For around 3000 Euro, you should be able to find a nice Master Moon (young occasion) in good condition, complete with box and papers. Make sure the alligator strap comes with the original JLC  folding buckle and that the strap is still in good condition. A JLC replacement strap will cost you at least 250 Euro, or you can settle for a third party strap of similar quality (ABP Paris for example).

The shape of the case is very classical and the polished and satinized parts are really stunning. The dial of the Master Moon (ref.140.2.98.S) is available in either black or wite and in grey for the platinum version of this watch. The arrow shaped hour markers remind me of 1950s and 1960s timepieces and I love the combination with the printed white date index on the dial.

The movement inside this watch is a in-house Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 891/448 automatic movement, ticking at 28.800 beats per hour. These movements are tested against Jaeger’s own high standards on accuracy and therefore approved Master Control for 1000 hours. 1000 hours of testing before leaving the factory! The day, date and moonphase corrector are positioned in the side of the case. Two next to the crown (where the crown is in the center) and one corrector is located at 8 o’clock. You better buy a watch winder with this watch! After 38 hours the movement will stop ticking and if this is not becoming your everyday watch, you might find yourself busy setting this watch correctly a few times per week.

If your wrists allow you to wear a 37mm watch, you really should consider this Jaeger-LeCoultre when spending 2500-3500 Euro on a slightly used timepiece. The only con in my opinion is the fact that the day functionality is using a moon disc hand, I am not particular a fan of those. But that’s just very personal. Otherwise, I really can’t come up with any more cons I would have against this watch. At least the colour scheme is thought through by Jaeger-LeCoulte.

Related posts:

1. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Gallery
2. SIHH 2009: Jaeger-LeCoultre Navy Seals
3. Jaeger-LeCoultre iPhone application ROCKS!

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.

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1. Danish Watchblog!
2. Linde Werdelin 3-Timer review: No 13 arrived!
3. Linde Werdelin’s new Hard Black DLC II unveiled

Fred Dingemans, owner of DMH, mailed me pictures of his latest creation, a DMH Jumping Hour timepiece. As you can see below, an odd looking fellow with those screws in the dial and this water resistant crown-concept you might see for the first time.

I did a small write-up on DMH and their Jumping Hour timepiece for the WatchUseek Blog, the no.1 interactive watch portal lead by Ernie Romers. In the heat of the latest SIHH and GTE news, this might be very refreshing!

Click here to read the article.

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Audemars Piguet is also exhibitor at the SIHH in Geneva and was actually the first brand that I kept an eye on, since I’ve seem to be bitten by the AP bug. The ‘regular’ Royal Oak timepieces suits me best and not the Offshore models. These are too bulky for me and I am not too sure about all the exotic materials AP uses for these watches. This year, I am lucky, because Audemars Piguet introduced a variety of interesting Royal Oak watches, including a non-limited skeletonized version of the 15300 model and an all new Royal Oak Equation of Time in stainless steel. Also available in gold of course, to match your yacht when you hang out in Saint Tropez.

The 42mm diameter case houses an incredible complicated movement, caliber 2120/2808, consisting out of 423 parts. Base caliber 2120 is only a mere 2.45mm thick, including the rotor and all the complications added to this movement (hence the 2808 addition in the movement number) add another 2.90mm to be able to show the Hours, Minutes, Date, Day, Leap Year, Equation of Time, Astronomical Moonphase Display and the Sunrise and Sunset times for a given location.

Although the equation of time probably doesn’t come to mind when thinking of a neat complication for your timepiece, at least not in my mind, it is a very impressive functionality to measure the difference between our conventional time and true solar time. For instance, if you’d measure time using a sundial, it will become apparent that it doesn’t indicate the same time as your watch, the differences can add up to 16.25 minutes. This variation is due to the earth’s elliptical path around the sun as well as its tilted rotation axis. For convenience, modern societies have calculated an average of all the days of the year and defined the mean solar day as comprising 24 hours, corresponding to so-called legal time.

Photo courtesy of Horomundi.com

AP explains as follows:
“The mean solar culmination point depends on your exact location, on the longitude of a given location on the globe. The equation of time read-off system developed by Audemars Piguet takes account of this specific place. Unlike most other equation of time mechanisms, it is not set to a given time zone selected by the manufacturer, typically corresponding to 15 degrees longitude. The “world standard time” system divides the world into 24 time zones and takes the Greenwich meridian as the zero point. While the official time is thus the same across the width of each time zone, true solar time varies by four minutes per degree (15 degrees=1 hour). Therefore, although the clocks on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich and on the Rue du Rhône in Geneva indicate the same time, true noon – the point in the day when a sundial shows no shadow, or put another way, the sun is exactly directly overhead, can be observed a few minutes earlier in Zurich than in Geneva.

