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Beavertown Brewery Neck Oil, £20

The British independent watch scene isn’t the only British industry embracing colour and entertaining style. Beavertown Brewery has made itself a mainstay of the British night out and pub experience with its unique, cartoonish style and focus on the social parts of drinking like good company, good music and good venues. The London-based brewery produce a wide range of drinks including their award-winning Neck Oil that fuses flavours of hops with the citrus influence of passionfruit. It’s also proof that a good time needn’t break the bank. Eight-cans and pint glass, £20.

Available at Beavertown Brewery.

Alan Scott Peregrine Puffa Jacket, £6,450

Alan Scott’s capsule collections draw directly from his experience growing up in the north of England, combining modern style with rural life. Each garment is inspired by and dedicated to impressive birds of prey seen in falconry. The Peregrine Puffa Jacket is ideal for cold mornings out in the English country with a warm cashmere lining. Cashmere is the designer’s signature material using state-of-the art stretched cashmere from Ardizzone. While Alan Scott designs are inspired by England, they’re made in Italy for high end quality.

Available at Alan Scott.

Ettinger Capra Travel Pill Case, £150

White Ettinger produce a large range of luxury leather goods for exciting and fun times, such as their poker, card, domino and dice cases, they also have the essentials covered. Their Capra Travel Pill Case is ideal for keeping track of your medication while you’re on the move. Just because medication isn’t something we often discuss in public life, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a little bit of luxury as you look after yourself. It’s produced in goat leather and is available in a handful of colours, including this marine blue.

Available at Ettinger.

House Of Hazelwood Queen of The Hebrides, RRSP £2000, 43.4% ABV

Even among House of Hazelwood’s rare inventory, they count those from the isle of Islay, aka the Queen of the Hebrides, as some of their rarest. A blended malt matured in American oak with light tannins and a long finish. If you’re unfamiliar, House of Hazelwood is a relatively new Scottish whisky brand that source their rare produce from a family’s private collection, making each bottle extremely sought after. 36-year-old, 274 bottles, RRSP £2000, 43.4% ABV.

Available at House of Hazelwood.

Fielden Whisky of England Rye Whisky, £62.50

Britain produces a lot of whisky, but if you look at the individual countries that make up this United Kingdom, Scotland does a lot of the heavy lifting. Fielden Whisky is aiming to slowly change that narrative with their championing of English whisky. At the same time Fielden use regenerative farming techniques to grow their crop, ensuring a sustainable, chemical-free drink. Their Rye Whisky has tasting notes of wild berries that matures through caramel and hazelnut to a peppercorn spice finish.

Available from Fielden.

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Image credit: Chelsea-Bijouterie

When we think of historic British watches, those with military ties often stand out: Vertex, CWC, Timor, Precista, and Smiths. These brands boast rich heritage and compelling stories, but with the resurgence of British watchmaking, they’re far from unsung today. Pair this with collectors’ growing appreciation for uniquely designed watches rooted in dressy principles, and one name emerges: Roy King.

King’s name was discovered during one of many late-night auction searches for uncommon yet captivating watches. Though I didn’t secure one of his pieces, the journey uncovered a charming, underexplored chapter in watchmaking. Yet, search ‘Roy King’ on Chrono24, and you’ll see ‘Did you check your spelling? Edit your entry, or try another search term’. As homegrown talents go, Roy King’s incredible life story led him to become a highly celebrated designer whose influence on jewellery watch design was profound.

Image credit: Dawsons Auctions

It was just after World War II in Watford, Hertfordshire, and King returned from his role as planning engineer on the production line of the Hurricane aeroplane. The plan was simple: set up a workshop producing jewellery before applying his eye for design to watches. King was honest about where his talents lay. Honest about his limitations, King never claimed to be a watchmaker, instead describing his creations as “jewellery that tells the time”. Over the coming decades, King would produce watches that truly embodied this mindset, and while some designs drew inspiration from Cartier and Piaget, King’s work showcased proprietary, charming visions. Yet, labelling him merely as a jewellery designer applying his craft to watches fails to capture the depth of his aptitude, a talent he began honing at a bench from a very young age.

In 1927, at just 14 years old, Roy King became an apprentice at M.J. Greengross, a prominent Hatton Garden jeweller. From day one, he was thrown into demanding conditions, working beside an artisan who would infamously smash imperfect work with a mallet. Despite his age, King’s dedication showed as he attended evening classes to master diamond mounting. Soon, he was crafting one-off pieces for elite clientele, including members of the Royal Family, through a Bond Street jeweller.

