Category: Watch for Sale

Watch for Sale,Replica watches for sale, cheap watches for sale,fake watches for sale,

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Cartier Tank Américaine

Cartier introduced the Cartier Tank Américaine back in 1987 as a more modern, aggressive take on its signature model that dates back to 1917. For 2023, Cartier has updated the Tank Américaine to make it a little thinner, slimmer, and curvier. As with many Cartier design updates, these small changes make for slight, noticeable improvements to a classic design. It’s what makes the Tank the Tank, and why it’s looked more or less the same for more than a century.

The new Tank Américaine comes in three sizes: mini, small, and large, and two metals, pink gold and steel. If you want, you can add diamonds or a bracelet to the mini and small pink gold Américaines. There’s also a mini white gold with a bracelet and a lot of diamonds that Malaika’s already covered.
I spent most of my time with the large Tank Américaine in steel and pink gold, which measure 44.4 x 24.4mm (the small measures 35 x 19mm, the mini 28 x 15.2mm). While the smaller sizes are quartz, Cartier’s put an automatic movement in the large models. The most noticeable difference compared to the previous Américaine is the thickness: the new large model measures 8.6mm thick, down 1mm from the previous generation. When the Américaine was introduced in the ’80s, it was a reference to the Tank Cintrée, and making the new Américaine thinner brings it closer to this historical reference (even if the 100th anniversary Cintrée was a mere 6.4mm thick).

While it’s nice Cartier keeps an automatic movement in the large Cartier Tank Américaine (and I understand the target consumer probably values the practicality of an automatic), I’m prone to romanticizing a manual-wind Tank, and it would’ve been awesome to see Cartier say “to hell with practicality, let’s put a manual movement in the large and small Américaine.” This could’ve made the case even thinner, too, but now I might just be asking for a Cintrée in an Américaine’s clothing.

Other changes to the case and brancards (sides) make everything about the new Tank Américaine slightly slimmer, thinner, and sleeker. This all brings the Américaine just a little bit closer to the Cintrée, while still maintaining its own identity. While the previous large model was a bit big for my wrist, these changes to the case made it much more wearable. The small also worked on my wrist too, but I couldn’t help but think that the large wore like an Américaine is supposed to wear – larger, a bit cuff-like, but all the while draping to my wrist.
The other noticeable change on the new large Tank Américaine is the vertically brushed dial. The smaller versions still have sunray finishes, but Cartier’s opted for a different dial treatment for the large versions. It’s something Cartier also added to the updated Tank Française this year, and I think it works better on the large, long surface of the Américaine. It accentuates the shape of the watch and reminds me of some pretty sweet limited editions Cartier’s produced in the past few years (like the collection for Singapore Watch Club).
Oddly, Cartier did away with the medium Cartier Tank Américaine , a watch we took for A Week on the Wrist back when it was released in 2017. It leaves a bit of a hole in what I think might be the Goldilocks zone for a lot of people: The medium measured 41.6mm long, and now there’s a gap from 35mm (small) to 44mm (large). At least, it left me feeling a bit stuck in between. The small was comfier for me, but the large fit what the Américaine is supposed to look like, even if a touch too big for my wrist. That said, the slimmed-down case makes the large Américaine much more wearable than the previous version. Still, it left me wanting something in-between. But for many, the large size will work great.

And that’s also not to say there’s no historical justification for the sizing: The large Tank Américaine is about the size of a large vintage Tank Cintrée, and the small version is about the same size as the mid-sized vintage model. If the Américaine is supposed to reference the vintage Cintrée, it seems Cartier’s getting literal with its sizing too, and I can’t knock it too much for that. Cartier introduced the Tank Cintrée (literally “curved” in French) in 1921, the first curved case for the Tank. It was a very 1920s watch, and while the style fell out of favor soon after, it was eventually brought back and has remained a mainstay of Cartier’s catalog ever since. Nowadays, it feels like something of a crown jewel of the Tank collection: introduced in anniversary or limited editions that are as beautiful as they are hard to get. Because of its size, it’s also the Tank best suited to modern tastes.
But because the Cintrée is mostly reserved for the types of collections we collectively drool over on Instagram, the Tank Américaine is the curved Tank for the rest of us. It was introduced only in yellow gold in 1988, but when Cartier introduced it in steel in 2017, it became one of the best “entry-level” Tanks out there. The large steel Américaine will set you back €5,600 (about $6,100). It’s basically the same price as a Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36, and it seems like that’s a natural watch people would cross-shop this with, for the set who just want a nice, stylish watch with an immediately recognizable design that they can wear pretty much any day (the Cartier Tank Américaine has 30m of water resistance). As you might expect from Cartier, the Américaine comes on an alligator strap, but I can’t help but think it’d feel at home on something more casual.

