The new replica breitling watches uk AMVOX2 Transponder doesn’t just have a cool name and a handsome face; it offers its wearer the opportunity to be just a little bit more “Bond” with its ingenious in-built technology.
The replica u boat watches uk/Aston Martin dalliance is an enviable partnership. The two companies first did business together as far back as the 1930’s, but a structured relationship was not formed until 2004. The annual AMVOX editions are notable for their understated representation as both parties prefer to convey their branding through subtle styling and trick features, rather than taking the easier route of in-your-face logos on the dial.
This year’s AMVOX has similar technology to a model which was unveiled in 2006. It was a highly innovative chronograph timepiece which was, and still is, very avant-garde. What made that model so unusual, was the fact that its chronograph start, stop and reset functions were not activated using traditional pushpieces, but by an “active” crystal. To begin timing, the wearer tilts the glass by pressing on the sapphire crystal at the 12 o’clock and stops the timing function by repeating the same action. Reset is actioned by simply pressing the sapphire at 6 o’clock – I say “simply” but of course it is anything but simple.
Beneath the glass, at the edge of the dial, a ball-and-socket joint uses the leverage which is generated by the pressure exercised on the crystal on activation. This controls the chronograph functions by transmitting precise impulses. Each of the levers involved is mounted on a miniature stainless steel ball-bearing mechanism containing seven 0.1 mm-diameter balls. Clumsy fingers cannot trigger the mechanism without first activating the dial, using the lever on the left side of the case. A top-notch techy feature then, one which you’d think couldn’t be bettered – but this year’s AMVOX watch doesn’t just have the fancy sapphire timing functions, it also cements the relationship between car and watch in a most exclusive and unique manner.
Built into the double case-back of the 2014 AMVOX2 model is a micro-transmitter, which enables the wearer to control the doors of their Aston Martin using their watch with just a light touch on the sapphire on the section marked “Close” and “Open”. The antenna for the device which has been applied using thermal vapour depositation and is clearly visible between the 8 and 4 o’clock, has also been designed to operate using minimum power so as not to affect the timekeeping abilities of the watch.
Inside the Calibre 751E features a column-wheel chronograph and vertical-clutch mechanism has a power reserve of 65 hours, generous considering the features which this piece packs in – but to save the embarrassment of a non-event while trying to impress your lady friend, the little logo which is viewable through the window at 6 o’clock will stop spinning on its axis if the piece has stopped working allowing you to quickly find your car keys instead. http://www.speedroc.com/replica-hublot-watches.html and Aston Martin have, in the spirit of Mr. Bond’s Quartermaster, quite simply thought of everything. Price for the watch is $29,500
This will be the third occasion I have gone to the well of breitling to cover watches for DreamChrono, and while it might appear to be showing bias, this is not the case. JLC rather forced my hand with the release of the replica Breitling Chronospace Master Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon. It’s the first the maison has produced such a piece and it creates a new record for being the slimmest watch to contain a tourbillon a minute repeater and at the same time to be powered by an automatic movement. Of many fine pieces that will be on display at SIHH 2014 this month, this could prove to be the shapely, sweet chiming show stealer. It certainly has all the right credentials.
This is the eleventh timepiece to be produced in what replica breitling Superocean call their Hybris Mechanica collection. Its simple appearance belies its innate complexity. The elegant case is a compact 7.9mm thick with a sensible 41mm diameter. The dial is clean and white, only a cut away at 6 o’clock gives a glimpse of the tourbillon. Impeccably contained within the case is a 471 component in-house movement which powers both the tourbillon and a minute repeater; two of the most important complications known to watchmakers, and both of which JLC is admirably equipped to show off their skill and expertise.
The ultra-trim flying tourbillon has no bridge and no cage to obstruct the view. http://www.speedroc.com/replica-omega-planet-ocean-chronograph.html This required the development of a new larger than usual balance spring which has had the added bonus of actually improving precision and accuracy. Most balance wheels feature a hairspring placed under the oscillating wheel but JLC have placed the hairspring on top. While there is no genuine advantage to this, it does display to those in the know what a very clever and visually appealing flying tourbillon it is.
The minute repeater is made of white gold apparently for extra resonance; like the tourbillon it is ultra-thin, which required a complete reworking and rethinking of how things are normally done.
First of all, JLC did away with quarter hour chimes. If no quarter hours are being struck, there would usually be a pause between the chimes for the hours and the chimes for the single minutes. However with this minute repeater it compensates for the lack of quarter hour chimes so that there is much less of a gap throughout the chiming sequence.
