I think we are always looking for the different watch, the one that we will not see at the next table, the one that brings something more than what we already have. From time to time we find it. I stopped on this dial that I had never seen anywhere else. Two sizes of hour markers, two dial heights and a segment in two sides for each hour, a modern pan pie.
Without further ado, I rushed to the site and discovered perfect proportions for my wrist (38mm and lug to lug of 46), a Swiss engine (Sellita) and a Philippine origin, what could be more exotic? Ordered immediately, I waited a while for its arrival which allowed me to torture myself a little on the why of this impulsive purchase and its interest, coming to regret it. But all that evaporated when I put it on my wrist. A fairly classic design at first glance for a "sport-chic" but a magnificent and ultra comfortable integrated bracelet, a circular brushed bezel on the surface with a polished chamfer, a case that looks like it is embedded in the bracelet and of course this original dial in a captivating matte black that echoes the name of the model. The chamfer that starts from the base of the case and runs along the bracelet brings a touch of elegance and distinction. The downsides, we always find some, a crown that is a little small, but screwed which ensures water resistance to 10atm, an open case back that is not particularly useful because on a simple decorative movement and reduced readability when the light decreases. All this is ultimately not very important in view of the incredible look of the beauty.

And why not?

When you decide to own several watches, I think we all make a list of what we would like to have, if only to bring a little reason into this irrational act. For me, very early on, it was obvious to have a Zenith, a chronograph, an El Primero, a moon phase, a full calendar and Roman numerals. If some boxes have been filled over time, it would never have occurred to me that they could all be filled with a single watch. However, that is what happened this summer when I came across this beauty during a walk. I was not looking for anything, I had no budget but I knew that it was useless to try to resist. With it I feel like I am setting foot in another range of watchmaking, like I have opened the door to fine watchmaking. The finishes are incredible, as long as the sun is out, the show is permanent. So yes it is a bit "loaded" but since the calendar is in German it's okay and then it is less than its 40mm. From 2001 it has become vintage and assumes it thanks. I take a mischievous pleasure in letting it stick out more than reason from my shirt sleeve during certain meals and immediately the conversation starts.

Unavoidable 

There are things that linger in the background of our minds for a long time. They are there waiting for their time while guiding us when necessary without us realizing it. A feeling that we cannot verbalize. This Ebel is the embodiment of it. I did not have the brand and its inimitable design in mind but I often found myself thinking that something was missing from a watch that I was considering purchasing. And then one day, while I was consulting a book on watch advertising, I saw it and everything came flooding back. Don Johnson in Miami Vice, André Agassi at the US Open, Alain Prost before the TAG period. This watch is class. For me, it appropriates chic sport without copying it. It is better known and esteemed in its El Primero version but this Le Modulor version, which refers to the history of the house and its headquarters installed in the Turkish villa designed by Le Corbusier, arrived later and is not without interest. It has a Lemania caliber improved on two points: the winding with a system close to Seiko's Magic Level and the precision with a system that guarantees a constant torque when using the chronograph, ensuring chronometer certification even for short times. Charm, comfort, presence, it is a bourgeois sports car that quickly transforms into a sassy bourgeois, equally at ease with a blazer, a t-shirt or a tennis polo shirt. I looked for it for a while and since I have it I can say without hesitation that Ebel is my favorite brand. I already dream of reuniting the family with a Discovery and a Voyager on the same 6-screw design. Yes 6 screws, look at the crown. Appropriate without copying.

The taste of the 90’s

Perhaps the ideal watch. A direct descendant of an era when it officially shared most of its components with its cousin in the crown, it has been reborn by wonderfully marrying history and modernity. Its distinctive and magnificent blue also links it to the versions intended for the French Navy. It is also this color that made me fall in love, it made me forget the Snowflake that I have since learned to appreciate. For the rest, no surprises. Precision, robustness, comfort and elegance are there. The blue rubber suits it wonderfully and alternates with the original NATO because the steel did not convince me.

The Heiress

Since the reissue was released recently, I can't help but pay tribute to the original from '69. A GMT with a non-disengageable third hand, the second hour reading is done thanks to the bi-directional bezel. This old traveler has more than one trick up its sleeve: a contained diameter, in line with today's fashionable standards, a gray dial with incredible reflections, finesse and comfort of the highest order and an automatic movement that does not require winding the crown to start it. You take the watch in your hand and off you go. The Seiko bracelet, which must be period but not original, has a little play which gives a relaxed side in the genre: "I've seen some, and I still have some under the hood". Everything you expect from a vintage.

