Zenith to stop use of outsourced movements?

I as many, am eagerly awaiting to hear all of the latest and greatest announcements to come out of Basel World 2015. One company that I have been following as of late is Zenith. I have developed a huge watch crush on the brand recently and am constantly amazed by the complexity and build quality of most every piece I see.

Rumor has it that the brand will stop use of all external movements like Sellita and build exclusively with their in house movements. The Zenith El Primero is one of the most iconic in house movements of the last century. So good that Rolex used it in the Daytona (albeit somewhat modified) for some time in years past. I do believe that most Zenith pieces I have ever seen were indeed running an El Primero variant, but it seems there are models running on Sellita at this time.

I love seeing brands move away from the off the shelf ETA and Sellita engines in favor of bespoke, in house designed and built movements. In the price point of $5000 and above, I feel far better about a purchase when it includes such a true manufacture engine and not one what you could also find in a $200 wrist watch.

Eric Feuerstein- Horological Enthusiast

Yes, There’s a Market For That $10,000 Apple Watch | WIRED

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/yes-theres-market-10000-apple-watch/

So thanks to this article from Wired Magazine, my thoughts are further solidified that people who would buy the $10k Apple Watch are not the same people who actually are ” in to” watches. In the article they compare the Apple wrist calculator to mechanical watches such as Vacheron Constantine, Rolex etc in order to say that the Apple watch may actually be a “bargain” @ $10k. Immediately my spider senses go off as you simply cannot compare a circuit board on a strap to the hundreds of years of experience, painstaking hand made workmanship, and mechanical marvel that is any luxury wristwatch.

Again, I see how the Apple watch can be fun, do cool tricks and the like, but it isn’t even on the same planet as a mechanical wristwatch.

Eric Feuerstein- Horological Enthusiast

Tony Dawson joins the site as contributing author

Happy to have others coming to the blog to offer their insights and opinions on the watch world. Tony Dawson joins the ranks at The Luxury Watch Site Blog with his perspective on things horology.

WOTW Sat Mar 14

Well since this one is up for sale, I decided to wear it today. Remembering why I bought it in the first place. This thing is a beast of a dive watch. Even holds up to yet another kids birthday party I’m taking Max to today.

Apple watch or a Rolex for $10k? (or thereabouts)

So, with the apple announcement this week around the new Apple watch, I frankly am totally unclear on their strategy at the high end. I get that many will spend a few hundred bucks on a digital wearable, but to try to develop a $10,000 version with the same guts and a precious metal exterior is simply insane. What’s more insane is that some people will buy these and feel that it’s of equal value or more than a finely crafted swiss mechanical watch of the same price. This was such a story heard on CNBC this week. Apple watch and Rolex, how do they stack up.

People who spend 10k on the apple watch deserve to get what they get, a cold, lifeless, chunk of metal with no real emotive connection to the owner who wears it. A $10k fad item that they will look at 6 months from now and realize that either it’s out of fashion, other vendors and models have leap frogged it from a technology perspective, or simply the love had worn off for it.

When I look at a classic timepiece design such as a Rolex there is perhaps 50 years of truth behind its design, heritage for decades, and an emotional response that the wearer can only obtain from connecting with the actual mechanics that bring the watch to life on the wrist. The technology doesn’t become dated or obsolete. The need to tell time doesn’t go out of vogue.

One thing I know for sure, I’ll be able to sell my Rolexes in 5 years for about what I paid for them. Whens the last time you bought piece of electronics that stood the test of time, held value from a price perspective and held value in the free market where others still were willing to pay more than pennies on the dollar for it?

Zenith Doublematic

Every time i look at this i drool…May well be my next score….CMon, Chrono, Worldtime, Alarm and on and on and on….

Technical specs from Zenith:

References

Pilot Doublematic steel version: 03.2400.4046/21.C721
Pilot Doublematic pink gold version: 18.2400.4046/01.C721

Movement

El Primero 4046, selfwinding
Total diameter 30 mm
Thickness 9.05 mm
439 parts
41 jewels
Cadence of the balance 36,000 vph
50-hour power reserve

Functions

Worldtimer
Central hours and minutes
30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock
Sweep seconds hand
Large date at 2 o’clock
Central alarm hand
Alarm on/off indicator at 8.30
Alarm power-reserve display at 7 o’clock

Case

Polished and satin-brushed steel or pink gold
Diameter 45 mm
Water resistance 5 ATM
Sapphire crystal caseback

Dial

Matt black with Superluminova-enhanced hands and numerals or silver-toned with Superluminova-enhanced 5N numerals and hand

Straps

Alligator leather with hand-sewn topstitching, 18-carat gold pin buckle or folding clasp

Whats on my Radar? Oh My…..

So if i sell the PAM 243, it has to go toward something killer, here are a few options….

Saying Goodbye to an old friend

So I have had this PAM 243 for a few years and truly have loved it as one of my prized pieces. It seems that lately my tastes are shifting away from the larger pieces and back to more traditional sized (42mm-44mm) watches like my Rolexes, Omega and the like.

I have determined that I will sell the 243 in order to fund the next great one…..Hmmm Maybe a JLC, Blancpain 50 Fathoms, or a Zenith Doublematic???

WOTW Friday March 13th 2015

Today Im rocking the Sub C No Date!

Coming Soon: Luxury Watch Site- Blog from an enthusiasts point of view

I am working on bringing my new blog to the world wide web featuring my spin on watches, brands, trends and the like that i find interesting in the watchmaking world. I will share pics and reviews of pieces that I own, as well as watches that catch my interest out in the wild. Stay tuned for the site to go live.