Hublot Big Bang.

It was in 1980 when Hublot astounded the horological world by unveiling its first collection with a porthole design attached to an integrated rubber strap. Most luxury watch companies at that time were still solidly attached to gold, steel and leather straps. A rubber strap for luxury was practically unheard of, but hey it worked. The Watch was an instant success. In 2005 Hublot released its earth shattering Big Bang watch. The Big Bang launched Hublot into a new era of success. The rubber strap gives the illusion of going right through the case. Hublot creates watches in two impressive sizes, the 41mm and 44mm. The Hublot materials are quite unusual and similarly cutting edge. Materials such as tungsten, palladium, ceramic, rubber, carbon and titanium. The brand is under the highly competent direction of JeanCleadeBiver. Biver has four C rules which are the basis of his development strategy: Continuity. Concentration. Consistency. Coherence.

There are three up and coming amazing 38mm Hublot's Big Bang for women. Hublot fuses modern materials with ancient diamonds. Gorgeous. Big Bang 38 Gold is rose gold and uses six titanium H shape screws to attach the bezel. The titanium screws portray a suggestion of adventure juxtaposed by two rows of serene sparkling diamonds on the bezel. The Big Bang 38 Portocervo is crafted in rose gold and bears white brilliants on the case as well as the bezel. The strap is white rubber (no surprises there). The dial is white matte, white ceramic insets and rose gold numerals and hand.

The Big Bang St. Moritz is steel with two rows of diamonds on the bezel.

These ladies watches are quite unusual and outrageously beautiful. The fusing of old material with new innovations is part and parcel of Hublot tradition.

Just look at these three watches, aquamarine, orange an purple. The color fusion is unbelievable. I love watches. I know watches, but never before has a set of watches made my blood pump like these three do. The colors are so alive, pulsating with energy, electric. Hublot you are genius. Big bang Carat Collection. Words are just going to seem bla in comparison to the images. So just feast your eyes and let the watches spin you into a world of vivacious color.

More Cool Gadgety Time Tellers.

Check out this cute Watch. Right now it is just a concept timepiece by designer Lv Zhogfang, but aren't concept items fun? Okay this is how it works, when the watch is still the entire face is covered with randomly moving white blobs.

In other blogs they have been described as "stars", but I think that image is a bit to delicate. Anyway the great thing about this watch is when the wearer shakes his wrist or taps the glass, the balls form the hours and markers, and then display the time. I love this idea although when one is in a time crunch, shaking once wrist or tapping the glass may be a bit of an irritation. All in all this watch will make a great gift. I still do not know why this watch reminds me of a petri dish. Oh Well I am sure it will come to me.


Another watch gadget is this Star Trekky "thingimajig" . The Kisai Tenmetsu displays the time with OLED flashing buttons. Might be hard to make out the time in your local disco. This is how it works and let me know if you think this watch is a yes or a no no. The actual watch is quite resistant as it is made out of aluminium. Its face is comprised of 10 buttons in three colors.

Okay now this is where it gets tricky. Now let me warn you this watch is definitely not for all those Movado lovers out there who like to know the time in one quick glance. This Kisai Tenmetsu is for those who actually would like to calculate the time of day. Kind of like going back in time when astrologers, astronomers and mathematicians pondered the calculation of time.

Okay here it goes: When an individual LED is illuminated, the time is displayed in a 24 hour format. In other words 2:30 pm would be 14:30. Now I hope at this stage of life your addition and multiplication skills are up to par, because if you happen to purchase this watch these skills are required. You need to add and multiply too get the time. Red represents 15 units, amber 5 units and green one unit.

There is an interactive instruction manual that arrives with this watch as the concept is quite challenging.

If you like your entire life around your wrist, check out this movie below. The amount of attachments this Waterproof OLED watch comes with is quite something.

The rarest complications integrated in a single timepiece.

In 2002, Patek Phillipe unveiled the most complicated wristwatch ever produced- the double faced Sky Moon Tourbillon. On the reverse side of the wristwatch is a complete representation of the night sky. The breathtaking image of the sky portrays the movement of the stars, the orbit of the moon, the moon phases and the hours and minutes in sidereal time. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) –“the father of modern observational astronomy “ would have been duly impressed.


Patek Phillipe main objective, as with its pocket watch baring the same unity in complications, was not cram the most complications in timepiece but to inspire the horological world with the most complicated and fascinating complications in the small boundaries of a wristwatch:

1. A perpetual calendar with a retrograde date display
2. A minute repeater
3. A Tourbillon
4. The display of a sidereal time
5. Depiction of the night sky with the movement of the stars.
6. The Orbit of the Moon
7. The moon phases.

