Posts Tagged “designer watches”
Pearl Star
The unique styling and oval face meant that William Anthony’s Pearl Star pocket watch was the first to be made with ‘expanding hands’. When the watch indicated it was 12 o’clock the hands would be fully extended to the top of the case, whereas at quarter to and quarter past the hour the hands would become shorter so that they wouldn’t fit within the sides of the case. Considering this watch was made over 200 years ago, this is a spectacular piece of craftsmanship.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual
The Rolex Oyster was a significant milestone in the evolution of the wrist watch as it was the first to be made waterproof. Rolex has always been an innovator of timepiece technology and the perpetual movement, first designed by Louis Perrelet in the 1750s, was perfected by Rolex in this model of watch. It worked by having a small weight wound around the watch. This weight would then move as the wearer moved their arm, eliminating the need for daily winding - hence the watch ran ‘perpetually’. The Rolex Oysterl Perpetual celebrates its’ 100th anniversary this year.
Patek Philippe Graves
In 1933 New York Banker Henry Graves Jr. asked Patek Philippe to make him the most complicated possible at the time. The resulting creation was called the ‘Graves Complication’ and had an impressive 24 functions. The styling looks remarkably similar to some of the more rugged watches available today. The Graves Complication was way ahead of it’s time and in 1999 was sold at auction for an incredible $11 million.
The Rolex Oyster was a significant milestone in the evolution of the wrist watch as it was the first to be made waterproof. Rolex has always been an innovator of timepiece technology and the perpetual movement, first designed by Louis Perrelet in the 1750s, was perfected by Rolex in this model of watch. It worked by having a small weight wound around the watch. This weight would then move as the wearer moved their arm, eliminating the need for daily winding - hence the watch ran ‘perpetually’. The Rolex Oysterl Perpetual celebrates its’ 100th anniversary this year.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
This watch is responsible for the popularity of titanium, steel and ceramics popular as watch materials to this day. Audemars Piguet was founded in 1854 and catered their high-end watches to only the most exclusive of clientele. By the 1970s most Swiss watch manufacturers were using precious metals and jewellery in their watches, however in 1972 Audemars Piguet made the world’s first stainless steel luxury watch thanks to famed designer Gerald Genda. The first watch cost approximately $2000 and has undergone several different incarnations since then, including the Outdoor Survivor edition which cost a massive $42,000.
Jaeger LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon
 18th century watcmaker Abraham-Louis Bregue pioneered the first tourbillons during the French revolution. They were crucial to the evolution of the watch as they offset the effects that gravity had on the balance wheel (the gear inside the movement which measures out seconds). Jaeger-LeCoultre improved on this mechanism by creating the gyrotourbillon, which was a three dimensional wheel which rotated in a similar way to a tiny planet on the watch face. This combination of a 300 year old invention and modern engineering techniques resulted in one of the most mechanically impressive watches the world had ever seen.
This watch is responsible for the popularity of titanium, steel and ceramics popular as watch materials to this day. Audemars Piguet was founded in 1854 and catered their high-end watches to only the most exclusive of clientele. By the 1970s most Swiss watch manufacturers were using precious metals and jewellery in their watches, however in 1972 Audemars Piguet made the world’s first stainless steel luxury watch thanks to famed designer Gerald Genda. The first watch cost approximately $2000 and has undergone several different incarnations since then, including the Outdoor Survivor edition which cost a massive $42,000.
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There are plenty of designer watch manufacturers out there and we are familiar with most of the big names: Rolex, Tag Heuer, Citizen, the Beastie Boys…wait - what?
That’s right, legendary New York Rappers the Beastie Boys have hopped on the bandwagon with a watch designed by band member Mike D.
 It’s style is certainly not in the same vein as the watches we would usually feature here at Watch Superstar and it is certainly striking. It reminds us of the mickey mouse or casio watches we used to wear at school.
The group designed the watch as a variation on the Nixon Timeteller P range of watches and comes in 4 bold colours: blue, green, white and orange.
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With Valentine’s day fast approaching, Watch Superstar dives to the rescue of all the men and women out there who are stuck for gift ideas. So if you are looking for a special extra something for the the man or lady in your life then we have picked out a few of our favourite designer watches for you to consider.
GC Guess Collection Gold Plated Watch
 Gc Guess Collection Ladies watch, quartz movement, gold plated stainless steel case and bracelet, silver dial, water resistant.
Rotary Gold Plated Bracelent Watch
Rotary Ladies Gold Plated Bracelet, Interchangeable Clear, Green, Blue, Pink and Orange Crystal Bezels, Cream Mother of Pearl Dial and Quartz Movement
Armani Gold Plated Crystal Watch
 Emporio Armani Ladies Watch, White Mother of Pearl Crystal Dots Dial, Gold Plated Case and Crystal Logo set Bracelet, Quartz Movement, Water Resistant up to 50 Metres
Chronotech Rose Gold White Leather Strap Watch
 Chronotech stainless steel analogue square rose gold case white dial white leather strap.