This year’s updates to the Cartier Tank Américaine make everything about it a bit more Cartier. It’s just a little more slim, elegant, and wearable, but to many, the changes will hardly be noticeable. And that’s kind of the point.

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Cartier Santos-Dumont Squelette Micro-Rotor

Over the past dozen or so years, Cartier has made a habit of releasing attention-grabbing skeletonized watches. It started with the Santos 100 in 2009, and this year Cartier is introducing the Cartier Santos-Dumont Squelette Micro-Rotor Skeleton in a trio of metals.

The three skeletonized Cartier Santos-Dumont Squelette Micro-Rotor models are powered by Cartier’s new caliber 9629 MC, a micro-rotor caliber comprised of 212 components that Cartier says it took two years to develop at its manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The centerpiece of the new Cartier Santos-Dumont Squelette Micro-Rotor Skeleton collection is the yellow-gold version, which will be limited to 150 examples. The case and bezel use blue lacquer, kind of like last year’s knock-out lacquered Santos-Dumont limited editions, and it looks just as nice. Alongside this, Cartier’s introducing a rose gold and a stainless-steel Santos-Dumont.

Aside from the movement, which, to be clear, is a huge aside, the skeletonized Santos-Dumont is familiar: The case measures 31mm and 8mm in thickness (“Large,” in Cartier lexicon), the bezel has exposed screws, and each model uses Cartier’s signature blue cabochon and blue steel hands.

Cartier’s in-house caliber 9629 MC is a beautifully executed automatic caliber. Most noticeable is the micro-rotor at 8 o’clock, in the shape of the Demoiselle, a series of lightweight planes designed by the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont himself (he was buddies with Louis Cartier, who designed the original Santos-Dumont wristwatch for him).  Never one to miss out on a little romance, the little model plane soars over a globe.

Since 2009, Cartier has been designing movements to be skeletonzied from the ground up, and it shows. Let’s remember that Cartier only re-introduced the Santos-Dumont in 2019 as a nice entry-level quartz watch.

Four years later, we’ve got a skeletonized micro-rotor Cartier Santos-Dumont Squelette Micro-Rotor – we’ve all come a long way. The lacquered yellow-gold version won’t set the watch internet ablaze like last year’s trio because of its limited nature, but the blue-and-gold combo just works together (I grew up watching Reggie Miller torment the Knicks while wearing the Indiana Pacers’ yellow-and-blue kits, but I know my Golden State, Notre Dame, Los Angeles Rams, and so many other fans will be nodding along in agreement). Sure, I could’ve done without the little model plane zipping around the globe (the micro-rotor), but that’s Cartier – weaving its historical narrative into its modern brand, sometimes even to a fault.

Every time Cartier does a skeletonized watch, it’s a little different. The caliber is structured to fit Cartier’s famous shaped watches  just so. The Asymetrique is different from the Cloche is different from the Chinoise; and nothing’s like last year’s Masse Mystérieuse. Sure, it’s a formula. But the magic’s in the execution.

By the way, this isn’t Cartier’s only skeletonized effort this year. This year’s complicated, skeletonized Cartier is a pocket watch that’s a minute repeater, flying tourbillon, and perpetual calendar. And it measures just 35mm. Seeing a beautiful modern pocket watch like this only made me appreciate the pared-back Santos-Dumont more.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon

It’s kind of a tough time to be a tourbillon. Complications generally have at least a little bit of an air of let-them-eat-cake about them (okay, probably not the chronograph), but they can often get away with it for different reasons. Chiming complications can plead the undeniable craft which, even today, it still takes to make one; perpetual calendars can argue their connection to the cosmic rhythms of the Earth’s rotation and its annual journey around the Sun; the rattrapante chronograph can play the craft card (at least in its most classic version) and its greater utility than a standard chronograph. But the tourbillon? It’s long since been generally conceded by even its most ardent fans that you don’t need a tourbillon to get a more accurate watch. A lot of folks would argue that, strictly speaking, it’s not even a complication, inasmuch as it doesn’t display any additional information. Which is as good a rough and ready description of a complication as any – though it leaves out a lot of watchmaking which is indisputably complicated to do, including Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon watchmaking.
Still, tourbillons continue to fascinate watch enthusiasts and watchmakers alike – no less a master than Roger Smith has gone on record as saying he’d like to make one – and given the number of tourbillons of all kinds released every year, it’s clear that folks are still very much interested in owning them as well. As with most mechanical watchmaking, how you do it is at least as important nowadays as what it is you do, and a well-made tourbillon is still not only interesting to look at, but also a legitimate demonstration of watchmaking as an art as well as a technical exercise.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new Master Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Moon is a quite beautiful example of the genre, with some interesting additional technical features which help distinguish it from the rest of the crowd. The full-rotor tourbillon movement is a relative rarity – JLC caliber 983, which looks to be the JLC cal. 973 automatic tourbillon, but with the addition of a moon-phase and date indication. The date indicator is a centrally mounted hand, which has a neat little trick up its sleeve (one we’ve seen before from JLC), which is that at midnight on the 15th, it jumps from one side of the aperture for the tourbillon to the other, landing on the marker for the 16th. This is to keep the date hand from partially obscuring the view of the flying tourbillon (and it gives owners a reason to stay up until midnight on the 15th, too). The main moon-phase display shows the Moon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, but there is also, around the main display, a double-sided hand that shows the moon-phase in the Southern Hemisphere on the left, and the age of the Moon on the right.
This Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon is a complicated tourbillon in a pretty classic idiom. The round, rose-gold case is 41.5mm x 12.10mm. That does not, at first, sound particularly thin these days – not with the number of extremely flat tourbillon movements that have debuted over the last decade or so (and culminating, of course, with the Bulgari Octo-Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic). The case alloy is JLC’s proprietary Le Grand Rose alloy, in which a small amount of palladium is added to help resist corrosion and discoloration. (Rose-gold alloys stabilized with metals from the platinum group have become increasingly popular in the watch industry since the introduction of Everose by Rolex in 2005.)
However, it helps to keep a few points in mind. The calibers 983 and 973 are full-rotor self-winding tourbillons – this is a surprisingly rare sub-genre in the world of automatic tourbillons which have tended, especially as the race to produce extra-flat tourbies heated up, to have either micro-rotor (the Piaget caliber 1270P) or peripheral rotor designs (Bulgari, Breguet). There are other full-rotor tourbillons – most recently from Audemars Piguet in the Code 11.59 collection. AP’s Code 11.59 Flying Tourbillon uses the central rotor caliber 2950, and it’s the first time AP has had a central rotor flying tourbillon in its collection – in a watch which, with no complications, comes in at 41mm x 11.80mm.

A full-rotor design is always going to be thicker than a micro-rotor or peripheral rotor design, and the JLC manages to be just 0.30mm thicker than the Code with the addition of the moon-phase display and date. That said, I don’t think this watch is going to necessarily make anyone emit a low whistle of wonder at its slim profile, but considering the fact that the very flattest automatic tourbillons, with peripheral or micro-rotor winding systems, are roughly 5-7mm affairs, a 12.10mm-thick full-rotor complicated tourbillon ain’t too shabby.
You don’t usually think of tourbillons as the toughest category of watches ever to come down the pike, but the caliber 983, despite the lyricism of the dial, hands, and case, looks to be a pretty sturdy piece of kit. The lower bridge for the tourbillon has got all the reassuring solidity of a suspension bridge, and the rotor shares with the movement plate and bridges a general feel of overbuilt reliability not often found – okay, virtually never found – in extra-flat watchmaking.

Whenever a tourbillon comes out we (by which I mean me, I guess) have a reflexive tendency to talk about the fact that tourbillons are not the aid to accuracy today which Breguet intended them to be when he patented his invention back in 1801. But I think that consideration is probably less important in thinking about tourbillons today than appreciating them for what they are – a living fossil (I mean that in a good way) of horological history and one that is still relevant as an exercise in craft. They’re tons of fun to look at, too – I don’t know how many dozens of tourbillons I’ve seen over the last 20 years, but I still get a kick out of them. This one from JLC is not going after any records, nor it is offering anything groundbreaking technically, but it is a very attractive complicated tourbillon wristwatch with enough personality to stand on its own, without needing to stand on a podium to do so.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar

