News of the new for 2012 Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Steel Anthracite DLC blasted into our inbox without any warning this morning, scattering our other emails into oblivion and leaving our inbox in tatters with cyber plasterboard fluttering from the walls! Cloaked in satin-smooth Diamond Like Carbon the latest offering from Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin certainly is a high-impact watch but it is clear (to me) that the guys have infused a little modern military ‘Stealth’ technology when at the drawing board stage of this fabulous creation.

Radar image of Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Steel Anthracite DLC

Undoubtedly one of the very coolest watch companies around,  Linde Werdelin have established themselves as the absolute masters when it comes to the entire umbrella process of designing, creating and bringing a new watch to market, and true to form the SpidoSpeed Steel Anthracite DLC extends that trend. Following in the sold-out footsteps of it’s predecessor, news of which we first broke here on The Watch Press, this evolution really is a fantastic looking piece!

Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Anthracite DLC

Unsurprisingly, a little more thought went into the evolution of this concept than ‘oh, we’ll make it black’.  Non monsieurs, dames! Au contraire, attention to detail was such that virtually every visible element of the watch, including the skeletonised multi-layered dial individually underwent precisely the same DLC treatment so as to achieve the agonisingly painstaking result of absolute uniform anthracite coloration throughout the watch. Recognising that even slightly differing exposure times to the DLC process would result in tiny variations in hue of the treated components and ultimately compromise the visual 3-D impact of the finished piece, which the anthracite colour accentuates to it’s optimum, merely added to the complexity of this task.

Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Anthracite DLC

The Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Steel Anthracite DLC retains all of the technical specifications of the original, which I covered in my feature here last year, but to update that article, I will take this opportunity to correctly address the fully customised bespoke automatic self-winding movement – based on the legendary Valjoux 7750, except completely rebuilt using superior components and finishing by the Concepto high-end movement manufacture – with it’s true moniker, the LW03.

Now attired in a sleek, level 1000th of a millimetre coating of carbon, the new SpidoSpeed reinforces the ‘Stealth’ design characteristics as found on last year’s original. Bold angles and vents, lightweight yet highly effective, this is one piece whch is guaranteed to evade radar detection, but when captured by the naked eye it packs one hell of a punch!

Popularity: 6% [?]

The Grand Théâtre de Genève was the setting on Saturday night for the lavish Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) ceremonies – the watchmaking world’s more refined and infinitely less vulgar answer to the Oscars.

The great and the good (and industry personality extraordinaire, Laurent Picciotto) descended on the sumptuous setting in their finery in anticipation of learning the identity of the 2011 winner of the gala evening’s most cherished award – L’Aiguille d’Or – presented to the creators of the Best Watch of the Year as determined by the international jury panel, comprising of watch industry professionals.

On hand to open the black envelope and reveal the winner of the prestigious Golden Hand were recipients of the 2010 award, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey and with minimal fuss came the announcement that the presence of Monsieurs David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet would be required onstage to take the acclaim of the 1,500-strong audience for their wonderful and deserving De Bethune DB28.

The most impressionable aspects of the DB28 at first glance are the beautiful platinum and blued steel 3D spherical moon at the six o’clock position opposed by the crown atop the 12, the novel ‘floating lugs’ system upon which the highly polished round titanium case is suspended by mid-mounted sprung pivots ensuring a comfortable snug fit, but also displaying the versatile thinking of it’s creators, and of course the minimalist open dial featuring only the silvered minutes circle and five-minute markers revealing, in all it’s splendour, the Côtes De Bethune decoration of the DB2115 hand-wound movement.

It is an immaculate execution of the métiers art and we heartily congratulate all at De Bethune for the recognition of their fantastic achievement in Geneva.

Popularity: 3% [?]

A favourite watchmaker of mine, Marc Jenni, recently revealed his latest creation to visitors to The Horological Academy of Independent Creators (AHCI) stand at the 2011 Baselworld fair in March.

His new for 2011 piece, the Marc Jenni ‘JJJ’, presented in either rose or white gold, is both an evolution of his previously featured Prologue, featuring it’s ground-breaking world’s first lateral winding automatic movement, and at the same time serves as a window through which we are offered a view back in time, deep into the Jenni family history, and where we can clearly see the origins and inspiration for the magnificent new ‘JJJ’ piece.

The Marc Jenni JJJ in Rose Gold

Marc Jenni has had watchmaking in his dna since long before even he was aware of it; his father and grandfather both being accomplished watchmakers, his father owning a watch store in Zurich. As Marc Jenni will testify himself, as a youngster he felt no particular pull to follow in the footsteps of his forebears yet still found himself drawn towards the generations-old Jenni family profession.

Among the many old watches in the posession of his father, Marc found himself a challenge when he was shown a couple of pocket watches dating back to 1780, and intriguingly, signed by one Johann Jacob Jenny! Having established that the watches were indeed the works of his own ancestor, Marc Jenni then set about the task of translating aspects of his predecessor’s watches, including the unusual day indicator which used the astronomical planetary symbols to mark the equivalent day of the week.

The inspiration - Original Johann Jacob Jenny Pocketwatch

And so, with the seed of inspiration sown, Marc Jenni began the design of his new ‘Seven Days, Seven Planets, Seven Symbols’ piece, which would need to be sympathetic to the creation of his many times great-great-great distant relative to whom it would owe it’s ‘JJJ’ name, yet also be an unmistakable evolution of Marc’s own distinctive modernistic styling and technical cues first seen in the earlier Prologue piece.

