The missing Piece to the Puzzle! The IWC 7 day just got better!

I have always loved the IWC Portuguese. Especially the automatic 7 day power reserve In steel, which only comes in two varieties, silver dial blue hands, blue Arabic numbers and black dial silver hands and silver Arabic numbers. To me these two are just OK, but I always felt like there was something seriously missing. Thank God for IWC, because they have just added the missing piece to the puzzle. Last year at SIHH they actually showed this model, but it has just been released and delivered to all the IWC boutiques and authorized dealers around the world.

This model is the new IWC Stainless Steel seven day power reserve with a silver dial with rose gold Arabic numbers and hands much like the classic Portuguese Chrono that is most sought after. To me, this watch is one of their most balanced pieces in the entire collection because of the silver dial and contrasting rose gold Arabic numerals. The versatility of this watch is absolutely amazing. The watch has a 42 mm stainless steel case with a brushed finish, sapphire crystal front and back, Pellaton movement 51011 which happens to be IWC’s largest movement. The dial is silvered with the classic horizontal small seconds and 7 day reserve indicator subdials and a date at the six o’clock position to balance out the dial. The other two IWC 7 day power reserve Portuguese watches look sperious, not genuine, which is worth……. Fuck all!, by comparison.

Out of all the IWC watches besides the Pilot’s series, this watch is probably the most perfect watch IWC has made because it adopts the elements of the timeless yet modern stainless steel case, yet you get that touch of gold that you need for those dressier occasions without spending twenty grand, and at the realistic price of $10,900 considering anything else would be uncivilized!

Panerai digs deep into their archives to revive a classic!

Panerai to me is like any good porn. You have a lust hate relationship with it. Just when you have seen it so many times and loose interest you may stay in the game and notice something you never noticed before which will resurrect your boner. I must admit, I was getting pretty bored with the brand of late and now, Schwing! Panerai has dug deep and already released and delivered the PAM00349. This watch is basically the 249, with a slight tweak. I am not going to say it’s better than the 249 it’s just different and super limited to twelve pieces for the world. The Concept of this watch originally came in 1936, and was produced in 1938.
This watch is exactly the same specs as the 249 except the case is titanium not stainless steel, the movement is a Minerva base not a Unitas, there was a second hand added at the nine o’clock position and there is an inner ring made out of rose gold. The only thing that blows is the price. The watch is $29,000 which is astronomically expensive for a titanium watch. I don’t give a fuck if the movement is an F.P Journe Base, it’s too much! I guess it doesn’t really mater because they are all sold and delivered.

Hublot and Depeche Mode Reach Out and Touch Faith for Charity!

So, from the looks of it it seems that famed electro pop band Depeche Mode and super hot watch brand Hublot have joined forces in the name of charity. Depeche Mode and Hublot have come together to design 12 watches “Pop” Big Bang which will incorporate one album cover of Depeche Mode on the dial for each of the 12 Hublot watches being produced. These watches will be auctioned off most likely as a set on February 1, 2010 on a particular website and the proceeds will go to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust. Hublot will also partner up with Depeche Mode in a benefit Concert Febraury 17,2010 at one of the poshest venues at London’s Royal Albert Hall which will be the bands first time performing at such a venue. The proceeds of the concert will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust Also. The Teenage Cancer Trust is an an organisation which provides help to adolescents with cancer as far as treatment, research, education, family support and specialist diagnosis (www.teenagecancertrust.org).

Martin L. Gore, on behalf of the band, declares : “As big fans of Hublot, we’re happy to be collaborating with them on such an important cause. We’re all honored to have these 12 unique pieces created by Hublot and are grateful that it will be in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.” We at Hublot feel proud and privileged to have made these twelve unique pieces which are reflecting the “fusion” between the spirit and sound of the music of Depeche Mode and the vibrations of 450 years of Swiss Watch Making Art”, says Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot CEO. Again, as much as I appreciate the goodwill effort, I still haven’t developed an appreciation for these kinds of dials, but I guess we’ll have to wait until some pictures are released. Hublot have been working hard to label themselves a proper watchmaker during the last few years, and I’m not sure this is the right direction. Only time will tell.

I agree with JCB, they have worked very hard to create this image of being a serious watch brand and manufacture, but at the end of the day they are not new kids on the block to having many partnerships outside the world of watches. I mean I am not so sure about doing album cover art on the dial, it’s kind of very Tim Burton Nightmare Before Christmas, they could have constructed the movement to have the cover art on the back or done something a little more subtle, but at the end of the day it’s for a great cause and it will be interesting to see how Hublot and Depeche Mode Reach out and Touch Faith for charity!

Jaeger Le-Coultre Memovox goes International for SIHH 2010

There is nothing like something that works well. It makes you have that unquestionable comfort in life. When you have a watch that works well and performs it’s function it’s a fucking miracle! The JLC memovox alarm watch has always been one of those timepieces that does it’s job well, and now it just got better. For 2010 the iconic JLC Master Memovox has gotten an enhancement almost like getting a bigger knob but not as Phallic. This watch is already a masterpiece and has been around for over 50 years, and now it’s become the ideal watch for that world traveller with the introduction of the clash of two complications in one with a world time alarm watch, so you can be woken the fuck up any where in the world and set it to that particular timezone. What I like about this piece is that unlike the other JLC’s of late which have become gratuitously big and all look the same. This watch has been cleverly designed to have that original sixties feel while being able to stay modern and clean with 24 cities of the world shooting out the middle of the dial on a disk that rotates like my middle finger when I am pissed off, which is quite often!

