Shinola, a Detroit based watch company that normally works only quartz movements, has moved forward with a luxurious automatic dive watch. The limited edition Lake Erie Monster piece is said to celebrate the history of the Great Lakes and Lake Eerie. The watch has gone on sale in the United States using a stock market […]
Posted inINTERNATIONAL, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, UK
Ice-Watch extends motorsport collections for men
Ice-Watch has hired former BMW designer Pierre Leclercq to create a fresh collection of men’s chronographs. The Leclercq collection follows on from the evolving the BMW Motorsport range first created in 2014. The oversized 49mm family is described by Ice-Watch as the moment “The genuine racing car watch has arrived”. The chronographs use silicone for […]
Posted inNEWS, UK
Ken Kessler sends 14 watches to Bonhams for November auction
Ken Kessler is selling 14 watches from his private collection at the next Bonhams auction, which takes place on November 21. Mr Kessler is a well-known watch collector and journalist who has written for decades about watches for titles ranging from Playboy to the Wall Street Journal. Key pieces from Mr Kessler’s collection include examples of […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, UK
George Bamford turns loaner watches into a business line of personalised timepieces
Bamford Watch Department is building on its growing reputation as a watch customiser by launching a collection of watches under its own name. Customers of BWD have always been lent a watch when their own pieces were in for repair or servicing. These inexpensive watches, which carried the Bamford logo, became collectible in their own […]
Posted inINTERNATIONAL, NEWS
Rolex names Berlin as host city for Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative events
Berlin has been named as the host city for next year’s Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. The event will see hundreds of internationally acclaimed artists, rising talents and leading members of Germany’s artistic community gathering at some of Berlin’s most important cultural institutions in the first week of February 2018. The weekend programme will […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, FEATURES, IN MAG, INTERVIEWS, LEAD STORY, NEWS, UK
THE BIG INTERVIEW: Rob Diver, managing director, Europe, for TAG Heuer
TAG Heuer will not be measured on whether it can chase down Rolex in the UK over the next few years, but on whether it can strategically grow sales through ever-stronger relationships with its retailer partner network. Working with partners to develop the best possible positions for its furniture, upgrading to larger shop-in-shops and ultimately […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, INTERNATIONAL, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, UK
Bulgari hand makes ancient Roman mosaic in microscopic golden tribute timepiece
The watch industry loves to speak about the hours of painstaking work that goes into creating one of their mechanical masterpieces. Rarely is that work more clearly on display than in the Bulgari Lvcea Mosaique, which has a dial made up of 700 precious metal squares, each individually placed by one of its artists. The […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, IN MAG, INTERNATIONAL, INTERVIEWS, NEWS, UK
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Nomos CEO describes design philosophy behind award-winning Ahoi Neomatik Atlantic
Nomos Glashütte has resisted the urge to drift far from its core Bauhaus-inspired designs, and it is this adherence to timeless styling that sets the brand apart, according to its CEO Uwe Ahrendt. Speaking to WatchPro after Nomos won yet another design award for its Ahoi neomatik Atlantic, Mr Ahrendt says the company has never […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, EXHIBITIONS, NEWS, SALON QP, UK
GaGà Milano brings superstar quality to SalonQP
Argento Fine Products presented GaGà Milano for the first time to UK customers and retailers at SalonQP last week. GaGà Milano co-founders Cristina and Ruben Tomella joined the brand’s UK distributor to showcase its skeletonised tourbillons including the Neymar Limited Edition, named after the Brazilian footballing superstar who supports the brand. “Neymar’s love for the brand and his […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, INTERNATIONAL, LEAD STORY, NEWS, UK
Research pinpoints price advantage enjoyed by Rolex retailers in the UK
The 10% price increase introduced by Rolex in November last year has only partially addressed the differential enjoyed by the watchmaker’s authorised retailers in the UK. A study of global prices compiled by Rolex Forums contributor ‘Alpino’ and analysed by WatchPro shows that UK prices remain over 9% cheaper in the UK than the rest […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, UK
Seiko raises a glass to two more cocktail-inspired Presage watches
Seiko has added two more flavours to its collection of Presage watches inspired by Japanese cocktails. The company introduced eight models of the mechanical automatic Presage range at Baselworld; each sold so well that Seiko decided to reach for two more tipples. “We hope that they will also bring a smile to the faces of […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, INTERNATIONAL, NEWS, UK
Chronext CEO urges luxury watch brands and retailers to embrace his parallel marketplace
Chronext’s CEO Philipp Man says he does not want to be labelled a disruptor of the luxury watch industry. He wants to work in harmony and in partnership with both the biggest watchmakers and even their biggest retail partners, such as Aurum Holdings. Speaking at the NOAH conference, which saw presentations from over 80 […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, SMART WATCHES, UK
Nokia is learning fast about working in the traditional watch industry
Nokia took a great leap forward in the smartwatch industry this summer when it bought Withings, a specialist in connected timepieces with healthcare features. The Withings name was quickly dropped, and the Nokia name started to appear on the next generation of smart devices. The Nokia Steel was one of the first collections, a minimalist […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, FEATURES, IN MAG, INTERVIEWS, NEWS, UK
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Victorinox CEO shows the feminine side of the Swiss watchmaker
Victorinox, with its famous Swiss Army Knives and indestructible timepieces, is a masculine brand that is as comfortable on a desert adventure as a mountaineering challenge. So it was something of a surprise at Baselworld this year when the company’s CEO of the company’s watchmaking business, Alexander Bennouna, spent half an hour showing ladies’ timepieces […]
Posted inINTERNATIONAL, NEW PRODUCTS, NEWS, UK
Anonimo celebrates the return of winter with release of a snowy white Nautilo
Anonimo is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and is marking its connection to the snowy peaks of the Alps in the design of its latest Nautilo, which is presented with a white opaline dial. Like other versions of the watch, the Nautilo Bianco uses contrasting colours, but the key is the all-white dial that […]
Posted inEDITOR'S CHOICE, LEAD STORY, NEWS, Research, UK
The golden glow of summer 2016 lives on for the British watch industry
We all know about the surge in sales for luxury watches following the post-Brexit devaluation of sterling that sucked in high spending tourists from abroad. It is now over a year since that event, so we would expect it to be much tougher now to maintain high percentage growth rates compared to July-September 2016. Why, […]
Posted inLEAD STORY, NEWS, UK, WATCHES OF THE YEAR, Watches of the Year 2017
Call for nominations to the WatchPro 2017 Watches of the Year
WatchPro is publishing its annual Watches of the Year report in December, and today we ask industry professionals to contribute their thoughts on the timepieces that have made the greatest impact on their business. Watches of the Year assesses timepieces on design and technical excellence and also on the watches’ commercial success for UK retailers […]
Posted inNEW PRODUCTS, NEWS
Vintage clock inspires limited edition timepiece from Christopher Ward
Watchmaker Christopher Ward’s latest timepiece innovation takes inspiration from a vintage clock used in WWII fighter plane. During a business meeting at White Waltham airfield Mike France, co-founder of Christopher Ward, encountered a vintage Junghans clock, taken from the cockpit of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane. The design of the clock caught France’s attention, […]
