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By Jordan Aquistapace –  September 30, 2024

Shop The Best Luxury Watch-Inspired Coffee Table Books, A...

There's something magnetic about a well-placed coffee table book. It beckons to be opened, promising a rich visual and intellectual experience. But when that book is a high-end publication focusing on luxury watches, it's not just a book, it becomes a stylish and compelling centerpiece for conversations in any home or office setting. What sets these watch-inspired books apart? For starters, they are exquisitely crafted with attention to detail, mirroring the meticulous craftsmanship of the high-end timepieces they celebrate. From the texture of the paper to the quality of the printing, each book is a masterpiece that pays homage to another form of art, the art of watchmaking. These books go beyond aesthetics, diving deep into the intricate world of haute horology. Open the pages, and you're transported into the history, craftsmanship, and innovation that define iconic brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, and more. Each dives into the subtle designs, elaborate mechanics, and the stellar personalities behind each timepiece. Watch collectors and enthusiasts journey into a deeper understanding of the timepieces that have shaped our understanding of luxury and precision. In a world where digital screens are everywhere, there's a pleasure in flipping through high-quality pages, and feeling the weight of the book in your hands. Whether you're a watch aficionado or a design enthusiast, these luxury watch-inspired coffee table books serve as both aesthetic and intellectual cornerstones, sparking dialogue and curiosity amongst those who share a passion for timepieces. Shop all of the books featured in this special by clicking the links below. 500 Years, 100 Watches Barnes & Noble From two of the world’s leading experts on watch collecting, this supremely elegant and informative selection of one hundred watches traces the timepiece’s evolution as it highlights unusual, important, and beautifully crafted watches of the past half a millennium. Shop Now Editions Cercle d'Art Richard Mille Walmart Richard Mille has created timepieces that are instantly recognizable thanks to its tech-forward approach to mechanical watchmaking. In this book, Richard Mille timepieces are explored through macro photography, highlighting all of the space-age materials and technology packed into the watches. Shop Now The Impossible Collection of Watches (2nd Edition) Assouline For this update to the 2014 original edition, British historian and journalist Nicholas Foulkes has selected the 100 breakthrough timepieces developed since the advent of the twentieth century, weighing the virtues of rarity, costliness, innovative functions, historical importance, grand provenance and pleasing design. Shop Now De Bethune: The Art of Watchmaking Assouline With a text by Arthur Touchot, a foreword by Wei Koh, founder of Revolution magazine and Grail Watch, as well as special contributions from De Bethune CEO Pierre Jacques and a cross section of watch industry notables and passionate collectors; Jean Arnault , Aurel Bacs, Swizz Beatz, Jean-Claude Biver, Ben Clymer, Victoria Gomelsky, Danny Govberg, Tim Mosso, Luc Pettavino, Michèle Rothen, Mohammed Seddiqi, Michael Strahan, Michael Tay, Kari Voutilainen and Suzanne Wong, De Bethune: The Art of Watchmaking invites readers to experience every single facet of this cult atelier, from founding to the future, manufacture to movements. Shop Now Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon Assouline This book presents the Royal Oak’s history from a broader cultural perspective, while shedding light on new archival materials uncovered by Audemars Piguet’s Heritage department alongside exclusive testimonies of long-standing friends of the brand. The lively narrative text is illustrated with imagery from six decades of groundbreaking art, architecture, fashion, music, and cultural history, paralleling the evolution of this trailblazing timepiece beloved by innovative tastemakers and influential celebrities around the globe. Shop Now The Watch Book: Compendium Amazon The Watch Book I and II in one volume: Expansive knowledge from renowned watch expert and historian Gisbert L. Brunner alongside almost 1,000 high-quality color photographs brings together the latest innovations and most important names in top-end timekeeping under one roof. Shop Now Rolex: The Impossible Collection Assouline Selected by specialist Fabienne Reybaud, each of the exceptional Rolex watch models in this beautiful handcrafted Ultimate Collection volume showcase the most valuable and technically innovative models the luxury watchmaker has produced, including watches never seen in print before: From the first wristwatch dating to the early 1900s and the first Oyster Perpetual from 1931, to an Explorer worn during Sir Edmund Hillary’s expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953 and the Submariner worn by actor George Lazenby in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, they are sure to astonish collectors the world over.  Shop Now A Man & His Watch Barnes & Noble Matthew Hranek, a watch collector and NYC men’s style fixture, has traveled the world conducting firsthand interviews and diving into exclusive collections to gather the never-before-told stories of 76 watches, completed with stunning original photography of every single piece. Through these intimate accounts and Hranek’s storytelling, the watches become more than just timepieces and status symbols; they represent historical moments, pioneering achievements, heirlooms, family mementos, gifts of affection, and lifelong friendships. Shop Now Watches: A Guide by Hodinkee Assouline What started as a humble blog quickly transformed into a full-fledged magazine and e-comm hub for some of the world’s leading watch brands. Celebrating the decade milestone since Hodinkee’s founding, this book captures the storied expertise of the world’s leading experts on time. With chapters breaking down chronographs, dive watches, high design, and horological icons, this book is a connoisseur’s compendium for the timepiece veterans and novices alike. Shop Now Jaeger-LeCoultre: Reverso Assouline As well as tracing the history of the watch and its evolution over the past nine decades – with more than 50 calibres and several hundred dials – the book explores the social milieu and cultural changes that provided the backdrop to the creation of the Reverso and, later, its continued reinvention. It shares the stories of more than a dozen Reverso owners who have personalized their watches in deeply meaningful ways. Shop Now

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By Jordan Aquistapace –  October 17, 2022

