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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 10:11 am 
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OK guys, we know that my pictures skills aren't great, but this isn't too bad (I hope). It's picture heavy, but hey - I had to upload them over dial up!

I guess that it’s not going to come as much of a surprise that I like this watch – I did just buy it, but I hope I can get across to you just how much I like it. This has immediately become one of the finest pieces in my collection. In terms of value for money – I paid only around 40% of list for this lightly used piece and for that money I can’t think of a better piece from any brand. Even at the list price of $12,900 this watch offers a lot for the money.

I know that there were requests for wrist shots, I’ll try and get those done and added – was struggling on my own with the DSLR today.

The watch comes in a subtle outer box with the Louis Moinet logo

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And inside that is this inner box designed to look like a book. Some of their automatics have an Orbita watchwinder in the box, but this one’s a manual wind so it’s just a box.

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Open that and this sight awaits

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This is an extremely impressive looking watch. The dial has incredible depth with the cotes du jura acting as a wonderful background to the steel details. The arabics and batons are also raised, but not as much as the rest of the dial features. The hands are a lovely sweeping shape and have good lume. The seconds hand with the crossed keys logo is extremely fine.

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I really like the way that the retrogrades have a ‘frame’ that allows the retrograde hand to appear as though it’s part of the retrograde markings

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The skeletonised detail to show the dial side balance cock and balance below is a lot finer than I expected and works well – it adds a little more interest than just an open dial in the Zenith style.

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The case is an extremely serious piece of steel. The curved case obviously increases the overall depth and side on you can see that there is an expanse of polished steel. This is going to be a scratch magnet for sure, and you can see that the watch is already in need of some cape cod attention.

This is my first criticism, and the only thing that frustrates me slightly about the watch – the quick set date is a pusher set into the side of the case and it does detract from the overall look. It’s also unnecessary as far as I am concerned – if it’s not practical in the movement to put the function in the crown then the watch can do without it – the date changes with movement of the hands between 11 and 1.

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The ends of the case in contrast seem very understated because of the way that the strap is attached. The strap is extremely good quality – I would say that it is comparable with Breitling’s strap quality which is obviously high praise, but justified.

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The strap suffers from the complaint that I often have in that it’s not long enough. The deployant requires a holed strap and although I can wear it comfortably on the 4th hole (about 7.7” wrists), the end of the strap is still short when the deployant is closed – if my wrists were any bigger it would annoy me

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The deployant clasp itself is just amazing. It’s not a huge clasp, and that makes it a little harder to get on as there is less space when it’s open, but that’s a very minor inconvenience

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The deployant is simply the most comfortable that I have ever worn. It has a more pronounced bend than most because it sits on the inside of the wrist rather than the outside (which is doubtless also why it is smaller than most deployants). Doing it up feels weird, but it sits perfectly on the wrist – I am blown away by it.

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Saving the best until the end – the in house movement. All I can say is “wow”. This is a very well decorated movement – the cotes du jura is on the movement and the filler plates (it’s a round movement), and the sense of quality is obvious.

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The twin mainspring barrels are made into a feature of the movement, and they too are decorated with Louis Moinet logos – it’s a nice touch and indicative of the quality of the fit and finish.

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The watch is keeping good time – it’s losing a couple of seconds per day, we’ll see how it settles. I wound the watch on Wednesday evening and you can see that the power reserve is still above half so the 120 hour reserve is likely conservative (photos taken Saturday morning).

I have also received a lot of comments on this watch – I wore it with a short sleeve shirt so it stood out, and of course people who know me and my watch fetish recognised that it was a new one, but nevertheless, the comments were more than I usually receive with a new watch.

If you get a chance to see one of these in the metal then I strongly recommend it, the brand may not be well known (yet), but the quality is there – with pieces like this they will gain a well deserved reputation and current resale pricing will seem like a bargain.


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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 11:34 am 
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Nice review Roff. The quality as you say comes through on the pictures, especially some of the attention to detail with the logos on the movement, most of all though, i'm interested to see if you can get some kind of shot of the deployant on your wrist! i'm intrigued! :D

Sadly I think this purchase is shadowed by a certain other one you have made! :wink: But a fantastic piece none the less.

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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 12:59 pm 
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Incredible addition and great review. :bow: Personally, i like it alot more than the RJ, just IMHO.


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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 1:26 pm 
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Not sure how I am going to show the deployant on the wrist as it will be between strap and wrist, but will certainly try.

I don't have the Romain Jerome yet - hopefully next week, so can't really compare at the moment, but I think that comparison is difficult anyway as they are such different watches. The RJ will clearly be more 'in your face', this is more elegant and understated if you can say that about such a large watch.

I'm not sure that I really have a comparable in my collection - and that was the point. My collection is of a size now where I look at a lot of watches and think that they look like x watch that I already have. This watch (and of course the Romain Jerome) aren't like that so truly expand the variety of my collection.

That likely means that they evoke stronger feelings from people, but that's OK.


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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 1:28 pm 
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:boingb: over my head but i can say it is a stunning piece. Well ware. . . Roff. . .

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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2010 3:40 pm 
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Roffensian wrote:
That likely means that they evoke stronger feelings from people, but that's OK.


I'm fairly sure this is why any of us buy the watches we do. Regardless of what model from what brand, we buy them to get some reaction from people.

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 3:36 am 
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Nice review Roff. That's a very impressive looking piece, and it looks much thicker than I thought it was..... which is a good thing. In fact the whole set looks very impressive. Almost makes me wish I'd bought it instead! :wink:

Clearly it's not to everyone's taste, but I love it.

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 5:35 am 
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the_whizzler wrote:
Roffensian wrote:
That likely means that they evoke stronger feelings from people, but that's OK.


I'm fairly sure this is why any of us buy the watches we do. Regardless of what model from what brand, we buy them to get some reaction from people.


Actually that's the last thing on my mind.

I buy my watches for me, I could care less what other people think of them. My point was simply that less mainstream watches tend to create more polarised views.


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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 5:37 am 
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Here are the wrist shots as promised. I tried to show the closed deployant, but it's not that easy.

My wrists are a shade under 7 3/4 inches.

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 9:45 am 
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Thanks for the review and pics Roff, I enjoyed the read. It sounds like an impressive watch, fantastic that it's now one of your favourites.

For a big watch it looks good on your wrist.

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 12:03 pm 
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Fantastic watch Roff and a great review!!

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 12:25 pm 
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Nice work with the pics! :camera:

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 1:07 pm 
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Thanks for the review! LM and RJ are at the top of my list, so it's great to have you take the plunge and provide valuable intelligence on these brands. I look forward to your Titanic writeup.

///M

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 1:59 pm 
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Great review for a suburb timepiece. I don't think my tiny wrists could handle that watch, but it looks great on you. Enjoy it!

-Craig

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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2010 7:28 pm 
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Very nice, and at a good price. I have always liked the case style. The dial has many of the elements that I enjoy. The movement is the jewel to me on this one. Well done by a very respected brand. Thanks for the review.

Best, Mark

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