Understated watches are a realm of their own. They often require a connoisseurs eye to recognize them as something special, but special they are indeed. They please their owners with refined movement, subtle details and the knowledge that they have something exceptional around the wrist. They are the 'sleeper cars' of the watch industry, and these are four of the most desirable.

Ultra-thin watches: not too long ago this was the exclusive territory of dress watches. Brands like Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe and Piaget, ruled in this domain. Yet as many things in the watch industry change, so also this. In more recent times having the world's thinnest mechanical watch (with or without a complication) seems to have turned into a showdown between Piaget and Bulgari, who put a distinctly different spin on things!

Today IWC announced that it is offering customisation services for the Ingenieur Chronograph to its US-based clients through their website. From different case materials, dials, hands, straps, and back engravings clients will be able to personalize their IWC. Thanks to real-time 3D rendering technology clients can see the Ingenieur Chronograph (Ref. IW380801) come to life on the screen, as they design it from the comfort of their own home.

When you say Richard Mille, every watch connoisseur knows that you are talking about some of the most advanced, if not the advanced, mechanical sports watches in the world. Pushing the boundaries of watches that can take a beating, yet often still feature delicate complications such as flying tourbillon’s, has become a way of life for Richard Mille. However, this is not the full story. The beauty of the watch is equally important, and also for this Mille has a keen eye.

Translating Haute Couture in watches is not an easy task, as a watch is a very rigid object, so different from the fine fabrics most couturiers use. Of course, the strap can be used as a gateway to connect both worlds, but you can also approach the watch itself from a different angle, as Dior did with the VIII Montaigne Tissage Precieux.

Sometimes there is only one way you want to see a watch: on the wrist! In its natural habitat, with clothing to match, it gives the best impression of how the watch will look around your own wrist, like one of these seven very different, yet very tempting examples.

Driving from Bordeaux to Monaco with the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli around the wrist and plenty of winding roads to attack. Taking several cues from the famed tire manufacturer, the Excalibur Spider Pirelli proofs to be the perfect riding partner.

Can a complicated watch excel in simplicity? And if so, what is its appeal? Bell & Ross did this exercise with the new BR-X2 Tourbillon Micro-Rotor, and we checked it out!

Most world timers are dream watches. Even when you are going nowhere, they allow you to image yourself in exotic places with just a glance at your wrist. The Geophysic Universal Time by Jaeger-LeCoultre is such a watch, and with its prominent world map, it is a true eye-catcher as well.

It is hard to imagine where the world of watchmaking without the influence of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Forever known as the inventor of the tourbillon, but to only credit him for this is not doing him justice. Like this unique Breguet No. 217 Montre Perpétuelle à Repétition et Equation.

If there is one watch connected to the most powerful man on earth, it is the Rolex Day-Date, also known under its nickname: President. Dwight D. Eisenhower, but there is more to the history of this iconic watch!

The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph is probably the most sportive model by the brand. Vacheron Constantin launched the Overseas collection in 1996, adding the chronograph model in 1999, and revised it in 2016.

The now legendary El Primero from Zenith was presented in January 1969 after seven years of development. It still takes nine months to make one today, but that comes with the territory when you are an icon.

TAG Heuer has built its reputation upon being “avant garde” and what is more avant garde than a $15.000 watch with flying tourbillon and chronograph?

For Piaget, ultra-thin timepieces have been a reality since 1957. Now the brand celebrates the 60th anniversary of its first ultra-thin watch and its Altiplano collection with a masterful display of colours, sizes, artistic crafts and even a new tourbillon movement