It may not do much – it’s basically a feature watch with stopwatch, alarm, and 24-hour time – but it’s nicely designed. This Casio, called the Poptone Cubic Puzzle Watch, comes in blue or black and has buttons stacked up, Tetris-style, on the bottom.
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The i-Toc is really what you would call a “mystery watch.” It has two overlapping disks that are graduated from light to dark and the point of absolute black – or whatever color you’ve bought – marks the hour and minutes hand. Pretty sly, right?
Designed by CG reader Sean, the i-Toc is a mere $99 and comes in six colors including silver, blue, purple, red, and orange. It has a 41mm case and has a silicone strap with butterfly clasp. Heck, they even have a screen saver so you can add a pink i-Toc to your PC or Mac.
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Boston Watch Exchange, the place I picked up some red and green polishing compound for stainless steel – it buffs out the mess on stainless steel pieces – is offering a free Horosafe polishing cloth and free shipping on orders over $40. I know you’re probably not amazingly interested but who doesn’t want a 29 piece watch repair kit for $300?
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Before the Internet, when a gentleman wanted to polish the brass knobs of his dear mum’s armoire he would depend on his internal spank bank which, potentially, included nudes he had seen in postcards and museums as well as racy lines about breasts he may have read in the Bible. However, barring a visit to the local establishment of vice, there was little way to view two people giving it the old Charles and Diana, if you catch my meaning.
Thus they had to resort to horological erotic automata. These were watch movements featuring two or more figures giving each other a good, filling Hardee’s breakfast either on command or at a set time. These things appear in all sorts of watches including clocks, pocket-watches, and even modern wristwatches.
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The Dievas 2533
A company called Swiss Military Watch – I’ve never heard of them – ran their heavy duty diver through a few clever tests including a blast from a fire hose and a close, personal connection to a stick of dynamite.
The model in question, the 20,000 feet looks pretty hefty and includes a nice 7750 Valjoux movement with COSC certification. It has a large crown, heavy side cards, and is made mostly of titanium. Also it’s like $4428, not amazingly bad for a Valjoux COSC-certified chrono. Plus you can shoot it.
Casio announced their new Pathfinder yesterday, the PAG40-7V. This newest addition has a thermometer, digital compass, altimeter, barometer, and is water resistant to 100 meters. Of course, the only place you’ll be able to get it is online.
Imagine it, Fossil has been making watches for 25 years. Compared to some companies, that’s a drop in the bucket, but for a company that specializes in affordable watches, it’s quite the achievement.
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Italo Fontana created the original U-Boat watches as a designer. The watches were mostly regarded as fashion accessories rather then high-end watches thanks to the use of Japanese quartz movements and K1 mineral crystals. Today, the company and their timepieces have evolved. While one of their most appealing aspects is still their look, this aspect is backed by all the features of high-end watch production, including modified mechanical ETA movements, sapphire crystals, hand-made straps, and sturdy well designed cases. I can attest to the quality of today’s U-Boat models, and will demonstrate it by examining U-Boat’s Classico series.
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I’ll admit, before seeing this video, I’d never heard of an Omega Ranchero. After watching the video however, I understand why collectors are attracted to them and how to watch for fakes. It’s worth your time to watch the video, however be aware that the person who made the video loves to talk in the 3rd person, which is kind of strange.
Hodinkee Explains: The Omega Ranchero from Hodinkee on Vimeo.
RGM recently announced two new wristwatches, the Timezone 350 E, and the Grande Guilloche Automatic. Both feature RGM’s distinctive ‘engine turning’ design, and look quite nice.
CG favorite Lum Tec just came out with the C series of heavy lume watches. The C3, shown here, has a PVD case, tinted crystal, black dial with GX lume, and sells for $395. The best part? LUM-TEC is using a restored vintage automatic movement in these, essentially recycling old movements for placement into a new case. That’s the first I’ve ever heard of anyone doing that and it essentially circumvents ETA’s draconian sales policies while adding a touch of class. Good stuff.
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