Some Of The Best Watch Information Ever Posted On The Forums...

TwoTone · February 3, 2007

Theft:

Prostitute trial over $1m watch theft

A PROSTITUTE accused of stealing a $1-million watch from a Crown Casino high roller has been ordered to stand trial at the Victorian County Court.

Michelle Taylor, 20, of the Docklands, today pleaded not guilty to one charge of theft when she appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court for a one-day committal hearing.

It is alleged Taylor accompanied a Chinese businessman to the Crown Towers Hotel after he visited the brothel she worked for, the Daily Planet, on January 27 last year.

In a document tendered to the court, Taylor told police she took the watch from a bedside table drawer in the hotel room because the client "did a few things I wasn't too happy about".

She denied she took the watch, a Patek Philippe watch containing 580 diamonds, to sell.

Watch repairer for the Swiss Watch Service Centre, Jason Wigg, said the Patek Philippe watch was a made to order, one-off piece that was worth about $1.1 million, in a statement tendered to the court.

Magistrate Felicity Broughton ordered Taylor to appear at the Victorian County Court in April.

Courtesy news.com

TwoTone · February 3, 2007

Breguet: Did he Really Invent Everything?

Abraham-Louis Breguet. Did he really invent everything that he is credited with? For some, the answer is as obvious as the question is ridiculous. In their view, the heritage left by Breguet is so important and so far-reaching that there has been no significant innovation in watchmaking since his time.

Jean-Claude Nicolet, watchmaking historian, gives his opinion, Pascal Brandt comments.

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Setting the record straight

There are others, however, who would answer that question differently. One of these is Jean-Claude Nicolet, an expert consultant with Europa Star and a former professor at the School of Watchmaking in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. This watch historian would like to set the record straight: "It would be erroneous to say that Breguet invented all that he is credited with. When Breguet started working on watches, the balance spring was already in existence and the gear train system was already being used. It would probably be more accurate to say that Breguet's main contribution was in perfecting a number of existing principles and mechanisms."

To support his conclusions, Nicolet explains how watches were constructed during Breguet's time: "They were made of two plates, one superimposed over the other, with the various parts of the mechanism sandwiched between them." Using this basic principle, Abraham-Louis Breguet then adapted an idea of Lépine, which was to hollow out the mass, make bridges and generally improve on the construction. In Nicolet's opinion, Breguet certainly does deserve credit for his remarkable sense of the aesthetic, "which was so advanced that his cases and movements are still very much appreciated today. In this regard, his work is perfectly contemporary."

Setting the record straight, again...

It would be incorrect, however, to credit Breguet only with having perfected certain existing techniques and mechanisms. Among others, he invented the drop-protection device, the forerunner of today's anti-shock mechanism. He also developed the Breguet key, a watch key with a ratchet arrangement which prevents the watch from being wound in the wrong direction.

Jean-Claude Nicolet does credit Breguet with his innovation of an ingenious system using two barrel springs geared in parallel to a center pinion, "an idea which had not been exploited even though it would save energy from the standpoint of friction."

Professor Nicolet also admits that Breguet, even though he did not create everything, still did give birth to a number of brilliant inventions. Nicolet credits Breguet with the invention of the balance spring that bears his name. The Breguet spring, an overcoil form of balance spring, was created by raising the highest exterior turn of the spring and giving it a shape which prevented it from moving concentrically, thus maintaining its center of gravity on the rotational axis.

"Breguet was, in fact, a genius in the sense that he was among the first to make very high quality watches." In conclusion," with a Breguet in your pocket today, you will never have an outdated watch. His creations are extremely modern."

TwoTone · February 3, 2007

Biography: Abraham-Louis Breguet, Keeper of Time

During the religious wars in France, the Protestant Breguet family left its native Picardie in 1685 to find refuge in the western part of Switzerland. The Breguet name was thus destined to become famous in both countries, each claiming its famous son, Abraham-Louis Breguet. The future watchmaker was born in Neuchâtel, a village of 3500 inhabitants, on January 10, 1747. His father, Jonas-Louis Breguet, was a merchant who belonged to the local bourgeoisie. In 1752, he became proprietor of an inn in Les Verrières, a small village near Neuchâtel, which was a stopover point for travelers on their way to Burgundy and Paris.

