Tech Talk No. 4: Ceramic Watches

Rado's been doing them since the late 80s. That's right. How can you forget those slick lookin' cuff-like black Rados?

But let's just get this whole "first-to-the-market" thing straight.

IWC was the first watch company to produce a watch with a ceramic (zirconium oxide) case watch, in 1986, in a perpetual calendar Da Vinci. All you other ceramic shadys are just imitatin'… I can quote their press release here, but you can easily find it online (perhaps not as easily as you'd find many many websites proclaiming that Chanel were first…).

The first ceramic watch - from IWC: the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar in 1986, 

using Zirconium Oxide

I am surprised that IWC doesn't trumpet this fact more. Maybe they don't need to. Only they can answer that.

Here is a little bit of background: That first IWC ceramic model was produced in very small numbers because the material was difficult to machine. Over the years, technicians and engineers have acquired a lot of experience in the manufacture and machining of this extremely scratch-resistant, non-magnetic and acid-proof ceramic. The case blanks can now be formed more efficiently and with greater accuracy than before. They are sintered at temperatures between 1500 and 2000 degrees Celsius, followed by cooling in a complicated process to enable the material to attain all of its outstanding properties. Diamond tools are required for the intricate finishing of the blanks.

Now that's off my chest, let's talk about the use of ceramic for watch cases. What's so good about them and what's not so good? The first thing to know is that there are several types of ceramics. However, I could not, for the life of me, find out exactly what sort of compounds are used by which watch company. "High-tech ceramic" says nothing to me. So, all I have managed to find out is that IWC uses zirconium oxide. If Rado or Chanel or Hublot or anyone else want to chime in on why their version of ceramic is better, email us - thesydneytarts@gmail.com

So, to make it easy:

Ceramic watches

The Good:

* Scratch and dent resistant (note I do not use the word "proof" since that's a bit too absolute…)
* Resistance to acidity
* Hypoallergenic

The Bad:

It will shatter…so the bad isn't so bad as long as you don't drop the watch onto something hard… You shouldn't anyway, regardless of case material…


In summary - Ceramic is very HARD but it is not TOUGH.

The toughness is the material's ability to absorb energy.

Hardness describes a material's ability to resist scratches and dents. So, like a diamond, ceramic is very hard, but strike it at the right place, and it will break. Just as long as you don't drop it, it will remain looking like new after many, many years. But do keep in mind that like every other material, there are differing levels of quality, so one ceramic watch may not be as hard as another. You can get very cheap ceramic watches, and I can almost guarantee that it'll break a heck of a lot quicker, and easier than something from say, the powerhouses of IWC, Rado and Chanel.


[o]

IWC watchmaking workshop & lunch at Becasse

Steady hand, sharp eye-sight…the invitation to attend a IWC Watchmaking Master Class seemed a tad beyond my capabilities, as those who know me can affirm.

(umm...'loupe', heh)

Never let it be said that I am not prepared to give watchmaking it a shot. Even if it’s just for a few hours.

The location of the class was the Sky Venue, Sydney Tower. The weather, perfect.

I arrived to find tables set up with branded boxes of watchmaking tools that I immediately wanted to open and investigate, but I had to be patient.

There was plenty to look at before everyone arrived - display cabinets filled with goodies from all of IWC’s current collections, although they did not include the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia, alas.

The media masterclass was hosted by Edwin de Vries (Brand Manager of IWC) and Edwin Jesus (master watchmaker from Richemont Australia), and involved us taking apart and re-assembling IWC’s Cal. 98200 pocket watch movement.

After introductory drinks and canapes, Edwin de Vries gave a presentation about the history and product lines of IWC, after which watchmaker Edwin, with the aid of a powerpoint presentation and many trips around the table, guided us in taking apart much of the movement – bridges, wheels (no springs), and then re-assembling it.

Tools ready

Taking the movement apart.

Time to put it back together again.

 Brett was a natural

We were valiant in our efforts, and only a few nascent watchmakers lost a screw. I err ‘misplaced’ one of my screws for a couple of minutes, and required Edwin the watchmaker’s patient help on a number of occasions due to having (well that’s my story anyway, and I’m sticking to it) one or two issues with the wheels, but in the end, I managed to to re-assemble it, and have it ticking away once more.

Look, it's working!

Respect for watchmakers increased a thousand-fold.

Every year, IWC’s watchmaking school receives some 300 applications. Four graduate.

After the hours of hard work as wannabe watchmakers, we moved downstairs to the private room at Becasse for lunch.

 Entrance to Becasse - four seasons

An intimate space (seating a maximum of 12) with subdued lighting, it was easy to forget that it was the middle of the day. I had been wanting to try Becasse at its new location. The service and the food – superb.

Ready...

