IWC recently debuted a charming production starring Kate Blanchett and Joseph Fiennes, who portray a fictional account of intrepid IWC founder Florentine Ariosto Jones (Blanchett plays his wife).  Watching it, one becomes curious about the actual background of the man behind the IWC brand, and the story is in fact quite an interesting one–a “true grit” tale across two continents, marked by big ambitions, a promising start, failure, and ultimately a lasting legacy.

An American, Jones served as a director of F. Howard & Co., a Boston-based watch company.  This brand, along with Elgin and Waltham were the big players in the booming American watch market.  Despite the demand for fine pocket watches, Continue reading this post…

Meryl Streep has been around the world debuting Mamma Mia! the last few weeks, and looking radiant doing so. After learning all the songs and dance steps for the movie, she should be proud of her role in Mamma Mia!, and there is even some buzz going around that this may nab her a third Oscar nomination. Well deserved, as usual, for this multiple Academy-, Emmy-, Golden Globe-, SAG- and BAFTA Award winner, who holds several records in the actor awards arena as well. Continue reading this post…

Jaeger-LeCoultre has paired up with environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio for the “Time to Care” program, which will raise money for the Leonardo DiCaprio Fund at the California Community Foundation through the sales of two unique timepieces. Due this fall, the watches will be the first of an exceptional limited series of watches with ground-breaking technology. The Leonard DiCaprio Fund will receive 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the watches, which will be exclusives at the new Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques that are opening later this year in Boca Raton and Beverly Hills. Continue reading this post…

White metal watches (be they in stainless steel, platinum, white gold, or the industry’s newest star palladium) and rich brown or beige dials can make for a truly dynamic combination.  I well recall seeing a gentleman wearing a Rolex Day-Date watch in white gold, with a Roman dial in a distinctive tobacco brown.  While the Rolex “President” is one of the more ubiquitous luxury watches out there, this particular combination is anything but ubiquitous–in fact, among the many Rolex Day-Dates I’ve seen since, I’ve never encountered another with this exact combination.  Blancpain is another watch manufacturer who has seen fit to introduce models in this compelling combination. 

Such dials work equally well for women as well as men, with the effect being particularly attractive on individuals with olive skin tones.  A fine example of a ladies timepiece that showcases this appealing combination is Continue reading this post…

After 2006’s amazingly complex Reverso a Triptyque watch, which presented its perpetual calendar functions across an unprecedented three faces, Jaeger-LeCoultre has again accomplished the extraodinary.  The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 watch is a comprehensive work of micro-mechanical art, which demonstrates an exceptional level of fine finishing, and some extremely advanced watchmaking technology. 

Although the spherical tourbillon is clearly inspired by the brand’s landmark Gyrotourbillon 1, this complicated new Reverso timepiece is by no means a technical clone.  For one thing, the twin cages in the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 have a different shape and rate of rotation than those of the Gyrotourbillon 1.   Also unique to the Gyrotourbillon 2 is a highly unusual Continue reading this post…

TAG Heuer has a pretty impressive roster of celebrity athlete ambassadors. From tennis phenom Maria Sharapova, to golf’s superstar Tiger Woods, TAG Heuer watches  occupy some very prime wrist real estate.

One TAG Heuer ambassador you probably haven’t heard as much about, is intrepid free diver Tanya Streeter, who has set or smashed many world records (often set by herself to start with) in the dangerous sport of free diving, also known as competitive apnea–where individuals descend to great depths without the aid of any supplementary oxygen.  In addition to setting many world records for women free divers, Tanya has even surpassed men’s records Continue reading this post…

Patek Philippe minute repeater watches are acclaimed by many connoisseurs as among the finest–if not THE finest–examples of this exquisite complication. Because the minute repeater’s complex mechanism translates the time into a carefully tuned sequence of tones, the quality, tonality, and timbre of the chimes is directly proportional to the amount of time invested in tuning and perfecting each individual watch.  This is particularly critical in minute repeater wristwatches, which don’t have the case volume to allow sound to unfold the same way that a pocket-watch case does. 

While drawing from their rich history in manufacturing the most exceptional complications is an important part of why Patek can stay so dominant in this field, it’s not the only thing–the brand continues to look at ways to improve and innovate.  Take for example the extraordinary Patek Philippe Ref. 5074.  Continue reading this post…

The F.P. Journe Centigraphe Souveraine is a pretty incredible piece of haute horlogerie.  Looking to time a nice stroll through the park? Or, perhaps you have super-human reflexes and would like to measure the speed of an asteroid caroming through the atmosphere?  With the Centigraphe, you can do both, thanks to an exceptional manually wound chronograph movement (naturally an exclusive development of Francois-Paul Journe). 

This complex mechanism features three subdials, each of which are marked with a time scale, and a tachymeter.  Triggering the rocker switch on the right side of the watch  sets the hands into motion–at this moment, the immediate attention getter is the red foudroyante “flying-seconds” hand at left, which travels around its scale once each second; because of this unique hand and the 100th second calibration of its tachymeter, you can actually time something that is moving at 360,000 kilometers per hour! ( Put another way, that’s 1/3000th the speed of light!) Continue reading this post…

Charlize Theron has been on the acting circuit for quite some time now, but Hancock is one of her bigger forays into the summer blockbuster realm. In the movie, Theron plays the wife of a PR agent, played by Jason Bateman, who tries to improve the public image of a careless superhero, played by Will Smith. Hancock opens on July 2nd, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, and while Theron’s role in the movie has been downplayed in the trailers, her presence along the press junket line has definitely been felt. Continue reading this post…

Ebel watches have gotten a lot of press from watch enthusiasts for their dynamic men’s 1911 BTR collection.  But the BTRs aren’t the only Ebel 1911 timepieces which have an immediately intoxicating effect on the viewer.  The Ebel 1911 Lady stands out with its rich variety of exotic mineral dials, which include such strikingly beautiful species as tiger’s eye, malachite, and lapis lazuli. 

The combination of Ebel’s intricately finished 1911 case and bracelet in 18K red gold united with such dazzling materials creates a tremendously luxurious impression, along with the appeal that only Continue reading this post…