Louis Moinet - GEOGRAPH: AUSTRALIAN EDITION

For the 225th anniversary of Australia Day celebration on the 26th of January, 2013, Louis Moinet has launched a special Geograph: Australian Edition. This limited-edition chronograph of 30 pieces pays tribute to icons of Australia: Captain James Cook, the Southern Cross and the colours of the national flag.

Geograph: Australian Edition by Louis Moinet is an elegant yet robust two-pusher automatic chronograph with a second time zone.

The red, white and blue of the dial as well as the star-shaped small seconds hand at 9 o’clock evoke the Australian flag, while six stars engraved on the case-back represent the flag’s Southern Cross constellation.

Engravings of a map and a sailing ship on the lower part of the case-back pay tribute to nautical explorer Captain James Cook, the first European to extensively explore and chart the eastern coastline of Australia.

Features

Hours and minutes indicated by central Gouttes de Rosée hands

Star-shaped small seconds at 9 o’clock

Chronograph central seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour counters

Second time zone indicated by serpentine hand

Date window at 9 o’clock

Case

Crafted in 316L stainless steel

Dial

Dark blue Côtes du Jura guilloche

24-hour, second-time-zone chapter ring with day (silver) and night (red) night indicators

Rhodium-plated hands

Strap

Blue, Louisiana alligator leather with alligator lining, hand-sewn.

Limited edition

30 pieces

Source: www.swisstime.ch

ZENITH - Pilot Big Date Special

Zenith Manufacture wins “the Petite Aiguille” prize

The prize of “the Petite Aiguille” category has been won by the Pilot Big Date Special. The jury of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix has thereby rewarded the elegance and unimpeachable functionality of this chronograph.

Geneva, November 15th, 2012. The Geneva watchmaking Grand Prix aims to salute excellence in the field of watchmaking. Eleven prizes reward the finest creations and the most important operators in the watchmaking sector.
70 models were competing in the various categories, and a model from the Manufacture Zenith was honoured by the Grand Prix jury for “the Petite Aiguille” category at the prize-giving ceremony held in Geneva’s Grand Théâtre this Thursday.

Through the stellar PILOT collection, Zenith is reasserting its legitimacy and its expertise in the field of aviation. The brand has indeed been accompanying aviation history from its beginnings by producing time measurement instruments used to help pilots in flying aircraft, notably including onboard counters. Since 1865, Zenith is THE benchmark in terms of precision and reliability – twin qualities that are indispensable in the aeronautical field.

Echoing the historic chronograph watch from the 1960-80s, the new Pilot Big Date Special has functionality as its guiding principle. Its steel case is a moderate 42 mm in diameter, with classically styled alternating polished and satin-brushed finishes.

The matt black dial, sandblasted five times, sets off the time displays, which visually are in perfect balance. The small seconds counter is at 9 o’clock, exactly opposite the 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. Both feature a snailed decoration.

A pair of hands treated with black ruthenium and highlighted with Superluminova mark the hours and minutes in a decisively masculine and modern style. Their sporty, dynamic shape matches the refined graphic style of the Arabic numerals that pay simple and solemn tribute to those of the 1960 chronograph. Behind the scenes, the El Primero 4010 calibre ticks away with an exceptionally consistent beat. Its finishes can be seen through the sapphire caseback. The winding rotor is decorated with thin Côtes de Genève in the purest watchmaking tradition.


Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith earned swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence – an absolute record in terms of pocket watches, onboard timers and wristwatches. Having earned fame thanks to its legendary El Primero calibre – an integrated automatic column-wheel chronograph movement launched in 1969 and endowed with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour that ensures short-time measurements accurate to the nearest 1/10th of a second – the Manufacture Zenith has since developed over 600 movement variations. All Zenith watches are now fitted with an in-house Zenith movement and are developed and produced from start to finish by the Manufacture in Le Locle. The latter currently stands at the exact spot where its founder built the first company workshop – thus physically embodying a continuity that is a rarity in itself.


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Movement

El Primero 4010, automatic
Calibre: 13¼ ``` (Diameter: 30 mm)
Thickness: 7.65 mm
Components: 306
Jewels: 31
Frequency: 36,000 VpH – (5 Hz)
Power-reserve: min. 50 hours
Finishings: Oscillating weight with “Côtes de Genève” pattern.

