Ebel Brasilia at The Watchery

At first glance the Ebel Brasilia reminds one of femininity with undulating curves and gentle lines. As with all collections, I ask myself a couple of questions. Why the name? Why Brasilia? When was it launched? Why was it launched? From where comes the inspiration? Once I know these answers, I have a complete understanding of the watch. The Ebel Brasilia is something special. It is a new collection. It was launched at Basel World 2006, in Ebel's booth.

By 2006 Ebel had worked hard and succeeded in solidifying a strong foundation. Ebel had earned its title of "Architect of Time". Ebel cultivated its position ,in Ebel's words, "with boundless creativity guided by rigorous construction standards." Ebel was ready for something new and "new" appeared in two ways. Ebel introduced its stunning ambassador: Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen and Ebel unveiled its elegant Ebel Brasilia collection. Ebel chose the name Brasilia after the capital city of Gisele's homeland - Brazil.

The Brasilia is a gorgeous watch with gracious curves and gentle contours which surround the wrist in rich soft hues of yellow gold and milky mother of pearl. Almost like the setting sun, illuminating the day in restful colors. The two Roman Numerals at the 12 'o clock and 6 o' clock position complete the look. The look is so utterly perfect that only can be the creation of an architect: An Architect of Time.

The Ebel Brasilia in all its curvaceous soft splendour is available at 54% off the List Price at The Watchery. By now you must know this is the watch for you loved one. It is not too late. The Ebel Brasilia s available in Mini (case width 23.7mm; case length 29.65mm) and Brasilia Lady (case width 27.8mm; case length 34 mm). The dial is protected by scratch resistant sapphire crystal.

The Ebel Brasilia is also available in styles for men. The Ebel Brasilia men is sleek and perfectly balanced. The Ebel Brasilia Mens' automatic Watch Chronograph pictured here is reduced by 58% off the list Price. Ebel has implemented the curved lines into this powerful timepiece creating a masterpiece of extraordinary equilibrium.

Don't forget to check out The Watchery "Deal of the Day" - Movado Elira

Cartier Roadster - The watch that makes the man.

I know three people who wear a Cartier Roadster:

A successful Real Estate Developer, in his 50's, a self made man, who never settles for anything less than the best. His desk and office furniture is custom made and he always has the Bloomberg Channel on. The streamlined picture- thin T.V screen hangs from a gold knob, perfectly matching the elegant cream, gold and cherry wood decor of his office. He wears a solid gold Roadster Chronograph with a date calender magnified at the 3 'o clock position, and this timepiece fits his image to perfection. Another watch on his hand would just look out of place.

The other guy I know wears a Stainless Steel Chronograph Roadster. He is 22, and the son of a wealthy diamond dealer. Sleek black hair, impeccable clothing and a relaxed friendly demeanor. He is slowly coming into his father's business. Very slowly. He does like fast sporty cars though. Last time I checked it was a black Mercedes AMG. His Stainless Steel Chronograph Roadster glints in the sun as he turns the wheel, shrieking around tree lined streets. His watch is him. I cannot picture him without his watch.

The last gentleman is the Manager of the Business Banking Section of our Bank in his mid thirties. He wears dark blue tailored suits with heavy white pin stripes and pointed shoes. He just had his first child and thus gave up his Porsche. He likes rock concerts and Season tickets and he likes the fact that his Roadster has three interchangeable straps. I noticed when he shakes hands, he extends his arm so that his Cartier Roadster is visible. His Roadster completes his image.

Cartier introduced Roadsters in 2001 for its 150th anniversary, and since then this particular watch collection has had astounding success. Cartier has even released a Roadster fragrance. The first men's fragrance release by Cartier in 8 years. The Roadster Timepiece is a sign of a successful confident man. The Roadster works for the wearer and all the elements of the timepiece are so finely integrated, these elements of the watch work for the Roadster.

Cartier's inspiration for the Roadster came from the world of luxury automobiles.
The Roadster is mechanical movement automatic winding Cartier Calibre 8510.
The hands of the Roadster are luminescent sword shaped black oxidized steel and the timepiece is water resistance to 100 meters. The crystal is scratch resistant sapphire.

I know this has been a tough year; however, your image cannot take a tumble. I have just rechecked the Roadster prices at the Watchery and the savings are incredible. You can still have the Roadster you want for a price you would have never dreamed possible. Well the Watchery has made it possible and I say, "Go for it!"

The Self-Winding Luxury Wristwatch.

Or more commonly referred to as the Automatic Watch. Most Mechanical Watches nowadays are equipped with a self-winding mechanism. In other words the mainspring is wound automatically by the natural swinging motion of the wearer's arm.

You might be wearing one at the very moment... so how does it work?

The watch contains a semi-circular rotor - depicted in the image of the Perrelet Watch. This rotor is an eccentric weight that turns on a pivot within the watch case. Natural movement of the wearer's arm causes the rotor to swing to and fro on its staff. The staff is attached to a ratcheted winding mechanism. The motion of the wearer's arm is transformed into a circular motion of the rotor that by a series of reverser and reducing gears winds the mainspring. Most modern automatic luxury watches have two ratchets and thus wind the mainspring during clockwise and counterclockwise rotor motion.
Once the mainspring is fully wound, a regular watch can store enough power reserve for two days. Most automatic watches can be wound manually if the watch is not worn sufficiently to keep the mainspring wound. Another alternative to keep automatic watches running is the use of a watch winders. (click here if you want to know more information about watch winders)

Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented the self-winding mechanism ,in 1770 ,for pocket watches. The watch wound as the wearer walked. An oscillating weight inside the hefty pocket watch moved up and down. Perrelet invention was quite the rage in 1776. The Geneva Society of Arts reported that only a 15 minute walk was enough to wind the watch sufficiently for eight days. In 1777 the automatic pocket watches were selling quite nicely.

Breguet improved on Perrelet mechanism calling his automatic pocket watches "perpetuelles"

Although the first wrist watch was introduced by Patek Philippe in 1868, the automatic rotor for wrist watches was not invented until 1923 by a watch repairer from the Isle of Man named John Harwood. This self-winding mechanism was an improvement as the wearer only had to move his arm not take a walk. Harwood's system utilized a a pivoting weight which swung as the wearer moved, winding the mainspring. The ratchet mechanism only swung in one direction and were stopped at 180 degrees by spring bumpers to encourage the back and forth motion. This early type of automatic watch is now known as a "bumper". Fully wound the bumper would run for 12 hours. The "bumper" did not have a stem winder and so the hands were moved manually by rotating a bezel around the face of the watch. The Harwood Self-Winding Watch went on sale in 1928 and 30,000 were produced until the company collapsed in the Great Depression.

Rolex improved Harwood's design in 1930 and used it for the basis of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual which had a mounted semi-circular weight which could rotate a full 360 degrees. Rolex Oyster Perpetual had 35 hours of stored energy.




Omega is the only Automatic watch that utilizes a Co-Axial movement which is a double Axial escape wheel, a lever with three pallet stones and impulse stone on the balance roller, together with a free sprung balance. This system reduces sliding friction compared with the lever escapement inorder to promote greater accuracy over the course of time



Watch Companies like Concord still create manually wound watches and can be produced
with exceptionally thin watch cases like the slender Concord Delirium pictured above which has a Watch Case of just 6mm. This type of thickness cannot be achieved by an automatic watch as the rotor occupies space within the watch case. However with the knowledge that ones watch is being wound as you wear it does afford a certain peace of mind.

By: R Van Halem