Watch News

Welcome to WatchTime’s watch news section. Here you will find the latest breaking news about watches, watch industry updates, watch auction results, clock news, watch quizzes, technology coverage and more watch news.

Selections Announced for 2012 Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix

The Foundation of the Watchmaking Grand Prix has announced that the prize-giving ceremony for the 12th Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) will take place on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. The GPHG has also announced the list of 70 nominated watches in seven categories.

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Sep 7, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Sponsored: Gerald Charles Introduces Maestro 9.0 Tourbillon

Introducing a new age of technical aestheticism, Gerald Charles debuts its Maestro 9.0 Tourbillon. With a unique design created with the expert oversight of the brand’s creative director, Octavio Garcia, the timepiece is a return to the original Maestro flying tourbillon released in 2005. Taking hints from the brand’s rich history, the new release is...

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Mar 21, 2023 by WatchTime

Bonus Audio: Excerpts from Our Interview with Festina Group’s Jean-Claude Schwarz

In the September-October 2012 issue of WatchTime, on sale September 11, executive editor Norma Buchanan profiles the Festina Group, one of the few companies that make movements, including hairsprings, from scratch, and hopes to cash in on cutbacks by the Swatch Group. Click below the photos to listen to audio outtakes from her exclusive interview...

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Sep 6, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Back is Beautiful 2012: More Watch Wallpaper

In our September-October issue, on sale September 11, we present our latest portfolio of photos proving that some watches look just as good from the back as from the front. Click here to download the photos — by WatchTime’s Nik Schölzel and OK-Photography — as wallpaper for your desktop.

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Sep 4, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Football Fever: Hublot Launches New King Power FC Bayern Munich

There is probably no greater soccer fan than Hublot chairman Jean-Claude Biver, and the brand has reflected it: in 2011 it introduced the King Power Red Devil Manchester United, a limited-edition collaboration with England’s world-famous Manchester United team. This year, Hublot takes its horological talents to Germany, producing another limited model for one of Man...

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Sep 3, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Gamer Time: Romain Jerome Pays Tribute to Pac-Man and Space Invaders

The iconic arcade games of the 1980s live on in a pair of unconventional Swiss-made watches from Geneva-based Romain Jerome, a brand that has delighted in marching to its own creative drummer, and celebrating both history and pop culture, since its founding in 2004. After crafting timepieces inspired by the 1969 moon landing, the wreck...

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Aug 29, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Parmigiani Unveils New Bugatti Watches at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Parmigiani, the Swiss watch brand founded by watchmaker Michel Parmigiani, introduced two new collectors’ timepieces to its Bugatti collection, made in collaboration with the prestigious automobile maker, at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The timepieces — a rose-gold version of the Bugatti Super Sport and a new titanium Bugatti Vitesse — made their debut alongside...

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Aug 28, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Pocket Full of Complications: Today’s Haute Horlogerie Pocketwatches

Even though the wristwatch long ago supplanted it in popularity, the classical pocketwatch continues to soldier on as a novelty in the world of timepieces, beloved by some collectors for their old-school appeal and large, decorative movements, and many of today’s watch brands have used the style to express not only their historical cachet but...

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Aug 24, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Open Hearts: New Watch Wallpaper

Back in our April 2008 issue, we presented a photo essay of luxury mechanical watches with openworked dials, showcasing the work of ace photographer Nik Schölzel. Now we’re making these shots available as downloadable desktop wallpaper for the first time. Click here to see the images, which can be enlarged with a click.

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Aug 22, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s New Reversos Offer Decorative Finishes

Jaeger-LeCoultre‘s headline watch at this year’s SIHH was its ultra-complicated Duomètre à Sphérotourbillon, but the Swiss brand did not by any means ignore its iconic Reverso model, releasing several new additions to the collection, including a “Triptych” of new models, all showcasing traditional artisan handcrafting, from enameling to skeletonization to guilloché.

