Cartier Crash Watch Returns
This is one of those irresistible stories to discuss no matter how many times it has been told or how morbid the details. It involves Cartier, one of the most mysterious and popular watch and jewelry brands on the planet, and stories like this make watch collecting worth the money.A few years ago I noticed a vintage Cartier watch that looked as though it had been melted. I barely believed it was real. It didn't have a name or details, but I realized something must have been special about it. I later learned that it was a Cartier Crash. Originally produced in 1967 and later in the early 1990s as a limited edition, this extremely rare watch is a testament to emotion influencing design and the oddity that is the luxury world. Cartier will release a new limited edition collection of the Crash watch for 2013 as a high-end?jewelry?piece on a bracelet. While this new edition is a vast departure from the theme of the original, it is interesting to see Cartier continue the legend of the Crash.A

Orbita Sparta 1 Mini Giveaway Winner Follow Up
aBlogtoReadwatches-dealer reader Michael L. was the lucky winner of the Orbita Sparta 1 Mini Watch Winder giveaway help a few months ago. He was nice enough to take some images of his winnings and provide his thoughts. I reviewed the Orbita Sparta 1 Mini myself here. Overall I think he really liked the winder for its easy functionality and quite use. Though Michael is a man which larger wrists, and some of his watches may have felt large (but not necessarily too large in the winder). Here are his thoughts (I comment a bit in there as well).The winder is not overly large, yet I was very pleasantly surprised that it could hold my watches just fine. I have larger than normal wrists, 8.25-8.5" around and tend to wear larger watches. A good size for me is 46 mm, and I can go up to 52 mm without it looking too silly. Most of my automatics are between 46 and 48 mm.The Orbita winder comes with two different pillows. The thicker of the two fit perfectly for my watches with bracelets sized to my

15400ST on a smaller wrist
So, I'm still on the hunt for a 15300 from a trusted TRF seller but no luck yet. There are plenty of 15400s available and they are usually priced lower so I'm considering going with one of those but I'm concerned with how it would fit my smallish 6.5 wrist. I don't have any access to AP near me so I'm unable to try them on.If you have a wrist smaller than 7 and own a 15400, I would love to see some wrist shots and your opinion about how it fits you. Thanks!

Pure and simple
I even sold my 3940R for this watch and couldn't be happier.

Panerai Design of Time Workshop in London
What a great morning this past Sunday. I was able to attend the Panerai Design of Time Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum....which which was actually a Hands-On Workshop around watchmaking. There was a table set-up with maybe 12 stations with either a P.999 or P.3000 movement to play with. It was only a 45 minute workshop, but it was a very special treat to be able to participate.There was even a table showing a running Tourbillon movement. s606.photobucket/user/msz...85a70.mp4.html