Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Wholesale Suppliers Top Quality LAST CHANCE: Baume & Mercier Classima Automatic Watch Giveaway


Now, being that it’s a mechanical watch, I can listen to the chatter of watch enthusiasts commenting about how mechanical watches shouldn’t be subjected to continuous vibration and G powers no matter the specs. The effects of constant and brief powerful vibrations to mechanical motions continues to be widely debated on several forums and covered by several articles, some of them by aBlogtoWatch, but it’s generally agreed upon that any strenuous physical activity is best performed with your mechanical watch spectating in the sidelines. Wearing of mechanical watches through these kinds of activities could harm the self-winding mechanism along with causing premature wear on pivots and the balance wheel.As an ideal testing ground I would be riding a skillet, vibey V-twin Indian Scout Bobber, more than three days, to test all these early wear concepts such as the extra advantage of it being shock resistant and rated to withstand 550 G, that is more than 10 times the shock exerted on a body during a fatal automobile accident. With all those specs, I was feeling pretty confident about the watch withstanding the vibrations.The additional mechanical equipment I’d be reviewing are the aforementioned Indian Scout Bobber, a newly not-yet-released version, and I’d be riding one to the next few times at arguably one of the most coveted, secret, two-wheeled gatherings in the motorcycle community. The Bobber was a great compliment to the Clifton Club watch as they carried an edgier feel contrary to their counterparts in their respective collections, which, as the weekend progressed, revealed to be a really complimentary relationship with comparable street maps.

LAST CHANCE: Baume & Mercier Classima Automatic Watch Giveaway Giveaways

Just a short time left in June and for your chance to enter to win a Baume & Mercier Classima reference 10216 automatic in this month’s watch giveaway on aBlogtoWatch.com. Click here to enter, as well as learn more about the watch and the giveaway. Good luck, and don’t forget to check out our giveaways each month on aBlogtoWatch! Also, be sure to enter our special bonus giveaway to win a Hamilton Khaki X-Wind Auto Chrono watch featured in the Independence Day: Resurgence movie. We’ll remind you of that giveaway again before it ends on July 4th.

NOTE: You need to comment and enter on the giveaway post page itself, and not this reminder post.

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Grade 1 Replica Watches Who Makes The Best Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On


Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

The best conversation I had at SIHH 2017 was with American car legend Peter Brock. Noted as the designer of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, Peter Brock worked with the great (and sadly, late) Carroll Shelby and the Shelby Cobra race car collection. In the early 1960s, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe CSX2299 debuted on the race circuit to not only beat out the Europeans who had larger, better-funded race teams – but also went on to set something like two dozen land speed records. For 2017, Baume & Mercier continues their relationship with Shelby and releases a new collection of Shelby-themed watches with the highlight being the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra – these consist of three limited-edition models which are the reference M0A10344, M0A10343, and M0A10342.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Peter Brock was a veritable well of incredibly fascinating stories and history about car racing. I am not exaggerating that I could easily spend the entire day sitting in that back room of the Baume & Mercier booth listening to him share information. I’m no car racing historian so I won’t attempt to retell Brock’s stories myself, but you can read more about Pete Brock on Wikipedia here. In my hand while we chatted was Baume & Mercier’s latest Shelby watch for 2017, which is more than just a cosmetic update of the outgoing models.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Daytona’s story that Mr. Brock told me is just why it is was so fast. The secret was in the design of the rear, which dropped off abruptly without a tapering end. Brock apparently discovered pre-World War II German engineering documents discussing how such designs performed better than the traditional fishtail style ends that many cars at the time had. This was prior to widespread use of wind tunnels or deep understanding of aerodynamics. It was in his discovery of the documents as well as his insistence of implementing the concepts he learned into the design of the Daytona Coupe car which is the real fascinating part of the story, in my opinion.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier now has two types of Shelby Cobra watches. One of the Shelby Corba versions is under the Capeland collection (hands-on review with the cars here), and the new-for-2017 ones are the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra – which has a totally new case design with two movement options in each limited edition set. For 2017, Baume & Mercier actually injects the larger Clifton watch collection with two new sport watch models called the Clifton Club. The model known simply as the “Clifton Club” is a dive-style watch, while the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10344 is a drive-style racing watch. In fact, there are two limited-edition Clifton Club Shelby Cobra models. One is the more limited and expensive 10344 (with the split blue and white dial to mimic the signature look of the car), and then there are the 10343 (blue dial) and 10342 (silver/white) which come in at a lower price.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Pete Brock and Baume & Mercier designer Alexandre Peraldi reportedly worked together on the clever lines of this more modern-feeling driving-style watch in comparison to the slightly more retro-feeling Capeland models. Both are certainly inspired and good looking, but it is important to make it clear that the watches’ cases are totally distinct.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra is 44mm wide and 15.3mm thick in either steel and titanium or in all steel. The less limited model has just a steel case. The case design and quality are fantastic, but it ain’t cheap, especially for the 10344 version. The darker elements of the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10344’s case are titanium, which is rendered in a sandblasted finishing with side detailing meant to evoke the engine as well as the foot pedals. The polished pushers and bezel are in steel. The overall case is elegant and refined even with its overt style cues meant to suggest the famed Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. That wasn’t easy, and it’s a testament to the design acumen of Mr. Peraldi. I say this because so many times when watches try to overtly suggest a car or other machine, the results can look really kitschy.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

At the Baume & Mercier booth at SIHH 2017, they had a replica of the original Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe that was built in the 1990s. I was told that it was meant to replicate the original in almost every way, including performance. Only three such cars exist in the world. One thing you’ll notice about the car is the “split” blue and silver/white paint job. This split color is mimicked on the dial of this particular Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10344 limited-edition model. The “two-face” look isn’t for everyone, but I found it cool and felt as though it added a welcome bold character to the watch which matched the personality it was going for as something proud but not aiming to be on everyone’s wrist. For the versions of the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra watches in all steel with the more traditional dials, you can choose between a mostly blue or mostly silver/white dial.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Dial details here include a combination of those from previous Shelby Cobra watches in the larger Clifton collection (such as the style of the Arabic numeral hour markers). A red colored “196 mph” in the tachymeter scale is meant to recall a speed record of the Daytona Coupe race car. Over on the rear of the case, there is a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback window. You can see the thick automatic rotor which doesn’t allow for too much of a view into the movement but is meant to suggest an element of the car – this time, the wheels.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Inside the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10344 is the Swiss La Joux-Perret caliber 8147-2 automatic flyback chronograph movement. Operating at 4Hz, the movement has a power reserve of 42 hours. The movement offers the time and 30-minute chronograph along with a date indicator window. Not all collectors will appreciate the presence of the date window (located diagonally between 4 and 5 o’clock), but it doesn’t bother me. Though I would have liked for it to employ a matching blue-colored disc to match that section of the metallic blue dial color. The less limited Baume & Mercier Shelby Cobra 10343 and 10342 models in the all-steel cases contain base Swiss ETA Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movements and similar “wheel-style” automatic rotors. The cases on all models are water resistant to 50 meters.

