Rotonde de Cartier With Marquetry Bear Motif
Marquetry is the art of applying carefully cut and often tiny pieces of wood veneer (and other materials) to an underlying structure to form a decorative image or pattern. At the highest levels, the craft requires an artist’s eye, deep knowledge of the selected woods, and a steady hand to execute the fine cuts. The Rotonde de Cartier with bear motif combines marquetry and watchmaking to produce a limited series of uniquely artistic timepieces. Everything begins with the design, which inspires the marquetry craftsman to select each wood for its color, grain and texture. Ten species of natural European wood blend together to create the bear’s fur: holly, chestnut, poplar, willow, grey and pink maple, walnut and burr walnut, mottled maple and grey aningeria. The woods are deftly combined to create the illusion of depth and perspective through reflections and contrasts. Tiny details, such as hair-thin lines representing shadows, add a lifelike quality.Numerous steps and an inve

OMEGA 50th Anniversary 1957 SPEEDMASTER Pin Badge Set
I received this pin set several years ago when I purchased my PO from Tourneau. I have this looked up in my safe ever since.... I actually forgot I even had this set. Anyone know the value of these? Anyone collect these things?Here is a picture of one I found on eBay...

A what age you bought your 1st Patek ?
My first Patek was really my 1st High end watch. I started with watches in May 2012, so for the last 6 months of 2012 I bought JLC, Rolex, Omega, etc; Until my 41 birthday on January 2013, I post a thread called Is Hobnail the Final Answer? Let's call a friend just in case . On that thread I was convinced that if I was going to pull the trigger for something that expensive like a Patek it had to be the strongest representation of the brand something that set it a part from the rest. So I thought well it gotta be a hobnail bezel, to make a long story short after arguing about all these Calatravas and frustrated with the case sizes and proportions at the end (after 50 replies or whatever ) I said screw it; I am not buying a Calatrava and bought a 5712 I was 41photo 1.jpgphoto 2.jpgphoto 3.jpgnautilus copy.JPG

Certificate Card Invalid
Hi everyone, It has been about 1.5 years I bought my explorer ii V series 16570 from its first owner. So it has the name of the first owner written on it. Yesterday I wanted to find a way to get rid of that name on the card and write mine instead. Since it was written with permanent marker I thought it would be easy to delete it with acetone. But after a very little attempt it has been worn of and I saw it was typed invalid under the sticker. Then, I read on some forums that this is one way of protection Rolex does for not to transfer the warranty of the watch to second or later users..So, my question is, is the certificate invalid from now on? If yes, what can I do?Thanks everyone..

Perhaps I will never buy another SS sport Rolex
I want to premise this buy saying I know how a free market works and get it.So today I visited a gray dealer at my local mall who I will not name.What struck me was the number of brand new SS models in stock: lvc, blnr, daytonac, red sea dweller 2017.I inquired how they had got them and they said from a local AD. The markup was quite high and followed the internet prices if not higher, they wanted 19k for the black daytonac. Cant say I am suprised and I get it is part of the business.The store also had used models such as a lvc and blnr. They wanted 9,400 for the lvc. I inquired if this was the same lvc I saw in July 2017 and the clerk said yes. When I asked why the price was up for 8k to 9.4k she said the market had risen, fair enough and makes sense to me. Just shocked they never sold it. However, the price was firm according to the clerk.In any event I was respectful and left on good terms. Just a frustraiting experience overall especially when many members here would kill for thos