The Breitling Watch Blog

Graham Watches London has send out a neat E-Card to mailing list subscribers, a nice gesture and a small bit of work on there part but nonetheless something worth taking a look at to give you some of that holiday cheer!

See the card here:
http://www.graham-london.com/ecard/

Graham and Mercedes team up again! This time launching the new Graham Mercedes GP Silverstone watch, which celebrates the spirit of Formula 1 Racing.

Functions: Chronograph (seconds, 30 minutes and 12 hours counter). Date at 9 o’clock Hours, minutes, seconds Tachymeter
Calibre: Calibre G1735, automatic tri-compax chronograph, 28’800 A/h (4Hz), Incabloc shock absorber 25 jewels
Power reserve : 48 hours
Case: 48 mm steel case
Steel right hand start / stop and reset pushers with “Clous de Paris” high grip pattern
Steel bezel with tachymeter scale
Domed sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coating on both faces
See-through sapphire crystal case back with Mercedes GP Petronas logo, secured by 6 screws

Download the Graham Press Release PDF

Finally, the long awaited (well at least it seemed that way from the comments I was getting) video review of my Graham Chronofighter watch. This is a cool watch with a neat Chronograph start/stop button that is operated from the large lever. No date, with a movement based on the Valjoux 7750. Many have criticized Graham for their excessive prices given the modified ETA movements, but they do make an interesting time piece. Enjoy the review!

Time to come clean guys – who among us has a guilty wristwatch pleasure? Be it a closet crush on Invicta Wristwatches or a obsessive-compulsive need to scrub down your watch with simple green every night… I know we all have at least one Guilty pleasure to share.

Ever since I got into watches years ago, I have always wanted to broaden my horizons and allow myself to experience the strangest of watches, with little regard for common sense. I am attracted to watches that many find ugly or over-the-top. No, I’m not talking about the influx of Glam Rock watches that has hit ebay recently, which is no doubt the liquidated stock of many costume-jewelry retailers. I am talking about funky watches like Graham Chronofighters, Mazzuoli Manometros and Corum Bubble’s with Jolly Roger’s on the dials. These are the watches that WIS-types like us pretend to be above, but in reality, I’m not. I harbor closet desires to own and wear these watches! I have to admit it.

Here are a few of the Guilty Pleasure Watches that I have wanted or have already owned:

While most automobile brands that associate themselves with watch brands tend to be exclusive in their partnerships, Mercedes seems to suprise with every new watch venture they embark on. Some of the brands that Mercedes has associated themselves with: IWC, Graham, Tag Heuer, Fabien Cacheux, Ulysse Nardin, and their own Brand created with Tourneau. There are very possibly others that I have missed too!

Most recently is the addition of Graham to the mix to celebrate the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 Team. The Mercedes watch they introduced is kind of ugly in my opinion. Designed more in the style of Graham than Mercedes, and features lots of discord with the mix of design elements making a watch that is overall not too tasteful.

While Mercedes has chosen to associate themselves with so many brands, they have for the most part made tasteful watches. However, unlike Ferrari by Panerai and Breitling for Bentley, the watches have very little association with each other.

Personally, I think the most successful and tasteful Automobile and Watch team-ups would be Breitling for Bentley and Jaeger LeCoultre and Aston Martin. The most Epic Fail Automobile Watch brand would be Tonino Lamborghini. Why would you license your brand out to a company that cannot market your product properly? Didn’t the 80′s and 90′s teach companies anything about licensing your brand – now we see Tonino Lamborghini products fill the shelves in discount stores and ebay.

Here is a gallery of some of the Mercedes collaboration watches out there:

I had been drooling over the Graham Chronofighter watches ever since the first time I saw them… even with their ridiculous espresso machine levers mounted on the side, and fairly standard Valjoux 7750 movements, the design of the watches really enticed me. For the retails prices of near $10,000 a pop, these are pricey watches given their modest innards.

This model is the Chronofighter classic model in the 42mm case size. It actually measures closer to 43mm but with the lever on the size the watch wears like a 44-45mm watch easily. The bezels on all the Graham watches are an concave shape and are one of the defining features of the brand.

I’ve mounted this Graham on a Nubo Straps ammo leather strap, 22mm lug width, and it looks amazing. Much better than the boring black leather strap that it came with. Unfortunately I can’t wear the 20mm buckle with this strap. I picked up a Di-Modell Bali that works very well with the stock buckle since it has slotted holes which are important since the OEM Tang is very big.

As you can see from the dial the Valjoux 7750 inside is COSC certified. A nice feature. It has been modified to remove the date and use only two registers. The Chronograph is operated using the espresso lever, and has some mechanics inside to move the start/stop pusher to the crown position.

The machining and craftsmanship of the espresso lever is very well done, and completely flawless. Everything about the casework and dial are extremely well made. The case back is deeply engraved with the serial number of the watch deeply engraved as well. Lume is very good also.

The proverbial wrist shot – As you can see, quite large on the wrist. The large crown device is noticeable with a short sleeved shirt, but under the cuff of a dress shirt it looks like any other watch, allowing this watch to pass for dress or casual. From a style standpoint, this is one of the most satisfying watches I’ve owned.