Variety Watches

Back in the late 1850’s a man named Charles-Emile Tissot left his hometown of Le Locle Switzerland to begin peddling his world-class Tissot “savonnette” pocket watches throughout the Russian empire. From there, the popularity of Tissot pocket watches expanded throughout the world, and the Tissot Company eventually became the leading producer of traditional watches, available in five continents and over 16,000 locations.

Today, Tissot continues to surprise and delight its clientele with the latest innovations in luxury Swiss watch making. An excellent example of the company’s pioneering spirit is the latest touch-screen technology now used in the Tissot T-Touch collection.

Sports enthusiasts will be familiar with the Tissot luxury watch brand through the company’s long-time association with NASCAR, theAFL, World Championships of ice hockey, cycling, fencing, and the MotoGP, among others.

As the official timekeeper of so many world-class sporting events, Tissot has established itself as a high-performance, precision timepiece that continues to set the standard for Swiss watch making. It is no surprise that Tissot has recently signed on a number of well-known brand ambassadors, including IndyCar champion Danica Patrick, international football star Michael Own, and 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden.

Watch Tags: luxury sports watches, sports watches, Tissot, tissot watches

Bell & Ross seems to be coming out with a lot of limited edition watches recently. These new additions, part of the popular BR Collection, are made from carbon fiber and are sports watches. Called BR 01 Carbon Fiber watches, there are two models: one features a three-counter automatic chronograph with date (BR 01-94) and the other, the BR 01-92 model, has a simple time display and sweep center seconds. Both are limited to 500 pieces.

To get inspiration for this sub collection, Bell & Ross looked to materials used in the aeronautical industry. The cases measure 46mm and are made completely from carbon fiber, as is the bezel and the edges. The dial is made from this same material and gives off a visual effect of the case and the dial being one piece. The strap is also made from carbon, this time woven and finished with a semi-gloss that is to the wearer’s wrist with a thick blackened tang buckle featuring the  Bell & Ross “BR” insignia. As with other Bell & Ross watches, the strap can be interchanged with others, which include a variety of options made from calf leather, alligator, or canvas.

Both of these carbon fiber chronograph models run on automatic ETA 2894  movements which offer a offers a rapidly adjustable date function, in addition to small seconds and a chronograph with 12-hour and 30-minute totalizers. The ETA 2894 has been used in many BR watches and “features a convenient hacking seconds function for precise synchronization to a time signal, or another watch.” Both models have a power reserve of 42 hours and are water resistant to 100 meters.

And of course, as with all BR watches, the design of these two limited edition carbon fiber ones is sporty, professional and very cool.  They are very much a man’s watch.

Watch Tags: Bell & Ross, bell ross watches, BR 01 collection, carbon fiber watches, limited edition watches, men's watches, sports watches

Swiss published magazine Montres Passion gives out two awards each year to watches. Being that Switzerland is the mecca for watchmaking, it’s common for the Swiss people to be interested in and knowledgable about luxury watches. So, each year there is an award given to a certain watch that the public votes on. This year’s winner is a sporty women’s watch by Parmigiana called the Pershing Asteria.

This is a totally different watch in all ways compared to the one that the actual magazine voted for, which was the Historiques 1921 by Vacheron Constantin.

The pershing Asteria is a large watch, with a case that measures 42mm wide by 13mm in thickness and is made from 18K white gold or stainless steel. This watch is elegant and sporty; reflective of the partnership between a high-end Italian yacht manufacturer and the Parmigiani brand. This collection of Pershing watches was produced in 2008 and comes in both men’s watches and women’s models.

The mother of pearl dial has all the features seen in a diving watch, like a unidirectional bezel and tells the story of the magic of the oceanic underworld. For example, on the dial are two little sea creatures that sit next to the chronograph subdials: a small octopus as the counterweight (not able to be seen in the angle of this image), while a starfish is the seconds hand/ dial for the time.

