Two new watches “damaged in Italy”. This unusual approach to watchmaking was pioneered by Out Of Order Watches, a company based near Venice. Anyone who has ever owned a new watch knows the frustration that sets in when its pristine looks are damaged by an unexpected event, such as a broken watchglass, a stained leather…
Meccaniche Veloci (the name translates as “fast engineering”) was founded in Milan in 2006, and its first model QuattroValvole (four valves) became its leitmotif, with four subdials for four time zones. In 2016 the company moved to Geneva. Today it makes a few thousand watches per year, with in-house movements. Automotive inspiration The Quattrovalvole CarboNero…
The Glycine Airman 46 Automatic GMT was presented in 2017, the latest version of what has become a classic model for the brand. It looks more like a diving watch than an aviator, with its 24-hour bezel and hour and minute hands with a shape normally seen on divers watches. It has some unusual features,…
RGM is a brand based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it perpetuates the history of American watchmaking. Their latest watch is the 350-TZBD, which has a classic dial, with big date at the centre and second time zone at 6 o’clock. It’s a watch that was designed for travellers. All indications adjusted from the crown The…
To give it its complete name, L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time GMT by Panerai is a new version of L’Astronomo presented in 2010. That watch combined a tourbillon, calendar, equation of time, and sunrise and sunset times. The new version adds moon phases and a GMT hand. The most innovative feature…
The Zeppelin 7060-4, part of the LZ 129 Hindenburg Ed. 1 series, is an unusual watch, with classical looks and enough quirkiness to set it apart from most others. In addition, it has an interesting price, by virtue of the Japanese-made self-winding Miyota movement. Dial design Where you would normally see the numeral 12, there…
Sky-Dweller is an unusual watch, now available in Rolesor, the name that Rolex give to the use of gold and steel together in the same watch. In this piece, the bezel, crown, and centre bracelet links are made in yellow gold. Other parts are in 904L steel. In another version, the combination is between white…
At first sight the task of encapsulating the enormous distances of space into the restricted space of a watch seems impossible. But that is what the Hamilton ODC X-03 sets out to achieve. It depicts the view from the porthole of an imaginary spacecraft as it approaches a three-lobe space station in orbit above the…
This is not a new watch. It has been around since 2011, updated in 2014, and now available on Mr Porter as well as the Nomos website. It offers the GMT function in an unusual format, and in fact it resembles a world-time watch even though in actual fact it only provides simultaneous times in…
We are accustomed to Perrelet’s watches being a bit different, such as the models with a dialside turbine, or the double rotor that also enlivens the dial. The Perrelet Weekend on the other hand is a classic watch, an everyday timepiece that could easily be a dress watch in the simplest versions. Circular case, baton…
In addition to its Chrono 4 models introduced in 2017, Eberhard & Co. has presented the Scafograf GMT. This follows on from Scafograf 300, launched last year, which won the Sports Watch Prize at the 2017 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Scafograf GMT has some sports watch features, such as a 100 metre water resistance,…
A lot is going on at Seiko. Even though the Grand Seiko brand was launched in 1960, for 50 years it remained something of a secret, with watches only available locally. It was launched internationally in 2010, and the first Seiko boutique outside Japan will open on 21 June 2017, on Brompton Road in London.…
Watches by Pierre DeRoche always have something a bit unusual. For one thing, this is the first watch by the brand to have a solid dial: all their other watches, such as the TNT Chrono 43 or the TNT Royal Retro Skull, have deconstructed dials that reveal part of the movement. The TNT GMT Power…
The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time Ref. 5650G Advanced Research shows three significant departures, and introduces some important questions. Excellent water resistance The watch is a new version of the Aquanaut Travel Time, with white gold case having a 12 atm, 120-metre water resistance rating, width including crown 45.24 mm, thickness 11 mm, a sapphire…
The new Reverso watches that Jaeger-LeCoultre has introduced this year – following last year’s unorthodox, colourful Christian Louboutin collaboration as part of the 85th Reverso anniversary – are wholly classical pieces that confirm the incredible resilience of the design. Reverso is without doubt considered as the classic watch with unorthodox case design, successful above all…
Many fashion brands make watches – or at least commission them from third-party companies – but only in a few cases are they something more than just brand extension operations. Ermenegildo Zegna is an Italian brand with a lot of courage (working with a name as long as that), responsibility (admirable commitment to their local…
The Montblanc 1858 Automatic Dual Time, one of the three new watches presented in the 1858 collection available from April 2017, continues the brand’s smart marketing technique, offering watches with standard movements and simple complications at an attractive price. Coupled with good design and the world-wide familiarity of the Montblanc brand name, this is presumably…
The Galet Traveller Boréal by Laurent Ferrier is an interesting example of how a watch can develop new characteristics on the basis of customer demands. In this case, a client asked the brand for a Traveller timepiece, but with lots of SuperLuminova. The design of the hour indications was inspired by car dashboard instruments and…
The Laurent Ferrier Galet Traveller Globe Night Blue offers a good reason for creating a watch with the on-trend blue dial colour. In this piece, the view of the dial depicts the earth as seen from space, with deep blue oceans and tiny specks of gold representing the lights of the cities. The craftsmanship used…
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…