Baselworld 2012 : Tudor Heritage Black Bay

Although we have some (vintage) Rolex devotees amongst us, we also have some Tudor fans, and with this year’s Baselworld 2012 offerings from the former, a few of us have already been muttering aloud about whether Tudor is more interesting than its older sibling. The Heritage Chrono (especially attractive on the NATO) features in at least one person’s collection, and the new 're-edition', the Heritage Black Bay (Ref. 79220R) has captured our attention.

Tudor was introduced by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in March 1946, when he declared that he wished to make watches that could be sold at a lower price than Rolexes. With their own Oyster, Prince and Submariner models, for many years the brand was very closely identified with Rolex, including carrying the Rolex crown on the watch face, use of Rolex signed bracelets and crowns and even the Oyster case. Especially during the first couple of decades of the brand’s existence, people would say that if you’re buying a Tudor, you’re buying a Rolex. For example one of the most popular Tudor models has been the Submariner. Early models used a modified Fleurier 350 caliber, branded the Tudor 390 caliber. These are often mistaken as Rolex movements as they shared a similar rotor winding device. During the mid to late 1960’s Rolex switched ETA to supply the base movements for Tudors. By the 1990s, a stronger delineation was established between the two brands, so that Tudor wasn’t merely seen as the cheaper cousin of Rolex, though for many aficionados, Tudor has long held its own and been considered as bang for buck.

The new Tudor Heritage Black Bay is inspired by the brand’s vintage divers, whose history harks back to 1954, but modernised and resized to 41mm. The ‘snowflake’ reference relates to the distinctive shape of the hands, which were a feature of some 1970s models (e.g. 'Snowflake Submariner'), so it’s basically a 1950s Tudor with 1970s influences, sized for 2012 preferences and with added colour.

With the vintage-inspired domed crystal, black domed ‘gilt’ (gold-lettered) dial and lumed hour markers, this new model has a matte burgundy unidirectional bezel, a colour featuring in 1970s models. This burgundy is also picked up in the Tudor rose engraved crown.

Top Gun : IWC vs. Breitling

An interesting media release landed in my in-box :

Official statement

IWC Top Gun watches

Schaffhausen, 7 March 2012 – IWC is proud partner of the US Navy Tactics Instructor Program, better known under the name of Top Gun, since 2005.

The exclusive license for the manufacturing of dedicated timepieces was officially granted by the US Navy seven years ago when IWC launched the first Edition of Top Gun watches. At that time IWC also acquired the trademark for the name “Top Gun” in class 14. In 2012 IWC extended the exclusive license and the Top Gun collection with the launch of a Big Pilot and a Pilot’s Chronograph Edition Miramar. These models pay tribute to the establishment of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School in 1969 in Miramar, where the legendary training program for the world’s best fighter pilots originated.

Since 2005 IWC enjoys an official and close relationship with the US Navy Tactics Instructor Program and we are grateful for the support given by the organisation throughout the past seven years. In this context IWC and guests were granted an exclusive trip to the US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan where we gained veritable insight into a Top Gun Pilots training routine. The launch of the new collection in January 2012 was supported with access to authentic stories and a large variety of original materials to enrich our communication activities. In addition we were honoured with the presence of a highly decorated Top Gun Pilot and Commander of the US Navy at the SIHH in Geneva. The license fee paid to the US Navy for the past seven years goes into a charitable organization supporting retired Top Gun pilots.

The exclusive license agreement between IWC, the US Navy and their Tactics Instructor Program, our close and long-term relationship with the organisation and the registered trademark for the name “Top Gun” prevent any competitor from using the US Navy’s logo or the name “Top Gun” in relation to any of their products or respective communication. On the basis of these facts IWC was able to find an agreement with Breitling, where they refrain from launching any product named or making reference to “Top Gun” at Baselworld.

IWC Schaffhausen

With a clear focus on technology and development, the Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has been producing watches of lasting value since 1868. The company has gained an international reputation based on a passion for innovative solutions and technical ingenuity. One of the world’s leading brands in the luxury watch segment, IWC crafts masterpieces of Haute Horlogerie at its finest, combining supreme precision with exclusive design.

