Jason Cormier over at the Matt Baily Blog (a Canada-based authorized retailer of brands including Alpina, Frederique Constant, Bell & Ross, Tissot and others) has been writing a great tutorial (of sorts) on watches called “Watches in Depth”.  I really enjoyed his most recent article, an in-depth review of “The Chronograph.”

Jason does a good job of explaining the technical aspects of chronograph watches but in an understandable manner (assuming a basic watch knowledge base).  His series is perfect for those of you who are new to watches, and as well for those you who are interested in expanding your watch knowledge base (like me!).  My thanks goes out to Jason for sharing his great knowledge of watches with this series of well-written articles — I look forward to more!

Click here to read “Watches in Depth – The Chronograph” over at the Baily Blog.

Note — A basic understanding of watches is helpful to understand this chrono article–  but then again, Jason’s covered this, too!

photo:  Matt Baily blog.

Here’s a beauty that caught my eye, the new limited edition Manufacture Tourbillon Grand Feu, from none other than Frederique Constant.    Several years ago I might have said that this watch was a nice surprise from an otherwise ho-hum brand (historically I’ve found their watches to be very plain, almost boring), but times have changed and I must confess that Frederique Constant is consistently putting out good looking watches these days — and with personality, too.   The brand’s pieces typically run in the $1,000 – $3,000 range, give or take, but this limited edition (188 pieces) showpiece will probably be closer to $50,000 (anyone know?).  You can learn more the Manufacture Tourbillon Grand Feu over on the FC blog where I first read about it.

As an aside, my congrats to brand CEO Peter Stas and his wife Aletta Stas for their continued success — they seem to have done an amazing job growing this brand over the past couple decades, particularly in the last 5 years (perhaps no coincidence this is when they added in-house movement capabilities (5 years ago last month, to be precise!).

Frederique Constant Manufacture Tourbillon Grand Feu

limited edition 188 pieces, enamel dial, Breguet-style hands, manufacture tourbillon with silicon escapement

Short Video of the Frederique Constant Manufacture Tourbillon Grand Feu

“Only Watch” is a biennial charity auction of one-of-a-kind watches created by many of the most renowned 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 II.   All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research which is why many of these watches go extraordinarily high prices.

Starting today Perpetuelle will begin its coverage of Only Watch 2011.  Stay tuned in because over the next few months, you will get to see awesome “piece unique” watches from each of the participating brands for the 2011 event:

Click through to see our in-depth preview of each watch:

• Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon
• Patek Philippe Ref 3939A Minute Repeater
• Urwerk UR-103 “Phoenix”
• Romain Jerome “Rock the Rock”
• Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch
• MB&F HM-4 “Flying Panda”
• TAG Heuer “Monaco Mikrograph”
• Bell & Ross Pink Gold “Casino”
• Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver Chronograph
• Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration
• Piaget Altiplano Skeleton
• Breguet Reveil Musical Watch
• Audemars Piguet Gstaad Classic
• Jaquet Droz Petit Heure Minute
• Van Cleef & Arpel “From the Earth to the Moon” Watch
• Girard-Perregaux ww.TC
• Corum Golden Bridge Automatic Titanium
  
• Vulcain Anniversary Heart Watch
• Chanel J12 Marine Watch
• Franck Muller “Totally Switzerland”
• Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo
• Vacheron Constantin “Dove” Watch (M.C. Escher-inspired)
  
• Zenith El Primero “Destro” watches
• Montblanc Villeret 1858 Pulsograph
• Ikepod Red Hourglass by Marc Newson
• Bovet Fleurier, Celsius, Chaumet, Chopard, De Bethune, Delacour, De Witt, Frédérique Constant, Hermès, Laurent Ferrier, Maurice Lacroix, Richard Mille
  

Only Watch 2011 will be held September 24, 2011 and managed by watch auction house Antiquorum.  But you don’t have to wait this long — because part of the excitement leading up to the September 24, 2011 event is the release of each participating brand’s special edition watch.

ONLY WATCH 2009

If you are interested in looking back, I covered the Only Watch 2009 auction extensively including blogging about several of my favorites inlcluding:  Piaget Emperador Coussin, MB&F Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau Jump Hour, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Chanel J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain 500 Fathoms.   You can see all 34 “Only Watch 2009″ watches here on the Perpeuelle World Watch Forum.  The Only Watch 2009 auction was hosted by Patrizzi & Co.

A Winning Combination…

What a nice surprise today from Geneva-based Frederique Constant — a partnership with renowned cigar maker Cohiba for a limited edition watch and humidor!  Right now I can think of few things better than putting on the limited edition Frederique Constant watch you see below and smoking that Cohiba!

