Book Description
Every year brings hundreds of new wristwatch designs, with aesthetic and mechanical changes and improvements, limited edition watches, and new producers, keeping this field exciting for collectors. Following the success of last year's book, the new annual features over 1,700 of the world's most luxurious wristwatches and provides color photographs and complete specifications for each watch. With Wristwatch Annual, collectors have a wealth of information close at hand: the book is arranged alphabetically by producer, and within each producer's section are specifications and materials for each watch, including price, movement, special features, complications, case, dial, band, and available variations of a particular model. A glossary and pronunciation guide help acclimate the reader to the world of fine timepieces, and, for prospective buyers, the addresses of all featured producers are listed together.
The elegant photography and layout will encourage people to peruse the year's offerings for aesthetic appeal as well. The range of styles, from classic to modern, reflects the inclusive nature of this book, which watch collectors around the world will find both a handy reference and required reading.
Featured manufacturers: Alpina; Svend Anderson; Angular Momentum; Anonimo; Arnold & Son; Audemars Piguet; Ball Watch Company; Baume & Mercier; Bell & Ross; Ernst Benz; Blancpain; blu; Rainer Brand; Martin Braun; Breguet; Breitling; Carl F. Bucherer; Buti; Bvlgari; Nouvelle Horlogerie Calabrese; Cartier; Chase-Durer; Chopard; Chronoswiss; Frédérique Constant; Corum; Cuervo y Sobrinos; Cyclos; d.freemont; Davosa; de Bethune; de Grisogono; deWitt; Doxa; Dubey & Schaldenbrand; Roger Dubuis; Dunhill; Ebel; Eberhard & Co.; Epos; Louis Erard; Eterna; Jacques Etoile; Fabergé; Carlo Ferrara; Formex; Fortis; Gérald Genta; Gevril; Girard-Perregaux; Glashütte Original; Glycine; Graham; Hanhart; Harwood; Hermès; Hublot; IWC; Jacob & Co.; Jaeger-LeCoultre; Jaquet Droz; Daniel JeanRichard; F.P. Journe; Urban Jürgensen; Kobold; Kurth; Maurice Lacroix; A. Lange & Söhne; Limes; Longines; Marcello C.; Meistersinger; Mido; Richard Mille; Milus; Daniel Mink; Montblanc; H. Moser; Movado; Mühle; Franck Muller; Ulysse Nardin; NBY; Armand Nicolet; Rainer Nienaber; Nivrel; Nomos; Omega; Oris; Panerai; Parmigiani; Patek Philippe; Piaget; Paul Picot; Polijot-International; Porsche Design; Rado; Auguste Reymond; RGM; Rolex; Daniel Roth; Scalfaro; Jörg Schauer; Alain Silberstein; Sinn; Sothis; Stowa; Swiss Army; TAG Heuer; Temption; Tissot; Tudor; Tutima; Union; Vacheron Constantin; Ventura; Vollmer; George J von Burg; Harry Winston; Xemex; Dino Zei; Zenith; Zeno.
With additional reports on: B.R.M.; DeLaneau; Hautlence; Jean-Mairet & Gillman; Jacques Lemans; Giuliano Mazzuoli; Louis Moinet; Officina del Tempo; SWI.
Customer Reviews:
Wow!.......2007-08-23
I bought this just to see all the awesome watches out there. Some of these are in the hundred thousands. Wow. Great pictures and company info. If you enjoy watches in the least you must own this catalog its huge and has hundreds of pictures of watches you will never own, unless you have a few hundred thousand sitting around.
Wristwatch Annual 2007 review.......2007-08-09
Great pictures, a must for any watch enthusiast. Side note. Some of the actual specifications are not accurate.
If I only had the money........!!.......2007-07-05
The photography alone of these world class timepieces brings out the male urge to splurge. It's like being a kid in a candy store, you want one of everything! I've read the '05 and '06 editions and this one does not disappoint. Nice feature: a guide to the pronunciation of all those Swiss, German and French names. Even if you don't speak any of those languages you can say the names like a native. Any watch aficionado will spend many delightful hours soaking up all the facts, figures and history presented here.
