Author: Fritz Oberlin

BUBEN&ZORWEG Opens New Manufaktur: Where Safes Meet Swiss Precision

When you think about watch companies, you probably picture Switzerland, right? Maybe some romantic workshop in the Alps where old masters squint at tiny gears. Well, BUBEN&ZORWEG just threw a curveball. This German brand, known for making some of the most sophisticated watch winders and high-security safes in the world, has just opened a brand-new manufaktur in Pforzheim, Germany. And it’s not your average factory.

Black Forest, Big Ambitions

Pforzheim sits at the gateway to the Black Forest, which sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale. But there’s nothing fantastical about the 5,000 square meter site that now houses BUBEN&ZORWEG’s latest creation. The facility itself spans 2,500 square meters of purpose-built space, designed from the ground up to embody what the brand calls its three guiding principles: German engineering, fine craftsmanship, and extraordinary design.

Now, if you’re thinking “wait, what’s a watch winder company doing with a manufaktur?” – fair question. BUBEN&ZORWEG isn’t your typical horological player. They’re the folks who make sure your automatic watches keep ticking when you’re not wearing them, housed in safes so secure they could probably withstand a small apocalypse. Think of them as the intersection between haute horlogerie and Fort Knox.

Architecture That Actually Makes Sense

Here’s where it gets interesting. The building itself is divided into three distinct sections, and this isn’t just some architect’s whim. The layout actually reflects how the company works. At the heart of the facility is the handcrafting space, where all the artistic magic happens. On one side, you’ve got engineering and design. On the other, logistics. It’s like a physical manifestation of the creative process: dream it up, make it beautiful, ship it out.

This setup isn’t just smart on paper. It reinforces what BUBEN&ZORWEG calls “the flow between innovation, creation and delivery.” In other words, the people designing wild new safe concepts can walk over and chat with the craftspeople who’ll actually build them. No endless email chains, no game of telephone between departments. Just pure, efficient German problem-solving.

More Than Just a Factory

The facility includes a Private Showroom, which is exactly what it sounds like but probably fancier than you’re imagining. This is where clients can come see bespoke masterpieces that combine high-security storage with watch winder technology. We’re talking about pieces that cost more than most cars and look like they belong in a Bond villain’s lair (in the best possible way).

The manufaktur represents what BUBEN&ZORWEG calls a “new benchmark” in their field. That’s marketing speak, sure, but when you’re building a 2,500 square meter facility from scratch, you’d better be setting some benchmarks. The company specializes in bespoke pieces, meaning each creation is tailored to the client’s specific needs. Want a safe that holds 50 watches, looks like a modernist sculpture, and can survive basically anything? They’ll build it.

The German Difference

There’s something poetic about a German company setting up shop in Pforzheim, a city with deep jewelry and watchmaking roots. While they’re not making watches themselves, BUBEN&ZORWEG’s work requires similar precision. Watch winders need to replicate the exact motion of a human wrist to keep automatic movements running smoothly. Too fast, too slow, wrong direction – any of these can damage a delicate timepiece.

The new manufaktur isn’t just about having more space. It’s about control, quality, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when you combine security engineering with horological precision. In an industry where tradition often trumps innovation, BUBEN&ZORWEG is betting that German engineering, applied to the world of haute horlogerie accessories, still has something new to say.

And honestly? Looking at their new digs, they might be right.

November 28, 2025
UR-FREAK: When Two Watch Rebels Join Forces

Sometimes the best ideas happen when you put two creative minds in the same room and see what chaos unfolds. The UR-FREAK is exactly that kind of happy accident – except it’s actually a meticulously engineered collaboration between two Swiss watchmaking mavericks: URWERK and Ulysse Nardin.

Two Brands, One Wild Vision

Here’s the setup: Ulysse Nardin, the 178-year-old manufacture that shocked the watch world in 2001 with the original Freak, has teamed up with URWERK, the 28-year-old independent brand known for making watches that look like they time-traveled here from a cooler timeline. This is Ulysse Nardin’s first collaboration with another watch brand, which makes it a pretty big deal.

