I doubt they’ll make it — Rolex knows not to bastardize their brand — but it is pretty interesting.

You’ll have to trust me on this one, as I wasn’t allowed to take photographs inside LG’s mobile demonstration room. But one wall has a display of concept mobile phones, including a model that’s basically a phone with a Rolex watch-face embedded in the casing.

Korea/Japan Week: LG reveals concept Rolex mobile phone [Tech Digest]

WristDreams is reporting that the rumored Tag Heuer phones are real.

Dial-a-Phone has alleged that the new phone device will be “a completely new design,” which can’t be said for some brands like the D&G RAZR, which lacked originality save for the gold finish and ridiculously high price.

Wrist Dreams: Rumors of Tag Heuer Phones are True

I really like the Nike+iPod gear – it works well and is completely mobile and usable. I just hope this odd watch from Nike meets my already high expectations.

Nike has decided to go out on its own (apart from iPod) and create a watch with, well… time in mind. This sleek, dark mystery was created using the same wireless technology to display the dat on one’s wrist rather than on one’s DAP.

The New Nike Wristwatch, Sorry iPod [Wrist Dreams]

Rumor has it that Tag Heuer, makers of fancy watches, is releasing a cellphone designed by ModeLabs, a French company that designs phones companies MTV and Virgin Mobile. The phone will be made of stainless steel and take design cues from the other watches in the Tag line-up.

This appears to be a direct shot at Nokia’s Vertu line, which means someone at LVMH, Heuer’s parent company, must have woken up from a long nap and noticed that the times were a’ changing.

The phone will probably look something like the Carrera over there, Heuer’s flagship watch. I was personally never in love with their work — too many cheap looking quartz watches and too few cool looking monsters — but we shall see, won’t we?

Tag Heuer To Release Cell Phone [Sybarites]

Sweet merciful watch gods! What is that! That’s a single hand escapement, called the Isometer by JLC. Seriously. This is a very big deal. The standard escapement loses accuracy because the little jeweled hands move back and forth, leading to friction et al. This apparently has one little hand that swings the balance wheel. More as we get it.

The Reverso Grande Complication a Triptyque is the results of tireless effort by many constructeurs and watchmakers under the strong guidance of the Jaeger-LeCoultre management and is truly the result of JLC’s collective effort and aspiration. We made a tour of the Manufacture last month to see the work involved in making of this Grande Complication and we spoke to the management, the product department, the prototype department, the Constructeurs etc to learn as much as possible about this new breakthrough.

Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO to visit Singapore with the Reverso Grande Complication a Triptyque, and our first ‘coffee break’ look at the watch. [Revolution via Velociphile

Looks like the Chinese tourbillon juggernaut is slowly marching across the horizon and this one, by the Samson Watch Company – not affiliated with the Delilah Haircutting Shears Company – is no exception. Apparently this thing actually isn’t that bad and keeps good time. But when everyone owns a tourbillon, how can tourbillon makers jack up the price?

Do you really get what you pay for? A report. [TimeZone]

Everyone wonders why watches on-line cost much less than watches in the store, and there are a number of very complex explanations. However, when you buy at a bricks and mortar store, you create a relationship. When you buy online you send tendrils into the ether. Which is better? Even I don’t have an answer. But here’s a great thread about Price on WUS.

If your’re an AD, you don’t want to get your’re franchise pulled because
you over discounted. It’s far better to walk them instead. For most dealers,
Rolex and Cartier are their “bread and butter” lines and if there’re pulled, there’re doors may close soon afterwards. The margins on Patek, Panerai,
Rolex and Cartier are so thin, overdiscounting is like cutting your own throat. It’s stupid to discount Panerai, there’re at least five waiting in line
willing to pay full-pop, but if your’re a big customer, deals are made.

Strict Price controls? [WatchUSeek]

An amazing piece on Velociphile about PP’s habit of inflating prices. Amazing.

So says Philippe Stern, but Patek Philippe has been supremely successful in conjuring a frenzy for its line of current wristwatches. What has Patek Philippe allegedly done specifically? Well, at the start of the 80s, Patek started aggressive buying of their vintage pieces on the second hand market “for their museum”. A strategy allegedly proposed and developed by Alan Banbury (acclaimed horological expert who was a personal consultant to Philippe Stern during the creation of the museum collection) to reawaken interest in the brand. Crucially they also made sure the results were loudly accounted in the press as evidence for the mounting value of old watches. Remember up until this point, that watches were really not bona fide collectibles. That all changed, particularly when the Calibre 89 fetched $3.7 million. Suddenly, this event created a market among collectors for wristwatches.

The Ultimate Shill [Velociphile's Journey into Watches]

It may not have a tourbillon, but this watch phone is out of sight. Literally, because they’re not making it. It’s just a concept.

Check it out here.

Fossil, one of the early adopters in the SPOT race, is now bowing out as Microsoft re-tools that standard. The result? It’s pretty iffy in terms of future SPOT direction. Fossil had a huge supply chain and lots of sales and that’s definitely going to hurt things.

Fossil has made their last MSN Direct watch, at least for the foreseeable future. Coco and Glam were made in a tiny batch and sold to Tiger Direct. However we hear Fossil is no longer going to make new watches and will re-direct their technology efforts after current inventory is sold through. Microsoft has recently pulled the SPOT initiative back into R&D and appears intent on pushing the technology into other products like the weather clocks and integration with the PC and other Microsoft products.

With SPOT going back into the garage for a re-tooling, the hope is that it will emerge with more stability and functionality. Indeed, the commitment from Microsoft over the past several months has been just that, though any improvements are difficult for end users to see. In a recent post in our forums, a Microsoft representative disclosed they have been working on infrastructure improvements to make the network more reliable and efficient in bandwidth usage.

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