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Audemars Piguet: Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Collection

Published: 17 March 2010

The Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Collection by Audemars Piguet embodies the powerful ties between watchmaking and automobiles: the same passion for design and the same incessant quest for mechanical performance.

The dial counters evoke dashboard instruments, the crown a gear, and the bezel a ventilated brake disc. This collection is composed of three timepieces, issued in limited series featuring meticulously executed details combined with cutting-edge materials. These models are powered by a throbbing engine in the shape of a selfwinding proprietary chronograph movement and are sure to delight all those with a taste for high-speed thrills!

Art Dubai – The Poetry of Time Exhibition

Published: 11 March 2010

Van Cleef and Arpels has been invited to participate in Art Dubai, the renowned International Art Fair, from 17 to 20 March 2010. During the Fair Van Cleef and Arpels will mount an exclusive exhibition celebrating nearly one hundred years of watchmaking creation dedicated to the Poetry of Time.

Download the press release

www.thepoetryoftime.com

Hublot creates the Big Bang Maradona

Published: 10 March 2010

Legendary Argentine footballer Diego Maradona is well-known for his love of watches - often wearing two at once - and will now be able to sport a chronograph bearing his own name on each wrist! Hublot has created a limited edition model in black ceramic bearing the champion's signature in sky blue on the dial, as well as his lucky number - 10.

In 1995, he was awarded the Golden Ball for his whole career. Hublot's tribute to this remarkable player, now the selector for the Argentine team, is the Big Bang Maradona. A watchmaking icon and a footballing icon - two stories in which passion, success, excellence and creativity combine.

The matt black ceramic case surrounds a black dial bearing Diego Maradona's signature in blue, with his lucky number 10 on the 3 o'clock
counter. This same blue is used for the indices and the seconds hand, and for the special 45-minute counter (to count down to half and full time!) at 9 o'clock. The alligator strap is sewn with matching thread, and the case back features a portrait of the Argentine footballing legend, arms raised in victory!

TAG Heuer 150 years, The Book

Published: 10 March 2010

“History begins every morning”

From a small workshop in the Swiss Jura mountains, TAG Heuer has transformed into a watchmaking legend. Recognized throughout the world for its luxury sports watches and pioneering work in chronographs, TAG Heuer watches epitomize prestige and performance, brilliantly fusing technology with design. TAG Heuer has revolutionized 150 years of watchmaking history through a constant pursuit of excellence and innovation, maintaining a strong link between the company of today and the people who have shaped its history. From heroes of the past to the stars of the future, our ambassadors read like a who’s who of modern history: Edouard Heuer and Steve McQueen, Ayrton Senna and Leonardo DiCaprio, Lewis Hamilton and Shah Rukh Khan, Tiger Woods and Maria Sharapova. Together they all share a strong determination to achieve their ultimate goals, pushing the limits of what is possible through hard work and mental strength. We cannot know what the future holds, but we do know that if we continue to look forward, we will be the ones who shape it.

Jean-Christophe Babin
President & CEO, TAG Heuer

This is the story of speed, of the hunt for speed, of catching time, of mastering time. This is the story of Tag Heuer, the legendary time brand. Every story starts with a man and a passion. Edouard Heuer, the founder of our destiny had the vision of time. The man became a team, a passionate team. And the road became a speedway of legendary competitions linking today’s most powerful men, those heroes of our time, in a “course contre la montre”. To catch the time was also our design, since our roots are made of it; our identity has always been influenced by the biggest names of architecture, art, and avant-garde industrial designers of each generation…

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Girard-Perregaux 1966

Published: 1 March 2010

Girard-Perregaux 1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time in White Gold

The La Chaux-de-Fonds Manufacture has unveiled a new version of the annual calendar and equation of time from its Girard-Perregaux 1966 collection, this time in white gold to beautifully accentuate its discreet elegance.

Inheriting the classic Girard-Perregaux style - sober, traditional yet unashamedly modern, this model features a mechanism which is both ingenious and easy to use.

One of the most useful day-to-day complications, the annual calendar displays the date and month while automatically taking into account the different lengths of the months. It requires just one correction per year on the 28th February, for non-leap years.

The model is embellished with a technical yet poetic detail - the equation of time. This rare, astronomical complication uses the hand situated at 4:30 to indicate the difference between the true solar time and the mean time, or meridian time. In fact, the length of a solar day varies daily due to the elliptical shape of the Earth's orbit.

In a further touch of sophistication, the calendar can be corrected using the crown in either direction. This makes correction easier, and the absence of a corrector on the case leaves its sublime curves intact.