Both companies share a rebellious streak. They don’t care much about following trends or playing it safe. URWERK, founded by watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei, makes only 150 watches per year and refuses to compromise their wild vision. Ulysse Nardin uses their Freak platform as a “laboratory on the wrist” – a place to test crazy ideas that traditional watchmakers would never attempt.

So What Makes the UR-FREAK Special?

The UR-FREAK isn’t just a cosmetic mashup where they slap two logos on an existing watch and call it a day. This is a proper technical collaboration with an entirely new movement: the caliber UN-241. It combines URWERK’s signature “wandering hours” satellite display with the rotating movement architecture that made the Freak famous.

Let me explain how it works without making your brain hurt. Instead of traditional hands, the UR-FREAK has three connected arms that rotate around the dial. Each arm carries a domed disc showing an hour number. As the active arm travels along the 60-minute scale on the right side of the dial, it shows you the current time. When it completes its journey, the hour disc jumps to the next number, and the next arm takes over. The whole system rotates completely every three hours.

At the center sits an oversized silicon balance wheel – the heart that keeps time. It’s 25% larger than standard versions, positioned right where you can see it beating away. This setup also acts like a carousel, constantly rotating to help reduce timing errors.

Tech That Actually Matters

The UR-FREAK packs some genuinely innovative technology. It uses Ulysse Nardin’s Grinder automatic winding system, which is one of the rare real improvements to automatic winding in decades. Traditional automatic systems need a decent amount of movement to wind the mainspring. The Grinder converts even the tiniest wrist motions into energy – much more efficient.

Then there’s silicon. Ulysse Nardin pioneered silicon components in watchmaking back in 2001, and they’ve been obsessed with the material ever since. Silicon doesn’t care about temperature changes or magnetic fields, it creates almost no friction, and it doesn’t need lubrication. The escapement uses something even fancier: DIAMonSil, which is silicon coated with diamond for extra durability. No other brand has this technology.

The movement offers 90 hours of power reserve and operates at 3 Hz. It’s housed in a 44mm sandblasted titanium case that screams URWERK – complete with their signature fluted sections and electric yellow accents (Pantone 395 C, for those keeping track).

The Crown? What Crown?

Like most Freaks, the UR-FREAK ditches the traditional crown entirely. You set the time by unlocking and turning the bezel, which has a special “UR-FREAK” locker tab at six o’clock. Want to manually wind it? Turn the caseback instead. It’s unconventional, sure, but it creates a clean, streamlined look on the wrist.

Should You Care?

With only 100 pieces being made, most of us won’t get our hands on one anyway. But the UR-FREAK matters because it shows what’s possible when creative horological minds work together without compromise. It’s not trying to be subtle or appeal to everyone. It’s a bold statement about independence, innovation, and pushing boundaries.

In a watch world that sometimes feels too safe and predictable, the UR-FREAK is a reminder that the most interesting things happen when rebels refuse to color inside the lines.

November 19, 2025
L’Epée 1839 Time Fast: When Racing Clocks Get a Patina Makeover

Sometimes the best ideas come from the most unexpected places. For Chris Alexander, aka The Dial Artist, it was during a holiday phone call with the team at L’Epée 1839. The conversation drifted to childhood memories of building model cars, painting miniatures, and the beautiful way time leaves its mark on things. Before long, a new collaboration was born: the “Marks of Time” series.

If you’re not familiar with L’Epée’s Time Fast collection, imagine a vintage Formula 1 car from the golden age of racing – say, 1930s to 1960s – but it’s actually a clock. Not just any clock, mind you, but one that works like those pull-back toy cars you had as a kid. Push it backward, and you wind the eight-day movement. Want to set the time? Turn the three-spoke steering wheel. It’s the kind of thing that makes you grin every time you look at it.

