The Nightflight Limited Edition

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

Available in 2 different dial versions, the black dial Nightflight Limited Edition LB (above), and with what Limes describes as a silver white dial -

Courtesy of Limes

The case is (of course) by Ickler and is of stainless steel, measuring 37.8 mm in diameter. 

Courtesy of Limes

The movement is the ETA 2824-2 TOP.

Here are the pertinents, straight from Limes -

Movement
Swiss automatic movement 

ETA 2824-2 TOP

Watch Case
ICKLER made stainless steel case, finely brushed and polished, diameter 37,8mm, thickness 9,5mm, flat sapphire crystal with A/R coating on both sides, mineral crystal display back, crown with Ickler logo, water resistant 5 ATM

Dial
Black or Silver White , arabic numerals (Superluminova)

Hands
White or Black, luminous hands (Superluminova)

Band
Brown leather, width 20mm, wrist size: 18,5 - 22,5cm

Price incl. VAT plus shipping costs
€980.00
(Price w/o VAT €844.83 ) 

The Endurance PD . B.K

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

Clean, solid and bereft of any logos or text.  All that you need, nothing you don't.  Limes is owned by the Ickler family.   

Courtesy of Limes

You may remember them from such brands as Archimede, but in fact where they really earned their bona-fides was with the original family business, making watch cases.

Courtesy of Limes

 And that experience shows through with the Endurance range!

This is not a show-pony.  This is a real tool watch designed and manufactured with the intent of making real watches for real life.

Courtesy of Limes

And it even looks good in the dark ; )

Courtesy of Limes

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Movement	Swiss automatic movement Sellita SW 200-1
Watch case	ICKLER diver's case, water resistant to 30 ATM, stainless steel brushed and polished diameter 41,5mm, with crown 46mm, length 6-12: 50mm, thickness 12,5mm, sapphire crystal with A/R coating, blue unidirectional rotating bezel (120 clicks) with 60 min. scale and luminous point, solid screw down case back, screw down crown with I-logo, screw bars
Dial	Blue with large luminous indices, date at 6 o'clock, without logo
Hands	Luminous hands
Band	Rubber strap, width 20mm, wrist size: 18.5 - 22cm

The Phara

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

Available in a mother of pearl dial (above) which features 8 diamonds.

And also a silvered dial with a guilloche effect in the central portion (below) -

Courtesy of Limes

The case is stainless steel and measures 31.5 mm in diameter.  It is available on a leather strap (pink, blue, black or brown) or s stainless steel bracelet.

This is a self-winding watch, utilizing the SW 200.

Prices start at -  €880.00 incl. VAT  (w/o VAT €739.50)

 

The Pharo Big Date with Power Reserve

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

Here are the pertinents -
Technical details

Movement	Decorated Swiss hand wound movement ETA 2892-2 TOP with big date and power reserve, blued stainless steel screws, Geneva stripes and Perlage, LIMES logo
Watch case	ICKLER made stainless steel case, polished and brushed, distinct vertical lines on circumference, diameter 40,5mm, thickness 11mm, domed sapphire crystal A/R coated, mineral crystal display back, crown with Ickler logo, waterresistant 5 ATM
Dial	Silvered dial with Clou-de-Paris and Sunray Guilloché patterns, fine Roman numerals
Hands	Blue Breguet hands
Band	Black leather, width 20mm, wrist size: 18 - 22cm

The Vektor

From DEFAKTO -

Courtesy of DEFAKTO

DEFAKTO has done something I've been waiting for for awhile - a watch that makes me say -

THAT'S THE SHIT THAT KILLED ELVIS!

The Vektor is one of those watches that hits you on so many levels that you really just want to run and grab a credit card and place your order!

Available in black (above), and a really classic white (below) -

Courtesy of Defakto

The case measures 39 mm - a very sensible size choice.  The case is stainless steel and made by Ickler.  

Courtesy of Defakto

The movement is Miyota's 9015 self-winding with sweeping seconds. 

