swordsman

 Iwas sitting with Mike France, who runs and co-founded Christopher Ward watches, in London when he casually pulled out two new watches he says are going to be a big deal for the brand after they are released: the new steel and titanium versions of a collection Christopher Ward calls “The Twelve.” Today, I review the titanium version of The Twelve, which is actually a different watch with different movements from the steel variant. It’s qualitatively a very nice watch and, as is the case with many Christopher Ward timepieces, a big part of the selling point is value. For a number of years now, the watch collector population has gone a bit crazy for what many people refer to as “integrated bracelet” watches. At first, only a few specific watch models originally designed by Gerald Genta received attention. Soon after, the watch community began rediscovering other interesting watches with integrated bracelets, many of which originally debuted in the 1970s and 1980s. Many brands looked...

 In the modern online retail ecosystem, enthusiasts have more ways to purchase watches than ever before, especially in the rapidly growing secondary market. However, with the dizzying variety of options available to consumers, it can also be difficult for buyers to know who to trust. Online commerce giant eBay has led the charge towards safer and more trustworthy online watch retail in recent years with its Authenticity Guarantee program (automatically sending all watches selling for $2,000 and up to expert appraisers to ensure authenticity), and for 2023 the company looks to add more tools for watchmakers looking to capture a slice of the burgeoning secondary watch market. The new eBay Certified by Brand retail program gives watch, luxury handbag, and jewelry brands the option to sell new, certified pre-owned, limited edition, and even eBay exclusive models directly to consumers with eBay’s robust buyer protections, providing a safer and more varied retail experience for both bran...

 Founded by seasoned collector Edward Cho, who credits his grandmother’s “You have to feed it to make it come alive” wisdom for his obsession with mechanical watches, Fleux is a new watch brand that makes its debut with a pair of vintage-inspired skin diver watches. Meet the FLX001 and FLX002, which are the stars of Fleux’s current Kickstarter campaign, and here to remind us why vintage diving watches are so darn charming. While mid-century dive watches were created to be utilitarian, practical, and robust, these days, fans of the genre gravitate towards them more so because of their handsome aesthetics and nostalgic appeal. Crafted with precision and attention to detail, the FLX001 and FLX002 echo the classic case shape popular in the 1970s while also benefiting from modern updates. For instance, the downward-curving shape of the lugs is borrowed from the archetypical old-school skin diver to ensure that perfect wrist-hugging fit but thinned down with polished chamfers for a conte...

 Along with being one of the most visually stunning locations on this planet, Iceland is also characterized by extreme environments. Colloquially known as “the land of fire and ice,” Iceland offers a rich landscape packed full of volcanoes, glaciers, and the aurora borealis, making the Nordic island nation a popular destination for tourists who appreciate the outdoors. With that in mind, despite all of Iceland’s beauty, the landscape can also be quite unforgiving, and each year, approximately 1,800 unprepared adventures are forced to call for the help of the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (“Slysavarnarfélagið Landsbjörg” — better known as ICE-SAR). As the official timepiece supplier to ICE-SAR, Luminox is responsible for outfitting the organization’s members with watches, and just as you might imagine, the timepieces used by ICE-SAR must be capable of standing up to some of the most rigorous and demanding conditions on this planet. As one of its latest new releases for...

 When most people think of solar-powered watches, it is frequently the various Japanese brands that first come to mind, although German-based Junghans is another name that should be on collectors’ radar when it comes to this particular space. At the present time, solar watches only make up a relative fraction of Junghans’ overall offerings, although they ultimately offer quite advanced movements wrapped up inside the brand’s classic Bauhaus-inspired design language. Sometimes it’s easy to see a new Max Bill release and simply write it off as just a novel colorway of the mechanical pieces that have been around for years, but the Junghans Max Bill Mega Solar watches represent significantly different timepieces from a movement and functionality standpoint. The latest new duo of new releases from Junghans for 2023 expand the brand’s solar-powered offerings with two very different colorways for its Max Bill Mega Solar lineup, and the new models ultimately have far more in common with so...

