短時間に大量に読みたい場合は、速読を習得するのがいいでしょう。読みたいけれど未読になっているものをひたすら読むことで、速読を身に付けるのが一番です。PocketやInstapaper、Readabi… 続きを読む
Google検索からBingへの乗り変え方と、その使い心地を検証した
Google検索をしたあとで、いくつかのウェブサイトにアクセスすると、どのサイトでも同じ広告が表示される経験をしたことがある方も多いはずです。これはGoogle AdSenceで適した広告を表示する… 続きを読む
Montblanc TimeWalker Extreme Chronograph DLC
The TimeWalker collection celebrates its 10th anniversary
With the debut of the TimeWalker Collection in 2004, Montblanc launched a new family of watches and simultaneously defined a new design vocabulary. Its salient features include architectonic lines, 43-millimetre case, narrow bezel and elegantly skeletonised horns, plus a large, planar dial with Arabic numerals in a distinctive, clearly contoured typography and characteristic lancet-shaped hands. This innovative look, lost none of its appeal during the preceding decade, combining masculine technology with sporty elegance and has made the TimeWalker line one of Montblanc’s most successful watch collections. Now Montblanc kicks off the second decade of this iconographic watch line with the presentation of the new TimeWalker Extreme Chronograph DLC.
“Diamond like carbon”
A “DLC” (for the “diamond-like carbon” material) treatment ensures that the toughness of the stainless steel case’s surface has been increased to the utmost. Miniscule glass spherules are blasted under high pressure to give the steel a microscopic texture to which the DLC coating can almost inseparably adhere, thus producing a fine matte finish on the surface. The same process is used on the other stainless steel components: i.e. the readily grasped crown, the chronograph’s buttons, the midnight-black pronged buckle, and the screwed back with its pane of sapphire crystal. The colour of the diamond-like carbon coating is described as “Black 4”, which stands for “very black”. The window in the case back offers a clear view of the automatic mechanical Calibre MB 4810/507. Equipped with an integrated chronograph function, this calibre is manufactured in accord with all the rules that govern the art of Swiss watchmaking. It ticks at a steady pace of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz), so the chronograph’s elapsed-second hand advances in eighth-of-a-second increments – the exact measurement of brief intervals.
A black stage set
The black of the new TimeWalker chronograph´s case continues on the large planar dial, which expresses the artistry of the cadraniers, as dial-makers are known in specialized horological language. The various displays of this watch’s face are presented on different levels. The middle stratum, which covers the centre and the periphery of the dial, is embellished with a fine embossed pattern of circular striations. The periphery bears the seconds scale for the chronograph’s slender elapsed-seconds hand and is subdivided into readily legible quarter-of-a-second increments to match the 4 Hz pace of the movement. The three subdials – one for the continually running second-hand and two for the chronograph’s elapsed-time counters – are positioned at the “6”, the “9” and the “12”. The matte black hour-circle without textural embellishment is positioned slightly above the middle plane and bears strongly luminescent Superluminova numerals in the patented TimeWalker typography, along with equally clearly legible double indices. Wholly dedicated to time measurement, this no-frills landscape is an excellent example of attention to legibility. It’s accentuated by a set of anthracite-grey ruthenium-coloured hands that clearly contrast with the midnightblack background. Five of the hands have the typical lancet shape and are inset with Superluminova; the chronograph’s elapsed-seconds hand is counterweighted and culminates in a red tip. The final display is the date window at “4:30”, where the current date appears against a black background in white numerals in the TimeWalker typography.
Innovative materials for the Wrist
Montblanc is living up to the preservation of the traditional craftsmanship values following the principles of the Swiss haute horlogerie and at the same time striving for innovative technologies and concepts. This quest for performance and innovation is reflected not only in unprecedented developments in the watchmaking world but as well in the materials used. The black wristband of the TimeWalker Extreme Chronograph DLC likewise makes an exceptionally technical and sportily elegant impression. It deserves special attention because of the complexity of its material combination and manufacturing process. The strap’s inlay is made of black “Vulcarboné” cautchouc which gives the wristband extreme strength and flexibility. Breakage-resistant twine in a colour that matches the leather’s hue is used to sew the cowhide to the upper surface of the rubber “soul”.
A laborious process textures the leather and simultaneously impregnates it with a treatment that doesn’t merely coat the leather, but conjoins with it and increases its structural strength – this innovative leather treatment leads to high-performance material with special shielding properties providing extra protection for the leather against abrasion, water, and fire. It is used for various elements through the different Montblanc product categories – a further proof that the complexity as well as the innovation and performance demands of Montblanc`s wristwatches are not limited solely to their movements, but also include other components such as wristbands, case construction and dials. This model’s high-tech wristband is secured by a black stainless steel pronged buckle which, like the other stainless steel parts, is micro-bead blasted and coated with a layer of Black 4 DLC.
The new Montblanc TimeWalker Extreme Chronograph DLC will become available in autumn 2014.
