Black Forever

de Grisogono’s quartet in black and limited edition

Meccanico dG N09:The watch in titanium with a matt black PVD coating has handwinding mechanical movement, exclusive to de GRISOGONO. It has analogue display of hours and minutes with white dauphine hands. At bottom, it has mechanical digital second timezone displayed by white mobile microsegments. It comes with power reserve indicator and has sapphire glass front and case back. Water-resistant up to 30mts, it has only 10 pieces. Price on request.

” Occhio Ripetizione Minuti” So:The 18K gold watch with a matt black PVD coating is set with 167 black diamonds (1.9 carats). It has black matt twelve-blade titanium diaphragm dial with Arabic numerals in silvered script, dauphine hands in 18K white gold. Hour, quarter and minute repeater strike on three gongs (cathedral strike) with opening of the diaphragm. Water-resistant up to 30mts it is available in limited edition of five. Price on request.

Instrumentino S34 QZ : The 18K gold watch with a matt black PVD coating set with 405 black diamonds (6.9 carats). It has quartz movement with dual time.  The black guilloché dial is set with 312 black diamonds (1.10 carat).  Water-resistant up to 30mts it is available in limited edition of 10 pieces. Price on request.

Instrumento N°Uno DF S41:The 18K gold watch with a matt black PVD coating is set with 184 black diamonds (2.2 carats). The automatic movement  dual time and and date watch with black guilloché dial is set with 147 black diamonds (0.50 carat). It has grey Arabic numerals, grey dauphine-style hands and has crown set with a black diamond (0.10 carat). It is water-resistant up to 30mts. Price on request.

TAG watch on India F1

TAG  Heuer India’s Formula One Watch only 200 pieces

SRK launches F1 Watch

TAG Heuer, the worldwide leader in sports watches and chronographs, has tied up with the Buddh International Circuit, the venue of the first Formula One race in India.  With this TAG Heuer will gain exclusive rights in the watch category which grants it access to the branding, logo and image rights of the race track. Buddh International Circuit will see the launch of the first ever F1 in India on 30^th October 2011. F1 racing’s governing body, the FIA has tentatively indicated the inclusion of the Indian Grand Prix for October 2011, subject to homologation of the circuit.

Announcing the tie-up, Shah Rukh Khan, TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador, said, “I am very excited to be a part of the brand’s celebration of its motor racing heritage. We hope to bring a lot of motor racing excitement to TAG Heuer customers through this very special watch as well as other exciting events to follow during the course of the year. The 5.14km long Buddh International Circuit has been designed by world renowned German architect and racetrack designer, Herman Tilke, who has also designed other world class race circuits in Malaysia, Bahrain, China, Turkey, Indonesia, the UAE, South Africa, South Korea and the US. It has been designed as one of the fastest, most exciting motor racing circuits in the world. The track’s combination of 16 corners, high- speed straights and dramatic changes in elevation have been designed to provide ample opportunities for overtaking, which is what makes motor racing exciting.

tag heuer Carrera F1 India

To commemorate the tie up, TAG Heuer has announced the launch of 200 pieces “India limited edition” watch. This numbered limited edition has been adorned with the logo of the racing circuit in striking India colors – Orange and Green. The presence of the circuit map on the dial adds to the thrill of the TAG Heuer fans as well as car racing lovers. The Buddh International Circuit logo and map have been placed on the dial at 9 ’o clock and the chronograph hand along with the thread stitching on the leather strap is in India saffron colors. It provides a fresh, enthusiastic appeal and captures the soul of TAG Heuer which is innovation, prestige, performance and precision.

The TAG Heuer Carrera Tachymeter Chronograph has been chosen for this very special Limited Edition of 200 watches. The 200 piece limited edition will be available for sale in September end this year. TAG Heuer will soon initiate a booking procedure for the limited edition watches.

Schwarzenegger on your wrist

Audemars Piguet’s Arnold Schwarzenegger watch

schwarzenegger watch

Now a Arnie (of The Terminator fame) watch. You read it right. Audemars Piguet and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have collaborated to create the ultimate collector timepiece, The Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger the Legacy Chronograph, a perfect blend of strength and control.

This limited-edition timepiece is a vibrant tribute to this long established friendship and like the previous designs in the Royal Oak Offshore portfolio draws inspiration from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s onscreen roles as well as his human values. Like all the timepieces created in close cooperation between Audemars Piguet and Governor Schwarzenegger, the Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph is a masterpiece of rugged elegance. Since the collaboration debuted in 1999, the sale of these timepieces has also raised millions of dollars and brought awareness to After-School All-Stars, a charitable organization founded in 1992 by Schwarzenegger. To date charitable contributions from the watches has raised a total close to $10 million.

The Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph is issued in a 1,500- piece limited edition, each engraved on the back with the inscription Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy. Inspired by the case of the Royal Oak Offshore Arnold All-Stars Chronograph it is the first Audemars Piguet watch to feature an all-ceramic 48-millimeter case middle and bezel. The watch is supplied with an anthracite aramid fibre strap, along with an additional strap in hand-sewn black crocodile leather with large square scales. Proceeds from sale of this model will serve to fund the “After School All Stars” foundation.

Schwarzenegger and AP’s powerful partnership dates to the summer of 1998 when the film star, a long-time connoisseur and collector of fine watches, visited Audemars Piguet’s headquarters in Le Brassus, Switzerland. Arnold’s eye for detail and appreciation of superb craftsmanship mirrored Audemars Piguet’s world-class reputation for technological innovation and cutting edge design. The following year, Schwarzenegger collaborated on the design for the first commemorative timepiece which heralded his film End of Days.

In the years to follow, the relationship expanded with the establishment of an on-going charitable partnership between AP and Arnold, who during the partnership became the 38th Governor of California. The fruits of these efforts are an array of limited-edition timepieces which include the introduction of the Jules Audemars Double X Chronograph created for The Sixth Day in 2001 followed by the Royal Oak Offshore T3 Chronograph, inspired by the 2003 film The Terminator 3, and the largest Offshore ever produced; the Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger Chronograph with date and small seconds; a Jules Audemars Chronograph & Perpetual Calendar; and a Jules Audemars Dual Time Power Reserve as well as the Royal Oak Offshore All-Stars Chronograph in 2008. Furthermore, these watches have become highly sought after by collectors and aficionados alike.

Omega’s 1.18 cr watch

Omega’s Skeleton Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition has only 18 pieces. Each costing Rs. 1.18 cr.

omega tourbillon skeleton

Omega is the only watchmaker ever to have created an automatic central Tourbillon. Its titanium cage rotates completely every 60 seconds, offsetting the effect of gravity on the performance of the watch. The movement has a luxurious sun-brushed and circular graining finish with an anthracite galvanic processing; its bridges and mechanisms are hand polished. The rotor with its sapphire plate has been newly designed and is metallized with the words “Limited Edition” and the watch’s individual serial number (out of 18). The Central Tourbillon’s hands appear to float freely above the movement. The Skeleton Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition is equipped with a Breguet balance spring. Only 18 pieces of this Skeletonized Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition will be produced. The complex movement is assembled from 320 individual parts. When a Central Tourbillon is returned to Omega for servicing, it will be placed in the hands of the original watchmaker. The remarkable calibre is housed in a platinum case presented with a black alligator bracelet. Price: Rs 1,18,30,000.

Monaco V4 Next Gen

TAG Heuer’s Monaco V4 Next Gen Rose Gold Ruthenium and Ceramic

 

monaco v4

The just-launched Monaco V4 Next Generation Rose Gold Ruthenium and Ceramic has the latest version of TAG Heuer’s groundbreaking V4 technology. It is also the brand’s most stylish creation in rose gold to date.

 

The double-patented Monaco V4 is the world’s first watch with a high-yield mechanical belt drives and a linear rewinding system. Its audacious design is based on the oversized, square-faced Monaco, first seen on Steve McQueen’s wrist in the 1970 race film Le Mans.

In this new “Next Generation” version, the case is even bigger (41mm instead of 39mm) and made of polished massive rose gold with fine-brushed silicon nitride “ceramic” inserts. The inserts visually lighten the squared shape of the watch, and the newly angled planes of the bevelled crystal give the watch a more fluid and contemporary profile.

Other rose gold components are the hand-applied faceted indexes on the dial, the minute and hour hands, the small second hand at 4 o’clock, the thermo-lacquered crown at 3 o’clock, and the strap’s folding buckle. The strap itself is in ultra-soft, large-scale alligator, with anthracite hand stitching, titanium inserts and a rubberized leather lining.

Visible through the timepiece’s anti-reflective sapphire crystal front and back — the V4’s avant-garde architecture remains unchanged (tungsten ingot linear mass, two pairs of barrels in series, set in parallel and linked by belts), but the finishes have been completely revisited, with a high-resistance black ruthenium coating on the back plate and the Côtes de Genève decorated bridges. The beautiful black juxtaposes superbly with the white “V4” and “TAG Heuer” engravings on the dial, and with the patented transmission and rewind white belts, now in high-contrast, high-tech white polymers exclusively developed for the new timepiece. Only 60 pieces worldwide.

Only One

Blue Wave with 1925 chrono

blue wave

Hermann Grieb—watchmaking genius and one of the three partners comprising GRIEB & BENZINGER—has  conjured up a masterpiece of watchmaking: a rare Minerva column wheel chronograph movement estimated to be from about 1925. After countless hours of total restoration, hand skeletonization, hand-engraving and guilloche, the vintage base Minerva movement awakens to new life to become a characteristic new horological piece of art in typical GRIEB & BENZINGER style: the 18-karat gold monopusher skeletonized chronograph christened The Blue Wave.