The McCall’s Annual Motorworks Revival functions to kick off the Monterey Car Week which sees tens of thousands of engine enthusiasts gather annually for classic automobile auctions and rushing at the famous Laguna Seca Raceway. So what makes these versions unique? Still current under the crystal, of course, is the tachymeter round the dialup, and obviously there is the cobra logo forged right into the moments hand’s counterweight to remind it means business. The small-seconds subdial on each of these pieces was outfitted with a number representative of drivers of this Shelby Cobra CSX2118: No. 15 (Dan Gurney), No. 50 (Ken Miles), No. 97 (Dave MacDonald), and No. 96 (Allen Grant), respectively. Along with this amount, every one of the four bits have been dressed in comparable aesthetics of the winning cars.No. 15 includes a hot-yellow take on the tachymeter dial with a yellow-lined black alligator-leather strap as well as the seconds hand is yellowish with this model. Also, such as the No. 15, the No. 50 receives the ADLC-steel treatment that nonetheless retains a sporty edge. No. 97 also features a yellow cobra seconds pairs and hand the watch with a slick black rubberized strap. No. 97 and 96 include the stainless steel casings using No. 96 having the loudest of their straps, a vibrant yellow alligator leather strap with black lining and stitching. A little something for everybody’s tastes with these models.
Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Watches For 2017 Hands-On Hands-On

Without knowing the backstory of Peter Brock and the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe car, the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10344 watch is still nice, but it would be a shame to own this timepiece without knowing the larger tale of why it exists. It will also be relatively limited, with this reference 10344 steel and titanium version being produced as just 196 pieces. The other Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10343 and 10342 watches with the 7750 movements are each limited to 1,964 pieces. Each piece comes on a carbon fiber-style embossed calfskin strap, and with a small 1:43 scale model of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe car. Price for the reference M0A10344 Clifton Club Shelby Cobra is $7,950 USD while the M0A10343 and M0A10342 watches are priced at $4,450. Availability is to set in April of 2017, but according to the brand, all the 196 limited-edition pieces are already spoken for by retailers. baume-et-mercier.com

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Watches Buy Online We Buy Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch


Now, being that it’s a mechanical watch, I could already listen to the chatter of watch enthusiasts commenting about how mechanical watches should not be subjected to constant vibration and G forces regardless of the specs. The effects of constant and brief powerful vibrations to mechanical movements has been widely debated on several forums and coated by several posts, some of these by aBlogtoWatch, but it is generally agreed upon that any strenuous physical activity is best performed with your mechanical watch spectating from the sidelines. Fixing of mechanical watches through these kinds of activities could harm the self-winding mechanism along with causing premature wear the equilibrium wheel.As an ideal testing ground I’d be riding a skillet, vibey V-twin Indian Scout Bobber, over three times, to test all these premature wear theories including the extra benefit of it being shock resistant and rated to withstand 550 G, that is over 10 times the shock exerted onto a human body through a fatal motor vehicle accident. With all those specs, I was feeling pretty positive about the opinion withstanding the vibrations.The additional mechanical equipment I’d be reviewing are the above Indian Scout Bobber, a recently not-yet-released version, and I would be riding one for the next few days at arguably among the most enviable, covert, two-wheeled gatherings in the motorcycle community. The Bobber was a fantastic compliment to the Clifton Club watch because they both taken an edgier feel contrary to their counterparts in their various collections, and that, as the weekend progressed, revealed to be a very complimentary relationship with similar street maps.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

As Baume & Mercier’s signature semi-casual dress watch, the classically resourceful Clifton is able to play host to a pretty wide variety of complications – everything from simple GMT and moonphase displays, to perpetual calendars and this wild minute-repeating pocket watch. So it should come as little surprise that for 2017, just as in years’ past, the entry-level Richmont brand is leaning on the Clifton’s versatility to showcase their latest technology: an in-house manufactured manual-winding movement equipped with an exclusive system designed to boost accuracy.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 is the first Richemont group watch to deploy this new tech, called TwinSpir, which is centered around a new type of proprietary silicon hairspring developed by the Richemont Research & Innovation team. This new spring is comprised of a unique, composite structure that combines two layers of silicon, alternatively oriented and bound through a layer of silicon dioxide. The goal was to create a hairspring that was not only immune to the usual effects – corrosion, magnetism, etc., but one that was also largely immune to changes in temperature and infinitesimal variances in tension while it oscillates.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

Now, calling TwinSpir the basis for a thermocompensated mechanical movement would be something of a gross oversimplification, but this isn’t far from the premise, either. However, rather than actively adjust for changes in temperature, this system mutes them. For example, where a normal hairspring might demonstrate varying degrees of elasticity (and thereby subtly differing oscillation rates) on the wrist on a warm day, vs. sitting on a bedside table, the basic premise of TwinSpir is to create a more consistently stable hairspring that’s largely immune from these thermoelastic variances regardless of the watch’s ambient temperatures. Furthermore, as the hairspring expands and contracts through its normal oscillations, the layered structure is designed to create a perfectly even and more consistent oscillation, eliminating any subtle irregularities in elasticity (or “elastic anisotropies”) that would also adversely affect the chronometric rate – a known performance trait exhibited by many traditional hairsprings.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

The end result? Well, in theory, a more even, predictably stable chronometric performance and greater long-term accuracy. Granted, we’ll have to withhold judgement until we’ve tested one in the real world. But for now, it’s interesting to watch as more and more brands move away from Nivarox (and by extension, the Swatch Group), instead choosing to develop proprietary technologies as a means to compete. Despite being the oldest adage in the book, it’s also the most interesting expression to witness firsthand – innovate or die, right?

Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 Watch Watch Releases

In addition to the special hairspring, the 18-jeweled, hand-cranked BM12-1975M movement itself hums along at a familiar 4Hz over the course of its generous power reserve of around 90 hours. Nicely finished with deep Geneva stripes, blued screws, and circular graining all visible beneath the exhibition caseback, the movement itself is also adjusted in five positions for accuracy.

The 18k red gold case of the Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 watch is 42mm wide and 8.9mm thin, with a water-resistance rating of 50m, and it comes on a black aligator strap. The reference M0A10359 Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 is available now, though it’s being produced in very limited quantities, apparently only sold in Europe, and is retailing for a price of $12,045. baume-et-mercier.com

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Expensive High End Baume & Mercier ‘Legendary Driver’ Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches


Baume & Mercier 'Legendary Driver' Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches Watch Releases

As part of their continued partnership with Shelby Cobra and in celebration of the 25th anniversary of McCall’s Annual Motorworks Revival, Baume & Mercier are releasing four limited edition “Legendary Driver” chronograph watches to honor four drivers who sat behind the wheel of the furiously powered Shelby Cobra CSX1228 over fifty years ago. An extension of the Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra watches we covered here, these pieces are designed with specific drivers’ heritages in mind and deliver all of the super-charged aesthetics that we’ve seen so far from this team-up. Let’s take a moment to see what’s different this time around.

Baume & Mercier 'Legendary Driver' Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches Watch Releases

The McCall’s Annual Motorworks Revival serves to kick off the Monterey Car Week which sees thousands of motor enthusiasts gather every year for vintage automobile auctions and racing at the famed Laguna Seca Raceway. So what makes these models unique? Each of these four Baume & Mercier Legendary Driver Capeland Shelby Cobra watches feature a bold 44mm case size and there are two different material variances in either stainless steel or ADLC-steel for a smokier, sleeker finish. Still present under the sapphire crystal, of course, is the tachymeter around the dial, and naturally there is the cobra emblem forged directly into the seconds hand’s counterweight to remind you it means business. The small-seconds subdial on each of these pieces has been outfitted with a number representative of drivers of the Shelby Cobra CSX2118: No. 15 (Dan Gurney), No. 50 (Ken Miles), No. 97 (Dave MacDonald), and No. 96 (Allen Grant), respectively. In addition to the number, each of the four pieces have been dressed in similar aesthetics of their winning cars.

Baume & Mercier 'Legendary Driver' Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches Watch Releases
The tachymeter is stainless steel with number engravings on a fixed bezel with one of the number engravings being “184,” the speed where Burt Munro broke the land speed record. Breaking up that horizontal line is a yellow seconds sub-dial in 9 o’clock stamped with Burt’s lucky number “35.” The feel of this pre-production bit was solid, from its own buckle, straps, instance, and complete. I really liked the subject of this watch and the best part about it was that it seemed classic. Adding to this aesthetic warmth and depth to the overall look, Indian Motorcycle’s famous vermilion red is splashed and tanned on the chronograph hand, sub-dial palms, and USA-sourced leather strap with a pin buckle. Another nice touch is the chronograph hand’s counterweight, which is the Indian Motorcycle’s “I.” Finally, the caseback, while still not an exhibition caseback, is engraved with the Indian Motorcycle’s headdress emblem with all the limited version number softball, one from 1967.

No. 15 features a hot-yellow take on the tachymeter dial with a yellow-lined black alligator-leather strap and even the seconds hand is yellow for this model. Also, like the No. 15, the No. 50 receives the ADLC-steel treatment that still retains a sporty edge. No. 97 also features a yellow cobra seconds hand and pairs the watch with a slick black rubber strap. No. 97 and 96 feature the stainless steel casings with No. 96 getting the loudest of the straps, a vibrant yellow alligator leather strap with black stitching and lining. A little something for everyone’s tastes with these models.

