caliber

Piaget Caliber 600P Is Thinnest Tourbillon Watch Movement In The World

Piaget has a long history with ultra-thin mechanical watch movements. They pride themselves on having records such as the thinnest manually wound movement, as well as the thinnest automatic movement. Now they have created the thinnest manually wound movement with a tourbillon escapement. Considered to be very complex and hard to make, tourbillons aren't usually attempted in thin variants.

Piaget has succeeded in making its Caliber 600P movement just 3.5mm thick - which includes skeletonized bridges and a flying tourbillon. The movement is seen here in mostly 18k rose gold with diamonds set into much of the mainplate. The movement is 22.4mm wide by 28.64mm tall, has a power reserve of 40 hours, and looks to be made to fit in rectangle Piaget Emperador style watch cases. You can click "READ MORE" below to see a new Piaget promotional video that showcases the watch as well as the making of the movement.

Ultra-thin tourbillon movements are destined to remain highly niche, even more so that regular tourbillon, but it makes sense for Piaget to hold the honor (at this time) of making the thinnest one around. The 600P is an horological achievement under Piaget's belts, but in 2011 the Swiss brand will be setting another record with a tourbillon movement.

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

Tags: 600p, caliber, piaget, thin, thinnest, tourbillon, watch, watches

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Breitling Navitimer 01 Limited Edition Watch With In-House Movement

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

After its debut in the Breitling B01 collection watches, the in-house made Breitling Caliber 01 automatic chronograph movement enters a new watch - this time the Breitling super-classic, the Navitimer. Probably the most recognizable Breitling watch collection of all time, the Navitimer has been around since 1952 and epitomizes the Breitling pilot watch. I think it was this timepiece that made the slide rule bezel popular. And since 1952 only 10 people have actually used the slide rule feature!

There really isn't much different about this Navitimer versus other models that don't have the Caliber 01 movement. Though the movement is COSC Chronometer certified. The watch is a limited edition (of 2000 pieces), and is said to be a bit larger than standard Navitimer in a 43mm wide case. The watch is available in either 18k rose gold or steel. Case is nicely polished and has everything you expect in a Navitimer in terms of function and quality.

Look for these new Breitling Navitimer 01 limited edition watches Spring 2011.

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

Tags: 01, breitling, caliber, in-house, limited, navitimer, watch

Bovet Watches Develop In-House Made Movement

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Bovet has been steadily making itself standout as a unique luxury watch maker since earlier this decade when it was purchased by Pascal Raffy in 2000. With a steady stream of about 2000 watches made a year, the exclusive brand is still a nice luxury watch maker. The watches are quite impressive actually, and the company plans to up to production to about 4000 watches a year soon.

The next step for the luxury watch brand is to make its own in-house made movement. This is quite an ambitious feat for a brand with this modest level of production, but they can certainly do it. Although development on the new movement has begun, it will not be released until 2013 - a testament to how long it can take for a movement to by developed, tested, and perfected before production. The movements will likely be very high-end, mostly being hand made and decorated. The included images are not necessarily of the new movement, but display examples of the craft work that Bovet places in its watches. I have a feeling that the upcoming movement will be very impressive and more than just a mere basic movement with "Bovet DNA."

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

Gallery: Bovet Watches Develop In-House Made Movement

Tags: bovet, caliber, develop, movement, watch

Tag Heuer New Caliber 1887 Watch Movement SNAFU

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

This was certainly a sticky situation for Tag Heuer, the details are a bit murky, but the situation is clear. Tag Heuer recently announced their "new, in-house made and designed" Caliber 1887 automatic chronograph movement. All seems well with the movement itself, but the problem is that Tag Heuer didn't design it. Nope, they sort of cosmetically altered an over 10 year old Japanese Seiko movement design (Seiko 6S37). So after 150 years, Tag Heuer's anniversary surprise was on loan from Japan. I do understand that this was arranged with Seiko, and that Tag Heuer will actually be building the movements in limited quantities themselves. At least Seiko isn't doing everything.

Tag Heuer got caught red handed by the watch lover community who noticed the similarities between the two movements. This qualifies us as true nerds, seeing details such as this. Tag Heuer would have gotten away with it to, if it wasn't for us meddling bloggers! That's right, thank the internet watch lover community, who is responsible for this situation being discovered. A powerful indication to the watch industry of what the internet can do for them, or against them. In good taste, as a response to the situation, Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin himself went online to respond to the "accusations." He honorably admitted a "mistake" by Tag Heuer and that the movement was in fact "adopted" from Seiko.

The clear winner in this whole situation is first and foremost the power of the Internet watch lover community, second Seiko, and third Tag Heuer for responding to a sticky situation quickly and admirably. Seiko movements are pretty outstanding, and it is funny that here even the Europeans are rather tacitly suggesting that. Plus, Tag Heuer is a rather mainstream watch brand. Meaning that most people who buy their watches will never even know about this situation. Tag Heuer admitted wrong doing, hopefully a few heads will be caved in there in the marketing department, and they will go on their lives being good watch designers, not movement designers. Lastly, there are several watch forums and blogs that knew about this situation but refused to mention it even though they discussed the new Tag Heuer Caliber 1887movement. They lose the most in this situation for the destruction of valuable street cred among Internet watch lovers who simply expect more.

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

Tags: 1887, caliber, in-house, movement, Seiko, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, watch