The Complication that proved to be the biggest challenge was the heavenly display. The heaven is infinite as is time, and to place the display of the heavens within a wrist watch in a clear legible manner is almost impossible except, of course, to the watch making experts at Patek Phillipe. A company founded in 1839 by two Polish immigrants, Antoine Norbert de Patek ,the salesman, and Francois Czapek, the watchmaker, and later joined by Mr. Adrien Phillipe in 1944, a French Watchmaker.
Patek Phillipe deeply rooted in achieving horological milestones, came up with a solution. A solution adapted from Patek Phillipe’s astronomical pocket watches: a moving sky chart on the reverse. The mechanical movement originally developed for the “Star Calibre 2000” was redesigned specifically for the “Sky Moon Tourbillon” and achieved a Swiss patent CH 688 171.

The separate complications are discussed individually below:

1. The perpetual calendar with a retrograde date display

Patek Phillip is the master of perpetual calendars. A perpetual calendar adjusts the date in accordance with the differing lengths of months and leap years. Although in this technological age this does not seem like such a huge accomplishment; however, this is done solely mechanical utilizing a number of intricate parts. The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” displays its perpetual calendar in a unique 270° arc. Each day the date hand shifts one position. At the end of the month whether it is the 28th, 29th , 30th or 31st, the automatic fly back hand jumps to the 1st of the month. The unique mechanism is designed with a highly accurate patented ratchet wheel mechanism as opposed to the more conventional use of cams. On the 1st of the month this highly specialized perpetual calendar mechanism “locks” the date display hand in place to prevent it from rebounding to the 2nd or 3rd month. Four subdials display the additional perpetual calendar information: 1) The days of the week at the 9 ‘o’clock position 2) The month at the 3 ‘o clock position 3)The leap year cycle at the 3 ‘o’clock position 4) The moon age at the 6 ‘o clock position. If the watch is wound on a regular basis the watch need not be adjusted till the year 2100.

2. A Minute Repeater

A minute repeater sounds the hours, quarter hours, and minutes with a gentle chime. This feature accompanies the visionary splendor of the masterpiece with an auditory delight. This function is enabled when a slide on the left of the case is activated. The number of hours is sounded on a low-tone gong, followed by the quarter hours with double strikes on the low-tone and higher-tone gong and then the number of minutes elapsed since the last quarter of an hour on the higher tone gong. The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” has presented the minute repeater in a rare and mesmerizing manner. In the confines of a wrist watch the chime of a minute repeater is often times barely heard. A rich and clear sound is hard to muster, the room must be silent and the sound of the gong striking is likened to a pin being dropped. However in the “Sky Moon Tourbillon” the gong has turned up its volume. With extensive collaboration of the world first class metallurgists of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausine, Patek Phillipe developed an alloy for gongs that make a strikingly resonant sound. This alloy has been refined enabling a gong to be more than one case circumference long. This unique gong has earned the title of the “cathedral gong” as it sounds the hour with a rich tone likened to the reverberating cathedral bells.

3. The Tourbillon

From the very beginning of my watch infatuation, the tourbillion has mesmerized me. It is a good thing I do not own one as it clearly would effect my daily routine. I would miss many duties as I sit and gaze at its rotation. The Tourbillon was invented in 1795 by French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, a century after Newton defined gravity. Breguet reasoned that as a result of the constant position of the vertical position of the pocket watch, the balance spring is confounded by the effect of gravity effecting the accuracy of the watch. This error could be compensated with a tourbillion whereby the escapement, balance wheel, and balance spring is placed in a rotating carriage which turns once per minute on its own axis. In the Sky Moon Tourbillon, the tourbillion, the balance wheel and the fourth wheel are positioned on a single axis. This unique placement is difficult to accomplish but it provides the best functional opportunity to the tourbillion. The Tourbillon is finely crafted from steel, comprising of 69 individual pieces and weighing in total a mere .03 grams.

4. The Sidereal Time.

The Sidereal time is the measure of the position of the earth in its rotation around its axis. In the Sky Moon Tourbillon this feature is indicated by two hands from the center on the reverse side of the watch. The sidereal time is indicated on a 24-hour scale.

