When it comes to dive watches, the past few years have seen an explosion of brands offering very competent and well-designed pieces, often times powered by Japanese automatic movements. Tempest is one of those brands, and they first caught my eye with the high-domed Viking. Today, we are taking a look at their latest offering, the Tempest Commodore.
Tissot is a brand that I am aware of, but have not been around much. This changed recently when then loaned me the T-Touch Expert Solar and the Tissot Quickster for hands on reviews. The Swiss watchmaker produces a variety of watches, including these two models that are geared toward the action oriented.
When it comes to watches, I have honed my own personal preferences down over the last few years. When it comes to case sizing, I tend to prefer something that falls under 44mm; when we are talking about complications, a GMT hand has become one of my favorites. The combination of those two items really is not a rare thing, but it is nice when they come together in a clean, legible package. That is exactly what we have in today’s review of the Butler Professional Series GMT.
It seems to be that I am drawn in by classic designs, especially when they are well-executed in more compact packages. If you find yourself in the same boat, then the Archimede 1950’s is one you will want to sit up and take notice of.
How do you create a brand identity in an industry as large and as old as watchmaking? Many brands have a go-to handset, some rely on logos, and yet others will use styling cues that carry over watch to watch. CT Scuderia is in that last camp, but they go further in their commitment that many others, with every watch in the line a bullhead style (though they do invert it for the Dashboard). The company was nice enough to lend me a second watch for a hands on review, the CT Scuderia Scrambler. The quartz chronograph is well made and pretty unique in the current marketplace.
If you recall, last week I posted up about the Maranez Layan, which featured semi-precious stones being used for the dials of the watches. While I have not had the pleasure of seeing those in person, I did just recently spend some time with another watch that features stone, in this case, marble. The watch in question is the Vincero Verde, named as it is for the green Italian marble utilized on the watch.
We here at WWR have long been fans of what Benarus has been putting together. Much of the lineup is on the beefier side, as you would expect from a boutique-brand diver. The Moray has been prime evidence of this, having been made available in 47mm and 44mm variants. Now, for those of us looking for something a bit more compact, the Benarus Moray is now available – in the 42mm that we have seen in the past, as well as a 40mm variant.
The AVI-8 Hawker Typhoon is like a fuel gauge for your wrist – and we are reviewing it today.
The Lew & Huey Legends Racer is a great combination of classic racing watches in a modern, and affordable, package.
I really like GMT complications. Today, we have it in a dive watch, the Mühle-Glashütte Seebataillon GMT.
