Few chronographs don’t get the credit they deserve like the A386. Because I try to be a bit professional here once in a while, I threw the search terms ‘Rolex Daytona, Omega Speedmaster, Heuer Carrera, and Zenith El Primero’ into Google Trends to approximate the relative interest (specific vintage references...

The Santos is bewilderingly broad church. But 70s Santos Dumont is never the wrong choice, with its Frederic Piguet 21 and 4.5mm thinness (including crystal). And even in that niche, there’s still a lot to learn. This may look like a gold case, and it is. But it also isn’t:...

Some watches seem removed from time, perennially elegant, like the 3940, 1463, 5513, or any other arrangement of four digits from Patek or Rolex that you care to mention. Others lean into their era and attach themselves to it violently, like tap dancing on the Titanic until the trends change...

There’s Rolex, and then there’s complicated Rolex. The latter, we’ve only seen a handful of times and it’s pretty much all vintage. You could make an argument for the Sky-Dweller, but I wouldn’t want to. No, full calendar and split seconds Rolex emerged in the 50s and disappeared as quickly...

Not all Datejust are created equal. This will become immediately apparent if you check out Monaco Legends 2021 result for a red jasper white gold 1601, which hammered at 186K US. Many think of the Datejust as that two-tone thing you have to buy for your significant other to get...

If you love your Daytona, you should know its grandfather. This is the ref. 3525, not the first Rolex chronograph, but likely the first Oyster-cased Rolex chronograph. It goes by ‘Monoblocco’, ‘Barilotto’, and ‘Prisoner of War’ all as nicknames. The first two are easy to explain, the third I’ll get...

It’s not often discussed in these terms, but in the very early days of watchmaking, before even pocket watches were commonplace, the Swiss looked toward the English as the more established regional watchmaking industry. It was only after John Calvin banned things like dancing and the wearing of jewelry that...

There is something fantastic about pairing high complication with vibrant color. Somehow, complication and the effort required to create it tends to bring about the serious side of aesthetics and design, almost as a way of saying ‘you should take this seriously’. This is the other philosophy. Most collectors tend...

This isn’t a new Watches & Wonders release and it’s unrelated to Omega’s Trilogy set, apart from being heavily 2915-inspired. This is from 1998 and is one of very few Omega limited editions from that time which is actually limited, at just 150 examples. 150, rather significantly, for the 150th...

Rexhep is arguably the most discussed independent of the last few years. The questions are twofold: the why and the how of the furor. I believe they’re both founded in excellent watchmaking. Perhaps we were all a bit primed after the stratospheric explosion in the likes of Dufour, Smith, and...

With no hyperbole whatsoever, this is probably the most desirable Aquanaut in the world. It’s a 5065, the first 38mm ‘jumbo’ reference, one of a handful (and that might be too generous) to exist with what is called a ‘Plum’ dial. It may even just be two examples, yet to...

If one Googles ‘FP Journe Chronomètre’, it will autocomplete Bleu. But the time-only Souverain extends well outside Google’s tastes. It is quite unusual that in the lesser complicated Journe, it’s the non-guilloché Bleu that everybody knows. When, if you can enjoy a reserve, you get a guilloché dial as well....

If you’ve ever been Royal Oak-curious, there’s never been a better time. Genta’s most brutal, industrial case design is as beautiful as it has ever been, but much less expensive that it has been historically. This is particularly true of the mid-sized case, and that even extends to precious metal....

At this point, you might be asking why Hairspring is talking about a modern Deepsea. Well, flip it over, and you’ll find this is not like any other modern Rolex you’re likely to have handled. Milsubs don’t really exist today in the traditional, issued sense. Today, Tudor will make what...

Watchmaking suffered a severe blow in 2009 when Derek Pratt left us. But Pratt’s legacy lives in his inimitable work, teachings (from which there is much to study), and through his friends like Luca Soprana. Pratt is often considered to be one of the greatest and most determined watchmakers that...

Graph paper isn’t the sexiest thing in the world. And, yet, put it on an IWC dial as texture and it just might be. One of the best parts about this mid-sized Ingenieur from the early 80s is that there are multiple generations that each have equally attractive personalities. Are...

Despite the fact that they’ve almost entirely forgotten about it in favor of things like Spider-Man Royal Oaks, strange permutations of the Code 11.59 that nobody asked for, and stroking John Mayer’s ego, Audemars Piguet saved complicated mechanical watchmaking in 1978 with the reference 5548. This is the 25558, the...

I know this looks like another insane Legacy Machine creation from Max & co, and it is. But it is also one of the most significant updates made to the perpetual calendar complication of the last century. This is ground-up, first principles thinking as applied to keeping track of days...