BEST FROM: watches-dealer & Friends July 3, 2015
As you might have guessed from the featured image of this post as well as the image above, I'm a huge fan of A. Lange & S?hne's Datograph. In-house chronograph movements are nothing to shout about these days, but rewind the clock to 16 years ago, and they were rare. In fact, the caliber L951.1 in the first generation Datograph was the first all-new chronograph movement in years.The second generation model presented in 2012 is, to me, much more practical to wear. The power reserve has been significantly increased from a paltry 36 or so hours to a much more reasonable 60 hours. The case is bigger too, at 41mm, but the dial has been nicely filled up with new baton markers and the power reserve indicator at 6 o'clock. And if you think the dial is pretty, brace yourself when you flip it over: the caliber L951.6 is a masterpiece. And new this year is the long awaited rose gold model with a black dial, and I think it looks absolutely super.The A. Lange & S?hne Datograph aside, we are

Zenith Watches: From Movement Maker To Outstanding Manufacture
Zenith watches are my newest fascination because they represent unique styling and technical prowess. Zenith Watch Company began in 1865 as a movement maker, and stayed that way through most of its existence. Most of Zenith's endeavors involved providing its strong movements to other watch makers. Zenith movements have been featured in Rolex watches for a long period of time. Regardless, Zenith proved a dynamic manufacture and began producing a line of very high quality watches aggressively priced against the competition.In the late 1990's Zenith re-imaged itself and began to produce high quality watches to house its legendary El Primero line of movements. Today, Zenith produces some of the most interesting line of watches available from house Manufacture (meaning the watch maker also makes its own movements). A signature feature of many of the Zenith watches is an open window into the movement. This they refer to as "Open" in a watch. Through this window you can see one of the main ge

26300+BLNR or 15202?
I've finally narrowed down my options but can't decide and would love your opinions --I'd like to cap my collection at ~20K, so buying pre-owned, this decision will exhaust the budget. I like all 3 watches a lot. I can see the jumbo is special, but have to admit I am a little nervous I would eventually tire of the 2-hand layout without any discernible movement on the dial. FWIW, the only other watch I would keep is a DJ that was a gift. Is the jumbo so good that I should give up the versatility of a 3 watch collection?Thoughts appreciated!

rubberclad discontinued?
my AD told me that an AP sales manager told him that the steel and pink gold rubberclads are being discontinued. can anyone confirm this?

Does it make sense to buy used?
I have been looking at alot of different Panerai's trying to decide on the model I want. Today I took 150 mile round trip drive to the nearest AD to view the various models and try on some different sizes and I finally settled on the 111. The AD only sells for MSRP plus the additional 8.635% sales tax so no way was I buying there. Searching the for sale in the forum and ebay seems anyone selling a used 111 wants around $5500 and a new one can be had for around 6100-6200 am I missing something here for an extra 5-600 get new in the box?Ed