Tag: Watchmaking

Categories
Greubel Forsey Replica Hands-on Men Watch Swiss Replica

GREUBEL FORSEY Presents Signature1

Greubel Forsey recently hit the headlines for the rather head-exploding price realised by their first Naissance ‘School Replica Watch’ (photo of the prototype below) at a Christie’s auction : HKD 11,296,000. For details on what is so special about this replica watch, go to this link, but I would hazard a guess that even Messrs Dufour, Greubel, Forsey and Boulanger would not have guessed it would fetch such an astonishing amount.montre replique rolex

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

The first model of this new series is the Signature 1. The creation of Didier J.G. Cretin, a long time replica watchmaker at Greubel Forsey, it is a simple manually wound replica watch with three hands, with not a tourbillon in sight.

Not only is it sans tourbillon, but at 41.4mm x 11.7mm it is also considerably smaller than the usual Greubel Forsey replica watch, and will be made in rose gold, white gold, platinum, or stainless steel.

The movement of the Signature 1 has a power reserve of fifty-four hours and is notable for featuring a large new exclusively designed Greubel Forsey 12.6mm balance that beats at 18,000VPH.

The hands of the all-gold offset dial are finished and countersunk by hand, the indices engraved into the gold dial and then enamelled. Bridges are decorated with Geneva stripes (a first for a Greubel Forsey replica watch) or with a frosted black PVD treatment.

For followers of independent brands one thing that becomes evident is not just the collaboration that can happen between them, but also that it is not uncommon for the independents to support their own replica watchmakers in a public way such as this. Other recent examples are Kim Djapri (whom I met in Dresden in March and then at Baselworld 2016) who has been a replica watchmaker for Lang & Heyne and is now at the Tempus Arte boutique, who has had the support of Lang & Heyne and even assistance from their master engraver for his AHCI candidacy replica watch the Bélier (which those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen already) or new brand Oscillon, whose founders are doing R&D and CAD work at Urwerk during the day.

The Naissance (full name ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’) project is one focused around the preservation and continuation of skills, and at SIHH 2016 Greubel Forsey introduced a new series called ‘Signature’, which continues this theme.

In a nutshell, for each of the Signature replica watches one replica watchmaker will be able to give full flight to his or her skills, with the assistance of Greubel Forsey, and the final replica watch will be co-signed by the replica watchmaker and Greubel Forsey.

For those who have wanted a leaner cleaner Greubel Forsey replica watch, this may tickle your fancy. Perhaps it doesn’t have the hallmarks of the brand to which we have become accustomed, but it is more wearable, and it is at a lower price point (although clearly still not inexpensive), and it is an elegant replica watch with a pure and simple aesthetic. As it was a prototype I saw, it will be interesting to see how the end product looks from a finishing point of view, since Greubel Forsey’s replica watches are known for their beautiful high levels of finishing.

 

There will be a total of sixty-six Signature 1s made : eleven each in rose gold, white gold, and platinum, and thirty-three in stainless steel (eleven of which will have a blue dial). Although these are more simple pieces than your usual Greubel Forsey, they are still Greubel Forseys with the commensurate prices, which start at 150,000 CHF for the stainless steel version.

Categories
Credor Replica Hands-on Men Watch

Full Review With Seiko Credor EichiII

SeikoEichi2dd

With last month’s opening of Australia’s first Seiko boutique in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building it seems the right time to share with you a replica watch that is one of Seiko’s premium pieces.

 

It is not just in Australia that Seiko is associated primarily with a (huge) range of moderately priced  replica watches, but with this new boutique and a resident Grand Seiko specialist the full range of the brand’s wares will be more widely known here. Grand Seiko has been available in Australia for a a number of years now but not so Credor. Until now.

It is only in recent years that the (arguably still niche) world of high-end Seikos has gained some solid traction outside of Japan. The fact that many models have historically been ‘Japan only’ has perhaps added to its niche status, but as was pointed out during Seiko’s Baselworld 2016 press conference, the increasing popularity Grand Seikos is important to Seiko’s worldwide growth plans.

One of the Seiko high-end lines about which I’ve written before is the Spring Drive, named after the eponymous movement. As as segue within the Spring Drive line there was, for a brief two years between 2007 and 2009, a series of models called Izul, the only known Spring Drives that used the automatic Calibre 5R85 (49 jewels) sans GMT function, with a power reserve of 72 hours. Izul was Seiko’s fourth ‘premium brand’, the others being Grand Seiko, Galante, and Credor.

