Archive for category Watch Stories
IWC in the Post-War Period – IWC History (3)
Posted by Max Stone in Watch Stories on January 6, 2010
After the devastation of two world wars, the western world entered into a fast-developing period. As the entire Swiss watch industry went into a brisk market, the IWC also embraced its heyday that lasts for decades.
However, the emergence of quartz watches and the cataclysmic rise in gold prices in the 1970s brought huge challenges to the Swiss watch industry, which is known as the Swiss watchmaking crisis. To adapt to the profound changes that swept the whole industry, IWC required more funding to sustain its development. As a result, IWC was taken over by VDO Adolf Schindling AG in 1978. The name of IWC, given by its founder F.A. Jones, was recovered at the same time.
In 1981, Otto Heller succeeded H.E. Homberger as general manager following the latter’s retirement on age grounds. Under the lead of the new management, IWC soon got back to the track of rapid growing.
In 1991 IWC director Günter Blümlein founded the LMH Group, with 100% stake in IWC, 90% in Lange & Söhne and 60% in Jaeger-LeCoultre.
In 2000, LMH was acquired by Richemont, now the world’s second-largest luxury goods group, but the independence and continuity of the LMH brands as a closed unit was remained.
With the rich resources in the Richemont group, the brand of IWC is substantially reinforced. Since then, IWC opened boutiques worldwide and made debute at SIHH every year. IWC watches became more and more sought after. IWC replica watches are thus more and more popular, too.
In 2008, IWC celebrated its 140th anniversary with the launch of 6 its iconic watches: the Pilot’s Watch, Portuguese, Ingenieur, Aquatimer, Da Vinci and Portofino. The great event push the popularity IWC watches to an unprecedented height. It can be predicted that IWC Schaffhausen will continue to achieve new culmination with more exciting watches for its fans.
View replica IWC watches and get your own now!
The Rauschenbach Era of IWC – IWC History (2)
Posted by Max Stone in Watch Stories on January 5, 2010
Despite the huge success it enjoyed, IWC was sold to the Rauschenbach family in 1880. Since then, IWC entered into the Rauschenbach Era and its ownership was changed from American to Swiss.
During this period, four generations of the Rauschenbach family dominated IWC with different names.
First Owner from Rauschenbach
The first owner from the Rauschenbach family was Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel, who was a local machine manufacturer at Schaffhausen. He bought the company in 1880. IWC was called Internationale Uhrenfabrik by then.
But just one year later, Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel died and IWC was taken over by his son, Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk, the second owner from Rauschenbach family.
Second Owner from Rauschenbach
Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk was only 25 years old when he took over IWC. IWC was named Uhrenfabrik Von J. Rauschenbach by then.
With the help of the experienced and loyal IWC staff called Urs Haenggi, Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk ran the company successfully for 24 years until his death in 1905. During this period, sales grew significantly in the European market. IWC’ motto, Probus Scafusia, meaning good solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen, was also advanced at this time.
Third Owner from Rauschenbach
After the death of J. Rauschenbach-Schenk in 1905, his wife, two daughters and their husbands, Ernst Jakob Homberger (director of G. Fischer AG in Schaffhausen) and Dr. Carl Jung, became the new owners of IWC. They ran IWC as an open trading company by the name of the Uhrenfabrik Von J. Rauschenbach’s Erben.
Later, E.J. Homberger took over the company as sole proprietor. He led the company through the most difficult times when the two world war and the world economic crisis broke out. His great contribution was honored in 1952 with a award of honorary doctorate by the University of St. Gallen.
Last Owner from Rauschenbach
E.J. Homberger died in 1955. His son Hans Ernst Homberger became the last of the Rauschenbach heirs to run IWC. He had joined his father’s company in 1934 and took control of IWC since his father’s death.
Hans Ernst Homberger’s major task was to develop the company to keep it stay ahead of the increasingly fierce competition in the watch making industry. He built a new premise to the original factory, bought new machines, and set up modern pension fund for the staff. E.J. Homberger continued to run IWC as a sole proprietor. He died in 1986 at the age of 77.
