..it’s an IWC, and I don’t like IWC. Their attitude towards complaining customers on their company forum is embarrassing. Furthermore, the design of most IWC’s is too sterile for me. Like Audi cars. I bet a lot of IWC fans drive Audi cars

However, the Ingenieur is an exception to this feeling. I saw and handled one today in Gerard’s shop. An IWC Ingenieur ref. IW2337. A thick and solid watch, and one of the view watches I really like for having an integrated bracelet (as the AP Royal Oak and VC Overseas).

Horloge Platform Nederland is selling this one New In Box (NIB) for 4640 Euro. If I had the money, and no problems with IWC’s attitude, I would probably left the store today with a new watch.

Photo by Horloge Platform Nederland.

Some specifications (from their website):
IWC Caliber 80110
- Vibrations: 28 800/h / 4 Hz
- Jewels: 28
- Power-reserve: 44 h
- Automatic movement with Pellaton winding system
- Integrated shock-absorbing system
- Date display with crown-activated rapid calendar advance
- Hour and minute hands
- Central seconds hand with stop function
- Soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields of up to 80,000 A/m
- Screw-in back
- Screw-in crown
- Luminous elements of hands and indices
- IWC metal bracelet system with folding clasp
- Sapphire glass coated on both sides
- Water-resistant to 120 m

Thanks to Gerard Jolink at the Omega Forum @ WatchUseek:

This Omega book is coming out soon. It can be ordered directly at the publisher’s website, Damiani Editore. For 88 Euros, it is yours!

A safe would be the best option. Or in a nice wooden box if you have an alarm system on your house (depending on the value of the watches (and box) anyway..). ThomasM, the man on the WatchRap Forum just keeps them ticking on his wrist… …stunning collection!!

Click here to see the post

Photo by ThomasM.

..seem to have all the luck, like Edwin at the Lange & Soehne forum @ TimeZone.com

Click here for his posting

A while ago, I posted this link to a review on the Seiko Spring Drive watch.

Today I was in Zoetermeer, a city near The Hague. There is no pride in telling this, because this city represents all that is evil. Trailer park trash without the trailer Anyway, the only valid reason to visit this city is to visit a jeweler called Van Koningsbruggen. They have an impressive collection of watchbrands available: Chopard, Chronoswiss, Glashütte Original, IWC, Maurice Lacroix, Montblanc, Longines, Omega and… Seiko. I noticed this glass box in the shop with two Seiko Spring Drive watches. I asked the sales lady to see one, and after I asked for some more details on the watch, she asked for her collegue to tell me more about it. The sales guy really did his best to try to explain the working of the watch, including the trainings slides he received and studied himself. I was impressed by the appearance and ofcourse the smart inner workings of the watch. And by the knowledge of the sales guy, you don’t see this very often anymore..

Although I was impressed, the price tag also impressed me. I wonder how big the target audience is for this watch in Europe and the US. The model on a leather strap had a price tag of 3200 Euro. The same jeweler is giving 30% off IWC watches currently (according to their website). I wonder who would prefer a 3200 Euro Seiko over a nice IWC (or other brand, at least I would buy another brand….), Omega, Chronoswiss or other watch from their collection for that kind of money. At the end of our conversation, I received a nice CD-ROM with all the Seiko Spring Drive information and the brochure.

Anyway, except for the review by Jack Freedman I linked to before, also check the following websites:

Review by Ed Hanh @ TZ

Official Seiko Spring Drive website

Yes, they do. Check this link for their collection of writing instruments. The cap is decorated with the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon cage and the clip inspired by the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon bridge. The pen features an 18kt NIB ofcourse.

Sorry for the lame picture (oh well, GP is to blame actually, it is from their website), but you’ll get the idea.

Also, when visitting their site, click ‘Goodies’ in the lower right of the webpage. They have some very nice wallpaper material to download.

“Emmanuel Coindre has successfully achieved his challenge of rowing across the northern passage of the Pacific, from Japan to the United States, meaning almost 11,000 km in 129 days 17 hours 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Jaeger-LeCoultre supported the sportsman at each step of this daunting and ambitious undertaking, during which Emmanuel’s physical and mental preparation was confronted with extremely unfavourable weather conditions. The Master Compressor Extreme World Chronograph remained firmly strapped to his wrist throughout the voyage.”

Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces 30 models of this Master Compressor Extreme World Chronograph. 20 watches in titanium & steel combination and 10 watches in titanium & platinum combination. The caseback is ofcourse engraved for this undertaking of Emmanuel Coindre.

Oh yeah.. the guy had to deal with 16 capsizes of his boat (also in yellow and black). Pfff.. he deserves his own watch

You can read the full story here and here.

Like Gerard already wrote on his Dutch blog on watches, Corum won the Public Prize in the «Watch of the Year 2005» competition.

“Universally admired by readers of L’Hebdo, Cash and Edelweiss magazines, who chose this model among the 42 candidates, the new Golden Bridge by Corum was awarded the trophy in the prestigious «Watch of the Year» competition organized annually by «Montres Passion» and «Uhrenwelt».”

Click here for more..

Unfortunately, I missed it… P-Day #4! The annual event for Panerai fans (Paneristi). P-Day #3 (2004) was very very nice, but this year I just couldn’t make it.

Anyway, check out the Paneristi Forum for tons of pictures! Just to get an impression…

Picture by Covac

I could live with this. Easily.

More pictures over at The Purists…

..is that you can settle for a new strap while saving up for another model… While browsing straps at TimeConnection, Elliot’s shop, I found multiple interesting straps. One of them though, is a strap I would never buy because of the material it is made of. I don’t mind wearing croco, calf, shark, snake and stingray straps, but a strap made out of elephant goes a bit too far for me..

Would you wear one?

After seeing this, I am a bit embarressed to tell you that I am Dutch. A Dutch seller on eBay is selling these ‘Rolex’ rings:

(Rolex rings… I am curious seeing the first hits from Google based on the combination of these two keywords)

KokChoon at the WatchRap forum posted a message on the Big Bang watch by Hublot.

I think this 44.5mm watch is finally a Hublot watch I could be wearing… The watch features a ceramic bezel, kevlar inserts (sides), a carbon fibre dial, a rubber studded crown and pushers, pvd screws in the movement and titanium H-shaped screws in the bezel.

Photo by KokChoon!

While browsing the ViaPaneristi forum, I came across a post by AdrianNJ. He shows off his neat collection, and one of the watches really stands out…. this D.Dornblüth & Sohn!! Good Taste!

Picture by AdrianNJ

Erik sent me an email with the link to his website a few days ago. It is about photography and horology.

See for yourself, click here.