How Swatch and Audemars Piguet pulled off the ultimate high-low watch collab Life&Style Audemars Piguet and Swatch have teamed up to create a plastic pocket watch that riffs on the Royal Oak, turning an untouchable status symbol into something playful, divisive and irresistibly collectible. Sam Kessler asks: ‘What’s going on?’ On 16 May every Swatch Store in London closed for the day as hundreds of people queued outside, [...]
Celebrating Pan Am’s iconic legacy as airline plans return to the skies Life&Style Pan Am was the airline that defined the jet-set timepiece. Sam Kessler asks what made Pan Am an icon and why it’s still catnip for watch collectors It’s hard to talk about air travel without talking about Pan Am. Pan America Airways wasn’t just a big name in cross-continental flight: it was essentially a monopoly. [...]
Meet the hip young watch collectors blazing a fresh trail Life&Style Go to most watch collector hangouts and you’ll be faced with a gang of 50-something-year-old men who love nothing more than to obsess over rare references. I know that because I’m one of them. Well, I’m slightly younger, but you get my point. As far as most people are concerned, that’s what a watch collector [...]
Why hardstone dials have been the defining watch trend of 2025 December 2, 2025 Hardstone dials have been the defining watch trend of 2025. Sam Kessler picks three of his favourites CHRISTOPHER WARD SEALANDER ROCKS Let’s start with one of the more accessible purveyors of this watch trend: stone dials from British stalwart Christopher Ward. The Sealander collection as a whole is billed as the brand’s ‘everyman’ watch, based on [...]
Usain Bolt: Family, positivity, and my surprising career change September 29, 2025 What does the fastest man in the world do when he slows down? For the cover of City AM Magazine, Autumn edition, Usain Bolt talks to Sam Kessler about his unrecognisable new life On 16 August 2009, the world record for the 100m sprint was set at 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin. [...]
