Watchismo Times

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

How Much Time Do You Have Left? - New Special Edition Black PVD Coated Accurate and Decider Watches by Mr. Jones

Mr Jones Watches have produced two new special edition watches. Both models
feature black PVD coating which gives a hard-wearing, elegant finish.

These are serious watches for the serious times we find ourselves in. The black coating on the watch case is matched on the buckle and completed with a black leather strap and (what else!) black stitching.

Mr Jones Watches is the new cult watch brand from London. They believe that a watch should do more than just tell the time.

All the Mr Jones Watches are designed by Crispin Jones, they are genuine indie products entirely conceived and executed following a singular vision.

These models will be available for a limited period only.

This is a special edition of the most accurate wristwatch you can buy - the hour hand reads "remember", the minute hand "you will die".

The dial and rim of the glass are mirrored, so the wearer is reflected in the watch face.The Accurate is a link to the tradition of the memento mori - an object designed to remind us that life is brief and that we should seize the moment while we are here.

The Accurate is our best selling model and we're very pleased with how well this special edition looks on the wrist.

The Accurate, Special edition: $125

Product Page-->LINK

The New Decider helps you make decisions. As the seconds tick round the words “yes” and “no” are alternately displayed.

When you need to make a decision, simply glance at the watch for your answer. A magnifying dome sits just above the answer window to aid visibility.

The New Decider may not always give the right decision, but as Tony Soprano observes,“a wrong decision is better than indecision”.

The New Decider, Special edition: $145

Product page-->LINK

Other recently released Mr. Jones Watches featured below;

MR. JONES - THE AVERAGE DAY

This watch eschews the conventional division of a day into 24 hours, instead it divides into units of median daily routine.

The dial shows a breakdown of what average people do on an average day, so you’re able to see what you yourself should - on average - be doing at any time.

Mr. Jones The Mantra

The Mantra alternates a very positive statement (e.g. "you are amazing") with a very negative one (e.g. "nobody likes you"). Every hour the watch displays one positive message and one negative message (the wedge that you read the statement through is also the hour hand).

Over time The Mantra makes the arrogant person more humble and makes the humble more confident.

Mr. Jones Original "The Decider"

The Decider is a watch that helps you make decisions: as the seconds tick round you see either the word "YES" or "NO" displayed on the watch face; when you need to make a decision you simply look at your watch for your answer.

MR. JONES THE FUTURE

The Future is now! This watch displays a carpe diem message along with the time. The hour and minute hand make up the words “the future”, whilst the face alternately displays “is” and “now”. This watch is a handy reminder to the wearer to live in the present.

MR. JONES THE WATCHER

Two characters on the watch enact a tiny choreographed play. They look all around, but never rest on the other’s gaze. The faces keep their tiny vigil on your wrist and are always ready to share a moment of micro-poetry whenever you look at your watch.

The two faces each have a small magnifying dome over them to aid visibility.

Mr. Jones LOVES ME

The design of this watch is inspired by the game of effeuiller la marguerite in which “loves me, loves me not” is spoken while plucking the petals of a flower.

Loves Me acts as a never-ending, animated flower that answers love dilemmas: pulling up the winding crown stops the mechanism and reveals cupid’s verdict.

The Original ACCURATE

MR. JONES MORE OR LESS

This watch offers you two ways of looking at the passing of time - around the circumference of the dial the words "one more, one less" slowly revolve. This presents a balanced way of viewing the passing of time in our lives.

Product Pages--> LINK

Related posts at The Watchismo Times;
Haunted Horology
All Memento Mori Stories
Mystery Dial Stories
Concept Watches
Artist Watch Stories
Designer Stories

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Secret Message in Abraham Lincoln's Pocket Watch

Hidden Message Found in Lincoln Pocket Watch

By Neely Tucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009; 5:40 PM

For nearly 150 years, Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch has been rumored to carry a secret message, supposedly written by an Irish immigrant and watchmaker named Jonathan Dillon.