Great book for the WIS.......2007-06-14
I really like the format, usually get the new one when it's released.
Buyers guide for horologists.......2007-06-06
Informative book on horology. I will definitely buy this every year.
Amazon.com
The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward.
Book Description
During the great ages of exploration, "the longitude problem" was the gravest of all scientific challenges. Lacking the ability to determine their longitude, sailors were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Ships ran aground on rocky shores; those traveling well-known routes were easy prey to pirates.
In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on....
Customer Reviews:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.......2007-08-31
A mediocre book , the author clearly has no scientific knowlegde and drags the story out as if it was a Soap opera . No diagrams / drawings / patent descriptions are included , meagre technical information . NOT worth the effort of reading . this publication is an insult to the intelligence . ABSOLUTE RUBBISH . ( and I have read it ). William Asquith .
An interesting read, but not exceptional........2007-06-27
Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' makes for a quick, light read. The story covers an interesting slice of history, but Longitude hardy distinguishes itself as being a great book. The largest problem is that the "lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time," John Harrison, is not a man about whom very much is known. Everything that is known about him could be fitted onto one of the (paperback) book's 175 pages. It's a bit remarkable that Sobel was able to milk a book from minimal and disjointed known facts. The story is really about the longitude problem itself, and the Harrison 'enemies' long-running success in undermining Harrison's solution, a precision chronometer that could maintain accuracy under the widely varied environmental conditions encountered by mariners.
Sobel's 'Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love,' is, in every way, a better book. For those interested in a fast-paced historical exposition of "a lone genius" advancing science but meeting maddening resistance from England's celebrity scientific elite (yes, it's a theme that parallels Sobel's 'Longitude'), by all means secure a copy of Tom Standage's 'The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting,' the story of John Couch Adams' startling genius and the developments of planetary astronomy from William Herschel to our current spectroscopic and mathematical hunt for distant exoplanets.
Not a bad book, but not great either.
Not a boring science textbook.......2007-06-23
Sobel brings science to life in this tell of the quest to solve the navigational conundrum of measuring position. Her writing is visual and fluid. The book tells a gripping story that brings in bits of politics, geography, economics, philosophy, and many other disciplines. It proves that fact can be stranger than fiction. This is a great read for anyone of any age and with any area of interest.
A Great Story.......2007-06-12
Longitude and latitude tell a sailor or aviator or hiker where in the entire world he or she is. If latitude is known, one knows how far north or south of the equator he or she is. But that's a circle all the way around the earth. To find the point on that circle, the sailor's longitude must be known. Without longitude, ships missed resupply islands in the south pacific by a couple of miles or by hundreds of miles - and never knew it. They crashed into rocks wandering around like you would in a dark room - the door is on the other side but, where?
The earth is round and, therefore, there are 360 degrees in the circumference. The earth makes one rotation every 24 hours and the sun stays put. That is, the earth rotates at the rate of 15 degrees per hour. So, if I know the time at some point in the world and I know the local time, I can calculate where I am on the circle of latitude. I can determine local noon and then I look at my very accurate clock and determine the time in, say, London. If it's four hours earlier in London, I know I am 4 x 15 or 60 degrees around the world from London. I shoot the sun with my sextant to find my latitude and now I know where I am.
The problem was - how do I know what time it is in London when I'm in the south pacific. Even on land, clocks were not even close to accurate - they'd lose several minutes a day. Many solutions were proposed - my favorites were the "sympathetic dogs" and the line of cannon firing ships. The dog solution involved having a dog in London and a dog on the ship. Since it was well known that dogs communicate telepathically, if the dog in London was pinched, the dog on the ship would feel it and yelp. So - pinch the dog at noon and - voila! That didn't work so the next idea was to put a string of ships across the oceans beginning in London. Put them at one mile intervals and have the crews listen. At noon a cannon would be fired in London and the first ship would fire its cannon. The second ship would hear it and fire its cannon. and so forth across all the oceans. When a cruising ship heard the cannon, the captain knew it was noon in London. Too many ships, too much money and what to do during a storm.
