Urwerk UR-103.03 in white gold

Felix Baumgartner, Urwerk, Harry Winston, And The Opus V: Where On Earth Did That Come From? Plus UR-103.03 User Review

Blast from the past! This post is a “reprint” of an article I wrote that was first published on The PuristS in 2005. This article is divided into four parts: Felix Baumgartner and Urwerk, Harry Winston Rare Timepieces and the Opus V, The Urwerk 103.03, and The Urwerk 103.03 user review.

Into the void: There's black then there's the MCT Sequential One 110 Evo Vantablack

Design Discussion On Contrast & Texture: How Vantablack And Other Techs Are Disrupting Watch Norms

As material science progresses, the watch industry finds itself flush with ever more ways to disrupt the conventional norms of finishing and coating surfaces, many of which have persisted in traditional watchmaking for centuries. Follow me to take a look at some of this disruption and evolution, which recently culminated in the use of Vantablack.

Vintage catch: Omega Seamaster Professional 600 Ploprof

A Contemporary Watch Collector Goes Vintage

To my longtime friends in the watch hobby, and perhaps to regular readers here as well, the mention of my name may conjure up a number of connotations: patron of the independents, fan of A. Lange & Söhne, admirer of Patek Philippe grand complications, and longtime customer of Jaeger-LeCoultre, among other characterizations more or less favorable.

But these likely never included vintage maven! So how did I get here?

The Struthers for Morgan Motor Company retro trench watch with refurbished vintage Omega 26 series movement

Meet The Struthers: English Watchmaking The Old-Fashioned Way . . . Sort Of

When you walk into the Struthers’s Birmingham workshop, you feel like you could be stepping a century back into the history of horology. Until you spy a few of Rebecca Struthers’s tattoos, that is. And then you know you are in the here and now. Meet Craig and Rebecca Struthers: two modern watchmakers doing things the old-fashioned way. Sort of.

Vostok-Europe Radio Room

The Radio Room: Russian Watches In Action And How The Titanic Changed Everything (Archive)

Here is something a little different that was sparked by disaster and created a legacy, especially in Russia, with regard to the design of clocks and watches in telegraph and radio rooms ever since.

Restricted area: Blancpain erotic watch

Warning, Watchporn Inside: X-Rated Timepieces By Blancpain (Video)

Classic on the front, party in the back: that about sums up the traditional erotic timepiece. And one of the modern masters of the erotic watch is Blancpain. In this excellent video by The Watches TV, you will discover what “hot horologerie” is all about!

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe

21 New Pre-Baselworld 2017 Watches: Jaquet Droz, Hermès, Graff, Corum, Angelus, Arnold & Son, Artya, Vincent Calabrese, Blancpain, Breguet, Bulgari, Chanel, Chopard, Glashütte Original, Graham, Moritz Grossmann, And Seiko

In honor of the upcoming 100th edition of Baselworld, which opens its doors on March 23, 2017, we present you with an overview of some of the new models that have already been revealed – at least online.

Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph Rally Timer Counter Limited Edition 100 on the wrist

Competition Spurs Creativity: Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Rally Timer Counter Limited Edition 100

The Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph Rally Timer is a bit of a transformer as it has six main configurations, including a wristwatch that can be oriented to any angle, fob watch, desk clock, and sport or rally timing stopwatch.

It starts out as a wristwatch with the crown at 12 o’clock, but a 180-degree rotating case means it doesn’t have to stay that way. Let’s delve into what else it can do!

Assembling a patented ruby link constant force chain of Romain Gauthier's Logical One

In Focus: Romain Gauthier’s Breathtaking Patented Ruby Link Chain From Logical One

Here at Quill & Pad we are quite smitten by Romain Gauthier’s award-winning Logical One. But one thing that often gets glossed over somewhat is the subject of one of this watch’s four patents: the incredible high-precision chain made of synthetic ruby links. Combined with the snail cam, it is this element that provides the ingenious movement with constant force.

Patek Philippe Calibre 89 in yellow gold

Patek Philippe Caliber 89, The World’s Most Complicated Watch For 26 Years, To Be Auctioned By Sotheby’s In May 2017 Important Watches Sale

Until the advent of Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 in 2015, Patek Philippe’s Caliber 89 held the record for being the most complicated timepiece in existence; it remains Patek Philippe’s most complicated timepiece. And now Sotheby’s is auctioning it in May 2017.