The Transfer Window Has Opened -

At Corum...

Courtesy of Corum

This is not exactly "new" news, but relevant as we are on the cusp of the Geneva shows. The talk around the campfires on the outskirts of Watch Town is not as rosy as anyone would like it to be. So let's shake the Magic 8 Ball to see if we can get some clarity on this murky situation.

Will there be more attempted management buyouts?

So there you have it!

Watch Town is at a crossroads. And I am quite certain that the Watches and Wonders braintrust are starting to get the squirts. Attendance is already in question, a few not insignificant brands have decided to take a pass this year, and whether or not the orders will be rolling in? Let's just say the Magic 8 Ball got this one right ; )

Whether Lambert will succeed in buying out his employer and whether more brands will follow suit remains to be seen. One thing is painfully, abundantly clear - the market is getting tight.

So Geneva, here we come!

The Transfer Window Has Opened...

At Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

News made its way to the North Shore offices of "the blog formerly known as Tempus Fugit" this AM that a swanky building up the hill from downtown La Chaux-de-Fonds is under new ownership. 

Corum will change hands once again under a management buyout, and Citychamp is down to Eterna and Rotary in terms of Swiss brands in its stable.

How this will ultimately play out remains to be seen, but in fairness to everyone concerned, Corum is a brand with a great history and a lot of potential. The buyout involves several (as yet) unnamed Swiss investors and the person taking the helm is Haso Mehmedovic . Mr. Mehmedovic trained as a watch maker in Le Locle, and if my information is correct has spent his entire career at Corum, moving from the technical side to sales.

So we wish Mr. Mehmedovic and his colleagues the very best of success moving forward, and we shall see what develops.

Fathers, Sons, And All That Comes With It

If there were a Facebook section for father-son relationships, my status would read:

"It's Complicated..."

I made my debut in Zanesville, Ohio back in the summer of 1968. The day before I dropped, my grandfather presented my anxious soon-to-be father with this -

I had it for a good while, and then I passed it on to my niece who now has a son of her own.

While I don't regret passing it on, I would be less than forthright if I didn't admit to a pang of loss. And in truth, not for the object itself, but rather what that Mido represented.  When I think about my relationship with my father, it is in many ways a play in three acts. The first act would be happiness, growing up in a small town. The second act would struggle as we tried (often unsuccessfully) to maintain a positive relationship after he remarried. The third would be acceptance, as we grew further apart in terms of geographic distance, but reconnected now and again and tried to focus on the positive memories that we shared. 

In truth, this type of evolving relationship is not unique, we all go through it in our own way with our families and relationships. And to some extent, I always connected that first, "happy" period with his/then my/now my niece's Mido. I tried to recapture the feeling with other vintage Midos, but it was really never the same. It almost felt as if I was trying to channel my memories through someone else's horological talisman.

I recently found myself face to face with a relative of my father's Mido, and decided it was finally time to buy one for myself. I waffled back and forth for a minute, and finally made my move.

Now to be completely clear:

No. This new Mido did not make me more handsome, did not make me any smarter, food does not magically taste better, and I am not suddenly capable of tremendous feats of strength or daring-do.

But there is something that this new Mido did do, almost instantaneously - it hit me with a visceral sucker punch that I really wasn't expecting. I felt (and feel) a strange familiar calmness that takes me back to 1977 in that small Ohio town. My sisters and I are under the giant oak tree in the Pierce's side yard, we're playing jailbreak, and Dean Mason is "it", and he is the fastest runner any of us have ever seen so we have to be quick, sneaky, or simply cheat if we're not going to get tagged out ; ). And it finally gets so dark that we have to go inside, and my father is there in the living room, watching another hopelessly cursed Cleveland Indians team end the season in the same morass and ineptitude that have come to be a hallmark for the big city to the north. He comes up to my room to say goodnight. We talk about what we did that day - which really means that I tell him about my day, the ups and downs. And he smiles, gives me a hug and says "don't worry, things will look a lot brighter in the morning!" And with that he turns out the light in my room and heads to bed.