This watch comes in two varieties chocolate and vanilla. Rose Gold 250 pieces for the world limited edition will retail for $23,800 while the stainless steel 750 piece limited edition will retail for the modest price of $12,500. The size is right at 40 mm and appeals to that debonair suave sophisticate with class and style, with the ever so cool Arabic numerals and the art deco indices in between on a jet black dial. They even put a big date at the three o’clock position so you can actually see the date and not be so embarrassed that you have gone blind your getting old and your only fucking 30 years old. Of course the watch will have only the finest crocodile strap to make it classy. If this is an indication of what JLC is coming out with next year for SIHH, then they have restored my faith because let me tell you these divers watches they have been producing are basically really expensive ,loud, colorful, big Swatches with no personality!

The New Lange 1 Gaymatic is Here!

SIHH in Geneva is approaching all of us. Any signs of Good new product in the watch industry would be incredible, especially since the catastrophe of 2009 of really evil and dirty product. I was really looking forward to what A Lange & Soehne would do now that the company has been almost completely restructured from within, until now! In a failed attempt to make change and give collectors something to talk about, they totally took a leak on their most recognizable icon that is the Lange 1. I have nothing but love for this brand, but this is a horrendous mistake.

I have said this before and I will say it again, every watch brand searches for years for that perfect icon that makes their brand recognizable, most brands never find that icon, Lange found it over 10 years ago with the Lange 1, and with this new piece of shit they really have lost who they are as a brand. So what is the tragedy of the year? The new Lange 1 Daymatic has all the components of the Lange 1 that we have grown to love and recognize except that it has been royally tempered with! For starters the beauty of this masterpiece originally was that it was a heritage piece with a mechanical hand wound movement like their historic pocket watches, now this watch has a self-winding movement, which really pisses me off!

Well, of course since the watch is now automatic and there is no need for a 72 hour power reserve indicator which made the watch so classy, mechanical and technical. Now that indicator has been flipped on the other side of the dial with the beginning letter of each day of the week. OK, so you get an added complication big frigging deal, but if you don’t know what day it is, then you have a serious fucking problem. The watch has a 39 mm case and comes in the standard variety of metals including 18 k yellow, 18k white, 18 k rose , and platinum. The movement is an automatic Lange, in-house, caliber L021.1 with 67 jewels, beating at 21,600 bph and with a power reserve of 50 hours. Just in case your wondering or care the rotor is platinum. The watch is water resistant to 30 meters and has a sapphire crystal front and back. Lange took a cool concept of a daymatic watch and turned it gaymatic by putting it on their most beloved peice and ruining the image they created!

Pro-Hunter Does It Again at Antiquorum

On the most recent December 09TH Antiquorum auction in NYC, along with the usual Patek Phillipe breaking auction prices and specific vintage Rolex watches , Pro Hunter has done it again. The Pro-Hunter Double Red Deep Sea reached the staggering auction price of $33,600. This is more than a 50 percent increase of the original Pro-Hunter price. This is absolutely outstanding because it’s taking a current Rolex production watch and making it much more sought after than ever before and proves once again that Pro-Hunter is undisputedly just as powerful as Rolex themselves and can hold their own.

Tag Heuer Gives Tiger the Chop, and I don’t mean his foreskin either

It seems like horny dirty golfing legend, Tiger I constantly have Wood is in the midst of the biggest fucking shit storm of his personal and professional career. To be completely honest this isn’t the first time where someone very high profile has been caught in the fucking act and seriously speaking infidelity is a twat thing to do, but “Who Gives a Fuck” at the end of the day. How does it change any of our lives. I think this whole thing has humanized him. He is not a fucking robot or a fucking super hero. The man is the Michael Jordan of golf, he isn’t god.

To immortalize someone because of a talent in one particular area is setting your expectations up for disaster, because when they fuck up in any other area of their life, they end up being portrayed as criminals. The reality is that with all this media attention, even though it seems like he is getting fucked up the ass six ways to Sunday by the media eventually he will be further immortalized. In the meantime, famed watch brand Tag Heuer who has greatly benefited from having Tiger Woods as their spokesperson for the last 5 or more years, has decided to take down any images of Tiger Woods on any of their promotional advertisements in Australia. Depending on how many more ho’s come out of the woodwork they make take this stance globally. The messed up part is that the politics of his personal life have affected his professional career and put a tiny dent in his endorsement deals, you think he is crying? NO! He is the first sports billionare in the world.

Tiger Woods in my opinion is the reason Tag Heuer became the number 2 brand in the world after Rolex, and opened the floodgates for Tag Heuer to go after incredible athletes in the world of Tennis, Racing and all other major celebrities. So he has a minor setback and their answer is to give Tiger the Chop and I don’t mean his foreskin either?