Watches NEWS
Interview - In Conversation with Philippe Dufour
Philippe Dufour is a living legend. The independent watchmaker is one of most (if not the most) revered craftsmen in the industry and his watches are regarded as the ultimate in traditional hand-finishing. We visited the 70-year-old master in the small village of Le Solliat, in the Vallee de Joux. There, Philippe Dufour crafts his watches entirely by hand, elevating the art of watchmaking to the highest level. Visiting his workshop is a unique experience. It is exactly what you have dreamed about, and yet everything is a surprise and catches your attention: old tools, ancient machines, drawers, books, raw materials This place has soul.How does one become one of the most revered craftsmen in the Swiss watch industry?First of all, it takes patience and hard work. You must remove some words from your vocabulary: weekends, holidays or retirement. Once this is done you can start. It's been a long road. Being recognized for your work takes years.? I have been an independent watchmaker since
Hands-On With The Splendid Parmigiani Tonda PF Micro-Rotor In Platinum
Introduced in 2021, the?Tonda PF collection accomplished two missions: one was to celebrate the brand’s 25th?anniversary and the distinguished career of master watchmaker and founder Michel Parmigiani; the second was more long-term and designed to mark the new roadmap for the watch brand under CEO?Guido Terreni. Positioned as the brand’s luxury sports watch with integrated bracelet, the Tonda PF is as classy as they come. During Watches & Wonders 2023, Parmigiani Fleurier unveiled its Tonda PF Micro-Rotor dressed from head to toe – case, bracelet, dial, bezel and rotor – in 950 platinum. With its sober, monochrome aesthetics, deliberate minimalism and slim profile, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor is, in our eyes, the essence of sophistication and understatement.The BackstoryThe Tonda PF luxury sports watch collection is rooted in the classic ultra-slim Tonda dress watch collection designed by Michel Parmigiani. In a departure from many high-testosterone luxury spor
VIDEO - All You Need To Know About The OMEGA Co-Axial Escapement
Back in the mid-1990s, the watch industry was very different from what it is today and mechanical watchmaking was still in its renaissance. Very few watch brands actually manufactured movements in-house, and even fewer brands had the ability or industrial capacity to reimagine the escapement and the oscillator, together called the regulating organ and these are the most crucial part of a watch. With the idea of improving the century-old Swiss lever escapement (developed in 1755 by Thomas Mudge and used in 99.9% of all movements), master watchmaker George Daniels developed the Co-Axial escapement, an innovation that OMEGA realised was groundbreaking. Understanding the importance of chronometry, a field in which OMEGA has achieved multiple records, the Biel-based brand took on Daniels’ idea and industrialised the Co-Axial concept. It would become a key element in the impressive precision of its watches and paved the way for OMEGA’s Master Chronometer certification. Today, MON
Tudor Heritage Black Bay S&G Steel-and-Gold Ref. M79733N - Review, Specs & Price
Steel and gold, or often referred to as “Two-Tone” has been a no-go for a long time. I was very surprised when Tudor presented us with a two-tone version of their much praised Black Bay, at the Baselworld watch fair earlier this year. The Tudor Black Bay is?one of the most popular watches of the last 5 years, ever since it was introduced in 2012. The first model featured a burgundy red bezel insert, and since then we've seen several versions with different colours for the bezel insert. Last year the Geneva based brand introduced a full black edition, and that one also hit the right note among watch enthusiasts. This year a two-tone version has been added to the collection, and again it seems destined to become a favourite.The design of the Black Bay strikes?all the right notes, and it's probably best to describe it as a modern take on the 1958 ref. 7924 Big Crown (more about the historical models here), which is a collector's favourite with its?big crown and no?crown guards
Urban Jurgensen 1140RG - Hands-On Review (Specs & Price)
Every brand, at least those with a historical background, has?its own hallmarks, those unmistakable signs that create its?DNA, helping people to quickly identify a watch from a certain brand. For some, it is the shape of the case or a hand, for others it could be the complication used. For one brand, Urban Jurgensen, these are small details, however with such a level of execution that they deserve an entire story in this magazine – something that we’ll try to illustrate with the latest addition to the catalogue, the superb 1140RG in Rose Gold with a dark brown dial.The?Urban Jurgensen reference 1140 is a watch that we already covered here, when the brand unveiled a stunning?platinum version, with blue dial and applied Breguet numerals (yes, in this case, the name Breguet doesn’t only refer to the manufacture but also to the shape of the numerals, which have been widely used in the watch industry). In this case, we refer to the classical version of this watch, with a t
[Rating:(5 / 5 stars)]
