Hands-on - The brutally honest Laco Kiel.2 Chronograph
Despite the fact that mechanical watches today are very much a luxury item and far from a necessity, there was a time when proper timing instrument watches were the difference between life and death. Watches served a true purpose and were used to time extremely important events. This need for precision also arose with the threat of war building in Europe in the 1930s, which lead to the creation of the Beobachtungsuhr, or B-Uhr. These watches became legendary for various reasons, and today, most Flieger watches take after these original timepieces. Some of the brands which produced B-Uhr watches back then still do that today, to an extent. One such brand is Laco, which has been around since 1925. And Laco recently presented the brutally honest, no-nonsense Kiel.2 Chronograph that takes after the historic design of the Flieger Uhr.A brief history of lacoThe German watchmaking brand of Laco was originally founded in 1925 as Lacher & Co. by Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel. After initia

Buying Guide - The New Luxury Sports Watches of 2019
The Luxury Sports Watch category is dominated by iconic classics such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus - two watches that defined the genre back in the 1970s. It is also one of the most successful categories these days, with these two models being almost impossible to find at retailers. We all know that patience is a virtue, but when it comes to waiting years for your Nautilus 5711, this can become downright maddening. If you are sick of waiting or not ready to pay an insane premium on the secondary market, the good news is that there are cool alternatives out there. Don't want to pay an insane premium or be on an 8-year-long waiting list? Here are some new alternatives.Almost all the brands in the luxury or high-end field have recently designed watches that fit in this category, and 2019 has got its share of new launches too. Here are four brand new takes on the Luxury Sports Watch genre - watches that are not just substitutes but excellent options with

Hands-On - New Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Automatic 910P Blue
Even though it was unveiled without much fanfare, Piaget introduced a new 18k white gold version of its Altiplano Ultimate Automatic watch with handsome blue accents during Watches & Wonders 2021. When it was first released in 2018, the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic was the world's thinnest automatic watch with an overall height of 4.30mm, thinner than Bvlgari's 2017 Octo Finissimo (5.15mm). However, Bvlgari's Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic (3.95mm) broke the record-breaking thinness of the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic a couple of months after its debut. Nevertheless, and not diminishing its mechanical prowess, the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic is now the second thinnest automatic watch on the market and boasts very advanced mechanical solutions. With over sixty years of lean machines under its belt, Piaget's approach to movement construction is unprecedented.In the ongoing battle of ultra-thin watches, two names tower above all others: Piaget and Bvlgari. Piaget has the distinc

Pre-Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand (hands-on review, specs & price) - Monochrome Watches
Earlier today, we showed you in advance (and with hands-on thoughts) one of the SIHH 2016 highlights from Montblanc, the Heritage Chronometrie Chronograph Quantieme Annuel. You thought that?was all… You were wrong, as Montblanc has more to show us for this 2016 edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie.?After the complicated chronograph with annual calendar, here is a simpler, more affordable and even more dressy edition, from the same collection, the?Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Date by Hand.The date is THE basic complication in a watch. Whether we’re talking about dress watches, dive or?sports watches, chronographs, vintage-inspired or modern watches, simple or complicated timepieces, we can find this complication (yes, even the date is a complication. In fact, everything that is not linked to the time – hours, minutes and seconds – is a complication) in more than 50% of the watches, making it an almost necessary feature for commercial reaso

Hands-On - The New Certina DS-1 Powermatic 80 (Specs & Price)
If you are in the market for a solid yet stylish 3-hand daily beater at an affordable price, the Certina DS-1 Powermatic 80 should be on your radar. This summer, the DS-1 returns with three new dial colours and interchangeable straps, one of them made from plastic recovered from the ocean. Like the DS-1 Big Date of 2019 designed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Certina's DS (double security) concept of 1959, the watch blends a subtle vintage vibe with a resilient case and a robust Powermatic movement. ?Double Security turtle ShellIt's natural to associate Certina's Double Security concept with dive watches, and there are plenty of those in the brand's repertoire. After all, when it was introduced in 1959, the DS concept marked a big step toward making watches more reliable and water-resistant. The original DS concept, which is still used on all DS models today, relies on series of O-ring seals on the setting stem and crown with a special seal on the reinforced caseback. Like the ha