It’s always a pleasure to see a mechanical watch for women, and even more so when it’s as good-looking as this. The new Metro collection by Tiffany & Co. is hallmarked by an asymmetric case, which determines the shape of the unique bracelet with a series of gracefully curved elements, designed to emphasize the space…
This year’s Mille Miglia 2017 Race Edition by Chopard is, like last year’s model, a celebration of motor racing. The dial has an engine-turned dial finish, and counters inspired by vintage car dashboards. The case has automotive-inspired pushers, and an unmistakable rubber strap that looks just like a tyre. The solid caseback hides a Valjoux…
The Mille Miglia Classic XL by Chopard is a very cool chronograph, one of the finest of the year. For several reasons. It’s a limited edition, just 90 pieces. It has a logical dial. There are not many chronographs with this degree of clarity. On a pure white background, all the scales are perfectly functional…
The new versions of the L.U.C XPS by Chopard are dress watches with a modern style. Four versions give today’s gentleman the possibility of selecting his preferred look, which ranges from the most classical gold with silvered dial, to the now popular blue-dial trend. The four models have different prices, ranging from €7,790 for the…
The L.U.C Perpetual Chrono by Chopard is a watch that the brand already had in its range, with versions in white and pink gold with dark grey dial released last year. For 2017, a new limited edition in platinum has been presented, with an on-trend blue dial. Why is blue so popular? It has dominated…
In-house movements are becoming an increasingly important marketing necessity. While there are still many watches at the lower end of the market with movements purchased from third-party suppliers such as ETA, Sellita, Seiko and so forth, more and more brands are investing in the capability to build their own calibres. According to Frederique Constant, the…
The Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Bellytanker is the brand’s second watch on the Bellytanker theme. Like the three-hand BR V1-94, it was inspired by Bell & Ross’s own reinterpretation of a hot rod created by Bill Burke in 1946, using a military surplus auxiliary fuel tank from the Mustang P-51, and later a similar…
Most watch designers do just that – they design a watch. At Bell & Ross, they sometimes take a longer way around: they design a vehicle, and then design a watch inspired by it. In 2014, they designed the B-Rocket, a concept motorbike, and in 2016, the Aéro-GT concept car. This year, it is the…
Graham sponsor the Swiss Gurnigel Bergrennen hill race. It took place on 9-10 September 2017, with 200 cars and 50 motorbikes that drive up a 3.7 km course uphill, from the Bernese village of Dürrbach up to Gurnigelbad, a vertical distance of 314 metres at an average gradients of 8.4%, with maximum slope of 12.6%.…
Archimede have transferred the classic pilot’s watch style to a colourful dial, in two case versions, stainless steel and bronze. I love the combination of blue dial, brushed bronze case with narrow bezel, and light brown strap: a strong, attractive, youthful look. The Archimede Pilot 42 H Bronze BL.B is 42 mm in diameter, slim…
Tonneau cases are a classic in the category of “shape watches” and the L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru by Chopard is a fine example, though a little different from most tonneaus. It is almost as wide as it is high, with a case that is a very wearable size at 38.5 x 38.8 mm. Comfort is…
The L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer by Chopard is an attractive piece that combines discretion and flamboyance. Discretion, because the silver-coloured case and dial are in solid gold, the dial has a sophisticated, minimalist design, and the caseback at first sight is solid. Flamboyance, because when you take off the watch and press the crown, the…
The L.U.C Lunar One by Chopard was first presented in 2005 in gold-cased versions. This year, 2017, a new limited-edition version in platinum has been presented. A perpetual calendar with astronomical moon phase display, it is one of the watches at the top of the Chopard L.U.C range and has a platinum case. The new…
Company profile: Limes was founded recently, though its roots date back to 1924, when Karl Ickler founded a company named simply Ickler in Pforzheim, Germany. Pforzheim’s importance as a centre for watches and jewellery runs back to much earlier, to 1767 when the Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden promoted the foundation of a watch…
The L.U.C XP demonstrates the breadth of Chopard‘s watchmaking capacity, and its ability to read the market. The L.U.C XP incorporates all of the brand’s in-house capacity, with a slim movement powering a watch that is modern and trendy. It has a couple of interesting design decisions – no date display, no seconds hand –…
German brand Limes makes some watches that have something of Breguet’s looks, but in a very different – much lower – price range. The brand’s Pharo collection includes the Big Date with Power Reserve, now back with a new design. The Breguet looks come from the Roman numerals, the silver-colour dial with different types of…
The NightFlight by Limes was introduced in 2000, and a new version has now been presented. It is a watch in the classic pilot’s watch style, with black dial and SuperLuminova markings, but it has some details that set it apart from the basic Type A pilot’s watch. The stainless steel case, made by Ickler,…
This is a watch that represents a watershed in the world of Swiss mechanical timepieces. Before the quartz revolution, all watches were mechanical, and the price range went far lower than today. For example, the Omega chronograph that NASA bought back in 1965 for testing for use in its space programme cost $85, which was quite a…
The Excalibur 36 Automatic by Roger Dubuis has a black-blue-white colour scheme, rather like the Pirelli colours that can be seen in the Excalibur Spider Pirelli, but with a more feminine sensuality – though Roger Brand say that this watch will appeal to men as well. The 36-millimetre black DLC-treated titanium case, 9.8 mm thick,…
Roger Dubuis has launched a partnership deal with Pirelli, the tyre company that sponsors Milan football club F.C. Internazionale, with its black and blue livery (click here to read about the Excalibur Spider Pirelli). The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon seems to have been designed to keep the other Milanese team – A.C. Milan –…