Editorial

Discussing prices may be frowned upon in haute horlogerie, but taking a look at the figures helps to illustrate how wide the range is in the Patek Philippe portfolio, and how diverse the expectations of its clientele are for the annual novelties. In 2023, the price starts at 37,219 Swiss francs and ends at 4,264,995…

If you want to use an altimeter when mountaineering or hiking, you can of course do so with countless electronically operated gadgets. But it gets exciting when the display is built into a purely mechanical wristwatch. The watch manufacture Oris from Hölstein took on this challenge when it launched the ProPilot Altimeter, the world's first mechanical…

This year, coinciding with the official press opening of the new Tudor manufacture, Tudor is introducing several new models to the following collections: the Black Bay, Black Bay 54 and Black Bay GMT, and Tudor Royal. As well as adding some new spins to the dials, Tudor is also treating us to new straps as…

Rolex's legendary Daytona celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. As a result, our anticipation was particularly high in the run-up to what the horology house would come up with to mark this important birthday. Now the secret is out. Rolex has fundamentally revised the model line, both visually and technically. Other highlights include the new…

Anniversaries always provide a nice opportunity to pay attention to important milestones. Swiss watch manufacture Breitling has such an anniversary coming up: one of their most important chronographs, the Premier, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. Of course, Breitling wouldn't be Breitling without a surprise guest. With that, we can turn our full attention…

From Nadal's ground-breaking RM 27-04 with tourbillon to the handsome RM 029 Le Mans Classic, the male percentile of Richard Mille fans shouldn't find it too hard to pick out a pretty phenomenal sports watch. But what about the women, pipes up a voice at the back of the room? Up until now, this question would be met with silence. Yet times are changing…

Blancpain’s history begins in the village of Villeret, where it was founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, a schoolmaster turned watchmaker. With this founding year, Blancpain claims the right to be the oldest watch brand in the world. The horology house’s Villeret collection embodies this long and successful corporate history of traditional watchmaking while attesting to the…

July 14, 2016, was a particularly memorable day for Yves Piaget, the fourth and final direct descendant of the founding family of the eponymous watch and jewellery manufacture. For the launch of the Piaget Polo S, he returned to the place where he caused a sensation with a spectacular campaign in 1985, when he was…

Over a century after the creation of its ultra-complicated Universelle pocket watch, Audemars Piguet is introducing a new interpretation that marks the first ever ultra-complicated self-winding wristwatch, the RD#4, to emerge from the watchmaker. Appearing in a Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet case, the highly complex watch is impressively ergonomic and highly contemporary. The history…

Surely no horology house has ever entered into the vintage watch business in such a charming way: Jaeger-LeCoultre is introducing The Collectibles, a watch 'Bible' featuring its 17 most important models, dedicated primarily to the manufacture's collectors. But that's not all. Behind The Collectibles is another idea: offering up watch enthusiasts a carefully curated selection…

Can a watch manufacture become any more sovereign than this? The soon-to-be-instated King Charles III of England is the owner of a Parmigiani Fleurier. King Charles has long worn the watch, but now, as a prince becomes a king, his choice carries even more weight: the British crown puts his trust in Parmigiani Fleurier. Meanwhile,…

It’s been another extraordinary year for us all, and the watch world is no exception. That is why the Swisswatches team sat down once more to comprise a list of our top watches of 2022. From anniversary models to world records, we are presenting you 24 special highlights to emerge from the ever-surprising Swiss watch…