Watch Features

Welcome to WatchTime’s watch features section. Here you will find watch feature stories, watch reports, interesting watch technology coverage, interviews with watch brands, background articles about watches, watch brands and technical stories.

A Watch of Note: The Inside Story of the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine Calibre 1731

What’s the Mt. Everest of watchmaking? Is it a minute repeater? How about an ultra-thin caliber? Each requires special manufacturing know-how. Neither tolerates imprecision, and assembling either one requires tremendous skill. Now imagine an ultra-thin minute repeater. That’s a challenge the craftsmen at Vacheron Constantin accept every day. They are making the Patrimony Contemporaine Calibre...

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Mar 28, 2015 by WatchTime

Sponsored: Artel Rotec Introduces New Sky Series

Independent watchmaker Artel Rotec is introducing its second collection, the Sky Series, this month, with the bold timepiece serving as a worthy follow-up to its V-Series limited edition sports watch lineup. Artel Rotec first formed in 2018, when designer and longtime watch collector Matthew Roknipour launched the brand as a family owned, independent watch company...

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Jan 25, 2023 by WatchTime

Skeleton Crew: Exploring Armin Strom

The story of the Armin Strom brand goes back nearly half a century. WatchTime Editor-in-Chief Joe Thompson takes us back in this feature article.

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Mar 14, 2015 by Joe Thompson

Making Time: How Jaeger-LeCoultre created its Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3

It starts with pencil and paper, just as it has for centuries. A talented hand sketches the lines that will one day become a living, breathing timepiece. WatchTime visited Jaeger-LeCoultre in Le Sentier to explore the creative process that culminated in the latest addition to the brand’s Hybris Mechanica collection of highly complicated timepieces. Here is the...

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Mar 7, 2015 by WatchTime

Remaking Moser: New Owners Revitalize the H. Moser & Cie. Watch Brand

By streamlining production and focusing on profitability, the new owners of Schaffhausen-based H. Moser & Cie. hope to give the brand a second chance. In this feature we explore how the new Moser came about.

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Feb 14, 2015 by Jay Deshpande

Concept to Caliber: The Story Behind Audemars Piguet’s Manufacture Caliber 3120

In this in-depth profile from the WatchTime archives, discover how Audemars Piguet brought its manufacture movement, Caliber 3120, to life, from concept to finished caliber, and see behind-the-scenes photos of Audemars Piguet watchmakers at work assembling the movement.

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Feb 11, 2015 by Martina Richter

Smartwatches – Smartphones for Your Wrist (Updated with News on the new Swatch Smartwatch)

After smartphones come the smartwatches: IT companies — and, perhaps, even some traditional watch companies — are bringing intelligent watches onto the market, and the demand for them is growing. Scroll down for a primer on these groundbreaking devices, including the latest news on the long-rumored Apple smartwatch which was finally launched on September 09,...

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Feb 11, 2015 by Jens Köppe

Watch Review: Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar

Montblanc introduced the Meisterstück fountain pen 90 years ago. With a deep black finish, gold rings and clip, a cap inlaid with the Montblanc star emblem, and a handcrafted nib, the pen became a famous status symbol. The brand launched the Meisterstück Heritage Collection of timepieces to mark the 90th birthday of this iconic writing...

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Feb 8, 2015 by Martina Richter

Watch-Spotting at the Vienna Clock Museum

It’s not that anyone would need another reason to visit Vienna, but should you find yourself in Austria’s capital, and you are a timepiece aficionado, make sure you pay a visit to the Vienna Clock Museum.

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Jan 27, 2015 by Roger Ruegger

Making a Move: How Panerai Became a Manufacture

At the SIHH show in Geneva in January, Panerai introduced four new movements designed and produced in-house. Our editors test the Panerai Radiomir 8 Days Ceramica. In this in-depth feature we explore Panerai’s rise to manufacture status. When it comes to making movements, Officine Panerai is on the move. At the SIHH show in Geneva...

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Dec 29, 2014 by Gisbert Brunner

The Big Fix: Behind Girard-Perregaux’s Makeover

The new Girard-Perregaux Chrono Hawk goes under the microscope in WatchTime’s November-December issue, on sale now. In this feature from the June 2013 issue, we delve into how new Sowind Group CEO Michele Sofisti plans to cure what’s been ailing that Swiss high-horology brand.

