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IF you have met the man behind LUC, Chopard's haute horlogerie arm for men's watches, you will understand why his technical pieces can sometimes take longer than usual to get to your retailer. He wants to get it right. First introduced by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele in 2006, the Chrono 1 Flyback masterpiece featured here with in-house LUC 11 FC chrono movement is now available in 42.5mm white or rose gold - celebrated with hands reminiscent of its tourbillon classics. Three significant innovations stand out: A no-shudder chrono hand reset mechanism, stop-seconds for precision time setting, and an all-new auto-winding system. If you are not Patek Philippe fans you might not be fully aware of this: It is eminently possible that this will be your last chance to pick up their 5070 chrono classic, introduced this year for the first (and perhaps) last time in platinum with a stunning blue dial. Gold versions have already been discontinued, and the buzz is that Patek Philippe will soon discontinue serial production of two classics with base Lemania movements: the 5070 highlighted here, and the Grande Complication 5970 Jaeger-LeCoultre's larger Squadra Reverso case gives them the dimensions to offer us an automatic watch with a chrono on one side, and world time functions on the other. It's christened the Polo Fields in tribute to the original in this signature line. This year's case is presented in a high-tech black zirconium oxide alloy fired by 2,000 celsius of heat, sitting on a base of titanium. A 500-piece edition in rose gold is also available. We have to confess that enamel dials do something for us, especially when they are made even more complicated with chronograph sub-dials, as in the column-wheel example on this page by Breguet. And that snail-like shape in red - which complements the red stop-watch hand - has a purpose too. It's actually a tachometer scale, which enables you to time speeds in kmh. Omega is pulling out all the stops to make this year's Beijing Olympics their mega marketing platform. On the technical side, they celebrate the event with an unusual five-counter certified chronometer chronograph to depict the five Olympic rings. The handsome brushed red gold Speedmaster we show off here has a black dial that reports from left to right (nine to three): the passing seconds, up to seven elapsed chrono days, the day of the week in the centre, then the hours and minutes elapsed counters for the chrono. From Panerai, we have a Luminor 1950 monopulsante or single-button chrono in tough and light grade-five titanium this year, the PAM 311. Using the in-house P.2004 chrono calibre developed by Panerai, this watch boasts one-pusher operation (at 7 o'clock) for start, stop and reset of the chrono function and a linear eight-day power reserve indicator. To make it even more irresistible, the watch has an always-useful GMT hand plus day-night indicator, and is supplied with two easy-change straps. About two years ago, the small but exquisite hand-made movements of Minerva became part of the Richemont Group, more specifically the Montblanc brand. This year, the brand celebrates its 150th anniversary with two very special editions of Collection Villaret single-button chronographs. Each of them comes in numbers of one in platinum, eight in white gold (shown here) and 58 in rose gold - to represent the brand's year of birth: 1858. By most accounts, those in Singapore who have had the chance to see these watches when they came through here were left breathless, and we were no exception. They are expensive, no doubt about that, but when you consider that only about 350 painstakingly hand-made watches pass through their doors each year, you have some idea just how obsessed with perfection these guys are. The very rare Champleve enamel technique is employed for the 47mm dial and its sub-dials, presented in a rare combination of red and black here. Inside, we're told, each of the calibre 16.29 monopusher chrono movements is assembled from start to finish by a single watchmaker, and then the inner side of the cuvette (or back cover) is signed by their master watchmaker as a final seal of approval. Readers may be interested to know that Sincere, their exclusive retailer here, reserved the single blue-dial platinum pieces for both the 47mm Minerva calibre 16-29 shown here as well as the 41mm Minerva calibre 13-21 - but they may have already been spoken for. Speaking of monopusher chronos, all our buddies were dazzled by the new baby from De Bethune - the DB21 Maxichrono. Visually, it was love at first sight for all present - and when you begin to study the logic of the dial layout, you will be even more impressed. The principal idea for the five coaxial hands here is legibility - you read the stop-watch time without the hour or minute hands blocking your line of sight. Sitting snug in an unusual flamed blue titanium cradle, the 45mm case reports time in the centre with the two white polished hands. The long blue chrono second hand reports the passing seconds on the outermost track - making two, instead of one, revolution per minute so the read-out can be bigger and thus more accurate. The red minute hand reads off in the track below that, with half-minute divisions to complement the 30-second dial above it. Finally, the arrow-shaped blue hand reads off the chrono time in passing hours. Great stuff, don't you think? In Basel this year, Tag Heuer introduced yet another concept chrono that breaks new ground: the Calibre 36 RS Caliper concept chronograph. It's a column wheel auto chrono which will be the first one of its kind that measures stop-watch time down to one-tenth of a second. Look closely at this titanium carbide-clad example and you will see linear watch seconds measured at 9 o'clock, linear chrono minutes elapsed at 3 o'clock and a circular chrono hours-elapsed sub-dial at 6 o'clock. Nice, but so far nothing new, you might say. Here's the new, fun part: The crown at 10 o'clock allows you to rotate an inner scale which - with the help of a 10-times magnifier - will read the stopwatch time elapsed down to one-tenth of a second. And if St Moritz is where you spend your winters - and we do know some lucky Singaporeans who do exactly that - Omega's St Moritz DeVille Chronos might just strike your fancy. Smaller than the 44mm Speedmaster case, this 41mm certified chronometer watch will sit snugly under your ski jacket. And it has an unusual way of recording the elapsed chrono hours at 6 o'clock too.

