“Remember this, develop a sense of nostalgia for something, or you’ll never figure out what’s important.”

Today’s newsletter is 1,510 words, a 6-min read.

This week’s New York Watch Week recap drove as many subscriptions as my Watches & Wonders recap—impressive juice for a weekend most big brands sit out:

PRESENTED BY THE ATLANTA WATCH SALON

On October 10–11, 30 watch brands gathered for the inaugural Atlanta Watch Salon. I asked Mireille and Giancarlo Rosselli, the founders of The Watch Society, what made it different from other shows. They told me:

“The most remarkable part of the Atlanta Watch Salon was seeing watchmakers admire one another’s work, loupe in hand, asking questions and talking shop. They weren’t there to exhibit; they were there to immerse themselves in the world they help create. Collectors and watchmakers sat side by side, not standing across from one another with a table as a barrier. One of the world’s most celebrated watchmakers said that days like these give meaning to the countless hours within the four walls of his manufacture. Guests stayed for 6 hours, engaged in conversations, panels, and genuinely connecting. No noise, no race to go viral. Just knowledge and a shared appreciation for watches.”

The Atlanta Watch Show is next, January 22–24, 2027. Expect more energy and fun, without losing the intimacy that matters.

More to come! Stay tuned to Atlanta Watch Salon for more:

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The Roundup

What happens when a microbrand can’t get its watch made; a familiar (and favorite) vintage Vacheron chronograph gets its cover shot; are high-end brands and indies so different?

🌎 What happens when a microbrand can’t get its watch made.

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We start with a market update from Adam: whether the indie boom is sustainable, the institutional money driving the market, and why a headline auction result doesn’t make your watch worth the same. Plus the obsidian-versus-onyx debate that runs through the documentary, and how to deal with the court of public opinion.

Chris was an enthusiast and collector for a dozen years before he spent 2023–2024 following Adam to Geneva, Tokyo, New York, and Miami. We talk about what that access changed for him, the independents he sat down with–Sylvain Berneron, Naoya Hida, Xhevdet Rexhepi—and why the most interesting young watchmakers are looking at 1940s design and Breguet for inspiration instead of Rolex.

I sat down for an interview for the documentary in 2024, so we chat about the process of making the documentary, which follows Adam’s day-to-day life as a dealer, with appearances from Ben Clymer, Davide Parmigiani, Daryn Schnipper, John Goldberger, Wes Lang, and more.

Chasing Time screenings are being planned for Miami, Atlanta, LA, Chicago, Geneva, London, and New York, with a wider release expected in early 2027.

• Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS.

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Show Notes

• Chasing Time, official website

• Chasing Time on Instagram

• Menta Watches; Menta on Instagram

• Chris Gary talking about collecting in 2020 with Grey and Patina

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Unpolished Store: shop.unpolishedwatches.com to shop our collection of Canvas and leather straps. Everything has been restocked for the fall.

• Pick up a 3 Canvas Strap Bundle for $169, a 10% off the single-strap price ($157 member price!)

• Shop the new Textured Taupe, made of high-quality Epsom leather.

Good evening. I’m back home after a couple of days in New York. “Watch Week” is huge now—the main events are still Windup and Watchtime. I only spent ~45 minutes at Windup and didn’t even get to Watchtime, but had a packed schedule. Dozens of satellite events, dinners, and parties were going on.

The unofficial Watch Week’s dispersed, disorganized nature is its best and worst feature. For example, I stopped by the FHH (Foundation of Haute Horology) panels on Thursday evening, but it was kinda boring, so I left after 30 minutes to get tacos at Los Tacos No. 1 with a couple guys from Ming before heading over to Indies NYC.

In this newsletter: A quiet firing at LVMH’s ‘indie’ brands, big changes at Kallinich Claeys, Bradley Taylor closes his order book, why everyone kept talking about American buyers, and the watches I liked (and didn’t).

👉 Unpolished doesn’t run brand ads. Members get: (1) Welcome Care Package; (2) 10% off the Unpolished Store; (3) $50 off a Watchcheck service + comments and Q&As. Benefits info HERE.

MB&F

I began my long weekend at the nice new MB&F Lounge, in the same building as 1916 Company’s showroom. I moderated a panel with Max Büsser and a subscriber (thanks Lyndon!). But honestly, Max is a one-of-one storyteller, so I didn’t do much. A few takeaways from our chat:

• HM-12: Max said the original plan was to produce 80 HM-12 Robots, but production costs kept rising, so they eventually decided to make 36 (12 each across 3 colors).

  • He said if the HM-12 were priced with the same margin as MB&F’s other watches, it would’ve been more like CHF 480k (~$650k by the time it was imported to the States). But with MB&F’s current collection ranging from CHF 60–250k, that felt high, so Max made the decision to price it at CHF 280k ($380k). The lower price and lack of margin are why MB&F is making fewer.

• HM-5: Max was asked a question about his risks and failures during the Q&A. He grew up drawing cars, and said that HM-5, released in 2012, was his first design that took inspiration directly from the automotive world. It wasn’t received well by the market and took years to sell. Even today, it doesn’t perform well on the secondary market.

  • He mentioned the HM-5 that sold for CHF 28k at Marteau’s auction just hours before our chat, one of the lower results in an otherwise huge sale that had people talking all weekend. The HM-5 retailed for CHF 54k in 2012.

  • While it was a commercial dud, he said the HM-5 isn’t a regret because it led to meeting Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, creative director at Bulgari Watches. Fabrizio loved the HM-5, and that’s led to a few projects between MB&F and Bulgari.

  • If history is any indication, these watches that are unloved in their time—resulting in low production—become collectible in a generation.

• Lange love: Max talked extemporaneously about Lange and how much he respected what Günther Blümlein built from essentially nothing in the 1990s because someone in the room was wearing a new Lange 1. Max had a front-row seat to Blümlein’s work since he joined Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1991, back when it shared ownership with Lange and IWC. Blümlein’s brilliance also came up when I talked with Tony de Haas a few weeks ago. I’d love to do an Oral History on his work across all three brands, talking with those who worked with or knew him.

Indies.NYC

I stopped by Indies NYC after that, which had the best energy of any show. Loud music, open bar, and about 25 independent watchmakers.

• The location was technically private, but the organizers said 700+ people registered.

• This was a theme of the week, but I didn’t have enough time to fully appreciate the density of watchmaking. I spent time with Legare, Bradley Taylor, Atelier 1776, and Stefan Pierre, and none disappointed.

• Atelier 1776 introduced their Liberty 250 Tantalum that morning, and said they’d already allocated 11 of the 13 pieces by the end of the day. It has a high level of hand finishing for $39k—comps are often 1.5x. The Liberty 250 uses the ETA/Unitas 6498 architecture as its foundation, but Jason Lu and Zach Smith (who I’ve covered before) rebuilt it from the ground up. The American aesthetic and brand positioning doesn’t work for me, but it’s nicely executed, and I’m excited to see what they build from here. Check out Jason’s interview with ScrewDownCrown for more.

• I also saw the Legare Chapter 1 in person for the first time. It’s funny to have Wei Koh on the “other side” of a booth. I’d read about the movement and differential gearing and understand it intellectually, but the Chapter 1 feels well made. The level of finishing on the titanium case is better than I realized, with beveled steps on the bezel and angular lugs. Between the case, dial, and movement, there might be 1-2 too many things going on, but it’s a solid first release.

Windup

I only went for about 45 minutes. I tried to go on Friday, but the line was too long, and I refuse to wait in a queue to see microbrands. I know others felt the same way, and there was plenty of complaining on social media. Line culture is everywhere, and I guess it’s part of the “community,” but with so much going on during the weekend, there are better ways to spend time.

Still, the online complaining is mostly unwarranted for what remains a free event. Windup’s gotten big enough that Worn & Wound will have to manage entrance differently next year. A paid ticket for early admission (or a late-night party), along with free, timed-entry tickets during normal hours would probably solve it. Worn & Wound has successfully grown this show from a small community event at Chelsea Market, and I’m sure they can navigate its next chapter.

I went on Saturday morning during the media hour. Here’s what I saw:

• Of the 160+ brands, I’d never heard of at least 50.

• While much of the talk is about microbrands, the physical space is a reminder that big companies are key to the business. Bremont, Fossil, Bulova, Oris, and Christopher Ward had the largest buildouts, along with Brew.

• The Watch Preserve has the exact right mix of accessible vintage watches for Windup—vintage Movados, Art Deco American watches, Rolex, Omega, Cartier.

• The Paulin x Hodinkee Mara collab is cool. It uses a real gilt process for the dial, which gives it a rich depth in person. I don’t think the vintage-inspired dial matches the sapphire bezel, which feels quite contemporary, but I hope Paulin uses the process in future releases. And if they don’t, I’ll demand it from founder Lewis Heath! Still, a solid offering for $1k.

• Tantalum, and lots of it. Tantalum used to mean expensive, but that’s not true anymore. Jackie from Watch Ho & Co. showed me a tantalum version of his Selten collab that buyers can upgrade to at cost. The tantalum case is made in China, and it’s well finished. Ming also started offering a tantalum Polymesh bracelet ($6,500). Material is no longer a point of differentiation for high-end brands. (See also, Atelier 1776, above).

A firing, a split, and a full order book

Beyond the shows, I sat down with a few brands. These smaller meetings, coffees, and lunches yielded more insights and are the most valuable part of any Watch Week.

Louis Vuitton & Gerald Genta

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The best neovintage El Primeros weren’t made by Ebel.

Ebel is one of those neovintage brands people have been trying to “make happen” in fits and starts the last few years. No doubt some of it comes from genuine passion—80s or 90s kids raised in a confusing stew of Rubik’s Cubes, mullets, and Wave bracelets. For others, it’s simply another market opportunity.

Either way, it hasn’t really caught on because, let’s be real, 80s-90s Ebel is mostly ugly. Not ugly-pretty like Porsche Design–IWC or Oakley. Just ugly.

But Ebel and then-CEO Pierre-Alain Blum rightly get credit for knocking on Zenith’s door in the depths of the 80s and placing an order for the then-forgotten El Primero caliber. Rolex followed in 1988 when it finally updated the Daytona. Around the same time, Zenith also brought the El Primero back to its own collection.

LVMH would acquire Ebel and Zenith in 1999. The acquisition prices sound surprising:

• Zenith: $48.4m

• Ebel: ~$150m

It got Ebel as part of a deal to buy Chaumet (the real prize) for $460m, about one-third of which is generally attributed to Ebel.

It shows you just how little brand equity Zenith had (or has!). Still, I think its neovintage El Primero efforts are more successful than Ebel’s. While Zenith never really carved out a brand identity in the 90s like IWC or Hublot, it was making solid engines. And since Andre Agassi or Sonny Crockett never wore a Zenith, they’re comparatively affordable.

