As November comes to an end, we check out Omega’s new and very unique-looking Seamaster Bullhead Chronograph and Jaquet Droz’s very blingy ‘Ultra Lux’ Bird Repeater watch. Speaking of Jaquet Droz, we also spent an evening with one of their enamelist to see how their dials are painted. With bronze watches all the rage, we also find out how you can quicken the patina process. Finally, we find out how custom watch straps are made.
1. Experience With Jaquet Droz Enamel Dial Painting: Tough
Enamel dials are experiencing a resurgence of late and Jaquet Droz is one of the high-end watch brands to feature watches with enamel dials. We recently had the chance to join Jaquet Droz and one of their enamelist, Heidi, to see how their dials are created, and also had the chance to try painting the dials ourselves.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
2. Omega Seamaster Bullhead Chronograph Watch Hands-On
The Omega Seamaster Bullhead chronograph was one of the new watches unveiled by Omega earlier this year at Baselworld. I was intrigued by its unique case design and thought the white dial variant looked absolutely captivating. It helps too that it features a chronograph complication and can be used to tell time in another time zone by way of its rotating inner 24-hour bezel.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
3. Jaquet Droz The Bird Repeater ‘Ultra Lux’ Watch With Engraved Gold Dial And Diamonds Hands-On
How do you make an already expensive watch even more expensive? If this watch is anything to by, simply add diamonds. Jaquet Droz’s Bird Repeater watch is amazing, but at close to half a million dollars, nowhere near affordable. This piece takes that watch, removes the exquisitely painted enamel dial and adds loads of diamonds in its place. I dare not guess how much this costs.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
4. The First Rolex Oyster Watch From 1926
For good or bad, Rolex is today synonymous with luxury watches. It is one of the world’s largest high-end watchmakers and also one of the most powerful brands in the world. However, it was not always this way. Rolex had very humble beginnings and made its name after a series of technical breakthroughs, one of which was the first Oyster watch. The iconic Submariner followed in 1953. Find out more about these two historically important watches here.
Certainly, I have a soft place for contemporary watches that attempt to recreate the majestic artistic density of antique timepiece creations that I fawn over in museum settings. Brands such as Jaquet Droz have a rich history to pull from, but in fact, the entire watch industry has literally a few hundred decades of amazing designs and artistic strategies to inspire them. Modern tastes and industrial practices avoid most of the historical hand-done art to be used on the modern watches, but it’s wonderful to know that at a few watches like the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Tourbillon Paillonnée attempt to combine modern aesthetic considerations with artistic techniques that many people are able to continue to love. I think Jaquet Droz combines the old and the new together quite well in watches in this way, but they are quite restricted in their production by nature. J013014270 (as you will see in a minute, a title that’s somewhat ironic). Restricted to just 28 pieces, this can be an interestingly decorative version of one of the very simple and elegant tourbillon watches available.aBlogtoWatch first coated the Jaquet Droz Grande Second Tourbillon here back in 2012. Instead of a 43mm wide case, the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Tourbillon Aventurine is smaller, at 39mm wide. That makes it sort of “uni-sex,” though this style and size is a favorite in Asia, a place where Jaquet Droz is quite profitable. So while the diamonds and mother-of-pearl are somewhat feminine for a few Western male preferences, I wouldn’t move ahead and assume that this is a lady’s watch. It’s in fact promoted as a men’s design, I believe.
Source: aBlogtoWatch (Oyster), aBlogtoWatch (Submariner)
5. What You Should Know About Apple, iWatches, And Sapphire Crystal
It has long been rumored that Apple is working on a watch. Heck, the company even registered the iWatch name in a couple of countries. But with the iWatch still nowhere to be seen, here are some thoughts from us with regards to its design and the use of sapphire crystal.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
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