GMT by Seiko

For a long time I said that I didn't understand the craze around vintage watches and that it would end up confining creation to the redesign of historical models. I understood even less the "hype" concerning patinas and other wear and tear that we began to consider as treasures. And then I came across this Superman, certainly one of the first series, and its incredible dial that hypnotized me. I felt like I was in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and going into hyperspace. The Bakelite bezel finished making me capsize and this graceful granny became the first of a beautiful series. Passed through the expert hands of a watchmaker from the Saint-Ouen Flea Market, I wear it regularly without problem. With its diameter and its ultimately very modern design, it has nothing to be ashamed of compared to reissues.

My first vintage

We often talk about the design of the 70s but in the 90s it was not bad either. 
I lived for a long time with the fond memory of a Bertolucci that an uncle proudly wore at the beginning of that decade. More than the watch itself, it was the bracelet that marked me. The all-articulated links take up the design of the pebbles of the Tuscan beach on which the young Remo Bertolucci spent his holidays and where he met his Swiss wife. This bracelet with a unique design combining strength and softness is incredibly beautiful, its comfort royal. So when I came across this model my heart skipped a beat. The asking price being modest, the deal was done. So for sure, I would have preferred to find the gold/steel automatic chrono but the commodity is so rare… Nevertheless with this one I feel like I'm 18 again and that's magical.

The best bracelet in the world

This is the one that started it all. Acquired in 1989, when I was 16, with the salary from my first summer job, it satisfied the desire to be older. At the time, I think we talked more about Breitling and Cartier than Rolex. I had the opportunity to buy this quartz model for 3,000.00 francs and since then, despite all the criticism I have heard about its reliability, it has only had two servicings and battery changes. Worn daily for 10 years, and still today when nostalgia arises, in the city as well as at the beach, winter as well as summer, in quiet as during my National Service in an Infantry Regiment, it has never let me down. It had the particularity of being sold new with different variations of bezel (graduated in one direction or the other, with the cardinal points in compass style, etc.). Obtained with a bracelet called "nautical shark" which did not last, I quickly abandoned the steel acquired at a high price at the time because it was much too heavy and uncomfortable. Today the bracelet, which I still have, must be worth more than the watch but yet it will be the one that remains when the end comes and I will have passed on the others.

The first

What do you look for when you own several watches? For my part, I try to combine aesthetic pleasure and icon. This Chanel J12 ticks the boxes perfectly. Iconic, with its white ceramic case, it suddenly gave Chanel its letters of nobility as a watchmaking house. On the aesthetic side, even if its design is quite classic and can recall other productions, it is of a rare elegance. However, I could not be satisfied with the "basic" model unfortunately too connoted feminine so I opted for this "marine" variant which will certainly never obtain its ISO 6425 certification but what does it matter. The touches of blue brighten up the whole and make it more masculine. The rubber strap is very comfortable but is a little sensitive to yellowing. I love the milky side of the white of the ceramic which sublimates once you are a little tanned. An atypical summer watch for men.

A fantasy

I was looking for a GMT and had decided to buy it new, a first in a long time. The question of who I was going to "give" my money to quickly arose. Two brands and two models quickly emerged and after going to Serica and talking to the creators there was no longer any doubt. I was drawn into their approach and wanted to be part of their story. The watch has a unique design even if it uses well-established codes. It enhances the eclecticism of the references by not falling into lukewarm syncretism. In addition to that, it has exclusive features such as the lollipop GMT hand or the Ante and Post meridian markings on the bezel. Comfortable, sexy and COSC, it invites you to travel, what more could you ask for? The only thing that took me some time to get used to was the bracelet. It is very well made but 20/14 is atypical and disconcerting when you are not used to it. That said, like a lunar watch celebrity, it can wear anything and magnifies all bracelets.

As good as before

I saw this watch about fifteen years ago in a shop window and fell under its spell, but it wasn't the right time. When I found it at a second-hand dealer, I didn't hesitate for a second. It has an incredible look and this orange accentuates its size even more. A chrono on a diver is incongruous but we don't care. Its dial is congested but we don't care. The date is useless and illegible but we don't care. The helium valve is not the most graceful but we don't care. Diving is not extreme enough for it. When I wear it, I imagine myself as Red Adair going to fight an oil rig fire. Nothing can resist it, not even its original orange calfskin strap which has given up the ghost. Today it is on a thick nylon NATO because I couldn't find the rubber that was available as an option at the time.

