The HAMILTON brand has two big product line – US after the model and the khaki mode of motion, above both inherit based on the brand US, the fusion modern design creates the masterpiece with Switzerland technique of manufacture. The American classical series designs the series and the eternal classical series including the vanguard. The khaki movement series has received in the Second World War the heroic operational seniors’ tradition, including aviation, diving, field operation and navigation four rich person departments. The Hamilton wristwatch company was founded in 1892 American Pennsylvania Lancaster. Its first section of series pocket IWC watches Broadway (Broadway) limits the quantity the version, is well-known by “the railroad accurate movement timer”. The Hamilton railroad clock unequalled precision and the reliability, to once the serious railway accident draw to a close period, and founded its achievement remarkable timer’s course. The 20th century initial 10 year – advocation durable in the 20th century during second ten year, Hamilton became had the prestigious American army’s armed forces watch supplier outstandingly. It provides the first section of Breitling replica watches uses in the American calls “black Jake” General Pershing and his army, at that time their fierce combat in the European theater. in the 1920s – advocation style in the 1920s, the precision and the durable success union caused it to obtain has further developed.1928 promote Piping Rock and the Yankee wrist watch, established Hamilton to eagerly anticipate the American wrist watch fashion the leading positions. in the 1940s – advocation patriotism ??In Second World War period, Hamilton stops the civil watch the production, but concentrates in produces the special-purpose wristwatch for the American Fighting services. World War II period altogether provided for the American Military has reached as high as 1,000,000 wrist watches. Hamilton navigates the precision chronometer to use modern the first production process manufacture, moreover probably has 10000 Hamilton to navigate the precision chronometer, has experienced the Second World War’s baptism. Hamilton replica watches depending on its creation precise elegant clock and watch, but the prestige is outstanding, and becomes in the world to be in the leading positions the system, Shows one of business. The wrist watch unified the rich US energetic and the unequalled precision, as well as most advanced Swiss cochain cassette mechanism and technology. The legend was still continuing writes ……



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Are you ready for the most grandiose and captivating event in the  Audemars Piguet Replica watch world of 2009? So now , I will tell you something about history of Audemars Piguet watches.

 

A trio of warships christened Royal Oak, named after the legendary “royal oak” – a hollowed out tree which offered King Charles II a safe hiding place from his pursuers – lent their distinctive name in 1972 to an equally distinctive luxury sports watch – the Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet. Since then, the Royal Oak has become the leading model of the world-famous firm in Le Brassus and helped the stainless steel wristwatch attain respectability among watch lovers around the world .

 

The Audemars Piguet story begins in 1875 when twenty three year old watchmaker Jules Audemars and future partner Edward-August Piguet, just twenty-one years of age, met in the Vallee de Joux. Both had learned the watchmaker’s trade after finishing public school in their hometown of Le Brassus by training at the bench and returned to the Vallee de Joux to find jobs in the local watchmaking industry. Jules Audemars was soon producing raw components for watch movements, while Edward-August Piguet sought employment as a “repasseur” (a master watchmaker who performs the final regulation on a watch). Shortly after their meeting in 1875, the two talented watchmakers decided to join forces and founded the firm that would someday come to be known as Audemars, Piguet et Cie.

 

Almost from the beginning, Audemars was in charge of production and the technical side, while his partner Piguet focused on sales. Their partnership was not an immediate success, however. In fact, the Audemars Piguet trademark was not even registered until 1882 and the firm’s “official founding” did not take place until 1889. Already, however, Audemars Piguet et Cie had become the third largest employer for watch manufacturing in the Canton of Vaud. More importantly perhaps, both men had deliberately shifted their focus towards the production of high-quality, complex, ultra-precise watches .

 

Shortly after the official founding in 1889, a branch office was built in Geneva and the partners decided to produce all of their components and assemble the finished watches in-house. This allowed the firm to maintain strict quality control over their products and as a result, only products of the highest quality left the workshop. In short order, the greatest, most renowned retail jewelers were ordering watches from Le Brassus. Today, one can find many Audemars Piguet pocket watches identifiable as an Audemars Piguet only by their serial number, the result of prestigious jewelers, such as Gubelin and Tiffany & Co., wanting only their own name engraved on the movement and case, and not that of Audemars Piguet.