Omega Deville Prestige Watch
 Omega DeVille Prestige Gents Watch, Silver Roman Numeral Dial, 18ct Rose Gold Case, Scratch Resistant Sapphire Crystal Glass, Brown Leather Crocodile Pattern Strap, Co-Axial Mechanical Movement, Water Resistant up to 30 Metres.
Michael Kors Ladies Leather Collection Watch
Michael Kors Ladies Leather Collection, quartz movement, gold plated square case with a tigers eye dial on a brown leather strap, water resistant up to 50 metres
Accurist 9 Carat Gold Watch
Accurist Ladies Watch, White Dots Dial, 9ct Yellow Gold Case and Bracelet, Quartz Movement
Nautica Arabic Chronograph Dial Quartz Movement Watch
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With a new year comes a spectacular showcase designer watch from Omega and it looks like the Omega Constellation Baguette watch is really set to make a big impression.
The dial consists of 146 baguette and trapeze diamonds that are invisibly set in a ’supernova’ structure, which will make it difficult to see the 18k white gold that has been used to for the watch’s case between the diamonds. Behind the star shape on the dial you will also find a small mother-of-pearl disc.
It is believed that the Omega master jewellers have hand selected and cut each diamond especially. So meticulous is the selection process that were a diamond to need replacing, the job would take as long as making an entirely new watch! The mechanical movement consists of an Omega Caliber 8421 Co-Axial escapement.
This ladies watch is so far one of a kind and it is uncertain as to whether Omega will make any more and with over 30 carats of diamonds, it will be interesting to see what sort of price it fetches!
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How this news slipped by us at Watchsuperstar we aren’t sure, however last month it was announced that watch making giants Tag Heuer and Zenith had merged under a new holding company, LVMH Swiss Manufactures SA. The newly restructured company is lead by Tag Heuer CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin.
This may sound like big news, however it seems little will change at Tag Heuer with the reorganisation being on mainly in terms of the company’s legal, administrative and financial departments. It is believed that each brand will still be retaining their own operational management.
Unsurprisingly, the current financial climate has been the driving force behind the restructure as Swiss watch manufacturers have been hit hard by the economic crisis. The merger has meant that Tag Heuer and Zenith have been able to effictively remove duplication of behind the scenes costs without significantly impacting on the watches that the customers see.
So for the moment it seems that this deal is nothing much to shout about, however in light of the financial difficulties that larger watch manufacturers seem to be having it will be interesting to see how independant watch makers cope over the coming year.
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Keen car enthusiasts will no doubt be aware of Swedish car manufacturer, Koenigsegg and their spectacular 245mph supercars.
 While these cars are staggering feats of engineering what you may not be aware of is that they have turned their hands to the opposite end of the spectrum. Koenigsegg have enlisted the help of Swiss designer watch brand Edox to produce a watch who’s style complements the lines of their CCX supercar.
 The watch is as predictably crazy as the car with flip up ‘doors’ around the display, a strap made from alligator and a price tag of £13,500 which is considerably cheap compared to some luxury watches and even cheaper than the car itself which comes with a hefty £350,000 label.
We may be suckers for a nice watch here but in this case give us the car any day of the week!
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After trawling the net, here are 5 beautiful luxury designer watches which Watch Superstar think will really pave the way for future watch design!
1) Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti 370
This stunningly obscure watch was created by Parmigiana Fleurier to commemorate the release of Bugatti’s incredible Veyron car. The appearance of the 370 watch was designed to parallel the styling of the Veyron’s engine. The face can be easily viewed thanks to the cylindrial design whilst the movement is easily accessible. This watch is highly exclusive as there are only 150 lucky recipients each year!
2) Maître du Temps Chapter One
The Maître du Temps Chapter One is a ’super brand’ watch, created by three of the world’s top watch designers all of whom have worked for some of the most prominent companies in Switzerland. This spectacular watch looks hugely futuristic whilst maintaining a certain retro look and feel. It features a manual wind mechanical movement, one minute tourbillon and a retrograde GMR indicator. Most worthy of your attention are the attractive rolling bars at the top and bottom of the case. The bottom roller displays the day whilst the top roller (which is so precise that Maître du Temps holds a patent on it) displays the gradual transition from day to night.