I spotted one of these El Primeros at the last Unpolished meetup here in Chicago, and it got me thinking about the best neovintage EPs. Here they are, followed by a few for sale right now in the Watchlist.

👉 Unpolished doesn’t run brand ads. Members get: (1) Welcome Care Package; (2) 10% off the Unpolished Store; (3) $50 off a Watchcheck service + comments and Q&As. Benefits info HERE.

Zenith De Luca (1988–96)

Zenith launched its own sporty El Primero chronograph in 1988, the same year as the Rolex Daytona ref. 16520, and it starts to look a lot like one. The nickname comes from Zenith’s Italian agent, a Mr. Giuseppe De Luca, who pushed the brand to make a chronograph his clients would actually buy. In late-80s Italy, that meant a Daytona.

The De Luca had a 40mm steel case, black rotating dive bezel, and black or white dial with contrasting subdials. Just 6,435 were made from 1988–1996 across four series (4,085 black dials; 2,350 white dials). This low production is probably a testament to Zenith’s relative obscurity more than anything else. It started by using the original El Primero cal. 3019 PHC, which soon became the updated Zenith caliber 400.

Beyond that, there’s tons of variation: text, hands, crowns, screw-down pushers added to later models, etc. The first series is most like a vintage Zenith (it feels kinda like a parts watch), and it slowly evolves into something more modern, which is to say more like a Rolex.

The De Luca is divided into four series, with Marks 1 and 3 the most distinct:

• Mark 1 (88–89): The Original

  • Domed acrylic crystal, paddle or dauphine hands, pump pushers, push-pull crown, no “El Primero” on the dial (ref. 01.0040.400)

• Mark 2 (90–92): The Rolex-ification

  • Mercedes hands, mineral crystal, screw-down crown, steel bracelet option (refs. 01/02.0310.400)

• Mark 3 (92–93): The Rarest

  • Mercedes hands, dot indices, pump pusher “sleeves” (ref. 02.0310.400)

• Mark 4 (94–96): The Modern Update

  • Sapphire crystal, screw-down crown and pushers

I’ll leave production numbers by series in this footnote, but generally, black outnumbers white 2:1.1 Like some Zenith Daytonas, the white dial has a porcelain effect, which I find especially compelling:

Other collector’s notes:

• The De Luca’s rotating dive bezel keeps it distinct enough—and it’s a direct nod to its own Super Sub Sea Chronographs—that it stands on its own merits and isn’t just a Daytona homage. Zenith leaned further into Daytona lookalike territory with the De Luca II and its fixed tachymeter bezel, but those get a little knock-offy for me.

• 22mm lug width is a bit wide, but the bracelets do taper to a tasty 16mm.

• The Mk 3 is my favorite De Luca—the updates make it feel more modern and less like a vintage homage (which the Mk 1 can feel like).

• It’s weird to set the El Primero because the date is set with the second crown position, while the time is set in the first position.

• Market: The few De Lucas on the market are listed around $6k, with a premium for Mk 1s. They don’t turn up much in North America.

Rainbow Flyback (1997–2000)

The Rainbow took over from the De Luca as Zenith’s mainline sports chronograph in the 90s, named after some boat that won the 1934 America’s Cup. Zenith’s historian told The Deep Track the name was “chosen to convey the chic and sporty universe of yachting.”

The one to buy is the Rainbow Flyback, ref. 02.0480.405, which Zenith introduced at Basel in 1997.2

• Specs: 40 x 12.6mm (it feels chunkier); red chrono hand, minute counter sliced into colorful nautical wedges like a game of Trivial Pursuit

Zenith built the flyback caliber 405, which lets you reset the chrono with a single pusher press, for a French Air Force tender that never really got off the ground—I guess it had to do with military conscription being phased out in France around the same time.

No matter, Zenith decided to produce its colorful new flyback chrono for us civilians from 1997 until the early 2000s:

• ~5,000 colorful “military” examples were made

• Another 4,000 boring black versions were made 🥱

Zenith has at least acknowledged the Rainbow Flyback in the modern era, referencing it with the 2023 Pilot Big Date Flyback, but that release is a bit sad and stale.

Market: Rainbow Flybacks aren’t expensive—under $5,000—but again, hard to find, especially in the U.S. A couple are on the market right now, included in the Watchlist, below.

El Primero Chronomaster Triple Calendar Moonphase (1994–2000s)

This is the neovintage El Primero that made me want to write this newsletter after showing up at the last Unpolished meetup: an El Primero Chronomaster Triple Calendar.

The deep, glossy black drew me in, but I also think the case is compelling—the stepped bezel and fluted lugs are interesting without overdoing it.

• Specs: 40x13mm (manageable 47mm lug-to-lug). The caliber 410 triple calendar chrono is built on the El Primero

• Chronometer-certified: The Chronomaster might’ve even been the first time Zenith went to the trouble of getting its El Primero COSC-certified?

Applied Romans and dauphine hands complete the dressy look.

Early Chronomasters (1994–98) are chronometer-certified and say “Chronometre” with an additional number engraved on the rotor, as dictated by COSC. Chronomaster (or ChronoMaster) was an entire collection of chronometers, but the triple cal moonphase is the flagship.

The main steel reference (ref. 01.0240.410) came with a silver or black dial; there was also a gold reference (ref. 30.0243.410).

Things started to change after LVMH acquired Zenith. It discontinued the Rainbow Flyback, but kept the Chronomaster. But it evolved from its classic style to something more modern, with crude guilloche, open-heart dials, and larger cases. Something you’d see at a mall kiosk, not a suave and sophisticated Unpolished event. The absolute legend Thierry Nataf took over in 2001 and turned Zenith into something like haute horology meets Ed Hardy.

Production numbers: Zenith made 24,010 cal. 410s from 1994–2001.3

• After the acquisition, numbers become harder to track, in part because Zenith stopped getting COSC certification (tsk tsk).

Of these three El Primeros, the Chronomaster is the one I’d buy.

Watchlist: 6 El Primeros you can buy right now

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• FP Journe and Chanel have acquired a 95% stake in Ebel, with Pierre Jacques as CEO (former CEO of De Bethune). Here’s the official release from Movado Group.

• This morning I watched an early Breguet ref. 3130 sell at Bonhams NY for $53k. It probably would’ve sold for one-third that a year ago. At first glance, it’s a lot for a simple moonphase + power reserve. Bonhams initially miscataloged it as a later example from the 1990s, but at least a few bidders figured out this was actually a super-early 3130 from the 80s, when Daniel Roth was still with Breguet. Roth left by 1988 after Investcorp acquired the brand. A Story from Vincent Brasesco, president of Breguet in the U.S., illustrates the different caseback eras of neovintage Breguet:

• I was traveling most of last week and heard two different versions of the same rumor: Watchbox is buying up neovintage Breguets. 1916 Company (neé Watchbox) has been known to get involved in select secondary markets, most famously with Journe a few years ago. Neovintage Breguet is already hot, and not many are listed on 1916’s site now, but WATCH OUT!

PRESENTED BY THE COCONUT GROVE WATCH & JEWELRY SHOW

The Coconut Grove Watch & Jewelry Show is back for its second year, November 13–15 at The Hangar at Regatta Harbor. Same team behind the Original Miami Beach Antique Show—one of my favorite vintage shows every year—with a global roster of antique, vintage, and estate dealers.

Tickets are free when you use promo code UNPOLISHED at checkout:

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10 fun facts about Lange & Söhne (for collectors)

Earlier this week, I put together a photo report for GQ from a fancy car show in Newport, Rhode Island. Lange & Söhne sponsors the Audrain Concours d’Elegance, so CEO Wilhelm Schmid and long-time director of product development Tony de Haas were both there. Schmid is about as straight-shooting a watch exec as I’ve come across, while de Haas is a jovial and gregarious Dutchman. They’re great interviews, so I took the opportunity to chat with both.

Each gave me plenty of good stories you’ll enjoy that didn’t quite fit my photo report, which is mostly pictures of pretty cars and watches.

1/ Melting Wellendorff bracelets

The Lange market has been very hot for the last year-ish. And anything with a Wellendorff bracelet, made by the German jewelry company, is scorching—the bracelets alone regularly sell for six figures. But that was hardly the case when Schmid became CEO in January 2011.

Back then, Langes on matching precious-metal Wellendorff bracelets were expensive. I have a catalog from 2009-10 that shows the following prices:

• Platinum Datograph on strap: $65.3k

• Platinum Datograph on bracelet: $106.4k

At nearly 2x the price, Wellendorffs weren’t exactly flying off the shelf.

Schmid said shortly after he joined, Lange decided to melt down a big stock of Wellendorff bracelets to salvage the gold and platinum.

“If you have excess stock and you don’t know what to do with it, and it’s precious metal you need for cases, hands, dials, and buckles, you make a decision…back then, there was no reason to keep it,” Schmid said.

In 2011, it would’ve been almost impossible to predict these bracelets would become what they are now—catnip that collectors pay sometimes crazy money for.

I asked Schmid how it feels to see Wellendorff bracelets for $100k+ 15 years later. First, he said he doesn’t regret the decision one bit (nor should he!).

“It gives you a good idea of how passionate our customers are, how much they’re into details,” he added.

2/ Melting paper for the fusée and chain

Of the four watches Lange introduced at its 1994 relaunch, the Pour le Mérite was its flagship. It was the first wristwatch with a fusée and chain, a tiny, long chain designed to deliver steady power as the mainspring unwinds.

De Haas didn’t join Lange until 2004, but before that he worked at Renaud & Papi, the complications maker that assisted with the PLM’s development (now owned by AP). There’s a famous story about how the team built the chain that I wanted to hear from de Haas.

The problem: Imagine the challenge of assembling a nearly microscopic chain. Lange’s version has 636 parts, and each link’s opening is just 0.4mm.

“We went to an old watchmaker,” de Haas told me, “who restored old deck watches, which have a chain and fusée, but on a bigger scale. He used this technique where he inserted tiny pieces of paper between each chain link to keep them in place during assembly.”

Lange and de Haas adapted this technique for the PLM’s assembly. They decided to use silk paper because when you light it, it melts away instead of burning.

“We don’t do that today—we have other tricks,” de Haas said.

3/ The magic of 70 SKUs

Schmid said Lange’s production was around 4-5,000 watches when he joined, and remains that today. Capacity has increased significantly, as Lange is making more complicated watches (and with more complications), but total volume hasn’t gone up. It’s also doing a lot more in-house, like the enamel dial on last year’s Minute Repeater Perpetual.

Schmid said that Lange targets having about 70 SKUs (or references) in its catalog at any given time. Here’s what he said when I asked him about that magic number:

“We have six families [Saxonia, 1815, Lange 1, Richard Lange, Zeitwerk, Odysseus], so that number’s a good representation for each family. We have limited editions that come and go, but we focus on those six families, and we don’t want to start making watches that are too close together. Sometimes I look at other novelties and wonder how it’s different from what’s already in the collection, but that’s what happens if you keep too many [in your collection.]”

