I can certainly understand why brands like to diversify their products and fight the sales war on all fronts, but sometimes, I wish they’d just stick to what they’re best at. Graham, the Swiss-owned, English-inspired brand have recently released the Geo.Graham Tourbillon, which is a simple, smart, and straightforward watch that is quite delightful to look at (see our release writeup here). But it doesn’t look like a Graham watch vs Replica to me, at least not like the crazy-crowned sports studs they’ve been churning out for the last few years.
When a brand is born, it needs to set itself apart from the crowd somehow. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much. Maybe something as simple as a colour scheme or the shape of the seconds hand; maybe something more arresting, like a novel case shape or obvious movement modification. It doesn’t really matter, as long as it makes the brand’s wares instantly identifiable and consistent with the brand’s ideology. But setting out a clear ideology and brand identity is, in my opinion, imperative.
The only splash of colour on the watch looks on the sapphire caseback, with the white Foundation logo set from the red, white and blue of Old Glory. The black rubber strap (with pin buckle made of black ceramic) has been fortified with carbon fiber and includes a relief Clous de Paris pattern more often seen on dials and movement elements of other high end watches. Beneath the colorful caseback is Graham’s automatic G1747 chronograph movement, with 25 stones, a frequency of 28,800 vph, Incabloc shock absorber and also 48-hour power reserve.The Graham watches imitation Replica Chronofighter Oversize Navy SEAL Foundation will retail for $8,050; Graham will donate a portion from the sale of every watch to the Navy SEAL Foundation. “The Navy SEAL motto, ‘the only simple day was yesterday,’ is a motto we at Graham live by,” says Eric Loth, Graham’s founder, “as we’re constantly striving to discover a way to generate a much better view and a much better world. We were attracted to the Navy SEAL Foundation due to their excellent work encouraging individuals who give so much to support others.” Says Robin King, CEO of the Navy SEAL Foundation: The Navy SEAL Foundation is humbled by GRAHAM’s generous commitment of support to the warriors and households of Naval Special Warfare through the creation and sale of this very beautiful limited-edition timepiece.” Scroll down to find some pictures of the watch taken by WatchTime contributor Rob Velasquez at the launch event aboard the Intrepid.
When the third annual WatchTime New York show wrapped up on Saturday, many attendees walked off with either a brand new watch on their wrist, or an idea for their next buy–or simply tuned into the horological large that all these fans hunger for. For a whole lot of people, in addition, it provided an opportunity to observe timepieces that was announced but had not yet been displayed to the public. One such exle is the eight-piece, limited-edition Geo. Graham Orrery Tourbillon, an unexpected high complication from a brand most noteworthy because of its dedication to high-octane sports watches. Geo-Graham Orrery Tourbillon – frontThe Graham stall was packed through the two-day honest as people crowded around to find the timepiece inspired by manufacturer eponym George Graham’s invention of the modern orrery in 1713. From the 2017 Geo-Graham Orrery Tourbillon, a tourbillon made by Christophe Claret creates the beating heart of the galaxy while Moon and Mars characters–crafted with actual fragments of their celestial bodies taken out of meteorites that fell to Earth, along with a Kingman-turquoise Earth–circle the tourbillon enclosed inside an 18K pink stone bridge. In the middle of the engraved superstar exle, a cabochon diamond marks the dead center to its solar rotations.
Since its relaunch in 1995, Graham watches amazon Replica has been known for its wild and jagged sports watches, typified by bold colours and ludicrously oversized crowns and pushers. It has as many haters as lovers, but you don’t need to get the whole world on side to have success. However, Graham was not always a sports watch company. Its origins stretch way back into history, and fall at the feet of George Graham, English clockmaker extraordinaire. When we delve into the foundation of this duplicitous company, its identity becomes blurrier still.