Many of IWC’s iconic watch models and technical breakthroughs were born during this period. For example, the IWC Ingenieur collection, the first automatic wristwatch with a soft-iron inner case, was introduced in 1955. In 1978, IWC introduced the world’s first titanium watch case and bracelet. And the revolutionary IWC Da Vinci collection was unveiled in 1985.
View more replica IWC watches
The Early History of Watchmaker IWC – IWC History (1)
Posted by Max Stone in Watch Stories on January 4, 2010
The name of the famous Swiss watchmaker IWC is actually the abbreviation for International Watch Company. As its name implies, IWC originated from international cooperation. It is in fact founded by an American called Florentine Ariosto Jones.
F.A. Jones had been the director of America’s leading watchmaking company at that time and aimed to blend the Swiss craftsmanship with American modern engineering technology. In 1868, 27-year-old Jones came to Schaffhausen, a small town in eastern Switzerland with a long history of watch making activity. He wanted to open a company to produce movements and watch parts to supply the American market.
He expected the Swiss craftsmen to share their watchmaking expertise with him at his factory. But his brave decision encountered cold shoulders. At that time, although there was an abundant supply of skilled watch craftsmen, most craftsmen tended to work in their homes and feared for working at a factory with the worry of revealing their patrimonial expertise.
Fortunately, an visionary Swiss watch maker and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser showed interest to Jones’ plan. Moser had built Schaffhausen’s first hydroelectric plant and was highly respected in the local watch industry, he attracted many talented craftmen to work for Jones.The International Watch Company was founded based on such dream partnership of Jones and Moser. Located in Schaffhausen, IWC is the first and only watch manufacturers in north-eastern Switzerland.
The timepieces produced by IWC soon became sought after with their excellent quality and middle-end price. By the year of 1875, IWC already grew into 3 factory premises to meet the increasing demands.
The Serious Helicopter Summoner – Breitling Emergency Watch
Posted by Max Stone in Watch Stories on January 2, 2010
This must be one of the coolest watches in the world. Because you can call a helicopter to pick you up when activating the built-in radio transmitter. What a watch! This is why they are called Breitling Emergency watches.
Breitling is always proud to be the luxury watchmaker that produces “instruments for professionals”. The Breitling Emergency watches are just one of such typical watches that feature strong professional style.
Tailor-made for pilots and air-crews, the Emergency contains a microtransmitter broadcasting on the 121.5 MHz distress frequency, which is monitored by Cospas-Sarsat, an international search-and-rescue operation.
When a pilot encounters emergency situations such as a crash or forced landing, he can activate the transmitter by removing a cap on the watch which releases an antenna. The transmitter can then broadcast radio signals for 48 hours, serving as a complement to the beacons carried aboard aircraft. Under normal circumstance—flat terrain or calm seas—the signal can be detected at a range of up to 160 kilometers (90 nautical miles) by search aircraft flying at 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).
In 2003, Breitling Emergency watch attracted huge attention and proved its value by saving two British pilots’ lives. Steve Brooks and Hugh Quentin-Smith, crashed their helicopter in Antarctica. They activated the Breitling Emergency watch transmitter and stayed in their lifeboat. A Chilean Otter aircraft found them after homing in on signals from their watches and rescued them .
Needless to say, such a life savior watch is coveted by a lot of people and watch fans in addition to professionals such as pilots. The good news is that Breitling Emergency is available for non-professional customers who do not hold a pilot’s license. But in order to prevent the false triggering of the distress beacon, customers must sign an agreement stating that they will bear the full costs of a rescue operation should they trigger the alert. And people who abuse the alert would be defined as making false alarm and will be subject to extremely steep fines. However, you can test the alarm according to strict procedures.
Some may feel too stressed to wear a Breitling Emergency watch as it is very serious watch. It must be a disaster for you if your child accidentally activate the transmitter for you. If you don’t want to be disturbed by a self-invited helicopter during your holiday, why not wear a replica Breitling Emergency watch?
The Breitling Emergency replica watch features the exact appearance of the real thing but is lack of the built-in microtransmitter. So you don’t need to worry that you’ll trigger an Emergency helicopter service that would spoil your vacation. And replica Breitling Emergency watches are much cheaper than the authentic counterparts. If you want to familiarize yourself with such a special watch, Breitling Emergency replica watches are your ideal choice.
