JLC Finally Masters Size With The New Ultra Thin

Hey people, Let me tell you one thing, when it comes to boys and their toys, these days it’s all about size. Whether it’s the car he drives or the size of his watch. Even small dress watches for men, lets face it, are being worn by women, which at times can take the fun out of wearing the watch, and make you feel like your balls were shrunk as a result of it.

I have always been a huge admirer of the Jaeger Le Coultre Ultra Thin in stainless steel. This has always been the best pure value in the watch industry for the money. For God sakes, even Vacheron Constantine used this JLC ultra thin movement in their version of a thin dress watch for years, at more than double the price. The only problem was the size. I mean come on guys, a watch dial the size of a quarter is a joke in my opinion and only looks good on women. There is no doubt in my mind that this watch has always exuded sophistication and ultra refinement, but now I am proud to say that JLC has finally nailed it, by making this a watch bigger at 40 mm, I would wear it everyday, not just with a suit, but with the jeans and a t-shirt.

This watch has maintained all the elements of watchmaking heritage, design, which is art deco personified, price, and now size, which makes all these elements much more evident and desirable. This watch sits 40 mm, has a scratch resistant sapphire crystal to admire the front, with the coolest art deco striker indices and hands, which are applied to a satin finished silver dial finished with the sub seconds hand at the 6 o’clock position for ultra simplicity. The case is available in rose gold on a Chocolate Croco Strap for that old world charm or stainless steel on a bracelet for a bit of modern class.

If you flip the watch over you can also admire how well finished the movement is through the sapphire caseback. My only issue with this watch is that they compromised by having a self-winding movement, making this masterpiece a little thicker in case size, defeating the purpose of the ultra thin, which historically has always had a mechanical hand wound movement. I won’t hold it against them though because JLC has answered my prayers by mastering size with the new Ultra Thin!

pic courtesy of http://www.jaegerlecoultre.com

Girard-Perregaux Makes Colorado Grand, Grander!

Get ready gear heads, start your engines and let life take you by the balls,because Colorado Grand has embarked on us for the 20th straight year, starting from Sept 15,2008 to Sept 20, 2008. What is Colorado Grand? Well, its not the name of some gay amusement park in Colorado, That’s for sure. This is an American rally bringing together 75 sports and racing cars of distinct recognition which were built prior to 1961,racing over 1000 miles in a spectacular setting. The purpose of this event is to help fund charity works, and historic watchmaker, Girard-Perregaux, has been involved in this action for several years, by creating special editions sold in auctions organized during the Colorado Grand.

So how does GP celebrate this year. Well, though I have lost interest in this watch brand recently because of lack of innovation, I will say that it’s pretty cool that they are apart of something so historic by devoloping a flyback chronograph for this event. The watch is super exclusive, with a 50 piece limited editions for the United States market only. This is much needed by GP, to finally see a watch that is really clean, concise, and in line with a blatant throwback to vintage. Not from just a watch aesthetic but something that compliments racing cars from that era. The specs on the watch are simple yet technical. The watch case sits 40mm X 12.4mm, constructed out of stainless steel, with Anti reflective coated sapphire crystal. The engine of the watch is the automatic Girard-Perregaux caliber GP337 with flyback complication, which has 63 jewels, and beats at 28,800 bph, which can be viewed through a Display back and is water resistant to 30 meters, and has a 46 hour power reserve.

The silver dial is very well laid out, where you have one bold Arabic numeral at the 12 o’clock position, and just underneath the arrow signifying Colorado Grand in red, white and blue. The three register chrono which tells hours, minutes, and seconds of the stop watch are easy to read because of contrasting steel blue hands, while the chronograph reset hand is in red making it very distinct from all other hands, highlighting that this is truly a US edition being in the colors of the American Flag. The stainless steel pushers are polished and rounded which I am a huge sucker for, while the polished lugs stick out a little bit to far for my liking, but it is easily overlooked and brought together by a matt honey brown croco strap with white stitching for contrast and versatility. By getting this much needed kick in the ass and developing something limited and well designed for a great cause, Girard Perregaux has made Colorado Grand, even Grander!

pic courtesy of http://www.girard-perregaux.com
logo pic courtesy of http://www.coloradogrand.com

The Choice Of Champions

If any of you out there are like me with regards to Tennis, then you know what a rush it is to play such an amazing game. I mean people let me tell you, growing up as little Johnny Flyback, playing tennis in my house was like what you saw in the movie Royal Tennenbaums, great film by the way. I thought I was going to be like Tennis legend Bjorn Borg because from morning to night my dad would make me play, even in the frigging dark and I always wore that Porn Star looking head band, even though I had short hair. Even though I don’t play as much tennis as I should and want to play, at least I still get a rush when I watch it. I have to say I was really privileged growing up, my dad would always find a way to take me to the Finals of the US Open, and for that one evening I felt the electricity of New York through the crowd.