 

It is interesting to note that between 1894 and 1899, a mere 1,208 watches were produced. Among these were some of the most sophisticated timepieces ever made, including the legendary “Grande Complication” series, which is still being produced today. Aside from normal time indication, a Grande Complication timepiece offers minute repetition, perpetual calendar, and chronograph.

 

At around this same time, the retail operations in Geneva and London were transformed into full-service branches where watches were not only serviced but also assembled. By 1914, Audemars Piguet launched a project to develop a watch so complicated that it would take six years of continuous production before the watch could be delivered to the importers Guignard & Golay in London.

 

The watch in question was a pocket watch with two dials and a one-minute tourbillon mechanism. As well as a tourbillon, this double dial Lepine, gold watch included a minute repeater, a chronograph with 60-minute and 12-hour counters, perpetual calendar with displays which “jump” at midnight, display of the leap year cycle, the “age” and phases of the moon, and power reserve display. The second face showed an additional 24 hours based on the sidereal hour, moving a pair of independent hands. A special system connected to this gear-train makes it possible to see the changes in the London sky at any time of the day or night, through an oval-shaped opening in the rear dial. The sky is represented by 315 stars engraved on a plate of gold, enameled in blue. The stars, with their respective names, are all clearly visible .

 

Unfortunately , it was the last triumph for the founding partners. Audemars died in 1918. The following year, so did Edward Piguet.

 

After the founders’ death, Audemars Piguet continued to prosper, establishing several technical milestones with the creation of the world’s smallest minute repeater watch, having a diameter of just 15.8 millimeters; the debut of a Hunter Model (hinged-lid pocket watch) with a jumping second hand, also featuring a barometer, quarter repeater, independent second hand, the date and day of the week; and in 1925, another first: the world’s thinnest pocket watch measuring just 1.32 millimeters. The year 1928 also saw the development of the world’s first skeletonized pocketwatch.

 

Needless to say , then as now,  Audemars Piguet   was considered one of the finest watch manufacturers in the world. Business boomed, as did the world economy. Customers of Audemars Piguet included such prestigious jewelers as Gubelin, Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Bulgari. Unfortunately, the company’s success ground to a shocking halt in 1929 when only 737 watches were sold. By contrast, nearly 2,000 watches had been sold in 1920. With the stock market crash in 1929 and the subsequent Depression, there were suddenly very few customers for expensive watches. Like other Swiss watch companies, Audemars Piguet was forced to layoff most of its workforce, until hitting rock bottom in 1932, when just two watches were produced.

 

Despite the hard times, the company bounced back following World War II, thanks to the success of its chronographs and ultra-thin (the famous nine-ligne calibre 2003) dress watches.

 

The 1950’s and 1960’s saw a major rebound in the firm’s sales. In 1967, in cooperation with Jaeger LeCoultre, a new record for the thinnest (2.45 mm) automatic movement, with a centrally placed rotor of 21-carat gold, was established. Just three years later, in 1970, the watchmakers of Audemars Piguet premiered the world’s thinnest movement (3.05 mm) to include date display and a central rotor made of gold. The year 1972, of course, marked the debut of what has become the signature model for Audemars Piguet, the “Royal Oak “ .

 

Designed by the legendary watchmaker Gerald Genta, its octagonal shape, steel edges and the use of prominent hexagonal screws as a design feature strike a perfect balance between power and elegance. Worthy of its name, the Royal Oak has since become a legend. Its octagonal design, originally produced only in high-grade steel, took the breath away even of many professionals. However, when the Royal Oak was unveiled at the 1972 European watchmaking fair in Basel with a price tag of just 3,300 SFr. — unheard of for a watch bearing the Audemars Piguet name — its success was beyond even its creators’ expectations !

 

In 1993, the company museum, housed in the original workshop of Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, was established. This museum, a tribute to the company’s visionary founders, allows watch enthusiasts to discover Audemars Piguet technology “from A to Z.” Its exhibits retrace the key stages in the company’s history, and show many of the creations that made Audemars Piguet famous, including the Grande Complication. As well as its unique collection of antique watches, and in particular of watch complications, this very unusual museum enables visitors to see the intricacy and precision required in horology, by observing two master watchmakers at work in the modern Audemars Piguet atelier which is a permanent feature of the museum.

 

That same year , a new model in the Royal Oak collection premiered: the Royal Oak Offshore, which is water resistant to a depth of 10 atmospheres. The Offshore model offers following functions: chronograph to 1/5 second, tachymeter, 30-minute counter, 12-hour counter, date display, seconds display, automatic movement with central rotor in 21-carat gold .

