Let us begin with obvious: the story surround the Crash name is almost certainly invented marketing. For the unaware, there is legend that a client of Jean-Jacques Cartier brought in a Baignoire that had been damaged in an automobile accident. The oddly damaged and burned watch sparked inspiration for this...

Something about early generation Seamaster 300s is just a cut above its period competition. I don’t mean this in any objective way; most customers in period probably would’ve preferred a Sub on wrist for the recognition. I mean this in terms of simple, unfussy, vintage dive charm. There is not...

An 1163 Autavia with a panda dial and blue accents should just be an 1163. Thanks to some very intriguing history, it is not. Heuer were among the very first houses to attempt the automatic chronograph. That Caliber II is not what we have today. Today, we have a simple...

Comex is a sacred grail to those who worship at the altar of flat fours and frog feet. Coming across a strong (or more importantly genuine) example within any generation is an accomplishment. When watch people call a double red 1665 rare, they are kind of correct. They are rare...

It is possible for something to be expensive and massively undervalued. Much in the way that collectors have recently begun to acknowledge the exceptional watchmaking in early CPCP pieces, a subculture is forming around LUC. Chopard may be mostly known for sponsoring the Mille Miglia (now a cocaine and Instagram...

Hit F5 because it’s time for something a bit refreshing. Sometimes we have to remember that it’s okay to just love a watch for no reason whatsoever. It doesn’t have to be particularly rare, valuable, or mechanically genius to be attractive. One can just like an object for what it...

Attempting to get an an allocation for a limited release Kurono piece is a bit like attempting to qualify for the Tour de France: one could spend their entire life preparing and still wind up empty-handed and sobbing. Thankfully, the secondhand market has a way of making these rare Pokémon...

The perpetual calendar chronograph is a haute complication that Patek Philippe has perfected to such an extent as to become synonymous with the entire category. This 3970 succeeded the 2499 in the mid 80s and dominated the category for its production length. This post-quartz period was time when few complicated...

I recently learned that there is a form of sweetener called invert sugar which is a synthesized blend of pure glucose and fructose. Our nervous systems interpret this as even sweeter than regular sugar, gram per gram. Do I even have to make the analogy? Kari Voutilainen’s 28PI inverts the...

The only watch to hold a candle to the European market Deepsea Alarm in terms of rarity or beauty (to my eye) is this: the JLC E558 DeepSea Master Mariner—better known as the Barracuda. Brevity is lost on the Swiss. The patented Super Compressor-cased model was produced from 1967 to...

Occasionally, Pepsi bezels don’t quite cut it. If you’d like to undermine an entire subculture of Rolex collecting, this is what’s referred to as a master-level troll. That said, this Seamaster is not just an antithetical pun. It’s a damn good dresser. While the design of this watch is massively...

I recently featured a slightly rougher around the edges 7159 at a reasonable ask and called it the quintessential summer watch. It’s still out there. Today I’m sharing with you the opposite. This is the kind of Monte Carlo you wear carefully, because its dial still clearly resembles the roulette...

I am asked, it seems like every other day, what my vintage picks are for future appreciation. ‘Buy what you like and like what you buy’ is great advice, but not terribly practical or helpful. I don’t feel confident in much of today’s hyper-inflated market. One can only differentiate so...

Singapore loves watches. There is a healthy and robust collecting sphere in the East that I hope to visit in the near future. In the mean time, the well-heeled may express their enthusiasm for that sphere in a different way. Watchmakers also love Singapore. In 2003, Lange chose to commemorate...

I think I have a real problem; I’ve started to like all the little nuances that exist in Rolex collecting. I enjoy spotting a rail, floating Tiffany Cosmograph, underline, or exclamation point dial. I know it’s sick. Today I’m writing to feature a lovely example of the late 5513 with...

If you have ever wanted a more unique Speedmaster, a less-common Daytona, or a dial drenched in yellow tritium, heaven has smiled upon you. Wittnauer is not a name you know unless you’ve spent some real time in vintage. Later absorbed by Bulova and Longines, they used to make some...

The Memovox is an alarm watch with an attraction that runs deep. If know enough about watchmaking to know that Jaeger-Lecoultre are known as the watchmaker’s watchmaker within Switzerland (meaning many Swiss brands quietly utilize JLC’s engineering skill in order to aid their own efforts), you probably are already infatuated...

The contraction of Automobile and Aviation, Heuer’s Autavia has never looked better. The Autavia is the Daytona for people who actually do motorsport. Red Bull is coming back to dominance in F1 and in celebration of Mercedes’ reign ending, I felt it appropriate to post up a watch of their...