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,...

The E853 is little-discussed corner of the vintage Memovox world that offers much of what modern collectors seek: history in the form of being the world’s first automatic alarm movement, minimalist dial signatures, 37mm steel proportions, and, perhaps most crucially, no date. See, the considerably more famous and more widely-produced...

The Day-Date (colloquially President) is arguably Rolex’s most iconic model, full stop. It is classic, subdued, sophisticated, timeless, and coveted. Like much of vintage Rolex the variety of iterations and custom-order examples within this one model could serve as subject to multiple volumes of research. This elicits the query, where...

The 1967 62GS really means something, both to enthusiasts of Grand Seiko and the manufacture, as Grand Seiko’s first-ever self-winding offering. In production for just two years, the 62GS defied trends in both case and movement architecture while fully realizing Taro Tanaka’s ‘Grammar of Design.’ 36mm, bezel-less, harsh facets with...

They say never meet your heroes; I’ve never met Eric Clapton. But I have met my hero, his watch, and they were wrong. The 881101 in any guise is near-perfection: discreet complication, total design balance in a panda dial, a lyre-lugged 36mm steel case, and immense history. The Tri-Compax holds...

Through the post WWII era, Longines’ engineering, quality, and design were nearly unrivaled. This era gave us the 13ZN, 12.68Z fly-back, 6630 ‘Swiss Air’, 3592 Type A-7, ‘Tasti a Spillo’, and many other. Among this innovative era were a series of extremely handsome calatrava-styled pieces with restrained aesthetics. The most...

The word steel very, very rarely appears next to FP Journe. Journe’s following has grown so vast and so dedicated that any small deviation from the usual recipe often results in pandemonium. There are few collector sets which become so frantic over rare dials, one offs, or limited series. You...

No-nonsense divers don’t come much more attractive than early Tudor Submariners. The 7016, released in 1968, was quite notable as it marked the first time Tudor utilized an ETA movement as opposed to the Fleurier of the 7928 it succeeded. The 7016 reference also covered the first ever-snowflake handsets, though...

The 222 is not VC’s only reference forgotten to the evolution time, now only known to enthusiasts. The phrase ‘post-quartz perpetual’ brings to mind almost exclusively AP’s 5548, debuted in 1978. However, just a hair behind (in terms of investment in time it takes to develop an in-house, ultra-thin perpetual...

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...

In 1965, Ed White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. Needless to say, he is a hero. But he was so much more: an aeronautical engineer, USAF Officer, fighter pilot, crewmember of Gemini IV and Apollo I. He puts my entire life, and likely yours, to shame....

While the Camaro is not a particularly rare chronograph, some executions are harder to come by than others. The exotic dial 73443 with a date at six is one of the more scarce and attractive. The Camaro was Jack Heuer’s attempt to capture the heart of the American muscle car...

I’m not going saturation diving this weekend, you likely are not either. And yet, I slightly like knowing that I could if I wanted to. This, I know, is absurd—a bit like wearing a snorkel all year just because you might go the Bahamas in March. But if going for...

No one needed convincing that the depth of Universal Genève’s archives rival the Mariana Trench. And yet, like hearing a 911 guy repeatedly drone on to you about how a rear engined platform actually gives you more weight over the rear axle, I’m going to reiterate the point anyway. This...

When I say integrated sports watch, you almost certainly imagine a RO, Nautilus, or Overseas. You almost certainly do not imagine a Laureato, Octo Finissimo (despite it holding all the records today), or this: an imaginative 1980s diver with a full integrated titanium bracelet issued to Bundeswehr combat dive units...

This unassuming, humble Oyster is in fact one of the rarest Rolex references ever produced. One could be mistaken for thinking that Heuer had the monopoly on vintage Abercrombie & Fitch (this was way back when the marque were an elite luxury outdoor outfitter and not an excuse for narcissists...