Vladimir Putin, watch guy. Yes, our president’s best friend-enemy is somewhat like a horological connoisseur, and, as we’ve reported over the years, his collection consists of everything from a Blancpain Aqualung that he wore while signing the treaty to annex Crimea to a range of other watches that make up six times what his declared yearly income is. Today, however, we’ve found the most impressive and most popular timepiece from the Putin collection, and it’s ready for the market.
As a matter of fact, the watch is just a grand complication Patek Philippe wristwatch which is one of the most sophisticated watches that the replica Patek Philippe has ever made, and it includes a minute repeater, a mono-pusher chronograph, and an instantaneous perpetual calendar. It is one of the most significant wristwatches in the world.
The watch was seemingly sold to Mr. Putin at London’s Watches of Switzerland location, though a date is not visible on the documentation. Now, to be clear, it is possible that someone may have filled out the certificate of this watch with Mr. Putin’s name, so there is no way to confirm it was actually sold to him, unluckily, it seems impossible to get the answer, as Patek Philippe retailers are instructed to print the real name of the purchaser on the papers as the watch is delivered. Still, nothing is impossible, and Antiquorum’s listing is anything but complete at this moment – further it is hosted on Antiquorum’s new partner in European auctions, Monaco Legends. There is not even an estimate listed on this lot yet, and the auction house is still looking for more consignments for this mid-July sale in Monaco.
As more details become available and the story to be shared with you, we’ll be sure to update this posting by providing more contexts on this most impressive timepiece owned by this most powerful politician. However, we are always here for the newest and latest information of the world popular replica watches.
The Top Selling Best Replica Breitling Chronoliner B04 Boutique Edition
When there comes to a new Breitling, I’ve guessed out what you will ask about, the size right? At 46mm, some might find this watch rather impressive. However, there is no doubt that we need to remember where the Chronoliner comes from to make sense of this. It is the successor to the vintage and 7650 Co-Pilot, which measured well above 40mm some 50+ years ago, as they were first and foremost intended as tool replica watches for pilots. And in a cockpit, a larger diameter often has access to an increased legibility. This replica Breitling was always careful to offer short lugs in order to avoid the watches feeling like a pizza on the wrist (although some 47mm vintage Breitlings are actually nicknamed the “Pizza,” but this is a story for another time).
The design cues of the vintage AVI/Co-Pilot chronographs are there on this new model, from the luminous markers in the minute sub-register to the very specific handset. The rotating bezel constitutes the one major difference, not only because it is made of blue ceramic, which comes with a better resistance to scratches, but also because it shows 24 hours for setting another timezone rather than the original 12 hours for tracking an event. As such, this already permits you to track two separate timezones, the local one on the main handset, and the “home” one on this additional hand. The bezel then ends up offering a third timezone, say the time of your next remote destination if you are a fearless pilot, real or imaginary.
The name of this new fake Breitling tells you all the rest you need to know: B04 stand for the in-house caliber with the GMT complication, while the Boutique Edition both explains where you can find this Chronoliner and why it is in deep blue. Replica Breitling calls this “Aurora blue” in a nice nod to the aviation world, and this color is generally used in special releases of the classics, such as the Navitimer, the Cosmonaute, and the Chronomat. While the date window on the Chronoliner will surely have its fair share of detractors, one cannot fail to recognize its neat integration into the dial, as it comes in a matching blue. And again, in terms of convenience, a date makes total sense, especially when you know that it is connected to the local time as to avoid any misunderstanding.
The automatic B04 movement is a variation of the caliber B01, which was released in 2009 after years of development and is still made to this day by Breitling (you recently heard that Tudor chose a modified version of it for the Black Bay Chronograph too). Like the B01, the B04 shows the column-wheel mechanism, which purists prefer to simpler cam-operated chronographs, and it provides a respectable 70-hour power reserve. Like the entire Breitling production since 1999, the Chronoliner is chronometer-certified by the COSC, so accuracy is not a concern here.
The Breitling Chronoliner B04 Boutique Edition will be available only in the 50 or so Breitling boutiques across the world, and it is limited to 100 pieces. It comes on the blue rubber strap pictured, with a 24mm lug width that balances the 46mm diameter. The caseback is described as sporting a “vintage-look pin-up” but no renderings were provided and we’re yet to see one of these in the metal.
The Best Launched A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph with Black Dial
When you are considering a top-end chronograph replica watch, you would thing of the white metal, black dial. The Datograph Up/Down, a staple of high-end chronograph hit on that, and the platinum case and black dial coupled with arguably the sexiest damn movement in all of watchmaking made it to be an extremely classical model. But the Datograph isn’t so good for all. On the contrary, some prefer its slightly thinner, slightly more slender little brother, the 1815 chronograph. To me, as one of those people, and an original 1815 chronograph in white gold remains part of my major collection to this day. I am, not shockingly, wearing it as I write this story.
