Fire and Water…
Below are a pair of exciting new watches from the Armin Strom “One Week” collection. Dubbed “Fire” and “Water” and featuring Armin Strom’s new in-house movement with 8-day power reserve (the ARM09 — we wrote about it in Feburary), these two watches make up half of the four elements that represent the collection. “Earth” and “Air” are the other two models that I will show you at a later date. Each model is limited to 100 pieces per element with a 43mm case (13mm height). Notice also the asymmetrical case-design. The partial-dial has a power reserve display and while offering views of the very eye-pleasing ARM09 movement. The watches are paired with a totally kick-ass “horn-back” alligator strap in the appropriate color.
Armin Strom One Week Water – Stainless Steel (Ref ST10-WW.05)
Price is about $24,000, limited to 100 pieces
dial close-up
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Armin Strom One Week Fire – Rose Gold (Ref RG10-WF.5N)
Price is about $34,000, limited to 100 pieces
dial close-up
So now that I have your full attention, you may be wondering – why I haven’t I seen this brand before?!? Well, I would say that Armin Strom’s relatively low awareness is a function of its relative youth as a brand (founded in 2006) and its high entry-level price point (about $8,000, moving quickly into the five-figure range). However, I would argue that — more than any other young/small luxury brand today — Armin Strom SA is in a position to turn itself into a watchmaking powerhouse over the next decade or two.
As a quick refresher, here’s the backdrop on the brand — Armin Strom SA was founded in 2006 and is based in the watch-making center of Biel, Switzerland. The brand takes its name from the man himself – Armin Strom. I like to think of Armin Strom as the Godfather of the skeleton watch — it is an art he has been honing if not nearly perfecting for decades now. The startup of the brand is backed by successful Swiss businessman, Willy Michel. Michel along with Strom recruited a group of young talented and promising watchmakers upon which to build the brand and take it into the future.
At present, the brand is somewhat divided into two product “tiers”. That is, the somewhat more modern-looking “Elements” watches that I have shown you here today, and the ultra-exclusive “skeleton” series which are enhanced with various levels of hand-engraving or partial skeletons, up to a fully hand-made skeleton watch. The skeleton watches are quite simply some of the most fantastic watches I have ever set my hands upon — check out my video review of the Armin Strom Blue Chip Skeleton Automatic for an in-depth look.
The investment of time and money into the brand should not go un-noticed — Armin Strom is now more-or-less a fully capable manufacture, as evidenced above by its first manufacture movement, the ARM09 (click through to our earlier post for more looks and info). The ARM09 is quite obviously visually stunning, but I am also told that it has strong technical characteristics as well.
To close the loop on all this, let me just stay that it is my view that with all of its resources, its relative youth, and the wisdom and tutelage of Armin Strom himself, Armin Strom SA has significant potential to make a big name for itself as a leading high-luxury Swiss watch brand in the years ahead. Stay tuned for future looks at the watches of Armin Strom!
Just in time for summer, Parmigiani Fleurier has released a striking new variation in its Tonda Hemisphere collection. The overall design follows previous Tonda models, except this particular version boasts a rarely seen capability — that is, full timekeeping capabilities — both hours and minutes — for two timezones. The case is 42mm in diameter in highly polished steel, with a partially-skeletonized dial accented in a beautiful blue color (as are the matching hands). The matching strap is crocodile leather from prestigious luxury brand Hermes. The price is likely to be in the $15,000 range.
You may have noticed that there are two crowns on the watch — one for one time zone, the other for the second time zone as well as winding the watch. There is also a night/day gauge for each of the time zones as well.
Shipping now…
Did you know that watch brand IWC hosts its own discussion forum? The “IWC Collectors Forum” was actually founded in 2001 and has since provided IWC devotees with their own “special” place to discuss and share anything and everything IWC. IWC even hired a moderator — Mr. Michael Friedberg — to oversee discussion on the dedicated forum. Technically it is “Members Only” — but registration is free and open to anyone. The great thing is that what started out as a small, single-brand forum almost a decade ago has actually turned into a fairly active forum for IWC enthusiasts! It has attracted such a loyal following that in 2010 IWC decided to develop a special “Collectors Forum Watch”. Yes, that’s right — a limited edition, specially marked watch just to celebrate its loyal forum patrons. Editor: An astute IWC fan (thanks!) pointed that this year’s watch is not the first Collector’s Forum that IWC has created. This year mark’s the second edition of the Collector’s Forum Watch. The first? An IWC Collectors Forum Ingeniuer, circa 2005.
