Montrek Watches Blog

If you’re like most soon-to-be-married men, your soon-to-be-married brain is likely swimming with a complicated mix of thoughts. One moment everything is, “I can’t believe the coolest woman I know is going to be my wife,” and the next, “I’m going to have to use a hamper every day for the rest of my life. Sometimes I want to leave my clothes on the floor. Am I really ready to give that up?” The fact is, you are ready. Ready to use a hamper, ready to open a refrigerator every morning that contains more than beer and condiments, ready to give up the bachelor life and be a good husband, even if that means scented candles will become a part of your every day. That doesn’t mean that you are ready for the actual wedding, however! But someone who is likely helping you on that path to ready is your Best Man.

Whether your Best Man is your brother, your closest childhood friend, or your college roommate, chances are they are a huge part of some of your best memories. Naturally, you’ll want them to be standing by your side as your bride-to-be walks slowly down the aisle with life on the married side just moments away. But there’s a lot of preparing to get you to the point where you’re nervously shuffling your feet at the altar. Everything from choosing tuxedos to choosing the alcohol you’ll have at the reception takes time and patience, and your best man is there to help make your decisions easier and your sailing smoother.

So how to thank him? In the past you may have shown gratitude by letting him have one of your chicken nuggets or letting him use the PlayStation controller that works better than the other one. And while those gestures will likely never lose their appeal, for something as important as being your Best Man in your wedding, you have to up the ante a smidge. And no, we don’t mean you should give him two of your chicken nuggets! We’re thinking something more along the lines of a Môntrèk Diver Watch. A gift that is sure to surprise him in its luxury and thoughtfulness…a gift he’s certain to appreciate every day he slips it on his wrist…a gift that lets him know that no matter what happens or where your lives take you, you’ll always make time for your best friend.

The balance wheel has been used in watches and clocks since the 14 century. Until the late 1970’s, balance wheels were used for various products in addition to watches such as bank vault time locks, timed fuzes, alarm clocks, and kitchen timers just to name a few. With advent of quartz movements the main use for balance wheels is now in quality watches. WARNING – Self Promotion – For quality watches click here. But I digress On many balance wheels you can see a set of 16 screws that are mostly decorative … four of the screws are sometimes used for adjustments however, many watches have perfectly good balancing wheels that are smooth with no screws. The balance wheels rate of vibration is measured in “beats per hour” or BPH (not to be confused with same medical acronym referring to a situation that we hope no men encounter). Quality time pieces usually have at least 21,600 BPH like these … Sorry, forgot the Self Promotion Warning that time If you would like to read more about balance wheels click here.

We have been so busy with BARNEYS & Bloomingdales and the rest of our outstanding group of Retailers that we have been remiss in not continuing the saga of “The History of Time”.  And while time marches on, both literally and figuratively, man’s quest to keep track of it more accurately continues to grow.  Our last entry discussed the Clepsydra and how it operated with water.  While this was a vast improvement over other methods of measuring time, it became obvious early on that water was messy to deal with in so many ways.  It freezes in the winter and evaporates in the summer.  Additionally, any surface in constant contact with the same water that is being circulated will develop algae.  If you don’t believe me, come on over and look at the small man made pond with circulating water in my back yard … I’m going to go clean it right after this blog post . But enough of my problems, as you can imagine, all of these “water” problems just create inaccuracies in time and as humans, we just won’t stand for that.  So we need something dry that can be circulated.  EUREKA !!!  Sand … and thus the invention of the hourglass.  In hindsight the hourglass seems like such a simple idea but really didn’t come into practical use until the early 1300’s … several hundred years after the development of the water fed Clepsydra.  The construction of the glass itself was a technological achievement and in combination with finding a material that was coarse enough to flow in homogenous units created, well … timing issues.  And today, while we view sand as the contents du jour of hourglasses, early version worked with not only sand but crushed eggshells or pulverized marble.  If you would like more information oh hourglasses, check out this article: Hourglasses.

