Grail Watch

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Is Longines the World’s Oldest Watch Brand?

February 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Longines has long claimed to be “the oldest trademark or logo still in use,” and after researching the history of the Longines factory I became intrigued by this claim. Although it is certainly a long-running and successful company, was today’s Longines really the oldest watch brand, let alone the world’s oldest trademark? And what about all those others?

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Blancpain, brand, Breguet, Ernest Francillon, Girard-Perregaux, Longines, Luxury Brands, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin

High Beaters: 5 Beat, 8 Beat, 10 Beat, More!

June 18, 2015 By Stephen 2 Comments

Many novices assume that a movement that “ticks” more than once per second is a trait of high-end watches, but it’s actually nothing special. Nearly all mechanical watches, from Chinese and Japanese value lines to Haute Horology, tick at least 5 times per second! The smooth 8-beat seconds hand now associated with fancy Rolex watches isn’t the pinnacle of technology. Seiko and Zenith popularized 10-beat movements in the late 1960’s, and some exotic pieces tick even faster!

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: 4500, 5740, Buren, Buren Calibre 82, El Primero, Girard-Perregaux, Grand Seiko, Gyromatic, Hi-Beat, High-Beat, Mikrogirder, Mikrograph, Mikrotimer, Seiko, TAG Heuer, Zenith

1975 Girard Perregaux Casquette LED

May 28, 2014 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Some grails are special because of their association with history (see my piece on the “Scuderia Ferrari” Zenith, for example), while others are just plain odd. This is the latter. The Girard Perregaux Casquette (Ref. 9931) is a mid-1970’s LED quartz watch with innovations throughout. It’s just too bad the quartz revolution ended with a whimper instead of this kind of excitement!

Filed Under: Grails Tagged With: 1975 Girard Perregaux Casquette, Girard Perregaux Casquette, Girard-Perregaux, LED, quartz

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