The Breitling Watch Blog

This is my recently posted Video review of my Montblanc Timerwalker Chrono, with the automatic Valjoux 7750 movement in it. Nice watch. I recall that the ads featured Nicolas Cage on them at one point. Great detailing on the case, and a very interesting stainless bracelet to boot. I determined that the style wasn’t really for me, but I did appreciate the craftsmanship of the case and bracelet. Montblanc has ventured into in-house movements now with some of their high-end pieces, so that’s good to see too.

I was thinking it was about time that I reviewed a Wolf Designs winder. I think the Wolf Designs winders are some of the best bang for buck winders out there and I know several people that have them. They are affordable, well-made, look great, and have good response and customer service from what I’ve heard. Their pricepoint makes them easily affordable and much better than the plastic stuff that is out there.

The Module 2.5 Single is a basic model with no cover to protect from dust. This is important to some people, and less important to others. The outside of the winder is a leatherette, with the inside portions made from “silk fabric”. While it doesn’t feel like silk to me, it is nice to the touch. The winder has a single control on the front allowing you to switch between A (Clockwise), B (Counter-Clockwise) & C (Bi-Directional). The winder is pre-set to 900 TPD, which is just the right amount for most single directional winding movements such as the Valjoux 7750.

There is also a green light on the metal front control. From Wolf Designs Website: “A green light indicates normal winder operation. A red light indicates either low battery power or that the drum is incorrectly turning.” The winder is interesting in that it runs through a cycle of charging up the mainspring, and then into a sleep cycle for 18 hours to allow the mainspring to unwind and discharge stored up energy, which is supposedly better for you watch. Operation is almost completely silent, but with the 18 hour sleep cycle, you can time it to be sleeping when you are!

The cuff locked in and can hold a watch with a strap size of up to 10″! That’s definately most people out there. The cuff compresses via a spring inside. When pushed in, the cuff clicks into place and holds the watch firmly. I have heard of some people having problems with the cuffs not staying in after a while with heavier watches, but that the Wolf Designs customer service fixed the problems quickly and easily when it happened.

There’s the butt-shot! As you can see, a compartment for D-Cell batteries as well as a jack for the AC Adapter. They recommend Lithium batteries as they last twice as long as Alkaline. The watch runs great with the AC Adapter and that’s what I use, however, with Batteries the winder can be put inside a safe as well and kept running, also a nice feature.

Overall its a good bang for buck winder with better-than-basic features and superior build quality. The interior structure of the winder is wood-framed, and the electronics do use fairly sohpisticated timing systems compared to basic winders. Wolf Designs sells these for $195 at regular price and occasionally a deal can be had.

Lots of amazing watches released at SIHH 2012 this year… with a fabulous lineup from Panerai as well as some very cool new offerings from Audemars Piguet and Cartier as well. One of my personal favourite pieces is the Chronomaster 1969 watches from Zenith. In particular, I really dig the standard Chronomaster 1969 Chronograph. This bad boy has a nice open heart dial and uses with very cool vintagey looking 1969 case.

I like my Chronomaster just fine, but this 1969 version has some understated, classic lines that just really call out to me. I will be buying one of these in the near future – just a matter of time!

Specs:
Movement El Primero 4061
Components: 282
Jewels: 31
Frequency: 36,000 VpH – (5 Hz)
Case: Stainless steel
Diameter: 42 mm
Crystal: Box-shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflection treatment on both sides
Case-back: Transparent sapphire crystal

Here are all the Panerai Releases for SIHH 2012 this year.. they really pulled a quick one on everyone, sneaking in several surprise models that we were not aware were coming out. A nice spread of new watches from Panerai this year totalling 18 watches, with a few announced earlier than SIHH. Some notables include the black coated movements and only two new watches using non-in-house movements, both special editions. The introduction of the two watches featuring the 1940′s style Radiomir case is also a highlight, which is also the same two watches using the non-in-house movements. The 1940′s Radiomir is basically a Radiomir case with Luminor style lugs. Strange isn’t it? Anyway.. Here they are!

