Posted in articles&news on May 8th, 2012 No Comments »
Hermes is practically unrivaled as an independent luxury house, and it has long been said that Patek Philippe is the Hermes of the watch world. Well now, Hermes is looking to become the Hermes of the watch world, with its first line of truly in-house mechanical calibers shown at Basel World 2012.
From:HODINKEE
Posted in Ublot on Apr 17th, 2012 3 Comments »
Posted in articles&news on Mar 28th, 2012 No Comments »
Blancpain premiered its world-exclusive Traditional Chinese Calendar wristwatch at Baselworld 2012, marking an astonishing feat in the haute horlogerie industry. Blancpains’ Traditional Chinese Calendar mechanical wristwatch honors an age-old cultural calendar still in use by many Chinese lunisolar traditionalists to date.
The scientific technology Blancpain implemented to manufacture this watch involved fundamentals well over a thousand years old and richly ingrained in Chinese cultural tradition. The Traditional Chinese Calendar watch uses a lunisolar calendar, which is a solar calendar with the lunar cycle (29.53059 days) as its base unit, with 12 lunar months totaling 354 days shy of 11 days for a year, which was resolved by adding a leap month for a 13 month year. This is in contrast to that of the Gregorian solar calendar which uses a solar day base unit, having long days in summer and short days in winter, which averages about 365.2425 days a year.
Aesthetics of this dynamic timepiece includes its appealing dial which displays minutes, hours and the Gregorian calendar synergized with the Chinese calendar indicators: dual-hour indicator, day, month with indication of leap months, 12 animal zodiac signs and the five elements as well as the 10 celestial stems. The 12 zodiac animals combined with the five elements and the 10 celestial stems that represent the terrestrial branches follows the 60-year cycle essential to Chinese culture. Another key element of this timepiece is the moon phases, given its correlation to the lunar cycle and traditional Chinese months.
It has a counter at 12 o’clock indicating dual-hour numerals and symbols for a full 24 hour cycle; displayed at 3 o’clock are the elements and the celestial stems representative of a 10-year cycle; the month of the Chinese calendar (12-month cycle), its 30-day cycle – date and the leap month indicator is at 9 o’clock, with moon phases window at 6 o’clock.
The Traditional Chinese Calendar timepiece is powered by a new self-winding Calibre 3638 movement with a 7-day power reserve, consisting of 434 parts and 39 jewels. It has a 45 mm diameter platinum case and sapphire case-back with a beautifully engraved dragon to celebrate year 2012. The crown is a Madagascar ruby cabochon with five integrated under lug correctors for indicator adjustments and it showcases signature features of the Villeret collection.
The white gold version of the watch is available in a 20-piece limited edition; however, an unlimited rose gold version is also available.
Blancpains’ painstaking efforts of its symbolic Traditional Chinese Calendar timepiece certainly warrants acknowledgement for such an outstanding horological achievement. Blancpain has set an impressive milestone leaving other watch manufacturers running towards an enviable far reaching task.
Posted in articles&news on Mar 14th, 2012 No Comments »
Kari Voutilainen is one of the most respected watchmakers on planet earth. He is truly one of the leading independent craftsman that makes high-end watchmaking what it is today, and his timepieces are as rare and valuable as any in the world.
Kari has made some truly exceptional pieces in his career, including devising the new Maîtres du Temps Chapter Three (which we’ll show you soon) and finishing the movement on the MB&F Legacy Machine One, but one thing he has never made is a tourbillon wristwatch. Until now.
Just this past Sunday at Basel, Kari sat down and showed us the watch you see above. And, if one just takes a look at the dial of this Voutuilainen, one might assume it is just your average, run of the mill, $ 81,000 time-only piece of haute horolgy – but you’d be wrong. Because, when you turn over this unique piece (and we mean that literally, there is one of them, it’s already sold), you will see quite possibly one of the coolest looking movements we’ve ever seen – a fully Kari-conceived tourbillon caliber.
Speaking with Kari, he is clearly very pleased with his work on this piece. What gives this movement such a dramatic look is that Kari has hidden the entire gear train and barrels, so all you see is the tourbillon cage. This unique Voutilainen tourbillon wristwatch is in a 40mm rose gold case and looks every bit the part of your typical Kari piece, just with a special surprise on the back. Again, Kari will be making only one of these and it has already been sold.
Click through for more live photographs of Kari Voutilainen’s one and only tourbillon wristwatch.