The end result? In theory, a more even, predictably stable chronometric performance and greater long-term precision. Granted, we are going to have to withhold judgement until we’ve examined one in the actual world. But for now, it is interesting to watch as an increasing number of brands move from Nivarox (and by extension, the Swatch Group), rather deciding to create proprietary technologies as a means to compete. Despite being the oldest adage in the book, it is also the most intriguing saying to witness firsthand — innovate or die, right?n accession to the distinctive hairspring, the 18-jeweled, hand-cranked BM12-1975M motion itself hums along in a familiar 4Hz over the span of its generous power reserve of about 90 hours. The mention M0A10359 Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 is available today, even though it’s being produced in very limited quantities, apparently only sold in Europe, and is retailing for a price of $12,045. An extension of this Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra watches we covered, these pieces were created with specific drivers’ heritages in your mind and deliver each of the super-charged aesthetics that we’ve seen so far from this team-up. Let’s take a moment to determine what’s different this time around.
Baume & Mercier 'Legendary Driver' Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches Watch Releases

The movement featured here is the durable Valjoux 7753 that offers a sufficient 48-hour power reserve. The 7753 is visible through the case back via another sapphire crystal and beats at 28,800vph. This is the same movement as was housed in the previous Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition watches, and while the 7753 may not be the prettiest of movements, you aren’t necessarily buying this watch for the case-back. You’re buying this watch for the sporty design and racing legacy it is intended to honor.

Baume & Mercier 'Legendary Driver' Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Watches Watch Releases

Each of the four Baume & Mercier Legendary Driver Capeland Shelby Cobra watches is restricted to a 15-piece run and will be available exclusively in North America at the Feldmar Watch Company in Los Angeles, CA, and Ca D’Oro in Las Vegas, NV, beginning in October 2016. Pricing is $4,850. baume-et-mercier.com

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Grade 1 Replica Watches Top 10 Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch


Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

This past August I had the pleasure of attending Wheels & Waves California (sounds more like a theme park than a motorcycling event), which is a complementary mini-event to the original Wheels & Waves held in Biarritz, France. Initially a small double-digit gathering of friends and family who ride and surf together, it has since become an annual migration of motorcyclists and surfers to the numbers exceeding 10,000 attendees, completely open to the public. The stateside version, on the other hand, was an invitation only event staged in Cayucos, California. It’s a sleepy little wild wild west, Cowboys and Indians-like beach town consisting of a skate park, two bars, three cafes, and a well-known taco shop serving up delicious smoked albacore tacos. Unveiled at the event was the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Indian Burt Munro limited edition watch.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Indian Motorcycle, established in 1901, is the oldest American motorcycle brand and Burt Munro contributed immensely to American motorcycling by helping define its culture and mechanical innovation along with setting a land speed record in 1967 on an Indian Motorcycle. Baume and Indian both referenced the long time tradition and parallel of timepieces and motorsports; both embodying the DNA of technology advancements and the pursuit of performance. Baume et Mercier told a catalytic story of watching Lee Munro race a modified Indian Scout at the Bonneville Salt Flats to commemorate his uncle’s historic record breaking run 50 years ago, and how it solidified their wanting to partner together.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Indian Burt MunroLimited Edition

Earlier this year, Baume et Mercier released its Clifton Club “hero” collection of sports watches at SIHH with its CEO, Alain Zimmerman, stating that they’re focusing on younger clientele. If you haven’t seen the slogan “Gentle Sportsmen,” the demographic for this watch is the bicycle polo playing, big wave catching, vintage car driving, alternative sports athlete that wears nicely tailored, slim-fitting suits to casual gatherings and club meetings. I wear a suit pretty regularly, and never once did I feel like it was great attire to ride a bike, push a skateboard, or catch a wave. Although, when it comes to driving a car with its top down and feeling like James Bond, well, I’d have to give them a gentlemanly nod.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

If this was an invite only watch event, it’d perform as like: Maximillian Busser and Friends would arrange a personal gathering in Lake Geneva together with the top watch influencers to talk about the state of the watch industry, possess a “watch series” filled with one-off collectibles, and, importantly, drink copious quantities of “hot” beer with a side of gloating to help wash it all down. Richard Mille, De Bethune, Ressence, and HYT would signify a number of the innovative watch companies to pop up with all showcases. Last, Bamford Watch Department and Motorcity Watchworks would round out the modifiers segment, bringing with them a collection of DLC coated, mil-spec sailors and custom altered watches, which were remarkably popular in recent years.Uber-geeky “watch races” will be held; Chronometre Classic (best timekeeping watch), Chronograph Drags (most precise time cease), Chronograph Drags (Vintage Class) and the all too famous Redline Renegades Hurry (fastest VPH). The bonus round are the Deep Dive Sprint (most water and pressure resistance). Completing the festivities would be a “watch series” and a tribute movie of the late George Daniels. Obviously, Baume et Mercier are the title sponsor of the shindig with everyone riding in around Indian Motorcycles.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

In my mind, Baume et Mercier didn’t have a customer demographic that was young, adventurous, or sporty, and certainly not part of the counter culture that is cafe racers and vintage customs. I always thought of them as a watch company for anniversary gifts, a thank you gift you purchase for your parents after your first “real” paycheck, a fashion watch for a girlfriend or spouse, possibly even a graduation gift. The price point for a Baume et Mercier is around a few thousand; just about the cost of a vintage fixer upper. So, why buy a watch when you could be wrenching on a Harley, Norton, or Ducati?

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Indian Burt Munro_Limited Edition

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

The marketing relationship between “Gentle Sportsmen” and collectible classic cars, such as the Shelby Cobra, makes sense, but to be related to cafe racers, super hooligans, grassroots racers, dirt drifting maniacs, and leather clad club members was a concept I needed to get my head around. Sure, if they were trying to break into the MotoGP crowd with a more affordable timepiece, it’d be a no brainer, but a Wheels and Waves motorcycling event full of kickstarts, bandanas, and tattoos, sounded a bit odd.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

The attendee list was regulated to 300 tastemakers, influencers, top-of-craft artisans, racers, and modifiers. The three day event would consist of long joy rides, flat track racing, Sons of Anarchy-esque convoy expeditions, an unconventional drag race, and a secret barn where us “outlaws” could hide and reminisce about the day’s tomfoolery.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Vincent Prat and Paul d’Orleans were the organizers of Wheels and Waves California and many of the motorcycle industry’s trendsetters and influencers were in attendance that day including Jamie Robinson from MotoGeo, Roland Sands from RSD, and even Steve Caballero, a world famous pro skater, just to name a few. Brands such as Alpinestar and a slew of all-star modification garages were present as well, like Deus ex Machina, Revival Cycles, Brat Style, and Suicide Machine Company, just to name a few.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

The event was tightly packed with all types of motorcycle “anti-racing.” Race day one was at the Santa Maria Raceway, where I’d spend my hot afternoon running around the dirt track, photographing and watching the Vintage and Super Hooligan flat track races. The sweltering sun required the race organizer to deploy the watering truck onto the dirt track to get it nice and slippery for the races to come and boy were they sideways.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Race day two had me roaring towards Santa Margarita, where I’d embark on a private landing strip for Crooked Sprints. Drones above, the finish line banner dancing in the dry 105 degree weather. One by one, motorcycles would trickle onto the sticky hot tarmac. One hundred feet away, a decommissioned train on what seemed to be a railroad going to nowhere, became a shady refuge from the heat lamp above. Still, more racers arrived, proudly piloting their custom creations, waiting for when the checkered flag would drop for them.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Racing would ensue, the thunder of pistons bashing away as the riders pinned back their throttles at the start line, slamming their brakes a ¼ mile later, then ripping through the gears again back to where they had started from. A combination of drag racing and barrel racing; each rider would start in neutral with their left hand on their helmet, and when the flag dropped, they would shift into gear, race down to the barrel, whip a u-turn and return-to-home as fast as they had left it, all while riding side by side with their competitor.

