#TBT The Obscure LIP Thermometer With a Durowe Movement

There is no better time to write about this watch than now. I am not sure if it is me or the gaskets, oils and tiny particles in all my 60+ year old watches that don’t feel very comfortable experiencing the temperature shocks of walking from cold streets to well heated meeting rooms. Anyway, if there is one mechanical timepiece designed to enjoy this freezing January weather it would be the surrealistic LIP Thermometer from 1970.

Surrealistic LIP Thermometer

Surrealistic, obscure, funky, unorthodox – you choose. I genuinely believe that the design of this LIP Thermometer with reference number 42670 deserves each one of the previously mentioned adjectives. French. Very French. Think of it as the Citroen DS of watchmaking, meaning we don’t give a damn about what the rest of world (or Switzerland in this case) is doing, we are going to make this. And by this I mean a punch-you-in-the-face style Thermometer being set in very center of the dial and non-traditional bezel styling.

Usual Suspect LIP

LIP is not an unknown player for Fratello readers. Michael already wrote about the LIP Nautic-Ski from 1967 and its recent re-edition, Balazs retold us the colorful story about the iconic LIP Mach 2000 chronograph designed by the Roger Tallon. So rather than talk about the history of LIP let’s take a closer look on what is hidden inside. This LIP Thermometer is powered by the mechanical movement coded R557, which is basically an improved Durowe 451 caliber.

Haven’t heard of Durowe before?

No worries. Before Durowe was brought down to its knees by Quartz, it had its moments. At the top of their game, Durowe produced 80.000 movements a month, an eyebrow raising moment for everyone. Spice it up with the fact they were not a Swiss, but a German movement manufacturer (Deutsche Uhrenrohwerke) and you have yourself a truly unconventional background. Durowe was founded in 1933 by Ludwig Hummel, a successful founder and entrepreneur by today’s jargon. Not only did he decide to free Germany from a dependency on Swiss movements, but he also managed to co-found LACO. Long story short: after an affair with TIMEX, Durowe ended up under the wings of Ebauches S.A., soon to be merged under ETA. An unexpected turn of events came in 2002 when it was bought out by Mr. Schauer, the man behind Stowa. Mr. Schauer literally revived the Durowe heritage with a Stowa special limited edition carrying some new old stock Durowe movements.

From Ball Trainmaster to LIP Thermometer?

My research on mechanical Thermometer watches started when I first saw the Ball Kelvin Trainmaster introduced in 2015. As an amateur ski mountaineer and watch enthusiast I knew I had to have one. That was before I saw the uneasy 8k USD price tag – moving on. A cheaper thermometer option was immediately put on my never-ending horology bucket list. Then one random night raid a random forum put the LIP Thermometer into my sights. It was from Hong Kong, new old stock, on allegedly original strap, perfectly boxed in an original LIP sleeve. I could never check the authenticity of the box and strap as finding a LIP Thermometer in contemporary catalogues is not easy. If you have some, please, share with us.

First look at LIP Thermometer

After a mandatory and costly bureaucratic gymnastics session with customs officers, I could finally unbox the LIP Thermometer and let my fingers play with the black/red bezel. It rotates smoothly and precisely, without any rotation clicks. It holds position firmly, rarely moving out of setting due to random hand movements. If we forget the thermometer and the slightly childish bezel style for a second, there are two major characteristics worth discussing. Style and color of indexes. First of all, both the hour and minute indexes are unbelievably long. They are all way too long, especially when contrasted to the size of the thermometer. On the other hand, the yellow lume that turned into lime-ish tones is unique and gives the dial an extraordinary touch.