From:HODINKEE
Posted in Breitling on Mar 9th, 2012 3 Comments »
Russia2all.com info@russia2all.com 877-486-7865 ext. 702 Interview with Vostok-Europe Managing Director Igor Zubovskij and demonstration of the GAZ Limo Vostok-Europe Gaz-Limo 2426/5603061 2426/5603061 Vostok Russian Wristwatch Movement Brand: Vostok-Europe Collection / Series Name: Gaz-Limo Gender: Men’s Genuine Leather Strap Movement: Automatic Mfg. and Caliber of Movement: 2426 Vostok Crystal: Mineral Crystal Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel with A-Grade black PVD Case Diameter: 43mm Water Resistant Depth: 5 ATM 24-Hour Hand SuperLuminova indexes on dial and hands Exhibition case-back with engraved serial number Additional Features: Russian Movement and Assembly
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Posted in articles&news on Mar 6th, 2012 No Comments »
The watchmakers at Breguet have wished a very happy bicentennial to their own very first recorded wristwatch in an exhibition that started on January 16th and ended last Sunday (Feb 12th). The exhibition was held in Geneva’s Cité du Temps, and was coincided with the prestigious Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH ). The Geneva exhibition is designed for visitors to discover the unique history of this groundbreaking timepiece and the mystery of what became of it.
Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, first wristwatch owner
As far as horological history can tell us the first record of a wristwatch was ordered by Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Caroline Murat in 1810. At the time, Murat sat on the throne as the Queen of Naples, and was a well-known admirer of the timepieces made by Breguet founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet. Yes, Breguet can say they made the first wristwatch for a queen. Queen Caroline’s wristwatch took two years to make and safely deliver, and was only one of the many she ordered from Breguet over the years.
Though the famous first wristwatch has never been found in any public or private collection, the little that is known of it is that the model number was N° 2639.
Nevertheless, Queen Caroline’s special relationship as the favorite customer of Breguet during this time produced something revolutionary. The watch as we know it was a very thin (for the time) repeating watch, had an oblong feminine shape, was set with a thermometer and used hair intertwined with gold thread to create the strap. The concept must have certainly been innovative and fascinating for the time. As Queen Caroline was known to history as extravagant and ambitious, it is no surprise that she would dream up an ostentatious new watch to be paraded on her wrist at court.
A Reine de Naples watch, inspired by the first wristwatch
The event in Geneva was also used by Breguet to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the more modern Reine de Naples ladies’ watch collection. The public re-discovery of the Reine de Naples collection also allowed for many experts in the horological field to offer their expertise on the Breguet line. These women’s watches are very much reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, with their exaggerated and surreal numbers spinning around the watch’s face. Breguet’s official website states that the line was inspired by Queen Caroline’s first wristwatch, as well as others made for Marie Antoinnette and Empress Josephine. The collection was designed to create a symbol of feminine refinement and precision.
Posted in articles&news on Feb 24th, 2012 No Comments »
It’s every car lover’s dream to come across a Ferrari in a barn. Similarly, watch collectors hope to stumble upon a pre-Moon Speedmaster at a garage sale or in a relative’s sock drawer. Well, it does happen and today we’ve got one of those stories. Ian Brown, owner of a jewelry store in Woodstock, Georgia, recently acquired a 1940s A. Lange & Söhne Beobachtungsuhr, or “B-Uhr,” that was found in a toolbox at an estate sale.
If you’re a regular reader of HODINKEE, you know we’ve covered these World War II pilot’s watches before. But here’s a refresher. The German air force, or Luftwaffe, commissioned five companies to build watches for its pilots and navigators: IWC, Laco, Stowa, Wempe and A. Lange & Söhne. All of the watches were built to the same specification – a 55mm case, hand-wound movement with center seconds, an oversized crown for easy winding while wearing gloves, an extra long riveted leather strap for wearing over a flight jacket and distinctive, legible dial markings. There were two dial variations of the B-Uhr: the Type A dial had a more standard outer minute track and a large triangle at 12 o’clock. The Type B dial had an inner hour track and a prominently demarcated outer minute track. The Lange you see pictured here is a Type B.
The B-Uhr style is extremely popular, with many modern watch brands, big and small, selling some variation of it. But it’s not so common to come across the genuine article from the 1940s. Last year we featured a remarkable collection of five Fliegers that was up for auction at Antiquorum, including a Type A dial Lange. Of the five makes that still are occasionally found today, IWC’s version seems to fetch the most when sold, perhaps because they only made them in 1940 and therefore are not as common. But to find any of these wartime relics, the majority of which were flown, is a rare treat. So when Ian Brown contacted us with his story, we knew it was special. Here’s Ian’s description, in his own words, of how he came to possess this Lange B-Uhr:
From:HODINKEE
Posted in Ublot on Jan 9th, 2012 1 Comment »
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Posted in Ublot on Dec 28th, 2011 No Comments »
The Big Bang watch produced by the Hublot Company in 2005.First Big Bang traces back to the year 1980.Big Bang is the characteristic feature of the new Hublot Fusion concept that reflects Hublot’s sportiness and elegance arousing admiration.The Big Bang is an impressively big watch.Big Bang…
Posted in articles&news on Dec 8th, 2011 No Comments »
Admittedly, when the term “tourbillon” is thrown around, Omega is rarely in the mix of referenced examples. Sure they’ve got their Central Tourbillon in the DeVille range, but lets face it, this watch isn’t clamoring for attention alongside offerings from the likes of Patek or Vacheron. It’s worth mentioning then, that none of us would be talking about tourbillon wristwatches if it weren’t for Omega, for it was them that produced the first tourbillon movement intentioned for a wristwatch.
From:HODINKEE