Lange’s website currently lists 99 references, but that includes several extremely limited high comps and Handwerkskunst models. I doubt all 99 are currently in production.

4/ Service dials and the Blue Series

I’m fascinated by Lange’s blue dials, from the early “Blue Series” of the 1990s-2000s to 2017’s Blue Series to the recent 1815 34mm and Up/Down.

According to de Haas, those original 90s/00s blue dials were made using a galvanic bath and PVD process. By the mid-2000s, EU regulations strictly limited or banned certain chemicals commonly used in these galvanic processes.

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• I’m intrigued by the new Hamilton American Classics, based on Art Deco models like the Meadowbrook. Manual wind, good size options (30x30 or 34x34), drawing on an era of its history that’s been ignored for way too long. Starting at $995.

• This Armin Strom Tribute Au750 with a matching rose gold case, guilloche dial, and bridges has to be the prettiest release of the week. Definitely Breguet vibes—it reminds me of last year’s 7225 or 7235—but still looks modern like an Armin Strom. CHF69k, limited to just 8 pieces.

In today’s newsletter: The latest podcast on the state of microbrands; trying out a new format with a 500-word review on the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar; the best of September from Unpolished.

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The podcast was back in force in September, publishing three other episodes:

• How A $42 Watch from India Went Viral (w/ Delhi Watch Company) (video on YouTube)

• Titaniumize Everything (w/ Austin Rogers, @rehaut)

• Sell Your Watches, Checklist Collecting, And When Heuer Was Hype (w/ Jeff Stein, On the Dash)

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I think the cadence of 1 podcast + 1 newsletter each week makes sense, but if you’re a paid subscriber, let me know if it’s working for you.

Unpolished Store

In the Unpolished Store, we introduced the newest strap in September: Textured Taupe. Featuring a grainy, pebble-textured Epsom leather in neutral taupe, it goes with any watch you can imagine. Epsom is known for being lightweight, durable, and resistant to scratches and moisture.

Available with 18–20mm lug width—$99 member price. Shop the entire range of Unpolished straps:

Shop Unpolished Store

September Highlights

Besides the podcast, Unpolished published eight issues in September. A few highlights:

Gallet and the wanderlust problem

The most popular issue was my take on Gallet’s relaunch:

“Those old Gallet chronographs were good because they were specific. The Flying Officer was a clever bit of 1930s engineering, hacked out of a rotating bezel. Eventually, the world caught up—the GMT hand, then quartz, then the phone in your pocket.

Gallet spent its first 150 years making instruments for those who knew where they wanted to go, or what they wanted to measure. Now, it makes watches for ‘wanderlust.’”

Here’s the full article:

Inside Nomos Glashütte

My photo report from Nomos Glashütte generated the most new subscribers—a look inside its manufacturing and watchmaking facilities in Germany:

“Nomos is impressive because it did the hard part, the part that’s not all sexy designs and stone dials. While its designs are consistently, sometimes frustratingly Bauhaus, last year’s Club Sport Worldtimer feels like the first time it’s successfully adapted its distinct aesthetic to a modern sports watch that feels different while still being totally Nomos.

It is, I hope, what some of the latest generation of ‘microbrands’ aspire to.

Btw, Nomos introduced another edition of its hit Club Sport Worldtimer this week. I dig it in photos. My problem with the standard, non-limited offerings has been the sunburst dials—too many sunburst dials!—but Nomos is calling this an “enamel” black. It even looks glossy in photos. In addition to this spring’s white dial, it’s made the Worldtimer even better:

Check the full Unpolished archive online. You might’ve missed my Quick Study on the Lange & Söhne 1815 Up/Down—a look at every reference ever made after the release of the new limited-edition “pandas”:

500-Word Review

How much should a perpetual calendar cost?

On the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar

In early September, Fears released its first really complicated watch, the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. It costs $28,500.

Much of the feedback seems to have been: how dare they? As in: how could Fears—a Bristol brand whose rebirth is about as old as the Apple Watch—have the audacity to charge Jaeger-LeCoultre prices for JLC complications?

It’s a nice perpetual calendar, but the common critique is that it uses a Sellita movement and Dubois-Depraz calendar module. Yeah, Fears added a gold rotor and its own custom finishing, but:

• It’s the same bones Montblanc used in a $12k perpetual calendar 10+ years ago.

• Just this week, RGM released a perpetual calendar using the same foundation (ETA 2892 + DD module), though that’s $39,900.

I had Fears managing director Nicholas Bowman-Scargill on the podcast earlier this year, and perhaps we should’ve known something like this was coming.

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In two weeks, Worn & Wound puts on its Windup Watch Fair in New York (Oct 16–18) with 160+ brands under one roof. I’ll be there, along with some of you, so I wanted to get Zach on to talk about the state of the microbrand.

We talk about whether “microbrand” still means anything, and why some brands hate the word (while others embrace it); the boom of a decade ago and the more experimental one happening now; Ming, and the point where a brand stops being micro; pre-orders as interest-free loans; why Zach keeps coming back to watches made by people he knows; the founders who still answer their own DMs and Reddit threads; how Serica and Anoma collect feedback before a launch; Halios, and the case for staying small; the AP x Swatch, the Bulgari x Vianney Halter, and other watches built to be loud for a week; Moser’s move into the main hall at Watches and Wonders, the Streamliner 34, and the $4,900 ana-digi Off-Grid; whether a shakeout is coming; why the Apple Watch isn’t the cool thing to have anymore, and which brand should be saying so; the Gallet relaunch.

I also ask which watches from Geneva Watch Days he’s still thinking about, a few weeks later.

“It’s all gone from my brain, Tony,” Zach says.

• Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS.

• Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com

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Show Notes

• Worn & Wound; Zach on Instagram

• Windup Watch Fair NYC, October 16–18

• Behind Lorier’s Acquisition by Worn & Wound, Unpolished

• Prevail Onward Future Field Watch

• The Geneva Watch Days Debrief, The Worn & Wound Podcast

• Gagà Laboratorio Labormatic Superleggero, Monochrome

• Bulgari Octo Finissimo Dual Time x Vianney Halter, SJX

• Royal Popped, Unpolished

• Late to the trend, and better for it | Moser Streamliner 34 Review, Unpolished

• H. Moser Streamliner Off-Grid

• Moser and Reebok’s Streamliner Pump

• Gallet’s Flying Officer used to go somewhere, Unpolished

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It’s all in the details! Before we get to those charmingly anachronistic vintage details, Unpolished Polishing Cloths are back in stock. Paid members, get yours for free here:

13 vintage details I love

Vintage watches aren’t necessarily better than modern ones, but the details usually are. I posted a few of my favorite vintage details over on Instagram this week. Most of those photos were macros of a favorite typeface, markers, or hands, so I wanted to do a post with more context on each.

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1/ The orange hand on a Rolex Explorer II ref. 1655

Rolex made the Explorer II ref. 1655 from 1971 until the mid-1980s. Designed for spelunkers/speleogists (people who love caves—if released today, Rolex probably would’ve called it the Cave-Dweller).

The orange hand is simply a 24-hour hand. Not the most useful thing nowadays, or at least until the AIs figure out how to hack our power grids. The original orange paint ages in all kinds of different ways. Pale ones are called “Albinos,” but I like these bright orange ones best.

The 1655 isn’t usually the first or even fourth vintage Rolex you get, so if you see someone with a Freccione, give ‘em a nice ciao.

2/ Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Parking 🅿️

Launched in 1958 as part of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s jubilee celebration, the Memovox “Parking” is a simple variation on Jaeger-LeCoultre’s classic alarm watch, but with a little parking emoji that lets you set a reminder for your parking meter. So much more elegant than the thirsty push notifications I get nowadays, reminding me about the terrible parking meter deal the city of Chicago cut in 2008.

The Parking can be found on a few different references, but it’s also often faked or put together (all you need to do is replace the inner disk on a normal Memovox).

3/ Lollipop Hands, Like on This Omega Speedmaster CK2998-2

There are plenty of lollipop hands, but they’re not usually as jaw-hingingly delicious as on these early Speedmasters. Omega made the CK2998 in a few variations from 1959 until 1962, and a few of the subvariations have that luscious, luminous lollipop on the running chronograph hand. Eric Wind sold this one a few years back.

Similarly, it’s the reason the Tudor Submariner ref. 76100 with a big, fat lollipop hour is my favorite Submariner.

4/ Movado M90/95 ‘Kris’ Hands

The Movado M90/95 is already a great in-house chronograph. Here’s an in-depth article from 2019. Some have these squiggly snake “kris” hands, named because they look like the East Asian Kris dagger. You’ll sometimes see these hands on other brands, like this, but it’s super rare. Mostly Movado.

Once every year or so, I see posts about how vintage Movado is “under the radar,” or “why we should all be paying more attention to it,” etc. And yes, Movado made some excellent vintage watches, and yes, it mostly does not make excellent watches today. But it will never be more than the adorable quaint niche it is for any number of reasons!

5/ The Patek Philippe ‘Amagnetic’ Script

The Patek Philippe Amagnetic in stainless steel (ref. 3417) and gold (ref. 2570) has the best script in all of watches. The Amag was Patek’s first true sports watch, an elegant, anti-magnetic, mid-century design. There are also examples without the Amag script, and I think they sell for ~50% less. It’s easy to say, wow, many thousands of dollars just for one line of text??

But I suggest you expand your mind and embrace the beautiful, flowing irrationality—just look at that loopy “A”—it belongs in the Declaration of Independence.

6/ Patek Philippe 2508 Geometric Markers

Of all the many Patek Philippe Calatravas, the 2508 is The Best. It’s insane to me that some people sometimes pay more for a practically antique and certifiably tiny ref. 96. As I say though, embrace the irrationality.

Produced through the 1950s, the 2508 has a 35mm waterproof Taubert (née Borgel) case. The best ones have non-lume geometric markers. What look like squares, upon close inspection, reveal themselves to be tiny little pyramids that strike more awe in me than the Pyramids of Giza. The second-best markers ever made.

…And the best markers ever made:

Read more

Austin Rogers is a New Yorker by way of Ohio, and goes by @rehaut on Instagram. He’s also scuba certified and an aspiring mountaineer—he’s tried to summit Mount Baker three times but has encountered some truly terrible luck. Each time, he’s had a Rolex Explorer on his wrist.

The first video of Austin’s I saw had him tossing a few Doxas into a hazy lake to find out whether orange really is the most visible color underwater.