Reading time on the LIP Thermometer

The LIP Thermometer is a real killer. Saying so I mean two things: First of all, it is so big that its hard to overlook it even for non-watch fan. Whether you want to believe or not, this watch will be the talk of the room, even if there’s an Ed White, two Submariners and three Pateks present. Second of all, the dial is so busy that sometimes it is really hard to find the hour hand and read the time. The thermometer is one real chunky piece of machinery built under the plexi glass, sticking out from the middle of the dial. It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say it kills reading the time. It is not really integrated into the watch design as with the aforementioned Ball. Case and point? The moment I freed the dial from plexi. Looking at the picture, you get a completely new view of the watch with a spacious dial and an amazing arrow hand. Seems to me like the LIP designers didn’t speak to the LIP engineers when putting the watch concept together. All that being said, I still like the watch.

Exploring the LIP Thermometer

As you can already suspect, my curious mind had to open it. A typical new old stock watch holder would be hesitant to open the watch, afraid of leaving traces from opening the back case & thus disregarding the watch’s new old stock status and decreasing its value. Not in my case!  As I could not find any pictures, I decided to go on an explanatory operation with my watchmaker. We opened the watch, knowing that we would be looking at a simple movement anyhow. As expected, the thermometer mechanism is separated from the watch completely. If you look at the plexi glass from the bottom, the thermometer is hidden under a thin sheet of metal. We decided not to go further. We assumed the thermometer is just a simple tiny bi-metallic spring that expands and stretches according to the temperature changes. I’m happy to say though that we discovered a small fun fact that one can perhaps find in the original manual. By the smallest turn of the central screw on the bottom you can easily calibrate the thermometer function.

Measuring Temperature with LIP Thermometer

This brings us to the accuracy of the thermometer.  By some purists, it’s named the most useless, non-practical and most inaccurate complication ever implemented in a wristwatch. No argument there. Their objection is that if you keep your watch on the wrist your body, its temperature affects the accuracy big time. This is true.  And keeping the watch off the wrist just to measure the temperature is what haters refer to as the biggest nonsense, but I don’t mind it. When I leave my LIP Thermometer unattended for 5 to 10 minutes, it does the job just fine with measurements around 1°C accuracy.

Shooting the LIP Thermometer at -5°C

The LIP Thermometer is a comfortable fit and at 36mm does not get lost on the wrist. What I particularly like is the wide crown that makes winding the watch easy. For the record I did not check the thermometer accuracy at extreme temperatures like -40°C or +60°C, but I can say it is precise for a typical European winter temperature range between 8°C and -10°C. During three sets of 30-minute photo shoots in heavy snow, the LIP Thermometer got wet and had to face solid temperature shocks. The good news is that no condensation developed under the crystal, which makes me believe it is quite waterproof. So, no need to handle the Thermometer like Chinese royal porcelain. Next time, I’ll definitely attach it to my bag on a ski mountaineering trip.

Getting Your Hands on an LIP Thermometer

I have the feeling that somebody found a bunch of NOS LIP Thermometers as there were a few of them in the same condition and color combination available around the same time. According to the available information, there was another model with a blue dial and slightly differently styled white indices. Prices vary as well, with a few being sold from 600 to 1300 euros over the past year. Verdict? You will never overwhelm Patek collectors with it on your wrist, but if your collection likes to show different ways of thinking about all the potential purposes of a mechanical watch, this wild French experiment from early 1970s might do the trick.

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Hands-On: The TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T Tourbillon Nanograph

The balance spring is arguably the single most critical component of a wristwatch. It’s responsible for making sure that the oscillations of the balance are consistent, but to do so, it has to address – both metallurgically and in its configuration – a number of challenges. Magnetism, temperature changes, and the fact that the balance spring needs to be shaped so as to expand and contract as perfectly concentrically as possible, are all issues with which watchmakers have grappled over the centuries. Innovations such as overcoil outer terminal curves (Breguet and Phillips), and the use of materials like, in the past, glass and even bamboo, and in the modern era, silicon, are all intended in one way or another to reduce the degree to which external influences interfere with with the balance spring. 

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A Closer Look At The New Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic Watches

The watch everyone came to admire at their booth this year was the Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar. It is a beautiful watch, easily the most photographed one in their booth at SIHH 2019.

