Not only are the watches crafted in collaboration with William Massena and his Massena LAB well executed and exciting, but they also serve as invaluable educational tools. They ignite a curiosity to delve deeper into horological history, exploring the lives of notable figures, the evolution of brands, distinctive styles, and the captivating mechanics behind them. Among the latest releases stands t...
“Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”. These famous words are a quote by the legendary Lotus boss Colin Chapman. In racing, there is indeed a direct link between a car’s performance and the power the engine produces versus the weight it puts on the track. Chapman wasn’t the only one who embraced this concept, as leg...
The launch of the Bulgari Aluminio in 1998 flew in the face of conventional watchmaking with its unusual combination of black rubber and lightweight aluminium. With its graphic solid black and off-white livery, the Aluminio soared in popularity as an attractive, entry-level sports watch with a slick Italian soul. Marking its much-anticipated comeback in 2020, Bulgari released the Aluminium with au...
Patek Philippe’s World Time models have remained a timeless presence for over three-quarters of a century. Intriguingly, the concept and presentation have undergone little change since introducing the “cleverly designed watch for men with international interests,” as touted in an early advertisement for World Time 1415. Since the inception of the World Time complication, Patek Ph...
Louis Erard has developed a close working relationship with contemporary artists, watchmakers, artisans, and designers to position itself as one of the most exciting and original brands on the watchmaking scene. To bring the delights of high-end watchmaking to a broader audience, Louis Erard sticks to its policy of accessible prices. What other brand can offer a lineup of watches created in collab...
During Watches & Wonders 2024, Oris unveiled a new generation of its Aquis Date, the brand's best-selling dive watch. While radically altering the design of your best-selling watch dive watch could alienate your loyal customer base and create an incoherent identity, Oris has limited its intervention to subtle design tweaks. Enhancing the watch visibly and physically, these well-calibrated, alm...
The Speedmaster 38mm made its debut in 2017. Among the most popular iterations of this smaller Speedmaster is the Cappuccino in 18K Sedna? Gold, with horizontal brown oval subdials and vertical oval date window at 6 o'clock. This year, Omega expands the collection with 8 new sparkling versions set with diamonds and a choice of 2 dial colours. The luxurious setting of these new iterations includes ...
Today, we are ending our series of recap articles focused on the best new watches presented during Watches and Wonders 2024 and Geneva Watch Week (we’ve looked at dive watches, chronographs, dress watches or GMT models)… And what’s better to take a look back at some of the show’s most impressive, technically advanced and innovative models? We could have listed watches like ...
An absolute must for any respectable watchmaker, the chronograph complication was once again well-represented at the 2024 edition of Watches and Wonders… To say the least, as we’ve seen some fascinating new models. What struck us most was the fact that many of these chronograph watches came with more than just a start-stop-reset function. Flyback, mono-pusher, split-seconds, high-frequ...
While colours have always been part of brands’ collections, they have long been used mostly for the dials – and sometimes, but not always, for the straps… We’ve seen trends for blue or green dials in recent years, as well as a continuous love for salmon-toned watches and even purple making a discreet appearance. But this year, not only we’ve seen dozens of brightly co...
Long praised for being some of the most practical and relevant timepieces around, Travel and GMT watches are classics that most brands need to have somewhere in their collections. Whether we’re talking about classic multi-time zone watches with a central 24-hour hand, dual-time models with additional indications on their dials or complex world-time timepieces, the Geneva Watch Week and Watch...
In their seventh collaboration, renowned race car driver and six times Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx and Chopard‘s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele have crafted a timepiece that honours the racing legend but also celebrates their 36-year friendship fueled by a mutual love for motorsport and exquisite watches. Inspired by the distinctive blue-coloured helmets worn by Ickx since 1972, the new...
Despite not being the most spotted watch genre during the Geneva Watch Week – there was a clear focus on smaller, more elegant and colourful timepieces this year – the dive watch remains one of the most important categories, with fierce competition between big manufactures and smaller independent brands. A key element of all watch collections, something that most watch brands know, we&...
A high-tech, rugged, all-terrain sports watch made of an innovative carbon fibre composite material, the Norqain Wild One (launched in 2022) was an important step in the development of the young, independent, family-owned watchmaking brand. Its elaborate design presents ample opportunity for personalization. Norqain now introduces a fully customizable iteration of this model, incorporating gold fo...
Some of the standout highlights of the 2024 Watch Week in Geneva undoubtedly revolved around ultra-thin watches. Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC now reigns as the world's thinnest mechanical wristwatch, boasting an astonishing 1.70mm profile. Meanwhile, Piaget clinched the record for the thinnest tourbillon ever with its Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, measuring a mere 2mm! We are...
Released in 2021, the Chronoscope was a surprising take on the classic Speedmaster, combining a large case, a two-counter dial (usually found in larger versions and racing-oriented models) with a vintage-inspired dial bearing no fewer than three snailed-shaped tracks. Untouched since its presentation, which included steel and bronze-gold versions, the Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope collection now e...
