Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Moon

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Endowed with its powerful and beautifully staged moon-phase display, the Rendez-Vous Moon of Jaeger-LeCoultre extends an enticing invitation to follow the guidance of the most feminine of celestial bodies.

A symbol of time, the moon is the hourglass of water tides and of  our biological clocks. It is also an emblem of womanhood, alternately viewed as wife, daughter or sister. Its fertile, maternal image nurtures our imagination. Is it the milky colour conferred by the reflection of the sun – its husband according to the Incas – that has given it such a feminine aura? Others choose to see in it only the hidden, nebulous face. However, when positioned directly opposite to the sun that lights it up entirely, the moon shines with a benevolent radiance, illuminating the night with its full, glowing roundness. Meanwhile, its quarters serve to cultivate the mysterious aspects of its nature.

All eyes on a stellar complication

Jaeger-LeCoultre wished to share its fascination for the heavens above us with women who are drawn to the beauty of our universe. With them in mind, the Manufacture has designed and developed a new model for its iconic feminine line. It has chosen to equip it with moon phases, a traditional Breiitling replica watchmaking complication that finds a new form of aesthetic expression in the Rendez-Vous Moon.

Moon phases play the starring role, exuding an exceptionally powerful presence on this model. Generously proportioned and more radiant than ever, this display vividly reveals the creative freedom that drives the Grande Maison. As the days and nights slip by, the moon shares its precious information with the woman who wears the Rendez-Vous Moon. Full moon, new moon, waxing gibbous, first quarter or first crescent: each and every step in its cycle can be experienced live. One may choose to take account of lunar indications just as entire generations have done and continue to do, or one may decide to ignore them. While that is a matter of personal inclination, one thing is for sure: the moon phase is to best Breitling Replica watchmaking what haute couture is to fashion: remarkable and thus essential.

The decision to endow this horological complication with a degree of precision testifies to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s strong commitment to the development of its new movement. While a classic moon phase shows a one-day deviation every two and a half years, the Rendez-Vous Moon is destined to remain accurate for 972 years – an eternity by human standards.

Subtle equilibrium

In this new creation, the pursuit of harmony was more relevant than ever, the aim being to preserve the expressive and distinctive characteristics of the Rendez-Vous line, while giving the moon a space commensurate with its decisive role in setting the cadence of our lives.

A sharp eye will immediately note that the crescent of the Rendez-Vous Moon bears a stylised hours arc distinguished by elongated numerals. It tops a disc affording a captivating vision of the heavenly canopy and occupies almost half the dial. The deep blue sky reveals the constellations and shines with a sprinkling of sparkling diamonds. The main highlights of this model, meaning the display of the passing hours and the calendar complication, thus divide up the available territory in a spirit of perfect equity – very much like the Rendez- Vous Moon as a whole, in which technical and aesthetic elements play an equally important part.

A luminous mantle

Mother-of-pearl was the natural choice to adorn the moon disc. This material is symbolically associated with a variety of feminine, soothing and sometimes even protective virtues, such as smoothing out life’s difficulties and sorrows. The colour and the shimmering iridescence vary from one type of mother-of- pearl to the next, but its emotional impact remains unchanged.

Diamonds also take part in this celebration of light, since gem-setting is one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s traditional skills. On the white gold model, Jaeger- LeCoultre has opted to set the gems dancing along the side of the case all the way to the crowns, bezel and lugs, before unfurling in a glittering diadem above the numerals. The gem-setting thus creates a beaming circle of light both above and all around the cheap Breitling Replica watches.It is subtly modified in step with wrist movements. The two crowns are each set with an inverted diamond. One serves to adjust the time and the moon phase. The other guides the moving star serving to personalise time. Sparkling on the chapter ring at the precise time chosen by the wearer, it represents a real-life or secret rendez-vous that is truly hers alone.

