WatchOfTheDay

Newer brand on the block is Edmond watches, not yet widely in the US but are available. The Swiss watch brand looks like a futuristic cousin of Panerai, and mostly shares their dimensions by having nicely sized 44mm wide steel watch cases that are also available with black or gold PVD finishes. The complex construction of the cases lend themselves well to the overall style of the brand - making for good looking masculine watches that display that sense of Swiss watch design refinement hard to find in the rest of the world. There are a number of models, but each currently shares the signature case design. It also has a special "Lock-ED" lever over the clasp to secure it similar to what you find in Panerai. With the lever locked the watches have 200 meters of water resistance. Crystals on the top and rear of the watch are sapphire.

The pictured model is the Cap Horn in gold PVD and a technical looking, though pleasurable to read face. The bezel is in black PVD with goldtone screws. The overall feel of the watch is a sporty delight that is created by the cohesive rugged character of the watch that seems to borrow from a number of popular watch designs out there (while still being extremely unique in its own right). Movements in the watches are Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatics. Edmond watches are a cool newcomer that certainly deserve some wrist time. The pictured watch is priced reasonably at about $1,900.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

About to be released from all American watch maker RGM (based in Pennsylvania) is this new Reference 400 watch. With a mixture of traditional watch styling and classic muscle car looks, this new chronograph model will also feature an array of dial options. While it is a bit hard to tell in this image, the 42.2mm wide steel case enjoys a combo of brushed and polished surfaces (the bezel is nicely brushed) and displays really classic sport watch lines (just check out those cool retro rectangular pushers!). Looking at the dial I ponder RGM's suggestion that design influences from America's most popular classic muscle cars went into the design. I begin to easily imagine how the dial designs (given all the possible colors options) would fit well into the look and feel that used to accompany the inside and instrument gauge readouts from the greats that owned the 1960s and 70s. There are also hints of classic diving watch in the design.

Lucky for us, RGM places inside of the Reference 400 watch the newer Swiss ETA Valgranges A07.211 automatic mechanical chronograph movements. The seconds dial has been removed for a more traditional bi-compax look on the dial. Color choices for the dials include black, gray, orange, blue, white, and some combos thereof. No word of pricing or specific availability yet, but the Reference 400 watch is coming.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

New watch brand Xetum has just gone live and presents two models to start - the Tyndall and Stinson watch lines. Both timepieces share a 40mm wide steel case with a combination of brushed and polished finishing. Various dial colors are available. The large crown is crafted to resemble the hexagonal logo of the brand (you can see it in green on the dial). Pictured is the Tyndall watch, featuring Xetum's brand of "accessible modern design." The watch features an automatic ETA 2895-2 movement visible through the caseback window. The dial is clean and legible without having the overly sparse look that many minimalist watches have.

Both of the watches also feature a lugless case design. Meaning that the leather strap is fitted directly into the case for a cleaner, more seamless look. The second model is the Xetum Stinson. Both the Stinson and Tyndall watches are named after places in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Xetum is located - though the watches are all Swiss made. The Stinson model is equipped with an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement and has a centrally mounted seconds hand versus a subsidiary seconds dial as seen in the Tyndall model. Prices for the watches range from $995 to $1,395, and are available direct from Xetum's website.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Omega is borrowing from themselves in the design of the new De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph watch. The horizontally arranged overlapping subdials were first introduced to me in their Speedmaster 2008 Summer Olympics limited edition watch. Looks like both watches have the exact same movement, but it has been displayed differently here. For example the centrally located day of the week indicator is now a disc viewable through a window, versus a small dial. Omega has also adopted the style to fit in to the "De Ville theme" rather than the Speedmaster look. Movement is of course an Omega Co-Axial automatic that has been COSC Chronometer certified.

Pictured watch is in steel, there may also be a gold model in the works. The style is conservative and attractive. While it may fall short of "modern classic" it is an approachable and visually interesting men's watch. The best part of course is the functionality and arrangement of the subdials. Functions include the time, chronograph, day, and date. There is an unusual window for "recorded days." I am not sure exactly what this is, but it looks like Omega upped the chronograph from measuring up to 12 hours, to measuring up to 7 days. For keeping tract of really long times! "Better check back on this Turkey next week."According to Omega this new De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph watch should be due by Valentine's Day. So I guess they expect mostly women to buy it for men, and not men to buy it for themselves.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

For once, a concept watch that is actually a concept. In the auto world we know that "concept" means "not for production." In the watch world, "concept" is often just a name stuck on a model to make it sound more exotic. Here "concept" actually means just that. So why all the to-do over this concept watch? Well because it is further proof that Cartier is serious about making not only nice looking watches, but mechanically sophisticated ones as well.