In all the years that I’ve been writing about Jaeger-LeCoultre, I really thought that I’d seen everything at this point. Gyrotourbillons, ultra-thin watches, square Reversos (remember those? the Squadra, gone but not forgotten), lubricant-free high-tech concept watches (the Extreme LAB), complications of every description – well, the list is long. Apparently, however, there is one thing which I have not seen and which nobody else has seen either from JLC, and that is a complete calendar chronograph with moon-phase. Jaeger-LeCoultre says that they have never done one before, and they should know, but as Jon Bues wrote in his Introducing coverage it still comes as a surprise to hear it – if you’d shown me this watch without any introduction and said, “Hey, this is such a great watch and you’ve never covered it in all these years, what’s the deal?” I’d have blushed and felt as if I’d been both unobservant and derelict in my duties as a consumer journalist. This is all by way of saying, and I mean this as a compliment, that the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar looks as if it has been part of the JLC lineup for a long time. There are reasons for that, of course: The general layout of the watch is very much one intended to appeal to traditionalists, and the combination of these two complications is a traditionalist’s favorite as well. Perhaps the best-known vintage implementation is the hand-wound Valjoux 88, which was produced, at least for a Valjoux chronograph movement, in surprisingly small numbers. The first impression you get of this watch, therefore, is of a timepiece that, if new as a complication to its maker (which I still can’t quite believe) is certainly not new to watchmaking or to wristwatch design. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar is part of the larger Master Control Collection, which was relaunched this year with redesigned cases whose basic profile was derived from JLC’s flagship complication for 2020 (at least so far), which is the Master Grand Tradition Grand Complication. That watch debuted with a slimmer profile to the lugs, which had also been opened up (although not actually openworked) with recesses along their flanks, as well as the case middle. The result was a version of the watch that seemed both more in line with the vocabulary of classic watchmaking, as well as more light and graceful. The recesses in the lugs and case middle haven’t been carried over to the Master Control line, and this is all to the good as it would seem affected in the context of these watches, but the sense of subtle grace is still present, helped along by a crisper transition from case to lugs, and a slightly more emphatic sense of geometry overall. If there is little or nothing to complain of in terms of overall aesthetics, there is also certainly nothing to complain of in terms of fit and finish. While Jaeger-LeCoultre takes a back seat to no one – and I do mean no one – when it comes to the high-end horological decorative crafts sometimes referred to collectively as metiers d’art, there is another, more accessible, and just as important side to its character, which has to do with unostentatious excellence in daily wear mechanical watches. The case details in the Master Control Chronograph Calendar are not an overt paean to the decorative potential of steel; rather, they are intended to form a frame which, while it does not distract from the functionality of the watch, at the same time offers a reassuring sense of solidity and attention to detail should you wish to inspect the watch closely. I think the dial of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar is exceedingly beautiful and well organized. There are no tricks being played here, in particular – just good, solid, clarity of design. This could indeed easily be mistaken for a complicated gent’s watch from the 1950s, although one thing that gives away the modernity of the watch is the crispness and clarity of the printing and dial furniture, as well as the equally crisp starry background to the lunar disk on the moon-phase display. I think that the dial works as well as it does as much for what JLC decided not to do, as for what it decided to do. The only slight quibble I have with the dial overall is that against the white dial, the highly polished hour and minute hands can sometimes be slightly difficult to pick out, but I certainly didn’t find that to be a fatal issue in terms of on-the-wrist legibility and utility.

The urge to fiddle for the sake of fiddling is very often on display in modern watchmaking, and it seems to become more and more noticeable and less and less successful as prices increase. The problem has always seemed to me to be at its most acute in chronographs, which seem to have the ability to bring out the worst in watch designers like no other complication. In this case, however, the level of detail feels entirely appropriate to the overall identity of the watch, and contributes a great deal to the impression that it gives of something intended to be a daily companion, and not just another more or less static addition to a collection. For a full evaluation of chronometric performance, we would have had to do a full Week On The Wrist (which I would very much like to do with this watch at some point; I think it merits it and then some), but there is no reason to expect anything other than excellent performance from the movement. The movement, caliber 759, a column-wheel-controlled, vertical-clutch mechanism; it also has a freesprung, adjustable mass balance, which has become more or less the standard in modern high-grade movements. It looks quite handsome and sturdy through the sapphire display back. The watch overall boasts very wearable-sounding dimensions – the case is 40mm x 12.05mm and water resistant to 50 meters. You could, of course, object that this would be an even more historically resonant watch in a smaller diameter, but after all, 40mm is hardly a Brobdingnagian dimension, and the width-to-thickness ratio makes for a watch you’d expect to feel quite comfortable on the wrist. And you would be right. This is an immensely pleasurable watch to wear, and I make no bones about it; I didn’t want to give it back. I don’t generally feel a terribly strong desire to actually own watches, largely because, for many years, it has been my privilege to experience so many of them; I suppose I am rather like a restaurant critic in that respect, who for all they are passionate about food may not particularly feel the itch to own a restaurant. But I think this would be a damned fine wristwatch to wake up to every morning, to look at during the day, to use to mark the passage of the months and moons, and to put down on the bedside table at the end of a long day and have its calmly purposeful, beautifully balanced countenance the last thing I see before lights out.

