The Escapement

- Watch This Space -

2011-05-01T05:48:00.006-04:00

It seems as though the only time I have been blogging as of late was to inform all of my readers [both of you...I know I know, old joke] of these major life changes that have nothing to do with watches, watchmaking, or the watch industry. Honestly, who cares about that? Well my lack of writing lately has been because of yet another major life change. You see, my wife is a global health practitioner by trade and we tend to move a lot due to her employment opportunities. Most recently we found ourselves moving to Zambia for about a two year period. This is the most stable situation we have been in in about 2 years.

After the initial shock of actually packing, storing, and picking up and moving to Africa, then the time it took to get acclimated to my vastly different surroundings; I really wanted to start writing again. I have been doing my best to keep up with the industry and what's going down, but we only recently got fair Internet service in our home. It's not like I can go to the corner mart and pick up the most recent issues of 'Watch Time' and 'International Watch' magazines [and the Patek Philippe ads on the back of 'The Economist' don't really keep me up to date].

I really wanted to include my current place of residence in my blog in some way, and I've been struggling with how to do that without changing its core subject matter. I still want to give opinion and news the best I can, with an occasional African bent to it.

Recently on Twitter I mentioned a watch shop that I found in Kitwe, about 40 miles away, where there are three generations of Zambian watchmakers called "Swizam". The shop is the ONLY brick and mortar shop I've found in the Copperbelt Province. I will be traveling to Kitwe early next week and decided that I will touch base with owners and see if they wouldn't mind a short interview and a write on The Escapement. I thought this would be a nice way to re-kick off [AGAIN] the blog. On my first visit to Swizam to inquire where I could order tools and supplies from I was welcomed into the Zambian watchmaking community very quickly. Something tells me that they will be more than happy to chat with me for a few minutes and have their picture taken for a little free publicity.

Here's hoping you will continue join me in the coming months as I do my best to keep this as entertaining as possible.

As always comments, and questions are always welcome.

$1 Watch Review

2010-11-21T21:11:00.012-05:00

I picked this up on eBay for a whole American dollar [+ $3 shipping], based on someone who showed it to me in person a couple of weeks ago. It's an LED watch that animates the time and date when the side pusher is pressed.

An interesting enough looking watch

Wow! Now it's 6:04 PM

...And now for my long awaited review:

Does it work?
Yes

Is it accurate?
Yes

How is the strap?
Kinda crappy, but that's to be expected

Does it require math?
Eh, a little

Is it fun?
Sure, why not?

Was it worth a buck?
Yup

That's about it. Dollar watch = Dollar review.

Enjoy your week!

Patience Pays Off

2010-11-20T23:51:00.008-05:00

Almost exactly one year ago I posted an article about a Rolex that I found in front of my apartment while I was living in Boston. I brought the watch to work, snapped some pics, asked around the online community a bit and got solid confirmation that the watch was legitimate. That evening I turned the watch into the Brookline Police Department. I told the officer that I wanted to find its original owner as I imagined someone was looking for it, and stated that if the original owner came into claim it to pass along my phone number as I wanted to hear the history of the watch. At this point the officer said to me in a very smooth Boston accent "So a watch collector finds a vintage Rolex on the street and turns it in to find the original owner?.....Good man." Honestly, that alone was worth turning it in. I really wanted to find the original owner because if I lost it I would hope like hell someone was trying to find me.

Along with turning it into the local police department I spent the next couple of months posting on watch forums, and on Craigslist etc etc seeing if I could aid in the search. I opted to not post pics and rely on the owner being able to describe the watch to me so not just anyone could claim it. If I was contacted I would have put them in touch with the police department.

Fast forward to a year later, I contacted the property/evidence officer at the police department and was told that no one had claimed the watch and now I could consider it mine. Needless to say I was quite excited. There was only one problem...I moved to Seattle, I was literally across the country. In speaking with the detective he told me that if I arranged it I could have someone pick it up in my absence. I found a good friend in the area who agreed to proxy me and pick up the watch. I told the detective his name, put them in touch with each other and...Bingo Bango...The watch arrived in the mail today.

So here it is, it's commonly referred to as a "Rolex Rebberg", or "Rolex Trench Watch". I have it dated somewhere between 1914-1920 but am still waiting for confirmation on that. The name "Rebberg" refers to the movement that it has, it's possible this model has a proper name, I just don't know it yet.

Since I started the watchmaking class which has every tool I could possibly need I am going to be able to disassemble, clean, reassemble and oil, regulate and time it myself. The only change I am going to make is the hands, in doing some research I see that the hands have been replaced, I have already found modern equivalents to the originals and will be getting a pair of them. They should look something like THIS.

So all in all it's not a bad way to get a vintage classic...Finding one on the street. I was definitely fortunate that the watch ended up in my hands, and to its original owner, where ever you may be, I promise that your old watch is now in good hands [ask around] this piece will be pampered and cared for properly. I'm sorry you lost it, but am relieved that it no longer needs to spend its time in a police station not being fed daily.

Sixth iPod Nano Officially Gets Watchified

2010-11-07T12:34:00.014-05:00

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, many people are throwing NATO style straps on the newest version of the iPod Nano and wearing it as a wristwatch. I understand that there are some minor issues with things like battery life, but all in all I think its a great idea, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can don one myself. Anything to get something new on the wrist, right?

Enter a small company named Hex, recently they introduced a silicone watch strap that the new Nano sits inside of. The new jacket has an opening for the headphone jack, and integrated buttons for control. I think we can also presume that the case of the iPod will be well protected encased in the strap.

The Hex strap will set you back about $25, and comes in a a choice of 9 colors. They can be seen in greater detail, and purchased, through the Hex website: www.shophex.com

A great way to hide the headphone cable [photos courtesy: www.shophex.com]

Opinion: Watches Aren't Going Anywhere

2010-10-29T13:11:00.013-04:00

Yesterday I was barraged by articles [like THIS one] about a poll that was taken in the UK stating that "time has run out for the wristwatch". It seems like once a week I am clued into an article that says something similar to that sentiment. The more I see them the more annoying they become.

How many times have we seen the so called death of the wristwatch? Too many to count. Apparently this poll was taken among what I can only imagine was very young people who rely more on their personal devices [MP3 players, smart phones, and tablets] than they do on a wristwatch. Well I'm here to tell you that there are really no worries, the wristwatch industry is thriving...Especially on the mechanical end. So not only have sales been up in recent years, and steadily increasing after the recent recession, but it's mechanical watches that are proving their worth, not just the more affordable quartz pieces. Watches are worn mainly by adults, of course most teenagers and people in their early 20's don't care about them...They're having enough trouble understanding the value of things when new $400 gadgets come out every 3 months which leave the old $400 gadgets in an underwear drawer collecting dust.

Which leads me to my next point; I have seen a non-running pocket watch over 100 years old come back to life in a span of 3 hours with some careful intricate work. An item made by man, over 100 years old working in the way it originally intended by its designer. So it leads me to ask, 100 years from now where is your smart phone going to be? Probably in a landfill with millions of other smart phones not degrading at the rate that the manufacturer stated. It's not widely known but in the United States alone there is a projected need of up to 5000 watchmakers in the next 7 years, proof that this "dead" industry has a lot of life left in it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the convenience of my MP3 player...Even with its horrifying sound quality [don't even get me started on that]. I love gadgets as much as the next guy, but they certainly aren't built to last. A quality timepiece can literally live on forever with the proper maintenance. Announcing them as dead based on a poll is moronic at best. On an up note it was Steve Jobs who suggested that the new iPod Nano be worn as a wristwatch...Which I fully support, and kinda has me considering updating my iPod.

The new iPod Nano being worn as a wristwatch

The watch industry has survived through much more rocky times than the era of the iPod. Even the American version of "The Office" inadvertently poked a little fun at the situation when the Kelly character asked Ryan for the time during a visit to the local theater, and he pulled out an iPad with an app of a giant running clock on the screen, it was obvious he was meant to look idiotic. Needless to say, I got a good laugh out of it...But I'm kind of a nerd like that.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I, of course, welcome any comments you may have. If you are so inclined when you come across a story about the death of the wristwatch, put a link to this article in the comment section.

Charlie Sheen; You're Big Trouble, Mister

2010-10-29T12:27:00.013-04:00

Typically when it comes to entertainment news I give it a passing glance and move on to generally more important things. Over the past two days I have heard way more about Charlie Sheen than I would ever imagine I could. I can read your mind right now; "Why the he talking about a story that really has no bearing on anything whatsoever?". Well today I learned of a detail of the Charlie Sheen saga that hit me to the core of my being.

Apparently during his now infamous stint in New York City, Chuck seems to have misplaced his timepiece...And we aren't talking about a dollar store watch here. The watch? A Patek Phillipe 5970, valued at approximately $150,000. To serious collectors, and fans of all things wristwatch the mention of the word "Patek" ignites a Pavlovian response of an increased heart rate and bouts of uncontrollable drooling. Likewise the thought of one being lost, or stolen, from its rightful owner brings waves of sadness, along with thoughts of "Well, you really gotta keep an eye on that thing".

The Patek Phillipe 5970 valued at approximately $150,000

TMZ reported that Sheen was photographed wearing the piece while being seen out and about with adult film star Capri Anderson [like the passing mention of that name on my blog won't bring an onslaught of porn spam]. We have all heard various tales of what happened in the hours following. Sheen was not aware of his missing watch until a few hours after they left a New York restaurant together.

There is a whole lot happening in this photo [snatched from TMZ...obviously]

Ok, I need to editorialize here for a moment...A few hours later?...HOURS?!? I go 5 minutes without any watch and I start getting the sweats, and I certainly don't own anything remotely close to a Patek. Moving on.

On one final note; court documents regarding Sheen's assets state that he has a timepiece collection valued at around 5.5 million dollars....So really, what's $150,000? Side note it would take him shooting only 3 episodes of "Two and a Half Men" to get to that sum. Impressive, and a little depressing.

Tissot Shoots...And Scores!

2010-09-22T01:41:00.007-04:00

In their further attempt to bring in a strong base of American sports fans Tissot has announced today that the French born basketball star Tony Parker will be joining Tissot as an ambassador.

Parker, known for being the captain of the French basketball team, and a member of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs is known internationally for his ability on the court and his high level of social awareness off of it. He has had quite the impressive professional career which includes; a bronze medal with the 2005 French national team, 3 NBA titles in 2003, 2005, and 2007, as well as becoming the first foreign born player to be named MVP of the 2007 NBA finals.

Basketball is not really a new venue for Tissot as they are already the official timekeeper for the International Basketball Federation [FIBA]. I'm sure it doesn't hurt Tissot that Parker has a solid fan base here in the states. In the past few years Tissot has made plays for ambassadors that have solid representation in very American sports including; becoming the official timekeeper of NASCAR. Make no mistake, this is just the beginning for Tissot and international basketball, as they have several organizations they are already teamed up with.

I'm sure we'll all be seeing a lot more of Mr. Parker in Tissot ads in the US in the coming months.

Now with a Twist

2010-09-17T12:10:00.009-04:00

Over the past few months I have been a horrible, horrible, blogger. I really haven't done much with it, and I do feel pretty bad about that. There are several excuses but I'm sure the reason can be summed up with the word; malaise. I honestly wanted to write, and have been keeping up with the industry news, but I guess the muse just never struck me. I've also avoided activity in the forums, though I did visit for information. The passion was still there, just not the will...I guess. I know, I know...call the waaaahmbulance, Craig. I am hoping all that is about to change.

As I mentioned in previous articles I do some hobbyist watchmaking at home, well last night I attended my first watchmaking class through NorWest Voc'Tech here in Seattle. Though not a standardized course set up through WOSTEP, or SAWTA [the Swiss governing bodies of horological education], I am definitely in the hands of extremely capable instructors and fellow classmates whom I can learn from. The class is full of known area watchmakers including; Tom Payne, who is certified as a WOSTEP 'Train the Trainer' instructor and Mark Smith from Seattle Watch Repair. Through these gentleman I have also become a member of the local chapter of the NAWCC, and Washington Watchmakers - Clockmakers Association.

My class bench, with my "school" set of tools...I may have a problem.

Now here's the part about my first class that really got my attention; in the small class of about 10 people I met a guy who actually read 'The Escapement' a couple times. Now considering I thought that my wife and my mother were my only two readers; I was quite excited to meet someone who was familiar. Obviously, it was nice to hear. Also, talking to this person about watches opened me back up to what I love about it so much. Hence the article.

What does all this mean for 'The Escapement'? What's the twist? you ask Well it means that I'm simply going to add some articles here and there about my experiences in the class. I will avoid going into minutia of the classes, as I imagine not all readers would be into that much information.

You know, I just read this and realized how much I use the terms "I" and "me", sorry about that, that's just plain tacky. I'll do my best to not do that from here on out, unless it's a stated opinion article.

Ed. Note: The Fat Boys photo is an mini homage to a very close friend of mine...and yes, I was actually a big fan growing up...'Crushin' was my favorite album, so there.

Nicolas G. Hayek: 1928 - 2010

2010-06-28T13:07:00.011-04:00

The Swatch Group announced today via press release that their co-founder and and Chairman; Nicolas G. Hayek unexpectedly passed away due to heart failure while at work today, June 28th in Biel, Switzerland.
Nicolas Hayek is often credited with single handily saving the Swiss watch industry after the quartz crisis in the late 70's and early 80's. As Chairman of the Swatch Group, which is the home of many well known moderate to high end brands, the decisions he made shaped the way the industry moved and kept it from nearly disappearing all together. Unfortunately with some decisions came controversy which had The Swatch Group investigated on more than one occasion for antitrust violations. His legacy will most certainly focus on this drive to keep the Swiss watch industry moving forward and the tactics he used to do so. Most recently Hayek announced that ETA, the largest watch movement manufacturer in Switzerland, and the one widely used in most Swiss Made pieces, was to stop selling blank [ebauche] movements to companies outside of The Swatch Group. At first this announcement was met with deep concern about the future of the industry, but Hayek stated he was doing so because the Swiss watch industry was lacking innovation. As of now the result of this decision has brought about many high end brands developing their own in-house movements.

Though most of his career focused on the Swiss watch industry Mr. Hayek was also instrumental in the development of the Smart Car in conjunction with Mercedes Benz.

It looks as though the announcement was made after the close of the Swiss market with their shares closing up 2.55% at CHF 325.40. He was considered one of Switzerland's most influential captains of industry so if there is any shareholder reaction to his passing it will be evident in early trading tomorrow.
Currently his son, Nick Hayek Jr. is the CEO of The Swatch Group.

Update: Today, June 30th, it was decided that Ms. Nayla Hayek [pictured below] will now serve as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group. Ms. Hayek previously served as Vice President. It can probably be presumed that she will continue the traditions that her father initially started during his tenure.

...Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

2010-06-02T23:13:00.005-04:00

Well, hello there! After what was admittedly a much longer than expected hiatus I am very pleased to announce the [triumphant?] return of The Escapement Watch Blog to these here inter-webs!! The only real change that has occurred is that my home base is now in Seattle, Washington [for those not keeping track, I was previously in Boston, Massachusetts]. I am starting to discover that Seattle is quite the watch community, so in those regards I am extremely pleased with our decision to move to the left coast.

Essentially what happened was a big move across the country [in a U-Haul] for my wife and I, followed immediately by me joining a friend's band on a 30 city United States tour as a member of his road crew. I was going to attempt to write along the way, but honestly the hours were so wacky, and the tour was scheduled so tightly that any free time I had, I tended to sleep.

To those who are still paying attention; I want to extend a heartfelt thank you, and to those who happened to start following me on Facebook and Twitter whilst I was away...I want to sincerely apologize for what must have seemed like the most boring watch blog out there.

I am expecting to write at about the same pace as I had in the past. I have not given up, nor have I forgotten about my little corner of the web.

I very much appreciate your patience, and understanding. I look forward to serving you, the reader, to the best of my ability once again.

Why So Quiet?

2010-03-01T09:06:00.005-05:00

As you may have noticed it's been a little bit of time since I last posted anything on The Escapement's blog and Twitter account. After several months of investigation and debate my wife and I decided to move across the US to Seattle Washington. The confirmation of the move came about a month ago so, as you can probably imagine, I have been spending most of my time getting my affairs in order and packing up our home. We are doing this the old fashion way, we are loading up our home and dog in a U-Haul truck and driving across the country. The idea is at once romantic and dreadful to me at the same time.

I will, of course, continue with The Escapement once things settle down for us a bit, hopefully I will have some cool watch related personal news as well. I will still try to keep active during this process, though the posts may be a little lighter than normal. I understand that we are about to hit BaselWorld and my timing couldn't be more "perfect"...but alas that's the way life happens.

In the meantime I wanted to suggest a few fellow watch blogs that I find to be great reads, and are run by down to earth people that offer several different perspectives on individual watches and the industry.

Perpetuelle: OK this one was a given, run by Kyle Stults this is the blog that I guest write for from time to time. Perpetuelle does an amazing job of up to the moment news and opinion in the luxury watch industry.

