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A 1960s Zodiac Sea Wolf With Tropical Dial, A 1950s Breitling Dress Watch, And A 1960s Heuer Autavia 'Dato'

 On this week's HODINKEE Radio, Saori Omura and Brandon Frazin from the HODINKEE Shop's vintage team made an appearance to clear up some of the common misconceptions in this space. Every week, right here, we aim to lower the barrier to entry in owning and enjoying a vintage watch because, to many, it can seem like a chore to dig in, know the seller, become obsessed with reference numbers, and the rest. The watches featured in this weekly article and in the HODINKEE Shop can sell quickly at times. If you're interested in being one of the first to know (hint, it's pretty much always Wednesday at 11:00 AM ET), replica uhren sign up for our newsletter, or even drop us a note (vintage@hodinkee.com) with what you're looking for. From classics like the Omega Speedmaster and Rolex Explorer to a bit of funk like a Movado "TV" El Primero and a Bulova Accutron Astronaut, there should be something in this week's collection to scratch just about every itch. Just a...

A Habring² Chrono-Felix 'Panda,' A Tudor Black Bay Chrono Dark Limited Edition, And A Rolex Submariner Date In 18k Yellow Gold

 Sitting at the corner of April and May, we're in the strange time of year when spring has fully sprung, but it's not quite summer yet. The days are getting warmer and longer, and we're shedding layers. That long-awaited (and after the past year, I mean long-awaited) summer vacation is right within reach, but not yet. Before the summer solstice, rolex replica there are still holidays to be celebrated (hint: Mother's Day is coming up – May 9!) and graduation milestones to be notched. Whether you need a great gift or just some retail therapy to get you through to the first beach getaway of the season, we have a watch for that. This week's pre-owned lineup is pretty exciting. For the first time ever, we have a model from Habring². We also have some killer limited-edition watches, like an OMEGA Seamaster 1948 Limited Edition and a Tudor Black Bay Chrono Dark Limited Edition. There's also a Breitling Emergency and, one of our personal favorites, a Rolex Submariner D...

Inside The Design Why Are Watch Dials So Busy?

 Consider, for a moment, the dial of a Rolex GMT-Master. A blue and red bezel emblazoned with numbers hugs its face. From the center of the dial, four uniquely shaped hands stretch outward. In the place of numerals is a series of gleaming shapes: A rectangle, circle, and triangle. The watch is far from spare – the opposite, really. And yet, you could argue that the GMT is minimalist in its own totally not-minimalist way. Admittedly, it's a bit of a contradiction: The GMT's dial is filled with stuff, but it was a remarkably efficient design when first produced. Rolex created the GMT in 1955 for Pan American Airline pilots who regularly shifted between time zones. replika órák The pilots needed a workhorse of a watch that could tell the time in two different places, while keeping track of the date and whether it was day or night. The dial's resultant visual complexity was directly related to its functionality. At the time it was designed, the GMT was as minimal as it could b...

A 1970s Cartier Tank 'Jumbo' Automatique, A 1965 Rolex Submariner, And A 1969 Hamilton Chrono-Matic

 With the first drop of May, we, on the HODINKEE Vintage Team, continue to focus on curating a collection of what could be your next summer watch, the watch of the summer you could say. This week, we're going for a dual purpose in the selection. With Mother's Day around the corner, we thought it'd be great to offer some options that lean more toward the smaller wrist crowd than normal. A 1960s Heuer Carrera "45" works just as well as a man's best friend, a summer companion at the race track or, more realistically, replicas relojes at the bar (celebrating Cinco De Mayo with a margarita?) as it does on a smaller wrist of, maybe, a mother in your life. The wrist shots when viewed side by side are really stunning to look at. The same goes for a vintage glossy dialed Submariner or the interesting Omega with Breguet style numerals we have in this selection. Check out all the watches in this week's vintage drop here, and read on for a bit more on one watch chose...

