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Ariel Adams

Breguet Marine Tourbillon Ref. 5839 High Jewellery Chronograph Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 15th 2011 12:02PM

In the watch world diamonds seem to make just about everything better. This Ref. 5839 Marine Troubillon High Jewellery watch is a diamond encrusted version of the Ref. 5937 from a few years ago. Breguet outfitted the watch case and dial with an impressive amount of diamonds, but still was able to retain that signature Breguet Marine watch look.

The 43mm wide 18k white gold case as about 11.77 carats of stones on it. One of the neatest parts is how Breguet was able to maintain the coined edge of the case using specially cut diamonds. Also not the unique pattern the diamonds create for the bezel. On the dial smaller diamonds are set in the middle of the dial and don't overshadow the hands. The dial itself is silvered 18k gold. Overall Breguet did a great job giving a men's jewelry watch a functional face.

Inside the watch is a Breguet caliber 554.4 manually wound tourbillon movement with the time and a chronograph complication. The watch has 50 hours of power reserve with special features that include a silicium balance spring and escapement wheel.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Napoleon Entering Cairo Statue Available At Rau Antiques

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 14th 2011 8:00PM

There is an almost eerie quality to this one of a kind custom made statue depicting Napoleon Bonaparte as he enters Cario during his campaign in Egypt. The small statue was made by famed French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme as a smaller version of a larger bronze statue. It was made around 1897. The statue is done in an ancient style known as "chryselephantine." The inner part of the statue is wood, while it is overlaid with gold and ivory. Ivory is used for Napoleon's face to simulate a more realistic flesh like look. The statue is about 16 and a half inches high.

Gerome, the artist, favored such older Roman and Greek sculpting techniques. The original bronze statue was bought by the French government for public display. This work is an amazing historical reference as well as example of neo-classic revival in the 19th century that has since never been better. Price is $198,000 at Rau Antiques. Learn more here.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye Tourbillon Haute Joaillerie Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 14th 2011 12:01PM

For half a million dollars you can get a lot of watches or this lovely new high jewelry watch from Swiss Girard-Perregaux. The Cat's Eye Tourbillon Haute Joaillerie timepiece has an 18k white gold case and is 32mm wide by 38mm tall in the typical Cat's Eye oval shape. It has a stunning amount of large diamonds all over it. According to Girard-Perregaux the watch required over 700 hours of work to create, containing over 20 carats of diamonds. The precious stones come in various cuts and are placed all over the case, crown, and dial.

Inside the watch is a Girard-Perregaux in-house made caliber GP09700-0006 manually wound tourbillon movement. The Tourbillon escapement is visible on the dial using a traditional GP style bridge. The movement has a power reserve of about three days. Attached to the strap is a gray satin strap with a white gold buckle... and more diamonds. Price for this very impressive haute joaillerie watch is $490,000.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews website aBlogtoRead.com.

DeLaneau Open Magic Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 13th 2011 12:02PM

Open Magic is the newest collection of luxury timepieces for women from DeLaneau. I have a deep level of respect for the brand and am waiting for them to hopefully design a men's watch - not sure if that will ever happen as they seem pretty dedicated to be a watch for sophisticate women, by a sophisticated woman. The Open Magic watch comes in a few styles. The main designer elements include the unique strap and lugs system. A gold coil connects to the satin strap - that on the other end has double straps. The attractive case is almost Bell Epoque and art deco in style.

The watch dial itself is done in black onyx with triangular segments in mother-of-pearl (or vice versa). It has dauphine style hands and diamond hour markers. Diamond are found all over the bezel and case - with varying amounts of stones available as the Open Magic watch is offered with about 1.56 carats of diamonds to 5 carats of diamonds. Inside the watch is a Swiss mechanical movement. Really a stunning item and worthy of the Delaneau name.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: DeLaneau Open Magic

Chopard Happy Sport La Vie En Rose Watches

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 12th 2011 12:07PM

Chopard expands on its Happy Diamond Sport collection with a summer offering called the Happy Sport La Vie En Rose. The famous Edith Piaf song lends itself to these timepieces that have silhouette style roses on the dials - with or without diamonds. Perhaps this is also an unofficial watch from Chopard to its fans in France.

