Watches NEWS
First look: The Ultra-Complex IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar (incl. Video)
IWC’s Portugieser Eternal Calendar is the undisputed calendar masterpiece of the Schaffhausen-based brand for Watches and Wonders 2024. A colossal technical milestone, the Eternal Calendar marks the brand’s first secular perpetual calendar. Unlike a perpetual calendar that will need a correction in 2100, the Eternal Calendar is fitted with a 400-year gear that overrides the Gregorian calendar’s complex leap year rule exceptions and skips three leap years over four centuries. In short, it will not need to be adjusted until 3999! Combined with a hyper-precision moon phase display that will deviate from the Moon’s orbit by one day in 45 million years, this Eternal Calendar in a platinum Portugieser case is a tour de force.Exceptions to the RuleSince antiquity, astronomers have invented instruments to observe, measure and predict the motions of our universe with ever-increasing accuracy. As explained in this article, calendars are one way of condensing this vast amo
Value Proposition - Hands-On With The Aramar Long Beach Racing Chronograph - Monochrome Watches
Vintage-inspired watches have been one of the hottest trends of 2017 and this looks set to continue in 2018. Automotive-focused watches from the golden era of the 1960's and 1970's, such as the Bell & Ross Vintage Bellytanker and the Heuer Autavia, have been particularly popular, no doubt helped along in no small part by the $17m sale of a Daytona owned by some guy. Not everyone can afford the premium price tags these types of watch command, however, so today we're getting hands-on with a much more accessible alternative from Netherlands-based watch designer and producer, Aramar Watch Co. Called the Long Beach Racing Chronograph, it's already exceeded its funding goal on Kickstarter, with just under a month still to go. Read on for all the details.The Aramar Watch CompanyThe idea for the Aramar Watch Company came about in 2010 after a proposed collaboration with an already established watch brand failed to come to fruition. Rather than relying on someone else, the team thought th
In-Depth - A Guide to the Depth Gauge Watches
If scuba diving is a popular recreational sport, it is a dangerous activity that needs to be properly prepared and monitored. If a diver ascends too quickly, this can lead to decompression illness that can be painful and life-threatening. As depth increases the physiological effects become greater. A reliable dive watch and a depth gauge are essential pieces of diving gear designed to monitor depth and track the duration of an underwater adventure. Both variables are needed to use decompression tables. Traditionally, divers used a dive watch and a depth gauge to calculate decompression time at given depths. Although many divers today choose to dive with a computer, some still use a mechanical depth gauge, even if only as backup.The 1960s Favre Leuba Bathy 160 was one of the first wristwatches to incorporate a mechanical depth gauge. It could register depths of up to 160 feetA handful of manufacturers have developed watches incorporating a mechanical depth gauge, starting with Favre-Leu
Longines HydroConquest 41mm Two-Tone Collection 2021
It is the solidity and accessibility of the Longines HydroConquest watch that lends itself as such a useful tool for amateur and professional divers. That said, the robust yet classically designed watches from this collection are more than at ease on dry land too. The Saint-Imier-based manufacturer first launched the HydroConquest watch in 2007 but redesigned it in 2018 with colour-coordinated dials and ceramic bezels in black, blue or grey, an improved movement, two case sizes of 41mm or 43mm, and a metal bracelet or rubber strap option. Since then, Longines has also released an all-black ceramic model and a green dial/bezel version. Now Longines extends the HydroConquest watch collection with a series of two-tone versions available in steel and yellow gold PVD or steel and rose gold PVD. These green, blue, black and grey dial colour options are only available in the 41mm case size but come equipped with a movement promising an extended power reserve.A robust, modern caseUnlike the Lo
Hands-On Patek Philippe 5270P-014 Perpetual Chronograph Green Dial
If you think of an ultra-classic, almost conservative but also emblematic watch of Patek Philippe (and don’t mention the Nautilus… today we’re talking high-end watchmaking), it would certainly take the shape of a Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Born in 1941 with the reference 1518, this combination of complications is clearly a hallmark of the brand and the current version of this watch, the 5270, is one of the most traditional models made by Patek… Well, it was, until this year. Because now, with the new 5270P-014, gone are the days of the restrained silver or dark blue dials. Now, it’s time for the 4th generation of Patek’s perpetual calendar chronograph and it’s not the conservative watch you’ve come to expect anymore. It’s bold, it’s colourful, it has a new dial layout, and in fact, it’s almost as if this new deep green gradient and lacquered dial was part of an entirely new watch.?The first generation of 5270, launc