It is universally understood that De Bethune make spaceships for the wrist. Except, they haven’t always. In fact, the first decade was largely extremely classical with Roman or Breguet-like numerals, pomme or feuille hands, and remarkably normal cases. Collectors are starting to talk about early De Bethune with the kind...

The early Carrera has always been every bit the watch a 6239 Daytona or 105.012 Speedmaster is (perhaps just a hair less to the Speedy for the 321). However, it’s always been the odd one out, a sort of third-musketeer. Yet, in quality of design and fulfilling its role as...

If ever a special order Cartier client got it right, this salmon white gold NSO Crash is it. This is traditionally Swiss aesthetic spice on a deeply French dish in London. If you love watches, I promise that should make sense. The salmon dial craze of 2020 has come and...

Onyx might not look like this in nature, but it does in Datejust. And that’s enough. Stone dials have had a rough time of late, but the OGs are as index-less and lovely as they’ve ever been. Normally, I would always slightly preference a Day-Date, everything else being equal. But...

In 1947, this was the height of the Omega catalogue. Man hadn’t stepped on the moon, limited editions hadn’t been invented, and Ploprof was still just what you said when you sneezed. But post-war economic buzz was strong and this was Omega’s halo product. Known today as the Cosmic Complete...

The 6609, widely known by its nickname the ‘Thunderbird’, is one of the most important Rolexes to not be famous whatsoever. The Turn-O-Graph was the first Rolex with a rotating bezel, but it’s not even in production anymore. This 6609 is amongst the very earliest rotating bezel Datejusts, before the...

This ref. 6087 was Vacheron Constantin’s answer to the water resistant 1463 ‘Tasti Tondi’, though released considerably after. Even in the mid-century Vacheron were the slowest moving of the holy trinity. However, where they landed is so expressive that it has stood the test of time as one of the...

We don’t usually talk about modern Rolex much, most of it doesn’t fit the criteria here. But some do. There hasn’t been anything like the Le Mans before. There’s this (broadly true) narrative that Rolex is increasing precious metal and pricing at a rate fast enough to become the next...

Early Urban Jürgensen has been one of the better kept secrets of independents for a few years. 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 Perpetual Calendar. The storied Danish brand was acquired by...

Not all Speedmasters are created equal. I don’t just say that because there’s a calibre 321 inside this 105.012, but because of condition (which is really everything in vintage). This example is fantastically sharp on its case, entirely correct, full set even, and sporting a dial that can only be...

To understand the Daytona is to not just understand the attitude of Rolex in racing, professional tools, and the Oyster case; today it necessitates understanding how small differences in production sum to huge differences in collectability. The gold Daytona has always been a trophy. The 6263 and 6265 mark the...

The original Ingenieur has not been bettered. Released in the same year as the 3700 Nautilus, it is the overlooked third Genta album of the 1970s integrated steel sports splashdown. But unlike the 5402 or 3700, this was at its (iron) core an antimagnetic watch. And so it’s not really...

Sylvain Pinaud is one of the more recent guard of independent watchmaking, one can be easily forgiven if the name is unfamiliar. His work is of a very high bar, both in being design led but with masterful quality. Pinaud’s story differs from many of the more recent independents in...

The Octa Chronographe is a short-lived, rather thoughtful chronograph made from just 2001 to 2008, when it was replaced by the Centigraphe. Across all 7 years, it is estimated that the total number of examples made is just 313 examples. It straddles the transition from brass to pink gold movements...

Why is it that transitional references are always criminally overlooked? Often, they’re some of the most interesting . . .and that’s definitely the case here. This is the ref. 165.014. To all intents and purposes, it’s a slightly updated 2913 yet still in the 2913 straight lug case. In many...

The more one studies watchmaking, the more they come to respect Greubel Forsey. Now, I’m choosing my words carefully there, because respect is a very different thing to lust. Many of Greubel’s cases are imposing, not elegant. Their finishing is celebrated at full scale, never hidden. It’s a bit like...

This was, to all intents and purposes, the first and last time Rolex experimented with complication. If you want a Rolex with a calendar, you’re looking at a 6062 which came after this with an Oyster case, a Killy, or this 8171. The 8171 is known as the ‘Padellone’ (literally...

Ah, Bart Simpson. For all the sexy nicknames that go along with the watches we love such as Nina Rindt, Padellone, Tasti Tondi, Newman, and all the rest, Bart Simpson is bit jaunty. But it’s actually a very significant dial in a lot of ways. These are the final years...