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Oct 22, 2013 by Norma Buchanan

Ringmaster: Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern Talks Minute Repeaters (Audio)

(As seen in the October issue of WatchTime.) You’ve seen the advertisement. It shows a man with a white glove on his right hand holding a watch up to his ear. The copy reads, “Of course, the acoustics of all minute repeaters have to be tested. In our family-owned watch company, the President does it.”...

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Aug 26, 2013 by Norma Buchanan

Bremont Codebreaker: A Tribute Timepiece to Britain’s WWII Cryptologists (Video)

The Bremont Codebreaker, one of the year’s most shrouded-in-secrecy new watch releases, teased at during Baselworld and at the Las Vegas watch and jewelry shows, finally made its United States debut (albeit only as a prototype) this summer. Click here for the story behind this limited-edition watch and the milestone in British history that inspired...

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Aug 14, 2013 by Mark Bernardo

One-Man Brand: The Story of UTS Divers’ Watches

Munich-based UTS has carved out a niche: German-made professional divers’ watches, all with cases made in-house from single blocks of steel by engineer Nicolaus Spinner. Learn more in this feature from WatchTime’s December 2011 issue. Most of us, when we’re looking for our ideal watch, simply do our homework — visit retailers, read magazines and...

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Jul 23, 2013 by Mark Bernardo

La Montre Hermès CEO Luc Perramond: The WatchTime Q&A

Luc Perramond, CEO of La Montre Hermès, the watchmaking division of the famed French fashion house, is on a mission to elevate Hermès timepieces to a higher level of manufacturing self-sufficiency and horological mastery. Last year, the first Hermès watches with proprietary mechanical movements made their debut at Baselworld, and Perramond has been very busy...

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Jul 22, 2013 by Mark Bernardo

From WatchTime Magazine: 7 “Buzz” Watches From Baselworld 2013

Every Baselworld has its “buzz” watches, new models that set fairgoers’ tongues wagging, whether they’re technologically advanced, unexpected from the brand that produced them, or a new twist on an old standby, In the current issue of Watchtime, on sale now, we spotlight seven of them in detail. Here is a glimpse of the timepieces...

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Jul 7, 2013 by Mark Bernardo

Watch Insider Reviews Jaquet Droz’s “The Charming Bird,” with Photos, Audio, and Video

On my recent trip to Shanghai I had the opportunity to put my hands on a luxury item that in the 18th century was accessible only to emperors and kings — namely, a wristwatch with a singing automaton. Yes, of course, the wristwatch had yet to be invented in the 18th century, and automatons were...

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Jul 3, 2013 by Alexander Linz

Audio: Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Stéphane Belmont Explains the Gyrotourbillon 3

In our July-August 2013 issue, on sale next week, WatchTime’s Mike Disher visits Jaeger-LeCoultre’s manufacture in Le Sentier, and meets with JLC marketing and technical director Stéphane Belmont, to reveal the story behind the brand’s ultra-complicated Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3 wristwatch.

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Jun 27, 2013 by WatchTime

TAG Heuer Commemorates 50 Years of Carrera

Jack Heuer is the man behind the TAG Heuer Carrera, the iconic sports watch that turns 50 this year. In this story from my blog, Watch-Insider.com, I reveal the Carrera’s fascinating history, with quotes and insight from Jack himself, and unveil the 2013 TAG Heuer Carrera watches introduced at Baselworld.

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Jun 10, 2013 by Alexander Linz

Five “Uber Watches” from SIHH

There are watches and there are watches. Included in the second category are pieces so technically extravagant, so hyper-engineered that they belong to a very special club. Their prices are stratospheric. Hardly anyone will ever own one. But they are fascinating nonetheless. As always, this year’s SIHH fair in Geneva in January brought out a...

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Mar 29, 2013 by Mark Bernardo

Seconds City: Exploring La Chaux-de-Fonds

In our March-April issue, on sale now on newsstands and for the iPad, Norma Buchanan visits the Swiss watchmaking town of Le Locle. In this feature story from our June 2009 issue, Buchanan journeys to another cradle of Swiss horology, La Chaux-de-Fonds, a town that is still, as Karl Marx described it a century and...

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Mar 11, 2013 by Norma Buchanan

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