However, let’s not forget the fact that their Clifton Baumatic collection received an extension with 5 new other models (6 all together, including the perpetual calendar). The basis of these new models is two features: the introduction of a red gold case and a gradated blue dial. So far, the Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic models only came in a steel or two-tone case. The dial options were white or black. With the new releases from Baume & Mercier in 2019, this is about to change for the better.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic

Steel or Gold

Baume & Mercier’s Clifton Baumatic watches are a bit of a mixture in terms of their looks. They are not as elegant as the Classima models but you also not sporty like the Clifton Club pieces. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that they’re not cool watches because they are. Clifton Baumatic watches are somewhere in the sporty and elegant range of Baume & Mercier’s offerings. But this collection was a bit limited until now. This is due to the fact that most of their timepieces have white dials (except for one model). Regarding the case, the only material you could get a watch was either steel or gold & steel (as included in our article about bi-colour watches). Well, the first thing they did, was to add a gold case to their collection. For the 2019 collection, it only comes with the white dial version though.

Blue

Speaking of dials, Baume & Mercier’s 4 novelties – out of 6 – had graduated blue dials. It’ really only 2 watches, in 2 versions. Let me explain. So, for the first time, the Clifton Baumatic collection received an expansion with 4 blue dial models. You have the Clifton Baumatic with chronometer certification (COSC), on a steel or leather strap. Then you have the standard Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic with no chronometer certified movement. This one also comes with a steel bracelet or leather strap. That’s 4, but really only 2 models. None of these Baumatic movements are new, the brand already had them in this very collection. The older models also come in steel cases with a crosshair on the dial on the chronometer models. The non-chronometer models have plain white, blue or black dials, no crosshair. All watches are 40mm (but the gold), with domed sapphire crystal and water resistance up to 50 meters.

Gold

To sum it up, we have new Clifton Baumatic models with a blue dial. The older versions had white or black dials. All of them had steel cases, but one. That was not a 2019 novelty that came in a bi-colour case and non-chronometer movement. The other novelty that Baume & Mercier introduced is an all gold case. That Clifton Baumatic indeed comes with a chronometer movement inside and with a white crosshair dial. The case is 18-carat red gold, just like the Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar. The gold watch has a diameter of 39mm and has satin finishing. To match the case material the hour markers on the dial as well as the hands are in red gold. The only exception is the second hand, which is anthracite. That is the same color as the crosshair on the dial.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic

With the release of the Baumatic movement, Baume & Mercier became the first brand from Richemont to have a caliber with a silicon balance spring. While some think that have silicon in a mechanical movement cheapens the brand, it has many positive features. Amongst others, it is anti-magnetic. A feature that comes in handy these days, as we are surrounded by magnetic fields. The Baumatic self-winding caliber (inside all Clifton Baumatic models) has 120-hours of power reserve. Hence the wording on the dial; Baumatic 5 days / Chronometer (in case of the COSC models). According to the brand, the service requirement of such caliber is in every 7 years. While you should take your watch to a watchmaker when it needs to not when the time is up, the caliber definitely reduces the chance of any error. The frequency of the Baumatic is 28.800 vph and it has 21 jewels inside the movement.

Prices

The prices of the 2019 Clifton Baumatic models will not be over €3000. As a matter of fact, the non-chronometer version will be around €2500 (depending on the strap/bracelet). While the chronometer versions will be close to €3000 but still under it. The gold case white dial chronometer Clifton Baumatic will be a bit over €6000. These prices are fair and reflect current market prices. Similar models from other groups are cheaper but none of them has the same movement, only comparable ones. If it’s important for someone to have a mechanical watch with a huge power reserve, the Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic is a watch to be considered. The size and looks are great and very contemporary. The Baumatic caliber is modern with a bunch of great features that come useful nowadays.

If you want to visit Baume & Mercier’s site please click here.