Only a few days ago History was made when Roger Federrer of Switzerland, arguably the best tennis player of all time, beat Great Britain’s own Andy Murray for championship trophy which made it his fifth time winning the US Open title. Even though Andy Murray who, in my opinion, had a striking resemblance to Wolverine from X-men lost, he played absolutely outstanding tennis and proved that he is worthy of winning any major Gran Slam title. My favorite part other than the tennis of course was the incredibly obvious representation of sponsorship for Rolex by Roger Federrer. I have to say that US Open Gran Slam trophy he won was polished to a high sheen, but to be honest the White Gold Rolex Daytona with a silver dial that he wore after the match while raising the Trophy was even more blinding and took center stage in my opinion. Other watch companies PLEASE take note: this is how a watch collaboration should be done! No shoving it down our throats or forced unions with ‘flavor of the week’ celebrities, true ambassadors should be worthy of the watch they wear, and vise versa. Without loud, flashy, neon signs, or tacky badges on Federrers shirt, the message was heard, LOUD and CLEAR.

For those of you who don’t know a lot about Federrer, being a Swiss Tennis Player, he’s had watch affiliations throughout his career, although it seems, he always gravitated back to Rolex. Perhaps best known for his affiliation with Maurice La Croix, between 2004-2006, Roger left this partnership (costing him a small fortune in early contract termination) for what appears to be his true passion, the all might King, Rolex. Now, having the proper fit with Rolex, he has outclassed his opponents, not just on the court with his tennis, but on the wrist with his choice of watch, which speaks volumes.

The White Gold Rolex Daytona is not to be confused with the current Steel Daytona. The White Gold Rolex Daytona with silver dial is in a much higher class, emitting sportsmanship, style, elegance, grace and finish which is the very same fabric Roger Federrer is made of. This watch is a throwback to a Paul Newman Daytona from the sixties but with all the modern technologies available today including a much better and heavier constructed bracelet in 18k white gold, an in house manufactured movement, the beautifully finished 40 mm white gold case, the weight of the watch being one and a half times of that of a stainless steel watch, and of course the price tag is only a mere five times the amount of it’s stainless steel brother making this the choice of true champions.

pic courtesy of http://www.usopen.org

Get Ready For Panerai To Go Off In NYC!

New York city is without a doubt my favorite city in the world after London. The energy, the electricity, the people and the institutions that make this place so alive, is what every mofo around the planet comes to see. NYC has always been about starting trends and dying fads all in the same breath. This hip vibrant city houses the best boutiques in the world on one Avenue. As far as watch boutiques go, I must say there aren’t any that give me a stiffy, until now. I don’t know if your all ready for this, but by December first, Panerai will open yet another boutique making their mark and endorsing their presence on Madison Ave. right next to their sister brand Alfred Dunhill.

This will be Panerai’s second boutique in the United States after the launch of their Beverly Hills Boutique in 2005. This is very historic and important moment for the brand to be in NYC, as it has been a long time in the making. Even though Panerai’s authorized dealers in NYC are all within the same vicinity, the opening of the NYC Boutique will only strengthen the message of the brand and legitimize their authorized dealers even further. I spoke to Chad Warrick, Panerai Boutique director for Beverly Hills and he says that “All the new boutiques being built will be built on the new concept of the brand, which will primarily focus on modernity and the future of the brand which is the Manufattura”. Gone are the days of a lot of dark wood panels like the original Florence Italy boutique which still captures the historic character and charm of the brand, but since the concept of the brand today has evolved into the manufacturing of in house manufactured movements, the aesthetic will be much more clean, minimalist and still have the spirit of Panerai with the infamous portholes, along with subtle hints of wood wrapped with a lot of brushed steel. This boutique like the manufactura will be the latest in innovation combined with that old school integrity makes it not just a place to purchase a fine timepiece with so much history depth and rarity, but a place to unwind and experience true passion without taking life so seriously.

This boutique’s location will be 545 Madison Ave and will roughly be about 1,000 Sq Ft in size, which is pretty impressive considering there will probably be less than 10 watches on display if we are so lucky. So people, I want you to relax and get ready because Panerai is about to go off in NYC, and become one of the greatest monumental staples the city has to offer!

pic courtesy of http://www.panerai.com