​To mark fifteen years of The Armoury and ten years of Unimatic, two brands united by a devotion to craft and clarity of design unveil the Modello Cinque U5S-TA2 “10.15.” It’s a compact 36mm timepiece that channels the kinetic spirit of vintage racing watches into something bold, precise, and deeply wearable. 

​The red-and-white checkerboard outer track captures a sense of movement, offset by a matte white dial and minimalist red hands. Beneath its sleek exterior beats the reliable Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement — an engine tuned for endurance, not spectacle.

​For The Armoury’s Mark Cho, this collaboration isn’t about a finish line but a lap marker — a symbol of progress shared by both houses. Each brand has spent a decade or more refining its craft, proving that great design is never static but constantly in motion. Limited to just 120 pieces, the Modello Cinque “10.15” celebrates the beauty of forward momentum. Information on availability can be found at The Armoury. 

Blancpain’s new 38 mm Fifty Fathoms is a revelation—not because it’s smaller, and not because it comes in pink, but because it proves that a serious dive watch can wear a new color story without losing an ounce of credibility. Yes, it’s marketed “for women.” And no, that shouldn’t deter anyone with style instincts and a pulse. The truth is simple: great design transcends gender. A typically masculine icon, reinterpreted in a fresh palette, is often more exciting than yet another predictable black-and-steel diver. Even for those of us who hate pink (ME), this one is impossible to dismiss. ​

​The 38 mm case isn’t a downsizing exercise—it’s a complete rebalancing of the Fifty Fathoms silhouette, making the legendary diver feel proportionally refined on slimmer wrists. Offered in smoky black with 18k red gold, or a petal-pink dégradé dial in brushed titanium, the watch pairs mother-of-pearl shimmer with Blancpain’s most rugged credentials: a domed sapphire bezel, 300 meters of water resistance, and the Manufacture calibre 1153 with a 100-hour power reserve. The result is a timepiece that feels as couture as it is capable. 

​This watch also carries a message—not about femininity, but about possibility. Blancpain connects the release to women exploring the ocean and documenting its fragility through initiatives such as the Female Fifty Fathoms Award, which celebrates underwater photographers and ocean advocates. But make no mistake: the real breakthrough is aesthetic. 

​Ultimately, this Fifty Fathoms isn’t about who it’s “for.” It’s about who has the taste to pull it off. If a watch is fabulous, it doesn’t matter how it’s labeled—you know it and like it when you see it. And this one? It’s a flex, a statement, and a fresh chapter in dive-watch design.

​What sets the CHANEL Première Galon apart is its couture soul. Inspired by the braids that trim CHANEL's iconic jackets, the watch translates a house code into a rigid gold bangle that slips seamlessly into a stack. The black-lacquered dial is pure minimalism—no markers, no noise—allowing the bracelet's architecture to take center stage. It's available in sleek yellow gold or elevated with diamonds, but either way, the impact is the same: this is a jewelry watch engineered to be seen. 

And now, with designs like the CHANEL Première Galon pushing the category into contemporary territory, it's obvious where this is going. The future of women's watch collecting may not be about complications or connoisseurship—it's about styling power. The bangle watch has returned for one simple reason: women are done dressing down. Time, at last, looks like jewelry again—and it looks better in multiples.

​It doesn't ask for attention; it assumes it, merging Gabrielle Chanel's love of ornament with a modern appetite for bold, articulated wristwear. The Première Galon isn't about checking the hour—it's about dressing the wrist with intent, with identity, and with unmistakable CHANEL attitude.

​Alessandro Michele didn’t just design watches at Gucci—he built a fantasy. During his tenure as Creative Director, Michele’s timepieces became miniature extensions of his larger aesthetic world: 1970s glamour, androgynous chic, romantic symbolism, and maximalist storytelling. Today, collectors are beginning to realize what fashion insiders already suspect: the watches he created—from the retro-cool GG2570 to the skate-deck-smooth Grip—are future classics, destined to become talismans of a particular cultural moment.

