Posts filed under Other Brands

Baselworld: Breitling for Bentley. 10 Years on the Road.

Breitling for Bentley celebrates ten years on the road with three new chronographs equipped with calibers entirely developed and produced in-house. For the launch of these three new timepieces at Baselworld, we received one of the most unique press kits featuring a USB designed to look like the keyless entry remote on a Bentley automobile. We really think this was a fantastic marketing idea from Breitling.

The three new timepieces include the Bentley B06 distinguished by its exclusive '30-second chronograph' system; the Bentley B04 GMT and Bentley B05 Unitime models will appeal to world travelers thanks to their ultra-practical dual timezone and worldtime mechanisms. Three new expressions of a world apart combining luxury, accomplishment, performance and prestige. For more info on the Bentley collection click here.

BENTLEY B04 GMTBENTLEYB05UNTIMEBENTLEYB06.jpg

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Baselworld, Other Brands, Breitling and tagged Breitling for Bentley Bentley Bentley B04 Bentley B05 Bentley B06 Baselworld 2013 New Breitling Bentley Baselworld 2013.

Baselworld: Blancpain's Hand Painted Dials. Just a Superb Work of Art.

While visiting Blancpain's pavilion at Baselworld we admired one of their horologists hand painting dials through a microscope. We were impressed by his skills and talented hands. Now you can see the dials he was working on and what a superb work of art they are.

Enjoy!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Baselworld, Other Brands and tagged Blancpain Baselworld 2013 Hand Painted Dials.

Baselworld: U-Boat. The Venenum Motorcycle Takes the Attention.

This year the U-Boat pavilion draw a lot of attention thanks to the Venenum motorcycle that was on display. The Venenum motorcycle is one of a hundred bikes that will be created exclusively for U-Boat by Dino Romano from Moto Dal Cuore—which translates to 'Bike from the Heart'.

Dino Romano's shop is located in Grosseto, Italy just 50 miles south of Siena. During the show we had a chance to talk to Dino for a little while and he explained to us how every component on this customization is fully handmade without the usage of any heavy machinery. Yes, all done by hand from cutting metal sheets to giving shape to the handle bar and even creating the clutch and brake grips.

Dino mentions that the bike took approximately four months to create and it's a customization of a Triumph Rocket III bike with three cylinders and an engine of 140 cubic inches. The Venenum boasts 160 hp with a total weight of 595 lbs.

As you will be able to appreciate in the pictures, every single detail on the bike was done in a way where U-Boat's iconic elements—i.e. the crown guard—where incorporated to the motorcycle in a functional yet very stylish way.

If you like watches and motorcycles, this could be your next dream bike.

For more info on this amazing bike click here. To browse the whole U-Boat collection click here.

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Baselworld, Other Brands and tagged Dino Romano Venenum Motorcycle U-Boat Baselworld 2013 Grosseto Italy Moto Dal Cuore.

Insider: Bulgari Octo. Evoking Gerald Genta.

The new Bulgari Octo launched back in 2012 is clearly a revamped design of the Octo Bi-Retro and Quadri-Retro predecessors. The revamped design is an improvement to the famous Gerald Genta Octo design, with a somewhat thinner, simpler case with finer lines. The result, a stunning watch in every way.

Bulgari was founded in Rome in 1884 and acquired by LVMH Group in 2011. While it's more famously known for their jewelry creations, its watchmaking credentials were very well established by the famous Bulgari-Bulgari collection. Subsequently, Bulgari acquired Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta brands in 2000 and along with them, their manufacturing facilities at Saigenlegier, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Sentier in the Vallée de Joux. Today, Bulgari relies on their in-house movements to continue to establish their watchmaking credentials.