Hodinkee: Stated by Benjamin Clymer and his partner Dan Wieder; Hodinkee focuses mainly on vintage pieces, but they are certainly not limited to them. An informative, and fun read.

The Watch Lounge: Run by Tom Mulraney; I would deem this to be a casual fun place to keep up with the industry, watch reviews, and some amazing giveaways for readers. Keep an eye on "Weird Watch Wednesday" for some of the coolest watches the industry has ever produced.

aBlogtoRead: Ariel Adams labor of love. A very popular, and often cited, blog that covers everything from Swiss made master complications to the burgeoning Chinese industry that is rapidly becoming a factor that the traditional Swiss firms can no longer ignore.

There are many other blogs that I follow and I cannot possibly recall them all. If you go to The Escapement's Twitter account you can find a decent sized list.

I truly appreciate every reader that has every graced this page and I hope you understand why I have been taking this small break while my 'normal' life falls back into place.

BaselWorld 2010: Tissot Sailing Touch

2010-02-10T17:06:00.008-05:00

This year at Basel Tissot will show off its latest version from their "Touch" collection. Coming off the popularity of their T-Touch Trekking watch, they have once again expanded the line with the "Sailing Touch" which has newly added functions directed towards those of you who find yourself having a kinship with the sea.

The original T-Touch is still quite a popular piece, and many know about all of its functions [compass, barometer, altimeter, chronograph, thermometer, and alarm] that are enacted by touching the crystal. Since its inception Tissot has listened to customer requests and updated the look of the watch and increased its water resistance to a full 100 meters, up from the originals 30 meter rating.

The Sailing Touch offers a few of the same functions as it's big brothers but two of them had to be swapped out for more nautical themed toys. The "Altimeter" and "Thermometer" have been replaced with a "Tide" calculator, and a "Regatta" countdown timer. The chronograph function is now marked by "Speed" on the dial. One other feature that was added for 2010 is a backlight on the digital portion of the watch. Sometimes it really is the small things, fans of the T-Touch line truly appreciate Tissot increasing water resistance and adding that backlight.

The look of the Sailing Touch is one of a refined sport sailing watch, with a well rounded case and colorful bezel that is marked to work with the regatta countdown timer. As with past versions the Sailing Touch is available on a rubber strap in black or white, with a folding clasp. The case is a solid 316L steel with a sapphire crystal, so you can touch away without any fears of scratching it.

The Sailing Touch will be available this year and sell for between $500.00 - 900.00, depending on the version. I bet you can't wait to get your hands on it....Well at least your finger.
Specs:

Movement	Quartz
Functions	Hours, minutes, weather (relative pressure), regatta (countdown), speed (chronograph with tachymeter), compass, 2 alarms, tide calculator, 2 time-zones, perpetual calendar and back-lighting
Case	316L stainless steel Scratch-resistant, anti-reflective tactile sapphire crystal Red, silvered or navy blue bezel with or without setting of 19 Top Wesselton VS/SI diamonds (0.8 to 0.85 ct) Water-resistant to 100 m
Dial	Black, silvered, navy blue or white lacquered
Bracelet/Strap	Black or white rubber, or rubber with 316L stainless steel, safety folding clasp

BaselWorld 2010 Preview Pt. VI

2010-02-10T08:58:00.005-05:00

Continuing with today's sport watch mood; BaselWorld preview number six.

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DOXA

SUB 800 Ti Professional

Using a unique technology for the hourmarkers and hands, the SUB 800Ti guarantees extraordinary luminosity in conditions of the poorest visibility. Constructed in titanium, it is both highly resistant and light and meets the most exacting demands of deep-sea diving.

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PIERRE DEROCHE

GrandCliff TNT Penta

Both technical and entertaining, the GrandCliff TNT Penta chronograph reveals a composition of five resolutely high-tech disks. The two date discs come together at 12 o’clock, while the three others, made of eloxided aluminium, indicate the 60 minutes and 12 hours of the flyback chronograph, as well as the permanent seconds. Limited edition of 201 pieces.

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LUMINOX

Deep Dive

Luminox’s Deep Dive has been used for 20 years by the Navy Seal, America’s coast-guards, and by the legendary diver Stan Waterman. The brand’s new version is even more impressive, with water-resistance to 50 bar (500 m/1500 ft). Certified for professional use, it meets the stringent ISO 6425 norms for diving watches. A patent-pending blocking system for the bezel and crown protector, an automatic helium valve, and a case with special water-resistant gaskets are just some of its many characteristics. And if those weren’t enough, there is its unique Luminox Light Technology (LLT) system providing continuous illumination for 25 years thanks to the micro gas tubes that emit a blue glow, the last colour that the human eye is capable of distinguishing at great depths.

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GUCCI

Classic Watch

The most impressive model in the Gucci Classic collection, this chronograph embodies the quintessential Gucci style, inspired by a passion for sailing and nautical sports. Very sophisticated in its steel case and bracelet version, it becomes powerful and distinguished when presented in black PVD and a black or green rubber strap. No matter which of the two versions one chooses, one certainty remains: that of wearing a timepiece that is faithful to the brand’s codes, with the emblematic G in shiny filigree on the dial and the iconic green-red-green band. An inimitable signature, which makes each one of Gucci’s creations instantly recognisable.

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CATENA

Horseshoe Chronograph

Surprising and unique, the emblematic horseshoe by Catena is enhanced with black PVD and pink gold finishing, creating some very elegant contrasts between the case and dial. The chronograph, measuring time to 1/10 of a second, will satisfy the highest expectations of the man in search of contemporary elegance.

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CONCORD

C1 Code

Logical, methodical and highly efficient, the new C1 Code chronograph is making a statement. The algebraic formula above the dial expresses the structural complexity of the case and partially covers the impressive sapphire crystal. The equations are fitted around the various counters, an unequivocal assertion that Concord watches are supreme pieces of engineering.

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ALFEX

Black Light

Winner of the prestigious Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award 2009, the Black Light attracts immediate attention. The world’s first three-dimensional wristwatch, it is very easy to read in the dark thanks to its Superluminova-coated sapphire crystal hourmarkers, with the hands turning underneath. Thanks to the skilful use of the day/night contrasts, its black dial reflects intense luminosity. By exceeding the parameters laid down by design and opening up new dimensions, Alfex confirms that it has always been – and always will be – a “design addict”.

BaselWorld 2010 Preview Pt. V

2010-02-10T08:30:00.007-05:00

I decided that I would focus on a few sport watches for this preview. Enjoy!

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JOVIAL

Limited Edition 80 years

Growing younger by the year, Jovial has decided to extend the festivities of its 80th anniversary with a commemorative piece, the Limited Edition 80 years. The apotheosis of what has been a very emotional year for the brand, this piece embodies to perfection the sense of revival which has characterised the anniversary collection: a supremely innovative high-tech case of delicious chocolate-brown colour, contemporary materials and a skilfully orchestrated interplay of structures and volumes with the most meticulous finishing to create a perfect balance.

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WENGER

Led Nomad

A little treasure of sophistication, the Wenger LED Nomad is subtle and discreet despite its numerous digital and analogue functions. There are four pushpieces: one to display the central LED digital compass bearing and the arrow which appears under the Wenger cross logo, a second for the day of the week, a third for the date and month, and a fourth for the digital time in hours, minutes and seconds. Little doubt that today’s nomad will be attracted by this “1 pushpiece – 1 function” principle. The avant-garde design of this redoubtable multi-functional tool gives it plenty of punch.

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EMILE CHOURIET

Traveller

The models in the Traveller collection have an in-laid sailing boat on the dial to symbolise travelling and, thanks to a second time zone and large date, are transformed into very useful companions. Echoing the emblematic shape of the “wings of time”, the titanium case is both light and comfortable to wear.

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EBERHARD & Co

Tazio Nuvolari Edition Limitée Grand Prix en Or

Unfailing source of admiration for the Eberhard brand, the legendary racing driver Tazio Nuvolari has inspired a very exclusive red-gold series, reminiscent of vintage dashboards. While Eberhard has fully met the requirements of these instruments – clarity, legibility, precision and resistance – it has paid no less care and attention to the aesthetic aspect: a black gold-plated black dial for extra brilliance, a circular-grained flange, a ceramic bezel with tachometer scale, large counters, and striking contrasts between the black and red gold, sublimated by numerous red touches. Limited series of 123 pieces.

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ERNEST BOREL

Série Rocky II

Masculine, resolute and distinguished. A sporty design – a yellow dial for the punch and a bi-coloured strap for originality – combined with useful complications – large date, retrograde days and small seconds – make the Rocky II Series a must for men who want to express their individuality.

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ALTANUS

Elite Sport

A sporty model guaranteed to make an impact has now been added to Altanus’ emblematic Elite collection. The generously-sized case features a very contemporary bezel and pushpieces, offering a perfect setting for the animated dial. An extremely dynamic ensemble that is given impressive depth by the slide rule on the flange.

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ALPINA

12 Hours of Sebring

Alpina is the official timekeeper of the “12 hours of Sebring”, the race that opens the American Le Mans Series, and is celebrating the 58th edition of this legendary event with a limited series of 158 pieces. This chronograph has been built to meet the tough requirements of the celebrated Florida circuit, regarded as one of the main meets on the international agenda. The 12 Hours of Sebring watch offers drivers everything they need: precision, legibility, shock-resistance and reliability. And let’s not forget the opportunity to follow the 12 hours of Sebring on the chronograph’s 12-hour counter, or the GMT which enables the spectators, who have come from afar, to remain on their starting-blocks in two time zones! Limited and numbered edition sold in a special Sebring box.

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More previews to come!

Into the Abyss: Breitling Avenger Seawolf Chrono Blacksteel

2010-02-08T12:41:00.009-05:00

Breitling has unveiled their newest limited edition version of the Avenger line. The Avenger Seawolf Chrono Blacksteel will have a limited run of 2,000 pieces worldwide. One of its more impressive features is the ability to operate the chronograph at a depth of 1,000 meters [3,300 feet]. Unlike other Avenger models in Breitling's line up this utilizes Breitling's own "SuperQuartz" movement rather than a mechanical.

From Breitling:

A special version of the Avenger Seawolf Chrono – the only chronograph that is watertight and fully operational at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) – the new Blacksteel limited edition is distinguished by its unconventional look matching its exceptional performances.

Black is the keynote here, variously interpreted in the steel case subjected to an ultra-resistant carbon-based treatment; the unidirectional rotating bezel; the large screw-locked crown and non-slip pushpieces; and on the dial base creating a striking backdrop for the white luminescent hands, hour markers and red-rimmed counters. Its original, technical and powerful appearance makes the Avenger Seawolf Chrono Blacksteel limited edition an unmistakable standout model among diver's watches. But its greatest feat is hidden inside its case, thanks to its magnetic pushpiece system. This exclusive Breitling patented device serves to activate the controls through the metal of the case, without any direct mechanical contact. This means that whereas most chronographs cannot be used when diving, the Avenger Seawolf Chrono is the only instrument of this type to be watertight and fully operational at a record depth of 1,000 meters (3,300 ft). To accompany professionals to great depths in complete security, this extreme chronograph has been equipped with a decompression valve and an AR coated sapphire crystal guaranteeing optimal readability in all circumstances.

Its SuperQuartz™ caliber – also exclusive to Breitling – ensures a level of accuracy ten times superior to that of standard quartz movements, enabling it to measure times to within 1/10th of a second complete with split-time indications. The Avenger Seawolf Chrono Blacksteel, issued in a 2,000-piece worldwide limited edition, is available on a – naturally black – Diver Pro rubber strap or on a perforated Ocean Racer strap. In a nod to Breitling's special ties with aviation, its inner bezel ring is adorned with a windrose serving to memorize a course – both underwater or in the air.

Personally, I am a big fan of Breitling's offerings and think this is one fantastic looking watch, since their release of the original Avenger Skyland in Blacksteel a couple years back I have always found that particular look to be very appealing.

BaselWorld 2010 Preview Pt. IV

2010-02-06T20:40:00.007-05:00

The hits just keep on comin'! Click on each respective brand name for links to their official websites.

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BALL WATCH

Engineer Hydrocarbon Spacemaster
A quintessential Ball Watch timepiece, the new Engineer Hydrocarbon has undergone numerous developments, like the unidirectional rotating bezel with an H3 micro gas light inserted into a container at 12 o’clock. Its graduation from 0 to 14, as well as the numbers 15, 30 and 45, are coated with a very powerful luminescent paint producing blue reflections. Another innovation is the patented triple folding clasp that the brand has machined from a single block of steel, with the folding elements under the buckle cap equally divided so that the bracelet can be extended by 22mm and the watch worn over sports equipment. American navy pilot Brian Binnie took this extraordinary timepiece with him into space, an expedition that Ball Watch has celebrated by equipping the Spacemaster dial with tubes of blue luminescent gas, in the style of a spaceship’s instrument panel.

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RADO

r5.5 Automatic
Already the winner of a prestigious prize, the r5.5 collection has been enlarged with a new automatic model, a natural development of the collaboration between Rado and the British designer Jasper Morrison based on their shared passion for high-tech ceramics. With the characteristic square shape of its dial, the r5.5 is an immediate eye-catcher. The collection’s name comes from the radius of the dial, whose matte black colour offers striking contrasts with the white luminescent hands and hourmarkers. Not forgetting the perfect synthesis between the ceramic case and the bracelet with its different-sized links that makes the watch fit so snugly round the wrist.

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LOUIS ERARD

1931 Régulateur Réserve de Marche
Almost 400 years after the appearance of the regulator in the field of chronometry, Louis Erard pays tribute to this veritable symbol of precision. For the occasion, it has introduced an exclusive complication thanks to a new module developed in partnership with Soprod. A world-first and exclusive to the brand! Offering both ancestral craftsmanship and modernity, Louis Erard has pulled off a master stroke in a spirit of haute horlogerie at affordable prices.

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CHRISTIAN JACQUES

EOS
A blend of pink gold and chocolate tones, this limited edition of 100 Eos watches from Christian Jacques has been designed with refinement in mind. The combination of an automatic chronograph movement, noble materials – pink gold case and crocodile strap – and highly worked finishing creates a timepiece that is as classic as it is elegant in the purest Swiss tradition.

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ATLANTIC

Worldmaster Original 1888
Defying time with grace and elegance, the Worldmaster Original 1888 honours the past by paying tribute to the present. Or maybe it is the contrary. Both sober and refined, its delicately cambered case opens onto a sunray guilloché dial that enhances the sophistication of the piece, while the hand-applied hourmakers and Arabic numerals are ennobled with nickel or pink gold. Both vintage and contemporary, the Worldmaster Original 1888 encapsulates the powerful innovations introduced by the watchmaker from Lengnau for 122 years.

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REVUE THOMMEN

Heritage Collection
Revue Thommen, one of Switzerland’s oldest watch companies, has reproduced its mythical Square model, launched in 1953 to celebrate the company’s centenary. While it appears more contemporary with its pink gold-plated Arabic numerals, transparent back and finely guilloched small seconds, the 2010 model nevertheless remains faithful to the brand’s identifying features: a manufactory-made manual-wound movement, refined lines and unostentatious elegance. Not forgetting those precious materials –18K pink gold for the case and the alligator strap – that add the final touch of perfection to this historically-inspired timepiece.

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ALTANUS

Master T
With its stylish tonneau case, sober dial and the most elegant of steel bracelets, the Master T has an array of useful functions – chronograph, date and moon phase – that will thrill lovers of sport-chic looking for a watch which is both contemporary and classic.

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Keep up with The Escapement for more Basel previews, and more in depth looks.

BaselWorld 2010 Preview Pt. III

2010-02-06T20:04:00.016-05:00

More goodies slated to appear this year in Basel.

I should mention if you see something in these previews that you would like me to explore a little bit more, just let me know I'd be happy to. Take a look at the latest Frederique Constant tailored to boys from the ages of 12-16; that's one way to try to pass along the watch bug. Click on each respective brand name for links to their official websites.

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FREDERIQUE CONSTANT

Junior AutomaticDesigned for young men aged 12 to 16, the Junior Collection was created by Frédérique Constant to provide fathers who love beautiful Swiss watches with the opportunity to commemorate an important stage in their son’s life. Housing an automatic movement, the Junior has a back specially designed for the engraving of a personal message, which can be submitted on-line.

Maxime Manufacture LadyWith its FC-700 calibre – a Frédérique Constant creation from A to Z – the Maxime Manufacture Lady is as technical as it is elegant. A combination of horological mastery and aesthetic refinement, it will surpass the expectations of the modern woman wishing to return to real values.

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CLERC

Hydroscaph Big Date Power Reserve

Gérald Clerc, representing the brand’s fourth generation, is the creative force behind the Hydroscaph, a timepiece that embodies a new type of construction by incorporating the most advanced technologies. Comprising more than 75 components, the patented 18K red gold and black titanium case is equipped with a helium escape-valve guaranteeing water-resistance to a depth of 1,000 metres. Manufactured in Switzerland. Three-year international guarantee.

