There is no doubt that sovereign city-state Monaco breathes magic for a lot of people. Cannes, Nice and St. Tropez are all nice places to visit, but Monaco is the crown on every trip to the Côte d’Azur. Besides being a tax heaven, Monaco is famous for the Monaco Grand Prix, the Monte Carlo Rally and ofcourse the number one source of income for this constitutional monarchy is tourism, the Monte Carlo Casino to be more precise. Did you know that citizens of Monaco are not allowed to gamble in the casino at all?

The few times I visited Monaco, I really enjoyed the view (as pictured below), the enormous yachts, the Riva boats and the passing Lambos/Ferraris/Maseratis. Driving around in Monaco gives a magic feeling, knowing that you are on the same track as some of the fastest and most special cars in the world.

And Monaco recently got more interesting for watch freaks like you and me. On the 25th of April 2009,  Pim Koeslag and Robert van Pappelendam launched new haute horlogerie brand Ateliers DeMonaco together with H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. These two Dutch guys, founded Ateliers DeMonaco together with another Dutchman Peter Stas (founder of Frederique Constant and Alpina Geneve) on the 6th of April 2009.

About a week ago, I got in touch with Pim Koeslag and his wife Susana. Their enthusiasm for watches and their own Ateliers DeMonaco brand in particular is contagious for watch lovers. The official Ateliers DeMonaco website and the pictured watches on there make you want to know more about the Carré d’Or timepiece and its creators.

Pim Koeslag is master watchmaker and responsible for the innovative tourbillon construction as well as for the whole design of the Carré d’Or watch. This is something you’ll see more often with independent watchmakers. This is a huge advantage over the existing (big) brands that need to bring all involved parties together to get a common consent with respect to design, technology, marketing etc. Pim Koeslag doesn’t have to make concessions when it comes to the design of the timepiece and the used technology.

The first noticeable detail about the Carré d’Or is the sapphire tourbillon bridge. The patented Grand XP 1 minute tourbillon has been developed and manufactured in-house and it is one of the most accurate tourbillon movements in the world. XP stands for eXtreme Precision, which can be guaranteed because the used technology allows the 28.800 beats per hour to be translated into pure accuracy that is regulated to have a tolerance of only zero to 2 seconds per 24 hours. Ateliers deMonaco uses three supporting innovations to be able to achieve this kind of tolerance for their Carré d’Or XP tourbillon timepiece. These innovations are: a perfect balance cage, silicium escapement and lever and the use of a few super precision manufacturing methodologies.

A perfect balance cage is established by using small metal weights on the sides of the escapement. By adding or removing these small weights, the watchmaker is able to balance the weight of the tourbillon cage until it is perfect. This means that the gravity point of all components should be brought to the center of the cage.

Being an IT guy for profession, I am familiar with the use of silicium for microprocessors. However, just (fairly) recently, the watch industry also found its way to this light weight, extreme hard and corrosion resistant material. In the most recent edition of Revolution Magazine (US edition), the use of silicium for mechanical movements is being further examined and discussed by several watch makers. The only problem some companies seem to have is the fact that it is technology meant for electronics and not for the traditional watchmaking craft. Basically, creating the escapement wheel and lever from silicium, will result in improved efficiency of energy. Since this material is very hard (twice as hard as regular stainless steel), there is only low friction and therefore no need for lubrication. Silicium is also anti-magnetic, which solves the old problem of interference that causes deviations in accuracy.

Although Pim Koeslag is the only watchmaker at Ateliers DeMonaco, he does source some help from only the best available parties in Switzerland. The sapphire tourbillon bridge for example, is just like any other small part, very hard to create out of sapphire. I have heard this complaint before, from Bernhard Lederer of BLU during my interview with him in Basel. After breaking a serious amount of precious sapphire parts, Atelier DeMonaco decided to use laser cutting technology to get the required result. A company called Sebal S.A, who specializes in manufacturing sapphire crystals in Boécourt, Switzerland, helped the Monaco based watch manufacturer out.

The 18ct gold rotor of the movement has been engraved and finished by Jochen Benzinger, master hand engraver. Benzinger, well-known for his work on his own line of watches and those of Chronoswiss for example, has decorated both sides of the gold rotor with the Ateliers DeMonaco shield and a hand guilloche finish.

The rectangular case of the watch is 44.3×48mm, which makes it fairly big, and consists of 33 parts. The core of the watch case is made out of titanium and the parts that create a shell around the titanium frame are made out of 18 carat solid gold, as pictured below.

Production of the Carré d’Or is limited to 18 pieces and prices are unknown (yet). For more detailed information about the Carré d’Or or Les Ateliers DeMonaco, visit the website by clicking here.

Thanks to Pim and Susana Koeslag for the photographs. I can’t wait to see one of these beauties in person, perhaps I should plan a trip to Monaco soon

I have reported earlier on the Only Watch event in Monaco this coming september. Maximilian Büsser introduced his special version of the Horological Machine No2, in order to get attention and financial help for kids suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

And although the goal is noble, I really think some of the contributors should have tried harder. This evening, I noticed the contribution by Omega on Roger Ruegger’s website and I was amazed by the laziness of this company from Bienne. The good thing about this watch is that it has the new inhouse Omega movement, Co-Axial 8501 and that there probably are people who are going to spend a lot of money on it for the benefit of DMD.