Eight Space Watches That Aren’t The Speedmaster Professional

 Watches have played a vital role in humankind's exploration of the heavens, with the successful moon landing and the Omega Speedmasters worn during Apollo 11 stealing the show and dominating the narrative around watches in space. While the moon tends to get all the glory, space travel around and beyond it is just as crucial to horological legend. Exactly 60 years ago at 9:37 AM on May 5th, 1961, Alan Shepard made history when he manually piloted his Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 in space, thus becoming the first American to achieve suborbital flight. replicas iwc The whole ordeal lasted a mere 15 minutes and 28 seconds, but its impact would set the stage for manned spaceflight for decades to come. If there's one man who knows about watches in space, it's retired NATO officer Philip Corneille. Over the decades, he's amassed a collection of rarely seen photographs highlighting various lesser-known space watches and posted them to his Tumblr Moon Watch Universe. On the 60...

All The New Chanel Models

 Care to dance? At Chanel, it's time to get your booty out on the floor with a rainbow-infused Electro collection that chases our pandemic doldrums away. Arnaud Chastaingt, director of Chanel's watchmaking creation studio, set out to channel the pulsing club vibe of the '90s electronic music scene (driven by acts like Technotronic) and developed the neon theme across Chanel's watch pillars – from J12 and Première to Code Coco. "In the nineties, this musical movement created a radical new visual universe, which could be described as eccentric, vertrauenswürdige replica uhren  a reflection of nightlife and its atmosphere," Chastaingt said in a video introducing the new models. "Electronic music transcended the frontiers of music and created an aesthetic culture." Even if rainbow brights are not your thing, you're still invited to the party with a handful of decadent monochromatic Boy.Friend Skeletons and Mademoiselle Privé pieces that are anything ...

Introducing The Ulysse Nardin UFO, Blast Hourstriker, And Diver X Skeleton

 When it comes to Ulysse Nardin, it's hard not also to think about innovative, avant-garde design. With a steady focus on the use of uncommon materials, novel mechanics, and artistic thinking, the brand in its modern history has made a name for itself with collections like the Freak, and so many individual watches like the Marine Mega Yacht and suggestive Classic Voyeur Minute Repeater, among so many others. This is not to say the brand doesn't also tread in classic watch design from time to time, which they certainly do. In fact replica watches , much of the Marine, Diver, and even aptly named Classico collections do work in-step with very traditional styles and materials. But for these classic looks, it is undoubtedly Ulysse Nardin's experimental work that catches the eyes of most luxury-inclined consumers. Now, the brand is unveiling its latest experimental work in the industry, with three new timepieces that hold inventive thinking centrally from design to execution. Of...

This Diamond-Set Tourbillon Glows In The Dark

 "At Roger Dubuis, excess and madness are part of our DNA," said brand CEO Nicolas Andreatta in a video welcoming attendees to the 2021 virtual Watches & Wonders show. What you're looking at might be the most excessive Roger Dubuis watch this year. Prized since ancient times for rarity, value, and the capacity to reflect and refract light, the diamond sits at the very top of the jewelry-making pyramid. It's the ultimate medium for ornamental luxury; and watchmakers, replicas relojes working in a jewelry-adjacent craft, have of course been known to use them too. In addition to tourbillons and movements skeletonized to within an inch of their life, Roger Dubuis has got the carats. But sometimes, even a blinged-out skeleton tourbillon ain't enough excess. The rocks in the Roger Dubuis Excalibur line have something we've never seen before in a watch. Roger Dubuis has applied Super-LumiNova to them, letting the bling sing when the midnight hour rings. Each of ...

