Zenith Star Sea

I'm pretty sure I saw a nice looking Zenith once, but this cetainly is not it. This eye-sore is crusted with 21.3 ct worth of diamonds and has pearls as markers. Keep your eyes averted when you walk by the Zenith booth at Basel this year.

Amazon.com Watch Sale

The obscure online bookstore Amazon.com is having a sale on wristwatches right now with certain models discounted up to 75%. Not sure how long it is going to last, so if you see something you like snap it up quickly.

Oris Artelier Pointer Day

A variation of their Artelier Pointer collection, Oris will be showing off this watch at Baselworld '07. The 45mm stainless steel case, which is just slightly larger than the previous models, holds an Oris modified ETA 27-jewel, Incabloc, bi-directional winding movement with date window at 3 o'clock and seconds at 9. The day pointer rotates counter-clockwise. Its Superluminova markers sit behind curved sapphire crystal, while the case back is mineral crystal. Pictured here on a calf-skin leather strap with embossed crocodile pattern.

Bell & Ross BR01

Until we know more about Bell & Ross' Grand Complication tourbillion, this is my favorite BR01. The 46mm case houses an ETA 2892 movement behind anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Straps are available in leather, rubber, and fabric. Bell & Ross have been making military spec watches based on aviation instruments since 1992 in their Swiss based factory. They basically started out with rebranded Sinn's, but have truly come to their own - the proof is in the tourbillion.

Panerai Radiomir Chrono Rattrapante Limited Edition

This particular special edition Panerai is made for Italian watch retailer Pisa Orologeria in Milan for the occassion of the retailer's 60th anniversary. Double sapphire crystals and a 45mm case (white gold or platinum) protect the OP XVIII movement to 100m. Get your orders in soon though, it is slated for a run of 25 pieces, five of which are the platinum version.

IBM's Linux Watch

With all the innovation that has taken place within the last year in mechanical watch movements (Seiko Spring Drive, Tag Heuer Belt Drive), I thought now would be a good time to look back at a turn of the century prototype digital watch.


In 2001 IBM started showcasing its Linux Wristwatch, which I think goes a long way to explaining why they aren't the powerhouse of computing that they used to be. Featuring a tiny motherboard with an ARM processor (running at the equivalent of a 100Mhz Pentium), 8MB DRAM, and 8MB Flash packed into a case measuring 56mm W x 48mm L x 12mm H. It supported Infra Red, RF, and Bluetooth connectivity, and sported a four quadrant LCD touchscreen and a scroll-wheel for navigation. IBM researched/developed a few applications for the watch's OS including a WML browser, to-do list, calculator, and e-mail functions. The open source code would seemingly allow users to develop their own apps. A great piece of electrical engineering, but possibly not such a great business idea, although I believe that some of this technology has found its way into Citizen's new Bluetooth VIRT watch.

Stranger Than Fiction Timex

The Timex that saved Harold Crick's life.

The T56371 is a digital/analog version of the Ironman Triathlon series. It boasts a 42-lap memory bank, chrono with split-timer, three interval timers (for actual triathletes), as well as dual timezones and alarms. It's water resistant to 100 m.

Jaeger-leCoultre Master Minute Repeater

Leonardo diCaprio gets one of these free of charge. The rest of you will have to throw down $175,000.00 to own one of the remaining 199 Jaeger-leCoultre Master Minute Repeaters. As the name implies, it chimes its crystal gong every minute as well as on the hour and each quarter. The hand-wound, 15-day power reserve, 413 piece movement sits in a platinum case which in turn sits on a hand-stitched alligator leather strap.

Clock-Estate

I hung this Colonial clock yesterday. It has a no jewels Franz Hermle movement with a Westminster chime made back in the days when there was a West Germany. It strikes on the quarter, half, and full hours.

Nomos Tetra2

Here's a wristwatch for your wife to wear while she does some gardening or works on that new pottery project. Nomos Glashutte will introduce the Tetra2 at Basel this year. A 30mm steel square head with saphire crystal glass protects the Nomos 17 jewel movement to 30m.

Citizen 300m Pro Diver

Now this is a diver worthy of the helmet engraving on the case-back. Take your fashion watch off (that goes for you too Paneristi) and swim down until your eardrums implode. Featuring Citizen's Eco-Drive solar-powered movement this Promaster is available in both stainless steel and titanium, and sells for $375 and $575 msrp respectively. It has a screw-down crown at 9 o'clock with three O-rings for enhanced airtightness. The sturdy ratcheting elapsed-time bezel won't accidently bump out of place. Markers and hands are coated with a pleasant blue lume and there is a small date window at 3 o'clock. The watch measures in at a whopping 48mmx18mm, yet is still quite a comfortable wear on its substantial rubber strap. Not just a thoroughly functional dive watch, the manly look and styling of this watch scream to be noticed. Indeed on the occasions that I do come to the surface, this watch often attracts compliments. I can't write enough praise on this, the BJ8050.

Tauchmeister XL SubDiver

I think U-Boat started this idea of making XL watches based on WWII submariner military watches, that may or may not have actually existed. Looking like they belong on the wrist of someone wearing a copper diving helmet, these things have over-sized canisters that protect their crowns up to 500m under water or do for show at least. Anyway, this Tauchmeister T0118 arrived in the mail the other day, so I thought I would share some impressions.

It has a Miyota 8215 movement which is a bit stiff for my tastes, but it keeps time well enough. This is one of the smaller XL watches, measuring in at 40mm (excluding crown!!!). Its Panerai-style Arabics are bold and easy to read and the head is of solid construction. However, the second hand looks like cheap plastic, but maybe I'm being too picky on a sub-$300 watch. The watch comes with a nice thick supple leather strap, which Tauchmeister also sells separately. If you're looking to beef up one of your other watches these might not be a bad choice. As you can see, the crown canister is enormous and as a consequence the watch is quite uncomfortable to wear on the left wrist. Tauchmeister makes watches with crowns at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock, but this particular model comes only as shown. The little safety chain on the canister is ...ummm kinda silly... like a chain on a toy keyring. So if you're really thinking about getting one of these consider the ones with the latch mechanisms on the side.

McQueen Monaco

Well, I'll start with a watch that's high on my "to aquire" list: Heuer's Steve McQueen Monaco.

Popularized in the movie 'Le Mans' this racecar dash and body inspired chrono makes for a unique and recognizeable timepiece. It's available with the must-have blue crocodile strap and now features the Tag Heuer calibre 17 automatic movement, which can also be found in their latest car inspired watch, their salute to Benz, the SLR. The new concept version of the Monaco, which has been racking up awards around the world, takes it's automobile inspiration a step further with it's revolutionary belt-drive movement. The 'Monaco V4' uses a linear oscillating ingot which powers a relay of 13 drive belts, and will hopefully be making it to wrists everywhere in the not too distant future. I'm still hoping the original blue square will find its way onto mine in the not too distant future.

Welcome to Watch-Estate

Welcome to Watch-Estate. I'll be attempting to post on the pieces that grace the precious real-estate of our wrists.

I can be contacted at nominis@hotmail.com