Go to Christopher Ward Watches, and see the work of a visionary. Chris Ward is an entrepreneur who returned to the watch industry, and has made a bit of a splash. His goal is to make “the cheapest most expensive watch in the world” at “the biggest ‘smallest’ watch company”.

He uses first rate Swiss movements, currently ETA 2824 automatic, ISA quartz, and Ronda quartz movements (but Valjoux may be on the horizon). Style and substance go together when these bits of quality mechanism are put inside tasteful cases with restrained dials and hands. The basic watches, in his Russell and Malvern lines are relativel small by modern standards at 38 mm, but some of the other chronographs and his dive watches are a little more typical at 42mm. The styling of the chronographs was also a pleasant surprise as it was not the customary Rolex, or Breitling homage, but a distinct designs that took a few risks without getting as gaudy as the fashion watches. The Russell line stands out as distinctive and classic, and one of the other lines was inspired by early IWC aviators’ watches, but still look good. The attention to detail comes through in the photos, and they certainly look like $500 to $1000 (U.S.) watches, but the collection averages about half that.
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I’ll comment on this shortly, but I want to put this up before I forget about it.

Horology, which has become reduced to a market serving platitude. With popularity, watches have become predictable, and regrettable. Horology’s fundamental ideals are compromised for the market, lost in plain sight, leaving only the impurities precipitated from it. Here’s the bottom line for me: I still like watches and properly executed horology. One generation ago the hobby didn’t even have a name. The internet and resultant communication between like minded enthusiasts did spur the market and lead to some great new things. It’s what came on the coattails I have a problem with. The saving grace is that the two edged sword of success gives some companies the ability to invest in true horological innovation; it’s just harder to see the wood for the trees.

Velociphile’s Journey into Watches

Another great Watchismo find.

If you’re asking yourself, what was that cool-ass watch Lieutenant Ripley wore in the 1986 movie Aliens, I have the answer for you. It was a Giugiaro designed Seiko Speedmaster Chronograph. Entirely unique by its vertical stopwatch pushers placed inside the asymmetrical case extension. Many of Giugiaro’s other designs for Seiko between 1985-86 had asymmetric qualities and are shown below.

THE WATCHISMO TIMES

Jose Geraldo Pfau Kings makes cute little scultures out of old watches. It looks like an old Seiko bezel in there, right?

Clockpunk choppers: mysterious motorcycles made from watch-parts — UPDATED - Boing Boing

I just got the Garmin Forerunner 205 — I didn’t need the heartrate monitor in the 305 — and now they go and launch this touch-sensitive 405. Drives me nuts!

Runners can track their speed, distance, heart rate and location accurately and effortlessly, and the revolutionary patent-pending touch bezel on the face of the watch makes navigating the options easier than ever. Simply by tapping, holding or running a finger along the bezel, runners can begin a new workout, access their training history or challenge a Virtual Partner™. The Forerunner 405 makes training with a Virtual Partner easy and efficient. Runners can adjust the Virtual Partner’s pace without stopping in the middle of a workout, and the Virtual Partner is always on and ready for a challenge.

The Forerunner 405 is water-resistant (IPX7) and can be used outdoors or indoors (with an optional foot pod), making it the ultimate year-round, all-weather training tool. And the high-sensitivity GPS receiver sustains satellite reception, whether you’re tackling a trail or jogging through the urban canyons of skyscrapers. When a heart-rate monitor is used, the Forerunner 405 helps athletes train in their optimal range of effort. An optional speed/cadence bike sensor helps cyclists monitor their pedaling cadence and wheel speed. At only 60 grams and available in two colors – black and sage green – the Forerunner 405 fits in at the gym, the office or out on the town.

Once the workout is done, the training is far from over. Using ANT+Sport technology, the Forerunner 405 sends workout data to the user’s computer via automatic wireless data transfer. There’s no need to take off the watch or bother with cables as the computer automatically syncs with the Forerunner 405 as soon as the user enters the room. And the data transfer is a two-way street. Runners, joggers, cyclists and hikers can send courses, goals and workouts to their Forerunner 405 before they begin, and then the data gets sent back to the user’s computer when the workout is over. Athletes can log their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts with coaches, friends and family and participate in an online fitness community at Garmin Connect™ — Garmin’s online training site (connect.garmin.com) previously known as MotionBased. Users can also share courses and workout data from one Forerunner 405 to another through wireless data transfer.

Head down there, guys. Good deals. I got an Omega white face GMT for $789.

Our Friends & Family sale will be held on Thursday, November 15 (9am -
8pm) and Friday, November 16 (8am - 7pm)

It will be at the same place as last year.

The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St.
NY

Thanks for your interest.

THE WATCHISMO TIMES: Smuggling Watches from Zurich…Spain - A Classic Python

Reader James sent me a link to Steel Cake watches, a new watch company in Brooklyn that makes beefy, larger quartz pieces for cheap. Their line-up includes a large, square chrono and an oversized military piece that don’t look like Chinese OEM knock offs, which makes me very happy. Besides, how can you go wrong for $125 a pop?

Welcome to Steel Cake

Another great watchismo find.

This somewhat indistinguishable wristwatch has a very special feature, the hidden compartment containing a scroll on rollers under the dial and movement. By pushing a little release button at the bottom of the case, the watch opens up to reveal the notepaper rolls which can be adjusted by two roller knobs.

THE WATCHISMO TIMES: Secret Compartment Scroll Watch - 1920s Favre Leuba “Notora”

I’ve seen these things around but never really was interested. It’s an ana-digi watch from Omega that was quite popular a few years ago but is not kind of show its age. WatchReport has a, well, report:

Say Hi to the Omega Speedmaster X-33. Introduced in 1998, this is one amazing watch. Omega literally flight (and crash) tested it with NASA and military pilots, experimenting with several design iterations before settling on and shipping two commercial versions. It was designed for pilots and space flight, and is rated by NASA for the mission to Mars. Without a doubt, this is one of the coolest and most interesting analog-digital watches ever made.

The Omega Speedmaster X-33 - Watch Reviews, Information, and News