Hello and welcome back to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. This week your loyal correspondent has been afflicted by a dreadful bout of man-flu (how you can tell the seasons have changed, or more accurately, that your kids have gone back to school) so I apologise profusely for the sense that I might have been speaking from the bottom of a barrel with a peg on my nose.

If you can get past that I think there are some interesting themes that emerge from today’s podcast, dare I say it myself. First up is the H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Off-Grid, a watch I think is fascinating, confusing and ever so slightly misrepresented.

Next up is a quartet of new Panerai releases: a Luminor Tourbillon that I think looks better than such things usually do, and three 42mm Luminors in the regular range, so to speak, that prompted me to air a long-held opinion: the best Panerai is the cheapest Panerai, and I wonder if that might be a statement that holds true for any other brand.

I will tell you briefly of the Peacock Black Hole Central Tourbillon, which costs around the same amount of money as the 42mm Luminors and shows just how scarily quickly Chinese watchmaking is closing the gap, and then I will tell you of Czapek’s literary Promenade that plays weird tricks on my brain. I want to know if anyone else has the same reaction, so do please let me know.

I finish with a brief note on this lovely 1940s Rolex, coming soon to Phillips alongside 15 other notable Rolex chronographs. What, as they say, is not to like?

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Off-Grid

* The Moser Streamliner “Mechanic’s Edition” from last year

* Sequent, the Swiss smartwatch company

* New Panerai Luminor Tourbillon

* Panerai Luminor 42mm

* The Peacock Very Long Name Tourbillon

* The Czapek Promenade L’Écume des Jours

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome back to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, which if you’re new here - a lot of you are, which is always nice to see - comes out every Tuesday. On Fridays I write something in-depth and almost always totally detached from the rolling cycle of new releases, so on Tuesday I deliver a bite-sized bulletin of headline news and my reaction, where necessary.

This week our lead item is the publication of Watches of Switzerland Group’s annual financial report, a 258-page document that I’ve read so you don’t have to. It’s a good news year for WoS, in short - and beyond that, there were some interesting insights from the report that I wanted to focus on. Specifically, some details about the differences between US and UK watch markets, from top-line performance and bricks-and-mortar activity to individual customer behaviour.

In the auction world, we have news from Marteau, the indie auction house whose business model returns a percentage to each maker, and from Phillips, still the don of watch auctions and the one house guaranteed to pull in incredible lots year after year. Nothing out of the ordinary, in that respect, with the appearance of a gorgeous ref. 1463 split-seconds chronograph from Patek Philippe in this November’s sale - but I also wanted to touch on a very unusual pocket watch from an unknown maker (to me, at least).

As I mentioned, we have new watches from IWC, specifically a pair of limited edition Ingenieurs. You can hear why they leave me so conflicted. At the other end of the spectrum in many regards, I also wanted to give a minute of airtime to this new Ikepod because… I liked it. And why not?

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* IWC Ingenieur 50th Anniversary of the SL

* Marteau. Can I also just say, this is one of the nicest websites in the watch world right now?

* Phillips Geneva Watches November

* The Ikepod Minipod

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome back to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, which returns after an unexpected summer break. No more unscheduled absences, folks, I promise.

This week I do three things. First: round-up the watches that impressed me most at a distance from GWD and the last couple of weeks generally, including new pieces from A. Lange & Sohne, Ming, Tudor, Girard-Perregaux, De Bethune and others.

Second, bring to your attention (and perhaps, hopefully, add key detail to) some news stories that have been bubbling away over the last few months but I personally feel have gone somewhat unnoticed. Swatch’s lawsuit against Samsung is one; the emergence of the “Lex On” and what it might mean for watch brands is another, and Christophe Claret’s return is the third.

Third and finally, I thought I’d do my GPHG predictions in podcast form this year. This kicks in at about the 19-minute mark, so if you want to ignore it, stop there - or alternatively, skip straight to it if you feel oversaturated by GWD releases. I recommend a live scroll-along, because I am still resisting the transition to video podcast. For now.