Odyssey Lady Skeleton

The Clerc brand has created a precedent and opened a new era by combining futuristic aesthetics and case construction in an haute joaillerie timepiece. Individually numbered and manufactured in Switzerland, this vibrant tribute to beauty and femininity is an exquisite example of high contemporary watchmaking art.

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BADOLLET

Observatoire 1872 Minute RepeaterIn 1872, Badollet pocket-watches took the first three places of the Concours de l’Observatoire. The brand is now proud to present this magnificent model equipped with a minute repeater and flying tourbillon and housed in a case designed to recall the style of the fob-watch. This little horological masterpiece is adorned with an opaline skeleton dial set with 72 diamonds and 12 sapphires, through which the hammers, gongs and flying tourbillon can be admired on the bridge side.

Crystalball Chronograph

Taking personalisation to its very limits thanks to a remarkable choice of materials for the dial and case, the Crystalball Chrongraph encapsulates the mastery of the watchmakers of Badollet. The most stunning example is the manufactory-made column-wheel mono-pushpiece chronograph movement combined with a regulator tourbillon and a 120-hour power reserve.

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CUERVO Y SOBRINOS

Historiador SemanalTrue to its origins, Cuervo y Sobrinos has reinterpreted a model it brought out in the 1940’s. At that time, the movement made by the brand was patented. Nostalgic for this period when Havana was at the height of its splendour, the brand has devoted two years of research to develop a new in-house movement that is an improvement on the original. Introducing the indication of the week in the form of numbers – hence the word “semanal” (weekly) – and indicating the days, date and month in a circle all the way round the dial are dramatic proof of how valuable all that patient work was!

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ARMAND NICOLET

S05

The objective was to create a truly elegant sporty watch, one that offered as much style as wearer comfort. The case has been worked in titanium to make it more resistant to corrosion and to lessen the weight. A contemporary mechanical piece of true distinction, the new S05 from Armand Nicolet has surpassed all the expectations of its creator!

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More to come...very soon!

Hublot Just Can't Get Enough

2010-02-05T11:59:00.013-05:00

Not so long ago I posted an article regarding Hublot partnering with the popular electronic music group Depeche Mode. The idea was to produce a one time run of 12 special edition Hublot Big Bang watches each of which would have cover art from Depeche Mode's 12 albums. The pieces were to be put up for auction online, and all of the proceeds were to be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Hublot unveiled the watches today, and announced the website where you can bid on the watches beginning February the 8th, all the way through February 24th.

Below are the 12 watches [in no particular order]:

Click on each photo for a more detailed view

In addition to winning one of the most popular sport automatic luxury chronographs around, the piece comes in a special presentation box which includes:

A deluxe vinyl version of the album
A USB flash drive containing a digital copy of the album and a documentary about the process of making it.
Original album artwork print and a framed gold CD
Each album will also include a signed photograph of everyone who contributed to that particular release [including: Alan Wilder & Vince Clarke]

For more information or to place a bid visit www.hublot.com/depechemode. Good luck and happy bidding!

Perpetuelle Articles

2010-02-05T10:51:00.008-05:00

Over the past few days Kyle over at the Perpetuelle blog has been keeping me pretty busy writing some new content for him. Both articles are regarding two new movements that will be unveiled at BaselWorld next month. Click on each photo to be directed to the articles. As always, thank you for reading!

The first is for the public debut of Sellita's first automatic chronograph the SW500:

Armin Strom is also introducing an 8 day power reserve hand wound calibre the ARM09:

BaselWorld 2010 Preview Pt. II

2010-02-03T18:27:00.013-05:00

Continuing The Escapement's series on the BaselWorld 2010 fair previews I wanted to bring to you 8 more pieces that will debut in Basel towards the end of March. As with the initial BaselWorld preview post the text on each watch is pulled from press material, and clicking on the brand name will bring you to the company's website.

Enjoy!

DE GRISOGONO - Instrumento Grande Chrono

Five years after its widely-acclaimed launching, the Instrumento Grande has returned in a chronograph version. And what a chronograph! While the case has retained its original size and its emblematic opening on the side of the case at 9 o’clock to provide a novel view of the movement, the dial shows an exuberance of creativity. The retrograde date, in twin arcs, displays unbridled dynamism, sublimated by a skillful interplay of tinted and non-tinted glass to enable the date to be read at first glance. The chronograph counters offer a fascinating and cleverly orchestrated combination of shapes and sizes, from the square at 9 o’clock to the over sized circle at 6 to the more classic circle at 12.

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DEWITT - Twenty-8-Eight Automatic

In a move towards greater classicism, DeWitt’s emblematic imperial columns, the brand’s veritable signature, have become more discreet in its new Twenty-8-Eight collection; the pink gold case is also finer than in the past. A truly harmonious creation that reveals a magnificent flambé zone and delicate radiating pattern under its velvety black dial. With DeWitt, tradition is never far away: the Twenty-8-Eight pays tribute to the 28 Floréal, the day on which the Senate of Republican France proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte – Jérôme DeWitt’s illustrious ancestor – as “Emperor of the French people”. It can hardly be a coincidence that the Twenty-8-Eight was designed on … 28 August! Limited edition of 500.

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EPOS - GMT Limited Edition

Embodying the art of Swiss watchmaking, the 3400 GMT Limited Edition features a world first: an inverse 24-hour indicator with a separate date window for the second time zone. Fitted with two independent movements for the simultaneous display of the two time zones and limited to 999 pieces, this exceptional timepiece has a transparent back through which the excellence of its mechanics can be admired. With an oval case, a black guilloché dial decorated with white mother-of-pearl, and finishing in the purest Swiss watchmaking tradition, each watch is a little masterpiece in its own right.

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HERMES - Clipper 44 mm Mechanical Chronograph

This year, the legendary Clipper has adopted a 44mm case in titanium, undoubtedly an allusion to the world of sailing where this material is highly prized for its high performance and lightness. The reference to the famous three-master that has given its name to this collection is even more striking. Inside the case, an automatic chronograph movement, a marvel of reliability and precision, gives rhythm to time and, for an instant, suspends its flight. Offered in a variety of sizes, the range has not lost any of its original elegance. Nor any of its allure, which evokes the famous sailboat’s porthole.

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HAMILTON - Pulsomatic

Forty years after revolutionising the world of watchmaking by inventing the first digital watch, Hamilton is opening the festivities of this anniversary with the launch of a new Hamilton Pulsomatic, equipped for the occasion with automatic technology. With its science-fiction design, a case inspired by space-age televisions, and a liquid crystal screen powered by an innovative automatic movement, the 82-hour power reserve H1970 movement, today’s Pulsomatic clearly stands on equal terms with its illustrious forerunner, considered to be the first computer ever worn on the wrist. Ed. Note: This is one that I find particularly cool!

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ULYSSE NARDIN - El Toro

In keeping with its rich watchmaking heritage, Ulysse Nardin has combined the Moonstruck case with the legendary perpetual calendar movement. A tradition for the brand, whose every development is a minor revolution! Noble and virile with its ceramic pushpieces and bezel, the El Toro boasts some remarkable features: an exclusive fast-action time-zone system, permanent indication of the original time, forward and backward adjustment of all the date indicators, and the synchronised adjustment of these elements using the hour hand. Limited to 500 pieces.

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A.B.ART - Serie OA

Original and discreet, a.b.art’s Serie OA will captivate both male and female lovers of simple, low-key designs. Indeed, what makes the brand’s models so different is the deliberate rejection of anything ostentatious and artificial. The common denominator of all the collections? A refined design, quality materials and meticulous finishing: tokens of good taste, with no false note.

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BULER - Sky Hero

Performance, design and elegance. This chronograph, the very latest from the Sky Hero collection, will satisfy all tastes as it comes with a silvered, black or brown dial and a truly elegant two-tone bracelet or super sporty black rubber strap.

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Thanks for reading! More BaselWorld news to come.

BaselWorld 2010: Blancpain Villeret Moon Phase

2010-02-03T16:14:00.013-05:00

Celebrating 275 years of fine watchmaking Blancpain will introduce their new Villeret line at the fast approaching BaselWorld fair.

From Blancpain:

This new Blancpain Villeret Collection distills aesthetics and complications that have been at Blancpain’s core since the early 1980s. The understatement and elegance that have always marked Blancpain’s Villeret models have been brought forward in a new way, backed by the technical advances achieved through Blancpain’s heavy investment in movement development over the past several years.

The complete calendar moon-phase has always been the signature complication for the Villeret Collection. This Blancpain’s exclusive in-house automatic calibre is fitted with a balance oscillating at 28,800 vibrations per hour with an anti-magnetic index assembly, and with two barrels guaranteeing it a 72-hour power reserve. Nearly as complex as a full perpetual calendar, this Villeret model features a revolutionary method for adjusting the indications without fear of movement damage, regardless of the time of day. To facilitate setting of the indications, Blancpain has equipped the new Villeret timepiece with its patented under-lug correctors. This not only leaves the sides of the watches with a remarkably pure finish, unmarred by the presence of adjusters, but also means that changes can be accomplished with one’s finger tips instead of requiring a dedicated tool.

For the first model of the new Villeret Collection, Blancpain has opted for a 40 mm red gold half-hunter case and a decorated opaline dial.

Keep watching The Escapement for more models, from Blancpain and others, that will be seen at this year's BaselWorld fair.

Debaufre: Come Fly with Me

2010-02-02T13:28:00.011-05:00

One of the best kept secrets regarding watches is the small Swiss firm Debaufre. Sure, you may on occasion see their advertisements pop up in watch magazines but for the most part unless you frequent one of the several online watch forums, there is a good chance you haven't heard about them.

Owners, and admirers alike love them and consistently rave about the product that comes out of their Switzerland headquarters. They are reported to produce very well constructed pieces, with prices that won't make you reconsider signing a new mortgage on your house. Everything from their presentation boxes to their customer service gets praise all across the interwebs. A good portion of their line are automatics, currently using ETA movements, with a few quartz models thrown in to reach out to the more thrifty consumer. The one thing that their models have in common is a tendency to be bold in their designs...Most of these watches aren't for the faint of heart, or those of you with shy personalities.

When browsing their catalog you notice that Debaufre pulls a lot of inspiration from flight, and aircraft, as many brands do. So it was no surprise when they announced the latest model the Nav-B GMT. This flieger style pilot's watch is the latest in their popular Nav-B watch, which was in limited production and sold out quickly.

From their website:
The 44-mm GMT Nav-B timepiece with a Swiss ETA 2893-2 automatic movement, sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating, black dial with blued hands and a solid engraved case-back. The markers are coated with Super-Luminova illuminating paint to shine at night offering certainty in the hour at hand and the metal bracelet contours securely to your wrist, held together with surgical-grade screws, providing peace of mind. Driving at the heart is the famous ETA 2893-2 Swiss automatic movement sweeping the seconds hand around the dial and progressing the minutes with Swiss accuracy.

Debaufre is quietly becoming a force to reckon with in the Swiss watch industry. If you are interested in picking one of their pieces up, there is no need to pile into the car and head down to your local shopping area...You won't find them there. Debaufre only sells via their official sales website, From what I hear you will not be disappointed.

BaselWorld 2010 Preview

2010-02-01T21:09:00.027-05:00

As the world renowned BaselWorld fair rapidly approaches the flurry of previews bouncing around the watch blogs are popping up every day. So what makes us so different? Not a darn thing, below is a quick and small preview of just a few pieces that will be seeing the light of day and greeting watch fans in Basel this year. You may have seen some, or all, of these on other blogs and watch industry info sites but in case you haven't...Enjoy! [Individual text on watches supplied by each respective brand]

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Harry Winston Project Z6

Featuring a zalium case – a material used exclusively in watchmaking by Harry Winston – Project Z6 announces the arrival of a new complication in the collection: a 24-hour alarm on a hand-wound movement specially developed for this timepiece and exclusive to Harry Winston. Adjusted by the crown, the striking-mechanism for the alarm is activated by a trigger at 4 o’clock. The hammer, which is fixed to the case, can be admired through an opening on the dial, while the solid rectangular gong produces optimal resonance. Thanks to its two barrels – one for the movement, the other for the striking-mechanism – Project Z6 has a 72-hour power reserve. And matching the complexity of the 18-level movement, the off-centre dial reveals two overlapping disks that display the time and the alarm’s striking-mechanism. This series is limited to 300 pieces. More detail about this beauty can be found on the Perpetuelle blog; HERE.

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Maurice Lacroix Ponton Chronographe Rectangulaire Full Black

Masculine, monochrome, high-tech. The very athletic case of the Pontos Chronographe Rectangulaire Full Black incorporates an innovative ceramic coating that increases its robustness and puts it unquestionably into the exclusive circle of technological instruments. Black from top to toe, the only concession made by this full black chronograph is the white Superluminova dots on the tone-on-tone architecture of its layers.

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Longines Lindbergh's Atlantic Voyage Watch

In 1933, the pilot Charles Lindbergh flew 47,000 km around the north Atlantic in the company of his wife to explore possible future air routes. The equipment he needed on this long expedition included a specially-designed Longines wristwatch chronograph, an exceptional timepiece that the winged hourglass brand has replicated in tribute to this historic voyage.

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Movado Master

With a design firmly rooted in the industrial and architectural expression of the Bauhaus movement, the new Movado Masterä collection presents a new direction for the Museum’s iconic dial. Asymmetrical with a matte black or white dot-textured motif, it explores a new facet of “the circle within a circle”, giving it a different dimension and structure. With its convex centre, the symbolic dot at twelve takes on the appearance of a pushpiece. The men’s version of the Master, which houses an automatic movement with the emblematic “M” rotor, features luminescent hourmarkers; the ladies’ version, on the other hand, offers a variety of jewellery settings and houses a quartz movement.

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Seculus Masterline

An expression of beauty and technology, this resolutely sporty chronograph is equipped with a highly sophisticated Ronda movement. Additional functions housed in its generous 46-mm case include the day, date and month as well as a tachometer. The finely-worked dial with its three silvered counters comes in black, white, blue or brown. The red chronograph seconds hand adds a dynamic touch, while the central date, revealed in a very original way on the dial rim, gives the dial a harmonious dimension.

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Breguet Tradition 7047 Fusee Tourbillon in Platinum

Today, the new Breguet silicon balance spring is featured in the Breguet Tradition 7047 model with tourbillon and fusee-and-chain transmission. Inspired by the design of the first tourbillon-equipped pocket watches devised by Breguet himself, a platinum version is now available fitted with a movement fashioned in ananthracite-toned metal alloy. Its surface finish was obtained by a new and improved electrode position process using an alloy of precious metals of the platinum group with a hue darker than ruthenium’s.

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Glashutte Original Panomaticlunar XL

The PanoMaticLunar XL presents the classic lines and look of the PanoMatic XL models in an understated, eloquent form. Set within the galvanized matte gray dial are the characteristic off-center hour/minute and subsidiary seconds dials, finely milled and galvanized in the same dark gray hue. The elegant moon phase display presents a shining silver moon and stars against a fine-grained silver sky.

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Urwerk UR-203

Read more about Urwerk's latest creation HERE over at the Perpetuelle watch blog in an article recently written yours truly.

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More updates and previews to come as we move closer to BaselWorld. Thanks for reading!

The Razor's Edge [Perpetuelle]

2010-02-01T08:42:00.008-05:00

A new contribution of mine is now up over at Perpetuelle. It's the introduction of Urwerk's newest creataion; the UR-203. Please click on the Perpetuelle logo below to access the article.

Thanks for checking it out!

New Shoes for Breitling's Colt GMT+ [Perpetuelle]

2010-01-29T12:46:00.007-05:00

I contributed another article over at the Perpetuelle Blog today about Breitling's latest accessory. Click on their logo below to read!

Thanks for checking it out! More of my contributions to Perpetuelle coming soon!

Gun Control...Horology Style

2010-01-29T11:51:00.016-05:00

Right out of a James Cameron sci-fi war epic comes the Armatix .22; a firearm that can only be operated when it is within a specific range to the wristwatch that accompanies it. Designed as a safety feature, a green LED on the back of the gun shows when it is receiving a wireless signal and can be fired. If someone not wearing the watch grabs hold the LED turns red indicating the gun is locked. The technology was developed by the German firm Armatix, it is produced in limited edition and can be had for about $10,000 [7,000 Euro]....ouch!

Someone please design a nicer looking watch for this thing.

Photos courtesy of Bryan William Jones

It's certainly an interesting avenue of firearm safety that could be explored further, and it certainly shows promise in potential use by police departments. That said I can already think of a couple of problems such as; what if the offending person happens to obtain the gun and is aiming it at the watch wearer at point blank range? [sure it may be unlikely, but stranger things have happened] Only time and further development will tell.

EDIT 2/1/10: I've since learned that the gun comes in several variations of pistol, and that the watch actually has a fingerprint ID pad so only the allowed operator of the pistol can activate the system to work. The watch can also save a couple of different officers so the gun can be swapped during a shift change.