However, what on earth (or moon or mars) was Omega thinking? Although Omega has a special place in my collector’s heart (hence the Speedmaster coverage here), these kind of additions to the Omega collection makes me sad. A women’s watch measuring 55.5mm x 17.5mm, what’s that about? This is one of the most silly watches released this year. A diver’s watch that can go as deep as 1200 meters below surface, in 18kt red gold. Nice. The only thing missing here is the tourbillon. No wonder this is a one only watch.

Nevertheless, I hope the watch gets sold for a nice price (to whoever with a bad taste or to someone who just cares about the auction event and not about the watch) and that Omega learns from their mistakes and contribute with something more decent next year.

Some of the other contributions to the Only Watch event in Monaco are quite impressive, like the Patek Philippe Celestial or the Girard-Perregaux ww.tc Ceramic or of course my favorite, the MBandF HM2. Omega could have done much better, they really gave me hope during the last BaselWorld with their new Seamaster PloProf 1200. Why didn’t they take the opportunity to show what they are capable of? They have made so much nice and exclusive time pieces in the past, besides the regular Seamasters, Speedmasters and Constellations. For example, they made a very spectacular Speedmaster with skeleton dial in the past or a dress watch with a tourbillon. Why not now? Is it the financial crisis? Or were they just lazy and thought “look how popular the Chanel J12 is, so why not go with that?”? I really don’t know what they were thinking, but I think the marketing guy responsible for this watch should get fired.

On the bright side, they are making only one of them…

On the 11th of June, Antiquorum is auctioning Timepieces from Twentieth Century Icons. This auction includes some stuff that belonged to Steve McQueen. Besides the actual watch that Steve McQueen wore in the Le Mans movie, the Heuer Monaco (ref.1133), Antiquorum is also auctioning his Von Dutch motorcycle (what has this to do with timepieces you may ask? I don’t know. It has to do with money probably.) and a Rolex Submariner 5512 that was given to Jimmy Brucker, early 1980. I don’t know if it is the actual watch that has been spotted on the wrist of Steve McQueen several times, or that it is just a similar model. Chad McQueen, Steve’s son, has been spotted wearing a similar Submariner as well. Who knows.

Antiquorum estimates that the Heuer Monaco between 10.000 USD and 20.000 USD. Same goes for the Rolex Submariner 5512. I think both estimates are a bit low to be honest, especially when it is proven that Steve McQueen actually wore this Submariner in his private life as well. The Heuer Monaco was given away after the movie, as soon as he hit the way back home. So far for Steve’s loyalty to the Heuer Monaco. Who’s to blame? Certainly not Steve McQueen, but this is once again showing the sad marketing by TAG Heuer of milking out the use of their watch in a movie. And let’s be honest now, this movie isn’t that great either, except for the nice scenery.

Anyway, well informed sources over at ‘Das Rolex Forum‘ said that the dial has been replaced at some point during the watch’s lifetime. The watch is obviously polished a few times as well. However, that doesn’t count, when someone (which I think should be Antiquorum’s role) can prove that Steve McQueen actually did wear this particular watch.

Other timepieces in this auction are a gold Cartier Pasha with quartz movement, given to Sammy Davis Jr. by his friend Frank Sinatra, also in 1980.  Estimated price is between 10.000 USD and 20.000 USD. It seems to me that the ‘experts’ over at Antiquorum have an easy job, or are just lazy. Then there are these Gruen and Movado watches. The Gruen was a gift from Frank Sinatra to a friend of his, Al Silvani. Frank seemed to enjoy giving away timepieces. The Movado was a gift to President Roosevelt, by his son-in-law, for his 63rd birthday in 1945. This watch is estimated at 50.000 USD to 60.000 USD.

Want to see the other object for sale? Have a go at http://www.antiquorum.com/eng/press/2009/209106/juneny09auction.html.

One of the big bummers of the BaselWorld 2009 show was that I was unable to take a closer look at TAG Heuer’s new watches. The gigantic booth had this display in front of it, with both the old Monaco (1133) (it was the actual watch that Steve McQueen wore in Le Mans) and the new 40th anniversary Monaco.

The girl (a rented promo model with a cool leather TAG Heuer ‘Gulf’ jacket) couldn’t allow us to go inside the booth to make some decent pictures and she was also told NOT to give any press kits to the press (I had a press card via Perpetuelle).

I wonder if that’s really the policy, since TAG Heuer at least floods my mailbox with ALL of their new releases and celebrity news. Anyway, since there was no oppurtunity to take a decent shot of the wristwatch, I can only offer you the official TAG Heuer press photo.

The re-edition looks quite nice, and TAG Heuer finally understood that they should have the winding crown on the left side. Like the original. Now for the poor stuff… the watch has ‘in tribute to Steve McQueen’ engraved on the backside. I think most of us know that Steve McQueen wore a Rolex Submariner most of the time, and that he only used this watch (and appearantly returned it afterwards) for the Le Mans movie.

Anyway, TAG Heuer is probably aware of this and decided to make only 1000 pieces of them. The price, is approx 6000 Euro. There is nothing wrong with a nice TAG Heuer watch, but 6K seems a bit too optimistic. The vintage Monaco ref.1133 is a nicer buy in my opinion, it is at least the real deal (if you are a Steve McQueen / LeMans fan) and can be found between 4250 euro and 5900 Euro currently (on Chrono24), with orginal box and bracelet.

Again, there is nothing much wrong with the watch itself, only the chronograph pushers are different when you give the watch a first glance, but the price and the engraving would make me buy Das Original!

Now, how can I remove myself from their mailing list…