By Sigrid in Bulova
Bulova is a subsidiary of the Citizen Watch Co. founded in New York City, NY, US in 1875. Bohemian immigrant Joseph Bulova founded the company and started operating under the name Bulova Watch Company in the year 1923.
If you are a Bulova fan, here are a few of the best watches from the company.
The Bulova Men’s 96B128 Precisionist Claremont Brown Leather Watch is a highly rated watch. If you want a dress watch in brown, this water resistant Bulova watch is definitely a fine choice. It is water resistant up to 99 feet, isn’t that wonderful? This watch is a great choice for those who want a watch that will last a long time. It is probably one of the best watches and one of the most fascinating without you having to spend a fortune. This watch looks like an automatic even if it runs on quartz movement. This watch costs $172 or a bit more depending on the retailer.
If you want a stainless steel watch from Bulova, the Men’s 98B111 Marine Star Stainless Steel Bracelet Blue Dial Watch is a fine choice. The adventurous will like this because this men’s watch is water resistant at 330 feet. Currently sold at half its original price in some online stores, this Bulova watch is definitely something you should take a look at. This is a rather popular choice among those who like Bulova watches.
If you do not want a blue backdrop for your dial, you can take a look at Bulova’s Men’s 98C004 Marine Star Day-Date Watch. This watch comes with a silver strap and also features a contrasting black dial. It is a very versatile design and can be worn during daytime or at night.
Another wonderful watch from Bulova is the Men’s 98H18 Two-Tone Bracelet Watch. This two-tone watch is rather cheap and can be bought at less than $80.
Please note that prices vary depending on where you will be buying these watches.
Tags: Bulova watch, watches
By Sigrid in Bulova, Casio
Silver watches are great because they go with everything. Unlike gold watches, you can wear your silver watch with jeans and a simple t-shirt. Since silver watches are very versatile, we took a look at the best men’s silver watches for 2012. Priced at $299, the Tissot Men’s T17158652 PRC 200 Chronograph Watch is one of the top selling dress watches in silver. The black dial of this silver watch makes it look classy while maintaining its versatility. The chronograph feature is cool too and the size of it is not too big or small.
Bulova also has a good silver watch. The 96E04 Diamon Multifunction Watch priced at over $300 is a good option if you want a decent-looking silver watch.
If you like Citizen watches, the Men’s BJ7000-52E Eco-Drive Nighthawk Stainless Steel Watch priced at $232 is a great deal. For Invicta fans, there is a silver men’s watch called the Coin-Edge Swiss Automatic Watch priced at over $300. This watch has a silver bracelet and looks quite classy.
If you do not want something in silver but prefer a different color, you can take a look at the Men’s BL5250-02L Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Watch from Citizen. The Luminox Evo Navy Seal Blackout Men’s Watch 3051 is also a good choice. This one uses a black polyester or carbon reinforced case.
Bulova’s Men’s 98A108 Marine Star Mechanical Hand-Wind Automatic Black Dial Watch is also a wonderful choice if you want a casual-looking watch in black and white. For men who want a black watch that looks decent and can be worn with a suit or jeans, the Tissot Men’s T17152652 PRC 200 Watch is a fine option. This one has a stainless steel case complete with a black backdrop for its dial.
Other choices include Casio’s Men’s PAW1500-1V Pathfinder Multi-Band Solar Atomic Ultimate Watch.
Tags: Bulova, silver, watch, watches
By Sigrid in Casio, Patek Philippe
It’s 2012 so let’s welcome the New Year with the best watches for men. Buying a new watch is a pleasurable thing to do but if you are a newbie with watches, it would be best to take a look at the best men’s watches for 2012.
If you want something in gold, the men’s SNA414 Flight Alarm Chronograph Watch from Seiko is a fine choice. It sells at around $250. It has a black and gold dial –really classy right? It has a gold band of course and has a Japanese-Quartz movement. For other gold watches for men, you can take a look at the Citizen Men’s BM8432-53P Eco-Drive WR100 Sport Watch. This is slightly cheaper than the one from Seiko, it has a gold band too.