The ID One Concept watch takes a Ballon Bleu shaped case, makes it 46mm wide and constructs it out of a spacey sounding material called Niobium Titanium. It is apparently a special titanium alloy (which is itself an alloy) that is even harder and more wear resistant that titanium. It also apparently has other special (magical) properties. The whole point of the in-house made automatic tourbillon movement was to require as little service and regulation as possible. Regulation refers to what a movement initially goes through to ensure that it functions properly and accurately. Service is continual servicing that is needed in mechanical watches over the years. This can be as simple and lubricating and cleaning part of the watch. The whole point of the Cartier ID One Concept watch is to reduce or eliminate the need for these delicate and time consuming needs. They are also quite expensive (but that makes the watch makers happy as servicing watches is an income source).

Still, there is a shortage of qualified watch makers out there, so Cartier is correct in forging into this needed area of innovation. For others, the "build once and never service again" watch is a holy grail of horological pursuits. Parts of the new Cartier concept watch are made in a material called carbon crystal. This crystal is very shock resistant and does not requite lubrication - adding to a significant decrease in the need to maintain these watches. There are other innovations as well, but I will wait until I meet with Cartier to learn about more of them. The hope for collectors is that such innovations will find their way into production watches in the future.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Another classic reborn - Jaeger-LeCoultre is due to release a brand new retro styled version of its famed Memovox alarm watch. In the 1950s the original Memovox was popular for being and alarm watch with an automatic mechanical movement. The new Master Memovox will also have an automatic movement - the newer Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 956. It has a power reserve of 45 hours, ceramic ball bearings for the automatic rotor that needs no lubrication, and the time, date, and alarm of course.

The watch itself will come in 18k rose gold or steel in a 40mm wide case. Styling is classic of course - maybe too much so. It doesn't feel "different" enough in the current lineup in my opinion. The alarm function is easy to operate using the a separate crown that rotates an inner ring. The alarm most likely needs to be pulled out for the alarm function to be turned on. I would feel very excited about the watch is the geniuses at Jaeger-LeCoultre were able to give the alarm a snooze function. Until then, you'll have to keep a butler around for that need. "Just five more minutes Alfred!" The new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Memovox watch will be officially announced in 2010 at SIHH.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Wow, has it already been five years of deprivation from this awesome watch? Only in Japan can you (officially) get one of these very cool timepieces. This is the Galante Spring Drive watch. Galante is a Seiko sub brand, and has been spicing things up for Seiko in Japan for the "youthfully stylish - but wealthy" demographic. I understand that they are growing in popularity there.

The Galante watches are far from just image. These are extremely well constructed and designed, hand assembled watches that include the very impressive (and accurate) Seiko Spring Drive mechanical hybrid movements. They are the best of what Seiko offers and are considered by many to be a modern pinnacle of mechanical watch making.

I haven't handled this specific 5th Anniversary Special Edition model, but have handled very similar Galante watches on the metal bracelet. I was quite wowed by them, especially given the jewelry-like quality and feel of the steel bracelet. The design as I said is youthful and inspired, with unique decoration. As you can see, the rotating bezel is engraved with a form of floral decoration, and if you look closely on the dial, you can make out the forms for roses (as see from the side) that are part of the dial design.

The watch is nicely sized at 44.5mm wide, and houses the Seiko 5R66 Spring Drive movement that includes the time, power reserve indicator, date, and GMT hand. Seiko makes sure that each of its luxury watches are a complete timepiece package. Meaning they are well made, function well, and look good. Price is gonna be over $5,000 (not sure of exact amount) and as far as I know you'll have to contact a Japanese Seiko dealer if you want one.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Designer Ben McCarthy and WORKSHOPPED have collaborated together on the Pi Watch. A designer timepiece that is the product of McCarthy, an award winning design who currently lives in Hong Kong, and has had his work showcased all over the world. My understanding is that this is McCarthy's first watch creation. WORKSHOPPED is based in Australia.

