It’s one of the most common problems with all wristwatches, a cracked, scratched or broken glass – or crystal, as it’s known in watch parts catalogues. In another post we already looked at Polywatch polishing cream and how effective it can be for minor scratches. But this post is all about replacing a crystal, whether it’s badly scratched – like the Seiko below – or cracked. So let’s get into it. ONE; THE EASY PEASY ONES First of all, there are hundreds of variations when it comes to watch crystals, in terms of thickness, diameter, materials used and so on. So have a look at the watch from th ..read more

It’s been another busy year for the watch industry, despite the downturn at the very top end of the market. The Rolex bubble had to go pop at some point, but still, the number one Swiss brand continues to dominate the collector/investor market. It was also a year where TAG Heuer became a mroe credible choice to Breitling or Omega, as it released some beautiful variations on its historic Carrera, Aquaracer and Monaco models. The white dial Porsche Edition Carrera was our fave from the year. This was also a year where Orient officially entered the UK market, after a decade of building up fans v ..read more

Re-positioning your brand is tricky and it requires lots of marketing budget too. You can’t fault Citizen Group as they move the Frederique Constant watch brand up the corporate ladder with a place inside their new NYC 5th Avenue boutique store, alongside Alpina, Bulova and Citizen. Now FC used to be a fave brand for your NWC editor, offering budget priced genuinely Swiss made watches. They are still made in Switzerland of course, but new models like the High Life Tourbillon show how the FC brand is going to get more exclusive, more Instagrammable, in short more expensive to buy. The new Tourb ..read more

Bremont have a special `Tactical’ Stealth edition of their MBII watch. All black case and dial, with just a few flashes of red and yellow visible. Black strap too. It’s a DLC coating on the 43mm case by the way. Inside is a Bremont tweaked 50-hour Swiss movement, which has a GMT function too, plus date. There’s handy lume here n there too. It’s all very SAS Who Dares Wins and there are just 50 examples being made. It’s also chrononometer grade movement, so accuracy for those special missions on the Brecon Beacons is a given. You know it’s all very cool and Milk Tray Man until you get to the RR ..read more

Tudor chronographs are always worth checking out for us at NWC mag. Why? Well in general Tudor offers somewhere near Rolex build quality for half the price, so that’s a good deal in Swiss watch retailing we say. Many brands are charging Rolex money for Hamilton grade movements and case build, so let’s not pretend all Swiss watches are equal. So here’s a super-sharp Tudor we missed earlier this year, but wanted to flag up for your Christmas wish list. The Pelagos FXD was launched earlier in 2023, but the Red Bull Racing chronograph edition came later in the Summer. For us, it adds some attracti ..read more

It’s another red and blue delight from Ball watch in Switzerland, as the Roadmaster Marine GMT Moonphase is available on pre-order. The striking watch combines the dress watch feature of moon phases being recorded, with the GMT second time zone. Add on those gas tube lumed markers and hands, then wrap it up in a sporty, almost Sub style case and Pepsi bezel. There’s even a day/date window. OK, for some this mash-up of features won’t work. But for those who want more functions in one watch than usual, the price at £2140 on pre-order isn’t too wild. The watch comes with black, blue or silver dia ..read more

Pullman trains were a thing back in the heady days of steam trains and regional railways like the Great Western, or London Midland and Scottish. Pre World War Two rail travel was the only way Brits could traverse the country in a few hours, rather than a gruelling 10 hour car or motorcycle journey, peppered with breakdowns and soggy clothing along the way. So the Pullman name is a good reason for Farer to explore the art deco design of locomotives, First Class carriages and Sleeper coaches. The new watch has that wonderful dark, almost bottle green colour on the dial and the strap. It’s a shad ..read more

You know what, that’s a shame, because the Alpina tweaked BMW cars of the 70s and 80s were beautiful vehicles in some cases, with excellent engineering upgrades – for the time. The idea of the factory tuned, workshop or competition edition car really went mainstream with outfits like Alpina, AMG, Cosworth and Lotus. Imagine being in Marketing at Vauxhall in the late 80s and thinking, `yeah we need a 175mph Carlton exec repmobile, deffo. Twin turbos, nice sound system, not much vehicle security. Let’s build it.’ I’ve had a soft spot for BMW Alpina cars since seeing one parked near the RAC Lomba ..read more

It all sounds Minority Report to us at NWC, but then smartwatches aren’t really our bag. We can see the appeal of a watch that counts steps, running, avoiding disturbed sleep patterns, weight, calories etc. of course. Monitoring your stats can be a clever move, if you’re a pro athlete, or very ill and old, so you need data to be downloaded and then sent to a carer, or medical insurer perhaps. Anyway, if all that works for you, plus you dream of owning a Bugatti one day, then may we present the Bugatti Carbone edition Smartwatch, which has BioAge calculation built-in. Sitting here at the magazi ..read more

The Brew Metric Automatic is back in stock at the US Indie brand’s website, this time with a cool black PVD coating on the case and bracelet. Yes, we know that’s a grey one in the main photo, but Brew don’t do hi res images of the black PVD model. The 36mm wide watch has that 70s retro vibe, with a TV dial and tapered bracelet links which remind us of the classic Rotary and Tissot watches from that era. Inside the Brew there’s a Seiko NH35 auto movement, so reliability comes as standard. Sapphire crystal and the limited edition of just 500 pieces adds a little bit extra value too. Plenty of lu ..read more