What is a 'gilt' dial?

Guides

From the 1950s into the 1960s, many brands produced gilt dials for their timepieces. Most commonly associated with deep black dials and gold-hued text that gives the watch a warm and unmistakably vintage look, the technique is actually quite versatile. But, “gilt” is also one of those words that is perhaps used more than it is truly understood in the watch world.

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The vintage watches I'm watching in 2020

Guides

The start of a new year is as good a time as any to take a step back and look at the broader market: what’s hot, what’s not, and where is there value to be found? In this list, we’ll take a look at some of the watches we’re watching this year, and why. These aren’t necessarily “bargain picks” or “value finds”, but they are vintage watches that tend to be overlooked by the market more generally, and all will set you back less than $10,000.

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GPHG 2019: The winners and the upsets

News

Whether you like to call it the Oscars of watches or not, the fact remains that the GPHG is the watch world’s biggest awards event of the year. The prizes are highlighted by the “Aiguille D’Or” prize.

Let’s first acknowledge the problems with GPHG: Winning watches tend to be expensive and not necessarily representative of what people are actually buying from Switzerland; and because brands self-nominate, Patek and Rolex do not participate (they can’t handle the risk of losing!). That said, it’s still a wonderful evening to highlight some of the best of what’s come out of the manufacturers in the past year.

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