Abraham-Louis spent a rather normal childhood although in school he was considered a bit of a dreamer who did not really apply himself.

In 1758, tragedy struck. Jonas-Louis died, leaving his wife, Suzanne-Marguerite, alone with their two young daughters and the 11-year old Abraham-Louis. Sometime later, Suzanne-Marguerite married her late husband's cousin, Joseph Tattet, a watchmaker who had business contacts with France.

Learning his craft

In 1762, Tattet found his 15-year old stepson an apprenticeship with a watchmaker friend in Versailles. Three years later, the young Breguet was in Paris, and would study with famous artistic watchmakers such as Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807), watchmaker-mechanic to the King and Navy, and Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814), watchmaker to the King. Breguet also took classes in physics, optics, astronomy, mechanics and mathematics at the College Mazarin where he met the Abbot Joseph-François Marie (1738-1801). This generous man would later take the young apprentice under his wing and provide protection and support for him and his younger sisters. During these early years, Breguet learned his craft well.

The love of his life

Love came into the young watchmaker's life with Cécile L'huillier, the daughter of a wealthy family. The young couple married in 1775. As a wedding present, Cécile's father helped Breguet and his bride settle into an apartment at 39 Quai de l'Horloge on the Ile de la Cité in Paris. This neighborhood was already the home of many of the most prestigious watchmakers in Paris. At 28 years of age, Breguet now launched his own business, and was about to launch his own family. A son, Antoine-Louis, was born the next year. Business was prospering and his life's dreams seemed fulfilled.

But tragedy struck again. In 1780, during the fifth year of their marriage, Cécile died. Grief-stricken, Breguet plunged himself into his work and his inventions. He never remarried.

The watchmaker of reference

On a commercial level, Breguet was becoming well known and highly regarded. His brother-in-law and the Abbot Marie introduced him to the aristocracy. His first major customer, the Duke of Orleans, bought one of his "perpétuelle" watches in 1780. Two years later, the House of Breguet gained an even greater client, Marie-Antoinette. With the queen's support, his reputation grew not only in France but all over the Continent. In 1784 he earned the title of Master Watchmaker. Soon Breguet became the watchmaker of reference for the scientific, diplomatic, military and financial elite Europe. His understanding of technical mechanics as well as human character and talent allowed him to attract the best craftsmen and train them in order to realize the many products which emerged from his abundantly fertile imagination. In addition, Breguet possessed that unique combination of intuition and intelligence so necessary to provide for the skillful marketing of his products. He built up an international sales network through his personal contacts and his prestigious client base that, over the years, would be constantly renewed by the changing political picture.

From perpétuelles to politics

Concerned with social reform, Breguet was sympathetic to the political ideas that were gaining ground at the time in France. He joined the Jacobins, a revolutionary group under the leadership of the radical Jean-Paul Marat, whose sister made watch hands for Breguet. The threads of the lives of these two men were to become closely intertwined on at least two other occasions. In the 1780s, Paris was a boiling cauldron of political unrest. By the early 1790s, the situation was so dangerous that Breguet sent his son, Antoine-Louis to England for safety. Early in 1793, the Jacobins split into two groups, the moderate Girondins and the radical Montagnards. They began fighting not only the royalists, but also each other. The rabble-rousing radical Marat allied with the Montagnards.

Marat and the Reign of Terror

Despite their political differences, Breguet and Marat remained friends. In April 1793, while the two men were visiting a mutual acquaintance in Paris, a royalist crowd gathered outside demanding Marat's head. He was trapped. To save his friend, Breguet dressed him up as a woman, complete with powdered face and reddened cheeks. They waited until evening and then calmly walked out arm in arm, mingling with the crowd until Marat could flee to safety. The revolutionary had the opportunity to return the favor two months later. Hearing that Breguet, because of his royalist connections, had been placed on a death list by the Revolutionary Committee, Marat urged him to leave France. He arranged for safe-conduct passes for Breguet and his son, who had returned from England, to get across the Swiss border. It was the last time that the watchmaker would see his friend. On July 13, the eve of the Fête Nationale, Jean-Paul Marat was stabbed to death in his bathtub by a young member of the Girondins, Charlotte Corday.