 Amuse bouche no.1

 Bread selection - made by their dedicated bakery

 Amuse bouche no.2

First course :

 Bespoke spring vegetable garden

 Petuna ocean trout, king prawn, local radishes and Vietnamese dressing

 Forgotten vegetables, smoked pork jowl, scampi tails and aromas of cedar

Second course :

 Darling Downs wagyu, Jerusalem artichoke, burnt butter and porter ale

 Hapuku cooked in wasabi leaf, cuttlefish, grilled oyster and cucumber

 Third course :

68% Alto Beni Zokoko chocolate cadeu and salted black cumin caramel 
(with chocoate mousse)

Silken lemongrass and blood orange caramel, strawberry crunch with vanilla yoghurt sorbet

The food - what can I say? The dishes that I ate (spring vegetable garden, Darling Downs wagyu, lemongrass and blood orange) were an absolute delight; the garden could convert even the most ardent carnivore, the wagyu melted to the touch, and the dessert's combinations of flavours totally spot on.

As for the watches - which is my favourite IWC? I have been enamoured of the Vintage Collection Aquatimer for a while (the Vintage collection is my favourite of their ‘families’), and the Portugueses are probably the most popular of the brand’s lines amongst my watch friends.

Many thanks to Brett and IWC for an immensely enjoyable (and educational) time. 

[AP]

Made in China : Sea-Gull

Founded in January 1955 by the PRC government, Tianjin Sea-Gull Corporation (天津海鸥) was originally called the Tianjin Sea-Gull Watch Factory, with only four watchmakers at its inception. By 2005, Sea-Gull were making more than 25% of the world's mechanical movements. Today, they are the second largest producer of mechanical movements in the world, coming only after ETA.

It wasn’t until 1992 that the company became the Tianjin Sea-Gull Corporation. That same year, a decision was made to discontinue the production of mechanical watches in favour of quartz watches, but five years later, the company reversed its decision.

As a consequence of the Chinese watch industry becoming overcrowded with basic mechanical watches, in 2003 Sea-Gull decided to introduce chronographs into their range, bringing in the ST19 movement, which has been used both for their own and other brands.

Since then, Sea-Gull has focused on mechanical watches, and become known for their price-accessible (insofar as tourbillons are 'accessible') and solid quality tourbillons. Sea-Gull currently have seventeen calibre families, including their version of the ETA 2824 (ST21) and 2892 (ST18).

Sea-Gull’s first tourbillon movement, the ST80, was released in 2005. The next year, the brand released their first Double Tourbillon, the ST8080, featuring one carrousel and one common axis tourbillon from their new calibre ST82 (a 'flying' tourbillon) geared together. It is available in a skeletonised version, as is the ST80. They also created a luxury version, the ST8080G, in 18k rose gold. Sea-Gull's ST84 is currently China's smallest tourbillon movement, intended for women's watches. 

This model is an ‘earlier’ tourbillon from Sea-Gull, circa 2006, with the ST82 movement.

Quite a simple conservative design, even down to its blued 'Breguet style' hands, with a nice aesthetically balanced dial and, at 38mm, a comfortably flexible size. Their current tourbillons come in either 38mm or 40mm.

Sea-Gull also introduced both a quarter-repeater (ST90) and minute-repeater (ST91), and a minute repeater that also has a perpetual calendar (ST9150). In 2011 Sea-Gull prototyped China's first microrotor automatic.

Their current range – tourbillons start from 3,865 € | 3,050 £ | 29,000 DKK for a 40mm time only tourbillon, going up to a 38.5mm 18k rose gold one with power reserve and 24-hour day/ night indicator for 10,950 € | 8,650 £ | 82,000 DKK.

Yes, many people will no doubt be commenting on how they wouldn’t spend that amount of watch on a “Made in China” watch, but Sea-Gull have gained recognition for their tourbillons, and this is a brand with history and credibility that is gaining more non-Chinese and non-watchnerd traction. They have  expanded to the U.S., Europe, and have even opened brand boutiques in Hong Kong and Singapore in recent years.

Oh and for those of you who still need some convincing, don’t forget that the Sea-Gull ST19 manual wind column wheel chronograph movement was developed from the Venus 175. In 1961 “Project 304” was initiated by the PRC government to develop chronographs for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force based on the cal.175, the tooling of which had been sold off by the Swiss brand. Venus had wanted to offload the cal.175 tooling to raise capital for development of their calibre 188. The USSR were not interested, but the Chinese were. The ST19 now has seven variants.

[AP]

The Double Red Sea-Dweller (DRSD)

We have previously written about the Rolex Ref. 5510. Today, we look at another iconic and highly collectable Rolex, the Double Red Sea-Dweller. The Reference 1655, known as the “DRSD” by Rolex fans, commenced production in the late 1960s. Very much a tool watch, it was the first Sea-Dweller to be able to reach a depth of 2000ft or 610m.

With a Cal.1575 movement, the DRSD were produced between1967-1977. This particular example is a Mark III dial with a 351xxxx serial, which dates it to around the first quarter of 1972 (the production date also stamped on inside the case back: I 72).

The breakdown of serial number is as follows:

Mark I Dial, 1.6-2.2 mil

Mark II Dial, 1.6-3.5 mil

Mark III Dial, 2.6-3.5 to 4.0 mil

Mark IV Dial, 3.0-5.2 mil

There are two main cases associated with the DRSD. A thin case, similar to that of the Submariner, usually appears for those with a 1.6 mil to 2.2 mil serial number, and a thicker case for the others.

