One of the ten Dufour Dualities ever made has surfaced and you can’t expect us not to point this out. What’s interesting here is that it’s on the market at all, but more on that later. While renown primarily for his superhuman finishing ability, Philippe Dufour first built his name...

Little did we realize when our newsletter editor wrote ‘A Brief Guide to Patek Philippe’s 1563 Split-Seconds’ in an edition a few months back, one of the three known would be coming to auction later that year. It turns out, that’s the reality we live in. The 1563 is a...

It’s from Glashütte, so they won’t call it a Havana dial. But, make no mistake, that’s what this is. The 380.044 is a very interesting, somewhat unusual modern Saxonia. It has its imperfections and charms, . . .we’ll get there. But it was part of a revamp of the Saxonia...

Pre-Richemont JLC was unstoppable. Then CEO Henry-John Belmont, French designer Janek Deleskiewicz, and new recruit Günter Blümlein (of later Lange fame) wanted to take the Reverso and elevate it considerably. Using the model’s 60th anniversary as a bit of an excuse, the team then set about a decade long celebration...

Here’s just about the most controversial Rolex around today. It goes by Obsidian, a volcanic glass, and for recent years it has been hyped as one of the rarest stone dials made. But is it? That’s not an easy question to answer. The last few years have seen stone dial...

We’ve all gotten used to wild Laurent Ferrier Grand Sport Tourbillons, FPJ Sport Rattrapantes, or even RMs, 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. Collectors and enthusiasts know,...

The Milgauss has always been the forgotten stepchild of the four-digit professional world, cast aside for the family-favorite Sub or Daytona who bathe in attention. Now, it’s gone entirely, at least for now. But it’s quietly excellent, austere, and massively handsome. While the refs. 6541 and 6543 are setting record...

Many ask what the ultimate 90s QP really is. Many will say a Beyer or Saatchi 3940. The VC equivalent of ultra-desirable, low volume is the 43032 Skeleton, preferably with blue subdials. The Audemars Piguet equivalent is this. Audemars Piguet saved complicated mechanical watchmaking in 1978 with the reference 5548....

If you look closely, you’ll see this doesn’t say ‘Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified’. Instead, it says ‘Superlativer Chronometer Amtlich Geprüft’. Now, it means the exactly same thing. But strictly speaking, this makes no sense. It’s half-English, half-German; a Christoph Waltz of Day-Dates. But why isn’t it all German? It reminds...

If the trend this year has been all about a push toward shaped or design-led cases, and it has been, it’s worth considering where that thought originated. Or, at least look at some early examples. While we were all fascinated with vintage tool watches through the 2010s, Cartier were still...

There is no Royal Oak more of the 80s and yet still attractive today than the 25572, known more commonly as ‘The Owl’. Not all Day Dates come in Oyster cases. Shortly after the 5402 graced the world with its presence, AP experimented with a few variations on the theme....

That blue, that’s enamel. And while just about any natural escapement, micro-rotor Laurent Ferrier is something to behold, this sector dial with contrasting enamel is a knockout. If you can cast you minds way back to 2017, this was one of the earliest and best looking Hodinkee collaborations. They made...

We all tend to view Rolex as a monolith, confident and entirely incapable of a misstep. Well no, not always. The quartz revolution was the last event to place Rolex truly on the back foot. And this was Rolex’s first shot across the bow back to Japan. It is the...

No, you haven’t had a stroke. No, this isn’t aftermarket. And yes, that’s a Speedmaster. Meet the Omega equivalent of an off-catalogue application piece. Long time viewers here will know, we don’t talk about much in gem-set. Usually, it’s not that interesting. But this is different. This is a watch...

Immediately after the wild success of the 6542, Rolex’s GMT-Master really entered its own. The dial wasn’t going to kill you with radium, the bezel wasn’t going to shatter by coughing on it, and crown guards had entered the chat. The 1675 is undoubtedly one of the great pillars of...

A 130 with Breguet numerals is special enough. Adding Tiffany, particularly above the Patek Philippe line, is just showing off. This is an incredible variation on the 130, Patek Philippe’s first chronograph produced at meaningful scale. The 130 holds a special place in many collector’s hearts. It also happens to...

Early Roger Dubuis, in design and finish, often feels closer to the Patek Philippe of old than a lot of Patek Philippe does today. It also could not feel more separate to the modern incarnation of Roger Dubuis. This brief flash of brilliance was created directly after Dubuis had worked...

There’s a point where patina ceases to be on a watch and becomes the soul of the watch. This 7928 has blown past that point. An early gilt PCG example, this Submariner went from a semigloss black dial to something you’d get at starbucks. It’s a Sub that’s gotten better...