The company’s typical blue platinum coating of the base plate has also found its way into the new unique piece. The base plate was first hand-skeletonized to its barest minimum in characteristic wave style and the case back hand-guilloche. All 34 steel screws were polished by hand and classically tempered a cornflower blue over an open flame. Today, steel screws are generally blued by use of galvanic coating.
In its heyday, Minerva was one of the finest and best chronograph makers in the world. Chronographs had already been in existence since around 1800, however Minerva was one of the first chronograph makers to incorporate a minute counter. Minerva named its company after the Roman goddess Minerva. Traces of this Roman deity can be found again and again in fine watchmaking—even A. Lange & Sohne has immortalized various depictions of the goddess as a motif or symbol on its most exclusive pocket watch cases. The Blue Wave is one-of-a-kind-watch and there will only be one lucky timepiece enthusiast worldwide to have the pleasure of wearing this exclusive watch on his or her wrist. Price: (€ 87,500).

Available at Georg Bartkowiak, T: +49-7231-983000 (office)& +49-171-4426903.
W: www.grieb-benzinger.com. E: Georg@grieb-benzinger.de

Celldom Seen

Briefly: To celebrate 150 years of its exceptional history, TAG Heuer has launched an ultra-exclusive gift box edition of its breakthrough Grand Carrera Caliber 17 RS2 Chronograph with the mobile phone Meridist

tag meridist

To celebrate 150 years of its exceptional history, TAG Heuer has launched an ultra-exclusive gift box edition of its breakthrough Grand Carrera Caliber 17 RS2 Chronograph, the first mechanical chronograph with double Rotating Systems, and the Meridist, the world’s only Swiss-engineered communications instrument. The avant-garde chronograph and communication instrument, redesigned in a special black and orange limited edition, are audaciously housed in a handsome steamer-trunk coffret designed by Paris master craftsman Fred Pinel.

The Grand Carrera 17 Calibre RS2 is equipped with a hallmark TAG Heuer innovation — the Calibre RS2 chronograph movement with double Rotating Systems. COSC-certified and oscillating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, the RS2 replaces traditional watch hands with rotating discs —— like those on the dashboard of a luxury sports car — enabling effortless, cockpit-fast readings of small seconds and chronograph time of an unparalleled exactitude. It represents nothing less than an entirely new way of reading time, and an engineering feat of the highest level.

Crafted in the time-honoured French artisanal tradition, Pinel’s multi-function case is a reinterpretation of two classic icons of luxury: on the outside, the 1930’s streamer trunk, with its top and side openings; and, inside, the secret drawers of a Louis XVI armoire. Ultra-contemporary, yet evocative of a bygone era of luxury travel, the case is made of carefully selected premium materials and houses the latest in recharging technology — a mini USB connector for the Meridist and a watch winder for the Grand CARRERA Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph. The celebratory edition is limited to 150 pieces, one for each year of its history. Price on request.

Available at NEW DELHI Johnson Watch Company, Connaught Place, Inner Circle,New Delhi, T: 011 41513121, Johnson Watch Company, A – 12, NDSE -1, Independent Building, South Extension, New Delhi, T: 011 24642254/2299; MUMBAI Watches of Switzerland 231, Link Corner Building, Shop No#2, Linking Road, Bandra (W)Mumbai, T: 022 2640 2511; CHENNAI The Helvetica, Spencer Plaza, F-49, Spencer Plaza II, Anna Salai, First Floor, Chennai, T: 0442 849 0013; AHMEDABAD The Golden Time, C.G.Road T:26441420; The Golden Time Satellite, T: 26924900; Prime Watch World ,T: 40025250; BANGALORE Ethos, The Forum, T:22067775; Ethos, Shivaji Nagar,T: 41130611; Rodeo Drive,T: 22271977; Time Shop, Jayanagar, T:  22444559, Zimson Swiss Watch Boutique,Garuda Mall, T: 66141020; The Helvetica,Leela Palace Galleria, T: 41529393; CHANDIGARH Ethos, Sector 8-C,T: 5086480; HYDERABAD F1 Time Machine, T:23376296, Kamal Watch World,T: 66463366 ; Meena Jewellers 23237170; Time In Style, T: 66667872; KOLKATA Exclusive Lines,T: 22820597,Prime Watch World, Forum Mall, T:22837185; Prime Watch World, City Centre Mall,T: 23584333; Ram’s, Metro Shopping Centre,T: 22888882; LUDHIANA Ethos, T: 5088224; and Jammu Rakesh Jewellers T:0191 – 2432121.

