The Daily Micro-Adjust

WatchPro

Checking Out: How Tourist Tax could cost UK retailers £5 billion in sales this year

The UK's post-Brexit "Tourist Tax" (ending VAT refunds for overseas visitors since January 2021) is on track to cost British retailers up to £5bn in diverted sales this year, with savvy Brits themselves now reclaiming VAT in Paris: £742m of EU rebates in 2024, over a third in France, projected past £1bn in 2026. The commercial damage is stacking up: Harrods slid to a pre-tax loss, Selfridges booked a fifth straight year of losses on a 7% sales drop, and WoSG's Brian Duffy and TAG Heuer's Antoine Pin both flag customers price-checking in UK boutiques before buying in Paris, Italy or Switzerland. With the Gulf conflict pushing Middle Eastern spend toward tax-refunding European cities and the pound holding firm against the euro, the argument is that Britain controls the one lever (the refund) it refuses to pull.

WatchPro

Ainsworth Jewellers director appointed to BATF board

Helen Dimmick, co-director of 156-year-old Blackburn independent Ainsworth Jewellers, has joined the British Allied Trades Federation board as the National Association of Jewellers' representative. It's a trade-politics appointment more than a commercial one, but it puts an independent retailer's voice at the federation table shaping standards and policy for the UK jewellery sector.

WatchPro

THE BIG INTERVIEW: Chisholm Hunter puts people at the heart of its growth strategy

Chisholm Hunter is on track to approach £80 million in turnover this financial year, another record, driven by disciplined store expansion (Lakeside, Edinburgh, Westfield, and an exclusive Canary Wharf opening) plus strong like-for-like growth. Retail director Max Brown credits an independent family mindset, investment in staff via its CH Academy, and deepening Richemont ties, including Vacheron Constantin, IWC and Panerai boutiques in Edinburgh soon anchored by Tudor. The takeaway: while rivals rationalise estates and bleed margin, Chisholm Hunter's selective, people-first playbook is quietly outperforming the wider UK luxury retail slump.

Time + Tide

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at watchmaking?

The Horological Society of New York is bringing its travelling watchmaking classes to Time+Tide's Discovery Studio on Collins Street, Melbourne, from October 30 to November 1, with four-hour hands-on sessions where students build and disassemble a real mechanical movement. Enrolment is open across four sessions, and no prior experience is required. For Time+Tide, hosting HSNY's education programme is a savvy way to turn its retail studio into a community-building destination and deepen ties with the local collector base.

Watches of Espionage

Watches of the Artemis II Recovery Team

When the Artemis II astronauts splashed down off San Diego on 10 April 2026, the Navy's Dive Medical Recovery Team that made first contact was wearing its own tool watches: Senior Chief Laddy Aldridge chose a Bulova Lunar Pilot for its Apollo lineage over his Seiko SKX009, while Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link wore a 46mm Marathon CSAR chronograph. Watches of Espionage extends its astronaut-recovery watch coverage, tying the modern picks back to the Tudor Submariners worn by UDT frogmen during Apollo, a reminder of how much organic reach military watch culture now hands brands like Marathon and Bulova.

Time + Tide

Why does Leica make watches?

Leica, ten years into watchmaking, is planning a more accessible fourth line priced between €5,000 and €6,500 to sit below its current €15,000-plus ZM1, with Managing Director Henrik Ekdahl floating a shift to Sellita or ETA movements (versus current suppliers Lehmann and Chronode) and bringing more production in-house. The bet is that watches can become a credible pillar of a camera-first luxury group, though Ekdahl concedes they must first prove themselves internally against Leica's booming accessories business.</parameter> <parameter name="categories">[]

Worn & Wound

The Isotope OVNI Jumping Hour Founders Edition

Worn & Wound reviews the Isotope OVNI Jumping Hour Founders Edition, praising its committed UFO theming (an oblate-spheroid 904L steel case, saucer-shaped crystal window, and an inverted jumping-hour mechanism where the aluminum disc's opening moves around the dial) and concluding that its deliberately jarring, unconventional feel suits the jumping-hour complication. They flag practical trade-offs: the 40mm-yet-heavy, nearly 14mm-tall watch demands careful strap sizing, the alien numeral typeface can be hard to read, and 11 of the 12 hidden numerals never charge their lume. The reviewer notes the 150-piece run priced at £1,500 (ex-VAT) sold out during pre-order, running on a La Joux-Perret G101 base, with further iterations expected.

