Falling For Fashion

Sparks natural curiosity with its technical beauty and sophistication, this Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup 2011 Royal Oak wristwatch is merely available in limited edition of 100 pieces, which has perfectly proved its exceptional quality and superb uniqueness. The new Audemars Piguet watch is sure to catch the eyes of the most discerning connoisseurs.

To make a list of the the best in the leaders of prestige watchmaking, the name of Audemars Piguet can never be excluded, because the company has been qualified for the position ever since the year 1875.

They are to find the strength of a tradition in its ability to evolve and be reinvented, as well as its innate wealth. The brand has convinced us again with this Audemars Piguet QE II Cup 2011 Royal Oak watch. This year will see the 13th anniversary of Audemars Piguet’s sponsorship of one of the world’s top horse racing events. And to commemorate this special occasion, the company unveiled this exclusive limited edition masterpiece.

This new creation has in fact fulfilled a dream of watch-makers — extracting the fine mechanism from the cavity of its case to reveal it in its splendor in an 18-carat white gold case bezel and 18-carat white gold sapphire crystal case back accompanied with the event logo engraving. The dial of the watch has been designed with “Mega Tapisserie” pattern with white gold applied hour markers with luminescent coating. The hand-stitched “large square scale” anthracite crocodile strap with 18-carat white gold AP folding clasp completes this wristwatch to boldly claim both absolute mastery of time-honoured artistry and unbridled creativity. And thus the idea comes so naturally that no one would say no to such a masterpiece, for the fabulous combination of exotic materials, excellent movement, unique design and luxury brand.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was started in 1975 to commemorate a visit to Hong Kong by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The race went on annually and evolved to an international event in 1995, with Hong Kong horses competing against those representing France, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Japan and the UK. Audemars Piguet continuously sponsored the race since 1999, making its partnership synonymous with one of the most important competitions in the field of horse-racing.

A. Lange & Söhne has again proved their talents in watch designing and making by presenting the Lange 31, the first mechanical wristwatch in the world that is capable of a 31-day power reserve. And another striking point lie in the patented constant-force escapement that is able to power the going train with constant torque delivery. Lange 31 also provides the highest quality rate stability and rate accuracy for a whole month.

So you forget the winding your watch quite often? It’s kind of alright here, since the Lange 31 has an autonomy system enabling it to show the right time for 31 days. Take a closer look at that sapphire-crystal backside, and you can see the key-winding mechanism, another element to guarantee precision, which has rarely been found in watchmaking. Besides, this mechanism brings more precise winding transmission ratio than a crown.

Three seals protecting the watch against water are found between the winding mechanism and the case, which can withstand maximum 3 bar pressure. Five to ten times longer than the springs of regular mechanical wristwatches, the two mainsprings have compound energy of more than 3 joules, with a total length of 3700 mm.

Aside from the innovative movement, this timepiece has also performed greatly in aesthetic value. The platinum model features a solid silver and rhodié dial, and rhodiumed gold hands and platinum deployant buckle. Then the model in 18-carat pink gold has got a solid-gold deployant buckle, a dial made of solid silver, argenté and hands of pink gold. The models both come with a hand-stitched crocodile strap, elegant and durable. Traditional elements of the house have also been displayed, like the whiplash precision index adjuster on the balance cock and the three screwed gold chatons.

So how can you miss such an A. Lange & Söhne Lange watch which is so superbly done? But if the price is a problem to you, try the high quality replica ones which will not let you down, either.

Used to getting some great surprise from the watch brand of Panerai? For the year 2011, Panerai introduces its new Radiomir 3 Days Platino – 47 mm watch. It may look familiar, since this new model is inspired by a watch created at the end of the 1930s by the brand itself. The 1930s model featured a rather unique design of the dial and it hadn’t been revived by the brand untill the present day.

The new Panerai model has got a brown dial shielded by a Plexiglas crystal. Different from the classic Panerai dial with large numerals, this one is completed simply with dot markers and alternating bar-shaped single or double hour markers.

To ensure great legibility, the dial is of a sandwich type, built from two superimposed discs. The upper one is perforated, forming the hour markers.

This 47 mm Radiomir case is crafted in platinum and capable of a 100-meter water resistance. The back is fitted with a large sapphire crystal window that reveals some parts of the movement. The wire loop strap attachments are removable, and thus it is rather easy to change its strap.

