A design 'Victory' for Bremont

Ever had the problem of having so many hands all bunched in the centre of the dial that you're just not sure how and where to place all the numbers?

This is how you do it:

Bremont Victory

and this is… well… I'll let you make up your mind.

Longines Master Collection Retrograde

Needless to say- kudos to Bremont - they've managed a clean dial with so many hands...

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my dress watches to have a clean dial....

So what is the new Bremont Victory? Well it's the culmination of the brand's collaboration with the National Museum of the Royal Navy (Portsmouth) to create a limited edition watch with original parts of HMS Victory built into it.

HMS Victory is the only remaining 18th Century ship worldwide, and the oldest serving warship still to be in commission, with her own Captain, offices and crew. Laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765, she is most famously known as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1922 she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth and preserved as a museum ship. She continues to be flagship of the Second Sea Lord and is the oldest naval ship still in commission.

This rather special watch is limited to just 250 pieces and you can pre-order one now from The Watch Gallery or Jura Watches, with delivery expected in November 2012.

If you're wondering about the 'why' of this partnership, I'll let Giles English's words explain - "Nelson went to my school and as a boy he always fascinated me, I remember clearly the first time I visited HMS Victory. Over the last few years both Nick and myself have been working with the Royal Navy Fleet air arm Heritage and that’s when we heard about the restoration of HMS Victory. With no hesitation we approached the Navy and discussed the possibility of creating a watch using original parts from the ship. Not only did we want to make the watch unique but we also want it to be a horological masterpiece."

Oh, and there will be a launch party on board HMS Victory in July 2012, to which customers with pre-orders will be invited to attend.

[o]

New Officine Panerai factory

Ten years after the inauguration of its manufactury in Neuchâtel, Officine Panerai has announced the start of work for a new factory which will consolidate all R&D, production and assembly of their watches.

The new production facility will be opened at the end of 2013. At the moment, the stages of development, manufacture, assembly and quality control are all in different locations. The consolidation will naturally mean a higher production capacity. Inside the new building there will be a large space for something called the ‘Workshop of Ideas’, where research and development will be consolidated.

The new manufacture will have an area of 10,000 square metres and will house 290 employees. There are currently 160 employed at OP’s central Neuchâtel premises. One thing that OP are proud of is that the new factory will cut CO2 impact significantly, with a focus on emission reducing equipment and sustainability.

Hopefully, they’ll also ensure that a problem like the PAM 318 ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ movement debacle doesn’t occur again….

[AP]

Khan Baba - Taka Tak, BBQ & Shisha Garden

Khan Baba
453 King St
Newtown NSW
Ph : (02) 8065 0712

It had taken me a few months to get to Khan Baba, and after this evening, I wondered why it had taken me so long, and vowed to return as soon as I could.

Don’t be mislead by the informal appearance of this Indian and Pakistani eatery, with its takeaway looking front section (and a courtyard at the back). They serve up some fantastic food. For this first meal, however, we went ‘light’, in the sense of focusing not on meat, but on vegetables and seafood.

One of the things that you’ll get at Khan Baba which you probably won’t find anywhere else are the “Tak Tak (Tawa)”. Cooked in an almost wok-like traditional hot plate at the front, you can order heart, liver, kidneys, testicles or brain, which will be served sizzling. For the innards fans.

To start, we had the vegetable pakora and vegetable samosa.

Which of the two you prefer will be fairly much subjective, and we were split on this. I enjoyed them both – the pastry on both was crisp and not heavy, but the extra punch of the spice in the samosa, liberally coated with the raita, made it my favourite.

Now for the seafood.

Goan Fish Curry

A huge serving with the most generous amount of fish I’ve been served in a fish curry, this was a mild curry (suitable for young children), a wonderfully creamy tomato and coconut gravy finished with lemon. The flavours are light, and don’t overwhelm the fish.

Prawn Karahi

In contrast, the prawn Karahi, marinated (chilli, cumin) prawns cooked in a fine tomato gravy, had a bit more spice and heat to it, with scattered matchsticks of fresh ginger visible. Again, they were not parsimonious with the prawns, there were enough for a few of them for each (3) of us. For those who like a gutsy sauce with a bit of body to it.

We ordered both plain naan and Terka rice (which none of us had eaten before) to eat with the mains

With a bit of mixing and matching, we worked out that the Goan fish curry worked best with the naan, as its plainness allowed the more subtle flavours of that sauce to maximised, whereas they were somewhat drowned out by the more pronounced flavour of the rice, which worked far better with the prawn. As testament to how addictively good both the curries were, we cleaned out the Karahi sauce, and almost managed to finish all of the Goan one as well.

This photo of the rice just doesn’t do justice to the size of the serving. There was a lot of rice (and we finished it).