A month later under the blazing August sun, Breguet and his son fled Paris for Switzerland. Because of his escape, Breguet was condemned as a traitor. The Committee of Public Safety confiscated his factory and shot one of his workers. His home and workshops were ransacked. His tools and equipment were destroyed. France's Reign of Terror had begun.

Sanctuary in Switzerland

In the relative calm of Switzerland, Breguet first went to Geneva and then in November returned to the village of his birth. By the end of the year, the inventor had settled in Le Locle, a village near Neuchâtel, where he set up a small workshop. Breguet used his two-year exile to perfect many of his ideas and innovative techniques in watchmaking.

The House of Breguet

The Terror passed. Calm returned to France. In May 1795, Breguet returned to Paris, reclaimed his house and obtained the restoration of his workshops from the new government. But the city was emotionally and economically exhausted. The Reign of Terror had decimated the aristocracy, the main clients of the House of Breguet. In their stead, though, new social classes were forming. This rich bourgeoisie, along with the new Napoleonic aristocracy became Breguet's new clients. The economic difficulties which still plagued the watch industry caused Breguet to create a unique system of "souscription". A buyer could pay 25% down for a watch of a limited series, with the balance due upon delivery. In this manner, Breguet watches became more accessible and the payments in advance helped finance the development of other projects.

The latter part of Abraham-Louis' life was amply marked by recognition. Clients of the House of Breguet included the Empress Josephine (1806), the King of England (1810) and many other crowned heads of Europe. Breguet was appointed to the Board of Longitude in 1814 and a year later was named as Watchmaker to the Royal Navy. In 1819, he was nominated to the prestigious Academy of Sciences by decree of King Louis XVIII. That same year, he was awarded the Legion of Honor. At the 1819 Paris Exhibition, the master watchmaker proudly presented a resume of his life's scientific achievements.

Time claims the keeper

The aging Breguet remained professionally active and enjoyed good health, except for a hearing loss. Tuesday September 17, 1823 found the inventor at his workshop as usual. As the morning sun filtered in through the half-shuttered window, the hands on his beloved pocket watch stopped. It was 8:37. Time claimed its keeper.

According to his wishes, Abraham-Louis Breguet's body was laid to rest in Père Lachaise in Paris. His spirit and legend live on.

Courtesy Europastar

TwoTone · February 3, 2007

Omega puts on the ritz with first U.S. boutique

Swatch Group brand Omega plans to launch its first boutique in the United States on tony Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif. The new, 2800-square-foot, split-level store is slated to open in summer 2005.

The 150-year-old brand, whose ambassadors include Cindy Crawford, Anna Kournikova and recent swimming Olympian Michael Phelps, will feature a selection of museum pieces, its current collection and new jewelry collection, Bijoux.

"There are several addresses in the U.S. that say prestige, but perhaps none have the cachet of Rodeo Drive," says Robert Emmons, president of Omega US. "That is why Omega chose to open its first retail boutique here."

Courtesy EuropaStar

Watch exports for 2004 reach record high

The value of Swiss watch exports last year reached a record SFr11.1 billion ($9.3 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said on Thursday.

This represents a jump of 9.2 per cent on 2003, underlining the strength of the sector’s recovery.

“The year 2004 saw in particular two very strong monthly increases in June and August, as well as two successive records with the highest monthly values ever achieved, in October and November,” said the Biel-based Federation in a statement.

It added that the decline recorded in 2003, where watch exports fell by 4.4 per cent to SFr10.177 billion, had been reversed due to the more stable world geopolitical situation and a sustained economic recovery in the United States.

“The pleasing growth recorded by Swiss watch exports should continue in 2005 with, however, a different development of the main regions compared with 2004,” added the Federation.

Exports of finished watches made even stronger gains than the sector as a whole, with their value rising to SFr10.2 billion, up 9.9 per cent compared with 2003.

The value of steel timepieces, which accounted for one in two watches exported, rose by almost 11 per cent and that of gold timepieces by around ten per cent.

US on top

The US remained the premier market for the Swiss watch industry, with an increase of 12.9 per cent to SFr1.9 billion. The Federation said that this was mainly due to the good economic climate in the country during 2004.