Not only does the Audemars Piguet mechanism take into account this local variation, it also enables one to read off the solar culmination time at any time of the day. To do so, this exceptional mechanism is personalised and adjusted according to the degree of longitude chosen by its owner. The name of the chosen city and the solar zenith in this place are engraved on the ring (such as 12.36 for Geneva). The ring also bears a graduated scale running from -15 to + 15 minutes. The zero point of the graduation is located exactly at the mean solar culmination time in the chosen place. The equation of time hand continuously displays the difference between the two values. When the hour hand corresponds to the time indicated on the graduated ring and the equation of time and minute hands are superimposed, the owner of the watch knows that the sun is exactly at its zenith. It’s exactly as if he had a sundial on his wrist, and there is no need for any mental arithmetic!”

The perpetual calendar and sunrise and sunset complications probably need no introduction, however, the combination of all these features make this one hell of a complicated timepiece. All this, without losing the original 1972 octagon shaped bezel and case design. Audemars Piguet did an excellent job, demonstrating their master watchmaker skills and using their proven Royal Oak concept. Although some people complain that Audemars Piguet is almost equal to Royal Oak (and admitted, they have plenty of other interesting collections currently), this one stands out and is hard to dispute with. No Offshore-ish design, no rubber or high-tech materials such as carbon or ceramics, just back to basics with their stainless steel case that represents the original Royal Oak model and a superb complicated mechanical masterpiece. I love this timepiece.

Photo by Paul Boutros @ TimeZone

The 26603ST (stainless steel) and 26603OR (gold) are only available on a leather strap, for now. The AP folding clasp has the famous AP monogram and comes in either stainless steel or gold. Prices will be probably published later on, when they are bound to appear in the AP boutiques and at authorized AP dealers.

Good work Audemars Piguet! Besides the Equation of Time and the before mentioned skeletonized Royal Oak Date ref.15305, there are a number of Offshores in the new programme. A Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Collection, Offshore Diver, Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph and an Offshore Chronograph in 37mm, intended for men. Uhuh, we all know where the 37mm Chronograph is going to end…

Related posts:

1. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak: Nick Faldo
2. Michael’s Royal Oak 15300
3. AP Royal Oak: 15300 more interesting than the 15202 (a.k.a Jumbo)?

This year, Ralph Lauren introduces the Slim Classique Collection. So if you think that Ralph Lauren is fashion only, think again.

The Slim Classique is a 42mm diameter timepiece and only 5.35mm thick. Last week, I blogged about the thinness factor over at Vacheron Constantin with their Ultra-Fine watches but it seems that more brands follow this trend this year at SIHH (Salon International de Haute Horlogerie) in Geneva.

This timepiece uses a movement by another king of thin, Piaget. A mechanical handwound movement (caliber RL430) with a thickness of only 2.1mm is ticking inside this RL Slim Classique. Although the caseback of this watch is solid (and therefore ideal for engraving purposes), the movement inside has a Côtes de Geneve and circular graining finish (click here for my article on movement decoration). The guilloché dial and Breguet style hands make this watch a classic and sophisticated looking timepiece and up to standards with the 42mm diameter. This will not look bad at all in the board room!

The watch itself is available in rosé gold, white gold and platinum (Pt950). The 192 diamonds (total amount of 1.11 carat) are optional for this wristwatch. Of course, you’ll wear this timepiece on a black alligator strap!

Below a close-up of the guilloché dial and Breguet style hands.

Prices are unknown at the time of writing this post. My guess is that they won’t come cheap and why should they? Although the brand name might remind most people about their Polo shirts, the used movement, used materials for case, crown and strap and the perfectly finished dial and hands are proof of the fact that they are really a true watch brand as well.

Related posts:

1. SIHH 2009 News: Ralph Lauren
2. SIHH2010: Vacheron Constantin Historique Ultra-Fine 1955 and 1968
3. BaselWorld 2009: Frédérique Constant Maxime Manufacture Automatic

Browsing the internet and going through several annual catalogues, I came up with the Glycine Incursore ‘Black Jack’, the Sinn 656 and the Tissot PRS516 Automatic Chronograph. All three very different watches, but are all ’serious’ timepieces under 1000 USD and follow my own 5 defined rules for this quest:

1. It should be a (respected) Swiss or German brand
2. A mechanical movement (Swiss/German origin), ETA2824 or ETA6498 for example
3. No plastic parts on the outside (excludes Swatch for example)
4. Stainless steel casing
5. Sapphire crystal

Of course, there are numerous great alternatives, but I had to make choices

Please read the article by clicking here

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On the 6th of January, MB&F announced the upcoming introduction of a 25 piece only HM2, which is today, on January 12th of 2010. The HM2 SV edition gives away part of the secrets and inner workings of their Horological Machine Number 2 by using sapphire crystal to cover the entire front of the timepiece as you can see on the picture above.

