Chrono Bike

Control time instead of being controlled by it. Enjoy life in stages. Understand that the riskiest competitions are always with oneself. There are men who prefer to invent the way rather than follow. They know that there are sixty seconds in a minute, but that in a second there may be a thousand emotions. And that precision rhymes with provocation.

The Sporting Spirit that Chrono Bike honours with a serrated bezel whose indices and subdials are reminiscent of a chainring and the wheels and sprockets on a bicycle.

The greatness of a Chrono Bike is on the inside, but also in its 44.8 mm-diameter stainless steel round case and crystal with 3 antiglare layers. And in the attractive colours of the dials that complement the strap on some models.

Longines

Longines has been one of the pillars of the watch industry since 1832 and is renowned for its mechanical timepieces, not least those in the Master Collection, a stunning range of watches that casts light on the brand’s long and illustrious watchmaking past. Longines is also known for its devotion to all things elegant and offers a vast collection of charming ladies’ timepieces, with lines carrying evocative, sensual names like DolceVita and PrimaLuna.

Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin is a luxury Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Switzerland. It is one of the few companies that has remained in continuous production for over 169 years. Ulysse Nardin has operated out of the same building headquartered in Le Locle, Switzerland since 1865. Historically, the company is best known for its manufacture of highly accurate marine chronometers supplied at one point during the 1800s to over fifty of the worlds navies.

History

Founded in 1846, Ulysse Nardin was named after its founder, Ulysse Nardin, an accomplished watchmaker. Nardin first trained in horologyunder his father, Leonard-Frederic Nardin, and perfected his skills under the tutelage of Frederic William Dubois and Louis JeanRichard-dit-Bressel, two master watchmakers whose fame extended beyond the mountains of Neuchatel, Switzerland.

Ulysse Nardin’s marine chronometers have seen service with the navies of some 50 countries during the mid-1800s.

Sea Dweller

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller is a line of diver’s watches manufactured by Rolex, with an underwater diving depth rating of 610 metres (2,000 ft) for the vintage models and up to 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) for the most recent Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA model.

During the 1960s, the needs of professional divers working at great depths led to the development of the first ‘ultra water resistant’ tool watches designed for conducting safe diving operations at 300 m⁺ (1,000 ft⁺) depths.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 (2000 ft = 610 m) that became available in 1967 was developed from the Submarinerfor the Comex S.A. industrial deep-sea diving company by increasing crystal thickness and was produced in several variations. It had a depth rating of 610 metres (2,000 ft) and its Rolex reference number was 1665.

Most Sea-Dweller watches incorporate a helium escape valve for saturation diving. Early Sea-Dwellers did not always have the helium escape valve. The model is also distinguished by the absence of the date magnifier (“cyclops”) present on most other Rolex models. The Sea-Dweller diving watch range has been standard issue for Comex divers since 1977.

The Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 watches had 2 red text lines on the watch dial which led to an unofficial “Double Red” designation under watch collectors for these watches.

Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 with a 1,220 m (4,000 ft) depth rating.

The Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 models were succeeded by the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller 4000 (4000 ft = 1220 m) model with an increased depth rating to 1,220 metres (4,000 ft). The last Comex Sea-Dweller 4000 Rolex reference number is 16600 and this watch was issued to Comex divers since 1992.

 

Several semi custom production runs of Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 and 4000 models were produced with and without helium escape valves and differing watch dial patterns for the Comex S.A. company. These variants sometimes also had differing Rolex reference numbers. Some of these non standard Sea-Dweller watches had the Comex S.A. logo ded crystal thickness 5.5 mm (0.22 in)) and the case and bracelet weigh 212 g (7.5 oz)

Rolex

Rolex  and its subsidiary Montres Tudor SA design, manufacture, distribute and service wristwatches sold under the Rolex and Tudor brands. Founded by Alfred Davis and Hans Wilsdorf in London, England in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis, Rolex moved its base of operations toGeneva, Switzerland in 1919.

Forbes ranked Rolex No.72 on its 2014 list of the world’s most powerful global brands.Rolex is the largest single luxury watch brand, producing about 2,000 watches per day, with estimated 2012 revenues of US$7.7 billion.

Alfred Davis and his brother-in-law Hans Wilsdorf, founded Wilsdorf and Davis, the company that would eventually become Rolex SA, in London, England in 1905. Wilsdorf and Davis’ main business at the time was importing Hermann Aegler’s Swiss movements to England and placing them in quality watch cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold to jewellers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and Davis were usually hallmarked “W&D” inside the caseback.