Panerai PAM 424 – PAM00424
Radiomir California 3 Days
P.3000 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 425 – PAM00425
Radiomir S.L.C. 3 Days
P.3000 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 421 – PAM00421
Radiomir 3 Days GMT Oro Rosso
P.3001 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 422 – PAM00422
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days
P.3001 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 423 – PAM00423
Luminor 1950 3 Days Power Reserve
P.3002 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 439 – PAM00439
Radiomir Oro Rosso
P.999 Movement
42mm

Panerai PAM 441 – PAM00441
Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Automatic Ceramica
P.9001 Movement
44mm

Panerai PAM 438 – PAM00438
Tuttonero Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Automatic Ceramica
P.9001/B Movement (Black colored 9001 Movement)
44mm

Panerai PAM 388 – PAM00388
Radiomir Black Seal 3 Days Automatic
P.9000 Movement
45mm

Panerai PAM 392 – PAM00392
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic
P.9000 Movement
42mm

Panerai PAM 393 – PAM00393
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso
42mm

Panerai PAM 323 – PAM00323
Radiomir 10 Days GMT
P.2003/6 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 396 – PAM00396
Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Ceramica
P.2005/B Movement
48mm

Panerai PAM 448 – PAM00448
Radiomir California 3 Days (Limited Edition of 500)
P.3000 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 449 – PAM00449
Radiomir S.L.C. 3 Days (Limited Edition of 500)
P.3000 Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 399 – PAM00399
Radiomir 1940 (Limited Edition of 100)
OP XXVII Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 398 – PAM00398
Radiomir 1940 Oro Rosso (Limited Edition of 100)
OP XXVII Movement
47mm

Panerai PAM 395 – PAM00395
Radiomir 8 Days GMT Oro Rosso
P.2002/10 Movement
45mm

The IWC Top Gun booth is an incredible looking display. I watched the timelapse video of the booth’s assembly on the IWC site, and its very cool. Hope you guys enjoy IWC’s booth videos!

Here is a video of the creators talking about how they created the booth, it includes cool CGI video of a fly-through of the booth as well. :

And here is the Timelapse video of the booth’s creation:

As many of you know, SIHH 2012 official opened today and there’s always tons of beautiful new timepieces to drool over at this time of year. With Basel just around the corner as well, its probably the most exciting time to be a WIS!

This year IWC brings some new Pilot watches to the table. Its been a while since IWC has done something creative with their Pilot’s watches, with the last big introduction being the Big Pilot a couple years back. A few of this years offerings are the IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar 7 Day and Chronograph, and the Pilot Worldtimer.

The Top Gun Miramar watches are very cool. Both measure an imposing 48mm in diameter!! In beautiful Ceramic cases with Titanium case backs. Both feature in-house movements, with the Chronograph model showcasing the new Calibre 89365 Flyback Chronograph, and the 7 Day movement using the 51111 movement with Pelaton winding system.

The Pilot Worldtimer features a large 45mm steel case, and a new 24 hour timing system that allows you to see the time in 24 different timezones at the same time! Reminds me of my Seiko World Time clock in my office, but in Watch form. Very cool, and very useful for those that travel everywhere.

Overall a nice few offerings that caught my eye from SIHH 2012.

Just posted a video review of my Marathon CSAR watch, Swiss Made, by a Canadian Company. Awesome big daddy of a watch clocking in at 46mm, and seriously thick. Features an automatic Valjoux 7750 movement, screwdown pushers and sapphire crystal. This is on an aftermarket rubber, but I picked it up on the regular rubber as well as the bracelet.

I’ve been eyeing Lum-Tec for a while, ever since they started releasing the Combat Models and they started showing up on eBay a few years back. Some great designs combined with quality German-made cases really caught my attention. But then they started releasing a bunch of PAM-looking stuff without trying to look too much like a Panerai, which kind of turned me off. I do note that they have become immensely popular with the general buyers, however.

The new Lum-Tec 300M-2XL is another story, however. It features relatively traditional diver styling, but adds a few Lum-Tech features such as the Super Luminous Bezel, which is covered in Sapphire Crystal – Nice. It also has the Trademarked (Not Patented) MDV Technology, which stands for “Maximum Darkness Visibility”. See the writeup below for a little more detail on the MDV Lume application:

Overall, a nicely styled diver with some trademark Lum-Tec features and good quality parts inside and out. While the Sii NH35 movement is not quite as desireable as an ETA 2824-2 in my opinion, its still a good movement with hacking and handwinding – unfortunate that it beats at 21,600, which will have a choppier second sweep. Price direct is $925, discounted to $786.25 currecntly, so it is not a cheap watch!

Specs:
45mm width excluding crown.
24mm lug width.
316L Stainless steel.
Titanium Carbide PVD hard coating.
Uni-directional 60-click rotating luminous bezel with sapphire insert.
Alternating brushed and high polished finish.
21,600 BPH Sii NH35 Japan automatic movement with hacking and handwinding features.
Sapphire crystal with clear double side Anti-reflective coating.
Threaded solid stainless steel caseback.
LUM-TEC MDV technology®. (2-tone)
Screw lock crown with double diamond sealing system.
300 Meters / 990 ft. water resistance.
2 straps included. Stainless steel bracelet with diver’s extension and molded rubber.
One year limited warranty.
Free lifetime timing adjustments.