In a notable turn of events, a court in London decreed that Samsung Electronics ought to pay $11.6 million in damages to Swatch Group because of smartwatch applications that mimicked high-end watch faces. The applications were either freely available or could be purchased for an inconsequential sum on Samsung’s platform. The judge presiding over the case, Marcus Smith, asserted his belief that this misuse of Swatch Group trademarks undervalued the brands and lessened their perceived worth.
The world of horology welcomes the resurgence of L.Leroy, named after the eminent 18th-century watchmaker, Charles Leroy. Over the past few years, the brand has been making a dashing comeback with high-end sophisticated timepieces. Yet, the first remarkable piece that marked this revival was a distinctive fusion of a minute repeater and a tourbillon, launched at the 2023 Only Watch auction. This single-hand timepiece was a tribute to a Leroy tact watch from 1810, designed for Prince Emil Maximilian Leopold August of Hesse, and currently curated in the Patek Philippe Museum collection.