HANDS-ON: Three colours Piaget – the 60th anniversary Altiplano in blue, green and grey

This year Piaget celebrates 60 years of the ground-breaking Altiplano. Released in 1957, the original model was the perfect vehicle for the revolutionary 2mm thin 9P, which went on to become the gold standard for reliable, elegant, ultra-thin movements. Over the decades, there’s been a clear evolution of the Altiplano (which was named after a high-altitude plateau in the Andes, by the way). Key releases include the 1960 automatic version (calibre 12P), and in 2013 the 900P, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, measuring 3.65mm, followed two years later by the Altiplano Chronograph which added complication to the equation while still measuring in at a comparatively slight 8.24mm. It’s no wonder the Geneva-based brand has become famous for its slender movements. While these are great examples of the Altiplano pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, it’s also important to remember that a large part of its appeal is the ultra-thin aesthetic – which is where the new collection really shines. The 40mm golden trio is a marvel to behold. Powered by the svelte micro-rotor equipped 1203P, there’s a lot to love mechanically-speaking. Still, what really lights up these watches is the dials, offered in vibrant green and yellow gold, blue and pink gold, or a smoky grey cased in white…

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9 years ago

Introducing the Monta OceanKing – A Retro-Inspired Dive Watch with Eterna Calibre

The Monta OceanKing is a no-nosense dive watch, nicely executed and powered by an Eterna movement. The underlying idea of the OceanKing was to craft a modern interpretation of the traditional tool watches of the mid 1950s and early 1960s with a focus on functionality and quality – Precise execution has resulted in a great diving companion that is a perfect daily wearer too. Check-out the Monta OceanKing Dive Watch.

9 years ago

Hands-On: The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton Tourbillon, And How It Got To Be So Thin

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon was introduced in 2014, and, at the time, it was the thinnest tourbillon movement ever made, at only 1.95mm thick. The skeletonized version, introduced this year, lets you look inside that movement and get a better idea of how the watch manages to be so thin, while at the same time offering slickly cool visuals to go along with the faceted Octo case.

9 years ago

Novelist Jackie Collins Was A Surprising Lover Of Fine Watches As Bonhams Auction Reveals

In the 1980s you may have read perhaps a few entertaining books by Jackie Collins, who passed away on September 19, 2015 at the age of 77. She was a very wealthy woman after 47 years of publishing bestselling romance novels, and now Bonhams is set to auction her estate of 1,000 lots for an estimated total of $3 million on May 16 and 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, and there are a few interesting watches included. In fact, I’d say surprising watches.

9 years ago

Introducing: Three New Bremont ALT1-P Chronographs, With Updated Dials And Different Hands (Live Pics + Pricing)

Bremont launched its first collection a decade ago. It’s hard to believe the British company is already turning 10, and perhaps even harder still to believe that in those 10 years it has found so much success that it no longer sees any reason to attend Baselworld, the world’s foremost watch fair. And yet, here were are in a small townhouse in the middle of Mayfair in London, viewing the company’s latest range. There are quite a few novelties to see, and we’ll eventually go through them all. But first, let’s take a look at some updates to a watch that has been part of the catalog since Bremont’s inception, the ALT1-P pilot’s chronograph.

9 years ago

Track Day: 5 Watches With A Need For Speed

When Chopard’s co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele introduced the very first Mille Miglia collection of the brand in 1988, he made the remark that “People say that lovers of fine cars also have a great weakness for fine timepieces and vice versa.” This seems to be indeed true and also hasn’t changed over the past three decades. No surprise that many watch brands celebrate this unique symbiosis with extraordinary watches! We check out five of our favorites!

9 years ago

The Collector’s View: a review of the Orient Bambino ER24003W

Reader contribution from Michael Weightman. Proves we don’t only recommend high priced watches, but also affordable timepieces for the budget conscious collector. Here is the personal account from one of our regular readers as he talks about his Orient Bambino Automatic and why it ticks all the right boxes for him.…

9 years ago