Last weekend was one with a busy watch schedule. My wife is so happy with me
Friday evening, I attended a Rolex get-together, arranged by authorized Rolex dealer Schaap ~ Citroen. On Saturday I attended the SAHH (Salon Amsterdam de la Haute Horlogerie) to look at all the novelties from Audemars Piguet, Baume et Mercier, Cartier, IWC, Jeager-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Richard Mille and Roger Dubuis. The SAHH event was hosted by Gassan Diamonds in Amsterdam. And on Sunday, we had our Horloges & Espresso meeting with a bunch of watch nuts in The Hague, organized every first Sunday of the month.
To start with the first, the Schaap ~ Citroen @Home programme, organized a get-together for a few Rolex enthusiasts from The Netherlands. Together with Ronny Wooter (former auctioneer at Sotheby’s) and a team of Schaap ~ Citroen, we received a nice presentation on their stores, vision on selling and of course, Rolex watches. Some great insights on sales, customers and Rolex were shared with us during the evening. A few of these insights on Rolex watches are:
Rolex does not use laser engraved sapphire green crystals for the Milgauss;
The laser engraved ‘S’ will disappear from the replacement sapphire crystals that are being used when a watch is being serviced;
The laser engraved Rolex logo is ALWAYS on 6 o’clock, it is done after the crystal has been put on the timepiece.
Besides the presentation of current Rolex models, there was enough time to discuss vintage timepieces as well. Valuation, service and availability aspects were discussed through-out all the evening. Below you’ll find a few shots that Remco and sBmRnR made during the evening, just to give you an impression of this wonderful event:
I would like to thank Schaap ~ Citroen and forum members Harald and MarkD for initiating and hosting this great event!
On Saturday the 6th of March, the SAHH was presented in Amsterdam, hosted by Gassan. The two watches that impressed me most were the Cartier Calibre (4900 Euro) with in-house movement and the AP Royal Oak Equation of Time (40-50K Euro). The Cartier has a useable size, perfect finish on dial and case and a movement developed by Cartier. The dial of this watch has all the nice details you are used from Cartier. The only downside is the shape of the lugs in my opinion. The pointy and bended lugs will stick in your wrist, especially when you have large wrists/arms.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Equation of Time simply rocks the bomb. The size of the watch was slightly bigger than my Jumbo (15202) or the ref.15300, but still within proportions and less present than the Offshore models. The subtle leap-year indicator, sun-rise, sun-set and equation of time indicators in addition to its moon phase disc are in no-way misplaced or creating a dial that could be considered too busy. I tried on the gold version, but there will be a stainless steel version as well.
A brand that surprised me in a more negative way was Richard Mille. I was very interested in Richard Mille’s timepieces but I simply can’t give them a place. Technically very interesting, innovative techniques and materials, but design wise not very interesting in my opinion. The tourbillon was nice to look at, but I must say that I have seen enough tourbillons last year.
The weekend ended with our monthly Horloges & Espresso meeting in The Hague, the 15th edition if I am not mistaken Just to be in time to visit the IWC Show at Ace & Dik in Amsterdam the next day. A report will follow soon!
If I didn’t already have one, I would seriously consider this IWC Ingenieur 3227-01 that is for sale over at Horloge Platform Nederland. This discontinued model was only in production for a short time, 2005 – 2008. IWC introduced this new Ingenieur model in 2005, to be a worthy successor of the original IWC Ingenieur SL model as designed by Gérald Genta in 1976/1977. Last year, I wrote an article on Genta’s classics and their current versions here on Fratellowatches (click here to read the article) and although I concluded that this revised Ingenieur is only influenced by its original design (unlike the almost unchanged Patek Philippe Nautilus or Audemars Piguet Royal Oak), it is still an impressive model with Genta DNA.
With an original list price of 5900 Euro, this 3200 Euro is a steal for such a great timepiece (I wrote a review here). A very accurate timepiece, solid construction, incredible nice finish on case and bracelet because of the combination of polished and brushed parts and in this deal, it comes with both the stainless steel bracelet and original IWC soft strap.
I have seen this particular timepiece and was impressed by its condition, only minor wear to detect, even on the bracelet which tend to scratch quickly after wearing it a few times. Horloge Platform Nederland even made a small (HD) video on this timepiece, which enables you to determine the condition of this watch even better.
I really don’t understand the price drop on these Ingenieur timepieces. Although they are probably only liked by collectors, it is a lot of watch for this kind of money. An in-house IWC movement (caliber 80110), high-end finish on all inner and outer parts and a comfortable size of 42.5mm in diameter. The later models are less interesting in my opinion, the sharp edges are gone, the size has become bigger and prices have (of course) gone up. Get a 3227-01 before they run out!
After a week of fun in the snow (wearing my Linde Werdelin 3-Timer), it is time to get back to work and back to blogging about watches. During my vacation, the invitations for BaselWorld and press releases are flooding my mailbox. So beware of some frequent updates here at Fratellowatches. Furthermore, an Orient review is coming up. Although I never took a serious look at Orient watches before, it seems to be a lot of bang for the buck. More this week!
