Montrek Watches Blog

The Knocker Upper

How do you drag yourself out of bed in the morning ? Please don’t tell me that you are one of those “perky” people who wakes up without an alarm at 6AM all bouncy and peppy. Well, for the rest of us it just “ain’t” that easy. Do you hit the snooze button a few times or do you do what I do … I put the alarm clock on the other side of the room so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. But believe me, there have been days when I just let it ring without moving a muscle for what seems to be eternity until it goes off by itself. So how did everyone get up before we had all these conveniences ? They used everything from bladder control to the “knocker upper” … that is really what a person was called, the “knocker upper” and please refrain from the obvious comments on that name. So if you would like to find out more, click on the following link: 7 Ways People Woke Up, Pre-Alarm Clock

Like most industries, the watch industry has a language all to itself and in some case within the industry you are judged by your knowledge as those “in the know” toss around tems to see how befuddled you may become.  We are here to help you out.  Starting next week we will begin, in addtion to our other on going catagories, a new catagory entitled ” Watch Definitions”.  As we go along we will try and touch on everything from the obvious like chronograph, crystal, and movements to the more complicated like pallets, plates & bridges and more.  Most importantly, if YOU have something that you would like to know, please feel free to ask and we will try to satiate your thirst for knowledge while geeting a leg up on our own.

Gnomon & Sundial

As civilization became more sophisticated and less agrarian, the need to be able to split up the day into units became more necessary.  It was noticed early on that the shadow casted by a stick in the ground, a tree. or any tall straight structure such as a Obelisk could identify different points in the day.  These objects were the forerunners to the sundial know as gnomon.  Of course, a stick or object in the ground gave only a general idea what portion of the day it was … so with the need of more accuracy, the gnomon was added to a plate that was divided into equal parts to show different parts of the day and voila, the sundial is born.  As we know, this just created more “time keeping” problems.  What happens on cloudy days, at night, as the length of days change ?  Man was up for the challenge and we will consider the early solutions on the next entry of “The History of Time …”.

Westminster Chiming Grandfather Clock

How would you like to take some of your most cherished childhood memories and design a time piece around them ?  Well, it seems that is exactly what Ryan McElhinney has done.  He takes the best of your past, your favorite toys, and combines it with the infinite future, a clock, to deliver a one of a kind time piece that  represents your fondest memories or whatever memories you are looking to memorialize for that matter   I could drone on about how unique each piece is but wouldn’t it be better if you looked for yourself ?  You can get more pictures or info on the designer by clicking on the picture or highlighted name above.  Thanks for stopping by and Enjoy   !!!!!

Montrek Square Diver

Montrek World Time

Benefits and Features of Môntrèk Watches:

1,000 meters water resistant – Automatic movements – Carbon fiber dial,  High Grade Sapphire crystal – Screwed bracelet links & case lugs – Comfort fit bracelets, rubber, silicon & leather straps – Screw down crown & helium escape valve – Environmentally produced surgical grade stainless  – 10 year Warranty coverage for Automatic Movement – All of these features with watches that retail from $650 to $1,100 – No other watch brand can offer you this much watch and protection for such a fair price.

Luxury, Performance, Affordability from Môntrèk

Môntrèk Round Diver

Cairns

Stonehenge

As man tired of the inaccuracies of the internal clock, other methods of keeping time were sought out … the first of which was the calendar. Not as we know it today but rather the movement of the stars, the moon, and the sun. Yes, that is correct “the movement of sun” … keep in mind that in these early times it was thought that the earth was stationary at the center of the universe and that all the planets and stars, including the sun, were revolving around the earth. Native Americans built cairns aligned to particular stars in the sky which would identify seasonal changes and animal migrations. The ultimate “cairn” is Stonehenge, located in Great Britain. Space does not permit a detailed description of Stonehenge but feel free to click on the following link for more details: Stonehenge@Wikipedia . To be continued …

On our way to a private show for the Continental Buying Group. Sales have been brisk … even Post-Holidays. Hoping to pick up a few new Jewelry Stores as customers which will necessitate more inventory to keep up !!! Here are the “basic models” … different straps available. Which one do you like best ? Let us know or go to MôntrèkWatches.com and check out all the models … you can purchase online or checkout a retailer near you on the website. Luxury, Performance, Affordabilitybacked by years of experience and fantastic customer service really does pay off for customers and retailers !!!!!

Here is something a little different although even if I liked the design, it doesn’t seem too practical. Seems like there is alot that could get snaged on clothes ? BUT it is original … how we suffer for our art !!! Here is a link if you want more info: Cuckoo Watch.

Also, if YOU know of an unusual timepiece (it doesn’t need to be a wristwatch), let me know. If it is used in a post, YOU will get the appropriate credit … I promise. Have a GREAT Day !!!!!

So where did time begin and what was the first way of keeping track of it ? Without getting into any political or religious discussions, how about we just agree that time began … well, at the beginning of time … in whatever way YOU view that to have occurred.

So what was the first way to keep track of time ? Sundials, water-clocks ? I think not. The interesting thing here is that every living organism has this time keeper and no, your favorite watch brand has not figured out how to sell to single cell organisms LOL. The first time keeper … the Circadian Clock (click on the picture for a better view), the “clock” inside you … the one that lets you know that it is time to eat, sleep, work or a myriad of other activities.  So if this innate quality works so well why did we become so obsessed with other methods of tracking time ?  Well, the answer is that your Circadian Clock doesn’t work so well all the time.  Its “accuracy” is subject to all the vicissitudes of your life.  So now that we have established the first “time piece”, as inaccurate as it may be,  we can talk about what came next in future posts

I read recently that there are approximately 900,000 blogs on the internet. I was so shocked by the dearth of this medium that I decided that the world needed at least one more (please note the tone of sarcasm in this sentence). So what do I hope to accomplish with this blog ? From a purely self-serving viewpoint, if I didn’t say I would like to sell a few watches I would be lying, so please make sure to look at the website and tell all your friends and neighbors .

BUT, if that was the only objective, I would surely not do it this way. I have had a life long affinity for wrist watches and have been fortunate enough to turn that into a business. I would like to use this blog as a vehicle to share my enthusiasm and knowledge for all ideas concerning watches in a positive manner. Some of the subjects that I hope to cover in future blog entries would be “The History of Time”, “How Watches Work”, “Watch Definitions” and hopefully some great suggestions from you also. I know you are already waiting with baited breathe for next post … stayed tuned !!!!