Courtesy of Defakto

It is priced quite well at 537,82 € Excluding VAT!

Courtesy of Defakto

Here are the pertinents -

Specifications:

• Flat 39mm stainless steel, automatic watch 
• In-house manufactured two -piece watch case
• Mix of brushed and polished surfaces
• Convex dial and manually bent hands
• Spherical Plexiglas dome, highly anti reflective
• German made Defakto cowhide or lack strap
• Automatic movement Miyota 9015, sweeping seconds, Japanese made.

Courtesy of Defakto

A New Pharo DayDate

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

 Limes has brought an updated take on their Pharo DayDate.

Courtesy of Limes

 A more modern take on a true Limes classic.

Courtesy of Limes

Here are the pertinents -

Technical details

Movement	Decorated Swiss automatic movement Eta 2834 TOP DayDate, blued screws, Geneva stripes and Perlage, rotor with LIMES logo
Watch case	ICKLER made stainless steel case, polished and brushed, with elegant coined edges, diameter 40,5mm, thickness 11mm, domed sapphire crystal, mineral crystal display back, crown with Ickler logo, waterresistant 5 ATM
Dial	Silvered dial, fine Roman numerals, elegant Clous-de-Paris Guilloch pattern
Hands	Blue Breguet hands
Band	Black leather, width 20mm, wrist size: 18 - 22cm

The New diver ENDURANCE PD

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

And just when we needed it the most, Limes has offers us something a bit different that should bring in quite a few new customers.

Courtesy of Limes

 Offered in Blue (my personal favorite) and black, on either a bracelet or strap.

Courtesy of Limes

 This is a watch, not an advertisement.  Beautifully legible dial, tactile bezel, real presence, and...

Courtesy of Limes

No logo.  And honestly, it is a really good looking watch!

A solid case back will inform anyone else who made your time keeper -

Courtesy of Limes

And Lume that burns like a torch -

Courtesy of Limes

Here are the pertinents -

Movement:
Swiss automatic movement Sellita SW 200-1

Watch case: 
ICKLER diver's case, waterresistant to 30 ATM, stainless steel brushed and polished diameter 41,5mm, with crown 46mm, 
length 6-12: 50mm, thickness 12,5mm, sapphire crystal with A/R coating, blue unidirectional rotating bezel (120 clicks) with 60 min. scale and luminous point, solid screw down case back, screw down crown with I-logo, screw bars

Dial:
Blue or black with large luminous indices, date at 6 o'clock, without logo

Hands:
Luminous hands

Band:
Leather strap or stainless steel bracelet with safety clasp and fold-out extension, width 20mm, wrist size: 16 - 22cm

Get Your Hands on This

From Limes -

Courtesy of Limes

With some of my colleagues doing a very interesting write up of another Limes model, I was reminded of one of my personal favorites.  Apologies in advance because I wrote about this little buzzer several years back, but it still speaks to me.

This is the Pharo Handwound . SI.LS 

A beautifully simple hand winding model with sub seconds at 6 o'clock and a power reserve indicator in the upper left.  

Nothing radical, just clear legibility on a nicely finished dial with a hand-winding movement.

Courtesy of Limes

 Thank you Limes for reminding us that restraint is a good thing, and that simple doesn't mean dumb, it means elegant.

And at a price of €1,220.00 (including VAT) you can have a very elegant watch without breaking the bank.

Here are the pertinents -


Technical details

Movement	Decorated Swiss hand wound movement ETA 7001 TOP with power reserve, small second at 6h, blued stainless steel screws, Geneva stripes and Perlage, LIMES logo
Watch case	ICKLER made stainless steel case, polished, diameter 40,5mm, thickness 9,2mm, curved sapphire crystal with antireflective coating, sapphire display back, crown with Ickler logo, waterresistant 5 ATM
Dial	Silvered dial with Clou-de-Paris and Sunray Guilloché patterns, applied indices
Hands	Silvered lancet hands
Band	Black Brown leather, width 20mm, wrist size: 18 - 22cm

The Limes Neptun

Has received an update -

Courtesy of Limes

The folks at Limes have taken something that was already quite good, and made it even better.  Some of the elements of the case (formerly all brushed) are now polished to offer some stronger contrast.  This extended to the hands which are now polished in an effort to provide greater legibility.

