Mark your calendars – and maybe plan to visit NYC the week of April 8-13, when the third annual Madison Avenue Watch week will take place at some of the world’s premiere watch boutiques along Madison Avenue between 57th and 86th street. The event, presented by the Wall Street Journal, is geared for connoisseurs who…
IWC Schaffhausen is perhaps best known to the world for its pilot watches. Since the 1930’s, it has introduced a host of Flieger and Mark watches that have earned the brand a great distinction. Now, IWC unveils the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Tribute to 3705” watch that pays homage to the 1994 iconic black Flieger…
NEWS: The Chronograph was really created first by Louis Moinet in 1816
Today, we wrote about Swiss watch history (here), but today, history is being re-written. Heretofore it was believed that Nicolas Rieussec invented the chronograph in 1822, but the discovery of a watch made by Louis Moinet in 1815 and 1816 – which he called the Compteur de Tierces – has been confirmed by experts as…
Watch Education: What Makes Swiss Watches the Gold Standard? (Part 2)
Last Thursday we started the conversation about what makes Swiss watches the Gold Standard – and traced the early rise of Switzerland as the premiere country for watchmaking. Switzerland has passed that long-standing watchmaking expertise and knowledge down century after century, generation after generation. There’s no denying that history counts in establishing a standard. Switzerland’s…
Off the Cuff – Girard-Perregaux’s 1966 Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges
Mechanical watches for women – with multi-functions and complications — are being created by top watch brands more than ever before. Typically these mechanical calibers are hand assembled and comprise hundreds of tiny parts. It can take weeks – even months – for the most complicated of movements to be built before being fit into…
Introducing American-Made Watches from Shinola
When I first heard of this brand and its efforts to bring full-scale production watchmaking back to American soil, I had two thoughts: What kind of name is Shinola?; How do they think they can do this in down-trodden Detroit? That was a couple of years ago. Now, with all the information disclosed and the…
A Moment in Time with Legendary Jack Heuer
Having been in this industry nearly 30 years, I’ve had the distinct good fortune of witnessing certain brands as they grew and flourished, and of meeting some of the watch industry’s legends. TAG Heuer — and Jack Heuer, in particular — are among those. I’ve met Jack Heuer before, several times, with the first dating…
St. Patrick’s Day Traditions
In response to many emails received by a variety of readers, more comments have been added at the end of this post. Today is the day when many wear green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. This Irish holiday celebrates St. Patrick’s feast day and has been held on the 17th of March (the anniversary…
Introducing the Ulysse Nardin “Stranger” Musical Watch
A true lover of the 1966 song “Strangers in the Night” – this watch is one I love. Of course, Ulysse Nardin could not turn out anything but a masterpiece, but this one hits home for me. It is a musical watch for the wrist – not a repeater. In fact, the watch emulates a…
Watch Education: What Makes Swiss Watches the Gold Standard? (Part 1)
We often are asked “Why Swiss watches are considered the best in the world?” This is no easy subject, since the rise of Switzerland as the epitome of fine watchmaking was centuries in the making. So, beginning today, and for several subsequent Thursdays, we are bringing you a series of articles that will track this…
Car watches – Hublot / Ferrari Team Works Magic
We opened this week with a feature about the newest Ferrari and Lamborghini cars just unveiled in Geneva. Now, we want to introduce you to the cool new Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Red Magic Carbon timepiece – because at just $32,100 retail it is a lot more attainable than the car. What’s more- you don’t…