Magrette Tane - Lord of the Forest
Magrette is an interesting new watchmaker, based in New Zealand. They offer all of their watch collections in limited editions of 500 or less. This particular wristwatch is actually limited to only 10 pieces worldwide. Prices range from under $500 for watches with a Miyota 8215 movement, to over $4,500 with an ETA 2824-2 movement. The Magrette "Tane" (pictured) is powered by a swiss made ETA 2824-2 and features beautiful hand engraved artwork on the case, caseback , buckle and rotor. The box is even cool, it is handcrafted from timber milled from the Kauri tree, a protected New Zealand native.
(Note: I am currently testing one of the new $485 mechanical dive watches from Magrette. It will be online, with original images, before Baselworld 2010.)
The Gods: Tane, Lord of the Forest
Ranginui and Papatuanuku were the first gods and they were joined together. Because of this the world was in darkness. Their offspring lived in crevices in a dark universe. Tane, the oldest son and perhaps the most powerful, forced his parents apart and separated them and in doing so, brought light into the world and the earth and sky were formed. Ranginui was eventually forced up and became the sky father and Papatuanuku became the earth mother.
There was a time of great chaos during the separation and many struggles ensued between the offspring of Ranginui and Papatuanku as the siblings fought for domination of everything around them.
The God Tane, the greatest of all the children, brought life into the world and created all the forests and birds. His brothers and sisters once released into the light went on to become the Gods of war, water, fertility and other things...........but that's all another story.
When a mighty tree is felled a prayer (karakia) of thanks is made to Tane. Thereafter the life force of Tane resides within the timber even after it has been crafted into other treasures (taonga).
Technical Specifications
Tane, Lord of the Forest
Movement
Rotor, hand engraved, self-winding, 25 jewel, Swiss movement (ETA cal. 2824-2)
Case
Diameter: 44mm excluding crown, polished stainless steel.
Dial
Laser cut indices filled by hand with LÜM-TEC GX luminous pigment for maximum night time readability and afterglow performance.
Bezel
Hand engraved.
Crown
Screw down
Crystal
Sapphire
Water-resistance
3 ATM (approx 100ft)
Strap
24mm Black leather with polished stainless steel buckle (hand-engraved)
Comes in a beautiful wooden box Kauri (hand-made). Limited Edition of 10 pieces worldwide.
Retail $4,485
Source: Magrette
