ernesthon

30 May 2012

I’m slowly building up a small collection of vintage watches, especially from watch brands that I feel are underpriced. The vintage watch market has been going crazy over the last 2 years, with people increasingly looking at watches as jewelry and as investments. Vintage Rolexes and Patek Philippes have done extraordinarily well at auction, especially unique submariners and complicated gold pieces from PP. Universal Geneve was one of the watch brands that was highly regarded from the 1930s until the 1980s. It is sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s patek”, referencing to its high level of finishing quality and conservative design. Universal Geneve was distributed in North America by Patek Philippe USA, making it the “sister brand” to the most revered watch brand in the world. UG never made the transition past the “quartz” era, when many Swiss watches faced extinction due to quartz technology in the 70s and 80s.  This one that I found is a UG Compur dating from probably late 1930 - 1940s. It was one of the first watches that used two pushers to manipulate the chronograph mechanism, and therefore is able to start and stop timing without resetting. The dial is excellent condition, with a bit of champagne colored patina. The time hands are in rose gold and the chronograph hands in blued steel. 

I’m slowly building up a small collection of vintage watches, especially from watch brands that I feel are underpriced. The vintage watch market has been going crazy over the last 2 years, with people increasingly looking at watches as jewelry and as investments. Vintage Rolexes and Patek Philippes have done extraordinarily well at auction, especially unique submariners and complicated gold pieces from PP.

Universal Geneve was one of the watch brands that was highly regarded from the 1930s until the 1980s. It is sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s patek”, referencing to its high level of finishing quality and conservative design. Universal Geneve was distributed in North America by Patek Philippe USA, making it the “sister brand” to the most revered watch brand in the world. UG never made the transition past the “quartz” era, when many Swiss watches faced extinction due to quartz technology in the 70s and 80s. 

This one that I found is a UG Compur dating from probably late 1930 - 1940s. It was one of the first watches that used two pushers to manipulate the chronograph mechanism, and therefore is able to start and stop timing without resetting. The dial is excellent condition, with a bit of champagne colored patina. The time hands are in rose gold and the chronograph hands in blued steel. 

30 Mar 2012

Audemars Piguet: 40 Years of Royal Oak

To celebrate 40 years since the first Royal Oak watch, Audemars Piguet had an exhibit last weekend at the Park Avenue Armory with a display of all the Royal Oaks since its inception. My favorite park of the exhibit was the watchmaker and one of the lead engineers for the AP team - who had on display movements that they were working on as well as a dial engraving machine. The machine is incredibly clever, transferring multiple designs from larger master disks perfectly into tiny brass plates that would become the visible face of the watch.

The 40th anniversary was also celebrated by a new edition of the 15202; re-designed such that it was a close homage to the original one of 1972. While the 15300 (mine) and the new 15400 models are the more widely produced and available, the 15202 remains a low production model that uses the original ultra-thin movement. This calibre, the 2121, was recently acquired from JLC by AP Renaud et Papi, and is produced in limited numbers exclusively for AP.

10 Feb 2012

IWC Ingenieur Mission Earth

I’m a big fan of “icons” and this applies to my tastes in watches too. Last summer, I got a watch for my brother that is a veritable icon, the latest iteration of the Ingenieur. The IWC Ingenieur was first introduced in 1955 as a watch for engineers, as it incorporated a soft iron inner case that would help protect the movement from strong magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can harm a watch if the mainspring becomes magnetized, which causes a change in its beat frequency and therefore its ability to keep accurate time. In the 1950’s, with science and engineering advancing at a furious pace, society was obsessed with technology that would help them cope with the needs of a new technical lifestyle. Another (perhaps even more) famous anti-magnetic watch was the Rolex Milgauss, today a highly collectable model that was also marketed on its ability to resist magnetic fields.

Although this Ingenieur descended from the one in 1955, its design does not. The design of this Ingenieur can trace its lineage to the 1970s, where the Ingenieur was redesigned by none other than the recently deceased Gerald Genta, perhaps the most influential watch designer in the past century. Genta also designed the sport watches of the 1970s for the big 3: Patek Philippe Nautilus, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, and the Vacheron Constantin Overseas. All these 70s sport watches share distinct Genta DNA: interplay of brushed and polished steel, integrated bracelets, and bezel dominant styling cues. The 70s Ingenieur had a screw on bezel to protect the front crystal with the 5 recesses matched to a bezel wrench.

This latest iteration of the ingenieur line, the Mission Earth, is 2mm larger than the previous model at a humungous 46mm (way too big for my taste). Big watches have been increasingly popular over the past decade or so, as fine watches have been making a comeback as statement fashion pieces.

