square cushion style watch case is great looking and the execution of the flying tourbillon just seems like a nice icing on the cake afterthought. It is as though the entire watch was done but it had a subsidiary seconds dial so someone said, hey, I bet a flying tourbillon would look good in there! (of course in a German accent), and i [...]

Jaeger-LeCoultre is once again stepping into some familiar territory with another addition to their historically-inspired Reverso collection. You would think I would get bored with these, but youd be wrong.?Launched in the early 1930s, the Reverso was originally conceived as a sports watch, featuring a unique reversible case design that allowed the wearer to protect the dial while utilizing it on the (Polo!) field. Today, the Reverso is a pillar of wristwatch design, and a steadfast collection i [...]

When it comes to the G-Shock Master of G series of high-end, purpose-specific references (Mudmaster, Rangeman, etc.) the conversation simply cant be had without a mention of the iconic Frogman, which kicked off the sub-collection and has been there from the very beginning when it was introduced in 1993. New for 2020, Casio has introduced its first-ever analog Frogman - a full-fledged, ISO-6425-rated connected dive watch that introduces an entirely new suite of functionality (while shaving off on [...]

Today, I take a close look at the Raymond Weil Freelancer RW1212 watch collection. Above, in olive green, is the reference 2780-STC-52001, which has an exclusive movement made just for Raymond Weil by fellow Swiss Sellita - the Freelancer RW1212 takes the popular Freelancer-style case and incorporates a distinctive-looking open-heart dial with a view of the movements operating regulation system. The Freelancer RW1212 is only now starting to be discovered by the watch enthusiast community even th [...]

Sponsored post presented on by advertiserIn keeping with its Art of Fusion philosophy of advanced materials and its bold ultramodern design ethos, Hublot has become a leading innovator in the use of colored high-tech ceramics since 2018. In this rapidly advancing field, not all colors are created equal, and for a long time, vibrant and powerful colors were impossible to attain for watch cases. Creating a vibrant and durable yellow (as well as red and blue) ceramic has proved one of Hublots grea [...]

The new way at IWC is to make each year themed. Last year was the year of the Ingenieur while the year before that was year of the pilot watch. 2014 at IWC will be the year of the Aquatimer, so expect to see a fully re-launched collection of some of the nicest high-end tool watches around. Actually, before we move on to discuss a preview of the 2014 Aquatimer watches I want to clarify my previous statement. While for the most part IWC shows the media only pieces of a specific family (i.e. Aquati [...]

Today, as we are in Baden-Baden, Germany,?with Harry Winston, we have some?terrific news for the fans of independent watchmaking: the Harry Winston Opus 14 watch has, at last, been revealed. Pursuing a 50s America vibe and featuring some automaton mechanisms inspired by the iconic record changer machines of the era, the Opus 14 appears to be more of a new beginning for the series than just another chapter.Watch enthusiasts around the world have waited rather long for this remarkable series of hi [...]

With nearly 30 years of experience at his disposal, Jeffery Cohen is the person responsible for running Citizen and its group of watch brands in the US as the President of Citizen Watches America. What I have found to be unique at Citizen (when compared to other foreign-owned timepiece makers) is the level of autonomy in management and decision-making that the United States office has enjoyed. That means even though the Citizen Group is a Japanese company, its American subsidiary calls the shots [...]

Just released by Audemars Piguet are five new Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronographs in what was the collections original, and I believe best, case size of 42mm. Earlier this year, AP announced a refreshed version of the ROO Chronograph in a 43mm case with new in-house caliber 4401 movement and interchangeable straps. Now, we see these five new Royal Oak Offshore Chronographs in the smaller 42mm case get the same upgrade and refinements. Yes, that makes for a total of 10 new Royal Oak Offsh [...]

Panerai is an often polarizing brand that has, in recent years, seen a massive spike in popularity and has become a somewhat household name in mens luxury wrist watches. Now, often included in the brands that your non-watchnerd friends are aware of, they hold rank in upscale jewellery boutiques alongside Breitling and omega. Personally, I have loved the Panerai Radiomir as long as I have loved watches, but both the price and the case size has often been too much for my reality. While SIHH saw qu [...]

Back in January, while in Geneva, I got to happily molest the entire collection of MBF watches. Those lovely Horological Machines were willing participants, and I fondled them with care and admiration. I think the biggest question I got to answer for myself was are these watches wearable? Well, in short, the answer is yes mostly. I should begin with explaining what the point of MBF watches are as I understand it.MBF expresses that their mission is neither to make traditional practical watches o [...]

While the vintage inspired dive watch trend dominates the current diver market, in many ways the trend began in 2007 with the release of the original Longines Legend Diver. The Legend Diver has been a cornerstone of the brands lineup ever since, and despite its status as a potential spearhead for the entire retro diver movement Longines has never intersected the Legend Diver with the other popular modern dive watch trend of bronze case material. Longines latest release changes this, rendering th [...]

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It was only a matter of time before Hamilton decided it was time for a real rehash of the classic Ventura watch. This is not to be confused with now defunct Ventura watches. The Ventura watch model from Hamilton first came out in the age of pre-quartz electronic watches. When electronic watches meant something futuristic and exotic. It was the spacey look of the watch that really mattered though. At the time, it was really out there. Shaped like a shield on its side many with the popular two-to [...]