When you’ve seen as many watches as I have, things can start to get a bit repetitive. Rolex this, Rolex that—it’s fine, but sometimes it’s nice to take a bit of a break and try something different. Who knows, if you do, you might find something you really love.

What should have been a momentous day for Bremont, the launch of both a watch with an actual piece of the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer and the brand’s first in-house movement, turned sour after it was revealed that the calibre BWC/01 was not, after all, in-house. This is the story of how the Wright Flyer became the most controversial watch ever, and what that means not just for Bremont, but for the industry as well.

There are pros and cons of owning a vintage watch. The pros, you get a piece in period style and—perhaps just as important if not more—proportions, something that modern watchmaking just seems to have no time for anymore, even the reissue pieces. The cons, you’re looking after something built at a different time with different materials and different techniques, and that can be a whole undertaking in itself. But what if you could have the best of both worlds?

Little known and often overlooked, Grand Seiko has for years undercut Swiss quality with a collection of watches that have earned a loyal—if compact—following. For any one of the few people who have ever so happened to come across a Grand Seiko, the reaction is always the same: astonishment. The legend is true. But has it all been undone?