Courtesy of Limes

Here are the pertinents -

Technical details

Movement
Swiss automatic movement Sellita SW 200-1

Watch case

ICKLER diver's case, water resistant to 100 ATM, stainless steel brushed and polished,
diameter 41,5mm, with crown 46mm, length 6-12: 50mm, thickness 12,5mm,
sapphire crystal with A/R coating, unidirectional rotating steel bezel with indexes and luminous point, solid screw down case back, screw down crown, screw bars

Dial

Black with large luminous indices

Hands

Luminous hands

Band

Stainless steel bracelet with safety clasp and fold-out extension.
Width 20mm, wrist size: 16-22 cm

The New Chyros Klassik

from LIMES -

Courtesy of LIMES

43 mm of Pforzheim stainless steel. The movement is the standard version of the SW200. Hours, minutes, seconds and date at 6 o'clock.

Courtesy of LIMES

This can be viewed through the case's display back.  While the top crystal is anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the case back crystal is mineral.  This, and the use of the standard SW200 enables LIMES to offer this watch at a more attractive price - 655,46 € (without VAT)

Courtesy of LIMES

The lume on the dial is truly impressive displaying hours and minutes.  Available direct through the German Watch Shop -

www.german-watch-shop.com

1950's

From ARCHIMEDE -

Courtesy of ARCHIMEDE

This is something new from ARCHIMEDE and is definitely a welcome addition to their current offerings.  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I present the 1950's.

Pharo BigDate with Power Reserve

From LIMES -

Courtesy of LIMES

Here's some further info direct from LIMES -

The New Pharo Cartouche H

This just in from Limes -

Courtesy of Limes


This is the Pharo Cartouche H

Redesign of the LIMES Pharo Cartouche

This is a new take on one of LIMES's classic watches -

Courtesy of LIMES

LIMES Endurance Leviathan

This is the latest offering from LIMES, the Endurance Leviathan!  Weighing in at an impressive 44.5 mm in diameter, this is the latest iteration of the great dive watches coming from the Ickler's.

Courtesy of LIMES

Courtesy of LIMES

One of the biggest developments with the Endurance Leviathan is that the case now has a new crown construction which employs a screw-down tube and two separate O-ring gaskets in the case back.  This provides extra water resistance. 

Courtesy of LIMES

Powered by a self-winding SW 200, the Endurance Leviathan is rated to 300 meters for water resistance.

www.limes-uhren.de

Limes Chyros

This just in from Limes -

The Limes Chyros.  The name is derived from the Greek word  'perfect moment'. 

Here is part of the official release from Limes:

The German made, stainless steel case, is beautifully constructed in three parts, with both polished and finely brushed finishes. The coined edge of the case is echoed in the textured ribbing on the dial. Available either in black or white, both versions have eye-catching, polished, applied markers and a distinctly German look. The white dialed version has black Super-LumiNova lume on the hands - black by day but luminous at night.

The movement is the ultra-reliable Swiss-made, decorated, automatic Sellita SW200 TOP; visible through the mineral crystal display back.  The crystal is slightly domed and has anti-reflective coating on both sides and the crown carries the Ickler logo.

The LIMES Chyros is available directly from LIMES for
US customerswww.limes-uhren.de/index_US.php?site=inhalt-Chyros-AUT-US for US$ 1,290, including shipping and all US duties and for
International customers
www.limes-uhren.de/index_EN.php?site=inhalt-Chyros-AUT-EN for Eur 995 plus shipping costs.

DEFAKTO Night Shift - Summary

So it has now officially been two weeks with the DEFAKTO Night Shift.

So after 15 days with the DEFAKTO Nightshift it is time to sum up.

