Joern Frederic Kengelbach

Since 2022, German luxury jeweller Wempe has been regularly honouring its long-standing and close partnerships with major watchmakers by offering special classic watches in strictly limited editions, which are carefully designed in collaboration with the brands. The Wempe Signature Collection plays with classics The Wempe Signature Collection began with classics that almost everyone knows, as…

If you look at the half-life of CEOs in the watch industry, Angelo Bonati, who spent a total of 21 years at Panerai, 18 of them as CEO, should win the Methuselah Award. I am not aware of any CEO who has been in office for longer, but neither is anyone from a brand that…

As soon as the five starting lights on Boulevard Albert 1er turn green at 3 p.m. on 25 May 2025 and the Formula 1 TAG Heuer Grand Prix de Monaco 2025 begins, they will also mark the beginning of a new era in the watch world at the historic race track. In celebration of the…

Is the currently weak watch market perhaps lacking the sophistication to truly captivate top collectors who already have everything? Editor and watch expert Jörn Kengelbach embarks on a journey into the world of Vacheron Constantin’s enamel craftsmanship — and explores why this rare art could play a key role in the watchmaking industry’s spectacular comeback.…

As every good collector knows, the smallest of changes can make a huge difference to watches. Panerai is revising its most important model, the Luminor Marina. The PAM01312 becomes the PAM03312. Same, same, but (totally) different? It's a game-changer, says Swisswatches expert Joern Kengelbach. First impressions: Does the new Panerai suit my wrist? I travelled…

The most important company and watch model anniversaries in 2025 and a (critical) look at the watch industry this coming year. Normally, we like to hold back on speculation at Swisswatches – and for good reason. The watch industry and the pre-owned watch market have experienced a surge in attention over the last five years,…

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 was the world’s first black wristwatch in 1972. Its most significant comeback followed in 2022.

Everything about the service for Patek Philippe watches: Maintenance, costs, duration and restorations of historically important models.

Swiss watch start-up Norqain earned a spot in the display windows of the prestigious retailer Wempe in remarkably little time. Our editor Joern F. Kengelbach explores this through the lens of the latest 2024 Wempe Signature Collection, created in collaboration with none other than this rising watch start-up, which has been making waves in recent…

As an author who has spent over twenty years writing about mechanical wristwatches, being tucked away for two hours in a shadowy wine cellar in Cologne’s old town with thirty potential watch clients is truly exciting. It’s not just the rare wines they savoured together – including a Bordeaux from 1988 – but the open…

The German manufacture Glashütte Original has firmly earned its place alongside some of the most reputable of Swiss brands. Glashütte Original combines traditional watchmaking and craftsmanship with the almost implausible ability to adapt to new economic, political and cultural conditions. These lines were not written by the author of this text, but by the CEO…

The first German Concours of Elegance – at least the first one to be deserving of the name – is only an hour’s flight from Hamburg, yet travelling through Germany during the summer holidays is inevitably a challenge, as hundreds of thousands of Germans flee the country in search of warmer climes. All the greater,…