Christophe Claret Maestoso Watch With Detent Escapement
Quite remarkably Christophe Claret has released a watch that "merely" tells the time. Yes, it is true: while the new for 2014 Maestoso is anything but a simple watch, its only indications are the hours and minutes. That is kind of a big deal from a man who finds standard minute repeaters and tourbillons to be more or less passe. Nevertheless, the Maestoso is an extreme exercise in mechanics and with a detent-style escapement and constant force escapement, it should once again prove to be an object that captures our horological fascination.You don't hear about detent escapements too much in wrist watches because for the most part they make no sense to put in a wrist watch. The lever escapement is what you'll find in virtually all mechanical wrist watches because they fare much better to the type of mobile life that a wrist watch demands. Invented back in the 18th century, detent escapements are arguably more precise as they allow for a more direct impulse from the balance wheel to the e

Free Swatch Automatic Chrono Watch Giveaway
A new month and a new watch giveaway - this time you have a chance at winning a free watch from probably the largest Swiss watch maker, Swatch. The ubiquitous watch brand is the poster child of the Swatch Group, that timepiece that made Swiss watches cool again back in the 1980's. Swatch has come a long way and now has a great new line of automatic chronograph movement based watches, known appropriately as the Swatch Auto Chrono line. There are 5 new models, and each contains a brand new ETA automatic chronograph movement that is based on the classic Lemania 5100. See my review of another Swatch Automatic Chrono model in the same collection here.aBlogtoReadwatches-dealer is giving away one of the pictured watches pictured above, it is known as the Swatch Automatic Chrono "Simply Pure." It is about 45mm wide, has a sapphire crystal, stylish, and comes on the black rubber strap. I will be reviewing a different version of the new Swatch Automatic Chrono watches here soon. Retail price for

Audemars Piguet 2009 Corporate Watch Making Film
Ignore the first 30-60 seconds of this film, it gets really cool after that. I love watching stuff like this because it actually does a very good job at showing you how watches are made at houses like Audemars Piguet. Yes, you need to know what to look for, but pay attention to the tools and techniques used to polish and decorate the movements. This process literally takes up most of the time in watch movement assembly. While the film is supposed to take place in the 19th century (even though some of the stuff looks really modern), the same process is used today to make high-end luxury watch movements. Take the hand-spun machine that spins the movement plate around, today it is just done with machines but that are more often than not still controlled by a human operator. There are no automatic decoration or finishing processes for this level of watch making - just good ol' manual processes to give it that unique human touch.Enough of my intro, check the clip of this "corporate movie" a

5524g alternative straps please
I have mine on the original tan ...heard of many choosing blue or other colour Considering an alternative to add especially given how easy it is to change Photos please to help decide Many thanks

New (to me) Vintager Strap
I was patrolling eBay last week when I came across a terrific deal on a lightly used strap from Micah...I couldn't resist. I am even more impressed now that I have the strap in my hands. I will certainly be picking up more of his straps in the future: