Ermitage Chronicles

Join us as we dive into the world of horology with a core focus on some of the world’s finest watchmakers and the timepieces they create. Start your journey with our glossary of terms and basic watch guides before turning the page to reviews of specific watches and detailed lists of the top watches that match some very specific needs for a most discerning clientele.

Rolex Tudor Prince is a rare vintage Tudor model watch which has a Rolex crown logo at 12 o’clock. The classic fluted bezel, date, and dial are all reminiscent of a vintage Rolex Datejust.

A cut of diamond is largely dictated by the amount of flaws that the raw stone has, popularity of a certain shape, and the size of the raw stone. Flaws consist of inclusions and blemishes. Inclusions are located inside the stone and can vary depending on the location and the condition under which the diamond was formed. Blemishes are located in the surface and therefore are more evident.

There are plenty of luxury and tool watch brands on the market today, however, none of them come close to the precision and expert craftsmanship of a Rolex watch. From the early beginning Rolex watchmakers pushed the boundaries of horology to create incredible timepieces that would eventually earn the company the nickname of the "King" of watches.

Welcome to Ermitage Chronicles Watchmaking Glossary. This is a unique one-stop multimedia resource for watch collectors and watch experts. Click on any of the glossary items to learn more about it, most of the items are enhanced with HD photos and some of our glossary items also have videos included.

While the tradition of moving West was sweeping Europe off its feet, one man decided to go East in order to conquer his dream of producing high quality watches for the US market by combining traditional Swiss quality and technological advancements of the US. That man was a Boston engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones.

Just as every notable Swiss watchmaker, Omega has its place in the history of extraordinary achievements in the aviation and space exploration history. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Omega was started by the Brandt family. In 1880 Brandt brothers Louis-Paul and Cesar took their father's watch making business and restructured it to form a 100% in-house watch production.