On the Boom front

A wristwatch for gun nuts. It’s called the “Son of a Gun” created by a Swiss watchmaker called ARTYA. The majority of their watches are hideous monstrosities. This one is barely an exception. But since it is sort of gun related I figured I would post it here.

According to ARTYA, those are real 6mm bullets held together with copper wire. The bullets are 6mm Flobert (or Flaubert depending on your location) bullets. Which from quick searches seems to be antique (dating back to around 1842) rimfire ammunition. There was also a great quote in ARTYA’s press release: “Guns don’t always kill people, time always does.”

While I am not a fan of the style of this particular watch, there was another encouraging bit of info in the ARTYA press release: “A complete new line of products incorporating the world of firearms will take shape in the near future.”

The movement is a 25 jewel Swiss made automatic which has 42 hours of power reserve. The case is 316 Stainless with a reticle engraved on the bezel and a width of 47mm. The crystal is sapphire. The back of the case is open with a sapphire crystal. It has what ARTYA refers to a “ballistic style” bracelet. In other words, it is canvas. And it’s water resistant and has a 2 year warranty. No idea on price, but even if it is inexpensive, I’m not buying one. I do however look forward to seeing their future firearm related watches.

Dangeruss, artistic mercenary

For this post, I will hit on a few of my favorite topics by introducing you to one guy. Russ Schwenkler. I won’t go into much detail or show you his work here since #1, I never bothered to get permission from him, and #2- I don’t have enough space on a simple blog to cover all the cool stuff he has done.

He is an amazing graphic artist that goes by the name Dangeruss. You can check out his site here. The reason I say I will hit on a few of my favorite topics is because he has done cars, guns, watches, & architecture. And of course he has done a bunch of other random items. You can go here to check out his deviant art page with links to tons of his work. He is pretty much just an artistic mercenary. Hiring his talents out to the highest bidder. So go check out his work. You are sure to get some good desktop wallpaper if nothing else. And if you happen to need some work done, I am sure he would be happy to take your money.

UPDATE: I guess I spent too much time drooling over his work and not reading enough of his journal. As of February of this year Russ had been doing design for 4 different watchmakers and seen at least 5 of his designs make it to production for 2010. And he has produced about 35 designs for 2010 models. Also, I found he has a blogspot site dedicated to his watches. But it has not been updated for quite some time.

TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept

Before I get started I wanted to mention the pictures I have are huge and look great.  So be sure to click on them for the full version.

According to Tag Heuer this wristwatch, the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept, has “The first-ever mechanical movement without hairspring.  Developed and constructed in-house by TAG HEUER A MAJOR WATCHMAKING INNOVATION!”  I’m not sure why they felt the need to use so many caps.  But that’s their prerogative I guess.

In TAG’s press release, they mention their Monaco V4 Concept watch which replaced the gear transmission with a belt drive system.  That watch was a concept in 2004 and became reality in 2009.  So based on that time line, you should be able to pick up one of these beauties around 2015.  Being that far from production, there is obviously no pricing currently set.

The TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept marks TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary.

So how do they eliminate a spring yet keep the movement mechanical?  Fairy dust?  Unicorn horns?  No, it’s achieved through the magic of magnets.  That’s how, Mr. Smartypants.  It has 4 magnets located in 3 dimensional space that provide a constant field for decades.  And best of all, according to TAG, this new movement is “resistant to changes from perturbing forces.”  They don’t specifically state what these “perturbing forces” are, but I would assume vibration, temperature, humidity, gravity, solar flares, and alien invaders.

The oscillator in the Pendulum Concept beats at 43,200/hour.  It took the TAG Heuer R&D team 3 years to perfect.  Apparently one of those “perturbing forces” that has not been defeated is temperature.  That’s the next step for the R&D team is finding magnets that are less temperature sensitive.  So maybe that 2015 time line is a bit optimistic.

Now onto the case.  The case of the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept is motorsport inspired.  The Grand Carrera is said to be inspired my modern GT cars.  The finish is black titanium covered steel.  It has a dial aperture at 9 o’clock to view the beating pendulum.

Another watch that may be car related

OK so over here at Watchismo Times they have pictures of a new watch from MB&F called the Horological Machine No. 4.  According to them, MB&F says “I think people start finally understanding why we call our movements ‘engines’.”

Combining interests

I don’t remember ever really mentioning it here on this blog but I love watches.  I don’t know if it’s the precision aspect of them.  Or the amount of design that can go into such a small item.  Or maybe it’s just pure respect for the artisans that design and assemble them.  Well anyway, here is a watch that combines watches and cars.  On the back is Sebastian Loeb’s signature.  It also has a course map of the Monaco F1 course.  It is called the Cabestan Winch Tourbillon Vertical.