View replica Breitling watches
Tag Heuer Monaco V4: The Inside Story
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on October 29, 2009
What will it come out from the watch desiners if the word of “watch” become just a concept of “time indicator” without any concreate image or textbook constraints? Tag Heuer’s engineers and designers’ answer is: the Monaco V4.
A Complete Break With Tradition
Tag Heuer has been well-known for being the “Swiss Avant-Garde” since 1860. Over the past 150 years, Tag Heuer has set new benchmarks for luxury sports watches again and again. This year, the premiere of their stunning Monaco V4 has again pushed the luxury watchmaking beyond limits.
Monaco V4 is the world’s first belt-driven watch that has been put into commercial production. Its protoype, the Monaco V4 Concept watch, was unveiled in 2004 at BaselWorld.
Like a car engine, the fundamental mechanical factors in a watch are: transmission, friction and power.
Until the V4, the principal components of the modern watch system, regardless of their complications, were generally based on the mechnical movements that were developed during the 18th and 19th century. But Monaco V4 creates a completely different system with the existing principles of watchmaking, turning that heritage upside down and inside out.
Transmission
Traditionally, watch movement use gears for transmision. But in Monaco V4, these were replaced with a world patent: the belt-driven transmission system, which requires no extra gears to send motion from point to another, and is thus more efficient and easier to maintain.
Energy
Before Monaco V4, the oscillating mass of a watch is superimposed on the movement and moves in a rotational manner. Tag Heuer revolutionized this with another worldwide patent: the linear mass, which doesn’t move back and forth but up and down on a track and is mounted on the world’s smallest ball bearings.
The Origin of Monaco V4
Monaco V4 is designed to give homage to Tag Heuer’s 150th anniversary and its flagship series: Monaco. The original Monaco’s outsized, square face impacted the conventional watchmaking aesthetics of a whole generation. Thus Monaco V4 inherit its predecessors’ iconic square face to showcase TAG Heuer’s newest breakthrough in high-end luxury design.
The name V4 derives from the V-shaped platinum main plate on which the movement’s four spring barrels are mounted.
Back in 2004, the Monaco V4 was presented as a Concept Watch, which is he world’s first watch with belt drives, linear mass and ball bearings. That was the prototype of the present version. At that time, many industry insiders thought V4 would not be put into commercial production because of the complicated technology required to made the watch is still not mature.
To ensure the best quality and the greatest reliability, engineers and designers took almost 5 years to finally make the concep watch come ture as a commercial reality.It is not an easy task to entirely rethink the mechanical watch architecture and create a brand new thing.
Great improvements have been made on the prototype watch in terms of the reliability and quality control. Engineers have to develop special calculation, modeling and simulation tools. It is said, the techniques used in the design, prototyping and production of the V4 are comparable to those used to develop complex aerospace systems.
Availability
Such is Monaco V4. It belongs to watch enthusiasts and connoisseurs who enjoy strong and innovative designs as well as mechnical complication.
The exclusive luxury timepiece comes in a limited edition of only 150 pieces, retailing at about 100,000 CHF. The first 75 pieces of Monaco V4 will be available in November at the occasion of the Tag Heuer’s 150th anniversary and the other half is scheduled to be available in June 2010.
Tag Heuer Monaco Replica Watches available.
Rolex Air King, An Old Warrior
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on October 21, 2009
Rolex Air King is probably the plainest timepiece in the Rolex watch family. No complicated chronograph subdials, no fancy tachymeter bezel, and there is even no day and date window on the watch. Why would such an ordinary watch exist in the Rolex wath lines?
There is no standard answers to this question. But I guess because there is a few people in this world would be the Rolex Air King fans for its simplicity and heroic history so Rolex keep the Air King collection so far.
Rolex Air King watch is an really an old warrior in the watch world because it has witnessed the second world war.
By the beginning of World War II, Rolex watches had already acquired enough prestige that British Royal Air Force pilot officers bought them to replace their inferior standard-issue watches. Impressed by this phenomenon, Hans Wilsdorf, founder of Rolex, decided to honor these flyers with a new line of highly precise and functional manual-wind Oysters that could be safely used in the sky.
