GTG With Special Guest - Romain Gauthier - Part 2 - Dual Time Zone

We hosted four special guests from out of town and this is part 2 of our report...

For those who may not know, we have a theme around our gatherings and they were (1) Independent brands and (2) Dual time zone or Worldtimer. This blog post features all the dual time zone pieces. You may find the report on the Independents here.

What's interesting about this category is the variety on show - yes, you have the usual suspects but you also have some unusual ones like this Harry Winston Excenter Time Zone.

In a 18k white gold case, this is an earlier year Harry Winston dual time zone piece that is not only unusual but also a beauty. Comes with a manual winding calibre too. That's what's fun about these gatherings. You get to see some really unusual pieces... off the beaten track.

Then there are the usual suspects like the Rolex GMT II. But let me start with the more "unusual" GMT II. The GMT-Master II LHD also known as "Sprite".

It was my first time handling this piece and as anyone would have expected, I turned it wrong way round!

Coverted I am sure, but still feels odd for me that an icon like the GMT-Master II looks "upside down"... you know what I mean.

By the way, who comes up with names like "Sprite"? I'm sure Rolex didn't... Then there is the more "recognizable" Pepsi and I can see why they call it the Pepsi

How about 2 Grand Seiko GMT pieces - another brand that has many versions of the GMT

One an automatic Hi-Beat (below) and the other the "normal" GMT (SBGM029), both with yellow GMT hands.

Still on the same theme of double - Nomos Glashutte. First up, the Zürich world time Singapore edition specially made for The Hourglass and Watches of Switzerland. The salmon dial version was limited to 15 pieces and aptly names "The Little Red Dot".

Next is the Tangomat GMT. Simple but functional.

We know of Seiko 5 but Seiko 5 GMT? This is a first for me. If you want to know a little more about Seiko 5 and how the name came about, check out an earlier article I posted here.

Another not often seen timepiece is the Stowa Flieger Worldtime GMT. A pilot inspired timepiece with an added function of a second timezone indication. Comes with either a lime green GMT indicator or an orange indicator.

Now this is something you don't see everyday... a Tissot Navigator Seastar Worldtime - a vintage timepiece no less.

Released in the 60s, this vintage piece has a day/night indicator in the form of darker shade at the bottom half of the dial.

Another under appreciated brand and timepiece has to be Montblanc. This is the Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum World Map

Encased in a 41mm steel case, the dial displays the world map and with the world time scale appearing around the dial. This timepiece also comes with an in-house movement to boot. Actually, what Montblanc did to keep cost down was to integrate the world time mechanism into a Sellita automatic movement, rather than build a module on top of the base movement.

It is always good to have fellow collectors bring their prized possessions - price of the piece is not the focus here. It has always been the case with our gatherings - bring out those fun and unusual pieces. Watch collecting has to be first and foremost, fun. And as we mature, we develop a certain style. Not everyone starts their collection with high end pieces - I know there are many of you out there but for lesser mortals like us, we probably start with what we can afford and then slowly move up the "value" ladder. All said and done, watch collecting is very individual and nice pieces don't have to cost of bomb.

Harry Winston - Opus 12

The Opus series of watches by Harry Winston started in 2000 is one of the most exotic watch collaboration in the history of mechanical watchmaking.

Until of course Max Busser came along with MB&F. The Opus series features watch making at its finest - matching established watchmakers with the House of Harry Winston and developing one of a kind, limited edition timepiece that is instantaneously recognizable. Some of the more notable Opus are Opus 3 by Vianney Halter, Opus 5 by Felix Baumgartner, Opus 6 by Greubel Forsey and Opus 7 by Andreas Strehler. Today I feature the Opus 12 developed with Emmanuel Bouchet.

The watch has a small central sweeping seconds and with retrograde 5 minute counter. Just beneath the retrograde minute is the power reserve indicator. There are 12 indices representing the hour and also the 5 minute.