Beating inside this new Panerai watch is the P.3000 calibre, which was designed and manufactured independently in workshops of the brand. Operating at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour, the 160-part, 21-jewel movement provides a 3-day power-reserve.

This new Panerai timepiece is paired with a brown alligator strap fitted with a large white gold buckle. It is not difficult at all to predict that this new watch is going to be a hit to the market.

Breitling, as one of the leading watch brands in the world, is presenting us with its limited edition of new Breitling Transocean Chronograph, which is ready for takeoff. The Transocean timepiece has perfectly reflected the spirit of luxury and prestige of the finest long-haul journeys with its modern lines, pure design and refined details admirably. Aboard its understated, streamlined fuselage is a high-performance “engine” entirely developed and produced in Breitling workshops. As a preview celebration of this future classic, the brand with the winged B is introducing a Transocean Chronograph Limited Edition fitted with a transparent caseback revealing Breitling Caliber 01 – without doubt the best chronograph movement in this kind.

During the 1950s and the 1960s, Breitling shared the finest hours in the amazing saga of the conquest of the skies. The renowned Navitimer which was launched in the year 1952, rapidly established itself as the cult watch among pilots and other devotees of aviation. The brand offered onboard chronographs for the propeller planes and subsequently the jet planes of numerous aircraft manufacturers and airlines, thus becoming the “official supplier to world aviation”. In 1958, building upon the reputation for excellence acquired by its instruments for professionals, Breitling launched a new model named Transocean. “Men who have faith in the mighty liners of the sky will trust the Transocean, for behind every Breitling wristwatch lies the experience of aviation precision” – ran the slogan. This high-performance shock-resistant, antimagnetic and super-watertight model was also distinguished by its extremely precise chronometer-certified selfwinding movement. Endowed with an understated and refined design, it soon became a great success and proudly accompanied the boom in transatlantic travel, in an era when the famous Boeing 707, DC-8 and Caravelle aircraft – three symbols of speed, comfort and security – were bringing continents closer together than ever.

In fact, Breitling is paying tribute to this landmark model in its brand history by launching this new collection also inspired by the spirit of great journeys and luxury long-haul aircraft. While the pure lines of today’s Transocean are strongly reminiscent of the finest classic chronographs of the 1950s and 1960s, the new model simply is a great reinterpretation of them in a resolutely contemporary style. The elegant case features understated design, magnified by a smooth, slender bezel with a beveled profile and streamlined lugs molding the wrist. The epitome of simplicity. The classic round pushpieces, a nod to the first waterresistant pushpieces, lend a subtle vintage touch, while the large “baton” type straight-line hands, highlighted by a luminescent substance, convey a more modern aura. A prime example of clarity and readability, the dial features meticulously refined details such as applied hour-markers, counters that are finely recessed and “snailed” (decorated with a spiral motif), and an 18K gold rendering of the initial B that served for many years as the brand emblem.

The “engine” of this timepiece is to keep precision and reliability throughout the longest journeys, since this Transocean is equiped with Caliber 01, a high-performance selfwinding chronograph movement entirely developed and manufactured in the Breitling workshop and chronometer certified like all the brand’s movements. A model of discreet luxury, fine craftsmanship and technical perfection, the new Transocean is 100% Swiss made, as indeed are all chronographs and wrist instruments bearing the Breitling signature.

As a prelude to the launch of the series-produced models, Breitling offers collectors and fans of milestone watches a special edition of this new first-class chronograph. Issued in worldwide series of 2,000 in steel and 200 in red gold, new Breitling Transocean Chronograph Limited is equipped with a polished case and bezel and carries the individual number engraved on the case middle. It is available with two dial variations – Mercury Silver or lack – and comes fitted with a choice of leather or crocodile leather strap, or a woven steel bracelet. Contrary to future models in the series, to be endowed with solid casebacks, thislimited edition model water-resistant to 100 meters (330 ft) boasts a transparent back serving to treveal the 100% Breitling-made chronograph caliber with its column wheel and its distinctive architecture.

If you want to really know Gucci, apart from all those fancy items in the display windows, you may also need to know something else that the fashion house has done in other fields. We are not sure for what utter purposes the big brands do something good, but it should be appreciated if it is good to society and people. Gucci Watches has announced a special edition U-Play watch designed by Creative Director Frida Giannini and a contribution of $70,000 to benefit UNICEF Schools for Africa initiative. The Gucci U-Play watch is characterised by an interchangeable bezel and bracelet and for the limited edition, launching in time for the holidays, the design features silver Guccissima leather on the strap and bezel.

