The first time Bhanu Chopra strapped a borrowed BR 03-92 Black Matte Ceramic on his wrist, he thought that it was the perfect Bell & Ross watch for him, checking all the boxes for the characteristics he expected from an aviation-style instrument watch. He bought one and it has been part of his core pilot’s watch collection ever since. This is why.
The retrograde indication is one of Joshua Munchow’s favorite “Because We Can” (BWC) complications. Gears are an amazing invention and have allowed watchmakers to make incredible creations. Simple gear systems leave a multitude of openings for creativity. Look at some great retrogrades here.
Once upon a time, there was a watch enthusiast (GaryG) who admired the work of Max Büsser and his watchmaking enterprise MB&F and who dearly wanted to own one of his watches. But which one? Well, it took years, but Gary eventually decided on the eye-catching 2021 LM101 in white gold and here he explains why.
If there were a watch enthusiasts’ encyclopedia, under “embarrassment of riches” the image might just be a side-by-side shot two of contemporary watchmaking’s great complicated pieces: the “mighty” A. Lange & Söhne Double Split and Patek Philippe’s Reference 5370P split-second chronograph. In this article, GaryG compares and contrasts them to come out with a winner.
The OAK Collection is filled with extraordinary, museum-quality, one-of-a-kind timepieces, many of which are either historically important, unrepeatable special orders, or rare limited editions. These include (but are not limited to) five Patek Philippe watches once owned by Henry Graves, 16 Nautiluses, seven Voutilainens, and a plethora of rare Rolex and Patek Philippe models!
One of the best things about dealing with independent watchmakers is the ability to request unique touches on your watch. That’s just what happened after GaryG’s new friend first saw Kari Voutilainen’s Sport28, a titanium-encased watch that itself is quite rare with only eight examples made in total.
As a collector, and a fairly visible one at that, GaryG has been paying attention to reports of muggings and thefts of watches and wondering whether it makes sense these days to wear valuable pieces in public. He polled a group of 20 watch enthusiast friends on their personal safety while wearing watches to learn what steps they take to keep safe.
Omega and Fratello Watches came out with their first #SpeedyTuesday Speedmaster edition back in 2017 and it sold out within few hours. Three years later, a second iteration of #SpeedyTuesday timepieces came to life. And this one sold out – all 2,012 pieces – in under two hours. And one of these 2,012 watches is in Łukasz Doskocz’s personal collection. Here he explains why.
It seems that watches are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, as a mainstream fashion category. With the good comes the bad, of course, and one characteristic is that it attracts a set of well-off, low-information buyers. GaryG shares his tips for navigating uncertainty in watch collecting in 2022.
When Rolex put the Sky-Dweller Caliber 9001 in a Rolesor case in 2017 (“Rolesor” is a Rolex term for stainless steel and gold) and dropped the price down to $14,400 Chris Malburg became a player. And, as he soon discovered, so were a goodly number of other Rolex admirers. Here is why he bought this watch and what happened then.