A true gilt dial just hits different. See, there is no one perfect 5513 dial; there are some less common such as the ‘Bart Simpson’, some more common such as the latter productions with white gold surrounds, some common yet gorgeous such as Maxi dials, some a bit bizarre such...

In the pantheon of Universal Genève, three stand above the rest: they are the Big Eye, the Clapton, and this: Nina Rindt. Of all Compax chronographs, this humble Valjoux 72 is almost certainly the most desirable. Surprisingly rare, beautiful in detail, and with a well-photographed tragic love story of a...

This is a rare and eccentric showing of playfulness from Mr Journe, not likely to be repeated. Like much of Journe’s work, there is a story behind the visually striking watchmaking on display. This partially openworked dial is not executed in a remotely traditional way. In addition, it is one...

This is really, really not just any yellow gold Lange 1. The 101.001 is the very first Lange 1 ever made. While the exterior is similar at a glance, the back is not. Lange 1s with a solid gold caseback hail from very early production, as it was customary then...

For being one of the most influential independent watchmakers to have ever walked the Earth, Daniel Roth is today not a part of the discourse in the way that Journe, Voutilainen, MB&F, or even Akrivia are. This, I suspect, is because Roth is not easily understood immediately; Roth requires study....

If Rolex had an essentials album, the 1803 would undoubtedly be a starred track. In production for nearly three decades as the halo product, Wilsdorf’s innovative Day-Date complication became synonymous with status after a 1966 ad with a red phone which simply stated, ‘the president’s watch.’ Day-Date collecting could be...

The three-register Carrera is one of the most adaptable and iconic chronographs to ever house a Valjoux 72. Many will think of the 2447 as a clean, minimalist, and scale-less chronograph. But that’s not entirely accurate, the Carrera is not one dial. Scratch the surface of On the Dash and...

Despite all the admiration, scholarship, and even Jack Forster’s article in the last year, the 3521 remains an alternative and yet-to-be-fully-appreciated modern classic. Whatever it means precisely to be a modern classic, I know not. But it seems to me as if the category were invented for these Ingenieurs. This...

The difference a simple bezel can make is quite extreme. In the 1675, which enjoyed quite a long run, there was a period of a few years where early aluminum bezels were manufactured with a paint composition that would turn from red to this beautiful fuchsia tone over time. They...

This is perhaps one of the most difficult watches to attempt to categorize, ever. It’s integrated, but it isn’t really sporting. It’s full yellow gold, but not really a dress watch. It has a moonphase, but it isn’t a mechanical movement. Now I am, somewhat infamously, a lover of mechanical...

The Tank Cintrée has been around since 1921, very shortly after the first 1919 Tank. It was adopted by British soldiers in the Boer War for its relatively masculine proportion and the fact that it wasn’t a pocket watch. Post war, those same credentials propelled it to be the ultimate...

If you think the depth and breadth of vintage marques like Universal Genève or Enicar are strong, they are. And yet, neither really hold a candle to the world’s longest running vertically-integrated manufacture outside Switzerland. Seiko has made more dive watch offerings than I will ever be able to hold...

Rolex does not often appear next to the word ‘complicated’. Rolex pride themselves on creating tools for professionals, however outdated that worldview may be in 2022. However, when Rolex do flirt with complication, the results are often breathtaking. In all their 117 years in watchmaking, only two Rolex references have...

Yeah, alright, I’ve featured it before and this is probably my teacher’s pet amongst all the neo-vintage IWC lot. I know it’s not terribly complicated. The innovation is one-dimensional. But with IWC’s recent reissue and collectors becoming increasingly being accepting of ceramics, I thought it fit to revisit just what...

Albert Camus once wrote that ‘a true masterpiece does not tell everything.’ There is beauty in artistry, but perhaps even more in mystery. Journe’s T30 has a magic about it, not because of what is revealed at first glance, beautiful though it is, but because of its unimaginable depth in...

If you’ve always dreamt of a steel Day-Date, and many of us have, they do exist. Just perhaps not where you might expect. Arguably, Tudor’s Day-Date is just as attractive if a little less historic, something of a vice-president. The 76200 Prince Day-Date debuted in the early 1990s only to...

Of all watchmakers who were there at the very start of the independent movement, Daniel Roth may be the least understood and appreciated (relatively to his immense accomplishments). Having paved the way for an entire category, I can think of no early independent whose work is more deserving of increased...

If you didn’t know, Mick Jagger isn’t just one of the most accomplished and energetic singer/songwriter frontmen of all time. He’s a watch guy, and quite an interesting one. Although he’s been spotted wearing other things such as a Seiko 6309-7040, Mr. Jagger is a Heuer man. The vast majority...