My First Grail Watch: Hartmut Kraft
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.watches-dealer (ABTW): ?Who are you and what is your relationship to the watch industry?Hartmut Kraft (HK): ?I am the German-American Watch Collector turned Industry Executive that everybody simply refers to as the "H," President of Maurice Lacroix North America.ABTW: ?What was your?first?grail?watch?HK: ?A Patek Calatrava Ref. 3919. ?I saw a black and white ad in a German newspaper when I was 14 years old and it made me fall in love with watches as beautifully valuable objects.ABTW: ?Was there ever a time in your life when you could afford it?HK: ?Yes, in my prior career as a corporate attorney of a global US law firm.ABTW: ?What did you like so much about the watch?HK: ?The understated simplicity, the hobnail bezel, the proportions of the small seconds hand, the expression of value that this timepie

An Original Photograph Of Picasso And His Jaeger-LeCoultre Triple Date Moonphase
Yousuf Karsh was a photographer famed for his portraits of celebrities.? One such celebrity that he photographed on a few occassions was Pablo Picasso.? One original portrait of Picasso is coming up for sale via Christie's this afternoon witha pre-sale estimate of $5000-$7000.Why are we telling you this, you may be wondering?? Well, in this particular portrait, you can see Mr. Picasso wearing one heck of a nice watch.? What is it? It's a late 1940s Jaeger-LeCoultre triple date moonphase with teardrop lugs, one of JLC's most beautiful designs.? In fact, the watch looks very similiar to the JLC that is on the cover of Zaf Basha's Jaeger-LeCoultre book.For details on the photograph at Christie's, click here. DID YOU KNOW? Picasso was also known to wear a Rolex GMT-Master. 2 OF 2

Leather strap options
I saw a forum user who put a survivor strap on their Diver and noticed how the width of the survivor strap does not taper down as with my (and most other) AP leather strapslooks more like the shape of rubber straps.rolexforums/showthread.php?t=429645i love the look and how it makes the watch look less top-heavy (not that the standard leather straps look bad) and was wondering if AP make any other color leather straps in this stylewas also wondering if it would fit the 42mm ROO chronograph or is it designed for the 44mm? the OP of the thread i mentioned has it on a diver not sure if this is 42 or 44thanks

Power reserve question on the 5131R.
Hi folks hope everyone is having a great weekend..Just wanted to ask a question with regards to power reserve on my 5131R caliber 240 HU. I noticed when I wind it initially 10-15 times and wear it for a few hours then put it down the next day it stops after around 18-24hrs. Now reading the manual it sais a fully wound watch will have a reserve of around 48hrs.Am I right in thinking that to fully wind the watch it has to be wound and worn for many hours to get a reserve of 48hrs or so?? Is it normal to wind it and wear for say 4-5 hours and not get anywhere near 48hrs power reserve?? Hope that all makes sense..

Explorer II 16570 vs. DateJust Turn-O-Graph 116264
Shopping for my first Rolex and initially these two models weren't even on my radar, I'd been really focused on a vintage 1601/1603 for that classic look. However, the more I've researched and thought about it I'm finding that either of these could be a really great starter piece that I'd probably get more use out of. Considering I'm a youngish guy (mid-30's) I've had multiple people say that a sportier look would be better on me and easier to dress up or down.The 16570 seems to be much more common and appreciated and I like its more toned down look. Meanwhile the 116264 had a more limited production and doesn't get discussed much, but there's something about the sport bezel on the TOG dial with red date wheel and sec hand that gives it a best of both worlds quality that's really appealing. I've also heard the 16570 will likely hold its value better while the 116264 may not since people seem to have a love/hate reaction to it.I could easily flip a coin and be happy with either, but