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9 Jul 2011

It’s a brown leather kind of day photo:ernesthon

It’s a brown leather kind of day

photo:ernesthon

25 Jun 2011

A Summer Watch: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

I think the best watches for the summer are cased in stainless steel with a steel bracelet, rubber strap, or a canvas strap. It’s a combination of both form and function: these materials lend to a casual and sporty look, as well as avoid the problem of sweaty, smelly leather straps.

Here’s some photos while my watch was still new, with a only a couple light scratches. It has since collected a nice patina from regular usage - but I think a sport watch like this should really be used the way it is designed to be and not babied!

This is the current production model (15300) of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. AP is widely revered as one of the top 3 Swiss watch manufacturers, along with Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. I love the Royal Oak because it’s one of the most legendary models in watch history, a model that started the entire genre of luxury steel sports watches (Patek Philippe Nautilus and Vacheron Constantin Overseas) and perhaps saved AP from bankruptcy in the early 1970’s.

The horological world’s most famous designer, Gerald Genta, designed and named this watch after ships in the British Navy, cuing the bezel and case design from portholes. The octagonal steel bezel and hexagonal white gold nuts are both distinctive and functional: the case is created from 2 solid steel pieces, sandwiching a rubber gasket that isolates the movement from both moisture and vibration. As a result, its also one of the toughest and most durable watches - fitting of its sporting aspirations.

The 15300 is a little thicker and more massive than the Royal Oak of 1972. With only very minor changes, the Royal Oak remains quite true to its original design, right down to the amazing integrated bracelet. The 15300 contains the new in-house designed and manufactured movement, the 3120. It’s self winding with a 22k rotor engraved with the Audemars and Piguet family crests, employs a full balance bridge, and has a freesprung, adjustable mass balance wheel. To watch purists, a balance bridge provides better inherent stability than a balance cock that is anchored only on one side, and the adjustable mass balance is better as it does not distort the shape of the balance spring (ideally is perfectly concentric) to regulate for timing.

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photos:ernesthon

21 May 2011

This watch gets the most wrist time from me when I travel - it’s reliable, hand-wound, water resistant, stealthy, and has a changeable canvas NATO strap that’s breathable and durable. This one’s a Stowa Flieger Limited Edition 2801, with a Swiss ETA 2801 movement. A little history on the flieger (third blog post I ever wrote!). Other posts on watches photo:ernesthon

This watch gets the most wrist time from me when I travel - it’s reliable, hand-wound, water resistant, stealthy, and has a changeable canvas NATO strap that’s breathable and durable. This one’s a Stowa Flieger Limited Edition 2801, with a Swiss ETA 2801 movement.

A little history on the flieger (third blog post I ever wrote!).

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photo:ernesthon

Tags: stowa. Flieger. watches.

18 Jan 2011

A new (old) watch: Glashütte 69.1

It’s SIHH this week, one of the two major watch conferences in the year that takes place in Geneva. Most of the higher end brands release their novelties this week, whereas the rest are released during BaselWorld in March.

From what I’ve heard and observed, watches are much more important in big cities. I think there are two major reasons for this. First is that watches are a form of jewelery for men that is socially acceptable in business and formal settings. Second, the difficulty of driving cars in big and dense cities is much greater, so the ability to show off taste, status, and wealth through prestigious cars is diminished. Perhaps that’s why watches have been increasing in size and distinctiveness in the past decade. It’s difficult to show off a svelte white gold dress watch, whereas massive luxury sports watches almost jump out of shirt cuffs.

Personally I’m not a big fan of this trend and love the stylistically conservative pieces from the past. I think that the slimmer and cleaner aesthetic is more enduring, and that a couple of years down the road people will be see the chunky Hublot, Richard Mille, and Panerai watches as dated and ostentatious. I find that a lot of the stuff released recently by the big brands have been incredibly boring: more-of-the-same limited edition Royal Oak Offshore from AP, variations of the Nautilus from Patek Philippe, and absolutely nothing even remotely interesting from Rolex. However, some of the most interesting watches are coming from unexpected places: Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, and Mont Blanc - brands that are ascending, resurrecting, or ambitiously moving into the watch world with innovative designs and movements.

I finally found the watch that I was looking for on eBay. For probably the same amount of money as a quartz watch from clothing brand, I found a vintage Glashütte 69.1 in a gold-filled case. I swapped the black leather strap it came with for a brown alligator strap that I think makes it look more unique. These were made in East Germany between 1960-1971 - so they’re not “fine” like Swiss watches - but I love the slim and clean look and heavily domed acrylic crystal.