Image credit: SeaSickSilver

By the 1930s, King’s uncredited work for Rolex, Cartier, and Asprey reflected his rising expertise. As the decade was brought to a close, a new challenge faced this 26-year-old man, as King fulfilled his duty during World War II.

The 1950s was the beginning of his foray into watches, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that the watch side of the business flourished due to a number of factors. Firstly, the import restrictions on Swiss movements to the UK were lifted, which meant King was free to use desirable and reliable Swiss movements, swiftly signing an exclusive agency deal with Bueche-Girod. For fellow vintage watch fans, that name will mean something, as Bueche-Girod was a maker utilised by Cartier, Bulova, Universal Genève; even Robert De Niro wore a woven herringbone bracelet watch in white, yellow, and rose gold from Bueche-Girod in the Martin Scorsese film, Casino.

Image credit: Bonhams

Another critical factor in King’s swinging sixties success was precisely that: it was an era in which people were receptive to decorative and expressive principles for the first time since the geometric lines of 1920s Art Deco. From the era that brought us space age on the one hand and a rising appreciation for brutalism on the other, the sixties was defined for its liking of boldness and flair, something King was a master of.

By the mid-1960s, Roy King’s workshop was a thriving factory, producing 25,000 gold and silver pieces annually. He became a prominent figure in British jewelry and design-led watches, pioneering the “bark finish” texture, which was later adopted by major manufacturers. He even created a bark-finished wedding ring for George Harrison and Pattie Boyd. His clientele included other Beatles, Tom Jones, and Saudi princes.

Image credit: SeaSickSilver

King’s creations fall into two categories: classic and recognizable designs, and more expressive, artistic pieces. The former category often draws inspiration from Cartier (Tank Louis, Ceinture) and Piaget, sometimes to the point of being derivative. While these pieces offer good value for those interested in mid-century style, King’s true talent shines through in his more original works.

These more expressive pieces often feature the bark finish, large oval links, and unique details like belt-like clasps, Cuban link bracelets, rope twist designs, lavish lugs, and leaf-inspired dials. King’s workshop experimented with techniques like pouring molten gold through tea strainers.

His jewelry-focused approach led to collaborations with brands like Omega, resulting in 18k gold pieces with stone dials, bark finishes, and distinctive bracelets (oval, ladder, cushion cases). These Omega creations often bear Roy King’s name.

Image credit: SeaSickSilver

In the 1970s, King acquired La Montre Royale de Genève, allowing him to create luxurious pieces with stone dials, diamonds, precious metals, and unique cuffs. He continued working into his 80s from his Mayfair showroom.

With smaller, dressier, and more distinctive pieces becoming popular among collectors, Roy King’s work is a worthwhile area of exploration. Pieces can be found on eBay and at specialist auction houses, with prices ranging from £500-£1,000 for simpler pieces to tens of thousands for more avant-garde precious metal creations.

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From the same team behind RZE’s accessible titanium tool watches comes a new brand dedicated to equally accessible but not necessarily titanium watches. The new brand is called Vostra after the Italian pronoun “yours” because they want to make watches for you. Yes, you specifically, reader. They’re refreshingly open about the types of watches they want to create: fun, sporty and not so precious that you’ll spill a tear if you scratch it. Their debut timepiece is the Vostra Vector, which is being made available via Kickstarter from February 14th.

Perhaps it’s because the new Fantastic 4 trailer dropped recently but the word that comes to mind when looking at the Vostra Vector is retro-futurism. The term was coined in the 1960s and 70s to refer to that nostalgic, sci-fi vibe where people ride around in Jetsons-style flying cars that look suspiciously like vintage Buicks and Cadillacs. It’s a combination of soft round shapes with a hard modern edge – perfectly encapsulated by the Vector’s 40mm steel case which has a wide, round shape but also the steep facets of an integrated bracelet and a dodecagon bezel.

It’s an appropriate connection because it was also in the 1970s that famous designers like Gerald Genta revolutionised watch design with the first wave of integrated sports bracelet watches like the Royal Oak and Nautilus. So, in some respects the idea of retro-futurism and luxury steel sports watches are related because they both reflect a desire for new growth and fresh design impetus in the decades after World War II. The Vostra Vector feels like it was plucked directly from this period, though without the Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet price tag.

