What Pre-Souscription is the Journe, this is to Daniel Roth. Those who know the master’s early work will notice, this dial is a little unusual. First, it’s Clous de Paris and not pinstripe guilloché. Second and more notably, the plaques engraved with ‘Daniel Roth’ and ‘Numero’ are in contrasting yellow...

The 25558 is the ultimate evolution of the 5548, produced from 1988 until 1993 to celebrate the resurgence of complicated mechanical watchmaking to Switzerland. 146 examples were made in 18k yellow gold. They're divided into two case types, this earlier extruded pusher and a later flat pusher. Arguably, this is...

The 5070 is a very significant reference to Patek Philippe. It marks success, even excess, and the triumphant return of the humble chronograph. You see, chronograph production through the later part of the last century was anything but continuous at Patek Philippe. It went 1463 from the early 1940s until...

Before the Datograph Honey-Lumen or Handwerkskunt, there was this. It doesn’t fall neatly into any normal Lange category despite debuting in the 1815 collection. And it was out of chronology, Lange did the advanced homework first. They conquered the Double Split (splitting minutes and seconds) in 2004, Pour Le Mérite...

Middle Eastern dials are not all equal. They’re all fantastically interesting, from UAE Armed Forces Datejusts to Oman Day-Dates or even Syrian Explorer IIs, all of these watches call back to a time in Rolex when the brand was more personable and willing to go more than the extra mile...

The Ellipse case might just be one of the most timeless shapes the 1970s produced, the age of the Jet Set and turmoil simultaneously. This ref. 3738 is one of the longest-lived references in Patek Philippe, arguably the height of Ellipse. It spanned 1984 until around 2009 and four main...

This Triple Calendar Chronograph is not a Rolex, Heuer, Girard Perregaux, or Zodiac; it has no brand: generic label. It was the ultimate pride and joy of a budding watchmaker in the mid-late 1960s. This dial reads Technicum Le Locle which was, at the time, the preeminent horological school. The...

Enamel dials, grand feu or cloisonné, are a dying art. There are only a handful of manufactures who still craft them. In Vintage Patek Philippe, it’s usually just the signature and tracks in hard, engraved enamel. The 2526 is one of just a handful of references to sport an entirely...

Meet the very, very start of the Explorer II. It’s not just a 1655, it’s the Mark 1. The seconds hand is straight with zero lollipop going on. The bezel has its numerals engraved just a little closer to the crystal than centered. The 1655 was produced from 1971 until...

The skeletonized 90s QPs are seriously significant things. Not just for the holy trinity, but for watches. They perfectly capture the attitude of post crisis optimism, Switzerland was back. And they weren’t going to let you forget it. The Royal Oak QP was born into that atmosphere, a direct descendent...

When a Minute Repeater isn't enough, why not add a Tourbillon and QP. That was the logic in 1993, when Philippe Stern determined to go very, very complicated as a means of showing the world Patek Philippe's unwavering dedication to complication. The thing is, repeaters hadn't been a part of...

Early Urban Jürgensen can easily go unnoticed, but really shouldn't. This, I suspect, because the brand has one of the most convoluted and difficult-to-follow histories of any. Here’s what’s relevant to this, their 90s Reference 1. The storied Danish pocket watch brand was acquired by a Peter Baumberger, an enterprising...

In 1983, Vacheron Constantin announced to the world their intentions to return to traditional, complicated mechanical watchmaking in the wake of the quartz crisis with the ref. 43031 Perpetual Calendar. Switzerland had been decimated, with watch industry employment falling from 90,000 to 28,000 and the number of dedicated watchmakers employed...

If I were Günter Blümlein and someone suggested that they were going to revise the Lange 1 by adding a tourbillon, I'd tell them to zieh leine and stop being obtuse. You can't improve upon the Lange 1, surely? Well, if time has taught us anything, it's to trust the slow...

Calling Simon Brette one to watch is like calling Joe Satriani a promising guitarist. Sure, but we’re kind of past that. And this is the first time that one is coming to auction. Brette is the conductor of an orchestra of many artists, each quite adept at their craft. The...

We’ve all gotten used to wild Laurent Ferrier Grand Sport Tourbillons, FPJ Sport Rattrapantes, or even RMs today, they’re all over. But this was the first time high complication met sporting ambition. It is impossible to overstate the significance of reference 5554, the Royal Oak QP, first debuted in 1984....

As if a TN Tourbillon Souverain weren’t special enough, François-Paul went and made 11 of these in 2019 and 2020. Two .45mm thin pieces of ruby heart are mounted on a rhodium-brass dial here, set against a 50% grey ruthenium inner dials. Stone dials are not new for FP Journe....

Genta didn’t just do the Royal Oak and Nautilus. He penned IWC’s original 1832 Ingenieur. And then he went clubbing. Literally. This is still contested today, but on the balance of evidence it is extremely likely that Genta also penned the Yacht Club II, Polo Club SL, and this. This...