 As one of the perennial favorite brands among law enforcement and military personnel, Luminox has a pedigree within the world of tool watches that is truly undisputed. However, the average case size of Luminox watches is generally quite large, and many of the brand’s models offer a thoroughly tactical aesthetic that can sometimes limit their versatility in everyday life. That said, Luminox’s catalog is far more diverse than most people actually acknowledge, and as the brand’s latest release for 2023, Luminox has expanded its popular Pacific Diver series with six new models that are all based upon a more compact 39mm case. Offering much of the same core design as the full-size 44mm versions of the model, the new Luminox Pacific Diver Ripple collection brings this versatile platform to a much wider range of wrist sizes, while also promising to be a timepiece that can more easily fit into a normal non-tactical lifestyle. The new Luminox Pacific Diver Ripple watches all feature 39mm c...

 When Panerai unveiled the Radiomir Quaranta in GoldTech(PAM1026) at Watches and Wonders 2023, the brand was simultaneously lauded and criticized for the dramatic downsizing of one of its most historic models. While the criticism was surprisingly mild, the success of smaller-sized watches cannot be ignored. The debut of the new Radiomir Quaranta in precious metal was also foreshadowing for what we all knew was coming – a full collection of midsized Panerai watches – and Panerai did not make us wait long for them, either. The new Radiomir Quaranta collection is here with watches in polished steel, proprietary Goldtech, and limited boutique-exclusive yellow gold. The new Radiomir Quaranta collection — named quaranta which simply means “forty” in Italian — is exactly what the name implies, a 40mm version of the historic and beloved Radiomir model. The case features a fully polished bezel, wire lugs, mid-case, and a circular-brushed caseback. The gentle curves make the Quaranta watches...

 Though countless brands tout their history and heritage, few can compete with Swiss independent watchmaker Perrelet. For the past two and a half centuries, the brand has been pushing horological boundaries, introducing the world to the first automatic watch and even the first pedometer watch for measuring distance. You’d be forgiven for thinking that a brand founded in the mid-18th century, and serving as watchmaker-mechanic to French kings, would focus on producing classically styled and conservative watches. However, Abraham-Louis Perrelet, the brand’s eponymous founder, was nothing if not modern and forward-thinking in his approach to horology.  That spirit has passed down through the centuries and continues to permeate each line in Perrelet’s extensive catalog, perhaps none more so than the Turbine collection. Continuing this proud tradition, the newest members of the Turbine family, the Turbine Carbon Collection, combine the brand’s avant-garde styling with an ultralight...

 Despite making its inaugural appearance just a few years ago in 2020, the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner collection has already become one of the brand’s most famous and recognizable designs. While the series has featured heavy-hitter complications such as a perpetual calendar, flyback chronograph, and even a tourbillon, the Streamliner Centre Seconds is the most simple and straightforward iteration that takes that collection’s signature retro-space-age aesthetic and presents it in a classic, three-handed format. As its latest release for 2023, H. Moser & Cie. has created a new version of its fan-favorite integrated bracelet sports watch and the new H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Centre Seconds Smoked Salmon takes the core design of the inaugural time-only Streamliner model but swaps out its green dial for a salmon-colored one with a radial fumé finish. Listen to H. Moser & Cie. CEO Edouard Meylan talk about the new Streamliner Centre Seconds Smoked Salmon on the aBlogto...

 As its latest new release for 2023, Breguet has expanded its Classique collection with a pair of new perpetual calendar watches in solid gold cases. As its name suggests, the Breguet Classique series is a lineup of elegant, classically-styled pieces, with models ranging from simple three-handed pieces to others that showcase extravagant gem-setting or high-level complications. Offered in either white or rose gold and paired with elegant silver guilloché dials, the pair of new Breguet Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327 watches are firmly of the later variety, and they offer a refined and traditional take on one of watchmaking’s most highly regarded complications. Available in either 18k rose gold as the ref. 7327BR/11/9VU or in 18k white gold as the ref. 7327BB/11/9VU, both versions of the new Breguet Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327 feature the same round case that measures 39mm in diameter by 9.13mm thick, with a thin polished bezel and the collection’s signature con-edge textu...

 Even almost two decades into practicing — and at times mastering — its “Art of Fusion” approach to watchmaking, Hublot is still not given enough credit for what it has achieved in the field of practical application of materials sciences in horology. In other words, it is as though the community has gotten used to Hublot leaving everyone else in its trails in this important field. If the dial says “Hublot,” it’s apparently normal that we see mind-bending materials and their applications in watches, but is it actually supposed to be like that? Wearing the $500,000 Hublot Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Full Blue Sapphire watch at Watches & Wonders 2023 reminded me of this conundrum. Scrolling through my Watches & Wonders 2023 photography archives, one brand stands out from the rest (and does so by some considerable margin) when it comes to presenting and applying thoroughly modern materials in watchmaking, and that brand is Hublot. We saw full Texalium and carbon fiber cases ...