The IWC Da Vinci Chronograph Special Edition Collectors’ Forum, aka Ref. 3764
The stainless steel watch features certain details that make it unique and mark its dedication to the IWC forum — most notably that there is a visible engraving on the rotor reading “Collectors’ Forum 2010, One out of 100″ (but not individually numbered). The movement is the IWC caliber 89360.
The watch also comes with a stainless steel bracelet (in addition to the original alligator leather strap in black):
IWC starting accepting orders for the watch in January. I am not sure if all 100 have sold or not. Price is 15,200 CHF (including 7.6% VAT). Originally announced to be available starting in June 2010, some collectors have now received theirs. Although I have read that some perceive this watch to be a bit silly or pointless, I would prefer we all give a big round of applause to IWC for paying special attention to its most loyal, most dedicated patrons. That’s how you build brand loyalty!
Match Play Debut – French Open 2010 vs. Gianni Mina…
In early April, I first showed you the new ultra-light RM027 watch, created by master watchmaker Richard Mille for tennis phenom Rafael Nadal. Well, it seems that some of the sports and print media writers the entire media — from Yahoo Sports to the HuffPo to the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal — has finally caught up with the news thanks to a press conference that Nadal held this past weekend (from the French Open) to announce the new watch. Richard Mille was there to join in the fun. Here are the pics, straight from opening round match play at Roland Garros. Pics from warmups and the press conference are below, too.
Felipe Trueba/European Pressphoto
May 21, 2010 – Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille at the launch of the new ‘TOURBILLON WATCH RM 027 RAFAEL NADAL’
May 22, 2010 – Rafael Nadal trains in his Richard Mille watch (valued at $525,000) at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, on the eve of the French open tennis tournament.
(AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Be sure to click over to my original post from April 2 for some more looks at the watch.
Way to go Freediving!
Well, it didn’t take long for luxury watch brands to start their own bit of competition within the already competitive sport of freediving — Breitling just announced that it has signed Austrian Herbert Nitsch to be a brand Ambassador. Prior to Breitling, the only major sponsorship I was aware of was BALL Watch Co.’s sponsorship, which I profiled in great detail earlier this year — see For the Apnea Enthusiast: BALL EMII Diver World Time, March 25, 2010.
This says quite a lot about the relatively obscure sport of freediving, doesn’t it? I mean seriously — how many people take part in this extreme sport? Not many. But now we have two high profile Swiss-watch brands sponsoring competing athletes.
From what I can tell, Nitsch is the King of freediving and thus an appropriate pick for Breitling:
Nitsch is a current world record holder 3 of the 8 categories officially recognized by AIDA International — Constant Weight Apnea (124 meters — madness), Variable Weight Apnea (142 meters — insane madness), and No Limits Apnea (214 meters — beyond insane madness). Yes it gets even crazier, but I’ll leave a discussion of the Dynamic Apnea with Fins category (250 meters is current WR) for another day.
I must say that I am utterly fascinated at the depths that have been achieved by these guys — they seem beyond human! Here’s Nitsch in action:
It’s a Gold Classic Fusion….
When I first wrote about the “Huge Bang!” back in April, there were no watches to show, only Hublot-branded substitution boards. But now the Official Timekeeper for the next two FIFA World Cups has unveiled the Official Watch for the same. The Hublot FIFA World Cup watch is a beautifully executed 45mm version of the Hublot Classic Fusion. Note the FIFA World Cup Trophy on the dial. The thing is, though, there will only be 100 pieces, so I think it is safe to say that this is the first but certainly not the last we have seen from Hublot for FIFA.
King Power for King Speed…
This morning from Shanghai, China, Hublot announced that the world’s fastest man is now an “official” Ambassador to the brand…not that this should be any surprise to readers of this blog! We were quick out of the starting blocks on this story late last year when we spotted Jamaican super star sprinter Usain Bolt wearing a Hublot and striking his famous pose — check it out at: Hublot On a Lightning Bolt, November 12, 2009.
photo: Hublot.
For Hublot, he is not only an outstanding sportsman, but also a man with a naturally sunny disposition, who shares his gifts with humility. Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, is very proud that Usain Bolt wears a Hublot timepiece:
“It is hugely symbolic for a watchmaker to see his watch worn by the fastest man in the world! the concept of time is sacred, for him and for us… We measure time, Usain always seems to outrun it!”.