WatchTime

Hands-on with the D1 Milano D-Tech Oil II

WatchTime goes hands-on with D1 Milano's D-Tech Oil II, a $345 oil-filled quartz watch (39mm PVD-coated case, Miyota 2S60, compressor-style internal rotating bezel, 100m water resistance). Reviewer Martin Green comes away impressed, praising the restrained design, clean matte-black two-hand dial, and finishing quality that punches above the price, faulting only the missing bracelet micro-adjustment (mitigated by small links) and noting it's more a design piece than a true diver. The takeaway for the trade: an oil-filled case, a trick usually reserved for Ressence, Sinn, and U-Boat, landing at an entry-level price point.

aBlogtoWatch

Timex Expedition Pioneer Titanium Automatic GMT Watch Review: Rugged And Enthusiast-Driven

aBlogtoWatch reviews the Timex Expedition Pioneer Titanium Automatic GMT (ref. TW2Y63400), a 41mm grade 2 titanium GMT with sapphire crystal, 200m water resistance, and the caller-style Seiko/TMI NH34 movement, starting at $629. They conclude it convincingly competes with enthusiast microbrands and could pass for one if not for the Timex logo, faulting only the excess printing on the display caseback and the hour markers' weaker lume. The trade takeaway: Timex is leveraging economies of scale to undercut microbrands in the crowded titanium GMT segment.

SJX Watches

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute To Great Civilisations II

Vacheron Constantin has unveiled the second Métiers d'Art Tribute to Great Civilisations, four watches whose dials carry hand-engraved miniature replicas of Louvre statues (Buste d'Akhénaton, Lamassu de Sargon II, Athéna de Velletrie, and Tiber de l'Iseum Campense) crafted in the same materials as the originals and framed in enamel, stone marquetry, and micro mosaic. Each runs on the cal. 2460 G4/2 automatic in a 42 mm by 12.9 mm pink or white gold case, limited to 15 pieces per model (60 total, up from five each in the 2022 debut), sold at VC boutiques with pricing on request (roughly US$200,000 each per SJX). The larger run size and museum tie-ups (Louvre, the Met) signal how central the artisanal Métiers d'Art program has become to VC's high-margin positioning.

Hodinkee

The Rally Diver Returns For The Fourth Collab Between Seiko And Rowing Blazers

Seiko, Rowing Blazers, and Eric Wind's Wind Vintage reunite for their fourth collaboration, reviving the 2021 Rally Diver in two new colorways: a 42.5mm blue (SRPM19) and a smaller 38mm green (SRPM21), each running the 4R36 automatic with day-date, 100m water resistance, and a checkered aluminum bezel insert. Both are numbered and limited to 2,500 pieces (5,000 total), priced at $495 on a steel bracelet with an additional contrasting nylon strap, launching July 9th, 2026 at 11am ET via the Rowing Blazers and Seiko websites plus Rowing Blazers' NYC location. Where the original Rally Diver was capped at 500 units, the far larger run this time signals the collab's confidence in its fashion-forward, internet-native audience beyond traditional collectors.

Also at: Worn & Wound

Monochrome Watches

The Oris Divers Date, now with Olive Green Dial

Oris adds a military-inspired olive green dial to its Divers Date, the 2024 revamp of the Divers Sixty-Five, keeping the 39mm steel case, black ceramic bezel, 200m water resistance and Sellita-based calibre 733 (41-hour reserve). It ships as a set with a riveted steel bracelet and black rubber strap, both quick-change, for CHF/EUR 2,450, available immediately from the permanent collection. A cheaper, dial-neutral line extension that lets Oris keep the Divers Date fresh without new tooling.