This brings us, inevitably, to The Unpleasant Matter Of The Bill; in steel, this is a $14,500 watch. I wish it were less expensive, but I think part of that may be because I have been around long enough to remember when, across the board, prices for fine watches from Switzerland were a fraction of what they are today, and I basically wish everything was less expensive. I probably ought to put my Zen Buddhism where my mouth is, though, and cultivate a spirit of, if not acceptance, at least resignation on that score; last I checked time’s arrow only points one way. However, even at that price, you are getting an awful lot: a watch with a handsome diffidence, which is rather rare these days, and which achieves an identity of its own without resorting to either rote aping of a vintage model on the one hand, or novelty effects on the other. Plus, you are getting a watch from one of the most important names in Swiss fine watchmaking, and one whose reputation is based on real horological content to boot – Jaeger-LeCoultre likes to remind us that the company is sometimes called the Grande Maison in Switzerland, but given the firm’s decades-long mastery of every kind of watchmaking imaginable, we should probably let them have that one. I think the greatest compliment I can pay the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar is to say that it does not feel like an attempt to broadcast affluence, or one’s good taste, or to pay homage to something in the glorious past, or to break new ground technically or aesthetically. It is not a showcase for some fantastically demanding craft kept alive through the dark years of the Quartz Crisis by a devoted few; it is not intended to be an Instagram trophy, and it will not (at least, I think not) produce years of frustration in its fans as they idle on waiting lists. Instead, it has a rare, sole ambition: It wants to be a watch, and a damned good one, and at that it succeeds admirably.

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Van Cleef & Arpels Sweet Alhambra Watch

The four-leaf clover is a long-celebrated talisman, but it was the French jewellery maison Van Cleef & Arpels that cemented it as a global symbol for good luck and great fortune when they brought it to life in gold and precious gemstones in the late 1960s.

The ‘ Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra’ collection is now internationally recognised; its signature sautoirs (long necklaces) are often spotted around the necks of tastemakers and trend setters, royalty and Hollywood’s finest alike. These long, low-swinging styles are just as easily paired with evening gowns as they are with jeans and a T-shirt, which is perhaps the secret to their enduring charm – the Alhambra has become synonymous with precious, laidback luxury.
Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra has historically celebrated luck, joy and optimism since it was founded in 1906, long renowned for its animated interpretations of flowers and animals. It was in 1968, however, that the four-leaf clover became a lucky icon for the house. Jacques Arpels, a nephew of one of the founding families, was especially enamoured with the concept of luck – he famously bestowed four-leaf clovers gathered in his garden upon his staff. His personal mantra, “To be lucky, you have to believe in luck,” inspired the maison to create a collection that saw four-leaf clovers edged with golden pearls, set upon chic sautoirs. It was conceived to introduce a new era of more accessible jewellery designs within the maison’s repertoire and became an instant success.

The name of the collection is derived from the Alhambra palace, in Granada, Spain, where Moorish quatrefoil motifs (four overlapping circles, much like the clover silhouette) adorn magnificent architecture with similarly detailed, intricate artisanry.
Van Cleef & Arpels is one of history’s most celebrated jewellers, founded in the high jewellery-making epicentre of the world, Place Vendome, Paris. The combined skills of lapidaries, jewellers, stone-setters and polishers come together to create each clover motif, requiring no fewer than 15 successive steps of craftsmanship. What makes the Alhambra collection so iconic is that it distils the haute joaillerie expertise of the maison into an everyday, wearable design that can be paired with a simple sweater.

Its enduring prestige is perhaps also bolstered by the evolution of sub-collections that play with colour, form and different dimensions; from the ‘Lucky Alhambra’ designs, which incorporate heart, butterfly, leaf and star motifs, to the ‘Byzantine Alhambra’ styles, which celebrate the clover silhouette in solid and openwork gold.
Since 1968, the Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra collection has evolved with the passing eras, while remaining an elegant icon of luck. Today – for the first time – it welcomes four secret pendant watch models. They celebrate the poetry of a time that remains hidden, revealing itself when so desired on the chain of a long necklace. Alongside these unique pieces, two Sweet Alhambra watches are adorned with ornamental stones, complemented by the gleam of delicately beaded yellow gold. Four new creations are joining the Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra collection – which for the first time welcomes the notion of a personal time, concealed at the heart of the emblematic, four-leafed clover-inspired motifs. Following in the footsteps of the chain watches that appeared in Europe in the 17th century, these jewels that tell the time take the form of precious pendants, accompanying their wearer’s silhouette. They combine the Maison’s characteristically elegant jewellery style with its secret watch tradition. The time is revealed at will: a simple action pivots the stone-set motif to unveil the dial.
In 1968, Van Cleef & Arpels watch created the first Alhambra long necklace, inspired by the four-leaf clover shape. Like a harmonious token of luck, it was made up of 20 motifs in textured yellow gold, delicately fringed with golden beads. The symbol was an immediate success, establishing itself throughout the world as an icon of luck and emblem of Van Cleef & Arpels.

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Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Féerie Or Rose

The artists and artisans at Van Cleef & Arpels use their combined skills to create works that evoke awe and wonder, whether they’re depicting a landscape, a character, or a scene. At Watches And Wonders 2023, colorful enamel and intricate miniature painting breathe new life into the Lady Féerie watch. Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Féerie Or Rose surrounds its watchmakers with expertise honed through generations of tradition, shared fervor, and extensive practice. These masters put the high-mindedness of their knowledge to work for the Maison’s Poetry of Time, turning difficulties into breakthroughs.

