At Baselworld 2018, Maurice Lacroix surprised us by presenting its own (accessible) vision of a luxury sports watch. This watch, named Aikon, bears most of the necessary elements of the genre, yet for a fraction of the price commanded by those of the “Holy Trinity” – exclusivity and high-end finishings apart. Aware that these watches […]
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Zenith El Primero. The movement, an elegant, high-beat column-wheel chronograph, is impressive enough. It’s even more impressive when you factor in that this miniature engineering feat was the first automatic chronograph to be presented as a working prototype — after seven long years of development. Just as important — or perhaps even more important — is the staying power of the El Primero. It’s been in near continuous production, and is still one of the greatest automatic chronograph movements on the market today. Today, we’re going to explore its evolution … 1969 – the birth The dramatic inception of the El Primero is probably the most famous part of its story — which makes sense given that it’s called “the first” in Esperanto (the utopian universal language that had a life much briefer than the movement itself). Zenith was in fierce R&D competition with the Chronomatic Group (Breitling, Heuer et al) and — further from home — Seiko, but Zenith made their announcement in January 1969, well before the Chronomatic in March, and Seiko in May. And while Zenith’s El Primero didn’t hit the market until October, they earned the right to…
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When it comes to affordable automatic dive watches, you have plenty of options (especially with the Kickstarter/microbrands trend). But when it comes to serious, affordable dive watches from respected, established brands, two Japanese companies run the show… Seiko for sure, but Citizen, a century-old manufacturer, shouldn’t be overlooked. To mark 50 years of its presence […]
Editor’s note: With the announcement of Tudor’s ceramic Black Bay for Only Watch 2019, we found our minds turned, inexplicably, to the darker things in life. And while the chances of owning that dark phantom are slender, the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Dark is a much more achievable goal … The story in a second: It’s time you met the dark horse of the Black Bay family. After four years of tantalising, tactical releases culminating in the near-perfect surprise announcement of the Black Bay Black last year, we weren’t expecting a new Black Bay in 2016. Well, we were wrong. Tudor gave us not one, but three completely new takes on its modern classic (and updated all the existing models to boot). So now, in addition to the colourful trio of red, blue and black, we’ve got the mighty bronze, the petite 36 and today’s subject, the midnight-hued Black Bay Dark. The case The first thing you notice about the Dark is how apt the name is. It’s a starkly monochromatic watch, the black and white colour scheme only relieved with the occasional flash of red. Of course the dial and bezel are big parts of this picture, but it’s…
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When Bremont burst onto the scene more than 10 years ago they were disruptive outsiders in a staid and often slow-moving industry. Since that time, the brand has gone from strength to strength — something that’s reflected in the solid, no-nonsense watches they make. And the Bremont 2019 collection is no exception, as we found out from co-founder Nick English … Bremont S300 White “It stemmed from the Supermarine … and the 300 is the 40mm version of that. We’ve come up with a white dial with a blue ceramic polished bezel, which is very, very lovely.” Bremont MBIII 10th Anniversary “A white-dial GMT that has an amazing story attached. [Martin-Baker] make 75 per cent of the Western world’s fighter ejection seats … for us it was amazing because it allowed us to put these watches through some incredible environmental testing.” Bremont HMAF Broadsword “The British Ministry of Defence approached us and said, ‘Would you like to work with us?’ … the first one is called the Broadsword, and it’s a tribute to the Dirty Dozen watches.” Bremont HMAF Arrow “The Arrow is a monopusher chronograph; it’s 42mm. I think it’s got a simple but lovely face.” Bremont HMAF Argonaut…
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Thanks to their central function in the time-telling process, watch dials often get a significant amount of coverage in the horological media. But this often ignores the thing that keeps the dial on your wrist in the first place — the bracelet or strap. Considering the most customisable part of a watch is the bracelet — and what it looks like has significant impact on how the watch actually looks on the wrist — we wanted to look into the most interesting watch bracelets of 2018. G-SHOCK GMWB5000TFG-9 35TH ANNIVERSARY GOLD ALL METAL MASTERPIECE The one that started it all 35 years ago has been reborn, with everything from its case and caseback, to its bracelet, made of stainless steel for the first time. G-Shock are celebrating with this limited edition version that’s coated in an all gold-coloured ion plating. Bluetooth connectivity allows the user to automatically set the local time or adjust world times and alarms from their phone. Ref No. GMWB5000TFG-9, Case size 49.3mm, Case material Steel, Movement Tough solar, Price $1049 MIDO COMMANDER SHADE SPECIAL EDITION To celebrate their centenary, Mido have released a number of watches that pay tribute to their past. One of which is the Commander,…
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As you know, our first impressions of the 2018 launch of the Fiftysix collection were mixed. Introduced as the brand’s more casual collection, with steel options and automatic movements, and choice of complications. The Fiftysix taps into the ongoing trend for vintage-style watches by taking inspiration from a VC model of 1956 and has lightened up the […]
To homage or not to homage? That is the question.
For the 2019 edition of Only Watch, the biennial fundraiser for research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Ulysse Nardin has taken inspiration from the developments of the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) research group REHAssist. Meet the Ulysse Nardin Exo-Skeleton X for Only Watch 2019 with its innovative case construction. According to Dr Mohamed Bouri, […]
Founded in 1918, Mido reached a huge milestone last year and celebrated its centennial. The occasion was marked with the release of the Commander Big Date featuring a big date aperture at 6 o’clock. So big, in fact, that Mido claims it’s the “largest on the market in this price segment.” First released in 1959, […]