Watchepedia

            With a new Global CEO comes a new movement. TAG Heuer is once again breaking new ground in the automatic chronograph movements. TAG Heuer and the company’s new CEO, Stephane Linder, have introduced to the world a new totally in-house designed and produced chronograph movement that has been dubbed the Calibre CH 80 after having been formerly known as the Calibre 1969. The Calibre 1969 was a reference to their first automatic chronograph movement the Calibre 11. The Calibre 11 was revolutionary at its release and has become legendary in the ensuing years as…

            As a kid the idea of being an astronaut was thrilling, and well… out of this world. As an adult the thrill comes from being able to own the astronaut’s toys. The Swatch Group and Omega have once again made this possible by bringing back an updated and improved Omega Speedmaster Mark II. Omega released the original Speedmaster Mark II in 1969, with thoughts of it being an improved replacement for the venerable Omega Speedmaster. Of course we all know how that turned out. You know the whole Speedmaster being worn by a man…

            Is there a perfect watch? Is there a watch to end all watches? A short answer to this question is, in the language of our Spanish-speaking friends, no. Having any other answer would be as impossible as a parent picking his favorite his favorite child. No one is that diehard, even a rabid New York Yankees fan would admit to a National League favorite, however that team would never be the Mets. So, is there no such thing as the best?             The best is only for people who don’t really know what they…

Rolex has unparalleled brand-name recognition for a reason: they make excellent, world-class watches and they have consistently gone their own way in more ways than one. When other Swiss companies were trying to reinvent themselves as makers of cheap quartz watches just to stay alive, Rolex followed a different path. They elevated their game and redoubled their efforts to become the largest and most successful maker of luxury watches in the world. It was a typically shrewd move and guaranteed their success and survival during the “quartz revolution” era that saw the demise of so many old and respected Swiss…

It is fairly well known among the watch collecting cognoscenti that Sean Connery wore a Rolex Submariner watch in the early James Bond films—but not on the usual metal Oyster bracelet. Instead, he always wore the iconic dive watch on either a leather band, or more commonly, a regimental stripe cloth strap. For quite a few years, gray and black striped so-called NATO straps have been popular with watch collectors wanting a “Bond” strap. A similar G10 nylon strap (in a light gray color) has been issued to Her Majesty’s naval forces (especially to Royal Navy divers) in the UK…

Even many watch collectors would probably be surprised to know that the first dive watch produced by Rolex wasn’t the famous Submariner. It was actually a Panerai. Yes, that Panerai—the Italian watch company popularly known for brawny, generously-sized watches with unique half-moon crown guards. How did an Italian watch company become the first seller of Rolex dive watches? It all started back in Italy in the 1930s.  The Italian Navy Contract Officine Panerai was founded in Florence, Italy in 1860. For the next sixty years the company primarily made precision instruments like compasses and other nautical equipment. In the mid-1930s…

In the space of a few short years from 1926 to 1931, Hans Wilsdorf and his nascent Rolex watch company changed how we look at watches and what we expect from them— forever. He did it with two perfected technologies that helped define the modern wristwatch for the next fifty years: the waterproof watch case and the self-winding or automatic movement. He called his new waterproof case the Oyster and the self-winding movement the Perpetual. Wilsdorf and company didn’t invent these important advances in a vacuum—other companies were feverishly working on solving the same problems and Wilsdorf wasn’t above buying…