Watches You Should Know

Owners of factory-engraved “Winner” Rolex Daytonas comprise a very small — and extremely fast — group.

The Fiyta Spacemaster watch has been to space and back, and it’s crammed with special features for actual use by Chinese taikonauts.

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms helped introduce the modern dive watch to the world.

Breitling created the modern chronograph as we know it today way back in 1934.

This two-timer from the jet age is technically and aesthetically the mother of all GMT watches.

Wristwatches with "atomic timekeeping" have unexpected German origins.

Rolex, Patek Philippe and others competed neck-in-neck with Seiko in the race to develop the ultimate battery-powered movement.

The Rolex Submariner and Daytona can both trace their roots to a single innovative — and largely unknown — watch.

The Vulcain Cricket pioneered fascinating technical solutions, a mechanical alarm, and was the choice of some notable personages.

It looks like no other timepiece from the brand. And it functions differently, too.

From technological firsts to designs that broke the mold, these watches altered the course of the watch industry.

How the Heuer-made Seafarer chronographs arose from one of the greatest brand partnerships of all time.

It's more than a mere watchmaking icon.

Suveran ("Sovereign") models were sold by the Swedish government to fund their wartime economy.

Born of Himalayan adventure, the Explorer is Rolex's sport watch formula distilled to its essence.

The IWC Ingenieur has been both a tech-forward timepiece on par with the Rolex Milgauss and a bold sport watch as envisioned by a legendary designer.

The “Canteen Watch” from WW2 looks totally impractical and outlandish, but it was very purpose-built indeed, with a totally badass backstory.

In 1975, after seven years of development, Seiko introduced a dive watch that would change the category forever.

Now rare and sought-after, these dive watches were once soldiers' basic equipment.

And why did they go with a monopusher design when it was clearly outdated tech?