Ikepod is a brand making distinctive design-oriented pebble-shaped watches. Their latest piece, presented at the Baselworld pop-up show during the Geneva Watch Days from 30 August to 3 September, is Seapod, a diving watch with 200 metres water resistance and a unidirectional rotating bezel. It was designed by Fabrice Gonet, and it has a Miyota…
There are an increasing number of Italian brands making affordable mechanical watches, often featuring excellent design. Read our top 10 article featuring fine, tough, Italian watches.
Gruppo Ardito Watches is an Italian artisanal watchmaking workshop born from the passion of four partners whose previous professional experience ranges from precision mechanical engineering to design and watchmaking micro-mechanics. To find out more, we spoke to the engineer Fabio Chiappino, one of the partners at this small Piedmont company, based in Alessandria. A fondo…
This year many brands have been taking a look back into their history and recreating something that they had already done in the past. These sort of watches have an instant appeal because they have characteristics that look vaguely familiar even if you don’t know the watch. It’s a trend similar to things that are…
Mansfield Time, a young kickstarter company, makes a very eye-catching, large men’s watch named Automatica One, 43 mm in diameter with stainless steel case, which combines several themes. It has diving-watch water resistance, 200 metres, but its looks are those of a pilot’s watch. There is a lot of IWC, with the stubby sword-type hands,…
Blancpain gives the diving watch a genteel luxury look with the new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s, which looks back to a 1970s version of the Bathyscaphe which had a graduated grey dial and a cushion-shaped case. The new version updates the dial colour, into a warm grey that harmonises well with the aged-look…
The U50 Diver Tourbillon by Angelus is a large and colourful watch that combines the fascination of a skeletonized dial and movement with the theatricality of a tourbillon and the practicality of a diver’s watch. Generally a diving watch is a tool watch and so very often doesn’t have a display caseback. The Angelus U50…
Stührling is a brand that was founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1999, by Chaim Fischer. Their first product was a tourbillon wristwatch made in China. That is the hallmark of the brand: they use Chinese movements and Chinese assembly to ensure low cost. The Stührling Depthmaster 883 is a diving watch with a 42mm case…
I’m writing about the Oris Divers Sixty-Five because I think it’s one of the most attractive sports diving watches out there. At around €2,000 it’s not the cheapest option, but its looks set it apart from the competition. Rotating bezel for timing events The Oris Divers Sixty-Five was first introduced in 2015, with this blue…
The Polaris Date by Jaeger-LeCoultre is an interesting timepiece, in part an everyday automatic watch, and in part a thoroughbred sports watch. It’s quite large at 42mm diameter and 13.1 mm thickness, but its steeply sloping lugs make it wearable and comfortable on the wrist. Vintage inspiration It’s interesting to compare the new Polaris Date…
This watch, designed by Italo Fontana and built by his company U-Boat, was first introduced in 2011 and is now available in a new version, a 300-piece limited edition in titanium – hence the name U-Boat Classico 47 U-1001 TIT (I guess that signor Fontana has a less than 100% grasp of English slang). As…
Rado has presented three diving-inspired watches as part of their vintage Captain Cook collection, and two of them are 37-millimetre watches, so small, unisex. For a few years now there has been a swing away from very large watches, but these new Captain Cook models show that there is a definite trend towards small case…
The Longines Legend Diver Watch is a new edition of a diving watch dating back to 1960. The first re-edition was launched in 2007: this version is different in that the watch is now available with a milanaise bracelet. Not your classic diver’s watch It’s an attractive timepiece with some typical 1960s characteristics, such as…
The Aquis Small Second Date Diver by Oris is a new diving watch, with a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and a water resistance of 50 atm, 500 metres. The concept is that the seconds hand isn’t so important in a diver’s watch, because the fundamental hand is the minute hand, used with the…
This watch celebrates James Bond’s rank as commander in the Royal Navy. The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Commander’s Watch also appears in the year marking three Bond anniversaries, the 50th of “You Only Live Twice,” 40th of “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and the 20th of “Tomorrow Never Dies.” In each of these films, Bond…
Youthful, chunky, trendy. These two new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 watches were built for young people and launched in perfect time for the 2017 summer season. Its characteristics, with a 300 metre water resistance, make it a classic diving watch but it is very much a sports watch in its looks. A watch for…
The new Tudor Heritage Black Bay Steel has a lot that is traditional Tudor, and some features that are innovative for the brand. The bezel is new, in stainless steel with circular brushed finish. For the first time on a Black Bay watch, it has a date window. This will make it popular with people…
For their 20th participation at the Geneva watch show SIHH in January 2017, Panerai extensively updated their collection with five new Submersible models. The Panerai Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Titanio 47mm is a watchmaking classic, updated in detail design and movement. Its large size is counteracted by the use of titanium for the case…
Anonimo is a sponsor of Leopard Racing teams; Leopard is a natural energy drink, and the company sponsors TCR (touring car), Moto3 motorcycle racing and Blue Leopard cycling teams. Anonimo has presented a limited-edition version of its Nautilo with an attractive “Blue Leopard” colour. Click here for the Top Ten Sports Watches. Distinctive shade of…
With the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso PAM00684, Panerai translates the Submersible aesthetic into solid gold and reduces the case size to 42 mm. This watch is the luxury version of the PAM00682, costing €25,900 and with a lower water resistance rating – 100 metres. It’s more of a luxury sports watch…