​That is why these pieces will age beautifully. They are not generic luxury products—they are artifacts of a creative revolution that defined Gucci in the 2015–2022 era. Just as Tom Ford–era Gucci is now a touchstone of late-90s fashion, Michele’s watches will soon be coveted markers of their time: bold, bohemian, fiercely individual, and absolutely unforgettable. For the collector who loves style with soul, the hunt starts now.

Piaget is returning to color—and charisma—with its latest collaboration alongside The Andy Warhol Foundation. The new Andy Warhol Watch “Collage” is a 50-piece limited edition that channels Warhol’s love of bold shapes, bright palettes, and beautiful objects. Inspired by one of his 1986 Polaroid collages, the watch reimagines Pop Art as wearable joy, filtered through Piaget’s unmistakable flair. ​

​Warhol wasn’t just an icon—he was an obsessive watch collector, owning more than 300 timepieces (including seven Piagets). His favourite, a striking 1973 cushion-shaped model, serves as the creative anchor for this release, revived in a stepped 45mm yellow-gold case that feels just as audacious today as it did during his Studio 54 era. 

​The dial is pure art-world alchemy: a marquetry mosaic of black onyx, pink opal, green chrysoprase, and yellow serpentine—small stones with big attitude. Powered by Piaget’s in-house 501P1 automatic movement and paired with a green leather strap, the watch is part sculpture, part statement, and entirely conversation-starter. 

In true Warhol spirit, it blurs the line between art and object, proving that Pop belongs everywhere—even telling the time. Which raises the fundamental question: is this a watch you wear, or a watch you collect? With just 50 available, the answer might be “both.” ​

​The Fam al Hut Mark 1 “Möbius” arrives as a bold debut from the Chinese independent watchmaker, fusing design audacity with technical sophistication. Born from a creative collaboration between Xinyan Dai and designer Lukas Young, the Möbius brings a forward-thinking design language to the emerging manufacture, setting the tone for a new chapter in Chinese independent watchmaking rooted in innovation, refinement, and mechanical ambition. The case eschews the traditional round form in favor of a pill-shaped capsule, measuring 42.2 mm in length, 24.3 mm wide, and 12.9 mm thick (rising to about 17 mm under the sapphire bubble) — proportions that might seem modest on paper but wear surprisingly well thanks to its ergonomic back-curve and polished concave flanks. What makes the case particularly striking is its unconventional surface and the way the sapphire dome gives the tourbillon beneath an unimpeded view, elevating the piece into the realm of sculpture. It looks entirely new. 

​Compact yet complex, the capsule-shaped case measures just 42.2 × 24.3 × 12.9 mm (about 17 mm including the sapphire dome), resulting in one of the most compact architectures ever to house a bi-axis tourbillon. Inside lies an in-house manual-winding calibre M-01T, developed by Fam al Hut, powering a bi-axis tourbillon along with a retrograde sweeping minute hand and a jumping-hour display. The brand has used the Möbius-strip concept not just as a naming device but as literal design inspiration: the tourbillon cage mimics the shape of a Möbius loop, while the dual-axis rotation and the time-display arcs convey a sense of infinity and looping time. On the wrist, this translates from mere functionality into visual theatre — this isn’t about quick reading of the time but about immersion in horological motion and form. 

​What impresses most is how confident and refined this debut effort looks and feels.

​Often, the first watches from young independents come across as sketches or stepping-stones; the Möbius feels fully formed. It offers more than 200 hours of hand craftsmanship per piece, serious movement architecture, and finishing that lands it firmly in haute horlogerie territory. You can see how this piece will inform everything that follows. All at a price point that undercuts many comparable European independents. The fact that this is a home-grown Chinese high-end watchmaking effort only adds to the narrative: Fam al Hut is signaling that it intends to play with the larger market, and the Mark 1 Möbius is quite an announcement. The GPHG nomination proves it. If you’re drawn to timepieces that challenge norms, provoke discussion, and deliver mechanical magic, this one deserves a closer look.

