What an Honor!

Peter Speake-Marin



I get email requests all the time to write about various watch brands and things going on in the watch industry. I am very choosy about who and what I write about, because not just anyone or anything is worth mentioning. I am proud to report I received and email in the last couple of days from Olivier Marguerat, who came on to produce his first book with legendary watch maker Peter Speake-Marin "The Hands Of Time". Olivier asked me if I would mention this book and various other projects of Peter Speake-Marin on www.johnnyflyback.com, and I was thrilled to oblige his request.

For those of you who are not familiar with Peter Speake-Marin, he is truly one of the last important independent watch maker visionaries the world has seen in the last 20 years. Peter is an Englishman, who worked on masterpieces like Dent, Frodsham, Nielson, Breguet and Patek Philippe in London, which became the segway for his passion creativity and technical knowledge. He was recruited in 1996 by the illustrious manufacture Renaud & Papi (now Audemars Piguet Renaud &Papi) in Switzerland to develop high complications. During this time, he began acquiring his own machinery and constructed by hand a tourbillon pocket watch with two power trains. This timepiece became the Foundation Watch for his own independent atelier, established in 2000 in the picturesque village of Rolle, between Geneva and Lausanne. He has since been in demand by various watch companies such as MB&F, and Maitres du Temps where he was one of the three masters to develop the critically acclaimed Chapter One. He has also been asked to design and construct watches that are technical, prestigious and one of a kind.

Peter's new book " The Hands Of Time" is a celebration of 10 years of Speake-Marin watchmaking, as well as an introduction of the brand new Marin 1 timepiece & in-house SM2 calibre. So go and buy your copy now at www.watchprint.com to get what could be one of the next biblical watch books ever written! I would like to congratulate and thank Olivier and Peter Speake-Marin for thinking of me to write this article, What an Honor!

Chronoswiss is Bad In Black for Basel 2010!

The Chronoswiss Opus has always been a watch that is aesthetically orgasmic. As much as I don't care too much for the brand I have always appreciated this watch for it's beauty, and most watch collectors I know would agree. For this years Basel 2010, Chronoswiss has evolutionized this watch by adding a little black magic. What do I mean by Black Magic, well I don't mean some crazy fucking Haitian curse that's for sure. What I mean is that Chronoswiss has changed the aesthetic of this cool timepiece by adding the powerful color of black DLC coating to make this once dressy ornate timepiece Bad In Black, which can be worn in any situation.

The new Chronoswiss Opus Black Magic will come in both varieties of the regular size and Grande SIze. The only thing funky is that they are calling this DLC coating Dianor, which is there Magnum as if they were fucking Zoolander. Who Cares? Coating is Coating. Sure some coating is harder and better than others, but to develop a name around the coating is kind of trivial. My thing is focus more on the watch and less on the coating because let's face it, the whole black watch thing has been on it's way out for a while and no one is going to remember that over other proprietary coatings, because it's old fucking news at this point. I love the fact that all the hands on this watch are red for ultimate contrast. I would totally wear this watch and depending on the price might even recommend you to go and buy one, we will just have to see how far up their own ass Chronoswiss is.

Breitling does it right with the new Super Ocean For Basel 2010

For this Basel 2010, Breitling has amazed me with one particular model. Maybe it's because I am a huge fan of yellow when done properly. The new Breitling Super Ocean, is a modern sports divers watch with balls, creativity and the core of what bretiling is all about. I am happy to report it reminds me of the Breitling of old. The new stuff in the last 10 years has really been a visual nightmare because they have taken a very simple concept of aviation and taken it to a world that I really haven't been happy with because its really confusing. The key to any good brand is to be able to convey even through the most technical of information in the most concise way. The numbers on the bezel and dial are really big, iconic and striking. You definitely know what time it is and the inner yellow ring gives it character.

Here are the specs
Movement: Breitling Caliber 17, officially chronometercertified
by the COSC, selfwinding, high frequency
(28,800 vibrations per hour), 25 jewels. Calendar.
Case: steel. Water-resistant to 1,500 meters (5,000 ft).
Screw-locked crown. Unidirectional ratcheted bezel.
Cambered sapphire crystal, glareproofed on both sides.
Diameter: 42 mm.
Dials: Abyss Black, Abyss Silver, Abyss Blue, Abyss Red, Abyss Yellow.
Straps/Bracelet: rubber Diver Pro or Ocean Racer/steel Professional.


If Breitling can cut out this Breitling for Bentley Bullshit and focus on the models in their arsenal that have been part of their heritage like this Super Ocean, then they are on their way back with a vengence.