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In-Depth: Taking The Richard Mille RM25-01 Into The Colorado Backcountry

During the Second World War, the U.S. military saw the wisdom in having a division of soldiers proficient in mountaineering and skiing. The rugged peaks of France, Italy, and Germany might be key battlefields, where a skilled alpine fighting force could take and hold the literal high ground. Thus was born the 10th Mountain Division, an elite cadre of soldiers trained in rope-work, rappelling, climbing, and backcountry skiing. The men selected for this division were recruited by the National Ski Patrol and drawn from a pool of experienced skiers, a novel process that was deemed easier than training existing soldiers mountain skills. The center of this division’s training was Camp Hale, in the remote center of the Colorado Rockies, a perfect environment in which to hone a unique skill set. After the war, some of these soldiers returned to Colorado, and used their experience and passion for the mountains to launch the modern ski resort movement, in places like Aspen and Vail. 

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Watches & Pencils #45 – Speedy Delivery Of The Caliber 321

In the presence of a small part of the #SpeedyTuesday community, Omega’s CEO Raynald Aeschlimann announced the return of the historical chronograph caliber 321 movement. A dream come true for many Speedmaster enthusiasts, as this is the movement many of them are after when searching for that grail Speedmaster.

Caliber 321

It broke all loose on social media channels, including the Speedy Tuesday group on Facebook that talks Speedmasters all day long. Of course, there’s also the group of people that are more into modern watches and were having a hard time understanding of what was going on as this movement isn’t exactly a fast ticker, or a Master Chronometer certified watch, let alone being equipped with silicon parts. But for the die-hard Speedmaster fans it marks an important point in time. The caliber 321 was not only the Lémania based movement with a column-wheel mechanism instead of the later cam mechanism (we explained the difference in our chronograph 101 article here), it was also the movement inside the Speedmasters that were used and worn on the Moon. The references 105.003, 105.012 (Apollo XI) and 145.012. Only in 1978, the successor caliber 861 (also Lémania based) was qualified for use by astronauts during EVA.

Where the Valjoux 72 based watches (Rolex 6238 and Longines-Wittnauer 235T) miserably failed during the severe NASA test procedures (watch the last video in this article), the Speedmaster 105.003 with caliber 321 passed and got its ticket to the Moon.

And because of that, and the new caliber 321 introduced, I decided to create something special for today:

For me, the re-introduction of the caliber 321 movement brings bring back memories of the race to the Moon and the Speedmasters that travelled with the astronauts on the 20th of July in 1969. Although the caliber 321 movement was also used in other watches like the Seamaster series, it was the Speedmaster that made this movement iconic.

History adds value and experience

Gene Cernan’s Speedmaster 105.003

Omega used the Speedmaster 105.003 of astronaut Gene Cernan for the ‘new’ 321 movements. An interesting and smart choice in my opinion. It refers to interesting stories and adds a spark to the process of creating the 321 movements. While some people might think they are not affected by stories, they are wrong. Yes, one might be easier to influence than the other person, but in the end, we all like a good story. For example, in my daily job as a designer I use story telling instead of plain reports or benchmarks with loads of boring text to convince stakeholders or prospects.

Compare a watch with a story with a watch without it. A watch with a TRUE story is always a plus and keeps the watch crowd talking about the watch. The Speedmaster is a perfect example of this.

Astronauts and their stories like Gene Cernan made the Speedmaster a true icon.

Nobody needs an exhibition caseback in Space. But I do!

I call myself mostly a purist and minimalist. I’d like to keep things as original as they are, based on the first Speedmasters. But, for a future Speedmaster with a caliber 321 movement this might change. I own a pre-moon Speedmaster (reference 145.012-67) and did see the movement only a few times. I’d like to keep this one as original as it is, but I would love to see an exhibition case back on a future acquisition. To watch the beautiful new movement and all its unique parts. For example, the lovely column-wheel mechanism. Although we’ve been told that the first watches with the new caliber 321 are probably going to be in precious metal and without exhibition caseback, let’s hope for something transparent in steel.

