I am not a pedant, but I must admit that the recent Bond Seamaster rubbed me the wrong way. To many watch collectors, myself included, the MoD broad arrow symbol is a bit sacred. Seeing a commercialized movie prop given that marking by Omega themselves seemed to me uncomfortably close...

Despite what you may have seen in recent months, Audemars Piguet do not just produce the Royal Oak. Their history is peppered with ambitious complications, even through the mid-century when few cared. Moreover, AP were first to bring back the art form of complicated watchmaking after the quartz crisis with...

As @kingflum pointed out to me recently, value is a relative metric. In many regards, it can only be considered subjective. Many collectors love the 7159 (steel bezel) and 7149 (bakelite bezel) Monte Carlos for their fixed bezel designs, doubling down on classic chronograph style. The 7169 has always lagged...

This svelte Tank Louis predates the CPCP era in which Cartier were a vertical manufacture . . .and it may just be all the better for it. One of the many joys of Cartier enthusiasm is the extreme depth in their back catalogue. The late 80s and early 90s saw...

Classique Breguet is increasingly a category its own today. Few collections from any manufacture are capable of rivaling the Classique’s height of restrained design sense, traditional finishing, impressive watchmaking, or value. Most will be aware by now that this accomplished range was spearheaded by a young Daniel Roth. Directly after...

Adetail can make all the difference. The 2000s black series CLK AMG has just ever-so slightly anabolic wheel arches and multi-spoke alloys which allow the educated observer to mark it apart from some dime-a-dozen Germanic grocery getter. Similarly, a Japanese whisky with an age statement hidden on the corner of...

The names Grand Seiko and Hi-Beat harmonize together better than Lennon and McCartney. But not all are created equal. This SBGH037 hails from a (currently) largely-unsung stretch of the Japanese manufacture’s history, what I like to call the double-signed era. This nascent stage I define as after the birth of...

If you’ve ever wondered to yourself just how gorgeous a distilled Datograph could be, this is your answer. Lange broke all standards of watchmaking in 1999 with the aesthetically moving and impressively engineered calibre L951.1 Datograph, entirely manufactured on German soil. In the wake of that momentous release, a subset...

You will be familiar with the Royal Navy’s Rolex Milsub series. You will also likely be familiar with the classic snowflake-handed 9401/0 Marine Nationale which has recently seen new life. However, Tudor’s military history extends far beyond France. South Africa also issued its Navy divers a small run of reference...

Patek’s 3970 has enjoyed one of the sharpest upward trajectories in collectability of anything this side of a Cosmograph in recent years. The rise to appreciation has been a culmination of many factors: scholarship in the form of excellent reference guides such as by A Collected Man and Collectability, greater...

Given the feature of a 3970 in this round, I felt compelled to balance the scales with a down-to-basics, no-nonsense steel diver. I did not expect to stumble upon one so lovely or of the same era. Neo-vintage is not just collectable in Patek, VC, or AP, the era has...

This is not an integrated bracelet watch. It is a watch integrated by its finishing. By that, I mean this example has been carefully manufactured such that the dial, case, bracelet, and, hell, even the clasp are all a consistent hobnial texture. Guilloché is an art form all itself, but...

I have spilled a great deal of ink already on behalf of my pick from the original ‘holy trinity’. However, in light of the recent Les Historiques reissue, an original 222 is now a different proposition. When a manufacture shines a bright light on the dark, dusty corners of their...

We love a Day-Date around here. Whether oxblood, khanjar, or more the more restrained offering shown today, the 1803 is cemented in Wilsdorf’s lore and the iconography of watch history. Yet, collectors will still usually freak out only for the more exotic variants: lapis, missoni, rubellite, Jurassic park dials, etc....

Insanely technical independent De Bethune are perhaps best known for their use (or misuse) of the pun Starry Varius or insane spaceship designs. The manufacture is an involved one, one of the few independents that manufacture everything from the hairspring to the handset vertically. This simple chronograph is a magnificently...

Royalty in all of vintage Seiko, this 1966 Seiko 62MAS was genesis for all their . . .let us say quite popular modern divers. The DNA is clearly visible throughout the current range. It was the first serious attempt to appeal to the new dive market, as all previous releases...

Like very few aspects in life, it is often possible in watch collecting for one to both have their cake and eat it too. There are ultra-thin perpetual calendar chonographs, dive-GMTs, modern fusée chains, and value independents. Indeed, we are in something of a renaissance for the width and depth...

Shortly after the 5402 graced the world with its presence, AP experimented with a few variations on the theme. Out of this early/mid 80s era came many of the iconic complicated Royal Oak offerings we revere today. However, the very first complicated offering to feature in AP’s midsized 36mm case...