Speake-Marin Tourbillon - Simple & Elegant

I recently became an owner of an earlier edition of the Resilience by Peter Speake-Marin and I am still loving it. Then I had the chance to meet the man after the acquisition. What a nice encounter too.

The Resilience comes in the Piccadilly case so recognisable as signature of Speake-Marin timepieces. Read more about the Resilience in an earlier post.

Mr. Speake-Marin brought with him two of his new signature pieces - the Magister Tourbillon and the Magister Vertical Double Tourbillon.

First, the Magister Tourbillon... Simple yet complicated and oozes class. Fitted in the signature 38mm rose gold Piccadilly case, the Magister Tourbillon is a beauty on the wrist. The 38mm wears just nice for an Asian (read smaller) wrist. The dial is white enamel as one would expect from PSM. Great proportions and I love those blued hands.

The case back is as stunning as the front. Featured here is an automatic movement with a platinum rotor.

A closer look at the movement.

And the Tourbillon too. A very well finished 60 seconds Tourbillon with the signature watchmaker's topping tool.

Next up the Magister Vertical Double Tourbillon. They say two is better than one. But I disagree - the Vertical Double Tourbillon is nice but truth be told, I prefer the Magister Tourbillon for its simplicity.

The more complicated Vertical Double Tourbillon also comes with a dial made from oven fired enamel, a power reserve indicator above the dial as well as a Day/Night indicator just beneath the dial. The J-Class timepiece comes in a white or rose gold Piccadilly case - 46mm.

The case back features a manual winding movement. The finishing is great.

Personally, the Magister Tourbillon is more appealing to me. Simply elegant. And the 38mm size in a Piccadilly case is just right for me. If only my pocket were deep enough.

Pictures taken with an iPhone 6.

Jaquet Droz - Master of Enamel Dials

When you think of the brand Jaquet Droz, enamel dial comes to mind. And not just any enamel dial - a two toned one at that!

A friend of mine actually owns one of these beauties. The timepiece is limited to 88 pieces and a certificate informing the owner that the dial is a special batch of two toned dial.

The certificate informs the owner that the timepiece comes with a cream coloured "grand feu" enamelled dial and the ivory coloured applied "grand feu" enamelled subdials.

Enamel dials are difficult to make. Some say the success rate is as low as 40 to 1, that is for every 40 dials, only one make it. And this is for "normal" enamel dials. "Grand feu" enamelling is a rather sophisticated technique that only a few practitioners have managed to master. After several layers of enamelling can the master transfer the Roman and Arabic numerals unto the dial prior to the final firing in the oven.

This particular model features two different enamelling processes and three separate enamelled dial and subdials brazed together.

The Grand Feu technique takes patience and skills to achieve a close to flawless dial. The artisan applies the oxides and fires the dials in the oven several times to achieve a consistent dial. Notice the white spots on the dial - perfect imperfection. Gives the dial its character and uniqueness. Because of the way enamel firing is done, no two dials can be alike.

As I understand it, the brand does not make two toned dials anymore. Just too difficult to make them. The rejection rate is close to 99% and allows the production of only 1 to 2 pieces per month.

The back features an automatic calibre and a well decorated rotor. The movement has a power reserve of more than 60 hours.

The Grande Seconde two tones has lots of presence - the beauty of the enamel and the two toned dial is just stunning. The 43mm case is just nice to show off the enamel and gives proportion to the two off-centre dials.

You can see that the dials are not perfect ie there are still spots here and there. Some say that if the enamel dial is perfect that it is not enamel - there is still so much that humans can achieve. And enamelling is an art plus lots of science of getting it at the right temperature. But somehow, I think it is more art than science.

I am happy for my friend who owns this unique limited edition - I think it will be a long while before Jaquet Droz will come up with two tone dials again.

Seiko Enamel Dial - Another Winner for me

Enamel dial for under one thousand dollars? Well Seiko did it again! They managed to produce a batch in their Presage line with a white enamel dial code SARX027.

As some of you may know, I visited Japan recently and was able to get my hands one some of these beauties. The enamel dial I suspect are machine enamel. Flawless really.

Again, finding these beauties is not an easy feat. Each store had at most one piece in stock and if you had wanted more, you need to order and delivery is probably 4-5 days for them to transfer from other stores. But it was definitely worth the wait. The dial work is shiny with black printed numerals.

The steel case on this timepiece is nicer than the earlier ones and even the crown is different from the earlier SARX019.

The crown is signed with an S.

A close up view of the dial shows the gleam of the enamel. But not as glossy as the lacquer dial of the SARX029. I have one gripe - that the seconds hand is “not balanced”.

At the date window is where one sees the “flaw”… some darker shades around the window.

