Watches - Fashion Accessory Or Time Keeping Device

By: Gregg Hall

If it seems to you like watches have always been in existence you aren't alone, there is surely nobody living today who remembers a time when there were no watches. Since the invention of the time keeping device there have many different styles and many new innovations. There are mechanical watches, quartz watches and the new kinetic types and more. These days companies generally are not working on new methods to show the time and any new innovations in the watch are usually to do with style. New releases that come out are essentially just a rehash of an old type. Sometimes, it is hard to comprehend that it wasn't really that long ago that this type of watch was actually invented.

The quartz watch is a type of watch that first came into the public interest in the early seventies. Quartz crystals are used to power it and it is still one of the most popular of all watches. Over the years it has improved a great deal and has many features including stopwatches and timers.

The first wristwatches were the analogue type, a type of watch that has individual hour, minute and second hands. These days most analogue watches wind back up automatically, though at one time they had to be wound back daily by the owner.

There are numerous other specialist watches used by the army and divers. These are watches that have been brought to the marketplace after being used by these groups, such as the Navy SEALS that first used the Luminox watches. These watches were perfect for the SEALS because it allowed them to check the time and many other functions under water. Of course these watches are also waterproof to a great depth.

Pocket Watches

Another great innovation of watches recently is the number of different features that you can get on them. Even some of the old style analog watches have started offering these newer features. Some of the more expensive watches also have stopwatches and display at the side of the face the month and date.

Watches are really becoming more and more known as a fashion accessory. Watches can be equipped with leather, metal, rubber and plastic straps. You can even go to a watchmaker's shop now and change the strap if you don't like the one it came with. Some sport watches make the stopwatch and timer the biggest feature and often have very flashy stopwatches where even lap times can be counted and sometimes saved.

These days watches just like home phones have been virtually replaced by the cell phone which can do everything a watch can do and more. Watches really need to be repackaged and probably the only way the watch can survive is by going back to the old times and selling self as an nice-looking fashion item..

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Panerai Watches - The Radiomir Chrono

By: Robin OBrien

Owning a Panerai watch is a dream for many. Having started life as utilitarian diving watches, Panerai are now coveted as iconic sports watches. The watches of Panerai today haven't changed that much from their original design. The Radiomir Chrono definitely owes its styling to a previous age though it possesses a timeless simplicity and elegance that people never tire of. He is a review of the Radiomir Chromo from Panerai.

Panerai Radiomir

The Panerai Radiomir has a long history. It was first created in 1938 for the Royal Italian Navy. The watch has been characterized by its robustness, reliable movement, and oversized casing that houses a dial that is easy to read.

The construction of the Radiomir is strong. The casing is built from AISI 316L steel and is 45 mm wide. You can only appreciate the weight and sturdy qualities of the Panerai Radiomir when you actually wear one.

The watch is fitted with a Panerai OP XVIII caliber automatic movement. The movement was developed by Panerai. The haute horlogerie Swiss movement operates at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a power reserve of 42 - quite impressive for an automatic of this type.

Enough with the technical specifications, what does the watch look like? First off comes the case. It is made in steel as stated. The dial is a circle which then morphs into a rounded square mounting sometimes referred to as a cushion-shape style. The chronograph functions are where you would expect to find them at 2 and 4 o'clock positions.

The dial of the Panerai Radiomir couldn't be simpler. It's black with luminous indices (Arabic numerals appear only at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions). The hour and minute hands are simple pointers and the dial comes with two subsidiary dials at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions.

Panerai Luminor

The Radiomir differs from the Luminor in that you don't get the crown guard. There are a lot of people I know who don't think a Panerai is a Panerai without the trademark crown guard. However, such people are ignorant about Panerai and don't appreciate that there's more to a Panerai watch than the distinctive crown guard available on some models. The Radiomir also has a more antiquated look than do the models available from the Luminor collection. The case is always polished steel on the Radiomir, whereas the Luminor comes in additional finishes such as brushed steel and.

