Another UK brand you may not (yet) have seen

Fraser Timepiece Company (@frasertimeco) is a new brand from Scottish-born product designer, architectural model maker, CG visualiser and photographer Gordon Fraser. Fraser has a background in Rapid Prototyping, and has spent the last two years designing a range of quartz and mechanical watches with a strong design DNA, and simple, almost austere aesthetics. The first of these - the ONE44 Chronograph and the ONE44 Mechanical - have recently been announced on Watchuseek, the well-known Dutch watch forum. 

The Fraser Timepiece Company's ONE44 Mechanical watch

The watches are (as the name might suggest) 44mm wide, and share bead-blasted matte dials, lime green highlights and the brand's large circular logo. I particularly like the design of the ONE44 Mechanical (above), with its large, uncluttered appearance, sandwich dial and bead-blasted case from German manufacturer Fricker. The movement is the veritable 6498-1 manual, with côtes de genève finish, although there is an upgrade available whereby the movement will be guilloché, PVD'd and finished in lime green accents by well-known movement decorator Jochen Benzinger. I'm seriously considering this model, although I'm also very keen on the Bremont BC-S2 SE from ATG Vintage Watches and the Schofield Watches Signalman - and I'm not sure that I'll get away with buying all three. 

The ONE44 COG

Coming next year (hopefully) is the ONE44 COG, a quartz-powered chrono with large date and oversized sub-seconds.  I say hopefully, as it can be notoriously difficult for young start-ups at the moment - with the notable exception of e-pebble, which seems to have captured the imagination of the Twitterati (with the help of a Tweet or two from @greatdismal). The e-pebble project on Kickstarter has raised around £1.5m already - equivalent to pre-orders of over 25,000 units. However, with mechanical watches from new start-ups generally costing between £250-£750, one imagines that there are fewer people willing to take the risk.

The ONE44 is limited to 35 pieces, and is available to pre-order at £750 (or £1200 for the Special Edition). I note from the list of Lighthouse investors that WUS-owner Ernie Romers is down for both the ONE44 Mechanical and the Chronograph. A ringing endorsement.  

Follow the Fraser Timepiece Company on Twitter here @frasertimeco.

Guest Post: Buying the Brand

The #watchnerd was honoured to receive a submission from fellow Twitterite, @valdarrant. In this, the first (but hopefully not last) guest post, Val introduces us to the concept of "buying the brand" - i.e. purchasing a watch (or two) that represents the brand in its entirety. 

Bremont is known primarily for its over-engineered military and pilot-style watches. The Bremont case is built to protect the movement, while providing the style and appearance that enables you to wear the watch in both your personal and professional lives. If Bremont had only been around back when I was in the service, I would not have worn out a sentimental watch that is now in retirement.

Bremont MBII

Originally my only Bremont was my Martin Baker II (MBII). I loved it then and love it still. At the same time I felt as though something was missing. I also kept thinking how great it would be to have a white/cream faced watch. Something a shade dressier but still close to the robustness of the Martin Baker. I found myself drawn to the ALT1-C Cream. A friend later told me that is the “gentlemen’s color.” Not sure if that was a compliment or a concern as that is the model I seemed to keep circling. And circling. And circling. Then something important happened. The Great Russian from The North (GRTN) announced he was going to buy an ALT1-C. This was the impetus I used to convince myself of the opportunity to get one as well.

Let me just say I love it. I also love my ALT1C on a black strap. I think its what James Bond would wear in real life. While on a trip to LA I wore it almost exclusively whether at a wedding or Disneyland or the beach. Now I must say that I then and still now feel very complete in my watch ownership. I had what I needed and wanted with my contentment coming up on a year. Now to be direct I have interest in the new white Solo but there can only be two “Master and Apprentice.” So more than likely it’s a short-lived phase.

Bremont ALT1-C on Black Leather strap

As I sorted through my thoughts my main focus was how did these two watches give me all the answers. Then it hit me!!! These two watches are the best representation and foundation of everything else! Whether it’s the Solo, U2 or Supermarine (which share lineage with the MB) or the entire “Classic” line of chronographs which find roots in the ALT1-C, both watches clearly demonstrate the over-engineering and construction that to me are part of the Bremont trademark. Just look - and I mean really look - at the three part Trip-Tick case. More specifically there is no tradeoff between form and function!

I am not sure I can say the same for any other watch brand and certainly not with any conviction but in closing how often can you buy an entire brand with two watches? If there “can be only one” buy them both!

What do you think? What other watch / watches entirely represent a brand? Please do leave a comment.

the #watchnerd

Basel Through a Telescope, Part 2

Yet again, the #watchnerd has failed to make it to the halls of BaselWorld. And is therefore forced to observe from a distance. Last year, I was in Finland. This year, North London, and unsurprisingly, it was Rolex that first grabbed the headlines.