I thought it might be appropriate to wrap this up with a quote from that other great commentator on watches, the poet philosopher - Master Po from TV's Kung Fu:

Shamelessly borrowed from the worldwide infoweb

Caine: Is it good to seek the past, Master Po? Does it not rob the present?

Master Po: If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past.

Enjoy your watches - and give your dad a call!

Still Searching For Severin

I was reminded by a reader that yesterday, June 25, marked 13 years since Severin Wunderman passed away and left a gap in the watch industry that has yet to be filled (though many have tried). As mentioned frequently here before, I never got the chance to meet Mr. Wunderman, as I was still on the other side of the booth working for DOXA in the US when I learned of his passing. I reached out to my boss and asked if we should send a condolence message, and he freaked out and said "No, and never contact anyone in other brands!" Needless to say he was, and continues to be, a wee bit paranoid ; )

I sent a card anyway.

In the years since I left DOXA, I joined first the Fifth, then the Fourth Estate getting to meet many luminaries in Watch Town, and began to consult behind the scenes with brands both mighty and modest. And what I found fascinating was the number of people I encountered who had worked for Severin Wunderman during his Gucci and later Corum days, a group of men and women who still sometimes refer to themselves as "Severin's Children". 

I remember asking one friend who referred to himself as one of "Severin's Children"- 

"You're Severin Wunderman's son?" (I was a little green back then and easily impressed).

"No, but he was the person who really launched my career in the watch business".

I've met more people with similar stories than I've had hot meals in a given December. And I have borrowed some of the strategies that these folks have shared with me, and pay them forward to brands that I consult with, and have put them to work with my little project, the Oberlin Watch Company.

What continues to fascinate me, these many years later, is really how simple Mr. Wunderman's formulas were. But that's a topic for another day. Today I want to share a story that one of "Severin's Children" shared with me last December -

"It was back in 1997 when I was decorating the booth windows of our Baselworld stand. The windows had a big iconic GUCCI-G inside with one high heel shoe in the middle of this big G. We only displayed one watch in the entire window! It was around 10pm that I was flirting with an employee of our neighboring booth from Bucherer (not yet Carl F. Bucherer at that time). Her name was Beatrice. That's when she told me that I was a bit mean to let this "old" decorator work so late, and she told me that I should be ashamed of myself. Severin was wearing this four /five day beard and wasn‘t dressed in one of his suits, with the type of class that only he or Cary Grant had! There is no way that she could believe that this creative, fine, small, thin man and "great decorator" getting the booth ready was the boss of GUCCI timepieces! Then I told her that this old decorator was Severin. I asked her to try to imagine that Mr. Bucherer would be there decorating the booth with her right now, or Mr. Hayek Sr. was decorating the OMEGA booth. She didn‘t believe me at first and so I called Severin over and introduced him to Beatrice, who as it happened was probably the one of the most successful people at selling GUCCI timepieces in the Bucherer flagship store in Lucerne. And he immediately started to flirt with her in his own elegant way and invited us all for dinner. But remember; it was already after 10pm and this was 1997 in Switzerland. Usually restaurants at this time even in Basel closed their kitchens at 9:30/10:00pm, at that time especially one day before the official opening of the show. So he asked me to call Jeoffrey. Only insiders know that this was the preferred Indian restaurant of Severin in Basel which was run by the famous Jeoffrey, a wonderful gentlemen from Malaysia. And of course we not only got our table, but had dinner long after midnight. The next day Severin walked into the hall and to our booth in a suit with a class and elegance with his beautiful butterfly brooch, cigar at the ready. Yes, at that time cigars we‘re still allowed inside the holy halls of Basel... and then we started the the press presentation of the G-300 club, as well as a group of "only" 300 selected jewelers worldwide who were allowed to order and sell the G-Watch in gold! The press conference was such a huge success that so many journalists and attendees attended to our conference that they nearly had to cue up all the way to the Bucherer booth, where Beatrice was standing and waving over to Severin, who greeted her with a wonderful and beautiful smile that only he could have. We all miss this wonderful smile. I only recently saw it again in the face and eyes of his grandson. The spirit of Severin will always live on in all of us. And of course the G-300 collection was also sold by Bucherer in Lucerne. And guess which point of sale sold most of them in the whole world, and more specifically I mean which salesperson? Yes, that would be Beatrice! And that was part of the magic he had, Severin made all of us feel like part of his wonderful family!"

