This is not an Oysterquartz. Many of you will be unfamiliar with the 1530; this is easily forgiven. The reference is not on John Mayers wrist, Hodinkee haven’t done a reference points covering it, and its story is one which requires a deep understanding of Rolex. If you’ve always lusted...

Seeing the Germans at Lange get this playful is like paging through your grandfather’s record collection and finding a vinyl of DJ Tiesto or Daft Punk, or finding out Giorgia Meloni is always wearing stockings under her power suit (actually, Italian, maybe that’s not a stretch). The point is this:...

In the 70s and 80s, the Tudor Sub went through way, way more evolution than Rolex’s. Tudor couldn’t decide on a formula: snowflake hands or mercedes, square plots or round, shield logo or rose, PCG or SCG or NCG? This is all not even to mention the RCNs or Marine...

‘A creative adult is a child who survived.’ The origins of this line are debated, thought to be first penned by Robin W. Winks, but in any case MB&F describe this tenet as central to their creative process. Their use was the first time I’d ever come across the quote,...

This 345.0022 is like finding out Dame Helen Mirren loved acting in the Fast and Furious and sought out the role deliberately, which is true. Or learning that Chinese takeout boxes unfold into a neat plate with the ball of noodle at its center. Or learning that David Attenborough makes...

Patek didn’t make the first neo-vintage era perpetual calendar, in fact they were late, a full 7 years. But they might’ve done it best. These are fighting words, I know, but to me the earlier 5548 and 43031 are scaled up, modernized versions of first AP 5516, incredible in their...

Amongst the kind of people that read Hairspring, the original 222 occupies quite a different mindshare compared to the 5402 or 3700. This, because where the Royal Oak and Nautilus have been in continuous production since introduction, the 222 was a blip in Vacheron history, a supernova that dazzled and...

There aren’t many chronographs which can be described honestly as on par with a Paul Newman. This one can be, and it’s an order of magnitude less dear as well. It’s not just that it’s a Valjoux 72, hundreds of references were powered by one. It’s a Singer-made dial. It’s...

Independents don’t necessarily have a monopoly on creativity, but it does increasingly seem like the small eponymous names are showing the Richemonts of the world how it’s done. This is particularly true of Stepan Sarpaneva, whose brilliance lies in just how much of his personality he’s able to suffuse throughout...

At face value, this is just a 145.012 Speedy with an orange seconds hand. But that’s like calling a Hemi Orange 1969 Dodge Charger just a car; it’s not. That’s General Lee. And this is Ultraman. The Ultraman is the Speedmaster enthusiast’s Speedmaster, a watch that demonstrates how far scholarship...

Dive watch tech advanced at a dizzying pace between introduction and mass adoption in the mid-50s and ’70-ish. Helium escape valves, locking bezels, domed crystal, new types of steel, tritium lume, etc. Then the genre found its footing and slowed, a bit like how they say both the goblin shark...

With collector attention so heavily focused on Roth’s Breguet era, it’s easy to overlook the fact that, actually, Hayek-Swatch era Breguet didn’t just fold. Look at the 7727 and its incredibly innovative magnetic pivots, allowing the balance to float in artificial gravity. I truly believe AL Breguet would have been...

I’ve spoken once or twice here about the phenomena of what I call double take watches. This category I define loosely as the following: a watch which, at a glance under 2 seconds long, looks like something you’re very familiar with. Then you pause. And after spending 5 seconds staring...

A few years ago, I read Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Somewhat contrarily, I didn’t find it terribly enlightening. But I do think it had one of the greatest titles of the last decade. Because everyone’s flirted with idea of embracing the carefree, that ‘stop...

Unless your idea of wild night out is casually browsing GPHG nominees with a negroni in hand (don’t worry, you’re in good company), you probably won’t have heard of Lyrique. They started last year and have made 70 watches in total, so don’t feel bad. Lyrique is really less a...

Diving chronographs don’t make sense on any level. The point of a dive watch is to separate the inner from the outer, resistance to water pressure. Pushers are, by definition, moving parts on a case that connect outer to inner. That is problematic. But maybe I’m thinking too hard about...

I have a problem with one of the greatest watches ever made: the Datejust. By the metric of pure profit, it might be the most successful watch of all time. But to me, it’s an apology. I know, the ‘just’ refers to the fact that the date snaps over at...

If you love a good mystery thriller with countless loose ends, this your kind of Datejust. No one knows precisely how the Turn-O-Graph bezel wound up on the wrists of the USAF Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds. Lore holds that one pilot previously bought one for himself on...