LAmicroLUX – Inaugural Event, Saturday, April 6th, 2019 SECOND Installment!
Vertex Watches
My next ogle was at Vertex. (https://www.vertex-watches.com / IG: @vertexwatches) Not ogling is hard…
Vertex is an English brand that can trace it’s roots back to 1912. In 1972, Henry Lazarus closed the company and in 2016, 100 years after Claude Lyons started the company, Vertex was re-incorporated by his great-grandson, Don Cochrane.
The watches convey durability and a vintage aura that are mated together well in the current production line. The first two listed here are manual wind movements, something I am actually quite fond of, having a few vintage watches from the 60s and pocket watches from the turn of the century.
Their brochure also indicates that these models will be in very limited numbers and I am listing the prices in English Pounds – buyers outside of England will be able to convert that at time of purchase since the exchange rate can change.
The M100 is hand wound, and has a custom ETA-7001 mechanical movement that’s waterproof to 100m. It’s 40mm, has a Moulded Super-Luminova Dial, box crystal glass and is brushed stainless steel.
This is £2,500 with only 600 to be released.
There is the black Diamond Like Coating (DLC) version of the M100, appropriately named the M100B.
This version will only have 150 made and that is listed at £2,625
The MP45 is available in either a manual wind and features a brand new Sellita SW510 MP mechanical movement with a Mono-Pusher, waterproof to 10ATM, and also has a Moulded Super-LumiNova dial.
The concept of the MP45 is having the mono pusher for timing, a recreation of the Ordnance timing watch made for the British War Office in 1945.
Only 400 of these will be available and they are priced at £2,900 on the site.
If I was forced to choose, I’d be hard pressed to not take the M100B or the MP45 Auto.
Carpathia Watches
Carpathia Watches is designed here in the states, specifically Chicago, and then assembled in Switzerland and started in 2016. (https://www.carpathiawatches.com / IG:@carpathiawatches)
Mark Para, the founder, designer and watchmaker, has created a modern twist on a classic look.
At the heart of the Carpathia watch is the Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement. Each watch features: exhibition case backs, sapphire glass with an anti-reflective coating and limited releases of models.
Mark has designed them to be water resistant to 5ATM, and on the site you can also order customizations such as Blued Hands and a Red Second Marker.
These are simple and elegant, with a clean look and curved lugs for comfort.
Carpathia has pricing ranging from the $675.00 to $750.00 range with a pre-order for another listed at $975.00 – special for $625.00; and there are four case colors to order from their site.
My personal favorite is the gold case and gold mesh band, pictured below.
Ascent by Carpathia
Melbourne Watch Company
Melbourne Watch Company (https://us.melbournewatch.com / IG: melbournewatch) was my next visit.
Their Sorrento watches appear to be sold out at this time on their North American site. I did find it for $AUD950 on their Australian site. (https://www.melbournewatch.com.au/collections/sorrento)
The Sorrento, sold out or not, is a robust 42mm dive watch with a 200m water resistance rating. It’s powered by the Swiss Sellita Cal. SW200 automatic movement @ 28,800bph. This makes it buttery smooth for the second hand – no perceptible starts and stops as it sweeps.
The case back features a coin stamped case that showcases a vintage diver helmet.
The other watch that caught my eye was the Carlton.
This is very reminiscent of the watches from the 60s. Inside the Carlton is a Swiss Made Ronda Caliber 5021.D Quartz movement to power the stop-watch function for up to 30 minutes and a running second hand for regular use.
I do have a special liking for new takes on vintage style watches and the Carlton fits the bill.
The smoothness of the case and that vintage look create a stunning timepiece.
The Carlton is listed at $350.00 and can be ordered from their North American site.
Melbourne Sorrento Australian Site
Lesablier Watches
When I got to the LeSablier table, (https://www.lesablierwatches.com / IG: I was drawn to a watch that seemed to defy my concepts of physics. Are now in the “Enterprise” when Scotty gave the formula for “Transparent Aluminum”?
The dial is quite nearly see-though, allowing the wearer to see the skeleton of the watch!
This is the Sport Classic with the Ghost dial – I am not sure exactly what the production of these will be. They are showing a listing for Kickstarter for June 2019, and if you want one, I’d head to their site now and sign up for information.
The Sport Classic does have a screw-down crown, a Miyota 8N40 Automatic Movement and there are some variants as well besides the ghost dial version.
The Aviateur VQ is also unique in that is has a 24 hour movement on a dial made for that special Ronda 515.24h Swiss Quartz movement.
If you look at the pics you can see the dial has a marking for “Day” and “Night”.
The AVQ is 41mm, with a domed sapphire crystal with an AR coating.
This is one unique timepiece; maybe there are other manufacturers with this concept but as this is my first time seeing one, I am intrigued by it’s simplicity and execution.
The AVQ is limited to 250 units and is $295.00.
Lesablier Watches
Visitor Watch company’s Vale Park Officer caught my eye. Well, honestly, almost all unique designs will catch my eye. Visitor has my gaze. (https://www.visitorwatchco.com/ IG: visitorwatchco)
Each watch also has “INDIE.ANA” – you can figure out where they are located? Yes?
When I got to the table, I started on the left and worked my way across. I saw the Vale Park Officer, and one of the first questions I asked Phil, was if he was into Science Fiction. Phil IS into sci-fi!
The Vale Park just stuck out as one of those watches that looks like it came right out of a sci-fi movie.
I don’t recall if he was as much of a fan as I am of The Expanse (eight times through the first three seasons) but the inspiration of that watch clearly showed sci-fi roots.
At the markers for three, six, nine and twelve are three dots that in a triangular formation that look like they could be a star cluster.
The watch back opens up to show the movement by slightly unscrewing the crown which is visible through the sapphire exhibition crystal. The designed rotor on a Miyota 9015 truly is eye catching.
The dial’s is cut out which exposes a lower layer of C3 Super Luminova.
Pricing on the VPO is $800.00 for the pre-order.
The Linden was also on display. This watch features a Miyota 9015 with a custom rotor as well – the cutouts on the rotor mimic the indices on the dial. The lume is BGW9. From what I can tell, even the date is lumed!
What is striking about this watch was the way the hands and indices also appear futuristic (to me, at least). It’s available in four colors as of today; my personal favorite is the blue dial.
The Linden takes the Duneshore dial and handset and puts it into a 39mm case.
Pricing for the Linden is expected to be in the $550-600.00 range.
The Duneshore is their inaugural watch. This stands out at 44mm and has what I will call their trademark case shape. It’s squarish but is distinct from other manufacturers using that shape.
The Duneshore also is powered by the Miyota 9015 and uses the same or similar cutouts on the rotor as the Linden.
