Archive for December, 2008

If you’re in the market for a new watch, your first instinct may be to go to the shops and just buy one.

But the truth is that some of the most exciting watches are actually to be found in the second-hand market.

Buying second-hand gives you a chance to buy antique watches that have real character and are beautiful to look at.

The key is to go to a source with a lot of high quality antique watches to examine, such as an auctioneers.

Fellows & Sons in Birmingham puts on four watch sales a year. And you can see the range in its online catalogue: http://www.fellows.co.uk/ShowAuction.asp?sAuctionNumber=909.

In total there are 472 items for sale in the next auction on Monday 22nd October 2007: http://www.fellows.co.uk/

Luckily it doesn’t matter where in the world you live.

The 131 year old company makes a real time audio feed available for its antique watch sales, and encourages live internet bidding: http://www.fellows.co.uk/home/Internet-Buying.asp.

Some of the most exciting items in the next sale include:

A lady’s 18 carat gold manual wind wristwatch with an integral bracelet, diamond bezel and gold coloured batons and hands. The watch has a 17 jewel movement signed Beuche Girod. And it’s valued at £700 to £1,000.

A gentleman’s 9 carat gold two piece cushion cased manual wrist watch from 1947. It is hallmarked Birmingham and comes complete with the original box and invoice. The watch is expected to sell for £120 to £180.

A gentleman’s 1940s Longines 9 carat gold manual wind wrist watch. It has a 17 jewel movement and is fitted to a 9 carat gold link bracelet with locking clasp. Fellows’ experts have valued it at £150 to £200.



Replica Chanel Watches

Much to the consternation of traditionalists in the watch making world, the introduction of digital watches has literally changed the face of timekeeping. From the very beginning of mechanical timepiece design, clock and watch faces have featured analog movements with two hands, one showing the hour the other showing the minutes. Eventually a sweep hand was added to denote the seconds passing by.

This configuration remained as the standard for hundreds of years and is still the dominate feature of watches today. The electronics revolution the swept through the consumer products market in the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies was not lost on how watches and other timepieces were designed. There were two innovations in particular that helped propel a new look and function into the watch market.

Having a lasting impact on watch design the first design innovation was the introduction of the electric watch powered by a battery. The principle advantage to the addition of a battery was eliminating the need to mechanically wind the mainspring of the watch.

One perceived disadvantage was that the watch was not made anymore accurate and whether the addition of a battery would have a positive impact on reliability was still somewhat an unknown. The battery as a power source paved the way for another important design innovation.

The second and probably most important design innovation was rooted in the growing use of light emitting diodes or LEDs which were originally developed for use in space craft. Power consumption and conservation are critical factors in the design of manned spacecraft and unmanned satellites and light emitting diodes brought a sea change in space exploration.

LEDs are a solid state device that was a complete departure from the age old technology of the incandescent light bulb. By design, LEDs consumed only a fraction of the power needed by incandescent or fluorescent lights.

It is thought by many that a Russian, Oleg Vladimirovich created the first light emitting diode in nineteen twenty six and that his early research was never taken seriously. The mid nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties saw a flurry of additional research on the phenomenon of electroluminescence found that the chemical reaction of charged gallium arsenide produced a bright, visible light. The reaction that took place was nearly identical to that which takes places in transistors.

So by the early nineteen seventies LEDs were being incorporated into a number of consumer products and it was not long before the humble wrist watch was changed forever. The first watch model to take advantage of the emerging LED technology was the Pulsar that was introduced in nineteen seventy two by the Hamilton Watch Company.

The first Pulsar was expensive but that fact alone did stop its successful market launch and the watch became popular with those buyers who were interested in sporting the latest technology. The unique nature of the Pulsar and its success drove efforts by competitors to reduce the price of this new look in order to increase demand among consumers.

It was not long before another emerging technology came along that improved on the original concept of a watch with a digital readout. Liquid crystal display technology appeared right the heels of the LED watch and the face of timekeeping was changed yet again.

Requiring far less power than the LED, the liquid crystal display resulted in longer life for watch batteries and the technology is still a dominate force in all manner of high tech products. LCD technology can be seen everywhere today, often in modern computer monitors, wide screen televisions and other electronic devices such as cell phones and MP3 players and automobile dashboard displays.



