If any watchmaker knowns how to make a fashionably late entrance, it’s la grande maison, JLC. Diving watches with their extreme water resistance and externally rotating bezel were all the rage by the second half of the 1950s. In 1959, Lecoultre entered the fray with a differentiating design. Instead of...

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...

There are many superlatives in my feed. Such is the the way when you strive to feature the best things from all over the market and are equally excited by them. Let me add to that collection today, because this is the greatest Tudor chronograph reference of all time. The...

Genta-designed (likely, actually no one seems to know for certain) and Germanically-gorgeous, IWC’s Yacht Club II was something of an acquired taste. Released to defend Schaffhausen’s grounds at the outset of the quartz crisis, the model was available as an octagonal automatic or buzzing electric crystal. The quartz models sold...

Somehow oxymoron doesn’t quite cover it. The lauded German manufacture synonymous with the very height of haute horology is now making a sports watch sold on rubber. I just hope they’re not 20 years too late. The Odysseus is as impressive as it is divisive, arguably the most contentious release...

Some watches require very little explanation; their appeal is inherent. FPJ’s resonance is intriguing on the dial side and downright bewitching once flipped over. VC’s skeletonized perpetual calendars will not let your eye rest. Watching a Lange rattrapante split seconds with complete equanimity is mesmerizing. Others take a bit more...

In terms of historically significant flagships, the Aviator’s Compact Chronograph (Aero-Compax) sits right alongside the Polerouter as modern collector’s iconography. This mid-1960s second major iteration of the famed chronograph shifted focus from timing dual events to displaying a secondary 24 hour time through its very unique bezel. Though today appreciated...

Every damn time I spot an Overseas, I am reminded how desperately I need a 222 in my life. The oft-forgotten third musketeer in the original steel sports holy trinity, Vacheron’s 222 has seen increasing limelight in the wake of recent 5711 madness. I cannot tell you how many times...

If what you’re after is no-nonsense vintage Seiko that that simply tells the time with a minimal level of pretense, you don’t have to pick up that 18K 5646-7005 Grand Seiko. You don’t even need a 6159-7001 Diver. If one wanted to get aggressive in Japanese functionality, it would be...

Valjoux’s VZ series of calibres has been found under the name of Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and what we see here: AP. What is not as easily understood is just why that series of movements deserved to prove so popular among the most esteemed manufactures of the 1940s and 50s....

Heuer’s Autavia could be fairly said to be the backbone of vintage Heuer enthusiasm, alongside (but perhaps slightly ahead of) the Carrera and Monaco. To the layman, the Monaco is probably most recognizable for its Le Mans movie placement, on the wrist behind a 917K. The Autavia, however, was actually...

Few manufactures have such a harsh delineation between early and latter models as the renown FP Journe. Sure, as a counterpoint, Rolex produced early dials in gilt radium and later transitioned toward tritium. But that’s just a detail. Journe shifted the entire foundation of their movement from brass to gold...

Auro Montanari once stated in a Phillips interview some years ago that he mainly collects five houses: Omega, Longines, Cartier, Patek Philippe and Rolex. I am certain there are exceptions, for example I’ve seen his Universals in other media, but when pressed those five came to mind. If one needed...

The careful, studied attention of GS history rewards effort. While a deep dive in Hublot will leave one scratching their head, the same effort devoted to the best of Seiko will force your cursor to hover over the ‘add the cart’. The Hi-Beat shown here holds quite a few distinctions....

In philosophy, there is an infamous thought experiment known as the Ship of Theseus. The crux is this: if a Greek warship were to live a long and successful life, over time its hull will be patched. Sections will be swapped. Perhaps a mast will be fell in a storm,...

Ask anyone truly in the vintage-watch-know for a category of watch that currently presents outsized value. I would bet at least half of them would flag Movado. In recent scholarship, watch enthusiasts have begun to highlight manufactures of individual component makers alongside brand stories. Singer dials, Valjoux moments, Frères bracelets,...

Not all that is desirable in Cartier is CPCP, vintage Tank, Crash, or Cintrée. Though many collectors may treat it as such, Cartier’s long and storied history has innumerable alternative high points. In the mid 70s, Cartier began to see the Santos line as potential sporting alternative to the integrated...

I swore that despite the Royal Oak’s 50th this week I would not join the party. This not because I have anything against it, quite the contrary. Rather, that I aim to feature whatever is most interesting in the market at any given time. Surely, the odds of an all-time...