Zenith in 1969 was firing on more than all creative cylinders. They went up to 11, 12, and then 36,000. The cases went for pure revolution over evolution. Gay Frères invented a new, very summery, and very 70s bracelet. Wether the calibre 3019 PHC was the first automatic chronograph or...

As a plebeian born in the US, my first contact with Harrods was in 2008 when I heard Jeremy Clarkson talk about Lamborghinis posing outside Harrods. But if you’re English, it means a whole lot more than that. And if you’re Patek Philippe, it’s one of your most important retailers....

Not only is this a burlwood Day-Date, quite an uncommon thing already, but it rather fittingly is sporting a what is known as (and I’m not making this up) a bark finish case. You see how the bezel and centre links are almost textured like tree bark? It’s a finish...

Breguet around Daniel Roth was something else. This is a 3355, which might sound a lot like 3350 if you know your Breguet. Roth worked closely with Lemania for three years to develop this one-second tourbillon, which debuted in 1989. In fact, after Roth branched out on his own, this...

Before Paul Newmans got everyone hot and bothered and way before anyone cared about the Nautilus, early Ovettone Datejust were what collectors thought should be all the rage. When there was no social media and you weren’t yet qualified to operate a motor vehicle, this was original hype watch at...

The Extract of Archive on this 25730ST states that this is a blue dial. Think of the quantity of life this Dual Time has experienced on wrist to be so caramel. The 25730 and 26120 Royal Oak Dual Times have been fascinating me lately, partly for how shortly they were...

Nothing in Cartier is even close to a value now, surely? No. The 2390 is a screaming value buy even today. It’s mechanical. Or, wait, because it’s Cartier it’s Mechanique. It’s almost a tool watch, here in steel. If you’re a Polo player, the Reverso isn’t the value play today....

There is no dial like a stone Datejust dial. The charm here is that this was effectively the base model Rolex at the time, elevated above the RRP of most Day-Dates because someone wanted a stone dial. That’s why we don’t see as many stone dials in 1601 as 1803,...

The 1675 GMT-Master is what you would call a classic of the genre. It’s casual, refined, and still very capable. But finding a great gilt example seems to be getting harder by the day, but not as hard as this watch is getting me. The 1675 was introduced in the...

This 16/1863 is going to be remembered as one of the great buying opportunities of this era alongside the 1860. It’s called the Quattro, and even though it says Chopard on the dial, it’s really a collaborative effort and Parmigiani at its heart. Just like the time-only 1860, it’s truly...

This is one of those exceptions we love here where the caseback holds more interest than the dial. Say what you will about the Peruvian Air Force (Fuerza Aérea del Perú or FAP), their military had style. FAP military engravings on provenance cover basically all the best professional 60s offerings....

Last year, one of our most popular posts of the whole year by engagement was a ref. 1186 Blancpain Split Seconds with a ‘Military’ luminous tritium dial. That was made in 20 examples. Seemingly, no one knew it existed. Meet the only 1186 that can make that military dial look...

Nicolas Hayek always adored Breguet. Throughout his tenure, that respect showed through in a refusal to modernize or cheapen the watchmaking. Breguet under his guidance simply continued with the Roth legacy, and some of those references are worth looking more closely. This is the 3137, a Power Reserve Moonphase that...

Any Royal Oak without brushing on the top of its bezel is serious business. At a glance, it almost looks wrong to have a fully mirror-finished bezel. But it isn’t wrong, it’s platinum. And it’s very likely to be a vintage QP. The evolution of the Royal Oak QP is...

Error dials are something we typically associate with Rolex, things like the infamous double-9 Air King. Surely, the holy-trinity Patek Philippe has never faltered that obviously. We hear frequently about how, while Rolex make in excess of one million watches yearly, Patek Philippe make just 60-75K watches. And yet, in...

There are few greater value opportunities than the current market for first generation Overseas, pretty much all variants, but salmon dials in particular. A direct descendant of the 222, this was the intermediary step between 222 and the calatrava cross-inspired case that many know today. The first generation is not...

There is no objective reason early Carreras should not be held in exactly the same esteem as manual pump pusher Daytonas. But that’s particularly the case for this, the 2447NST. NST here denotes a black dial with tachymetre, which really completes the minimal Carrera aesthetic by tying in Heuer’s motorsport...

This is one of the most unusual Voutilainens I’ve ever seen surface and it’s not like there are many I get to talk about to begin with. The Vingt-8 is Kari’s aesthetic sense, distilled. What the Chronomètre Bleu is to FP, the Vingt-8 is to Kari. Only this Vingt-8 is...