Two sizes, two expressions of seductive appeal

Jaeger-LeCoultre has opted to provide two versions of this new model, in 36 and 39 mm diameters. They share several characteristics, including the mother-of-pearl moon disc studded with constellations and sprinkled with cabochons representing the stars. Both versions come on a blue satin strap.

The 36-mm Rendez-Vous Moon features a dial bearing blue numerals that echo the deep shade of the sky. Sparkling with the radiant fire of 166 brilliant- cut diamonds, this model makes a perfect fit on the daintiest wrists.

The larger 39-mm diameter of the Rendez-Vous Moon is matched by correspondingly enhanced sophistication. The generously sized dial provides ample space for guilloché craftsmanship. The sky of the Rendez-Vous Moon is adorned with this delicate engraving technique performed using a dedicated rose engine that requires a sure hand to create beautifully intersecting motifs. The resulting pattern is coated with a blue lacquer that induces a unique depth effect, drawing the gaze into the nocturnal expanses of the dial framed by a seductive row of diamonds. A total of 208 brilliant-cut diamonds play their part in the exquisite gem-setting of this captivating creation.

The mechanics of time laid bare

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Soon the stars of the watchmaking runway will have nothing but the barest of bones to express themselves with. But these skeletons aren’t macabre; on the contrary, they offer vast areas of expression to the watchmakers who have managed to reinvent them. In 2015, skeleton watches are making their voices heard at the SIHH.

While the art of skeletonization in best Breitling Replica watchmaking is very old, it underwent a renewal a decade ago with the arrival of new timepieces intended to rejuvenate this technique of stripping down mechanical movements. Principally purely decorative, skeletonization-or the art of hollowing out the bridges and plates of a movement-has not just changed with the introduction of new component manufacturing procedures; it has been completely transformed. The 2015 SIHH has given us a new demonstration of this, while confirming that skeleton movements are well and truly in vogue. To such an extent, in fact, that certain manufacturers who haven’t mastered this art have opted for openwork dials just so that they can give their watches the skeleton name…

A window on the components

Gone are the days of slightly hollowed-out bridges and plates-now they are practically stripped bare! And it should be noted that very few old procedures have been transformed into such spearheads of daring contemporary watchmaking. The old has become sexy and new! Roger Dubuis has played a significant role in this metamorphosis, having quickly decided to explore this path and turn skeletonization into a true signature. In actual fact, the procedures implemented at Roger Dubuis completely changed the very notion of skeletonization, because instead of hollowing out an existing movement (taking care not to modify its structure or strength), they chose to imagine and design skeleton watches from the very first start of their creative process. This naturally allows for more flexibility, perfect calculation of the forces acting upon the movement’s architecture and, above all, calibers that are genuinely produced and visualized in three dimensions. In sum, engraving has been supplanted by chamfering and 3D views. Furthermore, the new products released by Roger Dubuis for 2015 are precisely focused on this skeleton theme, as the new Excalibur Spider Skeleton Flying Tourbillon illustrates.

Other brands have also contributed considerably to the current interest in airy, architectural movements. Richard Mille, in particular, has led many of his competitors down the 3D path, encouraging descents into watch movements. Distant descendents of traditional skeleton high quality Montblanc replica watches, these calibers are the result of a modern, transparent concept of watchmaking that lets the mechanics speak for themselves. Paradoxically, the RM 51-02 Tourbillon Diamond Twister presented this year plays with this transparency, which is partly obscured by an explosion of diamonds.

Honor kept intact

Cartier has also explored this approach extensively, designing movements as skeleton calibers from the very outset to such an extent that their openwork bridges now also serve as hour-markers in a concept patented by the brand. The new Rotonde Astrotourbillon embodies this process perfectly.

