10 Year Anniversary of de GRISIGONO's first Collection

Baselworld 2000 we were spoiled to the sighting of the first de GRISOGONO collection : Instrumento N°Uno. Now unmistakable by its sleek bold design. In commemoration of this, Fawaz Gruosi, founder and chairman of de GRISOGONO, has unveiled a trendy colorful take on its original collection. A vibrant aquamarine watch band fashioned from Galuchat, shark or stingray skin first used in luxury watch making by de GRISIGONO, compliments the matching hour numerals and the elegant band of paraiba tourmalines (aquamarine gems).
If you notice the watch band is bumpy - these bumps are calcified papillae called "placoid scales otherwise known as Denticles and are small outgrowths which cover the skin of many cartilaginous fish such as sharks and sting rays. In watch straps the placoid scales are polished down until the denticles are rounded and pearl like.

De Grisogono has taken the natural texture of the Galuchat and enhanced it with exceptional colors and polishing, creating a timepiece where the strap commands as much attention as the watch.

The iconic Instrumento N°Uno dial sports a a dual time zone display and a large date display in the 7:35 position. Beneath the sleek dial lies a premium automatic movement.

Once again, de GRISIGONO has swept watch lovers off their feet in another remarkable vision of perfection.

What is a Galuchat watch band?

I first started noticing Galuchat watch straps on De Grisogono timepieces. A sort of bubbly textured look. But what is it?

Also known as Shagreen, Galuchat is actually either sharkskin or stingray skin. The name comes from Jean-Claude Galuchat who was Louis XV's master leather artisan. He introduced this exotic leather to France in the 18th century where he was most noted for his sheaths. He fashioned shagreen for Louis XV and his court. He placed it on objects such as snuff boxes, wig cases, furniture, jewelry boxes and toilette items. It is said Madame de Pompadour was a great fan of Shagreen.

Jean-Claude Galuchat, although the most renowned for his use of shark skins, was not the first. Shark and sting ray skins were used as early as the 8th century. The Japanese Tachi, Katana and Wakizashi used the undyd untreated skins for sheaths and hilts of swords. The rough texture of the material provided the handle with extra grip as well as high resilience. In the China Qing dynasty, the polished Shagreen were used for composite bows. In the 19th century the material was used for book bindings and pocketbooks.

The name Shagreen actually refers to rough untamed skin. The leather was most often made from a horses back and most often dyed green. Today's Shagreen is made for Galuchat which is shark or sting ray skin. Shagreen is from the French word chagrin which means sorrow or Turkish sagri meaning "the back of a horse". As the leather was rough in texture the word was synonymous with displeasure or ill humor.

None the less, Galuchat still holds a unique quality. The uniqueness comes from round calcified papillae called "placoid scales". These placoid scales are otherwise known as Denticles and are small outgrowths which cover the skin of many cartilaginous fish such as sharks and sting rays. The denticles are similar in structure to teeth.

Most often the placoid scales are polished down until the denticles are rounded and pearl like.

De Grisogono has taken the natural texture of the Galuchat and enhanced it with exceptional colors and polishing, creating a timepiece where the strap commands as much attention as the watch.

The changing faces of De Grisogono Otturatore Luxury Watch.

Complications without clutter is the best way I can describe a De Grisogono Otturatore. At first glance one perceives a remarkable looking watch with an 18K Pink gold curved rectangular case, bold hands hour markers, and an aperture displaying the power reserve display at the 6 'o'clock position. On further scrutiny ,as scrutinizing watches is what we love to do, a thin circular crevice gives us a hint of mystery and in the image below the mystery is uncovered.The face of the De Grisogono automatic Otturatore Luxury timepiece has a rotating dial which functions via a complex mechanism comprising of more than one hundred individual components assembled in modular fashion on the movement. By pressing a large button at the 2 'o'clock position on the right side of the case, the dial can be turned in one rapid ninety degree movement in either direction. Either the date display at the 3 'o'clock position jumps into view or the power reserve display at the 6 'o'clock position or the subsidiary seconds at the 9 'o'clock position or the moon phase indicator at the 12 'o'clock position.

There is no question , the craftsmanship and ingenuity of this timepiece is absolutely superb.

Watches that capture the eye.

My 9 year son was following me around the house this morning while I was frantically trying to shake off the languid weekend and get going. He was paging through one of the numerous watch magazines that I have around the house.

"Did you blog about this watch?" he said,


"No!" I replied trying to find my other shoe.

"Why not. I love this watch," he replied

"What about this watch," he insisted, "Did you blog about this one?"


By this time my entire top portion of my body was inside the shoe closet and I was scrounging around for the lost shoe. My son shoved the magazine in front of my nose ,which was still nosing around in my closet, to show me a De Grisogono watch that I had blogged about.


"Yes!" I said with enthusiasm " I blogged about that one", hoping I had gotten off the hook.

He was not impressed, and insisted I blog about the watches he had shown me.

His list of watches started off quite eerily and I shivered as I approached the Corum Bubble with vicious looking bats circling in the cloudless dial under the domed sapphire crystal. I was determined to please him, and I set aside my bat phobias originating from woodsy sleep over camps and I began to blog.

Corum Bubble XL Mens' Automatic Watch Blue Bat Dial Black Diamond Bezel on Black Leather Strap 082-157-49-0F01-BATR
Somehow I was not surprised when he showed me this watch, being an animal lover and all ... but I am not quite sure about the bat thing. Corum in all its eery splendour has managed to craft a watch with vampirish elegance. I love the blood dripping off the second hand. The minute and hour hand are skeletonized so as not to detract from the image. As with all the Corum Bubble Watches, the scratch resistant sapphire crystal is domed. The bezel is set with diamonds as black as the night.