Replica Swiss Watches

The Swiss have been always been known for producing finely crafted goods including watches and clocks and were long considered by many to be the undisputed champs in precision and reliability. But in this corner, we have a new contender and, like this Swiss, they are geographically small and short on natural material resources. What these two have in common is a drive for perfection and a keen interest in maintaining their hard earned reputations. The Japanese, long thought of as producing reliable and functional cars and cameras have become a major force in the world of wrist watches.

One needs to go back to the end of World War II to understand fully just how the Japanese have progressed in producing competitively priced and highly reliable consumers goods from the ashes of war. Post war Japan was in a shambles with its economy and commercial infrastructure destroyed. What commercial interests that did survive had very limited access to raw materials or machine tooling. With the help of its former enemies, Japan began a slow and painful process of rebuilding its shattered economic base.

Attempting to produce goods in a hurry, quality suffered and the term Made in Japan became synonymous with shoddy merchandise of very dubious quality. A handful of Japanese entrepreneurs like Akio Morita the founder of Sony saw opportunity in tragedy and set about to change the public perception of goods produced in and exported from Japan.

Meanwhile, the Swiss, having been spared the fate that befell Japan, continued on a steady path of producing goods that were not only in demand but carried an aura of craftsmanship and style. Out of necessity, the Japanese had to do more with less and reinvent how products were designed and manufactured. An American, Dr. W. Edward Deming had a profound impact on reshaping the manufacturing landscape in Japan that endures today.

Deming, along with other like minded professionals helped the Japanese to establish entirely new systems that integrated the processes of design, engineering, production and quality control. A key ingredient of the Deming model was the inclusion of customer service into the production process and can still be seen in modern business models worldwide. As history shows us, the result was the creation of a manufacturing powerhouse that became the eventual model for many American manufacturers.

These tremendous strides in the way consumer goods were produced in Japan was not lost on watch makers. For example, the Citizen Watch Company has been producing quality precision watches and timepieces since the company was founded in 1930. Japanese manufacturers saw great opportunity in the development of highly precise machine tools supporting everything from automobile production to the manufacture of aircraft. Taking the wise counsel they received from Dr. Deming, many Japanese companies expanded on Demings Fourteen Principles and began to incorporate the engineering philosophy of design for manufacturability.

The guiding principle behind this philosophy was to integrate the design and manufacturing functions, which in turn led to increased production efficiencies and increased levels of quality. These lessons were not lost on the growing Citizen Company and the result was the production of very precise watch components, greater reliability and ease of repair.

The Seiko Company was a major of clocks and watches, producing its first wrist watches beginning in nineteen thirteen, with the brand name of Seiko first appearing on timepieces in nineteen twenty four. They too adopted many of Deming’s principles in the post war era and, like Citizen, have became a brand name well known for quality and innovation having introduced the first digital watch that featured a multifunction design not found on other digital wrist watches.



Replica A.Lange & Sohne Watches

Gone are the days of the old hourglass watches. Enter the era of fashion jewelry style watches that, besides telling the time are a statement about the wearer’s standing in society. Now, knowing the time is but a part of the overall functionality of present day watches. Times have indeed changed from the early sundials and hourglasses and these cumbersome timepieces have given way to the wristwatches such as the Patek Phillipe and the fashion jewelry style watches found in most watch stores today.

Mostly A Women’s Item Of Wear

Of course, you may be thinking that fashion jewelry style watches are only for women and you would be mostly right, but still the male wearer has also begun to wear items such as chains and rings as well as fashion jewelry style watches. With fashion demanding that watches be dressy and elaborate it is not surprising that many manufacturers are selling fashion jewelry style watches to cater to the changing needs of watch wearers.

You will find that such watches are made from precious metals as well as stones and that is why they are classified as Jewelry watches. You can find them in jewelry stores as well as retail shops selling watches. The buyer likes the ornamental feel of the fashion jewelry style watches as it will elevate the wearer’s status.

It is common to find that the fashion jewelry style watches use diamonds, rubies, sapphires as well as other precious stones along with gold, silver and platinum to make them objects of art and thus more appealing and easier to sell. You can find them available in bulk or you can have one customized.