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Féerie Or Rose has been paying homage to the allure of fairies through magically enchanting designs since the 1940s. The Maison is now selling an updated Lady Féerie watch in a range of pink tones. Adding to the Féerie line, this Poetic Complications timepiece features a 33mm case of delicate proportions and combines watchmaking expertise with traditional crafts. In the gentle light of twilight, a fairy uses its magic wand to mark the passing of the hours.

She sits on a cloud of white mother-of-pearl and sparkles like a guardian muse in a dress of diamonds, pink sapphires, and a miniature painting on gold. Translucent pink plique-à-jour enamel and opaque pink enamel were used to create the powdery gradient that covers her wings. These methods, all used in the same Maison design, produce a play of light and transparency in the wings, which are framed with diamonds that were set minutely after the enameling was completed.

In a mother-of-pearl window, the setting sun welcomes the passing of the hours while a female figure with a diamond face points out the minutes with a magic wand. The watch’s underside reveals an engraved night sky with a full moon and stars on the watch’s oscillating weight. The enameled outlines of the clouds on the sapphire glass give the design a subtle shimmer.

Watchmaking, jewelry making, and other uncommon crafts give life to this lyrical setting. The Lady Féerie Or Rose has retrograde minutes and jumping hours in addition to a self-winding movement. This sophisticated movement in a 33mm Lady case required extremely precise design and assembly. The latter can hold a three-dimensional fairy thanks to a curved sapphire glass that serves as a pedestal.

In addition to maximizing light entry, it also helps to smooth out the watch’s profile. The dial displays the expertise of the Geneva-based Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Féerie Or Rose Watchmaking Workshops. The evening sky is painted with no less than four colors on an engraved mother-of-pearl background, ranging from pearly white to deep plum, with delicate gold and an intense fuchsia. To get this gentle gradient, Maison’s artisans tried and failed more than ten times. The plique-à-jour enamel used to decorate the fairy’s wings is a one-of-a-kind pink created by the Van Cleef & Arpels enamel workshop to complement the watch’s face. These exquisite pieces are a testament to Van Cleef & Arpels’ boundless imagination and collective brilliance.

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Franck Muller Vanguard Crazy Hours Hom Nguyen

In honour of the 20th Anniversary of the Crazy Hours, Franck Muller and Hom Nguyen joined up their talents for the second time, with the same leitmotiv: to bring together the watchmaking know-how and the talent of the artist to offer their collectors an exceptional limited collection.

For this collection, Hom Nguyen let his imagination run free by drawing each numeral with his legendary and talented pattern. From one line to another, the drawing embodies the trajectories of human lives. The numerals drawn by the artist and replicated by Franck Muller’s dial craftsmen in the purest watchmaking tradition thus come to life.
The Crazy Hours mechanism offers a unique reading of time, showing the hour numerals drawn by hand in the most unconventional order. Thanks to a patented mechanism, the central hour hand literally jumps from one hour to the next, respectfully following the numbers placed randomly on the dial.

Thereby after 60 minutes the hour hand would jump to the next correct number. Meanwhile, the minute hand follows a conventional 60-minute cycle revolving around the dial. Time becomes a value that is personal, individual, and unique. You find yourself eagerly waiting at each 59th minute to observe the Crazy Hours’ mesmerizing jump.

With a bidirectional self-winding movement, this mythical and enchanting masterpiece of watchmaking enjoys a power reserve of 42 hours.
The Franck Muller Vanguard Crazy Hours Hom Nguyen is the perfect translation of a piece of art; each timepiece comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist in addition to the usual certificate of authenticity. To make the collection as unique as it already is, each timepiece will come in a special presentation box.

Franck Muller Vanguard Crazy Hours Hom Nguyen Available in stainless steel, titanium, ceramic and 18k rose gold, the limited edition of 50 or 100 pieces depending on the finishing, is presented in the sizes 41, 43 and 45 millimetres.
Born in 1972, Hom Nguyen, a French painter with Vietnamese origin, is a self-taught artist and the son of a mother who immigrated to France in the 1970s. In 2009, Hom Nguyen fully commits himself to an artistic path, guided by an urgent need to express himself.

Through his subjects, Hom Nguyen’s work is universal, questioning human destiny, between joy and sorrow, cry and silence, presence and loss. The artist’s work is particularly sensitive to the human values that he embodies and conveys: a feeling of peace, respect, communion, spirituality. These values are for him the foundation of all art: a path that connects one man to another.

Characterized by an instinctive and figurative style, Hom Nguyen received in 2022 the honorable distinction of Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite.