This watch features almost the same chronograph caliber as the Datograph, but is 1.5mm thinner because it does not feature the outsized date complication – it’s essentially a Datograph without the date. And that concept was taken one step further today as replica A. Lange & Söhne unveiled an 1815 chronograph with a black dial.
But this isn’t just a black dial version of the current 1815, but a black pulsation dial, or a tweak to the boutique edition 1815 which was first introduced in September of 2015. Now that watch, to be honest, was inspired by the very first 1815 chronograph from 2004, which had a pulsation dial in silver with a white gold case and a black pulsation dial with the rose gold variant. This is the first time Lange has offered a black pulsation dial in a white metal case, and the combination is one that is difficult to ignore. Franking speaking, what makes the piece even more compelling is the other side to the watch, which has been described by our own Kevin Rose as “A little city back there.” The caliber is simply elegant and graceful, and I am sure that nobody would dispute the claim that this chronograph is among the finest ever produced. With this new fake watch, nothing has changed, and you’ll still have the wonderful view from behind.
But while this new black dial chronograph surely gives you Dato vibes, this dateless Datograph remains very much an 1815 family member. We don’t have the power reserve indicator or the applied hour markers. The case is gold, not platinum, and the size remains 39.5mm instead of 41mm. It is a very compelling offering indeed, and one that will surely attract the attention of many high-end chronograph buyers because, well, how could it not? Besides, it’s much cheaper than any competitive in-house watch from Patek .
In my opinion, an even more interesting comparison for this new model would be to the original 1815 chronograph, which I also happened to be wearing while viewing this watch for the first time. The replica watches are all but identical physically – both 39.5mm in diameter by 10.8mm thick and both in white gold. The watch tends to sit higher on the wrist than the sub-11mm depth might indicate because of the lip that encases the sapphire caseback. It’s not too thick on the wrist, but it’s certainly not svelte either. Naturally, it is thinner than the Datograph Up/Down.
The Modern Milgauss Rolex Watch (And That Z-Blue Dial)
Rolex made some brave determinations when it reproduced the Milgauss in 2007, almost 20 years after removing it from their catalogue. And it had to. The company, which is known for making very subtle changes over long periods of time, took what was one of its plainest properties and added a healthy dose of color. For the new model, the replica Rolex went back to the lighting bolt shape for the seconds-hand, and ditched the clean and clinical polished stainless steel in favor of a bright orange hand. The minutes track and hour markers received the same color treatment. Perhaps the most disputable introduction was made with the Anniversary Model which came with a crystal that was lightly tinted green and which gave the dial a special halo. Rolex named it as the Glace Verte and claims it doesn’t have a patent on it because it is so hard to make.
After that, in the year of 2017, Rolex added a new blue dial glace verte model, and that’s when many people lost their minds a little (myself included). For the first time ever, a Milgauss was selling not just at retail, but way above it. All is because of that blue dial, which Rolex calls Z-Blue.
Just to be clear, this watch is almost the same with the other Milgauss models on a technical level. It comes in a traditional 40mm Oyster case that is generously polished, with Oyster bracelet made from 904L stainless steel that has a mix of brushed and polished finishes.
Dial side, the replica watch worked too, so Rolex made very some changes. As a matter of fact, all Rolex replicas really did was to improve on a solid base. Both the baton indexes and Chromalight display (which adds another, more subtle dose of color) were kept, as was the bright orange minutes track and the orange “Milgauss.” It’s rather different from the vintage models, but that’s the point, and I still like it.
The only real novelty of the Z-Blue model is the new dial, and boy did Rolex get it right. Blue is an easy option when a watchmaker wants to spice things up. It’s more versatile than the traditional colors of black, white, and silver, being more casual without being too eccentric. However, this blue is a little different, because this is a Rolex, and Rolex plays by its own rules. In fact, it’s a metallic blue that veers towards green depending on the light and the angle at which the light hits the brushed dial.
There’s something a little irreverent about this watch that makes it fun to wear.
So, what’s it like to wear? For lack of a better word, it’s just straight fun. This is a watch with a large number of personalities. It’s self-assured, and in complete denial of its previous unpopularity; scientific, and yet somewhat immature; rebellious, and yet so thoroughly rooted in Oyster conventions. It goes with everything, but never feels right with a suit. But most of all, it seems to know how unlikely it is someone will pick it up for its antimagnetic features – but it wouldn’t suffer one bit if you tested its resistance to magnetism.
The Z-Blue Milgauss looks great in any setting as long as you don’t dress it up too much. The thing is, from a practical standpoint picking a Milgauss is actually a very good selection. It’s everything you expect from Rolex in terms of build. It’s made with extremely resistant steel, it’s waterproof to 100 meters, antimagnetic to at least 1,000 gauss (if not more, much more), powered by a certified Superlative Chronometer movement; and, finally, it’s a very good looking timepiece, and it’s far from being the most expensive fake Rolex. Like I said, it’s a wise choice indeed.