Austin describes himself as “maybe the most credulous watch buyer”—as a diver and climber, he uses his watches, and he’s got lots of opinions on them. We talk about grade 2 vs. grade 5 titanium, and whether choosing grade 2 is cutting a corner; the watches he’d titaniumize (Submariner, Explorer II, a shrunken Sky-Dweller, the Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin) and the ones he wouldn’t; why the “Omega’s catalog is too bloated” critique doesn’t land for him; the baby Ultra Deep he’d build if he got the keys to the factory; which Tudors from the 2013-onward rebirth era could be collectible in 20 years— North Flag, smiley dials, early FXDs, the double-signed stuff; the Submarinerization of the Longines HydroConquest and whether Longines had any option; his Grand Seiko problem; the Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR] he regularly thinks about selling everything else for; boomerang watches; and why he keeps buying the nicest new-old-stock neo-vintage on the market and then eating an enormous loss on it.

“I like to think of it as a service that I’m offering,” Austin says.

• Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS.

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Show Notes

• Austin on Instagram

• Austin’s Doxa test video

• Weekend Edition: Let’s lighten up and talk titanium, Hodinkee

• Ulysse Nardin Diver [Air]

• Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultradeep

• The Tudor North Flag, with Tudor’s first in-house movement, SJX

• Phil Toledano’s Tudor P01

• Rowing Blazers Tudor Black Bay 58, Loupe This

• The new Longines Hydroconquest

• Photoshopping Vintage Rolex Watches That Never Existing, Hodinkee

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• Pick up a 3 Canvas Strap Bundle for $169, a 10% off the single-strap price ($157 member price!)

• Shop the new Textured Taupe, made of high-quality Epsom leather.

• Since Screwdown Crown asked yesterday: I’d never (ever!) buff out someone else’s engraving. I’ve owned multiple watches with inscriptions from previous owners, and it only adds to the story. Look, I think some dealers are a bit too precious about “originality.” Polishing out an engraving isn’t the same level of criminality as refinishing a dial, polishing scratches off the lugs, or Stalin airbrushing enemies out of his photos. But it’s also not not that.

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The Roundup

✍️ So you wanna buy a vintage watch? A cool Parisian stylist asked me to share some basics for shopping vintage watches in her newsletter. I find these exercises harder than writing, say, an in-depth article about some fancy and complicated Patek Philippe. Some tips, dealer recs, and red flags—read with this gift link. PDF here:

(10) 238 So, You Wanna Buy A Vintage Watch

6.52MB ∙ PDF file

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😅 Mansions, Jets, and the Secret White House Watch: The New Status Symbols of Trump's Washington. Here’s the best lead I read all week, from Vanity Fair:

“The ultimate marker of status in Donald Trump’s Washington is a custom Rolex, which is curious because Rolex no longer offers custom watches. These exclusive timepieces…were purchased and then modified by a bespoke operation in London. There are two options: a gold Day-Date Presidential and a GMT Pepsi, both with blue faces and the gold seal of the president. At the 45- and 47-second markers sits a star. On the back, there’s an engraving of the White House.”

😵‍💫 Another Berneron Mirage on Loupe This. Auction ends Friday; current bid is $200k. Again, these have become assets, allowing buyer and seller to exchange access for capital (and vice versa).

🫠 If you wanna feel your skin crawl, apparently this is where Hitler’s Reverso ended up. It made headlines for selling at a Maryland auction for $1.1m in 2022. Now it’s owned by a “gallery” that tries to romanticize and reframe fascism through aesthetics.

👖 Vintage fashion is changing the economics of desirability. (Bloomberg)
Resale prices have become a running referendum on a brand. A brand can set the retail price, but after that, the secondary market does, in what’s basically ongoing free-market price discovery. According to Bloomberg, 60% of shoppers look at resale value before buying fashion items.

It’s the same in watches. One of the most common questions I get is, will this hold its value? I’ve gotten it about a $6,000 Chris Ward and about vintage Patek Philippes with another zero or two on the price tag.

I don’t judge the question. Watches are expensive, and it’s part of my checklist, too.

Brands can try to manufacture scarcity with limited editions and waitlists. But Bloomberg points out that, counterintuitively, scarcity isn't what holds prices up over the long run:

“Fashion is a bit like art or watches (Rolex) in that, weirdly, more widely available items often have the highest prices on the secondary market, reassuring buyers that if they ever want or need to sell, they’ll always be able to find a buyer. Abundance creates liquidity, which creates value.”

Rolex makes 1m+ mechanical watches a year, more than any other Swiss brand, and still holds its value better than most.

Something I’ve thought about is how much resale platforms flatten a watch into two properties: Brand and Price. Look at Chrono24 or any other site, and these two pieces of information get the largest font. Everything else is secondary.

Meanwhile, boutiques are far from perfect, but they focus on story and experience. The sales associate goes into their overwrought pitch, you try on the watch, the sales associate tells you how good it looks on your wrist as you look in the mirror. We all know the choreography. Price is usually hidden on a small tag, or nowhere at all.

But none of that choreography translates to Chrono24.

👏 Congrats to Watches of Espionage on launching its first collab watch with Marathon. Also Marathon’s first titanium watch.

Here’s why the Matte Calfskin is my favorite leather strap: Looks good on Lange, looks good on Benrus. Available in Chestnut, Slate Blue, and Stone Grey:

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The Coconut Grove Jewelry & Watch Show is back for its second year, November 13–15 at The Hangar at Regatta Harbor. Same team behind the Original Miami Beach Antique Show—one of my favorite vintage shows every year—with a global roster of antique, vintage, and estate dealers.

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Real Review: H. Moser Streamliner 34

The new H. Moser Streamliner 34 impressed when I compared its movement to other sized-down integrated bracelet watches. Many brands put lesser movements in their smaller watches. But not Moser.

Calibers are important, but they’re hardly everything. As one commenter noted on that piece:

“I know you’re focusing narrowly on the movements but it’s frustrating to me, as someone who wants to want them, how often the midsize watches are also aesthetically compromised. The VC, the Ingenieur, and the Parmigiani are all awkwardly proportioned in the midsize versions. The bezels and bracelets are too wide (IWC and VC), or the diameter/thickness ratio is messed up….”

Totally agree!

When visiting New York shortly after that article, I picked up a sample Streamliner 34, introduced in April, and spent a week wearing it around.

The entire package lives up to the movement inside, even though I’m hoping for a few changes in future evolutions.

Armadillo mode

The Streamliner Two Hands is 34x9.7mm. The case is as tall as it is wide, but the effective lug-to-lug is ~41mm since the first lug doesn’t articulate. It wears on the smaller side on my 6.3-in wrist, but that’s how I like these bracelet watches to wear. Too big and they feel too conspicuous.1

I often hear that the Streamliner’s bracelet is one of the best in the game. I’ve understood this intellectually—words like articulation and finish are peppered throughout most reviews. But I hadn’t been able to really experience it on my wrist, since previous Streamliners simply felt too big for me.

More than some of the other integrated bracelet watches, the Streamliner works at a smaller size. Those original “Jumbo” Gérald Genta designs of the 70s are meant to be audaciously big and surprisingly thin.

The Streamliner has a more organic, bulbous case and bracelet design, with a more flowing shape than its comps.

Justin Hast has noted that a former IWC designer now works across town at Moser Schaffhausen. I see echoes of IWC / Porsche Design’s epic bracelets in the Streamliner, perhaps with a sprinkle of the Ebel Wave. Check it out next to the Ocean 2000, one of my favorite neo-vintage tool watches. Both very armadillo-like:

The bezel is radially brushed, the bracelet vertically brushed, and the bevels on the curved links are polished, which seem to reflect light into its grooves as it moves. This gives the bracelet a natural, ripple-like effect.

One miss: Moser also offers a quick-adjust clasp for the larger Streamliner, an add-on instead of the standard butterfly clasp. To my knowledge, this isn’t offered for the Streamliner 28 or 34, at least not yet. I’d wear the Streamliner slightly large in the morning, but it fit perfectly by about 12:15pm.

Other specs: The Streamliner 34 still has a screw-down crown and 120m of water resistance. Luminous hands but no markers. It’s a funny mix of refusing to compromise on certain aspects of a “sports watch” (screw-down crown, lume), while totally doing away with others, e.g., the lack of a seconds hand or markers means you can’t tell time to the second.

Dial: It’s got all of Moser’s classic cues: fumé sunburst, no branding, no markers, which all make sense for a smaller Streamliner. It’s nicely executed, but the dial felt mismatched to me. The texture feels too rough for the Streamliner’s organic shape, especially at the smaller size. The silver fumé pattern can reflect light in all kinds of different directions, but the monochromatic treatment is just kinda boring. I like the burgundy fumé of the 28 more.

Moser has made so many good dials—it does a nice enamel, and I even like its stone dials more than others—so no doubt there’ll be variations soon enough. The smaller Streamliners are also natural candidates for gem-setting, which Moser’s done in the larger Streamliner.

Movement: Moser made its own in-house movements for both the Streamliner 34 (HMC 400) and 28 (HMC 410). Most brands are using off-the-shelf suppliers or existing movements for these smaller watches. It means they can react to the “trend” more quickly, but the watches can also feel half-baked.2

It’s not the outsourcing that bothers me—there are plenty of great third-party movements—but what it says about where effort goes. Brands can talk at length about offering more sizes for more wrists, but R&D and new movements are still for Big Watches.

Moser took the time to build the new HMC 400 like its other movements: its double stripes, gold rotor, skeletonization, freesprung balance.

Price: You pay for these privileges. The Streamliner 34 is $27,600. Right between a Royal Oak 34 ($29,200) and the Overseas 34.5 ($26,600), both of which use customized, outsourced movements (AP’s is fine; Vacheron’s is disappointing).

It’s the exact same price as a Streamliner 40, and I respect Moser’s confidence to communicate that you’re getting the same quality watch, just smaller. Too many brands price their small watch at 90% of the price, but you get like 60% of the specs.

Part of Moser’s appeal has been its pricing below those traditional names. No longer. The mechanics earn it, though I couldn’t help but think that this watch would be a screaming value at $20k. Still, I felt cool every time I put on the Streamliner 34, and it’s hard to put a dollar amount on that.

I’ve just started seeing them pop up on the pre-owned market, usually about 10% below retail. Moser’s young enough that its secondary market is still developing, and it’s currently navigating the jump from an indie with a lovably subversive sense of humor to a full-blown brand.

Late but right

Shrinking down a sports watch isn’t easy. A lot of brands compromise on movement. Most of the others get the proportions wrong.

It took Moser a few years to hop on the small watch trend. But by taking their time to develop a new movement for the Streamliner 34, Moser has made something that doesn’t feel like it’s trend-chasing.

Leave a comment

More Moser:

It’s been a big year for Moser. Releases in all kinds of directions, its first Watches & Wonders moving from the indie hall to having a standalone booth. Let me know what you think of its growth in the comments.