George Graham watches replica price Replica started producing clocks in 1695. Throughout his life, he made many meaningful contributions to horology. He made improvements to the pendulum clock, as well as inventing the mercury pendulum and the orrery. But perhaps his greatest contributions to our field were his words of wisdom, passed on to his younger contemporaries Thomas Mudge and John Harrison, both of whom would go on to become even more famous and respected than their esteemed forerunner.
For a brand that’s gone through what some consider a radical shift during the previous 20 years since Loth took the helm, many are wondering what to expect next. These days, however, Loth confirms to us that Graham Watches has finally hit it’s stride, and also the important projects they have helped build during this time of expansion, not only for the brand but for the global community, has generated a solid future which we’ll see develop through our younger generations. In fact, he thinks that we will look back and realize that history has been created today. As they say, see what happens next.Price for your Graham Chronofighter Oversize Navy SEAL Foundation featured within this article is $8,050, and it’s limited to 500 pieces, using some of each sale going to the Navy SEAL Foundation.Graham has just announced a new version of its Moon Watch, that has an oversized moon phase indicator and flying tourbillon. It now comes in a 18k white gold case, using a dark sapphire bezel and a black dial decorated with diamonds — all delivered in an effort to make the gorgeous and colossal Moon stand out on the dial even more.For this season, Graham is releasing a new variant of its Graham Geo.Graham The Moon Watch that is comparable in most facets, but has an 18k white gold case and black dial rather. It’s difficult to choose between them both, but I think this new black dial version captures the spirit of the moon more completely and I particularly like how it contrasts against the diamonds that are set from the dial. If you’re wondering, those diamonds are not set about in random positions, but actually represent five big constellations – Camelopardalis, Perseus, Cassioepia, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor, with the center of the dial representing the North Star. In all, there are 48 diamonds, with a whole carat count of 0.24. To wrap it all up, this fresh Graham Geo.Graham The Moon Watch also has a black Milky Way sapphire painted bezel.The fresh Graham Geo.Graham The Moon in white gold will include a matching black crocodile strap and will be limited to just 8 pieces, and will be priced at $295,000.
But then Graham watches any good Replica died, and very little was heard from his brand for almost 250 years, when, in 1995, the brand was relaunched by a Swiss company that had bought the rights to the name. At this point, having gone to the trouble of buying up the name, you’d think they’d set about honouring it by producing watches of which Honest George Graham would have approved.
Then again, launching a highly distinctive, in-your-face sports watch that captured the Zeitgeist and continued to separate customers from their cash for the following twenty years of growth seems like an attractive plan of action when all you care about is making millions. So I can see both sides of the coin: either honor the name you’ve inherited, or make it into something totally new and consistent with itself. If a company goes with the latter then you might question their motives (they might just be using a respected name to add unwarranted gravitas to a substandard product), but it is possible they have a genuinely good idea that deserves recognition. Lifting the name of a past master certainly grabs the horological community’s attention! And I do think the modern Graham watches are valid additions to watchmaking. The Chronofighter in particular is a highly identifiable model, and the Prodive (in yellow) is one of my guiltiest pleasures.
In fact, I like the new Grahams so much, I am happy to overlook that somewhere, deep in Westminster Abbey, the man whose name now adorns the dials of these twenty-first century freak shows, is spinning in his crypt. What I struggle to get on board with, though, is being reminded of that man. I don’t like a brand that has done so little to perpetuate its “history” does so only when it seems to suit it.
The Geo.Graham range features three watches, each one designed to celebrate George Graham watches 2017 Replica himself. Each of the three – the Geo.Graham Tourbillon Orrery, the Geo.Graham Tourbillon, and the Geo.Graham Moon – features a tourbillon, which I’m sure Graham would have liked to see. Unfortunately, the tourbillon wasn’t invented until nearly 50 years after his death, so he never got the chance. Still, the idea is valid. We associate tourbillons with the past, and Graham’s legacy is certainly more closely associated with a nice, classical complication than it is with the petrol-coloured case and bog-eyed display of the Swordfish model.