The Panerai Radiomir has a timeless quality to it. It doesn't quite fit into the mould of modern sports watches; the dial is simple without the need for skeletal hands, the addition of bold colors, or fancy painted backgrounds, the bezel only comes in polished steel and the strap you get is either black or brown leather. But that is its appeal. If you want something a little more up-to-date you can buy the Luminor.

The Panerai Luminor is for people, like me, who appreciate understated style married with today's latest movements. The Luminor hasn't changed very much since its inception but then why should Panerai change something that many watch enthusiasts have grown to adore.

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Digital Watches Revolutionize Timekeeping

L.E.D. Digital Watches

By: Mitch Endick

Much to the consternation of traditionalists in the watch making world, the introduction of digital watches has literally changed the face of timekeeping. From the very beginning of mechanical timepiece design, clock and watch faces have featured analog movements with two hands, one showing the hour the other showing the minutes. Eventually a sweep hand was added to denote the seconds passing by.

This configuration remained as the standard for hundreds of years and is still the dominate feature of watches today. The electronics revolution the swept through the consumer products market in the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies was not lost on how watches and other timepieces were designed. There were two innovations in particular that helped propel a new look and function into the watch market.

Having a lasting impact on watch design the first design innovation was the introduction of the electric watch powered by a battery. The principle advantage to the addition of a battery was eliminating the need to mechanically wind the mainspring of the watch.

One perceived disadvantage was that the watch was not made anymore accurate and whether the addition of a battery would have a positive impact on reliability was still somewhat an unknown. The battery as a power source paved the way for another important design innovation.

Ladies' Digital Watches

The second and probably most important design innovation was rooted in the growing use of light emitting diodes or LEDs which were originally developed for use in space craft. Power consumption and conservation are critical factors in the design of manned spacecraft and unmanned satellites and light emitting diodes brought a sea change in space exploration. LEDs are a solid state device that was a complete departure from the age old technology of the incandescent light bulb. By design, LEDs consumed only a fraction of the power needed by incandescent or fluorescent lights.

It is thought by many that a Russian, Oleg Vladimirovich created the first light emitting diode in nineteen twenty six and that his early research was never taken seriously. The mid nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties saw a flurry of additional research on the phenomenon of electroluminescence found that the chemical reaction of charged gallium arsenide produced a bright, visible light. The reaction that took place was nearly identical to that which takes places in transistors.

So by the early nineteen seventies LEDs were being incorporated into a number of consumer products and it was not long before the humble wrist watch was changed forever. The first watch model to take advantage of the emerging LED technology was the Pulsar that was introduced in nineteen seventy two by the Hamilton Watch Company. The first Pulsar was expensive but that fact alone did stop its successful market launch and the watch became popular with those buyers who were interested in sporting the latest technology. The unique nature of the Pulsar and its success drove efforts by competitors to reduce the price of this new look in order to increase demand among consumers.

It was not long before another emerging technology came along that improved on the original concept of a watch with a digital readout. Liquid crystal display technology appeared right the heels of the LED watch and the face of timekeeping was changed yet again. Requiring far less power than the LED, the liquid crystal display resulted in longer life for watch batteries and the technology is still a dominate force in all manner of high tech products.

LCD technology can be seen everywhere today, often in modern computer monitors, wide screen televisions and other electronic devices such as cell phones and MP3 players and automobile dashboard displays.

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Oris Watches - The TT3 Chronograph

By: Robin OBrien

I've long been a fan of Oris - an Oris watch was my first ever Swiss watch. Since then I've gone on to own many fine Swiss watches. Although I own several sports watches (Suunto and Breitling being two of them) I wanted to buy another one. I chose the Oris TT3 Chronograph and am really glad I did.