With the Prologue as evidence, it would never be enough for the young watchmaker to settle for the conventional approach to address a challenge, and so with the new JJJ we are treated to some truly innovative solutions to questions only he could set himself.

True to the spirit born in it’s own predecessors (both modern and antique) and from which it has evolved, the new piece is remarkable. The most eyecatching feature, (that is once you have got used to the fact that Marc Jenni’s watches thus far do not have any visible means for setting or adjusting the time or other functions, nevermind that there appears to be no method of winding either!), is the little aperture just above the centre of the dial which displays a curious little symbol which changes daily and would certainly not be commonly found on a wristwatch nowadays.

Marc Jenni’s contemporary adaptation of his distant relative’s centuries-old concept sees the astronomical planetary symbols recreated on a disc which rotates in unison with the day and date functions whereas his inspirational base had the symbols hand painted opposite it’s correlating day on the face of the antique enameled dial so each point of the hand’s two ends indicated day and symbol! Thinking outside the box has clearly been a characteristic of the Jenni family – going back quite some time!

Marc Jenni’s new JJJ displays the now familiar triangular motif with ‘Time’, ‘Date’ and ‘Wind’, to indicate which function you are adjusting or using, as debuted on the Prologue model. Normal functions which are usually attributed to a conventional crown are instead operated via the bezel-mounted selector pusher; the pointer within the triangle indicating the currently selected function. Once the desired function is selected, winding the movement and the adjustment of time, day and date are operated via the ‘turning ring’ which is essentially the entire flank of the watchcase featuring tactile natural rubber inserts and which rotates smoothly in either direction, cleverly passing under the lugs! Hence the watchmaker’s ability to dispense with the traditional crown altogether.

The Marc Jenni JJJ in profile, illustrating Selector Button and Turning Ring

The JJJ uses a single sapphire crystal plate for it’s dial. To achieve it’s multi-layered effect, the crystal has been given six different surface treatments including a metalization layer (for the background colour), laser engraving (the radiating sunrays), laser-cutting (apertures), sandblasted aperture frames, smoke-effect and metal deposit process (gold or rhodium) on the top surface for the motif, brand name and other applied indicators.

The JJJ Sapphire Dial with Rhodium-plated detail

The crystal is directly mounted onto the movement by the two little ‘feet’ visible as ‘satellites’ at the 5 and 11 o’clock positions on the dial. Day and correlating planetary symbol are displayed seperately through their own apertures (although sharing the same rotating disc), as is the ascending date.

The new additions on the dial demonstrates both the versatility of his original Calibre 2010 Prologue movement (this evolution being the Calibre 2011) as well as showcasing Jenni’s dextrous touch in incorporating the day, date and planetary symbols to his original movement without increasing it’s dimensions.

The JJJ Calibre 2011 Automatic Movement

The transparent sapphire crystal exhibition caseback reveals the new Calibre 2011 automatic movement with it’s distinctive ruthenium-coated 22Kt gold oscillating weight, cast in the shape of the Marc Jenni signature triangle motif.

Offering as much assistance as I could possibly ask for, Marc left me with the following sentiment behind the philosophy of his latest piece;

Walking the edge of modernism and traditional watchmaking, I wanted the new collection “JJJ” to become more sportive, more pragmatic than the “Prologue” which stays for a more classical approach, as a counter approach to the very traditional pocket watch of “Johann Jakob Jenny”.

The JJJ is only Marc Jenni’s second offering, but already he is forging his reputation as one of our generation’s most innovative watchmakers and in whose hands, and thankfully a healthy number of other young like-minded creators and designers, the immediate future of modern watchmaking would appear to be set to continue to defy the confines of conventional design.

But as we are well aware, in almost all modern watchmaking, a huge debt is owed to those who had the same passion, but who also faced different challenges hundreds of years ago. It got me thinking that if Johann Jacob Jenni or his peers of the time had dreamed up the combustion engine or similar – then what kind of vehicles would we be driving around in today???

Popularity: 12% [?]

Initially, I thought ‘no, don’t post the YouTube video, folk will think I don’t know what I’m talking about and I’m cheaping it by not having to explain. Write a feature instead.’ Well, you know, the first time we see something, maybe it is reasonable – and more honest (to myself anyway) -  to say to yourself  ‘OK, I don’t have an in-depth understanding of what I’m looking at. I can see what it is, I can see what it does, I can see how it does it,’ and I can then sit back in my desk chair and still say ‘what kind of mind thinks that up!’

Yes, it’s the new Urwerk UR-110 Torpedo, the latest offering from Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, so by definition it is going to be a little more than out of the ordinary, and true to their style,  the guys do not disappoint.

I have also used their press release to provide the technical spec which you will find beneath the video, because, well, you’d imagine that the parents of this baby might be able to portray their vision in a more eloquent way than I – another guy with his slobbering jaw resting on his knees, coming to terms with what he’s just seen.

Urwerk Official Press Release:

“The UR-110 is a watch with attitude. From the base of its unusual asymmetrical case to the three
arrow-shaped “torpedoes” flying in formation with the mission of indicating the time, the UR-110 has
serious attitude.

Enveloped in a secure titanium case, planetary gearing keeps the three hour satellites in parallel
formation as they take turns to indicate the time as they pass the 60-minute track. An “Oil Change”
indicator alerts the user when it is time for a service; a “Day/Night” indicator helps keep track of
changing time zones; and twin turbines on the back minimize wear in the automatic winding system.
This new complication is made possible thanks to a construction with three levels of complexity
- A central carousel providing the complication with stability and equilibrium
- Planetary gearing assuring the parallel rotation of the three hour satellites as they orbit the
dial
- Three counter-rotating hour modules – each comprising an hour satellite, minute hand and
counter balance – are each mounted on a planetary gear. These three modules are in
constant counter-rotation to counter the direction of rotation of the central carousel.

