Status update
E-mails:
Order status e-mails are current up to a day or two ago.
Info e-mails are now current up to the beginning of last week.
Watch shipments:
If you have an estimated ship date of June 21st or earlier your watch is expected to ship before I leave on vacation on July 18th. I will try to re-schedule everyone before then to give you better clarity as to when to expect completion but if time does not permit we may have to opt to keep working on watches rather than update the schedule. However I wanted to let everyone know that I am sensitive to the need to know but may have to choose between spending the time to rework the schedule and working on watches.
Status report
General:
After a bumpy week last week things are back on track or will be by the weekend. Last week’s return to the office was made very exciting by my little daughter getting sick for the better part of the week, my jet lag, and later on my developing a nasty cold to boot. To top it all off we had a nice power failure on Tuesday (see below) 
Finally everyone is feeling nearly themselves now and we’ve able to build up a nice batch of prepared parts and cases to resume normal operation. E-mails will be replied to over the weekend as we try to complete as many watch orders as possible ahead of the Saturday shipping deadline. If you have an urgent matter please call.
Custom watch orders/deliveries:
At the moment we are running about 2 weeks behind schedule. The good news is that ahead of my July 18th vacation no custom watch orders have been scheduled for delivery after June 21st. This leaves time to for us work down the backlog of orders. By next week we should have most if not all of the cases for the custom orders prepped. While we won’t be able to ship everything next week it will mean that we will be able to ship as soon as we finish setting the dials, hands, and regulation.
One of the results from my business trip to Switzerland at the beginning of the month is that I have made contacts at several PVD/CVD coating firms that serve the watch industry. In the following weeks we will be having several trials performed on our parts in order to review the coatings as well as flesh out the practicality of the process.
Site update:
The site revision/price increase will be delayed for several more days as we try to tie up final details for the LRRP, other projects, and work down the e-mail backlog. The site will be taking on a much needed spit and polish and simplification. The pre-built watch section and the custom watch section are being combined into one section that will be labeled “The Collection” or something to that affect. Hopefully this will make navigation easier and also more clearly illustrate the custom versus pre-built options.
New equipment:
In our continual focus on quality and in response to expected future service requirements we have added a Pressmatic 36 watch programmable winder to our equipment list. As the number of our watches sold increases I expect that the types of issues we will be dealing with down the road will be vary more widely. This machine will enable us to review repair work done and thoroughly test the ETA 2824 movements that we received earlier this year.
These movements that will begin going into watches in August have already been checked by a Rolex certified service center and also double checked by us. However the one function we couldn’t verify 100% was the auto wind mechanism and the resulting power reserve. This piece of equipment will enable us to verify this last detail. Should it prove practical for us to do so we may use this piece of equipment in the future to “run-in” our movements to further improve accuracy over a longer period.
Power failure
A big storm rolled through our area last night and knocked out power for the past 15 hours. Since I schedule my time around a 12 hour work day this has been a meaningful hit to productivity. So shipments that were due to ship today/tomorrow will go out on Saturday with the other scheduled shipments. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Power is now back on fortunately.
Announcements
Mk II LRRP:
In response to customer feedback regarding the helium release valve (”HRV”) we are making one modification so that this feature is optional. The HRV will be featured only on the case body using screw pins for the strap attachment. The case body using spring bars will not have the HRV. The version of the case with the spring bars will be the only case version compatible with the solid end-piece bracelet.
There will be a solid end-piece bracelet offered with the spring bar version of the Mk II LRRP. Mass production of that bracelet is currently in process and we will post pictures when available. The bracelet shown on the site is actually an older out of date sample so we won’t be able to show detailed photos until the mass production comes in.
Exchange rates:
Due to the weakening dollar over the last 12 months we will have to increase prices. The US dollar has fallen about 15% during this time and given the current environment isn’t likely to get better soon. In the hopes that the dollar will strengthen eventually prices will be increasing only 7.5%, or half of the change, on June 16th. Hopefully the dollar will strength enough to forestall another price increase scheduled for the beginning of 2009 to cover the other 7.5%
Vacation Notice:
I will be on vacation from July 18th through August 4th. Just for the record 
I wasn’t on vacation in April or this past week. Both of those were actually business trips. One for Baselworld and the other for a trade show in Lausanne. Business has been good but not so good that I can start goofing around.
E-mails bouncing
I am trying to answer e-mails while I am away. For the time being I will keep at it but I may have to save them until I get back to NYC to send them. I just tried to send them a short while ago and they keep bouncing from my server. This seems to happen when I am on a WLAN. If anyone has tried to use the Swisscom WiFi and knows the answer please post here. Otherwise I will send the replies when I return on Friday afternoon.
Travel Notice: 6/2 through 6/8
I will be traveling to Switzerland on business. Orders received after May 29th may not receive their sales order confirmation until after I return. I apologize for any inconvenience.
The online store will continue to operate and receive orders but please note that the orders won’t be downloaded from the server and processed until I return.
If anyone should have any urgent question/concern about a current order please call me at 484-683-1875. Please note that international long distance charges may apply as this is my cell.