Notable Historical Facts

These pocket watches were incredibly big, which is why people wore them around neck. There are rumors that in the famous painting of Henry VIII, the medallion on his neck is a big pocket watch, which he owned, and not a medalion how most people think.Leonardo da Vinci draw a sketch of a fusee for a clock. The system used in his sketch was later used in watch industry.In 1583 Galileo Galilei realized that how often does a pendulum swing depends on its length.Breguet was the most preferred watch of the Russian Tsars. Breguet was also worn by Napoleon at Waterloo.In 1795 Breguet was the one to invent the tourbillon – which till nowadays represents a great horological achievement. Some historians say that the first to invent watches were people from Egypt and Mesopotamia. The period was 1500 BC. They developed a mechanical way of estimating time by the flow of running water. The first accurate clocks were created by Italian monks almost 3000 years later, i. e. around 1524 AD. They developed more or less precise clock to know when they have to pray. Clocks told time using acoustical indicators, there were no hands to show time.The first pocket watches were invented in Tudor, England, in the 16th century.

Most Expensive and Complicated

Above the face there is a movable covering, which is full created of white and pink diamonds.Chopard's creation has three heart-shaped diamonds resting gracefully on the body of the watch: one is a 15 carats pink heart diamond, the second one is a 12 carats blue heart diamond and the third is a 11 carats white heart diamond. The bracelet is enriched with 163k of white and yellow diamonds that all together form little flowers. The price is quite "affordable" - only $25 million.The "Henry Graves" supercomplication pocket watch from 1933 holds the world record for the most expensive watch ??? sold at auction in 1999 for more than $11 million.Most Expensive Wristwatch - Which is Also Most Complicated WristwatchVacheron Constantin Tour d'Ile Tour de l'Ile created by Vacheron Constantin is valued at $1,500,000 US dollars. Vacheron Constantin, the popular Swiss watch*** company, in 2005 celebrated 250 years of its activity by presenting world's most expensive and at the same time most complicated wristwatch called Tour de l'Ile.Only seven pieces of the world's most complicated wristwatch were produced. All horological and astronomical indications make up a list of 16 different features, including sunset time, perpetual calendar, second time zone and the representation of the night sky. The watch is made of 834 parts. Watch masters at Vacheron Constantin needed more than 10,000 hours of research and development to create the timepiece.World's Most Expensive TimepieceChopardUndoubtedly the most expensive timepiece ever created came from Chopard of France. The watch is accurately enriched with diamonds on the interior, where the face of the watch is visible.

Most Expensive and Complicated

Some of its indicators even include a thermometer, the date of Easter, sidereal time and a star chart with 2,800 stars.Calibre 89 is made of 18 carat gold, which is 75% pure gold. It is valued at $6 million. It took 5 years of research and development, and then additional 4 years of manufacturing.Only four models of Calibre 89 were manufactured: in platinum, white gold, rose gold and yellow gold.Most Expensive Pocket WatchPatek Philippe "Supercomplication"One of the world's most important timepieces, the Henry Graves Supercomplication by Patek Philippe, was sold at Sotheby's in New York City today for a world record $11,002,500 -- the most ever paid for any timepiece anywhere in the world.The 20 most expensive wristwatches sold at auction are all from Patek Philippe & Co.Patek Philippe Calibre 89Patek Philippe SupercomplicationVacheron Constantin Tour d'IleChopardMost Complicated Pocket WatchPatek Philippe Calibre 89The popular Swiss brand Patek Philippe developed Calibre 89, which till nowadays holds the first position among the most complicated pocket watches. It is a gold commemorative watch launched in 1989, thus the name Calibre 89. With its release the company celebrated its 150th birthday.Patek Philippe named its mechanical wonder "the most complicated watch in the world." The timepiece weighs 1.1 kg. The whole watch model is made of not less than 1,728 components that provide 33 functions.

Longiness - the Official Timekeeper of French Open Tennis Tournament

The functions of the chronograph are activated by pressing the bright red pusher.Along with GrandeVitesse, Longines introduces in some of the European points its elegant line of HydroConquest chronograph. This line includes watches with eloxed aluminum bezel along with jet black dial, screwed-down case back and screwed-in crown. These features provide maximum water resistance of up to 300m.For the first time in the history the popular watchmaker, Longines has become a partner of one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments - French Open. During the competition Longines will be its official timekeeper. Due to this historical for the company fact Longines launched in Paris its brand new Sport Collection.The company will present its exclusive timepiece, called GrandeVitesse, for the first time and only at French Open, to celebrate the event. Thus the elegant sports chronograph, during the tennis competition will be available only in France. As the tournament gets to its finish line, Longines looks forward to launch GrandeVitesse across the world. The 42 mm case of the timepiece is made in stainless steel. It has nice aerodynamic curves outlining the French Grand Slam event.GrandeVitesse includes a tachymeter on its bezel. The feature is graduated in km/h. It is able to estimate a ground speed of about Mach 2. This is quite enough for the fastest tennis serve. The tachymeter reminds about Longines’ past experiences linked with mechanical sports. The company's timepieces used to calculate the land and water speed records. Having a midnight black dial, GrandeVitesse automatic chronograph has a non-slip embossing of the crown, case band and the pushers.

The Suunto X9i GPS Watch Integrates with Google Earth

I have a brand new Suunto X9i sitting on my desk right now waiting to be reviewed. I think this announcement just bumped it up in priority. As part of my review, I'll do some trekking through the wilderness of San Francisco and let you know how it all works. While I'm on the topic of GPS watches (I wrote about the new Casio GPR-100 GPS watch last week), Suunto just released software that allows you to plot your hikes on Google Earth. From what I can tell, it looks pretty straightforward to use.The Suunto X9i has an "activity mode" which records data to what it calls a log file (aka, the watch's memory). The frequency with which it records location information is configurable, and, more than anything else, determines battery life (4-5 hours with a 10 second track log interval, and 12 hours with a 1 minute track log interval). You can then transfer your track log to your PC using a USB cable and an application called the Suunto Trek Manager (PC only, naturally). And now, using a new application called the Suunto Track Exporter, you can export data from your watch directly into Google Earth, which allows you to visualize your route with actual satellite imagery. Very cool.You can find out more information on Suunto X9i and Google Earth integration, as well as download the free Suunto Track Exporter software, on Suunto's new Google Earth page.