The 10th Anniversary of the Golden Bridge Automatic

From Corum - 

Courtesy of Corum

To mark an impressive 10 year run, Corum is releasing a very special edition.  It is available in four different iterations, but for me the above model is "best in show".

GOLDEN BRIDGE AUTOMATIC  

B313/04279 - 313.200.86/0F01 HS15

The Tonneau-shaped case measures 37.20 x 51.80 mm, with a thickness of 13.70 mm.
The main case is of black DLC treated grade 5 titanium. The crown and lug horns are of 5N 18k rose gold. Under the hood is the CO 313, a self-winding (Automatic) movement featuring 40 hours of power reserve.

This particular version is limited to 150 pieces. 

The Admiral 45 Openworked Tourbillon

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

This is the latest, and I have to admit rather exciting iteration of Corum's Admiral collection.

The case measures 45 mm in diameter and is of carbon with gold inclusions.  The movement is listed as Corum's CO 298.  It is self-winding (automatic) and the complications include power reserve, a 3 minute counter and flying tourbillon (open worked).  

Limited to only 48 pieces.

ADMIRAL 45 OPENWORKED TOURBILLON Limited Edition: 48 piece(s)

MOVEMENT
Movement number  -  CO 298

Winding system: Automatic

Functions: Hour & Minute • Flying tourbillon • Power reserve • 3 minutes counter 
Power reserve: 72 hours

Frequency:  3 Hz, 21’600 vph 

Dimension:  12 1/2’’’ 

Rubies:  37

DIAL
Colours:  Black
Material:  Brass
Distinctive features:  5N gold-toned brass flange

CASE
Shape:  Dodecagonal 

Dimension:  45 mm

Thickness:  14.30 mm

Case material:  Carbon with gold inclusions

Bezel material:  Carbon with gold inclusions

Crown material:  5N 18k rose gold 

Crystal:  Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
Back type:  Open back cover in titanium grade 5 

with black PVD treatment with glare proof sapphire crystal

Water-resistance:  100 meters / 10 ATM

HANDS
Hour and minute:

Dauphine-variant • 5N gold-toned • Skeleton • Black superluminova

BRACELET
Material:  Bi-material

Interhorn/Buckle: 23/20 mm

Buckle type:  Triple folding clasp

Buckle material:  Titanium grade 5 with black PVD treatment

Not So Much A Review - A Meditation on the Corum Bubble and Severin Wunderman

So this review marks a bit of an ending, but also a beginning of sorts. And it has raised one crucial question - either I've been doing this too long, or I have finally gotten to the place that I wanted to be.

So here it is, the last review at Tempus Fugit -

The Bubble is a watch that has, in truth, haunted me for YEARS. And to that extent, this VERY long review has actually been more of a meditation on the Bubble and what it meant and what it still means.

It is safe to say that without Severin Wunderman there would be no Bubble. But that is short sighted, because in truth? Without Severin Wunderman there would likely not be a Corum today. And to put it more plainly, I still find it funny that when the "noted watch journalists" roll out their lists of innovators who changed the watch business with their designs, or their business acumen, Severin Wunderman is really almost an after thought, and that is simply nuts. 

At the time he took over Corum, he took over what was, if we are all honest about it, a shell of what it had been. And prevailing wisdom would have held that you simply air out and play your greatest hits. But Mr. Wunderman had a different idea. And when the Bubble hit, it came out around the same time as the Trapeze and a few other ideas that are maybe best left in the past. But the Bubble, though maligned by some as sacrilegious, planted the flag for what Corum would become.

And then just as suddenly as it arrived, it disappeared. Corum had shifted again, and all thoughts of the Bubble appeared to have been effectively banished. 

I started Tempus Fugit going on 11 years ago, and at that time the Bubble had, well, burst. Mr. Wunderman passed away in 2008, 2 years before Tempus Fugit began so I never had the opportunity to meet him. But the thing about icons, is that they are, well, iconic. There are a lot of cool designs out there, but a cool design, on its own, is like an orphan.  It needs a champion to introduce it to the world and help it reach its potential. 

