A Week On The Wrist: The Zenith El Primero Chronograph Classic
The El Primero Chronograph Classic from Zenith, a watch launched rather quietly at Baselworld 2015, caught my eye immediately. It reminded me of those old Zeniths of the 1950s, and in my belief, will do its part in reviving an entirely overlooked category of watches that I know people love, though we don't hear much about it – that of the in-house dress chronograph, under $10,000. Sure, you have your GPs, Pateks, Langes, and Vacherons, which are all truly stunning dress chronographs, but under or at $10K, all in-house chronographs that have any real meaning are big, bulky, sport watches. This Zenith is simple, elegant, and may just be (almost) perfect. Here are my thoughts after spending a week with this new Zenith El Primero Chronograph Classic. Zenith Does An About-Face, Sort Of 1 OF 18 I'll begin this review by discussing this watch within the context of the brand that produces it. Zenith, under the control of Mr. Jean-Claude Biver, has been a bit

Breaking News: Sotheby's Chairman Daryn Schnipper Confirmed For HODINKEE Collectors Summit, To Discuss Selling The Most Expensive Watch In The World
The HODINKEE Collectors Summit is really taking shape. Not only will we have the likes of Aurel Bacs, Jason Singer, John Reardon, and Philippe Dufour in the house for completely candid, behind the scenes conversation with you, but we are thrilled to announce a new addition the schedule. And it's a big one. Like, to the tune of $24,000,000. Daryn Schnipper is the international chairman of the Sotheby's watch department. She is the woman responsible for selling the most expensive, most important watch on the planet, twice. Yes, Daryn is the woman who first set the record at $11 million dollars for the Henry Graves Supercomplication – one we thought would stand for all eternity – only to break it this past November by selling the very same watch for over $24 million. She'll be at the 2015 HODINKEE Collectors Summit to tell you what it was like first discovering this horological giant and then going through the process of researching it, understanding

AP Diver... in it's element!
After reading so many of those is it safe to... regarding our watches, I wanted to know, is is safe to dive a shipwreck with a Diver?dive1.jpgdive2.jpgdive3.jpgChecking the elapsed time...dive4.jpgdive5.jpgThe answer is a resounding YES, and it is SPECTACULAR! dive6.jpgHere after the dive with my son in Cancun, Mexico. I'm wearing my AP Diver and he is wearing his (formerly mine) Marathon.Cheers!

My last incoming of 2013 . .
I was able to pick up the FC Diver prior to year end! So much different than anything else I have. Extremely lightweight and comfortable. I will say it looks far better in person. My only concern is whether I'll get tired of the rubber strap because I think options are limited..

Annual calendar enters October...
Yesterday was then end of my first 30-day month with the Nautilus Annual Calendar. I was both curious to see the gears grind away and also wondered if an old dog (me) could learn a new trick - make a time-lapse video of the event. I'm fascinated with time-lapse but don't have the right software tools so I resorted to the manual crowbar method...At 11:40 I found that the watch had already staged Sep 31st ;) in prep for the big 10/1. It took until 1 am for the date wheel to get perfectly aligned and I had lost patience at 12:45. Day of week clicked right in at 11:59. OK, well, whatever...The video is small and a bit jerky from embedding here and is better viewed on Youtube and even better yet on my machine. It's a bit crude but the soundtrack softens the blow (Lucky Thompson, anyone?).If I ever do this again (not likely) I'm gonna reset the watch and do it during the day!