Today post is about the Credor Eichi II. As is the case with the rest of the top of the line Credor timepieces the Eichi II is made by Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio located in Shiojiri, in Nagano Prefecture. As its name indicates it is the second generation of Eichis, time-only replica watches whose focus is on achieving the highest level of finishing possible and whose inspiration is Philippe Dufour, from whom some of the members of Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio have undertaken training. With its international launch at Baselworld 2015 the Eichi II is a scarce beast, with only about twenty made per annum.

 

This is a plain (and deliberately so) replica watch. Many if not most similarly plain replica watches are just that, whether you look at them as they sit on your wrist or whether you look at them under a loupe. There are, as always, exceptions, but by and large even when viewed at close quarters it’s often about details to do with finishing and perhaps even dial textures and the like.

The Eichi II has continued the key aspects of the first generation, with its focus on simple functional aesthetics realised using platinum (including, unusually, the hefty and large deployant buckle made of two alloys, platinum 950 which is standard for replica watches and platinum 900), in-house painted porcelain for the dial, and blued steel.

Similar in style and execution to the first generation, the most noticeable changes are a larger case and cleaner dial. The first Eichi was 35mm, a not-so-contemporary size. At 39mm with a thickness of 10.3mm, the Eichi II is more suited to modern preferences, but a larger size also ‘opens up’ the dial so that its glow (and it does glow) can take full flight. Had this second Eichi been 35mm I strongly suspect that I would not have taken to it as much. As it is, it surprised me, as I was concerned that I would be rather ambivalent towards it, and said as much to its owner before I saw it.

The Eichi II however, gets better the closer you look at it, and this formed a critical part of why I went from being not-quite-a-sceptic to being a convert. Don’t get me wrong, it is actually quite beautiful to look at from a distance, with its almost starkly white white porcelain dial (Eichi I’s dial was Noritake but Eichi II’s dial is by an unknown maker), but it is the ‘handmade’ details that you can only see under magnification that are what makes it for me.

All markings on the dial; indices, logo/ name, are painted by a single person at the Micro Artist Studio and in a dark blue to match the blued steel hands, the latter tapering to a rather fine tip. With markers rather than numerals, this makes for a cleaner dial than its predecessor. The crescent on the end of the seconds hand makes for a nice ‘break’ from the austere dial. It purportedly takes an entire day to complete one dial. Up close you can clearly see that everything is hand-painted, with that slight irregularity (and granularity of paint) that comes from the human touch, the same irregularity which is a large part of the charm of something handmade. To photograph it is actually a challenging replica watch, as the blue varies quite a lot in darkness depending on the lighting and angle at which light falls on the dial.

To their credit they’ve not done too much with decoration, which means that the skill and sharpness and width of the bevelling (the latter the widest that this replica watch’s owner has seen), graining, and polishing is highlighted. The way in which the flower motif has been incorporated into the movement is really rather special, with the flower itself on the mainspring barrel first catching the eye, then the stem and leaves of the gap between the two bridges…

Inside and visible through the back is the Calibre 7R14 hand-wound hybrid Spring Drive movement, with its electronically-controlled regulation via an integrated circuit. Here, as much as for the dial, is where it pays to look under a loupe, although even to the naked eye the overall impression is a very modern clean feel, with the finishing and the skeleton bellflower motif (the symbol of Shiojiri, the town in which the Micro Artist Studio is located), superb.

 

In order to maintain the design purity of the dial, on the Eichi II the power reserve indicator has been put on the back of the replica watch.

The Eichi II was created to mark the 40th anniversary of the Credor line and the 15th anniversary of the Spring Drive movement. Believed by some to be in the running to be the finest three-handed replica watch currently being made, there is no doubt that in terms of finishing, both front and back, it really is up there with the best. It may not be to everyone’s tastes (or pockets, at 5.7m Yen), but the finishing is worth boasting about and yes, it is very much a luxury timepiece.

Categories
Seiko Replica

HANDS-ON : Replica Seiko Credor EichiII

SeikoEichi2dd

With last month’s opening of Australia’s first cheap replica Seiko boutique in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building it seems the right time to share with you a replica watch that is one of Seiko’s premium pieces.

It is only in recent years that the (arguably still niche) world of high-end Seikos has gained some solid traction outside of Japan. The fact that many models have historically been ‘Japan only’ has perhaps added to its niche status, but as was pointed out during Seiko’s Baselworld 2016 press conference, the increasing popularity Grand Seikos is important to Seiko’s worldwide growth plans.

