Being named the official timekeeping device for NASA space exploration is one thing, following mankind successfully to the moon is another. Putting that certification to the test by having Cpt. Lovell successfully time rocket thruster activation thus saving the lives of your Apollo 13 crewmates will definitely cement your timekeeping legacy. BUT, back in 1932, long before Omega [...]

The post On Earth, As in Heaven: Omega, towards 100 years of Olympic Timekeeping appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Many collectors credit Stallone’s indelible performance in Daylight whilst wristed with a Panerai for sparking the trend for big watches but the inception and taint in the horological zeitgeist began as early as three years earlier in 93 with the brand’s resurgence of Panerai’s Marina. Sure, Stallone might have catapulted the idea of a wrist behemoth acceptable for [...]

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Seiko, long associated with the “5 series” and headlined by the high horology flagship Grand Seiko is seriously coming into its own with its mid range, exquisite yet priced lower than luxury entry series: Presage. Launched at the recent Baselworld, the Seiko Presage 2017 collection are about the finest and dressiest watches under $600 and [...]

The post Friday Fun Watch: Seiko Presage 2017 – The Dressiest Watches under $600 appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Watch collecting is filled with such wonderful minutiae – each variation and discovery is like a Geneticist discovering new aspects of the human genome – while some attributes remain theoretical, others have been verified and peer reviewed into their place as facts; like those empirical facts – here are two which are not in dispute, [...]

The post Two Recent Italy Limited Edition models Prove Italians Have More Wrist Swagger appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Eppur si muove or “and yet it moves” is a phrase attributed to Italian physicist Galileo in 1633 as he defended his claims of Earth’s orbit around the Sun; and it’s a descriptor fitting of the Kerbedanz Maximus. Introduced in Baselworld 2017 the Kerbedanz Maximus and its 1.35 gram ultra-large 27mm tourbillon beggars belief much as [...]

The post Eppur si muove: Kerbedanz Maximus, Review of the Largest Tourbillon Ever to Orbit Your Wrist appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Developed by a small vacuum tube maker Haydu Brothers Laboratories, Burroughs Corporation acquired the company and then launched Nixie Tubes in 1955. As Arthur C. Clarke would say, any sufficiently advanced technology cannot be distinguished from magic and in the 50s, the Nixie, though a abbreviation of “Numeric Indicator eXperimental No. 1” or “NIX I” [...]

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What does one do if right out the gate, people are dismissive of your watchmaking prowess? You could introduce a Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, you could blow some minds with a Metamorphosis or you could simply do what no other brand does – torture Montblanc watches with your 500 hours test. Today, Montblanc watchmaking is no [...]

The post The 500 hours test: Why Montblanc Watchmaking Tries Harder appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Wrist presence might appear to be a modern construct heralding from the first avant garde watches like Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak but really what we recognise as “wrist presence” today, literally started out centuries ago as watch presence when watchmakers started lavishing decoration on pocket watches as a way of elevating watches beyond their utility [...]

The post (Wrist) Watch Presence: Horology’s first foray in elevating watch into timepiece appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

The 2017 Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Grande Date Full Open follows in a grand (no pun intended) tradition of El Primero Grande Date watches but instead of a singular open heart, now features a fully skeletonised architecture. Featuring a sapphire dial which exposes both Grande Date discs, dual-disc day-night and moonphase complication, the bold design of [...]

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When the Bulgari Octo was first launched in 2012, it was a design with polarised the market – a classic had been re-invented and the new dramatic “circular square” octagon in a marketplace of predominantly round watches was bound to evoke ire for a few traditionalists. By 2013, LVMH’s most expensive acquisition to date had [...]

The post Bulgari Finissimo: Unbearable Thinness of Watchmaking Part 2 appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Ask a watch lover to wax lyrical about watch complications and a list of mechanical innovations from chronograph to tourbillon will all invariably deal with either the obsession of capturing time with precision or recording and displaying time’s passage with precision. Inevitably, the many complications we celebrate today all deal with the tangible aspects and perceptions [...]

The post Romantic Complications: The Quiet Legitimacy of Hermes Watchmaking appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

For as long as there have been products, there have been people wanted to bespoke them. Yet, for many collectors, watch modding has sort of been the final frontier in which the watchmaking brands themselves seem reticent if not outright hostile towards the whole practice of watch modding. As a result, an entire cottage industry [...]

The post Opinion: Watch Modding raises a Host of Issues But It Shouldn’t appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

47 years ago, there was a pretty cool watch – not round, not exactly tonneau, but barrel shaped. It was a chronograph so full of 70s swagger and it was made by Oris. The Oris Chronoris was a stop-seconds chronograph and more importantly, it was not only the brand’s first but also an aesthetically unique [...]

The post Review: Oris Chronoris Date – A 70s Icon Returns appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

Patek Philippe Advanced Research Program is the sort of thing that sometimes even internal communications managers at the Geneva Manufacture have difficulty conveying. For one, there’s a lot of inertia (if not outright lethargy) in the watch industry in general with the marketing strategy which we will collectively call “watchmaking tradition”. “Watchmaking tradition” has become [...]

The post Saying No to Tradition for the Sake of Tradition: Patek Philippe Advanced Research appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

For this Throwback Sunday, we delve into one of our most treasured and hypnotic complications – the tourbillon. To cast one’s gaze at the gently whirling vortex of fork, gear and wheel is to risk losing track of time and committing way too much time wrist-ward. The tourbillon is as anachronistic as the art of [...]

The post Throwback Sundays: Six Different Tourbillon Watches Modern to Classical appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

For slightly over half a century now, Rolex fans have come to recognise the various dots and dashes which adorn their beloved crown on their watch. But sometimes, the storied history of Wilsdorf’s famed firm throws up a historical treasure of great rarity that catches even some of the staunchest Rolex lovers off guard. At Deployant, we [...]

The post Rolex: the Crown and the Cross appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

According to a source within LVMH, “Zenith is the brand every one loves but nobody buys.” The strain and pressures were even more evident when Jean-Claude Biver announced low confidence in Zenith management and took the helm as interim CEO for Zenith while keeping his portfolio as Head of Watchmaking at LVMH Watch & Jewellery Division; [...]

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Debates of technical superiority between Column Wheel and Cam Actuated Chronographs have gone back and forth since the arrival of both innovations in the genre of mechanical chronographs. Horologically speaking, the last two centuries have brought so many innovations to the chronograph, from Louis Moinet’s 1/60th of a second precision measurement to Heuer’s 1/100th measurement; yet, there’s [...]

The post Does NASA certification end the debate of Column Wheel Vs. Cam Chronographs? appeared first on DEPLOYANT.

How does one build an excellent watch? By standard if a movement beyond reproach of course. Last Baselworld, Glashutte Original debuted a classic three-hand Senator Excellence with the new calibre 36 automatic. The biggest draw for watch aficionados was that the Glashutte Original calibre 36 was properly sized to the dimensions of the case, which meant [...]

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The moon phase is a complication and accounts for the phases of the moon in relation to its orbit around the earth.  For those who harbour a love for outer space and the universe, the moon phase provides both an aesthetic and astronomical detail to the dial. But beyond its visual and technical appeal, there’s also [...]

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