​Developed entirely at Hublot's manufacture in Nyon, the UNICO movement stands as one of modern watchmaking's rare achievements. Its architecture is unapologetically bold: the column wheel and dual-clutch system are visible from the dial side—a technical and aesthetic flex that few brands dare attempt. Beneath that striking surface lies serious engineering: a flyback chronograph capable of instant reset, a direct-drive hour counter for improved reliability, and silicon components that enhance precision and reduce wear. Protected by five patents, the UNICO HUB1280 movement is the product of more than a decade of refinement—proof that Hublot's commitment to performance is as rigorous as its design language.

​As Julien Tornare noted during the discussion, Hublot's goal was never to imitate the past but to invent the future of the chronograph. The UNICO's 72-hour power reserve, modular construction, and visible mechanics speak to that mission. For collectors and critics alike, this is where opinion gives way to fact: the UNICO isn't just an in-house caliber—it's one of the few modern chronographs that marries industrial precision with artistic audacity.

​The night ended, fittingly, with hands-on watchmaking at the Hublot Watch Academy, where guests (including myself) examined the intricate anatomy of the UNICO for themselves (and failing miserably at screwing in the world's tiniest screws). Under the extraordinary glow of the New York skyline, the brand once again proved that its fusion of science, style, and soul isn't a marketing slogan—it's the very mechanism of its success.

For nearly two decades, my friends at RedBar, led by Kathleen McGivney and Adam Craniotes (along with Dr. Jeffrey Jacques), have built something extraordinary: a global network that welcomes anyone with a watch and a sense of curiosity. They’re the warmest, most tireless ambassadors for watch culture—people who can make a newcomer feel like an old friend before the second round arrives. What began as a gathering of a few enthusiasts in New York has grown into an international family bonded by shared enthusiasm, humor, and a generosity of spirit.​

​Launched during RedBar’s 2025 Global Meetup in New York, this watch isn’t just another limited edition—it’s a toast to the community that changed how the world collects, connects, and celebrates watches. 

RedBar and Oris remind us that the true luxury of horology isn’t exclusivity—it’s belonging.

At Ulysse Nardin, convention is something to be rewritten—preferably in fire and silicon. The new Freak S Enamel proves once again that the brand’s wildest ideas are also its most beautiful. For the first time, the most complicated time-only watch on Earth is presented in enamel—in two dazzling editions of vibrant turquoise blue and deep ruby red. These limited 50-piece creations merge centuries-old artistry with space-age mechanics, a collision of craft and technology that feels equal parts scientific experiment and haute couture fantasy.

​The Freak has always lived up to its name. Since its debut in 2001, it’s been a mechanical rebel—no dial, no crown, no hands, just a rotating movement that tells time. The Freak S pushes that rebellion into overdrive with its two inclined silicon balance wheels, the world’s smallest differential gear, and a Grinder automatic winding system that captures even the tiniest wrist movement for energy. Nearly every component—95% of them—moves. This is not a static watch; it’s a miniature universe in motion, orbiting around itself like a cosmic carousel.

​Now, add enamel to the mix. The hour disc is hand-crafted at Ulysse Nardin’s Donzé Cadrans workshop, where enamel masters fire, polish, and perfect each guilloché-flinqué disc by hand. It’s a perilous, ancient process—one tiny crack or bubble and the artisan starts again. But the reward is hypnotic: enamel that glows with impossible depth and luster, enhanced by the swirling geometry of the Freak’s moving mechanism. 

​The result is a watch that looks alive—a kinetic sculpture that bridges past and future, tradition and technology. In blue or red, the Freak S Enamel isn’t just Ulysse Nardin’s latest experiment; it’s proof that innovation can be playful, daring, and irresistibly beautiful. After all, when you’re the house that made silicon sexy, why stop there? 