The new range of watches were given the names of “Air Tiger”, “Air Lion”, “Air Giant” and “Air King”; they all used the legendary 10.5 hunter manual wind movement with 15 jewels and no shock protection on the balance staff. These new models were much larger than the previous manual wind watches, in order to fit in with the new look. Actually these watches were 32 to 33mm diameters, which is quite small from today’s point of view.
Unfortunately these watches were not popular so they were dropped from the catalogs in the early 1950s. Only the Air King remained and that gained an automatic movement. Since then the Air King has kept its place in the Rolex catalogue till now.
Back to the late 1960s, Rolex Air King was available in low carat gold, steel & gold and in a gold filled top steel back configuration. But now it is only available in stainless steel. It is this understated design that make the watch more like a battle-tested veteran, an old warrior. It is a watch that has inner beauty rather than flashy appearance, no wonder the former Republican president candidate John McCain would wear the Rolex Air King watch. It really fits his image.
Today, Rolex Air King is one of the longest continuously produced models in the whole Rolex watch line. Although Air-king is far from low priced but it is presently the lowest priced Rolex watch in the whole Rolex watch line. It lies inconspicuously in the Rolex catalog, waiting the visionary watch connoisseurs.
We have a comprehensive collection of old and modern Rolex Air King replica watches for both men and women, they are perfect gifts for those with low-keyed character.
An Overview of Rolex watch Collection
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on October 20, 2009
In the last two posts, we made a brief introduction to the Rolex history, probably now you will be more interested in the Rolex watches. But which Rolex collection will you buy? Do you want to know more about every collection of the Rolex watches to pick the one most fit you? Here we’ll list a comprehensive collection of all the present Rolex watch lines to give you a general understanding.
One of the rules for Rolex’s success lies in its simple and consistent watch lines. Instead of releasing brand new models, Rolex keeps refining the existing designs. For example, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual was first produced in 1931 it is still one of the most popular models in the Rolex product line.
The special in Rolex watch line is that Rolex keeps making improvements on their watches based on the feedback and wearing experiences of the Rolex watches owners. The updated version will usually inherit the name of the original version. For example, the Rolex Submariner was actually a model that was first introduced in 1953 but still keeps its name.
It is said Rolex offered three watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini. But now as we can see from the Rolex official website, there is only two watch lines: The Oyster Perpetual Collection and The Cellini Collection. It seems the Professional watch line, such as the Submariner, GMT-Master, ExplorerII and so on, has been merged into the Perpetual watch line.
The Oyster Perpetual Collection include:
* Air-King
* Date
* DateJust (introduced In 1945)
* DateJust 31 Mm
* Day-Date (introduced In 1956)
* Day-Date II
* Daytona
* Deepsea
* Explorer (introduced In 1954)
* Explorer II (introduced In 1971)
* GMT-Master II
* Lady-Datejust
* Lady-Perpetual
* Milgauss
* Pearlmaster
* Perpetual
* Royal Black
* Special Edition
* Submariner (introduced In 1953)
* Turn-O-Graph
* Yacht-Master (introduced In 1992)
* Yacht-Master II
The Cellini line is Rolex’s line of “dressy” watches. With many beautiful gold and sapphire crystal decorated on the watches, Cellini watches look more formal than the Oyster Perpetual line.
The Cellini models include:
* Cellinium
* Cellissima
* Cestello
* Danaos
* Orchid
* Quartz
* Prince
Rolex Innovations – The Rolex History (2)
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on October 19, 2009
A good name may be half done, but the rest of the foundation that make Rolex gained huge success was its innovations.
The modern Rolex is almost the prototype of all modern watches. Many useful watch functions we are familiar with, actually origins from Rolex: the waterproof case, the self winding movement, the date and day window in the dial, the GMT two time zone watch and the diving watch…
The Development of Wristwatch
Rolex’s first major success came from the sales of wristwatches.
Back in the age of the founding of Rolex, most of the watches were still pocket watches as most watch makers still had difficulty to produce accurate and reliable movements in small size that can fit in a wristwatch.