It's only a matter of time before Hublot jumps on this and announces a new version of their "Big Bang" line. ;-)

I was first made aware of this through an article by Aaron Rowe over at Wired.com.

...Plus the Kitchen Sink

2010-01-11T08:44:00.016-05:00

"Master of Complications" manufacturer Franck Muller announced today the completion of what appears to be the world's most complicated watch to date. After 5 years of development the Aeternitas Mega 4 is comprised of 1483 components and boasts a total of 36 complications 25 of which are clearly visible. The first piece was actually presented to an American collector in November of 2009, Franck Muller has been looking forward to putting the Mega into limited production and have been dotting the T's and crossing the I's since it's first delivery. The watch will make its debut to the press on two occasions via the World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie [WPHH] exhibitions at Frank Muller's famed "Watchland" site in Genthod from January 17th through the 23rd and again on March 17th through the 27th from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. Just in case you want to go and kick the tires a little. For those interested in putting an order in on the Mega 4, it will cost you 2.7 million dollars [US] for the privilege of owning one. If you are worried that your hefty investment won't yield a watch for a lifetime, the Mega 4 also contains a 1000 year calendar before it needs to be reset, which of course means it will keep the correct day/date display [even over leap years] as long as the watch remains powered. I would imagine [and hope] there are some other perks provided by Franck Muller for throwing that kind of money their way...maybe a nice cleaning cloth, or perhaps a nice key chain.

Along with several Franck Muller pieces, the exhibition will be showcasing all of the brands that full under the umbrella of Franck Muller including watches from; Pierre Kunz, ECW, Rudolphe Montres & Bijoux, Barthelay, Backes & Strauss, and Martin Braun.

So, I can already hear you asking me; "Well what are all of the complications, Craig?" you're going to make me list them aren't you...You are, I can tell. Here is a numbered list of every complication the Aeternitas Mega 4 has.

1. Day/Night Display

2. Grand Strike
3. Small Strike
4. Silence
5. Minute Repeater
6. Westminster Carillon on 4 Gong
7. Programming of Grand strike-Small strike function with a waterproof push piece & display on the dial.
8. Programming of Strike Silence function with a waterproof push piece & display on the dial
9. Lifting-lever mechanism of the strike when in hand setting position
10. A mechanism which prevents the start of a new strike if the precedent is not to the end.
11.Transmission mechanism to the hammer which permit the adaptation to the different shape of the gong.
12. 3-Day power reserve
13. Power reserve indicator
14. Strike power reserve indicator
15. Tourbillon carriage
16. Automatic winding with a micro rotor
17. Perpetual calender
18. Display of days
19. Display of months
20. 999 year calendar
21. Chronograph
22. Equation of time function
23. Indication of the secular yea.....

...Ya know what? It does a lot of stuff, and I'm not going to list them all. Don't worry, I hit the important ones ;-) .

Click on image for more detail

All of this is packed neatly into an 18 karat white gold case that measures a width of 42mm, a length of 61 mm and is a whopping 19.15 mm thick! That's a rather impressively small size for a watch packed with so many parts and functions.

It's quite a feat for Franck Muller to create what they have, and I would think its fair to say that the Aeternitas Mega 4 definitely puts them a big leap forward in being the "Master of Complications", as they so boldly proclaim.

Guerrilla Watchmaking: Making a Bezel Pearl

2010-01-07T20:16:00.014-05:00

As I have mentioned previously here; in my free time one my hobbies is amateur watchmaking. I am currently trying out the pretty popular TZ online watchmaking course [Level 1] and am enjoying it quite a bit. It's a hobby that helps if you have loads of patience [something I don't always have], but it's also a hobby that can breed patience if you allow it to.

One of the goals with The Escapement was to occasionally post articles about my trials with traditional watchmaking, along with other projects I get myself into

I am happy to welcome you to the first post in what I like to call the "Guerrilla Watchmaking" series.

I should first state that NOTHING compares to having a trained professional work on your best watches, and I highly recommend that if one of your prized pieces needs work, you should have it looked at by a qualified watchmaker. Then again...I'm not the boss of you, if you feel confident in your skill...go for it! You'll notice that every watch I work on is not a luxury piece, and probably has little to no value...except to its owner. Working on these types of watches really helps build confidence and proper tool function.

Over the Christmas holiday my brother handed me an old ESQ 3-hand quartz watch that was simply not working. He stated that the battery had been changed several times with no luck. I told him that I could try a movement swap if he wanted me to, he agreed. The movement swap was pretty standard the Ronda quartz movement was cheap to replace and the work went by without a hitch...and I'm happy to say it's running like a champ now.

The other thing I noticed on the watch was that the luminous bezel pearl was missing, and there was a gaping hole that just looked weird. After doing some searching around various watch forums [no, this is not a technique I developed] I was clued into a way to make a new bezel pearl for very little money using epoxy resin. I asked my brother and he gladly told me to go ahead and try it.

Here is a quick tutorial on what was done, and its results:

Materials:

Clear drying epoxy resin [5 minute setting so you can work with it]
White acrylic paint [like model building paint]
Luminous powder [I got a small vile from FindingKing.com for about $3]
Old bracelet pin tool, or a paper clip stretched out would work
Book of matches [my mini paint brush: optional, use what works for you]
Masking tape

- The first thing I did was tape off the area where I wanted to make the new pearl. My brother [his watch] agreed to let me fill in the entire hole rather than just the original round pearl.

- Here you can see the old circle pearl is missing, along with the surrounding material [I have NO idea what it was originally].

- I took a very small amount of the white paint and wanted to give the area a very light coat. I used the back end of a match as a brush, I ran the end over a file to give it more of a brush texture.

- Here you can see the paint in the hole. Since the epoxy dries clear [which you want to have the best glow] the white paint give the pearl a solid background. Make sure not to fill the hole in, give it just a thin coat of paint

- After I removed the tape I had to scrape some extra paint off of the outer part of the bezel hole. little housekeeping

- I used equal parts lume powder, and epoxy mixture...but I made an error here...can you tell what it is?

- Mixing the two on the brown cardboard was the error...you can see here the brown specks in the lume mix..that's just unacceptable.

- Just for kicks...here is what the mixture looked like when charged with the lights off. You can really see the dirt in this one

- Luckily on the flip side of the cardboard was a white side...Here is the mix I used for the watch. I also was more careful in how aggressively I mixed this time around.

- Sorry for the bad pic, this is how I took the mixture and applied it to the hole...thankfully this tool tip was cheap...because it's useless now. I just carefully picked up very little of the mixture with the bracelet pin tool and gently set it into the bezel spot filling it in.

- After about 5 minutes the epoxy starts to harden, below is the completed pearl in the watch. It's hard to see but the color of the new pearl matches the lume on the dial perfectly...The best part is that the epoxy dries with a gloss [it's essentially clear plastic] so it looks and feels great.

- A not so great pic of the lume after just a few seconds of charging...you can really see how that new bezel pearl pops.

This also works with traditional round pearls...It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I would recommend that you give this a shot, I am rather proud of the results I garnered.

So there it is, it's not perfect but it is a quick and easy fix if you have an older watch missing its pearl that you still enjoy wearing. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T12:51:00.002-05:00

The Escapement has taken some time off to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. We will return early in 2010 refreshed and ready to pass along more news, and opinion on the watch industry. We look forward to gaining more readers, as well as working along side some of the best sources for information in the industry.

Coming in early January; a profile and interview with a smaller American based brand that is up and coming in the industry.

We hope you have a happy and fruitful 2010!
Cheers!

Concord's C1 QuantumGravity Tourbillon No. 1

2009-12-22T13:52:00.006-05:00

Just a little something extra for those who are interested in such things. Earlier today Concord posted a new video on their official YouTube channel which shows the first of their C1 QuantumGravity Tourbillons getting cased and tested before it gets shipped to its new owner [apparently to arrive for Christmas delivery]. This watch is the first of only 10 pieces that will be made of the outrageous watch. So you have potentially 9 more chances to pick one up.

Regular readers may recall that the C1 QuantumGravity was the first recipient of The Escapement's ultra prestigious "Craziest Watch of the Year Award".

Your Own Personal....Hublot?

2009-12-17T12:12:00.008-05:00

Groundbreaking English electro-pop artists Depeche Mode have had a successful, and at times rocky, world tour this past year to support the release of their 12th album 'Sounds of the Universe' which hit the stores in April. Depeche Mode recently announced that they would also be performing a benefit concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on February 10th, 2010 to support Teenage Cancer Trust an organization that assists younger cancer sufferers.

To commemorate the event and give the charity a large boost in its bottom line; Swiss watchmaker Hublot announced that they will be producing 12 special edition 'Big Bang' series watches [which it looks like they are nicknaming "pop"]. The dials of each watch will feature the album art work for all of Depeche Mode's releases. Hublot will put the watches up for auction on a dedicated website beginning February 1st, 2010, all of the proceeds from the sales will go directly to the Teenage Cancer Trust. The auction website will become available through both Hublot's , and Depeche Mode's official sites.

Depeche Mode:
Andrew Fletcher, Dave Gahan, & Martin Gore

No photos of the watches have been released as of yet, but I will get them up as soon as they appear. Those interested in attending the concert can purchase tickets through www.livenation.co.uk.

Pierre DeRoche Swings for the Fences

2009-12-16T14:37:00.011-05:00

Pierre DeRoche, the small Swiss firm located in Le Lieu, known for their technically complex timepieces with a flare for the avante-garde, officially announced today they have brought on Japanese baseball star pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada as an ambassador for their brand. In a ceremony on November 22nd, Mr. Wada was presented with a Pierre DeRoche GrandCliff TNT Royal Retro in celebration of him coming on board.

Tsuyoshi Wada is a superstar among Japanese baseball fans known widely for his time on their national baseball team in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. His outstanding playing was rewarded with a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal in the 2006 world championship. Along with excellent performance inside the lines of the baseball diamond Mr. Wada is also highly respected for his charitable work outside of the stadium; mainly focusing on work with children which includes a highly revered vaccination program that was organized by his foundation.

Matching the number on his jersey; Pierre Dubois, CEO of Pierre DeRoche, presented Tsuyoshi with the twenty-first [No. 21] GrandCliff TNT Royal Retro watch from the limited production piece of which only 201 will be made. Below are the nuts and bolts of the piece that Mr. Wada was presented.

The Pierre DeRoche GrandCliff TNT Royal Retro

VISIBLE MOVEMENT:

Exclusive self-winding Dubois Dépraz calibre, 58 jewels. Decorated, engraved oscillating weight. 12-pivot central bridge and 6 chamfered and satin-finished seconds bridges . Moving retrograde hand indicators. Minute wheel with Pierre DeRoche logo. Hands affixed by a transversal pin. 6 retrograde seconds hands on gears; strip-spring return. Date at 6 o'clock.

FUNCTIONS:
Hours, minutes, retrograde seconds in six 10-second sectors, date.

CASE:
Black PVD titanium middle, steel bezel, horns, crown-shield and crown, 47.5 mm in diameter.

STRAPS:
Crocodile with safety folding clasp.

GRCTNT10005ACTI0-001CRO - Limited edition 201 pieces

Felix & Martin Checking In

2009-12-09T15:46:00.008-05:00

I know, I know it's been a while since I posted something for that I sincerely apologize. I could go into a list of reasons why...but really, who cares?

Anyway, I was greeted with an email this morning from one of my favorite, young watch firms Urwerk stating they are going to be unveiling their latest creation in the middle of January 2010. There was an invitation to join them at the Four Seasons Hotel in Les Bergues to see what was next in their line. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend, unless someone want to pony up some airline tickets, and a hotel reservation for me...Anyone?.....No? OK I will however be receiving the press kit for the new piece, which I presume will be sent to me electronically around the time of the showing. I will, of course, be doing something up on it as soon as I receive information.

Urwerk founders: Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei

The email notifying me, and the registration page had no hints of any kind as to what we are about to see. It could be yet another variation on the UR-202 platform or something even more off the wall...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Sneak Peak: Damasko In-House Movement

2009-11-21T10:58:00.005-05:00

The young mechanical watch firm Damasko out of Germany [established in 1994] has been working on a completely in-house manufactured movement for about 3 years. A quick visit to the "Technology" area of their website and you see that Damasko is focusing a lot of it's attention on producing an oil free escapement created from a 'Diamond Like Carbon' [DLC] material that runs completely dry [without lubrication], that has superior wear resistance. Damasko initially took their concept and tested it out in existing movements [i.e. the Valjoux 7750] to see how it would hold up, with the results being very positive. A quiet announcement from Damasko through some smaller avenues shows that all is going according to plan, and that not only has the escapement been a success, but their plans to create an in-house movement are rapidly coming to fruition.

In a post from "Mike Stuffler" Moderator @ Watchuseek:

"Damasko is currently applying for a new patent. Damasko has developed a new production technique to produce hairsprings.

After three years of development the “Epi-Poly -Silicon” (EPS®) is ready for serial production.

It is a poly crystalline silicone which is for the first time produced as a layer out of vapour deposition.

Due to the vapour deposition it is possible to create crystals in nanometer size which makes that material a perfect substance for mechanical applications."

The new movement named the "A 35" will make it's public debut in a few months and will feature: a new patented winding mechanism, a ceramic/steel mix rotor bearing which takes away that parts need for lubrication, along with the mentioned DLC escapement, and in-house hairspring.

Damasko has apparently invested over 3 million Euro into this project, with most of that money going into developing the machinery to keep everything local. Starting now all pallets, wheels, pinions, barrels, rotors, bearings, balances, escapements, decorative engravings, spotting(s) and galvanic processes will be produced, and performed in-house.

A big thanks to Mike over at Watchuseek for passing this info along!

New Feature: Odds & Ends

2009-11-19T14:53:00.014-05:00

Every once in a while I come across a couple of stories that I think are pretty interesting but there really isn't too much more I could write about the subject that isn't already there. I decided that when I get a couple of those compiled I would make a single post about them. More likely than not the news will not be hot off the press, but I still think it's worthy enough to share.

For now I'm just going to call it "Odds & Ends" if I can think of a better name I'll change it.

I have two stories that appealed to me for various reasons recently; so here goes.

---- Story I ----

Quite the Amazing Gesture

It's no secret that I am a fan of all things wristwatch, it is among other things a great passion of mine. Over the past couple of years for various reasons, I have had a growing love for the continent of Africa as well, it's an absolutely stunning place in every sense of the word and I find myself yearning to go back when possible. Bearing that in mind, I was pretty happy to see a small story in the news regarding a wristwatch and the country of Ghana.

First Lady Michelle Obama with First Lady Ernestina Mills of Ghana

During President & Mrs. Obama's September visit to Africa the First Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Ernestina Mills, presented First Lady Michelle Obama with a stunning Backes & Strauss automatic timepiece. The 18kt rose gold watch contains 2.35 carats of diamonds with its dial adorned with the flag of the Republic of Ghana. Contained within the graphic of the flag is the display for a moonphase complication. The watch was presented to her on behalf of Ghana by Backes & Struass, and the African Watch Trading Co Ltd. This is certainly no slouch of a watch but its extravagance comes second to the understanding that diamonds and gold are two of Ghana's greatest resources.

It wasn't so long ago that the watch world was a buzz about President Obama's Jorg Gray 6500 Series Chronograph. It's nice to see that now Mrs. Obama can join the party with a beautiful piece of the watchmaking craft for herself.

---- Story II ----

Joe Girardi Signature NOA Watch

I'm sure this will make some people grumble just a little bit but I am a huge New York Yankees fan, and have been all of my life. Needless to say I was very happy to see the Yankees take home their 27th championship earlier this month. It was right before that final win in the World Series that I stumbled across a special edition watch developed by NOA Watches ["None Of the Above"] in conjunction with Joe Girardi, the New York Yankees manager.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi wearing a NOA piece during a press conference

The watch is a special edition, limited to 100 pieces and is currently [unless it's sold out already] for sale at Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, CT. Known for their 3-D style dial work this NOA piece is no different. The dial contains their familiar raised indices along with a Yankees logo, an impression of Joe Girardi's signature, and each watches number in the run of 100. I bet you can't guess who got "No. 027". All this, of course, colored in navy blue. Inside of the 42mm case is a 3 hand + date automatic movement, sandwiched in between sapphire crystals on both front & back. Keeping the watch secured to 99 other happy owners wrists is a navy blue rubber strap.

The retail price for the watch is $2,400, but expect to pay more if they are sold out and wind up for sale elsewhere. Proceeds of the original sales have gone to help "Catch 25", Joe Girardi's foundation which provides support to families and individuals across the country who are challenged by ALS, Alzheimer’s, cancer and fertility issues.

Trust me, if my wife wouldn't kill me on the spot, I would already have one. This is a must have for any Yankees fan that knows their watches...and can afford it.

----

So there it is..."Odds & Ends", hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!