In between all the racing would be an easy, spirited, peg dragging 3 hour joy ride starting along HWY 101 then into Templeton, Paso Robles, and Big Sur.

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

Wheels & Waves California Debuts Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Burt Munro Limited Edition Watch Shows & Events

The weekend would be all about the Clifton Club collection of watches and, later in the weekend, the unveiling of the Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition. I was looking forward to trying out this collection as I had yet to get some hands on time with these watches. I’m a sucker for daily use divers, so my first watch of the weekend was the stainless steel Clifton Club with a sunburst satin-finished blue dial, strapped to a textured orange rubber NATO. The bold color combination was fitting for the coastal town setting as it reminds me of the ocean and the sun reflecting off the water’s surface. The rubber NATO was a great touch as it felt like a mini hi-viz wetsuit around my wrist and it was surprisingly comfortable, as the material would give a little during small impacts and vibrations with continual wear. The 42mm case size and the 10.3mm thickness fit snuggly around my 7.25 inch wrist, fitting comfortably under my riding gloves during long miles and hours of road vibrations. The Sellita SW200 movement isn’t glamorous, but it’s reliable and with all the road vibrations being subjected to it over this weekend, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be an in-house, handmade marvel.

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica At Lowest Price Where To Buy Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride

Racing would ensue, the thunder of pistons bashing away as the riders trapped back their throttles in the beginning line, hammering their brakes a 1/4 mile later, then ripping through the gears again back to where they’d started from. A blend of drag racing and barrel racing; every rider would start in neutral with their left hand on their own helmet, and as soon as the flag fell, they’d change to gear, race to the barrel, whip a u-turn and return-to-home as quickly as they’d left it, while riding side by side with their competitor.In between all the racing would be an simple, spirited, peg dragging 3 hour joy ride beginning along HWY 101 then into Templeton, Paso Robles, along with Big Sur.The weekend would be about the Clifton Club collection of watches and, later in the weekend, the unveiling of this Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition. I had been excited about trying out this set as I had yet to get some hands on time with those watches. I am a sucker for everyday use divers, so my very first watch of this weekend was that the stainless steel Clifton Club using a sunburst satin-finished blue dial, strapped to a textured orange rubber NATO. The bold colour blend was fitting for the coastal city setting as it reminds me of the ocean and sunlight reflecting off the water’s surface. The rubber NATO was a great touch as it felt just like a miniature hi-viz wetsuit round my wrist and it was amazingly comfortable, since the material would provide a bit during small vibrations and impacts with consistent wear. The 42mm case size and the 10.3mm thickness fit snugly round my 7.25 inch wrist, fitting comfortably beneath my riding gloves during long kilometers and hours of road vibrations. The Sellita SW200 movement isn’t glamorous, but it’s dependable and with of the street vibrations being subjected to it over this weekend, I wouldn’t have wanted it to become an in-house, handmade marvel.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

The watch industry is currently experiencing a season of change. This is especially true for those brands under the Richemont Group that dominate the important Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). At no time during my decade in the watch industry have I seen more shifting of resources, power, and effort than now. That’s actually a good thing as the high-end watch industry is currently undertaking the massive challenge of reforming itself – though the process will take longer than the annual schedule of trade show news expectations allows for. No one, however, wants to be caught with their pants down, and it is admirable to see the effort the watch industry puts into the important show even though many of them are mid-stride not only in the development of new products, but also in terms of the many newly situated managers and creative professionals that run the brands.

The watch industry, if anything, excels at proud presentations. SIHH 2018 sees the 35 participating brands emphasize their greatest qualities with newly designed booths and lots of fresh optimism in the form of newly appointed managers and executives. With that said, little of the dust in the air at most of the brands settled, and many might argue that novelty-hungry luxury buyers may have been better off waiting another year for more impressive news and new product announcements. Alas, despite a decent volume of well-conceived new products, the talk at many watch brands isn’t what new products were shown at the show – but rather what upcoming developments they are excited about.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

More than half of the big luxury watch brands we met with are currently experiencing or recently experienced complete shifts in their management. That means new CEOs, country manager, designers, and all the other bits and pieces that make these companies stick together. A palpable sense of “what brand am I at today” could be felt as many of the usual suspects in the industry find themselves handing out business cards with new names or titles on them. Richemont in general has been uncommonly open with their various restructuring plans, showing the human side of the often extremely-closed corporation “family.”

One of the more interesting areas of novel openness was the increased mention of the group’s in-house movement and parts maker, ValFleurier. Often referred to as “Richemont’s ETA,” (ETA is an important watch movement maker owned by competitor the Swatch Group), talk has shifted from “in-house made” to “in-group made.” Brands at the group are increasingly cognizant that their cooperative relationships are better spoken about than hidden behind language designed to promote their supposed independence and managerial autonomy (stories of which were often more optimistic fantasy than reality). Richemont more than ever is seen as a single body – perhaps with many arms, but one whose parts operate in relative unison. The corpus of the big group is grasping for stability, while at the same time recognizing that change will be the norm until it and much of the global economy settles itself.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

Let’s return to how all this translates into the consumer experience, which I am proud to say will be positive for 2018 and beyond as new, often well-priced products are soon to come to market. Whether the industry has incorporated my advice over the years, or has come to the same conclusions independently, we are seeing important changes in a number of ways. When it comes to “mainstream” luxury products (not extremely high-end super luxuries) at SIHH, prices are generally down and value-propositions are trying to be pushed up. On paper the consumer does well, as we’ve never seen more decent products debuted at the show in the $10,000 and under category. Yes, there are some noticeable cost-cutting measures when it comes to simplifying production techniques and product detailing. With that said, offerings of new features and performance promises are hoped to swoon consumers who have been paying attention to what the industry has been doing over the last few years, but haven’t been putting down money as often as the brands hope for.

Enthusiasm for the wholesale model of selling watches first to retailers and then to end-consumers seems to be at an all-time low. It isn’t that brands are greedy to recapture margin, but rather that the traditional wholesale retail environment has failed in at least one very important area; marketing building. That translates into the fact that retailers – despite investing in buying products – still don’t seem to have much incentive to promote the brands they carry to their own local markets. The reasons for this are complex, but it has meant that the brand’s themselves have been saddled with the obligation to build consumer demand and awareness (through marketing and advertising) while still promising retailers world-class margins (profits on selling watches which average between about 40–50% per watch). Such margins made more sense when watch brands merely produced and delivered products, but these days with the brands having intensive marketing budget obligations, the old model of distributing watches is finally experiencing its last days as the dominant means of placing a luxury timepiece on the the wrist of a consumer.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

To maintain positive relations with those retailers they still rely on, brands aren’t yelling “e-commerce” as loud as some might expect, but quietly most of the big luxury names are actively planning to sell direct or via digital retailers to consumers. The internet is potentially being embraced in a new way for 2018 and beyond, but watch brands still need to seriously bolster the intelligence and expertise in their marketing and communication departments. The message of needing digital and marketing fluency has been received, but at this point the industry simply doesn’t have enough good people internally already to handle the needs of all the brands. It will take a few more years before more of the luxury watchmakers have brought in the right talent to help them not only thrive on digital platforms, but also to cease making costly and often embarrassing “investments” in social media influencers and other half-cocked “get internet famous” schemes. As an industry that espouses the virtues of taking the slow, careful, well-thought-out approach, they still need to incorporate such wisdom in their often fluctuating marketing and advertising departments.

Hope is certainly there for an industry that has been much maligned in the recent past by its stubborn reliance on archaic business models which arguably stopped working decades ago. The digital reality most consumers live in is slowly being tolerated by the Swiss and other European interests that still dominate decision making at luxury watch brands. Knowledge on how to produce museum-worthy products is still accessible, and now brands need to match the same level of quality in their communication and distribution strategies. They are crawling to that point more and more each year – but the finish line may not yet be in sight. With that said, I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of the industry – even if I still can’t predict what it may look like.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

Now lets take a look at the top 10 products that aBlogtoWatch feels are the best from SIHH, and represent the types of products and values watch consumers should be looking forward to in 2018 and beyond.

