December 2013 Archives

Another watch, another unique material!  This time it's a fragment of the Enstatite EH meteorite, which has tiny bits of diamond within its matrix, as the moon in the moonphase of this interesting, if overly decorated ladies watch from Louis Moinet (previously mentioned).  The case is 36mm of titanium with a white ceramic bezel, set with 54 diamonds and 6 cabochon sapphires.  The dial is mother of pearl, cut in a Côtes du Jura pattern and the movement is a custom Concepto model, based on an ETA caliber.

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Long exposure of the interior of Salisbury Cathedral, often remembered for its inverted arches.  The traces are of the candles carried throughout the sanctuary during the 'darkness into light' service which begins Advent.

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Left-over news from Baselworld 2013 is the La Jonction by Spero Lucem, a new brand of unknown backing.  The watches features a flying tourbillon, jumping hours and a retrograde minute hand, and a power-reserve on the back of the movement.  The SL2 caliber which drives the entire thing has 159 parts, including 33 jewels, beats at a moderate 21,600 BPH and provides 100 hours of power-reserve.  It was manufactured by MHC (Manufacture Haute Complications), who is one of the newer names in the high-end movement business, they are also the manufacture behind Louis Moinet (see previous).  

The case is available in 18kt rose Gold or titanium, and is 42x15.5mm.

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It isn't only the Swiss who reanimate dead brand names for their companies, the British clockmaker extraordinaire George Graham rose from the corporate grave in 1995 alongside Arnold(see previous), which has since been sold) as the two arms of British Masters .  In commemoration of the 300th anneversary of the first mechanical model of the solar system, which was made in 1713 by Graham for Charles Boyle, the 4th Earl of Orrery, they have released a Toubrillon Orrery watch.

The case is a massive 48×17.6mm of 18kt rose gold, displaying a 43.5mm diameter dial. Christopher Claret (mentioned previously) developed the manually-wound movement, which has 35 jewels and a power-reserve of 3 days. The dial displays the tourbillon in the center, under the bridge carved in the manner of 18th century balance cocks, along with the hours and minutes. There's a small sapphire sphere for the earth, orbited by a rhodium moon which also indicates the gregorian date and the zodiacal sign. At the outer rim of the dial a small ruby indicates the position of mars. In the case band are all the correctors needed to keep this ballet in time.

Dial of the Orrery Watch	18th Century Graham watch, the balance cock inspired the tourbillon bridge

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It's barely December, but the watch industry is already starting to gear up for the winter shows.  Ralph Lauren Watches are a strange brand from the Richemont stable.  They've got a solidly coherent aesthetic, antique automobiles(which makes sense considering RLTM's collection), and solid movements, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to who their target is.  In any case, they have a new tourbillon out this year, in a large (nearly 45mm) blackened-steel case.  Like their Sporting Automotive collection (at least the names are descriptive), there's a ring of elm burl at the outer edge of the dial. 

Unlike their current tourbillon(RL67), this one is flying (only mounted at the bottom, rather then between 2 bridges), and the RL167 movement has a micro-rotor for winding.  MSRP unknown

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