I know, comparing a $1,000 watch to a Laurent Ferrier might seem far-fetched. But after a week with the Farer Stanhope II, the first impression lingers. Within this very British cushion case are small touches of smooth joy that fit the bill, or am I fooling myself into a sense of grandeur? After all, I bought the Stanhope II with my own hard-earned cash.I have my reasons for just spending a week with the Farer Stanhope II. The first is that my consolidation effort is not exactly going as planned (what a surprise…). Rather, Ive decided to double down on my Finding Joy In Variety story, albeit in a controlled fashion. But dont get me wrong, these are not opposing objectives, as long as I...

Last week, I got on a plane to Stuttgart, where Porsche Design hosted an event to mark its 50th anniversary. We were taken to the impressive Porsche museum in a fleet of black Taycans, where we were greeted by a speech from Porsche Designs CEO Jan Becker. Afterward, Porsche Design CDO Roland Heiler brought us up the stairs into the main showroom, where we were shown a number of highlights from the history of Porsche Design. This included the famous sunglasses with interchangeable lenses, laptops, pens using the Tec Flex material, and the All-Black Bounce Chronicles sneakers designed in collaboration with Adidas. Finally, our attention was directed to a freshly restored 911 S 2.4 Targa from 1...

Fratello On Air returns with an episode in which both hosts are finally in the same room. It took two years, but the dynamic duo is together again. Face to face - reunited and it feels so good!This podcast player is blocked because you did not accept marketing cookies. Change cookie settings Thats right, Balazs and Mike are finally sitting in the same room, recording a podcast, and checking out watches. Its a fun show with a couple of reader questions and a look at a handful of watches from each hosts collection. Enjoy a candid discussion between two friends who havent seen each other in a while.Handgelenks KontrolleBefore moving on to the main topic, the two discuss the recent Doxa Army...

In the 1970s, Hamilton supplied British Royal Air Force pilots with hand-wound chronographs. The new Hamilton Khaki Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph is a tribute to the watches used by Lightning, Harrier Jump Jet, and Vulcan pilots. Inside the 40mm steel case beats the hand-wound H-51-Si movement, and looking at the dial, it seems little has changed. But lets find out how the new version holds up in a hands-on review.Back in 2017, Mike Stockton wrote about the original chronograph that Hamilton made for the RAF back in the 1970s. In his conclusion, he stated, The Hamilton Military Chronograph is a really purposeful looking watch with great history. The fact that these watches were really...

A German watchmaker building its name around a concept of imprecise time telling seems like a rather interesting paradox. The company espouses a watch to keep time in a highly intuitive manner, a concept so successful that the brand s tagline reads The Single-hand Watch. And who is famous for one-handed watches? MeisterSinger is. Today, we take look at the latest from this German brand - the chiming Bell Hora in its Black/Gold colorway.Having thrived in the single-hand-watch niche for over 20 years with a myriad of offerings under its belt, MeisterSinger decided to soup up its early jump-hour model, the Salthora. The independent brand has modified the jump-hour mechanism and pulled a rare co...

I dont know about you, but I feel like 2022 is turning into the year of collaborations. Months of internal turmoil and potential instability left many brands leaning on contemporaries for reassurance. Many manufacturers ended up showing surprising resilience and, in some cases, exponential growth. Yet, the blossoming partnerships ensured future joint projects. One such example is the recent Bremont S500 Bamford Special Edition. With the backbone of a shock-protected, hardened-steel, 500m-pressure-tested Bremont dive watch, Bamford Watch Department enters the fray with its distinct design flair. Does the clash of genres break the mold or miss the mark? Find out more in this hands-on experienc...

At the end of 2021, I was faced with a challenge. That challenge - which a number of our editors also took? - was to write an article about my grail watch. Call me a pessimist, or a realist, but I would never call a watch my grail if I didnt think it was something that I could genuinely get my hands on someday. To me, theres a certain level of obtainability implied by the term grail. After all, Indy did get his hands on the grail at the end of The Last Crusade- I would refer to anything more than that as a dream watch, something which I can admire and appreciate, without feeling like I need to own it someday. This is why I picked the Explorer II 16570 as my grail watch.But little did I know...

