Watches Blog Wrist Watch Reviews

Somewhere last year, I was invited to come over to Richard Mille in Switzerland to visit their watch case factory and their HQ in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. With a small group of watch journalists, we arrived at the Richard Mille boutique in Geneva to have a look at all the (new) models they have. A great way to start the factory visit, as I have to admit that I wasnt familiar with most of their models or reference numbers. Although I witnessed their presentation of the Richard Mille collection in SIHH, the brand wasnt really on my radar. After this visit to Richard Mille in Les Breuleux, I have to say that they are definitely on my radar. Keep on reading.In the Geneva boutique, located in t [...]

Wearing an A. Lange Sohne Lange 1 Time Zone is one of those treats you get as a watch journalist. This of course applies to all sorts of watches from a plethora of brands but receiving an A. Lange Sohne is still something special. Even after 16 years of running this magazine, it is still a special moment when you can strap a Lange 1 to your wrist.The Lange 1 Time Zone has been in the collection since 2005, but last year, in June, A. Lange Sohne decided it was time to present an update. This new version of the Lange 1 Time Zone has a new movement, featuring a handy feature for indicating daylight saving time. But, of course, this hands-on Lange 1 Time Zone review is not about that new addi [...]

Today, we're excited to bring you a hands-on look at something we've been anticipating: the Breitling Navitimer 806 1959 Reedition.For many of us, we thought this day would never come, but lo and behold, we have finally arrived and Breitling has? delivered a watch that should please fans of its impressive back catalog.? With the announcement of the Breitling Navitimer 806 1959 Reedition, we are getting a no excuses watch that ticks every box (aside from it actually being from 1959); there's honestly so little to complain about that it should silence even the most persnickety critics.? We'll talk about why that is, what went into making this watch and what you'll be getting should you be luck [...]

Welcome to the new year 2021. Doesn't it sound good and roll off of the tongue nicely? It certainly sounds better than the sorry excuse for a year that was 2020, right? I hope you all had a lovely break over the Christmas and New Year period. I know I did I got a chance to reacquaint myself with the great outdoors and spend some time hiking in the absolute middle of nowhere. There's something about removing oneself from the daily grind and spending time in the wild. No people, no cars, no nothing. Just the sounds of the odd sheep, bird, or the wind.Now, in this kind of environment, it can get muddy, wet, and a little dangerous for a watch. Some places I visit involve scrambling up and down r [...]

After the Baselworld storm and some other side projects calmed down, I found some time to work on this tasty episode. This time we zoom in on one of the biggest and most bespoke watches of the flower-power seventies: Breitling 1806 Navitimer., a.k.a Fried Egg. To?me it's more a gigantic pan with two fried eggs:ColossalWith its 48mm in diameter this octagonal shaped watch was probably the biggest or one of the biggest watches Breitling produced in the seventies. It's a very technical watch, with lots of measurement functions and a slide rule bezel (more on that in a sec). If we take a look at the dial, there are no less than three subsections/rings to separate the several timing functions bes [...]

Remember the first Omega Seamaster Professional 300M Bond? The 2541.80 (quartz) and 2531.80 (automatic) to be precise. Those watches werent limited editions, but part of the regular Omega collection and worn by Bond in 1995 and onwards. Today, we introduce to you the Seamaster 300M that Bond will wear in No Time To Die, and it will be in the regular collection as well.I love the Seamaster 300M 2531.80. I had many, sold many, and repurchased one two years ago, realizing I shouldnt have sold the first one that I bought in 2000. The Seamaster 300M was, and is, the bread and butter piece for Omega. It always offered a lot of bang for the buck and still does. Especially the recently introduced mo [...]

Quite often, the fusion of two designs leads to controversial results. Can you really combine two unique design ideas successfully? When Zenith introduced the El Primero A3817 in 1971, watch fans must have raised an eyebrow or two when seeing the amalgamation of the iconic A384 and A386. Then again, the 1970s were an age of experimentation, so fusion design was definitely a part of that era. Five decades after the initial release, Zenith has released the modern version with the Chronomaster Revival El Primero A3817. Does my purist heart accept this pairing of iconic styles?Zenith has been releasing watches at a rapid rate over the last roughly two years. With a mixture of limited releases an [...]