Chopard Happy Sport Ladies' Square Watch 18K White Gold Diamond Dial with Floating Black Diamonds & Rubies on Deep Red Leather Strap 276852-1017

He watched as I gazed at THE WATCHERY website, jumping up and down as he saw the Deal of the Day. (I don't know what it is with him and watches). I could see what had caused such excitement. Chopard does that to people, even people as young as nine. The vibrant pomegranate red pulsated with furious energy. I love rubies they are gems that seem to glow with an inner warm fire. A ring of ruby fire encircles the dial which is paved with diamonds like Alaskan volcanoes circling the glaciers. As with all Chopard Happy Collection, gems float above the dial between two layers of Sapphire crystal, rubies and the black diamands which adds mystery to the ensemble. In addition the black diamonds cluster around the 18K white gold case. The hand indicators are blue which soften the look. All in all the watch boasts 58 black dioamands (1.58 CT) and 40 rubies (2.00 CT). The movement is precise swiss quartz. Currently the timepiece us 76% off at THE WATCHERY. Current price is $7,995.00 down from the List Price of $32,740.00. I will let you do the Math to discover the jaw dropping savings.

Next my son came forward with a Gerald Genta masterpiece which reminded him of the top of a soda can. A watch meant to get noticed, and noticed it did, by my son.

Somehow, I knew he would pick a Gerald Genta. Gerald Genta watches are quite unique one has to look twice to grasp the entire watch. The hands do resemble coke rendering the watch quite striking. The Gerald Genta Genta has an entirely hand decorated self winding movement. Jumping hours and retrograde minutes and date, which is quite common in Gerald Genta watches. With 45 hour power reserve as well as two rows of titanium beads encircling the case band. The Concave black dial is multi leveled with a gorgeous warm bronze-coloured stripe base. The dial is protected by anti reflection sapphire crystal. The crown is beaded as well as an open case back secured with pentagonal screws. The band is alligator leather for a comfortable fit.

De Grisogono Be Eight Collections's eight rules of femininity

De grisogonoa founded by Fawaz Gruosi in 1993 has crafted some of the most exquisite watches. He has forged relationships with celebrities who have provided inspiration for new designs. He has patented his very own color - Browny Brown and had developed a shapely figure eight collection. The Be Eight Collection is voluptuously feminine. Each watch is a curvy figure eight designed with the womens body in mind: The round shoulders, slender waist and shapely hips.

This design is offered in sensual colors of pink gold, burnished pink gold, white gold or blackened white gold and glittering with varying amounts of gemstones. When Gruosi was designing this collection he implemented eight rules of femininity:

1. Adopt feminine curves. The watch case is undoubtedly feminine with its voluptuous silhouette.
2. Never leave home without a lucky charm. In the Chinese Culture Eight is a symbol of harmony and good luck. The case does resemble an eight.
3. Take pleasure in the small things. The ring beneath the upper half of the figure eight moves unexpectedly.
4. Dare to be different. This watch is indeed different and will attract a glance or two. Even the band of the watch is different, fashioned from genuine Madera calfskin straps.
5. Pay close attention to detail. If you look closely at the four hour-markers, you will notice that each marker is a figure eight themselves. The crown is affixed with de Grisogono coat of arms.
6. Keep it Simple. Simple is beautiful, and some women like it so. For the women who like things simple, the Be Eight collection is available with few or no stones.
7. Opt for color. Shimmering pink baguette cut sapphires and iridescent green emeralds are available as an alternative to the diamonds.
8. Never say no to a beautiful stone. The shapely Bezel of the Be Eight Collection is fitted with either diamonds, pink sapphires or white, black or brown diamonds.
   

The Mechanical Digital Luxury Watch.

At first glance, the De Grisogono Meccanico DG, looks like your good-quality digital watch. Look again!

This hand wound watch is actually entirely mechanical, with absolutely no digital components.

How does it work? The upper half of the watch is your conventional analog display, and the bottom portion is a numerical display controlled by 651 mechanical components. 23 cams connected to a set of gears collaborate in unison to trigger the change of hours and minutes The digital display utilizes 23 horizontally and vertically positioned micro segments. The Vertical segments are 9 mm high and weigh 25 milligrams. The Horizontal segments are 2.90 mm lengthwise and weigh a mere 10 milligrams. The segments have four sides: two opposing visible faces with colored strips and two opposing unmarked faces. As the time changed, the segments rotate by 90°, thereby displaying the correct change. The change, which can include 1 to 12 segments, occur in a blink of an eye. The watches digital numbers provide an illusion of the quartz watch, as the strips create a vivid contrast to the interior blackness of the watch.

For the skeptics in our midst De Griscono has crafted a transparent dial plate, so that the intricate mechanical workings of the timepiece can be carefully scrutinized.

This watch is an interesting piece as it is a true testament to the survival of the mechanical watches. In a previous blog of mine, I wrote about the quartz scare of the late 1960's early 1970's. A difficult time for mechanical watch manufacturers. A time when they thought they would lose all they had accomplished to a "Quartz Generation. This Watch testifies to the survival and the recent revival of Mechanical Watches.

This watch boasts a 35 hour power reserve, quite remarkable if you think about the two completely different displays.

The De Grisogono Meccanico timepeices are limited edition of just 177 exceptional timepieces. Available in titanium, titanium and red gold, titanium and rubber and titanium and platinum.