Wearing is believing. One can only appreciate the TT3 Chronograph by Oris when it is worn. It's incredibly comfortable to wear. It's lightweight, thanks to its titanium casing and feels warm on your skin because of its rubber strap. By comparison, my Breitling feels like I'm wearing a shackle.

Apart from the Oris TT3 watch being incredibly light, I also love the dial and its size. The dial is carbon fiber with the chronograph functionality. The dial is both captivating and classic. Even thought the watch is a Chronograph the dial isn't cluttered or overdone. The dial of a watch should stand the test of time. The design should be subtle and elegant, which I think the TT3 certainly is. The size of the dial is 42.5mm - not too large - the design is clean, with large and immediately readable hands and indices. The hands are simple silver pointers and some of the indices have been painted red - the combination of black, silver and red is pure class.

Oris TT3

There are two sub dials at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. They are additional second and minute counters for the chronograph function. All the 3 chronograph hands have bee painted red at the tips.

If I have a criticism of the Oris TT3 Chronograph watch it is the lack of a second hand. I really like seeing a watch count away the seconds - the second hand is like the beating heart of a watch. Also, the lack of this second hand does make checking the movement accuracy more difficult – instead of working in seconds, I now estimate partial minutes by observing the distance of the minute hand between the minute markers.

The Rubber Strap

Oris TT3 Chornograph

The strap is very sexy. First off, the fang shaped lugs that are integrated into the strap are very eye-catching and really give the watch a sharp-edged look. The strap also gives you the flexibility of being able to resize the strap at will (by moving the pin to another hole – unique with the TT3 series). You can get a titanium strap for this watch but I feel that you definitely loose something in the appeal of this Oris watch without the rubber strap. The black rubber sets of the carbon fiber dial and the titanium fangs really are awesome. The button release mechanism is very easy to use, yet also very secure.

The Oris TT3 Chronograph really is a timeless, sleek and beautiful watch. I feel that it is a credible sports watch and one that will last the test of time. I've had my new Oris TT3 for several months now and love wearing it - my Breitling hasn't seen the light of day since I got it.

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Omega Watches: An Example Of Great Combination Of Finest Material And Greatest Accuracy

By: Christian

The business that was founded by 23-year-old Louis Brandt at La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland in 1848 eventually became the parent company of the Omega brand. He meticulously assembled key-wound precision pocket watches from parts supplied by local craftsmen with his bare hand. Over time, the Omega watch has come to be one of Switzerland's biggest and most luxurious exports with its unique design and impeccable precision aiming to maintain its popularity and appeal for generations from time to time. According to Greek alphabet Omega means achievement and perfection, which has been persuaded by this company in every single pieces they manufactures. Still now they continue to produce watches made with pride and precision that are available in many different shapes, sizes, colors and styles, for men and women.

New designs with various useful functions are being introduced all the time helping Omega to continue to grow to stay with the competition. The various offers announced by Omega every year with its new innovative watches to choose from is enough to allure the customers. Because of this and many other significant factors Omega continues to be one of the most recognizable and impressive watch companies in the market holding a dominant position.

Old Vintage Omega Wrist Watches

Thinking of the different events that are being arranged and participated the Omega Company has specifically designed watches that can go parallel with every event. It provides buyers with a watch that can be worn during sporting events as well as in the office thus successful in proving its versatility. And what is more impressive about these watches is that they are available in reasonable price. It seems to be very difficult task to select, which is best watch for you from the collections of so vividly designed watches with useful functions but it is not so. Omega watches fortunately has make the selection of watches hassle free.

Omega is that it is well known for its quality materials precision and dependability still continues to be used for many military and even in the Olympics. The biggest achievement still to be mentioned is when Neil Armstrong sported an Omega watch to his journey on the moon in1969. Other popular watches of Omega Company are Omega Speedmaster chronograph, the Omega Seamaster waterproof sports watch and the Omega Constellation watches, which still continues to be incredibly popular. Omega watches have always been known for their fine craftsmanship and precision and no wonder why owner of such watches feel proud of themselves.

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