The Beast

You can say what you want and hate it for fun, it remains the reference. Its qualities are no longer to be demonstrated, discussing them is almost an outrage. It is the archetype of the diving watch and the one that gave a generation the desire to be interested in mechanical watchmaking again. It is the watch of superlatives as it has no flaws. Obviously there are flaws but they are rather created by our gaze. This all green version, called HULK, was given to me by my wife for a decade at the time when this configuration did not meet with great success and remained in stores at retailers who advised customers to wait a little for the black ones to come back. Fortunately she knows me well and knew that I would love this shade attached to the history of the brand. Since we like to give them nicknames, the real Wimbledon should have been this 116610LV. It’s a Queen that nowadays is most often worn as a blazer in the evening but that for my part I use on a daily basis without fear.

The Queen

Acquired on a whim for fear of seeing it go abroad, this GSPM edition really has something of its own. It is certainly less sought after than a Rolex GSPR, less balanced than a Speed RAID, less airy than a Breitling Patrouille de France, less adventurous than the GIGN or BRI series from other manufacturers, but still, here we remain very French. It is not so much the compass rose of the RF that I like the most, but the three Blue-White-Red indexes at 12 o'clock give it an incredible rhythm, class. And then a B&R is impressive, we can think about squaring the watchmaking circle. So it is true that it is not the one I wear the most, but that does not prevent me from appreciating it.

Long live the Republic!

An incredible watch, my favorite. It accompanies you in all circumstances, the most casual as well as the most formal. Steel, leather, NATO, black, brown or more colorful, everything suits it. It is the watch of a lifetime. And what a story. For this reason, many, like me, like it in hesalite and solid caseback but more modern variations may be of interest. The only downside is that it drowns when you see a glass of water, no matter, I will settle for an old rum.

She can do everything

Spottable from a hundred miles away with its shimmering colors, it attracts more the attention of children and those who have remained children than of self-proclaimed connoisseurs. It makes you smile, you feel like you are carrying a circus with you. And then what comfort, with its Curvex case it is a real slipper.

Unforgettable and yet…

<p dir="ltr">The Swiss watch brand <strong>Ebel</strong> has been synonymous with elegance, innovation and know-how for over a century. Founded in <strong>1911</strong> in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Eug&egrave;ne Blum and Alice L&eacute;vy, Ebel has distinguished itself with creations combining technical precision and refined aesthetics.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Origins and Foundation</h2>
<p dir="ltr">On July 15, 1911, Eug&egrave;ne Blum and his wife Alice L&eacute;vy officially registered the Ebel brand, <strong>acronym for &ldquo;Eug&egrave;ne Blum Et L&eacute;vy"</strong>. Eug&egrave;ne, with his expertise in watchmaking, focuses on the technical aspects, while Alice brings her artistic sensitivity to the design of the watches. This complementarity between technique and aesthetics becomes the distinctive signature of the brand.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">First Achievements and Recognition</h2>
<p dir="ltr">From its beginnings, Ebel stood out for the quality and originality of its watches. In 1912, the brand presented its first wristwatches, an innovation at a time when pocket watches predominated. This audacity was rewarded in 1914 during the Swiss National Exhibition., where Ebel received a gold medal for a patented ring watch, testifying to his innovative spirit.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Innovations Techniques et Engagements</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Ebel also stands out for its commitment to precision and quality. In 1935, it became the first Swiss watch manufacturer to adopt the "Western Electric" system to evaluate the precision of its movements. This device, a precursor to the vibrograph, makes it possible to accurately measure the performance of watches, thus reinforcing the brand's reputation for reliability.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the Second World War, between 1939 and 1945, Ebel supplied watches to the British Royal Air Force, attesting to the robustness and precision of its timepieces under demanding conditions.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Expansion et Diversification</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Under the direction of Charles Blum, son of the founders, Ebel is expanding its international presence. It developed a distribution network around the world, particularly in the United States, thus increasing brand awareness. In the 1970s, under the leadership of Pierre-Alain Blum, grandson of the founders, Ebel experienced significant growth and produced watches for prestigious brands such as Cartier.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Design and Artistic Collaborations</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Ebel stands out for its artistic approach to watch design. The brand collaborates with renowned architects, including Le Corbusier, a native of La Chaux-de-Fonds, and in 1986 acquired the Villa Turque, an emblematic work of the architect, to celebrate its 75th anniversary. These collaborations reinforce Ebel's image as <strong>"Architects of Time"</strong>, merging art and watchmaking.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Iconic Collections</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Among Ebel's flagship collections, the <strong>Ebel Sport Classic</strong>, launched in 1977, is distinguished by its wavy link bracelet and sleek design, becoming an icon of the brand. The collection<strong> Ebel 1911</strong>, introduced in 1986 to celebrate the brand's 75th anniversary, pays homage to Ebel's heritage with models combining tradition and modernity.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Recent Acquisitions and Developments</h2>
<p dir="ltr">In 1999, Ebel joined the LVMH group, strengthening its position in the luxury market. <strong>In 2004, the brand was acquired by the Movado Group</strong>, which continues to promote Ebel's heritage and know-how. Today, Ebel continues its quest for excellence by offering watches combining technical innovation and timeless design, thus perpetuating the vision of its founders.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Conclusion</h2>
<p dir="ltr">For over a century, <strong>Ebel embodies the harmony between watchmaking culture and refined aesthetics</strong>. From its innovative beginnings in La Chaux-de-Fonds to artistic collaborations and iconic collections, the brand has evolved while remaining faithful to its fundamental values. Today, Ebel continues to appeal to watch lovers seeking elegance and quality, demonstrating a rich heritage and a vision focused on the future.</p>
<p dir="ltr">(Updated November 2024)</p>