One of the Seiko high-end lines about which I’ve written before is the Spring Drive, named after the eponymous movement. As as segue within the Spring Drive line there was, for a brief two years between 2007 and 2009, a series of models called Izul, the only known Spring Drives that used the automatic Calibre 5R85 (49 jewels) sans GMT function, with a power reserve of 72 hours. Izul was Seiko’s fourth ‘premium brand’, the others being Grand Seiko, Galante, and Credor.

It is not just in Australia that Seiko is associated primarily with a (huge) range of moderately priced  replica watches, but with this new boutique and a resident Grand Seiko specialist the full range of the brand’s wares will be more widely known here. Grand Seiko has been available in Australia for a a number of years now but not so Credor. Until now.

Today post is about the Credor Eichi II. As is the case with the rest of the top of the line Credor timepieces the Eichi II is made by Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio located in Shiojiri, in Nagano Prefecture. As its name indicates it is the second generation of Eichis, time-only replica watches whose focus is on achieving the highest level of finishing possible and whose inspiration is Philippe Dufour, from whom some of the members of Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio have undertaken training. With its international launch at Baselworld 2015 the Eichi II is a scarce beast, with only about twenty made per annum.

The Eichi II has continued the key aspects of the first generation, with its focus on simple functional aesthetics realised using platinum (including, unusually, the hefty and large deployant buckle made of two alloys, platinum 950 which is standard for replica watches and platinum 900), in-house painted porcelain for the dial, and blued steel.

Similar in style and execution to the first generation, the most noticeable changes are a larger case and cleaner dial. The first Eichi was 35mm, a not-so-contemporary size. At 39mm with a thickness of 10.3mm, the Eichi II is more suited to modern preferences, but a larger size also ‘opens up’ the dial so that its glow (and it does glow) can take full flight. Had this second Eichi been 35mm I strongly suspect that I would not have taken to it as much. As it is, it surprised me, as I was concerned that I would be rather ambivalent towards it, and said as much to its owner before I saw it.

This is a plain (and deliberately so) replica watch. Many if not most similarly plain replica watches are just that, whether you look at them as they sit on your wrist or whether you look at them under a loupe. There are, as always, exceptions, but by and large even when viewed at close quarters it’s often about details to do with finishing and perhaps even dial textures and the like. The Eichi II however, gets better the closer you look at it, and this formed a critical part of why I went from being not-quite-a-sceptic to being a convert. Don’t get me wrong, it is actually quite beautiful to look at from a distance, with its almost starkly white white porcelain dial (Eichi I’s dial was Noritake but Eichi II’s dial is by an unknown maker), but it is the ‘handmade’ details that you can only see under magnification that are what makes it for me.

All markings on the dial; indices, logo/ name, are painted by a single person at the Micro Artist Studio and in a dark blue to match the blued steel hands, the latter tapering to a rather fine tip. With markers rather than numerals, this makes for a cleaner dial than its predecessor. The crescent on the end of the seconds hand makes for a nice ‘break’ from the austere dial. It purportedly takes an entire day to complete one dial. Up close you can clearly see that everything is hand-painted, with that slight irregularity (and granularity of paint) that comes from the human touch, the same irregularity which is a large part of the charm of something handmade. To photograph it is actually a challenging replica watch, as the blue varies quite a lot in darkness depending on the lighting and angle at which light falls on the dial.

Inside and visible through the back is the Calibre 7R14 hand-wound hybrid Spring Drive movement, with its electronically-controlled regulation via an integrated circuit. Here, as much as for the dial, is where it pays to look under a loupe, although even to the naked eye the overall impression is a very modern clean feel, with the finishing and the skeleton bellflower motif (the symbol of Shiojiri, the town in which the Micro Artist Studio is located), superb.

To their credit they’ve not done too much with decoration, which means that the skill and sharpness and width of the bevelling (the latter the widest that this replica watch’s owner has seen), graining, and polishing is highlighted. The way in which the flower motif has been incorporated into the movement is really rather special, with the flower itself on the mainspring barrel first catching the eye, then the stem and leaves of the gap between the two bridges…

In order to maintain the design purity of the dial, on the Eichi II the power reserve indicator has been put on the back of the replica watch.

The Eichi II was created to mark the 40th anniversary of the Credor line and the 15th anniversary of the Spring Drive movement. Believed by some to be in the running to be the finest three-handed replica watch currently being made, there is no doubt that in terms of finishing, both front and back, it really is up there with the best. It may not be to everyone’s tastes (or pockets, at 5.7m Yen), but the finishing is worth boasting about and yes, it is very much a luxury timepiece.