Even the bold, block colours on the dials of the three variants help to cement this aesthetic. The Atomic Blue has a matte blue dial with white subdials and orange accents (perhaps this is where the Fantastic 4 connection was made as those are the colours of The Thing and Human Torch in their costumes). Then Gamma Grey is, unsurprisingly, grey with black subdials and teal green accents. Leaving the Electro Yellow in its bright yellow with white subdials and red accents. The names of the colourways, Atomic, Gamma and Electro, are also inspired by that late 20^th century drive towards new energy, tying a perfect bow on the 70s design of the Vector.

Getting into the details of the dial, it has a 60-minute scale on the flange around the circumference of the display. Inside of that is a chronograph seconds scale and then the baton hour markers. Then, inside of that are the tricompax chronograph functions with small seconds at 6 o’clock intersecting with the date, then a 24-hour subdial at 3 and a 60-minute counter at 9. The central hand-stack consists of hour, minute and chronograph seconds hands. Activating the chronograph is done via the rounded pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock.

Powering the Vostra Vector is the Seiko VK63 meca-quartz movement. It’s a hybrid movement that bridges the gap between quartz and mechanical, combining battery powered regular timekeeping with a mechanical chronograph. It’s not a prestigious movement by any stretch of the imagination but then, as I noted in the introduction, Vostra make no pretences of being a prestige brand. Instead, it’s practical and accessible.

Speaking of accessible, the Vostra Vector in any of its colourways is $199 on Kickstarter with a future retail price of $279 (approx. £160 / £225). Is it going to be the flagship watch in your collection? No. Is it going to be a fun runabout watch that you can slap on before heading down Camden Market or Shoreditch? Yes. The Kickstarter is live from February 14^th.

More details at Vostra.

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Bell & Ross have always been obsessed with aviation and the instruments of flight. Whether that comes in the form of practical pilot’s watches or more colourful and entertaining numbers like the BR-03 Horizon. Their latest release though has achieved escape velocity to move from humble Earth-bound aviation to the realm of space travel. It’s the fittingly named Bell & Ross BR-03 Astro.

I say space travel rather than space in general because it’s specifically inspired by the view from the International Space Station’s cupola viewing port. The position from which astronauts can watch the Earth, moon, other satellites and even other planets in their cosmic dance. Which is why the dial features the Earth front and centre with the seconds displayed by an orbiting satellite, the minutes by the moon and the hours by Mars.

Each of the decorative elements are rendered in surprising detail. From the wispy clouds above the Earth to the individual panels on the satellite, pockmarked craters on the moon and even the geological scar of the Mariner Valley on Mars. They’re all presented against an aventurine glass backdrop, horology’s go-to material for creating the impression of the Milky Way without having to paint 400 billion individual stars.

BR-03 Astro’s case is based on the updated model from 2023, measuring 41mm in micro-blasted ceramic. The matte finish of the ceramic emphasises the industrial vibe of the watch with its exposed screws in the corners outside the ring of the bezel. The same is true of the cylindrical crown at 3 o’clock with hobnail grip.

Powering the BR-03 Astro is the BR-CAL.327, which is essentially the dateless version of the BR-CAL.302, which is itself based on the Sellita SW300-1 a with 52-hour power reserve. It’s on the higher end of the Bell & Ross spectrum, which in combination with the ceramic case and highly decorative dial means the watch has a price of £4,200. It’s also a limited edition of 999 pieces.

On a subjective level I’m torn. On a strict horology front the Astro is a little gimmicky and toy-like, a criticism that has been levelled at B&R more than a few times. But also, I’m a sucker for astronomy and science. The vision of a blue planet seen through a porthole is so evocative of adventure and progress. In a world where space is becoming politicised by tech billionaires who for some reason are making speeches in the Oval Office, it’s nice to remember how beautiful and precious the Earth is, and the Astro gives me that feeling in wristwatch form.

More details at Bell & Ross.

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Image credit: Sothebys

Look to the wrist of any F1 driver and you’ll hastily see them adjusting the strap of whichever watch the sponsors have provided. Watches and motor racing are long term companions. You only have to look at the Rolex Daytona or Chopard Mille Miglia to see the racing pedigree. LVMH’s recent eye watering title sponsorship of Formula 1 further highlights that the duo’s companionship will long continue. And perhaps the most synonymous watch with high octane racing is the Tag Heuer Monaco.