Though most fashion jewelry style watches are of the wrist watch variety it is also possible to find some pocket watches that are made along the same lines. Some of these watches are antique pieces whose value is pretty high and they are most sought after. Many a red carpet has been trod on with a fashion jewelry style watch on the wrist of the celebrity.

In fact, fashion jewelry style watches are being marketed and most leading names in the watch business field are lending their names to such watches including Tiffany, Gucci, Rolex, Tissot and Tag Huer among others. You can also expect to find many different designs for the male and female wearer and it is usual for a watch collector to have more than one such watch in his or her collection.

So, if you want a watch that tells more than time but can adhere to fashion trends as well as stand the test of time then look for a branded fashion jewelry style watch.



Replica Chanel Watches

am Watch Company founded by Aaron Dennison, David Davis and Edward Howard pioneered the manufacturing of interchangeable parts. Set up in America, Massachusetts to be more specific and incorporated in 1851, it produced a broad line of affordable pocket and wrist watches in a large factory located along the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Massachusetts. The city is about 10 miles west of Boston.

After the initial early company ran into financial difficulties and was sold at Sheriff’s auction, Mr. Dennison and Edward Howard, embarked on creating the world’s first enterprise aimed at mass watch production. After a few years of difficulties and setbacks, the best engineers and a skilled labour force were eventually employed, considerably increasing the production of watches at a low cost in the 1860s. The Waltham Company went through several changes throughout the 1800s and with each of these changes came more unique watches, but most of the collectable, antique pocket watches come from before the turn of the century. Railroad watches are particularly appealing to collectors for several reasons, even though the faces are very plain. The quality of Railroad watches was very high, second only to chronometers and the company was also the first to comply with the needs of the railroad industry, but they were quickly followed by all of the other major American watch manufacturers, including Illinois, Elgin and Hamilton. It is these pocket watches, frequently featuring as many as 23 jewels and six adjustable positions instead of five, that are most sought after by collectors. American watch manufacturers were obsessed primarily with uniformity of their movements. The Waltham Watch Company continued to mass produce watches right up until 1957.

Antique pocket watches are not accurate by today’s standards. A good watch, cleaned and adjusted with care, can achieve an accuracy of +/- one minute per 24 hours. Watch cases were made in a variety of metals. You can usually find out what type of metal your case is made out of by looking inside the back cover. Watches would have to keep accurate time to within fractions of a minute per week. They would need to be impervious to temperature swings or the orientation in which they were held. Case parts such as bezels are mostly not available; they must be taken from another watch. Generic parts such as crowns and crystals can usually, but not always, be obtained. Cases are buffed, crystals are polished and bands are cleaned. Mechanical watches utilize energy from a wound spring. They keep time through a regulated release of energy through the wheel train, which is a set of gears, and an escapement.

Here are a few old fashioned watchmaker’s tips to get you going:

Removing Movement from Case - The first thing to do is take the watch, or rather its mechanism or “movement.” out of the case. In the Waltham, the movement is held in the case by two dog screws at the edge of the back plate. Having turned these, the movement can be pushed out from the back of the case. It will be noticed that near to the two o’clock there is a small pin in the edge of the movement, which fits into a hole in the case edge and keeps the movement in position when the dog screws are tightened. Having taken the movement out it will be seen to consist of a frame containing the barrel and train wheels. On the front of it is the dial and on the back, held by the balance ****. This, together with the hairspring, is really the most important part of the watch; the timekeeping depends on it, and it serves the same purpose as the pendulum of the clock. When set vibrating, or revolving backward and forwards under the influence of its hairspring, it will move quite regularly, whether it is turning only a quarter of a turn each way or a turn and a half. As a matter of fact, there is in most watches an extremely small difference between times of the long and short vibrations, but this may be ignored for the present. The consequence of this equality in time of the vibrations of the balance is that, provided the mechanism of the watch is in fair order and capable of keeping the balance vibrating, the watch is sure to keep fairly good time, provided the balance and hairspring are themselves in perfect order. If the balance or spring is faulty, then the best possible mechanism in the rest of the watch will fail to make it go well. The essential points of a good balance are as follows: It must be in perfect poise - that is to say, its rim must have no heavy part, but balanced exactly, so that no matter in what position the watch is held, the balance will act the same. Then it must have fine and smooth pivots, working in well-fitting and smooth jewel holes and the ends of the pivots must rest on smooth end stones. The balance itself must revolve quite freely, not being nipped by the presence of the end stones on the pivots, but having just the least consequence of lift or end shake to ensure absolute freedom. The balance must not touch anything as it revolves or its freedom of motion will be impaired. For instance, the balance cross-arm sometimes touches the outer coils of the hairspring, and in such a case it cannot possibly keep time. The hairspring must be flat and true in its coils, not wobbling as the balance turns; and it must not touch anything. So the first thing to look at, on taking the watch out of its case, is the balance and hairspring. Give it a spin, and see if it revolves truly. Hold the watch up to the light and look at the pivots sideways as the balance revolves. If they are bent, a wobbling will be discernible. Try the end shake with the points of a pair of fine tweezers, lifting the balance rim and letting it fall again to see what lift it has. When doing this do not look at the rim, as that may be bent, and so be deceptive, but watch the roller or the top pivot. Then the exact amount of lift can be seen. If the balance seems true and free, look at its spring carefully. If that is also free, and seems perfect, the balance cock, may be removed, together with the attached balance and spring, and passed as in fair order.



