And now....."The Chairman"

Have to admit, my first reaction on seeing th image of this was...... "huh?" but venerable Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin, in partnership with SCI Innovations, clealry believe that this unique hybrid (high-end watch and smartphone) will fly. Its dubbed The Chairman (we're not sure why) but the following, from watch blog The Watchery (www.thewatchery.blogspot.com) explains some of the workings


"The Chairman" utilizes environmentally- friendly kinetic technology inspired by the winding mechanism of an automatic mechanical watch. I am not sure how this will work as the phone is not strapped to ones wrist, but the mechanics I am sure are fascinating. The phone will be able to operate on any of the global communications networks. The aesthetics of the phone is as intriguing as the inner workings, the partial view in the above image only wets our appetite for more. The phone has an exhibition window in which the guilloche engraved energy-driven kinetic rotor is revealed.
The Ulysse Nardin Smart Phone is a limited edition of 1846 smart phones, the date

The Pull of Gravity: Discord over Concord

The following is a letter from Concord Presdient Vincent Perriard in response to our friend Areil from watch Blog Ablogtoread.com and his disparaging of the Concord C1 line (partricualrly the Gravity and Quantum gravity models) I posted pic of C1 Gravity. You decide


Dear Ariel,

I have reviewed your comments. Not only the one from the C1 "birth" in 2007, but also the one on the C1 Gravity and then the latest one on the C1 QuantumGravity.

I have to say that I kind of appreciate your very straight forward point of view and the "fairness" of your comments when you have chat with some other watch collectors in disagreement with you.

I have - obviously - to disagree with your unfair comments about C1.

First of all, when MGI appointed me and my team, we all came from serious watch companies (JLC, Audemars Piguet, Swatch Group, to name just a few). We have decided to base the company back to Bienne/Switzerland, where the company was borne more than 100 years ago. MGI has let this new group of people to re-think the brand, inside/out. The motto was "let's make the best watch regardless of marketing positioning, regardless of price".

We have been really lucky to come with the first design of C1 because we have created a big watch yet a watch that fits the wrist so well. It's unique. We have removed the logs (that always attach the bracelet or the strap). With the C1, we could "afford" a big watch thanks to this unique attachment system. This is really what made C1 a hit when we launched it in the market in January 2008.

Our plan was to work with the best. Coming from (so called) "Manufacture", we did not want to lie to our clients by re-creating a fake Manufacture. So we took a simple angle: be honest and straight with everything we would do in the future. Let me give you some examples: the dials are manufactured by METALEM (who create the dials of JLC, AP, Patek, etc...); the case is coming from GUILLOD GUNTER (who creates the cases for the most reputable companies); etc.

As for the movement, we have - inside our group - 2 manufactured movements that we couldn't use at the beginning (i.e. Ebel movements). Why? Because of the really short time frame we had between the design and when we wanted to launch the C1 collection. So we have decided to go with the best "truck" (this is the name "insiders" give to this movement) of the industry, the ETA VALGRANGE A07. We are currently working on our own movements that will come soon (in preparation).

When you mention (in a very negative way) our partnership with BNB; let me be very straight with you: what's wrong? We have ALWAYS (from day 1) put BNB as a close partner of the C1 Gravity. We want ALWAYS to work with the best of the best. BNB is manufacturing for De Witt, Hublot, HD3, Hermes, Romain Jerome, etc... And when we met first, we knew we needed to work together. A question of personalities! And we have done this crazy work to show the industry our capacity to be creative, disruptive.... And guess what: we have won the best design of 2008 at the Grand Prix de Genève. I am sorry that you were not part of the Jury... but 35 specialists and watch lovers (the best of the best from around 10 different countries) have voted for this incredible timepiece.

Now, coming to your words about the QuantumGravity. You are doing 2 major mistakes: Concord has develop a REAL (I can send you the pictures and emails of my people) team of engineers and designers that are really behind the birth of this product. The movement is manufactured by our partner BNB. This team has a name: C LAB SERIES team. I would be deligthed to introduce them. The second mistake is your total lake of knowledge when it comes to watchmaking. They are less than 10 companies in the world able to do a Double Axe Tourbillon. There is not a single company in the world doing / providing a watch with a vertical, fluorescent, liquid Power Reserve. The objective with our C LAB SERIES team is push limits of watchmaking to new levels. As much as Jules Audemars or Edward Piguet have done more than 125 years ago. It seems that you forget that tradition has to start at some point. I am sure if you were living in 1875, you would have given the same bad comments to Jules Audemars et Edward Piguet! Don't you think?

I would be really glad, in a constructive spirit, to hear from you dear Ariel."

With my kindest regards,

Vincent Perriard
President of Concord

A 'Tempting' Option from Germany

From a ablogtoread.com, comes this reminder that very attractive high-end watches don't only come withthe line "Swiss Made"
The Cameo from Germany-based Temption looks great

http://ablogtoread.com/temption/temption-cameo-silver-model-watch/

Luna- Tick: the Moonrock watch from Louis Moinet

back to watches, and this one's unique - from my friend at ablogtoread.com (great watch blog) - check this out:


The watch features two 'firsts.' Most obvious is the unique chronograph pusher system that uses fold out levers to operate the chronograph. This helps prevent starting and stopping it accidentally. Second is the use of the Moon rock - in the way that it is used. Though I will add more images as I get them, you can't quite the see moon rock in these pictures. Notice the protruding section near 9 o'clock on the watch? The Moon rock is visible through the side of the watch there. Don't worry, the lunar rock is authenticated - and is of the rarest types of extraterrestrial materials found on Earth (much rarer than meteorites).