Viva La Lip!

So where we last left off, I had decided to revisit one of my favorite places - Besançon, France. And what drew me at this particular time? It was a new watch that Lip had come out with. But I was drawn not just as a journalist, but as a potential customer...

I wrote about it when it just came out, but to re-heat the pertinents, this is the Lip T18 Original.

It is based on an original take on the current Churchill series. What makes it so special? Well its movement is based on an original hand wound caliber -

Courtesy of Lip

This is special because at no small effort and expense, Lip committed to making something true to the original, with the help of local and regional partners. They could have done a cheap-and-cheerful homage, but Pierre-Alain Berard and his team in Besançon set their sights a little higher!

Per Lip - 

"The components of its movement are machined in Switzerland by the La Joux-Perret factory and assembled in Besançon by the Humbert-Droz company. The casing and inspection are carried out in the LIP workshops in Besançon."

This photo was taken by yours truly at Lip HQ, back in March. And based on what I saw, and was able to try on? I was very, very impressed.

So impressed that I broke my cardinal rule:

"Never get high on your own supply!"

If you were to visit the Lip website to look this little wrist bound bijoux up, you'd be out of luck. It sold out REALLY FAST!

But it would seem that fateful day back in March, my luck was in! I was able to put my marker down, and was able to secure the final piece of the series (all the others were spoken for) - lucky #180 / 180!

And a few weeks ago, it found its way to the North Shore, where I have been enjoying wearing it immensely!

There is quite a bit more to come about my visit, Besançon, and the people at Lip who are truly bringing back traditional watch making to it's ancestral home in France.

Stay tuned!

Heavy weather and the C8 Pilot

Okay, it is always a tricky matter to try and discuss bad weather with people who don't live in Santa Barbara.  This really is one of the most pleasant places on earth to live with sunshine being the norm, and people buried under snow tend to think you are a bit precious when complaining about the weather.

Having said that we have been (to some extent) literally underwater for nearly the past week.

The C8 Pilot has been flawless!  While the strap has gotten a touch damp (yes that is a gentle understatement), it has remained in fantastic shape with no discoloration, fading, etc.

This is more than I can say for my Barbour jacket which will need a heavy treatment of wax as the rain has been so constant that it has nearly worn off the last application.  Any readers out there in the Newcastle upon Tyne area with a line on a bargain priced coat, let me know - I will need to rotate them to have at least one "semi-dry" jacket!

But on to the watch itself - it has been in very damp and humid conditions - this is from someone who lived through two typhoon seasons in Japan and visited Vietnam during the rainy season - and no fogging, no mist - bright and clear and dry.  This was a great relief, particularly after a very large truck managed to splash a bath-tub full of water directly on me.  Clothes soaked, boots water-logged, the aforementioned Barbour coat as effective as a swimsuit.  The Christopher Ward C8 Pilot - a little damp, but just fine, thank you.

In reading various forums it is clear that there are some folks out there that feel a watch must have a screw-down crown to ensure any sort of water resistance, or that a screw-down crown is a sign of quality.  When you have a company taking the time to properly assemble a watch this is certainly NOT the situation.  The correct and appropriate use of gaskets and seals coupled with a well made, smoothly finished case will protect the watch from the normal (and lately here in California - downright biblical) daily events.  This is not to say that this is a diving watch by any stretch of the imagination.  But in terms of the pitfalls you might encounter on (semi) dry land, the C8 Pilot is a solid choice.

Oh - and the timing is holding steady - last two days a deviation of 6 seconds.

A Classic Design

With all of the new innovations out there - and there are plenty - it is nice to see something classic - and reasonably priced! This is the Limes Pharo Hand/Wound Power Reserve, truly a beautiful watch.

The Limes watch company is owned by the Ickler family Pforzheim, Germany. Limes was one of the first companies to utilize the direct sales model - connecting to customers around the world via the internet.



And for US customers there is an added bonus, Limes watches are sold with the shipping charges included!

Visit the folks at Limes here for more information on this hand wound classic:

http://www.limes-uhren.de



Limes combines their own beautifully finished cases with Swiss made movements. The results speak for themselves.

Limes hosts a lively discussion forum where owners and owners to be hold forth on their favorite watch:

http://www.watchandclockforum.com/viewforum.php?f=110