The Monaco Heuer 02 is the first Monaco with an in-house calibre

The Monaco was released in 1969 a couple of years prior to the infamous Le Mans film and was the result of an unusual alliance between Tag Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton and chronograph specialist Dépraz & Co. In the 1960s the height of watchmaking was to create an automatic chronograph movement and this alliance joined forces to create the Calibre 11. At around the same time Zenith were working on their own automatic chronograph: the famous El Primero.

With the completion of the Calibre 11 the question became where to use it. Heuer (before the Tag) were already producing successful collections with the Autavia and Carrera, both notably round case watches. To commemorate the new calibre Jack Heuer wanted to make a statement, so he turned to a Swiss case manufacturer to develop the world’s first water resistance square case. And the rest as they say is history – history we shall continue to delve into.

Steve McQueen wearing the first Tag Heuer Monaco on the set of Le Mans

We mustn’t forget that Breitling’s Chrono-Matic with the Calibre 11 was released at the exact same time as the Monaco, yet this watch hasn’t hit the same icon status. You can argue this is because Breitling didn’t have Jack Heuer’s marketing genius or the Steve McQueen effect. Previously, Heuer had appointed his friend and F1 driver Jo Stiffert as the brand’s first ambassador. It just so happened that Stiffert was working on the Le Mans film where he met McQueen.

Whether it was Jo Stiffert’s influence or the work of the films prop master, Don Nunley, the ‘King of Cool’ ultimately chose the Monaco as his weapon of choice and instantly elevated the Monaco to icon status. Just last year one of the six Monaco’s worn by McQueen in the film was sent to auction where it fetched a handsome $1.4 million.

The Monaco Gulf Edition 2022, an example of the tri-compax chronograph layout

Over the years the Monaco has evolved with few major updates along the way. The first big change came in the early 1970s when reference 73633 introduced a tri-compax subdial layout. At the same time this updated configuration moved the crown to the more conventional 3 o’clock position. This updated reference was more aligned to what we would perceive as a conventional chronograph.

As new releases came and went most of the changes introduced were new dial colours or coloured accents with some improvements to the movement. In 1999 when LVMH acquired Heuer it began a period of innovation and investment.

Tag Heuer Monaco V4

When the Monaco V4 was launched in 2004 it created a lot of noise in the industry. The V4 concept was the first watch to use a belt dive and ball bearings instead of the usual wheels and gears. A hyper modern interpretation of the Monaco, the V4 case was redesigned and the dial open worked.

Despite the innovations to elevate Tag Heuer as a major horological power house they still paid homage to their past. In 2005, on what would have been McQueen’s 75th birthday, Tag released the Monaco CW2118. A 4,000 piece limited edition white dial variant with blue and red stripes to replicate the race suit McQueen wore in Le Mans.

Fast forward to 2015 and Tag released the Monaco Calibre 11. A faithful reissue of the original Monaco from 1969 with the crown switched back to the 9 o’clock position and ‘TAG’ text removed from the dial. This was the last celebration as on the 50th Anniversary (2019) of the Monaco, Tag Heuer retired the Calibre 11 in favour of their first in-house movement, the Heuer 02.

Tag Heuer Monaco Split Seconds

The new movement continues Tag Heuer’s commitment to innovation and development. Up to this point there has been a fine line between honouring the history and heritage of the Monaco and modernising it for the current day. The recent introduction of a Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph with skeletonised dial suggests the latter is now the brand’s priority. The Split-Seconds Chronograph is crafted from titanium and will empty your wallet to the tune of just under £145,000. Are we now seeing the Monaco take on a new direction involving high complications and setting a new standard for a modern ‘King of Cool’?

More details at Tag Heuer.

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Ceramic might very well be the material of the moment, or at the very least vying for the top spot with titanium. It’s highly scratch resistant and has a tactile feel that few other materials can match. It’s also very hard and just as hard to make, enough so that most brands don’t bother making it in-house, preferring instead to go to third party specialists, just like many brands do for movements. The one possible exception – depending on how you define ‘in-house’ – is Swatch Group.

The reason for Swatch Group’s dominance in watchmaking is a simple buzzphrase that most company execs salivate over: vertical integration. Essentially, alongside the various names on dials, Swatch Group also owns the companies making their parts. That’s why most of us have heard of ETA, the group’s movement maker, but there are plenty of others alongside, and perhaps most interesting to us horological nerds is Comadur.

