The European Aviation Watch of the Year this time that is.In the bar of the Aero Club de France in Paris, aeronautic representatives gathered last week for the first European Aviation Watch of the Year Trophy.In addition ot the host country, France and its pilot magazine Volez, the editors from the German Flieger magazine and British Aerospace International, defined the criteria for the pilot watches and an international jury, analysed, scored and voted.The clear winner was the Fortis Flieger Chronograph.Find the full article at Europastar...
Do you have ever any moral problems on a watch? I mean, Fliegerwatches that were used by the Luftwaffe, Panerai watches that were used by the Italian Navy in WWII, U-Boat watches that were in the race to be elected by Nazi s for their frogmen. Maybe even sooner, when a watch was used in any kind of war. The Glycine Airman used by US chopperpilots in Vietnam, Omega 30T2 watches used by the RAF in WWII and so on.I am not one of those, however, the line is getting thin when it is about watches that would be actually used by Nazi pilots or soldiers who were on the wrong side in WWII. When I was attending the P-Day #3 meeting in Frankfurt, some guys where showing off all their Italian Navy collec...
As most watchfanatics probably already know, Vacheron et Constantin will be celebrating their 250 year anniversary. Alex, of The Purists website, did an interview with Claude Daniel Proellochs, CEO at Vacheron et Constantin.Click here or on the picture below to check it out!...
Kucimo wrote me an e-mail about two weeks ago, stating that I shouldn t forget about Grand Seiko, after my negative rant on collecting Seiko or other Japanese watches.On the one hand I think he is absolutely right. Look at this picture below, which Kucimo attached to his e-mail, this looks perfect. You can see that Seiko put a lot of work in this to reach perfection in a watch. Everything on this watch ‘fits and every detail is probably discussed for hours at the Seiko R&D meetings. On the other hand, who is going to pay 5.000 USD for a Seiko. The money a Grand Seiko costs, easily buy you a great Swiss watch as well. It is like having a lot of money and spending it on a Honda (in...
Jean-Marie emailed me the following link : https://www.chronomania.netMy best French tells me that this is a populair watchportal in French for the French ??...
I got this in my mailbox last evening:I was looking for a nice and inexpensive watch and I come upon a watch companycalled Louis Bolle. I look at their web site https://www.louisbolle.com and theyhave many nice watches. I looked for more infomation but I couldn t find any. Isearch on Ebay and My God they were every where. The watch was being auction offor as low as $175. The retail price(according to the web site) was over $3000.What is going on? Do you know why this watch company are letting people sellingtheir watches for so cheap? If you have any information or answer please let meknow. My e-mail address is [email protected]Thanks,LThe website of Louis Bolle is nice indeed, b...
Sheesj. Adee Kaye watches creating an Invicta Lupah replica. Besides the shameless Invicta copy, they also make copies of Zeno, Breitling, IWC, Fortis, Alain Silberstein and more…Check this link here for a nice overview on shameless watchproducers.This is not a Silberstein, it is an original Adee Kaye.They could at least have come up with a better name than something which sounds like Yipee Caye....
As you can read in my last conversation with Chuck Maddox, we talked about Omega having too many models. At P-Day 3 in Frankfurt I noticed the same for Panerai, they even have a tourbillon diver watch, which is quite ridicilous ofcourse. I discussed it with some people over there, but they didn t think it would harm the watchindustry because people want to see as much models as possible of their favorite brand. I probably asked it at the wrong place, with a (mostly) Panerai-only public. My watchdealer, Gerard Nijenbrinks, told me the same thing last sunday when I was visitting his store. History is repeating, maybe for different reasons like Chuck said, but a few brands who almost went bank...
After a long week, here is part 2 of the conversation with Chuck Maddox. You can find part 1 in the archives (use the Search field) or by clicking here.Part 2 is a bit more in-depth on watches, movements and the watchbusiness in general.Click here to go to Part 2 of my conversation with Chuck Maddox....
Today, 26 October 2004, Ole Mathiesen from Copenhagen, Denmark, has won the 2004 Classic Danish Design prize with a watch model which he produces since 1962.Just like 42 years ago, this watch now comes in two variations, the OMB1 and the OMB2, with with roman numerals and index markers – both with a mechanical (hand winding) movement.Click here for the full article ??...