Also at: WatchTime · Fratello

Time + Tide

DWISS marks 15 years with two new S1 Wandering Hours anniversary editions

DWISS marks its 15th anniversary with two limited editions of the S1 Wandering Hours, each capped at 50 pieces, in either an orange fumé or circular-brushed silver dial. The 40mm cushion-shaped 316L steel case (13.8mm thick, 44mm lug-to-lug) houses a modified La Joux-Perret G100 Soigné automatic with a 68-hour reserve driving the satellite wandering hours display, fitted on a DELUGS FKM rubber strap. Priced at CHF 2,300, available from July 13th via the DWISS online boutique.

aBlogtoWatch

Marathon Celebrates The U.S. Semiquincentennial With The Limited-Edition U.S. 250 Anthracite SSNAV-D Auto Watch

Marathon is marking the U.S. semiquincentennial with the U.S. 250 Anthracite SSNAV-D Auto, a limited run of 250 pieces at $1,776. Based on the brand's 1986 SSNAV Navigator, it gets anthracite ion-plating on its 41mm steel case (11.5mm thick, 48mm lug-to-lug) and Sellita SW200-1 movement, a "1776" appliqué ringed by 13 stars, red and green tritium tubes, bison leather strap, and Marathon's first sapphire display caseback. Given Marathon's standing as one of the few contractors still supplying watches to the U.S. government, the patriotic packaging and priced-to-the-year gimmick are on-brand and built for its core American audience.

Monochrome Watches

The new Ferdinand Berthoud Chronometre FB 3SPC.2-1

Ferdinand Berthoud has added a rose gold execution of its cylindrical balance-spring wrist chronometer, the Chronomètre FB 3SPC.2-1, unveiled at the opening of Art in Time Tokyo. The 42.30mm x 9.3mm 18k 5N case pairs with a monochromatic nickel silver movement (72-hour power reserve, COSC-certified), and it is a non-limited edition with price not officially revealed but expected around CHF 160,000. For a Chopard-owned haute horlogerie exercise, releasing a non-limited piece at that price alongside a Tokyo retail push signals confidence in Asian demand for six-figure independents.

Hodinkee

The Greubel Forsey Balancier 3 Blue And An Intro To Bonniksen

Greubel Forsey has released a new Balancier 3 in a 22-piece edition priced at CHF 160,000, its large central bridge fully hand-frosted for a matte texture set against polished titanium bridges and worked in several hues of blue, housed in the 41.5mm Convexe titanium case with the familiar in-house variable-inertia balance, 282-component movement, twin series-coupled barrels and 72-hour power reserve. The timing matters: Stephen Forsey has stepped back from the board and the Balancier Convexe S² caliber reaches end of production in March 2026, so this quiet, finishing-led edition marks a transition into a new chapter. Separately, through the Time Æon Foundation, the brand previewed Bonniksen, a new independent house founded this year in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Maximin Chapuis and Jason Chevrolat, whose first watch (the Naissance d'une Montre 4 – Le Carrousel) revives Bahne Bonniksen's 1892 karrusel by hand in a sub-40mm case.

aBlogtoWatch

Hublot Big Bang Summer Edition Watches Celebrate 2026 In Pastel And Ceramic

Hublot's Big Bang Summer Edition 2026 lineup runs to six watches in pastel colored ceramic, spanning three Big Bang models. The hero is a multi-colored (pink, mint, white, sky blue) Big Bang Unico Chronograph, 42mm with 100m water resistance and the HUB1280 flyback caliber, limited to 200 pieces, above it a 44mm flying tourbillon (HUB6032) capped at just 10 examples, plus a standard-production Titanium Peach Ceramic chronograph and three 33mm time-and-date models (Peach, Mint Green, Petrol Blue) on the Sellita-based HUB1120. Pricing starts at $15,500 for the 33mm trio and $24,000 for the Titanium Peach Ceramic chronograph.

