VIDEO: 4 of the hottest new Seiko releases

One of the brands we’re always excited to see at Baselworld is Seiko. Not just because they’ve always got a few surprises up their sleeve, but also, if we’re honest, because the price point is a lot less painful than some of their Swiss counterparts. This year we were particularly impressed with two models that represent different ends of the Seiko style spectrum. First up is the excellent reissue of the 62MAS, Seiko’s first ever dive watch. And then there’s the flashy, dressy Cocktail Time collection, which is now part of the ever-growing Presage family. No matter what your tastes, it looks like Seiko has your wrist covered in 2017.

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9 years ago

VIDEO: Back to basics – how a mechanical watch works

If you take a keen interest in the world of watches, you’ve likely heard of Carson Chan. Carson works for the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, an organisation dedicated to building knowledge around fine watchmaking. And while we seem to now run into Carson every time we’re in Switzerland, we first met him in Hong Kong, at the last Watches & Wonders fair. We took the opportunity to get Carson to explain, in his calming, erudite tone, just how a mechanical watch works. Now, we’re well aware that the majority of people reading this know their mainsprings from their pallet forks (though a quick refresher never hurt anyone), but we also get asked with reasonable regularity some version of “Just how does a mechanical watch work?” So now, rather than rehashing the same old conversation, you can just send them the link to this video. Job done, and you’re welcome.

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9 years ago

HANDS-ON: Masculinity meets romance in the Drive de Cartier Moon Phases

In our recently published interview, Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s Head of Marketing and Communications, said that the Drive represents a different kind of masculinity, one that isn’t defined by “muscles, sport, achievement, performance”, but by “elegance, and style, and refinement.” Looking at the Drive de Cartier Moon Phases, you can see what he means. It’s a confident watch that takes the dressy Drive design and, by adding the eternally romantic moon phase at six, elevates it to the next level of elegance. Introduced at SIHH in stainless steel and pink gold, the Drive Moon Phases took a bit of a back seat to the critically acclaimed Extra Flat, but for me the Moon Phases is the perfect embodiment of what Drive is all about. In gold, it’s a very warm, dressy watch, with a dial full of detail that is pure Cartier. On the technical side, the watch is the same size as the regular Drive at 41mm across and a wearable 12.15mm high. It’s powered by the newly developed in-house 1904-LU. This complication is highly accurate, and only needs to be adjusted every 125 years, which is nice. Power reserve is decent but not outstanding at 48 hours. The moon phase complication…

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9 years ago

The Comeback of The Oris Regulateur ‘Der Meistertaucher’ – With Probably The Best Possible Display For A Dive Watch

Think about it for a second… What is the most important feature of a dive watch? Its water resistance? Its second hand? Its bezel? Of course, it is a combination of these elements however, pro-divers won’t contradict me, THE ultimate feature of a dive watch is the minute hand. For safety reasons, the minute hand is key to calculate remain diving time and decompression stages. Oris knows about it for already some years and comes back with a new version of the Regulateur ‘Der Meistertaucher’, a watch intensively thought, built for pro-divers and with the appeal of its original display.

9 years ago

SPOTTED! BY AG: Dispatch 7, April 2017

Last month’s dispatch was written in an airport lounge as I waited to fly out to Basel, via London, for my very first Baselworld experience. Now to report back on what was a big month, to say the least. My trip to Baselworld started in London, where I shook the jetlag and spent a few days catching up with friends and family. The stars aligned and Ted Gushue, Editorial Director of Petrolicious, happened to be in town. We spent the morning driving round London in a lovely Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 (thanks to the London City Car Club). On Ted’s wrist was an Autodromo Group B Evoluzione – Ted’s watch of choice when globetrotting, and one that’s always a big hit with the car guys. Next on my London itinerary was a visit to the Phillips auction house, where I caught up with their watch specialist, Paul David Maudsley. Paul started the conversation by apologising that he didn’t have too much to show me. He then proceeded to unveil the entire Crosthwaite & Gavin Collection, which is going up for auction in November. Paul also happened to have with him a piece from his personal collection, a 1954 Rolex Datejust ref. 6309 Thunderbird, as well as the…

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9 years ago

EDITOR’S PICK: 15 Instagram wristshots that are better than yours (and why)

Editor’s Note: Instagram is all about the selfie, and the watch-oriented sectors of it are no different. Only for the #watchfam it’s less about the perfect duckface and more about the ideal dial shot. So, if you’ve ever wanted more likes than you can comfortably handle, read on.  If you’re feeling brave, type ‘wristies’ into the Google machine, and you’ll be rewarded with an eye-opening array of results. Who knew, for example, that they were a type of fingerless gloves? Fascinating stuff. Those are not the wristies we’re focusing on today – nor will we be broaching any other varieties, thank you very much. Instead, we’re here to talk about the humble watch wristshot. Many take them, but ever fewer succeed at pulling a like, heart or share, because, well, it’s been years now, and the game is a whole lot harder. So in an effort to make the process a touch more sciency, we’ve combed Instagram in its entirety (it certainly feels that way), to compile 15 of our favourite shots. Once harvested, these clustered themselves quite naturally into five distinct categories which we’ve broken down just for you. Look and learn, people . The Detail Shot Probably the best…

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9 years ago

OPINION – Joining Forces For The Best? The Tudor / Breitling Mechanical Alliance

When prior to Baselworld 2017, at their annual pre-Basel event, Tudor unveiled the new Black Bay Chronograph, the crowd of journalists present there immediately thought “in-house chronograph movement” (us included). The excitement lasted for less than 5 minutes, as soon as the official disclaimer was launched. Indeed, despite the “MT” nomenclature, this movement is not produced by Tudor, but by Breitling – which soon after announced the launch of a new 3-hand movement, based on a… Tudor calibre. Good thing or not? This is what we’re going to see with the new Tudor / Breitling alliance.

9 years ago

Friday Live: Episode 1 – The Latest From HODINKEE HQ, Plus New IWC CEO Christoph Grainger

Today we’re kicking off our newest video series – Friday Live. At the end of every week we’ll now be bringing you a live video stream direct from HODINKEE HQ in New York City (or wherever our editors happen to be in the world) to recap the week in watches and look ahead to what’s coming up. To get things started, Cara and Stephen will be talking about the May auction previews, Stephen’s most recent visit to Switzerland, and Cara’s favorite new release. As a bonus, we’ve got Christoph Grainger, the new CEO of IWC to chat about this year’s novelties and where he’s hoping to take IWC.

9 years ago