The original Cornes de Vache (translates as cow horn) from 1955 combined two technical innovations: Vacheron’s first water-resistant and antimagnetic chronograph. Those technical steps have been largely forgetten by most, but what has stayed front of mind was the design—featuring some of the most sculptural lugs ever on a case....

In 1995, Audemars Piguet turned 120. To mark the occasion, AP looked into their catalogue for the most prestigious, representative piece it could build upon and landed, naturally, on the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. The result was the ref. 25810OR, produced that year in a run of just 120 examples—one...

Early Roger Dubuis, in design and finish, often feels closer to the Patek Philippe of old than much of Patek Philippe does today. It could not feel more separate from the brand's modern incarnation. This brief flash of brilliance came directly after Dubuis had spent nearly two decades at Patek,...

When most of the industry scrambled to fit quartz movements into their collections, Peter Baumberger correctly read the quartz crisis as a passing phase and an opportunity. He slowly purchased the rights to the Urban Jürgensen & Sønner name along with machinery the industry had written off as obsolete, partnering...

When Vacheron Constantin introduced reference 43031 in 1983, it was the first time the maison had ever put a perpetual calendar on the wrist. Conceived in the depths of the quartz crisis, it stood as a defiant statement—alongside Audemars Piguet's 5548 of 1978 and Patek Philippe's 3940 of 1985—that classical...

Patek Philippe’s first serially produced Tourbillon also happened to be a Minute Repeater. That’s not even the most astonishing thing about the ref. 3939, though, as when it was introduced in 1992 it came to market at just 33mm. The manual calibre RTO-27-PS took up the entire caseback, with little...