​Richard Mille never stops amazing—and never stands still. The brand’s latest creation, the RM 63-02 Automatic Worldtimer, once again pushes to the absolute limit of what a travel watch can be. This isn’t your grandfather’s world-timer with fiddly crowns and pushers; this is a smooth, sculptural machine where function meets creativity. With the twist of a red gold bezel, you can instantly jump across time zones, setting your local time without ever breaking stride. It’s a world-timer built for constant motion—sleek, intuitive, and distinctly Richard Mille.

​Crafted from a blend of red gold and titanium, the 47mm case embodies the signature Mille duality: bold yet elegant, complex yet effortless. The rotating bezel, mounted on ball bearings, controls a network of gears that simultaneously adjusts local and global times—an engineering master-concept of over 100 components working in perfect synchronicity. Even the city ring is thoughtful, showing 24 time zones in vivid contrast, with rose and burgundy marking the delineation between day and night.

​Inside beats the CRMA4 calibre, developed entirely in-house, with bridges and baseplate forged from grade 5 titanium. A monumental black-rhodium bridge showcases the mechanical genius below, while the oversized date at 12 o’clock adds a note of everyday practicality to the cosmic spectacle. A function selector at 4 o’clock toggles between winding and setting with a satisfying click—because even the smallest interaction with a Richard Mille should feel like a moment of discovery.

​Of course, no Mille would be complete without an obsession with materials science. The bidirectional rotor in red gold and titanium, the variable-inertia balance, the micro-blasted and PVD-treated finishes—every element is over-engineered in the most beautiful way possible. Even the gear teeth have a 20° pressure angle, because perfection here lives in the decimals. Tested through 5,000 rotations for reliability, this piece is designed not just to travel the world—but to orbit it.

​The RM 63-02 doesn’t just measure global time; it redefines the experience of it. It’s proof that simplicity can be the highest form of sophistication—and that in Richard Mille’s universe, even the most familiar complications can be reinvented with flair, finesse, and just a hint of audacity. 

The result? A watch that is as much about where you’re going as it is about when you’ll arrive. ​

​Leave it to URWERK to look at the stars and think, “Why stop at hours and minutes?” The new UR-10 Spacemeter is what happens when Swiss watchmakers let their imaginations slip orbit. Round, centered hands? Sure. Three subdials? Absolutely. But none of them track what you think they do. Instead, they measure the dizzying distances our planet travels through space — a poetic mash-up of physics and fantasy that turns timekeeping into a cosmic game of connect-the-dots.

​Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei — the dream team behind URWERK — call this their “SpaceMeter,” and they mean it. One dial logs the Earth’s rotation, another charts its journey around the Sun, and a third merges both paths into one hypnotic visual. Flip it over, and the back reveals a 24-hour display that mirrors our planet’s full spin, engraved with “Rotation” and “Revolution” moving in opposite directions — a miniature model of Earth’s perpetual dance.

​Behind the fun, there’s real firepower. The UR-10 is equipped with a new self-winding movement co-developed with Vaucher Manufacture and features URWERK’s double turbine system — two counter-rotating propellers that reduce wear and look downright mesmerizing in motion. The whole thing is housed in a wafer-thin titanium and steel case just 7.13mm thick, proving that even out-of-this-world ideas can be executed with Swiss precision.

​The UR-10 doesn’t just tell time — it reminds you that you’re hurtling through the universe at 30 kilometers per second. The result is part timepiece, part thought experiment, and entirely URWERK: brilliant, slightly mad, and gloriously unnecessary in the best way possible. 

​In an era defined by noise, distraction, and relentless motion, OMEGA invites us to do the opposite—black out time itself. 