手ブレも防げそう。「はい、チーズ」と呼びかけると写真が撮れるアプリ『声シャッター』
iPhone：シャッターボタンが不要になりました。 「はい、チーズ」という写真撮影のお決まり文句を言うだけで写真が撮れるアプリ『声シャッター』がすごいです。 通常であれば「はい、チーズ」と言ってから… 続きを読む
Montblanc “Homage to Nicolas Rieussec”
A new interpretation of Rieussec’s chronograph from 1821
Nicolas Rieussec’s first patented chronograph from 1821 inspired the watchmakers at Montblanc to create the Nicolas Rieussec watch collection with manufacture movements and distinctive styling. The timepiece’s unmistakable appearance combines an off-centre hour-circle in the upper part of the dial and the chronograph’s elapsed-time displays in the lower portion of the face. As on the original from 1821, elapsed time is shown on two rotating discs, above each of which a motionless hand indicates the passing seconds and minutes.
Nicolas Rieussec, watchmaker to the French royal court, invented this construction to precisely measure the running times of individual horses at a horserace. When the starting gun was fired at the track, the patented “ink chronograph” was set in motion so that two white enamelled discs began to turn: one disc was calibrated for 60 elapsed seconds, the other for 30 elapsed minutes. The user pressed a button each time a horse crossed the finish line: this pressure momentarily lowered an elongated rhombic carrier with two ink-filled tips onto the enamel discs, where each tip left a droplet of ink. These inky markings on the scales of the chronograph’s discs enabled the user to read the exact running time of each horse. Rieussec’s device was literally a “time writer,” so he accordingly named it a “chronograph” from the Greek words “chronos” (time) and “graphein” (to write). In 1822, the Académie des Sciences in Paris granted a patent on this device to Nicolas Rieussec, who went down in horological history as the inventor of the world’s first patented chronograph.
In 2014, Montblanc pays tribute to this great clockmaker with a new interpretation of his chronograph from 1821. The Montblanc “Homage to Nicolas Rieussec” chronograph faithfully replicates every detail of the colour scheme and the styling of the hands as they appeared on the original “time writer”, but relies on innovative materials and technologies to transport the historical device into our contemporary day and age. The new “Homage to Nicolas Rieussec” chronograph from the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec collectionshows the date, indicates the time in two different time zones and also offers a day/night display. The timepiece will be manufactured in limited editions in rose gold and steel.
Traditional features – innovative styling
In an unprecedented innovation, the chronograph’s hand is designed as a double index: each of the two tips of an elongated horizontal blued-metal rhombus points to a calibrated scale on one of two rotating discs. Each index is shaped exactly like the ink carriers on the original chronograph from 1821. The two whitelacquered discs – one at the left for 60 elapsed seconds and the other at the right for 30 elapsed minutes – are likewise inspired by the appearance of the original timepiece.
At first glance, the watch’s hour-circle seems to lack hour numerals and to bear only a minute-scale. With slim black strokes alternating with Arabic numerals at ten-minute intervals, the minute-circle faithfully emulates its counterpart on the original “time writer”, the position of the hands allows precise legibility of the hours.
The hour-circle reveals its special feature in the dark, when an unprecedented technique causes the formerly hidden hour numerals to appear on the dial. The traditionally styled hour-circle is crafted from ultramodern hybrid ceramic permeated with Superluminova pigments. These luminous pigments form the Arabic hour numerals in the characteristic font of the Montblanc Rieussec collection. The digits are invisible in daylight because they’re precisely embedded into the hour ring, with which they share exactly the same colour. But when the ambient light starts to dim, the luminous pigments that fill the numerals – as well as the Superluminova-filled hour-hand and minute-hand – begin to glow, thus assuring perfect legibility and simultaneously giving this watch its characteristic appearance.
The pale, shiny, enamel-like surfaces of the hour-circle and the chronograph’s discs create an unusual contrast with the fine-grained (grainé) texture of the dial. Two apertures rimmed by finely satin-finished gradations offer an unobstructed view of the date display at “3 o’clock” and the finely guilloche-embellished day/night indicator at “9 o’clock”. A skeletonized hour-hand indicates the time in a second time zone.
A monopusher chronograph with a manufacture calibre
Combining traditional watchmaker’s craftsmanship and modern engineering artistry, self-winding mechanical manufacture Calibre MB R200 ticks unseen beneath the innovative dial. A laboriously milled column-wheel controls the monopusher chronograph; the connection between the gear-train and chronograph’s wheels is alternately engaged and disengaged by a vertical coupling, which functions nearly without wear and prevents the elapsed-time hands from jumping when the chronograph is switched on. The double barrel stores enough power for 72 hours of continuous running. The movement’s appeal derives not only from its outstanding mechanical performance, but also from its horological aesthetic. The components are decorated with Geneva waves and have beveled, polished edges. Bright red jewels, blued screws and shiny golden brass wheels complete the handsome ensemble, which can be admired by peering through the transparent pane of sapphire crystal in the back of the case.
Functional case
The dial is protected by a slightly cambered sapphire crystal that’s been antireflective treated on both its surfaces. The movement is ensconced inside a circular case made of 18 karat rose gold. The case’s doubly stepped horns angle slightly downward so the 43-mm-diameter watch fits ergonomically and conforms to the anatomy of its wearer’s wrist. A watch connoisseur who notices the unconventional positioning of the chronograph’s button at “8 o’clock” will correctly deduce that this is a monopusher chronograph which can be conveniently operated with the tip of the right thumb. The rose gold crown is deeply grooved and embellished with a domed black-and-white Montblanc emblem. A pin buckle made of 18 karat gold secures the alligator-skin strap, which conforms to the curvature of the horns and the roundness of the case.
