News Of The Week by The Fourth Wheel

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 plansThanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

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 Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

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. Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

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 4Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next time for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

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 ComplicationThanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

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 Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. A lovely mixed bag this week with news from the business desk, the breaking news team and the department of opinion and analysis. Remarkably, they all sound like the same guy. Anyway, yes: I could not allow the moment to pass without having my two cents on Morgan Stanley vs Swatch Group, the most corporate of beefs we’re likely to see in 2026. I also report on the watch world’s arrival on the prediction market scene, courtesy of a partnership between pre-owned marketplace and analytics platform Bezel and specialists Kalshi. Prediction markets interest me for how closely they are skirting the definition of gambling - in the USA they are regulated like financial instruments, by the CFTC, but in the UK the Gambling Commission has said that although it is not for them to comment on the legality in other jurisdictions, “if a prediction market operator was to launch in Great Britain we do not believe they would be able to classify themselves as non-gambling products.” Diplomatically put. But I bet you’ve all been eagerly awaiting the chance to spice up the pre-Watches & Wonders Rolex speculation with a little flutter - you can now gamble on whether we’ll get a new GMT, or if the Pepsi will be discontinued. Interesting times. The lead news is a new chronograph from Ming, a non-limited leftie monopusher with a muted palette and that lovely Polymesh bracelet. I also run the rule over three very different new watches: IWC’s blacked-out Portugieser Chronograph, Norqain’s Adventure and the Raymond Weil Millesime Tuxedo.This week also brings an ignominious end to my unbroken run of ‘new indie watch brand launches’, as I couldn’t find news of a new indie that had launched in the last seven days. Ignominious because I also have to admit last week’s was a bogus entry - Annalise Dunselman launched her brand last year and I totally missed it. We regret the error, as the newspapers say. I’m sure I’ll be able to make up for it in the next few weeks. Links discussed in today’s episode:* Kalshi x Bezel: Watch Prediction Markets* Swatch Group’s Open Letter to Morgan Stanley/LuxeConsult* Ming’s 57.04 Phoenix* IWC Portugieser Chronograph* Norqain Adventure* Raymond Weil Millesime TuxedoThanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. I’m back from illness and raring to go - except I’m horrendously behind, which is why this is going out about twelve hours late. Let’s call it an experiment in hitting the all-important commute home window for all my North American listeners…This week I pick over news that Breitling’s private equity owners had to downgrade the value of their investment, and what that might mean for the company - including a speculative thought or two about their eventual exit - and reflect on how this news arrives hot on the back of two corporate reports hailing the general ill-health of Breitling’s core market segment. I persist in describing watches in a purely audio medium with my summary of Habring2’s Chrono-Felix ‘Medicus’, a limited edition collaboration with SJX and a watch I approve of very much. Ditto Citizen’s already-sold-out collab with Seconde/Seconde/; not so much Mido’s boring copy-paste of a Girard-Perregaux. I recommend, as a ‘one you might have missed’, SJX’s insanely complicated piece on the science of resonance, by David Ichim. It’s mostly beyond me, and I’m ok admitting that, but I still think it should be as widely read as possible. Lastly, in the Indie Brand Launch Of The Week slot I take a look at the Black Tulip, which sounds like a great title for a novel or an arthouse movie but is in fact the debut watch from Dutch watchmaker Annalise Dunselman. We may not need any more three-hand, manually-wound indie watches for nearly fifty grand, but too bad, we’ve got ‘em: at least it looks great. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello everyone. Something a bit different for you today…I have unfortunately been laid low with a chest infection, and being in no fit state to record a round-up of the week’s news (or spend hours at my desk writing one), I am instead bringing you the latest episode of The Watch Enquiry, the podcast I co-host with Tim Barber. So at least you have something to listen to!The Watch Enquiry is on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but I’ve included it here too - partly as a bit of an experiment. Episode 7 is titled “What Would We Do If We Were CEO For A Day?” and sees us take the hypothetical reins at four beloved brands. This was a bit of an unusual episode. We almost didn’t release it at all - as some of you may know, we record TWE when it suits us and aim to tell stories that don’t go out of date. This episode was recorded in the summer of 2025, and due to some unforeseen delays to our production schedule (read: life getting in the way, as it does), we left it on the shelf a bit too long. Then the world shifted, and our conversation suddenly became relevant again. You see, the point of this episode was to put some weight behind the common retort of ‘do you think you could do any better?’. As journalists we love to criticise, so this was our attempt at considering life from the other side of the desk. Although I will say, our thoughts are entirely speculative, knowingly ignorant of practicalities and pragmatic considerations and in at least some cases, totally far-fetched. Or at least, so we thought. We live in interesting times, and although it hasn’t been confirmed - and maybe won’t be - the reported story that Richemont is even considering allowing Jaeger-LeCoultre to exit via a management buyout was too remarkable to ignore. That’s one brand we took it upon ourselves to run - for a day, anyway - so how about the others? Grand Seiko, Blancpain and Montblanc. Three companies with big reputations but that aren’t necessarily making the most of everything they have at their disposal. Like I said, we recorded this before Blancpain released the Grande Double Sonnerie; that watch would definitely have changed our impressions, but perhaps not as much as its coverage elsewhere would imply. Phenomenal creation: now we need to see interesting ideas further down the range. But I’ve said too much - and my eyes are giving up - so without further ado, enjoy the episode. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal next week. Thanks,Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. This week’s podcast is a day late: my apologies. I’d like to say I was holding it back to break a sensational story, but no… this bulletin is brought to you from the little-discussed media playbook of “having an injured toddler at home and working all night to keep every plate spinning.”Thankfully it was a slightly quieter news week. The biggest story isn’t a confirmed news item at all but a tantalisingly exciting prospect: as reported by Miss Tweed, the idea that talks are ongoing that could see Jaeger-LeCoultre exit Richemont as part of a management buyout. That would be huge. When I spoke to CEO Jerome Lambert last year he spoke eloquently about his desire to recapture the dynamism that the brand showed under his first leadership stint (2002-2013). Maybe this is how he gets that done. But maybe not! As yet there is no comment from Richemont and no corroboration from other outlets either. Breitling’s partnership with Aston Martin is newsworthy yet fundamentally very simple: however, it has helped crystallise a thought that has been forming over the last couple of years, and I’ll be devoting Friday’s newsletter to some analysis of what exactly the pilot’s watch is for in today’s world.Meanwhile, a few words on Studio Underd0g’s takeover of its former assembly partner Horologium - now rebranded, of course, as The D0ghouse.Naturally there were plenty of new launches, but the two I think are worthy of your time and attention are both space-themed bracelet watches from indie brands, Ming and Sarpaneva. And finally, our independent brand launch of the week is Niton, which has landed right in the centre of the bullseye in terms of hitting the jump-hour trend - with a watch that’s more than it first appears. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. Can I just say that whoever cut the brake cables on 2026, you have unleashed quite the juggernaut. Less ‘constant force’, more ‘constant drama’. As KingFlum wrote, with a phrase that I think will be lodged in my brain for the rest of the year, we are “drowning in what we wanted”. Every trend is a torrent, no watchmaker willing to risk being outflanked. This week saw Audemars Piguet launch what would a decade ago have counted as an impressive selection of references for an entire year, including an entirely new Art Deco style jumping-hour dress watch and a super pocket watch that comes with a petite jab at Vacheron Constantin. It will doubtless only be the opening salvo of launches. There are so many top tier launches that I lacked the time to talk about new releases from Moser, Angelus, Hermes or Studio Underd0g, to name just a few. Instead I did my best to cling onto the rollercoaster of intrigue, with boardroom drama at Greubel Forsey. I’ve spoken to CEO Michel Nydegger and ousted co-founder Stephen Forsey (who, lest I raise your expectations in too much of a clickbait fashion, is not commenting at this time. Sorry.) Elsewhere in this episode, I give a few thoughts on the oddity of Patek Philippe’s decision to lower prices in the USA, the continued chaos that is the gold market, and I speculate wildly about whether Tudor’s new-found love of motorsport will eventually deliver unto us the Big Block revival that is so patiently awaited.Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. This week I pick out my personal favourites from the list of limited edition launches coming up at British Watchmakers’ Day - these were announced just today and there are some crackers, notably from Pinion, Schofield, Farer and Christopher Ward - but the other news is that for the time being there are no limited editions from Studio Underd0g, Anoma, Bremont or any other name liable to cause round-the-block queues. Elsewhere in this episode, I see what we can learn from WoS UK’s latest set of accounts, explain how I think the Toledano & Chan relates to the Omega Seamaster 300M, and muse on Baume & Mercier’s future. Our Independent Brand Launch of the Week is Mermont, a single-handed platinum-cased dress watch on a textile strap. It confused me. Let me know what you think - particular about Baume & Mercier. I want to hear different opinions to my own! Can it thrive under Damiani in a way that it wasn’t able to at Richemont? Thanks for listening. I’ll see you back here next week for more. Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the Fourth Wheel’s weekly news bulletin. Week two and I’ve broken my self-imposed 20-minute limit (albeit only by about 50 seconds), but I blame LVMH for launching so many noteworthy watches. In years gone by - and this varies significantly brand-to-brand I must add - LVMH Watch Week has occasionally carried the clear sense that the best releases are being held back. I don’t doubt that this year the biggest launches will still come at Watches & Wonders, but my point is that this is a pretty credible swathe of new models in its own right. Among other things, we have:* A new mainstream(ish) watch from Tiffany* Louis Vuitton’s updated worldtimer* A skeletonised Daniel Roth* TAG Heuer’s first split-seconds CarreraThe headline news for today, however, is a new version of MB&F’s LM Sequential Evo, now with flyback functionality. I make no apologies for my fondness for this movement in all its forms. It’s a belter. Elsewhere we have a little look at Richemont’s latest financial report and what it means for the watchmaking division, profile new launches from Oris - the Big Crown Pointer Date Bullseye - and VPC, whose new dive watch claims to be the thinnest to ever achieve a 200m water resistance rating. That provides a neat link to last week’s Fourth Wheel review of the Nomos Club Sport neomatik Worldtimer. I wrap up with my independent brand launch of the week, the intriguing Independent Atelier, whose debut creation is an homage to the work of the late Chinese master Kiu Tai Yu. This is a fascinating story in its own right. Enjoy listening! Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe

Hello and welcome to The Fourth Wheel’s first in-house podcast! I’m trying new things this year, and this is first. A weekly news bulletin - audio only for now - every Tuesday. I have wanted to add something to the TFW platform for a long time; not just for the sake of it, but because I have been looking for a way to ‘do news’ without exhausting myself or duplicating what you can find elsewhere. This is my answer: a short-form podcast that summarises the big stories of the week and hopefully provides you with a neat, quick way to be up to speed with what’s going on in the watch world. I’ve gone ahead with a really rough version: if you like it, I’ll do more. Similarly, it’s free for now, but if it lasts I’m afraid that won’t be the case for long. The newsletter will remain unchanged, providing in-depth insight and analysis every Friday, with the first issue of every month free to all. In this week’s episode:New Speedmasters from OmegaVacheron Constantin’s Concours d’Elegance for watchesData on Rolex CPOTeasing the new Toledano & ChanA new watch brand from the NetherlandsLast but not least, a story you might have missed from the Christmas period: Revolution’s latest limited edition, a collaboration with Bernard Lederer. Please let me know what you think - good or bad! I know it can be a LOT better - there will be music, for starters - expect a more polished version next week. Thanks, Chris Get full access to The Fourth Wheel at www.thefourthwheel.co.uk/subscribe