—Tony

P.S., the new ana-digi Off-Grid Moser released yesterday looks kinda cool!

UNPOLISHED PODCAST

How a $42 Watch from India Went Viral

Earlier this year, I started seeing this $42 watch everywhere. It wasn’t from Switzerland, Japan, or a traditional watchmaking hub.

Maybe you’ve seen the Delhi Watch Company Terra. It’s a unique take on a field watch: monobloc titanium case, a design inspired by a climbing carabiner, and a parachute-style strap. DWC did no marketing for the Terra’s first release last December, and it sold out more than 5,000 units in just 2 minutes.

I wanted the story behind the Terra, so I reached out to Delhi Watch Company’s founder Anish Dandwani and designer Ishaan Vajpai, the duo behind it. We talk about the Terra, but also a lot more—what it’s like to go viral, how watchmaking is developing in India, what makes it different, and what’s next.

This is the first interview I’ve seen from them, and I enjoyed talking to these guys—young, scrappy, and super refreshing.

Everyone sees the Terra as a bold design statement, and it is. But in the episode, Ishaan explains it more like a practical solution to an engineering problem. Anish gave him a two-sentence design brief: field watch, under 5,000 rupees (~$50). To hit that price in titanium, machining cost was the problem. They’d also given themselves another constraint: build it with whatever machines they could borrow within 50km.

They landed on water jet cutting, and later, electrical discharge machining. Both methods cut without tools making physical contact with the metal. Titanium is notoriously tough and chews up machining parts, so this solved their cost problem. But these methods can only cut 2D shapes.

So Ishaan got creative, eventually arriving at the carabiner look.

• Listen on Substack, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

• This episode is also on YouTube. The guys share their screen a few times to show what they’re working on, so check it out:

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The Roundup

A new Cartier record, what happens when two Cartier Pebbles have the same serial number; why the annual calendar is back: Rolex, Patek Philippe, and the price ladder; and I’m co-hosting an open house in Chicago next Thursday.

⚙️ Here’s a fun Sellita fact I heard: Sellita now has 500+ clients. Just 5 years ago, that number was ~300. It’s one of the best statistics I’ve seen that puts a number to the “microbrand” boom.1

Read more

In December 2025, a surprising watch went viral. It wasn’t from Switzerland, Japan, or any of the traditional watchmaking hubs.

It was from India and cost about $42. The brand did no marketing, and it sold out more than 5,000 pieces in just 2 minutes.

Maybe you’ve seen the Delhi Watch Company Terra. It’s a unique take on a field watch: monobloc titanium case, a case design inspired by a climbing carabiner, and with a parachute-style strap.

Released for DWC’s 5th anniversary, it surprised everyone, and I wanted to get the story behind the Terra. So I reached out to Delhi Watch Company’s founder Anish Dandwani and designer Ishaan Vajpai, the duo behind the Terra. We talk about the Terra, but also a lot more—what’s it like to go viral, how watchmaking is developing in India, what makes it different, and what’s next.

This episode is also on YouTube here—the guys share their screen a couple of times to show renders of what they’re working on, so check it out there if you want the full look.

Unpolished is a collector-supported newsletter about watches. Join for free or support with a paid subscription. Subscribers get 2 newsletters/week, a 10% discount on all orders from the Unpolished store, $50 off a watch service, community perks, and much more.

• Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS

• Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com

Show Notes

• Delhi Watch Company

• DWC Terra

• Ishaah Vajpai on Instagram

• Vincent’s early hands-on review of the Terra, Mainspring Magazine

• Inside Titan Watches, Hodinkee

• Sebastian Watch Co., artisanal dials made in India

• Quest Precision on Instagram

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🎧 UNPOLISHED PODCAST

Sell Your Watches (with Jeff Stein)

On this week’s Unpolished Podcast: Jeff Stein.

Jeff is a collector, researcher, scholar, retired lawyer, and the proprietor of On the Dash, the resource for all things Heuer. Since 2003, he’s meticulously documented nearly 600 watches there. In 2016, he was in a Talking Watches episode on Hodinkee.

We talk about his “checklist era” of collecting and upgrading his collection; the personal Heuer grails he’s chasing that no one else is; why community grails like Chronomatics and Seafarers are strong while so many other vintage tool watches have gone soft; when Heuer was hyped; what he’d buy if he had $5,000 or $10,000; the TAG Heuer divers that kept the company alive; the $500 S/eL his daughter wears; the Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Sinn, and other watches he also enjoys.

We close with some advice: Know when to sell your watches. “The only way I could have never sold a watch might be if I’dnever made a mistake in buying a watch,” Jeff says.

👉 Podcasts are published on Fridays. Listen wherever you get podcasts: Spotify / Apple / RSS:

Photo Report: Inside Nomos Glashütte

The first “nice watch” I ever bought for myself was a Nomos Tangente. I wanted something to wear for my wedding, and Nomos looked cool. The design felt familiar in that 2010s millennial-minimalism sort of way, without the vapidness.

Nomos Glashütte says it makes 95% of its own movements. You don’t get to that by polishing a few bridges, so when I visited Glashütte, Germany, last year, I was excited to see what that actually looks like.

Nomos has about 300 employees, most of whom work across three buildings in Saxony: (1) manufacturing; (2) watchmaking; and (3) admin.¹ Its in-house production breaks down neatly across the two facilities:

1. Manufacturing in Schlottwitz

   • About 10 minutes outside Glashütte in rural Saxony, where Nomos makes the raw components for its movements

2. Watchmaking in Glashütte

   • In the Chronometrie building on a hilltop above Glashütte, where watchmakers assemble and test movements

This division is a useful way to think about what a watch company is. I’ve visited many “workshops,” from the Vallée de Joux to Old Town Geneva to Chicago, and these can more or less replicate (2), the watchmaking in Glashütte. Each workshop has its own flair—perhaps an emphasis on high-end finishing or perfect anglage, but the bones are there.

There are far fewer factories manufacturing their own parts. This is typically reserved for the outskirts of Geneva, or industrial towns like La Chaux-de-Fonds or Bienne, where all those CNC machines aren’t a nuisance to the rest of us quietly minding our own business.

What Nomos outsources: Case, dial, hands, strap, buckles (i.e., the habillage, or exterior components).

The manufacturing in (1) is certainly less sexy. It turns raw steel or brass into tiny components. But turn a few knobs, and you can see how they might just as well be making medical supplies or self-driving somethings.

Walk around both Nomos facilities, and it takes fewer people to do the manufacturing. More machines, more robots, less to romanticize. This isn’t the way Ferdinand A. Lange was doing it in this valley in 1845. There aren’t any white coats hunched over a watchmaker’s bench turning screws or assembling movements.

Nomos is impressive because it did the hard part, the part that’s not all sexy designs and stone dials. It’s why Nomos, founded in 1990, didn’t introduce its own in-house Alpha movement until 2005, and its own Swing System escapement until 2015. Today, Nomos produces about 20,000 watches per year.²

While visiting Saxony, I toured both (1) the manufacturing site in Schlottwitz and (2) the watchmaking in Glashütte on a misty, gray fall day.

• 50+ photos and thoughts on what it means to be “independent” in the full Photo Report:

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Special Order: The “Bundle” will only let you choose one strap of each color. If you want any other combo (like Charcoal in 18mm, 20mm, and 22mm), just place an order in the Store and email me your order number and preferred strap selection, tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com:

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The Roundup

Hermès watchmaking’s Birkin problem; the indie Silicon Valley can’t get enough of; one U.S. auction to pay attention to this week; maybe the best vintage watch I’ve seen this year

Read more

The first “nice watch” I ever bought for myself was a Nomos Tangente. I wanted something to wear for my wedding, and Nomos looked cool. The design felt familiar in that 2010s millennial-minimalism sort of way, without the vapidness.

Nomos Glashütte says it makes 95% of its own movements. You don’t get to that by polishing a few bridges, so when I visited Glashütte, Germany, last year, I was excited to see what that actually looks like.

Nomos has about 300 employees, most of whom work across three buildings in Saxony: (1) manufacturing; (2) watchmaking; and (3) admin.1 Its in-house production breaks down neatly across the two facilities:

1. Manufacturing in Schlottwitz

   • About 10 minutes outside Glashütte in rural Saxony, where Nomos makes the components for its movements

2. Watchmaking in Glashütte

   • In the Chronometrie building on a hilltop above Glashütte, where watchmakers assemble and test movements

This division is a useful way to think about what a watch company is. I’ve visited many “workshops,” from the Vallée de Joux to Old Town Geneva to Chicago, and these can more or less replicate (2), the watchmaking in Glashütte. Each workshop has its own flair—perhaps an emphasis on high-end finishing or perfect anglage, but the bones are there.

There are far fewer factories manufacturing their own parts. This is typically reserved for the outskirts of Geneva, or industrial towns like La Chaux-de-Fonds or Bienne, where all those CNC machines aren’t a nuisance to the rest of us quietly minding our own business.

What Nomos outsources: Case, dial, hands, strap, buckles (i.e., the habillage, or exterior components).

The manufacturing in (1) is certainly less sexy. It turns raw steel or brass into tiny components. But turn a few knobs, and you can see how they might just as well be making medical supplies or self-driving somethings.

Walk around both Nomos facilities, and it takes fewer people to do the manufacturing. More machines, more robots, less to romanticize. This isn’t the way Ferdinand A. Lange was doing it in this valley in 1845. There aren’t any white coats hunched over a watchmaker’s bench turning screws or assembling movements.

But this is also the hard part. It’s why Nomos, founded in 1990, didn’t introduce its own in-house Alpha movement until 2005, and its own Swing System escapement until 2015. Today, Nomos produces about 20,000 watches per year.2

While visiting Saxony, I toured both the manufacturing site in Schlottwitz and the watchmaking in Glashütte on a misty, gray fall day.

Part I: Manufacturing in Schlottwitz

Nomos opened its Schlottwitz facility in 2017, a rural village about 10 miles north of Glashütte’s center on a sparsely populated two-lane road.

This is where metal is shaped into all the components that go into an in-house Nomos movement—gears, wheels, pinions, whatchamacallits.

Raw materials. Nomos has an entire room with five of these turning machines, which spin raw steel or brass rods (above) into watch components. Different tools, lathes, or drills are used to make various parts. While they can eventually spit out metal pieces that look something like a gear or pinion, they’re still far from ready to be assembled into a movement.

For example, those first machines make wheels, but they don’t have any teeth when they come out—those are applied by this second machine (above), which requires human operation since it’s a more delicate process. Here’s what the wheels look like before and after:

Machining. Nomos has a few latest-and-greatest CNC machines that can operate for days at a time without human intervention. Newer 5-axis machines have three linear axes and two rotation axes, allowing them to cut a part from five sides. This means they can cut multi-sided geometries in a single setup, removing the need for human operators to manually stop, recalibrate, and reposition parts.3

But Nomos doesn’t get rid of its older 3-axis machines. They’re still used for simpler cuts—think cutting holes from a mainplate on a single plane.

