Hamilton Ventura XXL: Blue Hawaii for the 21st Century
2010 would have been Elvis’s 75th birthday, and to mark the occasion, Hamilton is producing two new versions of the Ventura, made famous by the King in his 1961 movie “Blue Hawaii”. One commemorative model is a quartz-powered replica of the original. My focus will be on the second piece: the cool XXL Edition. The styling has been updated with larger dimensions, a gunmetal PVD case, and a perforated dial that lets the automatic ETA 2824-2 movement see a bit of sunlight.The XXL’s smooth, angular case flows into the black rubber strap. The curved crystal is sapphire, and the watch is water resistant to 50 meters. A touch of red stretches between 12 and 3 and carries over to the tip of the seconds hand. Black and white dials are available. The Ventura XXL will only be produced for one year. If you’re looking for something a little different, it’s priced at $1145, and it will be in stores in October. You can click the images below to view larger versions.

How Software Helps Design Complicated Watches Like The Franck Muller Giga Tourbillon
When it comes to watches, especially mechanical watches, there is no denying that they are incredibly complex miniature machines. Have you wondered how those watches are designed and validated before the first piece of metal is cut? This used to be entirely done by hand with drawings and slow prototyping. However, starting in the 1990s, the watch industry has moved toward using design and engineering software to create everything from cases to movements.SolidWorks is a software suite that many high-end watch makers rely on to design and test movements digitally. In a recent video we can see how a Franck Muller movement design can come together, such as the Giga Gong Tourbillon we're seeing in CAD.Frankly, after watching something like this, it seems almost indescribable that watchmakers were able to advance the craft as they did before the advent of tools like this. ?Of course, it probably involved a lot of trial and error, and fiddly modification of parts - in other words, quite a bit

New strap for 45mm PO
After over 3 months I finally received the call from the AD that my Omega rubber strap and deployant had arrived. Strap is # 98000366...Has a very nice curved fit to the case....The deployant is # 94522033...Interesting design; the tail of the strap is next to the wrist....I am puzzled by the pricing, however. These are BNIB parts and the AD charged me a total of $450 for the both of them. Seems like a good deal, almost too good. But that was what he quoted, I accepted, and I paid. I am really happy with this strap and deployant.....

Patek 175th Anniversary Auction
Fellas, heres a vid from Hodinkee about the 175th Anniversary auction for Patek. Interesting video as always from Hodinkee.Enjoy! There are some fantastic pieces here

Buying spring bars from Rolex
I went to Rolex Vancouver with the intention of purchasing spring bars for my 116610 and 116710. It's not that I needed those I just wanted to stock up just in case.The guy I was talking to said they dont have stocks and have to be ordered, which is fine. But I find it odd he was asking for serial nos. I gave him the model as I thought he had to order based on the model. He insisted for the serial nos and said they can't place an order without the serial number.Also the price he gave is CAD$60++ for a pair of spring bar and have to pay shipping of CAD$40++ for a total of $100 for pair.Do you have the same experience when buying spring bars at Rolex?Maybe because am not their valued customer?!