1. A story of transcendence: Tudor

For the most part of its 90 years or so history, Tudor has been regarded as the younger sibling of Rolex. Indeed, the very roots of Tudor were founded in this philosophy. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, wanted to create a watch that it could sell at a more “modest price”. However, Tudor has made significant leaps and strides in the past half a decade or so, and I think it is safe to say that at this point, it has successfully risen out of the shadows of its more illustrious big brother. But how did they do it? The story is here.

Source: Revolution

2. Sattler Classica Secunda 1985: A Must-Have Ultra-Luxury Object Or Simply The Ultimate Geek Toy?

The name Erwin Sattler meant nothing to me until one fine Sunday when I stumbled across this story. Erwin Sattler is a maker of high precision pendulum clocks and the Sattler Classica Secunda 1985 is one of the clocks that they make. Of course, it is a marvel of mechanical engineering, but what really got me interested was learning more about this brand. Erwin Sattler is a family-owned company, and for the most parts, family-owned companies operate very differently from your big corporations and it is fascinating to learn about how they go about their business, their philosophies, and also the products they make.

Source: Quill and Pad

3. Profile: Jean-Pierre Hagmann, Case Maker Extraordinaire and a Legend in His Own Time

If you have perused auction catalogs of vintage watches, you might have come across the name Hagmann. Hagmann, or Jean-Pierre Hagmann in full, is a renowned case maker. His initials “JPH” can be found in the watches of the most illustrious brands. Clients of his include Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and the list goes on and on. He is perhaps most famous for cases he made for Patek Philippe’s minute repeater watches, and also for designing and manufacturing Franck Muller’s first Cintree Curvex case. Learn more about this legend of watchmaking in this informative article.

Source: Watches by SJX

4. F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu Hands-On

Introduced in 2009, the Chronometre Bleu has gone on to become one of the F.P. Journe’s most popular pieces. The reason for its popularity is not what you may think. Yes, it is possibly the brand’s most affordable watch, but watch lovers and collectors alike are enamored more by its good looks rather than its relative affordability. Unknown to most people, it is actually one of F.P. Journe’s most complicated pieces to produce, especially from a manufacturing standpoint. The case is made of tantalum, a material that is hard and especially difficult to work with; while the blue dial suffers from high failure rate because it is tough to get the hue and print exactly right. Learn more about this special piece in this article.

Source: Professional Watches