New releases – Stowa Flieger Verus 40 Baumuster B

Developed in 1942, the dial of the Type B pilot’s watch by Stowa featured a large outer minute track and a smaller inner hour circle than the Type A of 1940. The design of the new model takes up this original design. The Superluminova BGW9 luminous material turns to a light blue color in the dark. The 40 mm stainless steel case can host the Swiss automatic Caliber Sellita SW200 in basic or top version, as well as optionally the hand-wound Sellita SW210 in top version. A Milanaise bracelet matt is available as an alternative to a classic pilot’s strap.

 

 

Mini Documentary - IWC / Military Time

 

From the first aviation watch to the models of the 2000s.

Exclusive - the brand new mini documentary from the 10e10.ch by Marco Strazzi You Tube channel

 

 

Mini Documentario - IWC / Ore Militari

 

Dal primo orologio per aviatori ai modelli degli Anni 2000.

Esclusivo: il nuovo mini-documentario dal canale YouTube 10e10.ch by Marco Strazzi

 

 

New releases – Hublot Big Bang Unico King Gold

The Nyon-based Manufacture is paying tribute to Argentina football national team by launching three special edition chronographs. The Big Bang Unico King Gold is available as a limited edition of 10 pieces. The 42 mm case features a ceramic bezel in sky blue to match the team’s official jersey, a shade which is also picked up on the piece's rubber strap. The case, pushers, hands and counters are made of King Gold, Hublot's proprietary alloy containing platinum. At 9 o'clock, the small seconds is laser-engraved with a reproduction of the authentic World Cup, as won in 2022.

 

 

New releases - Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Ultimate Sapphire Purple

Limited to 25 pieces per year, the latest Ultimate Sapphire edition is the first automatic watch with a patented equal-force transmission integrated into the mainspring barrel, a power reserve indication, and a unique micro-rotor design. The purple guilloché mainplate was crafted by Artist-Watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. Established as an integrated manufacture in 2009, Armin Strom created 17 exclusive calibres and developed several world firsts.

 

 

Vintage Ads - Rolex (late 1950s)

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è sotto l'immagine)

“A statement of fact about Rolex watches”. Dating back to the late 1950s, this is more an official notice than a proper ad, and the brand’s response to the concerns expressed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission about the GMT-Master Ref. 6542. An example of the latter’s bakelite bezel was tested and found to be radioactive. The reputational damage risk prompted Rolex to publish a “statement of fact” for “Rolex owners who may be confused”. The text guarantees that the GMT-Master was the only Rolex watch questioned by the AEC, and that only a small fraction of the 605 pieces imported in the United States would require replacement of the bezels. All owners were invited to return the watch to the American Rolex Watch Corp for testing. If necessary, the bezel would be be changed at no charge.

A few years ago, James Dowling’s website published a mail exchange between one of such owner and Rolex Canada, dating back to 1960. The company asked him to urgently send the watch for modification, as it was “dangerously radio-active”. Nine days later, Rolex sent it back along with a letter indicating that the tests had found no signs of radiation, and that the watch was “perfectly safe (...) to wear”. Whatever the results of the tests on other GMTs, this story might explain why Rolex replaced the bakelite bezel with a screen-printed metal bezel even before the introduction of Ref. 1675.

Do you like vintage watch ads? Visit the page about Watch Ads, the one and only two-volume pictorial history of communication and design in 20th Century watchmaking. Do you wish to know more? Watch the video clip about the publication and download the preview of Volume 1.

The vintage ads presented in this website are not featured in the Watch Ads books.

 

ITALIANO 

“Una puntualizzazione sugli orologi Rolex”. Pubblicato alla fine degli Anni 50, questo è un comunicato ufficiale più che un annuncio pubblicitario, e la risposta della Casa alle preoccupazioni espresse dalla Commissione americana per l’energia atomica sul GMT-Master Ref. 6542. I test compiuti sulla lunetta in bachelite di un esemplare ne avevano dimostrato la radioattività. Il rischio del danno d’’immagine indusse Rolex a diffondere una “puntualizzazione” indirizzata ai “clienti Rolex che potrebbero essere confusi”. Il testo garantiva che il GMT-Master era l’unico modello Rolex interessato dalla vicenda e che solo una piccola parte dei 605 esemplari importati negli Stati Uniti avrebbe richiesto la sostituzione della lunetta. Tutti i proprietari erano invitati a inviare il loro orologio all’American Rolex Watch Corp. per il test e l’eventuale intervento. Se necessaria, la sostituzione sarebbe stata gratuita.

