Parmigiani Pantograph - An Unusual Complication

The Parmigiani Ovale Pantographe is a rather unique timepiece that I have not seen in any other timepiece.

I truly believe that Parmigiani is an undervalued brand - they do such great timepieces but often overlooked for more illustrious Swiss brands. Their finishing is top notch and most (if not all) houses an in-house movement. With Mr. Michel Parmigiani starting his earlier career in restoration, he has had the opportunity to work on some interesting vintage pieces that have long been forgotten. Enter the Parmigiani Ovale Pantographe.

The first thing that grabs your attention are the hands - telescopic hands! I could not stop staring at the hands of the Pantographe. Unique and perhaps the most complicated to assemble for this timepiece.

As the hands makes its round across the dial, they extend and retract like a pantograph which was an instrument which allows the user to scale up (usually) maps and drawings.

The lacquered white dial is beautifully finished as one would expect from Manufacturer Parmigiani.

On the movement size, the in-house calibre PF111 is perhaps a derivative of the PF110 found in the Kalpa XL Hebdomadaire which I had written about earlier. As with the Hebdomadaire, the timepiece comes with an impressive 8 days of power reserve and the indicator is at the top of the dial. Hebdomadaire means a week in French.

I am always impressed by the finishing of the movement on Parmigiani's timepieces regardless of the range,

When one takes a look at the hands again, it is truly impressive how they manufactured the hands and the cams that hold the extending hands together. Some feat in micro-engineering.

The thing with the Parmigiani Ovale Pantographe is that it looks simple - but nothing about the pantograph mechanism is simple. It is anything but... That's where the beauty is - a simple complication.

Many thanks to a friend who loaned me the timepiece for this article. A gem of a timepiece and a rather unusual one at that. Kudos to the guys in Fleurier.

Another Year End Get-Together - Xi Yan Shaw

It is the year ending get-together again and this time around, we hosted it at Xi Yan Shaw - the casual dining restaurant of their private dining sister restaurant in Craig Road. And the theme? Grand Seiko or any Seiko as well as any purchase in 2014.

Xi Yan Shaw is a spin off of the successful Xi Yan Private dining featuring Hong Kong Celebrity Chef Jacky Yu. The restaurant at Shaw Centre is located on the 3rd level and spacious enough to host probably 50-60 pax.

Unlike in the private dining restaurant, this is an open concept casual dining place.

The theme was around Grand Seiko, Seiko and purchases for 2014 so I brought these - my Grand Seiko SBGM003 and my purchase for 2014 being the De Bethune DB9. What about the Parmigiani? Well another friend had recently acquired a similar piece and I promised to let him do a comparison.

6.30pm was when the folks started strolling in and by 6.45pm, quite a group had already assembled.

And by 7pm?

Then the food started rolling in… First up the Salivating Chicken. As I have told many friends, prior to this dish, I never liked century egg - this dish changed it all. Depending on how hot you want it, they can increase the hotness of the dish. Take a bite at the chili padi if you like.

Pork patty with salted fish and water chestnut. Pan fried just nice and the salted fish not over-powering. Sorry I had missed the photo of the radish pizza in XO sauce. Busy mingling.

Deep fried shrimp paste fish fillet with pomelo salad - another winning dish for me. The fish fillet was well fried and still soft on the inside. But actually could not recall the shrimp paste taste. But that is actually a plus for me. To return and try it again another day. But the pomelo sauce complemented the fish well.

This is perhaps the most sinful dish of the night - Sake Dong Po pork with mei cai (seasoned vegetables). The pork is braised till soft to the bite and the mei cai is not the salty type - rather it is slightly sweet. Perfect with a bowl of rice or porridge. So good was the pork I missed taking picture of the next dish - the Yunnan Ham Niang Dou Fu in special broth. This is another must-have dish when visiting Xi Yan Shaw.

More dishes like the Kai Lan with Crispy Olive Leaves, Black truffles pasta with roast chicken - but by then, I was fully into the food. No pix to show for. Except for the last dish - the black truffles fried rice.

