Automatic Wrist Watches

Panerai Luminor Mechanical Movement

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:57:11 +0000

Here is a nice, close-up video of a Panerai Luminor movement.

Technorati Tags: Italian watch, Luminor. Mechanical, Manual Wind, Panerai

More Mechanical Mechanism Movies

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:12:37 +0000

Yes, I am a watch geek. Yes, I get a charge out of watching close-up video of tiny mechanical watch movements. I can’t help it, it just makes me tick. And yes, I do intend to continue to post these video’s when I find them in the hopes that other people will be converted to the joy of these tiny mechanical marvels.

Cool Orient Watch

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:43:46 +0000

Here’s my new watch. In case you have not read any of the other pages in this blog I will reiterate that I am a fan of the Orient Watch Company. I got my wife an Orient Star with a salmon colored face for her birthday last year and it has taken the place of her funky retro Hamilton as her favorite watch. This one is not one of the high end Orient Star models, but it is an inexpensive nod to understated elegance. It has a patterned white/silver face and a bit of a retro aesthetic. The brown leather band is as functional as it is attractive. It’s got a mineral crystal window, and a stainless case. The case is 36 mm wide making it a nice midsize watch and 11 mm thick, not ultra thin, but a nice width. I bought this to wear with a suit as my Breitling Chronometer is too chunky. The band width is 20mm which is pretty standard and opens up a lot of possibilities for after market bands. The movement is Orient’s in-house movement made in japan. Mine has been tremendously accurate so far. Best part of this watch is I got it for $90. I got the idea that I needed a thinner watch with a brown band from this guy on the awesome sartorialist blog.

Here is the Manufacturer Blurb:

“This classic timepiece is a watch that should truly be treasured. This model follows the motif of classic looks throughout the history of mechanical watches. There are, however, a few minor changes that add to its traditional theme. This may be the perfect gift for your father or for yourself if you enjoy traditional watches.
Although there are many watches that follow the same design, this watch’s feature are truly exceptional. If you look closely at the surface of the dial, you will notice the checkered patterns that gives the dial extra texture. On the 6 o’clock indicator, there is the date indicator so that you are able to view the day of the week.

There are two different levels to the crown (time-setting knob). The first level adjusts the day indicator located on the 3 o’ clock position. The second level adjusts both the time hands and the date of the week. To change the date on the watch, you have to first rotate the hour hand forward in time until you notice the change of the day i.e. from Monday to Tuesday.

You will see that the crown comes with the official Orient logo engravings. Another feature for this watch is its luminescent hands. This allows the owner to enjoy the watch during the night. Also, the watchcase is water-resistant up to 50 meters.

This series of watches comes in either a solid stainless steel band or a genuine leather band. The metal band comes with a combination of matte and finished links. This adds a two-tone shine to the metal of the watch. You will notice that the leather bands have white stitching on the edge. Metal bands come with a deployment clasp, which protects the watch from inadvertently falling off.

There are 5 variations to this watch, 3 of which are in metal bands and 2 of which are in brown leather bands. The metal bands have three different dial colors: black, blue, and white. For the leather band models, the watch comes in either a black or white dial.”

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Orient Watch Company–or any other watch company for that matter–although I wish I was so someone would give me some free watches.

Product Specifications

Technorati Tags: automatic, brown band, Orient Watch, White face

Watch 101

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:05:31 +0000

Here is a good video that discusses the differences between three basic types of a watches.

Technorati Tags: automatic watch, Manual Wind Watch, Quartz Watch

Seiko Brightz Phoenix

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:26:52 +0000

Check out this beauty from the Japanese market. I grabbed this pic from Seiya Japan. One of the few online retailers you can purchase Seiko’s made for the Japanese market. This particular model features:

Movement: 6S28 34J Automatic (with Manual winding)
Case: Stainless steel
Strap: Crocodile
Crystal: Sapphire with non-reflective finish
Lumi Brite: Available (Hands & Index)
Accuracy: -15-~+ 25sec per day
Waterproof: 10 ATM
Anti-magnetic: Available
Power reserve: 50 hours
Diameter: 44 mm (without the crown)
Weight: 120g
Thickness: 15.0 mm
Non screw-down crown
Instructions, worldwide one year warranty and original Seiko box

This one retails for around $2500.

Here is a youtube video of another model. Check out the cool power reserve indicator on this one.

Technorati Tags: automatic watches, Brightz, Japanese Watches, Phoenix, seiko

Jaeger Lecoultre Gyro Tourbillon

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:51:12 +0000

A tourbillion is an addition to the mechanics of an automatic watch that counters the effects of gravity and renders it more precise and more beautiful. Check out this amazing example from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Maybe I’ll sell my house and get one. You can read in depth about toubillons on wikipedia.

Technorati Tags: Jaeger Lecoultre Automatic Gyro Tourbillon

Biden, Joe Biden

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:46:29 +0000

Given the success of my presidential wristwatch article I’m going to do a whole series of them. Let’s start with Joe Biden. He wears an Omega Seamaster 300m watch– it’s the Bond Watch. It features:

SCREW-IN CROWN
UNIDIRECTIONAL ROTATING BEZEL
HELIUM ESCAPE VALVE
DATE
CHRONOMETER

Pretty bad ass watch Joe.

Technorati Tags: automatic watch, Joe Biden's watch, Omega, Seamaster

You Can Be My Wingman Any Time: G-Shock Gravity Defier (GW-2500)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:26:49 +0000

It’s not an automatic watch, but it’s pretty darn cool. It’s a pilot’s watch. Correction– It’s a bad-ass pilot’s watch. Next time you are subject to strong gravitational forces, like in the cockpit of your F-16, you better be wearing G-SHOCK’s GW-2500 Gravity Defier. This baby will withstand the shock of your sonic boom. Plus it’s easy to read when you are about to black out in a cool upside down barrel roll. It’s got big buttons for frozen high altitude fingers to work easily. It’s water proof to 200m so when you bailout and land in the middle of the North Atlantic your watch will still work. It’s solar powered and auto back-light. It can display 3 times at once, plus it’s got a stopwatch, countdown timer, five alarms and world time. Punching out Maverick.

Technorati Tags: Casio, G-Shock, Gravity Defier (GW-2500), topgun

James Bond’s Cool New Watch

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:59:29 +0000

Want to be like James Bond? If you buy an $300,000 Aston Martin DBS this year, then for a modest additional $35,000 you add a Jaeger LeCoultre wristwatch that can do everything the key fob on your hyundai can can do. Sarcasm aside it’s a sweet looking watch and the version that Bond has can shoot missles and other cool stuff.

Technorati Tags: Astin martin, Jaeger LeCoultre, James Bond

A Swatch Automatic??

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:29:07 +0000

When I was in the seventh grade way back in the early 80’s I got this really cool, entirely plastic, black watch with no markings. It screamed style to me. Actually it looked quite a bit like a plastic version of the famous Movado Museum watch. I subsequently traded it for a white one with a checkerboard pattern which got swapped for a clear one which was lost a some point during my teen years. Cheap, plastic, awesomeness sums up the original swatch for me. The original plastic Swatches waned in popularity–although swatch group is a massive watch conglomerate that owns a whole bunch of really cool luxury brands like Glashutte, Rado and Omega–but they have always had a place in my heart so imagine how excited I was when I heard that they make an automatic. Apparently these have been knockin’ around for a while, but they just came to my attention this week. This is the Swatch Irony Body and Soul. It does not look like it is really easy to tell the time with, but that’s what cell phones are for.

Technorati Tags: Body and Soul, Irony, Swatch