Raymond Weil seems to be on a bit of a roll. The Millesime collection is broadly loved and appreciated, and these new Freelancers hit the spot too. Today, I go hands-on with two versions of the new Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete Calendar.I got to spend some time with the steel blue-dial version on the bracelet and another one in rose gold PVD on leather. Both cost CHF 3,495 /?$3,775. Lets get into it!The Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete CalendarSo, what do we have here? At first glance, you may mistake the Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete Calendar for a Patek Annual Calendar. Of course, thats not what this is. For starters, a complete calendar requires manual adjustment after months with l...

Control. Its all about control. If youre not in complete control, others can and will mess things up, and you will be held responsible for it, resulting in a negative image. Thats one thing no luxury brand wants to have to deal with. Thats why intends to control everything, from creating its alloy to making the parts, assembling the watches, distributing them, selling them, servicing them, repurchasing them, and selling them again. The Crown wants to get a grip on every aspect of its watches life cycle. What are the implications of this?In 2023, made history when it became the first Swiss watch brand to surpass the CHF 10 billion threshold in sales. That year, it reinforced its dominance ...

It s OK; you don t have to like the Patek Philippe Cubitus - ever. You can carry your vitriol around like a badge of honor and scream to the heavens. That s fine, but if you choose to do so, you ll miss a pretty damn decent watch. We can agree that the 45mm original was and is a pig, but the new 40mm Cubitus is right where it needs to be.Just six months ago, Patek Philippe dropped a bomb on the watch world with the Cubitus. Actually, before it was officially announced, it began making the rounds as a meme target. How the hell could one of the greatest brands in the industry release some hamfisted chunky-monkey watch when the only thing most people wanted was a new Nautilus? Call it hubris, t...

The Tudor Black Bay 58 (formerly Fifty-Eight) was a smash hit when it debuted in 2018. At Watches and Wonders this year, the winning formula received an update. For that reason, now is as good a time as any to consider picking up one of the previous versions on the used market.Tudor s Black Bay 58 is an instrumental watch in the brand s modern success. Upon its 2018 release, it garnered wide acclaim. Tudor had managed to capture a zeitgeist, reducing the successful Black Bay dive watch to a more compact and classic 39mm case diameter and a much more manageable 11.9mm thickness. The brand did this without compromising the core specifications of the caliber, which still provided a 70-hour powe...

Another Sunday morning, another showdown. Grab your hot cup of coffee and get ready to vote! This week, it s all about popular retro dive watches. One is the recently released white-dial Longines Legend Diver. It was met with much praise from media and fans alike as a brighter alternative to the black- and blue-dial options. Can it beat our other pick, the Oris Divers Date? The Divers Date debuted late last year and also garnered praise upon its release. Ever since then, however, it has been a bit quiet. This creates a perfect opportunity to determine whether it can beat the latest Longines Legend Diver. It s time to find out!When the white Longines Legend Diver was unveiled a little over a ...

Limited-edition watches come in many shapes and sizes. And numbers. Almost every brand active in the luxury watchmaking sector makes LEs for countries, cities, retailers, car brands, sports teams, individual athletes, pilots, significant events, bands, fictional characters, artists, etc. Yes, the list of reasons to create a limited-edition watch seems unlimited, and that can hardly be how it was once intended. The purpose of a limited edition is to entice buyers with a one-of-a-kind design and exclusivity. And since everybody wants to be special but not too different, an LE from a well-known brand is a winning formula. Is it, though, with so many different LEs linked to so many things consta...

Though it s quite easy to forget this when looking at the watch world, sometimes less is more, and simpler is better. Simpler, however, is often much harder to get right. Poor design is easily covered in layers of otherwise unnecessary embellishments. The Oyster Perpetual presents simplicity at its very finest. added two new dial options to the entire line without much fanfare, so I thought Id introduce them to you here. Meet the OP in glossy black and denim blue! offers these two new dial options for all Oyster Perpetual sizes. This means you can get them in 28mm, 31mm, 34mm, 36mm, or 41mm cases. Prices range from $5,850 to $6,700.The new black-dial Oyster PerpetualThats not new; I owned...

Do you remember your internship from when you were a student? I remember mine, but it doesn t sound half as cool as Magnus Swann s internship at Studio Underd0g. He helped make the pizza watches a reality. But he also worked on the more recent Gimlet and the Un0riginals, for example. After that, he decided to dedicate his final major project to a watch of his own, the Versailles by Anemoic. Today, we re looking at what he s been up to.Getting that internship at Studio Underd0g took quite some effort from the young watch enthusiast. He first contacted Richard Benc directly through LinkedIn, but the company was still very small and didn t offer any placements. Then, Magnus saw how Richard turn...

TAG Heuer has done a good job of showing the versatility of the Monaco over the past couple of years. With its series of classic race-inspired models, the brand has treated fans to some striking timepieces. But as it turns out, the Monaco is also the perfect platform for more futuristic creations. The watch s late- 60s design lends itself very well to contemporary renditions using modern materials and technically impressive calibers. The new TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph in TH-Titanium is the perfect proof of this. The watch introduces a case made of the brand s new proprietary titanium alloy. It s time to find out more.Last year, TAG Heuer introduced the Monaco Split-Seconds Ch...

This year is a special one for TAG Heuer. After more than two decades, 2025 marks the brand s return as the Official Timekeeper of Formula 1. Additionally, for the first time in history, the Grand Prix de Monaco will have a title sponsor. TAG Heuer will present the race and has created a new limited-edition Monaco Chronograph Gulf for the occasion.By now, we re used to specially designed Monaco chronographs. Somehow, though, TAG Heuer successfully imbues each with a unique flavor. Today s new Monaco Chronograph Gulf may sound like a repeat engagement, but it s a special creation that should entice racing fans. Indeed, collaborative pieces using the Gulf logo aren t new, yet this model re...