Do you even remember cassette tapes ? And furthermore do you remember the song from the title of this article ? Well, both the song and cassette tapes came out at about the same time … the early 1970’s. So do you pine for the old days ? Want to relive your childhood or maybe, you parents childhood ? Then you may be interested in the Mixtape Watch. It looks like an audio cassette tape. Don’t worry though, an actual hour and minute hand are included also. So if you are into the “retro” look this may just be for you. But as for me, I will just quote the next verse in the song titled above, “…it’s the only thing that I could do half right and it’s turn’ in out all wrong …”. Let’s keep our music and timepieces separate If you want more info on the Mixtape Watch click the following link: Mixtape Watch. If you are curious to hear Melanie Safka sing the song I quoted, click on this link: Melanie sings “Look what they’ve done to my song …”.

I wasn’t aware of what I believe to be a new tradition in wedding gifts until my friends Sean and Kathy were recently about to be wed. I was, of course, familiar with the tradition of family and friends buying gifts for the new couple to help celebrate their new life together. In fact, I had just purchased my wedding gift for them shortly before meeting them for lunch the week before their wedding. But it was at lunch that I learned something new. I couldn’t help but notice that Kathy kept toying with a silver bracelet on her wrist. She would play with the heart-shaped charm, swirl it around her wrist while talking, and occasionally glance down at it smiling. After a half hour or so I couldn’t resist asking any longer if she was fidgeting from too much coffee or pre-wedding jitters! Turns out it was neither – she was simply excited about the wedding gift she had just received from Sean, a silver Tiffany charm bracelet.

Further conversation revealed that she had also purchased a wedding gift for Sean, an Xbox 360 as it were. Unfamiliar with the practice of the bride and groom gifting each other wedding gifts, I had no idea this was something many modern couples had begun doing. Kathy explained that with all the stress of wedding planning and preparation, the time before their wedding actually found them spending a lot less time together, and that taking the time to choose a gift she knew Sean would love was one of the most relaxing things she had done in months. Similarly, Sean said that he too found a sense of calm in taking an afternoon off work to wander around the city searching for something he knew Kathy would adore, a shopping adventure the likes of which he hadn’t known since the early days of their dating. While not every man will admit that finding the perfect present brings a certain thrill, there is something to be said for knowing the moment you see something that it’s precisely what your soon-to-be-wife will love wearing for years, if not on your wedding day itself.

How does this all relate to men’s watches? While we may be a bit biased, we can’t help but think that a selection from our Môntrèk Diver Watch Collection would make a wonderful wedding gift from a bride-to-be to her ‘almost husband’.  I just wish Kathy had called me. Maybe then Sean would be stylishly on time instead of always running 15 minutes behind because he was playing video games!

For most of us these days, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are excused from this post, spending money on ourselves or loved ones has become a tricky proposition.  We want to buy those special occasion gifts (Birthdays, Holidays, etc.) but we want to make sure that we are getting great value for our hard earned cash.  Now I can’t give you pointers on fine art or antiques but I may be able to help you out with a strategy for buying a new watch.  It may seem daunting at first with the thousands of models available but with a little planning you can go from overwhelmed to overjoyed.  The first thing I would suggest is to find a price range that is comfortable for you.  If you are looking for something with good form and function you may consider the $100.00 to $400.00 range.  If style is an additional criteria, you may want to look in the $500.00 to $1,000.00 range.  When the “Benjamins” are really rolling in and you are considering over $2,000.00, call me about a bridge I have for sale in Brooklyn.  In any case, you get the idea … now that you have your price range you may want to consider different features that can swing the price pendulum quickly in either direction.  For instance, Swiss Movement (price up) or Japanese Movement (price down) … by the way don’t be swayed by watch snobs, they both work GREAT !!!  Or, how about Automatic (price up) or Quartz (price down) … again, it’s a matter of taste as there are well made watches in both categories.  Other features you may want to consider or discount in your perfect watch could be strap variety (bracelets, leather, rubber), dial features including colors and hand styles or timing features.  And most importantly, YOUR personal style … are you conservative or bold and provocative ?  The list is virtually as endless as there are selections but every choice noted above will help you narrow the field where you and your perfect watch become one.  AND NOW FOR A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR - We really do want you to find that perfect watch for your own particular needs but just in case you tired of searching and Luxury, Performance, and Affordability are what you are looking for with our not to be duplicated 10 YEAR WARRANTY, just click on the following link: Môntrèk Watches

While we are proud to create diver watches that can be easily dressed up, down, or even 1000 meters deep, we can’t help but notice when a designer’s aesthetic seems to pair especially well with our own. A longtime fan of Thom Browne’s famous ‘shrunken suits’, I have always found them to look whimsically powerful. While some men can’t quite grasp the appeal of bare ankles and wrists, I find there is something inherently confident about dressing differently. After all, how much confidence does it really take to wear exactly what everyone else is wearing? This is not to say my typical attire is extraordinarily unique, or that I scoff at the idea of donning a tee-shirt. It is simply that as an American male, I am often disappointed by the lack of style of so many men, especially when such fun and fashionable options are available. That’s right – I said it – fun! Don’t think a suit can be fun? You need to take a closer look at Thom Browne suits.

