At the 2019 SIHH, Vacheron Constantin introduced the contemporary FiftySix line with blue dials. And while normally a new dial color is less exciting than a new watch or complication, the new blue highlighted just how good the dial design of the FiftySix is!
When most people think of Seiko, they think of the mass-produced quartz watches that dominated the world’s markets in the 1980s and thereafter. What many don’t realize is that Seiko, one of only a handful of companies able to manufacture a watch from A to Z, makes the full range all the way up to full-on mechanical handmade horological delicacies with fine finishing and artful embellishment. And they don’t come more full on than the Seiko Credor Fugaku Tourbillon.
At the 2019 SIHH, Ian was jolted at a private Hermès presentation by a watch so new that it would not be launched for a couple of months yet: the Slim d’Hermès Titane. Two things surprised him about the Slim d’Hermès Titane: just how much he liked it (and “liked” as in “he wants to buy one”) and how, when Ian personally focuses on the independents, did he start considering Hermès?
During the week of SIHH 2019 Elizabeth Doerr had the opportunity of wearing Armin Strom’s resonance watch in its purest form: the Pure Resonance. And she admits to having been excited for the opportunity. Read on to discover how she felt about it after a few days.
Martin Green took three catalogs from IWC – the 1989, 1993, and 1996/97 editions – noting the differences between them and the current market. This is a journey full of surprises, forgotten watches, unknown treasures, and a shocking realization of how fast horological evolution has progressed.
Romain Gauthier releases a ten-piece limited edition version of his Prestige HMS in steel. The first-time serial use of a steel case underscores the rarity of this watch’s unusual Henbury meteorite dial. Elizabeth Doerr takes a closer look at what makes this watch so special.
As Ken Gargett explains, to adequately describe a Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva cigar is almost like trying to catch the velvety smoke it produces in your hand. And it is dense, velvety smoke. The texture is as soft as cotton bud clouds. Plush and cushiony. Many describe it as the greatest cigar they have ever tasted, but, ouch, the price!
The Jaeger-LeCoultreMaster Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, aka Gyrotourbillon 5, is a smaller version of the original biaxial Gyrotourbillon. And it has been updated with a perpetual calendar, minute repeater with Westminster chime, one-minute remontoir d’égalité, a jumping minute hand, and a jumping date display. Whew!
In 1783, just as the queen of France, Marie Antoinette, was sitting for a portrait, an officer of the queen’s guard visited Abraham-Louis Breguet’s workshop: Queen Marie Antoinette desired a pocket watch containing all known horological complications at the time. It took 44 years to complete and is perhaps the most famous watch in history, as much for its intriguing story as its ingenious mechanics.
The components of a mechanical watch movement are little more than a series of springs and wheels held together by plates and/or bridges. No matter the configuration, complication or finish, the ensemble is secured by the humble movement screw. So it’s a pleasant surprise that several watchmakers have boldly ventured beyond the thread and the slot to reimagine the movement screw.