WristWatchReview.com

LVMH buys Hublot

Filed under: Hublot, Reviews — John Biggs @ 9:35 pm

Ablogtoread is reporting that LVMH — owners of Louis Vuitton and a number of high-end watch brands — has bought Hublot, makers of basically the Big Bang.

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Haffstreuner: Huge and cheap

Filed under: Quartz, Reviews, WWR Exclusive — John Biggs @ 2:32 pm

If you’re looking to join the crazy-huge-sexy crowd and don’t mind quartz, head over to the Haffstreuner store for MONSTER WATCHES for about $250. These beasts are made by the same folks who brought us Tauchmeister and I’ll give them a 6 out of 10 for quality and a 10 out of 10 for wildness. Strangely enough I actually dig the style on these.

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Grand Watch Sale!

Filed under: Deals — John Biggs @ 1:23 pm

Update - Make me an offer on these. I want them to go to a happy collector and the ‘Bay is sucking recently.

I’ve decided to move out some pieces that I haven’t worn in a while, much to your own personal benefit. All of these watches are working perfectly but they are a bit aged. If you want some classic chronos for not much money, click on through. Click all the images to see them full size.

I consider all of these watches my training wheels. They are great fun and a good deal. I used most of them as part of my To Better Know a Movement piece last year.

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Great new blog: Tick Talk

Filed under: Fun, Newbie Advice, News — John Biggs @ 9:35 am

Sure, we can talk about watches all we want, but can we say we know how to remove a watch cyclops? Tick Talk is a blog by a certified watchmaker and he tells the story of Cyclopsi in real life.

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who like a cyclops and those who don’t. I often see people on timezone wanting to know how to remove the cyclops from their watch. And then other people come into my shop and want me to put one on their watch. I have one customer who brings in every new watch he buys and has me install a cyclops.

Cyclops Removal [Tick Talk]

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Ooof… Rolex pops one out for the kids

Filed under: General — John Biggs @ 5:04 pm

New from Basel, the Rolex Blue Monster! Wha!
What’s New Blue! [TimeTraveller]

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Quick Review: Seiko World Timer

Filed under: General, Reviews, Seiko — E.M. Van Court @ 3:05 pm

This watch is the right tool set for me; HH:MM:SS and date, a second time zone, and an alarm that can be used as a timer. The 100mm water resistence is another requirement, and this makes that gate. The 5T82 movement is a little large at 40mm w/o the crown, 44mm w/, and 10mm thick, and not quite as easy to use as the earlier and now discontinued Seiko SEL series with the 5T52, but I like it. Especially useful is the second time zone, as the bezel has markings to indicate the second time zone, and you can change it with the buttons. Unlike the earlier movement you have to take the watch off to use the alarm/timer, and it has to be reset for each use, but it is not that difficult to use. Yeah, the face is a little busy, but until Seiko has the wisdom to re-release the 5T52 movement or comes up with one that is as easy to use, this will definitely do.

The only mechanical that comes close is the Panerai PAM 98 with the second time zone and an alarm, but that remains out of my reach for the foreseeable future. And given the price of that fine timepiece, I wouldn’t wear it for travel in more interesting (and less safe) parts of the world. The Seiko is only a quartz, but does what I need it to, especially when traveling.

Louis at www.Watches88.com was great. Very responsive, answered questions quickly, had good prices, shipped promptly, and provided all the documentation. Thanks again, Louis!

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I must not sell my soul for this De Grisogono

Filed under: General — E.M. Van Court @ 1:25 am

Can we discuss a mortgage?

This is the most remarkable mechanical achievement to date. A purely mechanical digital analog, the ultimate wind-up toy. For me, this is the embodiment of all that is facinating about mechanical watches. The brilliance to conceive, the skill to build, and the creativity to take it beyond mere functionality, all powered by an out of date technology, a metal spring.

On the technical side, the line segments of the digits are pins with two colored strips on opposite sides and black strips in between, which rotate to present either a color segment or black to make the digit. A total of 23 segments rotating in a horological ballet…

I do so completely want. And for another small taste before we go…

Thanks, www.Gizmodo.com and De Grisogono!

Van

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Blancier Crazy Planet

Filed under: Blancier, Reviews, WWR Exclusive — John Biggs @ 12:41 pm

I’m assuming the watch doesn’t really spin like a Looney Tune on drugs, but here’s Blancier’s latest creation, the Crazy Planet with a clever external gear system that adds a bit of cool to the beefy three-handed design. More news on pricing and availability as we get it, but Blancier has been pumping out the hits for years now. Great stuff.

Blancier Handmade Watches is proud to present the latest creation of its
Manufacture Lottermann & Söhne from the German city of Mannheim.

With “Crazy Planet” - developed and produced entirely in house - Blancier is once again introducing a watch of unparalleled world class.

The most important wheels of the Crazy Planet are laid out in a planet orbit
formation. In normal mechanical watches, all wheels are invisible, hidden under the watch face. Blancier has made wheels visible by displaying the workings on top of the watch face.

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Buscum Ducis Watches Redux: An interview with 21-year old founder Sven van der Zande

Filed under: Interviews, WWR Exclusive — E.M. Van Court @ 9:29 am

Sven van der Zande of Buscum Ducis is young entrepreneur in the best way. Taking risk, while putting forth a product and business built on idealism and the customer. Although he denies the idealism, his focus on the customer sends another message in a time when companies buy up old names for marketing purposes.

At 21, he’s been in business for a few years already, but chose to start his own watch company. He says, “I like designing and brainstorming in my spare time and I have always thought that there are only very few companies in the world that really concentrate on one concept, that is what I am going to do, I am going to design a watch with input from my customers to make this watch as perfect as it can be, with a lot of personal customer service. Which means that both buying the watch and the service afterwards is as personal as it gets. All for lower prices then your average watch with those specifications.”
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B&R Minuteur

Filed under: Bell & Ross, General, Reviews, WWR Exclusive — John Biggs @ 2:36 pm

Bell & Ross makes monster watches and this is their latest. It’s has both a tourbillion — the odd spinning thing that rotates ones per hour and ostensibly offsets the effects of gravity — and a Miniteur. A Miniteur is like a chronometer but it measures tens of minutes and minutes and not hours, minutes, and seconds. Why you would need this is a mystery, but it sure looks like you could get into it and drive it. No, you can’t afford it. Neither can I. Neither can God. There’s actually another version, below, sans Tourbillion, that God could potentially afford.
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