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.

Time Writ Large

Table clocks paired with pocket and wrist watches have proven highly popular with watchmakers and collectors alike. Breguet’s Sympathique sets are perhaps the most famous historical examples, and in modern times, a similar project started F.P. Journe along the path to creating his own brand. This year, Montblanc teams with esteemed clockmaker Erwin Sattler to...

Read the article

Feb 20, 2011 by WatchTime

The Birth of the Modern Dive Watch A Conversation with Cpt. Robert Maloubier

Captain Robert Maloubier’s life story reads like an action thriller that makes James Bond look like a milquetoast, and his exploits launched a chain of events that would result in the creation of the mechanical diver’s watch as we know it today. This is his story.

Read the article

Feb 6, 2011 by WatchTime

Lange Zeitwerk Striking Time

Striking watches represent the pinnacle of watchmaking, and at SIHH 2011 A. Lange & Söhne secured a position on that peak with the new Lange Zeitwerk Striking Time – the first Lange wristwatch with an acoustic signature. Capitalizing on the Zeitwerk’s unique design, the hammers and gongs can be viewed from the dial side. Find...

Read the article

Jan 30, 2011 by WatchTime

Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time The World Has More Time Than You Think (Video)

Quick: how many time zones are there? 24, right? No, wait… there are a few half-hour zones, so perhaps there are 28, or 30? Keep going. 32? 34? You’re getting warmer. Read on to find the answer, as well as details on one of the hottest watches at SIHH 2011. Several wallpaper images, pricing, and...

Read the article

Jan 23, 2011 by WatchTime

Setting the Scene at SIHH

SIHH 2011 opened this morning, and if the lines at the registration desks are any indication, attendance will be strong. To set the mood for the reports to come, WatchTime presents a few scenes from the first hours following the opening, before the big crowds arrived.

Read the article

Jan 17, 2011 by WatchTime

Scenes From An OpeningRichard Mille’s First USA Boutique

In the time it takes some brands to develop a movement and bring it to market, Richard Mille built a globally-recognized brand known for bold aesthetics, high complications, and Formula 1-style technology. Last week the brand celebrated the opening of its first USA boutique, and WatchTime was there.

Read the article

Jan 9, 2011 by WatchTime

Gentlemen’s Holiday Gift Guide 2010

Still seeking the right gift for the watch aficionados and other men of discerning taste on your shopping list? Check out WatchTime’s lineup of luxurious items and accessories for some last-minute ideas.

Read the article

Dec 19, 2010 by Mark Bernardo

Rare Museum Finds Come Back to Life

During the renovation of the German Watch Museum Glashütte, workers discovered 13 original marine chronometers that had been hidden away. It was an astonishing find. Today, each has been carefully restored and paired with a Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Platinum to create a very few historically significant sets that will be available to the public.

Read the article

Dec 12, 2010 by WatchTime

Panerai Math: P.3000 + 21 + 2 + 16.5 > 1993 + 6497

The proof for this equation takes the form of a story problem. When Panerai was reborn in 1993, they adopted the tried-and-true Unitas 6497 pocket watch movement, which made excellent business sense. Now, desiring greater autonomy and adding to their already considerable stature, Panerai has created its own 16.5 ligne, manually-wound movement, the caliber P.3000,...

Read the article

Dec 5, 2010 by WatchTime

An Afternoon with Christophe Claret

In many ways, the story of Christophe Claret is the story of the Swiss watch industry. He is independent and innovative. Much of his work is done in secrecy. He designed and created many of the most complicated movements introduced during the past 20 years. Now, Claret emerges from behind the curtain to produce timepieces...

Read the article

Nov 28, 2010 by WatchTime

Salvaging Lange’s Most Complex Watch

When watchmaker Jan Silva got his first glimpse of the innards of the A. Lange & Söhne Grande Complication 42500 pocketwatch, made in 1902, his heart sank. He saw that restoring them to anything resembling a working movement would be a Herculean labor.

Read the article

Oct 31, 2010 by Norma Buchanan

Racing Rarities Classic 1970s-era timepieces from TAG Heuer’s motorsports heyday go on the auction block.

The list of watch brands to which entire auctions have been devoted is short — Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, and a handful of others come to mind. TAG Heuer joins that elite group this year, just in time for the brand’s 150th anniversary. WatchTime previews the sale.

Read the article

Oct 25, 2010 by Mark Bernardo

Rolex Romps 7 Million Chronometers in a Decade

Watch enthusiasts know that when it comes to producing Swiss chronometers, there are the Big Three Brands – Rolex, Omega and Breitling – and then there’s all the rest. Just how big the Big Three are in chronometer production becomes startlingly clear when you analyze Swiss chronometer output by brand over the past decade.

Read the article

Oct 11, 2010 by Joe Thompson

30 Minutes with Lutz Bethge Montblanc’s CEO discusses the brand’s high-watchmaking ambitions.

When Montblanc unveiled its Metamorphosis watch at the SIHH watch show in Geneva in January, many believed it would be years before the exotic new chronograph would be ready for market. After all, the watch, with its 567 components, seemed hopelessly complex. The prototype on display was kept behind glass: it didn’t work well enough...

Read the article

Sep 19, 2010 by Norma Buchanan

Who are Switzerland’s Top Chronometer Producers?

Read about Switzerland’s top producers of chronometer watches from data released by Switzerland’s official chronometer testing agency, COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres).

Read the article

Sep 12, 2010 by Joe Thompson

WOW TIME: Parmigiani Bugatti Super Sport

In 2004 Parmigiani’s Bugatti Type 370 wowed the watch world with its horizontal, engine block-inspired movement layout. Fast-forward to 2010 and its wow time again at Parmigiani. WatchTime attended the launch of the wild new Super Sport, fittingly held during Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance weekend. We have exclusive photos of the launch, the watch, and...

Read the article

Aug 30, 2010 by WatchTime

The Man Behind the Brand: Pierre Jaquet-Droz

Pierre Jaquet-Droz was a real devil. Or at least people thought so. In 1758, Jaquet-Droz, whose name lives on in the high-end mechanical-watch brand owned by the Swatch Group, scared so many people with his mysterious, other-worldly machines that he was suspected of witchcraft.

Read the article

Aug 22, 2010 by Norma Buchanan

Thunderstruck: MB&F’s latest horological machine arrives like a bolt from the blue

It started with the figure-eight-inspired central tourbillon HM1. Then came HM2, with flying buttresses and porthole dials. HM3 followed with rotating cones providing the time. Earlier this year came a redesigned HM3 with cones resembling the bulging eyes of a frog. Now, MB&F rolls out its latest model, the HM4, which makes its predecessors look...

Read the article

Aug 8, 2010 by Mark Bernardo

Swiss Watch Industry Loses “Just” 4,200 Jobs

It could have been worse. Last year, Swiss watch companies eliminated “only” 4,200 jobs, compared with the more than 5,000 that some officials had predicted. Employment is now 49,097, a decline of 7.9% from 2008, and nearly the same as in 2007. Manufacturing jobs were hardest hit, declining 9.8%, to 36,275.

Read the article

Jul 25, 2010 by Norma Buchanan

Timex to Close Vincent Bérard

The Timex Group’s grand foray into the high reaches of the luxury mechanical watch market is ending. Swiss media are reporting that Timex is shutting Vincent Bérard S.A., the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based manufacturer of luxury mechanical watches, that it acquired in 2006. While neither Timex nor the Vincent Bérard firm has made any official announcement, sources...

Read the article

Jul 18, 2010 by Joe Thompson