After a first look at all three TAG Heuer watches that came out today, this was the one that I immediately got excited about. There is just something about the retro looks of the TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch that screams cool! This new 970-piece limited edition takes inspiration from the Heuer stopwatches from the 1960s and 70s. As it turns out, the look of those stopwatches transfers wonderfully well to the Monaco. The result is a watch that is right up there with the coolest TAG Heuer Monaco models of recent years. Let s take a closer look at this new TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch.If you read my review of the titanium TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Racing Green, you know ...

Today, we go hands-on with a new Certina. The DS Action Diver 40.5mm is a significant release for the brand because it presents a new case size. In fact, most would argue that it will end up as the most successful model in the collection. Let s take a closer look and discuss the merits of this high-value diver while mentioning some of our remaining wishes.Before moving to London, I visited Swatch Group Germany s headquarters in Eschborn with Balazs. During our meeting, we saw several new Certina DS Action Diver variants. The time-only pieces came in 38mm and 43mm sizes. For a watch with such traditional looks, I was surprised that an up-the-middle 40mm version wasn t part of the plan. Sure, ...

The 2025 Longines Spirit Zulu Time 1925 marks the 100th anniversary of the Swiss brands world-first dual-time wristwatch. You cant say the rectangular timepiece from 1925 served as an inspiration from a design perspective, but it did in spirit (sorry about that). By adding a rose-gold-capped bezel insert with engraved numbers and indexes, the look of Longiness do-it-all sports watch received a touch of retro.I was impressed after looking up the first-ever second-time-zone watch Longines constructed in 1925. It looks funky and advanced and oozes a pioneering spirit. Would a rectangular reinterpretation do well in 2025? We will never know because Longines decided to use a watch from the Spirit...

If you have never heard of the brand Selten, you aren t the only one. However, the brand founded by Leonardo Tsai has been around since 2017. The Hong Kong-based Selten founder comes from a family of dial makers, so he grew up around watches. After an initial stint in the world of finance, Tsai gave up his job at JP Morgan to continue his family s legacy. Under his Selten brand, he released the inaugural M1 Moonphase, a classic series of watches featuring beautiful stone dials. The follow-up was the Bronze Salvage series of divers with hand-painted dials. For the brand-new Selten Grand Feu Enamel series, Tsai combines the classic silhouette of the M1 Moonphase with a series of colorful Grand...

The older I get, the easier it is for me to pass up buying opportunities, especially when the watch in question isn t 100% perfect and requires a compromise. I was searching for the right example of an Omega Speedmaster Ed White ref. 105.003 for six years, but my hunt recently ended, and it couldn t have been more satisfying.Looking back at what happened during the last six years and the Speedies I decided to pass up, I have to say one thing. Despite feeling a sort of urgency to have a vintage Speedmaster, I have never been so patient, clear, and calm when hunting for any other watch. This is due to the importance of the Speedmaster Ed White and caliber, but it s also interesting because, al...

With the Milgraph, Norwegian microbrand Micromilspec released one of last year s highlights. The brand s rugged GMT chronograph turned out to be a surprisingly versatile watch that offers great functionality and combines that with a brilliant injection of modern design. The result was one of my favorite hands-on experiences of 2024. In the next step for the Milgraph, the guys at Micromilspec teamed up with James Thompson, aka Black Badger. They collaborated on the special 75-piece limited edition Micromilspec Milgraph Sabotage. The result is a crisp white dial version of the Milgraph with Black Badger s signature rich lume application and an accompanying anime story. Yes, you read that corre...

Formex is known for packing a ton of punch in relatively affordable watches. The brands offerings are rich with features and well made at very competitive prices. None exemplifies this more than the brands entry-level model, the Formex Field Automatic. Today, I am delighted to introduce the second generation of the watch.Now, the cynical reader might say, Those are just three new dials; thats not a new watch! I would usually agree, but I won t today. The second-generation Formex Field takes on a completely different character, even if it just houses new dials. Lets have a closer look!The Formex Field AutomaticStarting with the basics, these watches have a 40mm Grade 2 titanium case with a 10...

Today, we re looking at some of the best watches under $2,500 in production right now. This is one of the most contested price points in the watch market, though many brands that previously operated in it have slowly but surely priced themselves out. That said, a handful of microbrands, both new and old, have made sure not to leave this bracket empty. Nacho, Thomas, and Daan have each selected a handful of favorites at this price. These include some from mainstream brands and several less obvious picks from smaller ones. As we have limited the picks to just three each, there are also some honorable mentions, but it s by no means an exhaustive exploration of all the great watches available be...

Admittedly, when Venezianico first hit the scene several years ago, we were skeptical. Was this another fly-by-night brand that would soon disappear into the ether? To our positive surprise, the Italian brand has created some fantastic watches since that time. Today, though, everything changes with the new Redentore Utopia.Late last year, we met with Venezianico in London. The watches, such as the Arsenale, were even better in person than in photos. Fine details, great bracelets, and clean designs impress, especially considering the price point. The Venice-based company isn t resting on its laurels, though. We learned of the Venezianico s audacious desire to create an Italian movement and pl...

The Seiko Presage collection is often overlooked but without good reason. I have a major soft spot for the Cocktail Time series that combines the fun of Tokyo bar culture with some seriously stylish timepieces. There s also the relatively new Presage Classic series. It uses traditional Japanese colors, materials, and textures to develop a creative series of timepieces that celebrate the classic Seiko style. The latest additions to this lineup are a trio of 36mm models that will win fans over quickly. The Seiko Presage Edo Silk SPB521, SPB523, and SPB524 present a familiar silhouette in a more modest size. Let s find out why we think these could become the next hit for Seiko.If you think the ...