Racing-Inspired Watches. Autodromo Motoring Timepieces Are Just Your Speed.

Inspired by automotive instruments such as speedometers and tachometers, Autodromo Motoring Watches are a new collection of Swiss made wristwatches whose faces are minimal in design and reminiscent of vintage Italian racing-inspired style.

Just launched, the collection consists of three models, two available in two different finishes; the Brescia, the Vallelunga, with a white or black dial, and the Veloce in a black or stainless finish.

Brescia:



Vallelunga (white face):



Vallelunga (black face):



Veloce (stainless case):



Veloce (black case):



With quartz movements, sapphire coated crystals and leather straps, the watch cases measure 42mm in diameter and 10 mm in thickness and are designed for both men and women.




And the come beautifully packed in individual cases:


The Autodromo Story (courtesy of Autodromo)

INSTRUMENTS FOR MOTORING

Officine Autodromo was founded to recapture a romantic era of motoring. It was a time of Gran Turismo when driving from city to city wasn't just a matter of hopping onto an expressway. It meant slipping on your driving gloves for a high speed jaunt through the great roads of Europe with a powerful, sweet-sounding engine propelling you into new adventure, and maybe even a little danger. You can’t be out every day, blasting through alpine passes and winding country roads, but with an Autodromo timepiece on your wrist, your mind can be motoring, even when you are in the dullest of Monday meetings.


VINTAGE-INSPIRED MINIMALIST DESIGN

Autodromo watches and accessories draw aesthetic inspiration from the world of mid-century auto racing. Our products have a vintage feel, alloyed with a clean, uncluttered modernist design philosophy. Each new product is conceived as an artifact that might have existed in the past, but is equally at home in the world of today.

SWISS MADE MOVEMENTS – BATCH MADE QUALITY

Only the finest quality materials and the best Swiss Made movements are deemed suitable to go into an Autodromo motoring watch. And because we keep our batches small, we can ensure that each piece that goes out the door meets our exacting standards of excellence. Our goal is to offer beautiful design, attention to detail, and exquisite craftsmanship at prices that represent a smart allocation of resources. With Autodromo, you can live well and drive well.

PROUDLY INDEPENDENT – OBSESSIVELY DRIVEN

Everything we do, from our motoring watches to the custom wrapping paper we ship each purchase in are designed in-house by our small, passionate team. We build products we are passionate about, and approach each and every new project with the goal of crafting a special and memorable experience for the discerning customer. That’s our obsession.- Autodromo

Each stylish watch retails for $425 and can be purchased at their website.

A special shout-out to Brian Jones for bringing these to my attention.

Just In Time For Halloween. The Last Laugh Tattoo Edition Wristwatch.

Mr.Jones Watches has just released this special edition of their Last Laugh Watch:


The time on this watch is displayed on the skull's teeth - the upper jaw shows the hours and the lower the minutes. The watch is a link to the tradition of the memento mori - an object designed to remind us that life is brief and we should seize the moment while we're here.



This new version of The Last Laugh watch from Mr. Jones Watches features specially commissioned artwork by British Tattoo Artist Adrian Willard, “the design comes from the Mexican Day of the Dead festival. The festival focuses on gathering to remember friends and family who have died. Many gifts and offerings are handed out including sugar skulls that are given to both the living and the dead. It has become a very popular image in the tattoo world over the years and has replaced the regular skull in the mainstream tattoo trends.”


above left: the original Mr. Jones Last Laugh Watch and right, the Tattoo version

Specifications:
Case: PVD coated 316L stainless steel
Strap: Black leather with turquoise stitching
Width (3 o'clock to 9 o'clock): 37mm
Height (from lug to lug): 46mm
Mechanism: Single jewel quartz
Waterproof: 5ATM
Guarantee: 12 months

buy it here

A Luxury Watch That Looks As Though It Could Hop, The HM3 Frog By MB&F.

above: The newest HM3 Frog is the Chocolate frog. Red gold with Chocolate PVD coated titanium in a limited edition of 10 pieces

MB&F presents Horological Machine N°3 Frog. Haute horlogerie is (usually) a very restrained and serious business; however one of Maximilian Büsser main goals in creating MB&F was to bring a child's sense of awe and sense of playfulness into high-end watchmaking. There is no doubt that with the HM3 Frog, MB&F have certainly achieved that goal.

The protruding eyes of the (amphibian) frog enable it to see in many directions without having to turn its head. The bulbous domes of the HM3 Frog have the opposite, but no less important, feature of enabling the time to be easily seen from many angles without having to turn the wrist. The Frog differs substantially from HM3 in that it is the aluminum domes that rotate under the sapphire crystals in the Frog, whereas it is the hour and minute hands that rotate around their respective stationary cones on HM3.

The HM3 Frog is available in Grade 5 titanium with blued rotor, a limited edition of 10 in chocolate PVD-coated grade 5 titanium with red gold rotor, or a limited edition of 18 in black PVD-coated zirconium with purple rotor:


Rotating domes of this size and shape posed MB&F with a number of technical challenges. The hour and minute domes are machined from solid aluminium - chosen for its optimal strength to weight ratio. The domes weigh in at just over 0.5g. They are milled first from the outside and then the inside to arrive at a paper-thin wall thickness of just 0.28 mm, which reduces their energy requirements to an absolute minimum.