 Sometimes you need to continue a good thing. That was the case with the initially limited-edition Mr. Jones Watches “The Silent Thief,” which debuted in 2021 as a set of 100 pieces with a black-coated steel case. The artistic timepiece, with a dial designed by British artist Andy Wilx, proved too compelling, and the decision was made to bring back The Silent Thief watch as part of the core collection at Mr. Jones Watches. Of course, the non-limited production model has a few small differences, mainly in the form of cosmetic colors, that distinguish this model from the 2021 limited edition version. Watches like The Silent Thief are Mr. Jones Watches at its best. Founder Crispin Jones is an MFA-equipped artist and, likewise, has a tendency to hire fellow (mostly also UK-based) artists to contribute designs. That is the case with The Silent Thief, which, as I said earlier, has a dial designed by Andy Wilx. The dial motif in my opinion is quite stunning and takes an interesting approa...

Successful vintage-redo watches can be very satisfying to own and wear, even if I personally am getting a bit tired of the trend for luxury watch brands to focus mostly on the past as opposed to the future. I get the thinking, however, because often a novel design from a smaller brand can take years to gain popularity with audiences. When a brand comes out (again) with a classic, it is able to benefit from existing demand and appreciation for that style. And this is part of the larger context within which German Hanhart released this really satisfying 417 ES 1954 39mm-wide watch that I am reviewing for you today. Hanhart is one of the traditional German wristwatch makers that produced pilot watches and other timing instruments in the mid-20th century. From about 1954 to 1963, Hanhart produced the origin piece of this redo watch known simply as the 417. The original 417 watches are very rare but follow a common “Type XX” style dial design that has been popularized by a lot of different ...

 The latest collection of timepieces from Canada-based hand-painted dial specialist watchmaker Ematelier is a men’s-focused range known as “Elements.” The goal of the collection is to offer a platform for enthusiasts to order bespoke-made watch dials using a range of techniques that all fall under the larger category of “enamel dials.” Ematelier even produces a few serial-production Elements pieces with more basic, albeit still traditional enamel dials that start at just under $5,000 in price. What you see here is an example of a more complicated enamel dial technique that combines hand-enamel painting as well as a cloisonne construction. This Ematelier watch as configured costs about double the price of the entry-level Elements models, but is still an incredible value compared to what the same artistic dial would cost you from a traditional Swiss watchmaker. Hence the noteworthiness of this Ematelier Elements watch with the grand feu cloisonne enamel “earth map” dial is directly r...

 When was the last time you handled or even saw a watch that made you feel happy? What about one you thought was actually fun and looked good? Watches and watch enthusiasts often take things too seriously, which inevitably leads to what others have termed blanding: the copy-pasting of product design that leads to a flattened market segment saturated with sameness (How many white/black/orange GMTs have you seen?). Aren’t you tired of the seeing the same three or four diver designs over and over? The same chronograph design to the point where you have to wonder if the brands are using the same designer? Call me cynical, but when was the last time you saw a watch that wowed you because of how unique it was. That’s the reaction I had when I first saw the Sō Labs Layer Two watches. A bit of whimsy, repliki zegarków a bit of joy, a bit of happiness at what I saw as an almost entirely novel watch. Sō Labs is the sister brand of the Chicago-based microbrand Astor + Banks, which makes argu...

 Times change, styles change — nowhere is that old adage truer than in the watch world, where each year seems to bring a hot new color or style. Tiffany blue dials and integrated bracelet sports watches may be the trends du jour at the moment, but one trend that’s been building steam for the last several years is the reversion back to modestly sized watches. Sub-40mm dive watches, while a decade ago seemingly only available on the vintage market, have seen a huge resurgence in popularity. More options in watches and watch sizes is never a bad thing, but it raises the question: are oversized dive watches dead? Spending time with the Squale Matic has made it abundantly clear that the genre of large, replika órák overbuilt dive watches is still alive and well. With a charming vintage design steeped in diving history and a range of vibrant colorways, the Squale Matic is a fun and colorful diver and one that’s a pleasure to wear. Think back to the sun-bleached days of the 1960s and 70s...