It was followed by Hong Kong, whose economy has recovered from the outbreak of the Sars virus and where watch exports rose by 15.6 per cent and Japan, where watch exports remained stable with a 0.5 per cent increase.

The news came as the world's largest watchmaker, the Swatch Group, said on Wednesday that its 2004 sales had increased 4.7 per cent to SFr4.15 billion from SFr3.97 billion the previous year.

Swatch said this was largely due to good results from its luxury watch business and added that it expected its full-year profit, to be announced in March, to increase, despite the negative effects of exchange rates.

Courtesy SwissInfo

What are the ranges of luxury watches available?

What should I expect to pay and get within each range?

And what brands are in each range?

The actual relationships and who exactly is better than whom is highly debated among wristwatch aficionados. This table is intended only to show very broad, general groupings of brands based on what each of these brands are most known for and what the bulk of their product lines represent. Many brands have a few special higher-end collections and some have lower-end models.

Courtesy Chronocentric

Attached image(s)

TV documentary star wearing a fake YM..

Has anyone seen the show called "Mythbusters"?

It's a USA show where everyweek 2 guys put myths to the test to see if they are true or false and conduct experiments to simulate the myths in reaching their conclusions.

There is 1 of the 2 stars of the show who wears a stainless steel/platinum Yacht-Master. The only problem is that the dial is black and without the maxi dial features. Every week for the past 4-5 weeks I've been looking at his watch.

This week the show gave a number of close ups of the watch and it got me a little bit angry how a guy who stands to prove or disapprove whether something (like whether a bullet manufactured from ice can be shot from a gun to injure someone) actually wears a counterfiet Rolex where the design has been stolen.

Does Rolex have the right to do something when a person is known to be flaunting a fake Rolex as one of the main stars on a real life TV show?

P.S. I otherwise like "Mythbusters" as its a pretty cool modern day documentary.

Courtesy Timezone - Rolexplor1

INDUSTRY NEWS - Omega Congratulates Ellen MacArthur’s Round-the-World Solo Record

Ellen MacArthur and her 75 foot trimaran B&Q/Castorama set a new world record for the non-stop single-handed circumnavigation of the planet, beating the already incredible time set only last year by Frenchman Francis Joyon.

Ever since she was old enough to save her school dinner money to buy her first boat, Ellen MacArthur has lived for sailing. As of October 2002, she already held the record as fastest female to race solo around the world in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe and the transatlantic east-west solo record from Plymouth (UK) to Newport (US).

Only a couple of months after becoming an Omega ambassador, she went on to win Class 1 Open 60 in the Route du Rhum on board the Kingfisher monohull, setting a new record of 13 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes in the IMOCA Open 60 class. She is the only woman among a mere handful of incredible personalities to complete this voyage.

Last year, although she narrowly missed breaking the transatlantic west-east solo record by only 75 minutes, she nevertheless set a new female record for the single-handed crossing. This was the first flat-out test for the new B&Q/Castorama trimaran before it set off on the voyage for which it was intended: Ellen’s attempt to break the record for single-handedly sailing non-stop around the world.

Ellen MacArthur has already proven herself as a yachtswoman of extraordinary character, stamina and resistance on several occasions. However, this latest record attempt put her under the severest of pressure, with her only competitor being the on-board Omega clock that counted down the time of previous record-holder Francis Joyon’s voyage. This meant constant stress and extreme sleep deprivation for Ellen during every hour of every day of the 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds that it took her to sail around the world – the ultimate three-month test of stamina!

The harsh sailing conditions and variable winds saw her lead drop from almost five days in the Southern Ocean to a deficit of 1 day in the South Atlantic, before recovering to a healthy advantage as she headed back into the northern hemisphere.

Omega is extremely proud to have been the official timekeeper of Ellen’s record voyage and has produced a unique trophy as a souvenir for Ellen in the form of a mounted globe depicting her route and the records she broke along the way.

We are also happy to note that, like B&Q/Castorama and Ellen, the Omega Seamaster watch she chooses also withstood the travails of her voyage, just as it was built to.

Courtesy Timezone

TwoTone · February 3, 2007