For those who are looking for a cheaper gold watch for this year, Invicta’s Men’s 1205 II Collection Chronograph Stainless Steel Watch is a good choice. At over $100 this watch looks good. Watch snobs won’t like it though but if you can’t afford a Patek Philippe, you might as well take a look at gold watches that cost a fraction of the price of Patek Philippine watches.
Another good gold watch and a very cheap one is Invicta’s Men’s 8930 Pro Diver Collection Automatic Watch. Sold at less than $100, this one has a dark blue background for its dial and looks quite decent.
If you want a watch in black, Casio’s Men’s GW3000BB-1A G-Shock Aviation Black Resin Multi-Function Watch is a good choice. This all black watch costs less than $300. This may seem rather expensive for a Casio watch though but Casio has improved through the years so it won’t hurt if you take a look at it.
If you want something that is only over $50, you can take a look at the I by Invicta also known as the Men’s 43659-004 Multi-Function Black Ion-Plated Stainless Steel Watch.
Tags: gold watch, gold watches, seiko
By Sigrid in tourbillon
Electronic movements are different from mechanical movements –this is of course basic knowledge for those who are into collecting watches of any kind. Mechanical watches although very expensive and very traditional are less accurate and often suffer from errors of seconds on a daily basis. Mechanical watches are also sensitive to position and temperature. Magnetism also affects the accuracy of mechanical watches.
Apart from these, there are other things that separate mechanical watches from those with electronic movements. This includes the fact that the former is costly to produce and also require maintenance and adjustment on a regular basis. Another bad thing about mechanical watches is that they are quite prone to failure –a crash in a more modern sense. However, the craftsmanship of these watches is unbeatable and still attracts quite a large audience from the world over. Skeleton watches for example are like that so one can see the mechanism behind time telling giving the mechanism itself an aesthetic purpose.
How do mechanical movements work? Well this is where escapement mechanism comes in. This type of mechanism controls and limits the winding (and of course the unwinding) of a spring into a managed energy release. A balance wheel is also used with a hairspring to make sure that the mechanism works. The balance spring or the hairspring controls the gear system. This system makes sure that the watch works like a pendulum. If that is not complicated enough, there are other parts that need to be discussed when it comes to mechanical watches. The tourbillion for example is a part of a mechanical watch but this is usually optional. This rotating frame functions as a way to cancel out the effects of gravity on timekeeping. However, since the tourbillion is quite difficult to make due to the complexity of its design, they are quite expensive. This is the reason why watches with this part are called “prestige” watches.
Tags: Mechanical Watches
By Sigrid in Uncategorized
When Seiko finally made the debut of the quartz in 1964, more developments were made to make a miniature. The first quartz to be produced by the company was called the Seiko 35 SQ Astron. Through its development from 1964 to 1967, it took two more years for Seiko to release the Astron. It was only on Christmas day of 1969 that the company was able to release it for public consumption.
For those who love studying the history of watches, there is one interesting decision that Seiko made at the time and this is to not patent the quartz movement making it possible for other watchmakers to benefit from their new technology. This of course played a very important role in the popularity of quartz watches and in less than a decade, the quartz movement was used by most watchmakers in the industry and bought by those who wanted affordable yet reliable timepieces.
The development of this technology ended the 100-year-reign of the mechanical wristwatch. Although mechanical watches are very expensive, cheap quartz watches were of course more accurate. In fact, many likened this fact to a cheap wristwatch worn by a child and its accuracy to the inaccuracy of a very expensive watch of an adult.
It was in the 70s when quartz wristwatches were mass produced thanks to the leadership of SWATCH. The Swiss conglomerate manufactured batteries as well as oscillators and integrated circuits to add to their revenue. It was in 1983 when SWATCH started the campaign for its brand marked by bold and modern styling and design. The marketing was of course and is still is different from your usual watches because SWATCH had a different target population –the younger generation.