Starting with the obvious items:
Comfort - this is, without a doubt, one of the most comfortable watches I have worn for some time.  It is a 42 mm case.  In fairness, I realize that this is almost "average" by today's standards, but it is a substantial watch.  As I said before, when the "family business" is making watch cases, you can be fairly confident that the results will be pretty good.  Well, re-calibrate your expectations.  If the DEFAKTO is anything to go on, the case will be FANTASTIC!   The fit, finish and overall quality of the DEFAKTO's case is really among the best that I have seen.  Smooth, not sharp or rough.  But also well-balanced, not oppressively heavy or awkward.  In addition, the leather strap is really well matched to the watch case itself.  Thick, but not fat.  The strap is a great complement to the watch.

Legibility - FULL MARKS!  Thanks to the clean and modern design of the dial, the face of the DEFAKTO Night ship is very, very clear and easy to read.  The fifteen minute intervals are a great way to ensure a clean and easy to read time scale.  Now one thing that the wearer will have to bear in mind is that it will take a small amount of time to adjust to the lack of an hour hand.  Overall this was something that I came to hardly notice after a few days, and came to really appreciate after a week.  The logo on the dial is a nice touch to the face.  In addition, I really appreciated the use of a "skeleton" minute hand.  It really lent itself well to the overall look and feel of the watch.

Add to that the subtle addition of lume to the dial face.  This is a very nice touch and an unexpectedly (pleasantly) surprising feature to the watch.

Accuracy should also be counted in here - yes, the watch was designed in a way to de-emphasize the importance of exactness of time for the wearer.  Having said that, the watch was very, very accurate.  The Night Shift is powered by the ETA 2824 and my suspicion is that there was a fair bit of adjustment done in the assembly of the watch because the DEFAKTO Nightshift is a startlingly accurate time-keeper.  On three different mornings I tested it against an independent time source at 6:00 AM and it was always bang-on.

Value for money is perhaps the one thing that I don't generally like to touch on when I post, but at $565.00 US this is something that really bears mentioning - this is a great price!

For me though, I have to say that I truly came to appreciate the unique look of the watch - a classic minimalist design, very clean, but not sterile.

So thank you DEFAKTO for a fantastic 15 days!

www.defakto-uhren.de

Final Day with the DEFAKTO Night Shift

Today is the final day of the 15 days with the DEFAKTO Night Shift.  Final report later this evening.

A Few Minutes with Raphael Ickler

It has been a really great two-weeks with the DEFAKTO Night Shift.  And it seemed a great time to spend some time with its creator.  So now, a few minutes with Raphael Ickler.

James:  What was your first watch, was it a gift?  Is there a story behind it?


Raphael Ickler:  The first “real” watch I got was a birthday present from my father. It was a special edition with an old Junghans movement in celebration of 80 year anniversary of the ickler watch company. The titanium watch cases had a running number, as it was my 18th birthday I got No. 18!




J:  When you were a boy, what did you want to be "when you grew up"?

RI:  I never had being some big sport star or the typical truck driver or fire fighter cliche as an idea of what I wanted to do.  I think I was just satisfied with what I was. I still don`t have this feeling now. I think things always happen in a different way – there is nothing which can be planed for sure.

J:  Your family owns Ickler, Limes and Archimede?  What was it like growing up in the Ickler company?

RI:  As you might guess, when you are a child everything your parents do is normal. In my case my father was producing watches, there was nothing special about it. I remember the big factory and the fascinating atmosphere, the sounds of the machines and the smell of oil and electricity there.  It was a great place for playing and running around.  I only started realizing how much work is involved in one timepiece as I grow older.  This became clear to me when I started to think about creating my own watch. You have to think about the concept, the design, the technical engineering, and later on you have to communicate and sell your product. Therefore I have real respect for small watchmakers and their companies, doing everything on their own.  They are entrepreneurs who have to be multi talented in many fields.

J:  Growing up in the watch industry many people would think that you had always planned of joining the family business - but maybe you thought/dreamed of doing something else?

