Hands-On: The A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus Chronograph
A. Lange & Sohne was never a company to overwhelm visitors to the SIHH (now Watches & Wonders) with countless new models and variations of the past references. The Saxon brand always sends a clear message about what the launch of the year is with a huge replica of the essential new product welcoming you right there at the entrance to the ALS booth. The giant replica displays the correct time and date but also makes a statement: here at Lange, we are all about making watches, and not marketing stunts, with supercars and aeroplanes and fancy displays – an obvious hint to neighbouring exposants. This year the Saxon watchmakers went minimal and decided to introduce just one new reference – a costly limited-edition Odysseus Chronograph in stainless steel.?The original A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus, as presented in 2019, with weekday and date – note that the new chronograph feels very similar in style and display…We mention stainless steel right here first, be

Found - A Habring2 Monopusher Chronograph Japan Edition Black Dial
Habring2 is a brand that is special on many levels. Not only is it one of the rare manufactures to produce mechanical watches in Austria, but it is also the shared vision of a couple, Maria and Richard, some of the most pleasant and passionate people we know. And of course, the independent watchmaker is also known for making cool, finely crafted and creative watches – with a focus on chronographs and dead-beat seconds. Among these watches, there’s one that has to be seen as extremely desirable, the Habring2 Monopusher Chronograph Japan Edition, a rare watch retailed exclusively through a Tokyo-based retailer… And one of these superb models just appeared for sale.?Habring2 is the result of a shared vision between husband-and-wife Richard and Maria, founders of a small independent watchmaking atelier that, over the years, has gained great respect and fame. Born in 2004, Habring2 is not your typical, ultra-famous and demonstrative brand. It comes from Austria, from the s

Revisiting the sleek Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Calendar
Jaeger-LeCoultre's Master Control Calendar broke rank with the past and appeared in an all-steel version two months ago. As the brand's classical, slightly vintage branch, the Master Control family combines technical rigour with aesthetics inspired by the round timepieces made by the brand in the 1950s. Equipped with an interchangeable stainless steel bracelet and a sober silver dial, the Master Control Calendar in steel is sportier, more contemporary and far more versatile than the leather strap options.Earlier this year, we covered the blue dial model of the Master Control Calendar, a limited edition to mark the 30th anniversary of the Master Control line. As you no doubt recall, the particularity of JLC's triple calendar is the jumping date that performs a leap from the 15th to the 16th of each month to ensure the moon phase display is not obscured. However, and apologies to those of you who love blue dials, the watch is a case study in blue. With blue backgrounds for the apertures

Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronometer Manufacture 2013 - Monochrome Watches
Ulysse Nardin is a visionary company. Such a declaration might seem overstated, especially when dealing with their longstanding, flagship model, the Marine Chronometer; however, remember Ulysse Nardin is the company who gave us the Freak, a genre-defying watch that was ahead of its time.Under the aegis of the late Rolf Schnyder, the company partnered with Ludwig Oechslin of now Ochs & Junior to realize the Freak in 2001. The visionary contribution of the Freak was not only its forward design, but, for our purposes here, it was the first watch to use a silicon escapement, followed by the Freak DIAMonSIL in 2007, which used a proprietary material called DIAMonSIL and silicon balance spring (see updated coverage here). When the winds of Swatch's ETA moratorium began to blow, Mr. Schnyder decided Ulysse Nardin needed its own in-house caliber. At Baselworld 2012, Current CEO Patrick Hoffman oversaw the introduction of the automatic caliber UN-118, the company's first base caliber, to th

Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle collection now in slate grey
Slate grey and pink gold is a combination that definitely works. Warm, contrasted and highly elegant, this is no surprises that a brand such as Vacheron Constantin, not shy?in creating elegant watches, already chose this color scheme in the past. Yet, today, they are pushing it a few steps further, as the?Traditionnelle Collection receives the slate grey / pink gold treatment on 6 of its models.All of these watches share common elements, which define the?Traditionnelle Collection: a round stepped case, slim bezel and fluted caseback; a railway-track minute circle, batons de Geneve applied hour-markers and Dauphine-type hands. Whether we talk about the simple manual-winding version of the uber-complex Traditionnelle calibre 2755, there’s a clear shared pedigree. These watches are “traditionnelles” in many ways, as highly classical, but not void of elegance… at all. This is now even truer with the new additions, showing a dark grey (named slate) dial with a warm a