Cartier Artistic Crafts & High Jewelry Watches For 2012
At the exclusive watch show SIHH, Cartier has one of the largest booths. A lot of their space is dimly lit with museum style showcases offering glimpses of items you probably won't see anywhere else. Given that the show is not open to the public, most people will never see these pieces at all. In the cases are a range of artistic and high-jewelry creations that the French brand has produced for the year. Some of these are piece uniques, some parts of limited editions, and some might not even be sold at all. Whatever the nature of the item, I am usually sure to find at least a few beautiful things.Not all of these items are watches, but most are. High-jewelry (or haute joaillerie as it is often known) enjoys having "mystery display" watches where dials are only revealed after opening or sliding something to the side. That is certainly the case with an item I have not covered in this article, but will in a separate piece. It is just too amusing to be part of a pack, and is how Cartier do

Question on ROO movement
So I noticed something strange with my watch the day I got it. I posted in another thread about it, but I'm not sure if this is normal or not. When the watch is completely drained of power, I literally have to shake it maybe 5-10 times back and forth before the second hand starts moving. Whereas on my omega seamaster for example, if I tap that watch, the slight movement of the rotor is enough to get it running. First I thought I had an issue with the power reserve, but I tested it, and it pretty much lasted 50 hours. Even with me running the chrono for about 20-30 minutes 3x a day. I called the new york boutique and they told me it's a misconception that automatic watches get charged from movement of the rotor. They said that is only to maintain the charge, and that to actually fully charge it, requires winding the crown. Is this actually the case? I don't recall having this issue with my 44mm ceramic, albeit I didn't really inspect it like my ROO. So I'm wondering if anyone who has a

Advice on Seamaster Pro Professional Quartz
So I picked-up a Seamaster Pro Quartz full size without the bracelet and I am having a heck of a time finding a strap that looks good with the blue. I have an opportunity to pick-up an OEM bracelet for about $300. That puts me into the watch like $1400 which I think would be tough to make back if I sold the watch. Question is: do I drop the $300 or keep trying blue straps to see what works? I just bought a Hirsch natural rubber in blue used and that is incoming. What a dilemma!

My Patek Philippe Journey
When I developed an interest in watches in 1985, it was clear Patek Philippe was considered the finest of the mass-production watch manufacturers. Naturally I aspired to own one some day, but began my hobby primarily collecting old Hamilton wristwatches.In October 1993, I had a windfall, winning $5,000 in a contest held by my employer. I asked my watchmaker if he knew of any Patek Philippe wristwatches for sale, and he put me in touch with someone I had previously met. Knowing his love for a Waterman filigree fountain pen I owned, I brought the seller the pen and cash. This was my first Patek, a 35mm Calatrava reference 2508 from 1955.I owned the watch for 20 years, until I finally was able to admit it no longer interested me. It was traded toward another Patek below.My next Pateks came as a pair. An acquaintance had a a reference 2591 on a gold bracelet listed for sale. I had many sport watches to trade (Omega/vintage Le Coultre/IWC chronographs) and he liked to trade. We arranged to

New to TRF - Planning first Rolex Purchase - GMT II LN - thoughts appreciated!
Hi All -Delighted to have joined the forum, I'm in the US and am planning out my first Rolex purchase - It will be for daily wear and I've fallen in love with the GMT Master II LN. I am currently in the process of sourcing one pre-owned. My watch dealer (who I trust explicitly and have purchased a number of non-Rolex watches) has a nice example with box and papers, its a G serial (2010) but the papers were stamped end-2012. It has not had a service. He is offering it at a fair price but has also told me that if I wait and another watch comes in post-2015 with the 5yr international warranty he would sell it to me for the same price. So my questions are:1. I'm assuming nothing has changed between 2010-present with this watch? 2. I'm in no rush, should I wait for a newer example to come up or just go for this one? The 5y Warranty is a consideration but more importantly if I decide to trade it because it doesn't agree with me as a daily wear watch, would I be better served value-wise with