Top 10 Most Popular Articles Of 2022 On Quill & Pad As Read by You: Patek Philippe, Rolex, Tudor, Grand Seiko, (Relatively) Affordable Watches, And More!

As read by you, here are the top ten most viewed articles (plus a bonus one) on Quill & Pad this past year. There are a few favorites and a few surprises. Drum roll, please: in no particular order, our top ten most viewed articles of 2022 were . . .

Grand Seiko T0 Constant Force Tourbillon: I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes – Reprise

As Joshua Munchow swiped through posts on Instagram one day, he was stopped in his tracks, toothbrush dangling from his gaping mouth, eyes wide, and one singular thought running through his head as he stared at his phone: Grand Seiko doesn’t make movements like this. This is an avant-garde tourbillon movement with a constant force escapement and incredible, exposed mechanics! What in the world . . .?! Meet the T0.

Real-World Diving With The Seiko Prospex The 1968 Automatic Diver’s Modern Re-Interpretation Limited Edition SLA055

As a fan of the extraordinary Seiko Prospex 1000, Dietmar Fuchs took the limited version of the reinterpretation of a famous Seiko diving watch diving and shares his real-world experience with it here.

2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) Roundup And How Well Our Predictions Went: Spoiler Alert, We Did Pretty Well

The last couple of GPHGs were hit by COVID, but the 2022 GPHG was finally again an event and a party as it should be! Tout le monde was in Geneva, celebrating watchmaking at its finest. Here are our thoughts on the winners and how well we did at predicting them.

Our Predictions For The Aiguille d’Or (Grand Prize) Of The 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) And Other Discretionary Prizes

The GPHG Aiguille d’Or is always one of the most difficult prizes to predict, not only because all the watches entered are free to be chosen from, but also because so many are so good. The watch needs to be exceptional to win and it might even be a clock. What does our panel choose?

Our Predictions In The Petite Aiguille Category Of The 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG): Any Of These Finalists Could Win

Two regulators, a chronograph, a Spring Drive classic, a new steel sports watch with a twist on the seconds, and a Nixie tube watch: this is what our peanut gallery must choose a winner from in the Petite Aiguille category, finding the best value under CHF 10,000. A tall order!

Our Predictions In The Diver’s Category Of The 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG): 6 Watches, 5 Judges, 3 Predicted Winners

What a pleasure to find a majority of real diver’s watches in the GPHG shortlist this year. While they can be worn without any worries behind the desk, as they most likely will be in 99.99 percent of cases, they are also up for some serious diving. Here is what our peanut gallery had to say about the nominees.

Tudor Heritage Black Bay Fifty-Eight

Five Vintage-Style Diver’s Watches To “Seas” The Day From Blancpain, Seiko, Longines, Oris, And Tudor – Reprise

Sabine Zwettler dives back through time to have a closer look at five vintage-style diver’s watches. With their robustness and air of discovery and adventure, diver’s watches leave a striking impression on the wrist – whether on dry land or in the water.

Our Predictions In The Tourbillon Category Of The 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG): To Win This The Tourbillon Needs To Be Very Special

Five of the six watches in this Tourbillon category are either openworked or dial-less, so their visuals are not dissimilar. Five of the six are also one-minute tourbillons. One-half of the finalists have flying tourbillons, while another boasts a cylindrical tourbillon, and yet another has a constant-force tourbillon. How will our panel ever choose a winner?

Why I Bought It (Despite The Strap And Buckle): Grand Seiko Blue Snowflake Reference SBGA407 – Reprise

After a week on the wrist, Chris Malburg had some issues with Grand Seiko’s Blue Snowflake Reference SBGA407. Even so, he pulled the trigger. Here Chris explains how he fixed those issues and why this watch just might deserve a place in your collection too.