The Daily Micro-Adjust

Monochrome Watches

Richemont Reports Strong First Quarter 2026, Sales up by 20%

Richemont opened its fiscal 2026 with Q1 revenue of EUR 6.3 billion, up 20% at constant exchange rates, powered as ever by the Jewellery Maisons (Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels) at EUR 4.732 billion, up 24%. The Specialist Watchmakers division, still climbing out of a soft patch, managed 8% growth to EUR 873 million, with Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre and A. Lange & Söhne singled out. The regional tell for the trade: the Americas (+27%) and Japan (+36%) are carrying the quarter while the once-dominant China story stays muted inside a +21% Asia Pacific line.

Also at: WatchPro

WatchPro

UK-Switzerland trade deal to ease travel and boost business links

The UK and Switzerland have signed what Trade Secretary Peter Kyle calls Britain's most significant services trade deal, giving UK passport holders access to Swiss airport e-gates (Zurich by year-end, Geneva and Basel to follow), scrapping roaming charges, and making permanent the 90-day permit-free business services arrangement. The government pegs the long-term upside at £5.2 billion a year in added exports to a market where bilateral services trade already tops £30 billion. For the watch trade, the practical read is smoother movement of people and product around Geneva Watch Days, Watches and Wonders, and Basilia, plus easier long-term staff transfers for the professional services that underpin the industry.

WatchPro

Guess uses AI to design its latest fashion watch

Guess, whose watches are licensed to Timex Group's Sequel division, has launched the AI Venix, a quartz tonneau-shaped watch (42mm x 45mm) with an AI-generated print across its plastic case and silicon strap, three subdials for a second time zone, date and day, capped at 200 pieces and sold exclusively via guesswatches.com. The elephant in the room: the algorithm's output looks like a Richard Mille from across the room, a reminder that AI trained on the watch canon will keep regurgitating the most recognizable silhouettes, and that fashion licensees are happy to lean into it at the $250 price point.

WatchPro

Here’s why Oris CEO Rolf Studer won’t stop talking about sustainability

Oris CEO Rolf Studer makes his case in a WatchPro interview for why the brand keeps talking about sustainability while much of the industry has quietly dropped the word, framing it as core to Oris's identity as an independent "people's brand" rather than a marketing layer. He points to initiatives like the Lou Gehrig Limited Edition (with proceeds to the ALS Foundation) and the Billion Oyster Project, and argues the industry's biggest footprint isn't the product but travel and logistics. For an industry that leaned into sustainability when it was trendy and then retreated, Studer is betting that consumers now reward substance over performance, and says he sees it in the sales figures.

WatchPro

Secondary market heat builds around Cartier

Chrono24's ChronoPulse Index has Cartier heating up on the secondary market at 3.5 times the rate of any other tracked brand, up 5.9% in June and nearly 10% over six months, even as its watches still sell at an average 28.1% discount to retail (WatchCharts/Morgan Stanley). The broader index rose 1.2% month-on-month with 10 of 13 brands higher, Patek buoyed by tight Nautilus and Aquanaut supply and Rolex steady on post-Pepsi-GMT discontinuation demand. The takeaway for dealers: the rally is broad rather than concentrated, and Cartier's run signals where flipper attention is migrating next.

WatchTime

A Spotlight: IWC’s Ceramic Revolution

WatchTime traces IWC's material history, from its zirconium oxide ceramic Da Vinci in 1986 and the matte-black Fliegerchronograph Ref. 3705 in 1994 through to the proprietary Ceratanium alloy that debuted in 2017. The through-line: IWC turned quartz-crisis desperation, under Günter Blümlein, into a durable competitive moat in materials science that still differentiates Schaffhausen's pricing today, with ceramic models long commanding a premium over steel.

Fratello

Retrospective: My One-Of-One Pragotron × UDC Porsche 911 SC Coffee Timer

Longtime Fratello contributor Tomas Rosputinsky returns from a sabbatical to detail a personal project: converting an abandoned 1960s Czechoslovak Pragotron PD40 double-sided station clock (435mm dials) into a battery-powered "coffee timer" strapped inside a spare tire on the roof rack of his 1981 Porsche 911 SC. The build ties into his new venture, the rebranded UDC (Unboring Drive Club), with the clock's dial redesigned to use Porsche 911 numerals at 9 and 11 o'clock and shown at car events or in the club's coffee shop. A hobbyist passion piece rather than a commercial story, though it doubles as soft marketing for the UDC community brand.