I don't have too many facts about the watch, but it is in steel with a sapphire crystal, and with a Japanese quartz movement. Not sure about the size. The watch is 30 meters water resistant and has a unique placement for the crown (accessible via the rear of the watch). The first 500 pieces in either the light gray or black straps will be individually numbered limited editions. The watches are being marketed as men's watches and do sort of have a masculine look to then. The polished metal dial has folds in it where the hour markers should be - an interesting design style. The hands are baton shaped with small holes at their tips, while a three hexagon logo sits as the 12 o'clock indicator. The strap is integrated into the case, so it does not require lugs. The brushed metal bezel is a nice compliment to the dial. Overall the watch is minimalistic in theme, but more artistic in style. Good thing it is functional too. Price is $430.00.

Check out the Pi watch for sale at WORKSHOPPED here.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com

Cost cutting is "in" for watch makers as profits are down, and making new and complex mechanical movements is a practice that is frowned upon. So watch makers get creative, and this is typically good news for consumers. Take for example this interesting new watch that I like from Chopard. Model is the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Time Attack MF. The watch is the first digital LCD screen I have ever seen on a racing watch from the brand - it is also one of the few or only watches in this line to have a Swiss quartz movement. I like how they combine "historic" and LCD panels. Styling is simple yet very satisfying. The 42.5mm wide steel case has has a nicely rendered style and the dial is extremely easy to read and live with. The negative color LCD screen makes operating a series of functions such as a chronograph, alarms, second timezone, calendar, and countdown timer easy. The screen looks to be of a high quality so it won't look like you are wearing some odd Frankenstein replica watch. Actually the movement is likely to be a thermo-compensated quartz, because it is certified as a COSC Chronometer - which has special requirements for quartz watches in terms of accuracy and giving them such certification.

I love the retro styling of the watch as well. The portholes in the leather strap as well as the thinner lugs and tachymeter style on the bezel all have a 1970s feel to them. Some people are no doubt going to complain that you shouldn't have to pay Chopard prices for a quartz watch - but the brand is worth something, and their ability to design a nice watch is worth more. Plus, like I said above, the price of this watch is likely to be less than mechanical watches due to the type of movement. Overall I like that watch. It may not be the perfect Chopard racing watch for all people, but it will be the perfect one for enough people.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

This is not the first Rado watch I've seen that actually looks like a TV screen - but it does look a lot like one. Applying their new style of minimalism (but not too much minimalism you can't easily read the watch dial), the new Rado r5.5 line is another all ceramic beauty from the brand that doesn't try too hard to look good. These designs are all created by artist Jasper Morrison.The square shaped case gracefully edges into a solid lug structure for the also all ceramic bracelet at the ends of the case. The dials are done with a sunburst polish and the watch comes with gold or steel tone hands and indexes.

You can opt for a chronograph or three-hand variant of the r5.5 watch (I still don't get the name). The thin cases have Swiss quartz movements in them. Rado didn't mention how wide the cases are, so I can't share that with. Crystals are of course sapphire. One thing I have noticed about most all Rado ceramic watches are that no matter how old they are, the watches almost always look new due to the brand's particular good use of the highly scratch resistant ceramic compound. Look for the Rado r5.5 watches soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

This is a lovely watch that should probably considered a "starter timepiece" to the F.P. Journe brand. I saw this given the basic classic look of the watch and the brand's reputation for typically complex watches. Though perhaps that is a misconception on my behalf as there are plenty of existing fans that would enjoy the unique qualities this 39mm wide watch has. Aside from the gorgeous metallic blue dial, the watch is made in tantalum, a rarely used exotic metal sometimes used in the aerospace industry. One reason it is paired with the blue dial is because the metal alloy shines blue in the right light.

Inside the watch is a F.P. Journe caliber 1304 manually wound movement that is in-house made and has 56 hours of power reserve. The movement is made in 18k rose gold. The "Chronometre" part of the watch name refers to the fact that F.P. Journe has made this mechanical movement accurate within chronometer ranges.

The dial design is purely F.P. Journe with emphasis on signature brand characteristic such as numeral font and hand design. No word on price for the F.P. Journe Chronometre Blue watch yet, but I suspect it will be higher than I would predict.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

I need to have a social life like a Russian oligarch soon. I feel as though there is so much more about this watch (and ones like it) that I should be excited about, but just don't have enough "new money" socialite parties to attend and show the watch off at. Walking down the street I'm afraid the "lay people" just aren't going to get it. Of course I am being somewhat facetious, but not really. It is true that it takes a special sort of luxury loving audience to get giddy about stuff like this. Maybe that is part of the point. With a name like "King Power Chrono Flying Tourbillon," Hublot is obviously aiming at some manner of... royalty.