5. Direction of the night sky with the movement of the stars.
6. The Orbit of the Moon
7. The Moon Phases

This is a rare feature of a wrist watch and it is indicated on the reverse side of the watch. The canopy of the Northern (or upon request Southern) hemisphere rotates counter clockwise beneath the scratch resistant sapphire crystal case back, portraying the movement of the stars and the moon, the meridian passages of Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky , the moon as well as its waxing and waning moon phases. An elliptical contour indicates the part of the night sky viewed from a specific location. This masterpiece comprises of a gear train specifically built for this complication.

Patek Phillipe has successfully achieved an unprecedented level of precision in its astronomical display.

The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” is manually wound and is comprised of 694 individual parts. Each part is hand finished. Each edge is finely beveled and every single tooth of every gear is carefully hand polished in an additional process using a rotating hardwood disc. The plate and the module with the perpetual calendar are finished on either side with a technique of circular graining – “perlage” The bridges are engraved with Geneva striping. This additional polishing and engraving earn the prestigious Geneva Seal as well as the COSC Chronometer certificate.

The case is available in 18k yellow gold or solid platinum which is aesthetically pleasing. The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” is by no means a small watch at 42.8 millimteres in diameter and 16.25 millimeters in height; however, the exceptional craftsmanship provides a distinctive elegance to the watch. The case is decorated with the engraving of halved Calatrava Crosses. Calatrava Crosses also adorn the middle of the dial. The Calatrava Cross is the brand symbol of today’s Patek Phillipe. The Crosses roots extend deep into the middle ages to the year 1158. It was in that year that a Spanish religious order defended the Calatrava citadel against the moors. Patek Phillipe adopted the emblem of these brave knights at the end of the 19th century.
The crown at the 4 ‘o’clock position winds the movement and sets the hands on the front of the watch. The crown positioned at the 2 ‘o clock rectifies the position of the sky chart and the hands on the reverse side of the watch that indicate the sidereal time. When turned in the opposite direction, this crown corrects the position of the moon and the moon phase display. A setting stylus is used to activate a number of correction button on the side of the case. The button between the 11 and 12 ‘o clock corrects the date and the day of the week, the button between the 3 and 4 ‘o clock corrects the month and the button between the 6 and 7 ‘o clock corrects only the day of the week. The minute repeater slide is recessed in the case on the left hand side. The strap is hand stitched crocodile leather. The front of the dial is crafted from gold, coated with silvery opaline. The hours are indicated by Roman Numerals. The retrograde date display is located between the 2 and 10 o’ clock position with a fueille hand made of blued steel.

This wristwatch is one of the Patek Phillipe’s most complicated wristwatches ever introduced as a regular production. The movements alone take many months to complete and as a result of the intensive production, assembly and meticulous regulating procedures, annual production is limited to two timepieces.

A Luxury Watch is an Investment for Life.

A luxury watch is an investment for life. The Holidays are so near you can just about smell the Holiday food bubbling on the stove. The decorations are up, the shopping fever is in the air. You have been dabbling about the idea of buying a watch for the past couple of weeks, and you cannot make up your mind.

Well here are a few pointers you should keep in mind while making your decision.

The better watch you buy, the longer it will last. A Watch crafted by Blancpain, whose watch making is deeply rooted in tradition and excellence, where every tiny part is labored upon with obsessive perfection, will last into the next generation. Your great grandson eighty years from now will treasure your watch.

It is not with wasted breath that I touch upon this subject. I know that we are officially in a recession, and I do know there is no room for waste. A cheap watch whose movements were glanced upon without much thought to its resiliency is no more than a gamble. The stock market is enough of a seesaw. In this volatile economy, companies are giving its consumers outrageous deals and the prices on luxury watches have dropped. So although things may be tight, a luxury watch is one of the best gifts you can buy. Fancy electronic gadgets depreciate as soon as you open that tough plastic. Next week you will be kicking yourself by not waiting for Model #200041 as your Model# 200040 suddenly became outdated and slid down to a fraction of a price. Gateway computers are not exactly collectibles, if you know what I mean.

However, a luxury watch is an investment and in a couple years from now, with adequate maintenance, your watch value could have doubled. Not to mention the attachment factor of you to your watch. To say that your mechanical luxury watch will become outdated is to say that time is an old concept. If someone comes up with a better idea than time, I rest my case. But for now the passage of time is what we got and to keep track of it will never become obsolete.

Give a gift that bears witness to the passage of time. Give a gift that will never be shoved in the bottom draw or stand unused on a kitchen counter. Give a gift and be appreciated.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso slides into the future.

