Variety Watches

Watch Tags: Breitling, Breitling Watches, mens luxury watches, Swiss watch manufacturer

Movado has been a perennial favorite among women for decades, primarily because they have stuck with a design theme that really works. Movado watches are best known for their Museum watch, which has become a symbol of style and sophistication.

My two favorite collections for of Movado watches for women are the Esperanza and Amoroso editions. The Amoroso I love best is made with a delicate two-tone dangle bracelet, featuring a round black dial with gold-toned hands and the famous Movado concave marker at the 12 o’clock hour. In the Esperanza collection, I love the sleek contemporary look of the mother-of-pearl dial, surrounded by a diamond-studded bezel, against a shiny stainless steel bracelet. It makes a highly sophisticated, yet utterly feminine fashion statement.

Rather than trying to choose between the two Movado watches I love, I decided to buy both of them. No matter which Movado you like best, you can be sure it will be among the most luxurious watches you have ever worn – accurate to within seconds per year and crafted with the highest quality materials. A constant innovator, Movado watches continue to be one of the top luxury watch makers in the world

Watch Tags: Luxury Watches, luxury womens watches, Movado, women's watches

Just in case you have never heard of Panerai Watches, this Italian watchmaker has been making some of the world’s finest timepieces since 1860. Their most famous models are the Luminor and Radiomir watches, which were used by the Royal Italian Navy’s commando frogmen during the sinking of Allied naval ships during World War II.

It wasn’t until Sylvester Stallone “discovered” Panerai Watches in 1995 while shooting a movie in Rome that the watches became more widely known in the United States. Stallone was so taken by Panerai watches that he soon started giving them as gifts to his friends, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Panerai watches now come in four collections – the Contemporary, Manifattura, Historic and Special editions, but most of these collections are made in limited quantities, and each of them includes a number of issue on the caseback. Prices range from $6,250 to over $25,000.

It wasn’t until a new agreement was signed between Girard-Perregaux and Ferrari, that Panerai watches became the official timekeeper for the Ferrari brand. As a result, a new collection of watches known as “Panerai Ferrari” is available, but these watches are also produced in limited quantities.

The limited production runs for all Panerai watches make them a valuable commodity among luxury watch collectors, and often causes them to increase in value over time.

Watch Tags: Luxury Watches, Panerai, panerai watches, paneria luxury 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

Let’s face it – we all love to get a bargain – especially if it is for something that is normally out of our reach. It used to be if you wanted a luxury watch, you had to wait for the local jeweler to have a sale, but today, discount watches are available at the click of a mouse. Before you dive into the web and start Googling “discount watches”, there are a few things you should know.

• Always read the customer reviews before choosing a watch. Sometimes there is a good reason that the price is so low, and no matter how cheap it is, you still want to be happy with your decision.

• Be sure you are dealing with a reputable retailer. Many people think they are buying a genuine luxury brand watch, only to find out later that the “discount watch” they purchased is a replica. Replica watch companies should be very clear about the fact that their watches are not the real thing, but not every company will tell you that.

• Make sure the online retailer has a generous return policy. There is nothing worse than getting a great deal on a watch that doesn’t work, and then finding out on the 8th day that you only had seven days to return it.

• Before making a purchase, do a quick price comparison to make sure you are getting the best deal.

Keeping these tips in mind while you shop will ensure you get the best watch for your money, and don’t end up suffering from buyer’s remorse.

Watch Tags: discount watch, discount watches, Luxury Watches, men's watches, women's watches

That’s right, Omega Watches has released an historic limited edition Seamaster model, and it is the watch company to offer a watch that bonds Liquidmetal® with ceramics.

What makes this launch such big news for Omega Watches?

The ceramic elements of the watch, along with the Liquidmetal® alloy components, are an excellent combination for divers because of their incredible resistance to corrosion. In addition, the ceramic diving bezel uses Liquidmetal® for its numbers and scaling, which provide a stunning contrast against the black ceramic background.