So how does one tell time with the Opus 12? Notice the blued indices on the level and twelve o'clock markers? One is shorter (11) than the other. The shorter blue marker indicates the hours. The longer blue index indicates the minutes. In this instance, time is 11.02. Notice the gears just below the bezel? When the retrograde minutes hits 5, the blue index at twelve will rotate down and the blue index at the 1 o'clock position will rotate up signifying 11.05. I did not manage to take a video of the changing indices but I can tell you they are quite marvelous to watch.

On the movement side, the finishing is evidently fine and houses the hand wound movement which possesses a 32 hours power reserve. Limited to 120 pieces, this white gold piece is massive on the wrist but sits well. The piece we reviewed is a working piece.

For more information, kindly go to the HW webpage. There you can find a link to the video of the watch. Authorized retailer is The HourGlass.

Harry Winston Ocean Jumping Hours Tourbillon

The latest offering by Harry Winston in the Ocean collection is the Jumping Hours Tourbillon.

Combining two complications in the watch, Harry Winston has pulled this one off very well. The watch is well constructed and finishing is what one would expect from a high end timepiece. The tourbillon is held in place by two bridges.

On the dial side, the minute hands circles around the dial and is indicated by the red triangular hand while the jumping hours is located at the 12 o'clock position. The jump is instantaneous on the hour.

The tourbillon is well finished and the bridges look equally refined.

The movement back is as interesting as the front dial. The forty one jewel manual winding movement is the calibre 4401. The power reserve indicator is at the back and the watch has a power reserve of 110 hours powered by twin barrels. Pardon the plastic covering on the sapphire case back.

Another look at the movement side.

Limited to 100 pieces in rose gold and another 100 pieces in white gold. Please see my other post on Ludovic Ballouard and Harry Winston's Opus 13.

Ludovic Balluoard Upside Down & Harry Winston Opus 13

It took me awhile to understand how to tell time on the Upside Down Watch by Ludovic Ballouard. The complication is to marvel at and the finishing on the watch exquisite.

Once in awhile, you come across an unusual timepiece and I was lucky enough to be able to see the Upside Down in platinum on a recent trip to Bangkok. Pardon the poor quality of the pictures as these were taken on my smartphone.

At first glance, the watch displays the Arabic numerals upside down, hence the name of the watch. But take a closer look at the numbers…Notice that the 12 is right side up and with a dot? The rest of the numbers one to eleven are all displayed upside down. When the minute hand passes the 60 minute position, the number 12 will flip around (and display the number 12 upside down) and the number 1 will flip around displaying the numeral 1 correct side up and with the dot. The jump is instantaneous.

The movement side looks complicated but well finished. The manual winding Calibre B01 has a power reserve of 36 hours.

The buckle is hand engraved and in platinum and the strap is hand-stitched blue alligator. Comes with an alligator travel pouch too.

And then two months later, I come across the Harry Winston Opus 13 which is also developed with Ludovic Ballouard. We were shown the non-working prototype at the Harry Winston Boutique in Singapore and I had the privilege of taking some photos although it is rather difficult to capture a good shot given the "bling" centre.

Notice the outer ring has pivoting hands? 59 of them to be exact and eleven have red tips? The eleven red-tipped ones are representing of the 5 minute marker. A little more difficult to see is the Eleven O'Clock hour "hand" that has flipped forward to point at the eleven o'clock position. Every time the one minute is up, the minute hand will pivot to the "straight" position. This watch is displaying 11.03. Telling time will be difficult and I believe HW needs to make some adjustments to the final piece to make it more legible.

The movement side is easier on the eyes but no less complicated than the Upside Down.

At the hour, the pivoting minutes hands will all "dance" back to the slanted position. and the twelve o'clock will feature the "HW" logo. Cased in white gold, the watch comes with a white gold folding clasp on black alligator strap. Limited to 130 pieces.

It will be interesting to see his new creation called Half Time. So can we call Mr. Ballouard the new master of complications?