Twelve years after the original Dark Side of the Moon redefined modern chronographs, this collection re-emerges leaner, more thoughtful, and more deliberate. Slimmer cases, new Co-Axial Master Chronometer calibres, and laser-brushed dials speak to OMEGA’s continual refinement of materials and form. The ceramic surfaces gleam with liquid-black intensity, their Liquidmetal details catching just enough light to suggest quiet power rather than flash. ​

​Among the standouts is the manual-winding Black Edition Co-Axial Master Chronometer 9908—minimalist yet muscular, featuring a matte dial and a flash of red chronograph hands for a singular blast of energy. The Apollo 8 edition, meanwhile, offers a literal journey to the far side of the Moon: a laser-ablated lunar surface on both sides of the movement, connecting wearers to the astronauts who first saw the Moon’s unseen face. These are instruments of precision, yes—but also portals to perspective.

​In a world that constantly demands our attention, OMEGA’s latest Speedmasters propose an elegant rebellion. To black out time is not to escape it—it’s to master it. And in doing so, OMEGA reminds us that simplicity, silence, and shadow can sometimes be the rarest luxuries of all. Let's all sign off. 

​Hublot has never been a brand to color inside the lines, and the MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire proves it once again. Created in collaboration with New York–based artist Daniel Arsham, this limited-edition piece of 99 captures the kinetic beauty of water in motion—frozen in titanium, sapphire, and imagination. It’s not just a watch; it’s a sculptural experiment in transparency, form, and flow. Inspired by the organic curves of a splash and powered by Hublot’s in-house Meca-10 movement, it’s as much an art piece as it is a timepiece, expressing both Hublot’s technical audacity and Arsham’s fascination with the fluidity of time.

The 42mm case is a masterstroke of the Art of Fusion, merging a frosted sapphire crystal, titanium, and rubber into a single, continuous gesture. A splash-shaped aperture cuts across the dial—an evolution of Arsham’s previous Droplet collaboration—while every curve and contour seems in motion. Beneath this fluid surface beats the Meca-10, a hand-wound movement with a remarkable 10-day power reserve visible through the transparent caseback. Hublot’s signature details remain intact: the six H-screws, the bold lugs, and the architectural balance that has defined the brand since the first Big Bang.​

​It’s an act of creative fearlessness—Hublot letting an artist reinterpret its DNA without restraint. The Splash revels in contradiction: sculptural yet wearable, minimal yet expressive, experimental yet engineered with Swiss precision. Arsham’s signature green illuminates the numerals, markers, and power reserve display, giving the piece an almost sci-fi luminescence that feels alive, in motion, suspended mid-splash. The result is pure creative chemistry between art and horology, collapsing past, present, and future into one continuous moment.

​The MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire is Hublot at its most playful and most profound—a brand unafraid to turn high watchmaking into an art form that drips with personality and invention. Like a drop of water suspended in midair, the MP-17 captures the impossible — time, movement, and mischief, all at once.

The Longines Ultra-Chron Classic brings a sharp, modern edge to one of watchmaking’s most important technical milestones. Nearly sixty years after the first Ultra-Chron redefined accuracy, this 2025 evolution reimagines high-frequency watchmaking for a new generation. Beneath its domed silver sunray dial and vintage-inspired details beats a heart of pure technology: the Calibre L836.6, a self-winding movement oscillating at 36,000 vibrations per hour. This high-frequency mechanism, enhanced by a silicon balance spring and anti-magnetic protection ten times stronger than standard, ensures the Ultra-Chron Classic stays precise when others falter.​

​Certified by the Observatoire Chronométrique de Genève, the Ultra-Chron Classic isn’t just tested—it’s proven. Each finished watch undergoes a grueling 15-day evaluation across varying temperatures and positions to verify accuracy under real-world conditions. The result is a timepiece that bridges the artistry of 1967 with the technical prowess of now, where every vibration, every component, is engineered for resilience and refinement.