The functionality of this watch is more than initially meets the eye. There are hours, minutes and small seconds, located at the 3 o’clock position; the date display window, 1/4 second chronograph, a 30-minute counter and a 12- hour counter. The watch runs on a self-winding PF334 movement, created entirely by Parmigiani.

The band seen in this image is a white Epsom calf leather strap made by Hermes, with blue stitching; finished with a folding buckle and safety clasp. Another choice is a steel bracelet mounted on a natural rubber strap with satin-finished central links and comes with an adjustable safety deployment clasp. This particular watch also comes in a variety of levels of precious jewels.

Watch Tags: Luxury Watches, men's watches, Parmigiana watches, Pershing Asteria, sports watches, women's watches

What a name: The 2009 Conquistador Grand Prix of Singapore, for quite a watch. The world premiere of this luxury watch by Franck Muller has quite a unique style. 

The case is made from titanium and ergal (performance enhanced high-tech aluminum alloy), from titanium and 18K rose gold and from pink gold with a blackened titanium bezel. The use of ergal merits special mention because due to its being ultra-light and highly robust, it is commonly used in the Formula 1 racing industry as well as the aerospace industry. So the fact that Frank Muller incorporated in into his watch is innovative and really ties the timepiece to the event for which it was created.

Franck Muller produced a series of these 2009 Singapore Grand Prix chronographs, 80 of which are made from titanium (as shown in the first picture), 80 in rose gold and titanium (second image) and six very exclusive pieces made from pink gold with blackened titanium bezel (last picture). The watches measure 48mm wide by 62mm in length and 14 mm in thickness. The crystal is sapphire and the caseback has an engraving of the logo of the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix on it.

At first glance you can tell there is no other watch that this one can be compared to. The black and red contrast (including the strap) and the large numbers on the dial, give this watch a serious, dark, but glamorous look. The idea behind this look no doubt comes from the event that this watch, along with others, commemorates.

The Singapore Grand Prix is the only race within the FIA Formula 1 World Championship that takes place at nighttime. Therefore, this Franck Muller watch (of which there are three styles) illustrates the concept of “dark speed.”

Although the race has already taken place, it was held from September 25 – 27, the watch lives on. As with many race car driving events, the Singapore Grand Prix drew in large numbers of people; an estimated 100,000 live spectators and about 110 million that watched it on TV.

Watch Tags: 2009 Conquistador Grand Prix of Singapore chronograph, franck muller watches, frank muller, frank muller watches, luxury sports watches, mens luxury watches, sports watches

After much drama and analysis over bathing suits and world records, Michael Phelps, Ambassador for Omega watches, won against Serbian Milorad Cavic, who had become quite the rival. Phelps not only beat Cavic but became the first swimmer ever to break 50 seconds in 100 meter butterfly. The Serbian swimmer had earlier this month, also broken the 50 second mark, but Phelps swam faster at the Foro Italico race with a time of 49.82 seconds.

The reason this race and rivalry has received so much attention is two-fold. Since last year’s Beijing Olympics in this same 100 meter event, Cavic, who lost to Phelps by one-hundredth of a second, has maintained that the Omega timing systems were faulty and that he actually touched first and should have won the gold medal. Then came the recent insults about bathing suits, with Cavic offering to get Phelps one of the supposedly faster polyurethane suits, like the Arena-X Glide that he wears. But it seems that Phelps in his American-made Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit did just fine indeed.

After the race, the two rivals finally shook hands and Cavic did say one thing to Phelps: “You’re the man.”

Another amazing swimmer to join the Omega team is 30 year-old Italian Massimiliano Rosolino, becoming the company’s newest spokesperson.  

Omega signed Rosolino at the perfect time, since he will undoubtedly be one of the main stars at the next World Championships in Rome 2009. Omega will also be the official timekeeper of these games. Rosolino, who hails from Naples, always wears the Omega Seamaster that has his name inscribed on the back and which was given to him as a gift after his 2000 victory in Sydney. Rosolino has said that he loves Omega watches because “they express the good taste of those who wear them.”

Watch Tags: Luxury Watches, men's watches, Omega, omega seamaster, omega watches, sports watches