This machinery is the most substantial investment for many watch companies: a modern 5-axis machine can easily run into the mid-six figures.4 For Nomos to make just movement parts for its 20k watches/year, it has a room of a dozen or so CNC machines. And it’s not even making the larger external parts like cases.

When Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour said Rolex invests CHF 100m annually in its machinery, this is the kind of thing he meant.

Each machine has hundreds of tools inside and can machine the mainplates for any of Nomos’ in-house calibers, getting them ready for the next step of assembly.

Quality Control. Alongside component production, there’s also QC. For example, the machine below has a tray that shakes components around. A camera above can detect and analyze size down to the micron and instruct that robotic arm, blurred in motion below, which ones to pick up for the next step of assembly:

The next robot can then take those rubies and add them to the machined three-quarter plates:

This is basically machines doing the easier parts of assembly so the human hands down in Glashütte can assemble the more delicate components.

Finishing

The final step in Schlottwitz. Finishing happens in another room. Finishing can be practical or aesthetic, applied by machine or human. For example, here’s perlage being applied by a machine:

And here’s a woman applying the sunburst pattern to the ratchet and crown wheels by hand. She applies a dab of paste to the machine, and then places the wheel on the chuck. She then slowly applies the exact amount of pressure to get the perfect finish.

Part II: Watchmaking in Glasütte

Silver ore was found in the Ore Mountains in the 15th century, and nearby Glashütte became an early mining town. By the mid-1800s, the deposits had been largely depleted, and the local economy was struggling. In 1845, Ferdinand Adolph Lange brought watchmaking to Glashütte. Like the Swiss valleys known for watchmaking, its natural isolation helped foster a specialized economy that thrived until World War II. East Germany nationalized watch manufacturing after the War, stunting its growth until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Even today, the town of Glashütte is really just the confluence of two roads in a valley. At their intersection, watchmakers: Lange, Glashütte Original, and SUG, a casemaker for many brands. Ten in all. Nomos’ administrative offices are in the old train station.

Nomos’ watchmaking sits in the Chronometrie building, a 15-minute hike up a long and winding road to the top of Glashütte. The Chronometrie building was repurposed during the GDR era, before Nomos acquired it in 2000. Today, it’s where assembly and final checks happen for every Nomos.

Pre-assembly

After all the parts have been produced in Schlottwitz, movements are ready for assembly. First comes the pre-assembly room, where movements start to come together. Mainspring barrels are installed, date wheels are added, and wheels are riveted—the exact functions change depending on whatever’s needed that day:

Swing System

In the next room, watchmakers test and assemble the components for Nomos’ Swing System. Introduced in 2015, this is its own version of the Swiss lever escapement. When Nomos launched in the 1990s, it used an outsourced ETA/Peseux 7001 (from Swatch Group), but with its own customizations inspired by Glashütte watchmaking. In 2005, Nomos officially became a manufacture with the introduction of its Alpha caliber. While the Alpha shares dimensions and structure with the 7001, it didn’t use any major ETA parts—Nomos made its own plates, bridges, and gears. But Nomos still sourced its escapement from the monopoly Nivarox, also owned by Swatch Group.

That changed with the introduction of its Swing System, making Nomos a truly independent movement manufacture. This is when its new calibers began carrying the designation DUW, or Deutsche Uhrenwerke (Germany watch movements), denoting them as made in Germany.

Making your own escapement also means doing all the little things. Below, a watchmaker is making shellac, the natural resin used as an adhesive to attach pallets to the fork. It requires stretching the sticky shellac into long, thin strings, and then cutting those into tiny pieces to be used in escapement assembly:

This woman is using a machine that rotates the balance wheels while a macro lens calculates their weight, so they can be balanced during hairspring assembly. While they all look the same to the naked eye, they have slight differences that need to be adjusted for. After testing, she places each wheel in a different category by weight, as indicated by the numbers below those blue trays:

Final assembly

After pre-assembly and escapement assembly, the movements are ready for final assembly. This is where a movement comes to life for the first time, with the mainspring, gears, and escapement all coming together to give it its first tick.

It’s also where robots and watchmakers work together most noticeably. A human watchmaker starts the process, putting together parts from a tray. Then it’s handed off to a robot, which applies the perfect amount of lubrication, also providing QC measurements to make sure everything is right. The caliber then goes back to the human watchmaker for final adjustments.

After a movement leaves this room, it’s ready for its hands, dial, and case.

Nomos sources the dials and other external components from third-party suppliers.5 They’re brought to Glashütte, where watchmakers assemble the final watches.

Goodbye from Glashütte

All Nomos employees are given a Tangente when they start, which becomes theirs after six months of employment. I saw a lot of Tangentes while walking around, but also almost every other Nomos model on the wrists of watchmakers, machinists, and engineers.

Nomos is impressive because it did the hard part, the part that’s not all sexy designs and stone dials. It slowly, methodically laddered up from outsourced movements to customizations to its own calibers, before finally developing its own escapement. While its designs are consistently, sometimes frustratingly Bauhaus, last year’s Club Sport Worldtimer feels like the first time it’s successfully adapted its distinct aesthetic to a modern sports watch that feels different while still being totally Nomos.

Nomos is, I hope, what some of the latest generation of “microbrands” aspire to. Not just making trendy watches that look fun at a watch fair, but building something truly separate from and independent of the legacy manufacturers.

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More from Glashütte:

Ten years later, he still owns slightly more than half of the 50 or 60 Heuers that were on his kitchen table while filming that episode. Jeff registered on eBay in 1998 and he’s been collecting watches ever since.

We talk about his “checklist era” of collecting and upgrading his collection; the personal Heuer grails he’s chasing that no one else is; why community grails like Chronomatics and Seafarers are strong while so many other vintage tool watches have gone soft; an assessment of Heuer collecting over the last few years; what he’d buy if he had $5,000 or $10,000; the TAG Heuer divers that kept the company alive; the $500 S/eL his daughter wears; the Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Sinn, and other watches that Jeff also enjoys.

We close with some advice: Know when to sell your watches. “The only way I could have never sold a watch might be if I’d never made a mistake in buying a watch,” Jeff says.

Thanks to Jeff for joining the Unpolished Watches Podcast.

• Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS.

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Show Notes

• OntheDash.com; Jeff on Instagram

• Jeff Stein’s Talking Watches from 2016

• Absolutely Everything About the Heuer Autavia “Viceroy” Chronograph, On the Dash

• Guide to TAG Heuer Dive Watches, On the Dash

• Berneron Mirage at LoupeThis

• New TAG Heuer Monza Flyback, On the Dash

• Sinn EZM1, Unpolished

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The Newsletter

If you’re looking for something to read this Labor Day, here are some of the most popular posts from the summer:

• The boomer watch is on sale. But is anyone buying it?

• What dealers can’t sell right now, from simple Lange to Credor

• The only watch you can’t dress up, my review after spending a month with the Hamilton Khaki Field 250

• 6 (potential) future classics from 2006, the year that just turned “vintage”

• Smaller watch, worse movement? Comparing 8 integrated bracelet watches, 3 approaches to the movement, and 2 brands that do it well

• The most Sinn of all Sinns, on the neovintage EZM1 (surprised how much love this one got!)

• 10 new watches I’d actually buy at retail, because usually you should buy pre-owned, but sometimes you shouldn’t

• 10 Takes, the mid-summer grab bag

You can always find the entire archive online here.

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Also make sure you’re subscribed to the Unpolished Watches Podcast wherever you listen to audio. It’ll be published on most Fridays through the fall, with every couple also being a video episode on YouTube. I don’t always send out an email when episodes go up!

👉 Listen on Substack, or subscribe to get episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS. Also watch on YouTube:

Thanks for reading, and have a good Labor Day.

-Tony

The newest strap in the Unpolished Store is Textured Taupe, made from Epsom leather. Lightweight, durable, and resistant to scratches and moisture, it’s famously used by luxury houses for all kinds of leather bags and leather goods.

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Thanks for the feedback on Thursday’s Gallet coverage. I’ve decided to open it up to all subscribers—read it here:

I went to the Breitling Boutique on Michigan Ave yesterday hoping to see the Gallet Classics, which I haven’t seen in person, but learned they won’t be carrying Gallet—kind of surprising, I thought.

Up and Down

I visited Dresden and Glashütte for the first time last year. The Up/Down format is in shop windows everywhere. Not just A. Lange & Söhne, but also more affordable pocket watches from when East German watchmaking was nationalized after the War.

I love when a design feels so tied to a specific place. The Lange 1815 Up/Down is based on a 19th-century Lange patent for power reserve—Auf/Ab tells you whether it’s wound or empty. It’s a bit quirky, at least for a German, with off-center subdials at 4 and 8 o’clock—a running seconds and power-reserve indicator.

Glashütte watchmaking is the charming underdog to the north of Switzerland, and the Up/Down captures its no-nonsense essence with a simple power reserve.

In the catalog since 1997, the Up/Down sits somewhere between the Saxonia Thin and the Lange 1. Not the entry-level, but thinner and more wearable than anything above it. A solid entry point, and still captivating enough for collectors to hunt rare, special, or early Up/Downs.

Lange introduced a limited-edition 1815 Up/Down pair this weekend. Blue dial with white subdials, 37.5mm white or rose gold case, limited to 300 in each metal. They look great. A limited edition, yes, but a pretty big one by Lange standards.1 I’ve already seen a couple get delivered.

• The new pair is ~$45k from what I’ve heard. A first-gen blue dial—the one collectors want—trades around that, up from $30k just a year ago.

• The limited editions adapt elements of previous models.

Reference Table:

First Generation 1815 Up/Down

The first-generation 1815 Up/Down is 35.9x7.9mm (43mm lug-to-lug), basically the perfect size for a dress watch. Same diameter as the three-hand 1815, only 0.5mm thicker to add the power-reserve gearing.

• Case: Traditional Lange three-part case with polished bezel, brushed midcase, and notched lugs (interestingly, the midcase on the pink gold is polished, not brushed)

• Dial: Railway outer track with Saxon floral at the cardinal markers; those bold numerals that look stamped by a Glashütte typewriter. Gangreserve floats around the power-reserve indicator.

• Movement: L942.1, with 48-hour power reserve. I’ll quote Walt Odets, because his review, while not even glowingly positive, is one of the reasons I appreciate the Up/Down:

  “While much of the beauty of the Lange derives from its traditional materials and appearance, the adherence to tradition limits what this watch could have been…The Up/Down is essentially a miniaturized replica of a 19th century German pocket watch.

  The Lange Up/Down is its own kind of quirky, old-new masterpiece. It is not, however, a contribution to furthering the technical development of the mechanical watch.”