 

Three years later, in 1996, a wristwatch version of the famous “Grand Complication” premiered at Basel. More than 600 components are contained in an integrated movement that does not exceed 8.5 mm in height. It is a technical marvel that marries old-fashioned craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology, such as computer-aided design (CAD). It was also in 1996 that Audemars Piguet embarked on a new era, becoming one of the first major watch companies to represent itself on the Internet with its official Website .

 

Today, Audemars Piguet remains one of the most prestigious watchmakers in the world — yet despite the company’s enormous success (AP even owns 40% of Jaeger-LeCoultre), every watch is still made by hand the old-fashioned way – one at a time. Today, along with Patek Philippe (PP) and Vacheron Constantin (VC), AP is considered to be one of the “big-three” as one of the finest watches in the world .

 

In any event, if you are contemplating the purchase of a  Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Replica watch , you’ve made an excellent choice. It’s a highly prestigious and respected brand with a long and wonderful history, as well as a proven track record.

 

 



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Rolex Explorer I is always the most popular and attractive edition in Rolex, black dial with 3, 6, 9 Arab numbers endowing Explorer elegance and dynamic charming. Greatly loved by celebrities, movie stars and broad media report even more makes Explorer I become the pet of fashion.

Putting aside the crazy love by movie star loves, Explorer I actually is quite an attractive watch itself, apart from the outstanding technology used on it, behind its semblance full of sports feeling and elegance, Explorer I not only has exciting historical classical stories, but also with labyrinthian details, just like other Rolex sports watches (still remember the stories of Submariner, Daytona Cosmograph and Explorer II?). Although the latest edition I Ref. 114270 or the former one 14720 of Explorer have been quite different from the Explorer with amazing stories at that time, the typical and original 3-6-9 markers have been replaced by steel markers, and case design, movement and mirror have all changed, its look still the same.

In the conception of ordinary watch lovers, Explorer I is specially launched by Rolex just for commemorating Everest expedition. This watch was with British explorer team consisting of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay etc on 29th, May of 1953, achieving a great task of human being climbing. This story is definitely magic and attractive, but it still has a certain distance to the real fact. Firstly, Rolex indeed had supported Himalayan expedition since 1933, and later in Everest expeditions, Rolex had been always the official supporters, so Rolex supported each explorer team with its wristwatch. However, Rolex was not the only supporter, it is said that when Edmund Hillary climbed up on the top of Everest, what he wore is a watch from the British supporter Smith. But what Tenzing Norgay wore is indeed Explorer. On 19th, July of 1988, this watch was auctioned in Sotheby’s of London, and presently stored in Rolex Museum in Geneva. As for if Explorer is the first watch worn on the top of Everest, I am afraid that no answer will be found forever, as Hillary and Norgay have always not wanted to speak out who first climbed on the top, and persisted in that it is done by both of them.

Secondly, when observing the Explorer worn by Tenzing Norgay when climbing Everest, it indeed has the typical black dial and 3-6-9 night light markers, although the hands are not Skelette (Mercedes) which we are familiar with but the pure nightlight straight ones, the round nightlight spots on central second hand are al little bigger than today’s editions. What needs to concern is the “Precision” mark but not “Explorer” on the dial of this Explorer. In addition, according to the record of Sotheby, the back of this watch is bubble back style. According to these characters, it can deduce that it is Ref.6350. At that time, Rolex used to carve the production date inside the back. The production date for Ref.6350 worn by Tenzing Norgay is IV 53, which means made in April of 1953. So you can see that before Hillary and Norgay climbed on the top of Everest, Rolex did not name Ref.6350 as Explorer. Although Rolex had registered the trade mark of Explorer in Geneva on 26th, Jan of 1953, Explorer gained its name after Hillary and Norgay climbing up Everest, that is, “Explorer” began to be added on Ref.6350 after the success climbing in 1953. as for Explorer I becoming a fix style and classic watch, it was accomplished by Rolex after a certain time of scrabble.