Yesterday, Antiquorum had their ‘Timless Beauty acution and it seemed to be a good one for them. You can read all about it in their report, click here (you ll need Acrobat Read for this).A Patek Philippe Calatrava, only 3 pieces made, in 1961 fetched the most… an amazing amount of 1,413,000 USD!! Besides a few more Pateks and es, Panerai acquired a lot of 5 diving instruments for their Panerai Museum. A wristwatch, compass, depth gauge, diving knive and a Morse code device made for the Italian Navy commandos. This went for 80,000 USD. Twice as much as estimated. The Ferrari Red Daytona below, went for 240,000 USD. Click here for all its specifications.Updated: 13:15 GMT+1, P...
Are you looking to buy an Omega Speedmaster but don t know where to start? We re here to help! Over the past 65+ years, Omega has created many variations of one of the world s most famous chronographs. The classic 42mm Moonwatch has been in the collection since 1965, and to the novice eye, little has changed since then. But if you look a bit closer, you will find that the Speedmaster evolved quite a bit in the decades that followed.In this Speedmaster guide, we ll give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedmaster (Professional) and some of its variations. Although this article isn t meant as a pricing guide, we will give some hints, of course. If you re already a knowl...
Introduced at Basel, and now available for the lucky ones amongst us. The Paul Picot GMT Chronograph watch, a very nice 42mm wristwatch with a nice guilloche dial. Look for yourself at the japanese version of the Fed. of the Swiss Industry siteTheir own site seems to be closed for maintenance....
For many years the Sinn 142.St has been an important player in Sinn s professional chronograph lineup. Unfortunately, the end of the Lemania 5100 caliber in 2002 initially resulted in this striking model s curtain call.Sinn 142.St C reference 142.010My first encounter with Sinn was in the early nineties. Helmut Sinn was still at the helm. Sinn was virtually unknown outside of Germany. Your best chance? Talking to an aviator who might have recognized the name?from some of their airplane instruments. Consequently, the bulk of Helmut s clientele were pilots. This was a comfortable relationship for Helmut, who was a former pilot himself. But when one earns a reputation for excellence in a niche ...
A small cite from the Alberto Santos-Dumont article on WordIQ.com:Santos-Dumont and the wristwatchThe wrist watch had already been invented by Patek Philippe, decades earlier, but Santos-Dumont played a important role popularizing its use by men in the early 1900s. Before him they were generally worn only by women, as men favored pocket watches. As a result, especially in Brazil, Santos-Dumont is considered by some to be the Father of the Wristwatch.The story goes that in 1904, while celebrating his winning of the Deutsch Prize at Maxim s Restaurant, Alberto complained to his friend Louis Cartier about the difficulty of checking his pocket watch to time his performance during flight. Alberto...
Urban s weblog links to a tutorial which shows you how to adjust your non-SEL (Solid End Links) bracelet so it will stop rattling. Personally, I think the -rattle is part of the charmes of having a , but some people probably think otherwise.Click here for a nice do-it-yourself tutorial!!...
Besides watches made by fellow Dutch citizen Christiaan van der Klaauw, we now also have watches from another Dutch company called Van der Gang Watches. Their main model looks (to me) a lot like the IWC Portugieser Chronograph, I could be insulting them by writing this, but even the price is about the same. ?? If I had to design a watch for my brand new company, I wouldn t design a watch that comes so close to a true classic by another brand and sell it within the same pricelevel. I would go IWC Portugieser for that kind of money within a blink of the eye.Anyway, pay them a visit by clicking here, maybe you ll think otherwise. If so, let me know by leaving a comment here....
I looked at this post at TimeZone today and was wondering, what is ever going to happen with Minerva? They even don t have a website anymore. Last thing heard, is that they would bring out some serious timepieces, comparable to the best of the best (Patek?). Prices were alike Patek as well.SteveG did a nice write-up at his website called SteveG s Watch Launchpad.Will Minerva remain silent and thought of as a legend in watchmaking? Or will you be surprised at some point in the future by their new range of watches?...
Oompalupah has a new watch and besides the nice write-up he did on it, he should be taking photographs for the official Omega catalogue for a living as well....
Right, Robert-Jan is out on holiday, we can post what we want – h?? h??!. Although it s not a watch, it ??s a Panerai – so he will be happy with it anyhow. Only 100 pieces of this huge instrument (60 mm diameter!) will be produced. I guess this is the most expensive compass I ve ever seen…Here s a review/article on paneristi.com: https://www.paneristi.com/reference/vendome/images/sihh_press_pics/BLACK_SEAL_COMPASS.htmCheers,Gerard...