“I visited Malawi with UNICEF at the end of last year and saw the very difficult situation children face in sub-Saharan Africa, where so many children don’t get the chance to go to school.” Said Frida Giannini, Creative Director of Gucci, “I saw that UNICEF’s Schools for Africa program is successfully providing this opportunity that so many of us take for granted. Every child has the right to an education, and an education is forever.”

Gucci has started its relationship with UNICEF since 2005, and over the course the company has committed more than US$ 9 million and has consistently supported UNICEF’s life-saving treatment, care and prevention programs for orphans and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 1 million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. And now the partnership of the two has evolved to focus on education through UNICEF’s ‘Schools for Africa’ initiative, which aims to increase access to quality basic education for millions of children in Africa, with a special emphasis on helping the most disadvantaged – girls, orphans and children living in extreme poverty.

The Gucci U-Play Special Edition to benefit UNICEF has been available worldwide since November 2010.

While I have long been paying attention to the watches from Piaget, this model, yet, has been probably the sportiest Piaget watch I’ve ever noticed, and I think it is an interesting addition to the traditionally formal watch maker’s collection. Taking the classic Polo watch, instead of gold, this time Piaget uses titanium, a metal that is notoriously hard to get a polish from, for this luxury sport model. Segments of the 45mm wide case, as well as on the dial, are made of steel though. Going along with the sport theme, the watch is water resistant to 100 meters while the strap is rubber for a secure fit.

Now let’s see inside the watch. There is an automatic in-house built Piaget caliber 880P. The movement features a 30 minute fly back chronograph, allowing you to reset it without having to stop it, along with a second time zone. At the top of the dial Piaget places their quirky reverse revolving date. We can see from the whole that the dial design is uplifting and clear, which has greatly add to the elegance of this sporty watch. The subdials are labeled, which I expect will be appreciated when attempting to read the subdials quickly. The second timezone is displayed in 24 hour (GMT) time. Aside from all of these complications, the movement of this timepiece has a power reserve of 50 hours due to double mainspring barrels.

When you actually see this, you simply are more than willing to admit that this is one of the most beautiful sport watches out there, fitting from anything over haute horology’s poster child, Piaget.

We don’t usually gift watches, or we can say we often shry away from gifting watches. We have to face it. So many choices are out there. And the problem with the prices makes it even more difficult. You want to give your friend a good one but the luxury watches of the big brands, such as Cartier, Rolex or Breitling, are far not inexpensive. How do we make a wise decision on such an investment, like this? How do we go about choosing the right watch to gift a friend? I myself have some gidelines for you, which, I hope, can do you a favor.

Make sure you do know your friend well. If you are thinking about giving your friend a watch, you have to make sure that you are intimate enough, since a timepiece is regarded as an intimate gift, which means you should not give it to a casual acquaintance. That will be considered as sort of inappropriate. Then it’s important to study the things you know about their personality, lifestyle and such kide of stuff, which marks the start of the process.

Secondly, decide on the budget you have. If you are not rich enough, you have to be clear about that. There are countless choices in watch brands and prices, and your job is to categorize them into two kinds – the affordable ones and the unaffordable. It would be impetuous to spend all what you’ve got on a timepiece and I think your friend won’t feel good about it. But, still, don’t sacrifice quality for a deal. There are many Swiss watch makers offering reasonably priced collections.

Then you should be clear on the style and functions of watch you want. If you’ve got a clear idea about the style and functions you are going to take, your search can be greatly narrowed down, which will certainly save you much labor. For example, if you’re looking for a sport watch for your friend, you’d better make sure it comes with all the functions required.

If you give your friend a watch as present, you are telling him or her that you do care about the friendship. A watch is a very personal item, which they will most hopefully keep for a long long time. So be careful when you are choosing a watch as a gift. If everything goes well, you will see the surprised and grateful smile on the face of you friend after they open the present box.

In 2010, Calibre de Cartier men’s watch was newly introduced. This brand-new watch is equipped with Cartier’s first homemade self-winding mechanical movement. And the movement model is 1904-PS MC.