I hope you enjoyed a real good weekend and that youre ready to start the week with a real good coffee. With the emphasis on real, because in the first part of this weekly kick-off article, we warn you that fake Omega Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatches have been spotted. Also, if youre into cycling, Tudor, or both, you might want to know more about the new Tudor Pro Cycling Team. I also have a book tip for you, and thats a re-printed edition of Watches: A Complete History of the Technical and Decorative Development of the Watch by horological experts Cecil Clutton and George Daniels - a must-have for horology enthusiasts.It was only a matter of time, of course, but the first fake Omega Swatc...

The Zenith El Primero name is one that demands respect in the watch industry. Zenith introduced the venerable chronograph in 1969, and the movement remains the brand s bread and butter to this day. Of course, there have been numerous updates and revisions, improving the accuracy and reliability as modern technology has allowed. The El Primero is one of the most well-known chronograph movements, but this year, it s expanded its horizons to a simpler three-hand offering in the form of the Zenith Defy Skyline.It might take a little getting used to, referring to a non-chronograph watch as an El Primero, but there you go. The Skyline is powered by a variant of the El Primero 3600, the high-beat, ...

While we may be most accustomed to seeing URWERK watches display the time via the iconic satellite hour complication, the Swiss brand is far more than a one-trick pony. Most of URWERK s horological creations are not designed to be read at a glance like a traditional watch with hands. At least, that s what I believe. Being disciples of art and design, the brand s founders, Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner, want their customers and fans to study and appreciate the timepieces every time they look at them. The brand s departures from its signature theme of the satellite hours complication are always spectacular. The UR-111C Black from URWERK s Special Projects collection is no exception.How oft...

Brace yourself, Web3 is coming at you, whether you get it or not (yet). Panerai is not the first major watch brand to enter the NFT waters, and it certainly wont be the last. As?the brand s entry ticket into the Web3 territory, the Italian-Swiss watchmaker has chosen a new product-release concept for the Radiomir Eilean Experience Edition.The keyword here is Experience. Panerai is offering you a multi-dimensional experience, packaged with both physical and digital components, along with one on the wrist - the new Radiomir Eilean. This is the first Panerai Experience Edition watch that is accompanied by a sailing trip on the Mediterranean and an exclusive NFT in a cryptographic wallet. Let us...

Well, now, this is something rare! I ve seen a great many watch concepts in my time. I ve seen just as many great watches. What I haven t seen so much of, however, is a watch that pays such literal respect to the sketches that birthed it into our material world. Here, the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic 10th Anniversary (reference 103672) brings the original pencil sketches of Bvlgaris Product Creation Executive Director Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani to the dial.This is too cool. I ve loved the Bvlgari Octo Finisissimo from afar since it was launched. And while I still maintain that the Octo Roma is a better fit for my wrist personally, I will stand on any mountaintop you like, screaming at...

I m starting to think I might have a very specific type when it comes to watches. The Omega Seamaster GMT Great White 2538.20.00 is a watch that certainly ticks all the boxes. It s a rugged stainless steel sports watch with plenty of water resistance and a GMT function. It has the classic Seamaster looks, but with a twist or two that make this a very attractive piece indeed. However, the fact that I m writing about it in this article means one thing - its no longer in production. Omega axed this particular model sometime in the early 2000s, and that makes me very sad indeed. But Im sure we can all agree that the Omega Seamaster GMTs comeback is long overdue. And when the time (hopefully) com...

