Yesterday, in an airport lounge, I spotted what I think was a Massa RM 011. What I’m about to say is not morally justifiable. Whenever I see someone over the age of 25 wearing an RM, I don’t think ‘Nice watch, I’m sure they love it.’ And that’s what I...

Chopard set out in the late 90s with a blank check and Mr. Parmigiani on side to show the world they could do serious watchmaking. While most of the world is familiar with their first effort, the calibre 1.96, the second evolution 1.98 is little less discussed. Yes, the 1.96...

In my town, there is a restaurant called The Kitchen, which happens to be owned and operated by Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal, who if you didn’t know is a restauranteur. It does three things really well: First, the menu is never overwhelming, a few simple entrées executed perfectly, matching the...

Contrary to what it may seem here, I dislike spending money on anything but watches and a decent dinner out. It’s why I’ve owned the same pair of Wolverine boots for seven years. My car is about a decade old and I won’t replace it until children become a thing,...

This is one of Omega’s best kept secrets. It’s the Seamaster De Ville 321, yes that calibre 321, and in many ways it’s the antithesis of modern Omega. In the era of mass automated luxury good production, it’s increasingly difficult to make something feel special. As a result, we get...

You should always read the caseback, but also know what you’re looking at. There’s the famous story where Dr Jim Norton, driver of the Porsche Cayman team which won the GX Class at the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona, brought his Daytona to a Tampa jeweler to be told it...

As a general rule, Marvel movies bore the will to live out of me. I see a bunch of attractive people in tight clothing making jokes that all feel like they’ve been through several focus groups. Creative narrative does not tend to arise from these ingredients. However, it seems at...

Of all the rare Japanese dive watches, this is doubtless one of the rarest and Japanese-est in its innovation and attention to detail. The 6215 is the second crack Seiko ever took at the dive watch problem and arguably their first very serious effort, taking full advantage of totally vertically...

The feeling I got the first time I tried on a tailored suit in a fabric I’d picked out was not unlike losing virginity, there was a sense of total opportunity as if the world had just blossomed. This feeling, too, arose when I spent a week learning how wheel...

The way I explain what a rattrapante is to non-watch people is simple. I say, ‘It’s like a mechanical stopwatch, but magic . . .just watch.’ Then, as the watch enthusiast, you have the pleasure of watching their mind explode in slow motion as one chronograph hand freezes an event...

Earlier this week, friend of Hairspring Robert-Jan Broer of Fratello wrote a fantastic piece on the Speedmaster Moonphase and all its iterations, which I’ve always felt is one of the most attractive flavors of Speedmaster. Something about the additional layer of vertical symmetry and light sprinkling of complication elevates the...

There are several replicated studies in psychology which demonstrate that the more frequently we see a face, the more attractively we tend to rate it. The theory is that the the more quickly and fluently we process beauty, the stronger its perceived effect. I’ve found much of Genta’s work has...

There seems to be some magic about the inception of a career. Let me explain. Einstein invented the theory of relativity at 26, writing his seminal paper shortly after graduating while working in the Swiss Patent Office. Brandon Flowers of The Killers wrote Mr. Brightside at 22, two years after...

The military Tudor rabbit hole goes deeper than you think. You will be familiar with the snowflake-handed 9401/0 Marine Nationale which has recently seen new life via the FXD. But Tudor’s military history extends far beyond France. South Africa issued its Navy divers a small run of ref. 7016 subs....

No watch is more fit for purpose than a 1016. That purpose is adventure, it has been from the very start. So when you come across an example whose dial has clearly been used well and hard, well, this may be the reference’s ultimate expression. It’s kind of like seeing...

The first time you lay eyes on a ref. 1004 is a lot like the first time you learn how Germany’s energy is sourced: you sort of think, ‘Huh, that’s a strange beast. Surely that doesn’t work?’ In both cases, you’d be right. The 1004 is the reference that launched...

Not all Valjoux 72s are super-unobtainium. Daytonas are, some Universals are starting to be, and many screw-back Autavias are already there. But the latter, slightly blockier, and more robust 2446C is still represents significant value compared to just about everything out there. There are many subtle differences within 2446s, case...

Patek’s Calatrava always reminds me a quote from Charles de Gaulle, when asked by journalist how he might go about uniting France in wartime he replied, ‘How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?’ Patek’s Calatrava has seen hundreds, if not thousands of...