independent watch projects

I have added a new category filter called Militarophilia, from Latin militaris and Greek phileo, the “love of things linked with armed forces”.

Will be added to that category all brands that either:

1. draws inspiration from a real watch that is or was endorsed by armed forces
2. has its watch endorsed by armed forces
3. uses the image of armed forces in its advertising

Below, a picture of the discussion thread on WW2 Military Watch Collecting on MWRforum.net:

Let's see you WW2 military watch collection, MWRforum.net

Azimuth somehow managed to source new old stock vintage movements such as the Fontainemelon 96 and a Marvin/Election hand-wound calibre. They took extreme care in designing limited series of military watch homages that met great success. Featuring vintage movements or modified contemporary UNITAS calibres, those timepieces boast a good reputation and now count amongst the very few watches that sell with an added value on the second-hand market.

credit: www.righttime.com

From there, Azimuth started working on more conceptual timepieces:

source: www.TimeZone.com

The brand also started using a Chinese full calendar module on Swiss ETA movements:

Their prices  are between USD 1,000 and 5,000, which is a bit steep, but the collection is worth taking a look at.
Ariel Adams has recently published an article about their new diving watch Sea-Hum and saturation diving watch Deep Diver on aBlogToread.com. The latter has already been discussed by Tlex on OceanicTime.com.

Ril Concept is the brainchild of Roger Gilbert and Nathan Halfon, two finance professional buddies who shared a passion for watch collecting. Gilbert works between Chicago and London, Halfon works between Genva and London and together the jet-setters decided to create a company that would deliver lifestyle solution for timepieces, clothes, homeware, food and events.

Their first release is a timepiece, which as watch conoisseurs they have chose to model after the legendary Rolex Submariner worn by actor Sean Connery in the 1962 James Bond movie Dr. No.

image hotlinked from IAlreadyHaveAWatch.com

There are many Bond Submariner inspired projects, but Gilbert and Halfon are amongst the very few who tried to get the case design right.

credit www.fabricegueroux.com

Latter and more recent versions of the Rolex Submariner feature shoulders that protect the crown, but the original design was based on a shoulder-less Oyster case. Ril got it right, but on the other hand, the dial design seems to lack the same attention for detail: the Scuba features applied galvanic indexes while the vintage Rolex featured painted-only indexes.

My guess is that the founders choose to give a more qualitative feel to the dial. Sold for USD 999.00 and housing a Japanese movement (probably by Miyota), this watch is not what one could call “agressively” priced. It is set to play agains competitors who use Swiss movements. The Ril Scuba uses a flat scratch-proof sapphire crystal, which unfortunately goes away from the vintage look of the Rolex Submariner. Also, water-resitance of 30 meters (3 BAR) could be deemed insufficient, considering the nautical looks of the timepiece.

For every watch sold, Ril Concept will donate USD 6.00 to the housing and homeless charity Shelter. Those USD 6.00 barely represent 1% of the total retail price, wich leaves room for philantropic improvement…

Getat Watch Company is an e-store run by a watchmaker who specialized in custom watches and parts inspired by military timepieces of the Pact_of_Steel countries, namingly German and Italian.

Unlike most eBay sellers, Getat Watch ensures that all dials are coated with Swiss luminous compounds. The cases are available in different sizes and with different surface finish. The movement catalog features affordable Chinese UNITAS clones.

Straps are hand-made, and there are several colours of thread to choose from.

The Retrospect Watch Company has been operating for a couple of years now. I remember visiting their homepage and seeing sneak peak pictures of the Egiziano, which was under development at the time. RWC define their mission as bringing «legendary timepieces, improv(ing) upon them and reincarnat(ing) them into the modern world.»

The RWC Egiziano draws inspiration from the GPF 2/56, a whopping 60 mm watch that designed and produced by Panerai Workshops (Officine Panerai) for the Egyptian navy with an 8 day Angélus movement.

The GPF 2/56, made for the egyptian navy, credit Paneristi.com

The Retrospect Watch Company stands out from the croud of look-alikes because of the little details they have altered to the design that inspired them. Sold at USD 1,098.00, the Egiziano features a stock UNITAS movement without the small seconds hand.

The company has also released two cusion-shaped watches that draw inspiration from the Panerai Radiomir with “California” dial, which sell around the same price.

I’ve had them on my To Do list for quite some time, but their Web site looks and navigation could sure benefit from a little nip and tuck and some Web 2.0 Mojo.