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* Tudor Northflag

* My longer thoughts on Gallet

* Bulgari x Vianney Halter

* Chaykin's space-tested chronograph

* The “Lex On” explained here, here and here with the latest from watch country here

* Swatch vs Samsung

* Christophe Claret revived

* That stat about the Jura, and plenty more to go with it

* The GPHG 2026 Nominated Watches

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, which this week has been negatively impacted by downward productivity trends brought on by a surplus of deadlines and a shortfall in useable employee-hours. I’m sorry, I seem to have swallowed a corporate report. I’ve been too damn busy, is what I’m saying, and this week’s podcast is brief as a result.

What I have found time for, because how could I not, is the now-confirmed but as yet unseen collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Swatch. Well done all who’ve seen it for not leaking - although as I mention on the episode, in the age of generative AI it almost doesn’t matter.

I have a few thoughts, predictions and laments on this subject; I suspect next week I’ll have to talk about it again but after that maybe we will move on. There is a tenuous parallel with the Baltic x SpaceOne, which has been unfortunately overshadowed by a watch that hasn’t even been seen yet, but you’ll have to listen to find out where I’m going with this particular thought.

Elsewhere I feel compelled to give the briefest of mentions to Ming’s ‘Peep Show’, and have an oh-so-predictable update on the Swatch Group AGM which took place today.

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* AP x Swatch is confirmed

* Baltic x SpaceOne is terrific

* Ming is hitting the mark again

* Swatch Group’s board is entirely predictable

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, which this week delivers something close to my perfect vision of what this is all about. Not saying I was perfect, not at all, but the blend of news is just right: some new products (good and bad), some corporate intrigue, some speculative fun and some solid industrial underpinnings.

I begin, however, with a few minutes on the Met Gala, but don’t let that put you off. It dominates the horological media sphere for about 24 hours, and since that coincided with the hours in which I was recording, I decided to give it just a few minutes of my time. Don’t worry, I haven’t descended into ‘who wore what’ - but I also don’t think that ignoring it, and similar phenomena, is going to get us anywhere either. It’s here to stay and it provides insight into the thinking of the people running our favourite brands. Plus we have some fun talking about Mark Zuckerberg’s ongoing quest for a personality.

The lead item this week is Swatch’s next collab, which is being heavily teased and may, or may not, leak at any time. So I wanted to get a prediction out there just in case, even though I know it will be hilariously wide of the mark. At parent company Swatch Group, those pesky investors just won’t keep quiet, and with the group’s AGM next Tuesday there has been a flurry of stories in the business press about reform at board level. As well as relaying the bare facts of the news, I spend a few minutes analysing what this might mean for the brands, i.e. for people like us who care most of all about the watches they produce.

In terms of new watches, it’s a tale of two halves as I confess myself perfectly pleased by Baltic and Tudor, both of which brought out motoring-related watches, and find deal-breaking gripes in the new launches from Naoya Hida (one of them, anyway) and Moritz Grossmann’s new Tefnut.

Last but not least, did you know that La Joux-Perret is on track to grow its movement production by 50 per cent in the next two years? Better still, by the time its new factory is online, it will be making a colossal 40 times as many calibres as it was in 2019. Recent investment from LVMH is, it would seem, having an immediate result.

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* Mark Zuckerberg at the Met Gala

* Ethos Foundation urges change at Swatch Group…

* …as does ISS (no, not the International Space Station)

* My coverage of Steven Wood vs Swatch Group in TFW

* Swatch’s Social Teasers

* Naoya Hida’s new releases

* The new Moritz Grossmann Tefnut

* Baltic x Tour Auto 2026

* Tudor’s Black Bay Chrono Carbon 2026

* La Joux-Perret’s new factory plans

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, in the week I have decided marks the real post-Watches & Wonders lull. Nevertheless there is still news, and in my dedication I have roused myself from the horological food coma to deliver it straight into your ears.

In this week’s episode I touch on Anoma’s A1 core collection, i.e. the news that the brand is moving away from drop-based launches to maintaining something close to a permanent stock (if they don’t all sell out like a drop, that is). I explain how the House of Brands (that’s what we’re calling Breitling, Universal Geneve and Gallet, if that wasn’t on your radar) is going to be run, and address a little tiny room-based elephant when it comes to UG.

