Where did George's watch go?

Not sure what brand or model he was wearing, but here's some video of Little Bush "losing" his wrist-watch to an Albanian . . .

http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2007/6/12/120607_bush_horloge.html

still away...

I'm away on assignment out in some desert in Af-turkistan, but hope to be back soon. I owe a review for a Tissot Quadratto, which was a very welcome arrival.

Ship in a Watch

I came across this while reading up on ships in bottles. My initial reaction was, 'Hmmmm, they should put a little movement in there instead of a scale model of the USS Constitution, so that it might function as a pocket sized clock.'

iRiver S10 usb Bracelet

I've had good experiences with iRiver products. This recently surfaced on their .kr website. It's a usb bracelet that converts their bluetooth s10 mp3 player into a wrist-watch. Looks like they beat the Pierre Merlet media playing concept for Swatch, the Infinity, to the punch.

Casio Wrist Camera

This is the Casio WQV3D-8BNDL Color Wrist Camera. It saves 176x144 pixel JPEGS onto its 1MB built-in flash memory. Pictures can also be viewed on its 20mm square screen, while the watch's oveall measuremens are rather large at 51mmx43mmx16mm. It connects to a computer via usb or IR and also features, time, stopwatch, calendar, and alarm functions. These days a watch like this is not much more than a novelty, but during the Cold War it was a spy's bread and butter. Check out this link to Watchismo to see some of the history of the wrist-mounted spy camera.

1947 "Wrist-Watch Radio"

As far as I can tell, it didn't tell the time so just "Wrist Radio" may have been a more appropriate name. The development of a new 'tiny' radio tube (inset picture) by the U.S. Bureau of Standards in 1947 made this transceiver (that's right Dick Tracey, transceiver) possible. It could send and receive short waves as well as pick up 'standard radio broadcasts.'

Ballbearing Clock

While I'm off-topic with clocks...This is the wonderous ballbearing clock. 95 ballbearings are used to show the time on the sand-engraved pyrex front pane. The cabinet is made of solid oak which together with all the brass and steel has the clock weigh in at 660lbs. Please find out more at http://www.betrisey.ch/emalev.htm

NASCAR Prize Clock

Jimmie Johnson picked up one of these this weekend for winning the race at Martinsville. The Ridgeway Independence grandfather clock stands at almost 8' and is made of hardwood, boxwood, and satinwood with cherry veneers and ebony inlays. The dial has a satin pewter finish and has a moon-dial painted with scenes of historical American life. The Sound of America movement plays "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful" and Westminster chimes. The movement also is equipped with an automatic night silence feature. It is valued at around $11,000.00

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.