Wishing all readers and friends Happy Holidays!! & notable mentions in 2010

i've been MIA for awhile and a couple of readers and friends have dropped me a line to ask if alls well. on a whole, things are generally alright rite now but i have been busy dealing with 'stuff'... there seems to be alot of stuff to deal with but i did want to do this end of the year note, uhm, before the end of the year :) so without further delay, the notable mentions for 2010 :)

oh it so reminds me of the watchmen's night owl but it is cool and if you are a bored gajillionaire than you should definitely get this for the wife :) mb&f rewriting cool. tip of the hat to max busser & friends and boucheron for this. anything by MB&F is worth taking a look at in my opinion

so what are the noteworthy watches for 2010 for me? & what would get into my recommended 'to buy' list. (some recommendations from last year here... the usual patek, rolex, audemars piguet, jlc, vacheron constantin, dufour, halter, greubel forsey, peter speake marin, urwerk, roger smith, kari voutilainen, mb&f should remain there...

before i go further huge congrats to greubel forsey for the golden hand award at the GPdH de Geneve watch event. do check out my report of meeting Stephen Forsey HERE the winning watch is their new historique... a beauty. if you have the dough then watches from Greubel Forsey should be considered...

In the below $10k category, select Rolex models, select Seikos(not the Grand Seikos for me, u can get a Rolex for that money ;), vintage watches, some panerais and iwcs in this price range are worth considering :) Omega is doing well in the sub-10k range and since it's bond's brand of choice due to all the marketing $$$ paid to the studios, its also now a hot brand in China. smart marketing boyz there.

if you really like green, then this is da GREEN BOMB!!! the incredible Hulk! :)

the most notable addition to this category though is the Tudor Monte Carlo. From a modern collection that I would never look at to buying a watch from them. Top marks to the Rolex owned company...

For some years I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that would attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch. Its called the Tudor Watch Company." –Hans Wilsdorf, Founder Of Rolex [March 6, 1946} Looks like they're getting back to business :)

In the S$10-20k, you get into the realm of the realm of the AP RO Jumbo, or Offshore pre-owned, rolex daytona, Rolex Explorer Orange Hand and the notable new mention in this category is a non-mechanical watch... the Devon Tread 1... it is cool and its only a question of whether it speaks to you... i think the new greyish ti VC Overseas also pops into this cat as well. (both Devon and the VC pics are in the post 3 posts down and were GPdHdG competition candidates)

nicely done... good use of the dual time module which is the same one as in the AP RO dual time...

Up one notch and we're in the S$20-50k: AP ROO[new base ROOs or more the LEs], Patek Nautiluses and Calatravas, VC patrimony, Historiques and the gorgeous 1921. a very hot price category. gold daytonas beckon as well and the basest of the base RMs. I would say the 1921 is a hot contender in the classic range and the AP ROOs for sports watch...

a lovely dress watch. it beats the simple oversized Patek cases with their small movements for me and goes head to head with the entry level FP Journes like the Chronometre Souveraine and Octa Rdm

>S$50k: "thats a BINGO!!!" as colonel hans landa would put it :)
i would take a version of the mb&f 2 or 3... patek 5070G, 5970P or G (they're all popping up at auctions) and there are too many other 4 digit references to remember from patek if u can afford em ~ minute repeaters, perp calendars and grand comps galore, paul newman daytonas, and a new addition of the freak diavolo.

5070G... deserving of its popularity but that premium over list is just making it difficult for working folk like me to ever get one :(

i may not have the diavolo nor will i buy one at >200k list but i am most happy with the freak that i have :) its the first freak... hmm if i use the word silicon and enhanced in the same sentence what comes to mind? :)

ok, gonna get some rest over the weekend before the Christmas week ahead and then theres New Year on the horizon.

My wish for you as we come to another years end and Christmas is that u have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year ~ Here's to 2011!!!

Origins... An extract from the Archives at Bienne...

i have identified my speedy as 'a posible kwisatz haderach'...

now for the folks on this blog who've read dune or watched the movie or are frank herbert fans, u would know about paul muad'dib, the atreides and harkonnens and such... if u don't know anything about this though then no matter... the kwisatch haderach was like the messiah in that story or 'the one' in the matrix and in dune as in the matrix, there was the notion that there could be other possible kwisatch haderachs...

long story short, this watch wasn't gonna ride no sandworm or show up no bene gesserits but it could have been one of the ones that went into space and on the moon as buzz aldrin's speedy did... the reason is because it is from the same year of manufacture and bears the same model number as the ones that got to the moon on apollo 11... so it could have traversed thousands of miles... could have... when i purchased it though it didn't come with a book on where it was shipped to, who was the first person who bought it and where they bought it from, who has worn it since, cherished it at one point and decided to sell it at another throughout its 41 year history... etc etc etc... so what info could i get about its past?

hey isn't that the guy in desperate housewives and how i met your mother? the older ones among u may remember twin peaks too :)

provenance is important if u're trying to sell a watch (note i have no intention of selling my speedy) and cause of this, more and more companies out there are offering the service of providing a record from their archives if they have the info properly maintained. i guess i wanted to know more so any little bit helps and my speedy came without any boxes or papers so this would be a paper from Omega recognising its 'citizenship' so to speak...

how do u get an extract of the archives from Omega?

1. go to this LINK and follow the instructions online.
2. have the following info ready:

• Movement number 2XXXXXX8 (from the watch movement)
• Reference number: 145012-67 SP (from the caseback)
• Case material: Staineless Steel (duh)
• Short description: Speedmaster Professional with Cal 321 (u know it :)

and after you make an order for it... u will receive an email with the following info:

____________________________

We hereby confirm your order of the following extract:
Extract from the archives / Movement number 2XXXXXX8
Reference number: 145012-67 SP
Case material: Staineless Steel
Short description: Speedmaster Professional with Cal 321

This service costs CHF 75.00 or the equivalent in local currency.

The Extract of the Archives is not a Certificate of Authenticity and does not guarantee the authenticity of a watch or its component parts.

The Extract of the Archives contains detailed information from our archives which relates to your watch and how it left our facilities in Bienne, as well as the exact production date of the watch but do not include the delivery country due to the fact that often the final destination for a watch is not the country of delivery from the factory due to distribution agreements regarding some countries.

Signed by Alain Monachon OMEGA MUSEUM - Archivist

_____________________________________________________

so it arrives after a couple of weeks... an extract from the archives... it provided me 2 pieces of information that i didn't know. my watch was born Oct 29 1968 and it was shipped to America(huge kwisatch haderach possibility ;) and a paper from Omega to say its one of theirs...

u will have to determine for yourself if it matters, but for me, i am happy to have this piece of information on my vintage speedy