The Time Fast D8, the first model in the collection, became an instant hit. Its clean lines and understated elegance captured the spirit of vintage racing perfectly. The time displays on rotating disks positioned like a racing number on the bodywork. It sits on an aluminum H-chassis, features handcrafted stainless-steel wheels with actual rubber tires (filled with foam for that authentic squish), and even has a glass dome polished to look like a driver’s helmet protecting the escapement.

The Time Fast II takes things further with dual movements – one for telling time, another for animating a miniature V8 engine. There’s a functional gear stick to switch between modes, and when you turn the dashboard key, the pistons come alive in a mesmerizing mechanical dance. It’s part timepiece, part sculpture, part toy for grown-ups who never quite grew up.

Enter the Artist

Now comes Chris Alexander‘s artistic twist. The Scottish-based artist, who cut his teeth in luxury miniature car modeling, spent years perfecting techniques for creating aged, weathered finishes. Think “barn find” automobiles – those legendary discoveries of forgotten race cars tucked away in old garages, wearing decades of patina like badges of honor.

For the Marks of Time series, Alexander developed a copper oxidation process that transforms each Time Fast into a one-of-a-kind piece. The bodywork gets coated with several layers of copper-based paint, then oxidized by hand. The result? Every single piece shows unique patterns and color variations. No two are alike, just like no two barn finds have weathered time in quite the same way.

This isn’t about making something look old for old’s sake. It’s about celebrating the poetry of time itself – how it shapes materials, creates memories, and reveals new layers of meaning. Each mark, each variation in color, tells its own story of endurance and emotion.

The Technical Side

Let’s talk mechanics for a moment. The Time Fast houses L’Epée 1839’s in-house movement, good for eight days of running. The movement follows the aerodynamic curves of the bodywork, integrating seamlessly with the design rather than fighting against it. Setting the time is intuitive: turn the steering wheel counterclockwise to set, clockwise to reposition.

Winding happens through those rear wheels. Roll the car backward, and you’re loading the mainspring barrels. On the Time Fast II, a gearbox lever lets you select which barrel gets wound – a delightful bit of mechanical theater.

The dimensions are substantial: the D8 measures 385 x 160 x 120 mm, while the Time Fast II stretches to 450 x 189 x 120 mm. These aren’t desk trinkets; they’re statement pieces.

Materials include palladium-plated brass, stainless steel, and anodized aluminum, finished with a mix of polishing, satin-finishing, and sand-blasting. Alexander’s lacquered bodywork sits atop this precision engineering like a custom paint job on a restored racer.

Why It Works

The beauty of the Marks of Time series lies in its contradictions. It’s precise yet weathered, modern yet nostalgic, mechanical yet artistic. It celebrates both the technical perfection of Swiss clockmaking and the organic randomness of natural oxidation processes.

Alexander describes his work as a collaboration between client, artist, and watch (or in this case, clock). Each Marks of Time piece becomes a unique creation – a frozen moment where racing history, horological craft, and contemporary art meet on your shelf.

It’s the kind of object that rewards closer inspection, revealing new details each time you look. And isn’t that exactly what time does?

November 18, 2025
Studio Underd0g x Massena LAB: When Champagne Meets Caviar on Your Wrist

There’s a new chronograph coming from Studio Underd0g‘s workshop in Maidenhead, and it’s dressed for the fanciest party you’ve never been invited to. The British brand has teamed up with William Massena’s Massena LAB to create a watch that celebrates life’s finer things: champagne, caviar, and the kind of playful design that makes serious collectors smile.

A Watch That Breaks the Mold

The 03SERIES Champagne & Caviar isn’t your grandfather’s chronograph, unless your grandfather had exceptionally good taste and a sense of humor. Limited to just 200 pieces, this monopusher chronograph manages to be both elegant and cheeky at the same time.

The star of the show is the oversized subdial at three o’clock, which has been cleverly machined to look like a generous serving of caviar. It’s the kind of detail that makes you do a double-take. The varied sizes of the subdials could have looked messy, but Studio Underd0g balances everything with strategic co-branding placement, letting the chronograph seconds hand sweep freely across the dial.