The UR-110 continues URWERK’s radical tradition of telling the time using orbiting satellite
complications. In the UR-110, the time is always shown on the right side of the watch. The satellites
follow a vertical line, graded from 0 to 60 minutes, in a downward motion. The ingenuity of this
layout lies in allowing the wearer to view the time discreetly and elegantly without the need to pull a
cuff or sleeve back.

“The UR-110 is a logical evolution of our creations. We imagined time as a ‘silent journey’ where the
hour satellites make a full rotation of the dial. But it is a velvet revolution; between rotation and
counter rotations the effect is subtle and fluid. There are things happening on the dial that are not
obvious at first glance. Everything looks normal; however, in fact they are everything but.” says
Martin Frei.
“The beauty of the UR-110 is in its apparent simplicity. The development of UR-110 mobilized our
entire team for nearly two years. Among the challenges posed by this complication was working out
the optimal architecture for supporting the central carousel and the rotating hour modules. We
finally opted for a technical solution that is radically different from any of our other creations:
instead of ball bearings, a fixed axis runs the full height of the watch, providing maximum rigidity and
minimum play. The whole complication is perfectly balanced on this axis ” explains Felix
Baumgartner.
The UR-110 is a timepiece in which its technology can be appreciated though the large panoramic
sapphire crystal. As well as indicating the hours and minutes, the UR-110 also features a Control
Board on the dial side with indicators for “Day/Night” and “Oil Change” – URWERK’s service interval
display, as well as small seconds on a sub dial.
The colour of metals prevails on the dial, a colour given pride of place on the predominately titanium
case. The UR-110 is sober with few frills; its ornaments only apparent in the subtle perfection of its
fine finishing. Turning the watch over, the titanium back encloses the innovative automatic winding
system regulated by dual turbines.
The UR-110, micro-mechanics have never looked so good!

Technical Specifications UR-110
Movement
Calibre: UR 9.01 mechanical, automatic winding
Balance: Monometallic
Jewels: 46
Frequency: 28,800v/h, 4Hz
Balance spring: Flat
Power: Single barrel
Power reserve: 39 hours
Winding system: Uni-directional rotor regulated by double turbines
Finish: Matting, circular graining and diamond-cuts
Indications
Satellite complication with rotating hour/minute modules mounted on planetary gears
Control Board: “Day/Night” indicator ; “Oil Change” alerting service intervals and small
seconds
Case
Case in Grade 5 titanium with bezel in 316L stainless steel
Dimensions: 47mm X 51mm X 16mm
Two position crown with integrated protection.
Water resistance: 3 ATM”

Popularity: 9% [?]

I know, I know, I haven’t been prolific this month, but I have been working tirelessly (as we do) on bringing our humble netzine on a few steps, but tonight amid much joy and celebration, I take to the keys once more as we bring you news, nay, confirmation of what you already knew by visiting TheWatchPress.

Yes friends, it’s official. The wraps have officially been swept off the latest incarnation of Linde Werdelin’s sensational Spido collection, in the guise of the awesome 3-Dimensional SpidoSpeed Chronograph which, and although we don’t like to make much fuss about ourselves here in TheWatchPress Towers, we guessed right first when we initially reviewed the two jigsaw puzzle-like ‘snipshot’ teasers of the watch which had been sent out by Linde Werdelin last month.

The intriguingly titled Series ‘A’ SpidoSpeed Chronograph is an exercise in the art of tasteful and modern skeletonisation with virtually every element of the watch, from the 32-piece microbille (or sandblasted) steel case through to the ten-layer (!) dial reduced back to the bare minimum of material while yet retaining the aura of ‘presence’, of being a substantial thing indeed. I mean, it doesn’t have the fragile, delicate characteristics of many skeletonised pieces – it’s anything but delicate or fragile, in fact not even close!

Cues obviously abound from it’s forerunner the SpidoLite such as the ‘vented’ bezel and it’s amazing ability for the watch to act as a carriage for the Linde Werdelin Reef and Rock activity instruments which can quickly be attached to the body of the watch, extending the functionality beyond the realms of what seems possible. Groundbreaking.

But being a chronograph, the company’s main men Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin looked back to the roots of such a complication, for it’s natural application was after all to measure elapsed time, and nowhere was such a function more suited than to the men and women whose holy grail it was to knock a few tenths of seconds off the existing lap record as they flung their tuned machines on the limits of adhesion around a racing circuit.

So the new Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Chronograph possesses many motor racing inspired features such as the black galvanic base dial with perlage (an effect much loved in racing wherever there was a spare inch of exposed stainless steel to be found) which underlies the opalin upper dial, containing the three subdials, which are themselves reminiscent of drilled ventillated brake discs, atop the outer minutes ring (opalin being the finish used for many years in dashboard dials). To cap off the racing theme, the strap features little round perforations à la the ubiquitous driver’s glove.

I digress. First impressions of the SpidoLite Chronograph are of a typically Linde Werdelin twist on ultra-modern watch design. Hailed by it’s creators as 3-Dimensional experience, it must truly effuse just such a sensation for as to consider the multi-layered construction, with the cutaway chassis which accomodate the chrono pushers and into which drops the central case element housing the Concepto 2251 automatic movement,  all sitting 15mm high on the wrist.

Turned over, and through the sapphire crystal caseback, the signed Spider Web skeletonised oscillating weight delivers drive to the movement with every pivotal swing.

