Welcome back to Bring A Loupe, and happy first Friday of August! This week, I stumbled upon a few vintage dealers fighting on Instagram, getting mad online, about the age-old phrase "buy the seller." Fun fact: if you ask the internet who popularized this advice, it spits out Eric Ku (hi, Eric!). Anyway, I found…
Shockingly high tariff rates on Swiss goods imported to the U.S. announced by the White House are threatening to upend the Swiss watch industry and crimp sales in the biggest market for luxury timepieces. U.S. President Donald Trump said this week he would impose a 39% tariff on Swiss goods, including watches, after the U.S.…
Oftentimes, with "provenance watches," the conversation is centered around potential value. We see rare birds come up at auction: Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona, or, more recently, Al Capone's Patek Philippe, and we're forced to think about what the watch plus the story could possibly be worth. Rarely do we think about what that watch…
What We Know
One of the things that Glashütte Original has become known for is keeping the post-war era of Glashütte, Germany's design, alive. This time, they've taken the brand's 1970s-style square chronograph (with integrated bracelet) and rendered it in a panda-style design with a few red accents, released as a 100-piece limited…
While mechanical watches and their micro-engineered marvels remain the raison d'être for Hodinkee—and what drew me to writing about horology—sometimes the mood calls for a complete departure. Something fun, rugged, and remarkably light on the wrist. Digital watches have evolved into so much more than Casios, even if they exist in a world of their…
What We Know
One of the most enticing, beloved, and often expensive art forms in watchmaking is cloissoné enamel, where thin strips of metal (often gold) are glued onto a base to create small compartments (or cloisons) that are filled with enamel to create evocative scenes. To get four beautiful scenes, like the ones…
Whenever a brand releases a new field watch, two things immediately spring to mind – World War II, and the Dirty Dozen. As much as the romance of hard-used, battle-worn patina still holds appeal, there comes a point where all of the vintage retreads start to feel a bit long in the tooth. So, where…