Is Tudor owned by ? Yes, it is. But does that allow the brand to legitimately use designs from s past for its own catalog? Furthermore, if Tudor is in fact allowed to do so, are the results even worth your money? Let s see what RJ and Brandon have to say about this as they debate the merits of the new Tudor Black Bay GMT Root Beer.If you re looking for our hands-on review of the Tudor Black Bay GMT Root Beer, you can check it out here. But if you d like to read a discussion between two editors about the sense and non-sense of this Tudor release, please stick around.RJ - In defense of the Tudor Black Bay GMT Steel & Gold M79833MNAs soon as I laid eyes on the new Tudor Black Bay GMT Root ...

The Sherpa Ultradive and Sherpa OPS are two of the most intriguing watches I ve laid eyes (and hands) upon recently. There s far more to these watches than looks, though. If you re a proper watch nerd, there just might be something here for you.Before I begin to discuss the Sherpa Ultradive and Sherpa OPS, it s important to know that this article is a companion piece with a podcast from March this year. Whether you listen to it before reading this or after, I suggest that you take the time as it s a watch-related discussion that I truly enjoyed. Sherpa s founder, Martin Klocke is a man on a mission and if watches are about stories as much as anything else, he has a good one. With my plug now...

During the Watches And Wonders hubbub a couple of weeks ago, you may have missed a rather compelling release - the 39mm Aquastar Deepstar Chronograph. I wrote a hot take on this new watch and promised a hands-on review. That day has come, so let s determine if this new, smaller dive chronograph will satisfy those with smaller wrists.I won t rewrite the original intro article on the 39mm Aquastar Deepstar Chronograph, but I will share the most salient points right here in the beginning so that you can focus on the review. Essentially, this watch is a smaller carbon copy of the Deepstar Chronograph that came out in 2020. That watch was 40.5mm 50.5mm. It was equipped with a La Joux-Perret col...

Before another year comes to pass, I will have spent two full decades working in the watch industry. In that time, Ive seen many things. I have seen good times and bad. There have been periods during which money seemed to rain from the sky and others when the industrys stability was threatened by the global financial crisis. I have seen novelties aplenty and, in recent years, I ve been involved in creating several models myself. With that experience behind me, I can say this: the new Sternglas Naos Argo Automatic will not change the world. Its release will barely register on the watchmaking Richter scale. And yet, given its funky design and sub-$400 price tag, I cant help but imagine it rock...

Where were you when the MoonSwatch landed? I know where I was because the build-up to the launch promised a big bang. And it certainly delivered. As soon as the eleven Omega Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatches touched earth, it seemed like the entire world went mad. The watch world, that is. Swatch boutiques were surrounded by hordes of watch fans young and old trying to get their hands on a Bioceramic MoonSwatch. Find out how I experienced the touch-down of the Speedmaster MoonSwatch, what I think of the watch itself, and my perception of the concept; is the hype still alive?Omega Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch - Creating turmoil worldwideSo, is the hype surrounding the MoonSwatch still goin...

The first Yacht-Master debuted in 1992. It was a yellow gold watch with a full gold bracelet and a bi-directional bezel with raised numerals. I can t imagine that intended that watch to be a serious companion for those who were sailing. Rather, it was a watch to show off that you probably owned a boat, even when you weren t actually on the boat itself.It wasn t until 1999, in fact, that released the Yacht-Master in Rolesium - a combination of steel and a platinum bezel and dial. That watch, reference 16622, was one of the models other than the Daytona that had a long waitlist at first. Soon after, it became the model that was always available, more or less. Yacht-Master 42 ref. 226658Any...

I ve always been a fan of panda-dial chronographs. Although I ve never actually owned one, whenever there s one in the office, it immediately grabs my attention. And that s exactly the case here as well with the all-new Brellum Pandial LE.1 DD Chronometer. One reason is that it uses blue instead of black to contrast with the silvery-white dial. And if you know me, you know I love blue! Let s take a closer look at this hot new release from the independent Swiss family-owned brand. You ll see that it packs an impressive amount of heritage and value for a surprisingly modest price.I wasn t actually all too familiar with Brellum s offerings, but Nacho has done some coverage of the brand s more r...