Monochrome Watches

The New Zenith Defy Extreme Lapis Lazuli II and Ultraviolet

Zenith adds two variants to its high-frequency Defy Extreme line: the Lapis Lazuli II (forged carbon and titanium, 45mm, lapis lazuli chronograph counters, limited to 25 pieces at CHF 32,900 / EUR 36,800) and the non-limited Ultraviolet (microblasted titanium with a violet-tinted sapphire dial at CHF 17,900 / EUR 20,200). Both run the El Primero 9004 with its dual-escapement construction, the chronograph escapement beating at 50Hz to measure to 1/100th of a second, with the central chronograph hand completing a full rotation every second. For the industry, it is Zenith once again mining its 1/100th signature across price tiers, the sub-EUR 21k non-limited Ultraviolet doing the volume work while the 25-piece Lapis Lazuli II protects the halo.

WatchTime

IWC Gives the Ingenieur Automatic 35 a Fresh New Look

IWC has added a "Pool" dial, a blue-green shade, to its Ingenieur Automatic 35 line (ref. IW324902), bringing the collection to six models alongside the silver, black, blue, gold, and diamond-bezel versions. The 35mm steel watch is 9.4mm thick with the integrated bracelet, "Grid" pattern dial, and the automatic Caliber 47110 (4 Hz, 42-hour reserve) visible through a sapphire caseback. Priced at $11,200.

WatchTime

Designed with German Firefighters, Hanhart Launches the Thermosphere

Hanhart's new Thermosphere, built with the Baden-Württemberg State Firefighters Association, adapts the brand's Aquasphere dive watch into a firefighter-focused tool: a 42mm steel case (12.95mm tall), 300m water resistance, and a unidirectional bezel whose triangular markers track breathing-apparatus air supply, with a "112" motif at 12 o'clock. Powered by a Sellita SW200-1 or Soprod P024, it's limited to 112 pieces (a nod to Europe's emergency number) at roughly $1,764 (about €1,540). A profession-specific edition like this leans on a built-in community of buyers, a sensible play for a heritage independent working at accessible price points.

Revolution Watch

Seiko’s Star Timer is Custom Made for Baseball Star Shohei Ohtani

Seiko has built a unique piece, the Star Time, for longtime ambassador Shohei Ohtani, a titanium watch (41.8mm wide, over 17.4mm tall) that displays elapsed time across five discs up to one million hours, roughly 114 years of rotation. The movement is a brand-new module based on an existing Seiko caliber, with dial touches including diamond zero-hour markers and an oversize "17" nodding to Ohtani's jersey number. It's a one-off presented by Seiko chairman Shinji Hattori, and the open commercial question is whether any of this trickles down to a production variant.

WatchTime

Vacheron Constantin Drops New 34.5mm Overseas Self-Winding Models

Vacheron Constantin has added two 34.5mm Overseas Self-Winding models: an 18K 5N rose gold version with a rose-gold-toned lacquered dial and a stainless steel version with a deep red dial, both 9.3mm thick, water-resistant to 50m, and running the ultra-thin manufacture Caliber 1088/1 (3.83mm, 40-hour reserve, 4 Hz, date). Each ships with three interchangeable options via the tool-free system: bracelet, rubber strap, and alligator strap. Pricing had not been announced at publication, which is the number the trade will actually be watching given the smaller-case play for a broader (read: more female, more slim-wristed) buyer.

Also at: Fratello · Time + Tide · Monochrome Watches

SJX Watches

SJX Podcast: Evolution Not Revolution

Episode 44 of the SJX Podcast walks through incremental new releases from Grand Seiko, Greubel Forsey, Vacheron Constantin, and Breguet (with Grand Seiko's Evolution 9 refresh flagged as a read on how the brand responds to collector feedback), plus a tribute to the late Philippe Stern; trade listeners get a sense of how the majors are iterating rather than reinventing.

Fratello

Fratello On Air: These Are The Most Misleading Words In Watch Ads

Fratello On Air's Michael and Balazs dissect the misleading words that pad vintage and pre-owned watch listings ("new old stock," "military," "tropical," "unpolished," "rare," "barn find"), with wrist-check detours to the Angelus Tinkler quarter repeater from Watches and Wonders 2026 and the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 36mm, a useful listen for anyone writing or reading secondhand copy.