Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The most basic of the three casino games is dice

First the case and housing. The watch is 45mm wide and available in a few material combinations. All models have titanium that is mixed with either more titanium, 18k white or pink gold, or platinum. I believe there are five total combinations, which means that Claret will build a maximum of 105 of these timepieces (to be made over the years). By the way, on the PVD black titanium and 18k rose gold mode, the hands on the dial are not ruby edged, but black ceramic edged (with gold in the center). The case is fascinating, but not Claret's most unique. It is however a very proper design to go with the theme. There are four sapphire crystals on the case. One over the dial, another over the caseback, and two on the side for the dice and the hammer and gongs window. 30 meters of water resistance too! On the back of the watch is a roulette wheel. It is actually part of the automatic winding mechanism in the in-house made and designed Christophe Claret Calibre BLJ08 (which co-host John Biggs and I made famous in episode 58 of the HourTime Show podcast). The automatic movement has a frequency of 28,800 bph and a power reserve of 72 hours. It is made of 501 components and the discs for the blackjack game are done in solid gold on ceramic ball bearings (for low friction). Don't forget, it tells the time too. The roulette wheel spins as it is the automatic rotor, but here is a little different. The rotor has a minor stop mechanism to stop to a halt in one of the fixed positions when it loses momentum. This causes the little arrow (versus a ball) to stop at a specific spot on the roulette wheel scale. Don't miss the set green emerald on the rear of the case above 17 between the engraved "Lucky Number" statement. I guess 17 is someone's lucky number. I think the roulette wheel detailing is gorgeous, and Claret's integration of it with the automatic winding system is not only efficient, but also clever.

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