Tuesday, March 9, 2010

ZODIAC Sports Watches Now at THE WATCHERY

Zodiac ZO7616 Air Dragon White Mother-of-Pearl Dial Leather Women's Moon Phase Watch
ONLY $145

Looking for a sporty watch for an affordable price, well look no further than the Zodiac Collection of Watches at THE WATCHERY. Check out the summery Air Dragon, looks great and is water resistant up to 100 meters. I love the moon phase above the bubble-gum pink 6 'o'clock, a complication not often found on sporty woman's watches in this price range. The case back is screw down necessary to ensure effective water resistance. The battery powered Swiss Quartz movement is high quality.

The Zodiac brand has been around since 1882 when Ariste Calame set up workshop.
Between 1908 and 1930, Zodiac produced its own calibers and movements to be used in pocket watches.

In 1924 Zodiac introduced its first extra flat pocket watch with an in house Zodiac Caliber 1617 movement. Zodiac was constantly striving for innovation and in 1930 unveiled a cutting edge shock proofing system which replaced the balance with a z-shaped spring clip. Zodiac was concerned with the impact vigorous exercises could have on the movement of the timepiece. Zodiac then released one of the first Swiss automatic watches.
Zodiac continued to strive towards the future.
In 1932 Zodiac took a giant step into the future of watchmaking by
unveiling the first Swiss analog quartz watch, the beta 21 calibre. Zodiac was literally decades ahead of the game. In 1937 Zodiac released an 8 day movement.
Zodiac turned heads at the 1949 Basel Fair with the release of the Astrographic - one of only two watch collections at that time with a power reserve indicator.
In 1953 Zodiac unveiled the SEA WOLF - one of the first serious diving watches available for purchase by
the general diving public. Never stopping for a moment, Zodiac surged ahead and released the Super Sea Wolf which is an improvement on the original SEA WOLF sporting a newly improved crown/stem system and case back design making the watch water resistance to 750 meters.
In the 1960's SEA WOLF gets a 24 hour GMT hand and morphs into the AEROSPACE collection. AEROSPACE becomes the AEROSPACE JET with the addition of a 24 hour hand which traverses the dial once every 24 hours - a true mimic of the earths rotation. In 1968 the world of watches finally catch up to the ZODIAC and they release the
DYNOTRON - the first Swiss electronic watch.
1971 finally saw the release of its first Swiss Analog Swiss Watch - the BETA 21 Calibre.
Zodiac continues to streak past other watch companies with mind boggling ,almost science fiction innovations.
In 1977 Zodiac releases the worlds first LCD watch to become a certified chronometer.
1978 Zodiac releases the slimmest quartz watch as well as the slimmest
automatic mechanical watch with a calender. Zodiac has always looked ahead, and in the 21st century, zodiac continues to produce watches of high quality. With the introduction of resilient collections especially geared for sports like the SEA DRAGON , V-WOLF and the highly coveted ZODIAC MISSION EXTREME or ZMX-01, ZODIAC has become the brand for sports.

When you purchase a ZODIAC watch, you can be assured you have purchased a timepiece of superior quality, excellent craftsmanship and the culmination of over 120 years of constant striving for the best possible product in terms of innovation, precision, resilience and style.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Baselworld 2010 Sneak Peak - Bvlgari for Gerald Genta


The wait is finally over, at last we get a sneak peak at the new Bvlgari/ Gerald Genta combination. Up until January 2010, Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth have been independent brands operating beneath the Bulgari group; however, times have become tougher and Bulgari has been struggling financially, thus Bulgari decided to merge Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth to make them a Bvlgari brand. The Bvlgari brand name will appear on any future watches.
Our first sneak peak of this fusion is the Bvlgari for Gerald Genta Jump Hour Biretrograde Watch. Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta no longer have their original watch designers and all the marketing, sales, design, distribution and manufacture are all unified with Bvlgari.

The Bvlgari For Gerald Genta (should be Gerald Genta for Bvlgari) Jump Hour Biretrograde Watch is a handsome timepiece, but the name Bvlgari on a clearly Gerald Genta Octo timepiece renders me a tad uncomfortable. Name aside, the 43mm case sports jumping hours, retrograde minute indication and a retrograde calender. What's interesting about the watch is the bezel, which is comprised of satin-finished black ceramic and accentuated with seven bezel studs forming an arc over the retrograde minute display. The onyx-capped beaded winding crown serves as a nice touch. The watch is powered by a GG7722 caliber, self winding mechanical movement capable of a 45 hour power reserve and a balance frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour. The jumping hour and retrograde minute time display renders the timepiece extremely easy to read with a lovely retro design dial. Bvlgari's name is below the jumping hour towards the center of the dial, and Gerald Genta's logo together with "Cal 7722" is below the retrograde date.

I have a feeling in a couple years, Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth will be completely phased out, with just the distinctive case shapes and jumping hour/ retrograde displays remaining.

Now Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth timepieces have entered the realm of collectors items, which you can purchase at THE WATCHERY for up to 75% off the list price. Buy a Gerald Genta or Daniel Roth today, after all you may not know what tomorrow will bring.