Alrighty folks – yesterday, I showcased a watch with a brown dial; the day before that, we had an “open heart” watch. Toss those together, and what do you get? Today’s watch in a flavor of (very affordable) Bulova.
Be a good citizen, that is! Today’s watch comes to us courtesy of some fieldwork that was done by my wife. She was out and about, and this particular watch caught her eye, and she brought it to my attention. And now, of course, it goes on to you.
From what I’ve been able to tell, this style of dial is called an open heart – it allows you to peer into the movement without having to resort to a display case back or skeletonization. I don’t know about you, but I like being able to see the mechanical bits whirling around on a watch. Today’s watch offers that, and a whole lot more.
Today, we’re going to take a look at another Ocean7 model, the LM5. Many people will say that this is an imitation of the Blancpain 50 Fathoms. While I conceded that there are indeed some striking similarities, I err on the “benefit of the doubt” side of things, and will say that this was obviously inspired by that famous (and much more expensive) model.
Then you had better get yourself over to the opening of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new boutique in St. Petersberg. This very limited edition watch (only five pieces have been made) has a very interesting twist to it. Under it’s unassuming dial hides an enamel reproduction of a Kazimir Malevich painting. This painting is revealed by shutters moving back, hiding away the dial.
While the painting itself doesn’t do anything for me, I do like the mechanism of how it’s hidden and revealed – it seems like a unique way to present two different faces on a watch. And of the watch itself? It’s the Reverso model we’re all familiar with, presented in a rose gold with a Calibre 849 movement. Of course, with only five in existence, you and I aren’t likely to see one anytime soon.
If you do, you may wish to know about the artist being represented:
Kazimir Malevich (1878 – 1935) was a painter famous for his works in genres of avant-garde, impressionism, futurism, and cubism. In the spring of 1915 he pioneered abstract geometric art, which was soon known as “suprematism”.
His painting “Peasant Woman” is the piece showcased on this watch, and is currently owned by the State Russian Museum.
I’ve had my eye on Prometheus for a while now and it looks like they’ve hit on a winner. The Manta Ray is a 1000M diver that looks like a tank and has the styling of a un-oranged Doxa. It has an ETA automatic movement and gas release.
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Another day, another Tokyoflash watch. The Kisai 7 is a clever, fairly cool watch that looks like something Jeff Bridges picked out of his magisterial beard in the last Tron movie. Priced at $99 for the next 30 hours, you, too, can look like a Program just looking to get out of the CPU.
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If so, you’re in luck! When I originally wrote about the Christopher Ward Jumping Hand model, it appeared that the model was out of stock. However, we’ve received word that it is now available for pre-order, and will be shipping in the beginning of November.
But how can I do that, you might ask? I don’t have any medical training! Have no fears – the folks over at the Human Time Project have you covered.
Well, I’ve done it – I found another watch with a mother-of-pearl dial (previous one here) that I would not hesitate to strap onto my wrist. Adding to my surprise is that fact that it only comes with a rose gold case (which I’ve tended not to like), and I think it works very nicely together. I stumbled across this watch while searching out American makers – and found Waltham, which while it has some American roots, is firmly a Swiss company.
The reclusive horologist George Daniels, famous for his work on Breguet and his important co-axial escapement, died last Friday at his home in the Isle of Man. Daniels was 85.
The horologist was one of the first to catalog some of the best known watches in the world, traveling through Europe to examine rare and odd pieces from his favorite manufacturer, Abraham-Louis Breguet, and great watches from manufacturers like Patek Philippe. He was also an avid motorist and noted trickster, pretending to misuse some rare watches while he was photographing, nearly driving their curator to apoplexy.
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Welcome to the HourTime show, the best 30 minute (+/-) hour podcast on the web
This week on HTS we speak about the Hublot Antikythera Calibre 2033-CH01 Watch, a French movement manufacturer Dubois Dépraz, the Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo and finish up with the Alpina Startimer Classic Automatic Chrono - a watch with a lot of potential but with tiny hands and no chrono pushers.
I remember when Storm made their bones building watches with little telescoping irises in the middle to protect the face. My buddy wore one when he was teaching at a college so he wouldn’t be drawn to checking the time every five minutes. Storm has grown up a lot since then, as evidenced by this handsome titanium diver with Kevlar strap.
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One of the most obvious places to turn would be Lum-Tec, and I’m doing just that. Today, we’re going to have a look at their M41 model, which is currently up for pre-order at $825. Why this particular automatic? While I am a sucker for the black/orange combo they’ve gone with, it was the lume shot (over to the right there) that got me – the blue/orange lume combo just plain looks cool.
That’s right, gentle reader – what we have here today is an automatic watch of a totally different persuasion. Ventura Watches has introduced their Sparc MGS model, a digital watch with rotor built in, relying on your movement to power the watch.
