Watches and Espresso - Monochrome Watches
Last year Robert-Jan from Fratellowatches and Gerard from Horlogeplatform Nederland initiated an informal meeting of local watch enthousiasts. The idea was to make the Watches and Espresso meeting into a returning event in different locations in the neighborhood. Recently we met at a place near the sea, where it was very quiet due to the lousy weather. 8 Fellow watch enthousiasts joined to talk about watches, admire newly aquired watches and discuss the watch industry.TableshotOne of the things has become a returning topic is the size of watches and specifically the very large sized watches. I think most of us think that the BIG hype has gone far enough and it’s time to return to smaller sized watches.Personally i think large watch can be nice, but only for watches with a history of being big. Like the Panerai Luminor Marina and Radiomir models which have always been 45mm or 47mm large, which made sense for the purpuse they where designed for. Also the IWC Big Pilot has large anc

First Look - Ferdinand Berthoud Chronometre FB1 now in Platinum (Specs & Price)
When Karl-Friedrich Scheufele (the co-owner of Chopard) embarked on resurrecting Ferdinand Berthoud, one of the greatest horologists of all times, his ambition was obviously not to release a servile replica of past glories. Distilling and recombining this unique legacy into a personal perspective, the contemporary watches bearing this illustrious name are singular. While displaying an obvious respect for the classics, the Ferdinand Berthoud FB1 is a modern take on this heritage. The result is truly exceptional, crafted and designed with exacting attention to details. The GPHG 2016 Aiguille d'Or award, one of the most (if not the most) meaningful industry accolades is no small achievement. After white and pink gold versions, Ferdinand Berthoud is now releasing a stunning platinum limited edition that premiered at Les Ambassadeurs, in Geneva.Ferdinand Berthoud - the revival of precision watchmaking Ad - Scroll to continue with article

Longines Skin Diver Watch - Vintage and New Face-to-Face
Not many people know that Longines does not consider itself a manufacture but a factory, and encourages everybody to call it a factory. It is surprising, but it perfectly matches the spirit that commands the Maison these days: high-quality mass production. Despite having a vast collection of movements, Longines only uses ETA calibres (often adjusted to their own specifications), which makes producing tens of thousands of watches a far easier task. That is the reason why the watches most celebrated by aficionados are those in which historic references are reinterpreted. Such is the case of the Longines Skin Diver Watch, a perfect recreation of the factory's first diver watch, born in 1959 - in the days when the company was still a manufacture.When reinterpretations such as this one appear on the market, there are always complaints.Why did they have to use fauxtina??is the classic comment. But in the case of the Longines Skin Diver Watch, the house of the winged hourglass has not actuall

Hands-On - Certina DS Powermatic 80 Collection 2021 (Specs & Price)
When a few weeks ago Certina presented its new DS Powermatic 80 Collection, I personally thought “OK, that looks quite cool and has some serious mechanical content.” But it also made me think about the first mechanical watch… If like me you’re a watch lover, the first mechanical watch is important. And at the same time, you think about spoiled kids on Instagram… There’s a certain balance to find. Which made me think again that this new model could well be a strong candidate for this job. And now that we’ve seen the Certina DS Powermatic 80 in the metal, it’s time to look at this question.What is the DS Powermatic 80 Collection? In short, a watch from the Heritage collection, inspired by the DS Chronograph Automatic of 2020 – a re-edition of a Certina chronograph from the 1940s – but here in a time-and-date context, with retro style, serious execution, strong movement and just a bit of fun in its design. And a price that feels

First Look: The Olive-Green Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton
With its Captain Cook, Rado, a brand part of the Swatch Group, is merging two important sides of its history. First, this watch collection revived one of the brand’s greatest watches of the past, a 1960s dive watch with a rather peculiar yet attractive design. Second, it is used as a vessel to showcase the company’s leading know-how in high-tech materials (the brand labels itself as The Master of Materials), in particular ceramics. This skilful blend of retro vibes and high-tech materials has recently been demonstrated with the Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton, which is now available in an unexpectedly cool mix of olive-green ceramic and PVD rose gold accents.?The Rado Captain Cook started its life as a classic take on the dive watch, yet with a slightly original design. Born in 1962, it was revamped in 2017 as a limited edition, then followed in 2019 by yet another 37mm limited edition – both watches faithful to the original concept and design, made out of sta