 

In 1908, Wilsdorf registered the trademark “Rolex” and opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.The company name “Rolex” was registered on 15 November 1915. The book The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History by Jeffrey P. Hess and James Dowling says that the name was just made up. One story, never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the name came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning “exquisite clockwork”^[7] or as a contraction of “horological excellence”. Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand’s name to be easily pronounceable in any language. He also thought that the name “Rolex” was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. It is easily pronounceable in many languages and, as all letters have the same size, allows to be written symmetrically. It was also short enough to fit on the face of a watch.^[8]

In 1914, Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate, a distinction which was normally awarded exclusively to marine chronometers

In 1919, Wilsdorf left England due to wartime taxes levied on luxury imports as well as export duties on the silver and gold used for the watch cases driving costs too high and moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland, where it was established as the Rolex Watch Company. Its name was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA and finally Rolex, SA.^[5] Upon the death of his wife in 1944, Wilsdorf established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation in which he left all of his Rolex shares, making sure that some of the company’s income would go to charity. The company is still owned by a private trust and shares are not traded on any stock exchange.

In December 2008, the abrupt departure of Chief Executive Patrick Heiniger, for “personal reasons”, was followed by a denial by the company that it had lost 1 billion Swiss francs (approx £574 million, $900 million) invested with Bernard Madoff, the American asset manager who pleaded guilty to an approximately £30 billion worldwide Ponzi scheme fraud. Heiniger died March 5, 2013, after a long illness, according to an official statement issued by Rolex SA.

Today, Rolex watches are popularly considered status symbols.

Oceanus

Oceanus is the elite line of Casio watches designed for both men and women. The line uses technology from both the G-Shock and Waveceptorwatch series. Originally available internationally, the Oceanus line has been discontinued in the US in favor of the Casio Edifice line.

All Oceanus watches are known for the following key characteristics:

• Analog watchface – All Oceanus watches are analog, with some earlier models having a combined analog and digital watch face.
• Five-motor drive – present on more of the contemporary models, the five-motor drive consists of five internal motors running independently to control dials for time, stopwatch, seconds, day of week, and hours.
• Multi-band 5 (USA) or Multi-band 6 (Japan) – perhaps the most significant aspect of the Oceanus line is the ability of all watches to automatically synchronize with the Japanese time signal (JJY), the American time signal (WWVB) from Colorado, and the European time signals from both England (Time from NPL) and Germany (DCF77). The synchronization feature does not work correctly in Arizona, which does not observe daylight savings time. The Japanese Multi-band 6 models add the Chinese time signal in Shangqiu City, China, at 68.5 kHz. Thus, the Oceanus watches will auto-synchronize themselves if one is to visit Europe, North America, Japan, or China (Multi-band 6 models). (Note: Not all American Oceanus watches carry the Multi-band 5 technology as it is relatively new. Only Models with ‘w’ (e.g. ocw as opposed to just oc) have the Multi-band function)
• Sapphire crystal – the watch crystal that encases the Oceanus watch is a sapphire glass, which is very scratch resistant and is found on higher-end watches.

 

Edifice

Edifice watches range from basic chronographs to more advanced models with more computerized movements. Many Edifice watches utilize “Tough Solar”, Casio’s name for light chargeable batteries. More advanced models are “Waveceptors” and can calibrate themselves with atomic clocks viaradio waves.

One watch of this series is Casio EQB-500

Pro Trek

Extreme conditions call for extreme technologies that can be relied upon at any time and place in the world. CASIO has developed the PRO TREK series specially for these requirements. PRO TREK Outdoor watches feature a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, thermometer and many other practical functions that will sit comfortably on your wrist and guide you through the most difficult situations

Casio G-Shock

G-Shock is a brand of watches manufactured by Casio, known for its resistance to shocks (e.g. hard knocks and strong vibrations). Its full form is Gravitational Shock. They are designed primarily for sports, military and outdoor adventure oriented activity; nearly all G-Shocks have some kind of stopwatch feature, countdown timer, light and water resistance.

History

The first G-Shock was made in the 1983 Casio DW-5000C designed by an engineer working for Casio named Kikuo Ibe, around the triple ten concept: the concept for a watch that has a 10 year battery life, is water resistant to 10 bar, and can survive a 10m fall onto a hard surface.200 prototypes were tested by dropping them from rooftops, or third story windows.