Speaking of that chronograph hand, look closely at its base. There’s a tiny champagne bottle silhouette there, gliding smoothly over the shimmering champagne-toned dial. These little touches show why this collaboration works so well. Both brands understand that great design lives in the details.

The Heart of the Matter

Inside the 38.5mm stainless steel case beats the Swiss Sellita SW510 M, a hand-wound monopusher movement that Studio Underd0g first used in their Project Passion collaboration with H. Moser & Cie last year. This isn’t some off-the-shelf caliber, though. The movement features a custom bridge with Côte de Genève finishing in ruthénium anthracite, made exclusively for Studio Underd0g.

With 63 hours of power reserve and a 28,800 beat rate, it’s a proper mechanical chronograph. The monopusher design keeps things clean, with just one button to start, stop, and reset the chronograph function. There’s also a 30-minute counter and tachymeter scale for those who actually time things (or just like the look of them).

Why This Partnership Makes Sense

Richard Benc of Studio Underd0g and William Massena aren’t just business partners on this project. They’ve developed a genuine working relationship since meeting in early 2023. Massena, often called “the collector’s collector,” brings decades of experience and an eye that’s helped shape the modern watch collecting world.

“Richard and his team aren’t afraid to have a bit of fun with serious watchmaking,” Massena explains. He’s right. Studio Underd0g has built its reputation on rejecting the stuffiness of traditional watchmaking while keeping all the good bits: quality, detail, and craftsmanship.

The watch comes paired with a handmade pebble-grain calfskin strap from The Strap Tailor, tapering from 20mm at the lugs to 16mm at the buckle. It’s supple, it’s classy, and it complements the watch’s luxurious theme perfectly.

The Practical Stuff

At 38.5mm wide and 13.6mm thick, this chronograph wears comfortably on most wrists. The 44.5mm lug-to-lug distance means it won’t overwhelm smaller wrists either. There’s sapphire crystal front and back (the front is double-domed, naturally), and the watch is water-resistant to 5 ATM, which is fine for daily wear but maybe take it off before diving for actual caviar.

How to Get One

All 200 pieces launch on November 11th at 3pm GMT exclusively on underd0g.com. They’re priced at £1,750 (about $2,200 USD), which is remarkably fair for a limited edition chronograph with this level of finishing and a custom movement.

Studio Underd0g promises to deliver all pieces within the month, processing orders on a first-come, first-served basis. Given the brand’s growing reputation and the limited quantity, expect these to move quickly.

The Champagne & Caviar proves that serious watchmaking doesn’t require a serious attitude. Sometimes the best watches are the ones that make you smile every time you check the time. And if checking the time reminds you of life’s little luxuries? Well, that’s just a bonus.

November 6, 2025
C by Romain Gauthier Carbonium® Edition: Lightweight Innovation in Luxury Watchmaking

When a watchmaker decides to make a timepiece out of the same stuff that goes into airplane wings, you know they’re not messing around. Romain Gauthier has just released the C by Romain Gauthier Carbonium® Edition, and it’s so light you might want to check your wrist twice to make sure it’s actually there.

Let’s talk numbers first: this watch weighs 43 grams. That’s including the strap and buckle. For context, a golf ball weighs about 45 grams. So yes, you’re basically wearing air that happens to tell time very accurately.

The Material That Makes It Special

The star of this show is Carbonium®, a high-tech carbon fiber composite that French company Lavoisier Composites makes from recycled aerospace materials. Those carbon fibers were originally meant to become part of an airplane, but instead they’re getting a second life on your wrist. The process involves compression-molding these fibers with epoxy resin, creating a material that’s three times more rigid than titanium but twice as light.

The visual result? A distinctive, dynamic pattern that catches light in interesting ways. Each piece looks slightly different because of how those 50mm-long carbon fibers arrange themselves during molding. It’s like having a unique fingerprint built into the case material.