The use of the term Series ‘A’ leaves us to imagine that the Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed Chronograph will be the first of goodness knows how many subsequent editions, but with this one being released in a production of only 100 pieces and the famous LW marketing machine ratcheting up it’s gears, demand will surely far outstrip availability.

There’s so much to look at, and I’ve just seen the freshly-released first images. I know that in the days to come, new aspects of this amazing machine will reveal themselves and I’ll find myself scurrying back to my keyboard to edit or update something I’ve written here. Mind you, it wouldn’t be before time that I did….

Popularity: 11% [?]

The horologic Master of Understatement has just pulled the covers off one of his latest creations in advance of this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva.

The new 2011 Richard Mille RM 028 Americas Diver is a 30-piece limited edition manufactured exclusively for the US and South American markets.

It’s an imposing instrument and unmistakably Richard Mille, despite it’s lesser-spotted round case which is cast in titanium with DLC coating and sits upon a natural rubber strap. Trademark Mille characteristics include the 3-dimensional aspect of the watch as you peer through what seems like layers of materials past the sapphire crystal, the crimson flange with recessed luminous dot markers, then the printed numerals, indices and other dial graphics, the rotating date ring which alligns beneath the aperture at the 7 and onwards into the depths of the skeletonised movement which itself looks like it’s very components have been salvaged from Terminator’s innards. I swear I saw something twitch like a hydraulic spasm just looking at it!

And then, as if not to be outdone, there’s the bezel. Strewn with twenty-two torque screws and boasting bold arabic numerals, it remains resolutely locked in place until the red arrow segment at the 12 o’clock position and it’s corresponding segment at the 30 are depressed in a finger and thumb pincer which releases the bezel and allows it to be rotated to the desired setting before locking in place once more.

As for it’s ‘dive’ credentials, well you’ll be reassured that your $82,000 watch has been put through it’s paces and comfortably conforms to the recognised ISO 9425 Diver’s Watch standard. The screw-in crown with it’s grippy rubber cladding adds to the overall viability of the watch as an instrument and it will function through to a depth of 300m.  The natural rubber strap nestles snugly against the case and as you pan out, all of the elements of the design combined effuse a robust, rugged and adventurous persona.

The Richard Mille RM028 Americas Diver won’t be to everyone’s taste, but then, as there will only be 30 examples it kind of deals with that problem quite niftily too! There won’t be anywhere near enough to go around and that only serves perpetuates the myth.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Do you ever wake up on a morning and absent-mindedly try to strap your car to your wrist? You do? Well, in case you are such an individual, Linde Werdelin will soon have the watch for you in the guise of a new SpidoLite Chronograph!

And even more so if your car happens to be a Lamborghini Reventon they have!

Linde Werdelin are without doubt one of the most energetic and exciting young watch makers in the industry – they are one of the first watch brands to totally embrace the new media platforms available today with gusto and as a result, their über-cool series of animated adventure-themed adverts are all over the internet. It’s impossible to miss them and be drawn into their campaigns. On top of the brilliant marketing savvy, add to the mix that Linde Werdelin watches are inventive and mould-breaking in their design and functionality – not challenging, but instead bringing something new and previously only conceptualised by other watch designers – they are futuristic yet aesthetically (if not fiscally) accessible and very, very desirable.

So today when Linde Werdelin dropped us a few tantalising tempter images of what’s fast approaching us, I thought I could hear the industrial bark of a V12 rapidly closing in from a distance – you see the first thing to hit me instantly was the ‘I recognise that face’ feeling, where something just clicks and the family/design lineage becomes obvious. The two images provided by Linde Werdelin are just tasters and reveal little about the actual watch – which looks like it’s a new titanium chronograph as a natural extension of the SpidoLite collection – but a lot about the design influences.

OK, I’ll admit that it’s a lot of conclusions to reach from a couple of partial and oblique images, but considering the original SpidoLite pieces drew their design inspiration from the strong but lightweight F1 chassis, there is previous form here. See what you think yourself……

However I see it, there are cues from the Reventon all over the new Linde Werdelin piece – or maybe it’s vice-versa, but if you ever find one day that your SpidoLite won’t fit on your bedside table as you turn in for the night/day/dawn/dusk, then maybe you’d better check you haven’t accidentally parked your watch in the garage…..

Popularity: 18% [?]

There’s no sign of the crushing recession being heralded by the international media – at least in the house of LVMH at any rate. In his article earlier today, London-based markets correspondent Simon Kennedy confirmed the further significant growth of the luxury goods giant as it continues on past it’s five year market high with stocks trading at €114 as of today, 14th October 2010. This compares nicely to the €68 52-week low of last November, with stocks having rallied almost 70% in that period.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton 12-month chart

“Luxury-goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton said Thursday its third-quarter sales rose 24% as wealthy customers snapped up designer watches and cases of Dom Perignon.

The group said total sales in the quarter were 5.11 billion euros ($7.19 billion), compared to €4.14 billion a year earlier.

LVMH said the performance confirmed the trends seen in the first half of the year, with very strong growth across Asia, Europe and the U.S. Sales were also stronger across every division, it added.

Champagne sales in the latest quarter showed “good return of consumer demand,” and contributed to a 24% rise in sales of wines and spirits to €846 million.

The company, which owns the Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon and Krug champagne brands, among others, also said that demand for Hennessy cognac had continued to accelerate in Asia.

The strongest revenue growth was in the group’s luxury watches and jewelry business, where sales rose over 30% to €244 million in the third quarter, helped by the launch of new Tag Heuer models and increased market share for Hublot.