The Grand Seiko SBGY007 Omiwatari was presented to you in June, so it's about time for a hands-on review of this classic-looking Grand Seiko. As I wrote in an introduction article last month, the Grand Seiko SBGY007 is part of the Elegance Collection. A Spring Drive powered dress watch whose dial pays tribute to the frozen waters of Lake Suwa. I explained the origin story of the Omiwatari in this article, so make sure to read that if you want to know more. This hands-on review of the Grand Seiko SBGY007 article is about the watch itself. No storytelling, just the watch as it is.Grand Seiko SBGY007 OmiwatariGrand Seiko has been on a roll this year, first showing us the White Birch, but also t [...]

Oris just unveiled their new Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115 in Shanghai. Our own Bert Buijsrogge is there on location to shoot the watch and join the unveiling, but we are happy to already show you some images.The new Oris Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115 is their latest masterpiece and shows what they are capable of. With this watch, Oris wants to show what all of their other watches have lead to so far. They also took their earlier introduced caliber 110 movement and fully skeletonised it for this special Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115. Nothing is actually hidden, everything is being shown to the wearer of the watch.Oris Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115Interesting to see is that the sk [...]

A long long time a go, I removed the entire content of Omega-Addict.com after I discovered that the data traffic got a bit out of hand. Probably due to some linkers (eBay?), it went up to almost 40GB a month?? Anyway, since then, I got a lot of emails from concerned citizens asking when it will be back online again. Well, today is the day ?? Here you go!?? [...]

Its Speedy Tuesday Weve been waiting to publish an article on this new Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 reference?318.90.45.79.01.001, also called Skywalker. It was a surprise to us actually, that Omega was developing a 3rd Generation model of the Marswatch. Weve been a big fan of the Speedmaster Pro X-33 and covered it many times. We actually did?a write-up on the Speedmaster X-33 1st Gen ref 3290.50 right before BaselWorld 2014 started where the new 3rd Gen Speedmaster X-33 was introduced.Omega developed?a new version of the discontinued Speedmaster Pro X33 (2nd Generation) together with the European Space Agency (ESA). According to the Omega press release, it was even developed based o [...]

Western culture likes to take things easy. Take the seasons, for example. We have four of them. But Japan has 24 sekki that mark nature's ever-changing seasons. And that's a good thing because the nuances of these 24 periods are way more subtle than the ones we know. For example, in Japan, they have a name for the time when autumn turns to winter. They call that s��k��, the time of the year when the first frost blankets color the landscape. The Grand Seiko S��k�� Frost SBGH295 and SBGA471 are frosty beauties with a warm afterglow that capture the natural phenomenon. The two watches are U.S.-exclusive special editions (NOT limited editions, just special ones) that are part of the Grand Seiko Heri [...]

With Seikos recent relaunch of the King Seiko collection, I thought itd be nice to take a look at the history of King Seiko, the Japanese watchmaking powerhouses other son. Historically, it was the rice to Grand Seikos fish, the two vital ingredients in Seikos finest horological sushi. However, King Seiko has lived firmly in Grand Seikos shadow in recent times. While Seiko dedicated a lot of effort to reestablishing Grand Seiko as its own entity (and has done a remarkable job), King Seiko was, until more recently, left by the wayside. Thankfully, Seiko has decided to rectify this, and we are now seeing some of the marvelous work of the Daini Seikosha factorys legacy revisited.As we all know, [...]

During the Summer, I had the honour to visit the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture in Le Sentier, Switzerland. I already knew of course that I was dealing with a true manufacture here, but during my visit I realized that I havent seen anything like it before. Ive been to a high number of watch manufacturers past few years, but Jaeger-LeCoultre surprised me in the most positive sense of the word.I will do a report on the manufacture visit very soon, but first let me show you one of the watches that Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced earlier this year: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar.Available in pink gold (reference 1552520) as well as in stainless steel (reference 1558420), a wonderful addition t [...]