"Necessity is the mother of invention," as the old saying goes, spurred the creation of Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. Antoine LeCoultre opened his Le Sentier workshops in 1833 creating innovative timepieces, but it was the Reverso that became quite a legend.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duetto Womens's Manual Watch 18K White Gold Silver Dial with Blue Diamonds on Purple Leather Strap


In 1931, British Officers who were stationed in Colonial India would play polo in their spare time. However more often then not the crystal of the wrist watches would get damaged during the game.
Cesar de Trey, an influential businessman, who was a close associate of Jacques-David LeCoultre visited friends in India.
A polo player approached him, "Sir, I challenge you to create a timepiece that can survive a game of polo with its crystal intact."

This challenge founded the legend of the Reverso. A Patent for Reverso was filed on March 4, 1931: A watch capable of sliding in its base and of turning completely on its axis to turn the crystal inward.

Since 1931 the Reverso has been redesigned in many styles to compliment the styles of that era. The Reverso Squadro , a square watch distinguishable from its original rectangular counterpart, is a modern version of the original with a distinctive sporty edge. The Squadro is a powerful impressionable watch collection built to house movements to the highest level of precision and technical perfection. All the mechanical caliber Squadros feature a rotor mounted on ceramic balls as opposed to the typical stainless steel balls. The ceramic balls require little maintenance and lubrication. The latest Reverso Squadro Watches include Reverso Squadro World Chronograph and Reverso Squadro Hometime.


The Reverso Squadro World Chronograph is the first squadro crafted from high-tech titanium. The Watch displays hours, minutes, seconds, large date and chronograph on the front dial and universal or world time display on the back dial. Self-winding Calibre 753 comprises of 366 parts, 39 jewels and beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour. The World Time is displayed on the Reverse via a disc that depicts the name of the major world cities in each of the world's time zones. The disc turns inside a 24 hour ring. This spectacular and highly functional time-piece is limited to 1,500 pieces.

Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso exquisite and legendary innovative timepieces are available for half the price at The Watchery. Although the Reverso was created in 1931, its functionality has not wavered, making the Jaeger LeCoultre one of the most sought after watch collections.

The Equation of Time Complication

Audemars Piguet introduced a timepiece with an Equation of Time Complication to Support Clinton Foundation. It is a stunning collection each watch with a 41 jewel mechanical movement comprised of 423 parts as well as a 40 hour power reserve. The Watch is crafted in platinum, rose gold and white gold equipped with a self-winding 2120/2808 caliber movement just 5.35 mm thick. Complications include a perpetual calender with leap year indication and moon phase function as well as the elusive equation of time complication. This complication is indeed rare and indicates in a plus or minus value the difference between mean civil time and true solar time.


Let me delve deeper on the actual concept of the Equation of Time.

Definition: An Equation of Time shows the difference between "true" solar time (that which existed since the beginning of time) and "mean" solar time (that which was created by man).

Explanation: The Earth makes an irregular path across the sky as a result of a combination of two factors:
a) The Earth makes an elliptical orbit around the Sun.
b) The Earth is tilted on its axis perpendicular to the plane of the equator.

Thus the "true" solar day, which is the interval of time between two "true" noons when the sun is at its highest point in the sky is never the same length over the course of the year. Our daily 24 hour days only exist on four days of the year: April 15th, June 14th, September 1st and December 24th. Every other day is either longer or shorter. The difference ranges from less 16 minutes and 23 seconds on November 4th to plus 14 minutes and 22 seconds on February 11th is "the equation of time"
.


This has become quite a horological endeavor to track these celestial differences. There is a point of departure as the variations occur identically on the same date all year and can be "programmed by means of a cam making one complete rotation each year.

This is an extremely sophisticated complication which at first appeared in long case watches. Later it was miniaturized in a pocket watch and in the twentieth century it appeared in a wristwatch. This complications are rarely seen alone as with the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Clinton Foundation Equation of Time. This timepiece utilizes a hand sweeping an arc at the outer edges of the dial extending from = 15 to -15. To enhance the precision of the "Equation of time" Audemars Piguet has set to show solar time and equation of time graduations specially adjusted to the White House.

The Case back is engraved with the Seal of President Clinton , and the words " William J. Clinton 42nd President of the United States"

Audemars Piguet has donated 3 Million Dollars to the Clinton Foundation which is devoted to providing care and treatment for those fighting HIV/AIDS. A large focus of the Foundation is education, health and poverty issues around the globe. The same priorities established by The Audemar Piguet Foundation, founded by Jasmine Audemars, daughter of Jacques-Louis Audemars, in 1992. The Clinton Foundation founded by Bill Clinton in 1997, which has set a goal to improve peoples capacity to meet the challenges of global interdependence.