• His entire technical breakdown is worth a read. Three-quarter plate, German silver, gold chatons, hand-engraved balance cock, with a differential gearing to drive the power reserve indicator. “If traditional German charm is to your taste,” it’s hard to beat the 1815, he writes, but adds that the Chopard caliber 1.96, Patek caliber 240, or Lange’s automatics are more technically impressive.

The first-gen models are mostly the same, except the platinum and yellow gold have blued hour and minute hands, while the white and rose have gold hands matching the case. I like the traditional look of Lange’s blue steel hands on the argenté dial, even if the Blue Up/Down is more “collectible.”

A curious detail

The 1815 Up/Down is typically seen with Lange’s standard silver dial, which has a flat, slightly textured surface. However, there seems to be another variant. A friend of mine recently bought a first-gen yellow, and when it arrived, he was surprised to find the center portion had a circular-grained pattern. Hardly noticeable until you get up close. I don’t think they’re any more valuable, but it’s an interesting detail to note (although I can imagine dealers marketing these as “rare two-tone dials!” in the future). Part of the fun of collecting, especially this era, when there’s plenty to learn:

Integrated bracelet

Like many early Langes, the 1815 Up/Down was also offered with an integrated Wellendorff bracelet

• 251.021 (Yellow gold): Last sold at auction in 2024 ($22,680), cataloged as the second known example. People pay crazy prices for anything Wellendorff now, so who knows what it’d sell for.

• 251.025 (Platinum): Documented in collector-maintained databases, but I haven’t seen one sell publicly. Let me know if you’ve seen even a picture of one!

Walter Lange Edition

In 2006, Lange introduced a limited-edition Up/Down trio in white, pink, and yellow gold as a tribute to Walter A. Lange:

• Key differences: 37.5mm, hinged caseback with Lange’s signature engraved, and gold rings surrounding the subdials.

• Limited to 50 pieces in each metal.

• These have become more popular with collectors recently—market discussion below.

Second Generation

Bigger case, better movement

Lange discontinued the first-gen 1815 Up/Down in 2008 and introduced the second-gen in 2013 with an updated case, dial, and movement:

• Case: 39x8.7mm, stepped bezel

• Dial: Larger subdials, removed Gangreserve

• Movement: Caliber L051.2 with 72-hour power reserve, exposed ratchet wheel and click spring (hidden under three-quarter plate in first gen)

I prefer the smaller size of the first gen, and also don’t love the larger second-gen subdials that gobble up the 5 and 7 numerals. But the updated movement is technically and aesthetically better. Catalog notes:

• 2013: Lange introduced the second-gen Up/Down in yellow gold (234.021), white (234.026), and pink gold (234.032), each priced around $30k. All with silver dial and blued hands.

• 2026: Pink and white remain in the catalog, MSRP: $39,600

• Yellow gold was discontinued in the early 2020s.

Retailer Editions

Lange has also made a few limited-edition 1815 Up/Downs for retailers using the second-gen 39mm format:

Cellini 40th Anniversary: New York retailer Cellini was a long-time Lange partner. For its 40th anniversary in 2017, Lange released an 1815 Up/Down in white gold with a white lacquer dial—a first. Limited to 40 numbered pieces, the “40” on the subdial is also in red.

75 Years of Suarez: A 2018 special edition in pink gold for Spanish retailer Suarez, with an engraved hinged caseback. Limited to 20 numbered pieces.

Wempe Edition: A limited-edition pair for retailer Wempe in 2019 with a blue dial and contrasting white subdials. White and pink gold, 25 pieces each.

Back to the 2026 Editions

That brings us to the 2026 limited edition 1815 Up/Down pair: 37.5mm, “panda-style” dial with blue dial and contrasting subdials, same L051.2 movement as the 39mm. Details:

• It takes the 37.5mm Walter Lange case and pairs it with the blue dial from the Wempe editions.

• Limited to 300 each.

• I’m curious how the large subdials work in the smaller case, a combo we haven’t seen before. Reserving judgment until I see them in person!

• Price is on request, but I’ve heard it’s around $45k, a sensible ~10% over the standard editions.

2026 Market Update

The Lange market has been super hot, so I spoke to Vivek of Tahoma Watches about the 1815 Up/Down market. He’s sold a handful recently:

Read more

Gallet introduced the Flying Officer in 1939, a chronograph with a world-time indicator, rotating bezel, and waterproof case—all novel for the time.

The cities on the world timer might seem unusual—small towns like Djask and Dakar alongside familiar metropolises like New York or London.

In those early days of intercontinental flight, you couldn’t just fly directly from one far-flung destination to another. Pilots had to hopscotch through sometimes obscure outposts, making multiple refueling stops to get across the world. For example, KLM, Air France, and Britain’s Imperial Airways all had routes connecting Europe to Asia running through Djask, a small port town on the Gulf of Oman.

This is the origin of the Gallet Flying Officer, with its indicators dictated by specific, real-world practicality.

Today, Gallet officially relaunches under Breitling’s House of Brands, after its acquisition by Breitling and Partners Group was first reported in February 2025. It’s introducing four collections, but calls the Flying Officer the “blueprint” for its relaunch.

The new Flying Officer has been upsized to 40mm (15mm thick), and Gallet says:

“The rotating bezel has been entirely reconsidered around 24 contemporary destinations, pairing major international gateways with more remote points of exploration to reflect how travel has evolved.”

That original specificity is long gone—instead, the world timer has become a moodboard for “wanderlust.”

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Wanderlust

Gallet’s relaunch is all about wanderlust. From its press release:

“Wanderlust is more than the urge to travel. It’s the instinct to break free from the ordinary, leave the noise behind, and chase what lies beyond.”

Gallet is positioned as a sibling brand of Breitling, with the four new collections to be sold via “select Breitling boutiques now featuring dedicated safari-inspired Gallet corners, inviting visitors into the brand’s world of escape, exploration, and adventure.”

The German wanderlust is a strong desire or impulse to travel. 160 million posts on Instagram have the hashtag #wanderlust, many of those from the late Obama years when millennials like me were Eat-Pray-Loving our way across Spain or Thailand or Colombia or whatever “affordable” destination an entry-level gig at Accenture could bankroll.1

It’s a strange place for Gallet to end up, since its actual history is anything but vague.

Founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1826, Gallet & Co. became known for its chronographs with very specific use cases: the Navigator for navigating; Yachting for yachters; Decimal for engineers and scientists; Filmeter for Hollywood; Medigraph for doctors; even basketball and football timers.

The Wright Brothers used a stopwatch known as The Sun, manufactured by Gallet, to time their first flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903. “The Sun” was a New York importer’s trademark, and the design was a horse timer Gallet had been selling since the 1890s.

Gallet’s distribution was focused in the United States, likely thanks to the efforts of Leon Gallet and Jules Racine. As wristwatches began to replace pocket watches in the 1930s, Gallet took advantage.

In 1938, it introduced the MultiChron Clamshell (my favorite Gallet), which used a primitive waterproof case design with four screws in the caseback to seal it against moisture. A year later came the Flying Officer. Earlier world timers from fancy brands like Patek Philippe used Louis Cottier’s intricate system. By contrast, the Flying Officer was practical and affordable, a tool for actual use by pilots and navigators.

An early Flying Officer was given to Harry S. Truman, who later became President of the United States and dropped two atomic bombs.

Meanwhile, Gallet entered its golden age with the rest of the Swiss industry, producing an endless variety of chronographs for the world’s growing middle class that enjoyed driving, yachting, flying, and other leisurely endeavors.

Gallet eventually became a victim of the Quartz and Currency Crisis, with the brand falling out of the Gallet family by 1994, going into private ownership and remaining largely dormant until its 2025 acquisition by private equity firm Partners Group and Breitling.

Today, Gallet enthusiasm is small compared to even Universal Genève, with a center of gravity in the U.S. given the historical link.

The new Gallet watches are “Manufactured by Breitling,” benefiting from Breitling’s “after-sales service and global distribution.”

This does not include Breitling movements, except for the 200th anniversary Gallet Classics (more below). Instead, Gallet relies on Sellita: the core chronographs are based on the Sellita SW510, while the Flying Officer Automatic is based on the SW200.

This may be a point of contention for some, but it’s historically honest. Vintage Gallet chronographs used outsourced calibers from Landeron, Venus, Valjoux, and, famously, Excelsior Park. Here’s the pricing:

• Flying Officer Automatic: $2,900 (strap) / $3,100 (bracelet)

• Flying Officer Chronograph, Multichron Pilot & Sport: $4,400 (strap) / $4,600 (bracelet)

• Gallet Classics (Yachting, 45, Silverlight): $6,700 USD (strap only)

It’s a competitive segment, and growth is slow. The chronograph prices put Gallet at the top band of Sellita users—smaller brands like Baltic, Hanhart, Christopher Ward, and Furlan Marri offer cheaper SW510 alternatives. Gallet comes in slightly below Norqain, which may be the best comp. Meanwhile, Longines offers a range of COSC-certified chronographs below $4,000.

For another couple grand, you can graduate to a Tudor Black Bay Chrono, which uses a Breitling-descended caliber, while “Breitling-made” Gallet runs a Sellita.

The problem: Gallet is a niche brand, but has chosen the broadest possible marketing and design codes, which means it’s taking on every competitor in the most crowded segment of the market.

Perhaps Gallet can become a true competitor to Longines, or more accessible than Tudor and its steady march upmarket. But it’s not there with this launch collection.

Let’s get specific

All those old Gallet chronographs answered a very specific question for doctors, pilots, engineers, or just rich lawyers with a boat.

But wanderlust isn’t a specific question—it’s a feeling, and feelings don’t lend themselves to precise answers. Let’s start by looking at the core collections:

(1) The Flying Officer

I’ve seen the Flying Officer in person. It’s a chunky: 40x15mm (47.5mm lug-to-lug), though I suppose not overly imposing for someone with larger wrists.

It’s offered with a black or trendy Tiffany-adjacent blue dial with that “reconsidered” world timer around the periphery. The simple design takes after second-gen vintage Flying Officers from the 60s, with no tachymeter or telemeter scales.

The bezel is highly polished, making it much shinier than the old Flying Officers. A pilot friend of mine wore a Flying Officer sample in the weeks leading up to this release, so I asked for his impressions. He told me:

“From a practical perspective, it’s too shiny, it leans too far away from the tool watch aesthetic.”

However, he called it a sharp watch, saying he’s glad Breitling has brought a new pilot’s watch to the market. He’ll have a full video with his thoughts on his YouTube, PilotWatchGouge.2

The Flying Officer is big, brash, and thick—closer to a 2006 sensibility of what a luxury watch should be than 2026. Instagrammable destinations like Dubai, Nairobi, and even Angkor Wat dot the dial, moving from #wanderlust to the world timer.