Categories
A. Lange & Söhne Replica

HANDS-ON : A replica custom Lang Heyne FriedrichIII

LangHeyne4

For admirers of German replica watchmaking the brands that most commonly seem to first spring to mind are A.Lange & Söhne if we’re talking luxury, and names such as Glashütte Original, Sinn, Stowa and Nomos to name but a few, when covering other points on the spectrum. One brand that is very much still under the radar, which on one level I can understand but another, not, is the small independent brand Lang & Heyne.

Situated in Saxony, Lang & Heyne is small and resolutely committed to a particular aesthetic and replica watchmaking style that is self-evident in their pieces and which would have not have looked out of place a century or more ago, especially in the pocket replica watches that inspire them.. Even the names that they choose for their models, those of Saxonian rulers, are in tune with this very classical and perhaps to some, old-fashioned philosophy.

So who are Lang & Heyne? Well the ‘Lang’ is Marco Lang, a fifth generation replica watchmaker whose father Rolf has a histroy as head restorer in the Mathematics and Physics Cabinet (Mathematisch Physikalischer Salon) collection and as an instructor at A. Lange & Söhne amongst other things.

Marco Lang started off his cheap replica watchmaking career in Glashütte before working on pendulum clocks for seven years and then returning to Dresden, where he started a business restoring replica watches. It was Rolf Lang who introduced his son to Mirko Heyne, his first apprentice at Lange.

Thus Lang & Heyne was born, with Marco Lang’s restoration business shutting shop in 2003. Mirko Heyne long ago left the brand he co-founded (and ended up at Nomos, but I do not know whether he is still there, so if you have an update to this please leave a comment), but Marco Lang is still very much there, and the classical replica watchmaking vision remains in this very small company that only produces perhaps three or four dozen replica watches a year.

In 2013 he released the Friedrich III, which was essentially the same as the steel Friedrich II but with a roman numeral black dial. If you look at his website you will notice a rather distinctive centre lug to his models, but replica watches can be specially ordered without the center lug. Today’s replica watch started off as a Friedrich III but with the addition of various customised features such as a special order fired enamel dial with customised layout and double lugs.

So what are the core features of the Friedrich III? Well it is 40mm, and this replica watch is a lot thinner than I had expected. For some reason I was anticipating a replica watch with a very strong wrist presence, when it actual fact it is fairly slim, light, and very much as the ‘dress replica watch’ vibe on the wrist.

The enamel dial on this piece is white (which may at first glance make it look like the Johann model) unlike the standard black and silver dial of the Friedrich III, with beautiful elongated Roman numerals and polished blued cathedral hands. The blued minute numerals are also custom to this piee.

Inside is the manual wind Calibre VI (18,000 VPH) with its Breguet spring and swan neck regulator. Power reserve is forty-eight hours. As is the case with the dial and lugs, Marco Lang can do customisation of the movement in terms of engraving.

Lang & Heynes truly are one of those brands that you have to make a concerted effort to seek out in terms of having a hands-on experience. They don’t exactly have a large worldwide network of authorised dealers and I doubt that their small annual production would be able to cope with more than the dozen odd they have worldwide (of which nine are in Germany/ Switzerland/ Italy). I made one failed attempt to see some of their pieces at The Lavish Attic in Hong Kong, so it was good to be able to look at this piece at leisure.

So what did I think? Lang & Heyne are a brand which has been on my radar for a couple of years because their aesthetics appeal to me, but due to lack of ‘in the metal’ experience, they have been in the background. Being able to handle one increased my admiration for them – this is a beautiful looking replica watch that radiates quality and craftsmanship, and from all reports, the ordering process was professional, friendly, and smooth.

Watch people often like to muse about a ‘one replica watch’. What this ‘one replica watch’ would be, for those of us who are fortunate to own more than one and struggle to work out what we’d choose if we had to get rid of all but one, is going to be very much dependant on budget, lifestyle, and personal preferences, but if you are looking for the ‘one replica watch’ that is a versatile dress replica watch and pretty much guaranteed to still look fresh in a few decades, you could do a lot worse than looking at a Lang & Heyne.

Categories
Piaget Replica

Replica PIAGET : the rose takes newforms

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Having already covered the hand-embroidered Piaget rose dial earlier this year, today it’s the turn of two other interpretations of their floral emblem. For those who wish to know a little about the significance of the Yves Piaget rose, click here. The choice of this flower is not without meaning, and it is why it features in both their replica watches and jewellery.

Today the skills and craft that are being highlighted are hard-stone marquetry and grand feu enamelling.

Firstly, marquetry.