Every Double Red has its individual serial number engraved inside the case back, which co-ordinates to its case serial number. The last 3 digits of the watch’s serial numbers were engraved on inside the case back for DRSDs Mk 1 up to Mk 3 (which is up to circa 1974). After that, Rolex decided to engrave the entire 7 digit serial number on Double Reds from Mark IV until the end of their production in 1977.

Mark I to Mark IV were all the standard original tritium dials used for DRSDs. Starting from Mark V, up to Mark VII, the tritium was replaced by luminova material.

Some of the points of note in the Ref. 1665, well-known to Rolex aficionados but an enigma to the rest of us, include the following:

1. The “2000ft = 610m” is in small font, the first ‘R’ in ‘SUBMARINER’

2. The first ‘R’ in the word “SUBMARINER” is under the hyphen. In the "clear" Rolex Crown dial the ‘A’ in the word “SUBMARINER” is under the hyphen.

3. In the "Smudge" Rolex dial the ‘W’ in “DWELLER” will always be touching the ‘D’, where as in the MK111 version there will be a slight space. The ‘D’ in lines up with the ‘R’ in “SUBMARINER”. In the Mark II dial, the ‘D’ “SEA-DWELLER” lines up with ‘I’ in “SUBMARINER”. Compared to the dial in version II, the print is also similar, the depth markings are spaced differently, and the coronet is also different.

4. Sixes on the depth rating are so called 'open 6' for the Mark I to Mark III dials, after which Rolex changed to 'close 6' for Mark IV to Mark VII. Additionally, the fonts for the depth rating were written in standard small font ‘ft’ and ‘m’ from Mark I to Mark IV, thereafter replaced by italic letter with long tailed ‘ft’ and ‘m’.

As you can tell, the owner of this Ref.1665 prefers to wear his on a NATO style strap rather than the original bracelet (yet another area of esoteria). This DRSD, although a very desirable Rolex, is no safe queen, but a much-loved and worn tool watch.

[AP]

Found at local high school : one high-end wristwatch

Darien High School

I came across a random small piece in a small online local newspaper from a place called Darien. It stated (to quote) that a “high-end wristwatch” had been found on the morning of 17 September at Darien High School, and that it had been handed in to the local police. Capt. Fred Komm was quoted as saying that the watch was likely to be worth "thousands of dollars”, followed by a comment that if you believed the watch to be yours, you should contact the Darien Police Department on 203-662-5300 with a description of your missing timepiece. 

The reference to it being possibly worth “thousands of dollars”piqued my interest, so I decided to look up the town of Darien.

Darien is a town in Fairfield County Connecticut, with a population of 20,732. According to 2007 estimates, it has a median household income of $160,274, and a median family income of $195,905.

In 2009, the median income for the U.S. was $50,221.

The median home price in Darien is approximately $1 million, and the town is considered to be one of the most expensive places to live in North America.

Darien High, where this unidentified timepiece was found, is no struggling small town high school. In 2005, it got a brand spanking new $73 million campus.

Curious about what this “high-end wristwatch” worth “thousands of dollars” is? So am I, but I guess we’ll never find out.

[AP]

Sofra

Sofra
35-39 Auburn Rd
Auburn
NSW 2144
Ph : (02) 9649 9167

One day I woke up and realised that I had a 'need' to go to Auburn for an Adana kebab. I then realised that the time elapsed since my last visit to Auburn was embarrassingly long, and amounted to  something along the lines of two years.

No time for procrastination. Back to where I had my first Adana kebab – Auburn institution Sofra, for lunch.

Adana Plate ($11)

Named after the fifth largest city in Turkey, Adana kebabs are hand-minced lamb that is shaped around an iron skewer measuring 0.5cm thick, 3cm wide, and anywhere from 90 to 120cm long. The shaped meat is grilled on an open BBQ over charcoal.

The cooked kebab is served on top of flatbread, typically topped by onions, diced tomatoes, parsley, cumin and sumac. It can also be eaten wrapped in a roll.

What’s the appeal? Freshly charcoal grilled meat served with bread (itself lightly grilled) that tastes of the kebab’s juices. The bread is fabulous to eat on its own, even without meat. Sofra’s Adana is juicy, tender, slightly spicy, and even better with a squirt of lemon.

Sometimes, all you need is grilled meat that is full of flavour, good bread and sides.

The chicken kebab ($14) was served with the usual salad sides, and a Turkish pilaf and orzo. The serving was too large, so I helped out. The chicken was decently cooked and flavoursome, but a little on the salty side. The side of bread was virtually uneaten, as the rice was more than sufficient as an accompaniment.

There are plenty of similar cheap and cheerful kebab eateries in the Auburn area. Which is the best? I can't say, as I have only ever tried Sofra, but on this particular day, of the dozen odd that I walked past, this was the most popular.

[AP]