Introducing The Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Ref. 4947/1A

 With the new 4947/1A, Patek Philippe is offering an annual calendar with a round Calatrava-style case in steel. At 38mm in diameter, it's right in the sweet spot of what a lot of enthusiasts might consider to be an ideal dress-watch size, paired with a matching five-row bracelet in steel. It's a beautiful watch, though it's not the first 4947, a reference Patek has previously used for ladies' references, replika órák  putting diamonds on the crown and bezel. Besides the fact that this round annual calendar is steel, what's unexpected about it is that this time around, at least according to anything I've seen, Patek isn't assigning this watch to any gender. To the contrary, Patek says the 4947/1A's 38mm size matches virtually every wrist. I've not seen this watch in the metal, but I'm inclined to agree. As for the fairly faint blue patterning on the dial, whether any given man or woman will be drawn to it will have little do with gender and more ...

Introducing The Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown

 When it comes to relentlessly pursuing the classic watch ideal in a modern package, few independent brands can top Baltic. It has the vintage-inspired game on lock with dive, chronograph, and field watch designs across its collections. Now, it's taken a core model, the Aquascaphe, and adorned it with a second crown (because, you know, two is better than one). Say hello to the Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown, a super-compressor-style evolution of the existing vintage-inspired diver. This new watch features a double-crown design, but also an internal bezel. In typical Baltic fashion, it's available in multiple dial variations and case materials. There are two steel models – with a black or blue dial – and one DLC-coated case variant with a black dial, and each comes fitted to either a tropic rubber strap, beads-of-rice bracelet, or a recycled plastic strap. rolex replika The Baltic Dual-Crown updates the original Aquascaphe design, with the brand taking lessons learned over four y...

The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Minute Repeater Is Here To Remind You To Not Get Too Attached

 Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well ... " – although I bet this is not the kind of skull Shakespeare had in mind. This is a real piece of horological exotica – a watch with a very high relief sculpture of a skull on the dial, with a snake whose tail is a retrograde seconds indication, and with a lever on the side which, when operated, sets off the minute repeater, and also makes the snake spring into action. The tail moves forward to point to the minutes past the hour. replicas omega The jaws of the skull open to reveal the words "carpe diem." And a lattice falls into place around the flower, changing it into another form of Louis Vuitton's signature flower emblem. There is a lot going on here and quite a lot to unpack – in standard horological lingo, this is a minute repeater and time-on-demand wristwatch with jacquemart (a term sometimes rendered as "striking jack" in English), and with a jumping hour display. It is justly said that a picture is worth a ...

Watch & Learn We Sent a Complete Newbie Shopping for a Rolex. Here's What Happened.

 ere's the extent of my relationship with watches: As a kid, I had a Snoopy Tennis Action watch, the one where his front leg is the hour hand, the racket is the minute hand, and a tennis ball is the seconds hand. I wanted it so badly. Then childhood passed, and it disappeared. That was 40 years ago. I haven't worn a watch since. I do have an old dead watch from an old dead San Francisco men's store, still sitting in a drawer. Some guy I went on maybe 1 ½ dates with in 1999 gave it to me, very unromantically. I was in his apartment, I picked it up and looked at it, replica rolex and he said, "Take that with you," even though I didn't even know I was leaving. I keep meaning to get it fixed because it's moderately cool (at least to me; at this point, I know nothing about what's really "cool"), but I've had it for so long, I can't imagine I've ever been serious about this. The point is, until HODINKEE called, I basically never though...

My Wishlist A Culinary Icon And The Watches He Covets Most

 it's no secret. Eric Ripert, the perennial three Michelin star holder and co-owner of New York seafood temple Le Bernardin, has been a watch guy for quite some time. Ripert started fairly young, when his mother gave him a Cartier Santos Ronde upon his graduation from culinary school at the  age of 17. He still has that round Santos in his collection, repliki zegarków  and he has since added several watches from other brands, including Rolex. But it's through the people of Vacheron Constantin, a brand that Ripert has long been a client of, that an interest in, and appreciation for, horology really grew. Visiting Switzerland and meeting watchmakers from Vacheron and other brands offered a window into a world of skilled craftspeople whose dedication resonated with Ripert. Though he reveres Vacheron, Ripert's interest in timepieces isn't bound to just one marque. He loves watches of many types – sporty and dressy, complicated and simple, from a range of makers. Twenty-twen...