Another Lawsuit for The Swatch Group: Op-Ed

2009-11-19T10:05:00.008-05:00

There is a funny thing that happens when a recession hits, all of these things that were 'OK' to do during a time of prosperity all at once come under loads of scrutiny. A couple of days ago I was clued into a story, stemming from Australia, about yet another lawsuit that was filed against the mighty Swatch Group by the former general manager of their Australian branch; Mark Watson. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Watson was wrongfully released from his position at Swatch when he refused to break an Australian law stating that Swatch forced retailers to charge their suggested retail prices, and not allow any form of discount to the customer. In more common terms; price fixing. Though Watson's lawsuit appears to be for personal loss and damages from losing his position it brings up those now age old questions; is The Swatch Group too big, and do its business maneuvers have too much influence in the market?

Let's just get right down to it; Swatch is a massively huge company. It's seemingly really difficult to buy a Swiss watch now without them having some hand in the production somewhere along the line. A quick look at the firms they control and you'll see its a veritable who's who of modern watchmaking. They are the principal owner of many exclusive luxury firms, moderate to lower end brands, and what is one of the largest suppliers [at least until 2010] of mechanical and quartz movements in the world. When taking a step back from it all, its really hard to say that they are not a monopoly.

The love him, or hate him, Swatch Group CEO is Nicolas Hayek; a very outspoken and sometimes overly arrogant, character who some think has too much of a hand in what happens in the industry. For example; in 2006 Hayek announced that his movement manufacturing firm [ETA] would stop selling blank movements [sort of a drop n' go watch movement system] to companies outside of the Swatch Group umbrella. This took the industry and even the Swiss government by surprise, who later cut a deal with Hayek to continue to supply movements until 2010 so the industry could reorganize itself. That 'bridge the gap' deal is pretty much an admission by the Swiss government that Swatch was a monopoly. Since that time Swatch has only grown larger, and acquired more brands and part manufacturers.

Is Nicolas Hayek missing his top hat and monocle?

When asked why Hayek stated at the time that the industry had grown stale and lacked innovation, and he felt that cutting off the supply watch movements it would spur other firms to create more. Since that announcement many Swiss companies have indeed become 'manufacturers' [a term given to watch firms that produce their own in-house movements from scratch]. The problem is the companies that were able to become manufacturers did so because of consistent high sales, and a fat bottom line. They had the capital to invest in developing new movements. There was a period where moderate and lower end brands were caught twisting in the wind while they searched for an alternative supplier and began to use their ETA movements more sparingly. In turn this game of simple supply and demand was proven correctly when a moderate end watch brand with ETA movements began to raise their prices pointing a phantom finger in The Swatch Group's direction for blame.

Now that the dust has begun to settle it looks like a good portion of the mid level brands have turned to the place that every struggling industry turns to when they need materials...China. The Chinese watch industry has subsequently grown in scale since Hayek's announcement. The quality of their movements has greatly increased, and now many Asian watch companies now offer high end complications, once only offered by Swiss companies, at a fraction of the cost. I'm thinking when Hayek stated he wanted to spur innovation he didn't really have China in mind. The Chinese are now being taken more seriously as it helps fill this gap, and at the same time begin to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately the Chinese still have the stigma of poor working conditions and the production of counterfeit watches [and not just the $20 "Rolex" on the streets of New York City, but scary good, functional representations of very high end pieces] and they would need to do more to clean up their and focus on their own creativity before they are welcomed more into the "big game".

I'm positive there are few who would disagree that The Swatch Group is definitely a monopoly in one way or another. That said; you really don't hear much from other companies in the industry accusing them of it. And yes, the government of Switzerland raises concern, and even has investigated them more than once for anti-trust violations but when it comes right down to it; is Switzerland going to mess with one of it's largest sources of financial revenue? Probably not. I would expect more slaps on the wrist, and compromised arrangements to be hammered out between the two. The whole of the watchmaking world seems to be fine with the way Swatch operates...Does that make it OK?

What it comes down to at the end of the day is; do you want said brand of watch, and are you willing to pay for it? The average customer is not too concerned with the practices of a parent company. Be it the Euro, the Yuan, the Yen, the Franc, or the Dollar...The might buck still rules all [even when its worse less than it has been in years].

As always I welcome any opinions.

Audemars Piguet: Life in the Fast Lane

2009-11-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Not so long ago [August 25th] we put out a story announcing the new partnership between the Alinghi sailing team, and Hublot watches. One of the aspects covered in that post was that Alinghi previously had sponsorship from Audemars Piguet [AP].

Now, I know you were all worried about AP and how they were going to survive without the partnership with Alinghi...Fear not; it was announced yesterday that they have hitched their trailer to another professional sailing team. Typically known for joining forces with sailing teams that race in The America's Cup, AP's newest wave riding friend is the good ship "l’Hydroptère" skippered by Alain Thébault and a ten-man crew.

I can already hear you asking; 'So if not racing in The America's Cup what is the purpose of the l’Hydroptère?' The answer is a simple one, Speed. On November 8th the l’Hydroptère was confirmed as the world's fastest flying trimaran holding an average speed of 50.17 knots over one nautical mile. During the same series of runs the l’Hydroptère also broke the speed record over a distance of 500 meters with an average speed of 51.36 knots. Ultimately the team wants to continue their record breaking runs their next venture where l’Hydroptère is to sale around the world in 40 days, leaving from Lake Geneva in Switzerland in the summer of 2010.

There has been no announcement as of yet whether or not AP will create a special edition piece honoring the l’Hydroptère team, and their record breaking runs.

Armin Strom Video Review

2009-11-05T14:59:00.004-05:00

Kyle over at the Perpetuelle blog posted a video review of an Armin Strom Blue Chip skeleton watch.

Enjoy!

Breitling.com Updated for 2010

2009-10-27T10:59:00.006-04:00

Breitling officially announced the launch of their updated website for 2010, today. As you would imagine the site still has that familiar feel to those who have frequented it in recent years. As with their previous web offerings Breilting still uses aircraft imagery to promote the firms close relationship with avionics history.

In normal Breitling.com fashion you are first greeted with a warning not to buy their product online, which is immediately followed by a short introduction film showcasing the Breitling aerial demonstration team. The center piece for the new site appears to be, of course, the B01 Chronomat which houses Breitling's first ever fully in-house produced movement, the B01 ["Breitling - 01"].

New features that caught my attention were the much easier menus to navigate around the site [previous versions of the site grew tedious very quickly] and the new one click access to areas to get information about maintenance of your watch, obtaining their recently released iPhone / iPod Touch application, and information about the B01 movement. Plus, if you happen you happen to have an extra $175.00 lying around you can also order "Breitling: The Book" directly on the site. A review of the extensive book is available HERE.

Another fun feature about the new digs are what is shown as "The Configurator". This allows the surfer to play with the various models of Breitling watches piece by piece and create your perfect version. After you are satisfied with your monster you can email it directly to Breitling and they will be able to notify you of availability. For those who can't run out and get a new Breitling, if your model is still available it's a great way to see how that strap you always wondered about would look on your piece. There is a sample video of how it works HERE.

It's nice to see Breitling making their website more user friendly and not hiding all the goodies they offer.

Vintage Rolex Found in Boston...Is it Yours?

2009-10-23T21:27:00.022-04:00

As I was leaving for work this morning I came across a wristwatch in the oddest fashion. The gorgeous found vintage piece had Rolex printed on the dial, so I snapped some pictures, had some people who know such things check them out and it appears to be genuine as far as we can all tell.

If you live in the Boston area and have misplaced, or had a vintage Rolex watch stolen recently; please contact me at the.escapement@gmail.com with information about the lost watch, and if everything checks out, I will gladly put you on the path of recovering it. It's quite a beautiful piece of horological history, and I would love to see back on the wrist of its rightful owner.

Note: The Rolex pictured is NOT the watch that was found, nor is it the same model.

Thanks to all who have assisted me today in gathering information about this piece.

*UPDATE* - I just got word from James Dowling; co-author of Rolex Wristwatches an Unauthorized History, and Jake over at Jake's Rolex Blog that the watch I found is in fact a genuine Rolex.

Breitling Source Review: Eklund Pilot

2009-10-21T19:42:00.004-04:00

I would first like to apologize for the lack of posts lately. It would seem that the industry news has slowed down just a bit, but I hear that it will be picking up again very soon.

In the meantime I figured I would do what has become a normal routine of posting the latest video review from Breitling Source. This time our host takes a good look at an Eklund pilot's watch.

Enjoy!

A written review from Breitling Source can also be found HERE.

More to come from The Escapement!

First Look: Swatch Automatic Chronograph

2009-10-13T11:25:00.027-04:00

News about Swatch producing an automatic chronograph for their line hit the web a few months ago from BaselWorld '09. I was certainly intrigued to see what Swatch would come up with. While browsing a favorite watch forum [Watchuseek] this morning I was treated to what was my first look at the new Swatch. The original thread where I saw the watch was posted by Tony Li [photo credits also go to him], and he stated in his post that the watch was currently available in Hong Kong, and is said to make its worldwide appearance on October 15th.

As you can see it has the characteristic plastic case [there will also be a steel case version of the watch], with a partial exhibition case-back. It also states that the top crystal is sapphire, which leads me to believe that the case-back crystal is mineral. I am still trying to determine if the movement is a variation of the Valjoux 7750, or something else. The subdial configuration leads me to believe it is in fact a 7750. *Update* - After doing a little searching I found out that the movement is actually a: ETA Caliber C01.211, a fifteen-jewel, 3Hz movement with a 46 hour power reserve. This movement has also been used in a couple of Tissot pieces including; the ladies PRC-200 Automatic Chronograph, and the Couturier Auto Chrono.

The ETA C01.211

All in all I find it to be a pleasing watch to look at, and am very curious to see it in person. The going price for these pieces is estimated at a very low $360.00 - 380.00 [USD] which is very impressive for an automatic chronograph of any origin, be it Switzerland, Japan, or China.

These are not limited edition pieces and will be available to all who would like one. The full line offered by Swatch [a total of 5 variations] can be seen, and purchased, through their official website HERE.

Below is a quick spot Swatch produced for as an introduction to their newest line:

More to come as I gather more information about this piece.

Special thanks to Tony Li for granting permission to use his photographs.

CX Swiss Military Watch’s ‘20,000 FEET’: Keeping Time in Any Condition

2009-10-07T16:52:00.004-04:00

Originally introduced at Basel World 2009, it was officially announced on October 6th that the ‘20,000 FEET’ by CX Swiss Military Watch has indeed gone into a limited production run of 1000 pieces. The watch certainly has created some buzz online due to its outrageous ability to withstand…Well just about everything.

The ‘20,000 FEET’ is a follow up to CX’s 2005 world record breaking offering of the ‘12,000 FEET’. What possible reason would CX have for besting a piece of their own design? You guessed it — in 2008, a competitor’s watch beat the depth record that was originally held by the ‘12,000 FEET’. Though to create a piece that was a “record breaker” was only part of their plan; they wanted to the watch to be functional, legible and once again contain a mechanical chronograph movement (COSC certified Valjoux 7750). The technical team had to develop a tank that was capable of simulating the conditions that would equal the pressure of an 800 bar (8,000 meter) dive. One particular area that caused a problem was finding a proper way to affix the 10mm thick (that is not a typo) sapphire crystal to the titanium case. Prototypes for the ‘20,000 FEET’ started to appear in late 2008, and the rigorous testing soon followed.
When viewing the watch head on, it honestly doesn’t look too remarkable. It kind of comes across as just another sports diver with a chronograph movement, lume in the right places and legibility literally written all over its dial. It’s when the watch is viewed from the side that it really makes its statement. Clocking in at a whopping 28.5mm thick this beast will most certainly have a presence on the wrist. Don’t let the fact that its 46mm monster case is made from titanium fool you — the watch weighs in at a hefty 265 grams (for a point of reference a Breitling Super Avenger chronograph weighs just under 154 grams…and that’s a pretty substantial watch). I, for one, cannot wait to see a variety of photos of this thing on a wearer’s wrist.

I know what you’re thinking — it’s a gimmick, something designed to garner CX some attention and though part of me agrees with that presumption it’s obvious that CX wants this to be a functional diver. The overall design of the watch says take me under water, deeeeeep under water. Features include a helium valve, extra large crown, screw down pushers and large tactile bezel so all operations can be done with diver’s gloves on, and even with the pushers in the unscrewed position the watch is still rated at 300 meters.

So, did it break the record it was designed to? Absolutely it did; on January 5th 2009 Guinness World Records certified that the ‘20,000 FEET’ was in fact the deepest diving watch that still functioned at 6,000 meters. Apparently not content with holding the dive record they started to perform other tests, just to see how tough the watch actually is. Rather than describe what exactly was done, I think its probably better that you view it yourself:

Kinda gives the term “beater” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

CX Swiss Military Watch has dedicated a website strictly for the ‘20,000 FEET’ and its simple enough to remember; www.20000feet.com. There you can find more video of the watch being put through it paces , along with more information on its development, and other technical spec goodies. If you would like to be 1 of 1000 lucky owners of the ‘20,000 FEET’, be prepared to shell out about $4,500 USD (2,998 EUR) plus VAT.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The above article was originally written by Craig M. for:

Concord & Turiaf Team Up

2009-10-05T11:51:00.016-04:00

Concord, in partnership with the French born NBA player Ronny Turiaf, has announced the production of a limited edition piece in their popular C1 line, named the “C1 Heart2Heart”. Proceeds from the watch sales will benefit Turiaf’s “Heart to Heart Foundation” which he established in 2008 after his successful open heart surgery and subsequent return to the NBA. The foundation’s goal is to provide treatment and electrocardiogram [ECG] testing for underprivileged patients suffering from heart disease, with a particular focus on children. Turiaf was only 22 years old at the time of his open heart surgery, and returned to play in the NBA after only 6 months of recovery. He is currently playing for the NBA’s Golden State Warrior’s and is a member of the French national team.

Peeking out from underneath a 3.3mm sapphire crystal of the C1 Heart2Heart chronograph watch will be blood red accents highlighting the rotating seconds disc, the central seconds hand, and the saddle stitching on the rubber coated alligator strap which is attached directly to the bulky case rather than using a traditional lug system. In homage to man behind the foundation the number “21” [which is Turiaf’s jersey number] was singled out on the date wheel and will also be in this same red color. The case-back will house a sapphire crystal to view the ETA Valgranges based COSC movement with its black rotor with vertically applied Côtes de Genève. The Heart to Heart Foundation’s logo and Ronny Turiaf’s signature will also adorn the underside of the boldly designed case.

Concord has stated that the limited production run will yield only 25 Heart2Heart pieces.

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The above article was originally written by Craig M. for:

...To a Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

2009-10-05T10:58:00.009-04:00

Over the past month or so I have entered into conversations with Kyle over at the First in Watches: Perpetuelle Blog. After some friendly back and forth He inquired if I would like to contribute some articles to his blog. After the initial shock of even being asked I happily accepted the opportunity to stretch my legs out a bit and write on Perpetuelle's behalf. I am happy to announce that my first offering for Perpetuelle has gone up today.

Originally launched in August of 2008, Perpetuelle focuses on industry news and reviews from the luxury watch market. Along with the blog Kyle has started what he refers to as a bespoke online forum so fans and collectors alike can keep in contact with each other sharing information, thoughts and any other watch related stuff they can think of. A new format of the forum will launch later this year, and it promises to be very user friendly, and customizable.

Fear not loyal readers...[both of you]...The Escapement is not going anywhere. I will still continue to write for this blog as much as possible along with contributing to Perpetuelle. You really won't notice any major differences here on The Escapement. Basically when I write an article for Perpetuelle I will post it here after it officially publishes there. I will, however, clearly state that the post was written for Perpetuelle first and all links will take you to that original post.

Any other writing I do for The Escapement will appear as it has in the past...my clever sense of humor still included free of charge [like that humorous little quip right there].

To check out Perpetuelle for yourself, which I highly recommend by the way, click on their logo below.

target=blank

Tag Heuer Monaco V4: No, Really!

2009-09-23T08:23:00.008-04:00

They said it couldn't be done, and that it would never make its way to market...It's always fun to prove people wrong. Tag Heuer announced that their seemingly perpetual prototype watch, the Monaco V4, will finally enter a limited production of 150 pieces and become available for sale to the public this coming November. Watch enthusiasts have been reading about the Monaco V4 since 2004 with many doubting that Tag Heuer would be able to pull off the bold design. The announcement was made by Tag Heuer at the 2009 Only Watch Charity Auction.

So, what's the big deal? The Monaco V4 will be the worlds first belt driven watch with a linear automatic winding system. This is a first for mechanical watches which are typically run by a series of gear trains, wheels, and pinions and are either wound manually or with a rotor attached to the movement which rotates freely. Think of the V4 as having a literal micro-engine that has a tungsten piston to generate power. Tag Heuer has won two patents for its design over the past 5 years. What a perfect way to honor the Monaco's storied racing legacy. The original Monaco became wildly popular when worn by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film "Le Mans". Since then Tag Heuer and auto racing seemed to go hand in hand, including becoming the official timer for F1 races. Tag Heuer still incorporates McQueen's image to promote the Monaco line.

