pocket

Bremont Pocket Watch For Wallpaper Magazine

Wallpaper magazine's August Handmade section had a few watches in it that are cool. I previously wrote about the Bell & Ross BR01 Radar variation here. England's Bremont also offered an interesting custom watch for the design magazine's spread. They took the look of their Martin Baker and U-2 watches and make a one-of-a-kind Bremont Pocket Watch. Using the same size case as the wrist watch, the pocket watch features a loop for a chain and repositioned crowns (one for winding and the time, and another crown for the internal rotating bezel. Note that this image is of the watch while still in production. The version in the magazine had the inner aluminum section of the watch in bright orange like the Bremont Martin Baker timepieces. The rest of the watch is in steel.

The back of the watch is a compass, designed by Bremont - and makes sense given the aviation theme of the timepiece. Bremont needed to specially engineer the case so that the magnetic compass did not interfere with the watch movement (magnetism can really harm accuracy). Inside the watch is base Swiss ETA 2836 automatic movement. As a design study, the Bremont Pocket Watch is pretty cool, but it actually would make sense in certain situation were wearing a watch might not be feasible. Will Bremont make more of these and offer any to the public? They just might if demand is high enough.

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

Tags: Bremont, Pocket, Wallpaper, Watch

Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon With Three Gold Bridges Pocket Watch - Like Its 1889 All Over Again

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

With some watch brands being as old as they are, you can't blame people for forgetting their past achievements. So when a watch maker is proud of something they did back in the 19th century, they pretty much have to repeat whatever that was for people nowadays to know or care about it. Girard-Perregaux started the "three golden bridges" trend a long, long time ago But since no one around now was alive back in the 1880s. This Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Golden Bridges watch is a reissue of a model with the same name that won a Gold Medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889. Still looks fresh today right? Sorta. The three bridges tourbillon movement was patented in 1884, starting the beautiful tradition of the style in high-end Girard-Perregaux timepieces. In addition to the bridges, the movement also has a tourbillon and is totally hand-built and decorated.

One of the reasons the watch was awarded back at the Paris Exhibition was due to the movement's accuracy. Today's watch is COSC chronometer certified and over a period of 15 days of testing, it showed accuracy of about 0.1 second a day. That is pretty darn incredible for such a movement, or any mechanical watch for that matter.

The GP Tourbillon with Three Golden Bridges pocket watch is in an 18k rose gold hunter-style case that is 60mm wide and 20mm wide. The traditional style piece has several opening doors operated via pushers. The simple, but classic dial is white enamel with blued steel hands. Not necessarily a limited edition i think, but given the time involved in making the watches I would imagine a very limited production (requiring an almost unlimited budget if you want one, I am sure).

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

Gallery: Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges Pocket Watch

Tags: bridge, Girard-Perregaux, golden, pocket, tourbillon, watch

Patek Philippe Caliber 89, Most Complex Timepiece On The Planet To be Auctioned Off

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

While the Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica Sonnerie may be the most complicated wrist watch in the world, this Patek Philippe Caliber 89 pocket watch made in 1989 remains the most complex timepiece in the world. With a staggering 33 complication, both side of the dial are filled with hands and subdials. The pocket watch is very thick and weights1.1kg! The case is done in 18k yellow gold. It was made to honor the 150th anniversary of the important Swiss brand. While I am not prepared to engage in list making, you can learn all the Caliber 89's functions here.

Coincidentally, for auction house Antiquorum's 35th anniversary, a Patek Philippe Caliber 89 pocket will be auctioned off. Even in these rough times, record amounts for Patek Philippe watches have been achieved at auction. So perhaps it is a good time to auction the Caliber 89 off. In 2004, this same watch was sold at auction for $5 million. The watch took 5 years to research and 4 years to make. It is estimated to yield between $4.4 - $5.4 million, but has an estimated value of $6 million. The auction will be held on November 14-15, and the Patek Philippe Caliber 89 will be lot 364, the final lot of the auction.

