The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[Kai]

Wrist Shot:

Revue Thommen "Swiss Alps Challenge, Airspeed Altimeter"

Day 4 of a 5 day ski traverse from Mammoth to Yosemite.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I just bought a watch that has been somewhat of a "grail" watch for me.

It''s a Revue Thommen "Airspeed Altimeter" watch, made in the late 1990's. This watch is one of only two mechanical watches I know of that have an altimeter built into the watch. (The other one is the 1960's vintage Favre Leuba "Bivouac")

It has a hand winding Peseux 7001 movement, and a 30m water resistant titanium case.

These altimeter watches have interested me in part because of my interest in mountaineering. When I first began climbing mountains, Revue Thommen made the standard hand held altimeters used by mountaineers. These mechanical altimeters were fascinating with their jeweled movements and analog dials. These altimeter watches function on the same principles and serve the same function as the classic mountaineer's altimeter I remember fondly from my early climbing days.

I've been looking for either this watch or the Favre Leuba for quite some time now. There weren't many made or either model, and it's been difficult to find one in good condition. Finally, I found a new in box example of the Revue, and snapped it up.

I have not yet received it (It's coming from Europe) but I am pretty excited to finally add a mechanical altimeter watch to my collection. Will take some wrist shots and give my impressions on its functionality when it arrives.

 

[TheFoo]

I was really disappointed when Jaeger-LeCoultre discontinued the Reverso Grande Date a couple years ago. It was my favorite Reverso and a really awesome value: big date, eight-days of power, and a power reserve indicator for less than $10K retail. I usually hate cut-off numerals, but it's so blatant in the RGD's case that it is somehow acceptable, in a whimsical steampunk sort of way.

The in-house cal. 875 was a particularly strong draw. Not only was it properly sized and shaped for the RGD's case, but its bridges were artfully and elegantly cut. Display backs have become a trendy feature over the years, but the movements they reveal are often embarrassingly humble. Not so in the case of the cal. 875. Here's a movement worth showing off:

That's why the newer Grande Reverso 976 is such an awful letdown. The front-side is perfectly nice:

But flip to the other side and prepare yourself for a what-the-**** moment:

To power the Grande Reverso, JLC just took the movement out of the Master Hometime (a round watch), removed the dual time function, cut off the sides, and fit it into a rectangular holder. I could maybe live with that--if I wasn't forced to look at it. Aside from the unfortunate, blatantly compromised nature of its shape, the movement lacks any of the thoughtful bridgework that make the cal. 875 and other displayed movements worth looking at. You can't see any of the gearing and there is no sense of depth of dimensionality. Really, all you see is the balance wheel. They might as well have just cut out a circular display over that particular part, not that doing so would have been any more tasteful. Ugly, nonsensical stuff.

My guess is that they will bring back a revamped Grande Date over the next couple of years. Hopefully they don't base if off the cal. 976. Who wants to spend near $10K for a watch only to wind up with such in-your-face cost-cutting?

 

[Coldcava]

More reasons the Grand Taille looks better and better. Any love out there for the Grande Reverso Calendar?

 

[JohnD356]



Looking for a strap for my Speedy Pro now. Looking to keep it around the $150.00 mark, and I am unwilling at this point in time to go through CF or ABP. Right now I am thinking about either something from Hodinkee or something from Leffot.

What say you all!

I've had good luck with some Hirsch Artisanal straps...they're often around on Ebay.

 

[in stitches]

i have long lusted for the Reverso Grande Date.

 

[TheTukker]



I was really disappointed when Jaeger-LeCoultre discontinued the Reverso Grande Date a couple years ago. It was my favorite Reverso and a really awesome value: big date, eight-days of power, and a power reserve indicator for less than $10K retail. I usually hate cut-off numerals, but it's so blatant in the RGD's case that it is somehow acceptable, in a whimsical steampunk sort of way.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The in-house cal. 875 was a particularly strong draw. Not only was it properly sized and shaped for the RGD's case, but its bridges were artfully and elegantly cut. Display backs have become a trendy feature over the years, but the movements they reveal are often embarrassingly humble. Not so in the case of the cal. 875. Here's a movement worth showing off:

That's why the newer Grande Reverso 976 is such an awful letdown. The front-side is perfectly nice:

But flip to the other side and prepare yourself for a what-the-**** moment:

To power the Grande Reverso, JLC just took the movement out of the Master Hometime (a round watch), removed the dual time function, cut off the sides, and fit it into a rectangular holder. I could maybe live with that--if I wasn't forced to look at it. Aside from the unfortunate, blatantly compromised nature of its shape, the movement lacks any of the thoughtful bridgework that make the cal. 875 and other displayed movements worth looking at. You can't see any of the gearing and there is no sense of depth of dimensionality. Really, all you see is the balance wheel. They might as well have just cut out a circular display over that particular part, not that doing so would have been any more tasteful. Ugly, nonsensical stuff.

