Sunday, November 14, 2010

Titanium Alexis T1 Update!

Here are a few new shots of a McCarthy Time Instruments Titanium Alexis T1 wearing a new handcrafted Septimus Straps Swiss Ammo watch strap. My good friends at Septimus Straps can be found here: http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

Fran of Septimus Straps made this custom work of art especially for us. Its has a wonderful feel and the fit is just perfect. All of the watch straps that Septimus makes are hand stitched one at a time. It took several weeks for Fran to create this one of a kind fine leather strap.

This one is not for sale but hopefully we will be able to offer a few in the future! I know I would like to have a few more for myself!! Enjoy the new pictures.


Denis-


Notice the perfect fit of the Septimus Strap in our handcrafted titanium case. In this case its 24mm.

Thats a ETA Factory winding stem in the 2801-2 hand wind movement vs our Lockheed Martin Inconel stem. We will install that in the production version.

Check out the RC Tritec Super Luminova glowing brightly! Very Nice Indeed!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

My Swiss Ammo has arrived!

I just received my new Swiss Ammo Handcrafted French watch strap from my friends at Septimus Straps. Septimus Straps are located here:  http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

I was simply blown away with the quality of the leather and the fit and finish of the strap. The fit is just perfect. It fits the new Titanium Alexis Case to perfection. The feel of the leather is of the highest level. The buckle is also very nice and well made. The Septimus Straps premium leather creations are all hand made. They are only made one at a time... in France. The home of some of the worlds finest craftsman.. They are very exclusive and very, very rare. Only a few will ever be made. So we are very, very proud to be able to offer Septimus French Hand Made Leather Watch Straps at McCarthy Time Instruments.

As always, we only want to offer the very best to our friends.

I will be happy to post up some pictures this weekend of this very special and rare work of art.

Denis-

Monday, October 25, 2010

Discovery of a New Friend

I wanted to thank Martin Wilmsen of the Panerai Wristwatch Blog located here:

http://www.wristwatchphoto.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

for adding us to his fantastic watch blog site.


My good friend Fran from Septimus Straps located here:

 http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

has had many of his hand made creations reviewed by Martin. We are happy and honored to be apart of this family.

Thank you Martin!


Denis-

Saturday, October 23, 2010

New Septimus Straps

Here are some really nice looking new straps from Septimus Straps. We're hoping to get a few here in our shop. Enjoy the new pictures!

Denis-





Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Ferrari Video

My good friends at Ferrari sent me this new video for you guys to enjoy. Here it is:

http://www.ferrari.com/English/GT_Sport%20Cars/CurrentRange/SA-Aperta/Pages/SA-APERTA.aspx





You can find Ferrari here: http://www.ferrari.com/English/Pages/Home.aspx

Enjoy the new pics!

Denis-

Strap Culture

Here is a new Aligator Strap by my friends at Strap Culture: http://www.strapculture.com/

I'm really looking forward to adding this new aligator strap to our Alexis T1! Here is a shot:

Denis-

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

New Manager at Septimus Straps

I have it under good authority that my friend Fran has hired a new Manager for their Vintage Leather Location Services Division Department. He submitted this picture for us to show.

Wonderful news.

As well as new updates from our friends at Septimus Straps located here: http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

The most perfect Leather Watch Strap.

Denis-

Monday, October 4, 2010

New Strap Culture Buckles

Just received a new batch of The New Anchor Advanced Buckle by my friends at Strap Culture. Strap Culture can be found here: http://www.strapculture.com/

Here is a direct link to the New Anchor Buckle: http://www.strapculture.com/sc_buckle/scb1031.html



I really like their new look. Designed to work perfectly with the New Alexis T1! The shape is very menacing and sharp. Awesome work guys! Enjoy the new photos!



Denis-

Saturday, October 2, 2010

New Manager at McCarthy Time Instruments

I am proud to anounce we have hired a new Mechanical Movement Assembly Manager at McCarthy Time. Her name is Bailey. Here is a picture she supplied to us.