A Dial That Doesn’t Hide Anything

Romain Gauthier decided that if you’re going to build something this technical, you might as well show it off. The dial is made from sapphire crystal with a pixelated pattern that mimics the Carbonium® texture. But here’s where it gets interesting: it’s partially openworked, meaning you can see straight through to the titanium movement beneath.

The main attraction through this window is the seconds wheel, which showcases the brand’s signature style with decorative circling and polished angles. You can also peek at the escapement assembly, including the balance wheel and pallet fork. It’s like having a technical documentary playing on your wrist, except it’s actually useful.

The time display itself is deliberately asymmetric, with off-center hour and minute hands at 12 o’clock and small seconds at 7 o’clock. The hour markers are tapered lines of varying lengths, creating what Gauthier calls “vanishing points” that reinforce a sense of continuity. Translation: it looks modern and slightly futuristic.

The Movement Inside

Inside beats an in-house manual-winding movement made from Grade 5 titanium. It’s got 60 hours of power reserve and runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour. But the real party trick is the stop-seconds mechanism that uses a snail cam, a design element Gauthier borrowed from his acclaimed Logical One watch.

Most watches use a simple lever to stop the balance wheel when you pull out the crown to set the time. Gauthier’s snail cam does something cleverer: when you pull the crown, it stops the balance, and when you push it back in, the cam’s spiral shape gives the balance a little push to get it going again. It’s the kind of small technical flourish that separates haute horlogerie from regular watchmaking.

The movement decoration is pure Romain Gauthier. The bridges feature Carbonium® inserts that echo the case material, creating visual harmony throughout the watch. Everything is finished by hand, with double bevels, straight-graining, and circular-graining where appropriate.

Making It Your Own

This isn’t a limited edition, but it is a “Manufacture Only” piece, meaning you can only buy it directly from Romain Gauthier. The upside? You get to customize it. The Super-LumiNova indices and numerals come in white, green, blue, yellow, or orange, and the rubber strap can be color-matched. The Carbonium® pattern on the strap even echoes the case material, because why stop the design language at the lugs?

The case measures 42mm across and just 9.6mm thick, with the crown positioned at 2 o’clock to avoid stabbing the back of your hand. Faceted edges on the bezel and caseback add visual interest and help manage how light plays across the Carbonium® surface.

At CHF 58,000 before taxes, this isn’t an impulse purchase. But for that price, you’re getting a watch that weighs less than a handful of grapes, looks like nothing else out there, and contains movement finishing that most people will never see but that you’ll know is there. Sometimes that’s exactly the point.

November 6, 2025
Czapek Celebrates 10 Years with a See-Through Marvel

When most watchmakers turn ten, they might release a special edition in blue or slap an anniversary logo on a caseback and call it a day. Not Czapek & Cie. This Geneva-based maison decided to mark a decade since its 2015 revival by doing something truly bonkers: creating a watch dial that works like a stained-glass window. Welcome to the Antarctique Plique-à-Jour, where “letting in daylight” isn’t just poetic – it’s literally what the dial does.

A Technique Older Than Your Great-Great-Great-Grandfather

Plique-à-jour is an enamelling technique that dates back to the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. The name means “letting in the daylight” in French, which perfectly describes what happens here. Imagine creating a tiny stained-glass window, but instead of leading, you’re using gold cells filled with transparent colored enamel. No backing, no support – just enamel suspended in metal frames, fired at a scorching 900°C and somehow not falling apart.

This isn’t your average dial decoration. It’s the kind of work that only a handful of workshops worldwide can still pull off. Why? Because everything about it is ridiculously difficult. Each color needs precise formulation to achieve the right hue and transparency after firing. Every single cell must be filled individually, in the correct sequence, to create smooth color gradients. One wrong move during firing and the whole thing cracks. Then comes the polishing – done gently, progressively, like you’re defusing a bomb made of glass and precious metal.

The Transparency Game-Changer

Here’s where Czapek’s version gets extra special. Traditional plique-à-jour enamel usually has some opacity because air bubbles form during the process. But the technique used here achieves complete transparency. This means you can actually see through the dial to the movement beneath. It’s like having X-ray vision, except more artistic and less likely to give you superpowers.

