Archive for March, 2011

I really do !!! So who is Stephen Urquhart ? He’s the president of Omega and we were chatting at Baselworld … OK, we weren’t really chatting at Baselworld or anywhere else for that matter but I did read this article on Bloomberg Business Week. I know what you are thinking, “Hey, aren’t you a Môntrèk guy?” Yea, I love my Môntrèk but I do have an Omega also. In any event Stephen Urquhart said wearing a watch is like “walking around with a sculpture on your wrist, or a painting, or a poem or a book.” That might be a little bit of hyperbole but I guess if you are wearing one of their $500,000.00 watches you are entitled. The point is that there are many ways today to have accurate time so your watch needs to serve an additional purpose. You will always be making a fashion and lifestyle statement that you can be proud of with your Môntrèk !!!

Surely you have noted that I stick to watches in these blog posts … no religion or politics. That is not to say that I don’t have opinions on those matters but rather that the watch community is so vast and heterogeneous that any discussions of that nature are better off left to the pundits. But occasionally there is an event that is so Brobdingnagian and cuts across all thought and opinion that to not comment is inhumane. Such is the disaster that has befallen Japan. It is almost unfathomable to me to understand the scope of the tragedy that has befallen this country. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a cataclysmic tsunami compounded by the possibility of a nuclear disaster at worst and a radiation problem at best makes many other problems that our world faces pale in comparison. With all that said, my hope is that the resiliency of the people of Japan combined with the effort of all of us around the world will help restore this country. But just in case you thought I forgot about the reason I am here, take a look Anna Marienko’s Japan Tribute Clock.

We are NOT welocme :-(

I was just reading about the International Salon of High Horology show (SIHH) … that’s because I wasn’t invited LOL. In any event, it seems that above and beyond the exquisite time pieces, the most important part about this show is that it is “closed-to-the-public”. That’s right … you and I cannot even sneak a peak even though we are footing the bill. I realize that most of us are never going to own a watch that is shown at these “exclusive” types of events but we do support the factories that make these exclusive timepieces by purchasing their “less expensive” product … so don’t you think we could be permitted to rub elbows and dream at such an event ? Really … No REALLY … I understand that there are security concerns and they don’t want all “tire kickers” but this is just what turns people off about the watch business. Many other industries conclude their shows with a day or at least a few hours “open to the public”. I don’t think the SIHH is dealing with national security ? Maybe the “hoity-toity” just can’t stand being around the “hoi polloi” like you and me … I’m just sayin’.

While I was “rummaging around” the internet, I came across this article “10 Cutting-Edge and High-Tech Wrist Watches” and thought readers might be interested. Being as all knowledgeable as we are (Ahem, Cough, Cough) about the watch industry you will note that a few of the watches in this article we have covered in earlier posts. My personal interest in the article is that it appeared on a general style website rather than a watch aficionado website. This just goes to the idea that we continually talk about … your watch – it’s not just for telling time. Your watch is equally important as a statement about who you are. So what statement are you making ? If one of the watches in this article is you, then good for you … maybe  LOL. Me … I like my statement to be a little more traditional with an edge.