Category Archives: historic designs

Selection of 21 Affordable Manufacture Watches

After two weeks of research, the editor of Watchproject.com is proud to present the Internet’s first list of affordable manufactures watches: Selection of 21 Affordable ManufactureCompany that has an exclusive on a watch movement or module, and is in a position to decide where the parts are produced, how they are refinished, and where the [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, calibres, editorial, historic designs, legacy, Limited edition, Nobility, novelty, original designs | Leave a comment

New vintage-looking Steinhart chronograph

I have already introduced the Swiss Made brand Steinhard on several occasions. This German-based watch company is worthy of interest on many counts: all their watches feature Swiss movements and are assembled in the Swiss Jura mountains. Steinhard watches mostly sells through Direct Marketing, which allows them to cut the middleman and offer very reasonable prices. The [...]

Posted in assembler, historic designs, legacy, Limited edition, militarophilia, tech stuff, Valjoux 7750 | Leave a comment

Ginault, nothing but the Sub

Established in Fremont, California, the founder of Ginault plans to offer bespoke watches based on legendary military diving watches. The Rolex Submariner is the first source of inspiration, ant there is also a dial inspired by the Omega Seamaster 300. Ginault’s Base Module 1 and Silent Service Mark II both come with a Swiss ETA 2824-2 calibre, [...]

Posted in aftermarket parts, assembler, ETA 2824-2, historic designs, legacy, made-to-order, militarophilia, pimp your watch | Leave a comment

Helson’s Fifty Fathoms

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

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

Hamilton, mass-produced anachronisms

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

Second Degree chance in Яussia

While pacing through the alleys of Baselworld 2011, I came across the booth of the revived Russian brand Raketa, which official Website is registered with a .SU domain name (as for Soviet Union). The new management decided to go for a tongue-in-cheek second-degree idendity, playing with strong visuals of Soviet propaganda of yester. As a matter of fact, I was welcomed by [...]

Posted in arty, assembler, brand of origin, historic designs, legacy, militarophilia, novelty, original designs | Leave a comment

Stowa’s new unusual Flieger chronograph

Hat tip to Jorge Merino of Timezone.com. This new model from watchmaker Jorg Schauer’s brand Stowa could definitely have been added to our List of XXI Flieger Chronographs. Stowa is one of the very few German brands that once supplied the Luftwaffe with big pilots watches. The size was imposed by the pocket watches movements [...]

Posted in assembler, brand of origin, historic designs, legacy, militarophilia, novelty, original designs, Valjoux 7753 | Leave a comment

Watch size throughout History

The first reliable wearable timepiece was most likely the H4, commissioned in 1759 to John Jefferys by self-taught British watchmaker John Harrison in his quest to design the perfect longitude watch. Weighting 1.45 Kg, the ”pocket” watch measured more than 13 cm in diameter, but it was far more accurate than any of the previous clocks Harrison had ever built: only 5.1 seconds slower after 60 days [...]

Posted in design blunter, editorial, historic designs, saturation diving | Leave a comment

Review: WatchProject’s list of XXI Flieger chronographs

In the article A list of XXI Flieger chronographs, the reader is brought through a little history of standard military watches. The first paragraphs explain the distinction between three main schools: the British, the German and the French; and the text explains how the concept of a Flieger chronograph (as we know it today) was invented in the early 2000′s by the [...]

Posted in antimagnetic, assembler, brand of origin, editorial, historic designs, legacy, militarophilia, novelty, original designs, Valjoux 775X, vintage movements | Leave a comment