clapping machines Just a couple of months ago, we mentioned that the much-loved Max Busser of MB&F was opening his brand’s very first gallery in Geneva. The MB&F M.A.D Gallery (Mechanical Art Devices) plays home to the complete range of the brand’s coveted Horological Machines, but also to a host of other carefully-curated sorts of 
transformermachines from around the globe. Recently, we visited the gallery – situated on a quaint hill in the old part of town – and were pleasantly surprised. Such interesting pieces greeted us, including a sort of creepy mechanical hand that taps its fingertips for you continuously (ala “Thing” for those Addam’s Family followers), and a super cool and colorful clapping hands machine. Meant as a desk 
item, the hands on the machine clap in unison – great office attention grabber. While the Gallery is airy and spacious, it is nonetheless packed with fun and intriguing machines – light machines, transformer motorcycles, and even a Japanese-made robot that stands in the store window, follows you as you go by and greets you with a wave. New machines are always being added to the collection. Yep – if you’re in Geneva – you have to check this place out – plan to spend some time having a lot of fun.
Style Watch: TAG Heuer Watches for Women
Known for its innovative approach to watchmaking, TAG Heuer has long created some wonderfully exciting women’s sport watches, but this new Formula 1 TAG Heuer Lady Steel & Ceramic watch may beat them all! The alluring, immediately recognizable timepiece is crafted of high-tech ceramic and meticulously set with diamonds on the dial and bezel of the 37mm case. In fact, it sparkles with 84 Top Wesselton diamonds with inserts along the bezel that emulate a flower in bloom. The feminine bracelet with a ceramic and steel appeal, make this a chic, seductive timepiece that definitely offers individuality. What’s more, it’s water resistant to a whopping 200 meters! It houses the ETA f05.111 movement. This is one I would love to own. It retails for a cool $4,500.
Watch Stops: Pre-SIHH 2012 – Ralph Lauren Watches – Thin is in
Ralph Lauren’s new Slim Classique Collection – which makes its global debut in January 2012 at the SIHH show in Geneva, is a work of Art Deco beauty and luxury watchmaking prowess. Geometrically elegant and ergonomically correct, the elegant new interpretations in the collection feature excellent gem setting. The two new models are the Ralph Lauren 867, with a single row of diamond brilliants on the bezel, and the 867 with two rows of diamond brilliants. Both watches are bedecked with silver opaline dials and house the RL 430 caliber – a 131-part ultra-thin (2.1mm) hand-wound movement built by Piaget for Ralph Lauren. The watches will retail for somewhere around $18,300- $18,800.
Style Watch: Swarovski watches offer Regal allure
We said we’d bring some wonderful women’s watches to the fore front during the month of December – so here we are with a great Swarovski piece. A Limited Edition for the holidays, this shimmering Elis Bangle from Swarovski features a stunning bracelet in amethyst Crystal Mesh. It is set with 744 crystals in a wave pattern, and set in the center with a square bezel, cut in to a pyramid shape. The purple dial is set with miniature crystals as markers. The bracelet – with its Crystal Mesh design – is amazingly comfortable to wear and certainly garners attention thanks to the hundreds of amethyst crystals. The watch houses a quartz movement and is water resistant to 30 meters. Just 1,000 of these truly distinctive beauties will be made – each retailing for $900. This is a great watch and one I would love to own!!
Time Capsules: product –Vacheron Constantin Takes Haute Joaillerie Watchmaking to new Heights
Vacheron Constantin has made legendary history with the making of its incredible high-jeweled watches, such as the Kallista (a watch made in 1979 that took 6,000 hours of workmanship to set the 130 carats of diamonds that comprised its case and bracelet), which inspired the brand a couple of decades later to create the Kalla and Lady Kalla– some of the most expensive watches in the world. Now the brand reinforces its expertise in this arena with an all-new artistic high-jewelry piece. The new the Haute Joaillerie Haute Couture à Pampilles – with oval dial – magically captures the heart and the soul with its magnificent craftsmanship and shimmering beauty.
