Cartier are the number 3 watch brand in the world, after Rolex and Omega, and ahead of Longines and Tissot. Perhaps the secret of Cartier’s success is shown by their new watch Drive, launched in seven variations, with cases starting in steel and reaching pink gold, from time-only to flying tourbillion, and prices starting from…
The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Calibre 5100 is a 41 mm watch, 11 mm thick, providing hours, minutes, seconds and date. It is powered by the new Calibre 5100, a movement with 172 components that runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, with a power reserve of over 60 hours provided by the two mainspring barrels. The…
Things have changed at the top. Just a few years ago, virtually all high-end Swiss watch brands were enjoying double-digit growth. Already at the start of this year Richemont cut watchmaking jobs in Switzerland, affecting principally Cartier, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget, and, according to trade union reports, there are plans to axe another 200 jobs,…
Luminova and SuperLumiNova are based on strontium aluminate, mixed with a resin binder. They are both brand names belonging to Japanese company Nemoto & Co., and they are virtually identical: SuperLumiNova is used by Nemoto & Co’s European partner Tritec. The ultra-violet radiation in daylight and in some artificial light sources adds energy to the…
U-Boat makes big watches with features that include large chunky leather strap, crown protector, left-hand crown, and a dial with bold, luminous indications. Do they remind you of anything? Panerai of course. U-Boat watches are created by Italian designer Italo Fontana, whose company is based in Gragnano, not far from Lucca in Tuscany, and so…
SevenFriday specializes in watches with simple movements made to look complicated by means of an industrial design aesthetic. The latest piece, Q3/01, has a regulator-type minute hand, hours shown on a 24-hour scale, and a second hand with three short hands of different colours, red, green and yellow, read one after another on a 20-second…
The Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon, reference WHRO0013, is the latest version of a watch introduced in 2014, with lapis lazuli dial and a stylized globe at 12 o’clock. This year’s version features two discs of meteorite stone, one on the 24-hour subdial at the top of the watch, and one on the…
Cartier introduced their Clé de Cartier model in 2015, an interesting concept in which the crown has been completely rethought to make pulling it out easier. Instead of the difficulty of using fingernails to pull out the usual circular crown, everything is made easier with the rectangular crown of the Clé watch. You simply turn…
This is a watch that leads you away from our contemporary dimension of time, the digital indications on our televisions, computers and smartphones, and the beeps on the radio. The Rotonde de Cartier Day/Night Retrograde Moon Phases takes you back to the origins of our time, the planet earth as it spins and orbits the…
The Rotonde de Cartier Astromystérieux is a contemporary mystery watch, in which not just the hands, but the entire movement is suspended on a series of transparent sapphire discs. It’s an extraordinary concept, difficult to express using just still images. Cartier’s video gives an idea of what it’s about, in their habitually understated style: In the…
Chopard are on a roll. The Ferdinand Berthoud FB1 Chronometer recently won the top prize at the 2016 “watch Oscars” GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève). Ferdinand Berthoud is a brand wholly owned by Chopard, created to celebrate the work of the like-named 18th-century watchmaker. At the 2016 Middle East Watch of the Year Prize,…
The Zinvo Blade was introduced last year at a very low price – $199 – and this year there are several new variants. The basic price is now $280, €258, but, considering that it’s a mechanical watch, it is still very “accessible luxury” as the brand defines their mission. That is, if you think that…
For any brand, success or failure depends on brand credibility, the right product, and the right price. Oris is not one of the best-known names in watchmaking, but it has a lot of brand value, carefully nurtured by a move towards vertical integration – making more and more of its product components in-house. The Oris…
This 46mm watch by Oris, the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II, looks good, with its deep blue sunray dial, yellow highlights and black ceramic bezel. It is a functional diver’s watch based on Oris’ existing diving watch Aquis, with SuperLuminova on hands and hour indices, and a 50 bar/500 metres water resistance. One of…
At 51 mm diameter, this is certainly a large watch, but after all, Oris call it a tool watch, and it was born to be underwater, strapped over a wet suit. It is a new version of the ProDiver Chronograph introduced in 2009. It has a 100 bar/1,000 metre water resistance, achieved by means of…
You could say that Longines is becoming specialized in monopusher chronographs. The Avigation Watch Type A-7 1935 is a variant on a chronograph already in the collection, featuring the crown-wheel movement developed exclusively for Longines by ETA, the movement constructing company that, like Longines, is now part of Swatch Group. Avigation Type A-7 has a…
The Oris Artelier Calibre 112 features the brand’s third in-house movement following the introduction of the Calibre 110 in 2014, their first in-house movement after a break of about 35 years. Calibre 110 (named because it was introduced in the brand’s 110th anniversary year) was a time-only movement with power reserve indicator, Calibre 111 introduced…
There aren’t many brands making alarm watches. In addition to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox, there are the Vulcain Cricket and Tudor Advisor. The pioneer was Vulcain, which launched the Cricket in 1947, and the Memovox arrived in 1951. In 1956, Jaeger-LeCoultre gave Memovox an automatic movement, Calibre 815, making it the first automatic alarm watch. This…
Breguet inaugurated an exhibition titled “Marie-Antoinette, a Queen in Versailles” at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo. The event runs from 25 October 2016 to 25 February 2017 and it is sponsored by Breguet. On 2 November 2016 (Marie Antoinette’s birthday) and the day after, the Breguet pocket watch number 1160 – reproduction of…
My instinct is not to write about men’s watches with quartz movements, but Curv by Bulova, presented at Baselworld in March 2016, has some significant features. The curved case is nothing new, but this watch has some extra features that are worth a comment. The watch has a transparent caseback, displaying the quartz movement. I…