Vacheron Constantin has launched a new website to commemorate the opening of their first US boutique located in New York. A very informative website that charts all the major milestones throughout the history of the esteemed brand, and also allows you to add your own bit of history to the timeline. You can actually create a profile and make a post about your Vacheron Constantin story and have it added to the timeline! At the moment, I see only one story… I think they have to be approved by the V-C moderation team, which is obviously more scrutinous than our own moderation team here at the BreitlingSource forums

http://americanheritage.vacheron-constantin.com/

Blancpain introduces a Piece Unique with the Villeret Grand Decoration for the “Only Watch 2011″ Charity Auction that is taking place on September 22, 2011. This is an incredible piece of craftsmanship with fully hand-engraved bridges on the Caliber 15B movement.

The watch measure a stout 45mm in diameter and features a Solid 18KT Red Gold case with exhibition back showing off the incredible engraved movement by Marie-Laure Tarbouriech.

My favourite Dress Watch company has just released yet another Grail watch that I wish I could afford! One of these days I will get my hands on a 43mm+ Jaquet Droz, and if I’m lucky, a Ceramic one! While these Ceramic Models are on Rubber straps and are less dressy than their Stainless and Gold brethren, they still fit the bill.

Specs:
Case Material: Black Ceramic
Case Diameter: 44mm
Movement: Jaquet Droz Caliber 2663, 28,000 v.p.h, 30 Jewels
Strap: Rubber

From Jaquet Droz:
“Contemporary in spirit, this timepiece displays an elegance that is intended to last: the 44 mm watchcase is made of resistant ceramic, whose color and radiance will never fade. The Manufacture has now complemented this exceptionally strong material, the hands in black gold with a touch of red on the tip of the seconds hand and the six markers it indicates. This new chromatic signature, which suggests an authentic, highly refined luxury that is entirely contemporary, brings a new dynamism to the two interlinked circles and it strengthens the compelling power of the number 8, the Manufacture’s symbol of good fortune. The same quest for perfection yielded the opaline black dial, and by the contrast between the matt face and the gleaming ring, carefully integrated.”

After only two years, Rolex has replaced former CEO Bruno Meier with Riccardo Marini who was previously the head of Rolex Italia. Reuters Online Reports that this could indicate “possible management problems” at Rolex.

There is some speculation that the reason for the change may be due to internal differences on their level of openness to the outside world. This has not been a secret obviously since in this age of transparency and the Swiss Bank shakedown, clients appreciate knowing where there money is going.

Bruno Meier was finance director prior to his appointment as CEO of Rolex and was the first CEO outside fo the Heiniger family in nearly half a decade. This move by Rolex definately shows what appears to be some instability after such solid management for so long. The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation controls the company, and the driving force behind these changes.

Riccardo Marini, shown above, has much better style and pizzazz. Something that I think Rolex could benefit from! Just look at his Italian flair.

Like many watch companies now, Nomos has also started opening watch boutiques and their new Flagship store is located in Zurich, Switzerland. They’ve also released a limited editon watch to commemorate the event, the Zürich watch. It will be colored RAL 7032, or Pebble Gray, one of the major accent colors used in the boutique.

If you’re interested in visiting:
Spiegelgasse 13 (Niederdorf)
8001 Zürich
Telephone: +011-410-44-400-1417
Email: spiegelgasse@nomos-glashuette.ch
Opening times: Mondays to Fridays 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

Johan Gustafsson and watchmaker Patrik Sjögren continue their innovation with their GoS watches by introducing Damascus Steel movement bridges and balance cock. While i’ve talked about their Damascus Watches in the past, I’ve never seen anything like this before, and am quite sure it will be the first production watches at least with Damascus movement bridge and balance cock. As you can see, the movement bridge has been changed in shape from the original Unitas 6498 watch movement, and uses the base Soprod Enhanced Unitas 6498 for the movement. I’ve just received these Photos from GoS as they just got them in a few days ago and do not have the damascus Balance Cocks yet. When these ship, they will have them.

Very cool enhancements to an excellent movement. I am an avid knife collector and have always appreciated the sophistication of Damascus steel. I personally would not mind seeing these done with a powdered steel or exotic steel damascus like Devin Thomas. While I like old-fashioned ladder pattern Damascus, some variation is always nice.

More info on their watches here:
http://www.goswatches.com/

Well, we outgrew the last server, so BreitlingSource moves to a shiny new server now to handle the load that we were exceeding and costing too much to maintain. Now the hosting costs even more, but should have lots of room to grow.

Hope you guys continue enjoying the site!

In January, Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth, two luxury watch brands under the Bulgari Umbrella were consolidated into the main Bulgari brand and now all watches will feature the Bulgari namesake and branding. The newest watches from this integration were unvieled at Baselworld.

The “merger” was meant to help strengthen the Bulgari brand, allowing it to benefit from the horological expertise of the Genta/Roth brands. The dials of the new watches will still bare their original Roth or Genta logos in addition to the Bulgari branding.

See some of the new pieces:

Urwerk continues to innovate their Rare Species Collection with the addition of the White Shark to their collection, which is produced in a limited edition of 24 pieces. The watch features the caliber UR 7.02 movement, which has their patented revolving satelite complication for telling the time. The hours are shown on the point that is within the minute scale, and points to the current minute. What looks like a Moon Phase indicator is actually a Day-Night indicator, much to my chagrin! Day-Night moonphase look-a-likes are a pet peeve of mine.

Nicolas G. Hayek (1928-2010), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Swatch Group Ltd., passed away today at work due to heart failure. Mr. Hayek was an icon in the world of Horology and one of the most enthusiastic characters and supporters of the mechanical watch movement. He will be missed, but his work will live on.