Omega celebrates one of mans proudest achievements with the release of the Steel Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary.In what must qualify as the most hotly anticipated new watch release of 2019, we have the Steel Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary limited edition from Omega.? Whether youre an Omega fan, a space geek, or a history buff in general, 2019 was bound to be a big year.? Amongst Speedmaster lovers, the chatter about what could be considered as one of Omegas most important commemoratives began well over a year ago.? And now that day is finally here with the new ref. 310.20.42.50.01.001.? Were excited to show you some live pics that we were fortunate enough to take during the o...
The Chopard Mille Miglia 2019 Race Edition is easily the coolest looking MM edition of the brand in a good few years C at least for me.Last year Chopard celebrated the 30th year of their partnership with Mille Miglia, a prestigious car race that goes from Brescia to Rome and then back to Brescia covering over 1,600km in the south of Italy. If you are a watch nerd, you have probably heard the name Mille Miglia in connection with Chopard. Like this one of their, if not the, longest running partnerships, one can expect something special from Chopard in connection to Mille Miglia every year. Like they did in the past, Chopard released two models this year to celebrate the partnership; a 1000-pie...
What are you going to write about a watch that so many people know? my wife asks me this week. I told her to count all the articles written about Speedmasters.These are my confessionsThe Breitling SuperOcean ref 2005 you see here can take a break after 50 years of being ready to sink into 600 foot waters. It is not only because I do not dive, I do not swim! One would call me a perfect fit for this late 1960s diver. To be perfectly precise, I cant swim. Which means I can guarantee that this Breitling SuperOcean will never see water in the years to come. The closest it will get to the ocean will be stretching it here over the map. a map that took a few calls and a bit of driving around the cit...
We travel quite a bit to various events and usually, this involves flying to a different country. After arriving we drive to our destination. Yet this time things were a bit different.Dutch watch manufacturer Van der Gang invited us to their event at Lelystad Airport last week. The invite already gave away that it would be an aviation-inspired day, but we had no clue what to expect. Something that changed quickly after we arrived at the Aviodrome. Finding our way to the back of the exhibition terrain we entered the ‘Schiphol 1928 building. This building is constructed according to the?plans of the first civilian aviation building at Schiphol Airport. It was first used in 1928 and demol...
Oris, for me, is definitely on the right track. They were one of our Baselworld 2019 favorites, and we ve seen many attractive products coming from H?lstein lately. The novelties we saw in most of their model lines, like the Aquis, Big Crown, and Sixty-Five were all spot-on.Only last week, on May 6th, 2019, a very attractive two-tone Sixty-Five Divers Chronograph in steel and bronze was introduced. This was the follow up to the full-bronze Carl Brashear variation presented last year. We covered those in our articles?Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph and?Brashear Chronograph Limited Edition. What we didn t cover yet is a special Bucherer Blue Editions Chronograph which was introduced in betw...
The Hublot Big Bang Rainbow King Gold is probably as bold of a watch as it gets.I mean lets be neutral as much as possible here and look at the facts. Hublot is a very divisive brand. On the one hand, their marketing strategy is something Im pretty sure professors will teach at universities soon. They know how to make a product that their target audience literary lusts after. Not to mention that not every model line is loud and in-your-face, perhaps not as much as the Big Bang watches. On the other hand, this aforementioned target audience is something that many watch fans (not Hublot fans, theres a significant difference) do not necessarily mingle with. I mean I hardly can imagine someone w...
Are you looking to buy an Omega Speedmaster but don t know where to start? We re here to help! Over the past 65+ years, Omega has created many variations of one of the world s most famous chronographs. The classic 42mm Moonwatch has been in the collection since 1965, and to the novice eye, little has changed since then. But if you look a bit closer, you will find that the Speedmaster evolved quite a bit in the decades that followed.In this Speedmaster guide, we ll give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedmaster (Professional) and some of its variations. Although this article isn t meant as a pricing guide, we will give some hints, of course. If you re already a knowl...