Denis-

Friday, October 1, 2010

The BEST video on Planet Earth

This is the best video I have ever seen. The 2011 Ford Mustang GT....  IS the cats balls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnkKNugCW7o

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Confederate Black Flag Fighter

This is the new Confederate Black Flag edition of the Confederate Fighter. My very good friend Jason Reddick built this bike by hand one bolt at a time. Awesome job Bro. You would think he would have things figured out after building F-16 engines for the US Air Force! Enjoy the video.

Denis-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi97FYCfNjo

Friday, September 24, 2010

The Coolest Company

I just love these guys. They are part of my family. Period.


Denis-

Confederate Wraith Video

Not really watch related, but a design idea and technique can be applied to our watch making. I was lucky enough to work for Confederate Motor Company for some time and lucky enough to build their first production Wraith number 001. This bike was built and sold to a very special customer located in Russia. I built many bikes for Confederate, but this one was my favorite. All my good friends at Confederate are hard at work!; Matt, Joe, Ed, Blair, Jason, Josh on CNC and Josh on the TIG..., and all the guys there, your awesome. Here is a link to a really good video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHGWJkSuc0k&feature=player_embedded#!

And here is a link to Confederates web site: http://www.confederate.com/

The most awesome hand crafted American Made motorcycles.

Denis-




Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Strap Perfection

Fran, of Septimus Straps (Septimus Straps is here: http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/ ) has been working very hard to gather some incredible vintage leather for new custom French and Swiss ammo handcrafted watch straps. Here is one of my favorite pictures that he has posted so far: If you look at the photo below, I have pointed out three pouches that are very interesting to me. The one on the right is very interesting. I really like to brown/grey colors and textures that are presented in the leather, which would work perfect with a Inconel 718 or 6Al-4v color anodized titanium case. The vintage stampings are also very well presented here. Fran works very hard to only locate and present the very finest leather he can get his hands on in France. This is clearly a very good batch. I can only hope we can get a few straps from him out of this catch!

Monday, September 20, 2010

AMA Weekend at The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum!

No its not watch related! But I just wanted to invite all of my friends out to the track this weekend for some great AMA motorcycle racing! I'll race you there! Here is a link to the museum: http://www.barbermuseum.org/

Denis-

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The ETA 2895-1 Movement

Here is a picture of the ETA 2895-1 mechanical movement. Its a automatic, meaning that it will self wind with the movement of your wrist. I have been using this fine machine during our prototyping stage for the Alexis. Thought you would like to see the pictures.

Enjoy!

Denis-

New 2011 Logo

One of a few new Logo Designs. Thought you guys might like to see a few!

Denis-

Nikor 60mm Micro Lens

Here are a few pictures using my new Nikor 60mm Micro lens. I'm really loving this new lens from Nikon.




Saturday, September 18, 2010

About the Picture

The picture above is a 6Al-4V Titanium Alexis T1. This was the very first T1. Notice there is no movement or hands! The strap is from my friend Seth of Strap Culture. Here is Seth; http://www.strapculture.com/ Its a prototype too. Seth was working with a new leather, as well as the nice bright blue thread. This case drove me crazy due to the fact that I broke a 2/56 tap while cutting the threads for the strap retainer screws, also made of aerospace grade titanium. The tapping went well, but I hit the tap holder with my elbow while I was turning around to reach for another tool. Shi@#&!!! Well I thought the case was ruined. Several hours worth of work down the tubes. After a break, I came up with this idea... dissolve the tap! .....You see, a cutting tool, in this case a tap, is made of high carbon steel. Which means it is very susceptible to corrosion.... Acid. Yes a acid should work! After a couple of days of soaking in Sulfuric Acid.. (no the wife was not happy..) the broken bit of tap was gone. Feewooo! The super rare T1 titanium case was saved!

Updates From France

My good friend Fran has updated his site. You can see it here; http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

Here is a few pictures from his update. Fran is making us a 10 month French Strap, and a Swiss Ammo if I can talk him into it! He's also going to send us a titanium buckle to try, as well as one of their cool T-Shirts! So all is well. Enjoy the pictures.

Wonderful workmanship!

Check out the incredible workmanship here. Its not easy to make those stitches that precise you know!

