Concord and I have had a funny little brief history as I have not been as kind to their watch designs as they would have hoped for. I reviewed such watches at their "$$$,$$$" priced Quantum Gravity Tourbillon with less than jovial enthusiasm. Concord even responded to me via their CEO Vincent Perriard who admirably defended the brand, and his ideas. It was a sign of his dedication to his position and the brand that he helped rebuild. Now that dedication has waned and Mr. Perriard has resigned from Concord, to be effective as soon as possible. He will now take the helm at TechnoMarine, a wholly different type of watch company fitting into a lower end segment with much higher volume production.

I have to ask myself whether this move was prompted by Mr. Perriard's outgrowing of Concord, or vice versa. There have been many critics (such as myself) of where Concord strayed during its "re-birth." Others seemingly loved it as a few of the watches even received design awards. Though I suppose not all was well, and now the critics may have prevailed as Concord might have the possibility to offer arguably more "marketable" watches under new leadership (as of now still undecided). I can't speak as to the sentiments on each side of the table, but I sense a degree of "bad blood" as it appears Perriard ditched camp before his time was due - leaving Concord floundering to fill the position and delicately plan its future. We will see what types of new ideas Perriard can breathe into TechnoMarine that has traditionally enjoyed a fair amount of market success.

Via WorldTempus (in French).

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

Tourneau is the largest chain of watch retailers in the world with their largest store in Las Vegas in the Caesar's Palace Forum Shops, and headquartered in New York City. Like all retail watch stores, Tourneau has been hit hard by the economic slump due to drastically decreased luxury watch demand. On the plus side, they finally started to sell (some) watches online via their website. Notable is the sale of Tag Heuer watches online. Whether or not related to rapidly changing business environment of watch sales that prior to 2000 (or so) was more or less the same for 100 years, Tourneau's CEO of 18 years Howard Levitt will step down at the end of 2009.

His term might end sooner, as he will stick around until the company finds a replacement which might come earlier than the end of the year. Tourneau really became a focal point of luxury watch brands having such a vast presence all over the world, and having so many different brands for sale (which differ by location). Levitt was of course instrumental in that fact. Not sure if he was also responsible for Tourneau's in-house brand of less expensive watches which sort of serve as a consolation item to people who step in to the store not able to afford most of the popular brand watches but still wanting something.

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

David Yurman has just unrolled its latest collection of men's timepieces, The Classic, designed by chief watch designer and David's son, Evan Yurman. The three pieces in the collection each feature the kind of attention to detail you might expect from David Yurman: Swiss movement, guilloche dial work (what is essentially a French engraving technique that features intricate engine-turned details), and of course Yurman's signature chevron braid wrapped around the watch case.

The three watches include The Classic Moon Phase (shown above, retailing for $5800), The Classic Three Hand and The Classic Chronograph styles. Evan Yurman describes his designs as "traditional with a modern twist." Each will be available exclusively in David Yurman boutiques this May. The select group of David Yurman retailers will have to wait until Fall for their shipment.

Ducati has unveiled two new watches for Spring 2009, a new version of the Ducati One, which we first covered last fall, and the Ducati Corse (after the jump).

The Swiss-made Performance Time Ducati watches are made with sapphire glass, plus technologically advanced cases and watchstrap materials that include steel and titanium. In case watches and motorcycles aren't your only hobbies, the watches are guaranteed waterproof up to a pressure of 10 atmospheres.

The $2,500 Ducati One evokes Italian-made motorcycle images like tire treads, wheels, and the elegant Ducati dashboard. It's made with black diamonds on the bezel and a crocodile strap.

You might like to know a bit about how some of your favorite luxury industries are doing, especially during these tough economic times. Here are some hard numbers from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry that sheds light on how 2008 was for Swiss watch imports. This means the amount of watches made in Switzerland sent all over the world. Overall, the 17 billion Swiss Franc a year industry was up 6.7 percent in 2008. Lets look at a few select markets. It should also be noted that the end of 2008 was a lot worse than the beginning of 2008, with decreases of 15.4% and 7.6% in November and December respectively. 2009 is predicted to start out in the red, with little insight on entire year forecasts.

Here are the biggest losers in terms of important markets. The figures refer to overall decreases or increases in imports over 2007. The US was down a modest 3%, Japan down 4.5%, and Russia was down a surprising 9.7%. On the upside, the most important growth markets surprised me. The United Arab Emirates was up 27.6%, Hong Kong (the largest importer of Swiss watches) was up a solid 10.9%, and China was up a whopping 43.1% to become the 7th largest importer of Swiss watches.