The Best Luxury Watches Under $5,000

Start a watch collection without breaking the bank In the ever-popular world of watch collecting, there are countless models and references that make it quite difficult for new enthusiasts to choose a watch to start a collection. Household luxury watch brands are known for extreme waitlists and price premiums for the most coveted examples. MUST-READ: The 10 Best Luxury Watches in Platinum With a little research, we compiled a list of The Top 10 Luxury Watches For Under $5,000. This list is meant to help guide new watch enthusiasts towards a great first watch to begin the obsession. Shop all of the best watches under $5,000 featured in this special by clicking the links attached below. Accutron Spaceview 2020 Watches of Switzerland With Accutron's Spaceview 2020, time has just changed - again. This luxury watch for men re-imagines what a timepiece can be with the proprietary electrostatic movement, unique to the Accutron line, an intricately engineered motor and turbine system that generates power. And it isn't shy about showing it off, with its signature open-face dial in smokey grey and eye-catching Accutron-green accents. It further shows off its style with white hour and minute hands and an orange second hand, with a transparent outer ring, topped off with a luxurious, grained black leather strap. Price: $3,450 BUY NOW Breitling Superocean 44mm Watches of Switzerland The SuperOcean defines the classic dive watch. It was created by Breitling in 1957 to equip professional and military divers, but it immediately developed a following among leisure divers and watch enthusiasts. At 300m (1000ft) water resistance, this watch triples the minimum requirement for dive watches. For safety, the bezel is uni-directional on most sizes and bi-directional with a patented lock on the 44mm. This watch is also shock-, sand- and saltwater-resistant. It's automatic Breitling Caliber 17 comes with a two-year warranty and approximate 38-hour power reserve. Price: $4,900 BUY NOW Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic 40mm Watches of Switzerland The Hamilton Intra-Matic Auto Chrono is a modern reworking of a 1968 signature piece that offers a sporty but classic look. Combining authentic 60s appeal with the exclusive H-31 automatic movement, its distinctive panda dial is a guaranteed eye-catcher. This Hamilton leather strap is made from natural materials. The leather is tanned, but has not been treated, pigmented and finished in the same way as some other leather straps. Price: $2,195 BUY NOW Ianos Avyssos IA05 IANOS In Greek, Avyssos (Abyss) is used to describe the deepest and darkest parts of the soul, the sea and, in some cases, the sea itself. The Avyssos is a rethought and redesigned tool watch, made to be worn and beaten relentlessly, all in a timeless, elegant, utilitarian package while combining our two major inspirations on its unique dial. The Antikythera Mechanism and the legendary kampanelopetra technique of Greek sponge divers. Price: $1,000 BUY NOW ORIS Divers Sixty-Five Watches of Switzerland Oris has dived back in time and is delighted to present the Oris Divers Sixty-Five - a revival of an iconic diver's watch that first appeared in the Oris collection 50 years ago. The new Oris Divers Sixty-Five shares the retro looks of the 1960s original, but it's been modernised using 21st century watchmaking techniques. The case is made of anti-corrosive stainless steel. The vintage-inspired bubble-curved glass is made of scratch-resistant sapphire crystal and comes with anti-reflective coating on the inside to reduce glare and increase legibility underwater. Price: $2,000 BUY NOW Panerai Radiomir 45mm Watches of Switzerland The Radiomir 1940 collection is a slightly evolved version of the original Radiomir collection due to more specific requirements from the Royal Italian Navy at the time. This range features more pronounced edges on the casing and reinforced lugs, allowing the watches to remain underwater in extreme conditions. Presented in a 45mm stainless steel case, this Swiss-made timepeice boasts a black dial with luminous Arabic and Roman numeral hour markers. A brown strap completes the look. Price: $4,700 BUY NOW Spinnaker Boettger Tropical Orange Watches of Switzerland Once an experiment in cutting edge design, the Boettger with an integrated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber strap is now a lighter yet no less impressive piece of dive timing instrumentation. Sleek, slim yet powerfully equipped to handle the rigours of the sea, the Boettger continues to elevate the concept of a dive watch with a timepiece complete with engineering excellence and design ingenuity. Price: $650 BUY NOW Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 Watches of Switzerland Tissot strives to provide accuracy and quality at all times through timepieces that have an everlasting style, such as the ones in the T-Classic collection. An automatic watch is powered by the energy of the person who wears it. Wrist movement enables the mechanism to run. The Powermatic 80 movement boasts 80 hours of power reserve, which is enough to continue telling time accurately even if the watch is not worn for three days. It is an innovative movement that outperforms the competition, whose movements general provide 1.5 days of power reserve. Price: $650 BUY NOW Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue Watches of Switzerland The Black Bay celebrates 60 years of diving watches with extraordinary heritage. The iconic model inherits the general lines, as well as the domed dial and crystal from the first Tudor diving watches. It borrows the characteristic angular hands, known as snowflake, from the watches delivered in large quantities to the French National Navy in the 1970s. Presented within a 39mm stainless steel case, the dial is powered by a self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system. This watch is also water resistant to 200 metres. Price: $3,800 BUY NOW UNDONE x Nicola Formichetti UNDONE Known for conquering everything in fashion, Nicola has now designed his first watch in partnership with UNDONE. Nicola is an award-winning and acclaimed fashion designer, creative director, stylist, and editor. The fashion maven has held top design roles at Haus of Gaga, Diesel, Uniqlo, and Mugler. A cross-contamination of innovating and highly experimental design, created from highly sought-after elements such as carbon fibre, titanium, and sapphire crystal. Price: $1,899 BUY NOW Vincero The Reverse Automatic Vincero The Reserve Automatic combines a best-in-class Citizen Miyota 9100 automatic movement with timeless design and distinct details you’ll notice every time you put it on. Simultaneously modern and refined, the Reserve represents our vision for the future. Price: $548 BUY NOW

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