Dillon, working in a D.C. watch repair shop in 1861, told family members that he -- by incredible happenstance -- had been repairing Lincoln's watch when news came that Fort Sumter had been attacked in South Carolina. It was the opening salvo of what became the Civil War.

Dillon told his children (and, half a century later, a reporter for the New York Times) that he opened the watch's inner workings and scrawled his name, the date and a message for the ages: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try."

He then closed it up and sent it back to the White House. Lincoln never knew of the message. Dillon died in 1907.

The watch, meanwhile, was handed down and eventually given to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. It didn't run anymore. No one had pried open the inner workings in ages. The old watchmaker's tale was just that.

And then Douglas Stiles, Dillon's great-great grandson, alerted Smithsonian officials to the family legend last month. He was a real-estate attorney in Waukegan, Ill., he explained. He'd heard the legend around the dinner table as a kid, but had just discovered a New York Times article from 1906, quoting Dillon as telling the story himself.

Truth? Lore?

This morning, in a small conference room on the first floor of Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, officials decided to find out. Expert watchmaker George Thomas used a series of delicate instruments -- tweezers, tiny pliers -- to pull apart Lincoln's timepiece. He put on a visor with a magnifying lens and talked as he worked. Some of the pins were nearly stuck, he explained. The hands of the watch were original with a case made in America and the workings from Liverpool. The Illinois rail-splitter had splurged: The watch, Thomas said, would be the equivalent to a timepiece costing "$5,000 or more" today.

And then he pried off the watch's face, pulled off the hands, and turned it over to see the brass underside of the movement.

The audience, watching on a monitor, gasped.

Split into three different sections to get around the tiny gears, was this razor-thin etching: "Jonathan Dillon April 13, 1861. Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels on the above date. Thank God we have a government."

The old man's memory had not been exact. He had not forecast the end of slavery, or Lincoln's critical role in its demise.

But it was there, a little bit of history that had been resting on Lincoln's hip, unseen during those tumultuous days of war and rebellion, the Emancipation Proclamation and the rest, and then resting, unseen, for more than a century and a half.

Stiles was delighted. "That's Lincoln's watch," he said after putting it down, "and my ancestor wrote graffiti on it!"

via The Washington Post and The National Museum of American History

Related Posts at The Watchismo Times;
Mohatma Gandhi Wristwatch Auction
All Historical Watch Posts

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

Black Power! Limited Edition MB&F Horological Machine No. 1

Horological Machine N^o1 - Black and Rose Gold

The Final Editions

In 2006, MB&F presented Horological Machine N^o1 (HM1): a groundbreaking wristwatch that both launched MB&F and introduced the world to the then radical concept of three-dimensional kinetic sculpture as timekeeping machines. To pay homage to the end of this pivotal model, MB&F have crafted two final stunning variations, each in a very limited series of only ten pieces: HM1-Black and HM1-RS.

HM1-Black offers the ultimate in contrasts with its white gold case shrouded by a veil of coal-black. The subdued dark, though eye-catching in itself, offers the perfect foil for the burst of light that radiates from the dial. The blackened tourbillon cage allows the eye to glide past deep into the movement, while the bright blue of both the hands and the solid gold rotor provides a brilliant splash of color in an otherwise two-tone landscape.

HM1-RS features a red gold case that highlights the architecturally inspired and artistically sculptured three-dimensional case, and an intriguing transparent dial allows visual access to the top of the meticulously finished movement. The dial is ‘intriguing’ because, depending on the angle of view, it can change from being completely transparent to acting as a highly reflective now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t mirror.

Both HM1-Black and HM1-RS feature hours and minutes on separate dials, a raised central one-minute tourbillon, a seven-day power reserve, four mainspring barrels and both automatic and manual winding.

