Today, it is the press day for BaselWorld 2010. However, tomorrow the doors are opening for everyone who’d like to attend the biggest watch expo in the world. I will be there, together with Ernie Romers of WatchUseek and Frank of Monochrome.

Soon, we will know if there will be a new Rolex Explorer or a new Submariner in stainless steel!

Please keep an eye on my own forum over at WatchUseek, where I will be posting daily blogs, stories, pictures, movies etc of this superb event!

Last week, on the 8th of March, I attended the IWC show at Ace & Dik (AceJewelers.com) in Amsterdam. I was particularly interested in the new Portuguese with the dial of the red gold version and – of course – the new IWC Yacht-Club.

One of the most interesting timepieces was the IWC Portuguese Grande Complication, as pictured above (and below). This flagship of the Portuguese collection (with reference number 3774) is a stunning time piece limited to only 50 pieces per year. This 45mm diameter automatic winding watch has a number of very cool features, like a chronograph, perpetual calendar with with displays for the day, date, month, year (in 4 digits) and perpetual moon phase. And last not but certainly not least, a minute re-peater (see below).

I am testing the minute re-peater here. Conclusion: Works as designed. Price tag on this Grande Complication, +/- 170.000 Euro. The other perpetual calendars in the Portuguese family are pictured below, one in a stunning blue dial. However, I really am into the gold Portuguese perpetual calendar

Other watches of interest were the new Portuguese Yacht-Club and the Ingenieur Zidane edition (500 pieces). At first, I didn’t get the Yacht-Club (ref.3902). The weird plastic looking red hand and the fragile chronograph pushers seemed a bit odd on a rough watch for sailers. However, the pushers are derived from the thingies on a boat which they use to wrap the rope around. That makes a bit more sense but doesn’t explain the red second hand. The rubber strap is also nice, but an alligator strap might do the trick for this watch as well.

Below, you see a picture of the IWC display with – amongst others – the Zidane Ingenieur, with a brown dial. The dial is – irl – chocolate brown, the ‘10′ hour marker is red and the rotor also has the number 10 engraved. This was – of course – the number of Zinedine Zidane when he was in the national league of France. Both the Yacht-Club with in-house chronograph movement and the Zidane Ingenieur with in-house 7-days movement are priced around 10K Euro.

The IWC Portuguese 7-Days in stainless steel with the dial from the red gold model Portuguese wasn’t my cup of tea after all. The applied hour markers and hands were too yellow-ish for my taste and the dial color doesn’t match stainless steel. I prefer the stainless steel model with either silver/white dial or black dial.

All in all a superb event organized by Ace & Dik in Amsterdam. A big thank you to Alon and his crew (a.o. Dimer) for being perfect hosts during the evening. Photos above both taken by Dimer of Ace and Gerard, who accompanied me to Ace & Dik.

A timepiece that has been produced in your year of birth, seems to be an all-time favourite wish for many watch collectors. I’ll have to admit that I once almost pulled the trigger on a Speedmaster Professional from my year of birth (1977). However, after a phone call to the seller in France to discuss last details, it seemed that this watch was not made in 1977. One of the inscriptions on the inside of the case back clearly stated that this watch was produced in 1978. Bummer.

I can have more luck with a Rolex from my year of birth, however, the prices of these vintage beauties are becoming annoying. Just a few days ago, I noticed that ‘friend of the show’ Henrik over at SubGMT has a Rolex Submariner ref.1680 for sale, produced ‘around’ 1977. The ‘around’ bothers me of course, but I assume this can be sorted out.

According to the website SubGMT, everything about this watch is original except for the bezel inlay. The pearl of the inlay looks indeed more white than the hour markers or hands. I couldn’t care less to be honest.

More important to me are the polished edges on the lugs and their sharpness. The folded ref.9315 is original as well, and looks fine as far as I can see on these pictures. These old folded bracelets will make people hear you coming from 200 meters distance (instead of the 50 meters with new bracelets ; – ) ). All part of the charms of owning a superb vintage Rolex.