Having teased its customers with a new name – Sky-Dweller – Rolex released a picture showing what looked to be an internal rotating bezel of some kind. Many speculated that this could be a new “Pepsi” dialled variant of the GMT II. Possibly even a new chronograph. In the end, it was revealed to be a piece of horological trickery that combines an annual calendar with a second timezone set within the dial within the dial. Those of us who had been berating Rolex for merely tweaking / upsizing their old designs were suddenly faced with something a lot more interesting.

The Rolex Sky-Dweller (c) Rolex 2012

And what is particularly interesting is how they’ve combined the mechanism for setting month / date, time and the second timezone into a single device: the bezel-operated Ring Command. It’s a clever idea – similar to the “gear” device used by Guiliano Mazzuoli in his Contagiri – that changes the mode by rotating the bezel. Rolex has also included the quickset hour feature that sets their GMT watches above most others as well as a month indicator, situated just above each of the hour markers. The deceptively simple "Saros" system used by the Calibre 9001 reminds me of Ludwig Oechslin's MIH watch (a *good* thing - interestingly, they are both based on chronograph movements) and Rolex have obviously thought about how they present the watch on their website, including a rather good video. 

The Sky-Dweller’s main drawback, however, is its looks: with a Datejust-style case and a strange YachtMaster II hybrid dial, the watch is not what one might describe as classically beautiful. In white gold, the watch looks, quite frankly, absurd: the clash of Arabic and Roman numerals coupled with the incongruous indicator triangle being a case in point. The fonts clash and the magnifying Cyclops over the date just looks horribly out of place. To be fair, the Everose gold version is better, with a more coherent dial design, and a more flattering sunburst pattern.

To be honest, I’m not sure what Rolex was thinking. It’s not entirely clear whether this is a watch designed for world travellers, pilots, trans-Atlantic yachties or perhaps just collectors; I can see this fast becoming one of those strange pieces that future generations may discover and to which they may (seemingly randomly) attach value. It’s a shame, as the Ring Command is a relatively original touch, but for me, the Sky-Dweller is, unfortunately, certainly earth bound.

the #watchnerd

Basel Through a Telescope, Part 1

Some of you may recall that I managed to miss last year's BaselWorld (I was off trying to capture the Northern Lights in the Lappish Arctic Circle). Never a man to learn from his mistakes, I almost completely failed to reach Switzerland this year as well. I say "almost completely" as I'll arrive there on Thursday. Exactly a week late. 

Mondaine Vintage** 

So it will come as no surprise that I've had to rely on press photos, Twitter, various internet fora and other sources to track down some highlights to share with you. My thoughts on the new Rolex Sky Dweller are stuck on a laptop with no internet connection, so I'll have to start somewhere else. There are some excellent round-ups over on Hodinkee, the Sydney Tarts***, the Prodigal Guide***, etc, so I'll try and keep out of their hair and look at some of the things that have interested me over the past few days. 

The "Vintage" model from Mondaine is a case in point. While the dial will be familiar to most, this is their first watch in recent memory to contain a manual movement - an ETA 2801-2 - that venerable progenitor of the later range of automatic calibres. With its display back, 41mm case and sub-GBP 500 price tag, Mondaine may be about to introduce a new generation to manually wound watches. The 2801-2 is almost 30 years old now, and is a seventeen jewel movement beating at 28,800 vph. It might not set the world alight, but it might just open up this strange, anachronistic hobby of ours to a few more people. 

(c) Breguet

And so from one manually-wound calibre, to another: the anthracite-coloured, 43 jewel fusee tourbillon from Breguet. Yes, this is a re-issue of the Tradition 7047PT in rose gold, a watch that combined cutting edge technology (silicon balance and escapement) with classical design. But it's also (in my eyes) a piece of horological art. A watch that draws on the past by referencing Breguet's earliest tourbillon movements (fusee and chain transmission), while at the same time appearing almost entirely modern.  By the way, if you want extra #watchnerd points, I believe you can visit the British Museum and arrange to see a few of the actual souscription watches made by Abraham-Louis Breguet on which this movement is somewhat based (click for a photo of one of the souscription watches in the British Museum).  

Next up: some divers, the Antikythera Watch and the #watchnerd finally gets to write about the Sky Dweller

**Photo borrowed from Jorge Merino on TZ.com, as I can't seem to find the official Press Release from Mondaine.
***In the spirit of full disclosure, I have written (and may continue to write) for both these 'blogs

Deepsea Challenger**

20th March 2012 Update: The new Rolex watch that's accompanying the Deepsea Challenger has been announced. Watch the video here. At a guess, I'd say it's 58mm wide and 23mm tall. At least. So I'm assuming it's going on the *outside* of the Challenger (probably on the manipulator arm), as there's barely room to swing a cat inside James Cameron's pilot's chamber. Hey ho. Just when you think you might see something new, all you get is something bigger. 


