Month: October 2011

ORIS, which means European Celtic (small river), is also a village near Holstein (Herstein) in northwestern Switzerland. In 1904, Paul Cattin and Georges Christian established the ORIS watch factory in Holstein. In this Jurassic mountain area where many famous watches come together, ORIS started the far-reaching watchmaking industry in the future with 24 employees. The next 6 years The number of employees has increased to 300, and the watch factory has expanded by ten more factories. After continuous efforts, it finally had its own electroplating factory in 1925. Since then, ORIS has specialized in manufacturing inexpensive but good quality watches . Later, one of the founders, Georges Christian, died and was taken over by his brother-in-law, Oscar Herzog, and continued the tradition of ORIS watchmaking in the next 43 years. According to the relevant Swiss watchmaking laws at that time, in order to protect a small number of watchmakers, ORIS could not initially manufacture watches with lever escapements. Then, through continuous innovation research, ORIS overcomes this obstacle and has obtained 242 inspections in succession. prove. Relying on excellent technology, ORIS has continuously created many groundbreaking inventions in the next ten years, whether it is an automatic movement with power reserve function or an alarm clock that only needs to be wound every 8 days, which not only makes ORIS the top ten One of the watchmaking factories has set many new milestones.
RISORIS only focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of high-precision mechanical watches, and today it still maintains the same brand strategy. ORIS carefully creates watches by hand, dedicated to watch fans who are keen on mechanical movements and pursuing extreme and eternal value. They hope that the four series of watches from racing, diving, flying, and culture can meet the high expectations of watch fans around the world.

ORIS Art Master GT Chronograph
最新 The latest member of the ORIS family, the ORIS Art Master GT Chronograph, combines the latest design and innovation. It not only inherits the traditional style of ORIS motorsport, but also combines elegant sports with contemporary design. The kinetic energy of this watch comes from a fully automatic mechanical movement, and also has a chronograph and calendar function. The two-piece dial is equipped with a sub-black bezel, the scale of the tachymeter is directly on the dial, and the minute and hour timers of the small bezel have hands and scales. Another interesting device is the second hand display based on the retrograde device developed by ORIS, which works like a counter on a racing car. The unique chronograph design is reflected in the seconds at 12 o’clock, the hours at 6 o’clock, and the microsecond display at 9 o’clock. The polished nickel hands are embedded with luminous material, which is very dazzling on the black dial, which reflects ORIS’s passion for watch design. The new ORIS Art Master GT Chronograph is water-resistant to 100 meters, with a rubber (23275, 580.00, 2.56%) strap and folding buckle, which perfectly balances the two styles of sport and elegance. Free for business or leisure.

The royal oak of Master Gerald Genta is highly respected by collectors and designers. It is said that diving helmets and battleship portholes are the source of inspiration, but in fact its origin story is still not very good. clear.

Rolex Oysterquartz and Ref. 5100
   Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Rolex Oysterquartz are two of my favorite watches. The former does not have a second hand and is slim and elegant; the latter has a sturdy bracelet with precise movement. In many people’s eyes, two watches are like a female compatriot, do not know if there is some connection between them? The answer is yes! And closer than expected!

   In comparison, Oysterquartz (170xx and 190xx) is one of Rolex’s most unknown models, so many people do not know the existence of earlier Rolex quartz watches (Ref. 5100), which is understandable.

Rolex Ref. 5100, aka ‘The Texan’
   In order to discuss this issue, we need to go back to the era when quartz watches rose more than 40 years ago. The world’s first quartz clock was as large as a small room; by the 1950s, the size had been reduced to an American two-door refrigerator; until 1963, Seiko produced the first portable quartz clock-QC-951, a big earthquake in the industry . The QC-951 is about the size of a marine astronomical clock, and is powered by batteries on the market.

   Later in the same year, QC-951 participated in the Swiss Observatory Competition and ranked 10th. The Swiss watch industry finally realized that the wolf is coming! Many independent watch brands have done research on quartz, of which Patek Philippe is the most prominent. The brand believes that cooperation is the best choice, so the Centre Electronique Horloger was established in Neuchatel. The brands and companies participating in the project have sent the best talents, but everyone agrees on how the new electronic watch should work: purely electronic versions of traditional mechanical watches (such as Hamilton and Lip); using resonance sources (such as Bulova Accutron tuning fork); or should it be a quartz watch?

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
   Everyone disagrees and strives for reason. Behind the scenes researchers decided to use quartz to make a ‘working prototype’ just to prove that it can be done. This is Beta 1, exhibited in July 1967. Beta 1 is the world’s first quartz watch, but has not revised the design and mass-produced it, because everyone in the electronic watch center is still arguing. Two years later (1969), the first product, the Beta 21, came out, but it had nothing in common with the Beta 1. The Beta 21 is a large-size movement (30.9 mm x 26.5 mm), which presents challenges for watchmaking partners, as the latter does not have enough case for this movement.

   In this regard, it is important to understand how Swiss watchmaking companies worked in the 1950s and 1960s. They produce only movements; cases, dials, hands and bracelets are provided by many professional manufacturers. So the watchmaking company turned to the case supplier, informed the technical parameters of the new movement, and sought a corresponding case design. Don’t forget, the pricing equation of Swiss watches at that time was: the more accurate, the more expensive. Watches equipped with the Beta 21 movement may be the most accurate model of each brand, so the case should be made of gold, and the corresponding price will be very expensive. Furthermore, the new watch uses advanced technology, and the Electronic Watch Center hopes to have a consistent appearance. Case suppliers will keep the requirements and wishes in mind and produce some extraordinary case products.

Rolex Ref.5100 hands-on picture, thick case design
   Of the watches with the Beta 21 movement, the largest output is Rolex Ref. 5100, which collectors call ‘The Texan’. The Ref.5100 case has a wine barrel shape, with a rounded bezel and dial. This design does not have any similarities with modern Rolex. The most unusual thing for Rolex is the sharp edges of the barrel-shaped case. Rolex has always pursued an organic curve to fuse different parts with each other. In contrast, the surface of Ref. 5100 is too flat. At the same time, the three-piece bracelet that Ref. 5100 is equipped with is different from previous and any existing Rolex bracelets and is permanently connected to the case. Of course, the bracelet can be removed while the watch is being repaired, but it cannot be replaced with a replacement bracelet.

   In just two years, Rolex produced 1,000 Ref.5100 watches, and even more unusually, the brand engraved a unique number from 001 to 1000 for each watch. However, this is not the end of the Rolex quartz legend. Five years after the production of ‘TheTexan’, Oysterquartz was born! Oysterquartz is equipped with Rolex’s newly developed self-made movement, equipped with an oyster case, available in various metals and combination materials. But the flat surface, sharp corners and non-removable bracelet all reflect Oysterquartz’s design inspiration from ‘TheTexan’.

   According to Zunda’s close friends, the master considered DateJust to be perfect and regretted his failure to participate in its design. Master Zunda has only designed one watch for Rolex, which is the brand’s first quartz watch. With that said, everything was suddenly bright. Oysterquartz was designed by Rolex. There is no doubt about it, but its design was largely influenced by ‘TheTexan’, which we now know comes from Master Zunda.

Rolex Oysterquartz
   ‘The Texan’ was launched in March 1970, which means that it was designed in late 1969, and only two years later, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was launched. So, is the design of Audemars Piguet Royal Oak influenced by ‘The Texan’? We can’t be absolutely sure, but it turns out that both came from the minds of the most creative watch designers of the 20th century. Considering that the time nodes are so close, it would be strange if there is no connection at all.