Stone marquetry has been traditionally used in furniture, as an architectural feature, in religious art, as a decorative art. In their quest to find new way in which to realise the Yves Piaget rose on a stylish replica watch dial (it occurrs to me that for a completist who has the funds, collecting these would be an interesting thing), Piaget approached the workshop of Hervé Obligi, which has been honoured with the ‘Enterprise du Patrimonie Vivant’ (a recognition of the French State for excellence in traditional and industrial skills), to see their skills in a miniaturised form.

The making of these roses involves a few main steps : selecting the stone (in this instance, Imperial Mexican jasper), using diamond-blade saws to cut it into thin pieces, selecting the appropriately coloured areas for the rose’s petals, tracing the petals are traced onto the jasper with a steel point, and then using a hazelnut wood bow strung with steel wire soaked in abrasive is used to cut the petals.

Each petal is then adjusted and assembled into the complete rose onto a surface, and heat-sealed with resin to join them. The finished rose is then attached to the gold dial of the Altiplano. Then, it is polished by hand to the form you see here.

This Altiplano is in a 38mm white gold case with a brilliant-cut diamond bezel and comes on a matching white satin strap. Made in a limitation of eighteen pieces, inside is the manual-wind Piaget 430P movement, with 43-hours of power reserve.

Today’s second piece that also forms a part of the Piaget Art & Excellence collection, is the Piaget rose in Grand Feu enamel.

For those unfamiliar with it, enamelling is the heating of silica (glass) with other elements including a colour (usually in the form of a metal oxide) at 800 – 1200 Celsius and to liquefy and bond the metal. The process of heating and cooling is repeated to add more layers, and applied to a replica watch dial using a quill.

The enamel artist creates colours through the combination of silica and metal oxides. Designs and colours can be either in the enamel itself, or there may even be plain enamel on to which the design is painted.

For this ‘Grand Feu’, the method used was that of repeated application of the coloured powder.

The dial is firstly engraved in relief with the rose motif of the Yves Piaget rose. After this, the sun ray guilloché is added. The enamel is then spread on its surface in successive layers as per the heating and cooling process mentioned above, with differing heights of engraving and different layers and colours of enamelling. Once the final glazing is complete, polishing.

As with the previous marquetry piece, this is in a 38mm white gold case with matching white satin strap. Inside is again, the manual-wind 430P movement. The limitation is also eighteen pieces.

The Grand Feu dial is the more delicate of the two pieces featured today, but I find the the darker hues of the stone marquetry replica watch more striking. Regardless of which you prefer, these are two worthy and fittingly delicate new manifestations of Piaget’s floral motif.

Categories
Swiss Replica

Replica Bremont WrightFlyer Limited Editions Hands On

BremontWrightFlyer5

A few months ago elelgant replica Bremont launched the latest in their series of limited editions which pay tribute to important historical places and events that relate to Bremont’s focus on matters aviation-related. The Bremont Wright Flyer pays tribute to, as the name indicates, the groundbreaking”1903 flight of the Wright Flyer.  As with the previous limited editions such as the Codebreaker, Bletchley Park and Victory, which also contained mementos significant to each, the Bremont Wright Flyer incorporates a small piece of the muslin fabric from the wings of the Wright Flyer itself, in the rotor. The fabric was given to Bremont by the Wright family, and part of the proceeds of the sale of the replica watches will go towards the restoration of the Wright family home in Ohio.

With thanks to Nick Hooper of MAD Australia and Denis Martinet in Hong Kong I recently had the opportunity to view one of these special new Flyers, the white gold model, at the Bremont Boutique in Hong Kong.

In the brand’s classic 43 mm Trip-Tick case, design-wise it is unmistakably Bremont, with railway scales on both the dial and sub-dial, the latter with a discreet ‘1903’ reference to the Wright Flyer. Colourwise the cream-coloured numerals/ hands and white of this limited-to-fifty-pieces white gold model gives it a more ‘vintage’ aesthetic than the black dialled stainless steel model, but the latter is more affordable, and there will be more (300) of them made. The rose gold one, with a similar dial to that of the white gold model, will have a limitation of 100 pieces.

As you can see on the reverse, there are quite charming and almost whimsical ‘propeller’ and initialled references to both Orville and Wilbur Wright.

When the Wright Flyer was announced there was what can only be called a bit of a hullabaloo about its movement, the BWC/01 automatic with a fifty hour power reserve. I have already written about it here, so I will not revisit it except to say that for those who don’t know about what happened it is worthwhile reading about, both because of how significant it was at its launch, and because of the broader issues that it raises. Plus, there was a lively discussion in the ‘comments’ section of that post.

