This is not what it appears at first glance. Sure, it’s a Nautilus. And yes, it’s the mid-sized 3800. But it’s the 3800G. G as in white gold. And there really aren’t many of these. While you’ll trip and find a yellow gold or steel, the other three metals are...

The 2526 stands above most Calatravas for one simple reason, it’s not just an engraved enamel signature, but entire fired enamel dial. It is one of just a handful of more niche references like the 2577 or 3428 to have this honor bestowed upon it. The manufacturing process was extremely...

In 1996, the Royal Oak QP became a lot more usable. Leap year indication was born, in ref. 25820PT. Collectors divide true vintage from neo-vintage Royal Oak QP around this mark. And while vintage RO QP is genesis and hugely sexy, it’s worth remembering that a leap year is actually...

This is a Pre-Daytona, the father of Cosmograph, but it’s way more interesting than it appears at first glance. This is the Pre-Daytona equivalent of a perfect Paul Newman: finding any 6238 with a black dial. For standard dials, the 6238 might hold the Rolex record for having the largest...

In a word, this Chopard is bananas. You won’t see ref. 36/2249 often, the in-period retail price of 147K meant very few sold to begin with. Today, they’ll only trouble you for a third of retail. And what a man watch it is, like a Patek 5213 with a personality....

Stare for more than a millisecond at this 5513 and you’ll notice something is different . . .like really, really different. Call it an LHD, Destro, Southpaw, or just plain wrong, it is a 5513 Submariner with the crown on the left. It’s also an Underline and PCG, but that...

It appears the 3970 is going the way of the 2499. But is that the whole range or simply the first two series? That’s the question that remains unclear. First and Second Series have recently exploded to become 400K or even 500K USD propositions, depending on the watch in question....

The Rolex chronograph as we know it extends far earlier than the Daytona name. It extends earlier even than Oyster Cases and WWII, to the mid 1930s. This is the ref. 2508, a steel two-register chronograph with a silver gilt, black dial. It’s the very first two-register, two-button Rolex Chronograph....

Far before the Cubitus took a legend and messed about with its proportions, Vacheron Constantin took their integrated poster child and injected some of David Coulthard’s chin. It didn’t work back then either. In fact, the Square 222 was a total flop. It is unconventional, still shrouded in mystery, and...

Normally when talking about Datejusts, adjectives like humble and simple get thrown in. There’s nothing humble about this 1600 though, it’s downright nobility. 1600 is a bit of an unusual flavor, as it ditches the fluting for a sterile, smooth bezel. Some adore this, some hate it. Regardless of preference,...

Never has the phrase good things come in small packages been more appropriate than to describe the ref. 5959R. The 5959 is equal parts serious weapons-grade watchmaking with serious whimsy. Released in 2005, this was actually the very first fully in-house Patek Philippe chronograph of any sort. And they chose...

Where you see feuille hands on a 3970, you know you’re talking early series and immensely collected watches today. But this isn’t a 3970. It’s a 3971, a reference created before the standardization of selling both a solid and sapphire caseback with each 3970. The 3971 was a screwdown, sapphire-backed,...

Universal Genève’s great early chronographs very rarely went above 36mm. This is a 1940s Compur with a seriously uncommon black gilt dial, and it’s 37mm—far oversized for its time. On top of all that, it has big eyes, or equally oversized subdials. It’s known as a Compur, and it’s in...

More normal Day-Dates are the value of the decade at the moment. There is no watch as significant in vintage Rolex that also remains somewhat accessible. That said, this isn’t exactly a normal Day-Date, only normal-ish. It's white gold with Arabic discs and, more importantly, cigarette hands. It’s an 1803/9,...

The 14790 is one of the longest-lived Royal Oak references made. Debuting in 1992, it ran until 2006. In that time we saw the transition from petite to grande tapisserie, Gay Frères single pin bracelets to AP dual screw bracelets, the expansion of possible dials, calibre 2125 to 2225, tritium...

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...

Ed Whites are a category of watch which don’t really exist anymore. This was a humble tool made to serve a purpose with a calibre 321, decidedly not a luxury product. It filled its role admirably and as such became named after the man who accomplished the first American spacewalk....

Aside from the strata of piece unique one-offs for royalty, this is unquestionably one of the rarest Rolex dials to ever be produced—in single digits known now. Moreover, it’s a Stella. Stella Day-Dates are increasingly sought after for many reasons; this is the original colorful OP with added complication, one...