Ulysse Nardin Announces New Proprietary Silicon Anchor Escapement
Creating a proprietary escapement is perhaps the ultimate challenge for all watchmakers, regardless of whether we are speaking about a craftsman working alone or about an entire company producing thousands or hundreds of thousands of watches. The escapement is the arrangement of components responsible for transferring the energy coming from the mainspring barrel through the going train (the series of wheels linked to the mainspring barrel) onto the balance wheel.In other words, the escapement plays a major role in dividing each "beat" into equal doses, as every "tick" of the escapement releases only a small amount of energy from the mainspring. Ulysse Nardin?has? announced a new escapement design - a hugely impressive achievement that greatly relies on the company's extensive know-how in crafting silicon.[youtube youtubewatches-dealer/watch?v=Nu5Xe51Q_oE]Before we discuss this new design which the brand likes to refer to as a "flying anchor escapement," we should first obtain a better

Oris Aquis Depth Gauge Watch
Capillary-style depth gauges are nothing new or particularly advanced, but they are simple and effective. Oris has managed to design one into one of its dive watches. The result is a mechanical watch with a non-electronic depth gauge that does not cost an arm and a leg. IWC and Jager-LeCoultre already proved to us that they can make those - and that is fantastic - but they were a complication for complication's sake because even if you choose to dive with a luxury watch, you probably aren't going to want to rely on it as your depth gauge. When Panerai released theirs, they simply circumvented the entire issue by keeping prices high and sticking in an electronic depth gauge module. In fact, that was pretty smart of them.This new diver is called the Oris Aquis Depth Gauge and is just that. Oris has a load of pretty good dive watches but there are a lot of them and many have seemingly small differences. On top of that, they exist in a few model families which exacerbates my confusion. Pro

Girard-Perregaux Sea & Chrono Hawk Watches
I knew it was coming and I am glad that it is finally here. Similar to brands such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Girard-Perregaux makes (or made) really good sport watches that it does not really market that much. You just sort of need to know about them. For a while, the last remaining sport watch Girard-Perregaux made was the Sea Hawk - a high-end diver with a personality complex not knowing whether it was a serious sport watch meant for action or a luxury lifestyle watch meant for cocktail hour. And when was the last time you even heard about the Laureato collection?At the end of 2012, Girard-Perregaux brings them both back into the limelight under a single collection - the Hawk. While the Laureato collection is retired for the time being, its design DNA has been incorporated into the new Sea Hawk and Chrono Hawk models. You can see the familiar design of the lugs and the octagonal bezel in there. Of course, it has been mashed together with elements from the last generation Sea Hawk models.

X-33: help with setting time, cleaning needed?
I have an X-33 that was part of a military group buy with special engraving that has sentimental meaning.I believe the proper way of setting time was to set the digital time, then the analog hands would sync. While setting the digital time is easy, the analog hands aren't syncing properly.Any hints or suggestions?Has anyone here used LAWW for quartz watches? I live in Pasadena area and am less than 10 miles away, but wanted to troubleshoot for easy things myself.Thanks!

The Rolex Explorer Range
I'm continuing to research the Explorer 1 to help make a decision on which of the Rolex Explorer 1's I will be looking to purchase, (money no object it would be the 1016 but due to the demand and value this may be a bit ambitious for my budget?)I did find the attached on the internet that may be of use to others in a similar situation,I'm based in England and would appreciate if anyone could advise as to the price range of Explorer 1's relevant to the dates posted and the watch being in a Good pre owned condition, my gut feeling so far is that the 114270 will be what I will be pursuing, although I've not ruled out a mid 90's 14270, decision's decisions..........