Exquisiteness and Masculinity

This watch’s overall design is full of the flavor of modernity. The details are finished. So strength and beauty have been balanced wonderfully. Thick solid case, three-dimensional convex bezel, vigorous large diameter dial and the super-large Roman time mark Ⅻ all show the intense masculinity. At the same time, soft smooth bezel tilts naturally at an angle of 28 degrees. And 120 precise scales are on the dial decorated with curved grain. So the delicate and exquisite detail description is a complement to the masculine overall.

Modernity and Antiquity

On the dial, the fan-shaped calendar window full of the flavor of antiquity is located at 3:00. On the other hand, the transparent sapphire crystal case back glowing with modernity makes the movement decorated beautifully can be taken in at a glance.

Perfect Sublimation

The 120 sophisticated scales on the dial makes the meticulous movement gear can be associated. While the new and different design of the movement in the transparent case back becomes the perfect sublimation of the machismo appearance of the watch.

Comfort

The watch feels comfortable. Designed according to ergonomic, the four lugs perfectly fit the natural shape of the wrist. It is as comfortable and natural as the second layer of the skin to create great experience to wear.

New movement

The new movement is with 11.5 lign diameter. To achieve fine adjustment and ensure accurate timing in any situation, the watch is equipped with internal double-winding box, sophisticated calibration system and seconds device. In order to ensure the stability of rotation when it is subject to strong outside force, the ceramic balls bearing system is equipped at the center of rotating wheel of the movement.

The watch is a kind of accurate timing instrument, and it costs a lot of money and it could also be used for a long time, therefore, whether the watch has good quality or not has become a question that we care about very much. Here are several points for attention to purchase a watch, and you could buy a watch with high quality by them.

First, we should check outer parts of the watch. We could check whether a watch is good or bad by examining its appearance which is obvious to us, at least, we should guarantee that it is good and complete from appearance.

Second, we could check the sensitivity of the watch. The sensitivity of the watch is very important, and if a watch does not have a good sensitivity, it means that there is something wrong with this watch. We could shake the watch that has stopped moving a little, and we could observe the movement of the second hand by means of the shaking strength, and if the second hand stops moving in a short time, it indicates that this watch has a high sensitivity and it could walk over after winding up enough.

Third, we should check the winding mechanism of the watch. The winding mechanism of a normal watch is loose, and when we are winding up, it is loose at the beginning, but it will become tighter and tighter, and when it could not be wound any more, it means that it is enough and the winding mechanism is normal, if we could hear abnormal noisy when we move the handle, it means that there is something wrong with the winding mechanism.

We should bear these points for attention to purchase a watch in heart, after all, nobody wants to spend a lot money buying a watch with quality problems.

Don’t you think it is undoubtedly funny that when you wear a Cartier replica wrist watch, while nobody will be able to spot it unless  you tell them? Actually, thanks for the very fabulous design, perfect craftsmanship and durable function, high quality replicas can  look almost the exact same with the original ones. They are not only suitable accessories to fit your any outfit, however also symbols  of your fashion taste and social status. What’s more important, they are surprisingly cheap. Compared to the particular highly priced  original ones, they are reasonably-priced for common individuals with limited budget. You can buy a replica timepiece just in a few hundred  dollars. You can save much of your hard-earned money and make other valuable investment.

Quality Cartier replicas are almost 100% mirrored the particular real ones, so that the difference is just not noticeable by any normal  person. Even the experienced wrist watch buffs will find hard to spot these two versions. What makes these Cartier replicas  special?

First of all and foremost important, all these fine replica watches are designed from high good quality materials, and they boast almost the  matching boasts of the designer ones. For instance, the replica Cartier Ballon Bleu offers the same top grade stainless  steel, sapphire crystals considered as well considered as automatic movement with the exact original ones.

Actually, there’s no need to feel uncomfortable by wearing Cartier replicas. They will surely increase your confidence and then  indulge in the luxurious and elegance of the exact sturdy replica designer watches. You can also get much envy and admiration from your family  and friends.

A lot of retailers are tightening their sashes to offer the ideal watches replica in a global scale. A trustworthy retailer  would normally spend a lot of effort to make the replica ones appearance exactly the same as the designer ones including the same  weight as well as dimension. In general, these retailers do not only offer top high quality replica wristwatches at competitive rates  but also provide best after-sale services. So just go out and enjoy shopping.