swiss watch

Rolex Names Le Mans Champ Tom Kristensen New Brand Ambassador

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports

Danish racecar driver Tom Kristensen, winner of Le Mans a record-breaking eight times, has been named as Rolex's newest ambassador following the longstanding practice of the famed Swiss watch brand's association with world-class athletes. Rolex has never before made an official announcement naming an ambassador, but Danish Rolex retailer Klarlund persuaded them to make an exception this time. "Not only are we proud of Tom Kristensen's victories, we are also very proud hosts of such a rare and special occasion," Klarlund managing director Stig Andersen told Worldtempus after presenting the new ambassador with a Rolex Daytona Everose, one of Rolex's gifts to its new sporting face. Kristensen will also receive a Rolex Milgauss outfitted with a green sapphire crystal.

[via LuxuryLaunches]

Tags: Denmark, Le Mans, motor racing, racecar, racecar driver, racing, Rolex, Rolex Daytona, Swiss watch

Girard-Perregaux Launches New Pen Line

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Writing Instruments

Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux has been making fine timepieces for well over 200 years, but 2009 marks the first time they've manufactured a writing instrument. The firm, founded in 1791, is debuting a luxurious new line of pens based on their famed Three Bridges gold tourbillon watch. There are three models of writing instrument, adorned with precious metal engraved with delicate guilloche work, based on a vintage 1945 Three Bridges Tourbillon, a famed Girard-Perregaux model. The clip on the caps is double-arrow shaped, like the bridge on the watch.

Three openings on the pen body showing the ink level refer to the timepiece's power reserve indicators. Fountain pens come equipped with an exclusive high-capacity double reservoir system preventing leakage. There are three models available: a piston fountain pen in guilloche silver and resin (above), limited to 999-pieces; a piston fountain pen in guilloche pink gold and resin, limited to 99 pieces; and a rollerball in guilloche silver and resin, limited to 999 pieces. A matching set comprising the silver fountain pen and rollerball is also available in an edition of 199 pieces.

Tags: Fountain pen, FountainPen, Girard-Perregaux, Pen, Swiss watch, SwissWatch, switzerland

Frederic Jouvenot Chronographe Evolution I

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

One of the most innovative new timepieces to debut at the Salon International de la Haute Horologerie (SIHH) in Geneva this week is this watch by young French-Swiss watchmaker Frederic Jouvenot. The automatic Chronographe Evolution 1 (above) is billed as the first classic chronograph with a fully visible automatic winding mechanism on the face. It features a 44mm case in either 18-karat white or rose gold with black gold detailing, and is limited to only 88 pieces each. Waterproof to a depth of 50 meters, it has a massive bi-directional gold central winding rotor, 50 hour power reserve, and a sapphire exhibition window on the reverse revealing the complex mechanism.

Tags: Frederic Jouvenot, FredericJouvenot, Geneva, SIHH, Swiss watch, SwissWatch

Euro Billionaire Commissions $6.5 Million Watch

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Wealth

Apparently not everyone is feeling the bite of the recession. A European mogul has commissioned luxury Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin to create a one-of-a-kind $6.5 million timepiece that will instantly become one of the world's most expensive watches. The design, which may take years to complete, will be many times more precious than Vacheron's Tour de l'Ile timepiece (above) created for the company's 250th anniversary in 2005. Only seven examples of the Tour de l'Ile timepiece, billed as the "world's most complicated double-faced watch", were made for an astounding $1.5 million apiece. A few more commissions of this sort and the luxury watch industry will have nothing to worry about.

[via Affluent Page]

Tags: Swiss watch, SwissWatch, Tour de lIle, TourDeLile, Vacheron Constantin, VacheronConstantin

The Classicist: Alpina Watches, from Alps to Ocean

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Sports, Men's Style, The Classicist

Alpina, the Geneva-based high precision sports watchmaker whose history dates back to 1883, has just introduced their very first underwater timepiece. The Alpina Extreme Diver 1000 Meters (above) employs similar technology and aesthetics as their line of mountain climbing watches such as the Avalanche Extreme Regulator, made for conquering the heights of the Swiss Alps. It's heritage however goes back much father.

From pocket watches, early wristwatches and timepieces commissioned for military use, Alpina, whose enthusiasts were known as "Alpinists," evolved its first sports watch, the steel Blockuhr, in 1933. This early model became the Alpina 4 in 1938. The "4" stood for the four major qualities of an Alpina sports watch: 1. Anti-magnetic, 2. Waterproof, 3. Anti-shock, and 4. Stainless steel. The sports watches were a tremendous success, and at its height in 1958 the company exhibited 1000 different models.

