As 2019 kicked off, the industry was buzzing for the star-studded luxury watch fair SIHH. Since the rise of the Independents in the past two decades, they have gained a reputation as the critics and connoisseurs favourites. FHH (Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie), the organiser of SIHH, clearly knew the Independents would draw a crowd. In 2016, they announced the addition of nine independent brands set up in a big hall called the?Carre Des Horlogers.This year, the Carre grew to 17 brands, practically half of the total 35 exhibiting names. The Independents are undeniably a force to be reckoned with. To put it simply, the Carre itself is one big show-stopper.The Carre, adjacent to FHHs own boot...
While it isnt exactly breaking news, we have the lifting of an embargo on the new Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection.? Curiously, Breitling showed one of the models back in November, but we are now treated to a three-piece collection of non limited special edition watches.? Lets take a look.The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (photo courtesy of the United States Air Force)Fighter PlaneWith the Breitling Curtiss Warhawk collection, we have a themed line of watches dedicated to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, a legendary American single-seat fighter plane from World War 2 that was first built in 1938.? If youre not familiar with this plane, it saw serious action in both the European and Pacific theaters with...
Ever since the founders of Eza found their way to us we ve kept in touch with them. It helps that we live in the same area and share several passions including watches, beer and cigars. Besides that, we simply like the Eza models and their sharp proposition. We ve covered the Eza Sealander?shortly after it was launched followed by the Eza AirFighter. And today they officially present a new version of that watch. Well not really a new version as it is a variation which gives you something to choose.Eza AirFighter BlueThis new version of the Eza AirFighter comes with the same 41mm stainless steel case but has a nice deep blue dial. Where the black version comes with blued hands the blue versio...
INTRODUCTIONOn the January 13th of 2019, the adventurer Matthieu Tordeur completed the expedition of his dreams : crossing the Antarctic in total autonomy over nearly 1150km at only 27 years old. An exceptional fight that lasted 52 days in temperatures down to -50 degrees. He thus became the first French and youngest explorer in history to ski from the coast of the Antarctic continent (Hercules Inlet) to the South Pole solo, without assistance and in total autonomy.Charlie Paris designed and developed the CONCORDIA to meet the extraordinary specifications of this expedition. Amagnetic, waterproof up to 300 meters, the watch can withstand extreme temperatures, down to -70 .ABOUT THE CONCORDI...
For this week s Speedy Tuesday article, we talk to a guy who has been featured here before in 2015. He calls himself TLIGuy on the Australian based OmegaForums and is occupied with creating an overview of historic moments in manned spaceflight between 1965 and 2015, using Speedmaster case backs.He started in 2013 with this massive project and we thought it would be nice to talk to him where he stands today. We ask him some questions about this impressive project that includes the involvement of many astronauts and NASA staff to be completed.Speedmaster Signature Case Back ProjectHow long has it taken to assemble the collection and are you finished with the entire project?Im not finished yet;...
For many, the 18th century watchmaker represents the forefather of Haute Horlogerie. A visionary who, albeit was not born into a watchmaking family thanks to his stepfather picked up the trade and revolutionized it.In 1775, after marrying his fiancee, Cecile Marie-Louise LHuillier the newlyweds set up their home and watchmaking company in Paris, at the Pont Neuf C a stone throw away of the Notre Dame. Since that date, Breguet has been creating some of the most exquisite timepieces the watch world has seen. They are constantly breaking boundaries while keeping the elegance of each timepiece. Whether its a highly complicated watch with tourbillon and perpetual calendar like the Classique Compl...
If a book to be written about the history of German watchmaking from the beginnings until today, and a watch to be selected for the cover the result would be simple. Unequivocally the A. Lange & S?hne Lange 1 would take that spot. I cant think of any other timepiece that had such an impact on the industry as a whole than this one model.The Lange 1 was and still is the design inspiration for dozens of other brands. The technicality of the movement, albeit not the most complex, is the blueprint for movement designers. The status of the Lange 1 is unquestionable, and it just so happens that this very icon is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. Yes, only 25 years since the Lange 1 emerg...
