Why Do Some Watches Feature a Telemeter?
Some scales seem to have been placed on a dial like survivors of a vanished world. We have already looked at doctor’s watches with their pulsometer for calculating heart rate.…
Seiko Star Time: the watch that displays one million hours
The Seiko Star Time was created for Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese baseball star and an ambassador for the manufacture for the past ten years. That is the context. But this…
What Watches Do Bigflo and Oli Wear?
I was recently at the Musilac Festival in Aix-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Bourget. Despite the hectolitres of beer consumed, my watch-spotter’s eye was drawn to the watches worn…
Why Mechanical Movements Are Sensitive to Gravity
There is something profoundly insolent about a mechanical watch. A few grams of brass, steel, synthetic rubies and hairspring presume to divide time with regularity, even as the Earth pulls…
Deadbeat Seconds, the Most Misunderstood Tick-Tock in Mechanical Watchmaking
Why do some watches have deadbeat seconds? It is a question that comes up often, usually with a raised eyebrow and a cutting remark: “It’s quartz, isn’t it?” That is…
Why Some Watches Display the Date at 4:30
Why do some watches display the date at 4:30? Because watchmaking is rarely a matter of chance, and almost always a matter of compromise. Behind that small angled aperture, often…
The One by Maison Morfin: Detail as a Standard
Maison Morfin is moving forward without a safety net: that of a young independent French brand that must persuade without sheltering behind a century-old heritage. Founded in 2023 by Clément…
Greubel Forsey Balancier QM: Museum Quality
When Greubel Forsey Gives Its Exacting Standards a Name I once had the opportunity to visit Greubel Forsey in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This kind of visit rarely leaves you indifferent. In…
What Is a Grand Feu Enamel Dial?
Grand Feu enamel dials: the unforgiving art of fire What is a Grand Feu enamel dial? Put simply, it is a dial coated with powdered glass, fired at very high…
What Is a Rose Gold Case and How Is It Made
Rose gold: an aesthetic given that is not quite so simple What exactly is a rose-gold case? The question may seem harmless, almost self-evident, given how firmly this warm hue…
Why Military Watches Don’t Have a Date Display
An Absence That’s No Accident At first glance, the absence of a date on a military watch can seem surprising. After all, in civilian life, knowing the day of the…
Why Watches with Arabic Numerals Are More Legible
In watchmaking, everything seems to be a matter of detail. A crown that’s too large, a case that’s too thick, a poorly balanced dial, and the alchemy disappears. Among these…
Formex launches the Aria, its first in-house micro-rotor watch
An Important New Step for Formex I’m not going to pretend to be the ultimate Formex insider. It’s not a brand I’ve followed closely for years, even though I’ve come…
Seiko Astron 145th Anniversary: A New Solar GPS Chronograph
A Seiko Astron That Does More Than Mark an Anniversary Anniversary watches can sometimes feel like box-ticking exercises. An engraved caseback, an exclusive colorway, a slightly overplayed heritage angle—and that’s…
What Is a Lacquered Dial?
In the hushed language of watchmaking, certain terms seem simple, almost innocent. “Lacquered dial” is one of them. Two words, a vaguely glossy image—yet a far more exacting reality, almost…
Longines Legend Diver 59: The Undiminished Charm of a True Legendary Dive Watch
My collection doesn’t (yet) include a Longines, but one thing has to be said: that gentle name commands deep respect. Not the automatic, Pavlovian kind, handed out to every new…