Swarovski Timepieces Keep Getting Better

Swarovski has infused its Octea Sports Collection with color, and I mean "Caution Road work ahead" color. Not that I did not like Swaroivski's white ladies sports Octea, but compared to this years Octea Sport Orange Watch, 2009 Collection looks quite subdued.
Okay lets get down to business, first and foremost lets not forget who Swarovski is. Swarovski dates back to 1895. Founded by Daniel Swarovski who completed a two year apprentice in his father's small factory, it went onto become one of the most revered crystal manufacturers of today. Then merge exceptional watch making techniques with over a century of crystal expertise and you have a unbelievable timepiece.
The Octea is exclusivly a women's collection, sporting a 39mm wide steel case rimmed with a rotating divers bezel containing Swarovski crystal. To expand on the diving image, the watch reminds me of clown fish hiding among sea anemone in a crystal clear coral reef.

Of course, the elegant swan logo is at the 12 'o'clock position and where as in past Octea models, she was silvery gray, now she is a vibrant orange. The Swan also occupies a prominent place in the crown as a cabochon. This Sporty Timepiece is powered by a Swiss Quartz movement and is available with an arresting orange strap or a metal bracelet.

The watch will run you between $800 or $900.

A Splash of Swatch and a Touch of History

Swatch watches have always been awash with color, and these new beauties are no exception. Flexible and comfortable, Swatch is a watch within your comfort zone. These colors are perfect for spring, like a flower garden. Swatch watches are indeed an all time favorite ,especially to the younger generation, who crave color.
Swatch watches had on enormous impact on the Swiss Watch Industry. I am sure everyone is familiar with the Quartz scare which was prompted by the introduction of the Quartz movement. In the 1970's and 1980's, Quartz watches flooded the market. The incredible impact this development had on the watch industry brought manufacturing down from its high in 1970 ,where 1,620 Swiss Watch companies were employing 89,000 people, to 600 employing only 32,500 in 1985. Swiss Watchmakers can still recall the dark days of 1982 when Swiss banks lent more than $400 million to keep the industry afloat. Swiss Watchmakers needed to reclaim their industry from Japan in order to continue their watchmaking legacy. It was in this shaky time Nicolas G. Hayek, leader of the Swatch Group, made a crucial decision. He decided to release of the Swatch Watch.

The survival of the Swiss Watch Industry depended on the success of the Swatch Watch, and successful it was. The Swiss Watch Industry made an enormous come back, even bringing companies back from dormancy like Blancpain - now a Swatch Group Company.
The Swatch Group owns a whole slew of Watch Brands including Breguet, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Hamilton, Tiffany & Co as well as ETA, a producer of mechanical and quartz watch movements.

Icelink Mood: A Bloodcurdling Watch Collection

Peering at this watch, or rather the watch peering at me sends uncomfortable chills up my spine. It certainly is an Icelink eery collection: Icelink Mood. The bezel is fashioned to accentuate its markings, framing a dial of sinister creativity. Icelink has incorporated an innovation from its 6Timezone Snow collection: IceFuel©. It inspiration is drawn from the City of Angels - Los AngelesHowever, aside from the dial, my enchantment is with the gems that flow smoothly across the dial in gentle rhythm with ones motions. The dial is filled with a dense liquid called IceFuel©. The actual composition of IceFuel© is kept a secret, which makes the watch all the more mystifying.

Icelink is a gem watch brand based in Geneva.

New Hamilton Khaki Pilot

Hamilton has just released its new Khaki Pilot Watch; bold, easy to read indexes with hours displayed via its minutes. The seconds hand is affixed with an arrow head precisely indicating each passing second.

Large 46mm case is crafted from stainless steel or highly resistant black PVD. The Hamilton Khaki Pilot is powered by Swiss-made automatic 2836-2 movement which can be viewed through a transparent case back crafted from scratch resistant Sapphire crystal. Hands are coated in Super-LumiNova® enabling readability in dim murky light. This watch is also available in 42mm quartz. Watch straps are available in dark brown, black or gold Venezuela oiled leather strap with double holes or a metal bracelet. 100 meter water resistance adds to the sporty functionality of the watch.
The look of this watch is all out aviation, with a similar look to the IWC pilot, but having its own distinctive look. The rugged look portrays a sense of adventure whether in the air, on the ground or at sea.

