Category Archives: ETA 28XX

Helson’s Fifty Fathoms

Posted on April 20th, 2011

Hat tip to OceanicTime. Developed in 1952 with the contribution of professionals, the Blancpain Fifty Fathom marked the beginning of SCUBA diving. Today, the brand Blancpain is part of the Swatch Group, and their products are positioned in the high-end price range, way above Rolex. The latest iteration of the Fifty Fathoms capitalizes on the [...]

Posted in assembler, ETA 2824-2, historic designs, militarophilia | Leave a comment

Update on Hamilton’s 2011 collection Khaki Pioneer

Posted on April 13th, 2011

In my entry “Hamilton, mass-produced anachronisms“, I mentioned the new Khaki Pioneer seen at BaselWorld 2011. On close analysis, the watch revealed to be heavily inspired by early Hanhart FliegerUhren. The Khaki Conservation model (a.k.a Team Earth) was already unveiled last year by Hamilton, with the endorsement of actor Harrison Ford to support Team Earth. For a detailed description [...]

Posted in brand of origin, design blunter, ETA 2824-2, historic designs, legacy, militarophilia, Valjoux 7753 | 1 Comment

Perrelet, looking forward although the rug has been pulled from under your feet

Posted on April 7th, 2011

Before dwelving into a description of their new diving collection, I would like to walk the reader through a brief presentation of the Perrelet SA company, which inception I discussed at great length in my essay in French: “The house of cards Perrelet SA, Example of how unverified information relayed by historians can backfire at a brand’s communication strategy [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, editorial, ETA 2892-A2, IP blunter, legacy, original designs, Valjoux 7750 | 5 Comments

Upcoming Archimede Outdoor model

Posted on April 6th, 2011

Icklers are a third generation of German watch case makers. They now run the family business by supplying quality watch cases to some of the nicest European watch companies. Besides the traditional case making and watch assembly, the Icklers also run several watch brands such as Limes, Autran & Viala,  Defakto and Archimedes. It seems to me that Limes, Autran [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, ETA 2824-2, legacy, militarophilia, novelty, original designs, Valjoux 7750 | Leave a comment

Hamilton, mass-produced anachronisms

Posted on March 30th, 2011

For the record, guess who in 2011 A.D. still runs a Website designed for Internet Explorer only? Hamilton watch company …And to add insult to injury, they require me to upgrade from Explorer 7 to a more recent version. The browser you are using is not supported by this website, please upgrade to the latest version [...]

Posted in brand of origin, design blunter, ETA 2824-2, historic designs, legacy, Limited edition, militarophilia, Valjoux 7753 | 1 Comment

Certina DS Action Diver

Posted on March 28th, 2011

Hat tip to WorldTempus.com Owned by the Swatch Group, Certina isn’t exactly your typical small independent brand. For the last decade of the 20th century, Certina was positioned below Tissot in terms of pricing and finish. But over the past few years, the brand has benefitted from a quality increase in design and movements. Now, Certina use amongst [...]

Posted in brand of origin, ETA 2824-2, ISO-certified, novelty, original designs | Leave a comment

Vergo Avius: affordable Nouvelle Horlogerie

Posted on March 4th, 2011

If the reader is not familiar with the French term “Nouvelle Horlogerie”, it is the name of a horological genre launched by Audemars-Piguet/Renaud Papi with Richare Mille and Urwerk; and subsequently followed by brands such as Hublot, Hautlence, CVSTOS, Concord, REBELLION timepieces, Ladoire, Linde Werdelin and the temporarily hibernated Wyler Vetta. The concept consists of building futuristic-looking mechanical watches with custom-made movements and space-age [...]

Posted in arty, assembler, brand of origin, editorial, ETA 2892-A2, Limited edition, novelty, original designs | 4 Comments

introducing: manufacture Mühle Glashütte SA

Posted on February 24th, 2011

Okay, this is not really a new brand. I’ve know about Mühle Glashütte (Muehle Glashuette) for as early as I caught the watch collecting bug in early 1990′s. At the time, the company was relying upon calibres manufactured by Swiss leader ETA, so I personnally didn’t find their “Made in Germany” watches that interesting. But the recent release [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, ETA 2824-2, Glashütte, Germany, legacy, militarophilia, original designs, tech stuff, Valjoux 7750 | Leave a comment

introducing: International Watch Man

Posted on February 9th, 2011

I came across their Website before, but a recent visit to International Watch Man drew my attention to their 2010 collection of Fifty Fathoms homages. Bill Yao of MKII, Eddie Platts of Timefactors and the brothers Cameron of Corvus Watch have all famously released homages of what is considered the first proper “diving watch”. For more [...]

Posted in aftermarket parts, assembler, ETA 2836, historic designs, Limited edition, militarophilia, straps, Unitas 649X | 3 Comments

introducing: IWI Watches

Posted on January 30th, 2011

English watchmaker Ian Walsh trained in Manchester before working with TAG Heuer. Base in Lancashire, UK, Mr. Walsh registered the British trademark IWI Watches in Summer 2006 and launched his first collection of IWI Watches in September 2007. Prior to IWI watches, Mr. Walsh has been supplying and repairing specialist timing equipment to the film [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, ETA 28XX, historic designs, legacy, Limited edition, made-to-order, racing, restoration, Valjoux 7750 | Leave a comment