Even the fabrication of the semi-spherical sapphire crystal domes was incredibly demanding and only recently even possible at all. This is due to the fact that any slight imperfection in the sapphire might introduce a disconcerting magnification effect. The sapphire has to be shaped and polished to be perfectly uniform.



The Frog's unusual method of indicating time necessitated the development of a new gear train for the HM3 engine. This was because the aluminum hour dome of the Frog rotates in 12 hours compared to the 24 hour revolution of the HM3 hour hand. And as the oversized date wheel is driven from the hours, the gearing driving the date had to be reworked as well.



The Frog may portray the time in a playful manner, but there is nothing but serious and meticulous attention to detail and care regarding the fine hand-finishing of the high-tuned engine purring within its lightweight high-tech titanium or zirconium case.

A close inspection of the case is rewarded with carefully thought out detailing including a figure 8 engraved around the domes that mirrors the form of the display back(revealing dual ceramic bearings); distinctive clover-head white gold screws; and an engraved arrow discreetly indicating the easy to read over-sized date.


above image courtesy of ablogtoread

If the viewer's gaze manages to break away from the obiculate indications, it is likely to be arrested by the brightly-coloured 22K gold battle-axe winding rotor or the intricacies of the thoroughbred movement beneath.

the original HM3 in Grade 5 titanium with blue rotor:


The limited edition of 18 in black PVD-coated zirconium with purple rotor:



a limited edition of 10 in chocolate PVD-coated grade 5 titanium with red gold rotor




Case
Grade 5 titanium/blue 22K gold rotor; limited edition of 10 chocolate titanium/22K red gold rotor; limited edition of 18 black zirconium/purple 22k gold rotor
 Screwed-down crown. 
 Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs) 47mm x 50mm x 16mm
. Number of case components = 53.

Movement
Three-dimensional horological engine designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor
. Powered by a Girard-Perregaux base. 
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph
 22K gold battle-axe shaped 'mystery' automatic winding rotor. 
Hour and minutes information transmitted via ceramic ball bearings to rotating domes. 
Number of jewels 36 (all functional)
. Number of components = 304.

Functions
Hour and day/night indicator on one dome (aluminium dome rotating in 12 hours). 
Minutes on second dome (aluminium dome rotating in 60 minutes)
. Date around the movement.

Dials
Rotating aluminium domes, stationary hands
Sapphire crystals
Domes and both display backs with anti-reflective treatment on both faces
. Domes for indications in aluminium, 0.58g

Price ranges from $82,000 to $100,000 USD

And you gotta love the Horolobot!:

all images and information courtesy of MB&F

Visit MB&F for more information

Jeremy Scott Designs 3 New Watches For Swatch

Irreverent fashion designer Jeremy Scott has collaborated with Swatch to design three new watches for Spring 2011. The Winged, Lightening Flash and Opulence watches play with the iconic shape of Swatch watches by adding to or altering elements of the traditional Swatch shape and design.

Winged Swatch:



Lightening Flash:



Opulence:




Limited edition set of all 3 watches [777 pieces available]:

all images courtesy of Swatch

The Jeremy Scott Swatch watches are be available February 24th at Colette and March 3 at Swatch stores worldwide.

The Swatch Fashion Challenge. "True Colors" As Seen By Editors and Bloggers

above image is a crop of part of VISION Magazine's entry


above image is a crop of part of All Magazine's entry

The Swatch New Gents Collection True Colors Competition



Swatch challenged fashion editors, bloggers and trend setters to style the Swatch New Gent Collection, shown above, and discover their “True Colours." Editorial magazine layouts and video presentations were submitted by well known magazines like Wallpaper, Interview, and i-D, fashion and style related sites like Style.com and bloggers like BryanBoy and Diane Pernet.



Swatch is now asking readers to vote on the submissions. By voting, you are entered into a drawing in which you could win one of the colorful New Gent watches.



Below are the competing magazines and a sample spread from each of them, in no particular order:  

Kinki:
   

Hooligan:
   

Cleo:
   

Neo2:
   

Open:
   

All Magazine:
   

Interview:
   

Wallpaper:
   

Elle Greece:
   

Faces:
   

Gustav:
   

Milk:
   

Vice:
   

1626:
   

Pulp:
   

Yoho!:
   

Tom:
   

VISION:
   

L'Officiel:
   

WAD:
   

i-D Magazine:
   

style.com:
   

Sleek:
 

The accompanying videos seem to be a combination of "making of videos" of the editorial spreads and on camera explanations and pitches from those who received the Open Brief from Swatch. Some seem to be music videos or motion graphics. It seemed unclear as to whether or not the submissions upon which you are asked to vote will actually appear as editorial spreads in the magazine or not, but a reader tells me they are. To see the accompanying videos (and to vote), go to the Swatch YouTube channel, The Swatch Facebook group site or The Official Swatch site.


 

At the time of this post, the submissions from ALL Magazine, Kinki and Neo2 have garnered the majority of the votes.