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Aug 20, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Christie’s 2012 First-Half Results Shows Boost in Fine and Rare Watch Sales

Much of the world’s economy may still be in the doldrums, but the secondary market for fine timepieces appears to be in good health. Christie’s, the world’s leading auction house, recently reported a boost in global sales for fine, rare and unique watches. Pointing to rare timepieces as a sound investment, Christie’s posted a five...

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Aug 17, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Perrelet Launches Alternance 10 In-House Movement

Swiss watch manufacturer Perrelet has added its name to the growing list of manufacture brands with the introduction of an independently produced caliber, an automatic double-rotor movement called Alternance 10, or A10.

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Aug 15, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Three Decades of Shocks: Casio Launches 30th Anniversary G-Shock Models

In 1983, Casio launched its first G-Shock watch, a product that reinvented the image of the digital wristwatch and, with its unprecedented shock-resistant case, revolutionized watch case design as well. This year, the Japanese brand kicks off a year-long celebration of its most iconic timepiece leading up to the G-Shock’s 30th anniversary in 2013.

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Aug 13, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Breitling Rolls Out New Bentleys

It’s been a big year for Breitling, which introduced a slew of new products at this year’s Baselworld watch fair in March. The brand’s family of Breitling for Bentley watches, elegant sporting timepieces developed in cooperation with Bentley, the prestigious British automobile marque, was no exception. This year sees the debut of two new models:...

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Aug 3, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Vacheron Constantin Pays Tribute to Mozart with New Métiers d’Art Watch

Since 2007, Vacheron Constantin has been a patron of the prestigious Paris National Opera. In 2010, it released the first in a planned series of 15 unique watches in its Métiers d’Art collection, inspired by the breathtaking mural painting on the ceiling of Paris’s Palais Garnier Opera House by French artist Marc Chagall. The brand...

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Aug 1, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Elegant Accessories: Pens for Watch Lovers

Watch companies have upped the ante in the quality of their branded accessories — particularly in the case of fine writing implements, a category near and dear to the hearts of many watch collectors. In this 2009 column by Fine Pens writer Jan DiVincenzo, the first in our online archive of WatchTime’s popular lifestyle columns,...

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Jul 30, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Idol Time: American Idol’s Randy Jackson Talks Timepieces with WT

It’s been a big week for “American Idol’s” Randy Jackson. Not only is “AI” fandom abuzz over his future as a judge on the popular musical competition program, but this week also saw the launch of a new business venture for the famously watch-loving Jackson — Timepieces by Randy Jackson, a new line of watches...

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Jul 27, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Watch Wallpaper: Fantastic Faces and Beautiful Backs

Is your desktop in need of some horological flair? Check out this gallery of timepieces whose exhibition casebacks are as gorgeous as their dials. It’s the latest installment of wallpaper images from WatchTime’s “Back is Beautiful” archives, lavishly photographed by Nik Schölzel, and in this assortment you can download full-size images of both the front...

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Jul 24, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Tech Talk: Montblanc’s TimeWriter II Chronographe Bi-Fréquence 1000

If three watches constitute a trend, then measuring milliseconds, or 1/1,000s of a second, is a trend. Two watch brands, each with high-speed horological histories, have launched mechanical chronographs claimed to be capable of accurately measuring 1/1,000s of a second. Last year, TAG Heuer debuted its Mikrotimer Flying 1000 Concept Chronograph, followed this year by...

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Jul 23, 2012 by WatchTime

Romain Jerome’s Latest Features DNA From the Statue of Liberty

It’s been 125 years since the Statue of Liberty — a gift from the French to the United States to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — was first erected in New York Harbor. To commemorate the occasion, Romain Jerome has created a new watch, called Liberty DNA, whose dial contains actual...

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Jul 18, 2012 by Mark Bernardo

Controlled Chaos: Harry Winston’s Opus XI

For a couple of seconds every hour, the dial looks like a mess, but then all is made clear. Meet the Harry Winston Opus XI. Click here to read WatchTime writer Martina Richter’s in-depth report on the watch for our July-August issue, along with a video of how its ultra-complicated movement works.

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Jul 16, 2012 by Mark Bernardo