Overall sales were ahead of the €4.83 billion consensus forecast.

“On balance this was a very strong quarter, that should be good enough to keep the upward momentum in LVMH shares, despite their recent strong run,” said Credit Suisse analyst Rogerio Fujimori.

Among its other divisions, LVMH said fashion and leather-goods sales rose 26% to 1.95 billion euros as momentum returned to its Fendi and Donna Karan brands.

The group didn’t provide a detailed outlook, but said performance in the first nine months of the year “has confirmed its confidence for 2010.”

Popularity: 12% [?]

When it comes to appointing a suitable ‘ambassador’ for your watch brand, much consideration will be put into the decision as to which stellar luminary will get to grace your marketing material, and also how they, as human beings are perceived in the public and media domains.

For the greater part, these ambassadorial roles mostly fall to the great and the good from the worlds of sport, modelling and the stars of the silver screen. When we glance through the news magazines or weekend supplements we are constantly confronted with images of Cindy Crawford or George Clooney sporting their Omegas, John Travolta and his Breitling, or maybe it’s Lewis Hamilton’s or Jenson Button’s steely stare as they pose with their left arm raised up by their cheek to show off the latest TAG Heuer. And this is to name but a very few high profile brand ambassadors currently employed by most watch brands.

John Travolta, actor, pilot, Breitling ambassador

One thing stands out about most of these ambassadors and that is that they are almost exclusively the squeakiest of clean, wholesomer than wholesome, fit, tanned with great skin and above all, they all possess the perceived aura of hard work, dedication to their profession and moral good living – great role models in other words, folks we can all look up to.

And if a celebrity is not as squeaky-clean as their personal ‘brand’ suggests, then it’s unlikely they’ll get the call from that Grande Marque, requesting that your visage grace the next big global marketing campaign – although if your star is bright enough it can absorb the occasional knock to one’s character without too much harm to the brand/ambassador relationship – Tiger Woods has remained on in his role with TAG Heuer despite his recent descent from grace. But Tiger’s a rare case. His star is truly unique. It transcends what almost any other celebrity can bring to a brand and he is so valuable that such transgressions as his mean that although slightly chipped, he still stands on his plinth, somewhat less respected, and clearly no longer the revered master of his profession. He is definitely now seen as human, fallible, and not the unsmiling, clipped and seemingly arrogant golfing autonomon we have become so familiar with over the last fifteen years or so. TAG Heuer clearly still sell a lot of watches through their association with Tiger Woods.

TAG Heuer Stand By Their Man

So, if you are a watch manufacturer, you have the luxury of having options as to who you appoint as the face of your brand. But what if some loon goes out and buys one of your watches, wears it regularly, and is one of your more distinctive creations? What if they get up to all sorts of debauched carry-on; drinking, womanising, drug taking and generally raising hell and leaving a trail of chaos and apologetic agents cleaning up the physical (and often legal) mess in their wake? I suppose it depends who it is we’re talking about; whether they are loved or loathed, whether they are respected or the butt of the joke.

OK, Keith Richards, when he’s not falling out of trees in his seventies, would have to be seen as one who could get away with most things and still be snapped up in an instant were he to offer his services as a brand ambassador to many of the more avant garde brands.

What, though if you’re Audemars Piguet, and the loon in question is Mr W.Axl Rose?? What then??? Well, if he doesn’t torture and murder anyone or take a child bride, then his madness is well enough documented so that any new guise of his berserk behaviour would not be considered to be too much out of the ordinary for the portly bonkers Guns n’ Roses frontman.

Somewhere among all that junk is an AP Royal Oak Offshore 'Volcano'!

You see Axl has been favouring his limited edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore ‘Volcano’ in recent times and I’m sure that would be okay with A-P were it not for his irritating habit of disrespecting his fans, and the manufacturer of his fine timepiece, by turning up for all of his recent shows anywhere between an hour and ninety minutes after showtime was due to commence. That’s just unforgivable!! Like I mean, if you’re going to wear our watch, at least turn up on time, it’s not a good look!

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Volcano

What does this tell us? What can we read into it? Is Axl turning up on time, but his watch is running slow? Are Audemars Piguet watches therefore unreliable? Are Audemars Piguet watches responsible for letting down so many thousands of Guns n’ Roses fans across Europe this summer? This would be bad press were it true.

Nope, nothing of the sort I’m pleased to confirm. The answer and sole responsbility lies with the man himself. He obviously cannot tell the time! Or worse, he can, but doesn’t give a damn about his fans who have forked out substantially on the tickets which made the Chinese Democracy tour possible.

We get something of a clue about Axl’s idea of timekeeping from the putting together of this latest Guns n’ Roses (or rather, the Axl Rose and friends band) masterpiece ‘Chinese Democracy’  – a mere fifteen years in the making, and generally embraced as being…. erm…. not very good considering the time and cost involved. In fact, considering anything, it kind of pancaked!

So when Axl Rose brought his ‘Guns n’ Roses’ show to the UK for two headlining festival appearances at Leeds and Reading, where because of his late arrival, he had the power cut off after only an hour of his show and protested by doing a ‘sit in’ performing an impromptu ‘unplugged’ set, barking at the crowd through a megaphone.

Following this headline grabbing buffoonery, the tour then traveled to Dublin where the twonk and his band treated the fans (many of whom had public transport connections to make post show) to a one hour and twenty-five minutes wait before finally waddling out onstage, arms raised in acceptance of the crowd’s mass adoration. Unfortunately for poor old Axl, however, this was Ireland, and the Irish do not suffer fools easily.

