Today RJ unveiled the Moon Orbiter Tourbillon, a very original piece including a flying tourbillon.   In a limited edition of 25-pieces at $115,000 per, I find a lot to like in this watch.  Most importantly, it builds on the brand’s strength which is its “DNA of legends” theme.  The overall design is resoundingly avant-garde and highly original.  The dial has moon dust incorporated into it, and there is Apollo 11 DNA in the case — thereby evolving the intergalactic theme which the brand has built several pieces around (and yes this makes it part of the Moon-DNA collection).
A closer look and more discussion, on the click

Facets of the color black (from left): GRAND LANGE 1, GRAND LANGE 1 “Lumen”, DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN,  LANGE ZEITWERK “Luminous”, LANGE ZEITWERK

Five more photos, on the click

Editor’s Note:  I am pleased to present this the first in a series of original short stories, authored by Perpetuelle’s very own James Bond, that will be published on Perpetuelle this summer.  Of course, there is a watch in every story.  Enjoy this departure from the usual!

2 Days and 100 Years

A story by

JAMES BOND

**********

The private aircraft was on a course from Brisbane, Australia to Honolulu, Hawaii and had, so far, been smooth flying. The Captain glanced at his watch and adjusted the second time zone to reflect Hawaii’s time. He was wearing a Rolex GMT-C in two-tone. Local time in Brisbane was 1:17pm and in Honolulu it was 9:17am the following day. He loved his GMT-C and always trusted the time it read. Three hours after the takeoff the weather had been clear and sunny at 38,501 feet. But now, that positive outlook changed when the Captain saw the clouds moving in. The autopilot disengaged when turbulence struck, forcing the Captain to take control of the aircraft.

The Captain checked the air speed which read 275 knots, the equivalent of about 316 mph. Outside of the plane the temperature dropped significantly with precipitation increasing rapidly and seconds later, the aircraft’s recorded airspeed dropped sharply from 275 knots to 58 knots. Unbeknownst to the Captain, the crew, and lone passenger, a severe storm system similar to a Mesoscale Convective Complex had formed all around them.

Click through to read the rest of 2 Days and 100 Years

For your Heuer fans out there…a nice story to go along with some superb pictures of a Heur Autavia 11630 (circa 1973) that has been modded into an 11063 case (circa 1983).  Check it out over at the always enlightening Heuerville>>>

A classic is back…

As we brought to your attention this past March, Seiko is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  To mark the occasion, Seiko has released the new and limited edition Grand Seiko 44GS watch, available in four metals (pictured above is the white gold model, limited to 70 pieces).  The 44 GS sets the standard for the GS brand; it was the first in the collection’s history to embody the iconic characteristics of the Grand Seiko design and went on to become the brand’s icon for precision luxury time pieces.  The very first Grand Seiko was created in 1960 and produced in Nagano, Japan, and this new piece pays nice tribute to one a GS design which was introduced a few years later.   Restrained and serene, mechanically pure and precise — the Seiko way — this watch was by far the highlight of what I saw from the brand during my meeting with them at Baselworld last month.
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Louis Vuitton unveiled a very neat and unique new complication at Baselworld 2013, a dual chronograph + differential display.  Developed in-house by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the caliber is specifically intended for match racing, though there are a number of other uses for this type of functionality.  This first-of-its-kind complication displays two distinct chronograph times, as well as the difference between the two at any given moment.  The mechanical ingenuity of the 437-component caliber is complemented by extremely simple means of operation (a four-stroke monopusher) as well as a beautiful aesthetic highlighted by a blue grand feu enamel dial. I will break it all down for you, below.
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Single-Red, Single-Owner, Missing Bezel ?!?!…

Today was Sotheby’s “Important Watch and Clocks” sale in New York. Although a bit light on high-dollar pedigree, it was a strong auction for the lots that did go up, save for a few (see ‘Other lots of note’ below). Of the 258 lots offered, about 95% went above the estimated range — some significantly so.

The top lots, both at $461,000, were a Patek Ref 5013P minute repeater perpetual calendar and a diamond-set white gold Chopard L.U.C tourbillon (pre-sale est. $100-$150,000), but perhaps more headline-worthy was a 1967 Rolex Ref 1665 “Single-Red” Sea-Dweller which sold for a whopping $383,000. The pre-sale estimate on this piece was a mere $60,000-$80,000, but it seems that collector’s could not resist the provenance of this piece. And who could blame them — this Single-Red Sea-Dweller was also “Single-Owner” (since 1967), the property of a an accomplished American Navy diver. The “original owner” status along with the relative rarity of the Single-Red Sea-Dweller in all its ‘character’ made this piece highly coveted — a superb collector’s catch in today’s world of high-dollar collecting. Never mind that the bezel is missing, bid it up!

Click through for more details and analysis

Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Brazilian racing legend Ayrton Senna and racer himself, joined Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe today at the Hublot factory in Switzerland to launch a symbolic watch.    The MP-06 Senna falls withing Hublot’s highly complicated “Masterpiece” collection (“MP”) and is the also the most complicated watch produced by Hublot in the Senna series.
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An independent watchmaking brand that I’ve been a fan of for a few years now is B.R.M.  Their watches are almost exclusively designed around the “racing” theme — and they do a great job in this regard.  Though I have a lot to learn about the brand and its history, the “racing” concept is, I would say, its core DNA.   After featuring some of their more colorful (“England”, “Gulf“) and innovative (Multra-light Makrolon) models of recent years (among many I have featured), I was glad to be able to meet B.R.M representatives at Baselworld 2013 and spend some time with several of their watches.  The one I want to highlight today is the B.R.M Birotor model, as shown here.
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Just over a  month long ago, Officine Panerai presented the new PAM 523 Luminior Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic.  Of note, this is the first watch from Panerai to incorporate the original combination of the 42MM Luminor 1950 case and a white dial.
A closer look and details, on the click