While today Citizen is mostly known for its accessible (yet compelling) watches, it should be reminded that the Japanese brand has been one of the pioneers of the use of titanium in watchmaking. In 1970, Citizen was the first company to commercialize a watch made of titanium. Still relying on this expertise, which you’d certainly expect in higher-end watches, Citizen today releases a new ser...
In 2022, Audemars Piguet unveiled a plethora of new?Royal Oak models to commemorate the 50th anniversary?of this iconic line. Among these releases stood the Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm reference 26240, adorned, like other anniversary automatic editions, with a special rotor sporting a prominent 50 logo. However, by 2023, these gave way to regular models featuring the typical AP rotors, ...
With a more than consolidated reputation for producing well-built, fully equipped watches at competitive prices, Tissot is Swatch Group's entry-level gateway to mechanical watches. The latest release, a customised 40mm Seastar model, marks a three-way collaboration between the Swiss brand, Wilson Sporting Goods Co. and the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association). With the WNBA draft taking ...
It’s done, it’s over and it has been another wild ride: Watches & Wonders 2024. Quite literally the biggest watch fair of the year, it’s the social gathering where watchmakers bring their A-game. Brands high and low have presented countless new watches, setting records in the process. Records for ultra-thinness, for instance, or out-of-this-world accuracy. With so many new wa...
This year, the Hublot Big Bang Unico is out to please a wider demographic. Issued in a bright orange ceramic case (and a slightly less eye-catching but no less unusual green ceramic variant), the counterpart of this extravagant model is the Big Bang Unico Ice Bang, which looks back over its shoulder to the first Ice Bang released in 2006. A limited edition of 100 pieces, the Big Bang Unico Ice Ban...
Just unveiled at Watches & Wonders Geneva, the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Orbis in Machina places the tourbillon at its core, evoking a design reminiscent of the 2022 Knights of the Round Table Monotourbillon DBEX1025. With knights in shining armour gone searching for a different place, this timepiece presents a fresh aesthetic, featuring contrasting concentric circles in pink gold and grey to...
Incarnating Vacheron Constantin’s sophisticated vision of a luxury sports watch, the Overseas has its roots in the 222, a 1977 model designed to celebrate the brand's 222nd anniversary. Following a major overhaul in 2016, the brand released the third generation Overseas with a host of complications and a versatile interchangeable strap and bracelet system. The tourbillon complication was inc...
The Big Bang exploded on the watch scene in 2005, converting Hublot into a major-league player. Even bigger news for the brand came in 2009 with the launch of Hublot's first manufacture movement. Known as the Unico, this in-house flyback chronograph movement was first used for the King Power collection and then inside a new line of Big Bang Unico models. Similar to the original Big Bang, their cas...
Last year, TAG Heuer launched the Skipper, a watch design inspired by one of the brand’s historic designs. Heuer created the original Skipper after the yacht Intrepid’s victory in the 1967 America’s Cup, where the crew used Heuer’s yachting timers and Aquastar wristwatches. The new Skipper, made of stainless steel, paid tribute to this heritage. This year’s Skipper is...
IWC Schaffhausen has undertaken a comprehensive reworking and refinement of one of its most iconic models, the Portugieser collection. At Watches and Wonders this week in Geneva, four new versions are unveiled: two in white gold with blue and sand-coloured dials and two in Armor Gold with black and silver dials. And there's more to them than just new colours.The perpetual calendar stands as a hall...
Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian aviator, and Louis Cartier shared a passion for machines and mechanics. In 1904, Louis Cartier presented Santos-Dumont with the first purpose-designed wristwatch with a solid, rounded square case and rivets on the bezel. The idea behind the watch was to allow Santos-Dumont to consult the time in the cockpit without having to remove his hands from the controls. ...
Montblanc introduced its white star logo in 1913, an emblem which has graced the caps of its fountain pens and, later, the crowns of its watches. While the logo is universally recognised, some folk might not know that it represents a stylised bird’s eye view of the snow-capped peak of Mont Blanc and its six glaciers. As a brand that has always fostered its connection to Europe’s highes...
The Portugieser is one of IWC‘s oldest ambassadors, and the collection hosts more haute horlogerie models than any other family in the lineup. What unites all these manifestations, from the simplest to the most complex, is the distinctive look of the Portugieser with its clean, well-organised, legible dials and large dimensions. Tourbillons are no strangers to the collection, but the model I...
As the world's oldest watch manufacturer in continuous production since 1755, Vacheron Constantin can be proud of its distinguished heritage. With a rich archive at its disposition, the brand can dip into over two and a half centuries for inspiration. The Patrimony collection made its debut in 2004 and turned its gaze back to the elegant minimalism of the 1950s for inspiration, particularly the 19...