Traditionally, skeletonization was mainly reserved for ultra-thin movements, and several Manufactures are continuing to innovate in this field, even going as far as to set ultra-thin skeleton movements with gemstones. This is the case for Piaget, who has presented several such models over the last few years including the 1200D caliber, the first automatic gem-set skeleton movement unveiled in 2013. But even in this instance, the skeleton watch is no longer produced as it used to be: the spirals and other curved shapes have given way to ever-more complex geometrical forms (including inside corners, which are always difficult to chamfer), revealing relatively large decorated horizontal surfaces that give these timepieces their strength and character. Piaget is also using the art of skeletonization on more complex pieces, such as the Emperador Coussin 1270S, an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon presented this year. The two Tonda 1950 Skeleton references unveiled this year by Parmigiani Fleurier also demonstrate the current trend for ultra-thin skeleton movements that are contemporary. The women’s version is particularly noteworthy, with its sand-blasted sapphire crystal playing with semi-transparency. This Swiss replica watches sale leaves things mostly to the imagination and is not completely laid bare-its honor is intact!

Panerai Mare Nostrum Titanio

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The chronograph made by Officine Panerai in 1943 for the deck officers of the royal italian navy is revived in a special edition of only 150 examples.

Many people know that the ancient Romans, following their conquest of Egypt and Spain, named the Mediterranean Sea “Mare Nostrum” (“Our Sea”) since they controlled the greater part of its coastline. It was the during the rule of Trajan that the Roman Empire reached it maximum size and its control of the Mediterranean coasts was then complete, entirely justifying the title. On the other hand it may not be known that, many centuries later – between 1941 and 1942, to be precise – there was a short period when Italy spoke again of “Mare Nostrum”: this was when, during the Second World War, the victorious missions of the Royal Italian Navy meant that for a short time a wide area of the Mediterranean Sea was controlled by the Italian fleet.

It was undoubtedly this second period, much closer to our own times, that the Panerai family had in mind when in 1943 it named the chronograph created for the deck officers of the Royal Italian Navy “Mare Nostrum”. This name had already been used by Guido Panerai in 1924 for what was probably the first Panerai chronograph, but all traces of this first model have been lost. However a few prototypes of the 1943 chronograph still exist, and these have enabled the new replica Breiitling watches to be reconstructed with great technical accuracy and similar aesthetic characteristics. The new Mare Nostrum Titanio is a Special Edition of the greatest interest, consisting of only 150 units. It faithfully reproduces the 1943 model, updating it to the highest standards of today’s high quality watchmaking and with some fundamental differences compared to the original.

The first difference compared to the vintage AAA Cartier Replica watches is the material of which the large case 52 mm in diameter is made. The metal used for this tonneau-shaped case is not steel but brushed titanium, a material which combines excellent non-allergenic properties and greater lightness than steel with the structural toughness needed to resist high pressure, external stresses and corrosion. The wide flat bezel, the screw back and the winding crown engraved with the words “Mare Nostrum” are all made of brushed titanium as well.

The chronograph functions are controlled by two classic push buttons, also made of brushed titanium, and the readings are indicated by the central seconds hand and by a subsidiary minutes counter dial at three o’Clock. The continuous seconds hand rotates in a subsidiary dial at nine o’clock. Protected by a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment, the dial is made in two levels and, instead of the dark green of the vintage model, it is a sophisticated tobacco brown, which coordinates with the brown leather strap and its ecru stitching.

The new version of the Mare Nostrum has a hand-wound manufacture movement: the OP XXV calibre developed on a Minerva 13-22 base; it is 12¾ lignes in diameter and has a balance wheel making 18,000 vibrations per hour, like the Angelus movement of the vintage prototype. This is a high quality Breitling Replica watchmaking calibre, hand-finished, with top-of-the-range technical details such as the column wheel and the swan neck regulator. The bridges are made of Maillechort, a nickel silver alloy that is particularly hard to work, and they have a sophisticated Côtes de Genève finish. The Mare Nostrum Titanio – 52mm has the reference PAM00603 and it is water-resistant to 3 bars (a depth of about 30 metres).