Sapphire’s hardness is second only to diamond, which makes the whole top half of the case (the most exposed half) extremely scratch-resistant. This is a timepiece that will keep its good looks for a very, very long time. The 3.6mm thick sapphire crystal consist out of a top plate that has been constructed out of three separate parts. It takes up to 55 hours to create just a single top plate of sapphire. Actually, Stettler in Lyss (Switzerland) was the only manufacturer of sapphire crystals that accepted the challenge and managed to fulfil this task in a perfect way, so I guess they are worth mentioning here

To ensure maximum light and visibility through to the movement, the two dials – minutes and date – are also in sapphire, sapphire disks lightly brushed to a perfect translucency ensuring full legibility of the polished silvered numbers while allowing maximum light through to the engine beneath.

The movement of the HM2-SV, has been developed by master watchmaker J.M Wiederrecht, it feature an instantaneous jump hour, concentric retrograde minutes, retrograde date and a bi-hemisphere moon phase. One of the technical highlights of this timepiece is the highly energy-efficient jump hour/retrograde mechanism developed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, which uses his exclusive (and patented) asymmetrical-tooth gear wheels to ensure high precision and play-free functionality.

The price of the HM2 – SV is unknown yet, but I am pretty sure it won’t be in my personal collection any time soon. At least I have some specification of this watch for you:

Movement:

Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor designed functionality regulated and powered by a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear train
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph
Blued 22k rose gold Battle-axe automatic winding rotor
Number of components: 349 including 44 jewels

Functions:

Left dial: Retrograde Date and Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase
Right Dial: Jumping Hours and Concentric Retrograde Minutes

Case:

Sapphire/titanium limited to 25
Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 59mm x 38mm x 13mm
Water resistant to 30 meters (3 ATM)
Number of parts: 120 (case only)

Sapphire crystals:

Sapphire case top and crystals over the dual dials treated with anti-reflective treatment on both faces. Display back with anti-reflective treatment on single face.

Dials:

Brushed sapphire and metallic blue disks

Strap & Buckle:

Black hand-stitched alligator with 18k white gold & titanium folding buckle

Presentation box:

Precision engineered aluminium and leather instrument case featuring an integrated Rüeger thermometer

Related posts:

1. Pre-SIHH 2009 news from Max Büsser: Horological Machine 2 Ceramic
2. HM2.2 “Black Box” by MB&F and Alain Silberstein
3. Omega Hour Vision

When the the new Milgauss ref. 116400(GV) just came out in 2007, I was very impressed with it (as you can read here) but noticed that the watch didn’t get picked-up as I thought it would be (as I wrote here). Along the way, this watch really grew on me and I already decided that this new Milgauss could be a perfect alternative for the Rolex Explorer 114270, as 36mm is a bit too small for my wrists. The Rolex Explorer always attracted me for being the cleanest sports Rolex around, but just not for me due to its size.

Now, when I noticed that Watch-Site had this Rolex Milgauss DLC up for sale, I immediately asked them if I could try it for a few hours and make some pictures of it (since they are located nearby). The color of the Milgauss DLC isn’t black as most DLC watches, it has more of an anthracite color where the center links are still having that polished look and the rest of the bracelet kept the brushed finish.

Pictures can be a bit misleading when it comes to the DLC color of this Milgauss. To show you that it actually is quite dark in comparison to stainless steel, I took a picture of my wife’s Rolex Explorer 114270 next to the Rolex Milgauss 116400. Please don’t mind the dust specks on these watches, as I didn’t notice them till only later when I loaded the pictures into my computer. The picture also shows the differences in size between the Explorer and the Milgauss, but also demonstrate the clean and readable dial of both.

Although I could see myself adding a Rolex Milgauss to my modest collection of timepieces, this DLC was yet another confirmation that I am not very into DLC or black watches. I tried a (black) Sinn 142St.S a few years back and it didn’t last very long, I guess the same would go for this Milgauss. Personally, I do love the look of DLC watches, but they’re just not for me as I feel they are not as all-round usable as ‘plain’ stainless steel watches.