One of the things that makes a Grand Seiko outstanding in most cases, is the dial. We all know the Snowflake and Mt. Iwate for example, but now they also have added ‘hammered and?radiant pattern dials to their collection.I will get to the hammered platinum Grand Seiko SBGZ001 somewhere in the next weeks but want to have a closer look at the more affordable stainless steel Grand Seiko SBGY003 first. Limited to 700 pieces only,? but with a friendlier price tag than the gold and platinum watches from the Spring Drive 20th anniversary collection. For this occasion, Grand Seiko introduced a number of new manual-wind thin dress watches with Spring Drive movements.Grand Seiko SBGY003Using a ...
Chopin captured the essence of his work with the above words. Often believed to be French, Chopin was of Polish origin in fact.He was born in 1810 in ?elazowa Wola and lived in Poland until 1830 before moving to Paris. It was only in 1835 when he gained French citizenship, while he passed away in 1849. Chopin s love for his homeland is most perceptible in one of his greatest works, etude in C minor?Op. 10 No. 12, otherwise known as the Revolutionary etude. It s no surprise that Poland s only high-end watch brand chose Chopin Op. 10 No. 12 as the designation for their first timepiece.In our report on the inauguration of the Chopin watch brand, we already mentioned the presence of the brand s ...
Nihao, watch fans, its time for This Week in Watches: the May 12, 2019 edition.? Weve got lots to cover today!We have quite the lineup for you today and are pleased to feature everything from the relatively attainable to things that are only attainable once youve likely attained just about everything else.? Thats a lot of attaining, isnt it?? So without further ado, lets get into This Week in Watches-Fortis PC-7 Team WatchesWeve not heard a lot from Fortis in a while.? It seems theyve been reinventing themselves under new leadership and perhaps the new PC-7 Team watches are the first of many new announcements.? Fortis has been in partnership with the Swiss Air Force Demonstration Team (i.e. ...
The IWC Pilot s watches were always amazing tool watches. At some point, like many other brands, IWC decided to bring more variation to the game: enter the IWC Pilot s Watch Automatic Spitfire.Since 1948, IWC delivered its Pilot s watches to the British Army and Navy and the Mark 11 with its caliber 89 movement is being regarded as an icon. Over the years, IWC continued to develop and innovate their Mark watch and today we are looking at the Mark XVII in their collection. Not the 18th iteration, as after the Mark 11, Mark XII followed. Besides the classic Pilot s watches, like the Big Pilot, Chronograph and Double Chronograph, IWC also introduced their Spitfire Mark-series based on that coll...
You know you did something right when people start to compare your watch to one with a price tag three times as high.Whether it was justified or not to criticize the Breitling Premier chronograph for being a very expensive Hamilton Intra-Matic Auto Chrono (Michael Stockton mentioned it already in his Breitling Premier B01 review here), the comments do stick with you. I handled both the Hamilton Intra-Matic Chrono and the Breitling Premier B01, and I prefer the looks of the Hamilton. However, let s make it clear that this doesn t mean that the $1995 will buy you the same or better quality and finished watch as the $7500 Breitling. It just might buy you a better-looking watch. But again, the c...
Sometimes you put a watch on your wrist that immediately feels right in any aspect. Looks, size, feeling, technics, and, what pointed out later, even the price. For me, the Undone Basecamp is such a watch. As the brand describes it, the Undone Basecamp is a premium, custom-made tool watch that is equipped with the style, comfort, and durability to brave the day-to-day madness of modern, urban existence. Wow!Some words about UndoneEstablished in 2014 by Michael Young together?with a team of watch industry veterans, Undone is a Hong Kong-based?company. Built-up around three different model lines (Urban, Aqua, and Basecamp) Undone is very much about customization and personalization of the watc...
