I received a TX World Time for review last week. Wow. This is definitely not your dad’s Timex. I think it is fair to say that TX is to Timex what Tissot is to Swatch. Yes, Swatch group makes Tissot, but a Tissot is not a Swatch, and a TX is not Timex. It’s big, it’s dramatic, and it’s a little too much for me.

The first thing that jumps out at me is that the TX is big. 45mm on my slim wrists is a little much. But for its size, it is light, but feels solid. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but watches this size are either rocks, or feel like they’ll snap between your fingers. The TX feels remarkably well made for being so light. Fit and finish were immaculate. All edges and corners are clean and sharp. Surfaces had mirror finishes and flats are flat. The black finish is beautiful. The element I liked best was the use of rose gold for the hands and hour markings. The rose gold added a touch of class that the usual yellow gold finish does not. The TX logo is enamelled on the crown and worked into the end of the second hand. The hands and hour markings are luminescent, as are the retrograde hands. The retrograde hands threw me for a loop the first time I saw them in the dark, as there are no reference markings, just mysterious glowing hands floating on the dial. Once you know to look for them, they’ll stop distracting. What I mistook for a blur in the finish was a nicely executed little world map on the dial. This adds up to a rich and dramatic appearance.

The dial is busy, but that is a reflection of the functionality and this adds to its charm. In addition to the customary HH:mm:ss, and date, you have a second time zone. The time zone is indicated by the hand with the crescent at the end, and it points to cities, and countries named along the inside of the bezel for each time zone, and is controlled with the two buttons flanking the crown. Time in the second time zone is indicated on a retrograde hand in the upper right of the dial. The other retrograde style hand indicates standard or daylight savings time, and is controlled by the button on the left side of the dial.

I really like the functionality, I get a lot of use out of a second time zone, and the zone markings relieve me of the need to think through which way is which and how many hours. Put an alarm on this puppy, and it would be a dream come true.

The TX World Time is a beautiful watch, but a bit much for a guy like me, who usually wears an Ollech & Wajs M-65. For what it is, an initial entry into the luxury watch market, it is great. It would be an excellent first up-scale watch for a young man, and a great watch for someone who enjoys the dramatic appearance.

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.

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.

Sven van der Zande of Buscum Ducis is young entrepreneur in the best way. Taking risk, while putting forth a product and business built on idealism and the customer. Although he denies the idealism, his focus on the customer sends another message in a time when companies buy up old names for marketing purposes.

At 21, he’s been in business for a few years already, but chose to start his own watch company. He says, “I like designing and brainstorming in my spare time and I have always thought that there are only very few companies in the world that really concentrate on one concept, that is what I am going to do, I am going to design a watch with input from my customers to make this watch as perfect as it can be, with a lot of personal customer service. Which means that both buying the watch and the service afterwards is as personal as it gets. All for lower prices then your average watch with those specifications.”
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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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Reader and watch fan Sven just sent me some concept art for his new line of watches, Buscum Ducis. He’s building prototypes right now and we can expect final product in about two months. I always love it when folks decide to build their own watches. It shows that not just the big houses can add some magic to this tired market.

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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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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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After years of suffering, watch geeks are finally getting products dedicated to their quirky and specific tastes. Sure, any oldster can sport a gold Rolex, but what is an Emo kid with a gadget fetish to wear? A Swatch?

Companies like Tokyoflash and Nooka have filled that techno-void with watches that are both high-tech and cool looking. Now, add another member to that selfsame roster.

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One of my favorite homebrew watchmakers, Serket, just launched the Reef Diver 2.0, a beefy automatic with a beautiful huge bezel. I loved the original Reef Diver and this new model looks extra good. It costs $999.

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