From 1941 until 1952, Patek Philippe made 210 of these. Almost all in yellow gold, a fraction are in this pink gold, and there’s one in steel. It’s the 1526, the very first serially produced Perpetual Calendar wristwatch from Patek. About 10 were made per year, which was all the...

The 25668 is the ultimate evolution of the 5548, produced from 1988 until 1993 to celebrate the resurgence of complicated mechanical watchmaking to Switzerland. 154 examples were made in 18k yellow gold. They're divided into two case types, an earlier extruded pusher and this later flat pusher. Arguably, this is the...

This is peak Philippe-Stern-era Patek Philippe. The 5004 is the watch that built so much reputation and rapport under the brand that Patek could afford to erode it for a generation or two. It is the modern classic, Ed Sheeran gets it (read Time lately?). To bring the brand onto...

This is a Zephyr, a watch which Rolex themselves once described in an ad as, ‘possibly the handsomest watch in the world.’ You can think of it as an Oyster Perpetual that got dressed up to go to the Opera. The Zephyr has a rather bizarre history that involves motorsport...

The phrase 'a workhorse', is a bit of a cliché these days. Well, this actually is one. Not because of how it was made, but because it truly worked for a living. It's a professional Submariner, not a 5513 sold in Miami to your local banker. It's a 5513 that...

What happens if you’re an independent watchmaker and you’ve sold your company to great success? What if you no longer have access to use your own name? Do you retire to the Maldives? Well, not in this instance. This says Jean Daniel Nicolas on the dial, but it is in...