Harrison's first clock was accurate to 1/2 second per day. That's in the mid seventeen hundreds. That's better than most clocks and watches made anywhere in the world up to about 30 years ago. He ultimately made a large watch - about five inches across - that was able to keep London time so accurately the British Navy could go anywhere and find what they were looking for and the way home. But think of the problems - the ship is rolling and pitching so a pendulum won't work. The temperature and humidity change so the mechanism slows or speeds up or rusts. There were no computer chips or quartz crystals. And there were many important people saying, "God is the answer - look to the heavens."
It's a story about something we take so easily for granted today. Our throwaway watches are more accurate than anything imaginable when Harrison started. An atomic clock measures time to the billionth of a second and we think nothing of it - but without those clocks we would have no satellite communication, no weather satellites, no space program. It's a story about a man who didn't know the answer but was determined to find it. Harrison had no computer, no modern machine tools, no precedent. His story is absolutely amazing. And it is told wonderfully by Dava Sobel. I've read it three times and have enjoyed it each of them.
Solving the Problem of Longitude.......2007-06-09
I read this book from the perspective of an old naval aviator who used to fix the position of his aircraft using celestial navigation. Having estimated the position of my aircraft using the stars and planets as the only means to navigate across the Pacific, Indian or Atlantic Oceans, I am profoundly aware of the difficulties associated with the determination of longitude. I am also aware that the modern (by 1950 standards) sextant that I used made the task of sighting a celestial body many times easier than that of a sailor on a rolling and pitching on a 150 ton sailing ship. I greatly enjoyed this story. It connected and resonated with my nautical background and experiences. I was not aware of the history of how this problem was solved. I routinely used Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in my military career, but could not explain why that was the prime meridian.
This is also the well told story of the clockmaker Harrison and his incredible determination to win the longitude prize. The story was well told. I only wish it were longer.
Customer Reviews:
An old standby continues moving along.......2007-08-17
This used to be considered the bible of pricing of vintage watches - it is a tremendous piece of work - however many models are missing and prices
need updating as the economy has changed very much in a few short years.
However for the beginner there is no better book to learn and have
a handy reference to save money and not lose it when buying an old watch
Pocket Watches.......2007-07-19
The book is not perfect, but it is a great bargain for the money. It is reasonably easy to use and yet detailed in the descriptions and explanations. I was able to pick out my watches and establish a value very quickly. I used it for all my eBay purchases. I do recommend this book as a great reference for pocket watches.
Informative Guide to American watches.......2007-07-13
This is a practical guide to watches and their prices. It dwells mostly on American pocket watches, and in this aspect it is most informative. It is less so on European pocket watches and wrist watches, but still manages to cover a lot of ground. The pricing seems accurate as a guideline.
Good Price Guide.......2007-07-08
An excellent guide to watch values. Strongest for American Pocket Watches and weaker IMO for European Pocket watches and for wrist watches, particularly Quartz.
Great - But.......2007-04-16
I appreciate the amount of information in the book and the author's time invested in the update.
One of my major interests is in the Hamilton 992B pocket watch. I noticed that the author drastically changed the dates of manufacture related to the serial numbers. This is very disappointing. The 992B has not been made for 40 years. Why is the author changing the information?
I wanted to purchase a 992B for the year I was born. This reference book has let me down in having assurance of when that actual date was. The 992B serial number for my birth year was 490,000-495,000 now it is 516,000-520,000.
This lends me to loose trust in the book as a reference. Was the former information incorrect or the current information? At least an explanation on why the change was made could have been provided.
The Bottom Line: It is an excellent reference but the watch collecting information presented is subject to change - so don't depend on it.
Average customer rating:
- Brief but good
- 507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices
- very helpfull book
- I was SO excited about this book. When it finally arrived, part of me died.