And how good was the food? Well everyone was tucking in. You sneeze you lose. You come late… sorry!

And very soon, it was time to display the timepieces for the evening. Seen here are Prof Harry Tan and Sean Wai - custodians of the timepieces on show.

On the left table, Grand Seikos and Seikos on display. And on the right, 2014 purchases.

The Grand Seikos and Seikos are an interesting lot - many anniversary pieces on display. Take a look at the top row. The GS SBMG003 and the various variants including two blue dial Limited Editions. Bottom right features two LE Tunas and one LE Monster, all anniversary pieces. And the bottom left, the LE Enamel dial Seiko Anniversary piece.

And now to the purchases of 2014 - one De Bethune, 2 Parmigianis, one Speake Marin, two MoVas (Bronze Diver and the T2 Tourbillon), one AP Royal Oak ultra-thin, one Jurgensen and JLC, Swatch Sistem 51 and Rolex GMT II make up the rest. No prize for guessing who brought the IWC pocket watch along. And then there is the Sony smart watch 3.

And very year end GTG, we have a special treat. Harry brought the fruit cake baked by Suzanne. Nicely made and delicious too.

Another nice GTG to round off the year. Thanks guys for showing up early! CNY coming up next!

A Farewell For A Friend

Our good friend and fellow watch enthusiast Professor Massi Landi is leaving our shores for a break in South Korea. So we thought it was a good idea to gather for a farewell dinner at the Peach Blossoms Restaurant at the Marina Mandarin Hotel.

And no, there was no color theme for pants this time around as many of use were coming from work - colorful pants a no-no for those working in the office. As usual, no short of spectacular timepieces on wrists. For starters, Massi's MIH.

For those who know not, the MIH is an Annual Calendar. Perhaps the most affordable Annual Calendar. But take a look at this MIH - can you tell me what is wrong with the display?

A similar MIH was also worn by Jim. Now you can compare the display on both MIH.

Then there is the Tudor Heritage Blue Chrono on a Nato strap.

Almost always, you will find an IWC. And this time, the Regulateur.

And of course the Jaeger LeCoultre. This example is a vintage full calendar.

Then there is the Parmigiani Hebdomadaire - the 8 days power reserve in blue dial.

Another P Brand watch - not one of my favorite brands. But I shall feature it here as it is worn by my friend Lionel.

Lionel came double wristed. Here is the Seiko Blue Monster - the 100th Anniversary piece. On his mesh bracelet.

Another vintage - The Rolex GMT Pepsi…

In a gathering like this, I am always certain I will find a watch I have not seen before. And in this case, a customized Mark II Pilot. A manual winding watch that looks like a regular Pilot.

A Patek Calendario ref 5135

And another friend came double wristed. First the Breguet.

Then the Lange 1 Tourbillon. I failed as a photographer - the photos I took that night of this watch did not turn out well. But the watch is so beautiful that I cannot not post it here. So I am using an archived picture from my previous shots.

Probably one of the most beautiful watches for the night. And now the table shot.

Notice how they all turned into a one-handed watch? Perfect timing. And now for the food. First Up was the Peking duck which was carved and presented. Then came the wasabe prawns.

Next up the pork neck asparagus - a stir fry dish with very tender pork collar.

The Kungpao chicken was excellent too. The chicken is lightly floured and then fried before the sauce coats the meat. Nicely crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.

The spinach and shark's cartilage broth is another winner. The broth is slightly thicken by the shark cartilage and is silky smooth. The wolf berries add a nice sweet touch to the broth.

The clay pot seafood tofu was also braised to perfection.

The bitter gourd with spare ribs and also a few other dishes like the ostrich meat, eggplant with minced pork.

And finally the Ee Fu Noodles with duck meat.

And all too soon it was end of the night. We wish you safe journey Massi, Francesca and Ginevra. Enjoy Korea and we shall see you in one year's time. And who knows, we may come visit you there. So long for now. Ciao!