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photos:ernesthon

17 Dec 2010

My Holiday Wish List 2 - a little more ambitious 1) Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Selfwinding Chronograph in rose gold 2) IWC Ingenieur Ref. 3227 Stainless steel 3) Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle in rose gold (photos here) 4) Alden for J Crew Cap toe boot in shell cordovan 5) Alden + Context Rough Roy boot (photo here) 6) Filson + Apolis Philanthropist Briefcase

My Holiday Wish List 2 - a little more ambitious

1) Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Selfwinding Chronograph in rose gold

2) IWC Ingenieur Ref. 3227 Stainless steel

3) Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle in rose gold (photos here)

4) Alden for J Crew Cap toe boot in shell cordovan

5) Alden + Context Rough Roy boot (photo here)

6) Filson + Apolis Philanthropist Briefcase

21 Oct 2010

A new watch - Memovox

I finally snagged the vintage watch I’ve been looking for on eBay for a while, a Jaeger LeCoultre memovox from the 1960’s. I was originally looking for one that was in a pink gold-filled case, but they’re fairly hard to find in good condition. This one is in stainless steel with a highly domed acrylic crystal, with a refinished steel dial. The alarm function rings about 15 minutes too early, but it’s definitely loud enough to wake me up if its on my wrist.

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photos:ernesthon

12 Aug 2010

Watches: GUB / Glashütte Original

Here’s another watch that I really like the look of - it’s the original Calibre 70.1 from GUB. After the second world war, the well reputed watch manufacturers of Dresden/Glashütte in East Germany were nationalized by the communist government into a single company GUB. The conglomeration effectively destroyed the rich heritage of A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original, but luckily the use of the name GUB preserved the reputation of these two brands.

In the sixties, they produced the calibre 70.1. The quality is inferior to Swiss watches of the era, but that’s part of the attraction - these watches are very cheap today. It has a classy slim profile and a highly domed crystal, which was a popular look at the time.

In the early 1990’s, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the privatization of GUB and its constituent brands. A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original were both resurrected and now are part of Richemont Group and Swatch Group, respectively. Glashütte Original released a watch several years ago called the Senator Sixties, which evokes the same classy look of the 70.1. I really like the funky bauhaus arabic numerals - they make the watch incredibly unique. For a couple hundred dollars, you can probably find the vintage watch in plated gold with a similar look as the modern Senator Sixties that costs around $5000 (photo below, in stainless steel).

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29 Jun 2010

RIP Nicolas Hayek - aka Mr. Swatch

Earlier this week Nicolas Hayek, one of the most influential characters in the watch-making world, passed away. He is the founder of the Swatch Group, which makes the well loved plastic watches that became hugely popular in the 1980s and 1990s due to its low price and Swiss quality. Swatch Group is the largest manufacturer in the world, and is a conglomerate that owns over a dozen other major watch companies, including high-end brands such as Breguet and Omega.

In the 1970s, mechanical watchmaking was a dying industry as a result of the quartz watch revolution. In 1983, Hayek organized the merger of two watch conglomerates that were on the cusp of failure - SSIH and ASUAG - in a move that is now widely seen as the move that saved the Swiss watch industry from complete collapse. By the late 1990’s, Swatch Group owned 16 brands, several bracelet and case manufacturers, 75% of the industry’s movement manufacture capacity, and also held a monopoly in the manufacture of several critical watch components. Swatch was the 900 pound Gorilla in the industry.

The past decade has seen a renaissance in traditional watchmaking, with a huge diversification of products and brands, as well as a surge in popularity. The beginnings of this revolution can probably credited to Hayek - his decision to stop providing movements and components to non-Swatch brands at the start of the new millennium spurred dozens of brands to develop in-house movements. It’s incredible how much innovation we have seen the past couple of years, now that the investment in product development is coming to fruition.

The whole industry owes a great deal to Hayek and the Swatch Group. Thanks to them, the Swiss watch tradition is healthier than ever.

photos:Swatch Group

26 Jun 2010

Watches: Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox

I must admit I have a mild obsession with watches. Recently I’ve become enamoured with vintage watches from the 60’s, with their slim and understated profiles. While most of these watches are smaller than are currently fashionable, I think the look of many of these are timeless.

One that has particularly caught my attention is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox. It was the first wristwatch, released in 1956, with a alarm function. This mechanism, or complication, works by using a reverberating mallet inside the case powered by a wound spring. In the days before beeping quartz watches and cell phone alarms, I could imagine that this was quite useful. Here’s a video of the alarm being set and going off, and a video of the mechanism going off in the movement.

I especially love the thin rounded cases, the low profile crowns, the convex crystal, and the clean dials. There are two crowns, one to wind and set the watch, and the other to set the alarm. My favorite case is in rose gold, which give it a retro look.

There has been a revival in the interest for vintage watches recently, as seen by the resissue of some classic models. A cult favorite memovox, the 1968 Memovox Polaris, is very collectible today for its surprisingly modern appeal. Large stainless steel watches are popular today and rare in the 1960s - the Polaris has a large 42mm Stainless Steel case (vintages watches are usually 30-35mm and in gold cases). I feel that Jaeger LeCoultre has never developed the brand recognition in the market relative to the its famous history and high quality - a good condition memovox in gold seems to be undervalued at the moment.

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