breguet pocket watch

The Naked Watchmaker Masterclasses

If you’re here, you like watches. But would you like to know more? Things like the difference between a chronometer and a chronograph, between a foudrayante and a fusée? The courses offered by The Naked Watchmaker provide a fascinating introduction to the world of fine watches, revealing the secrets of movements and complications, and explaining…

Hamilton Intra-Matic Chronograph H h38429730

Top 10 affordable chronograph watches 2021

Affordable chronograph watches have long been based primarily on the ETA Valjoux 7750 calibre. Notable exceptions included a Russian column-wheel chronograph and a similar Chinese version, both of which were based on Swiss movements by Venus. Today, the Seagull ST19 is progressively changing the landscape of entry-level chronographs: its low price makes it possible for…

Watches Of Italy Tortona 2021

Watches Of Italy 2021, conclusions and impressions

The second edition of Watches Of Italy, held on 25 and 26 September 2021 in Tortona, can be considered a notable success and a welcome step towards normality after two difficult years. The event was underscored by a positive atmosphere, reinforced by the notable quality of the watches on show, and facilitated by the seamless…

Meccaniche Veneziane Nereide Dante 700 white

Top 15 watches at Watches Of Italy 2021

The second edition of Watches Of Italy, held in Tortona on 25 and 26 September 2021, showcased the notable energy and creativity of Italy’s brands and microbrands. Here is our selection of 15 highlights at Watches Of Italy, in ascending price order. 1. Fumagazzi Spritz For Fumagazzi, watches are a constant source of entertainment, and…

Louis-Erard-La-Semaine -Louis Erard x Alain-Silberstein

Top 10 watches at Geneva Watch Days 2021

Geneva Watch Days 2021 was the second edition of the event, held in Geneva from 30 August to 3 September 2021. About 20 brands exhibited in a number of hotels, manufactures and boutiques. Baselworld also organized a contemporaneous pop-up with another ten brands. Here we present ten watches at Geneva Watch Days 2021 that caught…

Raketa Leopard

Raketa

Raketa is Russian for “space rocket”, and the company adopted the name in 1961 in honour of Yuri Gagarin’s epic flight. But the origins of the brand go back much further, to 1721 when Peter the Great founded the “Imperial Peterhof Factory” in St. Petersburg, dedicated to carvings made in semi-precious stones. In fact this…

Bianchet Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork

Bianchet Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork

It takes courage to abandon a career in finance and start out in high-end watchmaking. Emmanuelle and Rodolfo Festa Bianchet did precisely that: after selling Rodolfo’s company, they decided to design a limited-edition sporty, lightweight tourbillon watch in a tonneau case. The development process took four years, starting in 2017. While they knew exactly the…

https://www.urwerk.com/

Urwerk UR-100 Electrum

For those who remember Urwerk’s large, dramatic watches such as the UR-105 T-Rex, the new UR 100 is quite an eye-opener, because it is very wearable. I met Felix Baumgartner at Geneva Watch Days (30 August-3 September 2021), and he said rather surprisingly, “This is our first watch”, reflecting its moderate size (41 mm wide,…

Stowa classic flieger pilot's watch

Top 20 affordable pilot’s watches 2021

Pilot’s watches are instantly recognizable, with hallmarks including a reference triangle at 12 o’clock, black or dark dial, luminescent coating on hands and indices, and a large crown that can be manoeuvred even when wearing pilot’s gloves. Today there are many ways of interpreting the pilot’s watch, from versions that are virtually re-editions of traditional…

MBandF Legacy Machine Perpetual Calendar Palladium by Stephen McDonnell

MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual by Stephen McDonnell in palladium

On 14 September 2021, MB&F presented the latest version of the Legacy Machine Perpetual, with the famous perpetual calendar movement designed by Stephen McDonnell. It is a 25-piece edition in palladium, a metal more expensive than gold and very hard to craft. The watch is in verdeaux (grey-blue) colour, with the same pushers previously seen…

Ikepod diving watch Seapod S002 Jacques S002-SI-LN

Ikepod Seapod diving watch

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…

BA111OD Chapter 3 watch

BA1110D watches

This brand with an unpronounceable name was present at the Baselworld pop-up show in Geneva from 30 August to 3 September 2021. More than a watch, BA1110D is a business model devised by the company founder and CEO Thomas Baillod (which explains the brand name). He himself explains the concept. “During my two decades’ work…

Baselworld Pop-up event Geneva 2021

Baselworld 2022 will be totally different

“Forget all the pictures you have in mind of the old Baselworld. We have changed everything”. We spoke to Michel Loris-Melikoff, managing director of Baselworld, at the pop-up event held at a venue named IceBergues in Geneva, featuring ten watch brands. After the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 Baselworld shows, organizers MCH Group are…

Ferdinand Berthoud FB RS in circular pink gold case

Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB RS

Without doubt, my most intense experience at Geneva Watch Days 2021 was with Ferdinand Berthoud. “Go ahead, try it”, said my host Jonathan as I sat drooling over the magnificent Chronomètre FB 2RE, which won the Chronometry prize at last year’s GPHG awards. I hesitated, in consideration of the fact that the timepiece costs much…

Tortue Lady womens watch by Claude Meylan BlueMoon

Claude Meylan Tortue Lady skeleton watch

Mechanical watches for women are rare objects, and purpose-designed women’s mechanical watches are even rarer. All too often they are simply men’s watches scaled down and dressed up with gemstones. Tortue Lady by Claude Meylan, a brand based in Vallée de Joux (Switzerland) specializing in skeleton watches, is a beautiful and intelligent timepiece for women.…

Gruppo Ardito Watches Lince

Gruppo Ardito 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…