1. An unbelievable day. A Minerva – Villeret manufacture visit
Minerva is a hallowed name especially when it comes to chronographs and enjoyed much success in the early parts of previous century. Minerva’s chronographs were renowned, and it was even the official timekeeper for the 1936 Winter Olympics. Today, Minerva has been acquired by Richemont and is responsible mainly for producing complicated movements for Montblanc’s haute horologerie pieces, and also for other Richemont Group companies – most notably, Panerai. Find out what goes on behind the scenes at Minvera’s manufacture.
Source: PuristSPro
2. Tudor Seeks To Re-Invent The Swiss Tool Watch With In-House Made Mechanical Movements
Make no mistake, Tudor has been on a roll for the past few years. The Heritage Black Bay, the Heritage Chrono Blue and the Fast Rider Black Shield Chrono have all been hits. Sure, it’s easy to downplay Tudor’s achievements and say that their success is largely due to Rolex’s backing – Tudor is after all the sister brand of Rolex – but that doesn’t take anything away from the momentum they have built up in the past couple of years. This year, Tudor is taking things one step further by introducing their own in-house movement. What does this mean for the Swiss watch industry?
Source: Forbes
3. Comparative Review – The Zenith Espada vs. Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000
The higher the frequency of the movement, the more accurate the movement generally is. Briefly, it allows for the measurement of smaller units of time, and it recovers from shock more quickly. The fastest mass-produced movements today beat at 36,000 beats per hour, and the two most famous brands that produce them are Zenith and Seiko. Here’s a head to head comparison of two hi-beat three-handers from the two brands.
Source: Monochrome
4. My Ten-Year Anniversary
There are all sorts of watch collectors. Some collect based on brands, others perhaps by models, and some might buy only new watches, while others might swear by vintage pieces. Here is a post celebrating one collector’s 10 anniversary on the IWC Forum and details his collection of Big Pilot watches. Lots of amazing photographs in here. If you are a fan of the IWC Big Pilot, you won’t want to miss this.
Source: IWC Forums
5. AP Watchmaking Class
What better way to appreciate the craft of watchmaking than to invite collectors and customers to a watchmaking class? This was exactly what Audemars Piguet did recently when they invited guests of the brand to a class in San Francisco. And as you can imagine, even assembling AP’s simplest hand-wound movement, the Caliber 3090, proved to be a challenging task. But assembly aside, this exercise also gave guests the chance to see and learn more about the different finishing techniques that are applied to an Audemars Piguet movement.
Source: TimeZone