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

Recommended Reading…

Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic

In the June 2013 edition of National Geographic magazine, explorer James Cameron provides a first-person account of his unprecedented (well, I guess Piccard + Walsh did it in 1960 with a Rolex, too) voyage to the deepest known spot of the ocean, the Challenger Deep.  This is the first first person account of the mission that I am aware of, and it is well worth the read.   

I believe that Cameron’s mission will go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest exploration voyages ever undertaken by man, and I have great respect and admiration for extreme explorers such as Cameron (and Zenith-sponsored extreme explorer Felix Baumgartner (of Red Bull Stratos fame), who is also profiled in the issue).

In his multi-page, journal-style account, Cameron even mentions the Rolex Deepsea Challenge watch which accompanied him on the dive:

“35,756 feet [deep]…Core sample safe on board, I take a moment to shoot a close-up of the Rolex Deepsea watch for the Swiss firm that has partnered with us on the expedition.  The watch, strapped to the manipulator arm, is still ticking, despite 16,300 pounds per square inch of pressure.  In 1960, as part of a U.S. Navy project, Lt. Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dived in the massive bathyscaph Trieste to the same depth, the only other humans to ever do so.  They also brough a specially built Rolex, and it too withstood the pressure just fine…”

You can read Cameron’s account of the voyage  here at National Geographic>>>

AND

Flashback to Perpetuelle’s coverage of the expedition, replete with multiple images in which I identified the Rolex affixed to the outside of Cameron’s explorer vessel: Rolex Deepsea Challenge:  Deepest Point On Earth

Also if interested, check out my 2010 hands-on encounter with the “original” Rolex Deep Sea Special:  Perpetuelle Special Report:  The Rolex Deep Sea Special (the Rolex taken by Jacques Piccard and Lt. Don Walsh to the bottom of Challenger Deep in 1960)

This past January, I wrote about the Seiko Landmaster “Miura Everest 2013″ Watch (Spring Drive) and the great adventure it was created for.  Today, 80-year old Japanese alpinist Yuichiro Miura successfully climbed Mr. Everest, making him the oldest such person ever to do so.  This along with the fact that Miura was the first man to ski down Mt. Everest, a feat he accomplished in 1970 (later documented in an Academy Award winning documentary), puts Miura forever in the ranks of the world’s greatest alpinists.

Congrats to Mr. Yuichiro Miura and also to Seiko.  Check out my January article for more on the Seiko Landmaster “Miura Everest 2013″ Watch (Spring Drive)>>>

Miura on Mt. Everest Summit, May 23, 2013

Perpetuelle readers know that I am a fan of Dodane (see my earlier reviews here), the little known but promising watchmaker from the Besançon region of France (right by the Swiss border).   In fact, the more I see from the brand the more I like it.  For those of you in the Baltimore / Washington DC / Annapolis area, a special event is being hosted at Little Treasury Jewelers this coming Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  If you are in the area and can make the event, it would be totally worth your time.

The U.S. distributor for Dodane (and friend of Perpetuelle) Totally Worth It will also be on hand.  The event will feature, among other pieces, Dodane’s new Type 23 chronograph with yellow dial, #1 of the series.  I absolutely love their yellow dial, specifically done to increase readability by a pilot — and striking enough to wear around town.

I met with the Dodane family at Baselworld and was very impressed by their entire collection, this piece in particular (several photos below).

 caliber is by Dubois Depraz  and is very accurate

Due to my travel schedule it’s been a little quiet around here in recent days.  I’ve been en route to a remote location for some outdoor adventuring.  Of course every good adventure needs a good and able companion — which is why I decided to bring along a titanium Linde Werdelin SpidoLite II.  And, although it is designed for skiing, I’ve decided to test the versatility of a LW Rock which has (among other features) a 3-axis compass, chronograph and barometer function, all of which should be of use.

My Kind of Adventure

Think Vertical…

Time Check…

Nowhere to go but Up — Waterfall!

1500 ft ascent, success.  Views are always nice up top.

Down and out now…

Little help on the way down is always nice…

As best as I am able (i.e. communications signals are available and my hands are free), I’m posting views into the action through @Perpetuelle’s Twitter feed.

I will be providing ‘No Comment’ on this allegorical tell-all

Watches by SJX:  A Tale of a Stable Boy Who Became a Knight

DECODER

Horologia = online watch world

Helvetian League = [Swiss] watch brands

District = Forum

Dragons, fire-breathing dragons, trolls = those who would criticize or disparage the watch brands

Knight, Knights,, Knighthood = Forum Moderators

Clearistia = PuristSPro website

“1-7-8″, Numerals of the Knighthood  = Original code/ethos of the PuristS Moderators. 178 in Chinese is phonetically similar to “let’s prosper together” in the same language.  (reference 1, 2, 3)

Stable boy = SJX

Cavalryman = a forum participant, which with property loyalty and dedication can become a Moderator

Drothsentier, district of Drothsentier = Daniel Roth, DR forum (reference)

Rudepalaix, The house of Ruedelapaix = Cartier, Cartier forum (reference)

Gold = Money

Gentleman farmer / acreage = blogger / blog

More:

Opening Statement / Thread>>>

PuristPro Official Comment>>>

First a quick thanks to the great many Perpetuelle readers who have participated in this first-of-its-kind watch collector survey being conducted by LGI Network.  For those of you who have not completed your survey, please do so soon!  And for those of you hearing about this for the first time — act now!   Click here, or click the image below to jump on over and participate.

And yes you will be rewarded for your time!  Participants will get the full results of the survey, which should include some pretty insightful details about your fellow high-end watch collectors, your preferences, etc. (all on an anonymous basis, of course) — this should make it more than worth your time to participate!

As I say, this is the last call, the survey sampling is almost complete — Click here to participate! And thanks again.

Click through to read my full book review

As I wrote about earlier, Chronollection is a webportal specialized in luxury watches and fine watchmaking (and also the curent leaderboard advertiser on Perpetuelle).    Mostly a portal for professional dealers, Chronollection recently opened its own e-boutique for which customers can directly buy online from the following selection of watchmakers: Pilo&Co, March LA-B, Tournaire Watches, Konstantin Chaykin, Dwiss, EDmond, Orefici.  Most of these brands are not well known, but there are some interesting pieces in there — most $1,000 – $3,000 range, but a few are less than this and then also there is independent/AHCI watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin offering his watches for sale as well.  Chaykin makes some very nice (and very expensive) watches.  See them all at:  http://www.chronollection.com/new-watches/

Best wishes on your new product offering, Chronollection!

Here also is a video called “Catch The Time” recently released  by the company — described by the group as “a metaphor to our love for luxury timepieces”, it is a clever video.

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