Word is out that Seiko will be releasing a new diver on this year s Baselworld, based on the iconic reference 6105. According to some sources, it will be the Seiko SBDX031 / SLA033 reference. It might be a bit like the re-edition of the Seiko 62MAS that resulted in the SLA017 (click here for a 62MAS vs SLA017 comparison). We hope that the price tag will be a bit lower on the new Seiko SLA033 than it was on the SLA017, or a bit more accessible, as the leaked image we saw on Instagram looked very good. If the price is good, it will tick a lot of boxes for many Seiko enthusiasts.We thought it might be a good idea to look back on the original Seiko 6105-8110 reference, that we initially publishe...
On the 25th of December 2018, the man who probably had the biggest impact on Seikos modern history, and possibly the story of the modern watch industry in the 20th century, passed away.Tsuneya Nakamura reached the age of 95 years and a funeral service was held on the 4th of February in the city of Suwa, in Japans Nagano Prefecture, where Nakamura san spent most of his life serving local industry and economy but also education and arts.Tsuneya NakamuraToday we would like to pay tribute to this emblematic Seiko figure by retracing the life of the man that orchestrated Seikos phenomenal success in the 60s and 70s.Born on the 8th of March 1923, Tsuneya Nakamura joined Daini Seikosha Kameido (Tok...
A little while ago we took a closer look at some of H. Moser & Cies 2019 SIHH novelties. Im talking about the Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Blue Lagoon, a beautiful and low-key albeit 100% Haute Horlogerie timepiece. If you are familiar with the brand H. Moser & Cie you probably know that they can be a tiny bit more daring from time to time. We all remember their huge marketing success/uproar the Make Swiss Made Great Again campaign. It stood for something that a lot of brands seem to have forgotten about along the way. Not to mention that those red hats were among the most wanted items with watch journalists for a while. The great thing about Moser is that even though their stori...
Its now been well over a year since the arrival of Georges Kern as CEO of Breitling.? The first releases after his arrival fell into the new Navitimer 8 series and while they were nice, some felt that they were a touch plain.Personally speaking, I like them and I think the neutral reception from most was based more upon the shock of seeing Breitlings that werent in the vein of the blingy Bentley series than anything else.? Still, it was clear that the watch world was waiting for something earth shaking and triumphant as a result of Kerns leadership.? While todays subject still likely lacks the shock and awe that most seemingly desire, a closer look will hopefully convince you that Breitling ...
For the first time in my watch collecting life, I wasnt sure if the watch I just bought will work. It wasnt the traditional stress that the watch might come dysfunctional or broken somehow. My concern was related to the construction of the watch, the way it was supposed to be operated and the movement itself. I couldnt imagine the watch functioning as a daily watch based on its description. Why? Its winding system is completely lunatic and totally different from anything I knew. Grab some popcorn and lets dive into the most incredible early automatic movement patented by Wyler.Bumping into Wyler Automatic I wasnt reading any book on early automats, nor was I doing due diligence on the Wyler ...
Arguably one of the longest novelty-lists of the SIHH 2019 line up belongs to IWC. 14 watches, all various pilots models. All of them come from the four collections in the IWC s Pilots family.These are the Spitfire, TOP GUN, Le Petit Prince and Antoine De Saint-Exupery. From time-only pieces to chronographs all the way up to tourbillons and perpetual calendars. Before the Geneva show, I already took a look at the Spitfire and TOP GUN models (here). Later Robert-Jan went hands-on with the IWC Big Pilots Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition Le Petit Prince.?Today we will be talking about a watch coming from the TOP GUN collection. This piece is a blend of two things. We know the model alrea...
Five years after the release of the hit movie Interstellar, were treated to something that fans of the movie and watches alike have pined for: a serial production version of the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph.The 2014 Christopher Nolan film was incredibly popular and depicted Matthew McConaughey as a NASA physicist Cooper who travels via a wormhole to another dimension in order to find a place where Earths population can escape what has become a dying planet. Before leaving to this other dimension, he hands his daughter Murph, played by Jessica Chastain, his watch. While showing a watch in a film isnt so unique, the timepiece plays a greater role later in the film as Cooper communicates with his...