A Speedmaster with an exhibition case back (caliber 863, reference 3592.50). NASA might never certified an Omega Speedmaster with an open case back, but for the new 321 movement I do not care

Movement design

While the top priority with movement design is probably functional design, I do love it when the designers put some effort in the aesthetics. While the caliber 321 movement is mostly praised because of its functionality and tank build robustness, I would like to point out some design highlights I like about the movement. For example, most of the bridges all are curved beautifully. Almost no hard corners. The informative text and branding is subtle and follows the shape of the part that it is engraved on. And then there is that striking warm color palette of copper, grey, gold and ruby colors. For the new caliber 321 movement Omega uses a PVD coating of Sedna gold to keep the copper looking parts more fresh and vibrant for a longer period of time (the old 321 movements were made of copper plated parts that would look less nice after time). Are there no negatives? Yes, there are. One of the things that I would love to see improved on the movement would be the Omega logo (look at the picture below at the bottom). It still has the basic Omega-logo shape, but it would be nicer to have the stroke width variation included. Also, to make it match the rest of the logos on the watch. With modern technique, this should be possible to engrave it with more precision.

The new caliber 321 movement by Omega

The fire is on

For me, Omega’s announcement set my Speedmaster heart ‘on fire’. It are these things that keeps the watch passion interesting. Let’s hope a ‘speedy’ delivery of the new caliber 321 movements!

Below, the new (left) and old caliber 321 (right) in special casing, and a 145.012-67 with caliber 321.

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Hands-On: The Piaget Altiplano Automatic 40mm With Meteorite Dial

Meteorite, as a dial material, has been used on and off since the 1980s, by brands as varied as Corum and Rolex, but it’s probably never going to become an especially common dial material, as it is quite difficult to work with. Meteorite dials are derived from iron-nickel meteorites, which in turn were formed very early in the history of the solar system, as the molten cores of proto-planetary bodies (iron, like all heavy elements, originates in the cores of very massive stars as a result of the fusion of lighter elements, which occurs as such stars burn through hydrogen). Every such meteorite has a different internal structure, and the distinctive elongated internal iron crystals are visible when the meteorite is sectioned – these are called Widmanstätten patterns, after Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten, who described them in 1808. However, they’re also called Thomson patterns, as it was the English scientist William Thomson who first described them in meteorites, four years earlier. 

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Introduction: Oris ProDiver Dive Control Limited Edition

Back in December last year, Oris invited us to Zermatt for a presentation of their 2019 models. And not only for a presentation, however, for a marvellous day of skiing as well. So far for our writing being totally unbiased.

While most of the models are under embargo and will be presented during Baselworld this year, one model was already introduced publicly by Oris two weeks ago. The Oris ProDiver Dive Control Limited Edition.

The all new and limited Oris Dive Control

Oris ProDiver Dive Control Limited Edition

The thing was that Oris introduced this model a few days before the havoc of SIHH 2019 broke loose. I see a high risk of the watch being snowed under and forgotten because of that. And I don’t think that’s what it deserves. So now, after the SIHH dust has settled down a bit, here’s our hands-on review of this professional watch.

A bit of history

We all probably know that Oris produces divers watches for quite some time already. The current vintage-inspired Sixty-Five watch-line learns us quickly that Oris dive watches are around for way over 5 decades now. It was only in 2009 however that Oris, in cooperation with Swiss commercial diver Roman Frischknecht, entered the league of professional divers watches. The Oris ProDiver line was born.

Oris Roman Frischknecht ProDiver Shooting

All watches in the ProDiver series have much in common. They’re all 100 bar, equals 1.000 meters, pressure rated. All models have the patented Rotation Safety System (RSS) bezel. While for the casing is chosen for grade 2 titanium, the bezels are stainless steel with a ceramic inlay. The current collection of ProDivers comprises of GMT, Chronograph and Pointer Moon models.