Based in Asia (I am going to assume Japan), Koony Sun has been developing and selling watches and accessories inspired by aviation. Their early collections, the First Aviator Museum Watch and the Heroic Pilot both seem to have met success.

Selling for USD 1,498.00, the First Aviator Museum Watch pays tribute to “Glider King” Otto Lilienthal. Featuring a 925 silver case, it is powered by a 21 jewels automatic movement (I am assuming Miyota 8205). The quartz Heroic Pilot, on the other hand, is designed with pilots in mind and features a gradient bezel that allows to use the 24h hand as a solar compass.

The company has been working on new designs with black PVD-coated stainless steel cases and luminous dials and hands, which I do find particularly colourful. The following watches are quartz-powered and retail between USD 2,000 < 2,500:

The Spirit of St-Louis Museum Pilot Watch pays tribute to Charles Lindbergh.

The Concorde Museum Pilot Watch pays tribute to the defunct turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner manufactured through a joint venture between the Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation.

The Airline Captain Museum Pilot Watch features a luminous dial with BIG numerals and 24h time reading.

Since the launch of this blog, we have omitted to present Bathys Hawaii because they originally only featured battery-powered quartz watches. In the meantime, the Hawaii-based brand has released the the Benthic Automatic and the 100 Fathoms Automatic, two collections motorized with the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2.

The recognizable Bathis Hawaii dial, with even numerals, emulates vintages military watches from the Vietnam era, such as this Helbros:

credit: www.TimelyClassics.com

Bathys watches come in stainless steel cases with satin finish, black or 5n pink gold PVD plating; or in titanium. Depending on the collection, the watch either comes with satin metal bezel or rotating bezel. The brand also offers a wide choice of dial colours, from black to dark grey to orange to mother-of-pearl.

Lately, the brand has been working on a new collection based on the vintage Hamilton Bomb Timer watches, which were used on airplanes to time the dropping of bombs:

credit: www.TimelyClassics.com

Based on a UNITAS 6498 calibre, the Bathys version does pay tribute to the original, although some graphical details have been updated:

Bathys Bomb Timer

Check out prominent a review of the Bathys Bomb Timer by prominent horological blogger Ariel Adam on Ablogtoread.com.

Hat tip to BusinessMontres.com.

So, for a change, a new watch brand, obviously for diving…

It is with that slightly sarcastic remark that prominent horology journalist Gregory Pons opens the paragraph about the Compañìa Relojera Especializada Para Actividades Subacuáticas, also known as CREPAS.

Based in Malaga, Spain, CREPAS watch tried to emulate the look of 1970′s Omega diving watches. The result is the Le Grand, a limited edition of 99 stainless steel watches with Milanese mesh band powered by an ETA 2824-2.

At 43.0 mm of diameter, the case’s 4 mm sapphire crystal makes it impervious to pressures up to 120 BAR (equivalent to a static depth of 1,200 m).

Little particularity, CREPAS have ensured that the movement is surrounded by magnetic shielding. As a consequence, the watch can withstand magnetic fields of less than 70,000 A/m, which is almost like the legendary Rolex Milgauss and 15 times better than can be expected from an average watch (4,800 A/m). For mor on magnetic shielding, read our article about Antimagnetism In Watchmaking.

High water-resistance and magnetic shielding combined bring the thickness of the LeGrand to a whopping 17.2 mm, but that is a concession to make if you want your watch to be impervious to both high pressure and magnetic fields.

Available on the company’s Web site, the Le Grand is announced at USD 1,249.00 but the 50 pre-ordered pieces will go for USD 849.00.

Note: the picture of the vintage Omega Seamaster comes from the VintageWatch.ca e-store.

Mr. Wilson turned his passion for building custom watches into a small part-time business. Being himself a NWACC members, this watch builder relies upon the mentoring of a certified master watchmaker, the assistance of a certified watchmaker trained at the Paris School of Horology, and a network of trusted vendors.

Here is one of his earlier projects, which involved fitting a vintage Hamilton pocket watch movement into a modern stainless steel case:

The watchmaker behind Vintage Watch Parts is specialized in fitting vintage movements into new cases, but he also does restoration on all watch components: movements, cases, dials, hands, crowns… you name it.

The website is also intended as a resource for handy men and Panerai afficionati who are not afraid to compromise the manufacturer’s warranty of their expensive Italian watch… okay, actually Panerai watches are Swiss made and the tutorials rely on aftermarket parts.

The Website features tutorials by various authors addressed to aspiring watch modders and the main watchmaker shows some of the one-off projects he was commissioned with.