Hands-On: Impressions about the AP Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding 43mm
Oversized watches are a thing of the past…? Well, on paper yes. For two to three years now, many brands have been scaling down their watches. Timepieces can move back to 40mm or sometimes even less. Yet, some models are made to be big and bold. 1990s and early 2000s Panerai, the IWC Big Pilot (the real one, not the 43mm)… And then there’s the APROO, a.k.a the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. Born big, continuously bold, highly distinctive and recognizable among thousands. And if you remove the complex display of the classic chronograph, it gives you this new reference 15605SK. Not downsized, just streamlined. But will such a large watch with a simple display work? Won’t the ROO lose some of its appeal in such a sleek form??The original ROO, the reference 25721ST with chronograph, a.k.a The Beast – Image by www.acollectedman.comBorn in 1993, the Royal Oak Offshore defined a new genre. Just like the classic Royal Oak broke the norm in 1972 as one of the v

Hands on: The Refreshing Ice Blue Dials Of The Zenith Defy Skyline
It's official; the summer season kicked off over a week ago, and if any of our readers live in Spain, you will have experienced the dramatic surge in temperature. In Andalucia, temperatures have reached 44.4¡ãC, and here in Madrid, we are dealing with 38¡ãC today. Excuse the odd meteorological introduction, but with such searing temperatures, the antidote, horologically speaking, is a watch with a chilled icy blue dial that conjures visions of cool pools of water. Like fashion collections, many watch brands have jumped on the seasonal bandwagon, and ice blue is fast positioning itself as the colour of summer for 2023. Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak, Bell & Ross' BR 05 GMT, Omega's Aqua Terra and Tissot's PRX have taken the plunge with very pleasing results, and now Zenith dives into icy blue waters with three new renditions of its Defy Skyline.RecapThe origins of the Defy Skyline date back to 1902 when Zenith introduced a robust line of pocket watches known as Defi. In 1969, Zenith's re

Introducing The Elegant Longines Flagship Heritage Moonphase 38.5mm
The Longines Flagship collection, which first appeared in 1957, nowadays draws inspiration from the brand’s vintage models while incorporating adjustments to contemporary preferences and standards. Longines, established in 1832, is a highly esteemed watch brand renowned, among other things, for seamlessly blending classic and traditional aesthetics of older timepieces with modern watchmaking technology. This fusion is evident in the Flagship collection, particularly in the earlier Heritage with small seconds and date, which embodies the essence of the series. The new Flagship Heritage model, featuring a moonphase and date indicator, follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, paying homage to Longines’ innovative spirit in watchmaking. It flawlessly combines traditional design elements with modern sensibilities, ensuring its broad appeal.The elegant new Longines Flagship Heritage Moonphase is housed in a 38.5mm round stainless steel case with 30m water resistance. The fron

Buying Guide - Six New Watches Showing All Their Mechanics Dial Side
Despite the fact a carefully crafted full dial can be extremely satisfying to look at, there's something magical about seeing the inner mechanism of a watch. I remember when I first got into watches seeing a mechanical movement through a transparent caseback at least as rewarding as the front side of the watch. As my experience, and subsequent passion, grew bigger and bigger, the more I got intrigued by a watch's inner workings. The classical way of satisfying that hunger would be to dive into a fully-skeletonized watch, but there's another option as well. Instead of skeletonizing all the components of a movement and/or dial, you can also expose the mechanics by mounting them dial-side. With that in mind, here are six watches that do just that.Chopard L.U.C. Full Strike TourbillonDuring the recent Watches & Wonders event, Chopard unveiled a stunning trio of repeater watches. From complex to super-complex, to oh now you're just showing off complex, this trio epitomizes the brand's c

Independent Watchmaking - A closer look at Winnerl
Winnerl might be a newcomer but this independent brand bears a historical name, that of a 19th-century Austrian horologist, recently revived by an Austrian watchmaker, Bernhard Zwinz. After having worked for some of the greatest brands and with some of the most respected watchmakers, Zwinz now manufactures watches in his own workshop, inspired by the Winnerl legacy. We had the opportunity to visit him in the Vallee de Joux, to take a closer look at his superbly handcrafted watches.Joseph Thaddeus Winnerl (1799-1886) was an eminent Austrian-born and later Paris-based watchmaker. He is known for his superior chronometers – with a broad array of applications, from the observation of celestial bodies to precise ship's chronometers – and for his work on the creation of different split-second chronograph mechanisms.? Ad - Scroll to continue with article Th