This morning I busted a fake Richard Mille that had been posted on Instagram by someone who’s not a watch expert and that was fooled by someone that claims to be a legit watch collector. Fake watches are for fake people and a fake Richard Mille can often be spotted a mile away to those of us with a trained eye. When someone wears a fake watch, he/she pretends to be someone they’re not and wants to deceive others pertaining his/her status.
Posts filed under From the Editor
From the Editor: The "Holy Trinity of Watchmaking" in Reality Should Be "The Holy Quartet" with Jaeger-LeCoultre Included
We all talk about the ‘Holy Trinity of Watchmaking’ composed by Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet, and for years I have debated if it should be called the ‘Holy Quartet of Watchmaking’ instead. Since it seems unfair to drop Audemars Piguet out of the trinity and include Jaeger-LeCoultre in its place, I think that making it a quartet seems more fair and reasonable.
From the Editor: Texts From a Serial Watch Flipper. The Ridiculousness of Today's Watch Market.
I’ve been talking about the current situation of the watch market for a while and I’ve expressed my concerns as well as my anger about how the wrong people are getting watches allocated to ultimately just end up flipping them. I have to say that I have no problem with the well established grey/secondary market dealers as some of them are very fine gentleman and people whom I’ve done business for years and real businessmen. Without names like David S Williams, Kirill Yuzh, Watchbox, Adrian Taskin or Roman Sharf —just to name a few—, the watch market would’ve not boomed like it did in the last 10 to 15 years.
From the Editor: The 90 Nominated Timepieces for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2022
As an Academy member of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, I cast my votes last month for the watches to become the nominees for the 2022 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Along with other 649 members from around the world, we submitted our votes digitally to narrow down the list from 254 watches—entered into this year’s competition— down to 90 selected timepieces.
From the Editor: Finally Got an Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. Here's What I Really Think About It.
t only took me five months and five days to finally be able to find a MoonSwatch at the Swatch Boutique at North Park Mall in Dallas, Texas. The Omega x Swatch Bioceramic MoonSwatch landed at the Swatch boutiques on March 26, 2022, a day before I headed to Switzerland for Watches & Wonders 2022. During my trip to Switzerland, I was able to peruse the MoonSwatch ‘Mission to Uranus’ —no pun intended—
From the Editor: Watch Theft is on the Rise Globally. As a Victim, I Tell You What to Do to Protect Yourself.
Watch theft is on the rise around the world and almost every week I get to see posts on Instagram about someone being robbed. This morning, I woke up to the video making the rounds on social media of a gentleman driving a Bugatti in London while two individuals in scooters smashed his window. In cities like London, Barcelona, Rome, Miami, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Bogota, Saint-Tropez, and Mykonos just to name a few, it is no longer safe to walk around with a nice watch on your wrist.
From the Editor: 20 Watch Pics That Will Make You Want to Buy Every Watch in Them
Watch pictures are one of the most important things when making the decision of buying a watch before seeing it on metal. You and I have drooled a million times over the thousands of watch pics that are posted on Instagram on a daily basis, across watch publications like mine, or throughout the most visited watch fora. Many of us have purchased watches from listings online just because the pictures were that good. Ultimately, there is a saying that says: “A picture conveys more than a thousand words.”
From the Editor: What is in Reality a Handmade Watch?
Many watches out there claim to be handmade but only a few can make that cut. The Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 is one of them. With 95% of this timepiece —including the hairspring— made using only hand-operated tools and 6,000 hours of work —three years of man-hours—, the Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 is in reality as handmade as a watch can get. A handmade watch requires to be made mostly by hand or utilizing processes that are hand operated, I’d say to at least 70%.
From the Editor: Will Panerai Ever Be, What it Once Was?
Long gone are the days of the sturdy and historical legendary-looking Panerai watches that I originally fell in love with, but regardless, I still have much appreciation for the brand. I really hope that sooner rather than later, Panerai takes a slight turn and brings back more of the historical aurae of the legendary watches like the Bronzo PAM507 or the L’Egiziano PAM341.
From the Editor: Here's Why I am Done Buying Any More Watches. Most Likely Forever.
It’s been a while since I started doing my own introspection about watch collecting and with the current state of the industry, I have finally reached a point where I get very little pleasure out of buying a new watch, whatever that ends up being. I’ve been collecting watches for the last 32 years and I’ve owned almost everything that I never even imagined I would own one day.
From the Editor: Celebrating Swiss National Day with a Philippe Dufour Simplicity
I can’t find a better way to celebrate Swiss National Day today August 1, 2022, than with one of the best watchmakers of our time and an independent watchmaker. The legend Philippe Dufour is a modern watchmaker that has been adhering to the most traditional and classic watchmaking codes since he founded his brand. A creator of some of the most coveted timepieces today, his watches feature clean, classic lines powered by the highest-end in-house movements with superb finishing and incredible hand polishing.