<p>La marque <strong>SYE</strong> [Start Your Engine] a &eacute;t&eacute; cr&eacute;&eacute;e en <strong>2020</strong> par Arnaud Pezeron &agrave; c&ocirc;t&eacute; de Paris en France. La marque inaugure le Sport Tailoring au poignet. Elle propose des montres sport-chic de caract&egrave;re, fiables, ludiques et abordables inspir&eacute;es de l'univers de la m&eacute;canique auto-moto. La gamme comprend deux mod&egrave;les distincts, la <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/sye/mot1on_automatic_24">SYE MOT1ON Automatic 24 </a>et la <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/sye/mot1on_chronograph">SYE MOT1ON Chronograph</a>.</p>
<p>Cette marque embarque une innovation sur le changement du bracelet disponible en acier ou en cuir. La montre n'offre aucun espace entre le bracelet et la boite d&ucirc; &agrave; l&rsquo;absence de cornes, ce qui am&eacute;liore son confort et sa portabilit&eacute;.</p>
<h2 class="p1">Combien co&ucirc;te une montre&nbsp;SYE&nbsp;?</h2>
<p class="p1">La gamme SYE comporte deux mod&egrave;les disponibles sur le site de la marque : La <strong>SYE MOT1ON Automatic 24</strong> est propos&eacute;e &agrave; partir de <strong>750&euro;</strong>. La <strong>SYE MOT1ON Chronograph</strong> est propos&eacute;e &agrave; partir de <strong>599 &euro;</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>SYE</strong> est ind&eacute;pendante et produit plusieurs centaines montres par an tous mod&egrave;les confondus. Pour choisir une SYE qui vous correspond le mieux, les <strong>avis clients Dialicious</strong> sont une pr&eacute;cieuse ressource pour &eacute;valuer chacun des diff&eacute;rents mod&egrave;les &agrave; travers l'exp&eacute;rience r&eacute;elle des clients.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Consultez le <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/top/les_meilleures_marques_de_montres_francaises"><span class="s2">Classement des meilleures marques de montres fran&ccedil;aises</span></a> dont SYE fait partie.</span></p>
<p>(Mise &agrave; jour Novembre 2023)</p>

<p dir="ltr">The brand <strong>SYE</strong> [Start Your Engine] was created in <strong>2020</strong> by Arnaud Pezeron near Paris in France. The brand is introducing Sport Tailoring on the wrist. It offers sporty-chic watches with character, reliability, fun and affordability inspired by the world of car and motorcycle mechanics. The range includes two distinct models, the<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/sye/mot1on_automatic_24"> SYE MOT1ON Automatic 24</a> and the<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/sye/mot1on_chronograph"> SYE MOT1ON Chronograph</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This brand has an innovation in changing the bracelet available in steel or leather. The watch offers no space between the bracelet and the case due to the absence of lugs, which improves its comfort and portability.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How much does a SYE watch cost?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The SYE range includes two models available on the brand's website: The SYE MOT1ON Automatic 24 is offered from &euro; 750. The SYE MOT1ON Chronograph is offered from &euro; 599.</p>
<p dir="ltr">SYE is independent and produces several hundred watches per year, all models combined. To choose an SYE that best suits you, the Dialicious owners' reviews are a valuable resource for evaluating each of the different models through real customer experience.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/top/the_best_french_watch_brands"><span class="s2">Ranking of the best French watch brands</span></a>, including SYE.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">(Updated November 2023)</p>

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Ebel Le Modulor Owner Review : Reliable, iconic and balanced

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ZenithChronomaster

TudorBlack Bay 58

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