Hat zwar nichts mit Saab zu tun, aber ich habe heute den heiligen Gral der Armbanduhren entdeckt:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150279602717&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=005
Die ganze Geschichte habe ich in meinem anderen Lieblingsforum geschrieben:
http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/41010983521/m/67510030641
When browsing for rws engineer's Mickey watch, I came up with thisparticular ebay offer:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=...=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=005
I know, that this is an electronic watch forum but wanted to give you a little history about this:
I am sure, that the date in the description is incorrectly indicated with 1996.
I remember in the late 80s, there has been the rebirth of complicated mechanical watches.
The important watchmakers started to produce mechanical watches, which have been only known in pocket watches on the high end.
So, IWC started with a perpetual calendar with a regular chronopraph, others started with flyback chronos and Audemars started with a tourbillon in a wristwatch. Everything with astronomic prices.
I have been working in a watch store, which carried Geral Genta watches and I had a huge problem with a normal watch, which could not brought to a normal running order.
I have had in touch several times with Gerald Gentas assistant, but we have never been able to solve the problem.
On one of these conversations, the assistant told me, that they will be doing the Grande Complication featuring every complication possible and I was like. If they are not able to get a simple watch running, how would they get together such a complicated watch??
I have been then at the Basel watch fair, it must have been 1989 or so and I went to the Gerald Genta booth.
Mr. Genta has been extremely nice apologized and gave me instantly a new watch for my client.
I asked him about his Grande Complication project and he disappeared for a minute and returned with this Grande Complication watch. I am not sure, if that has been a prototype, or the number 1 watch which is for sale here.
But what I know is, that I have tried out every function and EVERYTHING worked. I could not believe my eyes and the price has been set around 1,000,000 german marks, which may convert to US$ 1,500,000 today.
I am not sure, when he has sold the first watch, but I am pretty sure, that he did not do more than 10 of them.
The movement is extremely finely made, I am still asking myslf, who has been the genius behind this watch, I think, that it may have been Franck Muller.
This watch has been ahead of its time and to me, still today, it is the MOST complicated wristwatch ever!
If I had US 200,000 over, I'd buy it instantly!
Hope, that I did not bore you guys too much, but this thing gets me excited a lot!