The Octo has a case diameter of 41.5 mm, a thickness of 10.55 mm and it's fitted with a gorgeous black alligator strap and deployment buckle. The Octo derived from the Italian word 'Otto'—meaning eight— was named this way after the octagonal facets of one of the layers in its case that are clearly visible from the side and also in-between the crystal and the dial. The exquisitely designed casing is assembled by hand with a multilayer complex structure of octagons, hexagons, circles, squares and rectangles. There are a total of 110 facets just on the casing alone with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. The bezel has such an exquisite brushed finish that it almost resembles the finish of white gold rather than stainless steel.

The dial is a black lacquered dial with applied polished large batons and Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o'clock. The result is a watch that reflects and interacts with light like we have never seen before. No wonder, both laymen watch enthusiasts and seasoned watch collectors have been singing the praises of this watch since its launch. The design is very elegant with phenomenal attention to detail. The beating heart of the Octo is the Bulgari in-house caliber BVL193 with a 50-hour power reserve. The beautiful movement can be seen and enjoyed via the display case back.

Our watchlifestyler and friend Mr. B, mentions that the watch is very comfortable to wear, and one of his most comfortable watches. The black alligator strap is of excellent quality, supple, well made and well stitched; that is no surprise, as Bulgari is also famous for its well crafted leather goods. What is pleasantly surprising, is that the leather comes in a naturally bent shape so that it wraps around the wrist right out of the box with none of the stiffness that commonly comes with brand new leather straps—no break-in period here. The deployment buckle is also of very high quality and the buckle snaps into position with a satisfyingly loud clicking sound. Some of the drawbacks are the lack of luminous material on hands and markers, size of date aperture and watch packaging. With a depth rating of a 100m, only the careless would take this beautiful alligator strap for a swim.

The Octo has a very affordable price for what you get, a perfectly crafted and very comfortable timepiece. Only time will tell if in the far future, if it will be similarly admired as some of the other Genta's creations. This watch is also available in rose gold. Sticker Price for the stainless steel model in this review: $9,500.

For more info on this watch click here.

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Other Brands, Bulgari and tagged Bulgari Octo Gerald Genta Bi-Retro Quadri-Retro LVMH Group Bulgari Posts 2013.

Insider: Chanel J12 ref. H0970. An Iconic Women's Watch.

The Chanel J12 has turned into an iconic watch when it comes to female watch collectors. Originally intended to be a unisex watch, this reference was launched several years ago and immediately became a hot watch among women. Today, it's still one of the favorite watches for women looking to make a fashion statement. Crafted in white high-tech ceramic that is highly scratch-resistant, this piece comes in three different sizes. The 33mm is fitted with a quartz movement and the 38mm and 42mm that come with a self-winding automatic movement.

The J12 is a watch well suited for every occasion, whether you are just relaxing at the beach, scuba diving or getting ready for a night-gala, this watch goes well with all types of outfits due to its simple look yet refined character.

With a 42-hour power reserve, date aperture, unidirectional rotating bezel, screw-down crown, waterproof to a depth of 200m/600ft and a steel triple-folding buckle, the Chanel J12 is definitely a watch that can be enjoyed anywhere. In all is a very comfortable watch, not very heavy and with a superb finish.

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Other Brands and tagged Chanel J12 Chanel H0970 J12 Automatic Chanel Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite Porte-Documents Posts 2013.

Insider: Bremont ALT1-Z Zulu. In Memoriam to Our Friend Jon.

Bremont is a British company producing beautifully engineered chronometers in Henley on Thames, England. Bremont watches similar to Bell & Ross are inspired by aircraft instruments and the art of flying. Bremont watches are manufactured to a very high specification and every watch has a chronometer certification. The Bremont ALT1-Z Zulu line was designed with aviators and world travelers in mind. Z stands for 'Zulu Time' and allows the wearer to display local time together with the official world time standard - Universal Time Coordinated—UTC—, Greenwich Mean Time—GMT—, or even Zulu time—Z. UTC—replaced GMT in 1972— is now used as the standard clock of choice for international reference time in communications, military, aviation, maritime and other activities that cross time zones. This is one of the primary reasons why the Bremont ALT1-Z has become the watch of choice for the professionals involved in these activities, including many Military Squadrons.