Innovation

The real innovation of the Oris ProDiver series was the above mentioned Rotation Safety System, or short RSS. RSS is designed to lock a watch’s diving bezel securely in place during a dive and has meanwhile become an Oris signature. It can be operated as follows.

Hold the bezel’s black vulcanized rubber edge and lift it. This will release the lock and the bezel can be rotated. When lifted, a yellow ring will appear at the lower side of the diving bezel, to show that it’s free to rotate.

The black bezel with ceramic inlay and black vulcanized rubber edge

With this yellow ring now visible, the top ring can be turned anti-clockwise which allows aligning the number on it that corresponds to the available dive time, with the watch’s minutes hand.

Once set correctly, push the top ring down until it clicks into position. The bezel can’t be rotated anymore now and you are ready to begin the dive.

Of all constructions we’ve seen to secure a dive bezel – think about the red knob of an Omega PloProf or the rotating flange of a Citizen ProMaster – Oris’ RSS solution certainly is one of the more suitable and easy to operate variations.

The new Oris Dive Control Limited Edition

So here we are now, 10 years after the first Oris ProDiver saw the light. Oris brought this very attractive Dive Control Limited Edition. Unmistakably based on the former Oris ProDiver Chronograph, the Dive Control LE has many cool extra features.

What didn’t change was the size of the watch, the type of movement, and of course the RSS locking system. The multi-piece titanium case of the Dive Control still has a whopping diameter of 51.00 mm. Which, according to the Oris website, seems to be 2.008 inches. There’s no mention of its thickness, and I must admit I forgot to measure it as well, but it’s certainly not insignificant.

The crystal is in sapphire, domed on both sides, and has an anti-reflective coating on the inside. Of course, the crown is of the screw-in type, as are the chronographs pushers. The Dive Control Limited Edition sports an automatic helium valve as well and is still pressure rated at 100 bar, equalling 1000 meters of water.

So what ís different?

The first thing that hits the eye is the color scheme of the Dive Control LE. While the regular ProDiver Chronograph is a rather monochrome appearance, the Dive Control LE is completely black with some eye-popping yellow accents. Specifically, as we pictured it, fitted to the additionally supplied yellow rubber strap. This all is mainly caused by the black DLC plating of the titanium case and bezel, the new color scheme of the dial, and some details on the pushers.

As well, only 500 pieces of the Oris Dive Control LE will be produced, while the regular ProDiver Chronograph is not limited in production numbers.

The chronograph minute counter

In information received from Oris, the mention of a 60-minute chronograph counter – “the new watch also features a 60-minute chronograph counter at 12 o’clock” – got us really interested. As we know the Oris caliber 774 is based on the Sellita SW500, which in turn is more or less a Valjoux 7750 clone. These movements sport a 30-minute chronograph counter, something not easily changed into a 60-minute counter. It can be done and is done for instance by Sinn with their SZ02 movement in the EZM13, however as said it will take a lot of effort and change of the whole chronograph construction.

Investigation learned us that Oris had solved this in a very Oris way, with two different hands in one counter. A large white hand indicating the minutes on a white scale, and a shorter yellow hand pointing at a yellow scale. Additionally, the chronograph hour counter hand will point at white numerals while the white minute hand shows from 0 to 30. And then the chronograph hour counter hand will point towards a yellow marker indicating that the yellow minute counter hand shows from 30 to 60. I’m not sure how practical usable this is while under water, but nevertheless, a smart solution.

Packaging

Leaves us to mention that the Oris Dive Control Limited edition comes supplied in a sturdy and waterproof, Peli-case-like, presentation box. It includes an additional rubber strap and professional strap changing tools.

Specifications and price

Make & Model: Oris Dive Control Limited Edition

Reference: 01 774 7727 7784-set

Case size: 51.00 mm

Material: Titanium, black DLC plated

Caliber: Oris 774, based on SW500, 25 jewels, 48 hours power reserve

Price (in Europe): € 4.800,= incl tax

More information can be found at www.oris.ch

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