The Flying Officer might not be for me, the limp-wristed enthusiast, or my pilot friend, but Breitling is betting that the fat middle of consumers might be intrigued enough to take a safari to the corner of their local Breitling boutique.

(2) Flying Officer Automatic

There’s also a time-and-date Flying Officer Automatic, which doesn’t have a direct ancestor. Historically, Gallet mostly made chronographs, so I get the need to reinterpret its back catalog into a modern three-hander. But simply removing the chronograph shows a relative lack of imagination.

Gallet says the orange dial is “inspired by the patina of an aged Flying Officer,” and serves as the color palette of the entire brand relaunch.

Patina, repackaged as a Pantone.

(3) The Multichron Pilot 42. Gallet calls it “a go-anywhere, do-anything watch with a rugged, textured dial and the ability to track a second timezone.” GADA, that overused phrase born on Reddit and forums, elevated to press-release lingo. I expected all the watches to be super-sized, and the core collection is, even if the Multichron Pilot is a somewhat compact 42mm (11.3mm thick and 45.6mm lug-to-lug).

(4) The Multichron Sport 41 will wear bigger. A familiar three-register chronograph measuring 41x 13.9mm thick (49mm lug-to-lug), offered with a black or blue dial. It’s the only model without a historical analog. To me, it’s also the closest of the bunch to a Breitling, mixing elements that feel familiar from the Top Time or Classic AVI. Squint and it’s a Longines.

Across the Multichron, the design and color palette play it safe—relying on retro, unapologetically masculine tool-watch tropes like bright orange accents as a shortcut for establishing its credentials.

Gallet is being positioned as a sibling brand of Breitling, and it’d be hard to mistake it as anything but that.

Keep it Classic

Let’s get to the watches I like.

Alongside the core collection, there are three special-edition Gallet Classics. Unlike the others, they use Breitling’s hand-wound caliber B09. They’re also smaller: 38x12.5mm (46mm lug-to-lug). Even the GALLET wordmark at 12 o’clock has been shrunk down.

• Price: $6,700

I’ve talked to a few enthusiasts who were consulted on these, and it shows. The dimensions slip under the Tudor Black Bay 39 Chrono, as does the price (strap only vs. bracelet, but still). The lugs have a slight bevel, inspired by old Gallet cases like this one.

The models are interesting and even unexpected:

• The Yachting Big Eye is a reference to the vintage models of the same name, some of the best in Gallet’s entire back catalog.

• The Tribute to Multichron 45 references a rare vintage Gallet powered by a Landeron movement.

• Gallet says the Tribute to Silverlight is inspired by the vintage Navigator, though it lacks the additional navigator hand (basically a compass), which would’ve been a cool touch.

Sure, I would’ve loved to see these in 36mm, but we always knew that’d be asking for a lot from Breitling’s House of Brands.

While I like the execution of all three, that’s not to say I want Gallet to be entirely a heritage brand that reissues small(er) manually-wound dress chronographs for the finicky enthusiast set. That’s not a viable business, and isn’t what sells at Fifth Avenue or airport boutiques.

Gallet relies on a familiar blend of heritage meets adventure. The relaunch has some similarities with Bremont’s rebrand under CEO Davide Cerrato, also framed around the amorphous idea of adventure. So many of the brands in this segment—Bremont, Longines, Tudor, Norqain, and now Gallet—sell watches off that same sense of exploration.

Gallet is niche enough that I thought it could build around something else. Think about the way Nomos sells design or Sinn sells engineering. Gallet could’ve sold the specificity of its catalog—it made watches for doctors, engineers, cinematographers, navigators, and referees.

Asking the right questions

Those old Gallet chronographs were good because they were specific. The Flying Officer was a clever bit of 1930s engineering, hacked out of a rotating bezel. Eventually, the world caught up—the GMT hand, then quartz, then the phone in your pocket.

But specificity itself isn’t obsolete. Just last week, Ming introduced a world timer with an ingenious solution for tracking Daylight Saving Time, a real problem that didn’t have a mechanical answer. Somebody is still asking the kind of question Gallet used to ask.

Gallet spent its first 150 years making instruments for those who knew where they wanted to go, or what they wanted to measure. Now, it makes watches for wanderlust.

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Let me know what you think about the Gallet relaunch in the comments!

Unpolished Store End-of-Summer Sale: Straps will be restocked for fall in the next week, so everything currently in the Store is marked down at least 10%:

• Canvas Straps are $59

• Matte Calfskin Straps are $95

Shop Unpolished Store

AnOrdain released a new Model 1 Porcelain this week: white porcelain dial, blue numerals by designer Kia Tasbihgou, 38mm case. Lovely watch for $3,000.

A lot of the focus was on the Glasgow brand’s process for making porcelain dials, and how it allows them to produce more than the vitreous enamel dials that made it so popular. From AnOrdain’s press release:

• 7 enamelers produce 50 enamel dials per month

• 1 ceramic specialist makes 30-40 porcelain dials per month

  • About 300 porcelain dials are actually produced/month, but AnOrdain’s rejection rate can be 90%+

I’ve been wearing around a Model 1 Porcelain sample for a couple weeks, and it’s easy to see how. AnOrdain makes its porcelain dials by firing actual clay (not ceramic sheets). There are a few noticeable bumps on the dial, though you’ve gotta catch it at the right angle. Any blemishes are less noticeable than the black Porcelain I tried last year. Perhaps AnOrdain’s gotten better at making porcelain dials because I might’ve assumed white would show more texture.

Feeling crafty

“Just because it’s hard or expensive for you to do doesn’t mean your customer should care or pay for it,” collector & commentator Andy Green said on this week’s podcast. If another brand can make the same thing more cheaply, that’s a you problem.

“If there’s a direct competitor that’s doing volume and it’s cheaper, then that’s something for you to navigate and figure out how to find a different value proposition.”

“Craft” is everywhere right now, including watches. Watchmakers and brands are trying to figure out what they can actually do that the AI or robots can’t, just like programmers, lawyers, accountants. So we hear about hand-finished inner angles, hand-hammered cases, hand-polished hands.

But, as Felix Scholz adds in our pod: “The guys that are selling mass volume don’t need to talk about how unique their watches are. Rolex could write a press release saying every watch has been touched by a hundred hands, but they don’t need to because they’re selling them.”

Craft is narrative, no better or worse than any other story we tell ourselves to justify a purchase.

What are you waiting for?

AnOrdain focuses on craft as much as any brand. It’s in the tagline—old crafts, new hands.1

I’ve been on the waitlist for one of AnOrdain’s vitreous enamel dials since 2024 (build slot coming in 2028!). With its new porcelain dials, AnOrdain’s managed to solve a business problem—supply naturally limited by production—and sell it as mastering a new craft. Feeding two birds with one scone.

For the last two weeks, I’ve been wearing around this Porcelain Model 1. It’s a different process, different material, different makers. But the dial looks just as good as the enamel.

Part of that’s the numerals, the best AnOrdain’s come up with yet. Tasbihgou’s design is clearly inspired by Breguet. Not a copy, but you can see where they came from. Same swelling stroke, same wandering tails.

It all makes me wonder why I’m still waiting until 2028.

Sure, I can tell myself the story about craft—AnOrdain mastering enamel and bringing it to their in-house Glasgow workshop. That they can only make 50 dials a month. And credit where it’s due, AnOrdain’s queue isn’t manufactured by artificial scarcity.

But that’s only part of it. Part of what I want is the waitlist. That other people also want it.

The waitlist isn’t just a byproduct of the craft, it’s part of the product itself.

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Back in January, I asked 13 people—an Olympian, Formula 1 lead, founders, collectors, and makers like Berneron and Büsser—to help me find the line between making and marketing.

The Roundup

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It’s almost the end of summer. Before we head back to school and a few of you lucky folks head to Geneva Watch Days, I decided it was time for a Mid-Year Awards Show. I called up Andy Green and Felix Scholz of the O.T.: The Podcast to talk about the releases we’ve seen so far in 2026.

We start by discussing trends: The rise of “economy gold,” the second generation of microbrands, outer space is back in a big way, and our most worn watches of the year.

Then, we give out some fun awards: Best Watch Under $2,000; the Discourse Award, for generating the most posts per unit of watch actually produced; the Beige Award for most boring release; Best Release of the Year (overall); Most Likely to be a Grail in 20 Years; and the ‘Big Dog’ Award.

We also talk plenty about Chanel Blue and the Best Blue Award, craft, value, and if it’s okay to take five years to “develop” a color.

What will be a grail in 2046?

We closed the episode with a question that turned out to be two questions. I asked Felix and Andy to name the watch from 2026 they think will be a grail twenty years from now, and they immediately answered different prompts.

Felix went predictive: His pick was the Jubilee motif Oyster Perpetual, and his reasoning had nothing to do with whether he wants one. It’s about how the catalog will read in 2046: Rolex made a weird dial for a single year, 20 years ago, and then never again. It’s the kind of thing collectors love.

Andy went personal: The watch he still expects to want in 20 years, the Chopard L.U.C 1860 Areuse Blue. It’s not that the latest L.U.C will be breaking auction records in 20 years, he just likes it. We talk about the new Alpine Eagle XPS “Mountain Glow,” but Andy’s pick for 2046 is the L.U.C 1860—something about it feels more certain as a future classic. He held it back from his Best Release of the Year list to save it for this question.

My pick was somewhere between the two: The Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton. Production is genuinely limited, and each one is numbered, which means we might have a good idea how many were actually made in 20 years. Daniel Roth, Gérald Genta, and La Fabrique du Temps will also likely be the last watchmaking projects from legendary watchmakers Enrico Barbasini and Michel Navas. It’s the kind of thing we only grow to appreciate as the years pass, especially their connection to Genta himself and the first generation of indies.

Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS. Also watch on YouTube:

Show Notes

• OT: The Podcast on Apple Podcasts; on Substack

• Watches mentioned include: the Sinn U1, Earthen Ceramic, Andy's Rolex Land-Dweller (in for service), TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph, Buzz Aldrin’s Speedmaster; Kiwame Tokyo Sakura, Anoma, Raymond Weil A.R.T, Hamilton Khaki Field 250, Blue Chanel J12, Cartier Privé collection; Naoya Hida x Zenith GFJ, Grand Seiko Ushio diver UFA, IWC Ingenieur 35 in Pool Blue, Chopard 1860 Areuse Blue, Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton, titanium IWC Perpetual Calendar, and more.

END-OF-SUMMER SALE!

Head to the Unpolished Store to shop our selection of Canvas and Leather Straps. We’ll be restocking for fall in the next week, so everything currently in the store is marked down at least 10%:

• Canvas Straps are $59

• Matte Calfskin Straps are $95

Check them out in the Store: shop.unpolishedwatches.com

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Thanks for listening, and let us know your award winners for the first half of 2026.