Hard Timers: How Hublot Conjured its Magic Gold
The Hublot brand is known for its use of unusual materials, including cermet (a mix of ceramic and metal), tungsten, and something the brand named Hublonium (an alloy of magnesium and aluminum). Now the company has unveiled one more: a very hard and therefore scratch-resistant alloy of gold Hublot has dubbed Magic Gold. Click here to read our report on how Hublot creates it.Despite all the excellent properties of conventional gold, it is very soft. Measured on the Vickers scale, 18k gold has a hardness of 140. By comparison, the steel alloy that's commonly used for watch cases and bracelets, 316L stainless steel, ranges between 200 and 240 on the Vickers scale. Rose gold is slightly harder than yellow gold because there's more copper in rose gold. Magic Gold, however, scores nearly 1,000 on the Vickers scale.Hublot is not the first to introduce a harder form of gold. In 2010, A. Lange & S?hne developed a gold alloy for its 165th Anniversary Homage to F.A. Lange watch. It refers

UTS Watches Launches Two New Diver 1000 v2 Models
Munich-based UTS Watches announces the launch of two handsome new Diver 1000 v2 models. The first is a GMT which uses a top grade ETA 2893-2 movement regulated in 5 positions, with Glucydor balance wheel and Incabloc shock protection. This model displays local time plus a second time zone via a GMT hand that completes one revolution in 24 hours. The GMT hand can be set with a quick corrector. The second model provides time and date with center seconds driven by a top grade ETA 2824-2 movement with Glucydor balance wheel and Incabloc shock protection. Both watches are 43mm diameter and 14.5mm in height.As we go to press, the MSRPs on these models are still to be determined. Both watches are available only at UTSWatches. The images below can be enlarged with a click.

Auction Watch: Christie's Harry Winston Opus Collection Results
On May 30th, 2012 Christie's auction house in Hong Kong was host to the latest installment in their "Important Watches" auction series (which included a ton of watches). While this auction featured much of the normal fare from Panerai and Rolex, the main call for interest was an unparallelled representation of the Harry Winston Opus line. We have written of the Opus line in the past, but for those not in the know Opus is essentially a distinct line of Harry Winston timepieces which have been created in a collaborative partnership between Harry Winston and many of modern Horology's most talented independent watch makers. The concept behind the Opus collection comes from the powerhouse mind of Max Busser who ran Harry Winston's watch division before founding MB&F in 2004/2005. Harry Winston works with one independent watch maker per year to produce a limited edition watch which is then announced into the fan fare of BaselWorld. Though when the watches are actually released to custome

Omega SMP Chrono 2594.50 America's Cup Edition
pretty sure this may have been discussed at some point in the last 8 years but any ideas why some say Amercas Cup in small text below the chronometer script and some don't but Omega gave them the same ref #???i'm selling mine and a question came up on that matter. i called my Omega Ad today and they couldn't answer the question with certainty... the sales rep didn't even know the ref# but in their defense, it was a limited run SMP.any info is appreciated!

Just got the 422 today..
Its Monday, I called my AD, they had one in stock, went to pick it up couple of minutes ago.Strap is soft and comfortable, the 47mm size was initially thought of as too large for me, so far so good.Thanks for reading, and a quick pic...*gonna get some straps for this one!