My wife has taught me a good deal of what I know about fashion, and I thank her for how this has helped me better understand balanced design in the grand scheme. It was while considering the oversized nature of our Môntrèk Diver Watches that I remembered recently watching her decorate the dining room table for company. She paired slim, tall candlesticks with short, stout, heavy silver tea light candle holders. Next came slender water glasses and shallow soup bowls. What once would have simply looked like a set dinner table suddenly appeared to be an art exhibit. My wife had taught me how to ‘see’ things, and there was no unlearning it! Suddenly it seemed the generously-sized watches we were creating at Môntrèk were made to be worn with Thom Browne suits. And if Mr. Browne agrees, I hope he’ll contact me. We’d be above honored to watch a Môntrèk Watch walk the runway with one of his timeless suits.

Just returned from the CBG Show and JCK Show in Las Vegas and to quote Billy Crystal it was “just marvelous”.  Môntrèk Watches are continuing to roll out adding several new retail outlets with many more interested.  Let’s face it … you just cannot get a watch with this quality at these prices with a 10 YEAR WARRANTY.  Additionally, the introduction of Underwood Watch Winders & Leather Goods was fantastic and to our surprise there is considerable interest in multiple winders for 4, 8, and 12 watches and even larger units.  If you have products that sincerely fit our tag line … Luxury, Performance, Affordability … people will recognize that.  Sooooooooo, if you are searching for the best “bang for the buck” with dedicated support and service, look no further than Underwood Watch Winders & Leather Goods and Môntrèk Watches.

Whether you call him Dad, Pop, The Old Man, or any of a million other terms that all add up to ‘Father’ or ‘Husband’, chances are you’re stuck for a gift idea that will really knock his socks off. (And no, this is not permission to get him new socks!) Have you considered giving him the gift of time? Spending time with him will always be the greatest gift of all, and we encourage that completely. But we can’t help but to also encourage you to take a closer look at our Men’s Luxury Watches lineup, packed with features to please any Papa!

Whether Dad’s a deep sea diver or is more likely to find himself swimming in a pile of papers on land, our diver watches make a smart and stylish selection. Even without all the amazing features, from the environmentally-superior 316L stainless steel to the ability to travel up to 1000 meters deep, each of our watches was designed to look good. Sure, it seems a simple enough mission, but it’s one that many manufacturers overlook.

We know there’s a wave of wonderful options out there in the world of men’s watches, and that if we created watches that compromised in any way you could find another watch that didn’t. So we crossed that bridge before there was even a bridge to cross. From Step 1, we have made quality, style, and a commitment to the cutting-edge important. And just like Dad can’t choose a favorite kid, we can’t choose a favorite watch! But we’re confident you can.

Think beyond the pre-wrapped tie carousels and personalized golf balls. Get Dad something supremely luxurious this year – something he’d never dream in a million years he was about to receive. Get Dad a Môntrèk Watch, and know that every time he glances at the time, he’ll be reminded of his wonderful kid, and how wonderful that kid thinks he is, too.

We, at Môntrèk Watches, are headed to Las Vegas, Nevada for an enjoyable stretch.  We are looking forward to two shows back to back.  First on deck is the Continental Buying Group at Caesars Palace and then the JCK Show at the Sands Hotel & Convention Center.  We are excited to build on our current success with our diverse group of retailers including Barneys, Bloomingdales, and Important Jewelry Stores around the country.  We are also excited to have in our booth the Underwood (London) line of watch winders and leather accessories … the perfect addition for the watch aficionado.  So, if you happen to be in “neighborhood”, feel free to stop by for a demonstration of our watches or just to schmooze.  And most importantly, all Môntrèk Watches carry our EXCLUSIVE 10 year Warranty and always give you the best in Luxury, Performance, and Affordability in the marketplace.