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

Gallery: Patek Philippe Caliber 89

Tags: antiquorum, auction, complicated, Patek Philippe Caliber 89, PatekPhilippeCaliber89, pocket, timepiece, watch, worlds most, WorldsMost

Patek Philippe And Art Deco Clocks And Watches At Patrizzi & Co Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

Now that the season's big Antiquorum auction is over, Patrizzi & Co. are ready to offer a few more interesting lots in their auction on April 17 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Geneva Switzerland. The auction event titled "Watchmaking Masterpieces" will offer a modest volume of not so modest timepieces. Items include clocks, pocket watches, and wrist watches. Most of the offerings are rare Patek Philippe watches, while the entire collection seems to have an art deco theme.

Pictured above is a Boucheron art deco table clock from about 1921. The clock is in gold and black enamel on mostly rock crystal (very hard to cut). This piece is estimated to go for 80,000 - 100,000 Swiss Francs at auction. Other notable lots include a yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 5024 minute repeater from 1997 (estimated to go for 250,000 - 300,000 Swiss Francs), and a yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 2438-1 from 1953 (also estimated to go for 250,000 - 300,000 Swiss Francs). The auction results will be testament to the current strength of the watch collector market.

See the Patrizzi & Co Auction Press Release here.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: art deco, ArtDeco, auction, clocks, patek philiippe, PatekPhiliippe, patrizzi, pocket, watches

Smithsonian Museum Unveils Graffiti In Abraham Lincoln's Pocket Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Do you remember 1861? I know I do, and that little event at Fort Sumter that started a 'bit of a clash' here inside the United States. Well watchmaker Jonathon Dillon felt pretty strongly about it at the time living in Washington DC at the outset of the Civil war. On April 13th he happened to be in possession of President Lincoln's gold pocket watch (likely for servicing). It was a common practice for watchmakers to engrave markings inside of watch cases to memorialize that they are serviced the watch and when - similar to a graffiti tag. On this occasion however, knowing the owner of the watch and the ramifications of the Fort Sumter attack, Mr. Dillon was influenced to be prolific and felt it necessary to record the actions on the watch. "Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels [the South] on the above date [April 13, 1861]...Thank god we have a government."

No one, not even President Lincoln himself had seen this inscription until just recently when the Smithsonian Museum opened up Lincoln's pocket watch on rumors of a "secret message," communicated by a descendant of watchmaker Dillon - who was not actually the person who made the pocket watch itself. The watch was purchased over a decade earlier in the 1850's while Abraham Lincoln was a successful attorney in Illinois. Other markings where included on the watch movement face by other watchmakers, but nothing quite like Dillon's words. Lincoln's pocket watch was originally given to the Smithsonian in 1958 by a descendant of Lincoln, who decided the timepiece was important enough to be included in America's greatest historical collection.

Via the National Museum of American History.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: abraham lincoln, AbrahamLincoln, civil war, CivilWar, engraving, jonathon dillon, JonathonDillon, pocket, pocketwatch, secret message, SecretMessage, smithsonian, watch

Gandhi's Pocket Watch Goes For Over 2 Million Dollars In Controversial Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

While bidding may still taking place at Antiquroum's March 4-5 auction, the major lot has closed, the Zenith pocket watch and some accompanying items owned by Gandhi. For weeks now the Indian government was trying to halt the auction by legal means. Fearful that the relics would pass to hand away from India, they claimed that the items belonged to the people of India as a whole. While Indian officials were unable to stop the New York City based auction, thankfully for them the Gandhi watch has remained in Indian hands.

'Lot 364' closed way above the estimate price ($20-30k) at 1.8 million dollars. That price increased to $2,096,000 including the buyer's premium (an amount over the final bidding price charged to the buyer). It was by far the highest price a lot for this current auction had reached. The winning bid came from Vijay Mallya, the wealthy owner of King Fisher Beer (and Airlines) of India (is that like having a Budweiser airlines in the US?). His complete plans with the items and pocket watch are unclear. While the Gandhi relics will go on public display, it is unclear whether they will be given to the Indian government or remain in private hands.

Some content via MSN News and Anitquroum.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: antiquorum, auction, gandhi, pocket, vijay mallya, VijayMallya, watch, zenith