First Look: The Parade Reference1174, Serica's First Dress Watch
In over 100 years of wristwatch making, almost everything has been done.? And well done for most of it. Reinventing yourself in a crowded market isn’t easy, even for a young brand like Serica. For five years – its entire life – the brand has been focusing on producing (quite appealing) retro-styled instrument watches. Imagine snowy peaks, scuba gear, adventurous fields and multiple time zones. And it’s been quite a success. The next step in the brand’s adventure is to go dressy. Talk about a drastic change of strategy! But how can Serica offer something unique and original in a context where everything has already been done? The brand’s answer to this question is named the Parade Reference 1174, Serica’s first shaped and elegant dress watch. After five years of developing instruments for the most demanding environments, Jer?me Burgert and Gabriel Vachette (the founders) have decided to turn all their attention to a drasti

Cartier Santos-Dumont XL Limited Edition 2021 CRW2SA0025 Hands-On
Cartier has a keen sense for elegant, original and effortless watch designs. Among the many shapes and designs, one of the most emblematic watches is the Santos, generally acknowledged as the oldest men's wristwatch. Over the years, the collection has evolved along sportier and bolder lines, well-represented by these recent models. However, in 2020, the Parisian brand reintroduced the original design of the iconic Santos-Dumont model with its typical dandy flair in an XL size with a hand-wound movement. Along with the permanent collection, Cartier also launched limited edition watches inspired by Alberto Santos-Dumont’s flying machines, which were pretty well received. For 2021, there’s a new pair of Cartier Santos-Dumont XL Limited Edition watches, including this handsome two-tone watch that we’ll be looking at today.?BackgroundThe Santos watch is one of Cartier’s oldest collections and one entirely dedicated to men. The collection is named after Brazilian avia

The Petrolhead Corner: H. Moser & Cie and BWT Alpine F1
For the second week running, I’m going to cover the fast-paced world of Formula 1, as I was lucky enough to be invited by H. Moser & Cie and the BWT Alpine F1 team for a factory tour and a one-day visit to the 2024 Silverstone Grand Prix. For those who have been following our Petrolhead Corner, which includes personal experiences from time to time, it’s no secret I love F1 racing and have been following it for about 30 years now. Weirdly, I have yet to visit an actual F1 race weekend but I’m not going to bore you with details on why that hasn’t happened yet. Instead, I will share my experience setting foot in the Enstone compounds of Alpine, talking to Pierre Gasly for a bit, and paying a visit to the Silverstone track on Friday.Front row, third through fifth from the left; our editor Xavier Markl, Alpine racing driver Pierre Gasly, and myself.The BWT Alpine F1 Team might not be the oldest on paper, as the name has been around since 2021, yet the history beh

Interview with Jer?me Lambert, CEO of Montblanc - Monochrome Watches
Just before this year’s SIHH started we had the chance to sit down with Jer?me Lambert, CEO of Montblanc. We’re talking with him about the third new collection that the brand launched since he joined the manufacture, in July of 2013, the integration of the two Montblanc manufactures and the brand new e-Strap that was launched on January 1st of this year. As of July 2013 Jer?me Lambert joined ?the German luxury brand and immediately you could feel there was someone else at the helm.?In the 1,5 years he has been with?Montblanc, they have launched three entirely new collection: last year’s Meisterstuck Heritage collection (which has been renamed to Heritage Spirit collection as of this year), the Boheme collection and the new Heritage Chronometrie collection that we’re covering (extensively) during these days, live from the SIHH. Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Hands-On - The Smaller Louis Moinet Tempograph Spirit (Specs & Price)
Independent watchmaker Louis Moinet certainly has demonstrated a fair dosage of creativity over the year, with impressively complex and playful watches, but discretion and compactness were not the first words to come to mind when looking at these watches. Most Louis Moinet models were polarizing, to say the least. Well, until recently, as the brand has decided to take a new direction, with sharper, more compact, easier design with modernity and sleekness in mind. First exposed with the Memoris Spirit, this new design language is now transposed to the other signature watch of the watchmaker, resulting in the new Louis Moinet Tempograph Spirit.The Louis Moinet 20-Second Tempograph, with its complex and large case.Presented in 2014 under the name Louis Moinet 20-Second Tempograph, the watch we’re looking at today is not entirely new. All the habillage and the decoration, design of the movement have been deeply revised, but the original concept, as well as the surprising display, are