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Brandon's Favorites
A personal pick of favorite watches, from the icons to the independent makers. Tap any watch to watch the reel or read the review, then join the conversation in the Brandon's Favorites forum.
Wren
One of Brandon's favorites: the brand-new Wren Vessel, with a release-day chat with Wren founder Craig Karger. Watch the reel.
the crystal. Wren cut curved facets into both the top and the underside of the sapphire, with the underside a mirror-image negative of the top, so the dial stays clear as you tilt it. Early prototypes worked out at just 5 good crystals in 100. It's Wren's first watch outside dive watches, designed with Max Resnick: a 39mm x 10.6mm integrated case in 904L steel, a meteorite dial with an aqua seconds hand, a Swiss Sellita SW300-1 automatic with 56 hours of power reserve, and micro-adjust built right into the bracelet links. Only 150 will ever be made.
IWC
The new IWC Ingenieur 50th Anniversary is one of my favorites: a clean, brushed silver dial that nods to Genta's original and keeps things beautifully simple.
IWC made this Ingenieur to celebrate 50 years of Gérald Genta's Ingenieur SL, and it's wonderfully understated for a limited edition. The star is the brushed, silver-plated dial, inspired by a rare version of the original SL, paired with rhodium-plated hands and Super-LumiNova-filled metal hour markers. I love the small touch where the lightning bolt under the Ingenieur name is replaced by a "50". You still get the signature five-screw bezel and the integrated stainless steel bracelet, with 100 metres of water resistance. It comes as a pair of limited editions, 40mm and 35mm, each limited to 1,150 pieces. It's a quiet, confident way to celebrate a birthday, and I'm a big fan.
Rolex
One of my favorites! A 39mm Rolex annual calendar with a meteorite moonphase and a brand-new movement. It's a proper horological treat that nods to a vintage legend.
The Perpetual Padellone is such a special Rolex. It takes its name from the vintage reference 8171, but it isn't a copy. It's a modern 39mm watch in Everose gold or platinum with a domed, fluted bezel. The dial is where the magic happens: day and month sit in two windows at 12 o'clock, a blue-tipped hand points to the date around the edge, and the moonphase at 6 o'clock has a blue enamel disc with meteorite moons. Inside is the brand-new calibre 7190, a 5Hz movement with the Dynapulse escapement, a new instantaneous annual calendar called Haplos, and a 66-hour power reserve. You only need to correct the calendar once a year. Plus, there's a sapphire caseback to admire it all.
Traska
One of Brandon's favorites: Traska's chronograph with the crisp Arctic White dial. Watch his hands-on video.
Traska built this around a Japanese column-wheel chronograph, the TMI NE86, which is thinner than comparable Swiss chronograph movements, so the case stays slim. The subdials are clever: instead of hands, two transparent discs rotate under fixed red lines. You get a box-style sapphire crystal, a ceramic tachymeter bezel and a 316L steel case hardened to 1200 HV, so it shrugs off scratches. Add 75m of water resistance, a screw-down crown and a tapering bracelet with a tool-less micro-adjust clasp, and it's a chronograph made to actually wear.
Chopard
One of Brandon's favorites: Chopard's slim L.U.C XPS in a 25th-anniversary edition with The Timepiece Collection. Watch his hands-on video.
this one is close to home. Chopard made it for The Timepiece Collection in Englewood, NJ, to celebrate the store's 25 years, and only 25 numbered pieces exist. At heart it's an L.U.C XPS: a 40mm steel case just 7.2mm thick, a blue dial with small seconds at 6, and Chopard's in-house L.U.C 96.12-L automatic with a 22-carat gold micro-rotor, 65 hours of power reserve and COSC chronometer certification. Elegant, thin and quietly special.
Ikepod
One of Brandon's favorites: Ikepod's Chronopod with its pistachio-green dial. Watch his hands-on video.
you can spot an Ikepod from across the room. The Chronopod's 44mm pebble-shaped steel case has no lugs, so it wears smaller than the number suggests. It was designed by Emmanuel Gueit, the designer behind the original Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. Inside is a Seiko VK63 chronograph movement, and this limited Pistachio edition pairs that UFO-like shape with a pistachio-green look that's pure fun.
Hublot
One of Brandon's favorites: Hublot's Classic Fusion in an edition made with The Timepiece Collection. Watch his hands-on video.
another piece made for The Timepiece Collection's 25th anniversary. Hublot gave the Classic Fusion a rich burgundy sunray dial made just for this edition, in a 42mm case with the signature screwed bezel. The 18K King Gold version, Hublot's own red-gold alloy, is limited to just 10 pieces. It's the Classic Fusion's clean, sporty shape in a color you won't see anywhere else.
Brew
One of Brandon's favorites: Brew's Metric chronograph in the tennis-inspired Court Edition. Watch his hands-on video.
Brew made the Court Edition to celebrate the US Open and New York's tennis energy, and it's limited to 250 pieces. The green dial is textured to echo the fuzzy surface of a tennis ball, paired with a suede strap. Underneath it's the Metric I like: a compact 36mm, 1970s-inspired chronograph case with blended polished and brushed steel that wears comfortably on any wrist.
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