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

Montblanc TimeWalker Manufacture Chronograph

Last year Montblanc radically redesigned the iconic Timewalker collection into being a motor-enthusiast lifestyle watch with a hip look. This year in 2018 Montblanc adds what will easily be the collection’s most popular model among those who are seeking a trendy, well-groomed look as well as some horological street cred. Fitted with a new in-house chronograph movement, the Montblanc Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph has an attractive three register chronograph display, panda-style dial, and comes on an optional bund-style “cuff” black leather strap. It’s macho, a good value, and genuinely pretty to look at… and we think a lot of people are going to want one. Price: €4,990

Top 10 Watches At SIHH 2018 & An Industry In Mid-Stride Featured Articles

Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon

The luxury watch industry has no shortage of tourbillon-based watches to choose from. Looking at the Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle, these new 18k pink gold or platinum timepieces include a stunningly well-decorated movement that features just the time with a tourbillon, in a slick automatic movement with a peripheral rotor that does little to hamper the view of the decorated parts. Topping it all off is the use of some of the industry’s best hands. Simply lovely, and a good way to show off about $100,000 on the wrist. Price: $118,000 in Rose Gold and $149,000 in Platinum

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Wholesale Suppliers Best Place To Buy Follow aBlogtoWatch At The SIHH 2017 Watch Show January 16-20 With #SIHHABTW


Follow aBlogtoWatch At The SIHH 2017 Watch Show January 16-20 With #SIHHABTW Shows & Events

Now, being that it’s a mechanical watch, I can hear the chatter of watch fans commenting about how mechanical watches should not be exposed to constant vibration and G powers no matter the specs. The effects of continuous and brief strong vibrations to mechanical movements continues to be debated on many forums and covered by several articles, some of them by aBlogtoWatch, but it is generally agreed upon that any strenuous physical activity is best performed together with your mechanical watch spectating in the sidelines. Fixing of mechanical watches through these kinds of activities could damage the self-winding mechanism along with inducing premature wear on the equilibrium wheel.As a perfect testing ground I would be riding a suspension chopped, vibey V-twin Indian Scout Bobber, over three days, to test all these early wear concepts such as the added advantage of it being shock resistant and rated to withstand 550 G, that is over 10 times the shock exerted onto a body through a fatal automobile accident. With all those specs, I had been feeling quite positive about the watch withstanding the vibrations.The other mechanical machine I would be reviewing would be the above Indian Scout Bobber, a recently not-yet-released version, and I would be riding one for the next few times at arguably among the most coveted, covert, two-wheeled gatherings in the motorcycle community. The Bobber was a great compliment to the Clifton Club watch because they taken an edgier feel against their counterparts in their respective collections, which, as the weekend progressed, shown to be a really complimentary relationship with similar road maps.

Starting this upcoming Monday, January 16th, and running through Friday, January 20th, is the always anticipated, annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) watch exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. The exhibition will feature displays from some of the largest watch brands as well as a stable of independent brands who are newly invited for 2017. This year also features a first for SIHH – a day open to the public on the final day, January 20th. The aBlogtoWatch team will be ready and present with the most comprehensive reporting of the event, and we will be bringing you our hands-on coverage of the latest novelties to debut at SIHH 2017. And if that didn’t already excite you, get ready to take an even closer behind the scenes look when we host our own aBlogtoWatch day on Thursday, January 19th at the show.

Seventeen exhibitors can be seen: A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Girard-Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Parmigiani, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels.  This year marks the second of the Carré des Horlogers, now grown to thirteen independent brands: Christophe Claret, Grönefeld, H. Moser & Cie., Hautlence, HYT, Laurent Ferrier, MB&F, Manufacture Contemporaine Du Temps, Ressence, Romain Jerome, Speake-Marin, Urwerk, and Voutilainen.

Follow aBlogtoWatch At The SIHH 2017 Watch Show January 16-20 With #SIHHABTW Shows & Events

Follow our coverage here at the aBlogtoWatch website, as well as on the aBlogtoWatch Facebook page, Instagram feed, @aBlogtoWatch on Twitter, and our Google+ page, as well as our YouTube channel – and make sure to follow #SIHHABTW across our social media platforms as an easy way to keep up with us.

You can also follow our SIHH 2017 coverage here on aBlogtoWatch.com with hands-on articles, photography, and video straight from this year’s show, as well as all current and historic SIHH-related content here. As always, if you have any requests or questions for particular brands, simply mention them in your comments below and we will try to get answers over the course of our coverage. The readers are our number-one priority, and we want to hear from you on our social media channels. sihh.org

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Wholesale Good Quality 10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List


10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

It probably doesn’t surprise you that as the founder of aBlogtoWatch, I spend a lot of time looking at watches on the internet. In fact, I would say that anyone who considers themselves a watch enthusiast is more or less required to spend at least an hour a week browsing for watches on eBay or other places where random assortments of interesting timepieces are available for sale.

Some of the things that I routinely look for on eBay are watches from the last 10 to 20 years which are no longer made, but still available to buy (new or pre-owned). My curiosity compels me to see what watches are available, at what prices, and whether or not they are in excellent or highly-worn condition. As a watch industry analyst, I get a lot of my questions answered this way, but I also find myself pining for a growing number of potential watch purchases that “got away.” More practically, I often find myself investigating what watches may have crept into the realm of affordability.

The following list of watches is a very personal selection, which represents a dimension of my own tastes and artistic preferences. We have a lot of opinions here, and it doesn’t bother me if you don’t like what I like. Just realize that I’m not trying to evangelize what my tastes are on to anyone else. Below the watches I mention will be a link to those available items on eBay, which in addition to supporting aBlogtoWatch will allow you to join me in seeing how many are currently available at any given time, and what they might cost these days. Someday, I think I’d like to own at least one example of each of these watches.

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Navy SEALs Diving Alarm

Back when Jaeger-LeCoultre was still making macho men’s watches (boy does aBlogtoWatch miss the days of Extreme Labs and the AMVOX series) it had the interesting fortune of being the official watchmaker of the United States Navy SEALs (yes, before the brand retired their boots for soft slippers). The watches they made for this partnership were all approved by the Navy SEALs themselves and designed for actual duty. Suffice it to say that they were badass. If you grew up in watches when Jerome Lambert was at the helm of JLC, then you had excellent horological treasures to lust after (and you never even once tried on a Reverso). Of those models, the Alarm was the most interesting one to me. It’s a 44mm wide 300m diver in titanium with a rare automatic alarm-based movement meant to be heard underwater. Take that, moonphase.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Gerald Genta Gefica

After designing some of today’s (still) most popular luxury sports watches, Gerald Genta went on to create his own brand. One of the last watch collections the brand produced (before it was purchased and then consumed by Bulgari) was the modern generation Gefica, which was developed based on the original Gefica watches from the 1990s. The Gefica was said to be inspired by an African Safari and was probably the first luxury watch to feature bronze as a case material (it rarely gets credit for this). Large, and purposely made to show off its avant-garde design in the most modern-generation style, the Gefica made use of the brand’s popular jumping hour retrograde minute hand dial layout. Definitely a weird and cool watch that I’ve lusted after for years.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Chanel J12 Matte Black Ceramic 42mm H3131

Chanel popularized ceramic as a watch case material, and also helped usher in an era of well-made fashion watches. Today, the J12 is typically associated with women’s watches, but that is mostly because of the brand’s clever ability to take a classic sports watch aesthetic, make it in shiny white ceramic, and get the fashion world really excited about it. Chanel’s less common men’s watches are excellent in my opinion, and a model that I continue to think about is the reference H3131 Automatic. What made it special is the 42mm wide size as well as the matte (versus polished) black ceramic case and bracelet.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Racing would ensue, the thunder of pistons bashing off as the riders pinned back their throttles in the beginning line, slamming their brakes a 1/4 mile afterwards, then ripping through the gears again back to where they had started from. A combination of drag racing and barrel racing; each rider would start in neutral using their left hand in their helmet, and when the flag dropped, they would shift into gear, race to the barrel, whip a u-turn and return-to-home as fast as they’d left it, while riding side by side with their competitor.In involving all the racing could be easy, lively, peg dragging 3 hour joy ride beginning along HWY 101 then into Templeton, Paso Robles, and Big Sur.The weekend would be about the Clifton Club set of watches and, later in the weekend, the unveiling of this Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition. I was looking forward to trying out this set as I had yet to get some hands on time with these watches. I am a sucker for everyday use sailors, so my first watch of the weekend was the stainless steel Clifton Club with a sunburst satin-finished blue dial, strapped to a textured orange rubber NATO. The bold colour blend was fitting for the coastal town setting as it reminds me of the ocean and sunlight reflecting off the water’s surface. The rubber NATO was a fantastic bit as it felt like a mini hi-viz wetsuit around my wrist and it was amazingly comfortable, since the material would provide a bit during small vibrations and impacts with consistent wear. The 42mm case dimensions and the 10.3millimeter thickness fit snugly round my 7.25 inch wrist, fitting comfortably beneath my riding gloves through long kilometers and hours of street vibrations. The Sellita SW200 movement isn’t glamorous, but it’s reliable and with the street vibrations being subjected to it over this weekend, I wouldn’t have wanted it to become an in-house, handmade marvel.