Then BaselWorld 2015 rolled around. I remember seeing 3 Bubbles lurking under a small drop cloth in the booth during a group presentation. And my hunch about the identity of the shrouded Corum proved to be correct, the Bubble had come back again. Which nearly brings us up to today.

I have seen a lot happen in the world of watches over the past 10 (PLUS) years. I have reviewed a fair amount of timekeepers, and through that process I have come to realize that ultimately there is really no such thing as a truly objective review, and more often than not, a review isn't really even that. Titles like "Hands On" only really tell you that the "reviewer" has seen and held a given watch, but most likely not worn it beyond the "showroom". Add to that the money changing hands (sometimes subtly, sometimes not so much), and it occurs to me that the watch review has grown into more of a marketing effort than an attempt to gain much factual insight.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I have either been doing this too long, or I have finally arrived at the place I want to be.

I once went on a job interview where I was asked -

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

For the record - it's pistachio. And in many ways I would say that if TODAY'S Corum Bubble had a demographic of sorts, it would be the pistachio crowd.  If you think about it, pistachio is a bit broader in scope than the big three - chocolate, vanilla or strawberry (Rolex, Patek and Omega). But it is also not so "off the rails" and pleading for attention and shock value like Rocky Road, or Bubblegum (HYT). It's a (now) standard size and shape (albeit its own unique one), and can now act as a canvas that can be used to paint a lot of different stories. My all-time favorite Bubble illustrates the Ying and Yang or duality of the Bubble -

Courtesy of Prestige Time

Truly the world on your wrist, with the (very) domed sapphire crystal emphasizing that the world is, indeed, round.

All good things inevitably must come to an end, and my time with this particular Bubble is now up.

So for those tuning in late, this is the Bubble Baron Samedi/Voodoo 47MM. The Baron Samedi has come in a few iterations, and if my sources are correct, this was part of a later series (2016) with the original debuting in 2006 (if memory serves).

So let's talk about size. The current Bubble collection has definitely increased in size. But curious to relate, what would normally be oppressively huge on my wrist was actually not so bad -

In large part, this is due to a lovely curving of the lugs. They almost hug the wearer's wrist.

The movement is self-winding (Automatic)-

The strap is rubber and very, very comfortable.

The case is of stainless steel, and even with a non-screw down crown the watch is rated to 100 meters of water resistance.

The timekeeping was beyond reproach, and I have to admit, I truly enjoyed the double takes that my companion, the Baron Samedi drew from passers by, even during these days of COVID thinned crowds.

So is the Corum Bubble for you? If it were 2000 - 2003 I think the answer would be a resounding "Hells Yeah!".  That's the thing about being an "it" watch. At that time it was a pretty easy sell, and when I was working at Tourneau I was frustrated that we didn't have the Bubble (they were reserved for Neiman Marcus, just down the street from us), because I could have sold the heck out of them.

But the beauty of the Bubble today is that in many ways, it has now transcended that time and place - the turn of the century. It is not trying to please everyone, and like pistachio ice cream is not going to  be such an obvious choice. 

But then again, if you are reading Tempus Fugit, chances are that you don't necessarily bob along in the water with all the other floaters, drifting from trend to trend ; )

As for me? Well, if these past months have done anything, they have confirmed my love for the Bubble. And for me, that love is not a really something that can be proven empirically. To a large extent, you either get today's Bubble, or you don't. And I get it.  Or to quote that other great commentator on watches - Chaka Khan:

"I feel for you."

So from the review bureau at Tempus Fugit, this is your old pal Henki signing off.

Enjoy your watches!

The Bubble Diablo

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

And no, gentle reader, it is not lost on me that I am still bezel deep in a review of another Corum Bubble ;  )

But this little buzzer was released earlier this month and it is, well, a bit special, and is limited to 88 pieces.

At 47 mm in diameter, it is not insignificant. But the weight will not be too oppressive owing to the fact that the case is of titanium (assuming that the DLC treatment doesn't add significantly - yes, I'm kidding).