In all, Asia remained the largest growth sector for Swiss watches. I predict heavy emphasis on these markets in 2009, including a large number of watch designs made for these target markets. These figures do not necessarily related to watch imports from other countries, but I would guess they would have experienced similar trends. Stay tuned to see how 2009 shapes up for luxury watches.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

I was wandering around (capsule), a PR event that takes place in New York, Paris, and Las Vegas and promotes hot designers, when I came across the above display of Tsovet watches. Actually, the first thing I noticed on the table was an altimeter -- very cool, but perhaps not as fashionable as the watches.

In any case, Tsovet makes beautiful, modern pieces with a vintage flair, armed with the slogan "A unique approach in crafting fine analog time instruments." You can purchase Tsovet Time Instruments on their website, which we visited to put together a gallery of our favorites, below. Most of the watches are available in simple silver and black, but we were enchanted by the colors, as you will see.

Polo Ralph Lauren was recently admitted to the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), a prestigious luxury watch industry trade show. Interestingly enough Ralph Lauren does not currently offer any luxury watches. That is all going to change soon as Ralph Lauren has partnered with the prestigious watch making Richemont Group to produce watches with a license from popular fashion house. The new watches will be distributed through a number of global retailers under the "Polo Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelery Company" name.

Richemont is the controlling group behind a number of high performing luxury watch brands such and IWC, Officine Panerai, and Cartier. The ensuing Polo Ralph Lauren watches will be established as luxury models, though no images of the designs have been made available just yet. This will all change in less than two weeks as the new watch brand is set to release its first line of models at the 2009 SIHH show later this month in Geneva.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Real watch making (opposed to design only) has been trickling back into France for years, but the Fabrication De Montres Normandes (FDMN) takes it to a new level. THE FDMN is more than just a watch manufacture. It is a place where watch makers are bred and movements are developed. Their philosophy is to produce classic looking watches with French built movements.

In 2009 the FDMN will publicly release their first watches to an eagerly awaiting group of enthusiasts. The watches remind me of traditional Patek Philippe design mixed with Bauhaus, and classic pocket watch design. Emphasis being on the important parts of the watch like the hands and numerals. The FDMN even gently curves down the minute hand to assist legibility; a practice I've always appreciated but rare in most modern watches.

The picture gallery is of various FDMN watch, many of which will be available soon. Above is the FDMN Caliber 770 watch. You can see the clean lines and pure classic style communicated in each of these watches. An ongoing theme is large features from the massive balance wheel and tourbillon cage, to the (big) small seconds subdial. The watches themselves are on the larger side, but fitting for today's size trends.

Notice the "Fabrique en France" (made in France) statement on the bottom of the watches. The FDMN hopes that this moniker will someday soon have a meaning tantamount with "Swiss Made." While these watches are mostly prototypes they are a good representation of the final watches that will be available soon. Prices coincide with any handmade Swiss watch with manufacture built movements.

Via WatchProSite.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Because watches have their roots in practicality, one can almost not go too far over the top when choosing the ultimate watch to express their individual style. This year at Luxist, we featured watches with all manner of unusual eccentricities and legacies, including watches that only tell if it's day or night, watches inspired by the Beijing Olympics, and watches containing rare gems, woods, and actual meteorite.

Featured above is the watch with the meteorite: The Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris Watch, which shows a representation of the stars visible from Paris on a typical night set in a lovely rose gold.

As watches become less important for telling time (because it's on your cell phone), we believe it is only natural that they will become more and more beautiful.

If you've noticed that I mention Angular Momentum watches often, it is with good reason as there is no end to the beautiful creations that this Swiss watch maker releases. The creation du jour is the ladies' Magnificent Blossoms watch, another creation made possible by the large surface area available in watches using Angular Momentum's disc hour system. The popular automatic mechanical movement is based on a single disc visible through a variably sized window. The hour disc can be painted in any number of ways. On the Magnificent Blossoms watch the hour disc is decorated with purple cursive hour indicators. It's a charming looking offering a feminine touch, but lacks time reading precision.

