Weekend Sojourn: Montegrappa Celebrates St. Moritz with New Limited Edition Writing Instruments

Montegrappa, Italy’s revered manufacturer of writing instruments introduces a new quartet of pens for 2012 to honor and capture the essence of St. Moritz. This Swiss destination in the Engadin Valley began to prosper more 150 years ago, when it not only became known as a prestigious ski resort, but also launched the Alps as the newest vacationing spot. It is the home of ice-skating championships, golf tournaments, and the first horse race through snow. This area has been portrayed in many movies ranging from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much to the James Bond movie Goldfinger. In addition, St. Moritz is the gathering place of the world’s celebrated artists, collectors, and critics, who come together for the St. Moritz Arts Masters. 

Fittingly these Montegrappa pens, not only instruments of artists but also works of art themselves, have barrels portraying one of four historic posters of St. Moritz, all hand-painted by artist Lorena Straffi. These beautiful writing instruments are made from celluloid, with natural pigments, and mother-of-pearl, and are further adorned with either 18-karat gold or sterling silver. The 2012 St. Moritz Limited Edition is composed of 300 fountain pens($5,075) and 300 roller balls (starting at $4,445). They are colorful, bold pieces that attract the eye.

Product: Trendy Watches Serving Medical ID Functions

By Samantha Walsh
A necessity to many in the world but used by few: a medical id. Whether it be for heart conditions, diabetes, or any number of other health issues that require one to wear them, medical identification jewelry is generally unattractive or inconvenient—causing many people to go without.
Now, Medical ID Marketplace makes wearing id simple and even trendy, releasing a new watch line that acts as medical id tags! The faces of these watches all portray the red insignia – the universal symbol to EMTs that saves lives — while at the same time they incorporate stylish bands to blend with everyday wear. Each accessory at Medical ID Marketplace offers complimentary engraving to alert EMTs of a medical condition.
This new collection hopefully will increase wearability among those with special conditions and thereby increase the number of lives saved each day. In addition to these watches, Medical ID Marketplace, and many other medical id manufacturers, offers other trendy options such as leather, rubber and metal bracelets and really great steel, titanium and black PVD dog tags.
 Medical ID is even more important in summer, where active lives can cause loss of id, so having different forms of back up is important. If you, or someone you know is looking for a more trendy option to serve as a medical id, visit www.hopepaige.com for more information.

Breaking News: Audemars Piguet Unveils Leo Messi Royal Oak Watch

Born Lionel Messi, but better known as Leo Messi, this premier Argentina-born soccer (football in Europe) player is currently Barcelona Teams’ all-time top scorer in official club competitions. The 25-year-old Messi, has incredible drive and motivation and continues to play at the top of his game – always striving for excellence.  As such, it comes as no surprise that leading luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet would work with Messi to design and create a very special Limited Edition Leo Messi Royal Oak watch.

“I am proud to have played a part in creating this limited edition,” says Leo Messi. “I was absolutely fascinated upon seeing the initial prototypes and the Royal Oak Leo Messi Limited Edition itself.”

 Created in a series of just 1000 pieces ( 500 in steel/tantalum, 400 in pink gold/tantalum and 100 in platinum/tantalum), the Limited Edition Leo Messi Royal Oak is a very distinctive 41 mm piece. It is sold with an alligator strap – and with an additional sportier rubber strap. Additionally, the watch dial is devoid of the “tapisserie” motif that is the Royal Oak’s trademark. The dial is vertically brushed anthracite with hour markers in white gold for the steel version and pink gold for the pink gold version, while the platinum version sports a deep blue dial with white gold hour markers.

Retaining the collection’s eight hexagonal screws in polished white gold, the bezel of the Limited Edition Leo Messi Royal Oak is crafted in the alluring blue/gray of tantalum (a material with very strong resistance to corrosion and high density – about twice as heavy as steel – that is particularly difficult to machine and polish).

This Royal Oak chronograph houses the self-winding mechanical calibre 2385 which offers hours, minutes, small seconds, date and chronograph functions. Made up of 304 components, the movement has a 40-hour power reserve and beats at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz). It is fitted with a single-block 18-karat gold oscillating weight. Each watch is delivered in an original case in the shape of a lacquered shoe box,  decorated on the inside with Messi’s dedication.