But wait - there's more! Yes, Corum makes chronographs, and they have made Bubble Chronographs, but this appears to be a single button (crown) chronograph with a rather beguiling set of sub dials that serve as eyes of a sort, and the date window where the mouth might be.

The movement is the CO 771, a self-winding chronograph with hours, minutes, seconds and date with a power reserve of 55 hours.

The case, as previously mentioned is of DLC treated titanium measuring 47 mm in diameter, with a thickness of 20.45 mm. You can certainly paddle about in the pool with this one as the water resistance is rated to 100 meters.

The Transfer Window Opens - Sometimes They Come Back...

Word reached the North Shore offices of Tempus Fugit this AM that not unlike the Ghost of Christmas Past, Antonio Calce has been appointed the CEO of Greubel Forsey.

You may remember Mr. Calce from his stint at Corum which spun into: "Corum/Eterna, The Twin Towers", then a brief coffee break at Girard-Perregaux: "Twin Towers Two: Electric Boogaloo". 

Mr. Calce has been given oversight of the Greubel Forsey brand, but not been given the keys to the Complitime Executive washroom. Complitime is Greubel Forsey's sister company for external movement production.

Corum and Eterna - Slightly New Ownership

Word made its way to the North Shore offices of Tempus Fugit yesterday that Corum - 

                                                                    

and Eterna -

    

will soon be under new (albeit fairly familiar) ownership.

As most of you know, each brand was purchased by Citichamp.  And I have gone on record several times and will do so again here - the reason why Eterna has struggled is not new. It was struggling long before Citychamp came in, and in fact Eterna would have been dead and buried if Citychamp hadn't placed their bet.

So what's the big news? Mr. Kwok Lung Hon who if my reading of things is correct is the majority shareholder in Citychamp. And as it happens, Mr. Hon decided to purchase the two brands and is now, in effect, the owner.  And in many ways this is big news. At about the same time that Tata decided to eschew its investment in Favre Leuba, Mr. Hon has sacked up and put his marker on the table.

This could mean a few things, but I am a HUGE Eterna fan, which is not entirely unlike being a Cleveland Indians (soon to be a different name) fan.  I come from a city called "Believeland", where sometimes you have to go on hope. And my hope is that maybe, just maybe this is going to mark a turning point.  Maybe Eterna can finally get the CEO they need and deserve.  Maybe Corum will continue to focus on what makes it special and hopefully begin to truly grow again. The pieces are there, and hopefully Mr. Hon's decision to take ahold of these two brands himself will lead to better things ahead.

Time will tell, but at a time where others are throwing in their hands, this Eterna fan is saying thank you, and welcome to Believeland! 

Seven Days with the Corum Bubble and Severin Wunderman

I have met a bunch of people since entering the watch business back in 2003. But there is one person, one man that I always wanted to meet, but sadly never did as he passed in 2008, 2 years before I moved from the brand side of the BaselWorld booth to the other side.   

Courtesy of Corum

When Wendy and I first moved back to the US in 2000, it was almost exactly the same time that Mr. Wunderman pulled off what is probably still the single greatest comebacks in the watch business when he hung up his apron at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and moved back to running things with Corum.

And let's just say that he wasn't planning on playing it safe.  The Bubble stirred a lot of feelings - none of them neutral ; )

I personally loved it, and was probably the most irritating guest in the Corum booth when not unlike Mr. Wunderman, the Bubble made a stirring comeback of its own - and I caught a glimpse of one of the three new versions hiding under the drop cloth.

So yes, the next seven days will be about a review, but they will also about Mr. Wunderman.  

So stay tuned!

The Admiral AC-ONE 45 Chronograph

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

This one is a bit special, and might have flown in under the radar for some of us when it first dropped.

The case is in the eponymous Admiral Dodecagonal shape. It is of titanium and measures - you guessed it, 45 mm in diameter.  It is rated to be water resistant to 300 meters. 

You will also notice the bracelet is also of titanium, ant it has a pretty dope pattern engraved in the middle links. I am assuming that it is meant to replicate the detail on the dial, which is described as “Grenadier fendu”. Now as my friends Sven and Rod will attest, French is not my strong suit, but Google Translate informs me that this translates as "split pomegranate". I encourage anyone out there to offer a more accurate definition. Having said that, I do like pomegranate, and in truth kinda' like that idea for a naming convention.

