Oakley

Oakley has long been a leader in eyewear, with patents to the best optical technologies in the world. How that translates into being able to produce a titanium watch that costs nine grand is beyond me. Yes, the CNC machined impact forged titanium case and bracelet are impressive. As is the ability to use a release lever on the left flank of the case to remove the watch so it can be used in the included pocket watch case. But does this justify a nine thousand dollar price tag? No.

I took this photo outside the Oakley booth at Baselworld 2009. It is an all new collection called the "12-Gauge." It comes in a black PVD steel case and features a chronograph, on a rubber strap and black buckle.

Oakley Another cool Oakley watch that is a bit overpriced at $650. The stealth black agressive look with stopwatch functionality is nice. The difference between an ordinary stopwatch and a true chronograph is the precision of 10-jewel Swiss Movement. This intuitive design features a sub dial for logging minutes and hours, plus a sweeping second hand that accelerates to the current moment when pause is released. Surgical stainless steel forms the durable case.

This is the Oakley Blade. These watches use the same pure sapphire crystals used in most high-end watches and they are enhanced with an anti-reflective coating. Oakley says it takes more than 16 million pounds of force to hammer high-grade stainless steel into submission. A 300-ton hydraulic ram blasts an ingot 27 times to create the blade design.