Seiko on the other hand still made waves in the watchmaking industry and later on produced the Seiko Spring Drive which integrated mechanical movements and the quartz.
Tags: seiko, SWATCH
By Sigrid in Uncategorized
Although mechanical watches are quite popular because of their craftsmanship, the development of the wristwatch is still a wonderful topic of discussion. From mechanical watches to watches that used the pin-lever mechanism to those that were called self-winding to those that run on batteries –these are all very interesting things.
The Automatic Watch
Although self-winding mechanism was already around in 1770 thanks to Abraham-Louis Perrelet, it was only in the early 1920s that the automatic watch mechanism was integrated to wristwatches. John Harwood, a British watch repairman used this mechanism to make the first self-winding watch.
How did this work?
According to historical accounts and of course according to watch experts, the automatic watch did not require any manual winding since it had a winding rotor. The rotor rotates on its own whenever the wearer moves his wrist. The rotor’s back and forth motion automatically winds the watch’s mainspring.
The Electric Watch
The electric watch or electronic watch used electronic movements. Such a watch usually had no moving parts since they utilize the piezoelectric effect in quartz for timekeeping. Quartz watches are electronic of course but usually have mechanical hands on the watch’s face to provide a more traditional display –something that is preferred by most consumers.
A Bit of History
It was in 1959 when Seiko ordered its daughter company to start the development of a watch that would utilize quartz. The codename for the project was 59A. During the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964, the watchmaker already had a prototype of a quartz watch which was of course used in the Olympics to keep the time. It is interesting to note that the first prototypes were made by a research laboratory located in Switzerland. Pioneering development of the quartz was done after the Tokyo Summer Olympics through 1967 when the quartz oscillator was miniaturized.
Tags: Quartz, seiko
By Sigrid in Uncategorized, tourbillon
Invented by Georges Frederic Roskopk, the pin-lever escapement also known as the Roskopf movement is a cheaper type of mechanism used for mechanical watches. Many watches were manufactured in huge quantities using the pin-lever escapement before the said mechanism was replaced by quartz. Timex for example used this movement before it shifted to using the quartz alternative.
There are other mechanisms used by manufacturers and one of them is a combination of electronic and mechanical techniques. Electromechanical movement was introduced in 1960 by Bulova where the company used a tuning fork to keep the time or tell time for that matter. Watches that used this mechanism however were later on considered obsolete when quartz entered the picture. Quartz watches are of course cheaper to make and are even more accurate.
Another thing that one should learn about if one is interested in collecting watches is what traditional watch movements use as a power source. Nope not batteries of course but a spiral spring –a mainspring. This spring is usually rewound on certain times to make sure that the watch works efficiently. To do this, the user of the watch must turn the crown of the watch itself. Antique pocket watches on the other hand are wound by turning the watch with a key. Most of these watches need to be wound daily but many of them ran for several days without rewinding them. Those with 192-hour mainsprings for example needed only to be wound on a weekly basis.
For those who did not want to rewind their watches daily, the automatic watch was a good choice. These self-winding watches looked rather eccentric though because of their rotor but they came in handy for the lazies of the late 1920s. Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented self-winding mechanism in 1770 but it was only in 1923 when John Harwood integrated this knowledge to wristwatches.
Tags: Mechanical Watches, Roskopk
By Sigrid in Uncategorized
What is a watch but a mere decoration now that we have our sleek smartphones telling us what time it is? A watch defined as a small timepiece that is usually worn on the wrist or for those who are more old school is worn by attaching it on a chain. The latter is called a pocket watch which very few people now use. We have come a long way since the time of pocket watches and in this time and age, we can rely on a lot of things to tell us the time –the tv, the microwave, our mobile phones, the radio, etc. Watches evolved from spring powered clocks in the 15th century. Two centuries later, these clocks were minimized and turned into pocket watches. The first ones were of course mechanical but through the years and as we reached industrialization, mechanisms for the measurement of time have also changed.
The death of mechanical watches came when quartz vibrations were invented. The electromagnetic watches somehow made watches more appealing to the masses especially those who were not able to afford mechanical watches.