SJX Watches

A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”

SJX Watches reviews the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar "Lumen" (Ref. 720.035FE), a 50-piece platinum edition at US$530,000, and finds it "unexpectedly appealing" and more than a cosmetic makeover: the L225.1 movement was reengineered to reposition the going train and finally expose the previously obscured tourbillon, with unusual skeletonised cocks and a ruthenium-treated rotor. They flag the roughly US$200,000 premium over the white-gold production version as hard to justify on intrinsic merit but sensible given Lange's brand strength and secondary-market values, while faulting the taller 13 mm case for pushing the crown off-centre.

Fratello

Five New Orient Mako 40 Models With Gradient Dials

Orient has added five gradient-dial versions to its Mako 40 line: green, navy blue, brown, gray, and copper dégradé, with the gray and copper available only through the 2026 calendar year. The 39.9mm steel case runs 12.8mm thick with 200m water resistance, a screw-down crown, sapphire crystal, steel bracelet, and the in-house F6722 automatic (40+ hours reserve, +25/-15 seconds per day), all made in Thailand. Priced at €439.99 / £379.99, it keeps Orient firmly in the value-sports slot below €500 where volume, not margin, is the game.

Time + Tide

The Nodus x Raven TrailTrekker Carbon pairs forged carbon with a luminous surprise

Nodus and Raven's fourth TrailTrekker collaboration, the Carbon, wraps its 39.5mm grey DLC-coated steel case (11.8mm thick, 46.6mm lug-to-lug, 200m water resistance) in a forged-carbon dial and bezel that glow blue thanks to infused Super-LumiNova, so no two pieces are alike. It runs the Miyota 9075 true traveller's GMT and ships with both a flat-link bracelet and the new Fusion FKM rubber strap for US$1,075. Pre-orders open July 22nd via the Time+Tide Shop and NYC Studio, with deliveries from July 31st.

Time + Tide

The End of Flat Dials: Exploring the Sartory-Billard SB04-E Nuances

Sartory-Billard, the French custom-dial specialist, is pivoting from one-off commissions to a fixed collection with the SB04-E Nuances: a 39.5mm steel case (44mm lug-to-lug, 10.2mm thick, 100m WR) with curved sunburst fume dials in blue, green or red, powered by the 68-hour La Joux-Perret G101A. Pre-orders are open now at €3,600 (rubber) / €3,800 (bracelet) excl. VAT, with first deliveries in October 2026. The move matters commercially because it packages Armand Billard's bespoke reputation into a repeatable, waitlist-ready product rather than bespoke labor.

Monochrome Watches

The New Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Red

Armin Strom adds a Red edition to its Mirrored Force Resonance line, pairing a deep red hand-guilloché dial (worked on a rose-engine lathe) and black azuré chapter rings with the untouched in-house ARF21 resonance caliber: twin balances, twin seconds registers, a 2 o'clock reset pusher, 25,200 vph and 48-hour reserve. The 43mm steel case (11.55mm thick, 49.6mm lug-to-lug, 30m water resistance) comes on a dark grey Alcantara strap, limited to 15 pieces at CHF 78,000. At that price and run size, it's a boutique-scale halo piece meant to keep Armin Strom's signature complication front of mind for collectors of independent watchmaking.

aBlogtoWatch

Kiwame Tokyo Debuts The Kubo: An Elegant Exploration Of Light, Shadow, And Lacquer

Kiwame Tokyo, the Masami Watanabe microbrand, launches the Kubo collection: a three-colorway dress watch built around a recessed, track-less small-seconds display between 4 and 5 o'clock on a multi-layered lacquer dial. The 316L steel case runs 37mm wide, 45mm lug-to-lug, under 9.3mm thick (10.7mm with the domed sapphire), with applied brushed Arabic numerals and a flat brushed bezel. All three go on sale June 22 at 11:00 AM JST for $630 (excluding taxes), positioning it as an accessible entry point into genuine Japanese lacquer work.