Independence Day Means Celebrating America — RGM Watches Does So in Style

The Fourth of July is a federal holiday in the United States, commemorating our Independence from Great Britain and our adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. While fireworks and picnics usually crown the day, it’s a great time to take a close look at the Made-in-America sect of the watch market. Once upon a time, a half a century ago or more, America had a thriving watch business. It declined for a wealth of reasons, but one watchmaker has perpetuated the craft, and this year celebrates 20 Years of American Watchmaking. That man is Roland Murphy and his company is RGM Watch Co.

We’ve written about Baltimore-born Roland Murphy before here, but now RGM has a few new American-made watches to take a look at. Murphy unveiled RGM’s first high-grade American-made watch movement, the RGM Caliber 801 (named for the workshops’ street address) a few years ago.  This movement was followed by another unveiled in 2010 – the RGM Caliber MM2 (manufacture movement 2), a superb tourbillon mechanism – the first of its kind to be fully American made.

Today, from his restored historic bank building in Mount Joy, PA, Roland Murphy’s RGM Watch Co. proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary with all-new in-house-made movement; RGM Caliber 20. Additionally, the brand has a new version of the 801 called the 801 Aircraft with a dial inspired by a World War II American Aircraft clock.  Currently RGM only creates 40-50 movements a year in Pennsylvania, working in small groups of 5 to 10 calibers at a time.  The watches range in price from $6,500 for the new Aircraft 801, to tens of thousands for the American-made Tourbillon.

Weekend Sojourn: Claudio Pino’s Kinetic Rings – Ring a ding ding

By Samantha Walsh
Last month, fourteen jewelry artists from Montreal were selected to display their newest creations at an exhibition at the Aaron Faber Gallery in  New York City. The exhibition, called Innovation and Craftsmanship in Metal: Jewelry Artists of Quebec, was chocked with wonderfully creative pieces, including Claudio Pino’s extraordinary Kinetic Rings. By combining kinetic movement with stones of varying colors and metals, his rings had a traditional yet visionary look, and were completely unique. With intricate 3 dimensional designs and every small detail accounted for, it is clear that each piece takes hours upon hours to craft. While these pieces are very different from what one traditionally may expect in a ring, I find them absolutely stunning. The style in which Pino designs is cutting edge and definitely a trend to check out.If you are passing by Toronto this summer, Pino is presenting a collection of rings at the Zilberschmuck Gallery. Go try them on.

Time Capsules: You Don't Want to Miss this Great New Luna Watches from Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin, and the legendary Ludwig Oechslin, has done it again – unveiled great new watches that offer a unique and unusual moon function for men and women.

You will recall the amazing Moonstruck watch that we wrote about in many publications – when we went to the observatory in Nice with Ulysse Nardin for its unveiling.  Now the brand releases the Classico Luna, with principles based on the Moonstruck and its precise replication of the phases of the moon’s waxing and waning. The Classico Luna is a self-winding watch that depicts the moon’s rotation in a realistic representation, as it reflects the light of the sun and the shadows.

I had the great pleasure of sitting with Ulysse Nardin CEO, Patrik Hoffmann, recently to take a close-up look at the Luna and it is a stunning watch in both its feminine and masculine forms.   Yes, the Luna definitely has the entire DNA that one would expect of it being a result of Oechslin’s concepts and a derivative of the Moonstruck. It is beautiful and mesmerizing to look at and naturally fantastically precise.

“There are two patents in this watch, which was two years in the making,” says Hoffmann. “What’s truly amazing about it is that there are very few parts used to make this because the display function is integrated in to the dial.”

In fact, the Classico Luna depicts its angle of illumination as its moon rotates around the center of the watch – making one rotation in 12 hours. As it turns to fulfill its 29.5-day moon phase circle, the moonphase disc on the watch changes, increasing or decreasing as the moon waxes or wanes.  A magnificent artistic masterpiece with movement, allure and superb craftsmanship (I may have found my next watch!), the Classico Luna is crated in either setel or rose gold and measures 37mm in diameter. It retails from $8,500 to $22,800 for the women’s rose gold version with diamonds.

 

Jaquet Droz- Artful Androids

A spectacular three-part exhibition in Switzerland displays the science and art of the industry’s foremost automaton-maker and his short-lived dynasty: Pierre Jaquet Droz. It is justifiably called Automates et Merveilles (automata and miracles).

Courtesy of WORLDTEMPUS
Elizabeth Doerr
The back of the Draughtsman in Neuchâtel’s Museum of Art and History reveals the complicated set of cams needed to reproduce 40 characters © Worldtempus / Elizabeth Doerr
Jaquet Droz’s modern story began in 1989 when Investcorp, a Saudi-English company that already owned Breguet, Chaumet and Ebel, bought the rights to the name. A new line was conceived, designed, and launched by the makers behind the modern Breguet brand. In 1994 a few of Investcorp’s people went independent, taking the two brands with them and eventually selling them to the Swatch Group in April 2000.