Alcuni anni fa, il sito internet di James Dowling pubblicò uno scambio epistolare fra il possessore di un GMT-Master e Rolex Canada. La Casa chiedeva di spedire l’orologio con urgenza per la modifica, in quanto “pericolosamente radioattivo”. Nove giorni più tardi, l’oggetto tornava al proprietario con una lettera in cui si annunciava che il test non aveva rilevato alcuna radioattività e che era “perfettamente sicuro” indossarlo. Qualunque sia stato il risultato dei test compiuti su altri esemplari, la storia può spiegare perché Rolex, ancora prima di lanciare la Ref. 1675, sostituì la lunetta di bachelite con una metallica serigrafata.      

Ti piacciono le pubblicità d'epoca? Visita la pagina su Watch Ads, l'unica storia illustrata in due volumi della comunicazione e del design nell'orologeria del Novecento. Vuoi saperne di più? Guarda il video sull'opera e scarica l'anteprima del Volume 1.

 

 

New releases – HYT Hastroid Blue Star

This limited edition of 20 pieces features a 48 mm magnesium case with a metallic blue gradient. Magnesium is 2.6 times lighter than titanium, yet extremely strong. The dial features a large central hand with an electric blue coating, and sharpened contours for an instantaneous fix on the minutes. The two sub-counters provide essential complementary information: small seconds at left; power reserve to the right. The openworked dial back and mainplate reveal the components of the hand-wound mechanical movement designed by Eric Coudray.

New releases – Amida Digi-Trend

 

While preserving the essence of the model first introduced in 1976, this “Take-Off Edition” presents a number of new features. The car body-style case, machined from a block of 316 L stainless steel, has seen its contours refined for sleeker aesthetics and improved finishes. The redesigned case, water-resistant to 50 meters, now has an open back, revealing the regulating organ of the mechanical self-winding movement – Soprod’s Newton caliber (23 jewels), which beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) and offers 44 hours of power reserve.

 

 

New releases – Reservoir x Popeye Camel

The latest comic-driven timepiece from the Franco-Swiss watchmaker is a 100-piece limited edition for Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the UAE luxury watch and jewelry retailer. The PVD gold case houses a self-winding movement optimized for the maker’s style of timekeeping. The minute hand moves from 0 to 60 on a 240° arc before stopping and starting over at the beginning. The hour marker at 6 is a jumping hour complication and is shown beneath Popeye's picture in a circular window.

 

 

Summer readings / Letture d'estate

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è in fondo alla pagina)

Looking for something serious to read while holidaying? The right answer is one of Marco Strazzi’s Watch Books.

 

The Museum Collection is a selection of 100 milestones of 20^th Century watchmaking. The technology, design and style of the more and less well-known models that made the history of timekeeping from 1900 to 2000. Click here to learn more.

Watch Ads 1900-1959 and Watch Ads 1960-2000 take the reader through a century of communication. The thousand or so featured images are living history and a faithful testimony of how design, styling and the public’s tastes evolved. Click here to learn more.

Rolex 1905-1960 focuses on the company’s first half-century - the years that shaped its identity and paved the way to worldwide success. Timeline, watches, movements, ads, patents, documents. Click here to learn more.

The publisher has a recommendation for fiction lovers, as well. The historical novel Wingwatch tells the story of a wristwatch, lost on D-Day and rediscovered 70 years later in an auction house catalog. Click here to learn more.

 

ITALIANO

Cerchi qualcosa di interessante da leggere mentre sei in vacanza? La risposta giusta è un volume della collezione Watch Books di Marco Strazzi.

 

Orologi da Polso 1900-1959 è la prima parte della nuova storia enciclopedica dell’orologio da polso. Lo stravagante braccialetto con orologio deriso dai conformisti diventa uno strumento indispensabile. Clicca qui per saperne di più.

Orologi da polso 1960-2000 conclude la cronistoria del Ventesimo Secolo. Dall’orologio elettrico al rinascimento della meccanica, passando attraverso la crisi del quarzo. Con un’appendice sul ventennio 2001-2021. Clicca qui per saperne di più.

Watch Ads 1900-1959 e Watch Ads 1960-2000 accompagnano il lettore lungo un secolo di comunicazione. Un migliaio di annunci pubblicitari raccontano l’evoluzione del design e dei gusti attraverso i decenni. Clicca qui per saperne di più.

