The New Nomos Club Sport Inspired By Indian Summer
Almost a year ago, Nomos introduced the 37mm version of its Club Sport Neomatik. It came as a more mid-sized companion to the 42mm size already in the collection. Now, the brand from Glashutte is introducing yet another size with a new 39.5mm case. Each of the sizes has exclusive to choose from. The 42mm version comes in black and dark blue, and the 37mm comes in green and a lighter shade of blue. The press release says that the “tabac,” “ember,” and “smoke” dials of the new Club Sport Neomatik 39 take inspiration from an Indian summer. But I think it’s a different kind of Indian summer than I expected.Image: TECON GmbHAfter high school, I spent a ye...
First Impressions: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3
The best way to introduce a new dive watch is to go for a dive. And that's what we did before the unveiling of the third watch that celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms. Marc Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain, showed up more than ready to take a plunge. On his wrist was a 45mm dive watch in white gold, the Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Jours on a black nylon NATO strap. But in the end, the Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3 in Bronze Gold outshone that complicated tool watch with great ease.It wasn't all about watches on the eve of the presentation of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3. It was also time to dive into matters that were a bit more important. A...
Hands-On: The Oris Bracenet Aquis Modes
Oris is one of the frontrunners when it comes to environmentally responsible watchmaking. To shed light on its green activities, the Holstein house has released an ocean-friendly Aquis with a dial made of fishing nets reclaimed by Bracenet. The question is: is this a green gimmick, or does it make for a truly good watch? Time to find out!I went hands-on with the 36.5mm and 43.5mm Oris Bracenet Aquis models to see what is what.Oris BracenetFirst things first: what is Bracenet? Bracenet is a company based in Hamburg, Germany, specializing in repurposing old fishing nets. Founded in 2015, Bracenet recovers fishing nets from our oceans, cleans them, and makes them into bracelets by hand, which e...
New: Christopher Ward Seconde/Seconde C65 Desk Diver
Christopher Ward teamed up with seconde/seconde/, resulting in a rather quirky version of the C65 Aquitaine. Let me introduce you to the C65 Desk Diver limited edition. Unlike most of seconde/seconde/'s subtle jabs at the watch world, this is a full-on tongue-in-cheek redesign of the C65 diver.Christopher Ward will produce 500 of these C65 Desk Divers. Each is priced at 995 / $1,295 / US$1,195 on rubber or 1,160 / $1,510 / US$1,395?on the Bader bracelet. Both versions come with an additional Delugs rubber strap in bright yellow. Let's have a closer look!C65 Desk DiverI am sure you have heard the term “desk diver” before. If not, it refers to the completely over-specced nature o...
New: Four Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute References
Jaeger-LeCoultre says the two new Reverso Tribute Monoface models are a perfect fit for both men and women. Well, first, we must try these watches in real life before passing a judgment like that. They look promising, though, thanks to their dimensions, which stay close to the original Reverso from 1931. Other new additions to the collection are the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon in a steel swiveling case and the Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds in 18K pink gold with a dark blue lacquered dial.Art Deco never goes out of style - at least not in Le Sentier, where Jaeger-LeCoultre resides. The Reverso, the epitome of Art Deco design, continues to defy raging hype and changing trends wh...
Hands-On: The Louis Moinet Speed Of Sound Chronograph
Today, we go hands-on with the Louis Moinet Speed of Sound chronograph. This is a stunning modern watch with a vintage heart. As we’ll see, the rare vintage movement has been modified functionally and cosmetically to offer a novel moonphase display.Credit is due to Louis Moinet for creating innovative ways of displaying traditional time-related complications. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the brand’s reintroduction, the Speed of Sound chronograph exemplifies this in the most contradictory manner. It employs a new-age case material and combines it with a vintage movement and old-world dial-finishing technique. Let’s not forget the use of lunar material. If this sounds...
GMT-7
Last week we (my gf and I) returned from my vacation in the United States. Going from GMT-7 to GMT+2 (daylight saving time included) resulted in that I still am a bit off-beat. During my holiday, the GMT-Master proved itself to be very useful when making phonecalls to The Netherlands. is also the brand that I spotted the most in the US, both in shops and in the wild ?? Especially in the watch shops in Las Vegas, they had large collections of them. One of the stores that impressed me the most was the Tourneau store in Ceasars Palace. Besides having enourmeous displays full of , they also had Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Jaquet Droz, Cartier, Omega, Tag Heuer an...
