Company profile: Glashütte was originally a glassmaking centre (glaβ, glass, hütte, foundry), but the discovery of silver, and later iron ore in 1490, marked the start of mining . The years of prosperity under Augustus the Strong (1674-1733) who helped transform Dresden into a city of art, culture and industry, were brought to an end…
The Senator Cosmopolite by Glashütte Original is a new version, in red and white gold, of a model introduced in 2012, which was limited to 25 pieces. The brand wanted to bring this practical and innovative GMT watch into its core collection, in the form of a watch that would be ideal for everyday wear.…
Company profile: The Glashütte Original story is, on the face of it, short and simple: founded in 1994 by the privatization of a previous East German conglomerate, a move made possible by German reunification. But in actual fact, it’s not short, and it’s not simple. The story of Glashütte Original is also the story of…
This is the classic women’s watch, 35 mm in diameter, slim and elegant, with an interesting treatment of the moon phase complication, based on the work of Ludwig Oechslin, the horological mind behind so much of Ulysse Nardin’s work since 1983. The moon in its circular window rotates clockwise around the centre of the dial,…
This is a post about a watch that doesn’t exist, but for which there could be a market. My dentist chats a lot, perhaps to relax me while I am lying back in that chair with my mouth open, and during one appointment, after he’d learned that I write about watches, we had a conversation…
Company profile: Rolex reflects the vision of one man. Hans Otto Wilhelm Wilsdorf was born in Kulmbach, Bavaria, on 22 March 1881; by the age of 12 he had become an orphan. His first job was an apprenticeship in a pearl export company with a worldwide sales network: Wilsdorf himself acknowledged that what he learnt…
As per its usual style, with the Day-Date 40 Rolex is doing what it always does and making it better. There are some changes in the dial and bracelet, some important changes in the movement, but it is still the classic day-date pattern originally introduced in 1956, in the waterproof Oyster case, with self–winding movement…
In the second edition of the Green Product Award, one of the Professional awards went to NOMOS Glashütte with their “sustainable watch” Metro. While the watch doesn’t seem any greener than other mechanical watches, in actual fact there is something eco-friendly here, because nearly 95% of production is conducted within the company rather than outsourced,…
Rolex don’t make grand complication watches. They don’t make perpetual calendars, or minute repeaters, or tourbillon watches. They are not the oldest watch brand. Why, then, is Rolex so famous, probably the only mechanical watch brand that could be named by just about everyone? Its reputation has been studied by the Reputation Institute that compiles…
This is a large diver’s watch, 47 mm in diameter making it the largest piece in the Sinn range, and it complies with the diver’s watch standard DIN 8306, substantially equivalent to ISO 6425. It is named U212 for a reason: U212 is a modern German submarine currently used by the navies of Germany, Italy…
This watch by Sinn looks bright and colourful, particularly with the red silicone strap that is one of the options. But the colours on the dial have a serious purpose: the watch was designed in cooperation with German fire brigade personnel, and it is colour coded to time the period at which a fire-fighter can…
Company profile: Helmut Sinn’s motto was always “as perfectly as possible, but only as expensive as necessary.” At least, that was his motto as regards watches. Before making watches, he was a pilot. He was born on 3 September 1916, and he flew in the Second World War. Later, he began to consider making functional…
The term “subscription watch,” or “souscription” in French, is usually associated with Abraham-Louis Breguet who, during the most violent years of the French Revolution between 1793 and 1795, moved from Paris to Switzerland and had the idea of this new way of selling his watches. Instead of making a watch and then trying to sell…
HYT have presented three new versions of their hydromechanical watch H1, three limited editions that are part of their objectives for 2015, namely for 13 new watches and presumably an increase on the 450 watches that they sold in 2014. These three are all large watches, at 48.8 mm diameter and 17.9 mm thickness, with…
This watch, the new version presented at Baselworld 2015 of an existing and very popular model by Sinn, is an attractive three-hander with a black sunburst-textured dial, discreet in size at 38.5 mm diameter and 12 mm thick. It combines simplicity with an interesting method of displaying a second time zone: the crown at 10…
This is a remarkable watch, a one-off piece by Parmigiani Fleurier that combines beautiful decorative techniques with a movement combining a minute repeater, a chronograph, a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar. Just one made. The artistic side, with the white gold sculpted carp on a grande feu enamelled dial, is a tribute to sculptor and…
Sinn was founded in 1961 by flying instructor Helmut Sinn, and so their range includes many pilot’s watches. This model is in the classic pilot’s format, with a few extras: the pilot’s bezel, which can be used for countdowns for up to an hour using the minute hand, and the day and date window. The…
I photographed this watch at a Longines presentation, but, just as for the same brand’s Heritage Military COSD pilot’s watch, for the 2015 version of the Conquest Classic there are as yet no images from Longines and no information. This is a restyling of the Conquest Classic, a watch that has the possibility of showing…
Maximilian Büsser of MB&F is waiting impatiently for the new Star Wars film, but in the meantime he has expressed his passion for sci-fi fantasy with this 10-year anniversary piece Melchior. Büsser says, “As a 10-year-old fan of Star Wars, I knew Luke Skywalker could never have prevailed had it not been for droids like…
It’s impossible not be amused and impressed by this lovely bespoke version of Buben & Zörweg’s latest watch winder and showcase Agartos. It was ordered specially by a customer in Singapore, and Buben & Zörweg’s transformation propelled it from the cool, high-tech design that hallmarks all their work to an ironic, streetwise centrepiece that is…