- Go for it - You won't be sorry
|
Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important in Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pseumatics, Steam en
Henry T. Brown
Manufacturer: Astragal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook, Fourth Edition
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Illustrated Sourcebook of Mechanical Components
ASIN: 1879335638 |
Book Description
Over five hundred simple mechanical movements from America's first one hundred years of the Industrial Revolution. For those who share an interest in mechanical things, this book is addictive. Through the use of simplified, concise drawings, here are 507 of the small components which make up complex machinery in areas as diverse as C.R. Otis's safety stop for the elevator, Pickering's governor for a steam engine, Arnold's escapement for watches, compound parallel rules, piston rod guides, the grasshopper beam engine and a self recording level for surveyors. The list goes on and on in fascinating variety, with each movement explained and illustrated.
Customer Reviews:
Brief but good.......2007-09-06
This book is very brief on the explanations of each mechanism. They are basically 4 to 6 small mechanisms in 2D per page with their explanation in the opposite page, so expect the small print.
You have to imagine how they work which forces you to use some imagination. It is a good book for a 3D brain workout.
507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices .......2007-05-12
good book for someone that can identify mechanical parts, movements, and processes from diagrams only. the book has very little text to explain diagrams
very helpfull book.......2007-05-09
a practical book showing the most common movements explained in an easy and direct way.
I was SO excited about this book. When it finally arrived, part of me died........2007-03-14
This book is a collection of previously published thumbnail sized drawings. The book catagorizes the drawings, but not clearly. The drawings are really quite inconsistent, and the explanations are minimal. There is only one drawing per mechanism... so really it should be called Five Hundred And Seven Odd Drawings Which You May Enjoy; However, You Will Never Reference One Of Them.
When I say the drawings are inconsistent, I'm alluding to the fact that they were pulled from different sources, and it REALLY shows.
This book is TINY. Wait... I shouldn't have made "tiny" so large. It might confuse you.
I'm sure that the author put time into this book. And in all fairness, it is inexpensive. The value just isn't there though.
This book is the antithesis of Macaulay's The Way Things Work. It is "Things: They Might Work, But Who Knows How?"
There are other editions of this book, and maybe they are better.... but really we all know they're not.
Go for it - You won't be sorry.......2007-02-28
This baby is a real gem at ~8 bucks. Lots of really neat stuff and from the late 19th century. This is a great little book if you are trying to get some inspirational ideas. I think that the diagrams are neat - they look like woodcuts.
Book Description
The name of Rolex is recognized around the world. It has become an icon of beauty, quality, accuracy, style, and taste. While there are other fine manufacturers of timepieces, none has reached this pinnacle of public respect and acclaim. The watches produced by Rolex over the last 90 years are celebrated in this lavishly illustrated new volume. Mssrs. Dowling and Hess, acknowledged Rolex authorities, have captured their beauty in full color photography. They accompany the most thorough and extensive history ever written of the company. Information for collectors and current market values of the watches makes this a truly useful volume and one that will be cherished by watch lovers around the world., 392 photos , 9" x 12", Price Guide
Customer Reviews:
Great Rolex reference, but not much in updates for 3rd edition.......2007-08-19
For a comprehensive Rolex history with pictures, this is one of the best books out there. I definitely recommend this book for the Rolex enthusiast. Because it focuses mostly on history, the pictures are mostly of vintage models.
I own the 2nd edition (published 2001) and was excited when I saw the 3rd edition available (published 2006). I thought maybe there would be updates on the newer watches especially the 50th Anniversary Submariner and Day-Date (the green ones). To my disappointment, the 2nd and 3rd editions appeared to be identical except for the price guide at the end of the book. Yes, it's nice to have updated numbers, but I feel an updated edition should mention some updated watches as well.
A printing error on page 383 was not corrected in this 3rd edition either. That page shows a picture of an upside down Seadweller, but the print below the picture says "The Yachtmaster."