The hours and minutes are indicated on their respective etched-sapphire bridges augmented by precision laser-cut applied numerals, and a rotating disk indicates the seven-day power reserve on the right-hand dial.

An extra-wide custom tapered strap, complemented by a bespoke buckle, completes the timepiece.

Exclusive is hardly the right word for these two extremely limited editions of just 10 pieces each.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

New Brand - Ladoire Geneve Helvet Mechanic RGT (Roller Guardian Time) Watch

Following in the footsteps of independent watch brands like Hautlence, 36 year old watch designer Lionel Ladoire has introduced his first collection featuring the Timepiece Roller Guardian Time. A limited edition series of 40 watches are planned for their first year of production.

Ladoire's first timekeeper offers an unusual view. Time is displayed by revolving indicators that turn on ball bearings. There is one single hand displaying a second time zone. A deep recess in the middle of the hour-indicator shows some of the entrails of the custom- made movement by ASXP-Engineering, an enterprise that also works for Hautlence and MCT. The large pusher on the right adjusts the second time-zone.

via Watchprosite

Close-up of dial with hours disc (upper left), minutes (lower center), and seconds (upper right), and a GMT second time zone at the center.

The back of the watch reveals some further interesting details of the movement. The micro-rotor for the automatic winding is covered by a circular disc giving it a perfectly balanced look. The balance-wheel bridge shows the two attachments for the Moser double hairspring coming from Precision Engineering in Schaffhausen. A spiderweb on the barrel is part of the corporate design.

via Watchprosite

Side-view with GMT regulator

French watch designer Lionel Ladoire

Preview - Ulysse Nardin Mechanical Cellphone to be Announced at Baselworld

Celebrated Swiss vanguard watchmaker Ulysse Nardin has partnered with the European firm, SCI Innovations, to create the world's first hybrid smart phone: the Chairman.

Inherently green, this smart phone pairs cutting-edge kinetic technology with the pedigree of the 163-year-old timepiece innovator.

The Chairman will be launched the end of March at Baselworld 2009 at Ulysse Nardin’s booth.

While details are limited, it has been confirmed that the Chairman will be able to use any mobile phone service provider in the world and includes several components never seen before in a smart phone.

It will incorporate a Ulysse Nardin designed kinetic rotor system which is blended into the mechanical and aesthetical design of the smart phone. This smart-phone is hand-assembled under the strictest guidelines mandated by Ulysse Nardin.

More information during its launch at Baselworld.

All Ulysse Nardin posts at The Watchismo Times--> LINK

Ulysse Nardin watch website--> LINK
Ulysse Nardin UNCells website--> LINK

via Timezone

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

New Releases - Linde Werdelin SpidoLite

Gadget and horological aficionados trying to balance durability with weight have a stylish new option. The SpidoLite, from Danish watchmaker Linde Werdelin, employs a titanium casing that drastically reduces the overall weight. Reportedly made at the request of mountaineer Morten Linde before he climbed Mount Everest, the casing is drilled into an "exoskeleton" form that further lightens the load while giving it a striking, incomplete appearance.

Particularly exciting for vintage watch fans, the SpidoLite uses a 1970s automatic movement that was personally modified by founding member of the ACHI, Svend Anderson.

The SpidoLite is produced in a single batch of only 44 and will officially hit the market at BaselWorld 2009. It's expected to retail for €9,000 and will be available in April.

Black DLC SpidoLite with detachable "instrument" and yellow Sapphire crystal

via Coolhunting & KronosBlog

Linde Werdelin website-->Link
Svend Anderson website-->Link

Previously featured Linde Werdelin Bifometer Watch->Link

Read these other unusual watch stories from The Watchismo Times;
Horological Weaponry
Shoot To Kilfitt - Subminiature Camera-Watch
Subminiature Camera Watches
Steinheil Camera Watch
Victorian Camera Pocket Watch
1950s Minifon Spy Recorder Watch
Compartment Scroll Watch
Victorian Wrist Horn
Rolex Lipstick Watch
Omega Ring Watch
Rolex Ring Watch
Walking Stick Watches
History of Calculating Devices
James Bond Movie Gadget Watches