The 36mm wide watches are in steel or 18k rose gold (or steel with an 18k rose gold bezel). The loveliest models have rose colored sapphires set in the bezel - as well as diamonds mixed into the decor on the dial. Like all Happy Diamond watches, a few floating diamonds are sandwiched between two sapphire crystals and move around freely over the dial. The collection has a few dial styles and straps to choose from, presumably all in tones that will match rose colors. The entire Happy Sport La Vie En Rose collection will be limited to about 525 pieces total. Inside the watches are Swiss quartz movements. Look for them soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Aperion Signature SLIMstage30 Speaker Bar Review

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 12th 2011 9:31AM

Not being an audiophile, it takes a lot to impress me when reviewing a speaker system. I didn't think much of reviewing Aperion's new sound bar style speaker as it seemed like a pretty straight forward device. The idea of a sound bar (soundbar) style speaker is to offer an external speaker when using many of today's flat panel television sets because the native speakers they have usually aren't very good or get very loud. Rather than getting a more complicated and space intensive speaker set, a sound bar offers a total package in a thin speaker strip. At least that is the idea. Usually these compact devices have serious drawbacks in the interest of being small. What I found however is that Aperion loaded the Signature collection SLIMstage30 with a ton of features and options to make it one of the best and most comprehensive speaker systems I have ever used - all in a one-piece device.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Launches Online Service To Personalize Reverso Watches

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 11th 2011 12:02PM

A few years ago this would have never been something a high-end conservative watch brand like Jaeger-LeCoultre would have dreamed of doing. Traditionally, services like watch customization and personalization were to be done in a chic boutique with an authorized dealer over a glass of champagne and cookies. Now that model has changed and brands realize that people want to shop at home online.

The iconic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso has a case that flips around to reveal a solid caseback - offering a perfect palette for personalization. The new Reverso customization website allows customers to pick a watch and create any number of custom engravings and art on the back of a Reverso watch. This includes a large number of pre-selected options, as well as truly customizable engravings and enamel work. Options include having initials, a special message, coat of arms, imagery, or anything else that fits on the space. You can even have precious stones set in the back of the watch case.

The website uses a Flash based application for navigation and is rather straight forward. Really a fun thing to play around with and choose your ideal personalized Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso watch.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews website aBlogtoRead.com.

Certina DS Action Diver Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 10th 2011 12:01PM

The best new Certina watches for 2011 were the "Action Divers." The name of the collection sounds as youthful as Certina wants the watches to be. Certina once made very impressive diving watches and are seemingly trying to return that image a bit. While intended to be for the mainstream buyer, these DS Action Divers are a nice watch and a good value that are also diving capable. They come in a few styles and colors, and on metal bracelets or straps. Size is just right at 43mm wide for most people. The dial is an amalgamated look from a range of successful high-end divers from brands such as Rolex and Omega. Certina sort of melded a few together to come up with this attractive look. The same concept applied to the steel case and bezel - not wholly original, but satisfying.

I love the clean integration of the date. None of the hour indicators needed to be removed, and the date disc is black to match the dial being placed between hour indicators. The watch case has a sapphire crystal and is water resistant to 200 meters. Inside the watch is a Swiss ETA 2824 automatic movement. Overall a great daily wear at a price that feels comfortable in the $800 - $1000 range.

Ariel Adams publishes the wrist watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Longines, Official Timekeeper Of Kentucky Derby, Gifts Watches To Race Winners

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 9th 2011 9:00PM

Longines, now the official timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby and its home track Churchill Downs, recently was able to award the winners of the 2011 Kentucky Derby with a Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph watch. Longines recorded a winning time of 2.04 minutes as the running time for "Animal Kingdom" the winning horse. The Swiss brand rewarded the horse owner Barry Irwin, jockey Johnny Velazquez, and trainer Graham Motion each with the classically inspired timepiece. The link above will take you to a previous article that discusses the piece further along with Longines' involvement with them famous horse race. Participation with the well-known high-society event is important to the historic brand that is fighting for a larger share of the US high-end watch market. It is also part of an overall trend of watch brands taking more of a key role in popular US cultural events.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Longines Kentucky Derby 2011

Breitling Navitimer Super Constellation Limited Edition Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) — May 9th 2011 12:07PM

Breitling is in to new and old aviation experiences. Going along with their current retro-kick, this new limited edition watch celebrates their restoration of a truly remarkable plane - the Super Constellation. There are only three remaining Lockheed Super Constellation planes around. Originally from the 1950s, the iconic looking dolphin style fuselage along with "triple tail" was designed for long-haul flights over the Atlantic ocean. It reminds of us a more romantic era when flight was for the few and jets were for the military.

The watch is based on the Navitimer with special branding, red and blue trim coloring, as well as a specially engraved caseback. The watch is truly about the plane itself, having an assortment of technical details about the plane on the case back. Limited to 1,049 pieces, the Breitling Navitimer Super Constellation is 42mm wide in polished steel and includes a Breitling Caliber 23 automatic chronograph COSC Chronometer certified movement. It sould be available soon and comes on a range of strap and bracelet options. Really one of the nicer looking limited edition retro style watches from Breitling that we have seen in the last year.

Ariel Adams publishes the wrist watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Breitling Navitimer Super Constellation watch