The final item was the vegetable Martabak (or ‘murtabak’ if you’re in Malaysia). There are a number of fillings available for this stuffed pancake, but we were glad, when it arrived, that we’d ordered the vegetable option, as we weren’t sure whether we were going to be able to finish all that we had ordered. The exterior was light and flaky, the filling not too overwhelming in proportion or flavour, and a good snacky item. Also, it was huge. Of all the items we ordered that night, this was probably the one that I’d not feel compelled to immediately order again, even though I enjoyed it. 

Just as we were about to leave, a complimentary dessert came out. Gajar Ka Halwa. This is a very traditional type of dessert made with carrots and milk. Any initial doubts from the non-dessert person, were turned around with the first bite. Served warm, it is sweet, comforting, and no, you can’t tell that it’s carrot.

If I lived near Newtown, or at least within their delivery area (you can order on the website above), I would go there regularly. Khan Baba is amazing value, with generous servings of food with great depth of flavour, and friendly and engaging people who are keen to know whether you like each dish, and who really seem to love being there and sharing their food.

Go.

[AP]

Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition launch party – NY

I happened to be in NYC on business when I received a couple of emails asking if I was in town, and whether I would like to attend the APRO40A launch cocktail party. This included an email from the Sydney Tarts confirming the very important note that Mr Gerald Genta's actual two tone Royal Oak would be on display - for me, this turned out to be one of those holy grail moments that actually choked me up when I laid eyes on the piece. 

We all know the history and the genius of this designer - the AP Royal Oak is truly one of the all time horology classics and worthy of the word ‘iconic’, which is bandied around too easily these days.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Audemars Piguet has put together an exhibition combining design, photography, sound and film from artists Sebastien Leon Agneessens, Quayola and Dan Holdsworth, and featuring 100 timepieces covering the history of the Royal Oak. The New York event was also the worldwide launch. 

 Installation (see below for detail) and main display cases

The exhibition is a travelling one, making stops across the globe - if the event is half as good as the one last night you are in for a treat. AP is one of the last truly independent watch brands/ companies and have put a lot of thought and energy into the anniversary.

Venue is everything and the newly restored Armoury on the Upper East Side provides splendid housing for the avant-garde installations and display modules, truly well executed, as I believe my pictures show.

From the brand array spanning 40 years to the on-site watch maker, AP's attention to detail for this exhibition is, like their watches, very sleek. 

On a hospitality note, the food and drink was of a standard I've not experienced at a function like this, and I strayed into the complimentary cocktail territory, which probably helped with the huge (easily at least 30ft) computer graphic visual installation (below). Basically, it is a three dimensional image that 'grows' from (rough) polygon into a smooth sculpture, representing the 'growth' of a watch from bits of metal!

Art installation with reflection pool

The resident DJ had the type of sound system seen at high end night clubs, and his choice of tunes had most of Manhattan's finest finding a groove. 

Into the late evening air, passing the photographers, AP red carpet and wall, I carried my AP goody bag, which was the 'Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40 year book '. I left this event not only thinking that it was a fine 'watch night' but actually 'a real experience' and a stellar night out in Manhattan.

Mr Genta's watch

Thank you AP.

After New York City, the year-long exhibition will make stops around the world including Milan (April), Paris (June), Beijing (August), Singapore (October), and Dubai (December). For more information on the exhibition, go to this link.

Dates: March 21 - March 23, 2012 10am – 4pm. March 24, 10am– 10pm

Location: Park Avenue Armory. 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street, NYC

And a final Royal Oak moment, presented to Howard, the TZ moderator :

[JPVFX]

Casio and Royal Air Force collaborate for new G-Shock

In one of the more practical watch brand collaborations that we’ve heard for a while, Casio has been working with Britain's Royal Air Force on a new range designed for use in combat.

Formed in 1918, the RAF is one of the oldest air forces in the world. G-Shock approached them for input on the specifications for a watch that would actually be useful for a professional pilot. The RAF asked its pilots (helicopter, jet, air transport) about what they wanted in a watch, and after the (much shortened) final list had been compiled, the RAF met with Casio’s R&D team and came up with the final specs. Some items that the pilots wanted, such as a torch, were excluded from the eventual design.

There was one overriding request from the RAF – that the watch be discreet, with no metallic surfaces (including buckles) because of reflection, and in a shade of grey that would be between the two types of suits worn by their pilots.

The foundation of this G-Shock is the Casio 'Triple G Resist' technology : shock-resistant, vibration-resistant, and resistant to centrifugal gravity. Added to this is something called 'Smart Access', described as an analogue movement where each of the three hands are controlled by individual motors, allowing the face of the watch to display different types of information. Functionally, 'Smart Access' will be able to do nifty things like allow the watch to measure the temperature in the flight cabin, using the hour, minute and second hands as indicators.

It will be a dual time zone watch, with one of these zones Greenwich Mean Time (‘Zulu’ time to aviator types). The Zulu time will be via a single-touch display. There will also be a stop watch for recording flight times and, as someone has already pointed out on a forum, a bomb-timer…

The case of the watch will include a shock-resistant electronic crown and quick-lock rotary switch so they can’t be activated by random contact with hard surfaces. The hands on the watch are also longer than G-Shock’s normal ones, at their request.