NOMOS The 25th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
It was on November 9th 1989 when Berlin was reunited after over 28 years of a big wall that separated East- from West-Berlin. On the 3rd of October all of Germany was reunited. Nomos celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall with two Orion 1989 watches.Nomos was founded in 1990 in Glashutte, in the east part of Germany, only two months after the fall of the Berlin wall and in the same year when Germany was reunited. In 1992 Nomos hit the market with 4 different models, including the Orion. Of course, not only Nomos grew out to be a world renown watch brand from this former DDR village and heart of German watchmaking, also brands like A. Lange & Sohne were revived and...
The 15 Best Diving Watches According To 1500 Participants
1500 watch fans were able to make a selection out of 40 diving watches in the price categories up to 1000 Euro, 1001 – 2500 Euro, 2501 – 5000 Euro and over 5000 Euro. Furthermore, there was an extra category for quartz watches only. Our colleagues from the German WatchTime executed a survey among their readers and we thought it would be nice to share the results.In each category, you will find the three models that received most votes. Of course, as this survey was held on a German language platform, you will see that there is a slight preference for German brands some times.Top 3 Diving Watches – Up to 1000 Euro#1 Glycine Combat Sub (493 votes)The Glycine Combat Sub is a 4...
Patek Philippe Nautilus Versus Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Gerald Genta DesignsYou either like them or you don't, Gerald Genta's master pieces from the 1970s. Genta designed Omega watches for years (i.e. Constellation and Seamaster models) before he started his own company in 1969. Although designing watches was mostly a job that people did who were on the payroll of a watch manufacturer, it was an immediate success.Patek Philipps Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal OakAs we all know, Gerald Genta is the genius behind the Royal Oak watch (1972) from Audemars Piguet and the Patek Philippe Nautilus watch (1976). Both brands have a long history in watch making and both companies are considered high-end' watch brands. Genta also designed the Ingenieur SL...
Victorinox INOX Review When Durability Is Important To You
Hands-On Victorinox INOX ReviewYou definitely know the Victorinox knives, but are you also familiar with Victorinox watches? Besides the knives and watches, you’ll find Victorinox luggage and backpacks. Victorinox concentrates on outdoor gear, the Victorinox Swiss Army knives probably being the most famous accessories. But how about their watches? We were eager to learn about the Victorinox INOX watch and what the fuss is about. We selected the Victorinox INOX Paracord watch for our review, as it perfectly matches the durable look of the watch. So without further ado, here we go.Victorinox INOX ParacordWhen I received the Victorinox INOX Paracord, they told me that it is an extremely t...
#TBT Seiko 8M35 Yacht Timer How Seiko Replaced a Legend
Today's edition of #TBT takes a look at a watch from one of our favorite brands, but it's a piece that few discuss or even mention. The Seiko 8M35 Yacht Timer is a watch that I'd admired from afar for a long time and finally decided to buy and I'm glad I did. From a brand that has issued its share of attractive and, let's just call them, busy quartz chronographs, I'd count this on the side of the former.Looking at the original Seiko Yacht TimerIn the early 1980's, Seiko introduced the 7A28 caliber as the world's first analog quartz chronograph (we looked at a 7A38 with date function). The brand created seriously styled stainless versions, gold plated variants, and even hooked up with Giugiar...
Introducing: Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Bucherer BLUE EDITIONS (Live Pics)
Blue is a dial colour that Vacheron Constantin always associated with steel watches, as it has this cold look to it. At least, according to their Style & Heritage Director,?Christian Selmoni. That’s what he told the crowd in a short but interesting panel talk with Laurent Perves (Chief Marketing Officer Vacheron Constantin), Patrick Graf (Chief Commercial Officer Bucherer) and Ben Clymer (CEO Hodinkee). Patrick Graf was delighted to introduce their latest Blue Editions cooperation, this time with Vacheron Constantin. In total, Bucherer did 21 collaborations with 13 different watch manufacturers. We covered previous editions here and here, for example.Vacheron Constantin Bucherer Bl...