Monochrome Watches

The new Bell & Ross BR-03 GMT Green Lum

Bell & Ross adds a Green Lum edition to its BR-03 GMT line: a 42mm steel case (11.3mm thick, 100m water resistance) with a black polished ceramic 24-hour bezel, a green-to-black gradient dial evoking the Northern lights, and green-emitting Super-LumiNova C3 throughout. It runs the office-style Calibre BR-CAL.303 (Sellita SW330-2 base, 54-hour power reserve) on a rubber strap with an included fabric strap. Limited to 500 pieces at EUR 4,900.

Fratello

The March LA.B AM2 XS Series Cracks Every Dress Code With Ease

March LA.B has added the AM2 XS, a trio of ultra-slim manual-wind dress watches to its growing AM2 line: a 32mm square case at 6.7mm thick, 50m water resistance, a push/pull crown at 4 o'clock, and the time-only La Joux-Perret D101 (21,600vph, 18 jewels, 50-hour reserve). The lineup runs three variants: the gold-plated Golden Hour (€2,820 on alligator strap), and the steel Shelter (white dial) and Grall (green dial), each €1,760 on leather or €2,010 on bracelet or alligator. It's a bid by the French brand to stretch a recognizable case design across formal-to-sporty territory while landing under €3,000.

Hodinkee

The Doxa Sub 300 Ti5 Clive Cussler Limited Edition

Doxa's fourth Clive Cussler tribute is a Sub 300 in grade 5 titanium, breaking from the distressed-compass motif of earlier editions in favor of a sandblasted dual-plane titanium sandwich dial with laser-engraved cutouts and an orange minutes hand. It runs on a COSC-certified Sellita SW200-2, measures 42.5mm (45mm lug-to-lug, 13.4mm thick) with 300m water resistance on a black rubber strap, and is capped at 300 numbered pieces at $3,390 through Doxa online and select ADs. That the run jumped from Cussler's age (95 last year) to a round 300 signals Doxa reading its own demand, and the titanium case hints at a standard-production Ti Sub 300 waiting in the wings.

Also at: Worn & Wound · Monochrome Watches · Time + Tide · Fratello

aBlogtoWatch

Casio X Pokémon 30th Anniversary G-Shock GA-110PKM Watch Hands-On

Casio and Pokémon have teamed up again on the G-Shock GA-110PKM-7A, marking 30 years since the 1996 Game Boy games with a red-green-and-blue dial, a Pikachu-shaped Poké Ball subdial, and 30 Pokémon printed across the semi-translucent strap and frosted white resin case. Built on the analog/digital GA-110 platform (51.2mm wide, 16.9mm thick, 200m water resistance, roughly two-year quartz battery), it ships in Poké Ball-style packaging for $270. At that price point above a standard GA-110, this is Casio betting that IP nostalgia keeps carrying the collab machine that has already produced hits like the Coca-Cola G-Shock this year.

Fratello

Fashionably Early For The America’s Cup 2027: Panerai Launches Two New Luminor Luna Rossa Watches

Panerai has expanded its Luna Rossa line, now in its seventh year of partnership with the sailing team, with two watches timed a year ahead of the 2027 America's Cup in Naples: the 44mm Luminor Luna Rossa Chrono PAM01768 (€11,200), a 500-piece limited edition and the collection's first chronograph, running the automatic P.9210 with a tachymeter scale and left-side pushers, and the 40mm GMT PAM01791 (€11,100), the most compact Luna Rossa yet and its first on a bracelet, powered by the P.900/GMT with a three-day reserve and a 12-hour GMT nodding to early-2000s Panerai. Both carry silver sun-brushed dials with Super-LumiNova X2, and the chrono ships with a new Velcro strap plus a rubber option. The steady drumbeat of sailing tie-ins keeps Panerai anchored to a marketing calendar that pays off most in the run-up to the Cup.

Also at: WatchTime · Revolution Watch · Monochrome Watches

Hodinkee

The Business of Watches Podcast: Guido Terreni (Chief Executive Officer, Parmigiani Fleurier)

Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni, who joined from Bulgari in 2021, sits down on The Business of Watches to unpack the "private luxury" philosophy behind the brand's Tonda PF and Toric turnaround, plus the retail, production, and design strategy (and the supplier cluster under shared Swiss ownership) that trade listeners will want to study.