Arnold & Sons Collectors Dinner 18Dec12 Singapore

I was fortunate enough to be invited down by the organiser and mate to this collectors dinner so my thanks to Mr. Hororgasm and the folks from Arnold & Sons at the dinner, Mr.Denis Martinet & Mr. Philippe Boven. 

Denis sharing with us on the pieces that they brought with them. an interesting point shared was how citizen had bought the group owning la joux perret, a movement supplier for several Swiss brands, and in turn also now own Arnold & Sons

Philippe was seated at my table and was a font of knowledge on the complications(sharing with us on sidereal time and true beat seconds) and history and most seemingly most everything about Arnold & Sons

& Mr Hororgasm sporting his Arnold & Son timepiece, clearly a happy camper

To learn more about the brand and their offerings do check out their site here -> LINK
there is a lot of good information in the link so i won't be going into in-depth info on the pieces but just introduce them here with live pics and you can definitely find out more info on their site on the timepiece and the calibre. so on to the watches then! 

 first off the tb88 - "The number is replicated by the design of the movement in this latest model, with its perfectly symmetrical layout featuring the twin barrels at the top, the balance wheel between 4 and 5 o'clock and the True Beat seconds indicator between 7 and 8. The watch movement is 'inverted', which means that the intricate, technically interesting features are visible on the dial side of the movement instead of being hidden away on the reverse. This showcases the two barrels, which generate a full 100 hours' power reserve when fully wound, and the Breguet overcoil balance spring."

 movement -  it has an"'English' design, expressed through features like the straight-cut bridges. Each of the pivoting elements in the movement is mounted on its own bridge, 16 in total. Further shining examples of watchmaking at its finest are the hand-bevelled and polished edges of the bridges and other key parts of the mechanism, together with the juxtaposition of the black ruthenium or NAC grey movement and brushed components"

wristshot - 46mm

 next up the TBR (True Beat & Retrograde date)... i really like this piece and the steel one on their site looks great too. it features the first automatic movement with an integrated True Beat system(some refer to this as dead seconds) to be developed, designed and manufactured entirely at the workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds

nicely finished automatic movement - "The True Beat seconds - a hark-back to the precision required by navigators on the high seas - is a rarely found complication these days, and its combination with an automatic winding system calls for enormous technical expertise. In the TBR it was made possible by a worldwide patented system comprising a sophisticated double wheel, an oscillating pinion and a pallet mechanism. This complex solution calls for virtually microscopic precision (to tolerances of a micron, or one thousandth of a millimetre) and the key parts are made using state-of-the-art LIGA fabrication technology. LIGA is a German acronym that stands forLithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung- lithography, electroplating and moulding - and describes the sequence of processes used to produce metal parts made of nickel and nickel phosphorus."

 DBS - Displays mean solar and sidereal time on two separate subdials "a mean sidereal day is about 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.091 seconds, which is not a round fraction of the 24 hours in a mean solar day. This means it is virtually impossible to obtain the correct rotation speed using gears. To guarantee the kind of precision demanded by Arnold & Son, the only choice was to create a movement with the correct rotation speed from the start: in other words a movement specifically for sidereal time.

The answer was a totally new movement with a double barrel/gear train and double balance/escapement running at different speeds that enables the watch to display mean solar time and mean sidereal time simultaneously. This technical solution has the additional advantage that neither of the two indications saps energy from the other."

wristshot - 44mm case

 DBG - "the Instrument DBG Equation GMT features two separate time displays, each driven by its own barrel and gear train with its own escapement and balance. This highly unusual technical specification permits the two displays to be set independently of each other."

 nice symmetry to the movement - "The view from the back reveals a pleasingly balanced arrangement of bridges, barrels and gear trains."

