Author: Fritz Oberlin
-
Eight Years, 21 Patents, Two Songs: Blancpain’s Grande Double Sonnerie Is a Watchmaking First
Blancpain has just pulled off something no one thought possible on the wrist: a grande sonnerie that plays two different melodies. Not two chimes. Two actual tunes, on demand, switched with a push of a button on the case. Welcome the Grande Double Sonnerie, ref. 15GSQ, and quite possibly the most complicated watch Blancpain has…
-
F.P.Journe Creates a Unique Chronograph for Prince Albert II’s Foundation
In Monaco on 7 September 2026, François-Paul Journe unveiled a unique piece for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation: his first classic chronograph, created to benefit environmental initiatives. After the Rattrapante, Flyback and Centigraphe, this one speaks in a quieter register – central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3, small seconds at 9, tachymeter…
-
Laurent Ferrier Classic Moon Dusk – Série Atelier VIII in Yellow Gold
Laurent Ferrier brings its annual calendar with moon phase to 18-carat yellow gold for the first time, in a 20-piece Classic Moon Dusk Série Atelier. The idea is simple and well judged – warmth of metal meeting warmth of light.
-
Cavasino’s DCT-02 Carbon Opal: When a Watchmaker Trades Gold Stripes for Rock and Roll
Cavasino follows up its traditionalist DCR-01 with something wilder: the DCT-02 Carbon Opal, a titanium movement housed in a forged carbon case with a one of a kind Australian opal dial. Limited to just 15 pieces, it swaps Geneva stripes for grain finishing and gold for gemstones, proving that “different” doesn’t have to mean “less…
-
HYT Dresses Its Wildest Watch in Gold, and Somehow It Works
HYT drapes its conical tourbillon in Midnight Blue, set in warm 5N gold with black DLC titanium. The result is a small theater of kinetics – blue liquid tracing the hours in a capillary while a 30 second tourbillon turns beneath a domed sapphire. Limited to 8 pieces, it feels more atelier experiment than market…
-
Ressence Just Won Design’s Version of an Oscar, and This Time It Took Marc Newson Along for the Ride
Ressence has announced that the TYPE 3 Marc Newson has won Red Dot: Best of the Best 2026 in the Watch category, the top distinction of the Red Dot Award: Product Design, described by the organizers as the most-referenced design prize in the world.
-
NOMOS Glashütte at Pitti Uomo 110: Small Watches, Big Style Statement
Florence has its own catwalk rhythm, and this June it ticked to Glashütte time. At Pitti Uomo 110, NOMOS watches appeared across the Fortezza da Basso and along the Arno, pairing fine German watchmaking with sprezzatura in linen and light tailoring.
-
Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate 38mm: Good Things Come in Smaller Packages
There’s a quiet revolution happening in the watch world, and it doesn’t involve flying tourbillons or perpetual calendars that can calculate leap years until the sun burns out. It’s simpler than that: Blancpain has made the Villeret Ultraplate smaller, and somehow that feels like a big deal. The Geneva maison has introduced a 38mm version…
-
![Ulysse Nardin Freak [X] New Generation: Smaller, Smarter, and Still Wonderfully Weird](https://hodynnykar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FREAK-X_UN_2323-500-Lifestyle-2-crop.jpg)
Ulysse Nardin Freak [X] New Generation: Smaller, Smarter, and Still Wonderfully Weird
Fast forward to 2019, and the brand introduced the Freak [X] – a slightly more civilized version that actually had a crown. Still radical, but wearable. Now, in 2026, celebrating both 180 years of existence and 25 years of the Freak, Ulysse Nardin has completely re-engineered it from scratch. And when they say “completely,” they…
-
Blancpain marks 40 years of gastronomy with a chef-led video series
Blancpain celebrates four decades of friendships at the table with a new video series starring its partner chefs – a quiet reminder that precision is not only the watchmaker’s art, but also the cook’s. The maison points to a community tallying more than 100 Michelin stars and opens the series with a throwback film tracing…