The purity of the design thus remains unhindered by the mechanism's complexity. The functions are displayed on the dial in an original yet highly readable way. Baton indexes and fine, leaf-shaped hands mark the progression of the hours and minutes. The date, equation of time and small second are indicated by small, blued steel hands, each of a different shape, and the months are displayed in a circular window at 7 o'clock.

The back of the watch reveals the technical excellence of this model. The transparent sapphire case-back lays bare the complex architecture of its movement, which comprises 287 separate components, as well as its intricate finishes, each realised by the Manufacture's master watchmakers.

TimeWriter: Founded by Montblanc, the Institut Minerva fosters new talent

Published: 24 February 2010

The Montblanc Manufacture at Villeret located at the former headquarters of the Minerva Manufacture, is one of the last manufactures where all of the traditional horological skills, with all their micromechanical refinements, are still meticulously performed by hand, almost as though each timepiece were individually crafted as a one-of-a-kind item.

Traditions are upheld, but continual innovation is also indispensable to assure constant renewal and unflagging progress in the art of watchmaking, to set standards for quality and creativity in the future. In 2007, Montblanc founded the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie with the mission of fostering young talents whose new ideas will enrich the art of watchmaking, which they will enliven with their innovative spirit and dynamism. For this purpose, Montblanc created the “TimeWriter” concept, under which the company wants to introduce projects with creators that have innovative horological ideas and plan to establish themselves as independent watchmakers.

Following the great success of “TimeWriter 1” presented at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva in January 2010, under the name “Metamorphosis”, Montblanc offers another unique opportunity for creative entrepreneurs of the watch world to become involved in the adventure that is “TimeWriter 2”.

Implementation of the project:  We offer you the opportunity to develop your ideas with the experience of our development teams, working with passionate master watchmakers with a unique expertise and benefit from our distribution network and international communication to market your ideas. Financial support will be offered to the candidate. The project will allow the candidate to make a name for themselves in the watch world with the support of Montblanc.

Objective: Develop and implement an innovative concept watch with the principles of traditional watchmaking in collaboration with Montblanc and the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie. The candidate should approach Montblanc with a concrete technical idea that above all should be something technically challenging and innovative, pushing further the boundaries of watchmaking as known today.  

Candidate profile: The project is open to all professions of the watch world. The candidate can be a movement constructor, watchmaker or a designer. Candidates with a clear plan to establish themselves as independent creators will be preferred.

Location : Villeret (BE)

Contact: Florence Kirkorian - Montblanc Montre SA, Tourelles 10, 2400 Le Locle - mailto://f.kirkorian@montblanc-montre.ch

Van Cleef & Arpels

Published: 23 February 2010

Laurent Picciotto, founder of the shop Chronopassion in Paris combined with Van Cleef & Arpels. In others words, this is the union between the ambassador of the time and the famous jeweler, Place Vendome, who constantly reinvents woman timepieces: "horological complications that entertain men but often frighten women have become poetic complications", he says. Poetic complications where hours and minutes give way to the cycles of seasons, of days, in a word give way to the movement, source of life, understood as the inevitable march towards for enchanting.

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Transformation for hautehorlogerie.org

Published: 12 January 2010

It’s all change at hautehorlogerie.org in 2010, with a customisable homepage, a new graphic interface and all-new features in every section. Content in Japanese and simplified Chinese are under progress and complete this radical rethink.

Hautehorlogerie.org, the website of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, has been unanimously welcomed since its launch in 2006. This online encyclopaedia of Fine Watchmaking caters to the general public and connoisseurs alike, with 8,000 pages, 4,000 photos, 200 videos and interactive catalogues.

With new information added each day, such a wealth of content warranted a format to match. From January, you can customise your hautehorlogerie.org homepage to match your interests and wishes. Personalise your passion for Fine Watches and transform each of your visits into an even more enjoyable, interactive experience. Eager to learn? Hautehorlogerie.org will take you straight to your favourite sections, maybe complications, brands, history or famous watchmakers. New content is posted each day, in the news pages, jobs library, vacancies, glossary or any one of the other sections.

Perfect your knowledge of Fine Watchmaking in a few clicks at www.hautehorlogerie.org and navigate at leisure in this fascinating world.

Carry on enjoying your favourite features at hautehorlogerie.org:

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Jobs & Training
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• Explanations of 80 watchmaking professions and where to learn them
• Métiers d’Art: artists and craftsmen talk about their work

News & Media
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