The Reading Room
Watch news and stories, selected for the club.
Updated 18 September 2026
Reading notes
This week
Czapek Promenade L’Écume des Jours
Rebecca Doulton hands-on covers Czapek’s Promenade L’Écume des Jours — a 38mm steel limited edition of 18 with a Boris Vian–inspired Grand Feu enamel dial and in-house calibre SXH5.1.
Blancpain Lady B
Xavier Markl covers the Lady B — a 19mm spherical steel or red-gold mechanical watch marking 70 years of the Ladybird, with strap-through caseback and manufacture calibre 615.
Grand Seiko Elegance SBGW325
Brice Goulard introduces the Elegance SBGW325 — a 37.3mm steel limited edition of 600 that revives the Arabic-numeral layout of the first hand-wound 9S (SBGW003) with calibre 9S64.
Glashütte Original 70s Collection
Denis Peshkov introduces the reworked 70s integrated sports watches — a smaller 39mm steel case, hexagrid dials, and manufacture Calibre 36 with conventional date.
Rolex Perpetual Padellone
Brice Goulard covers Rolex’s Perpetual Padellone return — a 39mm Everose or platinum dress watch with annual calendar, meteorite moonphase, and Dynapulse calibre 7190.
IWC Ingenieur Automatic 50th-anniversary limited editions
Robin Nooy’s first look covers IWC’s Ingenieur Automatic 40 IW328910 and 35 IW324909 — silver-brushed dials marking 50 years of the Genta-designed Ingenieur SL, limited to 1,150 each.
Venezianico Redentore Levius
Denis Peshkov covers the Redentore Levius’s grade-5 titanium case, rose-engine Zefiro guilloché dial, and Italian-made hand-wound V5000 calibre.
MB&F SP One Pavée
Rebecca Doulton covers the SP One Pavée’s 38mm white-gold case with 255 diamonds framing the floating barrel, balance, and tilted blue dial.
Louis Moinet Moon Meteor
Denis Peshkov on the Moon Meteor’s titanium case, miniature-painted celestial dial with meteorite fragments, and astronomical moon display, limited to twelve.
Formex Essence FortyOne Arctic White
Tom Austin’s hands-on covers the Essence FortyOne’s re-proportioned 41mm steel case, Case Suspension System, and Arctic White dial over a COSC Sellita SW200-2 Power+.
Christophe Claret returns under Lotus Two AG
Walid Benla covers Christophe Claret’s post-insolvency restart via Lotus Two AG with Lotus Singapore, with Claret staying creative force and new pieces expected late 2027–early 2028.
Orient Star Sakigake Three Hand
Ben Hodges hands-on with the Sakigake Three Hand’s 38.7mm Contemporary design reset that drops the long-running power-reserve indicator and date for Orient Star’s 75th year.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Dual Time × Vianney Halter
Russell Sheldrake’s hands-on covers Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Dual Time with Vianney Halter — the maison’s first outside movement collaborator — in titanium and rose-gold limited editions.
Cartier’s 2026 Roadster revival
Seth Semilof details the revived Roadster’s Medium and Large tonneau sizes, blue PVD or white dials, 1847 MC / 1899 MC automatics, and QuickSwitch straps.
Fayy Manman Panda with inner painting on sapphire
Walid Benla covers Fayy’s Manman Panda — a 39mm titanium debut with Chinese inner painting on the sapphire underside and disc time displays, limited to 50.
Raymond Weil Millesime tuxedo small seconds
Ariel Adams hands-on with the black-and-white Millesime Small Seconds tuxedo dial on the familiar 39mm steel case.
Tudor Northflag hands-on
Griffin Bartsch goes hands-on with the new Northflag’s 40mm steel case, MT5652-U flyer GMT, and integrated bracelet update of the 2015 North Flag.
Updated 2026-09-18T12:21:07.000Z · Last 7 days · Discovery cutoff 2026-09-18T12:21:07Z
Checked notes from the last 30 days. Newest first. Yesterday’s links stay until they age out of the month.
One independently reviewed note: Czapek’s Promenade L’Écume des Jours, a literary-inspired Grand Feu enamel dress watch. Link goes to the original publisher; label marks primary reporting.
To watch and On X are empty in this edition: we only list video or social posts when publication time is independently verified.