Further information

IWC Schaffhausen

Uwe Liebminger

Department Manager Public Relations

Mobile +41 (0)79 957 72 52

E-mail uwe.liebminger@iwc.com

Internet www.iwc.com

The Breitling watch in question to which this release alludes? It’s the limited edition (500) TOPGUN Chronomat 44 which you, like me, may have totally missed.

One has to wonder why :

a) it never occurred to them that they might not be able to do this; 

b) why no-one thought to check/ confirm the previous point. 

This would have passed through a lot of hands before it got to the release announcement point …

Here's the IWC Top Gun Miramar, a 2012 release.

[AP]

The rare Longines-Wittnauer Second Setting watch

 
One of the reasons I take a camera along to our weekly GTGs is because I never know whether an unexpected visitor, or a new acquisition, might pop up. This watch was one of the former.

Firstly, a bit of history.

The relationship between Wittnauer and Longines goes back a long way. Up to the 1890s, all of the Longines watches had been brought into the U.S. and Canada through J. Eugene Robert & Co., NY., which was taken over by Roberts’ brother-in-law Albert Wittnauer in 1890. Thus, all Longines watches imported to North America during this tenure have ‘Wittnauer’ on the dial. In 1936, the Wittnauer family sold A.Wittnauer Co., and a re-organised arrangement with Longines lead to the creation of the Longines-Wittnauer Watch Co.

What eventually became a longstanding relationship with aviation began in 1907, when Wittnauer supplied a pair of watches to the Navy, which was testing its aviation capabilities. During WWI, Wittnauer supplied military wristwatches and navigational devices to American Expeditionary Forces and an aircraft clock to the forerunner of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

In 1927, Wittnauer and Longines collaborated with Captain Philip van Horn Weems, a pioneering aviator who taught navigation to Charles Lindberg. This lead to Weems registering a patent for a ‘Second Setting Watch’ in 1929. Seen by many to be the first pilot’s watch, the Second Setting watch was intended to complement on-board compasses, flight charts and chronometers.

During flights, navigational adjustments were necessary for time errors, as small deviations in the accuracy of time measurement could lead to errors in flight calculations (fuel consumption, position and time to destination). Pilots would listen to the minute by minute radio beeps (e.g. GMT) to accurately adjust the centre seconds dial. This would indicate the time error on their watch so they could do calculations more accurately.

To make these watch adjustments easier, Weems put in a movable inner dial, which adjusted the dial to the hand. The aviator would move the dial in accordance with the radio time signal, noting any deviations from Greenwich Mean Time.

Throughout its life, there have been numerous iterations of the Weems Second Setting watch, including later versions with a rotating seconds-register. The first series, the A3, was produced between 1929 – 1936, the second (A12) between 1936 – 1946, a series for the Japanese Imperial Navy between 1936 – 1946 (IJNAS), the A11 between 1938 – 1948, a 26mm version, the A12, for the period of 1936 – 1948, plus a couple of other variations.

This example is an early model. In sterling silver 47mm case (55mm lug to lug) with an onion crown, it has a double-hinged case back which, unfortunately, I couldn’t open.

American Doughnut Kitchen

Queen Victoria Market
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Open : Tues, Thurs – Sun
Ph : (03) 9417 6415

Although not exactly a dining ‘destination’, a craving for freshly made jam filled doughnuts (a rare beast in Sydney) lead me to the American Doughnut Kitchen at the Queen Victoria Market.

Operating since 1950, and now being run by the second generation of the Boening family, on this Saturday there seemed to be a short but consistent queue in front of the small van, waiting for their bag of half a dozen old-fashioned raspberry jam filled doughnuts for $6. 

Coated with sugar and made in a kitchen at the Market but finished off in the van, they are moderately sized, quite light, and hit the nostalgia mark for me as a doughnut. Unfortunately, the raspberry jam component was a slight disappointment. Whatever the reason, the amount of jam in the doughnuts was negligible, and in two of them, so negligible as to be almost like an accidental bump with the edge of a jam jar (I jest not, there was no jam inside, only a smear on one side). Given that it was a jam-filled doughnut that I'd queued for, regardless of whether I enjoyed the outer layer...