Comadur is a name you’ve probably not heard before, for good reason. Until recently, Swatch Group kept them a bit of a secret, but they’re a specialist in ultra-hard materials. That includes synthetic diamonds, synthetic rubies, sapphire crystals and, of course, ceramic. And it’s the latter that’s worth a closer look.

First off, we all know that ceramic is fired in ovens, but what you might not know is that there’s a good chance the ceramic in your watch started life in Japan. Or, more accurately, the zirconium oxide, the raw powder that makes up ceramic, and the raw materials that go into it would have been mined and produced in Japan. It begins as a fine white powder like flour and is the foundational element for all ceramics.

Unless we’re talking about one specifically treated ceramic – which we’ll get onto – the only real difference between one ceramic and the next is colour. Adding colour might sound like a relatively simple thing to do; surely you just add some coloured powder into the zirconium oxide mix? But not so. You need something completely inorganic to survive the firing process and many coloured pigments are activated in the kiln. This means that how the ceramic goes in and how it comes out can be completely different.

To put that in context, red, a key ceramic colour, enters the ovens as a pale white. Some colours darken or lighten in the heat, but red’s not alone in changing completely. This makes it a case of trial, error and some very exact formulae to get anywhere near a consistent colour. And consistency is key when you’re scaling things to Comadur’s level.

Consistency is also why there are some seemingly obtuse stages in the production process. To bond pigment and zirconium oxide powder, you need to add water, creating a high-end Play-Doh-like substance. But you don’t actually want water in the mix, so it’s then put through a big spray drying machine, essentially blowing a stream of the stuff through hot air so the water gets siphoned off. The result is a perfectly mixed, coloured powder. Then a binder is thrown in so that it can be turned into feedstock pellets that are in turn injected into moulds, the first step into it visibly becoming a watch.

There’s a problem though. Once again, you don’t really want the binder in there. So, the ceramic’s immersed in some piquant booze – solvents – to break it down, leaving the ceramic like expensive Swiss cheese. At this point the overall shape is bigger than the finished watch. The missing ingredient between this holey, oversized piece and something usable then? Heat.

This is the bit we all know and love, the baking. The ceramic is placed into ovens at 1,450 degrees Celcius. Unlike rising bread though it loses 25% of its size, getting dense and more intensely coloured, with some pigments activating in this heat to properly reveal their colours – like that aforementioned red. When it comes out, the ceramic is hard, colourful and ready to be turned into a watch. It’s machined to smooth off the rough edges, as well as production necessities like supports, and is then polished or sandblasted. Polishing is particularly cool as ceramic is hard enough that it can only really be polished by more ceramic. To that end, each part is placed in a big vat of ceramic beads shaped to polish specific areas – perfectly sized triangles to get between the lugs, for example – and shaken. Once each part is done, you have components ready to become a watch case, from tiny bracelet links to full, solid ceramic cases in blues, yellows, reds, whites, and blacks.

Of course, if you’ve seen what Swatch Group member Rado have been producing of late, you might have one other question: what about plasma ceramic? You’ll have seen it around, a dark grey ceramic with a particular metallic sheen. It’s not just coloured or finished differently though; it takes things to the next level.

Plain white ceramic (it can be coloured, but that’s a waste as all colour is removed later) is placed in an oven with argon, hydrogen and methane. It’s then heated to 20,000 degrees – almost four times hotter than the surface of the sun. The combination of heat and gasses means that the chemical composition of the ceramic changes, going from ZiO to ZiC, stripping out any colour and giving the material that unique finish. To put into context just how insane the process is, the baskets the pieces are held by are made from tantalum carbide, which is incredibly rare but one of the few metals that can withstand that level of heat time and time again. Those baskets might just be the most expensive part of the process.

Plasma ceramic is best known as a Rado thing, but you can also find it sneakily getting into some Omega and Blancpain action, as Comadur is a Swatch Group entity. However, it remains very exclusive. By comparison the regular ceramic is liberally spread across the group. It’s an impressive quantity for sure but more impressive is the quality.

To dwell on the scratch resistance again, have you ever taken a knife to a watch? Not in a Bond Street hooligan kind of way, but actually tried to scratch a ceramic watch? I took a relatively sharp knife, a screwdriver, a set of keys, anything I could get my hands on to one of Rado’s True Thinline pieces. The result? I got scratched, the ceramic did not. It’s easy to talk about ceramic as ultra-hard, be wowed by the heat of the ovens – and that plasma oven, jeez – but it’s that metaphorical taste test that really illustrates why ceramic is so important in watches and why Comadur especially is doing some incredible stuff.

