For the last decade, I’ve been slowly watching Heuer’s Autavia (short for automotive/aviation) gain favor from collectors besides Jeff Stein. There is a limit to how much one can spend on a 6263 before alternatives start to look more appetizing. Today, I think I can say the same for the...

Wittnauer, later absorbed by Bulova and Longines, used to make some beautiful chronographs. Wittnauer began as an American pocket watch manufacture who adapted during wartime to wristwatches. The later 242T and 7004A are probably their best known references. But well before either came this wartime chronograph. This early reference is...

Very little today is as unassuming as this humble JLC. The classic size, slight hint of super-compressor casing, and near-empty dial… This is the antithesis of a rainbow Daytona. And yet, it is rarer. Dare I say, in time, it may be more valuable as well. It’s the type of...

I often lament just how structured and predictable most Swiss watchmaking has become. Rolex increased the case size of the newest sub by .3mm and the media thought this was actually a story. That lazy attitude is what makes pieces like Ms Krügers work, and other independents, all the more...

Lemania’s 2310 architecture has found its way to the moon, Patek complications, and even the odd Tissot. It’s a highly collected, storied, and tested movement. If you wanted, you could get one on your wrist under a few grand in the form of a Seamaster 321. Alternatively, if you wanted...

Unfortunate timing can break an otherwise impenetrable product. This year, that wrecking ball was called COVID. Last May, right when the uncertainty was at a height, Blancpain thought just the thing we all needed was a new chronograph. Maybe not their most strategic play. However, I think it’s worth drawing...

Some collectors go gaga for haute complication. Others prefer a good tropical dial. But there’s an entire category of watch addicts who just like double-signed dials: Serpico, Beyer, Gubelin, and above all Tiffany. But not all Tiffany dials are created equally. Tiffany Sea Dwellers are substantially rarer than subs. Tiffany...

There’s a strong demand from collectors for vintage Rolex chronographs (even vintage Rolex-ish chronographs). Exhibit A: all Daytonas. Exhibit B: all Monte Carlos. But the under-appreciated Exhibit C comes by way of the Tudor Big Block. It used to be the Big Block was considered a means to an end;...

There are more accurate, more ornate, and more complicated Seamasters. But there isn’t a more significant Seamaster than this military 165.024 T-dial. This is a watch that is invisible to almost everyone. No one will mug you for it in East London. But if you know, you really know. This...

Amidst the Lamborghini collaborations and diamond-set double tourbillons, it’s easy to forget that Roger Dubuis also did understated elegance. He did it really, really well. Roger sadly left us in 2017, but is remembered as one of the more innovative and eccentric independent watchmakers. While today’s louder pieces are all...

Phillip’s Auctions (and Aurel Bacs) are notorious for overusing the phrase ‘rare & attractive’ in listing descriptions. However, if they wrote ad copy for this A384, I would make an allowance. To address the former, it is actually rare. Rössler’s book Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865 estimates just 2600...

In my theoretical holy trinity of Speedmasters, this BA would feature alongside the radial Alaska III. Third place is yet to be decided between the Silver Snoopy or original CK2915 broad arrow. Why does a 145.022 in gold carry such weight? It’s the story. To commemorate the moon landing, the...

Unassuming, I think, is the adjective that best suits the Prince. Tudor’s ‘Oyster Perpetual’ began humbly in the 1950s but eventually went the distance, picked up by Arctic explorers before the explorer. Ever Rolex’s experimental sibling, even in the 1950s, Tudor utilized a range of dial and hand configurations inside...

For a very small number of cases produced in the middle of 1955, Rolex doubled up on references. They wrote 6538, crossed off, and rewrote 6536 to re-designate a small crown. It is not clear if this was done intentionally as a transitional model or as a simple repurposing of...

In 1995, well after the Royal Oak had become an icon, Audemars Piguet launched a reference 14802ST to commemorate its 20th anniversary. Limited to 1000 pieces, this ‘Jubilee’ model was available in platinum, gold, and the steel we see here (this was back when limited editions weren’t multiples of 1000)....

I’ve been on a bit of a manual-wind three hand bend lately. You may have noticed. If the GS I posted a day ago didn’t appeal to you for lack of being loud and/or limited, I give you this Mont Blanc. I think brands should be applauded when they uphold...

High-end, in horology, is a relatively useless demarcation. To one, high-end could mean an Omega Seamaster 300. To another, high-end could be a CasiOak. So let’s say this: people who have gone to school to become watchmakers for Patek Philippe, who have a complete understanding of excellence, would consider this...

Three-hand dress pieces don’t come much more classic than this quiet gem from Grand Seiko. Most of us saw the2017 SBGW231 37mm manual-wind dress model in the world’s media. However, as is often the way with Grand Seiko, if you looked a little deeper you would also see a Japan-only...