Accuracy-wise, it’s all about atomic timekeeping from the signals of the six atomic clocks worldwide. If nothing else, this will chew up a lot of power; the RAF watch will be solar powered and have a rechargeable battery. 

Obviously, being a watch designed for such use, it’s considerably more low key than many of Casio’s G-Shock offerings, but for those who know where to look, there will be one obvious identifying mark - a carbon fibre resin keeper on the strap will be decorated with the RAF 'wings' logo.

Rather dramatically called the “Gravity Defier” (Ref: GW-A1000RAF-1AER), it is being released in a limited edition of 2000 and will be on sale from June 2012 for GBP500. A rather expensive G-Shock, but I reckon it’ll sell out.

[AP]

Baselworld 2012 : Jaquet Droz Eclipse - the ‘dark’ and the ‘light’

A brand that still somehow seems to fly under the ‘major league’ radar, Jaquet Droz has a quite distinctive style, particularly for its dress watches, but two of JD’s new Baselworld 2012 models, part of their ‘Majestic Beijing’ collection, seem to be less JD and more strikingly reminiscent of Blancpain Villeret Moonphases.

Firstly, the ‘dark’ – the Eclipse Onyx.

A 43mm stainless steel case encloses a black onyx dial which has 8 rhodium plated stars with a rhondium moon, and hour, minute and date hands which are also rhodium plated. The dial is highly balanced, with the date and month windows at 12 o’clock balanced by the moonphase at 6 o’clock. The moon is revealed via a moving disc.

Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony (a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite) and comes in a myriad of colours, but most commonly containing black and/ or white bands. I love the black/ silver combination in watches, and it’s a safe choice for a watch called Eclipse.

Here is the video from JD :

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Reference : J012630270

Case : Steel. Open caseback

Size : 43 mm. Thickness 12.4mm

Functions : Hours, minutes, day, month, date, moon phase

Dial : black onyx. rhodium plated stars and moon. Hour/ minute/ date hands rhodium-plated. Central pointer date hand. Moon phases in black onyx at 6 o’clock

Water Resistance : 30m/ 3 ATM/ 3 bar

Movement : Automatic, Jaquet Droz calibre 6553L2

Jewels : 26

VPH : 28,800

Power reserve : 68 hours

Strap : black rolled-edge alligator

Price : 18400.00 CHF

On the flipside, we have the JD Eclipse Ivory Enamel, a stark contrast, in a wonderfully warm red gold. Ref J012633203, it is the same watch as the Eclipse, only in eponymous enamel, and priced at a more hefty 30150.00 CHF. Perhaps the key is to have two of them, one for day and one for night?

These are not the first Eclipse models, a 18k gold case black enamel dialled version came out last year.

My preference is for the 2012 versions over last year's, but there is that ever-present nagging query at the back of my mind as to whether I like these watches just because they remind me of the Villeret …

Of course, what else but some etymology to end this post. ‘Onyx’ comes through Latin (of the same spelling), from the Greek ὄνυξ, meaning "claw" or "fingernail".

[AP]

Ventura's digital SPARC MGS wins red dot 'Best of the Best' 2012

Ventura's SPARC MGS automatic digital watch has just been awarded with the red dot "BEST of the BEST" design award 2012 by the red dot Design Center Essen. This is not Ventura’s first red dot, having also received the Best of Best in 1995 for Hannes Wettstein's v-matic Chronometer.

The red dot award started in 1955 and is one of the world’s largest design competitions, attracting more than 14,000 entries from over 70 countries every year. In 2012, some 1,800 companies and independent designers from 58 countries registered to compete in the “red dot award: product design” in nineteen categories.

Designed by Simon Husslein, the creative Director of Studio Hannes Wettstein AG Zürich, the SPARC MGS was not the only Ventura items that were up for consideration; the BRAUN Digital Watch BN106 and the belt "Gents & Belts" Preciluxe, also designed and produced by Ventura and garnered themselves a red dot.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Functions : EasySkroll® operating system with the following indicators: T1/Date, T2/Date 2, T1 and T2 Alarm, perpetual calendar, chronograph, countdown, choice of display - 12 or 24 hours and 3 date formats

Dial : LCD screen, LED backlighting

Movement : Automatic, barrel-powered micro-generator, tungsten rotor

Case : Scratch-proof Durinox® hardened stainless steel, or black PVD. Upper part with rotor and micro-generator; lower part with digital display

Case size : 56.3 x 38 mm

Water resistance : 30 m /3 ATM

Power reserve : 45 days

Bracelet/ Strap : Rubber, or Durinox® steel (black PVD-treated or not), with safety folding clasp

Here’s a short video about the Sparc MGS

[AP]