If you already own the 2nd edition and don't care for an updated price list, there's no need to spend $75+ for the 3rd edition. However, the 3rd edition is a good purchase for the first time buyer.
Overall I give the book 5 stars, but I'm giving it 4 stars here because of the lack of updates for the 3rd edition.
Simply the Rolex bible.......2007-08-18
Not much to say about the book. It has evertthing a Rolex collector will neeed.
The best pictures published on watches, ever, No book comes close.
The best Rolex reference history book........2007-08-15
Its worth every penny if you want a reference book on Rolex. No book comes close.
The pictures and quality are fantastic, It is a reference book and not a book that is light reading, its full of heavy detail on every Rolex ever made up to 1999.
Another edition should be due about now, for updates.
I 100% recommend to any Rolex enhusiast, Rolex dealer or Rolex collector. There simply is no book with more detail on the market.
Very kind of Rolex watches........2007-02-05
Rolex watches, it is high cost watches. Very cool Item, very very high cost performance ! Don't kiss me !
Rolex Wristwatches Book Review.......2007-01-21
This great book gave me details about Rolex and their watches that I could not gather anywhere else. I learned basics about the watches that the Rolex dealers are unable to answer. If you own a Rolex, you should own this book.
Book Description
The Watch is a survey of the best vintage and contemporary men's wristwatches that is as visually compelling as it is informative to read.
A well-made man's wristwatch combines inspired design, technical innovation, and precise craftsmanship. Vintage watches are filled with sentiment and history, and are often passed from wrist to wrist across generations. Today, designers use cutting-edge techniques and materials to create some of the most complex miniature machines ever attempted.
Ranging from Patek Philippe and Rolex to Seiko and Swatch, and covering fifty brands in depth, the book provides essential wisdom on buying, collecting, and maintaining these timepieces. Illustrating the text are more than 500 photographs of men's watches, including remarkable details of dials and movements, selected for their beauty and diversity from collections around the world.
Customer Reviews:
WOMEN LOVE WATCHES, TOO!.......2007-08-10
I'm a woman who has loved watches for over 35 years. This book has beautiful pictures, but, I could not find a single woman's watch. It was disappointing. Did I miss something? I returned it!
Beautiful Book.......2007-07-09
A beautiful book featuring beautiful wrist watches including some from both American and high end Japanese manufacturers.
Gene Stones' "The Watch".......2007-05-12
I found this book to be one of the most informative, easy to understand, loaded with excellent pictures, variety of horological subjects, etc.
I recommend this book for anyone who loves watches
The Watch.......2007-05-12
This is another great watch book. There are pictures of watches from all over the world not only Swiss. Big photo and in color you really get to see what they truly look like. They are all a work of art. A must have.
I love this book.......2007-04-09
This book is like my bible. I study it and read it regularly and it always cheers me up on a rainy day when I look at the beautiful pictures of watches. Sounds like I need a life, right? Whatever, get this book!
Customer Reviews:
Great.......2004-03-04
This is a great book for those interested in chronograph watches. The pictures are very good and the detail on the movements is exceptional. The format of the book is rather large, but not too thick. Quality printing and binding. Nearly a must-have for watch collectors and horologists.
Excellent.......2004-02-28
This book is geared to the watch collector and repairer, which is exactly what I was looking for. It has an excellent description of the major dials and movements with nice large pictures. The information is detailed, in-depth and informative. A professional book. It is large format, not too thick, but the glossy pages (which is a good thing) make it heavy. For the collector / repairer of chronographs, this is a must-have book.
Excellent reference book........2002-02-12
Overall an excellent book on chronographs, which is a cross between a coffee table book and a reference work. As a collector, I refer to it a lot.
