Hands-On: The AP Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm Yellow Gold 26240BA is a Statement in Style
In 2022, Audemars Piguet unveiled a plethora of new?Royal Oak models to commemorate the 50th anniversary?of this iconic line. Among these releases stood the Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm reference 26240, adorned, like other anniversary automatic editions, with a special rotor sporting a prominent 50 logo. However, by 2023, these gave way to regular models featuring the typical AP rotors, and new references were added to the permanent collection. This March marked the debut of a remarkable one: the striking APRO Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm 26240BA in radiant yellow gold on a matching bracelet. It is adorned with a luxurious gold-toned gradient dial and powered by the AP?calibre 4401, an in-house, integrated flyback chronograph movement initially showcased in 2019 with the Code 11.59 collection. With its striking aesthetics, solid construction, advanced movement and good history, this new chronograph is in high demand.Sporting a 41mm diameter and 12.4mm thickness, the 26240BA b

Introducing the Arnold & Son Longitude Titanium Sports-Integrated Collection
No brand, it seems, is immune to the allure of the luxury sports watch, sporty-chic watches with integrated bracelets. The latest brand to dip its toe into the highly infested luxury sports watch waters is Arnold & Son, which introduces its first integrated sports watch at Watches and Wonders 2024. Christened the Longitude in honour of John Arnold’s historical marine chronometers, the layout of the first model echoes these historical pieces with its power reserve display at noon and small seconds at 6 o’clock. Not only does the layout evoke the marine chronometers of its famous ancestor, but the new automatic movement is a COSC-certified chronometer.While luxury sports watches have long been the domain of high-end watch brands, – with the Royal Oak, the Nautilus and the Overseas or VC 222, and the Laureato being the main names to come to mind – many high-end independent watchmakers have taken on the challenge – names like Czapek with its Antarctique, L

Hands-On - BCHH x Andersen Geneve Celestial Voyager Ballon (Price)
What happens when you take Louis Cottier's world time complication, add a dose of refined Singaporean taste and passion for craftsmanship and entrust the project to a venerable master independent watchmaker like Svend Andersen? The answer is this delightful Celestial Voyager with a cloisonne dial inspired by the flight of hot air balloons over Cappadocia. Marking the second chapter of BCHH and Andersen Geneve's Celestial Voyager of 2021, the latest world time watch is an anthology of exquisite mechanics, sophisticated artisanal crafts and the soaring imagination of Benjamin Chee. Limited to 10 pieces and lavishly decorated and finished by hand, each watch is a unique miniature work of art.One man, three brandsYou might not be familiar with his name, but Benjamin Chee, the reputed Singaporean vintage watch collector turned entrepreneur is the man behind three different watch brands. Chee's appetite for fine watches has resulted in the foundation of three brands with three very different

Hands-On - Patek Philippe 5396R Annual Calendar Blue Dial (Specs & Price)
Since its introduction in 2006, the?Patek Philippe 5396 Annual Calendar is amongst the most classical options in the brand’s collection. It offers a cleaner and a slightly more modern option to the conservative reference 5146, the sub-dial based Annual Calendar watch. In addition to the?existing versions, with silvery-white or grey dials (with appliques or Breguet numerals), Patek has decided to add a bit of flamboyance to this model, by giving it a rose gold case combined with a rich navy blue dial.Annual Calendars at Patek PhilippeAll in all, Patek Philippe offers no less than 3 different displays for the Annual Calendar complication. Classical, with the reference 5146 and its display based on traditional sub-dials. Modern, with the reference 5205 and its displays based on 3 windows from 10 to 2. Right in the middle sits a hybrid, a watch that relies on both the classical look of sub-dials and the more modern design offered by the windows. Balanced, slightly less conservative,

Introducing Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Tourbillon Retrograde Openface (Live Pics)
As they say, if you've got it, flaunt it. Vacheron Constantin's latest combination of a tourbillon with a retrograde date display does just that and stages its refined mechanics in a contemporary, multi-level openworked dial. As a historic manufacture that listens to current trends, Vacheron Constantin welcomes another model into its traditional Traditionelle collection with an ultra-contemporary yet refined 21st-century aesthetic.Openworked or skeletonised watches are in vogue, no doubt about that, and we tend to think they are novel ways of exposing mechanical movements. However, if you're a company like Vacheron Constantin with a 268-year history, chances are you might even have a couple of openworked models in your archives. It turns out that VC did, in fact, have an openworked model in its archives in the form of a pocket watch with an astronomical calendar from 1918 (ref. 10937). Following a hiatus of almost 100 years, VC revisited the openworked dial concept with ref. 47247 in 2