My guess is that they will bring back a revamped Grande Date over the next couple of years. Hopefully they don't base if off the cal. 976. Who wants to spend near $10K for a watch only to wind up with such in-your-face cost-cutting?

Apologies for asking perhaps the obvious, but wouldn't this be a bit too big for your wrist?

 

[no frills]

Had a grand time over Easter weekend with the kiddies. Here I am watching over my daughter playing in the sand.

 

[hopkins_student]

What an incredibly timely post above. I've been giving serious consideration to buying a PP 5711, can you explain what the process is for purchasing one? How long does it take to work your way through the wait list for one at an authorized dealer. How reasonable is it to try for a pre-owned 5711? Are any of the websites that offer them authorized dealers? I appreciate any information you can give me on the subject.


h_s

 

[ant702]

You know what? Go *************.
See above. What do I win?

 

[RogerP]

i have long lusted for the Reverso Grande Date.

Me too - fantastic watch.

 

[DerekS]



Had a grand time over Easter weekend with the kiddies. Here I am watching over my daughter playing in the sand.

gahhhh. I cant tell you how much i love this PP. Lately ive been considering selling off a few of mine to fund one....either the 5711 or a pre-v panerai.

 

[Dino944]

What an incredibly timely post above. I've been giving serious consideration to buying a PP 5711, can you explain what the process is for purchasing one? How long does it take to work your way through the wait list for one at an authorized dealer. How reasonable is it to try for a pre-owned 5711? Are any of the websites that offer them authorized dealers? I appreciate any information you can give me on the subject.


h_s

I seriously considered and looked at a PP 5711, its a great watch (I chose an AP instead). Patek ADs don't sell them over the internet. Also, not sure how many AD's there are near you or how busy they are, but I've walked into AD's and seen them in the show case. So I'm not sure there is a wait list for the 5711. At one point there was a wait list for its sibling the 5712/A, but I've even seen a few of those at ADs from time to time. If no AD's near you have one, go to Vegas for a long weekend. I was there in October and between the 2 or 3 ADs out there, they had each version of the Nautilus available for sale. Good luck and post some photos if you pull the trigger on one.

 

[no frills]

Quote:
Refer to Dino944's post above too re: relative availability at ADs. It seems to be tougher to obtain here in NYC, at least over the last two to three months. Depending on the AD you might not get as much of a discount either given what seems to be strong demand for the piece. I obtained mine, pre-owned, from an AD in NYC but it was an interesting case: after wearing the piece for a few days the previous owner returned it to the AD "because it stopped working." It probably got magnetized, so the AD sent it to Patek for full servicing and I got it 20% off retail, Patek-sealed and fresh. Not bad, right? But I think I got lucky. Patek is also controlling production of the Nautilus a bit more "stern"-ly (ha), at least since early 2012. Quote from Thierry Stern below: "The Nautilus is a very strong watch. 60 percent of the clients here are wearing one which is great, but it’s dangerous too. We don’t want to become a one watch brand, so I control the production. We could easily sell twice as many steel Nautiluses as we do. Now you can get them on the second hand market for more than the retail price because of this." http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2012/1/12/interview-thierry-stern-president-of-patek-philippe.html If you don't like waiting (patience is not my strong suit), you can obtain a Nautilus from the grey market pretty easily, but I am not sure how much lower you can go versus 20% off MSRP of $26,700 especially for BNIB. Obviously, do your due diligence with grey market dealers and "buy the seller."

 

[no frills]

I don't really know why my efforts at separating paragraphs and proper spacing above did not materialize. Sorry about that.

 

[no frills]

Quote:
It is a lovely, lovely watch and I'll just repeat what's been said many times before in dozens of forums: the blue/green dial is really mesmerizing to behold. I quite like the sweeping seconds hand too, and prefer the "clean" dial versus adding complications (5712, 5726, 5980, etc) - but that is just me. I find the entire Nautilus line very desirable. Which is surprising for me because a few months ago I couldn't see myself getting a "sporty" Patek watch. That semi-circular/oval/porthole look? Those ears? Ick! But that was when I was viewing it in 2D. Once you see it in person and once you have it on your wrist, oh man. All doubts evaporate.