These are really high-end watches in the context of Graham’s existing range. I guess this was their game-plan – roll out whatever sells until the brand is big enough to release something genuinely interesting that they can charge a lot more for. The Geo.Graham Moon watch and the Geo.Graham Tourbillon Orrery are both very busy, rather impressive-looking contraptions. The Geo.Graham Tourbillon, however, is incredibly restrained, civilised, and mature. It is, in actual fact, a very nice watch. If this was coming from another brand, say Piaget for example, I would be quite impressed. So from an aesthetic standpoint, I must admit, I do like it. I do not like the indecisive usage of the Graham name, or the total incongruity of the brand’s offerings. But the Geo.Graham Tourbillon is, in isolation, a success.
And to truly appreciate the aesthetic success of the Geo.Graham Tourbillon, you need only turn it over and study the truly beautiful movement. The off-center rotor weight, wonderfully engraved with the Geo.Graham name and an awesome patten is a triumph of flare and symmetry. The arrangement of the functional elements, the symmetry of the bridges, and the excellently balanced circular finish that frames the evenly-weighted engraving is a massive departure from the Graham norm, but a welcome one in my opinion.
As a brand that has gone through what some consider a radical shift over the last 20 years because Loth took the helm, many are wondering exactly what to expect next. Today, however, Loth confirms to us that Graham watch leather strap Replica Watches has finally hit it’s stride, and the essential projects they have helped build during this time of growth, not only for the brand but for the global community, has generated a solid future which we’ll see develop throughout our younger generations. In reality, he thinks that we’ll look back and realize that history was made today. As they say, watch what happens next.Price for the Graham Chronofighter Oversize Navy SEAL Foundation featured within this report is $8,050, and it is limited to 500 pieces, using a portion of every sale going to the Navy SEAL Foundation.Graham has just announced a new version of its Moon Watch, which has an oversized moon phase indicator and flying tourbillon. It now comes in a 18k white gold case, using a dark sapphire bezel and a black dial decorated with diamonds — all delivered in an effort to generate the beautiful and colossal Moon stand out from the dial even more.For this season, Graham is releasing a new version of its Graham Geo.Graham The Moon Watch that is comparable in all facets, but comes with an 18k white gold case and black dial instead. It’s hard to choose between them both, but I think this new black dial variant captures the spirit of the moon more fully and I especially like the way that it contrasts against the diamonds which are set in the dial. To wrap it all up, this fresh Graham Geo.Graham The Moon Watch also has a dark Milky Way sapphire painted bezel.The fresh Graham Geo.Graham The Moon in white gold will probably include a matching black crocodile strap and will be restricted to just 8 pieces, and is priced at $295,000.
The G1796 movement offers a 72-hour power reserve. This movement is not in-house, but it is proprietary and exclusive to Graham. Impressively, this tourbillon movement is thin – less than a centimetre thin. Given that is also self-winding, that’s quite an achievement. Many of its peers are thicker before you factor in the rotor weight! This surprisingly svelte movement is encased within a 40mm 18ct rose gold housing, which itself is only 9.85mm thick. This all goes together to make an extremely comfortable and wearable timepiece, quite unlike anything one would associate with the modern history of the brand. It’s also water resistant to 50 meters, which I find quite impressive given its materials and thinness.
Stylistically, the Geo.Graham Tourbillon looks to the past for inspiration. Blued hands and tourbillon cage attachment screws enliven a domed, white, enamel lacquered dial that is decorated with Roman numeral hour markers and Arabic minute markers, separated by a railway track minute scale. The dial and movement are viewable through what Graham describe as a “sapphire crystal glass box” (whatever the blazes that means). The “sapphire crystal glass box” is basically a thick crystal designed to enhance depth and clarity of the movement. All the sapphire is treated with anti-reflective coating. The case back crystal, which is a huge 3.35mm thick, has special cut-out for the rotor weight. There will only be 100 of the Geo.Graham Tourbillon watches produced, and they will be priced at $80,420. graham1695.com