As you can see above, I shot some pictures of my Linde Werdelin timepiece during the holiday. Although I am not particularly careful with this watch, it seems to be hard to get any scratches on this baby. Just recently, a reader of my blog asked me about the Linde Werdelin and if it was a scratch magnet… Well, it is not. After owning it for several months now, the scratches on my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and IWC Ingenieur are far more present (and visible). I don’t think there is even one scratch on the LW. Nice eh?
Back to answering a lot of unread e-mail on my Mac.
For IWC, 2009 is the year of the Aquatimer relaunch. IWC’s first Aquatimer saw daylight in 1967 and I doubt that one of these first models ever saw some water, because they didn’t look very water resistant. However, looks might be deceiving because IWC claimed it to be water resistant to 200 meters. Anyway, between 1967 and now, IWC has had several sports watches (GST, Ocean, Aquatimer) suitable for use below the surface.
The new line of Aquatimers have been presented at SIHH 2009 and a number of jewelers organized introduction events for their customers (click here for the Ace Jewelers presentation earlier this year). One of my personal favorites this year, is the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands, or perhaps it is easier to remember IWC’s reference number 376705. A diver’s watch in the service of evolution, as IWC calls it. With this time piece, IWC supports the work of the Galapagos-based Charles Darwin Foundation with a contribution generated by the sales of the IWC ref.376705. The Galapagos islands – belonging to Ecuador – have a unique fauna and flora which is being threatened by harmful activities (like fishing, importing animals, growing tourism etc.). IWC wants to support the Darwin foundation, who makes visitors aware with ecologically sound behaviour and watches out over the waters of the Galapagos Islands to make sure animals do not fall victim to poachers and predators. This kind of support perfectly fits into IWC’s philosophy about durability and responsibility towards the environment. Although I am not a dedicated fan of IWC’s watches, I do cheer IWC’s management for embracing these kind of activities and ‘taking responsibility’.
As for the watch itself, it is no different from the other new Aquatimer watches by IWC, except for the used materials and the engraving on the caseback. The 376705 has a rubber coated stainless steel case and a black rubber strap. The caseback is engraved with the Galápagos tortoise and the text “Tribute to the Charles Darwin Foundation”. The photo below, clearly demonstrates the stainless steel caseback with the engraved tortoise.
The Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands has a diameter of 44mm, which is more or less considered normal these days, for diving / sports watches. The height of the watch is 15mm. Like any other serious diving watch, the ref. 376705 has a screw-in crown and rotating bezel. Ofcourse, this watch is perfectly suited for professional diving since it is water resistant to 120 meters / 12 bar. IWC also made this watch very well readable in the dark, by applying luminescent elements on the hands, dial and bezel.
And one more for the lume freaks, I know you are out there
The chronograph movement is IWC caliber 79320, and as you probably already noticed about the chronograph/dial lay-out, it is indeed based on ETA’s (Valjoux) 7750 movement. This chronograph movement with an impressive track record has been heavily modified by IWC to live up to their high standards of watchmaking. Although there is technically speaking nothing wrong with this movement, I actually hoped that IWC would have used their in-house chronograph movement (used in the current line of Da Vinci models).
Below you’ll see the Galapagos Islands special edition IWC review by Alon Ben-Joseph, vice president of Ace Jewelers in Amsterdam. More watch related videos from them can be found at www.acejewelers.tv.
The IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands has a list price of 5700 Euro. Visit the e-boutique of my friends over at Ace Jewelers to get more information on this particular watch or other IWC watches. They are authorized IWC dealer and the first that have been approved by IWC to carry watches (and prices) via their e-boutique.
Special thanks to Dimer van Santen of Ace Jewelers for providing me with some custom photographs of the Aquatimer.
When you own a Panerai, it is a simple job to get a decent custom made strap for it. When you own an IWC Ingenieur (ref.3227), it is a bit harder… the IWC soft strap of the AMG version will fit perfectly, but IWC doesn’t make a leather strap for this model.
Jacob from Spain creates leather straps for all types and makes of watches. Including a strap for the IWC Ingenieur. I heard about it via e-mail, when a reader of this blog noticed that Jacob was making these straps and did know that I own a 3227 as well The writer of the mail also sent me a link to a short review of the Jacob strap for the IWC Ingenieur on Watch Talk Forums (click here).
Before I clicked, I wondered if Jacob had made a solid construction for the strap ends (that are being connected to the case with a genius spring system). And he did. Jacob uses a steel core layer to give the strap the proper ’strength’, because the construction of the lugs and strap could easily ‘break’ the strap if not strengthened by something more solid inside it. I think the official IWC soft strap uses the same kind of construction with a metal core inside.
A brand that surprised me in a more negative way was Richard Mille. I was very interested in Richard Mille’s timepieces but I simply can’t give them a place. Technically very interesting, innovative techniques and materials, but design wise not very interesting in my opinion. The tourbillon was nice to look at, but I must say that I have seen enough tourbillons last year.
And one more for the lume freaks, I know you are out there 
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