Luxury Gadgets

The world’s most complicated and expensive wristwatch - Tour de l’Ile by Vacheron Constantin

The superb white gold dial features the exclusive guillochage that can be found only on the anniversary pieces, furthermore the aesthetic exclusivity is enhanced by the hands inspired from a model dating from 1926 and which also can uniquely be found in the anniversary models. Finally a secret signature, which can be only seen with a loupe, is engraved on the dial at 12 o’clock representing the anniversary date: 1755-2005.

Named in reference to one of the historical sites of Vacheron Constantin located next to the current Maison Vacheron Constantin on the Quai de l’Ile this true feat of horological craftsmanship is housed in the special case designed for all the anniversary pieces with channelled bezels, redesigned Maltese Cross symbol crowns and distinctive and absolutely gorgeous lugs. I know that it may seem disproportionate to talk about the lugs when standing before the world’s most complicated wristwatch, but one thing that I have come to appreciate and truly admire from Vacheron Constantin is their different lug designs and this one is no exception. Their shape can only be attained by hand finish and many long hours of painstaking shaving and polishing is required for each individual lug.
Keeping time seems so simple until you run up against something like the Tour de l’Ile from Vacheron Constantin. After seven years in development and three years of assembly, the Swiss watchmaker marked its 250th anniversary this year with the world’s busiest timepiece–at least for now. The Tour de l’Ile has 834 separate parts and 16 complications, including tourbillon, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, perpetual calendar, sunrise time, leap-year indicator, sunset time, sky chart and others. At $1.5 million, it’s the priciest timepiece in Vacheron Constantine’s anniversary line.

Add comment April 4th, 2006

Panerai - Luminor Marina Militare

Presented by Panerai last April in Geneva, the limited series Luminor 1950 Marina Militare made the hot throats of the last SIHH and the aficionados of mark don’t have eyes that for it. Republication does a single part delivered to the Italian Navy in the years 1950, it begin again on its dial illustrate name Marina Militare very coveted by the collectors of the whole world. The first specimens intended for the French market of this very exclusive limited edition come to arrive to Paris and we could not miss making you share this event.
Panerai renews its close ties with the Italian Navy with a special 2005 edition of the Luminor Marina Militare. This model has several details which clearly differentiate it from its predecessors since it is a
re-edition of a model dating back to the 1940s: the case is of the Luminor ‘1950’ type (47 mm), the crown is at 9 o’clock with its protecting bridge inscribed with ‘REG. T.M’ (Registered Trade Mark) – a reminder that this device, which enables Panerai timepieces to survive immersion to great depths with maximum security, is protected by patents, and a small seconds counter at 3 o’clock.
The Panerai Luminor Marina Militare is a Limited Edition of 1000 pieces.

Add comment March 25th, 2006