Posts made by ddtrash

@IrishHeart Yep, you nailed it! It is Pragnell's who are stocking the Laurent Ferrier watches.

I have found them good to deal with. I picked up a 40mm Explorer 1 from them, no dramas or hidden jewelry sales policies.

@mclaincausey "Enablers of the World unite and takeover".......................................

................................ or join the IH forum at the very least.

Please, anyone feel free to intervene here before I talk myself into doing something daft.............

@mclaincausey I have never been a huge fan of date windows. I do however think the Auto Sport date window works well and has been well thought through.

The angled recess that the window aperture sits within is different from other watches and also work quite well in the overall design. As date windows go I like it.

@mclaincausey Interesting how the Sport Auto has been finished differently, there are no Cote de Geneve stripes on the bridges but a matt grained finish.

Still beautifully crafted but does have a more modern look / feel to it. I am guessing they chose this as part of the design language to distinguish it vs the classic series.

@mclaincausey Don't say that, it is adding fuel to my fire................. Early Christmas present maybe?

@Anesthetist I had the pleasure of handling a few Laurent Ferrier pieces a couple of weeks ago at a local dealers I have used in Stratford Upon Avon.

They purchased quite a few Ferrier pieces and they are for sale in their showroom. I found this quite refreshing rather than the brinksmanship required to land a specific Patek or Rolex (which in the big scheme of things are mass produced compared to Ferrier, Gronfeld etc).

I liked the Steel blue dial classic origin. They also had the titanium sport auto in blue which is growing on me, no micro adjust on the bracelet clasp just a 1/2 link to play with.

They did not have the Grand Tourbillion Auto sport with salmon dial, as these sold out, shame as I would love to view that piece. I could not afford one but it would be nice to see it. It won loads of awards.

What I really like about it is that it is a real watch enthusiasts watch, "if you know you know" type watch. The fact they put a tourbillion into the watch and only display it in the case back is a stroke of genius. Only people who know the brand and the watch will know it has a tourbillion under the hood.

@Anesthetist I am getting more interested in small independent brands such as Gronefeld and Laurent Ferrier. While I like the Patek pieces I own they are not finished to the same standard as these independents.

Also the Cubitus release was (for me at least) a bit worrying. If this is the best Patek can do after several years of design process then it sows a seed of doubt regarding where the company will go.

Rumour was that Thierry Stern is looking to retire and his sons are waiting in the wings and the Cubitus is their baby. Read into this what you will.

@Anesthetist Lovely, It is a nice idea that Grönefeld had in making these releases.

I came close to picking up a pre owned Principia and still keep a close eye on them. Great pick up, cant wait to see the pictures.

@Anesthetist exciting, Grönefeld?

@VoodooRay Is this the 40 mm or 36 mm Explorer 1?

Whichever size it suits you very well.

@chadstone30 I concur, I went through the same process when I had to size mine. I did some measurements of existing jackets and pretty much everything pointed me to the Large Regular Wills. I also had a few e-mail conversations with the staff at Ship - John who were both helpful and knowledgeable.

It was a bit critical the sizing for me as I am UK based and did not fancy the shipping costs and general hassle of returning a wrong sized jacket. Fortunately the homework paid off.

@chrisjohnnick glad you are happy with the 800. I thought I had a second 800 at home to compare against the 600 but I was mistaken, I have a couple of 600s at home . Do you think the 600 and 800 are the same diameter now you have both?

@chrisjohnnick I think both the 600 and 800 are the same diameter. I will check and let you know. The photo that @pechelman posted with the 600 and 800 together shows them to be pretty similar if not the same diameter.

@chrisjohnnick

I have had the same issue with the 600 pencil, not helped by my preference for 0.5mm leads.

The solution I found was buying the Rotring 800 pencil that has the twist retract function.

Retracting the pencil nib into the body of the pencil is now second nature and can become one of these therapeutic habits.

The 800 has a very satisfying mechanical action. Highly recommended.

My other favourite piece of stationary is the Pilot Flexion 4 x colour way 0.5 mm pen.

Handy for colour coding work notes etc.

@goosehd Thanks for the feedback, I will keep an eye out for it. Always good to learn about new things, especially whisky.

My whisky of choice at the moment is Springbank 15. Hard to find but I have a couple of bottles in reserve. It gets released periodically through the year. Most stockists don't put it on the shelves to help deter the speculators who buy to sell.

@goosehd How are you finding that bottle of Lismore single malt?

It got my interest as I had never heard of it before. There is a story behind it.......

The current Lismore bottlings are produced by J and G Grant (The family owners of Glenfarclas - classic Speyside malt). They acquired the Lismore brand name which was an old Glasgow based blender now defunct.

The whisky is coming from an undisclosed Speyside distillery that either J and G Grant have a relationship with or own?

The Lismore name is completely unrelated and is one of the inner Hebridean Islands. The name was picked by the Lundie family who originally owned and ran the Glasgow based blenders business.

I really like Glenfarclas and they offer very good value for money so am interested to hear what this side project tastes like.

@kkibbey23 The wait for an SD43 should not be too long. It is one of the pieces in the sports collection that is a little less in demand. Good luck and I am looking forward to hearing how your hunting goes!

Next month I have tickets to see Bob Dylan, again in Wolverhampton UK. I am hoping he does at least one or two of his better known hits and not just the stuff off the current album.

Never seen him before and really unsure what to expect from his current live shows.

I must admit I bought tickets as this may be the last chance I get to see him as he is getting on in years, not sure if he will tour the UK again?

I watched Ryan Adams in Wolverhampton UK last week. I enjoyed the show, he has some good material regardless of how you view his fall from Grace (engineered or not?).

A bit frustrating as due to his health issues there was very little stage lighting and I could hardly see him.

He played a solid solo set with some classic tunes included. He had some banter with the audience which was at times a bit awkward, he appears to be a somewhat troubled soul.