Unfortunately, the translation is poor, and there are many inconsistencies which can make it hard to follow descriptions: for example, the same component in the chronograph mechanism may be referred to by several different names. Also, the final editing of the English version leaves a lot to be desired, especially in a book of this price. Having said this, it's still a very good book, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Excellent work by Gerd-R. Lang of Chronoswiss.......1999-08-24
This book illustrates the intricacies of chronograhs in great detail and with much attention given to not-so-well-known facts. Master Watchmaker Gerd-Ruediger Lang is the founder and manager of Chronoswiss Uhren GmbH in Munich, Germany and his attention to detail can both be found in this book and in his watches, which are famous throughout the world.
Book Description
This comprehensive and detailed reference guide to Rolex's sports model watches is an indispensable asset to watch collectors and dealers. The only work of its kind, it covers the history of the Submariner, Explorer, GMT-Master, Turn-O-Graph, Milgauss, and Cosmograph watches, from 1952 to 1990. The history of more than a hundred and forty vintage models is described in detail, with the watches shown in chronological order. Color photographs illustrate every watch model, with hundreds of diagrams providing clear and useful information. Twenty-two rare Rolex brochures from private collections are shown, in addition to numerous catalog photographs and the sale prices of sports models sold at Christie's and Sotheby's over the last four years. Also included is a current price guide for every model shown in the book. At a time when Rolex watches dominate the collecting market, this authoritative volume is an essential and timely addition to the library of the Rolex collector and dealer.
Customer Reviews:
Cant miss this book for Rolex fans!.......2007-08-26
This book is completely stated sports models and really can help user when buying a vintage Rolex!
Everything you need to know about Rolex sports models........2007-08-23
A most impressively comprehensive and finely detailed reference that will prove to be of great usefulness and interest to me when handling Rolex watches, and when talking to and advising collectors and enthusiasts.
Nice book to add to the collection.......2007-08-18
Pictures are of good quality. A good book to add to the collection, each watch has good description and on the watch movement.
It is a limited market, you have to remember its a book on the vintage watches and not modern Rolex watches.
Saying that I would not be without it, But I am a watch Nut.
Nice book, although outdated?.......2007-08-15
Great book for watch enhusiast. Although it only takes us up to 1997, so I was dispointed, The pictures are good, the history covers the basics. I would recommend to add to the collection
A "must-have" for all fans of vintage Rolex sports watches.......2007-01-17
The authors describe this book as a "comprehensive and detailed reference guide to Rolex's sports model watches" and "an indispensable asset to watch collectors and dealers". Modest? No. Correct? Absolutely!
The book is divided into 18 chapters, starting with Rolex chronology and the tool watch concept, followed by chronological descriptions of all models in the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, GMT-Master, Explorer, Milgauss, Turn-O-Graph and Cosmograph model ranges respectively. More brief chapters are dealing with bracelets, boxes, paperwork, and movements. Statistical data in the form of production dates and a price guide is also included.
What I particularly like
First of all, the great advantage of this book is the fact that all watches depicted are from the authors' own collections - this has allowed them to photograph all watches in the exact same position and size, making comparisons between the different model variants very easy. This is important when comparing with other books on Rolex, that mainly use 3rd party photos.
All models are described in chronological order, with information on model number, production period, movement number, bracelet type and size, and some 5-15 lines of specifics for that particular model, pointing towards the - often small - details distinguishing it from previous or later models. I.e. for the 6263 Daytona such text reads: "In 1971 the 6263 model replaced the 6264 model. The model was available with either the standard or exotic dial, and had T Swiss T at the bottom of the dial. On this example, the word Cosmograph is written in a semicircle around the upper half of the lower recording dial." Essential knowledge, really ;-)
Secondly, all models are accompanied by a detailed profile drawing, allowing comparisons of the shapes of glass and bezel, as well as case thickness. Important, when you want to identify the "Superdome" glass profile.
Third, there are 40+ pages of reprints of vintage Rolex brochures, advertisments, owners booklets, catalogues etc. For Sea-Dweller afficionados it will be great to see the 1981 owner's booklet reprint on page 178, showing the 1665 with acrylic lens and 2000 feet rating, alongside the 16660 with sapphire crystal and 4000 feet rating. Later that year, the 1665 was discontinued, leaving only the 16660.