Not only do they have a website, but they are on twitter and facebook as well. Despite having become a part of Melbourne for so long, they are clearly not complacent, and keen to continue to publicise their wares.

A little while after returning from Melbourne, flour and stone added an apricot jam filled doughnut to their repertoire. Now THIS, is a jam doughnut; every mouthful filled with thick fruity jam and the surprise addition of custard. 

[AP]

Hanhart announces watches made from nickel-free alloy

A couple of years ago, I blogged about the issue of nickel allergies and watches, as the problem is one that affects one of my sisters. And so it was with great interest that I read about Hanhart introducing a new nickel-free stainless steel alloy for their mechanical chronographs, called HDSPro®.

Hanhart state that they are the only watch brand in the world to use this steel, which has been treated to harden, in the manner of the tegimented steel used by Sinn, but to a lesser Vickers than Sinn.

The brand’s focus is on tool watches for the air, land and sea, as they put it, and thus, they have an interest in utilising tough, hard-wearing materials for their watches. HDS steel will give the watch case a surface structure that at least three times harder than previously (600-700 Vickers), and which is also more scratch resistant, and more corrosion resistant

As I mentioned at the outset, this steel does not contain any nickel, so watch cases made from this material will be good for those with allergy problems, giving them a broader range of watches apart from titanium and ceramic, from which they can choose. My personal hope is that more watch brands will acknowledge this issue and consider more widespread use of titanium, ceramic, or an alloy such as this and that for women like my sister who have small wrists and/ or don’t like wearing men’s watches, they’ll not forget about women’s watches, either.

The first Hanhart watches with cases made from scratch-resistant and nickel free HDSPro® stainless steel are due to be launched this year.

According to a post by SJX, Hanhart is not the first company to use this alloy, with some small online brands also using it, but it sounds as though they are the first mainstream brand to do so.

[AP]

Rolex is the U.K.’s top ‘super brand’ for 2012

Rolex has topped the U.K. Consumer Superbrands index for the first time, with Coca-Cola and Google at second and third place respectively.

Administered by the Centre for Brand Analaysis, the annual consumer brands survey lists the top 500 consumer and B2B brands in the U.K based on a survey of 2,000 from shortlisted brands.

Rolex has jumped up one place since last year, when it placed second, behind Mercedes-Benz and one ahead of BBC (now in fifth position).

Microsoft has dropped out of the top 10 this year, as has rival Apple.

For more details, including methodology, see the Superbrands website here.


[AP]

Season vs Shimizu Part 2

Part 2: A party on the North Shore

Season Thai

780 Pacific Hwy 

Gordon

(02) 9499 9093

Those who know me know that I love my curry, and it's pretty much all I eat when I'm at a Thai restaurant. (well, that and pad kee mao with chicken) but here is a Thai restaurant which managed to entice me away from the usual curry; I would happily not order curry of any form when I'm here. Not that their curry is bad. Far from it, but I found something better to have, and thai curry? I can get that in any of the other hundreds of Thai restaurants littered around Sydney.

Not only is this place great, it's also extremely convenient as it's within easy walking distance from home. And it is without a doubt in my mind, the best of the three Thai restaurants within a 200m stretch. Of course, this also mean that they charge premium pricing. If you want good, cheap Thai, there's always Newtown Thai 1 & 2, and quite a few others. And if you are lucky enough to live out that way, all the better. However, when on the North Shore, one must pay the North Shore surcharge…

Season Thai is part of the Red Spoon Thai Riffic group. I haven't been to any of their other restaurants, so I'm not sure how they rate.

The restaurant can be extremely noisy when full, due to the complete lack of sound deadening material in the restaurant. But then again, they aren't the only ones guilty of this. I can think of plenty of others, but if you want a lively atmosphere, I don't think you'd care. Especially if you're in a big group. If you rather not shout your conversations, avoid the busy nights like Friday and Saturday. We've only experienced one night when it was extremely noisy, but then the big table in the middle was extremely noisy. I think most of them were already quite tipsy by the time they arrived at the restaurant.

Anyway, that's the bad out of the way. Onto the good.

Mango prawn avocado salad- This one is seasonal. Grab it when mangos are in season...