Motorola Moto 360 Watch Debuts Google 'Android Wear' OS: The Smartwatch For Everyone Is Here
Well everyone, Google is officially in the smartwatch business with the Motorola Moto 360 and the new Android Wear operating system. Last year, the men and women from Mountain View announced that a smartphone-oriented operating system was being developed specifically for smartwatches after rumors were being thrown around for quite some time. The OS will be called "Android-Wear" and it was now announced at the same time Google-owned Motorola debuted the upcoming Moto 360 Smartwatch. Likely to beat the release of an Apple iWatch device, the Moto 360 will be available for sale in 2014 and for many is the smartwatch they have been waiting for. This comes about a year after many industry insiders even doubted the future viability of the smartwatch industry. About 15 months ago, I knew this was inevitable and even proclaimed as much in a post discussing what an iWatch would be like.An Evolved Wearable Operating System For SmartwatchesThere are really two separate topics that need to be discu

Going To Be In The Netherlands In Early December? Attend Watch2008: The Independent & Innovative Watch Maker Show
Wow, I really want to go, but being in the US makes things hard. Watch2008 (Yes, there will be a Watch2009, etc...) is going to be an excellent show and dedicated to smaller and innovative watch makers that are more dedicated to the craft of making quality watches than some marketing image. An impressive list of manufacturers includes several I have never heard of, and plenty whose watches I will be lucky to ever see at all. There is something exciting about this. Especially owning one of these watch and knowing that you are likely the only person in your county (if not state) to own one.See the complete list of Watch2008 exhibitors here.Watch2008 will located at the Castle??Hoogenweerth in the Maastricht region of The Netherlands between Belgium and Germany. I've never been anywhere in the Netherlands outside of Amsterdam, and the Masstricht really couldn't be much further than Amsterdam and still in the country. It is situated in a scenic region between Germany and Belgium. Interesti

In-Depth: 9 Basic Things You Should Always Look At Before Buying A Vintage Rolex
Shopping for a vintage Rolex can be an intimidating task – frightening, even – given the number of fake and "Franken" watches lurking all around. We even showed you a bad one earlier this week. You've likely heard the advice “buy the seller” a million times before, and just as likely dismissed it. I wouldn't blame you, because in most cases a transaction doesn't scream shady business at first, leaving you to discover much later that your watch may not be as original as you were led to believe, hurting its collectibility, and thus its value. Therefore, this article aims to equip you with the key points that you should always check when hunting for your dream vintage Rolex.This checklist can’t claim to be comprehensive, as numerous books would not suffice to cover all the quirky features of the entire vintage production from Rolex. It will nonetheless provide you with the basic

AP ROO Rubberclad SS Black
Firstly, thank you to all who suggested, approved and set-up this AP sub-forum - great to have it here on TRF.As I have noted with several other members' posts, I too, am becoming increasingly interested in AP.The model that has captured my attention is the ROO Rubberclad Stainless Steel - black face - white (possibly silver?) sub-dials. I have yet to see the watch in person but it looks stunning from images. My only potential concern is that I am not sure about the rubber strap and feel if I could, might try and fit a black leather hornback with contrasting white stitching (sort of match the aesthetics of the dial). Herein lies my concern - being that this model has a rubber bezel might it not 'mesh' with a leather strap - the two different materials maybe not combining well together? I would be interested to hear if anybody has done this or if infact the general concensus is 'no, probably would not look/feel good - please all comments are welcome.I have looked and at circa $20-25

Patek at Auction Results: What's ahead?
A quick note/thread to discuss some of today's Christie's auction results. I bid on a particular reference today (did not win, but came damned close). Some references seemed to do OK, while others really surprised me on their low price. Yes, it's no secret that Patek sales are slow and auction prices are soft, but some of these results are quite interesting (in particular on the more complicated references) and make me wonder if we will continue to see a downward trend for some iconic and historically auction favorites.Let me know what you think. Thanks.The figures below are the all-in price paid by buyers (including premiums). Bad results that caught my eye:5131J - $100k5170G (Tiffany Dial - the watch that was of most interest to me) - $60k5970P - $168k! Sealed 5970G - $125k5102 Celestial - $143k5004G - $156kLadies 24 - $6kDecent results that caught my eye:5270 first generation - $112k5205G black dial - $40k5070R - $62k5396G - $118k5711 White Dial Tiffany Stamp - $47kI won't even comm