Ride the Waves With Tissot Sailing Touch

The incentive for accurate time keeping stemmed from man's sea voyages where finding a precise timekeeping instrument was a matter of life and death. Man's struggle to determine longitude spanning four centuries, fueled the inventions of precise timekeepers. Timepieces which lost time, lost men at sea, as they were unable to calculate their location and wandered among invisible lines of longitude weaving in and out of degrees. The 1600's and 1700's were perilous. Fleets of ships' sent out by hungry sovereigns on world exploration and to trade silks and spices were unable to determine their location. Some found land, some were too late spilling their scurvy riddled sailers onto an unmarked shore, others wandered aimlessly 20 degrees off coarse, some sunk in dark unforgiving waters. On October 22, 1707, four British Men 'O War sank just off the Cornish Coast. 2000 men were lost. In 1714, The British Parliament , aggravated by this obviously needless catastrophe, passed the Longitude Act: A huge sum of money would be awarded to anyone who could invent a way to determine the precise longitude of a ship's location to within less than one degree. (R.Van Halem)

... 300 years later ...

TISSOT UNVEILS THE SAILING TOUCH

The Tissot Sailing Touch provides crucial weather information for seamen where rogue waves and squalls make sailing treacherous. A Tissot Sailing Touch is thus an extremely beneficial instrument for Functions unique to the Tissot Sailing Touch include an integrated histogram displaying the weather conditions of the previous six hours, as well as a barometer function for measuring relative air pressure. Another useful function for sailors is a calculator indicating the tides at the ports of destination. Simply touch the dial and all this information is available at ones fingertips.

Preparing for a regatta, then the Tissot Sailing Touch gives one definite advantage over the competition. The Tissot Sailing Touch is equipped with a countdown function via beeps and digital display for the crucial ten minutes prior to the race commencement. A host of other functions such as a function for measuring speed over a specified distance; compass; two alarms; two time-zones, a perpetual calender (accounts for leap years), and back lighting.

Dials to Die For.

Okay I admit the title is a bit extreme, but some dials are seriously happening. I was at this place just hanging around, and a gleam of iridescent blue caught my eye, and no, I had all my wits about me. The general illumination of the place was a shade darker than I would have it, but not too dim. A huddle of deeply conversing individuals were gesticulating wildly about some stock or other. Trying not to appear too obvious, I hovered on the edge of the group hoping to catch another glimpse of that blue. For a brief terrible moment I feared my luck had run dry, but then a gentleman ,in tweeds no less, raised is glass in a toast of some sort exposing his timepiece. My heart galloping in my chest, I leaped forward and grabbed his wrist (on second thought I probably should have used a bit more discretion).
He turned, startled, "Can I help you," he said frowning.
"I must see your watch," I said,yet again without much thought or discretion.
He lifted the sleeve of his jacket exposing a ULYSSE NARDIN MAXI MARINE CHRONOMETER. I should have known from afar, as Ulysse Nardin makes the most captivating blue dials, the hue no other company has captured like Ulysse Nardin.

I ogled at it, possibly drooling as well. Faintly I could hear poignant coughs from the group. I had, after all, disrupted their hearty conversation; however, the gentleman in the tweeds seemed quite charmed with my obvious watch infatuation. At one point he began to undo the pin buckle, but thought against it.

"You like it, huh?", he said quite smugly.

I nodded.

"Well I like it too." and with that he rolled down his jacket sleeve and continued his conversation.

I stumbled to my friends who gawked at me open mouthed.
"Did you just do that?" the dearest of my friends said.
"Yeah, I think so." I said
"OMG! I could just die from embarrassment?" Elsie said (hence the blog title)
"We're going," they all said and we left. Me casting a hopeful glance in the direction of the conversing men hoping to get one final look at Ulysse Nardin's iridescent blue.

KALPARISMA by Parmigiani Fleurier

The Kalparisma is a new luxury watch collection from Parmigiani Fleurier. Drawing on inspiration from its historical Kalpa form , the Kalparisma Collection is elegantly full of fun. The timepiece depicted above is by far my favorite - kind of resembles bubbling champagne. I can almost hear the slight sizzle as bubbles float to the surface and gently explode. Of course, the "bubbles" are 132 brilliant-cut diamonds.
A few things about this watch totally work for me; the elegant tonneau-shape case, slender lugs, 18k rose gold and the diamond speckles. Now don't assume the movement is quartz, it is actually an automatic movement with a 55 hour power reserve. The Parmigiani Fleurier's Calibre pF331 is specially redesigned to accommodate the Kalparisma's smaller size. Another remarkable feature in this particular model is the lovely 5 point star directly above the 6 o'clock marking the rhythm of the seconds .
I absolutely love when automatic movements are used in powering elegant ladies timepieces as most often you find a quartz movement. The watch face has tremendous appeal; indexes are rose gold applique, hands are delta shaped with luminous coating above a misty mother-of-pearl dial. Anti-reflective sapphire crystals on front and back protect the watch with exceptional scratch resistant quality.