Not Enough? More Odd Watch Stories-->LINK

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

New Releases - De Bethune Dream Watch No.2 Silicon-Titanium Tourbillon 2009

As its defining characteristic, the calibre DB2009 employs the lightest tourbillon in the world designed entirely in silicon and titanium and having neither a cage nor the traditional pillars, but incorporating the latest temperature-compensated silicon / platinum balance. The frequency of this new hand-wound mechanical calibre is 36,000 vibrations per hour and inside a 30 second tourbillon.

The Dream Watch Two possesses the lightest tourbillion in the world. This anorexic tourbillion is a slim, U-shaped silicon cage and a platinum ring surrounding the balance wheel, weighing a total of 0.18 grams. The tourbillion is extremely interesting but I have little technical details. Again, this watch is incredibly well finished. Incredibly. 10 pieces will be made each year.

via Horomundi

Power reserve indicator on the back of Tourbillon 2009

Dream One with annular balance.
(and three-dimensional moonphase)

The simple oscillator of the mechanical calibre DB2016, designed by De4 Bethune, is a genuine achievement in the world of watchmaking. The balance spring of the regulating organ is not visible; it is concealed within an annular balance consisting of a central silicon disc surrounded by a thin ring of polished platinum which can be seen through the dial.

Annular Balance: The balance spring of the regulating organ is not visible; it is concealed within an annular balance consisting of a central silicon disc surrounded by a thin ring of polished platinum which can be seen through the dial.

See much more from Ian Skellern at Horomundi-->LINK

De Bethune Dream Watch One photomontage-->LINK

DeBethune official website-->LINK

Other Related Independent Watch Brand Features at The Watchismo Times-->LINK

New Release - 2009 Dewitt Academia Tourbillon Force Constante à Chaîne

DeWitt has enhanced its constant force tourbillon with a system that relays energy to its associated power reserve indicator. Rotating the crown when winding the barrel-spring drives a miniature chain, which uses an intermediate wheel to activate the power reserve indicator sliding on a worm screw. Three years after developing a patented regulating system – three extra wheels transmitting impulses of identical force to the tourbillon, whatever the barrel’s degree of tension

close-up of dial

close-up of chain mechanism

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Retrowerk Watches Riveted Piston Pumping Portholed Multi-Level Jump Hour Retrograde Watches of Germany - Affordable and High Quality Steampunk Watches

In the past, I've written about high end masterpieces like Vianney Halter's Antiqua (starting at $50,000 and up) and the artistic horology concept watches of Haruo Suekichi, but it was only a matter of time before affordable Jules Vernesque timepieces were made for those who want to actually own a high quality Steampunk wristwatch. Yes, the term has worn out its welcome but the look is timeless nevertheless -- and how can a riveted porthole watch not be cool?

The brand is Retrowerk of Germany and below, I photographed their off-the-wall collection wristwatches with elements of brass and steel pistons, portholes, rivets, compasses, revolving jump hour discs, screwcap crown covers, chains, automatic rotor mechanisms, and of course, many cogs and gears. The prices range from $429 to $1098 USD.

The first is the Compass Jump Hour, an extreme multi-leveled timepiece with a partial dial with three discs for hours, minutes and seconds. Protruding up like a periscope is the compass under thick "coke bottle" type glass, almost as if there is a submarine cruising inside your wrist. The automatic winding version utilizes a Swiss ETA 2824 mechanical movement.

Protrusions are a reoccuring theme with Retrowerk - the Piston (above), with namesake piston mechanism-screwcap crown cover and riveted watch case. As I attempt to showcase in my photos far below, each angle of the watch is mechanically sculptural and borders on satisfyingly absurd. Automatic version also features a Swiss ETA 2824 movement.