Who says bigger watches are going out of style? At SIHH 2008 A.Lange & Sohne announced a new watch, the Grand Lange 1. Which is a 42mm version of the Lange 1, originally in a 38mm case. This is a move towards larger watches by the high-end German watch manufacturer, which has traditionally made watches in the 38-40mm category.
The watch movement is the A.Lange L901.2, which is slightly modifed from the L901.0 in the original Lange 1, in what way, I’m not sure, but enough to warrant a decimal place
The is manually wound, with power reserve a hearty 3 Days or 72 hours - 53 Jewels, and adjusted to 5 positions. The case is white or rose gold and platinum. Watch complications include a power reserve indication, big date display, and sub seconds. as well as off-center hour and minute hands.
For a change, I decided to get myself a Franck Muller Casablanca watch.. Its now traded, but I really enjoyed it for the short time I had it. The Franck Muller is an interesting watch, very different from anything I’ve ever had, but very well made. The case has an extremely interesting shape, which Franck Muller calls their “Cintree Curvex” shape.
It looks really good on the wrist, and very large for it’s width because of its ellongated shape. The bracelet is a five-row affair, and reminds me a little of the Breitling Pilot bracelet, though without quite the finesse. A beautiful watch however that commands looks when its worn.
The movement inside is one of the most highly decordated ETA 2892 movements on the market, and I took a shot just for you guys to see:
Overall, a beautiful watch with a very distinct look but one that I find myself struggling to read.. the exploding numbers look fantastic but are difficult to get used to… So I’ll leave you with this shot.. and a video review.
Forgot to post this when I uploaded it.. but Figured i’d give you all a heads up.
This is a video review of the Breitling Blackbird.. the newer one that is based on the same case as the Chronomat Evolution, with the faceted Pilot bracelet which is unique to the Blackbird. Very nice. This bad boy is 43.7mm in diameter, and worth every penny. Very beautiful and slightly more understated than the Chronomat Evo. It adds a big date complication and carries a slightly higher price tag than the Chronomat Evo. Dial is sort of a Matte finish, not commonly seen on any Breitling models.
The Garinin Watch winder review was very popular amongst the readers of my blog, as everyone is always looking for a good deal on a watch winder… one of the posters on my forum sent me this youtube video he made! Really nice to see what it looks like in video… Enjoy!
I’ve been starting to try and branch out towards watches witha non-round shape. I’ve owned a few rectangular watches, such as a Longines Dolce Vita and some others here and there, but I really wanted to try a Tonneau shaped watch, aside from the knock-offs that people give you as gifts when they visit China. So I started first with a Franck Muller Casablanca, which I enjoyed, but it was a bit too clean and basic looking for me I think, considering that I was used to the complicated busy dials of Breitling.
Then I saw the Roadster again… Its a watch that I always admired and really liked the design of, and with my tastes maturing and the need to have something a bit more understated for business, the Roadster seemed perfect. Still a recognizable icon in the watch industry, with a bit more individuality than a Rolex. So I snapped one up.
The Roadster is an extremely well made watch, with a three-peice case. Tonneau shaped but a bit shorter than a Franck Muller from lug to lug. The Large Mens size model I bought is 38mm x 43mm, not including the crown. It wears very close to a typical 40mm Rolex. The models I picked up as the oldeer style dial, but still looks fantastic in my opinion. All the pictures were taken with my new Sony A200 camera with the Kit lens.
In the above pic you can see the blued steel hands and Luminous dots on the inner dial. The sapphire date magnifier is tastefully integrated into the crown area. The crown is not screwdown, so when you wind it you can just turn it.
The bracelet is a beautiful peice of work, with screwed in pins, in a very unique style. There are two screws, one on each side, and when you remove them, you push a pin out of the middle. The bracelet has that smooth, tight feel to it that reminds me of my Breitling Bracelets. The watch is all polished, but the bracelet is brushed in the middle links.
Here is a shot of the back, showing a bit more of the bracelet, and notice how the design of the crown even bulges on the back of the watch. That is a very nice attention to detail.
The obligatory wrist shot… showing what it looks like on my 6 3/4″ wrist. The bracelet sizes a bit loose on me. Unfortunately with those double butterfly clasps there is rarely a micro adjustment available, and many don’t have half-links either.
And here’s a rare movement shot of the Cartier Roadster. Very nicely finshed Cartier Caliber 3110, base ebauche ETA 2892-2, 21 Jewel movement. The rotor is decorated with the Roadster logo, which is a nice touch, rather than just a generic Cartier signed rotor, making this specific to only this model of watch.
