My First Grail Watch: Michele Sofisti Of Gucci Watches, Girard-Perregaux, And JEANRICHARD
Welcome back to the original watches-dealer feature, "My First Grail Watch." In this series, we ask prominent people in the watch industry about the first timepiece that they lusted after. Today, we're speaking with Michele Sofisti, who has been in the watch industry since the mid-90s, and has be at the helm of a number of luxury watch brands which as of today includes running Gucci Watches, Girard-Perregaux, and JEANRICHARD. Yes, that is a lot. With his grail watch, I think many will find it refreshing that it was a timepiece that many aspire to, or perhaps even have already acquired - and certainly a common one in the grail watch series. What I think is most unique here is that Mr. Sofisti eventually ended up working as CEO of the brand who made his first grail - nice bit of synchronicity there!watches-dealer (ABTW): Who are you, and what is your relationship to the watch industry?Michele Sofisti (MS): I'm CEO of Sowind Group, as well as CEO of Gucci watches and jewellery. I entered

How Quickly A Pickpocket Can Steal Your Watch
"One of the most common things I steal are watches" says renowned pickpocket Apollo Robbins. The famed master thief talks to New Yorker writer Adam Green in a new video and article discussing his honed craft. In the video Robbins demonstrates with incredible ease and agility how he is able to deftly remove a man's watch right off his wrist without suspicion.Seeing Robbins in action is actually as frightening as it is entertaining. The now Las Vegas-based performer and consultant is considered to be one of the world's foremost experts on the art of tricks and misdirection. Pickpocketing is as much about being fast as it is about understanding psychology and how to distract people. It makes you think your watch (and other items) are ripe for the picking.[youtube youtubewatches-dealer/watch?v=UyVFG1CCDco]That may be true in the abstract, but people like Robbins are incredibly rare. The chances of you having a wallet or watch stolen that isn't bound tightly to you in anything but an incred

Visiting The Blancpain Haute Horology Watch Manufacture
Blancpain is one of the oldest Swiss watch brands but it was on the verge of death before being taken over by Jean-Claude Biver. This was of course before Biver's purchase of Hublot, and before Blancpain he was at Omega. Biver is said to have pretty much saved Blancpain (just as he did with Hublot) �C a good thing because today, despite the brand's literal English translation of white bread, very few boring things are going on inside the manufacture.Biver sold Blancpain to the Swatch Group a few years ago. The brand's CEO right now is Marc Hayek, one of (the late and regrettably lost) Nicolas Hayek's sons. His rule of the brand has taken it into a series of different directions, and Blancpain has a few distinct personalities as a watch maker. Those personalities include being a classic watch maker, a complicated watch maker, and dive watch maker, a racing watch maker, and a contemporary high-end complex avant garde watch maker. They also have adopted a mechanism similar to the tourbil

Historical Perspectives: The True And Sad Story Of J.B. Champion, Jr., The Man Behind The Most Expensive Watch Without Complications Ever Sold At Auction
On November 12, 2012, the watch collecting community watched in wonder as two of the world's most important Patek Philippe wristwatches went under the hammer at Christie's Geneva: a reference 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph in platinum?offered for sale by Eric Clapton (one of two white metal 2499s ever made, with the other belonging to Patek Philippe)?and a reference 2458 that was made especially for Joe Ben Champion, Jr. housing a movement that placed third in the 1948 Geneva Observatory competition. Each would have been the cover lot for any just about any other watch auction, but it just so happened that they were part of the same sale. On paper, many would have assumed that the Clapton 2499 would sell for more than the Champion 2458 �C but many would have been wrong. Champion's 2458 was the champion of the sale, bringing in over $4 million. The winner of the watch? Alfredo Paramico, who has since sold it. (Check out our Talking Watches with Mr. Paramico if you haven't already se

Alternative to Etur's Endlinks
After trying to contact Eugene for the last 4 months for the sole purpose of getting his priced Endlinks, I got to stop dreaming that he would response to my emails...So was thinking for the last couples of days why not I do it myself, just like what Eugene did in the first place. Since the Eugene' Endlinks is so well designed and practical, I need not reinvent the wheel, I'll just take a guide from him and see whether I could be as successful and good as him or I'm a nut. Having some technical background may help, at least. I'll start to get my hands dirty over the weekend and come up with some drawings first and determine should i or shouldn't I continue with this project. Good luck to me.