brand watches wiki – rolex watches, omega watches, replica watches

You’re looking at the Montblanc TimeWalker TwinFly Chronograph GreyTech.  It was a watch that nobody saw coming at SIHH, and it’s one that left a lot of us saying “hmm, that’s not bad at all.”  The monochromatic appearance of the watch is what brings you in, using a satinized and pearl-blasted titanium case and with grey cut away dial revealing seven time indications.  But, it’s the in-house Montblanc MB LL100 chronograph caliber that makes a handsome watch, a watch worth owning.

From:HODINKEE

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Bremont makes some really tough, very werable, everyday pieces.  The watches are incredibly well built, and as Ben told you in the FT a few months back, all of them will soon be built in a state of the art Bremont facility not in the Vallee de Joux, but in the United Kingdom.  See how the dial above says “London” at 6 o’clock and not “Swiss Made?”

At Basel World this year, we got a chance to preview what could be a really hot seller for Bremont, the ALT1-WT World Timer. 

From:HODINKEE

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Every horological machine from MB&F is a study in thinking outside the box (the legacy machines aint too shabby either).  The HM3 Frog, which Max himself showed you here, is perhaps the most playful of all HM’s, and certainly one of the funkiest too.  Today, we are showing you a brand new iteration of the HM3 Frog called the HM3 Moonmachine, and this is the very first time MB&F has chosen to do a performance art piece with a watchmaker, instead of an artist like they’ve done with say, Sage Vaugn and Huang Hankang, or with a designer like Boucheron or Alain Silberstein.

The watchmaker MB&F chose to work with for the Moonmachine is none other than HODINKEE favorite Stepan Sarpaneva, and the resulting creation is without a doubt, our favorite HM3 yet.

Click through to read more about this incredible galactic collaboration between Stepan Sarpaneva and MB&F, as well as see lots of live photos, the official video, full specs, and pricing information.

From:HODINKEE

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Last year, Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrated the roots of the Reverso with a limited edition model of the Tribute To 1931 called the “US Limited Edition”.  This watch closely resembled the standard production TT 1931 Reverso but took on a slightly more historic tone, with a warmer shade to the hands and hour markers, and slightly different script on the dial.  But, what made the limited edition of 100 US Edition Reverso stand out (see our detailed ruminations on it here here) and made it one of the hottest selling watches of 2011 for JLC was the strap on which it came. 

You see, the strap that came on the US Edition of the TT 1931 Reverso was hand-made by Casa Fagliano – and Casa Fagliano is the leading producer of championship grade polo boots in the world.  But when we say “leading” we certainly don’t mean they make the most – in fact, they make but 90 pairs of boots per year – by “leading” we mean that they are regarded the world over as the finest riding boots money can buy.  They are made by hand in the suburbs of Buenos Aires just as they were four generations ago, and with the US Edition Reverso, the 100 lucky owners would be granted access to the exclusive club of Casa Fagliano.

With the 2011 edition, all 100 watches came with a black, hand-stitched shell cordovan Fagliano strap.  And this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre invited us down to Buenos Aires to get an early look at the second iteration of the Fagliano strap for the Reverso. 

From:HODINKEE

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The Transocean Chronograph has been a smash success for Breitilng – it is the watch that reignited interest in the brand that actually invented the three-button chronograph.  The Transocean is a classicaly designed three register chronograph that uses Breitling’s excellent in-house caliber.  This year at Basel, Breitling showed us a new Transocean, called the Unitime, that offers the very same watch but with a patented world-time complication. 

In fact, the Transocean Chronograph Unitime uses a Caliber B05, which is the B01 with this special world-time complication module built atop.  Here the watch has two rotating discs, both operated by the crown, that reveals the time in 24 different timezones at once.  What is interesting here is that the timezone and dates are adjusted both forward and backward, and both the time, and chronograph (should it be running) are not interrupted while adjusting timezones. 

These new Unitimes are sized at 46mm (42-44mm would’ve been a little easier to swallow, especially considering the vintage inspiration) and they will sell for $ 10,715 on leather and $ 11,200 on a steel mesh bracelet.  Regardless of the large size, the in-house Breitling chrono plus world time complication in a handsome package will definitely make a compelling case in this price range.  For more details, click here.

More live photos after the jump.

From:HODINKEE

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If Perrelet is known for one thing, it’s the turbine.  And this year at Basel World, we saw the line extended to include a dedicated, 300 meter dive watch.  The Perrelet Turbine Diver features a 47.5mm case (though it wears smaller, as seen in pic above on wrist) and the rounded contours of the upper rotor, featurnig 11 blades, is designed inspire thoughts of a Submarine’s propellors. The new diver features an inner rotating bezel operated by a crown at 10 o’clock and is available in steel, titanium, and DLC.