Xavier de Roquemaurel, Czapek’s CEO, explains that this transparency creates “a direct visual connection between art and mechanics.” Translation: you get to watch your watch working while also admiring what looks like a miniature cathedral window on your wrist.

It Takes a Village

Creating these dials required a small army of specialists. MD’Art built the metal structure. Bagues-Masriera handled the enamel application and the nerve-wracking high-temperature firing. PBMC took care of the delicate polishing and thickness adjustments, working bit by bit to avoid cracking the enamel. Finally, MD’Art returned for the finishing touches – pad printing, attaching dial feet, and final surface work.

Every dial emerged from this process slightly different, making each of the ten pieces genuinely unique. Not “unique” in the marketing sense, but actually unique because that’s what happens when you’re working with materials this temperamental.

The Movement Deserves the Spotlight

Thankfully, Czapek didn’t pair this transparent masterpiece with a boring movement. Inside beats the Calibre SXH7, a skeletonized automatic movement that looks almost as intricate as the dial itself. Built in their La Chaux-de-Fonds manufacture, it features a micro-rotor made from 100% recycled platinum, mounted on ball bearings for smooth winding.

The movement shows off 18 internal angles, hand-chamfered edges, sandblasted bridges, and diamond-cut sinkholes – basically, all the finishing techniques that make watch nerds weak in the knees. Running at 4 Hz with a 60-hour power reserve, it’s visible through both the transparent dial and the sapphire caseback. This watch is an exhibitionist in the best possible way.

Ten Pieces for Ten Years

Only ten examples of the Antarctique Plique-à-Jour will be made, each carrying the Czapek anniversary logo on the caseback. It’s the second of four special pieces created for this milestone, following the Antarctique Tourbillon launched in April.

The watch debuts at WatchTime New York 2025, where it will either convince people that traditional craftsmanship still has plenty to say in modern watchmaking, or simply make them wonder why their wrists don’t have tiny stained-glass windows on them yet.

For a brand that’s only been back for a decade, Czapek is making some bold statements. But when you’re creating dials that required Byzantine-era techniques, collaborative craftsmanship from multiple specialist workshops, and the patience of a saint, bold seems about right.

October 16, 2025
Speake Marin Ripples Skeleton: When Time Shows Its Soul

There’s something wonderfully honest about a skeleton watch. Unlike its fully-dressed cousins that hide their inner workings behind pretty dials, a skeleton watch basically says, “Here I am, springs and all. Take a look.” And on this World Watch Day, October 10, 2025, there’s no better moment to celebrate a timepiece that literally lays its heart bare: the Speake Marin Ripples Skeleton.

Now, before you start thinking this is just another see-through watch with exposed gears, let me stop you right there. The Ripples Skeleton is proof that transparency doesn’t mean sacrificing beauty. In fact, it might be the opposite.

The Art of Showing Off (Tastefully)

At 40.3mm wide and just 6.3mm thick, this watch is slim enough to slide under your shirt cuff without creating a wrist-sized bump. That’s no small feat when you’re dealing with a skeleton movement. Most skeletonized watches tend to be chunky affairs – like trying to hide a small engine under your sleeve. But Speake Marin‘s engineers somehow managed to pack their in-house calibre SMA07 into a case thinner than three stacked credit cards.

The secret? A micro-rotor. Instead of using a traditional automatic rotor that swings around on top of the movement (adding thickness), they tucked a tiny tungsten rotor right into the mechanism itself. It’s like fitting a full-sized engine into a sports car’s body – you need some serious engineering chops to pull that off.

Ripples in Time

Here’s where things get interesting. The small seconds counter at 1:30 isn’t just a functional element. It’s decorated with three-dimensional horizontal ripples that look like someone dropped a pebble into a perfectly still pond. These ripples are hand-finished with a satin texture and treated with black PVD, creating a mesmerizing contrast against the rhodium-plated movement.