The watch is all black in tone and a biggie at 48mm wide. Most notable on the dial is the large flying tourbillon (has no top bridge) with its rubies and spinning glory. The watch is a mixture of mostly ceramic and black PVD coated titanium with some composite resin materials thrown in the mix. Movement is the manually wound HUB1400CT with 120 hours of power reserve. Not that the movement isn't cool, but it does not excite me as it might have once done - you just see this type of thing too much from Hublot these days. Still, the watch excites some people, as it just won the 5th Premier Middle East Watches, Jewelry, and Pens Award. Not sure why it was competing against jewelry and pens. Plus, the locale of the awards is probably a hint as to where most of the 28 pieces in this limited edition set are finding homes. Price is probably just a few tankers worth of unrefined oil.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

I recently spoke about Arnold Schwarzenegger visiting a Franck Muller store. He might have gone in to check out a watch such as this. Right out of a financially troubled Franck Muller comes this beast of a luxury timepiece. I've never seen anything like it from the brand, and this Conquistador Singapore Grand Prix watch certainly is aimed at one of the few places right now where you can bet on luxury watch sales still taking place.

There are other versions of this new style Conquistador watch. The dramatic colors and design are what really get me. It is like Franck Muller is targeting Roger Dubuis in some odd manner it seems with these "talk to me designs." This particular watch looks like a perfect compliment to Batman's The Joker attire. Don't you think?

Case comes in two forms. Either titanium and ergal (a type of aluminum alloy - think the red color on the watch case) or titanium and 18k rose gold. Size is 48mm wide by 62mm tall, and 14mm thick. Front and rear crystal is sapphire, of course. Inside the "statement rich" timepiece is an automatic Franck Muller FM caliber 7000 chronograph movement. Notable is the high level of decoration and platinum automatic rotor in the movement. The watch is limited to 80 pieces in the titanium and ergal, and 80 pieces in the titanium and gold.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

This seems to be the year of pocket watch from haute luxury watch makers. Something about a "return to classic tradition and heritage of the brand." Say that out-loud in an obnoxious ambiguously European accent for the "full effect." From Glashütte Original comes the lovely limited edition Pocket Watch No. 1. Maybe it is their first pocket watch, at least I think it is in the modern era.

Really the pocket quite is quite classic, in most every design sense. Details are still thin, so I can't tell you about the price or size yet. Expect that it is "of average pocket watch size." I do know that the case is in 18k rose gold, with hinged lids on both the dial and caseback. The dial is enamel, with blued steel hands, and painted Roman numeral hour markers. It has a tasteful looking subsidiary seconds dial as well.

Movement is the hand-wound 84-10, newly design caliber movement that has a few nice features. In addition to the time, the movement has a quarter repeater mechanism. Activating a lever on the side of the watch enables the watch to repeat the time back to you in an audio form, that is accurate to the closest quarter hour. The movement also features a zero-reset mechanism for the seconds hand, which resets the seconds indicator when you pull the crown out for accurate setting.

The Pocket Watch No. 1 comes with a matching rose gold chain. The watch looks very handsome, but carrying around a pocket watch these days is certainly an acquired taste. Glashutte Original is making just 25 pieces in this limited edition, that will be officially unveiled at Baselworld in March.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Golf lovers, are you prepared for another golf themed watch? Ready or not here is one sure to put a smirk on your face. This is the Iron watch by Charriol, shaped just like one of your clubs. The watch dial is complete with the iconic horizontal grooves and a dial shaped like the club head. Charriol calls the watch unisex being suitable for a man or a woman, but whoever you are, it takes a dedicated lover of the sport to wear one of these.

The watch case is in steel and not so large at 33mm wide by 29mm tall. Dots on the dial make the time readable, and the case is attached to a leather strap with an embossed crocodile pattern on it, and a steel butterfly clasp. In addition to the pictured black tone, the watch is available in a "green" green color that you shouldn't miss. Movement is quartz.. I like that Charriol is able to not take themselves too seriously and release a fun watch like this. Price is 1,260 Swiss Francs and it is available on their website.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com