Gallery: Alpina Watches

Tags: Alpina, Alpina watches, AlpinaWatches, Swiss watch, SwissWatch

Continue reading “The Classicist: Alpina Watches, from Alps to Ocean”

Marvin Watches

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

The Marvin brand of watches, which was started in 1850 and then stopped manufacturing in the 1990s, is ready for a comeback. The brand was bought from Les Manufactures d'horlogerie Suisses Reunies (MSR) by the Neuchatel company Time Avenue owned by Jean-Daniel and Cecile Maye. The brand is now producing watches again with a large selection of both men's and women's watches with both quartz and mechanical movements. Prices range from 480 to 1,280 Swiss Francs for a quartz watch and from 980 to 3,600 Swiss Francs for a mechanical watch.

[via Time Zone]

Gallery: Marvin Watches

Source

Tags: marvin watches, MarvinWatches, swiss watch, timepieces, wristwatches

Century Time Mogul Watch and Medallion

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Timepieces / Watches

How's this for a sapphire crystal? The Century Mogul watch is crowned by a faceted sapphire that covers the white gold case back of the watch. The quartz watch features diamonds set on a white mother-of-pearl dial. Two diamond-set white gold claws connect the sapphire crown to the white alligator leather strap. The other piece of the Mogul collection is a matching sapphire medallion shown after the jump.

[via TimeZone]

Source

Tags: century, quartz watch, swiss watch, timepiece, watch, wristwatch

Continue reading “Century Time Mogul Watch and Medallion”

DeWitt Acedemia Seconde Retrograde and Double Fouseau

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Check out the latest beauties from DeWitt which recently appeared on TimeZone. These two watches are the Academia Seconde Retrograde and the Academia Double Fuseau. Both measure 43mm. The Academia Seconde Retrograde is now available in a version with 302 brilliant-cut diamonds over the dial hour-markers and Arabic numerals and around the bezel. It uses the automatic DeWitt caliber DW1102 with 21 jewels movement and comes in 18K rose or white gold with a dial of either Mother-of-pearl,ruthenium or carbon-fiber with guilloché section depending on the version. The Academia Double Fuseau has the automatic DeWitt caliber DW2002 with 21 jewels, beating at 28,800 bph and with a power reserve of 42 hours. The dial is mother-of-pearl is available in white or rose gold.

Source

Tags: chronograph, dewitt, swiss watch, SwissWatch, timepiece, watch, wristwatch

Charriol Kucha Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Meow! The Charriol Kucha watch is designed for women with a love of feline style. The word Kucha is Swahili for claws and it has diamond set claws curving over the stainless steel case. The watch has four dial variations with matching straps: panther, tiger, white or pink mother of pearl. It sells for $1.340 and was chosen as the ladies watch of the year for 2005 by Swiss watch magazines Montres Passion and Uhren Welt. I wonder what watches it beat out since this particular style isn't quite working for me.

[via Time Zone]

Source

Tags: charriol, diamonds, stainless steel, swiss watch, time zone, timepiece, TimeZone, watch, wristwatch

V-Tec Sigma Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

This strange looking watch is from Ventura, a Swiss company that focuses on digital watches. The v-tec Sigma is has a digital watch which uses Ventura's EasySkroll® operating system that offers easy-to-use functions you don't need a manual to figure out. It has an easily readable screen that uses the "Ventura" font and has a backlight. The case is made of Durinox®, a scratch-resistant stainless steel, and the liquid-crystal display is behind a sapphire crystal. The watch uses a long-life lithium battery. Another version with a micro generator instead of a battery is in the works. The v-tec Sigma will be shown at Baselworld and will be available on the market in June for $1,750.

[via Time Zone]

Source

Tags: baselworld, digital, swiss watch, timepiece, ventura, watch

Andersen Geneve Kamar Moonphase Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Time Zone highlights another watch that will be shown off at Baselworld by Andersen Geneve. The Kamar moonphase watch shows the phase of the moon with one gleaming mother-of-pearl disc that shows a dark and light moon and moves one notch forward at noon and midnight. It is has a 45mm case available in 18K white or rose gold with front and back sapphire crystals. It uses an automatic caliber A574 (base F. Piguet 1150) movement with a 70 hour power reserve.The dial is engine-turned 22K blue gold . Like the last watch from Andersen we profiled, it earns major points for beauty (I love the blue gold dial) but suffers a bit on the readability side.

Source

Tags: andersen geneve, AndersenGeneve, baselworld, gold watch, moonphase watch, swiss watch, timepiece, watch

Angular Momentum Axis/IX Big Big Date Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

When you look at your watch are you trying to determine what time it is or what the date is. If your answer is the latter, say hello to your new best friend, the Axis IX/Big Date from Angular Momentum. The 42mm watch features the biggest date numerals ever made for a wrist watch, each is over 4mm high and printed in Superluminova. The time is shown by the revolving disk, minute hand and sweep seconds. The stainless steel case has s sapphire crystal with a display back. The movement is a Swiss automatic and the watch sells for $2,300.

[via Time Zone]

Source

Tags: angular momentum, AngularMomentum, swiss watch, timepiece, watch