The final result? In theory, a more even, inherently secure chronometric functionality and greater long-term precision. Granted, we are going to have to withhold judgement until we have tested one in the actual world. However, for now, it is interesting to watch as more and more brands go away from Nivarox (and by extension, the Swatch Group), instead deciding to create proprietary technologies as a way to compete. Despite being the oldest adage in the novel, it’s also the most intriguing expression to witness firsthand — innovate or die, right?n addition to the distinctive hairspring, the 18-jeweled, hand-cranked BM12-1975M movement itself hums along in a familiar 4Hz over the span of its generous power reserve of around 90 hours. The reference M0A10359 Baume & Mercier Clifton Manual 1830 is available now, though it’s being produced in very small quantities, apparently only sold in Europe, and is retailing for a cost of $12,045. An extension of the Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra watches we covered here, these pieces were created with specific motorists’ heritages in your mind and provide all the super-charged aesthetics which we’ve seen up to now from this team-up. Let’s take a moment to see what’s different this time around.

Eterna KonTiki Diver

The right watch at the wrong time… and probably at the wrong price defined the Eterna KonTiki Diver, which later became the Porsche Design Diver P’6780 (Eterna produced Porsche Design watches at the time). With a complicated case that had a pop-up inner section for the dial and movement, the Eterna KonTiki Diver was an excellent modern piece of diving equipment, and a dive watch lover’s dream. It was truly innovative yet sexy, and yet stumbled because of poor marketing and almost no brand recognition at the time (in key markets like the United States). Watches like this were just coming out when aBlogtoWatch was a new website, and about a decade later, I still think about owning one.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph XXL Automatic

Did you know that Montblanc made a modern urban Panerai? Yeah, it was called the Timewalker, and prior to its current driving watch form, the Montblanc Timewalker Chronograph Automatic was a wonderfully proportioned modern men’s watch that simply never hit its marketing stride. Wonderful details include the skeletonized lugs, wonderfully elegant dial style, and perhaps the best all-around contemporary men’s watch design Montblanc has ever made. They were always priced a bit too far out of my student budget’s hands when they first came out, but today they feel like a bargain. My all-time favorite continues to be one of Montblanc’s simple versions with an all-steel case and matching silver dial paired with a brown alligator strap.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Cartier Calibre Diver

You may have not even known that Cartier stopped making the Calibre Diver at the time of writing, but they did. The entire Calibre collection as a whole is apparently being slowed down or even perhaps entirely stopped. Something about Cartier not wanting to be too sporty right now (for some reason we probably don’t agree with since we happen to quite like their sports watches). With the Calibre collection came Cartier’s in-house made high-volume movements. Even though they were nothing out of the ordinary in terms of performance, it was the first time in a while that we felt that Cartier really cared about the watch guy. The Calibre Diver was their big ambition to take on the Rolex Submariner in Cartier Style. It remains an imperfect dive watch compared to the Rolex, but more perfect at swooning the ladies. And isn’t that what expensive dive watches are all about?

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Ventura by Hannes Wettstein

If you like tool watches and want to dabble in minimalism, it is hard to not really appreciate the watches designed by the late Swiss designer Hannes Wettstein for Ventura. Hannes Wettstein was one of those talented designers who “take the horological challenge.” That’s when someone popular who makes functional items for daily use tackles the tough challenge of designing a watch. The Germanic Swiss design faithfully appreciates the need for elegant masculinity, but is also clearly infatuated with making a very sparse yet legible design inspired by the Speedmaster Moonwatch school of thought. Wettstein designed a few watches for Ventura, with of course some of those products being better than others.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Alain Silberstein Krono

French Alain Silberstein was by all accounts a prolific and highly artistic watch designer. One of his key talents was to respect the codes of traditional watchmaking while also having fun at each corner. He would do things like replace days of the week on a calendar wheel with various smiley faces or make feel-good child-like designs that were also studies in proper proportions and legibility. The Krono models were most of those that had chronograph complications, and often included one of his personal favorite movements which was the Swiss ETA Valjoux 7751 – probably because it gave him an awful lot of different hands to design.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Bell & Ross Geneva 123

The late 1990s sizing of this 37mm wide watch could possibly prevent me from wearing it too much, but I love this early Bell & Ross urban dress watch design. Way more exciting than the city it is named for, the Geneva 123 celebrates symmetry and great looking hands (in that sense it is very Swiss, even though it was born in Paris). Its finely made “no gap” bracelet was the only logical attachment because a strap (in my opinion) almost kills this watch. If Bell & Ross decided to revisit these hands and this aesthetic, I think it would be popular.

 

10 Discontinued Modern Watches Still On My Wish List ABTW Editors' Lists

Baume et Mercier Capeland

At some point I hope someone will explain to me why in the early 2010s a bunch of modern-looking watch collections started getting vintage-ized. It happened to the Capeland as well. I first discovered the Baume et Mercier (they still used “et” versus “&” back then) Capeland very early on in my watch enthusiast career, as a teenager. The blend of strong masculine legibility, mixed with a sort of old-world class that one didn’t see very often in big city America is what compelled me. I also liked it for many of the same reasons I liked the Bell & Ross Geneva 123 – as in a way, it was a cousin timepiece in style to the Capeland. Baume et Mercier made some interesting dive watch models in even more contemporary sizes, but their attempt to look too sporty ruins a lot of the desirable elegance in the smaller models.

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Buying Guide We Buy Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition


Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Did you know that famed car designer Carroll Shelby had a serious heart condition that made him heavily dependent on nitroglycerin pills – and/or a reliable source of adrenalin to keep his heart beating? And that to keep himself off the medication for as long as possible, he started to take part in motor racing, while also building his own cars? When I got the chance to drive a Superformance Shelby Cobra 289 FIA – manufactured today under license and in part with original blueprints and molds by Superformance, an Irvine, CA-based company – I could feel in every bit of my body what a race car (mind you, designed by someone clinically addicted to adrenaline) feels like. It is one unforgettable thrill. So, can the matching watch, the Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition get adrenaline pumping through your system? Spoiler: when worn while behind the wheel, it cannot hold a candle to the sheer excitement of the Cobra. Anywhere else? That’s a different story. Let’s find out in our latest car & watch review.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Partnerships between car and watch manufacturers often prove to be an unsolvable maze for all involved parties, including both brands as well as car aficionados and watch enthusiasts alike. It is all about the legitimacy of the connection between the two companies or, if that is too much to ask for, then at least between the two products. When I think of Baume & Mercier, I do not think of the smell of oil, burning rubber, and hot exhausts, or the earth-shattering bellow of V8’s revving to 7,000rpm.

I think of a yogurt commercial, depicting a family that lives in a detached house situated in a quiet neighborhood, with a nice lawn out in front. So how the heck does a cobra make it onto the dials of these rather bad*ss-looking Baume & Mercier Capeland watches?

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Seen here is the Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra 10232, off the wrist of a Superformance Shelby Daytona Coupe owner who led us into the world of Shelby cars during this test drive.