Replica Omega Watches

The unique style of Citizen Watches. Ladies Watches – The Ideal Gift

Men give women jewelry for many reasons – and ladies watches may be the best choice in many cases. Why? Because timepieces are not only attractive, but practical as well; designer watches are appropriate for many relationships and occasions in which more traditional kinds of jewelry may not be. Fortunately, when it comes to ladies watches, there are many choices available at a wide range of prices.

A Short History of Ladies’ Watches

In fact, the first luxury watches were designed for women. Men had been carrying pocket watches since the 1600s, and these were practical tools for the most part – not fashion statements (in fact, railroad men were required to have good pocket watches, and these were inspected for accuracy frequently). The “bracelet watch” was an accessory among some women of the Victorian era; first appearing in the U.S. shortly following the end of the Civil War. It was probably not until the 1940s that wrist watches designed especially for women actually became popular among the general female population. Today, ladies gold watches by recognized industry leaders such as Citizen, Movado and Cartier continue to be popular as gifts.

Quality Luxury Watches From Around The World

Movado watches from Switzerland are practically the epitome of quality timepieces that feature unparalleled accuracy. Esperanto for “I move,” the Movado Company offers over 100 different models of ladies watches; it is likely that with some many of these distinct, minimalist women’s Movado watches to choose from, one could have a difficult time making a decision.

Citizen Watches have also defined quality and reliability when it comes to timepieces; over the past eighty years or so, they have set the standards by which designer watches are judged. This achievement is all the more impressive when one realizes that country in which this company was founded – Japan – had not been industrialized for very long when the Shoshoka Watch Institute started operations in 1918. Twelve years later, the name of the company was changed to Citizen; their line of luxury watches has long defined quality timepieces.

Timely Gifts For All Occasions

Ladies watches are not only a great gift for wives and sweethearts, but also for mothers, aunts, sisters, and esteemed co-workers. Nothing acknowledges a job well done than the gift of designer watches, yet are not as personal as other jewelry such as rings, bracelets or necklaces. Such timepieces are available in a wide range of styles and prices as well. When the occasion calls for a gift that is at once of value, timeliness and appropriate for any occasion, one can never go wrong by presenting ladies’ watches.



Replica Omega Watches

You are looking to buy a GPS tracking watch and want to know who makes the best one. The answer to that may be simple, there are only three well known companies making them; Garmin, Timex and Suunto. That’s not to say there aren’t other companies out there making cheap knock offs, but we won’t focus on them.

Some might say “What about Casio? They are a well known company.” That is true and they make some fine products but they no longer make a GPS watch so that leaves Garmin, Timex and Suunto.

When looking at the models being offered by each company you will find a variety of available features. I think it is important to mention what these watches won’t do since there may be some misconceptions out there.

Many of us have, or have seen a GPS system in a car or boat. These are really neat gadgets to have and can be a real time saver especially for those who travel extensively for work or pleasure. These units display your position on a map and may include landmarks like restaurants, gas stations, etc.

GPS watches have very small display screens so the mapping feature is not practical. Neither is the voice feature present to tell you when to turn!