Unsurprisingly, the band walked on stage to a barrage of booing from the majority of the exasperated audience, and when Axl started to sing, the noise of the baying audience rendered the music almost inaudible. Ever the showman, Axl plodded on, for another two songs before, during the intro for Welcome to The Jungle, a plastic water bottle bounced off the floor close to where Mr Rose was standing. Soon after, he then led his bandmates – who are so far from being Guns n’ Roses that I’d be surprised if he knows all their names – off stage and a panicked promoter took to the stage to inform the angry crowd that they were dealing with a technical issue, to hoots of laughter and derision.  Once the house lights came on some half an hour later most of the crowd took to the exits in an attempt to catch their transport.

Please note: in the following clip obcenities coming from some members of the audience can clearly be heard. Do not watch the video if you are likely to be offended by such content.

However the Irish promoter obviously told the snouty singer that he wouldn’t get out of the country in one piece – or something to that effect, and a very grumpy Rose returned to a now near-empty O2 arena where he banged out the repertoire, barely moving or communicating with the remaining handful of fans for the rest of the night.

All in all, I’d have to say that the palava surrounding Rose and his cohorts does not make for good press – for themselves, and with the all-too-distinctive Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Volcano hidden in among the piles of junk Axl wears on his wrist, I’d be scheming how to get that watch back from him if I were in A-P’s marketing dept because that’s one Volcano that’s close to an eruption 24/7 – although on the face of it, everyone will tune in to watch an erupting volcano, so maybe the old addage applies – there’s no such thing as bad press, at least from AP’s point of view.

As for Axl and his troubled tour though, I’m not so sure…….

Popularity: 24% [?]

Prominent Parisian purveyor of pricey premium products Hermès have recently announced the launch of a new addition to their collection of timepieces. The Hermès Carré H will be released in a limited edition of 173 pieces – denoting the number of years since the founding of the luxury goods family company in 1837.

Employing the skills of renowned French designer and architect Marc Berthier, the company set him the brief to create “what a Hermès timepiece for a travelling dandy might look like”. The result is a clever microbead blasted titanium cased carré design incorporating the Hermès signature stirrup theme with strap loops in lieu of more conventional lugs.

Hermès Carré H

Berthier’s take on the shape of the case was to maintain the lines of a square yet remove every sharp or right angle from it, with the result being an almost pebble-smooth finish, curving round as the flanks join the caseback which has a sapphire crystal exhibition window through which can be seen the decorated Girard-Perregaux Calibre 3200 automatic movement.

Hermès Carré H

The bezel is highly polished and it contrasts against the gunmetal grey of the case and beneath the sapphire crystal the dial is an unapologetic art deco throwback and perpetuates the watch’s carré theme featuring square small seconds within a square recess as well as classic period baton hour markers and hands.

The strap is black Barenia calfskin with titanium tang buckle.

Hermès Carré H showing 'H' decorated G-P automatic movement

This is a lovely designer’s watch – not as in ‘designer watch’ like you can pick up for a tenner in your nearest shopping centre – but as in the execution of Berthier’s concept. It’s almost too nice to limit to just the planned 173 pieces.

Who knows, if it is well received and sells as quickly as is hoped, then maybe we’ll see a more widely available model sometime in the future.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Chopard have some great looking watches in their Mille Miglia and Gran Turismo collections, and regular updates or limited editions over the years help to ensure that interest is strong on the brand.

This year, to commemorate their 150th anniversary, they have revisited their Gran Turismo XL and also joined forces with a rejuvenated Alfa Romeo, who coincidentally are popping the champagne round their way too this year as 2010 also marks their centenial anniversary.

And so, to commemorate both companies’ milestones in 2010, Chopard have unveiled a fab limited edition range of watches – and desk/travel clocks too.

Chopard Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo Chronometer

The Chopard Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo collections are available in three guises; as automatic C.O.S.C. chronometer in a 44mm stainless steel case or the Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo C.O.S.C. Chronograph, which is available in 44mm stainless steel or cool Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC) version. The three models are available in a limited run of 500 pieces each.

Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo Chronometer

Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo Chronograph in Steel

Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo Chronograph in DLC-coated steel

All three versions come on the Dunlop ‘radial’ tyre natural rubber strap and the combination of red, white, steel and black do set the pulse racing, especially with the Alfa Romeo logo inscribed in rosso red on the black dial.

The watches are all powered by ETA-based automatic chronometer movements.

I also mentioned that the collaboration carried over into a travel clock and a desk clock, both faithful hommages to the Gran Turismo XL watch.

The Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo Travel and Desk Clocks

Having spent four (mostly) happy years as the owner of a wonderful-sounding 3-litre Alfa Romeo 166, I have to confess a little bit of bias here, but heck, when a collection such as this comes around  – to celebrate big birthdays for both brands – it would be rude not to mention them here in The Watch Press.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I have just received the sad news regarding the passing of one of modern watch manufacturing’s most influential, charismatic and enlightened visionaries, Mr Nicolas G Hayek, who earlier today died as the result of a cardiac arrest while at work in his role as chairman of the Swatch Group which he established in 1985.

Mr Nicolas G Hayek

Mr Hayek, who was 82 years old when he passed away, is widely respected for his tireless energies in revitalizing a dying Swiss watch industry in the 1980′s and his legacy to the industry will survive long after most of the people reading – and writing – this article.

The Watch Press sends it’s sincere condolences to the family of Mr Hayek and also to those who worked closely with him.

You will be sadly missed.

Nicolas G Hayek, 1928 – 2010

Popularity: 11% [?]