I also discuss the news that Timothee Chalamet has invested in Urban Jurgensen and what that might mean, and wax lyrical over the bright, preppy, Marc Newson-designed travel clock for Jaeger-LeCoultre. I think we have just about reached the point where the words ‘travel clock’ don’t summon cruel memes, and this is one I would love to own.

I also forgot (post-W&W, you see…) to touch on the latest FHS export statistics, the real standout - and potentially troubling, with the caveat that this is just one month’s worth of data - fact from which was that watches in the highest price bracket the FH tracks were down 0.5 per cent. Yes, that’s basically flat, but flat is not good news. On a side note, the FH could really do with adding a segment for watches at CHF 10,000 and above, since that’s where all the profit is coming from anyway. But I digress. See you back here next week for more news, and see you on Friday for this week’s newsletter.

I’ll be giving a little time to some of the overlooked watches from W&W, because (to really torture the metaphor) at any buffet, there are always dishes that might not appeal at first sight yet prove both delicious and nutritious. Ok, I’ll stop. Take care out there.

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* Anoma A1 Core Collection

* Timothee Chalamet invests in Urban Jurgensen - it even made Yahoo News!

* Universal Geneve’s boutique-in-waiting

* Jaeger-LeCoultre x Marc Newson

* FHS Stats for March (not actually discussed in the episode, as mentioned!)

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to The Fourth Wheel’s weekly podcast. This week’s episode is special for two reasons. First, it’s a Watches & Wonders round-up, so it’s longer than usual (although I’ve done my best to talk quickly!) and secondly, as you will have noticed, it’s a video.

Don’t expect this to become the norm just yet. But seeing as this week’s news is entirely concerned with new products, and for once I happen to have a phone full of images, I thought I’d throw a few of them together so you can see what I’m talking about. It’s rough and ready, I know that. There is also a chance I’ll have messed it up in some small but important way, because it was a last-minute decision. But if you liked it, hit that button, leave a comment, share it in your WhatsApp groups and so on.

This run-down of my favourite watches from W&W splits into two groups: updates to existing models and watches that do something more substantially new. It’s a loose division but a useful one; a huge amount of what was shown in Geneva belongs in the first category, but that’s always the case and as I say in the episode, to expect otherwise would be unrealistic.

I missed a couple of watches out by accident: I probably should have mentioned the Bulgari Octo Finissimo 37mm and Girard-Perregaux’s minute repeater. The latter had probably the best hand-finishing on a ‘mainstream’ watch that I saw all week, for what that’s worth. Apart from them, though, I think the list is pretty good. It covers brands big and small, old and young, expensive and relatively affordable. Tudor and Rolex both get a mention, as do IWC, Oris and Bremont, but the brands I dwell on longest are Parmigiani, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Chopard and Ressence, which probably says something about where the balance of power and influence rests at the moment.

There will be more to say about many of these watches - hopefully some more in-depth reviews, and certainly some more work to be done around what the year’s watches tell us in a larger sense. The industry is obsessed with power reserves, and micro-rotors, and platinum: the latter is probably easiest to understand, given its position at the top of our perception of luxury but relatively low price against gold. But for now, let’s enjoy a good old fashioned list. Some of them boast innovation, others beauty, and some of them just sparked joy. I wonder how many are on your own lists too.

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin, back in your podcast apps after a couple of weeks when life prevented me putting an episode together. This week, things are starting to really simmer ahead of the full-on news explosion that will be Watches & Wonders next week. I’ve got four items to discuss.

The first is some newly-announced rule changes to the GPHG. I was, as ever, pointed in my remarks when I wrote about the awards last week, so in the interest of giving credit where it’s due, I wanted to applaud these (small) steps towards addressing some long-standing criticisms of the ceremony. There is also one significant rule change that wasn’t mentioned in the press release, and it could really help smaller watch brands. You’ll have to listen to find out!

Second, we could hardly overlook the return of Universal Geneve; as I say on the podcast, this is how you do a brand launch properly. Three years, countless millions and plenty of warm-up marketing set the stage, and with expectations high, my view is that UG has surpassed them. The breadth of the debut collections is impressive, but more importantly so is the ambition and bravery on show within them. I think they have correctly identified a lack of bold personality in mainstream watchmaking between £10,000 and £50,000 and have at least a couple of models that deserve to steal market share.

