Dominique Renaud Joins HYT Watches
Earlier today at the new HYT headquarters in Neuchatel, the "hydro-mechanical horologists" announced that concept watchmaker Dominique Renaud? (the "R" in APRP) would join the team as head of the?Fine Watchmaking department - presumably an arm of the company involved in items such as the HYT H2 watch and what is meant to come next.In case you're wondering who on earth Dominique Renaud is, his last name should ring a bell. A graduate of the National Watchmaking School of Besan?on back in the 1970's, Dominique went on to work as a watchmaker at Audemars Piguet. While working at their skeleton workshop, he met another talented watchmaker by the name of Giulio Papi. Both having a thirst for working with complications, they decided to leave Audemars Piguet and set up their own manufacture, Renaud et Papi. With a mission to come up with totally new complications and build on existing ones (this was back in 1989), it didn't take long for their former employer to take interest in their work.In

Baselworld Best Watches: Top 11 For 2011
The end of Baselworld is like coming down off a really brutal high. The intense energy of the show is only matched by how busy you are. Nights are filled with long European style dinners that take forever, but go by quickly as the conversation is engaging. Watch lovers can be themselves - this is our week. And even though the show is that long, you can only manage to see a fraction of the exhibiting brands. New things come at you around each corner, and items you've only seen as computer renderings come to life. The best part is by far the people; the gossip, the laughs, and thankfully this year �� the optimism. More orders than last year seems to be a sober but enthusiastic claim made across the board. Few brands leave without smiles on their faces, while the major brands are all celebrating due to increased sales in key markets. If retailers are buying watches then it means they have a pretty good reason to think they can sell them. It will still take a year or two before many US ret

The 15400...
...beautiful from all angles.

Omega boutique in KoP open
I just got mail from Simon Malls that the King of Prussia Mall Omega boutique has been open. I'll go check it out probably next weekend.

5130 dials
Hi all,Lately I am having a worldtimer obsession. Browsing a lot, trying to find something unique (if I can use this word in this context) however not breaking my bank account.To the point - I found 5130 R with two different dial versions as below: one on the right is from official Patek website.5130 r dubai.jpg1. As I understand it is not a Dubai limited edition (on the left), just a different dial version for different continents perhaps?Could somebody elaborate it as I was not able to find a lot of explanation on the web. I know there are limitations like green dial Mecca (which is as well printed in green) or Jerusalem, however this one doesn't look this way.2. The pic below - Istanbul -seems like a limited one. If it is - does anyone know how many were produced, is there really any exclusivity/collectibility going with it?istanbul.jpg3. Which worldtimer (please exclude 5131's, and all pieces with sky high prices, I mean regulars but also 5110's) would you pick as a rarest, most un