Although its price of 4650 Euro seems to be fair, in my opinion it is still a lot of money for a watch of which its successors are more interesting quality wise. The movement is a Rolex caliber 1570 and can also be found in other Rolex model from that era. It wasn’t until the ref.16800 Submariner until it was upgraded with a caliber 3035 movement. Although both these calibers are excellent time keepers, I prefer the newer caliber 3135 as it can be found in the later sapphire crystal Submariners (16610) and Sea-Dwellers (16600). This movement has a nicely finished double bridge and a higher beats per hour rate.

The folded bracelet I mentioned before, the caliber 1570 movement, the lack of box and papers.. perhaps all reasons that would justify a new sports Rolex for the same kind of money. However, one can’t deny the sophisticated look and feel of a vintage Rolex Submariner, it just breathes history and ‘cult watch’. And in comparison to the Double Red Sea-Dwellers, Great White, Red Submariners, Cream Dial Explorer, Freccione Explorers (and so on), the price of this nice and (almost) original ref.1680 Submariner is very reasonable. If it is still for sale around my birthday (13th of April), I might pull the trigger… because in the end, money back guaranteed with these vintage Rolexes.

Photos courtesy of SubGMT

People who love (luxury) watches will also be able to appreciate the other finer things of life. One of these finer things is – of course -  fashion and in this case, shirts. Just recently, I came in touch with Wallstreet Kingdom shirts. The owner of Wallstreet Kingdom is also a big fan of haute horlogerie and shares his fashion philosophy with us on his website.

“Our fashion objects are exclusively made. Sartorial tradition and real craftsmanship, as well as the best fabrics and handmade details epitomize what real luxury should be all about: sophisticated, stylish and ready to wear. Everyday. Every time. Everywhere. “We want to be the Audemars Piguet of the fashion industry”, says Christian Adriaanse. “Tradition, excellence and daring. Designing iconic objects. Just like them. Their first Royal Oak watch was unveiled in 1972 – my year of birth – it looks as if it was designed yesterday. Fabulous”.

Designer Christian Adriaanse only uses the very best materials to create these Stripes of Pride shirts, including mother of pearl for its buttons. The Stripes of Pride collection is there to celebrate your successes, achievements and – in short -  life. No holding back because the economy/business goes slow. Just like Audemars Piguet and Gérald Genta did in 1972, introducing a stainless steel luxury sports watch, costing as much as a 18ct gold Patek Philippe Calatrava watch. Because they could do so, by showing their tradition and excellence in everything they do, including in their stainless steel sports watch.

The designer of Wallstreet Kingdom shirts is also an admirerer of haute horlogerie and particularly of Audemars Piguet. As he discussed with me, the red-white Stripes of Pride shirt will perfectly match a Royal Oak ref.15202ST and the blue-white shirt will go well with an Offshore Navy. Just so you know.

Normally, my coverage on quartz driven watches is second to none, however, I’ll make an exception for this special timepiece. The Blancier Desert Wolf is dedicated to the Dutch troops in Uruzgan.

The watch case of the Desert Wolf has a 45 diameter and a hard PVD finish. The buckle of the strap also has this PVD finish. As you can see, the dial of the Blancier Desert Wolf is marked with the coordinates of the Dutch Uruzgan camp. The orange markers and hands refer to the Dutch heritage.

The crown and chronograph pushers are located on the 12 o’clock position of the watch, which makes it a ‘bullhead’ watch. Something we’ve seen in the past on Omega and Seiko watches (and a few more).  Other specifications of this watch are:

• water resistant to 100 meters (10ATM)
• sapphire crystal (double side anti-reflective coating)
• 1 year (limited) warranty
• price tag of 345 Euro, of which 10 Euro will go to the Anjerkinderen fund (kids of veterans)

More information and photographs can be found at www.blancier.eu