Since then, the Swatch Group’s main concern has been to restore the brand according to its famous roots and give it the attention it deserves. A few years later, the newly founded marque began doing what Pierre Jaquet Droz himself did in the 1700s: use the three surviving androids as a primary marketing tool to generate interest. Back in the days of Jaquet Droz, his son Henri-Louis, and Jean-Frédéric Leschot (the lesser known party in the business), the interest thus raised was needed to sell their main products: small automatons, pocket watches A snuff box with a singing bird created by Jaquet Droz on display at the Musée d’Horlogerie in Le Locle © Automates et Merveilles/Château des Monts and other unusual and unique mechanical treasures.

 Today, the Swatch Group-owned brand uses the three historical robots known as the Writer, the Draughtsman, and the Musician to attract interest in its luxury wristwatches, which have a strong, highly recognizable brand identity and increasingly large focus on artisanal techniques. One of a sumptuous pair of automaton carillon clocks on display at the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH); four levels of glass create the illusion of moving water © Worldtempus / Elizabeth Doerr The trio of androids begun in 1774 by Pierre Jaquet Droz and continued by his son and Leschot were lost to the modern world after the company ceased trading in 1810 (due to the deaths of the father and son in 1790 and old age of Leschot) until 1906. It was in this year that the Neuchâtel Society of History and Archaeology bought them for 75,000 gold francs. Following restoration and a bit more travel, they reached their current home – the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel – in 1909, where they have remained since.

During his active time, Jaquet Droz and his associates traveled with the three mechanical androids to pique the interest of prospective wealthy clients such as royal families. The well-traveled automatons amazed and confused their disbelieving audiences, and more than once were labeled as “witchcraft” with their life-mimicking movements. The Musician, who plays a real organ and actually creates the music written by Jaquet Droz by tapping the correct keys, even breathes (i.e., her chest unexpectedly and rhythmically moves underneath her dress).

Neuchâtel has now built an exhibition around the three androids in the canton’s main three museums. The Musician, on view at the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds, joins the Writer in Le Locle’s Musée d’Horlogerie Château de Monts and the Draughtsman in its original location in Neuchâtel along with hundreds of other exhibits originating in all three museums, from other lenders such as the Patek Philippe Museum and private collections to form one incredible artistic experience.  The exhibition will continue to run in this form until September 30. The original Jaquet Droz figures and others are activated according to a schedule that can be found here. 

Breaking News: Dolce & Gabbana Men’s Luxury Watches

By Samantha Walsh

Seen now for the first time, Atimelyperspective unveils the new  Dolce &Gabbana luxury designer watch brand. Released here, the new Dolce & Gabbana line of high-end watches for men  offers vintage looks, as well as  sporty or classically elegant styles,  with some pieces event  featuring precious gems on the dials.  For those men who love a designer name and look – this one may be yours.

 The line was designed by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Italy, but the watches are made in Switzerland. The collection consists of 18-karat gold timepieces with PVD treatments for a variety of colors. Timepieces are offered with either a bracelet or strap, and consistently deliver the Dolce & Gabbana dynamic Italian style. Watches include a COSC-certified chronometer chronograph, called the DS5, as well as gemset versions (DG7Gems) and classically elegant strap models reminiscent of the 1950’s (called DG7).  They will be sold in selected Dolce & Gabbana boutiques beginning this month. The collection is composed of 52 watches in total – with price points ranging from $3,000 to $150,000.    

 

Time Capsules: New – Daniel Strom’s Agonium Watches

By Samantha Walsh
If you’re looking for a watch that you wouldn’t find everyday, Daniel Strom’s new collection Agonium, is just that! Not only are these beautiful creations fine Swiss-made timepieces, but also they are masterpieces of metal-work and innovation. Each watch is created with intricate hand-made details, and in three-dimensional sculptural designs. These edgy watches display forms such as dragons and skulls,  giving this collection a very gothic look. Strom – yes Strom (Daniel is Armin Strom’s son) —  was influenced by life’s theories and myths and hopes to symbolize the importance of seizing the day and living life to the fullest with this collection. Every watch is hand moulded and magnifiently carved, etched and designed — and they are coming soon to a retailer in the USA. Stay tuned as we bring you more on this cool new artful watch collection in the coming weeks.