Below is a picture of a Swiss Ammo. I think one of the most beautiful leather straps I have ever seen. The idea and craft is second to none.

Denis-

Friday, September 17, 2010

Hardinge Super Precision T-42

Here is a nice video of the Hardinge T-42 working some stock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6MfD4fkgCk




RC-Tritec

My friends from RC-Tritec, seen here; http://www.rctritec.com/index.php?id=14 have provided their latest Super-Luminova product for our Alexis T1 watch dials. Many thanks to Rebecca at RC-Tri for all of your help!

Denis-


Thursday, September 16, 2010

New Nikon Lens at McCarthy Time!

Just wanted to thank my buddy John Viviani for selling me his slightly used, mostly by me, Nikon micro 60mm macro lens for my watch photography. This is just a awesome lens. Very very sharp images and super close up magnification. Perfect for my watch pictures. Thanks John!!

Here is a picture of the lens:

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Septimus T-Shirt

My friend Fran tells me that they have a new very limited T-Shirt that is available to only 100 of their closest friends. Here is a picture: It will only be available for a very short time. Contact Septimus Straps here for more info: http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

I just hope I get one!!!

Denis-


New David Lane Design Spotted French Strap!

Here is something really special. A new strap from David Lane. Its called The Spotted French Military. Noted as a "One of a Kind". This is due to the artist working the leather with special tools to produce the unique leather image that you see here. No two will ever be the same! Very very nice! Here is a link to David's site:  http://www.davidlane-design.com/military_leather_watch_straps

I must admit that David's work is not cheap. And neither is a Ferrari. As they say.. you get what you pay for.

Denis-


New Septimus Pictures

The guys at Septimus Leather Straps have added some new pictures to their blog! Here is a link to their awesome leather works: http://septimusstraps.blogspot.com/ Beautiful work!

Denis-




New Strap Culture Strap!

My Friend Seth sent me a new photo of their new prototype Vetier Strap. Exclusive view for my friends here. Seth has been working on this project for awhile now. Really looking forward to this new handcrafted strap from Strap Culture! This special strap was designed to work with the new Green Anodized Alexis A1 coming out this fall. Stay Tuned! You can contact them here: http://www.strapculture.com/


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Drilling Titanium

As we all know, titanium is cool. Its probably one of the coolest metals introduced into watch making. I have been working with various alloys of titanium for about five or so years now. 6AL-4v titanium is a monster on a short leash. Turning and milling operations usually go quite well, but drilling and tapping... Eeeek! Titanium, in this case 6AL, is known to be a "gummy" metal. It tends to take the tap in a thread or two then... snap! It can only be done with very specialized taps with special high tech coatings. In this picture, a drilling operation is done before the hole is reamed and tapped.. by hand.

Denis-

Monday, September 13, 2010

Strap Culture Buckle

My friend Seth of Strap Culture http://www.strapculture.com/ just informed me that their new Black with Green stitched Strap is ready! ....I couldn't find any pictures on his web site but I did discover this little morsel:


Sick Man! Awesome work Seth! Those would look great on The T1!


Saturday, September 11, 2010

Its Nice to have Friends

My friend in France, Fran, and I have been talking lately. You know its really nice to have friends all over the world. He's WAY over there... and I'm way over here. He's making wonderful custom leather straps, and I'm making aerospace cool watches. That's awe fully nice I think. I'm going to make sure his work's will be on my timepieces. It is a must! Fran's site can be found here: http://www.septimusstraps.blogspot.com/

David Lane Watch Straps

I have been searching for someone that makes the perfect handcrafted leather watch strap. I may have found that person. Enjoy! Here is a link: http://www.davidlane-design.com/

Anodize!

One of the many things we are going to be making. A aircraft grade 6061-t6 billet aluminum anodized case. Something you don't see from many custom makers. All colors are possible. Here is a example of a early prototype:

ETA Valgranges


Thought you guys might want to see this: http://www.valgranges.ch/#/video/dsl

I am working on a new (!!) design that will use this incredible movement. This video loads slowly, but its worth the wait!

Enjoy!

deNis