Collection Vínland - GMT for the Long distance traveller

The Vínland GMT Collection is designed to meet the needs of long-distance travellers. What sets a GMT watch apart from other timepieces is its ability to display time in two locations. The handy GMT complication makes the timepieces a great choice for frequent global travellers or people who do business internationally and that’s why the first thing we could think of when designing this watch was of the Viking explorers from the Icelandic Viking Sagas who braved the Atlantic Ocean to discover, and settle America.

The Vínland collection

The Vínland Collection comes in a 41 mm Steel case made from the finest German surgical grade Stainless Steel "316L" with a Domed Anti Reflective Sapphire Crystal and See-through Sapphire Crystal back. Swiss Made Mechanical movement “Execution Top” with Automatic winding, 65 hour power reserve, 29 jewels, Custom decorations, Blue screws and Rhodium plated finish which can be examined in detail, through a sapphire crystal case back. All decorations and craftsmanship is of the highest quality.

Technical specifications

Movement

• Swiss Made Mechanical movement “Execution Top”

• Automatic winding.

• 29 jewels, Custom decorations, Blue Steel screws and Rhodium plated finish with a Viking blade Rotor in Rose Gold color.

• 65-hour power reserve when fully wound.

• Fine tuning: “Assortment Chronometer”.

• Shock protection: Incabloc.

• Adjusted to five positions.

• Complications: GMT with a unique and World Covering step-less adjustment, infinitely variable. Exact setting to any Time Zone in the world including half hour and 45-Minute Time Zones. The GMT function can also be used as a Chronograph, by setting the GMT hand to “0” at the beginning of an event, such as a flight, the GMT will then follow the normal central hour hand and time the event correctly.

• Small Second Hand & Date.

Case

• Material: Surgical grade German Stainless Steel "316L".

• Diameter: 41mm, height 11,6mm.

• Surface finish: Polished to a Mirror bright finish.

• Domed Sapphire Crystal with multi anti reflective coating on the inside.

• See-through Sapphire Crystal back.

• Both Sapphire Crystals have the Hardness of nine out of ten on the Mohs scale, only a Diamond is harder.

• Water-resistance: 5 ATM.

• Lug width: 20mm.

Dial

• Galvanic Silver-Toned, Galvanic Blue or Galvanic Black with Guilloché center.

• Rhodium plated Roman numbers and indexes in silver or Blued Steel.

• Date display at three o'clock.

• Small second hand at nine o’clock.

• Small GMT hand at six o’clock.

Hands

• Rhodium plated Lancette style minute and hour hands, or Blued Steel.

• Blued Steel second hand.

• Red GMT hand.

Strap

• Handmade 20mm Genuine Alligator or Teju Lizard strap with JS Watch co. Reykjavik deployant clasp.

• Stainless Steel "316L" bracelet also available.

Inspired by The Icelandic viking sagas

The Vínland Sagas, a collection of Icelandic and Greenland Viking Sagas, describe the first European discovery and explorations of the North American continent. These Vínland Sagas were, and still are, considered to be a form of evidence of the very first recorded European discovery of America, well before Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America.

The Norsemen, with their ability to explore uncharted waters and undiscovered countries, explored the vast regions of Western and Southern Europe, discovered the Arctic North, making their way past the White sea, settled England, Scotland, Ireland and discovered and settled Iceland, Greenland, and were the first recorded discovers of America. The term ‘Viking,’ means to go out to explore, raid, trade or settle; thereby to call the explorers of Greenland and Vínland ‘Vikings’ is an appropriate term.

Leifur Eirikson was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America (excluding Greenland). According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vínland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern day Canada. Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vínland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station.

Leifur was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and of Thjodhildur, and the grandson of Thorvaldr Ásvaldsson, and distant relative of Naddodd, who discovered Iceland. He was a Viking in the early days. His year of birth is most often given as c. 970 or c. 980. Leifur was likely born in Iceland, where his parents met probably somewhere on the edge of Breidafjördur, and possibly at the farm Haukadal where Thjodhildur's family is said to have been based. Leifur had two brothers, whose names were Thorsteinn and Thorvaldur, and a sister, Freydis.

Although the Eirikson family originated in Norway, they moved steadily westward as progressive generations were banished or exiled for manslaughter and other crimes. Leifur led a small expedition to North America and established a colony there. Experts agree that the Vikings only lasted three to ten years at Vínland, eventually leaving not because of the cold or lack of food, but rather because they were chased off by the thousands of natives who inhabited the area. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Leifur apparently saw Vínland for the first time after being blown off course on his way to to Greenland after being a hirdsman of Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvason where he converted to Christianity and was given the mission of introducing the religion to Greenlanders.

THE POWER OF YOUR IMAGINATION

When looking at the watch and using the power of your imagination you might be able to see the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the watch dial, you might also see some viking swords and viking spear in the hand design and when turning the watch around you might even see a viking axe blade providing energy to run the watch.