Hublot’s bouquet

Briefly: Hublot to launch its King Power Alinghi (48mm), Big Bang In Red and Steel Tutti Frutti Rose at Basel World 2010

King Power Alinghi

king power alinghi

King Power Alinghi (48mm) in microblasted black ceramic and moulded black rubber comes in 6 relief black PVD H-shaped titanium screws. It has crystal Sapphire with interior/exterior anti-reflective treatment. The Alinghi logo is at 9 o’clock. The hands are satin-finished microblasted black nickel with black SuperLuminova™. The mechanical skeleton chronograph is endowed with automatic winding, carbon bridges and possesses calibre Hublot HUB4400. The model is in limited of 333 pieces numbered from 01/333 to 333/333.

Big Bang In Red

hublot red

A crimson dial (38mm) decorated with a diamond bezel, a white ceramic case and an alligator leather and rubber strap. A gift that says more than any poem, a dress watch that proclaims love better than any words! A quartz movement watch, its hands are Rhodium faceted, diamond-set with white luminous markings.

Big Bang Steel Tutti Frutti Rose

The new Big Bang Tutti Frutti (48mm) features fine mother of pearl, which gives it a particular elegance. This is emphasised by its satin-finished case surrounded by pink sapphires, and the alligator bracelet that accentuates its distinguished allure.

hublot tutti fruti

An undeniably exquisite watch, it exudes a sense of masterful restraint. The hands are faceted, diamond-set, luminescent white, seconds hand with H-shaped counter weights This mechanical chronograph watch comes with automatic winding and Hublot Calibre HUB4300.

Corum’s Admiral Cup Tourbillon

Briefly: Admiral’s Cup Minute Repeater Tourbillon 45 to be unveiled at Basel World 2010

admiral cup tourbillon

To celebrate Admiral Cup’s fiftieth anniversary, Corum has chosen to associate to this eminently sporty watch with two of the most prestigious horological complications: the Tourbillon and the minute repeater.

The use of a minute repeater in a watch with marine connotation is not a common feature, however this complication concentrates the strength of two universes, as life on a boat is governed by night and day with ringing bells. From ‘action stations’ in the morning to the evening ring, and even during attention to colours, it is a sailor’s life that is punctuated by these ringing tones.

The model sports the CO 010 caliber. The development and adjustment of this exceptional movement took two entire years for which Corum required the participation of a dozen of its best watch-making craftsmen. Each of the components were conceived and developed to guarantee the precision and beauty of the tone by considering its ‘power’ (expressed in decibels), its ‘precision’ (note correctness), its richness (expressed in number of partials) and its  ‘reverberation’ (duration of each note). The minutes-rack, placed at the heart of the ringing mechanism, is inverted compared to traditional minute repeaters in order to bring strength and precision to each note. It has also been enlarged to permit a wider lift angle to each tooth, extending the time between notes. The racks hitting the gongs are made out of ultra resistant and hardened steel. Fixed to these racks, countersprings have been specially conceived to find the best balance of the hitting strength and speed.

During the ringing, the rhythm is regulated through the rotation of an inertial flywheel, visible on the movement’s back. The gongs, made from an alloy featuring a composition and thermal treatment that are a closely guarded secret, have been adjusted to strike the hours on an A note and the minutes on a C sharp note. These two notes have not been chosen randomly, their specific sequence forms a major third (two tones) with a more cheerful harmony than a minor third (one and a half tones). The precision of the whole mechanism is guaranteed through a Tourbillon with Silicium escapement and pallets offering reliability and durability.

Omega Baguette

Briefly: The one piece limited edition Omega Constellation’s Baguette is for Rs 3.15 cr.

constellation baguette

Omega’s newly-redesigned Constellation line’s Constellation Baguette has been created with a strong and vivid visual identity – its dial displays a dramatic supernova structure which emanates boldly from the diamond Constellation star on its mother-of-pearl background at 6 o’clock. The one-of-a-kind masterpiece glistens with 459 Top Wesselton diamonds totalling just over 30 carats. The “invisible” mounting of the 146 baguette and trapeze diamonds on the dial means hides the traces of 18 Ct white gold used in the creation of its case. The Omega co-axial calibre 8421 escapement reduces the amount of sliding friction in the watch, virtually eliminating the need for lubrication, which means longer service intervals and greater precision over time. The Si 14 silicon balance spring adds resistance to shock and the effects of external disturbances.

This one-of-a-kind horological masterpiece’s 459 diamonds has been cut specifically for the watch. As a result, if one of the stones needs to be replaced or exchanged, the process can take longer than it would for a series-production watch. Any new diamond will have to be custom-prepared so that it matches the colour, clarity, cut and carat size of the stones around it. In short no standard replacement parts can be kept in stock – each one would have to be specially created for this extraordinary timepiece. It’s also unique because it’s limited to just one piece.

Price Rs 3.15 crore.