The linear winding block [center] and quad barrels in V formation

Taking cues from the original Monaco design, which has been altered very little over the years, the V4 will have an updated case coming in at about 41mm. Boasting sapphire crystal and 3 part exhibition caseback, to show off Tag Heuer's groundbreaking movement.

Below is an official promotional film that has been making its way around the web since 2004. It shows the concept of the belt driven movement, and linear winding system. You will notice some minor design changes between the watch in the film, and the production model.

The first run of 75 will be available to the buying public this November, with a second round appearing in June of 2010. Every Monaco V4 will be hand assembled by Tag Heuer's Master Watchmaker Denis Badin.

The cost? Well, the V4 will run you a cool $98,000.00 [About 100,000.00 Swiss Francs]...But honestly, that's small price to pay to be one of the cool kids on your block. Economy be damned, these things are going to sell out pretty quickly. It's great to see Tag Heuer deliver on its years of anticipation.

Thanks to the ViaLuxe Blog for the heads up on this news!

Swatch Group Under Antitrust Investigation

2009-09-15T08:04:00.008-04:00

Big news regarding the worlds largest watch manufacturer, The Swatch Group, came out today unfortunately it's not really of the positive nature for them. It was announced that they were being investigated by a Swiss antitrust body for possible abuse of its dominant market position. Those in the know were well aware of The Swatch Groups plan, announced in 2004, to stop selling blank movements to outside watch companies. This sent something of a shock wave through an industry that heavily relied on their ETA brand of mechanical movements. Swatch Group co-founder Nicolas Hayek [pictured] claimed that he felt as though the industry needed to be shaken up, and that he wanted to spur more innovation. At that time they were investigated by the same antitrust body where a deal was struck that ETA would continue to provide blank movements through 2010 to give time for the Swiss watch industry to plan and adjust to the change. Since that announcement from The Swatch Group and with 2010 looming several higher end manufacturers that traditionally relied on ETA to supply blank movements did begin creating their own in-house movements.

Full text of article from Reuters:

ZURICH, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The Swiss competition watchdog has launched an investigation against Swatch Group (UHR.VX) unit ETA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse SA for potential abuse of a dominant market position.

A pre-investigation yielded signs ETA had abused its potentially dominant position in the market for mechanical clockworks, the Competition Commission said on Tuesday.

Swatch Group, the world's largest watchmaker and best known for colourful plastic Swatch watches, said it was confident the results of the investigation would be positive.

"The timing for such an investigation is rather bad as since the beginning of 2009 most of the third-party clients have massively cancelled or postponed their orders," a spokeswoman for the group said in a statement.

Third-party watchmakers have cut back on orders for components from Swatch Group as the Swiss watch industry grapples with its sharpest drop in demand in around 20 years as a result of the economic slump.

The commission was mainly investigating whether ETA sold products at better conditions than other Swatch Group companies than to third-party firms, Patrik Ducrey from the commission said. The investigation was set to take about one year.

At 0754 GMT, shares in Swatch Group had slipped 0.7 percent to 236.80 Swiss francs, while the DJ personal and household goods index was flat..SXQP

The commission said it had received a number of complaints after ETA raised prices and announced new payment conditions last year.

ETA had already been investigated in 2004 after announcing it would stop delivery of clockwork kits -- so called Ebauches -- where it had market share of over 95 percent in the relevant market. The case was settled after ETA agreed to continue supplying Ebauches until the end of 2010. (Reporting by Sven Egenter; Editing by Dan Lalor)

* Watchdog to check if ETA abused market dominant position

* ETA produces mechanical clockworks

* Swatch shares down 0.7 pct, under performing European peers

In a press release issued from The Swatch Group regarding the opening of the investigation they stated:

"The Swatch Group is confident that the results of this investigation will again be positive for ETA.

However, the timing for such an investigation seems unfortunate. Since approximately once year, the majority of the external ETA clients have massively cancelled or postponed their orders, without any consideration for the ETA personnel, its infrastructure nor the investments which have been considerable also at ETA due to the continuous pressure of the COMCO as a consequence of the complaints from third parties."

At last check Swatch Groups stock was down slightly over 1%, probably due to the announcement.

Swiss Army Ambassador Day-Date Review

2009-09-14T09:51:00.006-04:00

Apologies for the minimal amount of posting in the past week. Some personal obligations popped up that needed to be handled. I have been updating the Twitter page regularly, so I hope that's been a source of some interesting news for you. I am slowly but surely working my way in to get information directly from watch companies, and other industry sources in the hopes that I can bring you news and information as it happens.

In the mean time; our friends over at Breitling Source posted yet another comprehensive video review. This video focuses on the Victorinox/Swiss Army Ambassador Day-Date automatic watch. The Swiss Army line is often over looked, but they do offer great watches at a fair price. If the pre-owned market is where you prefer to shop for watches eBay is a great source of Swiss Army pieces especially if you are looking for a Swiss Made automatic watch at a great value.

The nuts & bolts of the watch reviewed:

Swiss Made with Mechanical Automatic Movement [ETA 2836]
Sapphire Crystal
Water Resistant to 10 ATM (100 meter, 330 feet)
Steel case
Luminous hands and hour markers
Screw-in caseback
Display caseback
Day-Date Display
English/Spanish weekday
Steel bracelet
Double locking safety clasp
41mm case diameter

Thanks to Breitling Source for another great video review.

Hautlence Unveils New HLq Model

2009-09-04T10:58:00.007-04:00

Courtesy of our friends at: TheTimeTV.

Hautlence, one of my favorite independent Swiss firms, has put forth the latest of their fascinating jump hour pieces. The HLq02 'Honeycomb stitch' is the continuation of a line of limited production pieces that have put Hautlence on the map. It's no secret that I am a big fan of any manufacturer that pushes the envelope of traditional watchmaking, and forces us to re-think how we can tell time. I see Hautlence as one of those brands.

Their newest offering expands on the ideas of the HLs and HLq models moving it further into the avante garde with a honeycomb stitch dial pattern, whose theme runs consistent through the piece.

Technical specifications: HLQ02 Honeycomb stitch
-Dedicated Calibre HAUTLENCE HLQ. Jumping date, Jumping hour, retrograde minute and running second
-Manual winding mechanical movement.
-Power reserve 40h
-Oscillation: 21600 BPH
-24 Jewels
-Diameter: 43.8mm / thick: 10.65mm
-Titanium and white gold case
-Honeycomb stitch dial
-Back decoration:
-Fine brushed galvanic treatment black Gold
-Manually angled bridges
-Identification and numbering plate on the back
-Black Varnish in the engraving
-Water resistant to 30 meters (3ATM)
-Sapphire crystal with angled edges, multi layer anti reflect
-Screwed sapphire case back with stamps and the official engraving
-Polished crown with HAUTLENCE logo
-Black Hand sewn genuine Louisiana alligator strap with square scales, adjustable pin bar to fit on the case and horns, ardillon Buckle

I can hardly wait to see what they do next...

One to Watch: Alpha Watch USA

2009-09-02T10:31:00.022-04:00

Established in Hong Kong by brothers Chun-Keung and Chun-Feung Chan; The Alpha Watch Company has been selling very affordable watches with European styling since 1993. They have been something of an underground sensation among collectors for a few years with many of them trumpeting Alpha's value, and quality. Most of the pieces that Alpha Watch produces would fall into what is politely called by some an "homage" watch, and what is not so politely called by others a "rip off" of a preexisting popular design. The battle over homage watches continues with as many people loving them as there are hating them.

For those not familiar; an homage piece is one that gives the wearer the look of a well known high end watch [i.e. the Rolex Submariner, among others] usually with some other minor changes so as not to infringe on the logo trademarks of the original manufacturer. The up side is that they generally cost considerably less than its counterpart, the down side being that many feel is dilutes the originals design, and is bad for the market. Understand Alpha is certainly not the first to make such pieces, companies like Timex and Casio have been making watches influenced by popular designs for years. That's how it goes in business, if it makes an impact it gets copied in some form or another. One of the concerns is that homage watches coming from some Chinese manufacturers are potentially aiding the production of counterfeit watches...But that's a discussion for another day.

Back to Alpha; doing a search on most watch forums of Alpha will usually bring up several discussions. Most of the reaction regarding watches purchased through their Hong Kong online store has been generally positive with, of course, some negative comments regarding occasional quality control issues. The sometimes spotty quality control can be pretty common among Chinese watch manufacturers. The one thing people can't deny is that a lot of watch collectors certainly like to talk about, and buy up Alpha watches.

In mid 2009 a announcement was posted on the Watchuseek forum's Chinese Mechanical Watch area that Alpha Watch USA was to be established, and that many of the wishes, and some complaints discussed by forum members across the web about Alpha Hong Kong [HK] would be addressed. After a short delay the official US website opened with an initial offering that included products and services buyers have been asking about for years, that Alpha HK wasn't really open to doing on a small production run basis.

This announcement was made by Mark Lewis of Illinois; the founder and owner of Alpha Watch USA. Mark was last employed in the telecommunications field where he has had many successes and actually holds U.S. and International patents related to VoIP [Voice Over IP]. Among Mark's many hobbies [including amateur astronomy and drag racing] is, you guessed it, collecting watches. After seeing how popular Alpha HK was, and his desire of fulfilling the customer's wants and needs he decided to see if opening Alpha Watch US was possible. Stating after countless hours research and finding the right partner he was ready to take the plunge. He found that partner in Chris Youra a Project Manager of a marketing firm in California, who will be acting on behalf of Alpha USA as their design, marketing, and web development departments.

Starting out Alpha US has more or less been acting as an official distributor of Alpha HK's product line in North America creating it's own online store and offering many of Alpha HK's most popular designs. Though it doesn't end there, from the very beginning Mark and Chris have been speaking with fans of the brand and asking them questions about where they wanted Alpha US to go...and they actually started to implement the answers. Immediately on Alpha US's website, buyers now had the option to purchase things like display case backs to retrofit their favorite Alpha HK watches [which was a long time customer request], along with a timegrapher service option on new watch purchases [for a small fee], to see just how accurate their latest Alpha watch purchase is. I asked Mark what about Alpha Watch HK made him want to become the US distributor, he stated: "Alpha Watch has a pretty good reputation in the marketplace and have been around for a long time. That coupled with the fact that they have good manufacturing capacity and are willing to do just about anything from a design standpoint makes them a very suitable partner. Their quality control is actually pretty good for what they deliver on a daily basis which makes our job here in the United States easier."

One of the biggest questions was how Alpha Watch US would differ from the Hong Kong based operations, Mark replied: "Well, for one, we are offering a more service based approach. From fielding questions to interacting on various forums to keep in touch with our customers takes us in a totally different direction from Alpha HK. In addition, offering testing services such as with our Timegrapher substantially differentiates us not only from Alpha HK but most all other manufacturer/distributor/retailers at the price point we are selling." continuing "The only aspect of business we share is the fact that we both sell strictly on the Internet. They are a manufacturer and retailer of their own product. We, on the other hand are a distribution arm for them. That said, I'd like them to focus more on the manufacturing end and less of the retail end but that will take time." It's obvious from Mark's statements that he and Chris are looking to expand Alpha's market and product line beyond what is available from Alpha HK. The new relationship had me curious about how the brothers Chan in Hong Kong would react to Mark and Chris taking their labor of love and reshaping it for an American market. I asked Mark about that as well; "Alpha HK is very supportive of our efforts here at Alpha Watch USA. They take our ideas from a concept sometimes as simple as a rough drawing to a production ready blueprint."

With such an ambitious start and the support many collectors, Mark seems confident that his first foray into the watch industry will be a rewarding one. What can we expect from Alpha US in the future? Most certainly the US side of the business will, for now, continue to sell the pieces that made Alpha HK so popular including:

"The Newman"

"The Mil-Sub"

"The Sea"

"The Carbon" [New model only available at Alpha USA]

Three out of the four of those probably look pretty familiar to most readers who know watches. Aside from the physical likeness to their more high end cousins, all of these use Chinese made 'Seagull' and 'Shanghai' movements which, in their own right, have a track record for reliability and robustness. Though the above pieces are very popular and will continue to be sold for some time Mark and Chris aren't content with keeping Alpha US at the status quo, there has been talk of several new models coming out including some that fans have coveted for a while; "We intend on introducing more models that are unique to Alpha Watch USA as time goes on. I'd like to get completely away from the homage pieces but I suspect that would take a lot longer than I'd like. So, we will continue to offer these [homage] pieces but with the Alpha USA "touch" if you will."

Alpha US really seems to want to be tied together with its customer base, and along side its website has started to keep everyone updated by creating official Alpha US pages on Facebook and Twitter. Mark has even started to perform webcasts via an Alpha US YouTube page where he plans to discuss where things are going, unveil new models, and show what Alpha US is all about. Claiming: "Ultimately, it's the customer who buys our product so, I don't intend to stop listening."

Mark Lewis introducing the heavily requested MilSub watch:

To veiw their current product line visit their official website at: www.alphawatchusa.com

You can contact Mark directly with any comments or suggestions via their email; info@alphawatchusa.com or via their official Facebook & Twitter pages.

I would like to thank Mark for taking the time to answer my questions about Alpha Watch USA, its operations and their plans for the future.

Ed Note: The author owns 3 Alpha watches purchased through their Hong Kong facilities.

Alinghi Swaps Audemars Piguet for Hublot

2009-08-25T11:25:00.012-04:00

Defender of the 33rd America's Cup title, Alinghi, has just announced that their two time partnership [2003 & 2007] with Swiss luxury watchmaking firm Audemars Piguet has ended in favor of a new sponsor. This time around the Alinghi vessel will contain the logo, and financial backing, of Hublot. Founded in 1980 Hublot is a very young company by Swiss watchmaking standards but they have quickly made their mark with bold designs and quality manufacturing. Most notably being the first high end Swiss manufacturer to mix rubber straps with precious metal [i.e. gold] cases and fittings, creating a look that is often imitated by many other brands today.

The full press release of today's announcement is available on the Alinghi website.

On a purely personal note; I do find it a bit odd that the announcement is touting Hublot's porthole shaped designs as being "signature" to Hublot [referring to their extremely popular "Big Bang" line of pieces] when ironically their former sponsor, Audemars Piguet, has been producing marine inspired porthole shaped case watches since the early 1970's with their Royal Oak Offshore models.

2007 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Chronograph:An example of a Hublot Big Bang:

So it would appear that someone, for some reason, felt that the AP/Alinghi relationship could go no further.

Ebel Voyager World Timer Review

2009-08-24T11:07:00.003-04:00

Our friends over at Breitling Source have favored us with yet another comprehensive video review. The time they look at an Ebel Voyager automatic world time watch from the early 2000's.

More of their video reviews can be seen on their YouTube Channel.

Swiss Watch iPhone Apps

2009-08-24T08:49:00.007-04:00

Several Swiss watchmaking firms have jumped on the band waggon of creating iPhone applications involving some of their most popular, or newest pieces. When "apps" first started to really gain popularity there were some generic wristwatch versions available, but now it's becoming more clear that original manufacturers are seeing the potential advertising perks of creating official apps that showcases some of their product.

Below are some screen shots of the more popular apps currently available:

Bell & Ross: [Their popular BR01 Instrument watch]

Breitling: [Showing off the new Chronomat B01]

Glycine: [The Airman]

Victorinox/Swiss Army: [A variety of features]

One size fits all:

pic courtesy of doobybrain.com

While there has been a lot of reports in the past few years about a generation of people rejecting wristwatches in favor of using a mobile device as their reference of time, this shows that the watch firms don't really fear becoming obsolete. It's more likely than not that those who acquire one of these apps would be a brand devotee, and this would only strengthen their love of the product line offered. It also gives those who admire, but can't afford, a coveted watch the opportunity to own a small piece of it.

If you happen to have an iPhone, or iPod Touch and are interested, you can find these all at the Apple iPhone App Store

The Escapement's Google Ads: A Quick Note

2009-08-21T11:53:00.007-04:00

As you may have noticed along the right side of my page there is a small amount of Google generated advertisements that mainly feature online watch retailers. It has come to my attention recently that every once in a while an ad appears for a website that sells replica, or fake, watches. At first I attempted to put blocks on specific pages using keywords, and web addresses but this is quickly becoming a losing battle on my end. I can only spend so much time being a watch dog.

As a general rule The Escapement does not officially endorse any online seller, let alone a seller of counterfeit watches. Please be extra careful when shopping at any online watch retailer you find [not just from here], if you need some assistance in finding a reputable seller, just ask I'll be glad to share which ones I've had positive experiences with. There are plenty of scam sites on this wonderful inter-web of ours [both replica and genuine watches] that will gladly take your money and give nothing in return.

