The Luxury Watch Blog

There is a massive Geneve Italy Watch sale happending now at GoldWatches.com! Luxury Gold Watches discounted at up to 10% See details at:
GoldWatches.com Coupons

We are proud to Share with you two exciting coupons for GoldWatches.com

1. For 3% off all Geneve Italy Watches enter code: geneveitaly3 in Google Checkout

2. For 5% off all Movado Watches enter code: movado5 in Google Checkout

Be sure to checkout the Luxury Diamond Watches

Title: Geneve Italy Luxury Watch Sale
Location: GoldWatches.com
Description: Save 5% on all Geneve Italy Watches at GoldWatches.com using Google Checkout. Use code geneveitaly5
Start Date: 2008-05-11
End Date: 2008-05-19

The Week is Sale week and we have manged to find another watch sale. All prices have been slashed on Geneve Italy Watches.

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Vacheron Constantin was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron. This makes it the oldest watch manufacturer in the world with an uninterrupted history. Besides being a young businessman, Vacheron was also a talented craftsman. In 1770 his company created the first complication, and nine years later he designed the first engine-turned dials.

The son of Jean-Marc Vacheron, Abraham, took over the family business in 1785. During this period the company was able to survive the French Revolution (1789-1799). Later, in 1810, the head of the company becomes the grandson of the founder Jaques-Barthélemy. He was the first to initiate the company’s exports to France and Italy.

Later, Jaques-Barthélemy realized that he was not able to handle his business alone. In order to travel overseas and sell the company’s products, he needed a partner. Consequently, in 1819 François Constantin became the associate of Vacheron. The company continued its activity under the name “Vacheron & Constantin”.

François Constantin traveled around the world and marketed watches. Thus he helped the company to open new markets. The main market was North America. The company’s motto (which remains today), “Do better if possible and that is always possible”, first appeared in Constantin’s letter to Jaques-Barthélémy. The letter was dated July 5th, 1819.

In 1839 Vacheron & Constantin hired Georges-Auguste Leschot. His job was to supervise the manufacturing operations. Leschot was an inventor and his creations turned out to be successful for the company. His inventions had a great impact on the watchmaking industry in general. He was the first person to standardize movements into Calibers.

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In 1834, members of the Baume family founded the Societe Baume Feres in the village of Les Bois, in the Swiss Jura. The Baumes had already been active in watchmaking for many years. At first, the priority went to enameled pocket watches. In 1844 Joseph Celestin Baume went to England to set up business relations there. Watches signed “Waterloo”, “Diviko” and “Sirdar” opened distant markets in Australia and New Zealand. The family company gave convincing proof of its dedication to mechanical elegance and precision when one of its timepieces won the 1893 timing competitions at the Kew-Teddington Observatory with a score of 91.9 out of a possible 100. In 1912, William Baume met the watchmaker and jeweler, Paul Mercier, at the Geneva watch and jewelry shop in Haas. The meeting resulted in the signing of an agreement on the 26th of November, 1918, for the establishment of Baume and Mercier in Geneva. This proved to be a very successful enterprise, and in 1921 they were awarded the coveted Poincon de Geneve, official recognition of flawless quality products. Watches dating from this period are now rare collector’s pieces, worth thousands of dollars. In 1937 William Baume withdrew from active business. He was followed into retirement by Paul Mercier, and the jeweler Constantin de Gorski joined the company.

Post World War II

After World War II Baume and Mercier decided to concentrate on more conventional watches. Such as men’s watches, sports chronographs and ladies’ jewelry watches. In 1965 the Piaget family outbid international competition for control over Baume and Mercier. One of the world’s thinnest calendar watches with a mini rotor was produced under Piaget’s aegis. In the same year the new owners switched to electronic tuning fork movements, and from 1970 increased investments in quartz movements. At the end of the 1983, Baume and Mercier temporarily ceased production of mechanical watches. In 1988, Christian and Yves Piaget sold 60% of their stake to Piaget holding S.A, also selling Baume and Mercier S.A to Cartier Monde S.A in Paris. In 1993 the Cartier group became sole owners of both Piaget and Baume and Mercier.

We still love Movado 

Recent Times

In September 2004 Baume and Mercier opened a new production building in Les Brenets, Switzerland. For the past few years Baume and Mercier has made a name for itself as a trendsetter, and by no means was this done solely on the strength of characteristically fashionable watches. Models such as the “Riviera” and the “Hampton,” named after the stylish resorts and high-society meeting places of the U.S East Coast, defined a new watch style in the 1980’s and 1990’s, for both genders.

MD: Stefano, can you describe your role at Girard-Perregaux and tell us what areas you oversee?

SM: That is the one billion-dollar question! (laughing) I have three main roles inside Girard-Perregaux. First, I’m involved in product design. Second, I am responsible for the global Girard-Perregaux corporate image including our retail concept. And third, I am in charge of the BMW-Oracle Racing partnership. From the relationship with the Challenge to the design of limited editions dedicated to our America’s Cup partnership. In general, I’m working on keeping the brand image and the design consistent in different fields. We have a clear vision of what makes Girard-Perregaux and pay close attention to our brand’s integrity.

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There is no denying that Rolex has a certain mystique that goes with its name, and until you own one it is hard to comprehend what it is. So I took the plunge, after reading tons of reviews and literature like this one that I am writing now, on most of the Rolex Professional Collection, such as the Submariner Date, the Explorer 2, the GMT Master 2, the Yacht Master 1and of course, the Sea-dweller. I finally settled for the legendary Sea-dweller (Oyster Perpetual Date, reference 16600, recommended retail price USD$5,350 at the time of this article, August 2007). I took into consideration factors such as the respect this watch commands among the dive watch fraternity, its incredible technical specifications and capability, the classic timeless cosmetic appeal, and also, the rich illustrious history behind it. It sure took me some time to come to this decision, but I have not regretted a single bit. I cannot begin to describe just how excited I felt when I first saw my Z-series Sea-dweller. There it was, sitting in the new design, large and heavy Rolex box. To side-track a little, in my opinion, this new design box that was introduced somewhere in the early 2005 is a huge improvement over the scrawny looking old wooden box that Rolex had been using for the past 20 to 30 years. I feel any Rolex watch sits much safer and look more secured in this huge solid box with a nice soft padded cream interior, compared to the old one. I am not sure what material it is made of, but it feels too heavy to be wood. Could be hardened plastic, I guess.

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There’s great interest in complications now among women and a growing women-watch-connoisseurs market,” notes Sue Rechner, former president of and now consultant to midprice Victorinox Swiss Army watches. “More and more women are interested in technical properties of watches, in complications and proprietary movements,” agrees Jenny Piaget, spokeswoman for high-end JeanRichard.

More of these are designed specifically for women, such as Milus’s Merea TriRetrograde Seconds, rather than being downsized men’s models. Franck Muller Geneve, for example, created the world’s smallest tourbillon—specifically for women watch connoisseurs. Audemars Piguet’s women’s automatic Millenary Starlit Sky uses its first complications movement created for a woman’s watch (and platform for future women’s watches), “because many women appreciate the subtleties of mechanical watchmaking,” says a company statement.

Other examples include Harry Winston’s platinum Ocean (seconds and days retrogrades); Pierre Kunz’s Tahiti Moon retrograde (minutes, hours), with Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial; and Rado’s Original automatic.

Citizen’s newest light-powered Eco-Drive calibre is for its women’s Riva chronograph. “More women want complications, and these [with full diamonds and mother-of-pearl inlays] are also feminine, making them more appealing to women,” says Stuart Zuckerman, senior vice president of Citizen Watch of America.