And get this: the small seconds plate is just 0.30mm thick. That’s roughly the thickness of three sheets of paper. The indices on that counter? Some are just 0.12mm wide. We’re talking about tolerances that would make a jeweler squint.

The movement itself runs at 5 Hz, which means it beats 36,000 times per hour. For comparison, most mechanical watches tick away at 28,800 beats per hour. This higher frequency means smoother motion and, theoretically, better timekeeping. It also means the watchmakers had to be extra careful with balance and regulation because everything’s moving faster.

The Human Touch

This is where the World Watch Day message really hits home. Behind those 182 components and 27 jewels are real people. Watchmakers who spent hours – maybe days – hand-finishing those ripples on the seconds counter. Artisans who bevelled and polished each bridge and profile until they caught the light just right. Designers who obsessed over whether the heart-shaped tip on the hour hand should be a millimeter longer or shorter.

The Ripples Skeleton carries all those human decisions, all that passion and precision, right on its dial. You can actually see the vertical satin-finishing on the mainplate, the microbeaded bevelling on the bridges, and even the embossed motif on that tungsten micro-rotor spinning away inside.

The Price of Passion

At CHF 29,900, the Ripples Skeleton isn’t exactly an impulse purchase. But you’re not just buying a watch. You’re buying approximately 182 reasons why mechanical watchmaking still matters in 2025, when most people check the time on their phones. You’re investing in the kind of craftsmanship that can’t be automated or downloaded.

The watch comes on an integrated steel bracelet with a micro-adjustment system, which is good news because trying to resize an integrated bracelet usually requires a trip back to the boutique and some mild anxiety.

The Bottom Line

In a world increasingly obsessed with smart watches and digital everything, the Speake Marin Ripples Skeleton is a beautiful reminder that some things are worth doing the slow way. The complicated way. The human way.

On World Watch Day, that’s worth celebrating.

October 10, 2025
Swiss Watches, Sanctions and the Detours of Luxury

Swiss watches have long stood for precision, heritage and artistry. They are prized objects that represent far more than timekeeping. Yet in today’s political climate they have also become a measure of how international trade bends under pressure, and not always in ways that deserve admiration.

Industry figures show that global exports have shifted markedly in the past decade. In 2018 Switzerland sent more than 23 million watches abroad, worth just under 20 billion francs. By 2024 shipments had fallen to about 15 million, yet the value had risen close to 25 billion francs. The meaning is clear. Fewer watches leave Switzerland, but they are sold at ever higher average prices. The watch trade has tilted sharply toward the high end.

The story changes sharply when we look at Russia. As recently as 2021, Russia was a significant buyer, worth more than 250 million francs in Swiss exports. That link was cut in March 2022 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Switzerland joined the European Union in imposing sanctions designed to weaken Moscow’s ability to fund its war. Among those measures was a ban on exports of luxury goods worth more than 300 francs, which included most Swiss watches.

Official shipments to Russia collapsed almost overnight. By 2024 the Russian market had dwindled to less than 2 million francs. In 2025 only a few thousand units appear in the export tables.

A question arises. If the ban is clear, why do any exports appear at all? Some of the explanation is innocent enough. Spare parts, lower value pieces and service related goods are not covered by the sanctions. These still appear in customs statistics. But the bigger concern is what does not appear in the Swiss data.

Since sanctions were imposed, Russian buyers have turned to neighbors. The government in Moscow legalized parallel imports, which allow goods to enter the country without the consent of brand owners. At the same time, members of the Eurasian Economic Union such as Armenia and Kazakhstan, which share an open customs border with Russia, reported rising imports of Swiss watches. Kazakhstan imported more than 46,000 units in 2024, compared with 37,000 in 2021. Armenia saw its numbers climb too. These increases are unlikely to reflect a sudden boom in local demand. Analysts point instead to redirection. Watches that arrive legally in Yerevan or Almaty can then be moved into Russia, quietly and without the control of their makers.