Last, but not least, I really enjoy chapter 18, "Watches sold at Auction" - 50 pages of pictures and details of Rolex watches sold at auctions at Christie's and Sothebys's, in the period 1997-2004. In 1998, a "Red" Submariner 1680 was sold for mere USD 2165. Read and weep... or start collecting right away.
Ahh - not to forget - this is a relatively new book, published in 2005.
Any drawbacks, then?
Not really - or at least nothing major. Although given the title "COMPLETE Visual Reference", one would expect the book to contain pictures of ALL known model variantions. This is apparently not the case, as the military issue of the Submariner 5513 is shown only with the special "high visibility" hand design - while Rolex collectors, as well as James Dowling's Rolex book, will tell, that the military models were also available with the standard "Mercedes" hands. This would have been nice to know, before one accuses eBay sellers of vintage Rolex watches for selling un-original or Frankenstein watches. I won't do that again...
One should note, though, that this books deals with "vintage" models only - that excludes any model currently in production, obviously. For the reason of comparing model evolution, I for one would like to see the current version (i.e. the one on my wrist) pictured alongside it's ancestors, in order to compare those small, but essential details on the dial layout. But then again...
How does it compare to other Rolex books, then?
This will depend on how BROAD one's Rolex interest is, and in which STAGE of Rolex ownership one is.
John Brozek's "Rolex report" provides excellent value for money for the first-time buyer of a modern Rolex, who doesn't want to get "eScrewed" - John's expression, not mine. Lot of stuff on identifying fakes, as well as tons of statistical data and pricelists - showing retail as well as wholesale amounts. Quite good to know the latter, when someone is offering you a never worn NIB Rolex for less... Why, it should make you wonder.
Many people praise James Dowlings book "The Best of Time" as THE Rolex book to get. Maybe so - but not my cup of tea. Far too much emphasis on the very early Prince and Bubbleback models and only brief descriptions of the tool watches.
For some buyers, the overall Rolex history in this book will be too brief, or the statistics on production dates incomplete (as they end in 1998). Do not despair - buy this book anyway, and read the rest on the various Rolex internet forums.
So, my personal view is, that if you are a current or potential owner of a "Professional" series model, Martin Skeet and Nick Urul's excellent book will give you the most relevant insights. It's certainly my favorite, and the one I would chose over all other Rolex books I have seen so far.
Buy and enjoy - You will not be disappointed!
Amazon.com
Dava Sobel's Longitude tells the story of how 18th-century scientist and clockmaker William Harrison solved one of the most perplexing problems of history--determining east-west location at sea. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the puzzle. This was no obscure, curious difficulty--without longitude, ships often found themselves so far off course that sailors would starve or die of scurvy before they could reach port. When a nationally-sponsored contest offered a hefty cash prize to the person who could develop a method to accurately determine longitude, the race was on. In the end, the battle of accuracy--and wills--fought between Harrison and arch-rival Maskelyne was ruthless and dramatic, worthy of a Hollywood feature film. Longitude's story is surprising and fascinating, offering a window into the past, before Global Positioning Satellites made it look easy. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
A fully illustrated edition of the international best-seller Longitude.
The Illustrated Longitude recounts in words and images the epic quest to solve the greatest scientific problem of the eighteenth and three prior centuries: determining how a captain could pinpoint his ship's location at sea. All too often throughout the ages of exploration, voyages ended in disaster when crew and cargo were either lost at sea or destroyed upon the rocks of an unexpected landfall. Thousands of lives and the fortunes of nations hung on a resolution to the longitude problem.
To encourage a solution, governments established prizes for anyone whose method or device proved successful. The largest reward of £20,000-- truly a king's ransom-- was offered by Britain's Parliament in 1714. The scientific establishment-- from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton-- had been certain that a celestial answer would be found and invested untold effort in this pursuit. By contrast, John Harrison imagined and built the unimaginable: a clock that told perfect time at sea, known today as the chronometer. Harrison's trials and tribulations during his forty-year quest to win the prize are the culmination of this remarkable story.