​With its sleek 37mm or 40mm stainless steel case and ultra-thin 11mm profile, the Ultra-Chron Classic wears like precision made visible. Alternating brushed and polished finishes give it quiet depth, while its reimagined bracelet and trapezoidal date window nod to the original with minimalist sophistication. In an age obsessed with excess, the Ultra-Chron Classic proves that clean, simple, and modern are the rarest details of all. 

​Among all the watches I wear, the Cartier Santos has long been the one that feels most natural — the perfect balance between history, design, and everyday wearability. It’s a watch that embodies Cartier’s mastery of “shapes,” a brand language that has defined everything from the Tank to the Crash. And in this new titanium edition, the Santos feels more modern than ever — a study in proportion, precision, and purposeful lightness. I can attest to this fact. I've tried it on. 

The new Santos de Cartier in titanium is 43 percent lighter and 1.5 times harder than steel, a technical refinement that makes an already comfortable design nearly disappear on the wrist. Every surface is bead-blasted to a soft matte glow, contrasted by the black spinel in the crown — a subtle reminder that this is still Cartier, where elegance and engineering coexist. The result is quietly striking: refined enough for the office, resilient enough for travel, and utterly wearable anywhere in between.

​Cartier also introduces a new steel version with a black dial and Super-LumiNova hands, pairing the watch’s aviation heritage with a contemporary, slightly rebellious twist. The luminous green accents, half-satin and half-sunburst finishes, and faceted blue crown lend the piece a night-ready charisma that recalls the “Le Must de Cartier” era — that golden-lit moment of the 1970s when glamour met innovation and Cartier shaped culture as much as it shaped metal.

​In titanium form, the Santos doesn’t just revisit its adventurous roots — it reinvents them. It’s the rare watch that looks as sharp with a dinner jacket as it does with denim, reminding me why it’s the piece I reach for most often: timeless, architectural, and forever in flight.

​When I first covered the Monterey from Louis Vuitton, it was a runway surprise—vintage LV I and LV II watches gleaming on the wrists of models at Nicolas Ghesquière’s Fall/Winter 2025 Paris show. What had been a curious footnote in Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking history suddenly became the accessory everyone wanted. Designed by the renowned architect Gae Aulenti in 1988, the originals captured a kind of futurist optimism that, decades later, felt entirely of the moment.

​The waters of the English Channel were unforgiving in 1927, yet Mercedes Gleitze pressed on, determined to prove herself. Around her neck hung an early Rolex Oyster, a watch designed to withstand what pocket watches could not. 

Mercedes Gleitze's achievement marked the first time an athlete's triumph was leveraged to validate a product's technical innovation. Video courtesy of Sotheby's.

Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex's founder, had been waiting for this. Gleitze was not only a swimmer, she was proof incarnate. Her "Vindication Swim" became a spectacle: boats trailed her in the water, musicians played to keep her spirits alive, and journalists scribbled notes while planes circled overhead to capture the scene. What they were witnessing was more than endurance sport; it was marketing genius unfolding in real time. When the Daily Mail published Rolex's full-page ad declaring the Oyster "the watch that defied the Channel," Wilsdorf had written the first great chapter of modern brand storytelling.

​From that day forward, the rules of watchmaking changed. Craft alone was no longer enough—watches needed narratives, ambassadors, proof forged in the extremes of human achievement. The Oyster became not just a waterproof wristwatch but a symbol of possibility, and Gleitze, unknowingly, the first in a long line of brand "testimonees." The alliance between athlete and object, between press and product, ushered in an entirely new era of marketing—one that every watch brand has followed, in one way or another, ever since.

​Now, nearly a century later, as Sotheby's prepares to auction Gleitze's Rolex Oyster in Geneva this November with an estimate exceeding CHF 1 million, the watch surfaces once again as both artifact and myth. It is the watch that proved itself in the Channel, the watch that crowned Rolex a cultural force, and the watch that rewrote the script for an industry still living in the story it set into motion.