събота, 6 март 2010 г.

Authentic and Original



An Invicta watch is more than a way to track your day. It is an investment in your quality of life. Insuring your Invicta watch is a smart and practical way to protect your investment. Whether you are a collector, or simply appreciate the groundbreaking science and artful craftmanship that went into creating your Invicta Watch, this is a wise move.

The purchase of a jeweled Invicta watch will allow you to have a quality piece for a lifetime if you service your Invicta watch at a quality jeweler on a regular basis. It will will keep this invincable tool and accessory in perfect running condition for years toe. As an investment of a lifetime, a treasure of the heart, Invicta watches should be cherished well.

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Invicta watches today are popular due to their bold models of all types. These include flying pilot watches, diving watches, as well as sea masters which help navigate sailors and sea lovers. Invicta watches are affordably priced,armani watches, yet always provide very high quality and performance.

To guarentee that you are buying a genuine Invicta watch, finding an authorized dealer that provides you with a certificate of origin for your watch,replica watches, as well as thepany’s warranty-whether you are shopping online or in your local jewelry store.

If you collect watches, the Invicta watch series collection are replica watches to admire. The Vintage 1948 Collection and Object d’Art watches are beautiful enough to be placed in a show cases for everyone to admire. They are elegant, classic, while still having a touch of the future.

While well regarded for their excellent prices and top quality, Invicta has also created jewelry pieces. They designed the beautiful 37-carat Pave Lupah, which contains 4,600 full-cut diamonds. The Gold Dragon Lupah Automatic is created out of solid 18K gold, and it of superior quality.

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Swiss Precision
Swiss movement in watches are measured to be gold standard. Invicta watches prove it. A Swiss watchmaker named Raphael Picard created the first Invicta mechanical winding watch in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1937. The Invicta Watch Group creates fine Swiss timepieces which are marketed all over the world. Picard made a deliberate name selection in “Invicta,” which means “invincible” in Latin. The name proved to be prophetic, as Invicta watches apparently achieved instant sales success. The great reputation of Swiss timepieces depends upon the steady consistency of replica watches like those first created by Picard. Raphael Picard determined a believe that create accurate, practical, multifunctional and fascinating products. The Invicta Watchespamy thrives on a reputation of accuracy and quality for over one hundred years since its foundation.

понеделник, 1 март 2010 г.

WOSTEP

WOSTEP paves the way for tomorrow’s watchmakers






Katja Schaer

Setting the standard for tomorrow’s Haute Horlogerie professionals. This is the mission that WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) has given itself, through a specially-devised training method, the guarantee of excellence, which it makes available to watchmaking schools around the world. "We ensure that the 70 million highly technical watches manufactured over the past 15 years benefit from the care of qualified watchmakers," explains the centre’s director, Maarten Pieters.

Established in 1966 by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry and Ebauche (which now makes ETA movements), WOSTEP has over 40 years of Swiss watchmaking history to its name. It has followed the progress of an industry whose misfortunes it has sometimes shared and to which it owes its present-day structure. "The centre has come a long way since its early days," notes Maarten Pieters. "At that time we thought mainly in terms of after-sales. WOSTEP would train Americans who spent a few months in Switzerland learning the trade."

The lean years

The 1980s were tough times for the Swiss watch industry, and a turning-point for WOSTEP. At a time when quartz was supplanting mechanical watches, drained and about to give up the fight, WOSTEP was given a lifesaving injection of funds by some twenty watch brands.

In 1984 WOSTEP was back on its feet and, rather than concentrating on lessons given within its walls, put together a training plan. This methodical guide, comprising a 3,000-hour curriculum and specific assessment criteria, is proposed to partner schools. And so WOSTEP has become synonymous with quality in watch training.

The early 1990s brought the WOSTEP training programme its first American partner, in Oklahoma State University. "We maintain teaching standards as faculty staff come to us to refresh their knowledge, and we check students’ exam work, thereby guaranteeing quality," continues Maarten Pieters.

An eye on new markets

Currently with 14 partner schools, the Neuchâtel institution has its sights set beyond Europe and the United States. It already has two partner schools in Japan and one in Shanghai. Now WOSTEP is going with the growth and preparing for partnerships with schools in Hong Kong, Bombay and Malaysia.

"We’ve also received requests from Venezuela, India and Singapore," affirms Maarten Pieters. "However, we choose our partners carefully. It costs over CHF 1 million (over €600,000) for a school or university to set up a watchmaking department. It must also have the resources to maintain a relatively expensive infrastructure. The chosen partner must be able to take on these costs over the long term."

The challenge of tomorrow

While WOSTEP has, over the years, made its name as an international reference, drawing on support from the industry’s foremost brands, there are still new challenges to be faced. "For a number of years the industry focused on electronic watches, meaning few people trained on mechanical movements. We’re now lacking specialists with the skills to work on Haute Horlogerie products," notes Maarten Pieters with regret. Indeed, more than half the profession is over 50 years old, and no-one can say for sure who will take over. The first challenge is finding the qualified teachers to train them, given the apparent incompatibility of the two professions: "Watchmakers tend to live in 30 square centimetres," jokes Maarten Pieters. "They’re not always known for being extravert and communicative."

And this isn’t the only challenge. The profession of watchmaker, even at the high end of the market, no longer has what it takes to attract young people. "The luxury and desirability conveyed by the product don’t reflect on the image of servicing and repair, which are often perceived in a negative light. In Europe and the United States we’re already having a hard time finding people with the necessary motivation and dexterity. And it’s a shame because we could see one of the world’s most beautiful manual trades die out." And see a piece of history disappear with it. This is exactly what WOSTEP is intent on preventing, by guaranteeing the quality of Swiss Made on the one hand but also, to borrow Maarten Pieters’ words, "by defending the emotion and the dream that are part of the product and part of the watchmaker’s profession." ■