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Is The Naked Frederique Constant Perpetual a Hit or Miss?

June 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

The Naked Watchmaker just announced its collaboration with Frederique Constant, the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture. Although I’ve enjoyed recent collaboration models, this one misses the mark in some important ways, emphasizing the mechanics at the expense of utility and beauty.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Frederique Constant, perpetual calendar, Peter Speake, Rado, skeleton, Speake-Marin, The Naked Watchmaker

Two Movements, One Case: Alexander Shorokhoff Levels and Los Craneos

September 14, 2020 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Regular readers of Grail Watch know that I have a particular fascination with watches that contain multiple separate movements in a single case. Ever since the Nappey Jumelles Times and Ardath Long Distance of the 1960s, watch makers have used compact “ladies” movements in oversized travel watches for men. Now a modern maker, Alexander Shorokhoff, has done the same, first with the Los Craneos an now with the new Levels model.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Alexander Shorokhoff, Alexander Shorokhoff Levels, Alexander Shorokhoff Los Craneos, dual timezone, ETA 2671

More Movements, One Case

June 4, 2020 By Stephen Leave a Comment

I’ve recently written about the odd but surprisingly frequent practice of casing two movements into a single watch. From Nappey to Ardath to respected brands like Hermes and Cartier, many companies have used twin movements in a single watch. But what about squeezing in three, four, or more movements? The development of compact and inexpensive quartz movements made that possible in the 1980s, and this has lead to the creation of many novel oddballs.

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Colani, Colani Apogee, Delaneau, Façonnable, Glycine, Glycine Airman, Glycine Airman 7, IceLink, Jean d'Eve, Raymond Weil, Raymond Weil Trianon

Two Movements, One Case: Ardath Long Distance

April 23, 2020 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Yesterday I talked about the Nappey Jumelles Times, the first dual timezone watch to use two separate movements in a single case. Although that model was quite obscure, today’s watch is much more famous. Ardath took Nappey’s formula and made it famous, producing a line of Long Distance watches that lasted a decade, including special models for Muslims and homemakers, and a cool sports model that reappeared in the 1990s!

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Ardath, Ardath Hostess Long Distance, Ardath Long Distance, Ardath Super Long Distance, Ardath Wisdom, dual timezone, ETA 2551, ETA 2651, FEF 430, Islam, Nappey Jumelles Times, Royce Twin

Two Movements, One Case: Nappey Jumelles Times

April 17, 2020 By Stephen 2 Comments

You’ve probably never heard of Nappey or the Jumelles Times (“Twin Time”) watch, and for good reason: It was an obscure model in the 1960s that went nowhere. But the idea of a watch with multiple dials showing different timezones has become a common complication today. And it all came from this watch!

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Ardath Long Distance, Besançon, GMT, Heuroplan, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duoface, LIP, Maurice Lacroix Grand Guichet GMT, Nappey, Nappey Jumelles Times, Nomos Tangomat GMT, Rolex GMT-Master, Royce Twin, Salon de Besançon, Tour de France

Retrograde Retrospective: A History of the Le Phare Sectora and Quarta

April 8, 2020 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Although unconventional time displays are popular today, very few watches had so-called retrograde hands to display the time until the 1990s. Sector displays first appeared in pocket watches as early as 1650 and were wildly popular in the early 1900s thanks to the Sector pocket watch from Record. But it was not until the Le Phare Sectora, LIP Secteur, and Wittnauer Futurama of the 1970s that this complication appeared on the wrist. These watches are rarely seen or discussed today, but were truly groundbreaking even as the quartz revolution challenged watchmaking.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Jean d'Eve, Le Phare, LIP, LIP Secteur, Record, Record Sector, retrograde, Sector, Wittnauer, Wittnauer Futurama

The History of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph

April 12, 2019 By Stephen Leave a Comment

The Royal Oak Chronograph was a latecomer to this celebrated line and has remained remarkably consistent throughout its two-decade life. All share the same movement and a single lineage passes from the original Ref. 25860 to the subtly-redesigned Ref. 26300, the up-sized Ref. 26320, and the new Ref. 26331. It was only this year that a second model, the 38 mm Ref. 26315, was added. Yet on closer examination, a world of differences emerges, from the City of Sails to the Leo Messi, to the new 41 mm dial. Through it all, the Royal Oak Chronograph remains one of the classiest and most comfortable watches available.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Audemars Piguet, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, Chronograph, FP 1185

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gran’Sport: The First “Beefcake” Reverso

January 23, 2019 By Stephen 1 Comment

Given the clever retrograde chronograph movement, the Gran’Sport Chronograph is the pick of the Gran’Sport lineup today. It’s really too bad that gorgeous Reverso Chronographe Rétrograde is out of the price range for most people.

Filed Under: Grails, History Tagged With: 829, 859, Chronograph, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Chronograph Retrograde, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gran'Sport, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gran'Sport Chronograph, retrograde

Surveying the 2018 Seiko x Giugiaro “Speed Master” LCD Reissue Series (SBJG)

January 18, 2019 By Stephen 6 Comments

Seiko has been collaborating with Giugiaro Design since the 1980s. The most famous fruit of this collaboration was the “Aliens” watch line, which have been reissued in recent years. In late 2018, Seiko introduced another reissue: The SBJG multi-function digital models we will discuss today.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: A825, A828, Giugiaro, LCD, quartz, SBJG, Seiko, Seiko Giugiaro, Speed Master, SSBA

Seiko Returns With Another Giugiaro SCED Series

January 17, 2019 By Stephen 3 Comments

When Seiko reissued the 1980s-style “Aliens” Giugiaro watches between 2013 and 2015, collectors were thrilled. But after thoroughly exhausting color combinations on the “Ripley” and “Bishop” watches, where would Seiko go next? They turned to the less well-known 7A28-7A00 SBBJ “Speed Master” series, with angled faces inside a round case.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: 7A28, 7T12, Giugiaro, SBBJ, SCED, Seiko, Seiko Giugiaro

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