Just this afternoon some friends of this blog gathered over lunch. There was food, but once the watches were rolled in, attention was diverted elsewhere…

Eight of our readers, two from foreign lands and the rest Singaporean, came together for lunch today. Between them there were 15 watches present.  The assembled watches were diverse, a good balance between mainstream brands like Rolex and Panerai, and the independents; notable because two Philippe Dufour Simplicities turned up, one having flown here.  Here are a couple of table shots of the great and the good. Pardon the tablecloth. 

And now to honour the individual timepieces:

Audemars Piguet Offshore Rubberclad in rose gold – the Offshore fad has cooled somewhat but this is still appealing. And unlike some other watches from the same genre, it doesn’t look dated.

FP Journe Souverain Tourbillon – still one of his best products

Grand Seiko 130th Anniversary SBGW033 – probably the best known limited edition Grand Seiko

The MIH watch – great value but not my cup of tea design-wise

A rare Lange Datograph made for Italian retailer Pisa Orologeria

Kari Voutilainen’s Observatoire – many variants were made and most look good as this one does

Philippe Dufour Simplicity – 34 mm (left) and 37 mm

The beautiful view from the back. Interestingly the rhodium plating on the bridges of each watch is a different shade.

Simplicity (bottom) vs. Observatoire

Grand Seiko GMT SBGM003 – though traditional in design, one of the most distinctive GS

Panerai Black Seal PAM292 on an elephant hide strap – mechanically uninteresting but great looking on the wrist

Patek Philippe Ref. 5035 Annual Calendar – the first generation of the brand’s annual calendar

Doing the same thing differently

Patek Philippe Ref. 5078P minute repeater in platinum

Rolex Deep Sea

Superb piece of engineering…

but why so thick?

Romain Jerome Spacecraft

Seiko Presage 100th Anniversary with enamel dial – the lowest cost fired enamel dial watch today

For those who are numerically inclined, here are some of the figures from the evening. 

Total – 15

Independent – 6

Mainstream – 9

Japanese – 3

German – 1

Swiss – 11

Top 3 brands by representation: Seiko (3), Philippe Dufour and Patek Philippe tied (2)

Ratio of lowest cost (Seiko Presage) to highest (Patek Ref. 5078P) – 1:500

Stayed tuned for the next one.

– SJX