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Louis Vuitton Voyager Tourbillon

While most popular Louis Vuttion watches come with a version of the brand’s iconic Tambour case (which itself has sub-variants, including the Tambour Curve and the Tambour Moon), there are other attractive options, as well, including the Louis Vuitton Voyager case, which is the base of these two high-end minute repeater tourbillon watches. I will be the first to admit that the Voyager case looks a bit off when pictured off the wrist, but on the wrist, I found it to be delightfully elegant and also very comfortable. While lower-priced Louis Vuitton Voyager watches are available, here we find the Voyager case as the base for some very lavish luxury products in the Louis Vuitton Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillons.
The two Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watches here include one model in 18k rose gold and another in 18k white gold with a case and dial decorated with what I believe are green tsavorites. I particularly like the style of the settings. On the case, baguette-cut stones elegantly emphasize the case shape while tapering off toward the sides, resulting in an attractive visual design. More stones are placed on the deployant clasp and also used as the hour markers on the sapphire crystal dial that sits over a lovely reveal of the complex minuter repeater mechanism. The cases are 42mm-wide, not particularly thick at just 9.7mm, and water-resistant to 30 meters. Other versions of the Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon exist, including versions with diamond-decorated cases. A lot of the pieces are produced on order only and, accordingly, customers have different decorative and color preferences.
Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps manufacture in Geneva is where these watches are engineered and built. The team there has loads of high-complication experience, including with all manner of tourbillons and chiming systems. While the execution of this movement is very traditional, it is also very beautiful and practical. The movement is known as the Louis Vuitton caliber LV100 movement and it is manually wound and comprised of 342 parts. The movement operates at 3Hz with a long power reserve of 100 hours. The movement includes the time with seconds indicated as part of the asymmetrically-placed flying tourbillon regulation system that pokes through the dial via its own window and is complete with a Louis Vuitton “V” shaped tourbillon bridge.

Of course, there is also the minute repeater complication, activated via the sliding lever of the left side of the case. The minute repeater is a full cathedral-style system, which means it has more notes and sounds more impressive. The movement is designed so that while the hammers and gongs are placed on the rear side (which you can view through the sapphire crystal exhibition window), the rest of the moving parts of the minute repeater are featured on the dial-side of this Voyager dial and offer a fun animation to watch when the minute repeater complication (which chimes back the time to the user) has been activated. Personally, I really like how the open/skeletonized dial reveals the beautifully hand-decorated movement but is also very legible. Too many watches of this ilk offer impressive presentations but poor utility. I don’t like the idea that you can’t wear your otherwise exotic high-end timepieces for daily time-telling purposes. Given the relatively compact size and practical nature of the Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon, I would certainly say that this is an otherwise highly exotic watch that is suitable for daily wear (if you are that type of person). I, for one, just love how the case feels on the wrist when admiring the minute repeater mechanism through the dial while reading the time. Note that the repeating horizontal lines on the dial are part of the core Voyager watch product that normally has a solid dial.
Louis Vuitton has a truly prolific volume of both minute repeater and tourbillon watches with a variety of combinations of each. I do enjoy how the brand’s watchmaking division is both playful and serious in its product executions. We’ve covered Louis Vuitton watches of all price points quite a bit, and I think what defines most all of them is a dedication to both traditional watchmaking techniques and strong levels of unique personality. The Voyager case should not be passed over, and you can see just how high-end they can go with these two versions of the Louis Vuitton Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon.

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Louis Vuitton Escale Spin Time

The Louis Vuitton Escale Spin Time Tourbillon Central Blue watch is a new-for-2018 product that as of writing isn’t even on the Louis Vuitton website. It is common that the brand’s most exclusive timepieces aren’t listed widely or at all on their website. I can’t say why that is, but for the time being, it certainly adds a serious perceived level of exclusivity to these products. This particular Louis Vuitton watch combines three important features that the brand is proud of. First is its dress-style Escale case, which here is 41mm wide and in 950 platinum and titanium. Second is the brand’s proprietary “Spin Time” complication, and third is the central in-house made tourbillon.

The Louis Vuitton Escale Spin Time Tourbillon Central Blue certainly isn’t a watch for the average Louis Vuitton customer with its close to $150,000 price point. Aside from some very exclusive pieces of luggage, the brand’s timepieces represent among the most expensive items available in their catalog. Fine watches, in general, make for a very appropriate halo product for fashion brands who want people to take their in-house craftsmanship and manufacturing capabilities as seriously as possible. Where does this leave watch collectors? A lot of times watch collectors look upon pricey luxury timepieces from “fashion houses” with skepticism. “Are these actually well made? Are these actually mechanically competent? How much of the price is just a brand tax?” These are all important questions whose answers greatly depend on the brand and product. In the context of Louis Vuitton, the simple answer is that the larger LVMH group is very seriously into watches given its ownership of Hublot, TAG Heuer, Zenith, Bulgari, and more. On top of that, Louis Vuitton itself has its own watchmaking facility known as La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. It is there that the Louis Vuitton Escale Spin Time Tourbillon Central blue is produced.