GPS tracking watches use satellites to pinpoint a position, then with continuing updates of the position, they display data for speed, distance, elevation and more, depending on the model. Options might include a heart rate monitor or cycling cadence tracker.

You may quickly see a couple of important variations in the way the companies package their GPS watches. In all cases, the systems use a GPS receiver and a digital time piece to carry out the calculations. Being a watch they all offer the display of data in what appears to be a wrist watch although sometimes quite large.

The GPS receiver may be contained within the watch or, separately, strapped to the arm or possibly mounted on a belt.

It would be wise to give this issue some thought before making a purchase. I would prefer to have the watch and GPS receiver self contained and worn like a traditional watch, but opinions vary.

Garmin has the Forerunner 205, 305 and 405 which are all-in-one models, having the appearance of a digital wristwatch but of larger size. They also offer the Forerunner 101 and 102 which use a Velcro strap around the wrist but have the appearance more similar to wearing an iPod.

The Garmin line uses a receiver that is built in and wraps around the wristband, a bit, to keep it oriented to the sky for better reception. The units also include a USB to share data with your PC. An A/C battery charger is used to top off the battery which generally provide about 8 to 10 hours of tracking use.

Timex has been making watches almost forever and has offered athletic oriented models for decades. They use a separate watch / GPS receiver approach unlike Garmin. This does have some advantages, including the ability to wear the watch everyday since it is small enough to be practical. When the time arises you simply turn on and secure the separate GPS receiver and you are ready to go. Timex also offers an almost endless array of athletic watches.

The third manufacturer is Suunto which as you might guess offers several models. They generally have the appearance resembling a typical digital wristwatch. The GPS receiver is contained in a separate wireless unit so the watch can remain very compact. Typical options are; altimeter, barometer, countdown timers heart rate monitors etc.

The technology evolves continuously so smaller, cheaper models will likely become available in the near future. It will also be interesting to see if other companies will join in and offer their own line of GPS tracking watches.



Replica Cartier Watches

The Casio consumer GPS wrist watch was first introduced the world in Las Vegas, the year was 1999. the global positioning system technology has been in place since the late 70s and has become invaluable. When GPS watches first became available to the market, they were quite expensive. However, like most great technology GPS watches are now affordable to everyone at very reasonable prices.

GPS watches serve many purposes. A very common use of the GPS watch is for the those who train outdoors. A good GPS watch will include an altimeter for those who need to measure elevation. Another more common feature of the GPS watch is the heart rate monitor, which is essential for those who monitor there vital signs while training. The GPS can keep track of your starting point and finishing point , and with data acquired as you train, you will now know how much time has elapsed and exactly how far you have gone.

Whether you are walking, hiking, climbing or riding a bike, the GPS watch can help you with planning these endevours. This is also a great way to create maps. Some offer the option to show you terrain, and sometimes even denote construction areas to make planning your trip more efficient. You will never have to worry about getting lost, because you GPS watch will record the data so you can backtrack.

This tiny gadget can help you keep track of locations you’d like to return to my marking the exact location. It also comes in handy in the event of an emergency. When you need to communicate your location to a rescue crew, he can give them your exact location, so they can get to you quickly.

And, just as you would expect from the watch, your GPS watch can tell you the exact time, retrieving the information from the GPS satellite for accuracy.

We are sure you will find many useful ways to use a wrist watch GPS.



Replica Piaget Watches

What do mens gold watches have to do with the Great American Songbook? Well, in 1930, the songwriting team of Vincent Youmans, Mack Gordon and Harold Adamson penned the sentimental hit Time On My Hands. Coincidentally, by that time the quintessentially masculine accoutrement known as the pocket watch had fallen out of favor. Men’s watches had leapt out of the pocket, off the fob chain that had carried it for almost two hundred years, and onto the wrists of men all over the country. Mens gold watches had traditionally been presented as retirement gifts, but now were increasingly worn on gold and leather wristbands.

They Used to be For Ladies

The first timepieces designed for the wrist were actually miniature clocks mounted on ladies’ bracelets. These “bracelet watches” were first made available in the years just after the American Civil War.

The first men’s wrist watches were designed by Louis Cartier, which remains one of the leading names in luxury watches. These early men’s wrist watches were designed for use by the first aviators, whose planes lacked fuel gauges. The only way to know how much fuel remained was to keep track of the time, but traditional pocket watches were highly impractical when piloting what amounted to a kite with a gasoline engine and a fuel tank.