Usain Bolt had this to say:
“I am delighted to be an ambassador for Hublot and join some great ambassadors such as Manchester United, Diego Maradona and Ayrton Senna’s family and Institute. I look forward to working together in the future and I hope my times continue to get faster with Hublot.”
photo: Pressesports.
We liked this pairing before it was even a deal. Congrats Hublot!
Three unique pieces, three charitable causes…
While I’m sure most of you are by now familiar with the Audemars Piguet “Time to Give” celebrity watch auction (if not, see here), I’d like to bring light to another, albeit much smaller, charity auction that is going on right now. But it is a charity auction nonetheless. So thanks to Orologio Blog (in Italian), I was excited to learn that three, one-of-a-kind Maurice-Lacroix Pontos Décentrique GMT timepieces designed by three prolific designers are now up for auction. You can view details on both the Maurice Lacroix and Wallpaper* (modern design and style blog/magazine) websites. Bidding started on May 13 and concludes on June 19. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to a charity of each designer’s choice (as I have noted below each watch).
Current offers for each watch are still near the opening price — €4,250 — for each watch. I think that any one of these three fine unique pieces should could go for prices in excess of €10,000 — great watches for a great cause — bid high people!
Below is a preview of each watch, as well as a short video of each designer talking about his philosophy for his particular watch. While all the watches are absolutely spectacular, my personal favorite is the piece by Arik Levy. Which one is your favorite?
*****
“Raw and Essential” by Arik Levy
Unique Piece
Dial: Black gold, horizontally brushed; engraved hour markers on both second time zone; metal coated sapphire crystal over the day and night disk and date indication, black gold hands (hours/minutes/2nd time zone), luminous at night.
Case: Brushed stainless steel, 43mm
Levy plans to donate the proceeds of this summer’s auction to Sinjiya-Ton, a charity dedicated to the aid of Malian street children.
*****
“Five Continents”, by Gwenaël Nicolas
Unique Piece
Dial: Matt-black, with 5 circles, brushed/polished; glossy black printed hour markers; hands (hours/minutes/2nd time zone) luminous at night. Day-and-night display in black, sun and stars in polished silver.
Case: Polished and brushed, stainless steel, 43mm
Nicolas plans to donate all proceeds from this year’s auction, to human aid organisation, Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
*****
“Bonded Watch”, by Neil Barrett
Unique Piece
Dial: Completely clad in black leather; raised applied hour markers under the leather; metal coated sapphire crystal over the day and night disk and date indication, hands (hours/minutes/2nd time zone) luminous at night.
Case: Stainless steel completely clad in black leather
Neil Barrett plans to donate the proceeds of this summer’s auction, to world aid charity, Oxfam.
Again, you can visit http://www.wallpaper.com/mauricelacroix or http://www.mauricelacroix.com/#PARTNERSHIPS to place a bid!
Pinel & Pinel craftsmanship…
In celebration of its 150 anniversary year, TAG Heuer has launched an exclusive boxed edition of its Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph. The specially boxed set, limited to 150 units, also comes with TAG Heuer’s Meridiist phone which, although I am most definitely not a fan of, I can look past in the context of it being a part of this unique collector’s set.
Yes the watch looks great, but what’s equally as special here is the Pinel & Pinel custom box. Crafted by bespoke French artisan and designer Fred Pinel, this multi-function watch box is a reinterpretation of the 1930s steamer trunk on the outside and the secret drawers of a Louis XVI armoire on the inside. The premium watch box, hand crafted in black and orange leather with accented stitching, houses a watch winder for the Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph, and a mini USB connect for charging the Meridiist:
TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph
I like the philosophy of presenting the watch in a nice watch box — sell “the whole package” — not just the watch. Well done, TAG Heuer.
p.s. – Fred Pinel, your work is amazing!
If you haven’t yet heard, Lionel Messi has joined Audemars Piguet as its newest ambassador. You can see the full press release with pics (and even the official Audemars Piguet video) here, but I figured something a bit more exciting would be appropriate for all you blog readers — Top 10 Messi goals, anyone?
As an aside, I found this sentence in the Audemars Piguet press release interesting:
In joining the Audemars Piguet “family”, Leo Messi thus becomes the first footballer to associate his name with that of a prestigious Swiss watch brand.
Really? Hmmm….I think Hublot and Maradona will have something to say about that!
