I often the more archetypal, paired-back offerings from a house the more attractive options. This Pioneer, for example, is like a distilled essence of Moser. The Pioneer offers a classic Fumé dial with a contemporary case, crown, and hand design. No frills. Instead, Moser focussed on perfecting their craft. The...

A traditional double rattrapante is a notoriously difficult complication to engineer, assemble, and service. In 2004, Lange introduced a double split that was for many years a king of the genre. Lange are famous for machining and assembling an entire movement only to fully disassemble, check for wear, and finally...

The SuperOcean reference 2005 is a diver decidedly unlike any other. First, there’s the ‘slow’ minute-step chronograph to measure time elapsed underwater. Second, there’s the fact that the chronograph hand is effectively spatula-shaped with a rotund lume plot. Third, Breitling included an indicator above 6 on the dial to mark...

I’ve already written at length about the 3705 when we sold one in 2018. Even then, the 3705 was a highly coveted and rare reference. Today, it’s the same only more. I can’t add anything to the previous article’s story, except that this IWC only looks better every time I...

If you’re after just any vintage diver these days, you’re well cared for. There are no shortages of Submariners, Seamasters, T-Graphs, or even 62MASs. However, if you get off on the lesser-known vintage models, your work is increasingly cut out. It’s quite difficult to come across a decent Enicar Sherpa...

The Royal Oak Offshore, nicknamed the Beast, is a grail to many. D-Series serial numbers designate this beast as one of the first 200 examples ever to have been produced. These very rare, very early production pieces had some unique processes in their dial production resulting in a highly varied...

Recent re-editions of the Breitling AVI, Heuer/Sinn Bundeswehr, and Zenith’s A. Cairelli have brought increased attention to vintage Air Force chronographs. There’s one that often goes forgotten, simply because the manufacture no longer exists. Leonidas merged with Heuer in 1962. Before that union, they made small batches of beautiful chronographs...

Hajime Asaoka is a self-taught, high-end, and independent watchmaker taking on Swiss heavyweights. Moreover, winning against Swiss heavyweights. Asaoka started as a product designer. Like many of us he fell in love with horology. Unlike many of us, he started machining and tinkering. He read George Daniel’s bible, watched too...

Describing a gold wristwatch as elegance personified would be an incredible pretentious thing to do. And yet, here typing this, I am tempted to. These 6238s, like many early Rolex chronographs, don’t shout with bright colors or oversized lugs. They simply are icons. I’ve written before about the legacy of...

Describing technical innovation within a largely antiquated art is a mildly-hilarious thing. However, to properly describe this Journe, that is the task I have been set. The tourbillon is a complication which constantly rotates an escapement to even the effects of gravity on its balance spring. I’d refer you to...

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;...