Doc, your watch is value for $ and great looking. And it's gen!!!

Ha ha!!! Yup, dream on bro!

BESIDES telling the time, perpetual calendar watches report the day of the week, the date, the month and (usually, though not always) the phase of the moon as well - from small sub-dials or windows set into the watch face. A series of intricate mechanisms help to automatically adjust for the different number of days in different months, and can even recognise the Feb 29 of leap years. No computer chips or batteries, but lots of little gear teeth. Repeaters A watch with a repeater mechanism is usually among the most rare, and thus the most expensive of pieces in a watchmaker's product range. Inside the watch case, hammers hit gongs to sound the hours, quarters and minutes in musical tones of different pitches. These are normally made in men's versions, but Audemars Piguet has made a smaller ladies' version as well. Variations are as follows, in ascending order of complexity: Quarter repeaters: A low-pitched gong is struck for each hour, and a ting-tang combo of low and treble tones for each quarter-hour. Five-minute repeaters: The first version sounds the hours with a base tone, and counts each five-minute period with a treble tone. The second type has the first two tones, but adds the ting-tang combo for each quarter-hour as well. Minute repeaters: These are more precise. When activated, they count right down to the minute - base tone for the hours, ting-tang for the quarters, then a treble note for each minute elapsed. This year's example from FP Journe shows off a minute repeater hammer between 9 and 10 o'clock. If the time is 3.20, for example, the delighted listener will hear three base tones (3 o'clock), one ting-tang combo (for 15 minutes), and then five treble notes (to add another five minutes). A recent innovation by Finnish watchmaker Kari Voutilainen replaces the quarters with 10-minute segments, and has been accordingly christened the decimal repeater. Grande sonnerie: In addition to providing minute repeater functions on request, these also announce the hours and quarters en passant - automatically - like a grandfather clock. A push-piece at the side of the watch usually makes it possible to automate only the striking of the hours (petite sonnerie), or silence automatic soundings altogether. Carillon repeaters: The additional feature here is that three gongs, sounding a combination of three different musical tones, announce the quarters. Some can play different tunes for different quarters, the most popular being the Westminster chimes. These have been known to have as many as four gongs. Split-second chronographs A chronograph is basically a timepiece with stop-watch functions. A split-second (rattrapante in French) chrono, on the other hand, has two central stop-watch hands, one lying on top of the other, which can time two events of different durations simultaneously. At the start of a swim, for example, both hands move in unison. The fly-back hand can then be stopped to record the time taken to complete each lap, while the second stop-watch hand continues to run. After noting successive lap times, a push-piece is hit to make the fly-backhand catch up with the second stop-watch hand. This can continue until the swim is completed, the total time recorded, and both hands re-set to zero. This year, Girard-Perregaux introduced a watch which not only shows off the two large blue rattrapante hands, but goes beyond that. The red hand at 9 o'clock is a foudroyante hand, which means it whizzes around at a dizzy speed in order to measure time down to one-sixth of a second. Two years ago, we even witnessed the advent of split-minute on top of split-seconds, thanks to the German watchmaking firm of A Lange & Sohne. This makes it possible to simultaneously time two laps or events which have durations longer than a minute. Last year, in honour of the America's Cup Race hosted by Spain, we saw a series of chronos which incorporated 10-minute countdown timers for yacht races. Tourbillons THIS is another expensive complication, with a whole multitude of brands showing off their latest variations of the standard anti-gravity theme in recent years. The mechanism adjusts for the negative effects of gravity. It harks back to the time when stop-watches rested in a fixed position in the waist pockets of their owners. It consists of a mobile cage which contains the escapement - the oscillating part of the timepiece. This mobile cage makes one revolution per minute, thus cancelling out any oscillation errors that the escapement might make as a result of lying in a fixed position for a long period of time - which was often the case for pocket watches lying in vest pockets of the gentry of yore. These days, more and more watchmakers have updated the tourbillon complication to cater for modern wristwatches, with cages that revolve on two or even three axes - rather than on a single plane or angle.

