New releases - Krayon Anywhere

The brand’s second creation indicates the length of the day and the time at which the sun rises and sets. Dedicated hands, placed in the centre of the dial, display the hours and minutes. A small sun circulates in perpetual motion upon an annular zone, indicating the time over 24 hours. The annular zone has two sectors: day (sky blue) and night (dark blue). The respective lengths constantly change, indicating by their position the sunrise and sunset times that can be read from the fixed indicator ring. A 39 mm pink or white gold case houses the 5 mm thick in-house movement. 

Nota per i lettori di lingua italiana: il Giornale degli Orologi ha pubblicato un articolo di Marco Strazzi su questo modello. Clicca qui per leggerlo.

 

 

Classic timepieces - Roamer Calendar (ca. 1950)

The latest mini-documentary from 10e10.ch's YouTube channel: a 100 percent in-house made watch of the early 1950s - complicated but reasonably priced. Enjoy!

 

Orologi vintage - Roamer Calendar (circa 1950)

Il nuovo mini-documentario dal Canale YouTube di 10e10.ch: un modello di manifattura dei primi Anni 50, complicato ma economico. Buona visione!

 

Timepieces at auction

The catalog of Christie’s 7 November Geneva auction includes a few timepieces that are remarkable for different reasons.

  

The Swiss mountain guide, chemist and oxygen specialist Jürg Marmet wore this Rolex Ref. 6298 on his successful ascent of the Mount Everest on 23 May 1956. He was only the third human ever to reach the world’s highest peak. Part of the route that the Swiss team chose to climb Everest enabled them to simultaneously conquer the world’s fourth-highest mountain, Lhotse, for the first time. 

The engraving on the case back refers to the 1953 expedition to Baffin Island (Canada). Estimate: CHF 20’000-40’000 

This is the Number 1 Ref. 5402SA, the stainless steel and gold ‘Jumbo’ Royal Oak made from 1977 to 1985 in a total of 951 examples. Estimate: CHF 200’000-400’000.

This timepiece belongs to the Cartier ‘Paris Crash’ series released in 1991 as a tribute to the model produced by the brand’s London branch in the late 1960s. Jean-Jacques Cartier and the designer Rupert Emmerson were behind the creation of the original Crash. Estimate: CHF 120’000-180’000.

Only three examples of the Rolex Cosmograph Ref. 6263 'Paul Newman Lemon Dial' are known to exist. This is the oldest one, dating back to 1969, meaning that it predated some of the latest examples of the earlier 'pump pusher' Refs 6262 and 6264. Estimate: CHF 3,000,000-5,000,000.

Reference 1518 is the earliest Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch serially produced and the first produced by any manufacturer, ever. This one is the only known example double-signed and certified by Cartier. Estimate: CHF 1,500,000-2,500,000.

 

Vintage ads - Ciny (1939)

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è sotto l'immagine)
"For the city – For swimming – For sports – For staff nurses”. This ad emphasised that the Ciny catalog offered timepieces suitable for a wide range of activities.       
Do you like vintage watch ads? Please visit the page about Watch Ads, my two-volume pictorial history of communication and design in 20th Century watchmaking. You can also watch the video about the publication and download a 20-page preview of Volume 1.
The vintage ads presented in this Blog are not featured in the Watch Ads books.  

ITALIANO 

"Per la città – Per il nuoto – Per lo sport – Per l’infermiera”. Questo annuncio sottolineava che il catalogo Ciny presentava orologi adatti per una vasta gamma d’attività.

Ti piacciono le pubblicità d'epoca? Visita la pagina su Watch Ads, la mia storia illustrata in due volumi della comunicazione e del design nell'orologeria del Novecento. Puoi anche guardare il video sull'opera e scaricare l'anteprima di 20 pagine del Volume 1.Gli annunci pubblicitari d'epoca presentati in questo Blog non sono inseriti nei volumi Watch Ads.

 

 

New releases - Code 41 Mecascape

 

A contraction of ‘mechanical’ and ‘landscape’, this timepiece can be easily slipped into a jacket pocket thanks to its thickness of only 7 mm. It features a main hour counter, minute counter, second counter, second time zone with the representation of a world map in the heart of the GMT disc, and power reserve indicator. An anti-reflective sapphire crystal and a Grade 5 titanium case ensure a structure suitable for everyday life. The movement is the result of the brand’s collaboration with the Cercle des Horlogers, an independent Swiss watchmaking workshop.

 

 

Historic timepieces - Churchill's watch

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è sotto la foto)  

This pocket watch was made in 1818 by Breguet and purchased in 1890 by John Spencer-Churchill, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Later on, it was worn by the most famous of his descendants, Winston Churchill, who called it "the Turnip". It is a yellow gold minute repeater with a split-second chronograph whose serial number is 765. Its current owner is Randolph Churchill, the great grandson of the former British Prime minister.  

I took this picture a few years ago, while visiting the Churchill War Rooms in London. The caption seen at the bottom of the display window is incorrect - the timepiece is a split-second rather than flyback chronograph and entered the Churchill family in 1890 rather than 1818. 

The Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman wore a Breguet-made replica of the Turnip in the movie "Darkest Hour" (2017). That timepiece is different from the original one, which does not feature the brand's name on the dial.

 

 

ITALIANO 

Questo orologio da tasca Breguet fu acquistato nel 1890 da John Spencer-Churchill, settimo Duca di Marlborough. In seguito fu indossato dal più celebre dei suoi discendenti, Winston Churchill, che lo battezzò "la Cipolla". Si tratta di una ripetizione minuti d'oro giallo con cronografo sdoppiante, il cui numero seriale è 765. L'attuale proprietario è Randolph Churchill, bisnipote dell'ex Primo ministro britannico. 

Ho scattato la foto qualche anno fa, durante una visita al museo Churchill War Rooms di Londra. Alcune delle informazioni riportate dalla targhetta visibile in fondo alla vetrina sono inesatte: l'orologio è un cronografo sdoppiante (non flyback) ed è proprietà della famiglia Churchill dal 1890 (non 1818). 

L'attore premio Oscar Gary Holdman ha indossato una replica della "Cipolla" creata da Breguet per il film "L'ora più buia". Il pezzo è diverso dall'originale, che non aveva il nome del fabbricante sul quadrante.