To be completely honest I have no right to tell someone how to spend their own money, that's simply not my function with this blog. I just wanted to make sure you know that I am very aware of what appears on my page, even the things beyond my control.

Thank you for reading!

Follow The Escapement on Twitter

2009-08-20T14:07:00.004-04:00

Well I went ahead and finally gave in. I decided to make a Twitter page for my little blog here. I did so to give it another way to link up to the main page, most of the..*sigh*..."tweets" will be direct links to new posts here. I will also be posting links to news articles about the watch industry and other watch related items, that I don't feel warrant the full treatment. So it won't just be a carbon copy of articles here, there will be other things as well...That's what we like to call "incentive"

I even went so far as to link up my mobile phone; so don't be surprised if something like "OMG! the dude next to me totally has an Audemars Piguet ROO on!!" pops up every once in a while.

The Twitter posts will also be available on the right hand side bar of this page as well.

So FOLLOW ME, won't you?

Well, There's Your Problem Right There

2009-08-18T09:36:00.013-04:00

Did you know that mechanical watches generally require servicing after between 4-6 years of on the wrist time? As oils coagulate, friction increases and physical shocks to the case cause some of the inner workings to show wear, its good to have a professional breathe new life into your watch from time to time. A mechanical watch , if looked after properly, can literally out live it's owner. Granted a lot of people choose not to have their watches serviced for various reasons. The cost of a service, or overhaul, can be a bit shocking when its first quoted, but when dealing with a high end precision instrument, its all relative. What I seem to find is that owners of high end pieces are more likely to be open to servicing, whereas the collectors of cheaper mechanicals will either throw them away for new watches, or disassemble and service it themselves. I am a big supporter of experimenting with amateur watchmaking on Chinese made movements due to their costs being so low. It's a fantastic way to get your feet wet without the fear of ruining a priceless family heirloom.

Who: There are a couple of different routes you can go here. A lot of owners of higher end mechanical watches choose to send them back to the manufacturer to get serviced. Though this is generally the more expensive way, you do have the peace of mind of knowing that your multi-thousand dollar timepiece is in the hands of those who originally made it, and that OEM parts are readily available at their facility. A lot of high end watch retailers who have watchmakers on sight will still send many of the pieces they get in back to the original manufacturers. Many collectors also find a local watchmaker and have them do all of their servicing. A great resource to start looking is on Yelp. Started by two former PayPal employees in 2004, Yelp is a website that assists you in finding local businesses of any sort and usually includes reviews from people who have done business with them [search "watchmaker" in our area]. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a good, honest watchmaker. I do strongly urge you to find an actual watchmaker and not a jeweler, though the tools may look the same they are two entirely different types of artisans. A good local jeweler may also be able to recommend a known watchmaker. I would completely avoid mall, or chain jewelry stores...After all you wouldn't send your Ferrari to a Ford dealership, right?

Cost: This is where the cringe factor may come into play for many. Sending your high end watch back to the manufacturer for service can cost the owner quite a bit of scratch. Prices generally run between $200.00 and $600.00 for a mechanical chronograph watch depending on what type of service you are requesting. An "overhaul" is exactly what it sounds like; the manufacturer does everything it can to make your watch as good as the day you first opened the box. This usually includes; completely disassembling the movement cleaning it, replacing any and all worn parts and gaskets, reassembly, polishing the case and bracelets [if you happen to have a bracelet model] and generally an extended period of testing its accuracy. A lot of watch manufacturers will warranty the service for a year. If you go the local route its possible you could get much of the same style service. A trained watchmaker with all of the proper tools can do everything listed above, minus the "official" warranty. Their costs will run you between $100.00 and $400.00 for a mechanical watch. It's a good thing to keep in mind when purchasing a high end mechanical watch that there will be service costs every 4-6 years. Don't think of it as buying a piece of jewelry...because honestly it can be more like buying an automobile. Understand that the more complications your watch has the higher the cost will go, I used a mechanical chronograph as a reference as they are very common.

Below is video that has been floating around the web for a bit. It's an official film from Breitling [so yes, it's a bit of a "crummy commercial"] that explains what one of their watches goes through when it is sent back to Switzerland for an overhaul service. I was fortunate enough to receive a Breitling chronograph watch as a gift, and now that I know what the service entails, I am more likely to save up now and send it back to Breitling for it's overhaul when its required in a few years, as I want to keep my piece as precise as possible for as long as possible.

Breitling also produced films on their quartz watch service, and their extensive polishing procedure. All three films are available for viewing HERE.

Time: Whether you send you watch in for service, or bring it to a local watchmaker understand that it may be several weeks before you see it again. Depending on how much work they have; I have heard as long as 7 to 8 weeks. Remember, patience is a virtue, and you want this done right.

My heart breaks a little whenever I see a truly remarkable timepiece that has been left by the wayside as "just an old watch". It makes me want to scoop it up and nurture it back to life.

If you have any questions, or need help finding a reputable watchmaker in your area feel free to ask and I will use all of my resources to assist you in finding a properly trained watchmaker you can trust.

One to Watch: Independent Edition

2009-08-11T09:33:00.022-04:00

Starting to make a buzz around some watch forums, eBay and YouTube is PyroLume Watch Works. Pyrolume is a US based independent watch company started by New Jersey anesthesiologist Pejman Foroush. Dr. Foroush took his passion for timepieces to a new level when he began building one off custom pieces and prototypes for friends and family approximately 2 years ago. Initially testing the waters of selling on eBay, he has since sold an estimated 350-400 watches worldwide since PyroLume's inception. Each of these creations has been a custom piece experimenting with different designs, movements, & materials.

There are two defining characters of PyroLume watches; first is the high volume and creative use of luminescence material Pejman applies to various parts of the watch in a wide variety of colors, and second is the custom dials he produces using an in-house CNC mill. Pyrolume often plays with varying dial materials including [but not limited to]; thin aluminum sheets, copper, and composite materials ranging from carbon fiber to silver and gold texalium and even Mother of Pearl. Recently he has been toying around with using a black, or charcoal colored lume which is somewhat of an oddity that is starting to be sought after by collectors more and more.

Below are just a few examples of PyroLume's offerings:

Ground breaking use of lume on the underside of a dial.

Caseback in day, or standard, light conditions

PyroLume's take on the classic California dial

Half Skeleton 'Aviator' with orange lume.

The caseback of the above 'Aviator'

Mother of Pearl dial

Drenched in lume to give it a halo effect

PyroLume offers a little bit for every price range with pricing starting around $200 for prototype and quartz pieces. If you are looking to spend a bit more PyroLume also offers several variations using Asian produced "ETA/Unitas 6497" clones [mainly Seagull and Hangzouh movements] in titanium cases in the $350-400 price range. Foroush really seems to be currently focusing on this second tier line of products. For those not familiar; the venerable "6497" styled movement, by design, is very robust and reliable and is still desirable to many, which is a great jumping off point for PyroLume's line of watches. Though some of the Asian made versions are known to have questionable quality control the good doctor is doing all he can to pick up the slack in that area stating; "My solution to this was simple, each and every Chinese movement regardless of source is torn down, inspected, properly lubricated, reassembled and regulated on my Timegrapher machine." PyroLume has also begun to roll out a third tier of pieces using Swiss made movements and overall higher quality materials, starting in the $600 area and going up from there. Considering the attention to detail, the attraction of the crazy amounts of lume, and the in-house manufacturing of dials...His prices are quite reasonable; which opens the door to many collectors still in search of a custom piece that doesn't make their wallets implode.

Pyrolume Watch Works film of the very attractive "Luxe Turbofan" with a rose gold colored skeleton movement

Looking ahead Pejman seems very excited about the future of PyroLume; "I have recently moved the PyroLume Watch Works from my garage into some local industrial space. I will also be investing in new machines as well as bringing on two full time employees to help take my vision to the next level." he is also currently working on a display for the BaselWorld 2010 fair next April.

To see many more of PyroLume Watch Works' custom creations you can browse through their gallery at www.pyrolume.com, or visit their YouTube channel HERE. To follow along on projects check out the PyroLume Watch Works blog HERE.

To see what is currently available from PyroLume click HERE for a current eBay search.

I would like to thank Dr. Foroush for taking the time to answer some of my questions about PyroLume Watch Works, its origins and their product line.

Reviving A Classic

2009-08-10T08:25:00.010-04:00

During World War II Bulova Watches established "The Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking" to teach watchmaking to all who were interested. One of the great programs set up by them in 1945 was to have war veterans, with a focus on disabled veterans, enroll the school at no cost to them and learn the art of watchmaking and start a new career post military service. This was an extremely successful program that graduated over 800 students who gained employment in the watchmaking industry. Put simply it was set up by Bulova "To serve those, who served us." Unfortunately the original school was closed in the year 2000.

With the advent of two modern wars and the resurgence of the mechanical watch becoming once again in the good favors of collectors; a new similar program for vets was set up on February 27th, 2008 under the guidance of "The American Watch Guild". There are some differences from the original program, and they are all positive ones. Instead of being limited to one teaching location Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans now have the possibility of attending 1 of 11 watchmaking programs in various locations across the country. This time around well known retailers of fine watches have also stepped up to lend training, and support to the returning soldiers.

The all important basics of the program still hold true for veterans; no prior watchmaking experience is needed, and the program generally takes care of all the costs for those who enter it.

It's a fantastic way for the watch industry to support the modern veterans who come home often struggling to find work.

To learn more about the program you can check out the official website: www.vetwatchtraining.org

To learn more about the homecoming Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and to see what you can do to help make their transition home a more pleasant one visit: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America at www.iava.org

Craziest Watch of the Year Award

2009-08-03T12:53:00.016-04:00

Established in 1908 Concord was always seen as a company that produced a more understated series of timepieces...for the gentleman. Personally they never really appealed to me. In 2007 Concord took a very dramatic turn by adding the C1 model to their line of watches. This was so far from their previous efforts, and such a success that it would seem Concord is using that line as the new foundation for the companies future products. The C1 even already has some lower to moderately priced brands using it as an inspiration.

At the 2009 BaselWorld Fair Concord unveiled the newest watch in their very popular C1 line; the C1 QuantumGravity bi-axial tourbillon. If you think the name is a mouthful you are in for a surprise regarding it's features. The QuantumGravity [QG] is the latest piece to emerge from Concord's C-Lab a special workshop of watchmakers and designers whose goal it is to push the limits of mechanical watchmaking...psst! you're doing it right. Along side its basic time keeping functions the QG boasts a specially designed liquid filled 3-day power reserve indicator. The green liquid is phosphorescent nanoparticles which glow [below].

The watch also features a vertically mounted bi-axial tourbillon which is suspended on the side of the case rather than in its traditional position some where in the dial area. By the way; when I say "suspended" I literally mean suspended as the mechanism is actually supported by tiny [0.4mm thick] suspension cables that run from the tourbillon cage to the main plate [below].

All of this watchmaking lunacy is packed into a titanium case which measures under 50mm wide, about the same as a Breitling Chrono Super Avenger. Concord is only making 10 of them, and at a price of $480,000 each this will be a very exclusive club of owners.

Every year at BaselWorld several brands try to push the envelope of mechanical watchmaking by introducing watches that take the traditional and turn it on its head. I think it's fair to say, now being 6 months into 2009, that the Concord C1 QuantumGravity gets the award for most outrageous creation.

For more information on the QG you can visit the official website HERE.

Below is a short interview with the president of Concord discussing and showing the C1 QG at BaselWorld 2009. Check it out to see the bi-axial tourby in action

Information for this post was obtained from several sources including: Concord's own websites and WatchTime Magazine's August 2009 issue.

Blancpain & Lamborghini's Partnership

2009-07-29T13:02:00.015-04:00

Typically when you speak to a watch collector it's not long before you learn that they are also into cars. That correlation is not lost on watchmaking firms. This coming weekend I will be attending a local Italian auto show. Along with checking out some of the world's finest automobiles, I'll also be partaking in one of my favorite hobbies; watch spotting. So in the spirit of that I wanted to share a little promotional film put together for the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, a series of races that tour some of Europe's legendary race tracks. It was set out to be the world's fastest one-make series of races. Blancpain sponsors the event while Lamborghini provides a racing version of their Gallardo LP560-4 along with technical support of the entire event. Originally conceived in 2008 the popular tour is currently making the rounds again this year.

Blancpain also created a limited edition [300 pieces] chronograph to celebrate the partnership. The watch is appropriately called the "Super Trofeo Chronograph" [pictured below].

Now if we could only get them to bring the series to the states...

Alpha Watch Review from Breitling Source

2009-07-29T08:49:00.004-04:00

Another fine video review from our friends at Breitling Source. This time it's of a low cost Asian made Alpha Watch. I have a few Alphas myself and may do some of my own reviews in the future.

Breitling Source's YouTube page can be found HERE.

Breguet's Marie Antoinette Back on Display

2009-07-24T20:30:00.014-04:00

It was in November of last year that Breguet's most famous piece, the Marie Antoinette watch, was recovered. In 1983 it was stolen from the Israeli museum that had it as an exhibit, and was never seen again until it popped up in a watchmaker's shop with the person who brought it in asking what they could get for it. Thankfully the watchmaker instantly recognized the watch and reported it immediately. The watch officially went back on display at the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem along with several other Breguet pieces until September 9th, 2009.

Now for a quick history; the watch was commissioned in 1783 for Marie Antoinette. The request came from a suitor of hers. He requested that the pocket watch have every complication available at the time. The idea was to have a timepiece that would find her speechless at the sight of it. Unfortunately she was never able to obtain the piece as she died in 1793. Breguet actually finished and unveiled the watch in 1827, nearly 44 years after her passing.

The watch eventually found it's way into the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art where it sat until 1983 when it, along with 106 other timepieces were stolen in a heist that only a Hollywood writer could come up with. There were no real clues left behind and no one ever heard any word about who may have them.

Fast forward to 2005; Nicolas Hayek, CEO of the Swatch Group & Breguet, announced that the original plans were found and he intended on building an exact reproduction of the Marie Antoinette by hand [this one didn't take 44 years to make, it was completed in 2007]. Ironically enough only months after he showed his reproduction at Basel World 2008, the original watch was recovered. It turns out that the notorious thief; Naaman Diller was the sole perpetrator of the crime and held onto the watch until his death in 2004, when it was anonymously sold to a watchmaker in a lot of vintage watches for $40,000. There was initially some argument as to the rightful owner of the watch, but it was decided that since the museum had official and legal ownership last, it would remain with them.

At this time the watch's estimated value is approximately 30 million dollars. Though Hayek spent a lot of time and money making a fine reproduction...There truly is only one of this piece in the world. Below are some pics of the two watches.

The Original Marie Antoinette after recovery

Breguet CEO Nicolas Hayek with his fine reproduction in 2008.

Read more about the exhibit from the original Associated Press Story HERE.

Click HERE for a Google image search of this stunning beauty.

But Does It Tell Time?

2009-07-22T11:33:00.006-04:00

Today Samsung unveiled what is to be the world's slimmest "watchphone". The S9110 is slated to be released later this month in France with a roll out to other European countries soon after. It is set to sell for about $640.00

"It features a 1.76-inch touch screen -- which users can use to check email from Outlook, play MP3s and make calls -- and integrates Bluetooth 2.1, a speakerphone and voice recognition technology. "

This will be the only direct competition for LG's similar offering; the GD910 which is due out in August.

Seriously....Does it tell time?

Original articles from Mobiledia

The Omega Has Landed

2009-07-20T08:16:00.019-04:00

On July 20, 1969 [40 years ago today] the Apollo 11 Lunar Excursion Module [LEM] gently touched down on the surface of the moon. Contained inside of its cramped quarters were Neil Alden Armstrong, and Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. with Michael Collins piloting the Command Module over head in the moon's orbit. There is no doubt in any person's mind that these, along with many other people in NASA's past and present, are truly heroes that can be looked up to with pride.

Among the many articles making the 4 day trip to the moon was the now famed Omega Speedmaster Chronograph [model #: 3570.50]. From that day forward this popular timepiece would come to be known as "The Moon Watch" and Omega makes no bones about marketing it as such. The watch first came into production in 1957 and is still available today with little to no modifications from the original design.

The funny thing is the Omega Watch Company had no idea that NASA was testing this watch to be used for space travel. NASA officials covertly bought several brands of chronograph watches in retail stores and began to put them through rigorous stress tests to see which would survive the hard trip and atmosphere in outer space. On March 1st, 1965 the Omega was proclaimed the winner and was adopted by NASA as the only “Officially Certified Wristwatch For All Manned Space Missions.”. It wasn't until Edward White wore a Speedmaster on his wrist during his space walk [the first EVA by an American] on the Gemini IV mission that Omega even found out. NASA has used the Omega Speedmaster Professional on every space mission since. It is currently one of only three watches officially rated as mission certified. Most modern wristwatches can handle the rigors of space travel and astronauts are allowed to bring any timepiece they wish along with them, but they are still given an Omega Speedmaster Professional for their missions and are expected to use them as their primary mission wristwatches.