Omega Watches is known for its consistent ability to innovate, which is how the company has remained at the forefront of performance luxury watch making for several decades. The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® Limited Edition uses another revolutionary Omega Invention – the Co-Axial calibre 2500 movement, which has long been celebrated for its long term performance and chronometric technology.

This extraordinary new timepiece is just another example of how Omega Watches continues to reinvent the diver’s chronograph. In honor of the year when the Seamaster watch line first launch, Omega Watches will create only 1948 pieces in this limited edition. If you want to own a piece of Omega Watches history, be sure to get your limited edition Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® before they sell out.

Watch Tags: designer watches, luxury timepieces, omega seamaster, omega watches

That little green crocodile has become an internationally recognized logo for polo shirts, making the Lacoste brand one of the top selling ever. Started by Frenchman Rene Lacoste in 1927 the now iconic crocodile logo was based on the nickname the “Alligator” given to Lacoste, who was at that time a professional tennis player for France. In 1933, the alligator became a brand and was printed on shirts, making it the first time that a brand logo was printed on the outside of a garment (versus the inside), an idea which has over the years become a top marketing method.

Although so familiar on a shirt, how often have you seen the little green guy on a watch? Lacoste makes men’s watches and women’s luxury watches; in fact the women’s collection is more substantial than the men’s. For women there are three collections: the Club, Sportswear, and Sport. For men, there are two: the Club and Sport.

The watch profiled here and as seen in the picture is the Biarritz Rose women’s watch from the Sport collection. Named after a luxurious seaside town in the south of France, this watch is luxurious but refined.

The Biarritz Rose comes with a rose gold-toned stainless steel case and bezel and a two-toned white dial with mother-of-pearl center with the famous crocodile sitting at 12 o’clock. The bezel also has the name Lacoste engraved in large letters around it. The white dial and soft, white leather strap reflect the tennis origins of Lacoste himself. Although a sports watch, the crystals and slightly luminescent mother of pearl dial add a touch of sophistication to it.

This watch comes in other colors including ones with pretty white and red or white and green straps and if the green of the croc is too much, he also comes in a muted grey that blends in with the color of the dial.

Watch Tags: Biarritz Rose Women’s Watch, lacoste watches, womens luxury watches, womens sports watches

Stefan Kudoke, a 30 year old German watchmaker, is gaining a global following for his one-of-a-kind watches. He uses a technique called “skeletonising” that is so complicated that he’s able to produce only 50 watches per year. This technique requires time-consuming drilling and sawing with teeny tiny tools. What this does is expose the inside workings of the watch, which is why it’s like looking at a labyrinthine.

Kudoke works out of his parent’s home and people from around the world have begun to come visit him there to watch him create his watches, of which about 80 have been sold aboard. Kudoke has the Internet to thank for this, since most of his buyers are American and Japanese. Each watch, which are engraved and encrusted with jewels, sells for about €3,500 euros or $5,000 dollars.

Kudoke fell in love with watchmaking when he was in the 10^th grade and began an apprenticeship in his hometown of Brandenburg. At 21 he began working for the well-known German manufacturer, Glashütte Original, and after that did stints in the service department for Breguet, Blancpain and Omega in New York, before moving onto the Swiss Swatch Group with a job customer services. He left that job to pursue a spot at the Lusatia craft school in Senftenberg to begin perfecting his technique and skills to be able to create his own watches.

“I had a vision – I wanted to stand on my own two feet in the luxury watch market,” said the 30-year old.

As all other people and companies in the luxury goods market, Kudoke is waiting for the economic crisis to pass before he expands his one-man business. As for now, his growing fan base will have to join his online waiting list.

Read more about Kudoke and his watches.

Watch Tags: kudoke, Luxury Watches, stefan kudoke

Luxury watches have been around for nearly two centuries. The concept of keeping time on one’s wrist was something revolutionary during the 1800s. Before the wrist-watch, the most common time-keeping instrument was a pocket watch. Pocket watches eventually became obsolete as the wrist watch was far more convenient and harder to misplace.