The movement is the CO 132 which provides hours, minutes, seconds, date and a chronograph.  As the dial will attest, a try-compax with the date between the 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock indices.

Here are the pertinents -

ADMIRAL AC-ONE 45 CHRONOGRAPH

MOVEMENT

Movement number:
CO 132

Winding system:
Automatic

Functions:
Chronograph • Hour & Minute • Second • Date

Power reserve:
42 hours

Frequency:
4 Hz, 28'800 vph

Dimension:
12 1/2'''

Rubies:
39

DIAL
Colors:
Silver-colored

Material:
Brass

Distinctive features:
Hourly nautical pennants transferred on the flange

HANDS
Hour and minute:
Dauphine-variant • Rhodium-coated • Skeleton • Black superluminova

BRACELET
Material:
Titanium

Interhorn/Buckle:
23/20 mm

Buckle type:
Triple folding clap

Buckle material:
Titanium grade 5

The Golden Bridge Rectangle 40th Anniversary

From Corum in yellow and white gold.  Today we're going to focus on the yellow gold model -

Courtesy of Corum

40 years in the making, this release honors the original and all that followed it.

Limited to 40 pieces, so if you are of a mind, don't dawdle!

Here are the pertinents -

MOVEMENT

Movement number:
CO 113

Winding system:
Manual

Functions:
Hour & Minute

Power reserve:
40 hours

Frequency:
4 Hz, 28'800 vph

Dimension:
14 3/4''' x 5'''

Rubies:
19

Movement finishes:
Bridges and plate in 18kt gold

CASE

Shape:
Rectangular

Dimension:
29.50 x 42.20

Thickness:
8.90 mm

Case material:
5N 18kt rose gold • Engraved "LE" inscription

Crown material:
5N 18kt rose gold

Crystal:
Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment

Back type:
Screwed in open back cover in 5N 18kt rose gold with glare proof sapphire crystal

Water-resistance:
30 meters / 3 ATM

HANDS

Hour and minute:
Baton • Rhodium-coated • Faceted

BRACELET

Material:
Alligator leather

Colours:
Brown

Interhorn/Buckle:
22/18 mm

Buckle type:
Triple folding clasp

Buckle material:
5N 18kt rose gold

Summer Repeat: Time to Sack Up - Eterna Can Be Saved

I first dropped this over a year ago, and it's as true today as it was then. City Champ - this is fixable!  But only if you're ready to.  So once again -

Time to Sack Up - Eterna Can Be Saved

In the city of Grenchen, on the train line from Biel/Bienne to Basel, there is a once mighty watch manufacturer that now lies (mostly) dormant.  A beautiful factory and administration building that evokes memories of Willy Wonka's factory.  An owner with enough money to (if they wanted to) not just save the company, but truly resurrect it.  But just like that fictitious confectioner, the building is a shell of its former self.  It would seem that nobody goes in, and nobody comes out.

And for some of us hard-core Eterna fans?  This is frustrating.  In fairness, a very solid sales network has been created by some very talented people who are out there, every day, preaching the gospel of Eterna and the KonTiki.  So a lot of the pieces are already in place.

So a few simple suggestions -

1.  Eliminate everything on the menu except the KonTiki.  Focus on three different versions with the same "guts".  In essence, a single version with three different "flavors".  As any parent will tell you, you never ask a kid what flavor of ice cream they want.  You will be there all day.  Simply ask them - "Do you want ice cream?  Great, we have chocolate, vanilla or strawberry."

Do this for one to two years.  Simply put?  You are guaranteed to sell a lot of this model, and take that time to revamp and slowly introduce new collections.

2.  Find a real turn-around specialist.  Look beyond the hucksters and the confidence men that you have been turning to.  Sorry, I have to call this one like I see it.  The people making the hiring decisions when it comes to the top spot at Eterna keep making some flawed choices.  And once again, I refer to Moneyball:

 “Managers tend to pick a strategy that is the least likely to fail, rather then to pick a strategy that is most efficient," Said Palmer." The pain of looking bad is worse than the gain of making the best move.”
― Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game 

How many CEOs and "interim" leaders do you need to go through before you maybe look in a different direction?  Stop worrying about making a potentially embarrassing decision, because guess what?  That ship has sailed!  You've made enough bad hiring decisions to last the next ten years.