As you can see there is plenty of circular graining on the bridges as well. Overall, a beautiful watch inside and out. I will be enjoying mine!
Here are the quick specs:
Movement: Automatic Calibre 3110 Movement (Base ETA 2892-2)
Case: Stainless Steel
Crystal: Sapphire Crystal w/Date Magnifier
Diameter: 43mm x 38mm
Max Busser came to fame as the man who brought Harry Winston brand to the forefront of Horological technology with stunning peices such as the annually released Opus series, which collaborates with a different independant watchmaker each year.
After launching his own brand in 2006, MB&F (Max Busser & Friends), and following the same pattern of a single model each year he has now entered his third year and consequently, third model. The latest model is simply called the HM3: Horological Machine No. 3, and will be out shortly… Just to remind you guys how great beautiful his work is.. here are the Horological Machine No. 1 and No. 2:
Each watch is a limited edition of 30 pieces made per year, for a period of 3 years for a total of 90 peices. Movements alternate between In-House and modified Base movements each year and sell in $100K+ range. Now tell me… how cool would it be to be the only kid on your block with one of these sweet horological machines?
Can’t wait to see the HM3 when it comes out later this year
With Baselworld and SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horologerie) coming up all the watch houses and getting their new models up to show. Baselworld takes place April 3-10 and SIHH takes place on April 7-12. The WPHH (World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie) created by Franck Muller Watchland I do not know when that is, as I can’t find a date.
There are just too many new models to highlight, but some of the ones that really appeal to me:
Porsche Design Eterna World Timer:
Concord Tourbillon Gravity:
The style seems to be based on the Concord C1’s that came out last year and look really fantastic:
The Concord C1 Big Date Automatic is really cool. With the introduction of the bracelet for the C1 series, I am now likely to buy one when I get a chance to try one out. I had tried on the Rubber bracelet on the Concord C1 Chronograph, but As much as I love the watch, I can’t see myself putting on Rubber… the Bracelets haven’t been rolling out to stores very much as I could tell.. but once they do I will really consider buying one!
Another Zenith Tourbillon…
This one is a Zenith Defy Extreme Stealth Tourbillion:
Of course.. I likely can’t afford the nicest of these watches.. but if I could… i’d own ‘em all. The Porsche Design from Eterna is reminiscent of the newer Eterna Kon-Tiki that came out not too long ago… a good direction for the typically curvy brand.
With the booming Swiss Watch industry there have been certain brands that are doing extremely well, among them, IWC is showing a very large increase in sales over the last few years according to the Richemont Group.
IWC has always been a player in the high end and midrange with their more affordable Aquatimer series of watches, which use modified ETA movements as well as their grand complications and tourbillons. IWC’s current lineup consists of: Portofino, Aquatimer, Ingenieur, Portuguese, Da Vinci and their Grand Complications. They also differ from much of the competition in that they only produce mens watches. There are one of very few watch companies that make that claim, whether or not it really is significant.
IWC Aquatimer Chrono
My passion for IWC first started with the new Aquatimer, and then the Ingenieur really caught my eye. I was also a sucker for the beautiful gentlemanly look of the IWC Portuguese Chronograph, and really would love to have one of the 8 day models with the display back showing the beautiful Pellaton rotor system.
IWC Ingenieur
When I found out that IWC was going to introduce a new Ingenieur in 2005 with a new 8000 series manufacture movement, I was quite happy. This meant that IWC would have a reasonably priced manufacture movement model. Unfortunately, the Ingenieur Chronograph did not also receive the same treatment and still uses a modified ETA/Valjoux 7750. Perhaps they will make a Chronograph version of the Ingenieur with an in-house movement soon. The good news is that this makes the current Chrono almost the same price as the standard model.
IWC has also expanded the Ingenieur series as I had mentioned in my other blog post on the Ingenieur. Hopefully they will follow suit with the rest of their watches and start introducing some in the 44-45mm size. I’d love to see a 44mm affordable Portuguese.
The new Da Vinci Chronograph with it’s unique Tonneau shaped case is definitely a beautiful piece for the more well-endowed WIS.
Whichever IWC you choose, they all have much to offer and the company is definitely moving forward quickly and picking up a lot of momentum in the process. My Favourites are the IWC Ingenieur, and Portuguese which I have just added to the collection. Look for a review soon.
Here’s one of my many videos, one that’s a Promo Video for the IWC Caliber 5000 movement:
