The All New Rolex Air-King

Rolex has caused major waves this year at BaselWorld 2016 with their all new Rolex Air-King.  This gorgeous timepiece is surprisingly humdrum, with no special materials and no siloxi hairspring.  Nevertheless, the Air-King has a remarkable sensory-overload dial and may even be the busiest model Rolex has ever reveled.

The new Oyster Perpetual Air-King features a black dial as standard, which surprised many fans because it was typically available in black or white.  The action on the standard dial is very thick, with a Chromalight triangle marker at the 12 o’clock spot, white gold is also applied in Arabic numerals at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock.  All other markers are in a graduated 5-minute scale, from 5 to 55 minutes, making for an extraordinary use of the numeric method.

A few obvious modifications include a newer and larger size, with the 2016 model that comes in at 40mm, (older models were only 34mm).  This change makes it incredibly obvious, even if it somehow went adrift in the process.  Rolex uses white gold hands instead of the old baton hands, which are made to evoke Rolex’s aviation heritage, as it is also reflected in the GMT Master series.   The inspiration for the Air King comes from the watches supplied to the aviators on the first flight above Mount Everest, which occurred in the 1930s and the first London-Melbourne flight.  The translucent triangle at 12 o’clock is not just a casual symbol to the world of aviation or some newcomer to the watch industry.  The first Rolex Air-King watches appeared in the 1950s, with it’s distinctive “Air-King” lettering still displayed on the dial so don’t get the wrong idea about the specific heritage of this model.

The Air Kings specs include: a power reserve of 48 hours, water resistant to 100 meters, an automatic Rolex caliber 3131 movement, 904L steel material and a flat three piece linked Oyster bracelet.  As always with aviation-minded watches, the movement is impervious to magnetic perturbations, as well the automatic caliber 3131, which uses the parachrom hairspring which is anti-magnetic.  The new Air-King combines all current models in being exceedingly precise, to the tune of +2/-2 seconds per day, a performance that is personally guaranteed by Rolex for five years.  Lastly, the oyster linked strap gives the wearer an extremely stylish look.

The Air-King of 2016 evokes all of the traits Rolex stands for.  However Looking at the unusual aesthetic choices Rolex has chosen here, adopting both the vintage look of tool watches of the past and the busy style popularized today, the brand may be looking at a totally new audience.  We think that the aesthetics will see refinement in the near future, so look forward for this new and improved Rolex model.

For more information visit: Rolex Air-King

Panerai’s Most Complicated Timepiece

Officine Panerai have just announced the creation of their most complicated timepiece, The Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon GMT which aims to honor their naval history.  The brand is also very aware that it will become a grail piece for collectors, and as a result they are offering an extensive amount of customization.

Becoming the first timepiece to poses two minute repeaters for local time and a second time zone, the minute repeater also contains three hammers to achieve an oh so soothing chime.  Most traditional manufacturers offer a triple chime in their minute repeaters, that usually allow for fifteen minute increments, but the Carillon utilizes a decimal repeater which plays its melody every 10 minutes.  In regards to their decimal repeater Panerai said “the timepiece corresponds to customary ways in which time is now indicated by digital watches.”  I believe Panerai is the first high quality manufacture to pay homage to an electric timepiece.

In line with the companies plans for the near future and upcoming “Dive Into Time” event which will be held in a former crypt at the Museo Marino Marini in Florence, Panerai clearly showcases this piece as a milestone achievement for Haute Horology.  The Panerai Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon GMT sits on the wrist at a massive  49mm wide and in 18k red gold with a platinum alloy which promises to ensure considerable wrist presence.  The case is actually created from two separate pieces which have been soldered together.  This unique construction allows each watch to have its own unique song.  The hands and indexes coated with Super-LumiNova ensure high quality legibility, as we have come to expect from the brand. Water resistance for the Carillon is 30 meters.

The skeletonized dial allows for a one of a kind view of the hand-wound P.2005/MR which has taken Panerai nearly five years to craft.  Panerai has also included a revolutionary Tourbillon design, rather than rotating on a parallel axis, this does so at a perpendicular axis and completes its full rotation every thirty seconds.  The company has stated this allows for a more accurate experience while taking into effect changes in gravity. The P.2005/MR has a power reserve of 96 hours that is monitored with an indicator through the display back.

