Why Did Patek Philippe Create its Own Quality Seal?
Patek Philippe, the most prestigious firm in the watch world, has thrown down a gauntlet to the Swiss watch industry. After 123 years, the Swiss brand replaced the Geneva Seal with a higher-standard seal of its own. Find out why in this article from WatchTime’s May-June 2009 issue.Patek Philippe has taken the unusual step of defining and codifying its own standard of excellence for a Swiss luxury watch and created its own quality mark ensuring that its watches have attained that quality. As a consequence, the firm has ended its 120-plus-year affiliation with the Geneva Seal quality mark. The company announced at the Baselworld exhibition in April 2009 that, starting that year, it will no longer submit its movements for inspection by the Geneva Seal Bureau. Instead, it will affix its own Patek Philippe Seal (an emblem with a double P) on its movements, testifying that they have met quality standards that the company claims are the most exclusive and stringent in the world.Patek'

COMCO: Swatch Group Can Stop Mechanical Movement Sales in 2020
Switzerland's Competition Commission (COMCO) has approved a plan allowing the Swatch Group to reduce gradually sales of mechanical movements to companies outside the group over the next six years, and to halt sales completely in 2020. Click here for details on the ruling.The mechanical movement ruling settles a controversial issue that has bedeviled the Swiss watch industry for the past four years. On the related �C and even more controversial �C issue of sales of escapements, the regulating organ in a mechanical watch, COMCO left in place its July 12 ruling that it is premature to allow any reductions in Swatch Group sales of those key components.The Swatch Group issued no formal reaction to the decision on mechanical movements. But it is a clear victory for the company, which declared its intention to stop selling mechanical movements and parts in late 2009. In June 2011, the Swatch Group officially informed COMCO of its decision and asked COMCO to rule on the matter.The Swatch Group

Bulgari Papillon Voyageur
Papillon means butterfly in French, and in this instance it refers to the unique and patented system for displaying the minutes on the new Papillon Voyager dual time zone travel watch from Bulgari. Find wallpaper images, launch date and pricing inside.    Bulgari's new travel watch offers an elegant and artful display that takes a few seconds to grasp. First, the easy parts: the local hours are displayed digitally in jump-hour fashion in the large window at 12 o'clock. The second time zone is indicated by the pointed end of the blued, centrally-mounted, tear-drop-shaped hand, which points to a skeletonized, guilloch�� 24-hour subdial. The local time is set via the crown, while the 24 hour hand is adjusted forward and back with push-buttons located at 10 o'clock (+) and 2 o'clock (-).Here's where things get creative: as shown below, the minutes are indicated by a pair of small hands with points at both ends, each of which turns or spins on a central axis while also rev

My Favorite Women's Watches From SIHH 2016
Last week we brought you our top picks overall from SIHH, but this week I wanted to share with you my top favorite picks from the women's side. There were plenty of ladies' watches to choose from but not all of them made the cut. Keep reading to see what my favorites were (hint: not all of them are "ladies"). 1. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Dual-Time 39 MM 1 OF 5 I love a good AP Royal Oak. The design is iconic and timeless and they can be worn by both men and women. That is why I have chosen this Royal Oak Dual-Time released at SIHH specifically FOR women. It isn’t necessarily a new watch (actually it was originally released in 1990) but it is new that AP is marketing it for women. The old and faithful automatic caliber 2329/2846 dual-time movement is in a 39 mm steel case with leather strap. Price is $27,700. 2. Cartier Crash In Pink Gold 2 OF 5 Another one of my favorites is also a reproduction of an old watch in a new m

Real world Panerai tool watch testing. First snow storm
After running the snow blower for 2 hours strait. My Panerai performed flawlessly. Lot of vibration and motion and the Pam's time was exactly the same after all the vibration.Wife took some pics so I made sure the Pam104 was visible.