The mid-sized Ingenieur is one of the great undersold integrated bracelet designs of the last half century, but that’s starting to turn. In today’s climate, things can only remain enthusiast favorites for so long before others catch on. This is the 3508, a triumph of engineering able to withstand 500K...

405.047 is reference not likely to ring any bells, and that’s because it’s a piece unique. Lange have a long tradition of sponsoring automotive Concours, specifically Villa d’Este. They don’t necessarily indulge in one-offs often, which makes what we’re about to cover rather unique. The Lange-Concourso d’Eleganza partnership makes sense,...

This was the start of the legendary screwdown Daytona pusher. Okay, maybe not the very start, it’s not a Solo, but reference-wise with millerighes (more on that later). This is the ref. 6240 and it would not be a stretch to say that all screw-down Daytonas exist because of this...

Yes, that’s a khanjar at 6 on a burgundy lacquer dial Carrée. There can be no doubt, this is the most exceptional Cartier we’ve seen surface in the market this year. If you could summarize the Oman in the 1980s in one watch, this has to be it. We’re used...

Pause a moment and just contemplate the insanity here. The fusée and chain is surely the most spectacular way possible to deliver a constant force from the mainspring. A fusée and chain made of a snail cam with a chain of individual rubies used as roller bearings is, well, madness....

Lemon normally describes a defect, yet in Paul Newmans it’s anything but, it’s seven figures to start. The 6262 and 6264 will be known to collectors as the transition reference Daytonas; either is relatively uncommon in its own right. The pair of Cosmographs introduced the Valjoux 727 and its higher...

The greatest green dial Nautilus that’s ever been made didn’t start life that way. It wasn’t made in 2021. It wasn’t even made on purpose. Some of the most painstakingly excellent scholarship of the last decade was made by a collector and anonymous superhero who goes by ‘Mstanga’ on forums....

No one remembers who comes in second. That was the fundamental problem facing FP Journe’s first attempts at the digital time display, the Vagabondage series, in the wake of the Zeitwerk. However, by third go, FP Journe’s manic obsession had yielded his own first, running digital seconds. Despite that massive...

The 43031 is a QP made for posterity to enjoy. Shortly after the 5548, Vacheron brought back their take on the ultra-thin 920 QP, distinctly quirky and slightly more expressive than the AP. To be certain, it was not appreciated properly in period. Between AP’s 5548 and Patek’s 3940, the...

This might be the most substantive 1980s integrated bracelet watch to not be famous whatsoever. It is a triple calendar with moonphase, just to start. It is a chronograph, based on the high-beat calibre 3019 (you know, the calibre that saved Zenith and, arguably, the first automatic chronograph?). It is,...

It’s been so long that almost everyone has forgotten, but in 2008 this Repetition Souverain was a world first. Or perhaps, as it predates almost all watch media, it’s been forgotten. In any regard, this was at one point the world’s thinnest minute repeater. FP Journe likes sketching new things...

I don’t know what to say here except that this is a pretty wild thing. This is the ‘Art Deco’, a piece unique Voutilainen based on the 28SC SB, the first Vingt-8 to feature centre seconds. But this Art Deco has a lug we haven’t seen before or after, which...

Thankfully, this 18038 dial has nothing to do with Tiffany, it’s just a great color. While we all love a colorful OP, vintage Rolex did it first and did it better. Stella dials have been collected since they were introduced in the early 1970s, however only very hotly in the...

With all the headlines this week, it seems to me worth taking a moment to contemplate the glory days of the Patek Philippe we all fell in love with. Last time I wrote about a 3970, I began, ‘If an alien was beamed down to Earth, or Mark Zuckerberg asked...

If you had to choose just one Patek Philippe of recent history to represent what we love about the brand, or perhaps what the brand used to be, it would have to be either a 5004, 3970, 3940, or, indeed, 2499. These are the height of the brand’s ability in...

We cannot approve of casual use of the phrase ‘the white dial Speedmaster’ here at Hairspring. The recent lacquer dial, for all the attention, was not the first. Nor was the Canopus. In fact, it goes way back to a watch called the Stafford, more on that later. But, prior...

In retrospect, the 16800 was one of the last great Rolex tool watches; push just a little bit further, and we’re into Hermés-ified luxury territory. The 16800 presided over a flash of production which is a bit of a sweet spot for Rolex heads: sapphire crystal and a tritium dial...

The Oysterquartz is more adored today than it ever has been historically. However, if you’re looking for the one Oysterquartz that encapsulates late-70s opulence, this has to be it. The halo product Day-Date version of the Oysterquartz, ref. 19018. It was given its own interpretation of the President bracelet, still...