Watches

Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome adds another funky watch to their “DNA” line of watches, called the RJ Art-DNA.  Unlike all the previous watches in this line, the Art-DNA watch doesn’t use exotic materials like ash from a volcano, metal from a DeLorean/Titanic, or dust from the moon.  Instead, it takes its inspiration from contemporary art.

Romain Jerome has collaborated with Swiss artist John M Armleder to create 10 limited edition timepieces.  The dials on the watches come with a skull that has been featured in mural paintings and is said to be inspired by Amerindian culture.

We first introduced you to the stunning Zenith Christophe Colomb watch way back in 2010; since then, Zenith has released a few versions of the watches that I somehow missed.  Today I bring you yet another version of the watch, called the Zenith Academy Christophe Colomb Hurricane.

Like the original Christophe Colomb, the Hurricane features the big bubble placed at the 6 o’clock position that is home to the gyroscope-balanced regulator.  The gyroscope module keeps the movement upright, no matter what angle the watch is placed at, which supposedly makes the watch more accurate.

When I think of IWC watches, I usually think of their pilot watches and I’m not the only one, most of my friends think the same thing.  The IWC Schaffhausen Portofino watch line rarely gets mentioned, although it has been in production for over 25 years. This year IWC plans on making it the star of the Baselworld 2011 show (SIHH).

The latest edition Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days (ref. 5101) is an extremely beautiful watch with classic looks and a clutter-free modern design.  The watch dial is very clean-looking with gold hands and markers, featuring a date window at the 3 o’clock position, a small sub-dial for seconds at the 6 o’clock position, and a power reserve indicator between the 8 and 9 o’clock markers.  As the name would suggest, the watch comes with an eight day (192 hour) hand-wound power reserve.

Swiss watchmakers Urwerk are known for making some of the most complex watches in the world (i.e. UR-110 Torpedo), for Only Watch 2011, they are bringing back the Urwerk UR-103 from the dead.  The watch was originally introduced in 2003 and there have been various versions of it produced over the years.  In 2010, the company announced the UR-103 will not be produced anymore.

The watch has been resurrected for the charity event, rising from the ashes like the Phoenix, and is a one-off.  Appropriately, a phoenix has been engraved on the watch case by engraver Jean-Vincent Huguenin, who has worked with various watchmakers in the past.

The engraving gives the UR-103 a new look and it looks pretty good, it should fetch a good price at the 2011 Only Watch event to raise money for DMD.  If you want to own the very last UR-103, head on over to Monaco in September, don’t forget to bring your check book.