More details at The Swatch Group.

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While it’s always fun to see watch brands collaborate with celebrity artists and designers, the resulting watches are often highly exclusive and more expensive than normal, cutting out a huge swathe of the watch collecting community from the chance of owning onw. For their latest collaboration Frederique Constant wanted to achieve the opposite, making sure the watch can get into the hands of genuine enthusiasts and dedicated collectors at fair prices. In order to accomplish this, they’ve teamed up with the Watch Angels collectors community to create the Frederique Constant x Watch Angels Worldtimer Manufacture.

Collector communities that produce collaboration watches with major brands are more common than you might think. Collective Horology over in California stands out as prime example with their IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph from a few years ago. It’s quite simple really, become a member, get access to exclusive watches. Watch Angels operates in a largely similar way with a few notable differences. You can sign up to various tiers of membership, known as Enthusiast, Angel and Super Angel, which get you a variety of benefits that range from priority access to the watches, discounts and at the higher tiers even design input on the watches.

On top of that, Watch Angels aren’t content to simply let the watch brands they work with do all the heavy lifting themselves. They operate their own manufacture employing over 200 watchmakers, engineers, technicians, CNC operators, polishers, after sales experts and more. Which means the watches are often truly collaborative right down to their structural DNA. Their involvement is far greater than simply making a suggestion to a designer and having their name printed on the dial.

Focussing in on the Frederique Constant x Watch Angels Worldtimer Manufacture, it’s a stunner. A 40mm version of Frederique Constant’s 42mm Classic Worldtimer with an updated display. The reduced size works brilliantly, increasing the wearability of the piece for a lot of people while also making it more practical for daily use. 2mm might not sound like a huge difference but as someone who spends their days typing away on a keyboard, I can wear 40mm all day but often find myself taking off 42mm before lunch just because it impedes the wrist a fraction more.

Of course, with a reduced case size there also have to be adjustments to the dial. Especially when it comes to a worldtimer display which has to cram in the additional 24-hour and global cities indicators. The first decision that was made was to remove the date complication that’s normally found on the 42mm Classic Worldtimer completely. Then, rather than having the cities scale be flat, they’ve placed it on an incline towards the centre of the dial. That means it can retain a good width for legibility while taking up a smaller portion of the dial space. It’s a smart choice for maximising display economy.

The other major change to the dial is they’ve done away with the atlas style globe in favours of a simple crosshair motif. Given the reduced size, the atlas would look incredibly cramped so I’m glad it’s gone. The new design is much cleaner, allowing you to appreciate the rich blue of the dial and the delicate sunray brushed finishing. Though it’s not totally without ornamentation because instead of the standard 12 and 24 numerals on the 24-hour disk they’ve placed a sun and moon to mark day and night.

Inside the Frederique Constant Watch Angels WorldTimer Manufacture is the FC-718 manufacture calibre, an automatic in-house movement with 42-hour power reserve. It’s visible through the exhibition caseback revealing its Côtes de Genève and perlage finishing. It’s this calibre that inspired the collaboration and is why the model is a limited edition of 718 pieces. If you want to get your hands on one, they’re available to reserve exclusively through the Watch Angels platform at CHF 4,490 (approx. £3,960) until March 13^th.

More details at Watch Angels.

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When I think about Mühle-Glashütte, something I do surprisingly often, my mind tends to lean in one of two directions. Either towards their nautical timepieces such as the S.A.R Rescue Timer or their Saxon dress watches like the Teutonia. What I don’t necessarily think of is the Sportivo range of sporty chronographs. Well, Mühle-Glashütte are making us all sit up and pay attention to it now with the launch of the Mühle-Glashütte Sportivo Power Chronograph First Edition.

While the watch features an updated black ion plated steel case, measuring a broad 42.5mm in diameter, the key feature of this release is actually inside the watch. It houses the brand’s second modular movement, the MU9424-GR. It’s a high-end Saxon movement with a 62-hour power reserve and an accuracy of -0/+8 seconds per day, within chronometer standards.

In watchmaking, modular means that there is a base calibre with the core functions such as hours and minutes, and then you can add additional complications on top of that such as chronographs, GMTs and power reserve indicators by swapping which module is attached. Here, the base movement consists of the core timekeeping functions and chronograph and the attached module is the power reserve indicator, which is what gives the watch the name Sportivo Power Chronograph. It’s also where the GR initials in MU9424-GR comes from as those are the initials for the German word for power reserve, “Gangreserve”.

