Breguet La Tradition Tourbillon with Fusee Chain

Breguet's 2010 novelties include a WG version of the La Tradition Tourbillon with fusee chain. As usual, clicking on the image will bring up a 1920 x 1080 screensaver.





Detail of the fusee.



Detail of the tourbillon



Closeup of the movement

Philippe Dufour Simplicity

This is the iconic watch of the century...created by grand master watchmaker Philippe Dufour...after many years of only making super complicated watches...his portfolio before the Simplicity was the world premiere of a Grand et Petite Sonnerie on a wristwatch, and the world premiere of a wristwatch featuring dual, escapements to a single train known as the Duality.

This is my personal Simplicity, No. 7 out of a total production of 200.

The finish of the Simplicity is exquisite.





The movement is completely designed inhouse by Philippe...he does send the plates to be done up by CNC machines elsewhere, but he personally hand finishes all the movements.



Note the design of the bridges comprise of many intricately fashioned inward and outward curves and points. These require complete mastery of technique to do as well as you can see here.

Trains and Waterworks

The town of Malte, near the city of Dippoldiswalde in the state of Saxony, Germany is a quaint little town. The town is served by roads (of course! This is Germany where the automobile is supreme), but also by a narrow guage railway, running from Dresden to Altenberg. The railway rails are 750mm.

The Weisseritz Valley railway, as it is known is drawn by steam locomotives, and run regularly.



Just a few hundred meters away, the beautiful Wasserwerks (waterworks) of the Malte Dam.





And just nearby, the quaint village of Paulsdof.

A. Lange & Sohne: Zeitwerk in Platinum

The Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk...I will repost here the launch articles I wrote when I attended the event in Berlin in May 2009, including detailed explainations on how the movement work. But for the time being, let's just admire the beautiful timepiece:



The beautifully finished and executed movement:



Detail of the balance wheel:



Closeup of the dial:

Grand Seiko Evening in Singapore

I had the pleasure to organize a Grand Seiko evening for fans...to help fans be more informed and have more information on the marvel of Grand Seiko (indeed there is a model called The Marvel in the history of Grand Seiko).

Some pictures of the event:

Attentatively listening to Akashi-san from Seiko:



Masuda-san assembling a GS Spring Drive chronograph without loupe and in double quick time...showing the master craftswoman's capability:



We then progressed over to Orchard Central and had dinner at Kuriya Penthouse. A blog entry on the dinner will be made at my Ho Chiak site, but for here, a few pictures of the interior of the restaurant...rather beautifully decorated, I must say:

The main dining area, showing the tables, and wine cellar.



The sushi counter:



The group that evening:



And the mandatory tableshot...all the Seiko and Grand Seiko watches worn by the attendees and Seiko staff that evening:



Click here for my friend, Harry Tan's report of the event.

Credor by Seiko: The Eichi

The Japanese have a passion, when they often do, and will be prepared to be totally obsessed and fully committed to the task. Such is the wonderful story behind the extreme high end Credor series by Seiko.

As many of us know, Seiko makes many low end watches...chances are, most of us have owned one, either Seiko 5 or Kinetic, Alba, or one of the inexpensive watches offered by them. But amongst the well informed connoiseurs, the name Grand Seiko holds a special place.

Originating in 1960, Grand Seiko is the luxury end...high end of the watchmaking company. Grand Seiko makes quartz watches (you can be sure these are not the typical $100 battery operated watches), mechanical watches and an innovation pioneered by Seiko - the Spring Drive.

The operations of the spring drive will be enough for another full article, but in this entry, allow me to show the beauty of Eichi.

As usual, click on image for a large 1920 pixel version.



The movement finish is superb...truly. Almost equal to the magnificent works of the Grand Master of Watchmaking - Philippe Dufour.

And symbolism so representative of the Eastern arts (interpretive instead of realism treasured in the West) is the cover for the mainspring barrel, done in the shape of the flower which symbolizes Shiojiri...the small town, near Nagano where Seiko Epson is situated.



Closer up of the dial, made by the famous Japanese porcelain house of Noritake. The digits 2, 4, 7 are slightly raised to symbolize that the watch is at your service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:



Closeup of the movement, showing the magnificent finish. The anglage is beautifully executed, and hand made. The Eichi is handmade by a special team within the company, known as Micro Artisan Studio. Each individually made by a master craftsman from start to finish. The Micro Artisan Studio comprises of 11 of the most talented watchmakers in Japan, making a total of 10 watches a year! Five Credor Sonnerie, a subject for a different article later, and the Eichi...meaning Wisdom in Japanese.



The movement features time only with a power reserve, and a unique torque saving mechanism which "recycles" excess torque available when the mainspring is fully wound to rewind the spring...thereby increasing the power reserve.

Beautiful and truly magnificent watch.

Jaeger LeCoultre Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire

Very interesting watch by JLC. Dual train, one running a constantly running foudroyante hand...furiously spinning in 1.6s steps at the rate of 1 revolution per second...mesmerising to watch.

As usual, images will open up 1920 pixels wide as wallpapers when you click on them.



Also featuring a 4 year calendar, this watch is very well finished, in a dazzling soliel style finish on the movemetn:




Detail showing the foudroyante hand and the beautiful stylised eggshell finish on the dial:

Max Busser & Friends: Horological Machine No 4

The MB&F's latest creation the Horological Machine No. 4 is an imposing watch...quite large, though it sits well on the wrist.

Made from titanium and sapphire crystal, the watch is a rather interesting piece of sculpture...reminiscent of a rocket ship or a jet engine.

Clicking on the watch pictures will bring up a 1920 pixel wide image.



Two engine like scuptures, I guess that is the best way to describe the tapering, conical tubes, which carry the time indicators on the right barrel and the power reserve on the left barrel.



The view from the rear...showing the escapement, visible within the watch:



Detail showing the time telling side:



Between my thumbs to show relative size:



The movement on its own, outside the case is just as unusual:



The detail showing the escapement:



And the ever charming Max Busser himself:

Food Photography: Cafe de Hong Kong

I usually shoot food with my trusty Panasonic Lumic DMC LX3...typically at widest zoom, auto ISO capped at 400, AE at f/2, no flash.

This article, I used the H3D-39. Click on the picture for a larger 1920pixel wide image.

The Nam Yu Roast Chicken...glistening in its very crispy skin, very tender and moist insides.



Whole roast chicken, chopped and plated:



Fortune rolls:



Pepper Lobster:

Dancer

Shot in Shriro's warehouse converted into a studio with Hasselblad H4D-31 and Profoto Acute 8B lighting.





100% crop of the same

IWC Vintage Appreciation Night

IWC Singapore hosted a wonderful evening with collectors at their beautiful boutique in Ion Orchard.



The boutique interior has a showroom section, and a lounge section...the collectors were gathered at the lounge section...chatting away



Some of the watches that collectors brought to the evening:





Vintage Aquatimer is very 70s with the cushion shaped case and the dial colour. The reference 1816:



Movement of the Jubilee



Detail showing the fine finishing on the Jubilee



The newer Portugese automatic, featuring the Caliber 5000



And my old...very old...recased pocket watch from 1918