“These are fun for watch fanatics,” says watch fanatic and Kiss drummer Eric Singer, who co-designed a new limited edition set of three Zodiac watches with Toppers Jewelers. “They don’t reinvent the wheel, but their entertaining colors, cool looks, and retro style mix it up in a fun way.”
Humans have long had a fascination with the depths of the ocean, striving to go ever deeper, ever further, and ever faster by pushing the limits of the human body, technology, and advancing modern science. But like all things, we are often faced with limits. And the helium escape valve was invented to push one of those limits as watchmaker Ashton Tracy explains.
At the Astronauts Appreciation Dinner in Houston on November 25, 1969, Omega presented each of the 19 astronauts in attendance with a Reference BA145.022 Speedmaster Professional Apollo XI limited edition. Here Nick Gould highlights seven of those astronauts wearing their very special Speedmasters in celebration of the golden anniversary of the moon landing on July 20, 1969.
In the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries, expert institutions were founded to test and certify the quality of the wristwatch’s precision. The most important and famous one today is Switzerland’s C.O.S.C., but as Sabine Zwettler reports, there are others including Omega’s Master Chronometer certificate.
Ferrari is not a brand of evolution, but revolution. It likes to push forward, fueled by Italian passion, to innovate and revolutionize to make its cars faster and more agile. This is pretty much true for Hublot as well, though such a thirst for innovation also means regularly introducing new models. Here Martin Green reviews the latest from the Hublot-Ferrari partnership: the Classic Fusion Ferrari GT.
Officine Panerai is known for making dive watches or, more specifically, military-inspired dive and sports watches. The connection with the sea isn’t just a part of Panerai, it IS Panerai. And so one of the brand’s goals is to now become as eco-friendly as possible by creating zero-impact manufacturing combined with ethical and environmentally friendly business practices across the board in addition to using recycled materials in its watches. Joshua Munchow takes a look at how this is coming along.
General everyday contact with magnets isn’t going to cause your beloved wristwatch any real harm, but overdoses of magnetism may still present a problem, causing erratic timing and even stoppage altogether as watchmaker Ashton Tracy explains. What to do when this happens?
Ah, watch cases! As regular readers may recall, GaryG has a particular fascination with the outer shells that encase, protect, and enhance the ticking mechanical wonders within. And if watch cases fascinate, why not visit a few case makers? Let’s go!
What is the most precious element of any watch brand? Its manufacture? Its skilled employees? Its brand ambassadors? Its boutiques? Martin Green thinks that it’s none of those, because the most important asset of a brand is its so-called DNA. Here he explains how brands better used their heritage at the 2018 SIHH.
The new “Chopin” watch brand is from an unexpected place: Poland. Łukasz Doskocz’s home country might be well known for its fine spirits, excellent cuisine, expansive nature, and exceptional hospitality, but watchmaking? Not so much. However, Łukasz feels that this first watch deserves some of our attention.