RI:  Within the next few years I will do my own thing. Having studied Marketing & Communications I am going to work in a completely different field than our technical based factory offers.  I think it is important for everyone`s personal development to not jump directly into pre determined lines (even if they are lucrative).  Creating and working with Defakto for nearly two years now this business has given me my best insights into how things work within the watch industry.   It has also taught me a great deal about working on and building up brands in general. And as you might guess it is a lot of fun!




J:  Pforzheim has become a bit of a contender with Glashutte for watch making in Germany.  To what do you owe the success of Pforzheim?

RI:  Pforzheim has a long watch and jewelery making history.  In fact it is also called Goldstadt (Goldtown) Pforzheim.  Due to that long relationship with these industries we still have many skilled and creative, mostly family based watchmaking enterprises here, which are producing high quality watches for a growing international demand.  Just as Glashütte, Made in Pforzheim is a trademark for high quality timepieces.




J:  How did Defakto come to be and was the idea behind this?

RI:  Knowing that I grew up with watches, it might be funny to hear that I had never heard about one hand watches before I started thinking about a new way of telling time.  My main goal was to reduce things to the max.  Within this process I had the sudden inspiration of just killing the minute and second hand in the illustration in my sketch book.  To make this idea work I reduced the four indexes between the hours to three 15 minute markers.  I was amazed.  I thought this is it!   As I talked to my father about this historic invention I had just created, he told me not only that this concept is still on the market, but also that this idea was used in the first pocket watches!  But still, Defakto is unique.  There are other one hand watches on the market but they try to be as exact as their three hand competitors – and fail. We have our own way scaling time.

J:  Let's talk about Defakto - is there any significance to the name?

RI:  The meaning of the latin word “de Facto” is, in essence the current situation.  Our very pure design follows this ideology.  I have tried to reduce everything as much as possible, with the focus on creating a pure and eyemazing time keeper which serves the understated lifestyle of our customers.

But there is a second aspect: these days most people are hard workers and always on the run.  Seconds rule their world. Defakto stands for a new way of dealing with time.  When you are wearing a Defakto time is not your enemy.  Just because our watches are using a bigger, lets call it “circa” time scales doesn’t mean that you are late. You might be there just on time because you plan your events more intuitively without putting tasks on the last second. Looking to one of our watches time goes easily while being handled easy.  This is an interesting paradox in contrast to the brand name that I liked to play with.

J:  Where do you see Defakto in the next five years?

RI:  Defakto is definitely not a watch for everyone. But I have the belief that there are many individuals who will love the philosophy and the design of our watches.  My goal is to find them.  This takes some time while looking at my small marketing budget.  But using the technology of the internet, spreading our message around the world is not as cost intensive as it was in the analog decades.

J:  What is next for Defakto after the one handed watch?

RI:  There will be a slightly minimalized design with finer indexes and a different watch hand, following up the same timescale principe than the watches have we made up to now.  As there are some time addicts outside screaming for a “beginners edition” Defakto, there might be the possibility of adding some 5 minute indexes between the clock face and the sapphire crystal for more conservative readability.

J:  If you weren't doing this, what do you think you might be doing?

RI:  I would construct spaceships.

J:  What is a typical "day in the life" of Raphael Ickler?

RI:  I wake up, then I eat, I put on my Defakto: for the next 10 hours I can only remember a good feeling, then I eat and sleep. This circle goes on and on.

J:  Defakto at the moment appears to have its distribution solely via the internet.   Do you see a potential for a brick and mortar presence?

RI:  Absolutly! But there are some problems as we decided to keep the prices as low as possible to give the customer the best value for the money as possible.  Therefore the conditions we can give the distributors are not that sexy as other mainstream companies do offer, which effects in boring shop or jeweler displays.

J:  What do you like to do in your down time?

RI:  When I have stopped looking at my watch a half second before, down time is on demand and possible everywhere.  If things are bad because my watch is not around, I like to listen to good music while cooking exotic dishes and drinking a good red wine with my beautiful girlfriend.

Visit Raphael and the folks at DEFAKTO -

www.defakto-uhren.de