Anyway, Ref. 6350 is indeed specially made for Explorers by Rolex. Ref. 6350 Explorer has highly readable dial design, and its case is also specially strengthened and uses special lubricant based on the need, making this watch can work between -20° C and +40° C and its accuracy will not affected by the change of emplastic. So regardless of before or after Hillary and Norgay climbing on the Everest, many explorers relied on Ref. 6350 as the necessary chronometer. The distinctive dial of Explorer I is not innovative, its big triangle mark at 12 o’clock position and dials with Arab and Roman numerals of some Rolex editions had been widely used in 1930’s and 1940’s, and 3-6-9 Arab numerals and long bar markers had been used in the early cushion and oyster style. However, these elements which had appeared before combined again in a unique way, creating a fresh and clear image for Explorer.

According to the research on the early Explorers by the author of “The Best of Time. Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History ”James M. Dowling, at the beginning Rolex was obviously not sure about the potential market of Explorer, therefore Rolex also put the dial with the registered trade mark “Explorer” or the name of “Explorer” on other editions. Air King Explorer is one of the most famous examples. The Air King Explorer means 3-6-9 black dial of Explorer is used by some Ref. 5500 Air King, but “Precision” is the mark on the dial, not Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified. Another example is Dress Explorer, means non-explorer dial with steel markers and hands are used by some Oyster Perpetual, but with “Explorer” carved on the dial, including Ref.5700 (also called as Explorer Date) with date display and Ref. 5504 without date display. These explorers which are considered as rare and precious today were mostly made in 1950’s and 1960’s, the earliest one, Ref. 6298 could be traced back to 1953. And their production did not come to a halt until the hot sell of Rolex.

Explorer Ref. 6350 was produced about one year in 1953, and then Ref. 6150 was in production in the same year. Most Explorer Ref. 6350 with black dial was carved with “Officially Certified Chronometer”, and the dial is with special honeycomb. Both Ref. 6150 and Ref. 6350 used A296 movement, but the case is 2 mm bigger than Ref. 6150, both with “Precision”. Ref. 6150 stopped to produce in 1959 and replaced by Ref. 6610. from semblance, Ref. 6610 and Ref. 6150 are almost the same, but since Ref. 6610 used new Caliber 1310 movement, so the back is more flat than bubble back. So these early explorers are all stainless steel made, and all the fonts, Rolex logo and minute markers all use golden color.

After five years production of Ref. 6610, Explorer Ref. 1016 replaced its production in 1963. Ref. 1016 is the most famous edition with longest production in all the Explorers, its production lasted until Ref. 14270 replaced it. Explorer Ref. 1016 looks like Ref. 6610 from semblance, and its movement changed to use Caliber 1560, water resistant increased from 50m to 100m. During the long production of 26 years, Explorer Ref. 1016 also changed a little. The first generation of Ref. 1016 was changed in 1975, changed to use the improved Caliber 1570 with hack from Caliber 1560, and the oyster strap was changed to made of solid stainless steel.

In 1989, Ref. 14270, which is familiar to most watch lovers, came to the market with surprise. Apart from remaining the name of Explorer and Benz hands, the inside and beauty conception of Ref. 14270 were completely different from Ref. 1016: the movement is Caliber 3000 with higher frequency, the mirror is sapphire crystal glass, the case is designed again, the dial changes quite a lot, the original full printed nightlight markers including clock markers, triangle mark at 12 o’clock and 3-6-9 nightlight Arab numerals are all changed into the design of K steel circle plus Tritium nightlight coating. Such a change definitely makes the style of 14270 have a feeling of elegance and modern, but the pure sports and explorer style of Ref. 1016 actually made most watch lovers hard to forget, and since the number of it became fewer and fewer, therefore the price of Ref. 1016 in recent years has risen up quite a lot. The price is nearly as twice as the brand new 14270.

Explorer I changed a little again in 2001: 114270 replaced 14270, changed to use Caliber 3130. regardless the antique Explorer Ref. 6350, 1016, the former generation 14270 or the present Explorer 114270, Rolex Explorer I is always a very simple watch with simple semblance and functions, stainless case and strap, self winding movement and black dial with 3, 6, 9, it is really unremarkable, but maybe it is just because “simple is the best”, Explorer I seems to be more attractive as time goes by. What is more magic is that Explorer I not only loved by male watch lovers, even female consumers are always attracted by its modern and entertainment feeling. Most watch lovers can not understand the low complex but high price and hot purchased by consumers of Explorer I, but why should you need a reason for the love to a watch? 

Its exquisite styling, elegant character and rich history are the best reasons.



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