Nico Bandl

When Wempe introduced its new watch line Iron Walker two years ago, it aroused our curiosity. Until then, our main interest had steadfastly been in precision mechanics from Swiss manufactures, but with the steel Iron Walker and its integrated straps, an extremely attractive and contemporary German-made line entered the market. What’s more, it came from…

One would think that the world's largest watch and jewellery retailer would already have, well, more than enough to do with its business model. With more than 100 boutiques worldwide, 13 of them in Germany, Lucerne-based jeweller Bucherer ensures that the latest products from predominantly Swiss manufacturers find their way to the wrists of men…

Those who know me know that I have another great passion besides mechanical watches; tennis. For me, there is no more perfect tennis player in my generation than Roger Federer, because his game is unrivalled in elegance. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, his two greatest opponents, are certainly just as remarkable in terms of sporting…

If one were to scour the Breitling website for the Superocean collection today, only the latest models, recently launched on grand scale, would surface. All of the older models – with the exception of the Heritage Superocean models – are nowhere to be seen. Evidently, Breitling is definitively commencing a new era for its long-standing line –…

Looking closely at the remarkably innovative spirit of Patek Philippe, one comes to the conclusion that the slogan of the Geneva-based manufacture should be “Vorsprung durch Technik” (or in English, “Innovation through technology”), Audi’s catchy mantra. But the horology house's slogan is rather: “You never own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for…

This one almost slipped through our fingers. In the shadow of many huge product launches, it's easy to overlook a few new models from quieter – but by no means less important –manufacturers. Certina, a brand belonging to the Swatch Group, launched the DS-2 Powermatic 80 back in March – and it turned out extremely well! I…

With barely 40 years under its belt, Hublot is a fairly young watch brand. Despite this, it is by no means lacking in self-confidence in an industry where many of the biggest horology houses have a history that stretches back a good 150 years or more. Hublot’s self-assurance is at least partly due to the…

When luxury steel sports watches with integrated bracelets suddenly appeared in the 1970s, it was not only Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe that caused a stir with their Royal Oak and Nautilus creations. Vacheron Constantin was also quick to recognize the trend – despite it not even being perceived as such at the time, but rather dismissed as outrageous…

The Navitimer from Breitling is turning 70! Originally conceived as a tool watch with which pilots could still perform flight calculations using a completely analogue system, it has advanced over the years and, since its time on the wrists of jazz great Miles Davis, filmmaker enfant terrible Serge Gainsbourg or racing legends Jim Clark and…

Upon attending the Only Watch Preview in Monaco, guitarist legend John McLaughlin suddenly crosses our path. What on earth is one of the best guitarists in the world doing at such a specific, specialised event? We discover that not only is he a huge watch enthusiast, but also, together with independent Swiss watch brand Artya,…

Swisswatches is delighted to present the watch community with our very first ‘Boutique Travel Guide’. In this new segment, we will share not only the very best watch boutiques in town, but also the other most exciting things available in the area. What does the city have to offer? Where are the best drinks? The…

Anyone who leaves school at the age of 9 is either clearly not suited to academia, or has already realised what their calling is. George Favre-Bulle must have been a visionary even as a child, because he had bigger plans for himself than to sit wasting several years in school. At the tender age of…