Functions

Hours and minutes in the centre
Small seconds hand at 9 o’clock
2-counter chronograph :
– Central chronograph hand
– 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock
Large Date at 6 o’clock


Case, Dial & Hands

Material: Brushed stainless steel
Diameter: 42 mm
Diameter opening: 35.6 mm
Thickness: 13.50 mm
Crystal: Box-shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflection treatment on both sides
Case-back: Transparent sapphire crystal
Water-resistance: 5 ATM
Dial: Matt black
Hour-markers: SuperLuminova SLN C1
Hands: Black ruthenium, satined


Straps & Buckles

Calfskin leather strap with protective rubber lining or metal bracelet
References: 27.00.2118.722
Brown calfskin leather
27.02.2410.4010
Mesh bracelet

Stainless steel buckles
Reference: 27.01.0018.008
Stainless steel pin buckle
27.03.0138.940
Stainless steel triple folding clasp (optional)

Source: www.swisstime.ch

Geneva Watch Tour

The fruit of a collaborative effort between the Geneva tourist office and a private entrepreneur with a passion for watches, the Route de l’Horlogerie de Genève (Geneva Watch Tour) offers a unique experience through a meeting of two worlds synonymous with escapism: watch shopping and tourism.

The heart of the world’s luxury watchmaking, Geneva is home to the highest concentration on the planet of mono and multi brand boutiques per km², as well as many cultural institutions dedicated to showcasing the art of measuring time. A pedestrian itinerary now provides an opportunity to admire them while visiting the town’s most emblematic quarters and by walking in the footsteps of Swiss watchmaking history. The Geneva Watch Tour is available in three languages (English, Chinese and French) and two versions – notably on-line and in pocket card format: cultural and historic, and shopping. The Geneva Watch Tour map is also available from the Geneva Tourist Office as part of its collection entitled Geneva Amazing Experiences, in hotels and some boutiques.

Geneva’s watchmaking DNA

Do you know the watchmaking origins of Geneva’s famous Jet d’Eau? Do you know where to find the longest seconds hand in the world and the highest clock? More than any other city in the world, Geneva is characterised by its watchmaking DNA, symbolised in 1601 by the first watchmakers corporation in the world entitled "Maîtrise des horlogers de Genève". This watchmaking spirit that is omnipresent in the streets of the best known town in Switzerland is manifest in an unparalleled collection of 50 monobrand boutiques and 50 multibrand retailers spread across the centre of town. In a worldwide exclusive, the Geneva Watch Tour allows visitors to get to know the city from a new angle that is both fun and diverse, and where the osmosis between tourism and shopping results in an experience that is as incomparable as it is memorable.

The experience of a symbolic tour

The Watch Tour provides an overall perspective of the Swiss watchmaking panorama, while paying a visit to Geneva’s most symbolic neighbourhoods – the area where the tourist office is located near the lakefront for a start, as well as the business quarter in the city centre, the old town with its art and decoration galleries, the bank and cultural institutions district and their magnificent historical buildings, as well as the modern art quarter which stretches from the Patek Philippe Museum to the Manufacture F. P. Journe. 

Routes and profiles of boutiques can be found free of charge on www.genevawatchtour.com (in English, Chinese and French), and are also available as mobile versions. The referencing of boutiques and brands in Geneva makes it possible to pick out favourite watches in advance and pinpoint them on the map. And as a perfect complement, www.geneva-tourism.ch gives details of the cultural and historical aspects of the Watch Tour with a downloadable map.

The watchmaking origins of Geneva’s Jet d’Eau

Who would have believed it? Geneva’s iconic emblem, the Jet d’Eau has its roots in the watchmaking foundations of the city. Indeed, Geneva’s watchmaking vocation, in conjunction with the divided organisation of labour (l'établissage) from the 18^th century, led to some 4000 watchmaking craftsmen setting up shop around the Rhône in order to harness its power, notably that linked to the Bâtiment de la Machine from 1872 onwards, as well as that issuing from the hydraulic plant at la Coulouvrenière from 1886 onwards. This pressurised water made it possible to mechanise a large number of operations in watch movement and case manufacturing, such as grinding. In their cabinets or workshops, at the end of the day, the watchmaking artisans called the cabinotiers turned off the indispensable taps at about the same time, resulting in excess pressure for which the machine operators at the Coulouvrenière had to compensate urgently by stopping the pumps. One of them had the bright idea of installing a security valve that would allow the over-pressured water to shoot out 30 metres high into the air. This became a ritual show for those living on the banks of the river, which resulted in it being moved and becoming a tourist attraction that was institutionalised by Geneva’s Administrative Council in 1891. Today, it has its rightful place in the heart of the Geneva Watch Tour, along with a dozen other historical monuments linked to watchmaking.

 

Source: www.swisstime.ch