Keen observers of minute repeaters will also be searching for a traditional long slide along the caseband, but Hybris Mechanica Eleven is an ultra slim watch this was considered too clunky, so instead there is a push button neatly recessed into the case at 10 o’clock. It’s easy to control too at the musical cleft positioned at 8 o’clock there is a smaller than normal slide which can be activated.
JLC has also incorporated their innovation for the hammers that they first introduced some years ago. The hammers made not of steel but sapphire mounted to the back crystal. Classical in appearance, there are two of these gongs and they are said to produce a stronger clarity of chime.
Just for extra ingenious fun, because SIHH is really all about showing off to the cognoscenti of the watch world, JLC opted not for a manual wind movement but an automatic, and they fitted the watch with a platinum rotor to enable smooth wrist propelled automatic winding. The rotor can be observed spinning through the cut-away slots on the dial.
There is so much reinvention and rethinking happening within the slim confines of this supremely elegant high-end dress watch, that six of the eight patents it has for its various mechanisms are new to this piece.
Unpretentious and simple in its appearance, under the hood this slim, sober timepiece is a trailblazing technological triumph which no doubt caused many a sleepless night its wonders to achieve. The chances of getting your hands on one are, like the watch itself, ultra slim. The Master Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon is limited to just 75 pieces.
During the first week of October, Hublot went back to Anticythère. This little island in the South of Greece is well know by the manufacture : that’s where the brand saw the Anticythère treasure for the first time. It was found there, lying on the sea ground by 70 meters, and several expeditions took many parts of it back on the shores. Many parts, but not the whole of it. And that’s why http://www.speedroc.com/replica-u-boat-watches.html, along with scientists and archeologists, went back there in order to bring back some other parts of this 22 centuries-old treasure.
Reconstructing the Anticythere mechanism
During the first missions, replica breitling watches uk helped the diving teams identify and understand the Anticythère mechanism, un uncommon machine (for that time) able to calculate an amazing number of astronomic information. A year later, Hubot reconstructed it and presented a model of it both in Greece and in Paris, France. And finally unveiled a wrist version of it, a unique piece not for sale.
A few months later, replica hublot watches uk presented the SunMoon, a simplified – read ‘understandable’ – version of the Anticythere, this one available for sale.
This week-end, the latest chapter of the story was open : Hublot unveiled on site, in Anticythere, a dive watch. That’s the expected development for a company that spent so much time underwater, seeking for new treasures. But not that much expected from a company that never stood in the field of diving watches. In fact, there was only one model of ‘diver’s watch’ in Hublot’s portfolio, the Oceanographic 4000. The piece required 18 months of development and was presented in Monaco. And that’s upon its basis that Hublot created the EXO4000, its new diver’s watch.
A new divers watch
The piece as such is very close to the original Oceanographic : same shape, same size, same caliber. However, the case has been changed to a carbon case, while the strap is now delivered in white. Pretty interesting for collectors, but not a new watch as such.
However, the EXO4000 is not Hublot’s main point here. The big picture is really about helping the greek government and the whole team of for 90% of it. Because, and even if what they have brought up so far is amazing, there’s much more to be discovered. The treasure is part of a scientists, historians, archeologists and divers get as much as possible from the Anticythere treasure, which is still 70 meters below the surface boat that carry up to 200 tons of freight. And there’s not just one boat down there, but two – at least.
Hublot is now one of the most active sponsors of the expedition. Which, unfortunately, can send divers underwater only a couple of weeks per year, given the streams and winds around the site. The teams are out there these days, mapping the ground under the sea in order to optimize the time spent under water with the Exosuit, a never-see-before blend of diving suit and human scaled submarine. On which Hublot hung its EXO4000, of course.
In 2010 luxury watchmaker replica Breitling Chronospace Automatic partnered with superstar professional tennis player Rafael Nadal to create what can only be described as a worldwide sensation. The cause of all the fuss at the time was of course the newly announced RM 027 Tourbillon, an incredibly complex timepiece so light (weighing in at just 20 grams with the strap on!) that Nadal would actually wear it during all of his future matches.
Demonstrating that rare combination of marketing an engineering ingenuity, http://www.speedroc.com/replica-breitling-transocean-chronograph.html successfully elevated the role of the humble Brand Ambasador and in doing so ensured that every time Nadal stepped out onto the court millions of eyes would be watching not only his racket but also his wrist.
Of course the watch’s US$500,000+ price tag also helped raise a few eyebrows along the way, after all who in their right mind would wear something so expensive (and presumably so fragile) for a spirited match of tennis? Here again we must credit Mr. Mille not only for this innovative thinking but also for his flair for showmanship. You see, despite housing one of the most complex and delicate mechanisms in watching (aka the tourbillon), the RM-027 is anything but fragile.