Alas, having a bit of significant aviation history does not come cheap. The WG model is priced at £30,950, the RG £27,950.00 and the stainless steel, £17,950.

Categories
Jaeger-LeCoultre Replica

Replica JAEGER-LECOULTRE : The Rendez-Vous Ivy MinuteRepeater

JLC2014RendezvousIvyMinRepeater12

Last week Jeager-LeCoultre CEO Mr. Daniel Riedo paid his first visit to Australia. One of the purposes of his visit was to talk about the Maison’s women’s replica watches, and a dinner was held at Quay Restaurant in Sydney in honour of this. For those who are unfamiliar with it is not only one of the world’s top restaurants but has a view facing both the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Perhaps he was captivated by the view, but for whatever reason, those of us who were lucky enough to be there that night were privileged to be the first in the world to look at and handle, the Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater, formally launched this week at Replica Watches & Wonders 2014. To those who follow me on instagram, you will have already seen some photos of it, from that night.

During the last few years Jaeger-LeCoultre has released a number of complicated Rendez-Vous models such as a tourbillon, Celestial and Perpetual Calendar. The paucity of complications, let alone grande complications in women’s replica watches, is a rather big hole that is just desperate to be filled, and the new Ivy Minute Repeater is an unexpected and splendid addition to their highly successful Rendez-Vous Collection. Amongst those attending the dinner that night were guests who had never experienced a minute repeater, and they learned to count the hours and minutes by the gongs. It is difficult to explain why repeaters and sonneries retain an almost mythical level of magic amongst many replica watch collectors and enthusiasts that goes beyond ‘mere’ admiration of the technical skill that goes into them. Perhaps there’s a touch of the sheer wonderment that it can be done at all, and in such a small form.

The new white gold Ivy Minute Repeater uses the new Calibre 942A which is automatic, has a 28,800 VPH, and a 43-hour power reserve. The new movement was designed to adapt to a 39 mm case, which possibly makes it a unisex size. Imagine it on a blue alligator strap instead of the blue satin one, perhaps…

One of the key aspects of minute-repeaters is, of course, to do with how sound is transmitted from the vibrating gongs through the replica watch, as the case, dial, movement and caseback all affect the amplification and nature of the sound. In a conventional minute repeater the gongs are attached to a metal foot that’s part of the movement plate. That means that when the replica watch is on the wrist, sound has to travel through the movement plate, dial and crystal, as well as laterally through the flanks of the case. Here is a short activation, and my thanks to Mr. Daniel Riedo for his assistance with this.

On the Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie traditional hammers were replaced by what are called ‘trebuchet hammers’, and the new Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater has two patented trebuchet hammers which strike two crystal gongs connected to the sapphire crystal harder and just once, producing a loudspeaker effect. To read about trebuchet hammers, go to this link. It is also equipped with a silent regulator to reduce any peripheral sound disturbance of the mechanism.

There are two distinguishing features of this new piece : firstly, the repeater is operated by a pusher and not the traditional slide. Secondly, it has a safety system which ensures that even if the button is pressed again while the minute repeater is already in action, the mechanism does not start working again – thereby preventing any damage to the movement. A minute repeater is impressively well and good, as they say, but how about its looks? The dial is white gold with a sunburst guilloché motif, grand feu enamel is then added, to achieve the blue, which represents the night sky above the Vallée de Joux. The ivy is also a reference to the Vallée; with the use of diamonds representing the first frozen ice crystals on the autumn leaves announcing the arrival of winter. The ‘vine’ like numerals, which become a part of the decoration, are also incredibly attractive.

There are also more diamonds on the bezel and the repeater pushpiece, as well as the crown, with a total of 548 diamonds, of which 255 are on the dial. When I first viewed this piece it was at night in a light-dimmed restaurant, and the diamonds were quite reflective. I expressed certain views at the time about the popularity of adding diamonds to women’s replica watches, including concerns regarding how ‘bright’ it would be during the daytime.

When I saw it again the next day, during what could only be described as a perfect sunny Sydney day, I was somewhat taken aback, and had to retract certain views that I had expressed. It was a far more discreet (yes I mean ‘discreet’, whilst acknowledging that an enamel and diamond bejewelled replica watch isn’t inherently discreet and will never be as discreet as a piece sans precious stones) than it was the previous night, and it was surprisingly and remarkably wearable for day time. It really is a replica watch that comes into its own in daylight, as it is only then that the dial seems to come alive. The diamonds on the bezel, pushpiece and crown, however extravagant, also seemed to make a lot more sense in the light of day. This was quite unexpected.

