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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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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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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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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LIP Watches

Filed under: Deals, Quartz, Reviews — John Biggs @ 9:13 am

Our buddy Watchismo is selling these wild pieces on his online store. LIP is a 150-year-old French watch company that launched a series of Mach 2000 watches back in the boogie nights of 1973. The odd styling and off-center face speak of a simpler time when men were men and watchmakers were on acid.

This retooled Mach 2000, called the Dark Master, uses a Swiss ETA quartz movement and includes a rubber strap. It is water resistant and features jolly candy buttons and sexy little yellow hands. Check out the shop for even more models including the Revival, a LED watch, and the crazy jump hour by Prisca Briquet. Yeah, I don’t know who that is either. The Mach 2000s are $520 and the rest are about $300.

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Odd Omega?

Filed under: Omega, Reviews — John Biggs @ 9:00 am

I was going through my Marketplace, there on the side, and found this odd-looking Omega Seamaster. It’s got a light blue face. But why? Can someone give me some answers?
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Review: Ollech and Wajs M-65 with NATO dial

Filed under: Ollech and Wajs, Reviews, WWR Exclusive — E.M. Van Court @ 2:11 pm

What a pleasant find! An affordable ETA 2824-2 watch from a Swiss company. The Ollech and Wajs M-65 watch is available from Gnomon Watches or West Coast Time, but the NATO style dial is only available from West Coast Time. Service from WCR was prompt and friendly. The proprietor, Howard Marx answered emailed several questions very promptly before I placed the order, and created a feeling of personalized service. The packaging was unassuming, with a simple but sturdy box.
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Zenith Defy Xtreme Tourbillon ZERO-G El Primero

Filed under: Rants, Reviews, Zenith — John Biggs @ 11:22 am

When robots make poop, this thing comes out.

Wrist Dreams: Zenith Defy Xtreme Tourbillon ZERO-G El Primero

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POW Rolex

Filed under: Reviews, Rolex — John Biggs @ 11:20 am

Up for auction is a 1940s Rolex sold to a prisoner of war while he was incarcerated.

A 1940s Rolex chronograph that belonged to a British prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Nazi Germany is coming up for sale at Antiquorum in Geneva on May 13 and 14. With it is the logbook Corporal Clive Nutting of the Royal Corps of Signals kept during his wartime captivity. It’s a collection of unpublished cartoons, illustrations and photographs revealing a new insight into camp life and the mass breakout of 76 POWs made famous in the movie, The Great Escape.

Included in the papers is Nutting’s correspondence with Rolex, confirming the remarkable marketing campaign the Geneva brand launched during World War II.

Swiss watch sales were badly hit by the war, especially after Germany invaded unoccupied Vichy France in November 1942, and neutral Switzerland found itself completely encircled by Axis powers. Watch companies were cut off from their best customers, the British and Americans.

Rolex, however, discovered that there were plenty of British and Americans right on Switzerland’s doorstep — literally a captive market — in German prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag Luft III, for example, housed up to 10,000 Allied airmen, shot down in operations over occupied Europe. Thousands more Allied officers were interned in the various Oflag (officer’s POW camps) scattered throughout the German Reich.

POW Rolex Part 1 - TimeZone

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