On the back reveals the caliber 6R15 automatic movement. Case back clearly shows the timepiece is Made in Japan.

In the end, I manage to get 5 pieces - all accounted for. They have another iteration the SARD007 but that to me is over-spec. It comes with a day indicator at 3 o’clock, a retrograde date at 6 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. But the “crowded” dial takes away the beauty of the enamel dial.

What I can say is that for an enamel dial piece, the price point is just unbelievable. If this were a Swiss timepiece with an enamel dial, pricing would probably be ten fold at least. But finishing on the SARX027 is definitely not the same standard as that of typical Swiss enamel pieces. But for the price you pay, one cannot complain as this is probably the best value enamel dial timepiece you can get.

The list price of these timepieces are a very reasonable JPY80,000 for the SARX027 while the SARD007 is listed at JPY150,000.

Seiko Presage - Made In Japan For Japan

The Seiko Presage range is somewhat special - more so the “tokinowaza” range where Seiko enlists the services of a master craftsman to create special timepieces for the Japanese market.

Enters both the Presage SARX027 and the SARX029. The former comes with a white enamel dial while the latter a lacquer (Japanese Urushi) dial.

The SARX027 with the enamel dial.

The SARX029 with the lacquer dial.

So which one do you like? Both are available only in Japan - Made In Japan for the domestic market. A full report to come.

Vulcain Cricket Aviator GMT - The Dragon!

Vulcain Watches is famous for their Cricket alarm timepieces and in this case, they have outdone themselves with the Vulcain Cricket Aviator GMT Dragon.

The Vulcain Cricket Aviator GMT “The Dragon” is a specially created timepiece featuring not only the famous alarm movement but also featuring an enamel dial - cloisonné enamel no less. The cloisonné technique creates small partitioned receptacles in which the glass powder and metal oxides composing the enamel are placed. First the drawing of the dragon is done on the dial and the cloisonné wires are then laid and glued to the surface. The dial is then fired to fuse the wires to the dial forming a receptacle. The enamel powder is then processed and filled into the receptacles and fired at the right temperature. This process is repeated with all the different colour enamel paste until the dial is completed.

The Dragon - well this mythical creature symbolises the Emperor in Chinese mythology. And Vulcain has created who versions of this timepiece - the white and the black Dragon. The Black Dragon is limited to 18 pieces while the White Dragon is limited to 30 pieces.

Both timepieces comes encased with a 42mm rose gold case. The enamel dials are beautiful to say the least. Intricately and expertly crafted to bring out the life in the dragon.

The close up of the Dragon head - see the wires and the particles in the enamel? Cool stuff.

A closer look on the enamel dial.

The timepiece is also a World Time on top of the cricket alarm function. The world time display is on a 24 hours scale adjusted by the crown at the 4 o’clock position.

The timepieces comes with the Vulcain Cricket Calibre V-13 which beats at 18,000 VPH. The mechanical alarm rings for about 20 seconds when fully wound. Winding the alarm function is done by winding the main crown in the clockwise direction. The winding of the watch mainspring is done anti-clockwise.

Time setting goes in one direction. When the crown is pulled out, one sets the time by turning the crown in an anti-clockwise direction.

For those born in the Year of the Dragon under the Chinese Zodiac, this is a significant piece. I have to test the alarm function one of these days.

Feature of the Month - Lange Pocket Watch

It pays to know people and definitely pays to have luck on your side too. Such is the case on how I came across this gem of a pocket watch.

I was in Hong Kong and chanced upon an old shop selling vintage timepieces and when I visited the shop and saw a Lange enamel dial sitting in the showcase. I asked the proprietor who told me he was restoring the pocket watch. I took his card and that was that. Some time later, I was still thinking of the pocket watch and wrote to him and he sent me the pictures of the finished item. What a beauty!

I sent the images to Manfred Weber of Lange and he told me it looked authentic - good enough for me! So I called my friend George in HKG who promptly picked it up for me and passed it to Stefan who brought it back to Singapore for me. Friends indeed!

What a find! A beautiful double hunter case pocket watch dating back to 1908!

The condition was pristine when I received it. A rose gold case that was restored.

In this example, the enamel dial is flawless.

And the hands are gorgeous!

And as I have mentioned, it comes with a double hunter case. Polished to an excellent shine and the case shows the number and the matching movement too.

The movement shows the movement number matching the case. As I understand it, this is not the highest grade movement of the times.

And the close up of the balance wheel and the swan neck adjustment.

Another look at the movement

Another look at the pocket watch.

I have been searching for a second piece with the same finishing or for that matter something close. No luck. I guess all owners of the Lange pocket watches are so happy with theirs that they prefer to keep them. And the search continues...