This is a very attractive and intriguing replica watch and above all, the fact that there is a minute repeater in a women’s replica watch collection (and it was designed and conceived by a team of women) is itself worthy of many cheers. It will be produced in a limited edition of 88 pieces with a price of 202,000 EUR without VAT.

Categories
Vacheron Constantin Replica

PHOTOS : Replica Vacheron Constantin’s FabuleuxOrnements

VCMetiersdArtFabuleuxOrnementsIndianMS3

Earlier this year I featured wonderful replica Vacheron Constantin’s Fabuleux Ornements collection which debuted at SIHH 2014. Recently I had the opportunity, with thanks to Vacheron Constantin Australia, of looking at these stunning replica watches at greater leisure here in Sydney, and so I bring to you some more photos of these works of art. For more information on them, click on the link above.

CHINESE EMBROIDERY GLYPTICS

OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURE

A movement shot.

INDIAN MANUSCRIPT

Last but not least, French Lace, a piece for which, seeing it again (and yes, under a loupe), I developed a new appreciation.

These are some of my favourite 2014 releases, and if you look at them under a loupe (I used a Loupe System), it brings a whole new level of realisation of the immense skill and artistry involved in the handwork that has gone into each replica watch. The angles on the Ottoman piece, when seen close up, are astonishing. These are deeply elegant replica watches but more importantly, they are realisations of often unheralded artisans. If you get the opportunity to look at these limited edition pieces, grab it.

Unfortunately, they are not available in Australia, but are POA in Vacheron Constantin boutiques worldwide.

Categories
Rolex Replica

Replica ROLEX : Syloxi and the Oyster Perpetual Datejust Pearlmaster34

Rolex2014LadyDatejustPearlmaster34a

It’s funny sometimes.

I was at The Hour Glass in Sydney looking at some of the Baselworld 2014 releases from stylish replica Rolex when three blindingly shiny replica watches came into sight. Now it’s no secret that replica watches-with-more-stones-than-I-can-count-on-all-digits are an exception rather than a rule at Horologium, and that by and large those that do make an appearance have precious stones as part of a broader artistic sensibility in the form of an image, or where the stones are a discreet part of the bezel, or something unusual. It’s rare that stone-bedecked replica watches show their dials here.

However, something about the sheer weight and strong presence of this trio grabbed my attention that day. I thought to myself that even if these aren’t, aesthetically, something that I would select, not to mention how hyper-aware one would have to be  from a practical standpoint with stones on the bracelet, the thought crossed my mind that Rolex does incredibly well with women’s replica watches, and with bejewelled women’s replica watches, so it was important for me to acknowledge this and to feature it.

It was only after I started to write this that I realised something. I had unknowingly chosen to take photos of three rather significant replica watches whose announcement at Baselworld 2014 had somehow passed me by.

I realised that these Oyster Perpetual Datejust Pearlmaster 34s weren’t ‘just’ bejwelled women’s replica watches, but that their release heralded an important breakthrough by Rolex. Why they chose to do this via these replica watches, I can’t guess, but for those who are wondering – these are the timepieces in which the almighty big R chose to unveil its first commercially available replica watches equipped with a silicon hairspring called ‘Syloxi’, developed in-house after decades of research.

The ‘Syloxi’ name derives from ‘silicon’ and ‘silicon oxide’, and the new hairspring is made in-house by a process known as deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) developed by the Centre Suisse d’Electronique et Microtechnique (CSEM) which, with the backing of Rolex, the Swatch Group, and Patek Philippe, has researched the use of silicon in replica watchmaking.

A replica watch’s oscillator comprises of a hairspring and a balance wheel. Minimising disturbances to it from temperature variations, shocks, magnetism etc is critical. Silicon has been increasingly used by replica watch brands in their movements, and in instances such as this, where it is covered by an oxide layer, it has the added bonus of being thermo-compensating.

What makes the Rolex Syloxi different is its (patented) shape and geometry. It is flat, and its pitch and thickness varies along the hairspring. The inner coil of the hairspring is flexible and its other end is rigid and fixed to the balance bridge at two points.


So we come to the ‘unassuming’ Datejust Pearlmaster 34 which features the Syloxi hairspring courtesy of the automatic Calibre 2236. It is vailable in 18 carat yellow, white, or Everose (TM) gold, with a number of precious stone options including diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies.

The three shown here are amongst a number of options :

1. Yellow gold model with a bezel set with twelve baguette-cut pink sapphires and twenty-four baguette-cut light-pink sapphires. Its dial is 18 ct yellow gold paved with 455 diamonds, the hour markers and hands are 18 ct yellow gold appliqué. With this, you can have either an 18 ct yellow gold bracelet or an 18 ct yellow gold bracelet with 186 brilliant-cut diamonds, as per the photos in this post.

