One of the most revered vintage chronographs Heuer ever made, the manual, screw-back Autavia is at the height of many collector’s Heuer lists. With a tri-subdial Valjoux 72 layout, rotating luminous bezel, and 39mm case, it’s a Daytona of the people. And it’s properly proportioned, thin—even a bit contemporary. It’s...

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...

Antimagnetic or scientist’s watches are a long overlooked, often beautiful collecting category. A trend during the mid-century, when science was the way forward, these were usually a halfway-stop between a dress/three-handed and tool watch aesthetic. Patek Philippe had the Amag, Rolex had the Milgauss, Omega had the Railmaster. Yet, one...

The transitional 16550 marked the start of the Explorer II as a dual-time zone watch. In one instant, the hour hand was able to jump and the GMT-Master II had a credible rival. Further, it also introduced a massive fault we’ve all come to adore: the cream dial. Early 16550s...

The Heuer ‘Siffert’, or properly the Autavia ref. 1163, arrived in 1969 as Heuer’s answer to a new era of automatic chronographs. The reference family shows up in Heuer catalogues a touch earlier, the watershed years when the brand debuted its automatic Calibre 11/12 Autavias alongside other iconic models like...

A 3940 doing its best Tortue impression, the 5040 is a ridiculously beautiful value today. But there are more variants than most realize. It’s not just a J with Breguet numerals, this is platinum—solid caseback only just like the 3940. Except this black Arabic dial with dot indices is unlike...

We love Pre-Daytona here, and 6238 is probably the most universally adored Rolex chronograph made. There are the critically lauded and quite rare black dial variants, the lesser known but quite rare and lovely gunmetal grey dials, and then silver. Silver is normally perceived as the most accessible and most...

The 3940 and indeed 3970 started at their very best. This smaller subdial with its 90 degreee signifies a far smaller, more hand-made production at the very start of serial production complication. To those paying close attention, this era (Philippe Stern’s) is really having a moment. 3940, 3970, and 5004:...

The 1675 is the defining travel watch of its generation. It’s the defining travel watch for many generations after. And gilt dials define many of the ultimate examples. Although the gilt 1675 evolved through numerous dials and even crown guards, the later generations have a subtle charm that makes one...

The Second Series 3970 occupies and entirely different mindshare than but five years ago. It is, quite obviously, ascending to become seriously collected, desired, and studied. But the platinum, well, it’s been described aptly by Ben Clymer as a, ‘kind of mini platinum 2499’. And he’s right, except there’s nothing...

Developed just after the initial World Timers by Louis Cottier, the ref. 2597 is a damn cool ‘Travel Time’ from 1956, the very start of the jet age. The reference can be thought of as a 570 Calatrava with a little je ne sais quoi complication, or a gentleman’s GMT-Master. The...

This is a 18038, but unlike most 18038 it’s a lapis dial. Absent any indices, with apertures framed in yellow gold, this is one of the ultimate yellow gold Day-Date specs. Lapis was and remains one of the most notoriously difficult materials to machine. There is a widely stated figure...

Well before the 222, Overseas, or even Nautilus, there was this. It’s called the Royal Chronometer, but better known by ref. 2215. Introduced in 1975, it was replaced by the 222 just 2 years later in 1977.  Perhaps Genta spent less time looking at portholes and more time referencing the...

Silver print, sigma, and steel bezel is a great recipe for a subtle four-digit Daytona. This is one of the great mid-70s minimal 6265 looks. In vintage Rolex, it’s usually not as much about the dial as it is condition and life it has lived. This one has all of...

While the 812 Aquatimer is ultimately a dive watch, IWC’s first, it is more importantly the most elegant and refined dial design to ever be cased with two crowns and a Piquerez Super Compressor case. In 1967, IWC decided to take on the Submariner with this. In typically teutonic fashion,...

Introduced in 96 and discontinued in 06, this is not a 3940—which might be its defining feature. But it is a full-on 240 Q Perpetual Calendar, nothing annual about it. It’s the ref. 5039, which one could choose to think of as a 3940 that was allowed to lean full...

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,...

This is an extremely rare, likely specially ordered 3450J. It’s luminous, or at least it was, in tritium: hands and dial. And if we’re discussing greatly overlook complicated Patek Philippe, the 3450 is definitely in that mix. The 3450 could be described as transitional, launched in 1981 and taking over...