Inside the Turbine Diver is the Perrelet P331 Double Rotor movement, which is exclusive to Perrelet.  Actually, this movement is made by Soprod, who is owned by the Festina group, who also owns Perrelet – so this one is all in the family.

The Perrelet Turbine Diver will be available this year and is expected to start at $ 6550 in titanium and $ 7200 in DLC. Click through for more pics and stay tuned for some new relases from Perrelet to be featured soon.

From:HODINKEE

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When you think of Zenith, odds are, you think “El Primero.”  One of the first automatic chronographs to come to market (and certainly the first high-beat, integrated chronograph to come to market) the El Primero is something of a cult movement and certainly the backbone of Zenith, who has enjoyed strong success in the past few years based on the launch of some very complicated pieces like the Striking Tenth Chronograph and Captain Winsor at very reasonable prices. 

While every movement Zenith makes is indeed their own – they are a true manufacture from top to bottom – not every movement they make is an El Primero.  Their Captain line, for example, uses a Zenith “Elite” movement with a VPH (vibrations per hour) of 28,800.  One of the defining traits of the El Primero is that it has a VPH of 36,000.

So, while Zenith did put much of its attention pilots watches and continued with chronographs this year at Basel World 2012, one of the most interesting relases came in the form of a brand new time-only watch called the Espada featuring a time-date movement that they are calling an El Primero, despite the fact it is not a chronograph movement.

The El Primero 4650 B was in fact built to spec of the traditional El Primero chronograph, and beats at 36,000 BPH as one might expect – it just happens to be missing the chronograph function.  What the new Espada offers is the chance to own part of the El Primero history in a three-handed watch.

Sized at 40mm and available in steel, rose gold, and two-tone steel/rose gold in a few different dials, the new Espada will sit above the Elite collection and below the El Primero Chronograph collection in terms of pricing and prestige.  Pricing is expected to start at just above $ 6000 in steel and $ 15,000 in gold.  Does Zenith need two three-handed movements?  We will find out soon enough, though we do expect Zenith fans to be clamoring for this one.

Click through for live pics.

From:HODINKEE

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New EPFL spin-off Pix4D generates 3D images from simple snapshots and drones using cloud computing and takes time into account as well. www.pix4d.com

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Patek Philippe is no stranger to perpetual calendar watches.  Examples from the brand are consistently sought after by collectors around the world – hell, Patek has been makign them since 1925 when they are credited with introducing the first QP wristwatch in history. Cushion shaped watches have also been popular at Patek Philippe since the Art Deco movement hit Europe. This year at Basel, Patek combined the two for the latest ultra-thin, self-winding cushion-cased perpetual calendar, ref. 5940J. Read on for first impressions and live images.

From:HODINKEE

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Click to expand.One watch we were really excited to see was the Jack Heuer 80th Birthday Carrera from TAG Heuer, that was announced publicly the week before Basel World began.  Often times, a watch that looks good in pictures doesn’t always translate into a handsome piece in the metal – luckily that is not the case with the Jack Heuer Carrera. This thing rocks.

Sized at a nice 41mm, this special Carrera was designed by Jack Heuer himself, which is why it looks as if it could’ve been made 40+ years ago, and perhaps the reason why it stands out from the rest of the Carrera bunch. 

What makes this one special is the dual register layout (all Cal 1887′s are tri-register), the bright red accents for the “Heuer” shield (notice it’s not TAG Heuer on this one), the seconds hand, and the lining of the strap.  Jack designed the strap so that the wearer could actually see the red lining without taking the watch off, right through the perforation (or “speed holes” as Mr. Simpson would call them).  The dial is an incredibly bright silver with a sunray effect.  The bezel is polished nicely and the tachymeter is on a super slick dark grey flange, and has the number “80″ in bright red signifying the importance of this watch.  The registers feature a nice “azurage” or ridging that gives them a lot of depth and a really pleasing contrast against the smooth dial.  It really is worth expanding the picture above and paying close attention to the details of this dial – it is rather well done.

Production of the Jack Heuer 80th Birthday Carrera will be limited to 3000 pieces worldwide, and the caseback will bear Jack’s signature, the Heuer coat of Arms, and each piece’s number out of the run.  The price, when it hits stores in the coming months, will be $ 4900. 

Click through for more live photos of this awesome new Carrera celebrating the man that made TAG Heuer what it is today.

From:HODINKEE

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