Some of the first luxury watch brands to emerge during the 1800s include TAG Heuer, Omega and Audemars Piguet. The term luxury watch refers to the quality with which the timepiece is hand crafted and the rare materials that are used in the manufacturing phase. By these standards, all watches during the 19^th century were “luxury” time pieces.

With the lack of mass production and industrialization there were no cheap knock off watches to purchase. All time-keeping instruments were made by skilled watch makers, who made a life out of crafting small pieces of metal into time-keeping art. Today, the facility with which lower grade quartz watches can be mass produced has given a greater sense of distinction to watches that are made in the traditional manner.

All watches were originally mechanical. The employment of battery and quartz watches did not occur until the 20^th century. Mechanical watches function by winding the crown of the watch, which in turn makes the movement unwind and keep time. The development of automatic watches was a great advancement. Automatic watches function brilliantly by having a pendulum inside the movement. The pendulum moves as your wrist does. When it moves it constantly winds itself, a feature that provides self-efficiency. Watches that are made in this manner are more practical, of better quality, more precise and much classier.

Luxury watches today are made the same way they were originally hand crafted more than 200 years ago. Switzerland is the country of origin for most high-end watch manufacturers. The art of watch making finds its roots in this country as well.

Most mass produced wrist-watches are such low-grade quality that they generally don’t last more than a year. Besides being low in quality, they do not keep time with precision. They will most likely lose 1-2 minutes a month, or up to 5 minutes if the watch is exceptionally defective. Besides all these inconveniences, batteries for cheap watches have to be changed at least once a year. Given all these characteristics, it is far more intelligent to purchase a quality time-piece that will last longer, yield a return if purchased as an investment and look like a piece of art on your hand.

Watch Tags: Audemars Piguet, Luxury Watches, Omega, TAG Heuer

Materials like leather and platinum used to be the order of the day when it came to luxury watches. Nothing else could satisfy the stratospheric standards of sumptuousness. But now that even the standards of luxury are beginning to change as well, there’s a new player in the luxe materials market – rubber.

Rubber-strapped watches were once limited to just the lower end of the watch spectrum, to just the cheap, disposable or toy watches. Nowadays, though, even the highest-end watch brands feature rubber straps, and diamonds can be on the same watch as PVD.

Ready for Anything

With its primary goal of being the toughest watch you’ve ever seen, it’s pretty understandable for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Survivor to have molded rubber instead of the typical leather strap or metal bracelet. After all, you’d be less discouraged to get rough with your watch if the strap were made of something like rubber.

The durable material also fits in well with the rest of the décor on the Survivor. Molded black vulcanized rubber goes well with the brushed and textured black case and bezel of the watch. Overall, the material adds to the unmistakable impression of a very tough watch indeed.

A Tribute in Rubber

Few would question the use of a rubber strap with the Piaget Polo FortyFive, especially since rubber straps are commonly used with sports watches anyways. What’s not regular is rubber being used by a luxury watchmaker like Piaget, especially on a commemorative model like the FortyFive.

The matte rubber is an interesting contrast to the shine of the steel case on the FortyFive. It suggests a typical high-end watch with a not-so-typical sporty side to it – definitely a step in a new direction for Piaget. Aside from that rubber touch, the FortyFive is everything you’d expect a premium watch to be.

The New Luxe

Believe it or not, the diamond-abundant Perrelet Diamond Flower features numerous diamonds set into a metal case – all alongside a 100% rubber strap. It’s at the forefront of this whole movement of putting together old world luxury materials with new, underestimated elements under a well-known brand.

The Diamond Flower is an elegant mix of form and function. While it sports a breathtaking flower motif on the dial and a timeless design, a double rotor mechanism ticks away behind all the beauty.

It seems likely that rubber straps will continue to be a fixture in the high-value world of premium watches. It takes some elements from the low end, many elements from the upper end and puts them together in a previously unexplored middle ground.

Watch Tags: luxury, rubber watches, watch