But there is one guy out there, one person out there uniquely qualified to fix Eterna.  Note that I DID NOT say fix Corum and Eterna.  Let's focus on one problem at a time ; )

There is one person out there who could objectively identify the troubles at Eterna, offer honest analysis without being fearful of keeping everyone happy, and would leave his ego out of the equation.  He is perhaps the most influential person in the Swiss watch industry that you've never heard of, and he and a few of his long-term teammates could not only get their hands around this situation, but chart a course to the sea of success.

Citichamp, if you're reading this and you're ready to sack up and try to right the good-ship Eterna?  Drop me a line!  I won't even charge you a finder's fee ; )

3.  COMMUNICATE!  Silence, in this particular situation?  Not golden.  Stop waiting for the press and fans to come to you - go to them. 

The Admiral 42 Automatic Bronze

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

The case is of bronze and measures 43 mm in diameter. Water resistant to 50 meters. The movement is the CO 395.  Hours, minutes, small seconds and date at 3 o'clock.

Available in blue or green.

A Corum I Do Like

With Corum, Severin Wunderman was able to resurrect a brand that had a lot of much potential.  I love the original Bubble.  The new one?  If I'm honest, not so much.  

And I do really like some of the Admiral Collection, although a note for the PR department putting together the text for the watch descriptions on the website - 42 mm is not necessarily a woman's size watch, and in all honesty, I don't know that I want to "float on a feminine ocean of colour this summer", or any summer for that matter. 

But that being said, here is a Corum that I truly do like -

Courtesy of Corum

This is the Admiral 42, and despite the text attached to it on the Corum website, I suspect that it is probably not intended solely as a woman's watch.  But if that copywriter is to be believed, "summer is sure to be a colourful, lively and funky affair".

So fire up your Captain & Tennille 8 tracks, and let's see if Love (really) Will Keep Us Together ; )



Here are the pertinents, straight from the funky source -

• Movement CO 395 - Automatic
• Case 42 mm - Stainless steel, double antireflective sapphire, sapphire case back
• Dial Brass - Dauphine, faceted, openworked, rhodium-plated, white superluminova
• Bracelet Alligator - 21/18 mm
• Buckle Triple-blade folding clasp - Stainless steel

The Admiral 42

Corum makes a lot of watches that I personally find quite interesting.  

Courtesy of Corum

Unfortunately, this latest offering is not one of them.

Courtesy of Corum

Yes, gentle reader!  You can have any color you want! 

Courtesy of Corum

Sort of.  

Courtesy of Corum

Black with five different highlight colors...

Courtesy of Corum

The case itself measures 42 mm in diameter, black PVD treated stainless steel case, the movement is the CO 395 which is self-winding/automatic with hour, minute, date at 3 o'clock, and small seconds above the 6 o'clock "pennant", boasting 42 hours of power reserve.

The LAB 01 in Damascus Steel

This is the latest from Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

This is a new take on the LAB 01.  Available in two color ways - blue (above), and green (below).

Courtesy of Corum

Limited to 99 pieces in each version.

The Admiral AC-ONE 45 Openworked Tourbillon

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

Here are the pertinents -
ADMIRAL AC-ONE 45 OPENWORKED TOURBILLON

Limited Edition : 38 pieces

Here are the pertinents -

• Movement CO 298 - Automatic 
• Case 45 mm - Titanium 
• Dial Brass - Dauphine-variant, Rhodium-coated, Skeleton 
• Bracelet Bi-material - 23/20 mm 
• Buckle Triple folding clasp - Titanium

Admiral AC-ONE 38 Automatic

From Corum -

Courtesy of Corum

The case measures 38 mm in diameter and is of titanium, the bezel is set with diamonds.  The movement is Corum's CO 082, an automatic movement with hours, minutes, seconds and date.  Power reserve of 42 hours.