3) Pita Barcelona Oceana
The record for the deepest diving watch is held by the small spanish firm, Pita Barcelona. Usable at a staggering depth of 5000 metres, the Oceana has a truly innovative case design and some of the most durable construction that you will find in any watch today. The case has no winding crown, nor does it have a back cover as these are the 2 most common areas where the watertight seal of a watch is broken. These are even more exclusive than the Bugatti watch as just 80 are made each year!
4) Armin Strom Blue Chip Skeleton
The tiny company of Armin Strom employs less than 20 people across all of it’s 16 departments yet despite this then have managed to open a cutting edge manufacturing facility based in Biel. Unusually for such a small company they are on the verge of producing a completely in-house watch - an achievement that can only usually be afforded by much larger firms. The exquisite movement is hand decorated to such a high level of quality as to be unmatched by any other watch in it’s price bracket.
5) The Urwerk 202
This is quite possibly our favourite one on this list. The Urwerk 202 was released just over a year ago and looks so awesome, menacing and futuristic. This watch was the first to integrate fluid dynamics into a watch’s movement. Each of the three gauges extend and retract to point to the appropriate time whilst the winding is regulated by two small turbines seen through the back of the case. All this sounds massively complicated but all we know is - we want one.
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Using a Chronograph Watch
A while ago, Watch Superstar ran a feature on chronograph watches - watches that obviously display the time but also has all the functions of a stopwatch. Some of the more popular designer watches such as those made by Rolex will also display the day of the week and date. For that sort of money it’s the least you would expect them to do! Other features may vary depending on the manufacturer but it is always worth learning the basics of how to set your chronograph watch up to display information correctly.
Setting the Correct Time
In order to set the time on the watch, you should either pull out or twist the centre dial that is located on the left hand side of the watch face. If you have done this correctly then you will feel it settle into it’s extended position. You should then twist the dial so that the hour, minute and second hands reflect the current time. Once you have the hands set in the correct position push the dial back in to resume the watch functionality starting at the right time.
Setting the Date
If your watch has the ability to display the date then you should again pull on the centre dial on the left hand side of the watch face. Give it another pull or twist and it should reach it’s extended setting function. This is the one which controls the date setting. As you did before, twist the dial until the display reflects the correct date. Push the dial all the way in again to resume the watch’s function.
Using the Stopwatch Function
Your chronograph watch should have small circular design’s on it’s face. Most watches will have three. If the stopwatch buttons aren’t visible these snall faces should have moving hands that show as seconds elapse. Alternatively the frame of the watch may move in order to let you see the seconds elapse from a set movement. If stopwatch buttons are provided then they will be found above and below the centre adjustment dial.
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 Seeing as though Watch Superstar is currently running a deal on cheap oris watches, we thought we would give you a bit of background on these beautiful timepieces.
Based in Holstein, Switzerland, Oris was founded in 1904 by Paul Cattin and Georges Christian. Their aim was to bring together Swiss horology tradition along with the watchmaker’s craft in order to make one precision timepiece.
Named after the stream and valley close to Holstein, Oris pride themselves on making purely mechanical watches. All of their watches operate without batteries and are well equipped with very high quality automatic mechanial movements.
Like many other brands of designer watches, Oris has had it’s watches endorsed by several high profile names including Keanu Reeves and Matthew McConaughey. Oris also have a history of sponsoring Formula 1 racing and it’s drivers.
 Keanu Reeves sports his Oris Watch These beautiful watches are extremely resilient and can withstand many types of conditions. In case they need to be maintened, Oris have official service centres all over the world. All watches are subject to wear and tear so Oris recommend that you service their watches every 3-5 years.
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These celebrities, eh? They’re already rich so why they need to have their faces plastered all over posters advertising exclusive designer watches. We’re just jealous…anyway here are a few more celebrity sellouts spokespersons for flash watches.
1) Tiger Woods
 When he isn’t busy endorsing every other product on the market, Tiger Woods lends his name to Tag Heur’s designer watches. Interestingly, Tiger has brought out his own specialist golfers watch which we have helpfully reviewed for you!
2) Charlize Theron
 Model and oscar winning actress Charlize Theron is an understandable choice to be the face of the beautiful Raymond Weil designer watches. In the past she has also modelled for various Chrisian Dior products so we imagine she does well for the odd freebie.
3) Gisele
 It’s difficult to make out where the watch is in this picture. Either way, supermodel Gisele is apparently the face of Ebel’s designer watch range.
4) Humphrey Bogart
 Undeterred by his death in 1957, Longines have dug up Humphrey Bogart to be the face of their Longines designer watch range. At least this poster campaign seems to be quite respectful, without sinking to using a tacky quote such as “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful watch purchase”.
5) Nico Rosberg
 F1 recing drivers are no strangers to endorsment, as the logos plastering their overalls will testify to. Along with the many other brands seen here, Nico Rosberg is a supporter of Oris designer watches.
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