The Panerai  Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon GMT will be limited edition pieces that are made to order.  Buyers will be able to customize multiple aspects of design to achieve a considerably personalization timepiece.  Prices start at $400,000.

For more information visit:  www.panerai.com

Audemar Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore 18kt Rose Gold & Ceramic Chronograph

The Royal Oak Offshore is one of Audemars Piguet’s most successful collections, a variation of the original Royal Oak designed by Gerald Genta in 1972.  The Royal Oak Offshore 18kt rose gold chronograph 44mm is my favorite of the collection for many reasons, its beautiful style, color, and functions make it a must have for your watch collection.

The case is finished in brushed 18kt rose gold and polished beveled corners, black ceramic crown with rose gold tip bearing Audemars Piguet’s insignia, and sand blasted rose gold push-pieces with polished black ceramic tops.  The watch is water resistant up to or should I say down to 100m/330ft, and contains these key features: a screw down crown, a scratch resistant sapphire crystal, an automatic movement, transparent case back to reveal the marvelous AP Caliber 3126/3840 movement, black rubber strap, tang buckle clasp, and a black color finish.

This AP’s heart beats at 21,600vph, composed out of 365 parts, contains 59 jewels and has a reserved power supply of 60 hours.  It certainly is a jaw-dropping watch that shines brightly in the eyes of many and enchants them with its alluring idiosyncratic style.

This timepiece has a beautiful black mega tapisserie dial texture design, a silver recessed sub-dials with a nice concentric circular guilloche texture pattern, a finely printed seconds and fractions of a seconds track, and the hands at the 12 0 clock sub-dial are of polished rose gold and luminescent fill center strip.  Many have called this watch many things, captivating, charming, stunning are only a few examples.  For this watch is in a league of its own.  This Audemar Piguet is priced at $45,900.00 and worth every penny.

Visit Audemar Piguet’s current collection at: www.AudemarsPiguet.com

The Newest Tech For Your Wrist

Recently a new type of watch has been released that functions just like a smart phone.  These devices are more advanced that any other watch, they can do the most basic of the functions like calculating, translating, and of course time keeping.  Some of the smart watches can even be used as a media player, a radio, and a Bluetooth.  Most of them even have internal hardware like a rechargeable battery and the peripheral devices have touch screen, gps receiver, compass, thermometer, altimeter, accelerometer, speaker, camera, and a vast amount of storage.  The watch can also use wifi.  And allows you to monitor your heart rate, your speed, and how many laps you have run.  One of our favorite smart watches out there is the Tag Heuer Connected.  It has directional wind and weather monitoring, google fit, and RaceChrono Pro capability.  The watch can connect you with thousands of apps that you can tailor to your own taste.  It has tilt detection sensors, haptic engine, gyroscope, microphone, and holds 1 gb main memory and 4 gb of storage.  This smart watch has a 1.6 GHZ dual core processor and a conductive charging cradle with USB cable and wall plug.  This type of watch makes it feel like you have a whole computer on your arm just not as heavy.

Patek’s Double Sided Masterpiece

The Grand Master Chime 5175R by Patek Philippe was created to commemorate Switzerland’s first rate independent watch manufacturer for their 175th year in business. It was revealed to the world in 2014 as Patek Philippe’s most complicated timepiece. The Wristwatch was crafted over a seven year period by numerous watchmakers and artisans to finally produce this beautiful work of art. This timepiece is a limited edition seven piece, dual dialed with reversible case, hand engraved laurel leaves adorning the entirety of the rose gold case, and a pivoting system inside the lugs that empower the case to flip sides. The Grand Master Chime also features twenty complications, a day and night indicator, a secondary time zone, 1,366 movement components, 214 case components, and five separate chimes that include a grand and petit sonnerie. The watch is priced at 2.6M USD, and is the master piece among master pieces.  More information on Patek Philippe can be found at the link below.

PATEK PHILIPPE GENEVE: www.Patek.com