On the watch’s display the power reserve indicator can be found on the subdial at 6 o’clock with the markings given in German. The hint of red in its scale matches the red central chronograph hand as well as the hand on the 30-minute subdial and peripheral chronograph scale. There are also red accents on the bidirectional bezel with 60-minute scale. The combination of red with black is what gives the piece that bold, sporty aesthetic.

Initially I was confused why the bezel is bidirectional when, considering Mühle-Glashütte’s nautical heritage and the fact the watch is water resistant to 300m, it would make more sense for it to be a unidirectional diving bezel. But then I considered it more and I think it does ultimately work for the watch. Because the chronograph function can only time intervals of up to 30 minutes, a 60-minute bezel allows you to time longer events and making it bidirectional is more convenient as a timer (though not by a large margin).

The Mühle-Glashütte Sportivo Power Chronograph First Edition is priced at €4,300 (approx. £3,580) in a limited edition of 200 pieces. With that price, and also aesthetically, I would say that makes its closest competition the Oris Aquis Chronograph, which is also a dive/chronograph hybrid. Specs-wise the two watches are very close to each other so choosing between the two is difficult. The Mühle-Glashütte appeals to my love of German design, but I must admit I prefer the clean steel look of the Oris. As this is only the first edition of the Sportivo Power, give me a slightly more refined version in future that leans into its Saxon heritage a fraction more and it will win me over wholeheartedly.

More details at Muhle.

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Today the British watch industry is a vibrant melting pot of aesthetics and philosophies, from accessible twists on classic designs to timepieces drenched in playful colours and tongue-in-cheek fun. So, if you’re looking for a reason to get genuinely excited about buying local, look no further. Here are the best British watch releases of 2025 – so far.

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Dive watches come in virtually all shapes, sizes and prices, ranging from accessible run-around beaters to prestige heirlooms upwards of £8,000. Today we’re focussing on the former when it comes to price, a sub-£500 dive watch that’s perfect for those summer holidays you’re probably in the middle of booking. Specifically, we’re getting hands-on with the Certina DS Action Titanium in its updated sky blue colourway.

First off, the elephant in the room, this is a quartz diver rather than mechanical. Immediately that knocks off a bit of its collector street-cred. But let’s be real for a moment, a practical, accessible dive watch should be quartz because it saves on price while also improving the reliability for everyday wear thanks to its extended battery life and ultra-high frequency that provides superb accuracy. Also, the regular tick of the seconds hand is useful as a running indicator while underwater.

Taking the watch out of the box, the first impression on picking it up is how light it is. Measuring 40mm in diameter with a thickness of 11.2mm, it’s not the biggest diver out there but it’s not diminutive either. You expect such a chunk of metal to be hefty but that’s not the case here thanks to its titanium construction. Titanium is famous for having a high strength to density ratio, which means it’s as durable as steel without the added weight (though it’s not quite so scratch resistant). It makes the watch a delight to wear for hour after hour because it doesn’t feel like you’re doing a bicep curl just taking a sip of your drink.

The screw down crown with built up guards also make it feel solid and dependable, which it is with 300m water resistance. This is a watch that you can actually take into the water without too much concern. It also has a unidirectional rotating bezel with sky blue aluminium insert featuring a diving scale so you can calculate immersion time. I will say there’s perhaps a bit more play in the bezel than I would like but that’s a fractional thing that I almost didn’t bring up at all.

Of course, the most important part of a dive watch, other than its water resistance, is the dial. The Certina DS Action Titanium is nice and legible with a sunray brushed display in monochrome blue in a light, pastel tone. The applied hour markers are in a combination of circle and wedge shapes with a date window occupying the position at 6 o’clock instead.

The combination of multiple shapes is standard on a dive watch because it let’s you read the dial from any orientation underwater without the added complexity of numerals. In addition to the hour scale there’s also a 60-minute scale on the flange, the peripheral ring that connects the dial to the bottom of the sapphire crystal.

I mentioned at the start of this review that the Certina DS Action Titanium is sub-£500 at £485. For a titanium diver with 300m water resistance that seems perfectly reasonable – touting high enough specs that you can actually use it practically while also not being so expensive that you should lock it in a vault rather than take it to the beach.

More details at Certina.

​Oracle Time 

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