Diamonds on this watch total 20 carats. The diamond decorated steel case and lugs have deep set gems, while the dial itself features an entirely new application of diamonds. Angular Momentum has developed a technique for setting diamonds on the reserve side of the sapphire crystal which have pear-shaped diamonds that are arranged in floral patterns using round cut diamonds of a different shade. The white alligator strap enhances the black tones of the dial and helps bring out the jewel shapes. This is one of the most simple and attractive women's watches coming from Angular Momentum. I can't see any woman being disappointed with this watch, unless they need to know exactly what time it is.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Having seen the results of many "best watch" awards, I still do not completely understand what it takes to be named 'best.' While award givers are plentiful, the basis on which prizes are given out appears to take three distinct elements into consideration aside from mere looks. Those elements are mechanical excellence, visual appeal, and everyday practicality.

Last month, the Prix Officiel de la Revue des Montres 2008 in Paris announced that the Girard Perregaux ww.tc. 24 Hour Shopping was the most beautiful women's watch of 2008. The ww.tc 24 Hour Shopping is the female version of the men's ww.tc Financial that boasted the ability to track the opening and closing times of world financial markets. Taken to a whimsical extreme, the same is done for hot shopping spots around the world in the ww.tc 24 Hour Shopping. The automatic GP033G0 movement features a second crown on the left side of the watch that adjusts the time featured on the timezone dial. Adjusting the left crown moves the outermost dial ring to switch between timezones, with popular shopping locations mentioned at particular timezone indicators. Locations include the high rent Ginza district in Tokyo, to Dubai, now a world-class shopping destination. Additional features include a power reserve indicator and 24 hour ring with day and night indication.

Included on the dial and bezel are over 80 diamonds. The highly polished steel case is a large (for a woman's watch) 37.5mm wide . A mother of pearl face alludes to the popular lady's line of Girard Perregaux Cat's Eye watches, and onyx cabochons in the crowns help connect the black tones of the dial and alligator strap. My opinion is that the Girard Perregaux ww.tc 24 Hour Shopping should be awarded the most wearable women's watch of 2008 given its aesthetics and function, rather than strict beauty. The title of most beautiful watch might not be best suited in this instance.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Angular Momentum might just be the premier producer of intriguing limited edition watches, often specifically designed for select high profile clientele. This limited edition of 20 watch set is the Oriental Blossom Time Cushion collection. One model features an Asian jewel known as the Padparadscha, which literally translates from Sanskrit to mean "lotus flower color." The light pink and orange color is commonly imagined as the marriage of a Sri Lanken Lotus Flower and a sunset. The rare jewel is used to mark the time in the disc aperture window, and can be set in one of two ways (either above or below the hour disc window).

The second Oriental Blossom watch features a tear drop shaped blue sapphire. Both models share a similar cushion shaped case of differing dimensions, but each with an organic feel. The cases are hand decorated 18k gold set with 100 full cut diamonds placed on the surface. The ornate floral decorations on the case require many hours of skilled labor using an almost lost art. Angular Momentum is of the few world brands capable of producing this particular style of elaborate woman's timepieces.

Inside the Oriental Blossom Time Cushion watches are nickel lever automatic mechanical movements. Time is presented on a single rotating disc displayed in the aperture window. The watches are attached to hand sewn black or brown alligator leather straps. These watches literally are rare gems produced for extremely exclusive clients of Angular Momentum.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Use of natural shapes and themes often fares well for jewelry and watch designers. Though sometimes you get tired of seeing the same flower, star, leaf, or other cliche symbols from nature transformed into luxury goods. Swiss fine watch maker Bertolucci received inspiration from ocean shore tide pools in the design of the new woman's Stria line of watches.

No luxury woman's watch is seemingly complete without a healthy portion of diamonds. Stria watches will be available with 162 or 274 count diamond studded cases and dials. Diamond free versions are also available on the rose gold or steel cases sized at a large-for-ladies 37.5mm wide case. In going with the barnacle shell theme, the dial itself is off-centered, and the sapphire crystal is domed to enhance the pyramid effect of the case shape. Guilloche engraving on the case body is meant to suggest the complex patterns seen on shell surfaces. Perhaps not a perfect emulation of natural patterns, but a nice effect.

Dials come in either black with (seriously) a "snail decor" index pattern, or in mother of pearl with a sunburst pattern engraved into the surface. The snail decor is presumably meant to mimic (with diamonds), the glistening trail of mucus left by a snail. Strap is either black or white satin. Bertolucci is really taking the mollusk theme to elegant extremes.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.