Striving for the ultimate luxury watch material

Since the first watch was created, watch makers have been striving to better their timepieces in terms of accuracy, durability and aesthetics. Watch manufacturers are forging ahead inventing exciting new materials. Many of these material innovations are targeted to eliminate friction without the use of oils and thereby obtaining greater accuracy in mechanical movement and simultaneously increasing durability and decreasing weight. Up till now the oils and lubricants are critical for reducing the friction of wheels. These oils and lubricants deteriorate with time requiring ongoing watch maintenance. Is there a material that is so friction free within itself that no oils or lubricants are necessary to maintain the accuracy of the timepiece?


Patek Phillipe has gained great ground in the progress of inventing an oil free watch in experimenting with the potential application of silicium in watchmaking techniques. During the past six years Patek Phillipe Advanced Research Department developed Silinvar - a patented substance derived from oxidising the constituents of pure silicium in a vacuum. From this material , Silinvar, Patek Phillipe has presented an escape wheel, a hairspring and an escapement which requires absolutely no oiling as well as eliminating long term servicing concerns, resistance to corrosion and magnetism and in addition improves the performance of the mechanical movement. Patek Phillip has utilized Silinvar in its Patek Philippe Ref. 5450 Annual Calendar watch. This platinum timepiece, produced in a limited series of 300, features an escape wheel, hairspring, and pallet fork in Silinvar which boasts a density 1/3 that of steel components.

Richard Mille agenda in developing a new material was to create an ultra lightweight watch that is expectationally resistant. The success was in the RM 009 which has Alusic for the case- a super light hybrid material- aluminium AS7G, silicium and carbon used for the production of ultra-light satellites, and another aluminium-lithium alloy for the tourbillon skeleton movement. The RM 009 weighs just over one ounce and is the worlds lightest mechanical watch ever produced as well as being extremely resistant.






Audemar Piguet has adopted carbon for its Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Line as Carbon is both lightweight and shock resistant.




Jaeger-LeCoultre presented a watch that required no lubrication - the ExtremeLab Tourbillon. Jaeger-LeCoultre tested the amazing properties of its watch to a whole slew of witnesses to provide evidence for its claim. The watch was first subjected to extreme temperatures from -40 degrees Celsius to + 60 degrees Celsius. A quartz watch and another regular mechanical watch was used as a control. When these watches were removed from the test baths only one was working - you guesses it - the ExtremeLab Tourbillon. The success is not as a result of a simple new material but a collage of 13 different materials such as carbon, titanium, ceramic, magnesium, polyurethane, carbonitride Easium, silicium carbonitride, black crystalline diamond, platinum-iridium and Ticalium. The end result is a new calibre, the 988C. Jaeger-LeCoultre is definitely ahead in the game for the development of ultimate watch - a watch where time does not symbolize the nearing of the end, but merely the passage of time.


Some Watch Manufacturers have developed there very own materials that actually bear there name: Zenithium - A Zenith innovation. Zenith has every right to name a material after its company. 7% of all Zenith turnover was poured into years of research and development. The end result is Zenithium which is three times stronger than steel. The material is comprised of titanium for resistance, nobium for memory of shapes, and aluminium for lightweight. Zenith is not the only company to name a material after its company:


Hublot has created Hublonium. Hublonium which combines magnesium and aluminium creating a timepiece that is lightweight and durable. Its Mag Bang timepiece is the first timepiece ever to have a movement and case made of the same material.


These materials are incredible in innovation and functionality, but don't kiss the good old elements goodbye ... not just yet.

Traditional materials such as brass (copper and zinc), steel (iron and carbon) and nickel silver (copper, nickel and zinc) are still favored in watch productions. Many modern companies have attacked the use of these materials as old-fashioned; however, steel pinions and brass wheels still provide the best friction coefficient and so these two alloys remain crucial in modern watch production. In addition, these materials are familiar to watchmakers and watch repairers throughout the world, and there workbenches are laden with tools, oils and lubricants designed to service these old time materials. If these new materials flood the market will the watch makers know how to repair these pieces or are these pieces going to be so durable that no repair is needed?
These pieces are still very costly as the price incorporates the years of research and development as well as the specialized craftsmanship and materials required to manufacture a watch of this calibre.