My First Grail Watch: Xavier Nolot of Audemars Piguet
Welcome back to an 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 Xavier Nolot, the CEO Audemars Piguet North America. For his First Grail, he went back to very beginning, calling out a lowly LCD-equipped watch as his first.watches-dealer (ABTW): Who are you, and what is your relationship to the watch industry?Xavier Nolot (XN): I'm the CEO for Audemars Piguet for the Americas. I joined the industry and Audemars Piguet 11 years ago, after a career in the energy industry. My relationship with watchmaking comes from this dual background: first as an engineer passionate about technology and how things work, and second as a observer of a craft that has as much to do with art as with science.ABTW: When did your fascination with watches start?XN: As a child in the early eighties, watches were those tiny mechanisms you could open and try to dec

Timex Goes Upmarket: Sheds Some Cheap Plastic, Reveals Style
There was a time when Timex was the word in mass-market blase time keeping. They might as well have had the catch-line "when all you want to do is know what time it is." So utterly devoid of any aesthetically redeeming qualities, Timex continues to pour out watches that could be purchased at your local super market or swap meet. The biggest threat to Timex? The cell phone. People who wore Timex watches could care less about what is on their wrist or what it looks like, they just need to know the time. Enter cell phones and you have your instant time teller always with you, and you don't need a watch. Perhaps not as convenient as the time on your wrist, but you don't have to wear a watch ugly as sin around anymore when your cell phone is in your pocket.Despite these harsh words, Timex grew large with volume and alarm clocks apparently. Cheap prices and market saturation will do wonders. Then one day they realized there was more to watches than hideous Velcro straps. They had the money,

NEW - PATEK PHILIPPE 5204P - Split seconds chronograph & perp. calendar
Full Size: i229.photobucket/albums/e...atek5204bc.jpgPATEK PHILIPPE Split-seconds chronograph and perpetual calendar Ref 5204Press Release:Patek Philippe has never departed from the refinement and exacting standards for which it is renowned, and this Haute Horlogerie complication timepiece – Ref 5204 – with split-seconds chronograph and perpetual calendar is the proof. It completes the traditional trilogy of Patek Philippe chronographs with proprietary movements, in this instance the hand-wound CHR 29-535 PS Q calibre whose split-seconds mechanism, a masterpiece of technical innovation and beauty, presents numerous patented inventions. The silver-toned opalescent dial, with three auxiliary counters and 11 indications, is a lesson in clarity and legibility. An extraordinarily elegant timepiece with a platinum case and matt black alligator strap, in the finest tradition of Patek Philippe.MovementHand-wound, CHR 29-535 PS Q calibreFunctionsHours, minutes, seconds, perpetual ca

3940 - Old or new ?
I am currently deciding between a 5140 and 3940 as my first PP everyday watch. Looking at the offers, I have come across an earlyish - 1993 - version of the 3940, and some later examples made closer to the retirement of the 3940.I have not yet managed to get any sense of which of these is considered the more interesting amongst PP aficionados, is the more 'collectible', and is the more likely to hold its value. I obviously realise that there may be more mechanical uncertainties with an older watch (unless it has been PP maintained throughout its life) but would be grateful for any views on the more general questions.

New vs Old Deepsea Bracelet Comparo In Photos
I'm not savvy enough to set these up parallel to see the difference easier so if any one can line them up better, have at it.Here's a comparison between the old and the new. Old is the first photo and the new being the second. Apologies for the dimension differences in the photos. It's a pia trying to reduce the size for the forum and get the measurements similar.Lugs look marginally thinner and bracelet slightly wider with less taper maybe...The more I stare the more I can't see the actual difference. This is going to take real watches. Opinions and observations are welcomed.