Today’s Luxury Watches

Modern mens wrist watches are more accurate and far more durable than those of a century ago. Today however, they are more than just timepieces; men’s gold watches serve as adornment as well. In fact, mens watches are the one piece of jewelry other than wedding bands that men regularly wear. In addition to retirement, mens watches are excellent gifts for anniversaries and other special occasions.

Some of the other leading names in luxury watches other than Cartier include Rolex, Harry Winston, Movado and Citizen.

Timepieces from the prestigious firm of Harry Winston as well as those by Rolex can be rather costly; at anywhere from $5000 - $16,000, these are definitely not for everyone. However, Movado manufactures excellent mens watches and offers many of these for well under $1000. Men’s wrist watches from Cartier fall in between these prices; the low end is around $2000, while the top model – a “chronograph” originally designed for the Pasha of Marrakech – fetches around $9200.

The fact is that when it comes to men’s gold watches and other high-end timepieces, there’s a wide range of styles and prices available. It pays to take your time and do a lot of comparison shopping when looking at mens gold watches.



Replica Chanel Watches

With over two dozen factories around the world the Citizen Watch Company has been producing quality precision watches and timepieces since the company was founded in 1930. The years have seen the company grow and expand into other technology products and became a major force in the digital liquid crystal display, microelectronics and optical devices markets.

 

The expertise the company gained through the introduction of quartz timepieces was significant to the tremendous growth in the production of televisions and high resolution digital projectors.

 

Since the founding of the company, over two hundred million watches have been produced. Though competing companies such as Casio have gained ground in the growing market for practical and rugged watches, the Citizen Watch Company lays claim to introducing the first line of shockproof watches as well as waterproof watches designed for the rigors of diving. Seeing a market for affordable and reliable timepieces that Citizen had, as part of its mission, the idea of offering quality watches that would be within reach of people of modest means. This goal was made possible in part by designing watches that were durable enough for everyday wear and less likely to break under conditions of average use.

 

In the years after World War Two, Japanese manufacturers saw great opportunity in the development of highly precise machine tools supporting everything from automobile production to the manufacture of aircraft.  Many Japanese companies incorporated the engineering philosophy of design for manufacturability. The guiding principle behind this philosophy was to integrate the design and manufacturing functions which in turn led to increased production efficiencies and increased levels of quality. These lessons were not lost on the growing Citizen Company and the result was the production of very precise watch components, greater reliability and ease of repair.

 

Seiko Watch HistorySince the end of World War Two, Japanese manufacturers have brought innovation, style and reliability to a wide range of products from cars, computers, cameras and a host of other hi-tech consumer goods. Competing on the world stage, Japan has earned its reputation for giving consumers good value. A shortage of physical space and few natural resources has driven the Japanese to become extremely efficient and focused on detail.  All of these attributes can be found in companies like Seiko which has become the first name in Japanese timekeeping technology, with a reputation that predates the war by over four decades.

 

Founded in the late nineteenth century, Seiko was a major of clocks and watches, producing its first wrist watches beginning in nineteen thirteen, with the brand name of Seiko first appearing on timepieces in nineteen twenty four. The Seiko brand name gained worldwide notoriety as a result of the nineteen sixty four Olympic Games held in Tokyo. Seiko earned the honor as official timekeeper during the games which were the first Olympic competition to be widely broadcast on television and Seiko has continued its relationship with the Olympic Games as well as providing trusted timekeeping technologies to other major sporting events including the World Cup.

 

Seiko has developed a reputation for innovative designs and features not found on other brands of wrist watches. Taking full technological advantage of quartz and microelectronics, Seiko introduced the first digital watch that featured a multifunction design not found on other digital wrist watches. Seiko became known for its ultra-accurate self winding watches that incorporated integrated circuit technology. Further use of microelectronics can be seen in the worlds first television watch which was introduced by Seiko in nineteen eighty two. In nineteen eighty four Seiko produced a watch that featured with functions that mimicked those found in early personal computers. In addition to watches and other timepieces, Seiko has expanded its product offerings to include precision optics.



Replica Bvlgari Watches