Unless youve been under a rock or holidaying at the Baltic Sea (as I was), you might have noticed A. Lange Sohne Germanys undisputed grand-daddy of watchmaking companies just dropped a watch that, on paper at least, sounds like the sexiest thing to enter my mind since I had that weird dream about Lex in a skimpy yellow speedo. But even though it seemingly brings together all of the coolest elements of the brands range, is it really the best yet?Okay, my analysis of this piece is going to be highly subjective. Technically speaking, nobody in team Fratello, nobody reading this site, heck, nobody in this industry is likely to argue that the Zeitwerk is anything but a complete masterpiece. The [...]

Ive been more intimately acquainted with most modern Rado watches than most people would care to know. And trust me, although the very recent stuff is pretty smartly designed, the semi-modern output from the late nineties to 2010s was Well Lets just say, it was sent to try us. Manufacturing watches out of ceramic has come a long way since those days, and Rado has always been at the forefront of the practice. Those early attempts were creatively executed, but now were seeing signs of a master maker settling down into its field of expertise. So are these new flagship models in the Captain Cook range worthy of flying the flag for the famous Swiss brand? Lets find out.Flashback to the days I spe [...]

In 1995, the association between Omega and the Americas Cup legend Sir Peter Blake started. Along the way, Omega also started to support and partner with the Emirates Team New Zealand. As their main partner, Omega started to equip the sailing team with the special Speedmaster X-33 Regatta.?Emirates Team New Zealand TimepiecesWeve been covering Omegas ETNZ watches before and also have shown the different?Americas Cup models in the past. In this article, you will see an overview of the Americas Cup (and ETNZ) models up till 2015. For the 35th edition of the Americas Cup and especially for the Emirates Team New Zealand, Omega?has unveiled two new timepieces. Below, youll see the very first Amer [...]

Constructing a watch case from ceramic is almost by-the-by these days. With Tudor entering the chat to join Panerai and Omega, forgetting who pioneered this concept is easy. The new Pilots Watch Chronograph by IWC serves as a reminder of the mack daddy of the ceramic game. The IWC Da Vinci reference 3755 in 1986 was the first production watch with a ceramic case. For 2021, IWC takes inspiration from its military program to give civilians a choice to cherish the elite squadrons. Namely, the U.S. Navy squadrons, Royal Maces, Tophatters, and Blue Angels?, with matching color accents to the logos. By delivering a one-two-three punch knockout, IWC cements its strong association with military avia [...]

Breitling flesh out its Professional collection with a new suite of Endurance Pro quartz chronographs made with ultra-lightweight Breitlight?.Breitling is no stranger to adversity. Amid a pandemic, Breitling has faced the challenge of maintaining a fixed release schedule and executing a global communication strategy head-on. A successful webcast that may have had a few technical hiccups but still got the message across. Better still, it came at a fraction of the cost for what Breitling would have spent for a Baselworld booth.Endurance Pro collectionNow Breitling is gearing up for Geneva Watch Days. But just before the first major fair since COVID broke kicks off in earnest, we have a little [...]

Not many words stir up emotions and a sense of adventure like being asked to get packing for a Safari. You might consider it a hashtag, travel goal, or lifestyle. It evokes adventure, warmth, and dusty dunes. Like me, you might even have memories of a mythical rally, where cars as unlikely as the Mercedes SL and Porsche 911 battled through the desert. The word Safari will conjure up images of consummate style with a dusting of sand. You might be an urbanite at heart but will feel the need to google flights to Tunisia or Dakar after reading this, while wearing gnarly-soled suede boots. So pack your finest duffel bag and read on.Seiko SNJ029 SafArnieA demure 38mm skin diver is all well and go [...]