wristshot - 44mm

 and the HMS1, a member of the royal collection - "With its understated simplicity, the HMS1 line is a modern take on Arnold & Son's traditionally elegant design combined with superior craftsmanship. Housed in a classically styled 40 mm case with see-through back"

 movement - the hand-wound A&S1001 calibre is manufactured in-house and decorated with either straight or radiating (rayonnantes) Côtes de Genève guilloche. mirror-polished screws in the NAC grey version below and blued screws in the rhodium-plated movement

and the other collectors and watch lovers were there to enjoy time together over a good meal and interesting timepieces

 

hope you enjoyed the short report :) Merry Christmas! cheers, raph

Non-watch Post: Review of a fine meal at The Rabbit Stash

i don't believe i've posted much about food through the years but i do love food :) it's all subjective and taste varies individual to individual but i think i have a fairly decent sense of it all and have had fairly good exposures of bad to great food all over. another reason for posting this as well is the chef owner of the rabbit stash is a secondary school mate of mine and other than his culinary abilities he is notable for something else and that is following his dreams and passions. not many of us will leave comfy, decent income earning jobs and do what we love and for those that do, kudos to them and a huge bravo. so to the review then.

Nestled under Singapore's first successful sellout shoebox apartments, the rabbit stash serves 'Asian-inspired modern European cuisine'... In raphmeister words, 'thems good eating' ;) so a short blow by blow review then...[notes pics aren't the best quality as they were all shot in low light environment with an iphone5]

smoked trout, potato salad, wasabi with garden pea veloute - pea soup isn't my fave kind of soup but overall it was fresh and light with the trout and salad

Salmon tartare ~ shrimp floss, ginger sorbet, granny smith apple espuma - nice creamy taste iirc and overall not too rich with its serving size

Pan seared foie gras, braised apricot, jamon iberico, apple gelee, pickeld cucumber - THIS WAS EXCELLENT FOIE GRAS! :) i love kazu's foie gras and iirc ember's one was pretty good too, but rabbit stash's one is very well done and had me almost asking for another if not for it's sinfulness

Crispy Pork Belly ~ zucchini, pineapple mousseline, red cabbage - siew yok or crispy roast pork, this one was real nice and tender pork belly meat with it's crispy skin

Tenderloin Steak, risotto of sweet potato, cashew oil, asparagus, grape fruit - I love a good steak and boy was this good! i need to ask for a double portion of this guy the next time. the medium rare was a bit more done than i expected but was still wonderful as it was a very tender tenderloin :)

pre-dessert amuse bouche ~ light sorbet with dried raspberries - nice and light

Valrhona Tiffin ~ hazelnut crocante, raspberry mousse - this was good but what comes next is excellent ;)

the Burnt pavlova with mango coulis - done wonderfully. the shell was thin and not hard. the cream was nice and sweet, a wonderful way to end the meal

  the meal was also great because of the fine company i was with. my secondary school and scout mates were down for this meal and made it all the more memorable

Overall assessment is the food is very well done, the highlights for me being the foie gras, steak and pavlova. some constructive feedback was given to Kelvin on the ambience for the place but other than that... carry on Kelvin! :) Huge congrats on the new location and the new addition to the family. 
oh and to all my readers do go down and give it a try! location info and details on their website here LINK

a quorum for a corum

I had the opportunity to take the pictures of Corum’s 2012 novelties last month [better late than never aye ;) ] Before going into the post on the watches, I would just like to say that I like Corum and some of it’s offerings. I like them enough to purchase a Golden Bridge for my wife as a gift(LINK) knowing that is what she wanted and certifying that the brand and the watch was cool in the process. So in my books they definitely do have worthwhile watches for folks to consider and the question then is which calls to you most in the lineup. What follows in this post is a mix of my words, thoughts and pics with official text & prices(list price in Singapore dollars with GST included) from the brand. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Nicole Segundo, Managing Director, and Kate Ong, Marketing Executive, from Corum for their fine hospitality and sharing with me on the brand and their offerings. As this post is a rather long one, i would also like to note my final thoughts of it all here and that is, Corum's offerings made me wish i had a whole lot more $$$ so that i could pick up some of these great pieces for myself[rose gold ti-bridge] and my missus[mystery moon]. all in all, an interesting and varied collection and they look to be heading the right direction :) here's wishing them more good years ahead!

