It is difficult to overstate the importance of the 16520 (or 16528 here in yellow gold). The Cosmograph had become undesirable and a stagnant seller by the year 1988. For context, there are stories from that era of customers asking to buy special production Day-Dates, but having to purchase Daytonas...

Patek Philippe’s Calatrava is the final word in understated elegance, a pinnacle of three-handers. Since the ref. 96 of 1932, the Calatrava has always underpinned Patek’s entire collection. This 3796 carried the flag from 1982 until 1999. In doing so, it maintained the classic 30.5mm (or 31, depending on who...

Though the Santos and Tank take centre-stage, Cartier’s Tortue has a comparably lengthy history which often touches on interesting mechanics. From perpetual calendars to the extremely intricate monopoussoir, the Tortue has cased some of Cartier’s most interesting projects of recent decades. One of the least discussed iterations from the storied...

Over the years, Rolex’s Day-Date has played host to many an exotic dial. But wood? Wood has no carat rating, wood is essentially always decomposing, and wood’s inherent market value only arrives in far larger quantities than a 36mm dial. Wood has received many a black eye as a watchmaking...

The overtly Teutonic A. Lange & Söhne don’t often venture into the more playful material choices. One imagines a Lange 1 dial to be solid silver almost by definition, or if you’re feeling particularly racy perhaps pink gold. But they have experimented in small quantities with more creative full guilloché,...

I adore a watch with a story, and an 18k Heuer triple calendar from the 1950s sold originally to Brazil satisfies that criteria with full marks. If you’re in the market for a triple calendar, there are many with character: you could sell the house for a Jean-Claude Killy, invest...

There has been nothing like the Carnavin P810 before or since its 1960 introduction. Some will say this is as it should be, as the aesthetic is polarizing to say the least. Yet, I find its extremely quirky layout more charming for the simple fact that is an extreme of...

The classic 18038 Day-Date is an institution of luxury which stands outside of time, totally ageless, as an object of discreet taste. The Oysterquartz Day-Date is the sibling who wears pink floral print shirts to Michelin-star restaurants in the heart of Paris, the sibling who orders a double of Lagavulin...

The French might eat the heads off prawns, smoke in your sitting room, and surrender to finger guns, but, damn, do they ever know how to produce a gorgeous chronograph. In the post-WWII lull, the French military (most notably the Aéronavale) created a criteria for a modern flyback chronograph and...

A-series; whether for history, rarity, investment, or ego, the first-ever Royal Oak run holds a special place in the heart for many enthusiasts. There can be no denying the attractiveness of the first 5402, perhaps the purest expression of Genta’s pen in steel form. Consensus holds that over the course...

Grand Seiko’s first-ever automatic appeared in 1967 and today goes by the 62GS. For collectors, those four characters mean something special. The case was beautifully Japanese, with unnecessary facets on its graceful almost-lyre-like-lugs and an offset recessed crown at 4 meant to advertise the fact that one needn’t wind this....

Cartier are something of a master at evolving variations on a theme, all equally elegant. However, some are more equal than others. The CPCP era is, if not the most classic, Cartier’s most sincere attempt to flatter enthusiasts of traditional watchmaking. This Tank à Vis hails from that time, but...

Succeeding the 1680 was never going to be an easy task. Yet, the 16610 took on this challenge in 1987 as one of the earliest of Rolex’s five-digit releases. Thankfully, it maintained the perfectly proportioned 39mm Oyster case, the last date Sub to do so. The 16610 was so successful...

One could be very easily forgiven for, amongst the innumerable GS limited releases, missing one or two. However, it is particularly forgivable for one to have missed the SBGA421 or ‘Red Snowflake’, as it was never really publicized in any manner. In fact, it only ever sold at select boutiques...

Through both a design and historic lens, the 14790 is perhaps the truest iteration of the 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 huge...

World Time is a complication invented and still dominated today by Patek Philippe. The lineage of all your 5130 and 5230s can very directly be traced back to this ref. 1415, the earliest widely-produced (yet still exceptionally rare) Patek World Time. This was a watch created as the entire world...

I am of a generation where cigarette advertising has been banished and demonized for the entirety of my years. Despite this, and largely due to a Formula 1 livery addiction, I find myself very nostalgic for cigarette-adjacent advertising from the late 60s and early 70s. Mission Winnow doesn’t quite do...

Very little can truly be described as timeless. A Patek Calatrava deserves that laudable adjective like little else. The 2508, produced between 1951 and 1960, is a high point of the Calatrava lineage for many. It debuted a larger 35mm case manufactured by Taubert & Fils (later known as Borgel)...