Bell & Ross Go Green Ceramic For Basel 2010, But it should have been Bigger

I am totally digging the new B&R Instrument in green ceramic. The only thing is, it belongs on a women, because it's 42 mm. The whole instrument thing works best in 46 mm. That's the whole point! I wont hold it against them because green ceramic is an amazing military looking asthetic and I am sure it will be available bigger if they actually want to sell watches. If you look at what dealers are stuck with in Bell & Ross inventories as far as instruments go, it's usually 42 mm.


Here are the specs
42mm green ceramiccase, eta 2892 movement, dial, rubber strap also available.

Rolex Makes It official For Basel 2010

Steel Rolex Submariner Black Dial

Steel Rolex Submariner Green Ceramic Bezel Green Dial- Oh Puke!

Steel Rolex Explorer 1




It's official. The official Rolex roster is out. Finally. Well, I was right. The 40 mm Steel Submariner has been upgraded with all the trimmings, with a better bracelet, black maxi dial for ultimate clean legibility, and ceramic bezel for longevity. This was expected and an important move For Rolex. For those of you who doubted me, you can all suck it hard!

Then the kermit got greener. Why? I don't Fuckin know. To add insult to injury. A 40 mm steel submariner with green ceramic bezel and green maxi dial. Besides Rolex promoting the corporate colors on their watches to throw us all off, it's just not enough to have me convinced, at least pretend and say that we are a green company or anything. This watch is hideously shiteous in my opinion. The sad part is it will probably sell out.

The Curveball thrown by Rolex this year was The 39 mm Explorer 1. I wont lie I was expecting a new Explorer 2 for this years Basel 2010. The Explorer 1 is a fucking legend and this year the watch got bigger from 36 mm to 39 mm and was upgraded with the better bracelet, the dial stayed the same, black arabic with luminous hour markers and hands. There use to be a cult following for this watch 10 years ago in Japan which sent the value to the moon, I have a feeling that this new modification will reignite the same fire worldwide for this watch. Up until two years ago with the introduction of the new Air King, The Explorer 1 was the only Rolex watch to be certified a chronometer without a date.

Vacheron Constantin Lands In India

Anybody who is switched on, realizes in the last couple of years how important the Indian Market is for business. India has the largest middle class in the world. You have a population of almost 1.5 billion people, out of which 200 million have a ridiculous earning capacity to afford all the best luxuries in life. Vacheron Constantin has very strategically decided to open their first Indian boutique. This is a huge undertaking and a momentous occasion for the brand and India. It goes to show you how much the brand and India have evolved.

This Boutique is located on the first floor of the DLF Emporio Mall, located just outside of New Delhi. The official launch was March 11th 2010, where Marc Guten, International Director of Vacheron Constantin ,and Mr. Yassin Tag, Brand Manager for Middle East & Indian Subcontinent who were sharing this special occasion with their long-term partners Mr. & Mrs. Anoop Mehta, Directors of Dia Precious Jewellery Pvt. Ltd., exclusive distributors of Vacheron Constantin in India. This new boutique is very reminiscent of the design aesthetic of the manufacture’s historical Maison in the heart of Geneva. According to Marc Guten "Vacheron Constantin and India share great history. Since the days of the Maharajas, Vacheron Constantin has been producing masterpieces for great families and discerning Indians such as astonishing platinum bracelet made in 1916 for the Maharaja of Patiala. He also goes on to say that "Indian customers expectations have risen considerably in terms of both service and product quality. Our Indians clients in particular, display a very sophisticated level of horology knowledge and taste for Grandes Complications and Métiers d’Art timepieces".

In a world where watch companies are scaling back and cutting distribution it's nice to see that Vacheron Constantin has the forsight to land in India and reach arguably the largest emerging watch market in the world!

12 Faces of Time, Book Signing At Basel 2010

In case you are at this years Basel Fair 2010, and you are absolutely horny for some amazing watch porn, and sick of the mediocre brands and the disgusting food, then you must rock the book signing of The Twelve Faces Of Time. This Horological Virtuoso is a masterpiece of the 12 masters of watch making.

Ralf Baumgarten and Elizabeth Doerr will be doing two book signings with 11 of the watchmakers during Baselworld. Here is the line-up:

When: Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21 at 14 h / 2:00 pm

Where: Messeplatz, directly in front of Hall 1.0, in the book hut run by Watchprint

Who: Elizabeth Doerr (author), Ralf Baumgarten (photographer), 11 of the watchmakers portrayed in the book: Philippe Dufour, Vianney Halter, Felix Baumgartner, Thomas Prescher, Volker Vyskocil, Paul Gerber, Beat Haldimann, Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, Kari Voutilainen, Roger Smith, and François-Paul Journe.


Sounds really good if your into that sort of thing, please cop on to yourself and try not to have an accident from the excitement!