~

Founded in 1955 by René Bannwart, and a name simplified from the word quorum(the minimum number of persons present and necessary to hold discussions and make valid decisions), the brand had looked to establish itself at the forefront of the Swiss watch industry and be highly innovative, in the process bringing new ideas and creations to the table. They have a very interesting and rich history and back catalogue. Through the years, several innovative timepieces, interesting patents, and creations have come forth from the brand and I do advise folks to find out more about their past as it is telling of their present and future. You can read more about this here LINK

Focusing closer to the present then. The company had a new owner in Severin Wunderman  in 2000 and at his request, Antonio Calce joined CORUM in 2005. Antonio was

Director of Product Development for the Piaget and Panerai brands earlier in his career with Richemont and was made General Manager of the Panerai Manufacture from 2000-2005. Together they established a strategy to conquer new horizons, while remaining faithful to the pioneering and independent spirit on which the brand has built its success. In 2007 Antonio Calce was promoted to serve as CEO.

Positioned as an exclusive brand, CORUM offers high-quality watch collections featuring an innovative and distinctive design, and equipped with sophisticated mechanical movements. Its 150 current models, spread between two key pillars – Admiral’s Cup and Corum Bridges – and one satellite pillar composed of the Romvlvs and Artisans collections, enjoy a legitimacy rooted in the brand history. And we come to this years' novelties… first off the tourby... 

i love tourbillons because of what they represent. the craft and beauty of them and the technical excellence they display... Corum executed this beautifully... Admiral's Cup Legend 42 Tourbillon Micro-­‐Rotor ($93,090.00)

next up a beautiful beautiful timpiece. the Admiral’s Cup Legend 38 Mystery Moon($22,791.00) this is a lovely women's timepiece impo. it has a lovely mother-of-pearl dial carrying the Sun and Moon... perhaps a 2nd Corum watch gift for the mrs? :)

the moon-phase display and a sunburst date indication play a fascinating game of chase without ever catching up with each other as the entire dial revolves around its center(yup the entire dial turns, see the pic below with the dates at 7, 22, 28), pushing the aperture on to the new date in successive jumps and leading the moonphase subdial in its wake

and we have the bridges :) i love some of the models and wanted to walk out with one of em on my wrist but i think that wasn't on the cards :) the one i would pick up if i had the money is the rose gold one pictured here  

Ti-­‐Bridge Tourbillon ($146,804.00 in RG and $103,362.00 in Ti)

The brand’s flagship complication model, the Golden Bridge was introduced in 1980 and remains a benchmark with its unique baguette movement. Moreover, it is also regarded as an avant-garde watch thanks to its movement placed in the centre of a transparent sapphire crystal case.

The 2010 version of this model with its flying tourbillon and titanium case then took the brand’s technical expertise to a new pinnacle of achievement. The CO 022 baguette caliber of the Ti-Bridge Tourbillon was designed, developed and produced in-house by the Corum team. Equipped with a flying tourbillon that has no upper bridge and thus seems to be floating over the movement, its escapement beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour. This mechanical hand-wound movement is endowed with a 72-hour power reserve.
Caliber CO 022, which represents an aesthetic and technical feat, has a mainplate and bridges made from ARCAP that is treated to a gold finish. This new alloy made of copper and nickel is completely non-magnetic, anti-corrosive and enables complex finishing operations. Although a resolutely futuristic material, it may be adorned with traditional decorations such as satin-finishing and chamfering, creating effects that make a fine contrast with the “sunray-brushed” decoration of the two barrels.

Another specific feature developed for this caliber is the power-reserve indicator fitted on a toothed sliding piece in phosphate nickel. The choice of this material, combined with a “LIGA” manufacturing process – an acronym derived the German words for lithography, electroplating and molding -– which is a type of electroforming, serves to create a part with far more precise measurements than those achieved by classic mechanical machining. It thereby guarantees the extremely accurate indication of the level of the power reserve – which in this case amounts to three days in all.