In the picture above, you can clearly see the difference between the center links and the outer links of the bracelet. The Milgauss is quite thick, probably due to its inner case which makes it anti-magnetic / protected against magnetic fields. It wears very differently from my GMT-Master II 16710 and Sea-Dweller 16600. I love the sapphire crystal sticking out, like the Sea-Dweller’s crystal. The matt dial is very clean and in combination with DLC, very militarish. The orange flashing bolt hand refers to the vintage Milgauss models, to people who do not know this, it might look a bit awkward

Below you’ll see two pictures of the Deepsea Sea-Dweller 116660, in parts…  just came back from the workshop where they applied the DLC technology to this Dipsy. Since the bezel was removed for the operation, it gives a good view on how thick the sapphire crystal of the Deepsea really is. THICK!

The DLC coating on this Deepsea is matt black and very different from the glossy looking Milgauss. The Deepsea is a heavy duty watch and the matt black DLC looks appropriate on it, being a tool watch pur sang.

Where I concluded earlier that the Milgauss or DLC (in general) is not for me, I did become even more enthusiastic about the Milgauss than I was before. Let’s see what 2010 has to offer for my watch collection!

Price of the Milgauss DLC (BNIB) is 5750 Euro. Thanks to Watch-Site for letting me handle these DLC timepieces.

Related posts:

1. Rolex Milgauss, proven unpopular?
2. Perhaps I was wrong on the Milgauss
3. The new Milgauss: Available!

In the 1950s and 1960s, Vacheron Constantin introduced the world’s thinnest wristwatches and today, they revive the quest for ultra-thinness with the Historique Ultra-Fine 1955 and 1968 models. The 1955 model represents a round case ultra-thin watch with a caliber 1003 movement, only 1.64mm thick, making the watch having a total height of just 4.10mm. This results in the Ultra-Fine 1955 being the thinnest watch in the world. The mechanical manual winding movement is based on the original caliber 1003 from 1955, but rebuilt in 18ct gold and bearing the Hallmark of Geneva.

This Hallmark of Geneva can only be applied when the movement complies to 12 technical and style criteria which are outlined on the Vacheron Constantin website (click here to visit the Hallmark of Geneva section). Below is a picture of the rebuilt caliber 1003 movement in 18ct gold by Vacheron Constantin:

The Ultra-Fine 1968 model is a square case timepiece, using Vacheron Constantin’s caliber 1120 movement, as introduced in 1966 and produced since the end of 1967. Below you see a picture of both timepieces. Vacheron Constantin’s caliber 1120 movement has been based on Jaeger-LeCoultre’s caliber 920. Jaeger-LeCoultre however, never used this movement in one of their own watches. Vacheron Constantin, together with Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe used the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 920 movement in their own watches with their own caliber numbers.

Vacheron Constantin (caliber 1120) and Audemars Piguet (caliber 2121) are the only manufacturers to still have these ultra-thin movements in production. Patek Philippe used it (under caliber number 28-255) during the first 10 years of the Nautilus timepiece before switching to a different movement, bearing caliber number 335SC.

All in all, the Vacheron Constantin caliber 1120 movement has somewhat of a cult-status amongst collectors, especially those who love ultra-thin watches or have a weak spot for Gérald Genta (designer of the Nautilus and Royal Oak) or Hysek (designer of Vacheron Constantin’s ‘222′ which later became the ‘Overseas’).

The Ultra-Fine 1955 timepiece is based on Vacheron Constantin’s reference 4961 (introduced in 1955) since that particular model already embodied a decidedly modern touch at the time of its launch. The 36mm 18 ct pink gold watch case of the Ultra-Fine 1955 is water resistant to 30 meters and has a transparant caseback using a sapphire cyrstal.

The Ultra-Fine 1968 timepiece is based on reference 7614, also in an 18ct pink gold watch case and measures 35.2 mm along its sides and is even thinner than its historical predecessor: 5.5 mm compared with 6.52 mm, making it one of the thinnest watches in its category (of watches with a self-winding movement).

By choosing to equip these Historique timepieces with the same legendary vintage calibres – the 1003 and 1120 rebuilt for the occasion and now bearing the independent and sovereign Hallmark of Geneva certification – Vacheron Constantin is shows their authority when it comes to exceptional classic watches.

Click here to visit Vacheron Constantin’s offical website and make sure to check out the official Vacheron Constantin forum, The Hour Lounge.

Pictures courtesy of Vacheron Constantin. Thanks to Jenna Guarneri.

Related posts:

1. SIHH2010: Ralph Lauren Slim Classique
2. Gerald Genta’s Vacheron Constantin ‘222′
3. Antiquorum Vacheron Constantin Auction

The official unveiling will be on January 12th 2010. I will keep you posted.

Click here for the MB&F website.
MB&F on Facebook.

Related posts:

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