Being a perfectionist, Wilsdorf strived to improved the standards for smaller and more accurate movements. Finally he found a small Swiss company Aegler to supply movements small enough to be worn on the wrist.
In 1910, Rolex sent their first movement to the School of Horology in Switzerland. It was awarded the world’s first wrist watch chronometer rating. Later in 1914, Kew Observatory of the United Kingdom issued a certificate of precision to Wilsdorf and Davis (certification which only had been allotted to military stop watches of the British navy). The Rolex watches (called Wilsdorf and Davis by then) soon become known for their precision.
The First Waterproof Watch
Although accuracy was improved, there is other adverse factors that hinder the popularity of wristwatches. Being exposed to the environment, a wristwatch was more vulnerable than a pocket watch as dust and moisture would enter in the watch case through the winder (crown) and through the case itself.
Wilsdorf solved the problem by the invention of the “Screw Crown” that improves the sealing of the wrist watches. Recalling the difficulty in opening an oyster at a dinner party, Wilsdorf gave his creation an interesting name: Rolex Oyster.
Wilsdorf is not only an ingenious watchmaker, but also a brilliant marketer. To make his new Rolex Oyster model known to the world, Wilsdorf struck an agreement for an English Channel swimmer by the name of Mercedes Gleitze to wear one of the Rolex Oyster watches during her swim. He even sent a photographer to chronicle Gleitze’s endeavor. When Gleitze emerged triumphantly from the sea with her Rolex Oyster unscathed, the name of Rolex Oyster became the synonym of high-quality water-proof wristwatches. Rolex then soon opened a big market for wristwatches.
Ever since the production of the world’s first water-proof wristwatches, Rolex have made many other great inventions that shaped the modern watches. This is probably the most important reason why Rolex watches are so deeply loved by people all around the world.
You are also a Rolex fan? Then you can’t miss our splendid collection of Rolex replica watches. Become a member now and get the coupon code for a $20 discount!
Origin of Rolex – The Rolex History(1)
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on October 8, 2009
If one is asked to tell three brand names of high-end watches, Rolex may probably be the first name that one can immediately tell. Indeed, Rolex has built the impressive image as being a luxury watch brand worldwide.
So here my first post begins with Rolex. After reading the post, the name Rolex may not just mean a mere “luxury watch” to you. You may know more about the giant watchmaker, why it is so famed and have more ideas of why you should buy or wear a Rolex watch, or just a Rolex replica.
How a giant watchmaker was born
The history of Rolex is quite different from the other century-old watch makers who produced their own watches from the very beginning. Rolex began their business from assembling watches.
In 1905, Rolex founders, German watchmaker Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis found the company “Wilsdorf and Davis” in London. Their business was very simple: they just imported movements from Switzerland and installed them in watch cases made by another company, then sold to jewelers, who then put their own names on the dial. They only stamped “W&D” inside the caseback for their earliest watches.
The changes in name and base
W&D gained their first success for its leading wrist watch. In 1915 the company decided to use a more resounding name Rolex to replace the name “W&D”.
In 1919 Wilsdorf moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland because taxes and export duties on the silver and gold used for the watch cases in UK were too high.
In Geneva, the new company was called the Rolex Watch Company. Its name was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA and finally Rolex, SA.
The name Rolex
The name “Rolex” was just made up because it was easy to spell, easy to pronounce and short enough to fit on the face of a watch. Pretty surprised huh? You may think there is some meaning in the name Rolex, but actually there wasn’t any.
In fact, if you review some of the greatest brand names in the world, such as Benz, Kodak, Nike, and the hottest Google, you will find that they don’t indicate what their products are, but they finally become the synonym of the real product. Whenever the name Benz is referred, you will think of the auto.
I think the easy-to-remember name of Rolex definitely has played an important part in making the watch brand so polular in the world. For example, you may know that Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin are even more precious watches than Rolex, but you may not know how to pronounce it, and thus less people will know this information from you because they may less likely to remember what you say if you mumble the name.
Hello world!
Posted by Matthew in Watch Stories on September 26, 2009
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!