Thirdly, I wanted to talk about the RRCHF, but acknowledge that in one news round-up, without having seen the watch, I can’t dive as deep as I’d like. Next week I’ll see the watch in person and I’ll be sure to share some thoughts and insights as a result. Also, because I’m an inveterate party-pooper I also sound a note of caution about hailing everything Rexhep does as industry-defining. It’s a lovely watch; it does not re-make the horological universe from the ground up.

Last but not least I was thrilled to be able to revive the New Indie Watch Brand of the Week feature, and with a story of substance to boot. Bonniksen, a storied Danish name long since consigned to the history books, has been revived with care and reverence by two young guns named Jason Chevrolat and Maximin Chapuis, and their debut watch will be the Naissance d’un Montre 4. That is what’s known as doing things the hard way.

This Friday I will have a report from my visit to Dominique Renaud’s atelier, and an exclusive interview with CEO Michel Nieto. Equal parts hardcore geekery and brand strategy, there’s plenty to learn from this one. And Lego, too. That will hit your inboxes at 10:10 UK time - paying subscribers get the full story. What are you waiting for?

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* The new GPHG rules

* Universal Geneve

* The RRCHF

* Ben Clymer’s write-up

* Bonniksen

* Naissance d’un Montre 4

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. In an uncharacteristic move, I start this week with a look at the watches worn on the red carpet at the Oscars, but don’t worry. We are talking about the inside baseball of teasing unreleased watches, and I explain why Omega can be a lot more upfront about theirs than Jaeger-LeCoultre (but why it’s also less fun).

The main item today is the news of Dominique Renaud’s new watch, the one hertz Pulse60, which also heralds the arrival of a new brand, a new umbrella company and a number of mildly confusing acronyms. At the heart of it, however, is a real genius doing some really complicated and fundamental things with escapement architecture and other such heartland geek-fodder. The Pulse60 launches in three variants, and I promised I would provide some pictures, so here you go:

I also talk about Greubel Forsey’s final chapter for the sports-adjacent Balancier Convexe S2 - and what might replace it. There are new watches from Rado, Sarpaneva, Girard-Perregaux and Kollokium that are absolutely worthy of your time but which I sadly ran out of room to cover in any detail whatsoever - links below - and last but not least I give a minute to the worrying - if only in a fairly niche capacity - news that historical observatory trials data, the calculations by which chonometry prizes were awarded in Neuchatel and Geneva in the mid 20th century could be… completely wrong. This is Velociphile’s scoop and I urge you to read the full story on his Substack.

This Friday I will be reviewing the Ming Starfield, a watch with many talking points, but none more obvious or divisive than the design of its bracelet. You’ll find that in your inboxes as usual at 10:10 UK time. Until then!

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* Rado True Round Les Couleurs x Le Corbusier

* Kollokium Projekt 02 B

* Greubel Forsey Convexe

* Sarpaneva Firehorse

* Pointless Complication

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more.

Chris

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. A slow week this week - we are in the ‘news limbo’ generated ahead of Watches & Wonders, wherein exhibitors are not permitted to launch anything new from March 3rd onwards, and while that does leave plenty of other potential sources of news, they all seem to be keeping quiet so far this week.

With that in mind, I share a few reflections on what I liked at BWD, and spend rather more time talking about the one thing that I really saw as a missed opportunity. As I say on the tape, the event was very good, but could have had a truly special headline act.

Elsewhere, it is a tale of two idiosyncratic Japanese watches: the well-intentioned convertible dive watch from Kurono Tokyo, and the fascinating Otsuka Lotec No. 8. One attempts to offer a practical solution to fans unable or unwilling to choose between a retro daily wearer and a conventional dive watch, and the other is deliberately esoteric to the point of hipsterism. No prizes for guessing which I think is actually the better resolved and more appealing.

Back next week for more, when I truly hope there will in fact be more to talk about. Enjoy!

Links discussed in today’s episode:

* Vertex M36 “Desert Edition”

* Anoma

* Schofield Skeptiko

* Pinion Pure Origins

* Vulcain Skin Diver

* Junghans Aquaris

* Kurono Tokyo Diver’s Watch

* Otsuka Lotec No. 8

Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more.

Chris