This so-called gray trade is not something to admire. It erodes the integrity of the sanctions regime and undermines the position of watch brands that have chosen to comply. For Switzerland, which prides itself on respect for international rules, the existence of these detours is troubling. It suggests that while official statistics tell one story, the reality on the ground is more complicated, and not always consistent with the spirit of the law.

For the global watch industry the lesson is sobering. Prestige objects remain attractive even in restricted markets, but when they slip into unofficial channels the risks multiply. Brands lose oversight of distribution, customers lose access to guarantees and after-sales care, and the wider public sees cracks in a system meant to uphold international standards.

Watches may still travel into Russia, but they do so in ways that weaken both the industry and the rule of law. The task ahead for policymakers and watchmakers alike is to close the gaps rather than accept them. Luxury, after all, should not shine in the shadows.

September 22, 2025
Tariffs and Tick-Tocks: How Swiss Watches Are Facing Their Costliest Hour

For centuries, Swiss watches have stood as the ultimate symbol of precision, tradition, and style. But as of August 1st, their journey into the U.S. has become a lot more expensive. A new 39% tariff on Swiss timepieces has landed like a hammer blow on the industry, and the impact is already ticking louder than a pocket watch in a silent room.

To put it simply, a watch that used to cost $10,000 could now flirt with a $14,000 price tag once tariffs are factored in. That is the kind of difference that makes even seasoned collectors raise an eyebrow and casual buyers reconsider whether “Swiss Made” is still within reach.

The U.S. is a vital market for Swiss watches – it fuels sales across all price ranges, from fun entry-level pieces to high-end complications. With tariffs in place, brands face a tough choice: eat some of the cost themselves, pass it fully on to consumers, or get creative. Some are even rumored to be exploring alternate logistics through other European countries to soften the blow.

But if Swiss watchmaking is famous for anything, it is creativity under pressure. Case in point: Swatch and Raymond Weil have taken the tariff debate straight to the dial. Swatch rolled out a cheeky limited-edition called WHAT IF…TARIFFS? – a square watch with the numbers 3 and 9 reversed on a blue dial. It is playful, provocative, and very Swatch. Meanwhile, Raymond Weil went even bolder with a special edition plastering “39%” on the dial itself. Only 39 were made, and they sold out faster than you can say “customs declaration.” To add to the fun, CEO Elie Bernheim announced the brand would lower prices by 39% instead of raising them. A witty jab at the situation, and a gesture collectors surely appreciated.

Beyond humor, though, the stakes are serious. Higher prices could push American buyers toward other markets: German brands with Bauhaus charm, Japanese powerhouses like Grand Seiko, or even U.S.-based makers who suddenly look like a bargain. Add to that the growing appeal of the pre-owned market, and the challenge for Swiss brands becomes crystal clear.

The tariff is more than just an economic hurdle – it is a test of resilience. The Swiss have weathered quartz crises, fashion swings, and shifting consumer habits. Now they must recalibrate once again, showing that tradition and ingenuity can coexist with unexpected challenges.

At the end of the day, a Swiss watch is still more than gears and springs. It is a piece of history you wear on your wrist. But in today’s climate, buyers may find themselves asking whether that history is worth an extra 39%.

One thing is certain: in Switzerland, the conversation is louder than ever. And the clock, as always, is still ticking.

September 16, 2025
The Hodynnykar is back!

After a five-year hiatus, we’re thrilled to return to what we love most: the fascinating world of horology.

Hodynnykar represents a collaboration between dedicated human watch enthusiasts and artificial intelligence, combining traditional horological expertise with fresh analytical perspectives to deliver timely, comprehensive coverage of industry news, technical innovations, artisan spotlights, and the mechanical poetry that defines exceptional timepieces.

Whether you’re a seasoned collector, aspiring enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of art and engineering in fine watchmaking, we’re committed to bringing you clear, insightful content that matches the sophistication of the craft itself. Keep your finger on the pulse of watchmaking – welcome back to Hodynnykar.

August 26, 2025