The Corum Bridges pillar experiences a substantial evolution in 2011 with the presentation of an exclusive new creation: the Golden Bridge Automatic with the first linear-winding automatic movement.

The Caliber CO313 is one of the rare movements with linear oscillating weight on the market – lies first and foremost in resolving the inertia issues inherent to any movement of this type. Hence the use of a precious and dense metal, in this instance platinum, for this linear oscillating weight weighing 4 grams and which swings 1 cm, before its motion is slowed down or “damped” by a system of gaskets

that send it swinging back in the other direction, thereby supplying the movement with all the energy it needs to continue moving.

and finally the admirals cup. not being someone too interested in sailing, i must admit the nautical connection is slightly lost on me, but i am sure it resonates with folks in that community. they do have very smart looking models in their lineup though which transcends that tie to sailing and nautical pursuits which is a good thing  

In 1960, the first interpretation of the Admiral’s Cup model paved the way for CORUM’s success. This model remains thanks to its history, which is inextricably bound up with major sailing competitions and prestigious sailors, as well as for its inimitable esthetic based on a twelve-sided case, a dial set off by twelve nautical pennants, and the Admiral’s Cup trophy engraved on the caseback. These are its distinctive and unmistakable identifying characteristics.

The “Admiral’s Cup” is currently worn and represented by Ben Ainslie, one of the greatest living sailors and four-time Olympic medal winner who has already earned an impressive number of records and distinctions, and by Loïck Peyron, regarded as one of the best sailors both on multihull and monohull boats with a breathtaking list of accomplishments to his credit, including 43 transatlantic crossings and four round-the-world races. 

The collection is structured into three distinct segments: Seafender, characterized by sturdy designs encompassing ultimate sports functions – Challenger, with a more sporting chic design offering a range of chronograph complications – Legend, offering more elegant and classical models featuring cases with softer lines and more classic complications (see tourby above)

Admiral's Cup Challenger 48 Day & Night ($13,589.00)A map of the world viewed from the North Pole enables instant visualization of the time zones as well as of which zones are in daytime or nighttime around the world at any given moment. This world map complete with day/night indication is a first within the Admiral’s Cup collection. comes in a dark and light dial version

the main attraction of this authentic time “show” appears at the centre of the dial adorned with a Côtes de Genève finish. A world map transferred on the metal and bearing the 24 timezone grid pattern is topped by a transparent rotating disk. The latter plays a dual role: around its circumference, a small white indicator – adjustable via the crown – points to a second time zone. This function enables the user to check the time in another part of the world at any given moment. Moreover, when the white indicator is adjusted to GMT, the rotating disk which is tinted on half of its surface will show which side of the Earth is lit up by the Sun and which is plunged in darkness.

Admiral’s Cup Legend 42 Chrono

Admiral's Cup Legend 42 Annual Calendar($40,553.00 in RG and $14,338.00 in steel) with it's notable 12 nautical pennants from the maritime international code of signals serving as hour-markers, along with a twelve-sided case and with a annual calendar complication

the annual calendar automatically takes account of 30- and 31-day months, thus requiring just one adjustment per year, at the end of February

next up, the ADMIRAL'S CUP CHALLENGER 44 CHRONO RUBBER ($13,910.00) The perfect watch for hot, sunny days! Resolutely sporty and geared up for all manner of aquatic adventures, the new Admiral’s Cup Challenger 44 Chrono Rubber features a colourful vulcanized rubber case. This rugged yet flexible material earns its pedigree through a high-temperature, high pressure injection procedure that modifies its structure to give it a matte look and a velvet-soft feel. Available in four colourful variations, this timepiece is equipped with an automatic chronograph movement chronometer-certified by the COSC

 and that's all folks. time to start earning more $$$ ;) happy hols everyone. cheers