Its shock resistant design has 10 layers protecting the quartz time mechanism, the major ones being the urethane rubber outer bumper protecting the steel watch case, the stainless steel case, the hardened mineral glass watch crystal, the stainless steel screwed down caseback, and the “floating module” concept where the quartz mechanism floated free in a urethane foam cradle, with things like the outer buttons, and LCD module attached with flexible cables, with the buttons mounted to the watchcase, rather than the quartz module. It was released in April 1983, seizing the unfilled recreational and sporting market for bulky, functional watches. For the next few years Casio released a handful of new models each year. The Baby-G models were released in 1991. The popularity of G-Shocks increased rapidly throughout the 1990s. By 1998, 19 million G-Shocks had been sold worldwide and there seemed to be a peak in demand as over 200 new models were released in that year alone.

Today

G-Shock G2900, one of the basic models

G-Shock MR-G MRG-7100BJ-1AJF

This line of watches has expanded considerably since then and now includes atomic clock synchronization and Tough Solar functionality in the latest models. The Cockpit Series G-Shock is the official timekeeper of Nismo Racing. Many newer G-Shocks feature metal (steel or titanium) banding and ornate analogue timekeeping.

Twice a year (Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collection) the basic models are updated. New limited models are introduced more frequently through the year. As with Swatch watches, G-Shocks have become collectors items. Arguably, the most sought after line is the Frogman. Limited edition Frogmans such as the Brazilian, Men in Yellow, Black Helios and Black Spots are some of the most desirable Frogmans.

Casio also produces collaboration models, often with popular fashion brands, like A Bathing Ape (Bape), Stussy, Xlarge, KIKS TYO, Nano Universe, Levi’s, Lifted Research Group, as well as Coca Cola, Pulp68 Skateshop, Lucky Strike and Marlboro.

G-Shock is popular with mountaineers, firemen, paramedics, people working in the offshore, police officers, astronauts, film directors (Tony Scott was often pictured wearing a GW-3000B, as is Ron Howard and Francis Ford Coppola) and soldiers. Ex-Special Forces soldier Andy McNab mentions in several of his novels how his fictional character Nick Stone relies on a G-Shock watch. According to Mark Bowden’s book Blackhawk Down, theDELTA Operators wore G-Shock watches during the combat events of 3 & 4 October 1993. Since then, G-Shocks watches have become very popular with Special Forces groups in both American and other NATO nation units, due to their being “battle tested”.

Models DW-5600C, DW-5600E, DW-5900, DW-6600, DW-6900 are flight-qualified for NASA space travel.

In 2012, Casio released GB-6900, a Bluetooth-capable model of G-Shock. Casio claimed the battery life of 2 years on a single CR2032 battery.

Skagen

As of it acquisition by Fossil (East) Limited on April 2, 2012, Skagen Designs, Ltd.operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fossil, listing, as of May 1, 2015, Charlotte Jorst as Co-founder and President, Henrik Jorst as Co-Founder, and Steen Albrechtslund as Group Managing Director.

The company began in the home of its co-founders in New York, moving first to Lake Tahoe, then Reno, Nevada. Its current operations underFossil are overseen from Richardson, Texas, near Dallas, in the United States. As of May 2015, the company is reported to have additional U.S. offices, as well as ones in Denmark and Hong Kong, and concept stores in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) and Taiwan (Taipei).

Founded in 1989, the company was the brainchild of Henrik and Charlotte Jorst, who had moved from Denmark to New York in 1986 when Henrik was appointed U.S. sales manager for Danish brewery. The couple decided to establish their own business as U.S. representative for a Danish manufacturer of corporate branded business gift watches, and for exclusive Jacob Jensen designer watches.

After locating the Danish-owned clock and watch manufacturer, Comtech Watches, a supplier that could manufacture watches at a lower price through its Hong Kong factory, the Jorsts began designing their own corporate watches, which they showed at a corporate gift fair in New York 1991. At that fair, they were encouraged by several retailers to market the watches under their own brand, which they chose as Skagen Denmark,Skagen (/’skeɪ-ən/) for the Danish fishing village (and peninsula) of that name. The company logo symbolizes the meeting of the Skagerrak and the Kattegat bodies of sea water at Skagen, Denmark’s northernmost settlement and port, in Jutland.