Summer’s rolling in (although here in Ireland you often do require a calendar for reference, just to be sure!) and our thoughts turn to vacations or leisure pursuits. One style of watch probably enjoys an annual upsurge in sales as folk decide to treat themselves to something nice before going on their travels. The sports divers watch now comes in more and more variations, spanning the demand for the fashion-led ‘diver’s style’ watch boasting 30-150m water resistance and with prices starting around the hundred dollar mark on up  through to intermediate 300-600m watches and on eventually to professional divers watches, with water resistance up to 1000, 3,000 or even 6,000 metres!

A new watch brand, Zenton, has entered the fray recently with their own diver’s watch called the Zenton M45 and I have to say that on first impressions, it’s quite a smart offering from the new company. There will of course be those who will reject the watch out of hand without a second thought once they realise that Zenton are actually a Hong Kong based company and not some eccentric Swiss watchmaker, but to dismiss the brand on that basis would surely be a hasty reaction, for this new Zenton M45 is a great looking watch – and it doesn’t end with it’s looks either, for with a depth capability of up to 2000m it’s certainly no lightweight as far as it’s diver’s credentials stack up.

Zenton M45 with steel bezel, black dial and markers

Add to the mix a tried and tested Swiss ETA calibre 2824-2 automatic movement and the Zenton M45 looks more attractive, maybe even to the pickier watch enthusiast.

The M45 watch, which so far is the company’s only model, is available in a huge number of factory or customizable options which offer the buyer seemingly endless choices to suit their personal tastes including the colour of the dial, the choice between hour markers or numerals, even down to the shape of the hands, or the bezel – in brushed stainless steel or with different colour bezel inserts, which means that the ‘range’ appears to be much more extensive than the base model would suggest, and with so many variables available, there’s a fair chance that yours could be a one-of-a-kind watch!

Zenton M45 with bezel insert and numerals

The robust 45mm brushed stainless steel case, with a height of 17mm, features a helium release valve and a thick 4.3mm sapphire crystal under which strong superluminova hands, markers or numerals beam brightly in low light conditions. One other variation even offers a luminescent dial.

The more I learn about this watch, the more I like it, but Zenton haven’t finished looking after you just yet.

Does sir prefer stainless steel bracelet with butterfly buckle? Or perhaps a leather, or a rubber strap alternative? How about an extending diver clasp for the bracelet? And of course the tools and spare pins, tubes and screws to enable setting the watch up for the occassion. Well sir shall have his preference – in fact sir can have the lot! At no extra cost! Without having to ask for it either! This is a heck of a lot of watch by now and so you grit your teeth as the time comes to dig deep and pay out for one.

Zenton have one more little surprise in store though. The watch – the whole kit and kaboodle – is going to set you back a bonkers $888 plus shipping! Available directly through their website. That has to represent one good deal.

I know there are a lot of watch snobs out there for whom brands such as Zenton do not possess the kudos of a recognised major marque that they look for in a watch, but when you look at what you’re getting with this package, it can’t be denied that in straitened times like these, when a lesser-known brand will sell you a customised, good looking and fully functional 2000m diver’s watch for that kind of money, even the more particular buyer can’t fail to be impressed with this offer.

Zenton M45 exploded view

Well I for one, am impressed with the Zenton M45 but I’ve left one more little tidbit until the end of this article – that is the 10 (TEN) year warranty and the free (FREE) biannual servicing – you only pick up the tab for the shipping! That’s just incredible.

Bargain of the year? It could easily be the Zenton M45 diver’s watch.

Well done Zenton. That’s quite a way to announce your arrival.

Popularity: 31% [?]

I always enjoy browsing through the watch blogs out there and I do try not to rehash what I’ve read elsewhere, keeping the content on The Watch Press fresh and original, but a wonderful story has been unfolding online over the last couple of weeks originating from the at first innocuous announcement by internationally revered auction house Christie’s that on June 16th 2010, the hammer would fall on Lot no. 385, a 1949-vintage Patek Philippe Reference 1463 Chronograph in 18Kt gold.

The 'Howard Hughes' Patek Philippe Chronograph Reference 1463

What made Lot 385 somewhat unusual was the fact that according to the Christie’s catalogue, the watch had at some time in the past been the property of eccentric and ultimately tragic American billionaire Howard Hughes. Now, it may be that if the watch had not had such provenance attached to it, then the sale might have passed by causing a stir only among Patek collectors and interested auction watchers, but in connecting the watch to the myth that is Howard Hughes, Christie’s attracted attention from Hughes historians and biographers, as well as fellow watch writer Kyle Stults at luxury watch blog Perpetuelle.com.

You see Kyle himself is a bit of a Howard Hughes fan too, and when the opportunity arose for him to write a feature which legitimately brought together two of his interests, he put up a post concerning the upcoming sale in Christie’s New York rooms, declaring his fascination of the man and the mysteries entwined around and throughout his private life. Little could Kyle have expected the life of it’s own this story would take on in the days to follow.

It was claimed that the watch had been in the possession of a Mr Don Woolbright, a self-proclaimed private employee of Hughes, whose role he claimed was to conduct undercover private investigations within the sprawling Hughes empire at the behest of Howard Hughes himself. The watch, according to Mr Woolbright’s account of events, was given to him as a gift in gratitude for his services allegedly with the words ‘from my wrist to yours’ and has been put up for sale by his son, Don Woolbright Jr.

Only hours after the feature appearing, questions began to appear surrounding the accuracy of Christie’s description in their catalogue. A former personal assistant to Hughes, Mr Paul Winn noted on the blog that in all his time working closely with his employer, Hughes had never worn a watch (nor carried any money) and Winn suggested that in his opinion, the likelihood of this watch having ever belonged to Hughes was at best somewhat dubious, and even further stretched was the idea that had ever been bought by or worn by the man.