Citizen Promaster Professional Divers 1000M Review
Citizen has always been an important player when it comes to semi-professional dive watches, the Promaster Professional Diver 1000M, which we’re reviewing this time, is no exception.The Citizen Promaster Professional Diver’s 1000M Eco-DriveAn unmistakably serious instrumentLet’s make things clear first, no professional or semi-professional diver needs a diving watch. For a long time, divers use and rely on their electronic wrist-dive-computers, which submit loads more information than just the time that they’ve been underwater. By the way, does it exist anyhow, semi-professional? It’s either professional or it isn’t, isn’t it? It’s like seamles...
This Week In Watches: September 28, 2019
Goedendag, this is The Week in Watches for September 28th, 2019. It has been a busy week, for a lot of brands, so here we go.The brands picked up the pace again in September, with new releases from big brands and some smaller brands.?We saw several beautiful and important releases this week that we didn’t get to cover in separate articles this week. Without further ado, here are some of the releases you shouldn’t miss.Hublot Big Bang Unico SORAIThe young Hublot company (1980) collaborates with a lot of different initiatives, from Ferrari to Berluti to Orlinski and a lot of others. And now with SORAI.Ricardo Guadalupe (CEO Hublot) and Kevin Pietersen (SORAI)Hublot teamed up with K...
Compagnie Des Montres Lebois & Cie Readies Itself For Expansion
These days, brand revivals are all the rage. But not all revivals are created equal as the founder of Compagnie des Montres Lebois & Cie Tom van Wijlick is keen to establish as he prepares to (re)launch his second brand in five years…When the rebirth of Lebois & Co became a reality in 2015, few could have predicted the journey that would follow. For Tom Van Wijlick, a watch aficionado dedicated to revitalizing brands that he feels deserve the attention of a modern audience, bringing Lebois & Co back from the dead was a passion project that would lead him down some very creative avenues indeed.While the design of the initial Lebois & Co model (the Avantgarde) was heavily...
Seiko Prospex "Alpinist" SPB155J1, SPB157J1, And SPB159J1 Watches
The Seiko Prospex collection is most often associated with its diver’s watches, but there’s more to be found if you scrape beneath the surface. Hiding in plain sight is the oft-lauded successor to the Seiko Alpinist models of old. They may be masquerading under a different name but the new Seiko Prospex SPB155J1, SPB157J1, and SPB159J1 references display a lot of the old Alpinist DNA. And you know what? They do their ancestors proud…Blue. Green. Gray. Take your pick. You can’t really go wrong. All three novelties feature the Alpinist cathedral hands and a dial decorated with Arabic numerals. Although Seiko doesn’t openly communicate these models under the “...
Forstner Wide JB Komfit Bracelet And The NOMOS Weltzeit (2021)
Is this. The best. Combination. Ever? The Fratello NOMOS Glashutte Weltzeit “The Hague” Edition on a wide fit, straight-ended Forstner Komfit “JB” Mesh bracelet? In this writer’s frenzied opinion, it might well be. You might hate it (especially at first) but read on to find out why I will defend it till the end of my days.For years I was an on-brand strap merchant. I believed in “total design”. The strap and/or bracelet were as unchangeable as a watch’s hands. They were integral to the designer’s vision. To mess with such elements was sacrilege. I believed that after-market strap companies were the devil. Somewhere along the winding road ...
Playing Around With The Modular Watches From Hegid
Dear Fratelli, in the morning, do you choose a watch to match your outfit or the other way around? I must say, I do a bit of both. Some days, I really feel like wearing a certain watch, and I’ll choose the right clothes to match it. Other days, I just get dressed quickly and then walk over to the watch box to see which watch fits that day’s style best. It’s not always easy to choose the right combination, though. Well, now there’s Hegid who makes those early-morning decisions even more difficult!You might not immediately notice it when you look at the offerings on the French brand’s website, but when you take a closer look, you can see that the same watch cases ...
The Breitling Emergency And Its Tales Of Survival
We tend to tell romanticized stories of brave men and women in survival situations. As watch lovers, we find ourselves drawn to the wrists of these heroes and heroines. A watch worn during an adventure can take on a character of its own. And for those of us that can't get enough of these little tickers, they can make or break the story of survival itself.How many of you have pointed at your Omega Speedmaster, explaining to a non-watch aficionado that it went to the Moon? Or how the Speedy helped bring the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth? Maybe you drone on about the Deepsea Sea-Dweller diving into the depths of the Mariana Trench? Perhaps you prefer to talk about the Smith's Explorer sum...