It's hard to comprehend exactly what James Cameron has planned: a journey so extraordinary that it makes space travel look like child's play. His aim is simple: to go where only two men have ever been before, the hadal zone (named for good reason after the Greek god, Hades, god of the Underworld), and to spend as long as he can, exploring the depths of the ocean.

Illustration courtesy Acheron Project Pty Ltd
DEEPSEA CHALLENGER

“I’ve always dreamed of diving to the deepest place in the oceans. For me it went from a boyhood fantasy to a real quest, like climbing Everest, as I learned more about deep-ocean exploration and became an explorer myself in real life. This quest was not driven by the need to set records, but by the same force that drives all science and exploration … curiosity. So little is known about these deep places that I knew I would see things no human has ever seen. There is currently no submersible on Earth capable of diving to the ‘full ocean depth’ of 36,000 feet. The only way to make my dream a reality was to build a new vehicle unlike any in current existence. Our success during seven prior expeditions building and operating our own deep-ocean vehicles, cameras, and lighting systems gave me confidence that such a vehicle could be built, and not just with the vast resources of government programs, but also with a small entrepreneurial team. It took more than seven years to design and build the vehicle, and it is still a work in progress. Every dive teaches us more, and we are continuing to improve the sub and its systems daily, as we move through our sea trials.” 

Of course, the men who proceed him - Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, the first men to dive the Mariana trench in their bathyscaphe, Trieste, - started in 1960. While the Trieste was not equipped to take pictures or get samples, Cameron and his Deepsea Challenger submersible will be armed with multiple cameras and a mechanical arm. It's fascinating to compare this to the other planned descent - Virgin Oceanic - as the two approaches are quite different. 

The project is being sponsored by National Geographic and Rolex. No word (as yet) about what watch Cameron will be wearing - nor whether Rolex will be strapping one of their Deepsea models to the sub. 

**Sorry. Couldn't bring myself to write this in capitals.

Bond's first watch

There is always talk about James Bond and watches - only yesterday, for example, Ben Williams on MI6-HQ wrote about the release of the 50th Anniversary Omega Seamaster, a watch that celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the first screen appearance of James Bond in Dr No. Indeed, a few days ago, another Bond watch was unearthed by Dell Deaton on the James Bond Watches 'blog, who found a straight-lugged Rolex Precision dress watch, worn by Sean Connery in Dr No. However, until now, the watch world appears to have been slightly underwhelmed by the first watch ever worn by Bond: an event that we #watchnerds find rather interesting: James Bond's first watch - and therefore the Bond watch - was a Mido Multifort.

James Bond was born c1920 (November 11 in either 1920 or '21, depending on your source), and famously lost his parents in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges, near Chamonix. While it took some years before his antics reached the public eye (the books largely chronicle the period between May 1951 and February 1964), his earlier life is just as interesting, and is documented in a series of novels by Charlie Higson.


Most interestingly from a #watchnerd point of view, Higson has gone into a great deal of detail in describing the young Bond, including his timepiece. According to Higson, the first watch Bond wore was not a Rolex, nor indeed an Omega, but rather a Mido Multifort - "the first automatic, anti-magnetic, water-proof (up to 100 feet; perfectly sufficient back in those days), and shock resistant watch of its time**".

Charlie Higson explained to the Young Bond Dossier, “I think for the real Bond purists I should have given him a Rolex because that’s his iconic watch. But I sort of love the idea of the Multifort. It just looked like a really interesting watch. And I think, for the time, it is the right watch for him to have. And it’s a nice little nod to CBn.” hence James is given, and wears a Mido in By Royal Command.

While I have attempted to find a photo of this watch being worn by James in 1934, my search has not been fruitful. It appears that James' Aunt tried to keep him out of the limelight and away from cameras. It was only in his latter years that James reluctantly allowed his missions to be filmed, and to be seen wearing a Rolex, Seiko, Omega or (indeed) Pulsar.

What I have been able to find are a few adverts via ATG Vintage Watches that illustrate a time only and chronograph version of the Multifort. One of these - the chronograph advert below right - suggests that these watches are perfect for aviators, doctors, engineers, chemists, sportsmen, physicists and explorers. Strangely, it doesn't mention spies.

             

**The original suggestion for the Multifort came from Trident on CommanderBond.net

Half a league under the sea...

It's hardly 20,000 leagues*, but it's still pretty impressive for a dive watch from the seventies. 

*NB - the 20,000 referred to in Jules Verne's epic 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas actually refers to the distance that Nemo's Nautilus travelled (i.e. about two and a half time round the world) rather than any particular depth. In fact, the greatest depth mentioned in the novel is a mere 4 leagues - or 12 nautical miles - under the sea.