For a start the movement baseplate is made from Titanium and LITAL? alloy, a high lithium content alloy containing aluminum, copper, magnesium and zirconium, possessing a density of 2.55. The addition of Lithium, one of the lightest elements, to the alloy mixture, provides great strength without adding unnecessary weight. It is for this same reason that this particular alloy is also used in the aerospace industry in the construction of the Airbus A380, helicopters, rockets and satellites, as well as in F1 racing cars.
That wasn’t enough though. To ensure absolute structural integrity, the case, composed of a composite containing large amounts of carbon, provides a tough and resilient enclosure for the tourbillon movement at its center. The back bezel and caseband are monobloc to ensure total lightness. The glass; the bezel and the flange in carbon have remarkable properties of stiffness and torsional rigidity. Suffice to say this is one very light, very strong watch.
The problem however is that only 50 of these original pieces, each carrying an astronomical price tag of US$525,000, thus putting them out of reach of all but the most affluent enthusiasts. The follow up RM 27-01 launched in 2013 (also limited to 50 pieces) was arguably even cooler than the original but, much to the dismay of fans worldwide, remained equally inaccessible with a ticket price in excess of US$600,000.
Then, just when it seemed like all hope was lost a miracle (of sorts) happened. At the 2014 edition of the SIHH, replica omega Planet Ocean officially unveiled the new RM 35-01, also known as the ‘Baby Nadal’ watch.
The breitling RM 35-01 ‘Baby Nadal’
At first glance the new RM 35-01 does not really seem to share much in common with its nearest sibling – the aforementioned RM 27-01 – other than a similar black, red and yellow color scheme. That’s because it is a completely different watch, with a new case and of course a new movement, which you will note does not feature a tourbillon.
To be honest I found that last bit a little disappointing at first. After all, one of the coolest things about Nadal’s watch is that it features a tourbillon capable of withstanding the incredible shocks he obviously subjects it to on a routine basis. That being said, it seems it would not have been economically feasible to offer this feature in the RM 35-01 whilst at the same time keeping the price point with reason (relatively speaking of course.)
Tourbillon absence aside however the RM 35-01 still manages to fit plenty of innovative technology into a very small, very lightweight package. For a start the case is constructed using the exclusive NTPT? technology developed and first unveiled late last year.
According to breitling, NTPT? carbon is composed of multiple layers of parallel filaments obtained by dividing carbon fibers. These layers with a maximum thickness of 30 microns are impregnated with resin and then woven on a special machine that modifies the direction of the weft by 45° between layers. Heated to 120° at a pressure of 6 bars, the NTPT? is then ready to be processed on a CNC machine.
This complex process results in a unique, super-strong carbon case that looks and feels great. In fact it’s almost freaky how light the watch feels on the wrist, and you quickly forget that you’re wearing anything at all.
It’s not just the case though that makes the RM 35-01 so light. Like the RM 27 series that came before it, the RM 35-01 is equipped with its own super lightweight movement. The skeletonized manual-wind RMUL3 Calibre weighs in at all of about 4 grams and is effectively suspended in the middle of the case, secured only by several key anchor points at each corner. It features a double-barrel system and offers approximately 55 hours of power in reserve when fully wound.
Don’t let the seemingly simplistic construction fool you though as the movement is still exceptionally strong and impact resistant, with the baseplate, bridges and balance cock all made from black PVD treated, Grade 5 titanium. The only downside is that the caseback is solid, which does increase the overall strength of the case but unfortunately does not allow for the uninterrupted views of the back of the suspended movement, which I imagine would’ve been pretty cool.
The hedonistic appeal of my favourite drink came to mind as I admired the sculpted horological form of this latest timepiece, replica hublot watches uk U-51 Black & Bronze, from the Italian watch brand. The luxury watch is delivered in bronze with a very masculine character.
I can still vividly recall sitting on the wrought iron furniture outside a café on Piazza del Duomo in Milan. Life felt especially good on that fine summer’s day. The sun painted my face with a light shade of bronze and the gorgeous Italian ladies reminded me that I was temporarily resident in a land synonymous with beauty. http://www.speedroc.com/replica-breitling-watches.html
Some people of Napoleonic persuasion will argue France is the home of fine cuisine and style. However, I disagree, it is the land of balsamic vinegar and la bella figura which appeals to most.
The Italians know about the good things in life. They embrace food with an obsessive level of pride which confers peerless flavours to pleasure the palate. There is an honesty to the cuisine with simple dishes and clearly defined flavours.
A prowess for design is ubiquitous, with architecture, couture and supercars all bestowing pleasure with defined lines and excellent execution.