From the Editor: Here's Why I Like the New Santos de Cartier with Blue PVD Bezel
The moment I saw the new Santos de Cartier with blue PVD bezel a few months ago, I fell in love with it. There is no doubt that the Santos de Cartier is one of the most iconic and legendary watches in the world, and I love that every time Cartier releases a new iteration of this watch, they do it with the utmost care. Honestly, you can’t tweak an icon unless you do it right and many brands have learned the lesson the hard way.
From the Editor: The Rolex Daytona with 24 Hours at Daytona 'Winner' Engraving is Not a Myth
This morning, I was asked by one of our readers via email if a Rolex Daytona bearing a 24 Hours at Daytona ‘Winner’ engraving on its case back was necessarily a fake watch or not. Since I’ve covered this topic before, I decided to talk about it again today and clear up the air for those of you still wondering. While some of those watches bearing the ‘Winner’ engraving could be absolute garbage fakes, there are some of them out there, that are as real as it gets.
From the Editor: Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari Breaks the Record for Thinnest and Most Unalluring Wristwatch in the World. Enough of Ultra-Thin Watches?
I’ve been talking about Richard Mille since 2013 when I launched WCL and I have always been a big fan of the brand. Right before the watch market became unhinged, I was very close to pulling the trigger on my first Richard Mille. Having a soft spot for Mexican-inspired limited editions, I was on the verge of buying an RM 028 Mexico limited edition. Today, I regret not having done it as I truly loved the watch and even though it is a round-shaped Richard Mille, it’s still one of those RMs that screams RM all the way.
From the Editor: Here's Why I Dislike the New AP Royal Oak Offshore Music Edition Models
First let me say that you all know how much I love Audemars Piguet, the Royal Oak, the Royal Oak Offshore, and music, especially EDM. I’ve spent countless hours spotting watches on the wrists of famous DJs like Afrojack, Steve Angello, Avicci, Cedric Gervais, and Tiësto, and one thing they all had in common is their choice for an Audemars Piguet watch, mostly Royal Oak Offshores. However, I doubt that any of these DJs will be sporting the new Royal Oak Music Edition watches any time soon.
From the Editor: Phillips Royal Oak 50th Sale Results. Here are the Top Lots and My Opinion.
Not sure what to think anymore about the watch market and the results of the watch auctions. I’ve been trying to understand what’s going on for several years now and the results from auctions are always very surprising but not necessary the best indicator of what’s going on. While I see trends after reviewing the results of the auctions, I also see some inconsistencies where is hard for me to understand why certain time/date watches would fetch more than Grand Complications.
From the Editor: The Phillips Royal Oak 50th Auction Taking Place Tomorrow. My Thoughts.
I was lucky to be the first journalist to peruse in person and photograph the majority of the lots part of the Phillips Watches Royal Oak 50th auction at the end of March. You can see all my pictures here. Tomorrow May 6th, the Royal Oak 50th auctionwill take place at the Hôtel La Réserve in Geneva, Switzerland. I think that not only this auction will continue to bring attention to the Royal Oak for years to come, but it will also establish some interesting world records for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.
From the Editor: What's There Not to Love About Furlan Marri Watches
I discovered Furlan Marri last year and my first encounter in person with their watches was when I was casting my votes as one of the jurors at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2021. The Furlan Marri MR. Grey received the Horological Revelation Prize at the GPHG 2021 and that’s what really put the brand on the map. After six different watches they have released and as an owner of not one but two of their watches —Havana Salmon ref. 1031-A and the Mare Blu ref. 1051-A—, I can confidently say that there are many things to love about this young inexpensive brand.
From the Editor: Tudor Black Bay GMT S&G 'Root Beer'. Why I Think it was a Weak Release.
While Tudor was onto something with the release of the new Black Bay Pro and I told you already how much I liked it and how much I want one, I don’t feel the same way about the Tudor Black Bay GMT S&G 'Root Beer'. In my humble opinion, this was a weak release that didn’t really capture what Tudor was trying to do here. The new Black Bay GMT S&G ‘Root Beer’ was somewhat inspired by the Rolex GMT-Master 16753 ‘Root Beer’ but not necessarily by the Rolex GMT Master II Everose Gold ref. 126715CHNR as many would think.
From the Editor: Rolex Yacht-Master 40 ref. 126679SABR aka 'The Cotton Candy'. Is this @ILikeRolexes Next Watch?
Where the sky meets the ocean and the sun comes up over the water, the new Rolex Yacht-Master 40 ref. 126679SABR creates a powerful combo already nicknamed ‘The Cotton Candy’ by my close friend @ILikeRolexes. If you follow him on Instagram, you then know he’s the king of modern Rolex watch collecting and a watch collector that loves gem-set Rolexes like no one else I’ve ever met.