It is widely known that Neil Armstrong is the first man to step foot on the surface of the moon. Most people, however, are not aware that the first Omega to make its way to the lunar surface was on Buzz Aldrin's wrist and not Armstrong's. Why is that? Turns out that a timing device in the lunar module was malfunctioning so Neil left his Speedmaster in the cockpit to replace the device [you can't get a better advertisement than that]. The video above shows Buzz Aldrin's first steps on the moon, and in turn shows the first wristwatch being worn on the moon as well. Unfortunately Buzz Aldrin's watch has since have been lost. While many of the watches used for manned space missions are available to view at various air and space museums across the country Buzz Aldrin's famous watch was lost in transit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and remains so to this day. So to whoever may have it...Just give it back.

Buzz Aldrin wearing his Omega Speedmaster during the Apollo 11 mission

As recently as July 19, 2009 the three Apollo 11 astronauts, along with John Glenn, appeared together at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC to discuss their mission and to try to spur the next generation of NASA workers to send a human to Mars. Full story HERE.

Many may ask what the point of a manned mission to Mars is...The answer is simple: It's next. Man has always had a need to explore further and further and no other reason than that is needed. If we do send a man/woman to Mars you can bet that an Omega Speedmaster Professional will be on their wrist and now even Stephen Urquhart, current President of Omega Watches, has committed Omega to being on all manned flights from here on out.

For more information on the Omega Speedmaster and other watches worn for moon missions check out THIS SITE.

Freebie For Your Computer!

2009-07-19T09:48:00.014-04:00

Here is a little freebie for my fellow watch enthusiasts. I was clued into this from the online watch forum I spend too much time on. It's a Panerai GMT screensaver clock. It's pretty widely known that Panerai offers an official screensaver on their page. This new one appears to have been a labor of love from an Officine Panerai fan, and in my opinion is much better than the official offering.

The dial rendering has a 3D feel to it which is much more fun. The screensaver shows the time, the date, a seconds 'subdial', a cyclops, and a moving GMT hand which matches the current time in the 24hr scale [the GMT hand is not adjustable].

Now for the cool part; the screensaver has 'lume' on it. During the daylight hours the screensaver shows the numerals and hands in white, when it hits the nighttime hours they glow green. Below are a couple of screen shots [not captured by me]:

Daytime Display

Nighttime Display

This is available HERE for download. This has been making the watch forum rounds for a while, and I've had it on my computer for a few days. All is well, it's completely freeware and contains no funny stuff. When you get to the page click on "Free User" and it makes you wait 30 seconds to download the .exe file. You'll notice upon installation the instructions are in German...just click on the first button on the left and you are good to go! Das ist gut, ja?

Enjoy!

Orlando Bloom's Watch Collection Burglarized

2009-07-18T12:18:00.004-04:00

One of the stars of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film series had his home, and specifically his valuable watch collection burglarized.

"His collection reportedly included eight watches that were more than 40 years old, six rare Rolexes, including a rare antimagnetic Milgauss from the 1950s, which vintage watch experts told the paper could be worth almost $200,000. His collection also reportedly included a Rolex Submariner, popularized by Sean Connery in “Goldfinger,” estimated to be worth over $32,000. His entire watch collection was reported worth over $328,000, according to the paper."

Bloom has been heard to state that he is not too upset about the break in as no one got hurt in the incident.

Here is a bit more information HERE.

Be sure to insure those pricier pieces, kids!

President Obama's Wristwatch

2009-07-15T13:21:00.031-04:00

Presidential wristwatches has always been a fascinating subject to me. To know what any person of such high stature chooses to wear on their wrist says a lot about who they are. Since he was Candidate Obama the online watch forums and blogs were all a buzz about what Barrack Obama was wearing. There was literally months of incorrect guessing before the truth finally came out.

I bet you're wondering now, aren't you? When President Obama first came into the public scene he wore a tried and true Tag Heuer 1500. Though Tag Heuer no longer makes this model after market and vintage sales of this piece jumped up quite a bit along side his rising popularity. Many watch admirers appreciated that he seemed to wear something of a 'beater' on his wrist, as it projected a good work ethic [kinda like his shoes].

Then something happened...One day something new appeared on his wrist...and it was something that no one could place for quite some time. Many assumed it was another Tag Heuer as he was already known to be a wearer of that mark. In reality it was something quite different. On the occasion of his 46th birthday President Obama was presented a gift by his Secret Service detail....You guessed it, a new watch. What made this watch so confusing to those of us who follow such things was the United States Secret Service logo printed on the dial. Many of us spent loads of time trying to determine the brands that had logos similar to what is printed on the watch. [see below]

The watch manufacturer is actually Jorg Gray, and the model is the 6500 Series Chronograph. Jorg Gray is commonly known for making watches available to have specially printed dials per the customers request [It's like one of those watches your company has made up with their logo on it]. The watches with the Secret Service logo are only available for purchase for those select few who work within the Department of Homeland Security*.

Fear not readers....This is, after all, America. Riding the popularity of President Obama's campaign and election Jorg Gray now offers a special version of the watch [without the Secret Service logo, for obvious reasons] with a special engraved case back. The watch is available at www.barackswatch.com and www.jorggray.com. Prices start at about $325.00. To be completely honest its very easy to find a watch with the same movement in it and of similar quality, for less money but obviously the market price is where it wants to be and people seem to be paying it. Plus there is something to be said for wearing the same watch as The President if you happen to be a fan of his.

Every once in a while you will see a "Secret Service Edition" of the watch appear on eBay, but the prices tend to be much higher than the "Presidential Edition" readily available to the public.

*Ed. Note: The Secret Service is no longer a part of the United States Treasurey Department. Its jurisdiction was placed under the Department of Homeland Security on March 1st, 2003. I have updated the original text to reflect that change. My sincere apologies to any who may have been offended by the error.

Ever Wonder Why That Rolex Costs So Much?

2009-07-15T12:57:00.008-04:00

This probably has something to do with it. Rolex has once again topped all other manufacturers in spending for advertising to the US market. Spending an estimated $49.3 million dollars on ad placement. That astounding figure is a full $20 million dollars more than the number two spender Breitling [with $28.92 million spent].

I have no problems with Rolex, but maybe...just maybe if they cooled off with some of the advertising buyers could be offered a more realistic price for their watches.

The number of watch brands spending less that a million dollars on advertising is down from 69 to 65.

Full story, inlcuding the top 25 spenders list, by Joe Thompson is over at Watch Time Magazine

Watches and the Green Revolution

2009-07-13T11:15:00.014-04:00

We can all agree that a mechanical watch is a very 'green' item; it's powered by either the movements of the wearers wrist, or by the act of manually winding a mainspring. There's not too many other things as energy efficient as that. Though its more modern counterpart, the quartz watch, does have some waste involved [old batteries]...all in all they too are not that bad for the environment.

But what about manufacturing watches? Is that process harmful?....

Switzerland has done many things legislatively to make the production of watches more friendly to the earth, they have their ducks pretty much in order and do a fine job of utilizing already available green power when they can. Where the question has come up more and more is in China [you're not surprised, right?]. Like it or not China's watchmaking industry has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past 5 to 7 years. They have always produced mechanical and quartz watches but now we have seen improvement in movement quality and overall construction, and it's only getting better every day. As you can imagine even their watch manufacturing facilities are probably emitting loads of carbon [think about all of the case manufacturing, smelting, and the petroleum based power they use to do so].

As evidenced by the recent G8 Summit it seems pretty plausible that China and India [two of the world's largest carbon emitters] are not going to budge any time soon with reducing emissions from their manufacturing process. The other nations in the G8 were greeted with comments similiar to: "Well you guys got to produce and pollute for decades...So why can't we?" As much as I understand that logic; generally using the tactics of a 7 year old rarely work. So here we sit, with an invisible wall in our way.

I, for one, welcome China further into the watch industry, and am very excited to see what they could do...but as a whole they need to understand that if you want to eventually be in the same league as the world's most popular manufacturers there are certain responsibilities that need to be under taken...just one of which is to leave as little a footprint on the eather as possible. [and don't even get me started on the other things they need work on...]

HERE is the article that influenced this post.

Best. Watch Review. Ever

2009-07-13T08:25:00.007-04:00

This has been making the rounds for some time, it still doesn't make it any less amusing to me. This actually gives me a little more confidence when it comes to my video reviews. Play him off Keyboard Ca.......

See all Jewelry & Watches reviews at Expotv

For those who are not really into watches, if you'd like to know all of the incorrect things he says, just ask...I'll let you know.

As Goes The Swatch Group...

2009-07-12T09:15:00.020-04:00

The Swatch Group CEO, Nick Hayek commented on Sunday that The Swatch Group [parent company of such brands as: Omega, Tissot, Longines, Hamilton, Swatch, Breguet etc etc etc.] stated that they expect sales to improve the second half of this year [Are we really on the second half of the year already?]. He noted in particular that sales growth in China jumped by quite a bit.

It looks as though China is where the Swiss watch industry will be aiming their sales and marketing guns for the time being, as exports to the once coveted United States market dropped 42.7%, and an also staggering 30.3% in Japan this past year...Yikes. It looks to be yet another retail indication that the world's economy, as a whole, is shifting focus towards China and India.

This is the second story in a week about a watch manufacturer stating that forecasts are looking up for the coming year, but I would have to say that The Swatch Group being the world's largest watch manufacturer is probably the best watch company to keep an eye on for gauging the state of the industry, as well as the global economy.

The Swiss watch industry has seen its largest sales declines since the "quartz crisis" hit in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

The full story is HERE and further reading is available on Reuters.

Golana Aura 200-2 Ladies Chronograph Review

2009-07-11T12:07:00.015-04:00

Well here it is! I finally took the time to film my first video review. I opted to look at my wife's newest piece; a Golana Aura 200-2 chronograph [her first chrono!!...I'm awful proud]. Feel free to comment on the video either here or on my YouTube channel. I welcome any suggestions to make the videos more palatable [less annoying]. There will be more to come soon. Enjoy the review!

If You Find Yourself in Boston

2009-07-10T17:38:00.009-04:00

The Waltham Watch Company [Waltham, MA] was at one time America's largest manufacturer of watches. In operation from 1850 to 1957 they produced approximately 40 million watches, clocks, speedometers, compasses, time fuses and other precision instruments that were considered the best of their day. There was a time when Swiss manufacturers actually copied their pocket watch movement designs...and some of them even made Waltham fakes....You heard right; the Swiss made Waltham fakes in the late 1800's.

The building still stands on the banks of the Charles River but alas it is now office and condo space. [I wonder if I could convince the wife to move there...hmmmmm]

When visiting the town of Waltham you feel that they are very proud of their horological past and promote it where and when they can.

Why the trip down memory lane? Well "on July 24th several watches, along with some of the tools and artifacts of the Waltham Watch Factory, will be part of a permanent public exhibit at the newly renovated Watch Factory building on Crescent Street.

People interested in the Watch Factory’s colorful history will be able to see more than 50 photos and six displays of items from the time period in the lobby at 221 Crescent Street. Objects range from an original watchmaker’s bench, to examples of the time pieces workers produced, to plates from the company cafeteria."

Watch Factory Exhibit
Grand Opening Event
Friday, July 24th
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Watch Factory

Here is the full story from the Boston Globe

Well I know where I'll be on July 24th at 5:30

Did You Know...

2009-07-10T11:02:00.016-04:00

...That Dan Spitz, former guitarist for the GRAMMY nominated hard rock band 'Anthrax', is a WOSTEP certified master watchmaker with a specialty in complications? I didn't either until today, but as a sound guy and watch nut I think it's pretty damn awesome! Dan has his own watch shop in Florida where he services watches along with designing and building his own pieces.

You can follow his blog and read more about his musical projects, his passion for watches and watchmaking here.

Dan has also recently formed the band DeuxMonkey who has released a new album. Five tracks are available for purhchase at Amazon.

Way to be cool on two fronts Dan!

I Don't Care How Hungry You Are...

2009-07-09T14:56:00.007-04:00

Do NOT eat watch.

Urwerk's New UR-CC1 "King Cobra"

2009-07-09T13:36:00.006-04:00

I find Urwerk's mechanisms to be completely fascinating, and I love what they are doing with design and function. Urwerk's newest offering is a linear display piece nicknamed the "King Cobra".

Full Story Here: Urwerk King Cobra
The UR-CC1 information at Urwerk's official website

With a limited production of only 25 pieces in varying materials, I'm sure this will be a mighty pricey watch. I'll continue to keep an eye out for more info on this one and post accordingly.

One to Watch: Zodiac

2009-07-09T08:34:00.004-04:00

Recently I have been noticing some pretty bold designs coming from the Zodiac Watch company. Granted Zodiac is by no means a new company as it was originally founded in 1882 in Le Loce, Switzerland and have been consistently doing pretty well until about 1997 when they went bankrupt, and the company were bought by Genender International, a US company, in 1998. In 2001 Zodiac was acquired by Fossil as they were looking to add a Swiss brand to their line. Though now owned by American company Zodiac still offers only "Swiss Made" pieces. I'm not sure if Fossil has any input into design, or if Zodiac just had an explosion of creativity lately but they are coming out with some funky pieces that I simply cannot stop admiring. I've seen the newer Zodiacs priced any where in the $300 - $700 range, depending on the model and where you look [if you look at a department store, you are going to generally pay more...stick to reputable online sellers]. Here are just a few of my favorite designs out now from their Adventure and ZMX lines.

The Adventure - [ZO6702]

The ZMX 02 - [ZO8503]

The ZMX 03 - [ZO8507]

From what I hear these are all very well built solid hunks of wrist metal. It looks as though Zodiac has elected to use Ronda as their main movement supplier as most of their quartz pieces contain them. If Zodiac continues down this path, it was definitely a wise move for the already hugely successful Fossil to add them to their line. Be sure to check out their website for other variations and models.

Zenith Chronomaster Review

2009-07-08T20:32:00.001-04:00

The latest of many great video reviews performed by the good folks at BreitlingSource.com. Where they cover way more than just Breitling watches.

Hautlence Press Kit

2009-07-08T20:10:00.005-04:00

This is one of my favorite watch related things to come out in the past year. Hautlence a small Swiss firm worked with the French multimedia company i-reel to put out what has to be one of the coolest press kits for a watch in some time.

It's a bit hard to find, but I've seen it on eBay here and there. I was able to get mine by simply asking Hautlence directly last year. I was about 110% sure they wouldn't send me a thing, until it actually arrived. The disc works both as a CD-ROM and a playable DVD. When put in the computer you are greeted with hi-res photos of the HL series of watches, along with specs and company information, as you would find in a physical press kit.

However when popped into a DVD player you have the option to show two computer animated films made for Hautlence by the fine folks at i-reel. These films were meant to be shown on a loop on flat panel TV's in authorized dealers of Hautlence.

Here is the dynamic film made for the HLq line of watches.

I currently use the above film as much as possible to test any audio/video systems I set up at work.

As stated the animation was rendered by i-reel while the music and sound design was created by a french electronica duo named NewOldStockProd. Both of the members of the band are big watch fans themselves. If you enjoy what you see above you'll be happy to learn that these two teams have worked several times together on similar projects for watch firms including [links go directly to the respective brand's films]: Tag Heuer, Zenith, and Urwerk.

Rolex Expanding Production Facilities

2009-07-08T09:58:00.002-04:00

Look at that! First day and I already got some news to post. The General Management of Rolex has recently announced its decision to begin construction of a major extension at the Manufacture des Montres Rolex site in Bienne.

Full article HERE

This is actually great news as it shows that Rolex sees things looking up for their economic future, and if the sales of multi thousand dollar watches are up that must mean that the super rich are getting riche.....oh crap, isn't that how we got into trouble in the first place?

Driving the Time Keeping Element

2009-07-08T09:04:00.004-04:00

Welcome to The Escapement!

For those who don't know; the escapement is the most important part of a mechanical watch. As stated in the title of this, my inaugural post, it drives the time keeping element. The constant regulation from the escapement keeps the watch running at a specified rate, and prevents the mainspring from unwinding uncontrollably. So mechanical watches don't "tell time" as much as allow bound up energy to be released at a regulated rate to display the time of day. It's a delicate process that when done correctly gives a pile of gears and springs a heartbeat.

Hello, I'm Craig M. and my aim here at 'The Escapement' is to put forth unto you, the reader [or lack thereof], any timepiece and watch industry related information I find interesting. Along the way I may write up some reviews on wristwatches, and wristwatch related items. I am also an amateur watchmaker, so if anything blog worthy happens with that...I'll put it up. Please note; I do not discriminate when it comes to watches, I feel as though they all have certain value so expect discussion about mechanical and quartz watches coming from all the regions of the globe that produce them.

The opinions on here will be all me, I have no affiliation with with any entity in the manufacturing, or selling of watches. Any review I write will be of an item I personally own. I'm just a guy who has a passion for all things wristwatch.

Feel free to comment as I welcome all discussion. If I get something wrong or you just flat disagree with me...Tell me.