Before wristwatches became a common thing, most people had pocket watches. These watches had covers on top of them that the owner of the watch had to open when he or she has to take a look at the time. The said watches looked like big lockets and were often carried inside the pockets of men or attached to a watch fob more commonly known as a watch chain.
When the wristwatch came out, it wasn’t called a wristwatch immediately. In fact, in the 1900s, people called these watches as wristlets and were predominantly used by women. According to historical accounts, many thought that the wristlet would only be a passing fad rather than a serious timepiece. All of this changed of course when the First World War came as men attached their pocket watches to their wrists through the use of leather straps.
Tags: pocket watches, wristlet
By Sigrid in Patek Philippe
Luxury watch manufacturer Patek Philippe created the world’s most expensive watches. The Swiss company, according to watch snobs, created the top ten in the most expensive watch list.
Although those who are not into wristwatches and pocket watches will say that their phones or their $20 can tell time as good as an expensive one does, those who appreciate the complications of Patek Philippe timepieces and timepieces from other luxury brands will always choose to buy the best of the best.
One of the most expensive is Pate Philippe’s 1932 Henry Graves Supercomplication pocket watch. Sold at Sotheby’s in the year 1999, the watch reportedly fetched $11, 002, 500. The competition for the 1932 pocket watch was rather intense leading the one who got the watch to spend over $11 million for it.
Ten years before the Patek Philippe Supercomplication watch was sold, Patek Philippe created the Caliber 89. The clock watch has an 18 karat white gold frame and is known to be the most complicated timepiece in the world. It was sold at an Antiquorum auction for over $5 million.
In the year 2002, Antiquorum sold another Patek Philippe watch for over $4 million. The Platinum World Time wristwatch made in the year 1939 is believed to be a one-of-a-kind item. Four years later, Antiquorum sold the 2523 Model Heures Universelles from the same brand. The 1953 wristwatch with an 18 karat yellow gold frame fetched almost $3 million.
Another 50s model from the same luxury brand the 2499 First Series was sold at Christie’s for over $2 million in the year 2007.
On that same year Christie’s sold a 1944 model from Patek Philippe at a whopping $2, 263, 964. Known as model 1591, the wristwatch is the only stainless steel watch ever made. Reports say that only 2 of this model exist today.
Tags: expensive, Patek Philippe
By Sigrid in Patek Philippe, tourbillon
Made in the year 1926, Patek Philippe’s Grande Complication was sold for $1, 980, 200 at a 2005 auction at Christie’s.
The watch was owned by the Swiss watchmaker’s most influential patron, a New York banker named Henry Graves, Jr. Graves had this watch made for him and it even includes a signature of the financier making it more special than other watches. What makes the Grande Complication watch special is that it has a two-direction winding mechanism, a perpetual calendar and a twin-barrel.
Another wonderful example of an expensive watch from Patek Philippe was sold in 2006 by Christie’s. The Grogan, a wristwatch that has a cushion-shaped frame is a unique find. Although many would deem this as just a watch, the buyer had to spend $1, 945, 040 to get this watch.
A 1923 model from Patek Philippe also fetched almost the same price as the Grogan. The Patek Philippe Officier was sold in the year 1999 at an Antiquorum auction for $1, 918, 387.
The question is, why are luxury watches so expensive and the ones that are one-of-a-kind can even cost millions of dollars. If you remember the Henry Graves watch from Patek Philippe fetching over $11 million, then you are probably wondering too why these watches get so much attention.
Wearing luxury, old school watches i.e. not quartz has always been a European tradition. This is the reason why even ordinary people in Europe make sure that they get a decent watch. This of course is an exaggeration but this is something that the other side of the world should admit –that the tradition for complicated watches is not something we really give importance to.
Another brand that is quite expensive includes Vacheron Constantin. Although this brand is not a favorite among watch snobs, the Vacheron Constantin Malte Tourbillon Regulator costs $700, 000 and that’s not in an auction.
Tags: Patek Philippe