Rolex 1905-1960 è dedicato al primo mezzo secolo della Casa: gli anni che ne hanno definito l’identità creando le premesse di un successo planetario. Cronologia, orologi, movimenti, pubblicità, brevetti, documenti originali. Clicca qui per saperne di più.

L’editore ha un consiglio anche per gli amanti della narrativa. L’Orologio con le Ali racconta la storia di un orologio smarrito il 6 giugno 1944 (D-Day) e riscoperto 70 anni più tardi nel catalogo di una casa d’aste. Clicca qui per saperne di più.

 

 

New releases – Singer Divetrack

The 24-hour central chronograph function allows divers to track dive times, decompression stops, and surface intervals. The jumping hour and minute indicators provide an instant display of elapsed time. The 49 mm grade 5 titanium and stainless steel case with a ceramic aluminium black insert for decompression indications hosts the Agengraphe automatic movement, featuring a 72-hour power reserve.

 

 

New releases – Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter

 

The 42.5mm case is equipped with a pressure-resistant titanium container to protect the movement, a patented unidirectional rotating bezel in 18K 3N gold with dual indication of dive time (in minutes) and depth (in feet), a screw-down crown also in 18K 3N gold, and a water-resistance rating of 300 meters. Its scratch resistant sapphire crystal is treated with anti-reflective coating and the COSC-certified Swiss automatic movement provides a power reserve of approximately 38 hours.

 

Omega & NASA - The video clip

A fine video clip tracing the history of the Omega Speedmaster's association with NASA from the beginning to the 1990s

(by courtesy of Antiquorum Auctioneers)

 

 

New releases - Vanguart Orb

The hand-finished flying Tourbillon movement allows the user to alternative between manual and automatic modes via the crown. When in self-winding mode, the 2mm diamond-set orbital mass revolves around a sloped pvd-coated titanium track. When the watch is changed back into manual mode, the mass is locked into place. The case merges futuristic aspects with traditional finishes such as sandblasting, satin-finishing and mirror polishing.

New Releases – Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Diver

This reissue of the 2013 model features a 42 mm case water resistant to 30 ATM, available in both stainless steel and bronze (limited to 500 pieces). The crown positioned at 2 o’clock enables the wearer to adjust the internal rotating bezel displaying a count-up scale that measures the elapsed time spent underwater. The watch is equipped with a self-winding movement and the company’s Easy Strap Exchange System, providing a simple means of swapping the strap for an alternative.

 

 

A 3D catalog ...

ENGLISH

Black and white catalogs are a bit dull. Let us give some color to this one from Vacheron & Constantin, published in 1945.

 

ITALIANO

I cataloghi in bianco e nero sono un po’ noiosi. Proviamo a colorarne uno pubblicato nel 1945 da Vacheron & Constantin.

Modern Classics - Corum Admiral's Cup

 

The latest mini-documentary from the YouTube channel 10e10.ch by Marco Strazzi. A history of the iconic collection launched in 1983. 

Classici moderni - Corum Admiral's Cup

 

L'ultimo mini-documentario dal canale YouTube 10e10.ch by Marco Strazzi. La storia dell'emblematica collezione lanciata nel 1983.

 

 

New releases – Minase Horizon GEN DLC

The case, crown, indexes and buckle of this limited series of 25 pieces made by the Japanese luxury watch brand are DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coated. The treatment offers durability, high resistance to corrosion and wear, and a great resistance to scratches. Available on a black rubber strap with folding clasp, the watch is equipped with a Swiss ETA 2892-2 movement customized for the brand. The polyhedral crown bears the brand’s logo.

 

 

Watches at auction

The catalog of the upcoming Christie’s auction in New York (Rockefeller Center, June 10) features a couple of historically important timepieces.

 

The original owner of this Rolex Ref. 6098 ‘pre-Explorer’ was Colonel Patrick Douglas Baird, the leader of the 1953 Swiss Canadian Baffin Island Arctic Expedition. Manufactured in 1952, the watch was presented by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research (S.F.A.R.) a year later, and worn by Colonel Baird during the famous expedition. Estimate: US$20,000-40,000.

 

This Patek Philippe Ref. 2526 is an example of the so-called ‘Duo’ models, made for then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who gave them to influential figures. ‘Duo’ stands for ‘Do unto others (as you would have them do unto you)’, the inscription printed on the dial. This one was a gift to Senator Robert Kerr of Oklahoma, who later gave it to a pilot (grandfather of the present owner) as thanks for a skilled, safe flight through a tumultuous storm. Estimate: US$25,000-45,000.