The Illustrated Longitude brings a new and important dimension to Dava Sobel's celebrated story. It contains the entire original narrative of Longitude, redesigned to accompany 183 images chosen by William Andrewes-- from portraints of every important figure in the story to maps and diagrams, scientifc instruments, and John Harrison's remarkable sea clocks themselves. Andrewes's elegant captions and sidebars on scientific and historical events tell their own story of longitude, paralleling and illuminating Sobel's memorable tale.
Customer Reviews:
Much better with Andrewes illustrations.......2007-09-24
I met William Andrewes at a talk about his longitude dial. Never read Dava Sobel before and found the text week or at least week without the illustrations. The history in these documents and images of paintings made this book a don't put it down event. I've even used some of the history noted in public talks on astronomy. Highly recommended. I've shared it with several colleagues.
John S.
Entertaining insight in longitude problemsolving.......2007-08-27
An easy to read and enjoyable (hi)story about the efforts that have been made in the past centuries to find an way of navigating at sea. Every aspect finding the longitude has been covered. The book contains a lot of pictures and graphics that deepens out some (technical) background issues. It provides just enough details so that the subject is well understood, but no too much, making is suitable for every interested reader.
So, if you are interested in navigating, reading this book gives you an good insight in the amount of work people have done in the past to make that possible.
One way to describe persistence: William Harrison.......2007-05-25
As an "electronic geographer" (geographic information systems... computerized mapping... operator and manager), I was immediately attracted to Sobel's story upon it's original publication in 1995. Technically, navigationally, and economically speaking this is, as others have stated, a truly epic and civilization-changing story that is well and readably told by Sobel. On the first read I was awestruck to learn that craftsmen of the 18th century could make timepieces of the accuracy that Harrison achieved. Then further amazed to learn they were made portable and durable enough to withstand the rigors of years of service at sea. As I read Sobel's original book my curosity about what these amazing pieces of incredible craftsmenship (art?) LOOKED LIKE was a continual distraction. The "Illustrated Longitude" delightfully sates the curosity that Sobel's text so pleasantly gives rise to.
A Novel Couldn't Read Better.......2007-02-22
Sobel's original volume came in an un-illustrated format. I had scarcely ever heard about the history behind the "longitude problem," as it was called during the period. When the book was recommended to me by a good friend, I was initially hesitant, thinking that it might be a dull read.
I read the original book in a day. It was one of the best-written page-turners I had ever come across -- almost akin to the readability of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember," or "Day of Infamy." My only complaint was that the book had no pictures of any sort to speak of.
This new, illustrated volume fixes that only complaint. This book is a must-have.
A Book That Should Be Read .......2007-01-03
I am at present still reading the book. It is only now that I have had the time to do so. If you wish my review later, then I would be pleased to provde this.
Thank you.
Book Description
Introduced into a skeptical American marketplace early in the twentieth century, the wristwatch soon caught the consumer's imagination. It was not long before American watch manufacturers adopted the form and brought their ingenuity and creativity to bear on the style and design of the wristwatch. Fifty years of innovation and beauty follow, and this beautiful book brings you the story in word and picture. Illustrated with over 600 full color pictures, the authors have traced the history of the American wristwatch. Their original research brings life to some of the persons who influenced its development. Design periods are defined and the watches they engendered are amply illustrated giving the reader knowledge that is valuable, both for the appreciation and the collecting of these wristwatches.
Books:
- 500 Earrings: New Directions in Contemporary Jewelry (Lark Jewellery)
- A Guide Book of United states Coins 2007 (60th Edition)(Spiral)
- A Guide Book of United states Coins 2007 (60th Edition)(Spiral)
- A Guide Book of United states Coins 2007 (60th Edition)(Spiral)
- A Hat Full of Sky
- Afterwords: Real Sex from Gay Men's Diaries
- American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
- Art Deco Ornamental Ironwork
- Atlas Major
- Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960
Books Index
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