A few weeks ago, whilst cleaning up my attic, I found a box with all sorts of watch stuff. Inside were also two discs that I received in December 2007.On there, an interview between astronaut Wally Schirra and Chuck Maddox. This interview was recorded on February 17th 2007 in Beverly Hills, a few months before Schirra passed way age 84 on May 3rd 2007. Chuck Maddox passed away a year later, on May 12th 2008, age 46. A sad day that I vividly remember, as I received a phone call from Dale Vito (Ace Jewelers) who brought me this news whilst being on a family trip in Munich.Wally Schirra was the only astronaut who flew on board of the Mercury (MA-8), Gemini (6A) and Apollo (7). As you probably k...
After the success with the Calypso watch, E.C.Andersson Watch Co. is back with a completely new design, their first professional diver and heavy-duty tool watch, made the Scandinavian way.Mentioning heavy-duty often makes us think of massive steel blocks, the E.C.A Denise is quite the opposite, sophisticated and refined, yet optimized for an active lifestyle.Designed to be a four-season tool watch, the Denise is as usable during ocean diving in summer as winter navigation in the Alps where visual landmarks are abundant. Primarily being a 200m dive watch, the ceramic bezel can apart from being used to measure time with the second, minute and hour hand, be utilized as a reliable compass.A cent...
The creations that come out of the design department of Davide Cerrato (Managing Director of Montblanc Watches) are spread out on a very wide scale. Some are affordable and modest. Others are complicated both in terms of watchmaking. All Im saying is, that we should not jump to a conclusion when judging Montblanc and categorize them in one way or the other. Having said that, today we will have a closer look at the simplest SIHH 2019 release, the Montblanc 1858 Automatic Limited Edition. Simple in terms of complications, nothing else.1858 CollectionBefore we talk about the watch itself lets first position the 1858?pieces, into the Montblanc collection. Basically, the brand has two main design...
Fresh off embargo, we have the new Seiko Prospex Diver SPB107 C Topper Limited Edition.? For those of you who dont know Topper Jewelers, theyre a prominent authorized dealer of many brands and are located in Burlingame, California.? I know the name quite well because a number of years back, Topper bought a load of no-date Longines Legend No-Date Divers and I was too silly not to buy one.? But aside from having the clout C and interest in enthusiast watches-, theyre unlike most ADs because theyve worked directly with several brands over the past several years to create limited edition watches.? One such watch that came (and went very quickly) was the well-received no-date Oris Divers Sixty-Fi...
Welcome to a late publishing of This Week in Watches for February 10, 2019.? Apologies, but this is what happens when yours truly tries to upgrade his Macs OS after 4 years.? I mean, why fix something when it isnt broken C well, it finally broke and the fix didnt exactly work.? Anyhow, Im back and ready to bring all the news thats fit to print.? This week wasnt heavy on the releases, but lets get into it nonetheless-Union Glashtte Belisar Pilot Big Date?First up, we have a new release from Union Glashtte in the form of a 45mm pilots watch.? We dont cover this brand from within the Swatch Group stable very often, but I figured it was worth a mention due to its modern spin on a typical 30s-4...
This coming Wednesday, the Fortuna Exchange auction will take place. A monthly live auction where you can bid on watches and jewellery. In this month, Fortuna offers 45 watches of which we selected 4 to show you. Milgauss 1019The rare Milgauss reference 1019 is a watch that was meant for engineers and scientists. A watch that could be used in professional environments, where it could be exposed to (strong) magnetic fields. The IWC Ingenieur and Omega Railmaster were its main competitors at the time, also offering anti-magnetic watches.The Milgauss was created in 1956 as the result of a collaboration between CERN, the famed European Organization for Nuclear Research, and . To meet the demand...