The secret Pampilles is adorned with 28.70 carats of diamonds, some of which conceal the lovely dial. The watch is set with flame-cut, princess-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds for incredible allure. The Art-Deco and Art-Nouveau styled watch houses the brands legendary Calibre 1005 hand-wound calibre consisting of 89 pieces. This work of art is another Vacheron Constantin example of perfect synergy of its many artisanal crafts.
Time Capsules: Product – Audemars Piguet Launches Sebastian Buemi Royal Oak
If you know auto racing, you know rookie F1 racer Sebastien Buemi. This Swiss 23-year-old driver has been enjoying strong racing seasons with Toro Rosso for several years now, including placing 8th in the Canada race in 2010. What’s more, he is one of Audemars Piguet’s motorsports ambassadors, joining legend Michael Schumacher. Now, Audemars Piguet releases a specially made limited-edition Royal Oak Offshore watch in Buemi’s name – much like the brand did in honor of drivers Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jarno Trulli.
The Royal Oak Offshore Sebastien Buemi watch, created in a 250-piece series, is an ultra-light weight piece made of grade 5 titanium. The 42mm watch is non allergenic and anti-corrosive and is fitted with a ceramic bezel that is scratch proof and ultra-cool. The watch features the 
Mega Tapisserie motif characteristic of the Royal Oak Offshore, but it is interpreted in black with luminescent hour markers and an outer chapter ring in bold yellow- Buemi’s favorite color and implemented in his racing equipment. The transparent sapphire crystal case back, bearing a transfer of the driver’s personal logo, enables viewing of the 365-part Manufacture Audemars Piguet Calibre 3126/3840. The self-winding 
chronograph is equipped with anthracite oscillating weight mounted n ceramic ball bearings and features a stop-seconds time-setting mechanism.
Says Buemi, “I have been regularly involved in exchanging ideas and sharing my feelings with the Audemars Piguet watchmakers and engineers, whether in terms of the shapes, the colours of the materials used in creating this watch. It took time, but I am really proud of the result. The yellow is the main colour on my driver’s helmet, which is why it enjoys pride of place on the dial. Moreover, I’m only 23 years old, so I wanted a watch that would reflect me and my age: the right balance between the ultra-technical nature of motor sports that must be revealed in the watch, and the simplicity which I believe sums up my own personality.”
Weekend Sojourn: Best Cars of 2012 make a great holiday gifts for 2011
We’ve had a lot of emails about great gifts for the holidays that span beyond timepieces. If you’re looking for an amazing gift that sends power to the soul, think a great car that goes fast and offers looks and gusto. This holiday season, you may be able to find a great car as a self-purchase or as a vroom vroom gift for someone super special. Car and Driver’s 2012 “10 Best” Cars just posted and a few of them are real winners.
Among them, 2012 Porsche Boxster/Caymen. According to Car and Driver, “… few sports cars offer a more 
transcendent driving experience …. In either roadster or hatchback form, they’re distinguished by exceptional balance, eager responses, and a link between car and driver that’s free of excessive filtration.”
Another one we here at Atimelyperspective particularly like is the 2012 Ford Mustang GT / Boss 302. This car has great muscles, and a nice $41,000 price tag. According to Car and Driver, “…nothing can touch the Boss … With its screaming 7500-rpm, 444-hp, 5.0-liter V-8, it’ll rip off 60 mph in four seconds flat … ”
For those who think they’d like something more mainstream or sophisticated, Car and Driver does list a few others in its 2012 Top 10. Among them: the Cadillac CTS-V, a couple of Hondas, a VW, an Audi and a BMW. Stick a bow on it and you’ve won someone’s heart for a long time.
Time Capsules: Product — Bremont Watches Ejection-Seat Test the MB Series
The English Brothers – both pilots – have one of the most interesting stories to tell. Theirs is a story of 
life, death, flight and time – time that translates to the Bremont Watch Co.
