Breaking stereotypes, one watch at a time
When the average Joe thinks of Swiss watchmakers he probably thinks of wizened old men with white hair and white coats, perennially hunched over workbenches assembling miniature mechanical masterpieces with impossibly small gears and screws. And you know something, he’d be right. Sort of. Yes, they wear white coats, and yes, they do spend an [...]
Big Pilot, Big Apple
The International Watch Company definitely didn’t pull any punches with the grand opening of their newest flagship boutique in Manhattan last Wednesday, what with the boxing greats, movie stars and supermodels present to help celebrate its long awaited debut, but the real story here lies with the watches, and the novel way that IWC has [...]
Not just the "poor man's Rolex"
Everybody and his grandmother knows who Rolex is. They’ve done such a wonderful job marketing their brand that even folks who couldn’t care one whit about watches will swear up and down that Rolex is not just the best watch made, it’s the only watch worth considering. Period. Well, as connoisseurs of the craft, we [...]
Go deep, or go home
Yes, they’re doing it again. Are we surprised? Not at all. In 1960, Rolex created the Deep Sea Special with the express purpose of joining Jacques Piccard and Lt. Don Walsh on their record-breaking descent to the bottom of Challenger Deep in their submersible, the Trieste. Unlike Mr. Piccard and Lt. Walsh, however, the Deep [...]
15 Moments In Time
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their iconic Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet is presenting a multi-city exhibit that showcases 100 examples of this historic timepiece in conjunction with the creative talents of three of today’s leading contemporary artists, Sebastien Leon Agneessens, Quayola and Dan Holdsworth. The exhibit, ROYAL OAK 40 YEARS: From Avant-Garde to Icon, [...]
Tudor goes back to the future
Given the overwhelmingly positive reception that greeted Tudor’s Heritage Monte Carlo Chronograph at Basel 2010, it should come as little surprise that they have mined the past for inspiration once more with their latest debut. For 2012, their dive watches get the treatment in the form of the Heritage Black Bay Diver, which is an [...]
Patek Philippe takes a walk on the wild side
The Gérald Genta-designed Nautilus from Patek Philippe is a bona fide icon in the watch industry, and much like its counterpart from Audemars Piguet, the Royal Oak, which was also penned by Genta, it has seen minimal changes during its nearly 40 years in production. In fact, to the untrained eye, the ref. 3700 would [...]
Boldly goes where no one has gone before
Housed in a retro-styled titanium case that evokes their classic Flightmaster pilot’s watches from the 70′s, the new Omega Spacemaster Z-33 cannot be mistaken for anything else; namely a purpose-built pilot’s watch from a company known for pushing boundaries. Don’t let its face fool you, though; the Z-33 is a 21st century watch through-and-through, and [...]
Rolex reaches for the sky
It is rare enough that Rolex updates their existing model line up, let alone creates an entirely new watch, so it is understandable that one of the most hotly anticipated announcements at Basel is their new Sky-Dweller. Featuring a revolutionary — for Rolex — annual calendar, in addition to a GMT indicator and a healthy [...]
Hot on the heels of SIHH we have yet another major watch industry trade show approaching, Baselworld, which takes place in — you guessed it — Basel, Switzerland. Baselworld, which has roots that stretch all the way back to 1917, is the largest event of its kind, and is home to over 1800 exhibitors from [...]
Lighting the Way
When we think of fine watches, our minds automatically shift to thoughts of the quaint villages and alpine vistas of Switzerland, or, increasingly, to Germany’s Glashütte region, where brands like A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original hail. But what of merry old England? Given that some of the most renowned figures in horology have [...]
Part trade show, part soiree, all business
Every year, 18 of the major Swiss watch manufacturers pack up their suitcases, shut down their ateliers and head to Geneva to participate in one of their biggest events of the year, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). Part trade show, part intimate soiree and all business, SIHH has, for the past 20 [...]
