A couple weeks ago I showed you the new Hermès Clipper Chronograph Titanium watch that will be released in 2010.  Hermès will also be producing a 36mm Clipper Chronograph ladies version.  While many watch enthusiasts do not like Hermès watches due to its relatively high prices (you pay a premium for anything that says “Hermès” on it) and its primary recognition as a high fashion brand, I must say that I personally am a bit of a fan, although the watches are certainly not top of my wish list.  It is one fashion brand that actually makes some good looking watches (unlike say, the gaudy-awful looking watches I see from the likes of Salvatore Ferragamo or Gucci).

Unlike the mechanical automatic movement in the Clipper Chronograph Titanium, this ladies model has a quartz movement, but I’d guess that will be fine for most ladies who are not major watch enthusiasts because this watch is all about its exterior looks.  The bezel is accented with “rare white” or “rare white plus” diamonds and the dial is silvered mother-of-pearl.  Set on a white rubber strap (orange strap available on the non-gem set version), this watch would make a great companion for a dip off of your yacht and into the beautiful blue waters off the coast of Sardinia (or so one of my Italian friends tells me).

BASELWORLD 2010 is coming soon. You can see all the hot new pre-releases on Perpetuelle.com’s Official Baselworld 2010 Forum right now! And many many more when the event starts on March 18th. Just click here!

OK here’s the deal – you must choose one or the other.  No “I’d rather have this alternative or that alternative.”  There are two choices at hand here.

So….which one would you choose?  Why?

The 2010 Leica M7 Hermès Edition Camera

Price:  about $13,000

Limited Edition of 200

Nod to Luxury Insider and many others for the camera scoop.

The 2010 Hermès Clipper Chronograph Titanium Watch

Price:  between $5,000 and $10,000

Me?  I’d take the watch.  Why? No real reason except that I’m a watch guy!

Paris-based high-fashion brand Hermes is introducing a new model in its “Clipper” collection this year at Baselworld 2010.  The Clipper is the brand’s dive watch/sailing-inspired line and although it has been heavily influenced by haute fashion some years in the past I would say that this year’s model – with a 44mm titanium case on a “Hermes orange” rubber strap – has a fairly functional, but attractive, look to it.  Now I’m not a big fan of the partially exposed date-windows (you can see not one but three days on the dial), but otherwise the dial is nicely legible and the and the “Hermes orange” seconds hand and other orange accents look good against the anthracite colored dial.  The watch will also come in palladium (silver-ish color) and brown-dial color versions.  Movement is the reliable but omnipresent ETA/Valjoux 7750. 

Price will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 – hey, what do you expect from Hermes!

Only Watch is a charity auction of unique watches created by many of the most important watch brands in Switzerland. This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert 11. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The next Only Watch auction is organized in close collaboration with Patrizzi & Co and the Monaco Yacht Show, and will take place on 24 September 2009.

Participating brands include Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, BNB Concept, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet Montres, Cartier, Corum Montres, De Bethune, Delacour, Franck Muller, Frédérique Constant, Glashütte Uhrenbertrieb, Hermès, Hublot, Jaquet Droz, Louis Vuitton, Maximilian Büsser & Friends, Mont Blanc, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Swatch, Tag Heuer, Tourneau Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith International.

Below is a mosaic of their “pieces uniques”  – you can view larger images and a quote from each respective brand about their 2009 “Only Watch” contribution HERE.