Some watches command premiums for reasons I find quite tricky to describe. The number of digits in Daniel Roth’s new price list under LVMH, for example, seems to have been defined by a roulette wheel. This is a strategy, I assume, borrowed from Biver. But others command a premium because...

I can recall very vividly a few years ago reading a post from a well-known watch writer titled, ‘Not every unknown vintage Cartier is a sleeper’. With full respect to the author, actually, I believe the exact opposite to be true. And the market is proving out such. The thing...

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 to the Canopus, Alaska series, Mitsukoshi, Apollo XI 35th, and Snoopy series, there was this: the...

The story of the 1415 World Time is in many ways the story of the world becoming connected for the very first time in the early mid-century. It spanned the introduction of both the telegraph and later phone, starting production in 1939 when WW2 also began. For the first time...

A true gilt dial always hits a bit different. When we hear the word gilt, the first thing that usually comes to mind are Subs. But that era of Rolex saw gilt print on dials of Day-Dates, Datejusts, and every sport watch right down to the Thunderbird. It was just...

Omega’s classic DON bezel can exhibit some of the most varied ghosting you’ll find on any vintage watch. I’ve seen their palette age naturally to bright burgundy, green, and blue depending on the environment. Anyone who’s bought a box of crayons can tell you, those three are nowhere near each...

There may be no better pairing in advertising historically than Concorde and the GMT-Master. Generally speaking, technology improves over time. The world marches on, iPhones get thinner, energy gets cleaner and more efficient, and AI will write your children’s homework and text your wife for you better than you can....

I’m not sure a single watch has ever been so drastically ahead of its time as IWC’s Ocean 2000 was when it arrived to the civilian market in 1982. It defies categorization and expectation in every dimension. In the 80s, Rolex’s 16660 Sea-Dweller was capable of diving 1220m. IWC hit...

In Lord of The Rings, the nine rings given to mortal men created Wraiths, Mordor’s most loyal servants. They roamed the lands ushering in Sauron’s reign, ending other ruler’s power. But in horology, the neo-vintage era had five emissaries to usher in the apocalypse of Japan’s quartz domination. Yes, there...

Today, the King of England wears Parmigiani Fleurier. Kwan Ann Tan has written an exceptional guide to Parmigiani’s earliest years and watches like the early Torics, heavily inspired by classic Roman architecture, are seeing scholarship translate to market value. In the coming years, the Tonda PF will bring the name...

In vintage, you’ll hear people who know a thing or two talk about condition like people in real estate talk about location. It’s everything. This is particularly the case in sport Rolex, where it’s well known that if you buy a watch with polished bevels Eric Wind will personally hunt...

This is the first time an AK-06 has come to auction and that’s really rather significant. Akrivia and the brand’s founding star Rexhep Rexhepi have enjoyed a deserved stratospheric rise recently, underpinned by the massive wave of independent watchmaking interest but not because of it. The true cause centers around...

For all the collectability that surrounds the cream dial 16550 Explorer II, you’d imagine a cream dial Royal Oak would see drastically more furor. After all, it was AP’s loyalists who practically burned Bennahmias at the stake, deservedly so, for the Code 11.59 release. One would imagine there would be...

If you have a robust memory, you may recall back in 2020 Lange released an 1815 Rattrapante in Honeygold, the brand’s first split seconds. Immediately and nearly unanimously, the watch world exclaimed, ‘Wow that’s beautiful . . .wait, didn’t they make one of those already?’ It just sort of seemed...

Some watches are special not for complication, rarity, or brand, but rather the life they have lived. More often than not, watches that fall into that latter category are steel Rolex tool watches. For a multitude of reasons that encompasses advertising, reputation, and design, people who really do things seem...

Journe’s Linesport collection, and particularly this monopoussoir rattrapante in rose gold, doesn’t fall neatly into any one bucket. It’s sporting, but no Tudor FXD Red Bull Chronograph. It’s independent and highly complicated, frosted rose gold, integrated, and like very little else out there. Despite the rattrapante, it’s not even Journe’s...

This is a 101.027X and unless you really know your Lange, it’s just like any other Lange 1. You’d be very wrong, however. Thought to have been made in 225 examples in the early years of modern Lange, it is today hunted by collectors like orphans on the plains of...

If you know where to look, there’s a lot of fun and value to be had buried in Omega’s neo-vintage era Speedmasters. The 3575.20 feels like a greatest hits album comprised of some of my favorites. There’s a bit of Italian Albino, 2915 Broad Arrow, and OG ‘Speedymoon’ all going...