If you’ve ever had a mechanical watch that runs… but somehow can’t keep time (or its hands mysteriously stop moving around midnight), there’s a good chance you’ve met the villain of the story: The cannon pinion. It’s small, easy to overlook, and absolutely essential. In fact, you can think of the cannon pinion as the translator between the movement’s gear train and what you actually see on the dial.Let’s break.. Read More

If you want a watch that also can double as a stopwatch, purchasing a chronograph should be first on your to-do list. But what about two stopwatches? That’s where the rattrapante, or split seconds, chronograph comes into play. Deriving roughly from the French word for catch-up, (pronounced ratt-ra-pont) a rattrapante does just that — the watch features two stopwatches. That can come in handy if you’re trying to time multiple runners.. Read More

What’s in a name? For the Rolesor, it’s not much more than just putting two and two together. Rolex’s Rolesor model is a two-toned watch made with half gold and half steel. So where does the name come into play? Rolex is of course the famous watch company, while “-or” is the French word for gold. It all makes sense, right? From its website, Rolex touts its Rolesor line like.. Read More

Hans Wilsdorf established Rolex in 1905. When he founded Tudor just over 40 years later in 1946, fans immediately put the two brands in competition. Rolex always seemed to trump Tudor in the eyes of the watch world. In more recent years, Tudor has started to receive the recognition it has long deserved. Still, watch lovers, can’t help but continue to measure the brands head to head.  In this post, we.. Read More