Turning time with the Ballast Trafalgar

By Patrick Kansa April 11, 2016

We have reviewed watches from all variety of brands, and it is interesting to see the differences when you compare watches that come out of the same family (of brands). Take, for instance, Ballast, who would count Earnshaw and AVI-8 as stablemates. Looking across the lines at a high level, there is no sense of “badge engineering” going on. No, the watches are different, and each brand has their own style. Then you get to something like the Ballast Trafalgar, and you really do have something different.

At last – hands-on with the WT Author 1905

By Patrick Kansa April 8, 2016

WT Author is one of those brands that I’ve been pleasantly surprised to run across. They have been creating watches unlike what we had seen prior (at least in the modern era of watches), and they have an overarching plan (and timeline) for how their total collection will play out. We saw it start off with the WT Author 1905 (link), then move on to the 1914 (link), and most recently, the 1929 (link). While we had been able to provide hands-on impressions of the latter two models, that first had been limited to just the pictures we had seen, and viewing it through the lens of the design cues that carried forward onto the subsequent models. As fortune would have it, we were able to work with WT Author to have a WT Author 1905 sent over, so let’s travel back in time and have a look at what it offers.

Circling Time With Bonhoff IP-3.0

By Patrick Kansa March 15, 2016

Often when we think of a wristwatch, we come at the concept with some rather preconceived notions of how the watch should function and how it will indicate the time. This is fine, because as a tool, we need to know how to rely on our watches to be used as designed with a minimum of fuss. As with any tool, however, there are ways to massage the standard format to take things in more unique directions. For watches, we see that quite a bit in the digital side, but nowhere near as much in the analog side of things. The latest entry into the genre of “analog time twisters” is from Bonhoff, known simply as the Bonhoff IP-3.0.

The G. Gerlach Kosmonaut – a Space Oddity for Today

By Patrick Kansa March 10, 2016

As Matt noted in his original writeup on the G. Gerlach Kosmonaut, this is indeed a watch that draws very heavily from the past. Specifically, the first quartz watch made in Poland, and the one worn by Polish Kosmonaut, General Miroslaw Hermaszewski. While I may not have traveled space, I could not help but to think of Major Tom as I wore the watch. Let’s see what I thought of the piece after spending some time with it.

The Division Furtive Type 50 Sets the Time in Lights

By Patrick Kansa February 19, 2016

Well, as I mentioned when I finally got our long-awaited review of the Division Furtive Type 40…

Spending Time with the Division Furtive Type 40

By Patrick Kansa February 18, 2016

This review is one that has been a long, long time coming. While we tend to work to get things turned around rather quickly on reviews, this is one that slipped down the queue time and again. This is because, you see, this Division Furtive Type 40 is actually my own watch – the first (and only) watch I backed on a Kickstarter project – and as such, got bumped in priority for those coming in on a loan. Well, that oversight is being corrected today. Even though the Division Furtive Type 40 is no longer available, it’s review will set the stage for a later model in the lineup what we will also be reviewing.

Hands-on with the Van Speyk Dutch Diver

By Patrick Kansa November 20, 2015

It was back in July that we first brought you word of a new Dutch brand, Van Speyk, and their inaugural watch. As I concluded in that writeup, the Van Speyk Dutch Diver had a thread running throughout it – familiarity with differentiation. That observation was all based off of what I was seeing in the photos. The question loomed, however – would that impression hold up after seeing the watch in the steel?

Introducing the Projects Watches Ora Major

By Patrick Kansa August 14, 2015

Projects Watches is not a brand that seems to rest on its laurels. Sure, they have re-issues from their back catalog (like the Newark Museum Watch), but they also are creating new designs. We have featured a few different ones over the last year, and their latest takes a love of geometry and pushes it to the stars. That watch, designed by Alessio Romano, is the Projects Watches Ora Major.

Hands On With the R. Paige Crash of ’29

By Patrick Kansa August 12, 2015

One of the benefits of being a watch reviewer is that we get to see a lot of watches, particularly when new ones come on to the market. Or are in the process of coming, which means that on some rarer occasions we do get to go hands-on with a prototype. This is what we have today with the R. Paige Crash of ’29, which is the result of a collaboration between Richard Paige and Mark Carson of Individual Design. Let’s take a closer look at what this collaboration has wrought, shall we?

Introducing the Projects Watches Newark Museum Watch

By Patrick Kansa August 7, 2015

For those familiar with the watches that Michael Graves designed for Projects Watches, you might be wondering why we are talking about a watch that was designed and first released back in 1998. Simply put, the brand is re-releasing the watch (in two limited-edition variants) in a tribute to Graves. Let’s have a look at what this new Projects Watches Newark Museum Watch is all about.

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