I’m a little late posting this, but it came out last week. Breitling The Book. Its a huge comprehensive book on Breitling’s History, and is only available from Breitling Directly as far as I know. Price is $175US, $135EU, or $200CHF, and it is available in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
There is a big section on the new B01 caliber, and the book in many ways commemorates this event. Beautifully packaged, and bound, this book is a great addition to any collection, and you can bet I will be buying mine. Not sure if it is available at Authorized Dealers, but would be a nice thing to pick up locally if possible.
I’ve got the video review for the Pyrolume Quartz watch that I purchased a while back. This watch has the Yellow Carbon fiber dial with the Pyrolume indexes. Very bright lume, and the watch is quite unique looking. Priced fairly high for what it is, a Japanese movementwith a cheap chinese case and a custom made dial… priced around $350US, but you can snag them for a bit less on auction sometimes.
Check it out.. wasn’t too well-received on youtube, but they get snapped up quick.
Just came across this Gerald Genta watch on ebay, and it was unique enough that I decided to write an short article on it. As many of you know, Gerald Genta is the many behind many watch designs, most notably the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. His own line of watches is extremely unique and uses some high complications with the higher end pieces.
Watch has a relatively small diameter of 40mm, with a crocodile strap and titanium case. Complications include retrograde hours, grand and petite sonnerie, westminster chime, 1 minute flying tourbillon, power reserve indicator. Movement is highly decorated as well… and the best part, retail price is 1.2 Millon bucks!
Driver8 did a fantastic review of his beautiful and popular IWC Big Pilot watch. This is one of the IWC’s that utilize their 5000 series movements with the 7 day power reserve. The movement is a beautiful work of art with a nice gold medallion inserted on the rotor, and uses IWC’s proprietary Pellaton Winding system that was developed in the late 40’s by Albert Pellaton. The watch measures an imposing 46.2mm, and calls back the days of yore in WWII when pilots wore these watches. The watch also uses a faraday cage to protect the movement from magnetic influences.
Beautiful watch, and Driver8’s review is top notch. Check it out:
Again, IWC has secured the top ranking of luxury watch brands performed by the LBSI. The index measures the value and equity of luxury brands across North America, using data collected by wealthy American consumers of these products. The information is from actual wealthy consumers, rather than non-consumers of luxury goods that only recognize names like Tag Heuer and Rolex.
The index uses factors such as “quality, social status and self-enhancement” in order to base their results. IWC’s blend of uniqueness and exclusivity, superior quality, self-enhancement and status gives them a unique place among consumer’s hearts.
This is not a huge surprise to me, but I agree that IWC is among my favourite watch brands and I am set on purchasing another IWC watch and adding to my collection soon!
Not the one I’m getting, but a little eye candy: The IWC Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere.
Wenger Swiss army has a watchmaker’s pocket knife they call the Minathor, which you may or may not know about. They are very cool with several tools that help adjust your watch bracelet, and open case backs and other little things. They are not cheap for a Wenger, and cost $90 plus shipping from IW Watch Magazine. It is definitely a cool little tool and nice little addition to the collection. Now if only Breitling’s promotional knives were made with these!
I have not seen many of these talked about on the forums so I figured it would be good to mention these to anyone that isn`t aware of them. The tools and functions include:
A. Large blade
B. Case-opener
C. Magnifying glass
D. Spring-bar tool
E. Small ruler, graduated in mm
F. Screwdriver No.0
G. Metal file
H. Corkscrew
I. Reamer
J. Flat head screwdriver with safety lock system (pat.)
K. Cap lifter
L. Wire Bender
M. Oil-pike
N. Fine tweezers
O. Tool holder
P. Toolbox with 14 numbered slots:
1. Pin-punch bit 1.2 mm
2. Pin-punch bit 0.80
3. Reserve Slot
4. Reamer for enlarging holes
5. Reserve Slot
6. Reserve Slot
7. Fine fork for spring bar tool
8. Screwdriver blade 1.2 mm
9. Screwdriver blade 0.80 mm
10. Round needle file
11. Reserve Slot
12. Reserve Slot
13. Reserve Slot
14. Phillips screwdriver bit 1.5 mm
A new brand has just been unveiled to us, all the way from France – Fabrication De Montres Normandes, or FDMN. FDMN is a watch manufacture from Brionne, France. Karsten Frasdorf is the master watchmaker behind the brand, and unfortunately most of the information is in French, so I cannot understand all of it.
They are beautiful watches and are all in-house handwound calibers, beating at 18,000 vph. The watches use a very unique large diameter screw balance that has exceptional accuracy. Not a lot of information is available on the watches as they have not been officially produced for public consumers yet, but soon! Until then, enjoy the photographs:
I picked up a Longines Master Collection GMT a while back here, and I have really enjoyed it. While many WIS “poo poo” the Longines (I learned to use this term today from a yutuber) because it isn’t quite a high-mech brand as some, it presents a very good value for your dollar, and a very nicely designed watch.
This is a full-sized Longines Master Collection watch, at 43mm. It is also quite thick, probably due to the ETA Valgranges A07.171 movement. The Valgranges movements are based on the Valjoux 7750 engine, so are very reliable and robust, and also thick. The case is very nicely crafted, and feels great on the wrist.
As you can see, this model has the 24hr GMT hand to indicate a second time zone. I just keep mine on the same time so I can tell if its AM or PM when I am resetting the watch after it’s been in the safe for a while. I like the look of the 4 central hands, all in blued steel. One complaint about the bracelet is that it does not have half-links and tends to be too loose or too tight on me.
Beautiful texturing on the dial, which is one of my favourite features of this watch. The Arabics are also beautifully lacquered on. The additional 24hr row of arabics adds a level of sophistication to the watch as well. The Master Collection is one of my favourite Longines designs… and I like quite a few of them.
In this photograph you can see the ETA Valgranges movement, and it’s similarity to the Valjoux 7750. This one is fully decorated with cote de geneve throughout the bridge and rotor, with perlage on the rest of the movement. It is quite a nice looking movement for this level of watch.