Classic watch and a great review. Taught me there are more nice vintage watches than the modern contemporary one. Great piece of history too!

That is why I hang out in RWG daily! You guys (Admins & Moderators) rock!

Food Caterer to hotels and resorts by day, apprentice equity trader by night.

Course Module: Rep History 101 Lecturer: Dr. Phoband

September is full of seminar and F1 so booking a hotel room is out. Anyone got lobang for condo multi purpose room? I can arrange some food. If not then we have to settle @ some restaurant's private rooms. I got some lobang in Corporthone Hotels. Will confirm later. Cheers!

Hi Lanikai, great photo shots for 2 great reps. Just when I was trying to limit to 2 reps per quater. The grey dial with S/S strap is just brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Master.

Yes, there is hope! Thank you so much Dadog!!

:Jumpy: :drool:

Nice photo shots. Must learn to take photo like you.

That was why I didn't go for the limited edition.

I can settle the food and beverage. That's easy. Would be easier if there are more ppl.

Coolfire & Siesta, you guys are making me click on the mouse on Skyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! September will be great! Except the last week, where I may just make my way to GZ watch market after I am done with Hong Kong. And Singapore is so small. We ought to meet up more often! Everyone is welcomed!!! Students, working adults, retirees, male, female... It's always good to meet up with like-minded people.

I received my 1st rep 8 years ago from my brother who bought it from Phat Pon (Bangkok). It was a Breitling Navitimer. Being an ignorant teen then, that watch was a big thing for me. I loved the watch so much that I wore it everyday. Then, I have no idea of online rep community. No idea of movement, date dial etc. A watch is a just watch to me. Thus when the watch strap gave way, there was no one to turn too. I assumed there was no rep friendly watchmakers around Singapore. Fast forward to 2008. It was by chance I come across RWG and it has been a revelation. The info, the wisdom, the camaraderie, the humour and the occasional abuses here make this forum alive and full of energy. When I dug deep and read all the excellent reviews and how-to posts, the experience was mind-blowing. Those posts were created long ago but trust me, they MADE deep impact for a new comer like me. I am pretty sure newcomers present and future all appreciate the posts and advices from the veterans. 2 weeks ago I received my 1st rep (the 2000 Breitling Navitimer aside) and I even attended the Singapore gtg last weekend and make new friends! I am not exaggerating but all this won't be possible w/o RWG.

Great GTG definitely! And trust me, going for a gtg @ this age with strangers because of a hobby is even more unthinkable for me!!! But boy did I enjoy the event! I was ready to go without any rep but manage to have my Chopard MMGT XL shipped to me last week! The gtg was held at The Cafe in The Legends @ Fort Canning. As a newb, I was blown away by the reps from Siesta, Cool Fire and Takashi. All the reps are fantastic and yes, pushed me further in to the "EVIL web & sickness of watch-collecting" as Cool Fire put it. Not only was this an eye opener in every sense, members attending also shared their knowledge. It is indeed great to know that there is a reliable source of watch service in Singapore by one of the RWG member! It was great bonding of Brotherhood. Looking forward to the next Singapore gtg. In fact, perhaps we can organise one gtg to Guang Zhuo, China, at the hotel nearest to the Watch Market in GZ!!!! And Siesta, yes, the Hublot DOES look good on me yeah?! And thank you Takashi, for organising this gtg!

Hi, Fallen in love with this watch ever since I saw it on Tag Heuer's official website. What Grand Carera is this and where can I get more info of it from? Thank you all!

Hi Eleley, I have purchased the same watch from Watchstation, dealer of the version 2 that you have shown in your post. When I dealt with him, he told me the version he gave me was the "Best Version". As my inquiry was version 2 in the beginning, Watchstation didn't recommended it as he said V2 has A7750, 21600 bph. The best version is A7750 28,800 bph. I am new and not too sure of the difference but the price difference was big enuf! (PM me for details). I have posted some photos at http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=80682 So far the complaints being AR is almost non-existence (I can be wrong bcos this is my 1st rep afterall!) and the chrono hand was loose after I reset it while it was running, without stopping it 1st. Hope I am of some help. Cheers! PS: Btw, how to spot a regulator?

Yes, the rubber band IS a dust magnet. So be diligent to wipe it with a wet cloth often.

Gentlemen, Thank you all for the invaluable info! Cara

Congrats! and also thanks for helping newbies like me!

2 more days!!!