delacour

I thought this rare S3 Bichrono timepiece interesting as it employs two distinct chronograph movements in one watch. While I have seen watches with more than one movement, I have never seen one with two mechanical chronograph movements in it. I am not surprised at all though - especially with this combo coming from deLaCour. You can easily see what they have done to make it work. What looks to be two ETA 2894 automatic movements are placed side by side. The movement on the left seems to be "upside" done, so that the pushers can be placed on the left side of the case. This allows for minimal modifications to the movement, explaining why the chronograph subdials are placed in the upside down position. Of course deLaCour altered the starting places for the chronograph hands so that they act in a natural manner for the two 12 hour chronograph complications available to the wearer.

The size of the watch is about as big as you would imagine given the space needed for two movemenst - that being 55mm wide and 53mm tall. Not terrible at 14mm thick. The case is done in 18k pink gold against titanium. Notice the textures surfaces on the chronograph pushers. The dial is really straight forward with deLaCour's typical spark of color and relatively easy to read dials. The chronograph subdials are partially skeletonized, which is an interesting touch. The date complication is retained on only one of the movements of course, to avoid confusion. The front and rear of the watch have sapphire crystals and the strap is a sporty rubber. An interesting watch from the watch maker who enjoys defying conventions. Expense is on par with the materials and the fact that it is an "individually crafted" timepiece.

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

Oh how I appreciate novelty in luxury watches, but this one could almost be described as a prank for those who actually want any comfort in telling the time. The deLaCour Liberata watch has a watch that is actually free floating in the watch case. It is not a new watch line, but I felt it worth discussing. The independent smaller case simply moves and spins around freely being called upon do to so by gravity. The result is a watch face that can be all over the place and in any direction. Thus you can't rely on 12 o'clock being in any regular orientation.

Why do this? Why not? deLaCour doesn't really care about taking over Timex - there are plenty of other watch makers out there who simply display the time without regard to being different. There is a big game in the watch world of "we are the first to do XXX." Though sometimes it feels like an answer to a question no one asked, or alternatively a solution to a problem that simply didn't exist. "I was just so bored being able to tell the time with ease." Look deeper and you'll find that my sentiments may be wrong. While not a luxury watch maker like deLaCour, Japanese company Tokyo Flash thrives off the release of oddly designed watches where deciphering the time is like doing a math problem. So perhaps my feelings on the matter are isolated and many watch consumers DO want these types of "novelties."

Unlike Tokyo Flash, deLaCour is a luxury Swiss watch maker - so the privilege of having such an avant garde watch comes at a much more substantial price. The watch is likely to be considered "unisex" (though mostly for women) and comes in several colors (including, but not limited to, white, yellow, red, and black). The case is in steel either polished or in the shown black PVD. There are about 6 carats of diamonds on the two bezels and in the center of the actual watch face. The case is water resistant to 100 meters. There is the issue of setting the time of course. The smaller case with the time has a quartz movement and is likely set via opening up the back of the main watch case and removing the smaller case that can be adjusted on the back of the watch. This also allows you to change the battery. There are various different dial styles as well. Want to up it a notch? The timepiece can be ordered with up to three smaller watch cases inside the overall case - for multiple timezones. Price is about $12,000 - $25,000.

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

Watch maker deLaCour never fails to release something interesting. I can't always speak as to the practicality of the watches, but they are always fun to check out. For example, in this Birepetition watch, the moonphase indicator include a "shooting star" that occasionally shoots though the view. This beautiful and highly complex movement was part of a venture with Christophe Claret, one of the only people who is able to conceive and deliver on movements like this. So what does the watch do? There are two time zones, and each time has its own minute repeater complication - operated by a level on each side of the watch. This is the first watch that I know of to have such a double minute repeater chiming mechanism. There is also a skeletonized big date, the time zone hours are on retrograde scales and share the same large minute hand. Then there is the moon phase that I discussed earlier with its whimsical shooting star complication.

How do you feel about the honeycomb pattern on the skeletonized dial/movement? I think it is pretty interesting. Alludes to the complexity of what is inside, just like a bee hive. It is also a clever surfacing technique that hasn't been done much. The watch is large across and in gold with all the luxury fixings you could ask for. Click to read more to see a video of the deLaCour Birepetition watch in action.

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

Offering luxury watches that can only be described as unique, deLaCour releases is newest model, the Iridium Sagra Triplex watch. Here is a watch with true armor plating - being the first watch to make use of iridium metal plates. Iridium is probably the most corrosion resistant metal around, repelling the effects of acid and other corrosive chemicals. The metal is placed within the platinum group of metals meaning that it is exceedingly rare, difficult to machine, and expensive. When cast, iridium has a yellowish hue that you can make out in the images, making it look like a dull gold. The Iridium Sagra Triplex has a large case made of mostly titanium with the iridium 'armor' plates screwed to the surface.

Inside is a large flying tourbillon-based manually wound movement that displays three time zones. The main dial displays time in a standard 12 hour format, while two subsidiary dials show two other time zones, each in 24 hour time. The watch also features a power reserve indicator that is likely located on the rear of the watch. The impressively sized timepiece will be offered in limited numbers with a rubber or alligator strap. The design desperately wants to be futuristic, especially with the phrase "Since Tomorrow" written on the dial. My feelings are that the design is a bit retro techie if anything, but the use of iridium in the case is certainly a progressive feature that deLaCour can boast about with Iridium Sagra Triplex timepiece.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The latest watch in the Saqra series from DeLaCour watches is the second timezone GMT model. The stainless steel watch uses an automatic ETA 2892 movement. The dial features the days of the week and each day is split into 24 hour segments, providing an instant reading of a.m. or p.m. It has a shows the date in a window at 12 o'clock.  The watch is also available in 18K rose or white gold and rose gold and titanium. The watch displays small seconds in a comet-decorated circle in the six o'clock position.