Just a few years old, Bremont Watch Company has fast made a global name for itself. Founded by Nick and Giles English, who design the Swiss-made timepieces, the company creates certified chronometers that adhere to extremely strict standards of excellence. The brothers started the company as a tribute to their late father, Euan, a pilot who died in a flying accident. Both brothers have strong aviation roots, as well as horology interests, and so combining these passions made sense. The brand’s name derives from a field owned by WWII veteran, Antoine Bremont, pilot and collector of rare mechanical watches, with whom the English brothers were stranded on his property for several days after forced to land during bad weather.
Among the brand’s aviation watch collections, one timepiece stands out – the Bremont MB – designed and built as a definitive aviation chronometer meant to withstand the MB (Martin Baker) ejection seat test program.(Martin Baker is the British manufacturer of 
ejection seats for planes.) In fact, the MB1 is only issued to those who have actually ejected via the MB seats. For those who want to look like they have, there is the MBII. The chronometer movement of the automatic aviation watch is protected by an anti-magnetic Faraday cage and is designed for anti-shock. It goes through ejection seat testing.
Each watch is a COSC certified chronometer — meaning it has already withstood the rigorous testing by the Observatory, and is accompanied by its COSC certification. Every watch case and movement is engraved with its 
own serial number and is sold with a calfskin leather strap and the NATO military nylon strap. Water resistant to 100 meters, the Bremont MBII houses a Modified caliber BE36AE automatic chronometer movement with 25 jewels and a glucydur balance. It features a Bremont molded and skeletonized decorated rotor. The 43mm MBII steel instrument, with Trip-Tick™ three-part case construction that is ultra strong, and features an aluminum rings set into the case and offered in a variety of colors (red, black or green) that can be changed at will. The watch retails for approximately$4,950., making it a blast of a price.
A Timely Event: Friday Night in LA, Classics with Andrea Bocelli and Girard-Perregaux
This Friday night, if you are looking for a great time in LA, attend a gala event at the Beverly Hilton featuring the world’s highest selling solo artist in classical music, Andrea Bocelli, as he launches the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. The Benefit Gala on December 9 features a special performance by Bocelli, as well as David foster, Heather Headley and Anna Maria Martinez.
Girard-Perregaux, iconic luxury Swiss watch brand, has partnered with Bocelli in the launch of the new foundation. “His accomplishments as an artist and philanthropist are an inspiration to all of us and we are happy to support him in this new pursuit,” says CEO of Sowind Group (Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard) Michele Sofisti.
Says Andrea Bocelli. “Every human being has the right to be happy, fulfilled and to live a flourishing and meaningful life. I want to help those who face barriers in achieving their life’s potential”.
Time Capsules : Product – Hublot Watches Partners with Ferrari, Unveils Big Bang Ferrari
Well, ok, for those in the know, the Ferrari watch license has gone around the block more than a couple of times. Way back a couple of decades ago, a division of the then Cartier Group was producing Ferrari accessories, writing instruments and timepieces. Then came the famous Girard-Perregaux alliance approximately a decade ago, followed by another partnership and then a Panerai collaboration. Whew – the alliances are not quite as fast as the cars, but they keep you on your toes.
Now, Swiss luxury watch brand, Hublot has formed a relationship with Ferrari – and has unveiled the first genuine Ferrari Stamped Hublot watch. Created in a limited edition of just 20 pieces, the Big Bang Chrono Tourbillon Ferrari made its debut in China – and is, in fact, exclusively for the Chinese market. The unveiling celebrated Hublot’s announcement of its watchmaking partnership with Ferrari. More than just a watchmaking collaboration, however, the Hublot agreement is a comprehensive package covering the full range of activities in terms of Ferrari brand image and commercial activities including “Official Watch” of Ferrari, “Official Timekeeper” of Ferrari, “Official Timekeeper” of Scuderia Ferrari, “Official Watch” of Scuderia Ferrari, “Official Timekeeper” of the Ferrari Challenge, and partners in Ferrari special events with which Hublot will be closely associated. It should be a fun ride. We’ll keep you posted.