Moreover, the Italians have a prowess at delivering magnificent flavours with a sublime salivatory appeal. Take coffee for example, I confess to drinking several espressos each day. It is the brevity of its pleasure which enhances the enjoyment and proves a prerequisite to my daily life. The short burst of flavour titillates the tastebuds, which no large cup of coffee could ever achieve.
Indeed, in England we sometimes miss the point by offering “doppio espresso” in some eateries. To purchase a double espresso, is to lose the appeal of the succinct flavour derived from the seeds of the coffea plants.
A very short form of espresso is the ristretto and for me the finest example of the baristas skill. It floods the mouth with a profuse flavour that transcends any other coffee and imparts a pleasure I never tire of enjoying.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze
The hedonistic appeal of my favourite drink came to mind as I admired the sculpted horological form of this latest timepiece from the Italian watch brand, U-Boat. The timepiece is delivered in bronze with a very masculine character. The colour scheme reminds me of my favourite drink. Moreover, many details prompt thoughts of Italy, the land which elicits romantic prose whenever I hear its name.
The dial
The dial consists of an open-worked upper disc presented in black, with a bronze disc beneath, visible at various points. I love the way the wearer is seduced by the attire of the dial.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – close up of dial
The hour and minute hands are open-worked on their bronze coloured sections with a small area of black adjacent their fulcrum.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – dial
At noon a 12-hour chrono counter resides. It is presented on a black subdial, marked on the upper disc with an outline, Arabic numerals and strokes, all depicted in white.
A 30-minute chrono counter is located at 6 o’clock and uses a combination of a black centre section, framed with by a circular aperture, revealing some of the bronze disc beneath.
At 3 o’clock, subsidiary seconds feature. This subdial is larger than the other two and embraces them with its oversized form. Whilst I often praise symmetry found on some watch dials, in this instance the play with different sizes and delivery, produces a pleasing haromnious outcome.
A date aperture is located at 9 o’clock beneath the brand’s nomen.
Hours are marked with Arabic numerals. Their contemporary font again reveals the bronze disc beneath. This bestows a wonderful three-dimensional quality, rich in detail that wonderfully toys with light.
A svelte central chrono seconds hand points to the chapter ring, ensuring simple interpretation of the elapsed seconds.
The case
A case diameter of 46mm is substantial and suits the masculine persona of the timepiece. This is not a watch for shrinking violets and that is probably why I love its bold styling.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – dial
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – caseband
The bezel and caseband are constructed of blackened steel, whereas the short lugs and caseback are formed of bronze. It is the use of bronze which differentiates this watch from many other timepieces.
The bronze acquires a patina in due course and is influenced by the lifestyle of the wearer. This will result in no two timepieces looking the same after the passage of time.
Five bronze screws hold the bezel, caseband and caseback together in steadfast union. They resemble cylindrical Roman columns, imparting a strong demeanour.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – case
IU-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – crown and pushers
The crown protector is presented in bronze and is delightfully knurled, enhancing its tactile feel.
I have recently been loaned the U-Boat Classico 45mm in silver and have found it a joy to wear. However, one aspect of the Black & Bronze which has been enhanced is the pusher located at 8 o’clock. This has a more defined profile, improving ease of operation.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – close up of dial
The reset pusher at 10 o’clock is lozenge shaped, angled and presented in black with a bronze surround.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – caseback
The caseback has a flush fitting sapphire crystal. The adjacent area of the caseback is adorned with beautiful perlage.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – caseback
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – pin buckle
A rich brown leather strap provides elevated comfort. It has a distressed appearance which is congruent with the character of the timepiece.
The movement
The self-winding Swiss movement within the watch is very attractive. The rotor is solid silver, featuring a spoke design and detailed with blued screws.
U-Boat U-51 Black & Bronze – caseback
C?tes de Genève motif is presented on the bridge work, delivered in circular form instead of the usual vertical stripes. Other surfaces are adorned with circular graining and mirror-polishing.
The finishing of the movement is excellent and distinguishes this as a fine timepiece, bearing in mind the accessible pricing.
Conclusion
U-Boat have delivered a fine example of appealing Italian design in combination with Swiss mechanical excellence.
The case design is muscular and virile. It has a manly robustness which I personally admire. However, the sapphire caseback reveals a brilliant mind with many desirable traits.
There is much to praise about the U-51 Black & Bronze. It is the horological equivalent of my beloved espresso.
U-Boat U-51 Solid Bronze 6945
Image provided by U-Boat
Would I buy the U-51 Black & Bronze? Until recently, I would have said yes. However, another U-Boat model has caught my eye, the Chimera Bronze – 46. This latter model is the full ristretto, packed with the full bronze flavour. This would be my preferred model.