Centrally-mounted tourbillons are no longer as rare as they once were – though they are still uncommon and very cool. The idea is that the spinning tourbillon is mounted in the absolute center of the dial, as opposed to a position such as right over 6 o’clock. Omega was the first brand that helped popularize the central tourbillon – and they still produce a few of those on a limited basis. Centrally-mounted tourbillons are tricky because you can’t exactly mount hands over them. So watches with central tourbillons all need alternatives to the traditional centrally-mounted hour and minute hands. Here the solution is interesting and fun – and this is where the Spin Time complication comes in. Note that “Spin Time” actually represents a few different types of complications Louis Vuitton has used over the years. What each has in common is the use of twelve cubes which spin in order to indicate information such as the current hour. As such, on the dial of the Escale Spin Time Tourbillon Central are twelve painted cubes that spin to reveal the current hour when it is their turn. The cubes are colored blue using a form of hand-operated pad printing, which carefully transfers segments of color onto the small surfaces one small piece at a time. A smaller hand to indicate the minutes projects from the periphery of the tourbillon assembly, whose mounting is actually under/around the tourbillon system. Another note on the hour hands is that they indicate the time in 24-hour format. That means the first time around the dial, the hours indicate 1-12. The second time around they indicate hours 13-24. This makes the watch a bit quirkier, but at the end of the day, I think it is more interesting. Though the appeal will be for places which are more familiar using the 24-hour format – which doesn’t include the United States where most consumers prefer a 12-hour format. In true brand fashion, the tourbillon cage is shaped to look like a “V” for “Vuitton.” It is set against a lovely matte blue surface and the flying tourbillon visual experience is really handsome and attractive, in my opinion. The movement is known as the Louis Vuitton LV 92, and it is an automatic with a sort of hidden automatic rotor whose motion can be viewed on the rear of the watch. You can see more about how this rotor looks and more about the Escale-style case in my aBlogtoWatch review of the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone 39 watch here. The LV 92 automatic movement operates at 4Hz (28,800 bph) with 40 hours of power reserve. I believe it is a base movement with a module on top for the Spin Time and flying tourbillon systems.

In general, I like the Escale case a lot. It is dressier than the brand’s Tambour cases, and the lug structure design is inspired by Louis Vuitton trunk luggage from the past. Again, this model has a 41mm wide case that is actually not too thick at 12.8mm. It’s water-resistant to 30m, of course, has a double sapphire crystal on the front and back, and is produced from titanium and 950 platinum parts. What an interesting combo that we don’t see every day. The middle case is brushed titanium, while the lugs, crown, and bezel are in 950 platinum. Attached to the case is a blue-colored alligator strap with a cool yellow rubber lining that promotes comfort and the overall life of the strap.

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Richard Mille RM 07-04

Richard Mille has expanded its line-up by introducing the new Richard Mille RM 07-04 ultra-lightweight sports watch. What makes the latest collection truly special is that it’s the brand’s first-ever multi-faceted sports watch dedicated to women. Richard Mille has a long history of working with renowned athletes and sporting personalities, with its long-standing collaboration with Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal being the most famous of them all. But the watch brand is known for supporting different sports, especially motorsports, and crafting highly technical watches that can withstand the demanding conditions linked to those sports. However, this is the first time Richard Mille has made a sports watch specifically for women and dedicated it to six of its female sporting ambassadors, which include racecar driver Aurora Straus, Florida-based golfer Nelly Korda, and Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko.
The new Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport features the brand’s familiar tonneau-shaped case with curved edges that measures 30.50mm x 44.95mm x 10.35mm. Constructed out of quartz TPT or carbon TPT depending on the version, the entire watch weighs just 36 grams, including its Velcro strap. The collection includes 6 different variants for the six athletes, rendered in different radiant colors. The Richard Mille RM 07-04 watch is powered by the new CRMA8 caliber. The sturdy in-house skeletonized automatic winding movement is made of grade 5 titanium and offers 50 hours of power reserve.
The baseplate and bridges are in black PVD-coated titanium, and the movement is resistant to 5,000g of acceleration. The skeletonized dial also features a clutter-free design with just hours, minutes, and a function selector on offer. “Rather than limit ourselves to a minimalist aesthetic, we chose a skeletonised movement with visible complexity,” explained the creative and development director at Richard Mille Cécile Guenat. As far as the pricing goes, it can be yours for $300 apiece.