Today there is quite a high premium on original vintage pieces simply because they’re extremely rare and becoming increasingly harder to find. Decades ago, when people bought luxury watches like Rolex for example, it was perfectly normal for them to get the watch serviced, polished, or have parts replaced if you scratched or dented them up. The problem is that while they were done by the company with authentic later-era parts, they still weren’t original parts or features of the watch. Since this was such a common practice, today it’s really special – and highly valuable – if a vintage watch is totally original.When posed with the question of which watch to buy and when, every industry “expert” probably begins their answer with some variation of the same caveat: Buy for love, not for money. Watch collecting is a wild and unpredictable hobby. Auction prices for classic models have been known to hit eight figures (and then some), but most of the Rolex watches out there depreciate the moment you strap them on your wrist.I have a young friend who is ready to buy his first luxury watch. He’s been thinking about it for weeks (good boy), but every few days he calls me (bad boy) and labors the same point: He wants a watch that is an investment (even worse boy). There exists in modern watch collecting a problem: collectibility is now treated as a selling point. But the problem with everybody and their dogs knowing that something is collectible is that everybody and their dogs are quite likely to collect it.The most expensive wristwatch ever sold was the Rolex Daytona worn by Paul Newman himself. It fetched $17. million at a 2017 auction. That’s a pretty good price for a watch that was so unpopular when it was initially launched that it lingered on dealers’ shelves with relatively few actually making their way onto customers’ wrists. One of those wrists happened to be Paul Newman, who had reputedly been bought the watch by his wife, Joanne Woodward. And it isn’t that she made a sound investment, but rather her purchase created an investment piece by her gifting it to her stratospherically famous husband.
Talking about watches and inspiration can spawn some pretty interesting debates, and for good reason – especially in the dive watch category. Of course, early dive watches weren’t “inspired by” anything; dive watches were tools created with a very distinct purpose. That said, as the years went on and the dive watch category moved away from practical utility towards desirable daily-wearers, design inspiration soon came into play. Today we’re looking at luxury watches inspired by the ocean, and digging into the stories behind the creation of each piece and how they relate to the big blue beyond.As mentioned above, there is no reason to go into a Rolex Submariner history lesson here; however, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea with D-Blue dial (a variant of the original Deepsea that was first unveiled in 2008) has a very distinct connection to our world’s deepest waters.The origins of this piece come from Rolex’s involvement in (read: sponsorship of) James Cameron’s deep dive into the Mariana Trench. Though not limited in production, the piece is commemorative of the 2012 dive, and features a gradient blue to black dial that mimics the loss of light as one descends into the ocean’s depths. Additionally, the green chosen for the DEEPSEA text on its dial is matched to the color of Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger Submarine that took a prototype Rolex watch all the way down into the trench affixed to one of its robotic arms.The legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau is unparalleled in the world of underwater exploration, and many years ago (back in 2004 to be precise), IWC decided to become a partner of the Cousteau Society – a non-profit organization looking to continue the initiatives set out by Jacques-Yves several decades prior. From the onset of the partnership, IWC has included special limited-edition Aquatimer models in their collections, with a portion of the proceeds of each watch headed towards the organization.Of their bigger undertakings, Cousteau’s famed research vessel (named ‘Calypso’) was raised from the sea floor after sinking on account of an incident in Singapore in 1996. Progress on Calypso has been slow-going, and a fire on the ship while docked in Turkey two years ago has slowed things further. Naturally, there are rumors swirling that a redesign of the IWC Aquatimer line across the board will appear in conjunction with the vessel’s unveiling.
Just at the beginning of December, AR published five models of replica Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114300, please read the detailed review and appreciate their photos in the following.Among these five models, the most popular belongs to the grey watch. So, let’s take it for example. The replica watch is made 1:1 with a genuine Rolex 114300 as reference, the case is not only made of real 904L stainless steel, it also inherits the quality workmanship which J12 has been persisting for several years. The bezel is round and feels very smooth, the polishing on the bezel makes it look like a mirror.The dial is in grey color and has radioactive textures like sun-ray patterns. The dial has a very simple design, there are only hour markers and three hands, but I can find one distinctive feature that only belongs to this Oyster Perpetual 114300, that’s the blue square markers in every five minute. This symbol highlights the whole grey dial. Besides, the stick hour markers at 3, 6 and 9 are much wider than other hour markers, this is also the difference between it and Air King. The 3, 6 and 9 hour markers are filled with lume material in the center.The Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114300 replica is equipped with a super clone 3132, which is modified from a Chinese automatic movement. The movement plates and auto rotor are platinum plated and decorated to look of genuine Rolex Cal. 3132. Actually the 3132 has already been installed in some Rolex models by J12 since 2016, so after two years of improvement, the accuracy and stability of this clone movement have reached a very high level.The Oyster-style bracelet is made of 904L stainless steel, it is fully brushed. Oyster Perpetual 39mm 114300 has a Rolex Crown Logo that is deeply engraved on the buckle, the engravings on clasp is blackened. Overall, the replica has a perfectly made bracelet with the same construction as genuine Rolex 114300. By the way, the replica is water resistant to 50 meters.Maybe Oyster Perpetual 114300 is not your best choice when choosing your first Rolex watch, most people will consider to purchase a Submariner, however, every man should own more than one watch, so, as an entry-level model, Oyster Perpetual 114300 is a good choice to wear as a dress watch in any formal occasions.In the following, I posted photos of other four 114300 models, if you are interested in any one of these five Rolex, please contact me, the stocks last.Top quality watches are always pursued by a lot of people, they like to buy watches from the most famous brands such as Rolex, IWC, Panerai, etc.
Pilot is one of the most successful series IWC has ever published, it has so many classic models that a lot of people are in pursuit of them. In 2019, IWC is the winner because they unveiled several watches that deeply attracted the eyes of our watch fans, including Pilot Bronzo, Pilot Chrono Spitfire Chrono and this Spitfire IW387903. as one of the few brands that make Pilot’s watches, IWC may be is the most successful, I like the design of IWC, it is more suitable for Asian than other Swiss brands.In May 2019, I introduced one IWC Pilot replica watch that is made with bronze material, today, I want to show you another great Pilot Spitfire watch from another factory, which is Z factory. We know V6 is a big factory and they make a lot of good quality replica IWC watches, but Z factory is the dominance in replica IWC field.This replica IWC Spitfire watch from Z factory has a big advantage, that is the sapphire crystal has double AR coating, which looks a bit bluish. So, when you read the time from the dial at any angle, it will be very clear, just like the crystal does not exist.Besides the crystal, there are other two improvements Z factory has made on this replica watch. First, the circles on subdials are made more delicate, their thickness and spacing between each circle are more accurate, closer to genuine watch.