There are some interesting paradoxes here which we have to accept, because if we don’t, we will never understand why this collaboration actually works. First, let us get up close with the vehicle at hand… and boy, is it a handful! To be specific, it is the Superformance Shelby Cobra 289 FIA – and that right there is a product name where every single word by itself can get any serious aficionado drooling.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

The two latest references, the Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra 10281 & 10282.

The Superformance Shelby Cobra cars are made under official licensing from the Shelby brand: with the rolling chassis made in South Africa and all other parts fitted in the USA, a lot of these Cobra and Daytona Coupe models, as well as the equally remarkable Ford GT40 cars that they produce, are built using original blueprints and molds, even. With a wide range of engine, transmission, and driver’s assistance (or lack thereof) options available, this is as close as you can possibly get to owning the original Shelby cars from the ’60s and onwards – without paying the collectible’s premium or having to give up on fitting modern equipment of your preference.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Cars, as I see them, are a lot like humans. Each and every one has its own character, and while every car can be “driven” and anyone can be worked together with, there always comes a point for both a car and a person, where they take back their own control – and you are just a spectator or worse, a victim of the story that unfolds. I couldn’t help but think of the Superformance Shelby Cobra as the car impersonation of Bud Spencer: very strong, never really very friendly, but if you know what to do and not to do, you’ll be fine. Take one liberty with it, though, and it will slap you in the face so fast and so hard, your facial features will end up on the back of your head.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

In car handling terms, this translates into a Superformance Shelby Cobra 289 FIA that can spin its real wheels with ease in third gear. And at that point, your straight-line travels transform into a high-speed, four-wheel float towards the nearest curb or tree – which travel I did have the pleasure of experiencing. Worse still is the short wheelbase: when the sticky, but by today’s standards not at all super high-performance tires let go, the back will not hesitate to overtake the front; something that can be tamed by extremely fast and perfectly dosed corrections on the steering wheel – but that has its own challenges…

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

It is a true driver’s car in more than a few ways. To be able to drive it – let alone drive it well – you have to love and know cars in a way that goes beyond superficiality or a mere familiarity with car specs or history. It is one beast of a car, with its DNA purely derived and unadulterated from an era that car racing fans reminisce about with teary eyes…

…You see, this particular Superformance Shelby Cobra 289 FIA had none of the following: stability control, traction control, automatic gearbox, anti-lock brakes, power steering, power brakes! What it had was a 480 horsepower Ford Racing engine, ridiculously heavy, unassisted steering, remarkably heavy and, again, totally un-power-assisted brakes, a five-speed manual gearbox, and a throttle that liked to be either a hair beyond idle, or full open – anything in between and the race spec engine just didn’t enjoy your company.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

The result of all this “back in my day!” rawness? It is a driving experience most modern healthy lifestyle aficionados would gladly refer to as a proper workout. I have driven cars before without power steering, but the steering lightened up considerably once the car was moving. Here, though… Your biceps and triceps will have to deliver if you want to make the upcoming U-turn! And the brakes? You must be quite literally standing on the middle pedal, and when you apply force that would be enough to slam any modern car into a dead halt, here you are still coasting towards the pack of cars at a red light at considerable speed, bracing for whatever is left of your manly calmness.

Originally a tiny double-digit gathering of friends and family who ride and surf together, it has become an annual migration of motorcyclists and surfers into the amounts surpassing 10,000 attendees, entirely open to the public. The stateside version, on the other hand, has been an invitation only event staged in Cayucos, California. It’s a sleepy little wild wild west, Cowboys and Indians-like beach town comprising a skate park, two bars, three cafes, plus a well-known taco store serving up tasty smoked albacore tacos. Baume and Indian equally referenced the long time parallel and tradition of timepieces and motorsports; equally embodying the DNA of technology advancements as well as the pursuit of performance. Baume et Mercier told that a catalytic story of watching Lee Munro race a modified Indian Scout at the Bonneville Salt Flats to commemorate his uncle’s historic record breaking run 50 decades before, and the way that it solidified their needing to partner together.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

The manual gearbox requires some manhandling as well. You’d better know your rev-matches and heel-and-toes (and again, be able to first know what these things are and how to execute them), otherwise you will lock the rear wheels up on a downshift. Get these wrong when pushing the Superformance Cobra and your Bud Spencer-style slap in the face turns into something much more severe.

Car & Watch Review: Superformance Shelby Cobra / Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Limited Edition Wrist Time Reviews

I have been fortunate to drive a few of today’s 500-600+ horsepower supercars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, the Jaguar F-Type R or the new Corvette, but they all – cumulatively – pale in comparison to the fire-spitting, awe-inspiring and (mildly) life threatening thrill of this particular Cobra. Driving this car well builds your ego and your testosterone levels like very few other things I could possibly imagine or be allowed to mention on this platform – by contrast, modern cars are impressive in a different, more safe, and much more refined, albeit also undoubtedly addictive way.

Categories
Baume & Mercier Watches Replica

Replica Guide Trusted Dealers Do You Buy Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight


Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2017 is now concluded, and the aBlogtoWatch team is predictably exhausted. We tried something new this year – a video log (vlog) series – to help capture what it is like to be at the show. Combining high excitement and energy-draining hours, we are glad people enjoyed that very intimate look behind the scenes and what it is like to attend the “world’s most prestigious” high-end watch trade show.

In my 9th year attending SIHH (itself in its 27th year) I’d like to once again recap the overall sentiment of the show as well as point out key highlights which we think the general watch-loving public should be excited about in 2017. Before we get to our top 11 watches of SIHH 2017, I’d like to explore the general watch and luxury industry atmosphere so that people get a better idea of why particular products are being made – and for whom.

It was a particularly cold and windy week in Geneva, Switzerland, during SIHH 2017. Our accommodations near Lake Geneva offered a first-rate view of what struck me as a suitable metaphor for the industry’s current circumstance. High winds blew over the water causing not only surfable waves (if you have an Iceman-like tolerance for cold) but also spilling onto the adjacent walking paths that in the spring and summer make for popular strolling avenues for lovers and languishers alike. The high winds and ominous lake waves seemed a fitting metaphor for the luxury watch industry which is continuing to experience a storm.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

My fellow watch media, especially the more veteran channels or those seeking to appeal exclusively to industry folk, seem unsure of how to cover the clearly “bad times” that much of the industry is facing. Many people are losing their jobs, companies are being reorganized, and the Swiss watch industry – while there are more than a few strongly performing areas – is by most accords contracting (to put it lightly). Yet the weakness of egotism continues to shroud reality and despite unequivocal data (and a lot of it) indicating that the industry is bottoming out, few managers are looking at the issue square in the face.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

In part, the traditional media is to blame, though they can hardly be faulted for not reporting on information that is so secretly guarded. While private banking is moving outside of Switzerland to places with more amenable laws to finance sheltering (especially for those with US bank accounts), many in the Swiss watch industry seem to fear the reality that without maintaining a strong sense of relevance the “traditional and lasting” Swiss watch industry is extremely vulnerable. Their customary reaction is to smile and sometimes boast of how “amazing” things are regardless of what the numbers might suggest.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

A little bit of advice to watch industry managers – do not forget that those in truly confident positions hardly find value in boasting about it. The more you tell us how incredibly surprising sales are, and how much client demand is straining your production resources, the more media and retailers alike detect a blip on their BS radars. The irony is that humility is a deeply ingrained and valued element of Swiss culture – and thus the sentiments of the watch industry demonstrate how truly pan-European it is, despite the fact that many are physically located within the borders of Switzerland.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Such words are intended to poke at the stone-like facade of success that all luxury brands seem intent on both guarding and presenting to the outside world. The consumers and retailers that support you are keenly aware that things aren’t exactly bullish. So let’s take a lesson from the diplomacy Switzerland is so often associated with and consider the value of a group effort to help remedy your watch industry problems as opposed to displaying the exact same image of unwavering success, year after year, despite what logic and facts clearly seem to suggest regarding earnings.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists
Baume et Mercier will surely continue their connection by adding followup restricted and specific variations in the future alongside sponsoring more bike events and other sports. The Clifton Club watch is a great value proposition piece that could be the dual duty workhorse many men and women are searching for. A number of the races within this Wheels and Waves California event were “run what you brung,” so the only thing holding back you was you. No red tape, no real testimonials, only rushing at it’s purest, and that is where I think the Clifton Club actually stands out. The watch isn’t crying “look at me and my pedigree and mechanical innovation and heritage and finest of this and that,” it’s only a good looking and functioning watch.One of the first things I discovered on this trip was from Fred Martel, President of Baume et Mercier, during our automobile ride from airport. The dialogue nicely summarized the event. Baume isn’t trying to become a specialist watchmaker or an aggressive performance-driven brand that tries to conquer the competition, but a brand that embraces life and its own achievements all while enjoying the ride.Well constructed and made for the weekend warrior, costs for the Clifton Club start at $1,950 for the stainless steel version, up to $2,250 for the whistles and bells, rubber wrapped DLC model. The Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition is available for pre-sale using a cost of $3,750, limited to 1967 pieces.