However, once the validity of the watch’s history came under closer scrutiny, a few details quite quickly emerged, mostly eminating from historians, biographers and former Hughes confidantes who made the claim that Howard Hughes famously never wore a watch at all, and also about the character of Mr Woolbright Sr as well. One writer in particular, Geoff Schumacher, himself a published Howard Hughes biographer, was certainly not pulling any punches in regard to his opinion of Mr Woolbright Sr in his feature on his Howard Hughes Blog.

That seemed to be it, as the story appeared to tail off for a few days. But, having discovered Mr Winn’s opinion on the watch, Mr Woolbright Jr (ultimately the beneficiary of the proceeds of the sale) responded to the charges on the blog by attempting to punch holes in Mr Winn’s credibility, challenging him to back up his claims and calling into question the offer of testimony from Hughes closest and trusted employee – Kay Glenn, who was charged with the role of staff overseer within the Hughes organisation and whom had never heard of Mr Woolright Sr’s position, although familiar with the name for a subsequent felony committed against the Hughes estate some years later. The following exchange was quite amazing, with Mr Winn standing firm and requesting some form of stand-up verification, but ultimately, the burden of proof fell into the hands of the vendor – Mr Woolbright Jr and no proof thus far has been forthcoming.

Indeed when it finally came down to putting reputations at stake, a challenge which was proposed to Mr Winn by Mr Woolright Jr, the challenger and potential beneficiary mysteriously went quiet – and has stayed that way at the time of writing this summary.

Even so, in the absence of anything other than rhetoric to defend the case of Mr Woolbright, surely the watch would be withdrawn from sale by Christie’s, at least temporarily, until any questions of authenticity can be established one way or the other, after all Christie’s are an internationally renowned, respected and most importantly trusted institution through whose hands pass some of the world’s most famed and recognised objets d’art.

Well, following the discrepancies being debated between parties on his website, Kyle not unreasonably contacted Christie’s by phone and email, helpfully informing them of the possible anomaly associated with their Lot 385 Patek Philippe Reference 1463 gold chronograph. So the watch was promptly removed from the 16 June sale.

Not.

Well then, they changed the wording of the lot to inform potential bidders that there were possible question marks over the historical claim?

Not a bit of it.

The sale went through as scheduled on June 16 and bidding activity was healthy – as one would reasonably expect when up for sale was a rare Patek Philippe chronograph, especially one sold as a valuable and authentic piece of Howard Hughes memorabilia and with a potentially much wider client catchment as collectors of both Patek Philippe and Howard Hughes.

With a Christie’s estimate of between $150,000 and $200,000, the watch eventually sold yesterday to a private collector for $254,500.

As the histories of either Messr’s Woolbright (Sr or Jr), Winn, Glenn or Schumacher can be more fairly debated among specialists in the history of Howard Hughes, so I cannot reasonably take a side in their discourse (other than to lean toward he who has put forward the more convincing argument), but for sure, if there is one party entangled in the whole story and who should have reacted much more responsively to a legitimate call for clarity when faced with information which questioned the provenance of the watch as provided by themselves, then it must be Christie’s.

By underestimating the value of openness (and the punch of the internet) when confronted by someone with a bloody good question, haven’t Christie’s let slip their guard and revealed an underbelly through which anything might go? Uninhibited?

Also, in a bizzare twist to the story, while studying the Christie’s image gallery for the watch upon the release of the Christie’s catalogue, ‘Contaminuti’, founder of Italian language luxury watch review site Orologi di Classe blew us all away with his discovery that the Patek Philippe legend, engraved into the tang buckle of the watch carried a misspelling! Notice the double ‘LL’ as opposed to the correct ‘PP’ on the buckle! Not that this watch needs any more mystique, it’s becoming like the Mary Celeste! How can the misspelling have gone unnoticed?

The tang buckle with misspelling

Whatever the truth about the actual watch, it seems unlikely that – considering the compulsively secretive nature of the eccentric Howard Hughes – it’s history may ever be factually documented, and so from this point in time, this Patek Philippe reference number 1463 chronograph, will always have a spectre of doubt hanging over it.

Still worth the $254,500? Only the private collector to whom it now belongs will know the true answer to that. Now it has a little more history than perhaps it had before these last few weeks.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Continuing the successful Jacques Cousteau editions of it’s superb Aquatimer model, IWC have lifted the covers from the fifth edition  to take it’s place among the range.

The IWC Aquatimer model has been a real grower on me over recent years, particularly the Cousteau editions, and in it’s latest guise, I think it just looks better than ever!

This edition stands out from previous releases in that it marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the legendary French underwater explorer on June 11 and this is commemorated on the watch’s caseback with the engraved bust of Cousteau above the 1910 – 2010 centenial tribute.

As a diver’s watch it features stout luminous steel hands and applied hour markers set against the graphite grey coloured dial, a stainless steel rotating bezel with ceramic numerals ring and rubber-clad crown, all on a 44mm x 15mm stainless steel case, so it has all the features and will also withstand depths of 120m.

The recessed chrono subdials, being the same deep dark blue as the centering arrow on the bezel, really set off the effect of the watch and beneath the day and date windows is the Jacques Cousteau signature. It all sits on a natural black rubber strap with tang buckle.

The IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Jacques Cousteau Edition 2010 is powered by the IWC Calibre 79320 automatic movement.

Popularity: 26% [?]