We visited the?Breguet Manufacture recently and witnessed how modern watchmaking can be combined with old watchmaking skills performed by artisans.Breguet overcoil, Breguet hands and of course, the tourbillon. We often use the name Breguet when talking about design elements or movements. Even when it is not about a Breguet watch. Breguet is a very old watch manufacture, that dates back to 1775 when founder?Abraham-Louis Breguet opened his first workshop in Paris. Responsible for many horological inventions in the history of watchmaking that are still being used today. In this article, I don t want to sum up those inventions (you can read about them here), but show you what Breguet is doing t...
Remember when the first Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday came out in 2017? Our reader Shawn was the first to pick it up at an Omega boutique in the USA. Now, 2 years later, we ask him about his fascination for the Speedmaster.The Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday wasn t his first encounter with Omega or the Speedmaster though. The story of Shawn is probably recognizable for many of you, but definitely interesting to read. He talks about the Speedy Tuesday community, his grail and the story about picking up his first Speedy Tuesday making him feel like a wrist model.Q&A With Speedmaster Enthusiast ShawnOn January 10th, 2017, together with Omega we introduced the first Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday ...
From its debut in 1989, the Promaster has been a firm favourite with professionals who challenge their limits. It has been taking performance to a higher level to meet the needs of the pros who blaze the trails others follow.Promaster marks its 30 years anniversary in 2019. However the natural environment, the Promaster has been challenging, has degraded badly over that time. Thats why Promaster, as the watch for explorers who enjoy the challenges, possibilities and wonders of nature, has chosen to use its anniversary to celebrate sustainabilitys unsung heroes - the people who actively protect the environment every day.For more detail visit www.citizenwatch-global.com/promaster30th/Save the ...
For some watch brands, the chronometer certification is just not good enough anymore.? The world has changed since 1973, when the Contr?le Officiel Suisse des Chronometres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, was founded.Lebois & Co is proud to introduce to you their new watch, the Venturist. Besides a handsome watch (I will come to that later), this watch has more to it. It has been tested by Timelab and received an?Observatoire Chronometrique+ certification.? To understand what this is, we have to recap the regular chronometer certification.ChronometerWith a chronometer (not chronograph) certified watch, you can trust your watch is very accurate. To be more specific, it h...
This year is superb for enthusiasts of chronographs! After the introduction of the bronze Bell & Ross Bellytanker (4900 Euro) and Tudor Black Bay chrono in two-tone (5240 Euro), Oris comes with a steel and bronze chronograph under 4000 Swiss Francs.Already shown to the guests of our ORIS x Fratello event on April 26th, but under strict publication embargo for today. The latest addition to the Sixty-Five collection is this 43mm diameter chronograph. By no means a small watch, despite the fact that 43mm sounds reasonable today the lug-to-lug size measures 52mm and gives it serious presence on my 18cm wrist.Sixty-Five Chronograph in Steel & BronzeIt is no secret that I am a fan of two-t...
Hola, watch fans!? Its time for This Week in Watches for May 4, 2019!This week was fairly eventful, but weve already covered some new releases in normal articles (such as the Rado Golden Horse and the Mido Multifort Patrimony) as we felt they were significant enough to give you more detail. ?But, this episode of This Week in Watches packs some really good stuff.? Granted, some might require raiding your pension fund or your kids university fund, but debt is good for everyone, right?? Before we begin, I always like to start with some sort of anecdote.? When I talk new watches with my Dad, he always makes comments like, wow, thats a lot of money or who buys these things or, my all-time favori...
This year s Baselworld was different in many ways but has been particularly memorable for me. It was definitely a Baselworld edition with a strong focus on the independent watchmakers.Not only at Les Ateliers (part of the Baselworld venue), but also the brands exhibiting at the Hyperion Hotel – a looming tower of interest – is overflowing with all types and levels of independents.?The mad dash to visit every brand that piqued our interest in the run-up to the fair is akin to a high-octane episode of X Games.So which models really stood out this year? Which brands smashed it out of the park? Lets take a look at our Top 5 and why they made it on to the list:Patek Philippe C Referen...
