Imagine being invited into Jean-Frederic Dufour’s palatial office, sitting in some absurdly sumptuous modern leather chair, and asking him if he might be able to remove the name ‘Rolex’ from his dial for you. Just a few pieces, of course. You think asking an AD for ceramic Daytona is implausible?...

A bastion of utility with elegant design in the modern era, the Santos Dumont is what a pilot’s watch looks like when dressed to the nines. The ‘Dumont’ here is important, a deliberate naming choice made by Cartier to reference the full name of Louis Cartier’s pilot friend who, in...

The uncanny valley is a widely-observed phenomena whereby a humanoid figure (such as a figurine, robot, or CGI character) creates increasing feelings of unease or distrust the more closely it approximates a human appearance. Viewers of HBO’s Westworld will be familiar with this feeling. For example, dolls are inanimate objects...

It somehow feels wrong to describe a Rolex as neo-vintage, and yet here we are. Everything about the 16610 is neo. I tend to over-index on four and early five digit Rolex, purely as much of modern Rolex lacks the romance I so desire in a steel tool watch. However,...

What ink remains to be spilled on behalf of the Simplicity? This is it, as good as watchmaking gets, independent or otherwise. Where Patek Philippe are undisputed masters of their craft, that is an effort of some 1600 people to elevate watchmaking to an art. The Simplicity is one man’s...

The Zenith A. Cairelli AMI CP-2 represents a high-water mark of effortless Italian style, full stop. And that’s saying a lot: Turin gave us the Type 33 Stradale, Piedmont gave us Nutella (okay, maybe Nutella isn’t stylish but I love it), Florence gave us the Vespa, and Zenith gave Italy’s...

Developed just after the initial Worldtimers by Louis Cottier, the ref. 2597 is damn cool ‘Travel Time’ from 1956, the very start of the jet age. The reference can be thought of as a 570 Calatrava with a little je ne sais quoi complication. The watch featured an early iteration...

Cutting edge technology looked a little different in 1968. When Piquerez debuted the EPSA case circa 1960, it was a true step function change in water resistance. Heuer took that same tech on board in their all-purpose chronograph, the Autavia. Following the 2446C, this second generation Autavia debuted the Valjoux...

One of the many appeals in vintage Rolex collecting is the vastly different character that the same reference can have, simply as a result of having led different lives. Not all patina is equal. Everyone knows what a red Submariner is. But I’ll be damned if anyone knew it could...

Of all of Genta’s diverse work, the Polerouter is easily one of the most classically beautiful. Moreover, its calibre 218 micro-rotor was materially innovative, a groundbreaking movement engineered ground-up to in order to allow a gracefully thin case. Yet, for all its numerous merits, the Polerouter is still an attainable...

I make no bones about the fact that the LUC calibre 1.96 is the Chopard I find most attractive, save Ferdinand Berthoud; it is possible for something to be expensive and massively undervalued. Much in the way that a multitude of collectors have only recently begun to acknowledge the exceptional...

There is a highly divisive branch of theoretical physics which holds that there are infinite realities. Some call it the multiverse, others call it the twin-world model level IV. The latter more extreme theories hold that if you can imagine a reality, it has existed or will. Yet, I’m already...

Alongside all the sexy Pan-Am, Qaboos, or Tiffany-signed Rolex dials, there are also a wide variety of more salt-of-the-earth stamps at 6: Pool Intairdril, Honda, Domino’s Pizza, and this Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie are US supermarket franchise of the South who, for many years, had thing for Air-Kings and fresh produce. This...

Last year, an early-2000s Formula 1 Ferrari V10 engine known as the F2003-GA, capable of 845hp at 18,300rpm, was auctioned off for 36K EUR. The power unit was a piece of history, having taken Michael Schumacher to his sixth championship title. Here it was, separated from its context, sold alone....

This two register chronograph with a world time dial and rotating bezel has almost certainly become Gallet’s most famed model. The watch was introduced in 1939 and made for the US Army Air Corps, even being worn by Harry Truman at its height. Some have argued this is the world’s...

Through both a design and historic lens, the 14790 is perhaps the truest iteration of the 36mm mid-sized Royal Oak. After introduction taking over from the first ref. 4100 in 1992, it remained in production longer than any other mid-sized Royal Oak to date. This open window allowed for a...

Rolex’s fabled gold Submariner may in fact be the single watch most classically representative of the ‘fuck-you-money’ attitude. Or at least, it was. See, the gold Submariner has gone through this sort of inverse bell-curve of public acceptability from the 1960s through today in 2021. To start, it was a...

Any Patek Philippe executed in that noblest of metals, steel, could be said to be a significant watch. But a steel Tasti Tondi? That’s beyond special. Of the ref. 1463, just 750 are thought to exist across all metals. Those in steel make up just a handful of that production,...