2. White gold model with a bezel set with with twelve baguette-cut blue sapphires and twenty-four baguette-cut light-blue sapphires. Its dial is 18 ct white gold, rhodium plated, and paved with 455 diamonds, hour markers and hands are 18 ct white gold appliqué. This is naturally also available with either an 18 ct white gold bracelet or one with 186 brilliant-cut diamonds if you’re feeling fearless.

3. Rolex’s trademarked Everose alloy model with an 18 ct white gold bezel set with thirty-two brilliant-cut diamonds. Its dial is 18 ct white gold, rhodium plated, paved with 455 diamonds, hour markers and hands are Everose appliqué. Bracelet-wise it’s available in a choice of either 18 ct Everose gold or 18 ct white gold set with 186 briliant-cut diamonds.

Not that most of those wearing these is likely to find themselves in this position, but their waterproofness is 100m.

Would some have expected this innovation to have made its first appearance in a men’s replica watch? Or if a women’s replica watch, a more sedate model? Perhaps, but with four patents exclusive to Rolex and a fifth for the material itself shared with Patek Philippe and the Swatch Group, it will make its way into men’s replica watches as well. In the meantime, Rolex movement geeks will have to be satisfied with these groundbreaking women’s replica watches, which start at CHF37,000 and go up to a hefty six figures depending on your replica watch/ bracelet combination.

ADDENDUM : with thanks to the replica watchnerd, who did some investigating, for those who are interested, this appears to be the Syloxi patent.

Categories
Cartier Replica

Swiss Replica CARTIER : Birds of aFeather Watch

CartierSIHH2014Macaw2

Having mused about starting with a series of avian pun for this post, I have decided to restrain myself and let today’s two new Cartier Metier d’Art pieces speak for themselves. There is certainly a lot to crow about here.

This first piece from unique replica Cartier is the Floral Marquetry Parrot. In one of their most popular lines and case types, the Ballon Bleu, it is a 42mm 18k rhodium-plated white gold case with 124 brilliant-cut diamonds with a total of 1.80 carats. However, it is the dial that is our focus today.

With rhodium-plated 18 carat white gold and 18 carat pink gold used in the dial’s base and sectioning, this new replica watch utilises the technique of marquetry, more commonly seen in wood (including on replica watches) but here, using rose petals that have been preserved, dyed, and affixed to a thin sliver of wood to assist in cutting of the desired shape before being layered together as plumage to create this macaw.

The skills are really quite extraordinary. Without being told that they are rose petals, one might never guess. The dyeing of the vivid blue, green and yellow is incredibly lifelike. In terms of non-floral elements, the bird’s eye is emerald and the beak, onyx, and the black and off-white feathers surrounding the eye are actually painted onto the dial.

This glorious parrot comes on a white semi-matte alligator strap with a folding clasp in rhodium-plated 18k white gold, and set with forty-three diamonds. Inside is the automatic Calibre 049.

‘In the metal’, this is a very impressive and attention-grabbing piece. The diamonds on the bezel are almost easily forgotten, the eye is drawn to how realistic the plumage is, how vividly alive the bird is on your wrist. Of course, this being part of the Metiers d’Art line, it is a very exclusive piece, limited to 20 numbered pieces.

The second bird to be featured today is a Toucan. Also in an 18k white gold case with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds (total of 1.56 carats), this replica watch features enamelling work and mother-of-pearl to create three different levels of bird and surroundings. The enamelling is done by the craftsman/ woman assembling a gold framework/ sectioning, and then adding three layers of enamel plates of differing thickness. Thus when the light plays on these three superimposed plates, depending on the angle at which you look at the dial, the Toucan seems less of a two-dimensional creature. This is a more whimsical piece than the previous one, the Toucan almost looks slightly perturbed.

To match the blues of the dial, the hands are in blued steel. Inside is the manual wind Calibre 430 MC.

As is the case with the Metiers d’Art Parrot, this comes ln a semi-matte semi-matte white alligator strap with an adjustable 18k rhodium-plated white gold folding buckle set with 43 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.42 carats), and is in a limited edition of ten pieces.

When it comes to Cartier’s new releases, a lot of the focus is on their pieces with broad appeal, or some of their haute horlogerie pieces, it is often too easy to forget to look out for what interesting things they have decided to do artistically with their dials using their in-house artisans. They have a fondness for depicting birds and beasts, and this is one of their strengths, so come next year, keep an eye out.