This watch is truly one of the first Frederique Constant watches I find myself being excited about.  For some reason it is hard to put my finger on, I often find that the brand’s watches — though nicely designed and appropriately priced — lack the sort of character or vibrancy that make me want to go out and buy one.  But not this time — the watch has a distinctive and very classy look to it that I really like.  And of course it comes on a “tobacco-brown” strap:

My only quibble is that the numeral “XI” (11) that is cut-off by the Frederique Constant logo looks a bit awkward — I might have preferred if the logo placement were just a few millimeters higher thus avoiding the intersection with the numeral.  Also, I think the I would prefer to have seen the partnership more discreetly memorialized with a “Cohiba” engraving on the caseback rather than the logo on the dial.  But overall, I think the watch looks pretty good.

Available exclusively in the U.S., the watch will be presented in a beautiful box that doubles as a humidor.  I don’t think the cigars are included, but that is a problem that can be quickly remedied by your local tobacconist.  How cool it must be to have a fresh tobacco smell imparted upon your watch every time you take it out of the humidor/case!

Production will be limited edition to just 188 numbered pieces in steel and 188 pieces in rose gold plated.  No word yet on price.

** Update** These limited edition sets (watch + humidor) are phenomenally priced at $1,750 for the Rose Gold Plated version (FC-325CW4C24) and $1,650 for the steel version.

Frederique Constant and Cohiba will be launching these exclusive timepieces during a dedicated event on September 22^nd, 2010 at Club Macanudo in New York City.

34 Distinct One-of-Kind Pieces Estimated to Auction At $10,000 to as much as $735,000

Less than 24 hours from “hammer time” and we wanted to share with you the “suggested” prices for each of the 34 “Only Watch” watches in case you are thinking about putting in a bid.

But first, what a difference two years social media can make for a special event such as this! The watch blogosphere has been buzzing for months with excitement over the 34 unique pieces that will be auctioned in Monaco less than 24 hours from now in what is sure to be a spectacular event. In fact we learned just yesterday that the event will be live-Tweeted by watch journalist Beth Doerr – so put her in your Twit-Stream now (Twitter: @doerrelizabeth)!!

If you follow watches, it is highly unlikely that you haven’t come across a blog or forum post highlighting one or all of these watches – of course First In Watches was the first to kick things off back in early-June with our feature article giving you a first look at each of the 34 pieces (see: ONLY WATCH 2009 – 34 One-of-a-Kind Watches), and since then we have gone more in-depth on some of our favorites including the following: MB&F’s Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet’s 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau’s Jump Hour, Piaget’s Emperador Coussin, Louis Vuitton’s Tambour, Chanel’s J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain’s 500 Fathoms. Some of our watch-blogging friends have also written some good articles about their favorites, too. In particular we enjoyed this recent article from Hodinkee with some great pics of some of the more “unique” unique pieces including Cabestan’s Winch Tourbillon Vertical, Confrere Horlogere’s La Clef du Temps Tourbillon, and MB&F’s Sage Vaugh HM-2.

So what are the “odds” on what these watches will sell for? Due to their rarity and the fact that there is now reserve price, it really is hard to say! But here is where the bidding is likely to start, courtesy of Patrizzi & Co. who will be running the auction:

• Confrerie Horlogere $514,500 – $735,000
• Cabestan $411,600 – $514,500
• Patek Philippe $264,600 – $470,400
• Bovet $147,000 – $220,500
• Cartier $132,300 – $220,500
• Audemars Piguet $132,300 – $220,500
• De Bethune $132,300 – $205,800
• Breguet $117,600 – $176,400
• Tag Heuer $102,900 – $132,300
• MB&F $102,900 – $176,400
• Van Cleef & Arpels $102,900 – $132,300
• Ateliers deMonaco $88,200 – $132,300
• Louis Vuitton $88,200 – $132,300
• Ulysse Nardin $88,200 – $132,300
• Chanel $73,500 – $88,200
• Montblanc $66,150 – $88,200
• Piaget $51,450 – $73,500
• Franck Muller $51,450 – $73,500
• Bell & Ross $51,450 – $73,500
• Gerald Charles $51,450 – $73,500
• Omega $44,100 – $73,500
• Chaumet $36,750 – $51,450
• Vacheron Constantin$36,750 – $51,450
• Franc Vila $29,400 – $58,800
• Girard-Perregaux $29,400 – $44,100
• Hermes $29,400 – $44,100
• deLaCour $29,400 – $44,100
• Jaquet Droz $22,050 – $36,750
• Tourneau $22,050 – $36,750
• Blancpain $22,050 – $36,750
• Hublot $22,050 – $36,750
• Corum $17,640 – $29,400
• Frederique Constant $11,760 – $23,520
• Zenith $10,290 – $17,640

In closing, First In Watches will leave you with this cool “Only Watch preview” video produced by TheTimeTV, which is probably as close as most watch fans will ever come to these amazing watches:

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.