If I haven’t made my point abundantly clear, Switzerland: it’s time to let go of total control and invite in some help. You do make some pretty darn good watches when you put your minds to it, with organized factories and efficient offices. When it comes to understanding diverse market needs as well as marketing communication, I suggest you entrust professionals for advice that may know a bit more than you in such areas. It isn’t like they are going to suggest that in order to fix the industry you should stop making high-quality mechanical watches.

Politics and conservatism are hot issues these days, and the watch industry is no exception. I’ve further identified two areas that need serious reorganization or at least to be rethought: hiring good people who have clear goals, and ensuring that conservatism does not always block actual innovations. By this, I mean a few things.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

First of all, the watch industry is structured in such a manner that there are relatively few truly powerful executives and managers, and controversy is avoided like the Black Death. This presents two powerfully important problems. The first is that because there are so few people with an actual say (or clearly thought-out means of measuring performance success) that there is an abundance of discretion among a small number of people. This means watch brands or groups in general are more structured like monarchies than modern organizations with proper decision-making authority.

There are benefits to this approach when you have a strong, forward-thinking leader who is able to achieve success through the help of a willing team – eager to oblige his (and it’s almost always a man) every whim. More often than not, however, such autocratic leaders are woefully unqualified to run a watch business in an era when people buy watches as emotional treats you can wear and show off to the world around you.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Thus, too much discretion in the hands of too few people can cripple otherwise effective leaders from being in control of narrow but specialized tasks that they can excel at. I truly believe that there was more of this in the past (Switzerland’s more or less socialist mentality to labor and decision-making would seem to suggest as much), and these days good ideas are snuffed out or otherwise ignored due to mere incompetence – or decision-makers who have unclear or incorrect goals given market positions.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Such pondering comes at a time when I’ve observed, year after year, good people at brands leaving, and not being replaced with qualified individuals. It’s incredibly sad. You might point out that there is perhaps even more weakness among the small independent brands who, without corporate parents, are free to make whatever decisions they like. Further consider that many of these are responsible for making a large percentage of today’s best watches, and yet a good number are struggling financially. I would not disagree with this in the least, but I would point to a much more simple reason why so many cool independent brands (of course, not all of them) are suffering despite seemingly having amazing products.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

The answer, in my opinion, is that overall weakness in the more mainstream industry is directly hurting the smaller independents. In order for them to survive and find customers, they must rely on the big brands doing the hard work to turn people into watch lovers, and then, secondly, to allow them to have a pleasant purchasing and ownership experience. Most watch consumers who collect watches from high-end independent brands do so only after “graduating” from products from the larger brands. A weaker mainstream industry unable to capture the hearts and minds of consumers (and give them a quality purchase and ownership experience) is unlikely to breed too many people who then go on to desire the experience of a high-end independent brand.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Let’s talk about products now, since the hot trends and patterns we saw in watches at SIHH 2017 will be of interest to many people. Many of the displaying brands seemed to have a good idea of how to capture the heart of “the lost market,” which is the United States. To do this, the industry needs to make attractive, practical watches such as sport watches and some complicated with focused functionality and non-precious cases. A lot of brands are doing just that ranging from “houses” such as Cartier to Baume & Mercier, Montblanc, and Ulysse Nardin. Again, “classic-feeling” sport watches in non-precious metals are performing much better in sales that many other types of watches these days. While not all new releases are amazing, more than enough of them are worthy of serious attention by consumers.

With that said, still too many watches priced under $5,000 feel as though they were designed and approved by a committee. While there are exceptions, cheap parts and unrefined dial designs are more common than I’d like to admit. Even though the emotional feeling a consumer gets when looking at the dial of a watch is the most important factor in making a purchase decision, way too many brands seem to OK a computer design for production, not realizing that in person that final watch will look much different. That means a picture of a dial might look good on a computer screen, but in person with the wrong materials, finishes, and colors, it can look like cheap junk. I really don’t know why this is, and I’m starting to get incredibly sick of hearing the excuse that if I see a dial or other element I don’t like it is because it is a prototype. If that is the case, then please stop showing me prototypes or put final models in our hands when they are finalized and ready to ensure the aBlogtoWatch team doesn’t leave with really pessimistic feelings about what you as a watch brand are trying to present to customers.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Asia is still a huge market for the watch industry – which seems continually comfortable making products for said markets. Oddly enough, the same level of care and attention doesn’t go into many watches intended to appeal to Western markets. Is it possible that a large volume of designers and product people in the watch industry simply forgot how to make watches (well, in enough variety) that appeal to Americans and Europeans (that don’t cost a bloody fortune)? I really don’t know the answer to that – but I can say that are vanishingly small amounts of people who genuinely love watches.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

In this and other articles, I genuinely believe that I’ve pinpointed problems and provided some spot-on advice the watch industry can use to remedy its organizational, distribution, design, and sales woes. Before going into our list of the top 11 watches, I’d like to end my essay on the matter of price. Yes, that funny thing that most consumers seem obsessed over.

In response to getting the message from the public that they want more value from their watches, the industry has simply gone out and started to produce less expensive watches. That makes sense, but it misconstrues the issue. The reason is that they are simply making lower-priced watches that often simply suck. Many have potential, but cost-cutting schemes in both materials and construction are glaringly obvious in watches from all but the most detail-obsessed brands. Let me clarify what the industry seems to have misunderstood – people didn’t ask for more cheap watches. People asked for more watches worth what they cost. There is a big difference.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Why do industry decision-makers think that a $10,000 watch that feels like a $5,000 watch will have any greater difficulty in being sold than a $4,000 watch that feels like a $1,000 watch? The problem on the cost-cutting side of the industry is that watches don’t feel like they are worth what brands are charging for them – and I’m not even going to bring up the gray market in this discussion. When people complain of “greed” and “stupidity” in the watch industry – what they are really referring to is making watches that no one wants to buy for the price. There are already legions upon legion of cheap watches out there that connoisseurs would never be interested in. Why, then, do “prestigious” watch brands seem intent on following this model?

There isn’t even a precedent for this approach. Their sole argument in defense of the practice of selling cheap watches for a lot of money is that they can try to make up for it in branding and marketing (like celebrity ambassadors, etc.). Once again, this is a clear sign of someone who doesn’t know how to evaluate a good watch, making decisions about making watches. Rolex, for instance, does blanket the market with marketing messages, but they also happen to deliver an industry-leading product in terms of overall quality for the money. Why, then, would anyone buy a non-Rolex watch of lower inherent quality for the same or even more money? Other than “they want something different,” I have yet to hear a good answer to this.

Top 11 Watches Of SIHH 2017 & An Industry Holding On Tight ABTW Editors' Lists

Even though new models (shown to press) from many watch brands were limited this year, there are some standout models which defy the norm and offer excellent artistic craftsmanship or attractive designs and approachable value propositions. No matter what your price range is, there is something new for you to be excited about from SIHH 2017. Especially at the lower-end (in terms of price), there is actually something new to report on from SIHH, even though the show is more typically associated with releasing items of incredible beauty and complexity, but typically at prices only the world’s elite can strive to afford.

Now, onto the new watch highlights of SIHH 2017…