Westime and Zenith Celebrate

Limited Edition Timepiece Debuts Exclusively at Westime Boutiques
Rodeo Drive was transformed into an Arctic wonderland for the international debut of Zenith’s limited edition Manufacture watch, El Primero Striking "Jean-Louis Etienne."

Zenith joined forces with Arctic explorer Jean-Louis Etienne to develop a watch suitable for extreme situations and taxing weather conditions. Clear skies prevailed in Southern California on the evening of October 7th, but giant outdoor glacier walls, snow-white decorations and a carved ice bar turned the Westime Beverly Hills boutique into a glacial setting ideal for the timepiece’s debut.

Westime President Greg Simonian welcomed guests, and Zenith CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour described his collaboration with Jean-Louis Etienne before introducing the explorer himself. The first man to reach the North Pole on foot alone, Jean-Louis Etienne recalled his most recent expedition for which the new watch was created — his solo flight over the North Pole in a hot air balloon. Founder of Westime John Simonian and President of Zenith USA Alain Huy were also in attendance to celebrate the occasion.

Westime is one of the famous jewelers in The United States. They have a great and wide collection of unique timepieces and jewellery. For example Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, A. Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin, Zenith and IWC. When you are near one of their boutiques I would definetly pay a visit! For more information, visit Westime.

(Westime, 2010)

Magnificent pictures

Dear visitors, I had to share these magnificent pictures made by enthusiastic watch fanatics with their own professional camera. These pictures are made by two users of the populair watch website timezone.com. The left one is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Panda Dial and the right one is the Panerai Luminor Base (PAM00112) with a custom strap. These are two of my favorites in the industry!

Roger Dubuis Double Tourbillon

Roger Dubuis keeps making versions of their crazy looking skeletonized double tourbillon watches. This newest one is going to be even more expensive - being a quasi jewelry piece with large baguette-cut diamonds on the inner bezel ring. In a 45mm wide 18k white gold case with an open dial, this is one of the boldest looking luxury watches around today. The skeletonized movement shows off the two tourbillon carriages, gear train and skeletonized mainspring barrel of the movement. The glass is sapphire and glareproofed on both sides. And the movement is very difficult to put together, and I imagine rather delicate. So do not drop this watch!

Like I said, what makes this "Jewellery" version of the Excalibur Double Tourbillon watch different is the 48 diamonds on the bezel. The watch by itself is shiny enough, and the diamonds will push it to a new level of bling - high horology bling that is. This Roger Dubuis watch will be limited to just 28 pieces and is matched to an alligator strap (Luxist, 2010).

Audemars Piguet Celebrates its 135th anniversary with a new watch

Tokyo, October 5th 2010: Audemars Piguet Japan held the Audemars Piguet 135th anniversary and new product launch party in the “Choice!” restaurant on the third floor of the eity’s prestigious Ark Mori building. The event was attended by a total of 500 guests including VIP, celebrities and media.

Mr. Go Mugino, Chief Executive Officer of Audemars Piguet Japan, welcomed guests with a speech in which he stated that: “Audemars Piguet has consistently forged its history through an innovative and challenging spirit. Today’s announcement of a special new product will be a fresh chapter in the company’s ongoing story.”

After the speech, Mr. Mugino introduced the evening’s first “special guests”: the two brand founders Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet appeared in a hologram to greet attendees at the Audemars Piguet 135th anniversary event. Through the wonders of technology, they talked about the history of AP and the watch industry in general, and how things have changed since the time they first started. Various historical watches representing 135 years of history, specially flown in from the Audemars Piguet Museum in Le Brassus, were displayed in the same area.

After the surprise appearance of the company founders in the first zone, the party moved on to the next zone of the venue, representing the very latest from Audemars Piguet, where guests were entertained with Formula 1 simulators, nail arts, mixing by Japan’s hottest DJ “ DJ Hico”, and live music from the Piano Jack Instrumental Jazz Band.

The last and most special guest, representing the brand’s newly released watch model, was introduced by Mr. Wolfgang Sickenberg, Chief Sales Officer of Audemars Piguet. Formula 1 racing ace Jarno Trulli has been serving as Audemars Piguet ambassador since 2008, is to compete in the Japanese Grand Prix on October 8th, wearing a helmet sporting a picture of the “Royal Oak Offshore Jarno Trulli” Chronograph.

This new model, issued in a worldwide limited edition of 500, available as of October 6th from the Audemars Piguet Boutique located in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping precinct, will be initially be launched exclusively in Japan prior to its international release by the end of the year (Audemars Piguet, 2010).

Specifications:

Reference - 26202AU.OO.D002CA.01

Movement - Calibre: 3126/3840, selfwinding - Total diameter: 29.94 mm (13¼ lignes) -Casing diameter: 26 mm - Thickness: 7.16 mm - 59 jewels - 365 parts - Up to 60-hour power reserve - Cadence of the balance: 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz) - Variable-inertia balance with eight inertia blocks and fl at balance-spring - Geneva-type mobile balance-spring stud-holder - Three-position winding stem - Finishing: all parts meticulously decorated: mainplate circular-grained; bridges rhodium-plated, chamfered, snailed and adorned with Côtes de Genève motif. Diamond-polished jewel sinks, diamond-polished sinks and chamfered spokes on the wheels; chamfered screw rims and slots. 22kt gold oscillating weight with anthracite grey galvanic coating.

Case - Forged carbon case middle, Cermet bezel, crown and pushers in sand-blasted titanium, sapphire crystal back in sand-blasted titanium - Diameter: 42mm - Thickness: 15.65mm - Back engraved with the inscription Royal Oak Offshore Limited Edition - Jarno Trulli - Water resistance: 100 meters.

Dial - Anthracite grey with exclusive “Méga Tapis serie” motif, silvered counters, applied hour-markers and hands in white gold with red luminescent coating, silvered inner bezel ring.
Strap - Black rubber, sand-blasted titanium folding clasp.

At the moment I am busy with an editorial about the unique appeal of Apple in relation to high-end watch brands. Please keep visit frequently, it will be online soon!