Garrett

Mine is an A. Lange & Sohne tourbillon that cost $211,000 in 2017 when I bought it. Next are four chronographs by Tissot, Fossil, Relic ands one with no name on it. The Tissot is much more expensive than the others. 

168/180 Leonardo da Vinci

46/180 Meisonnier

95/180 Ingres

173/180 Velasquez

39/180 Bugnereau

148/180 Dali

107/180 Picasso

176/180 Raphael

37/180 Manet

179/180 Vermeer5/180 Mondriaan

I've written 5 editions of a book about that. I compare the brands on 96 lists, e.g.

1999 LIST 1. Gold Hours & Minutes Only Manual-Wind Round Dress Wristwatches

(After price, Y = 18kt. yellow gold, R = 18kt. rose gold & W = 18kt. white gold)

1. $11,000Y,$11,500R,$12,000W Breguet "Model 3290.11"- 100%, 100% & 100%

2. $10,800Y,R,$11,000W Patek Philippe "Calatrava 3520D"- 98.2%, 93.9% & 91.7%

3. $9900Y,$10,900W Vacheron Constantin "Patrimony"- 90.0% & 90.8%

4. $8900Y Piaget "Tradition Extra-Slim"- 80.9%

5. $8600Y,R, $9000W Blancpain "0028"- 78.2%, 74.8% & 75.0%

6. $7850Y Audemars Piguet "14539"- 71.4%

7. $7700Y,R Piaget "Tradition Grande Modele"- 70.0% & 67.0%

8. $7300Y,R Blancpain "2012"- 66.4% & 63.5%

9. $7100Y,$7250R Jaeger-LeCoultre "Master Ultra-Slim"- 64.5% & 63.0%

10a. $7000Y Blancpain "0021 Ultra-Slim"- 63.6%

10b. $7000Y Cartier "Ronde de Cartier"- 63.6%

11. $5500Y,R,$5995W IWC "Portofino 2010"- 50.0%, 43.5% & 50.0%

12a. $2950 Rolex "Cellini Biseau"- 26.8%

12b. $2950 Rolex "Cellini Classic"- 26.8%

13. $2250Y,$2300W Chopard "16/3154"- 20.5% & 19.2%

1999 LIST 96. Platinum Minute Repeater-Tourbillon-Perpetual Calendar-Chronograph Rattrapantes

1. $1,000,000 Blancpain "1735"- 100%

2. $375,000 IWC "Il Destriero Scafusia'- 37.5%

I think you can see why the costliest brands in the first three editions of my book were 1. Breguet (began 1775), 2. Patek Philippe (began 1839) and 3. Vacheron Constantin (began 1755). Some people wrongly believe Rolex is costliest, but my lists show that isn't true. Here, the costliest watches cost nearly four times as much as the Rolexes. By now, there are new brands that challenge the older ones as costliest. Can they beat them for Edition 5 of my book?

Look at my avatar photo that my sister took! It shows I'm rather large. I began bodybuilding about the time of my 15th birthday and quickly gained size, e.g. an inch on each arm in a week and another inch in 1.5 months. In weightlifting and power-lifting contests, I've weighed in at 340# to 360#. My brother was 5'-10", 200#, and my father was 5'-11", 185#. I guess I'm about their height but heavier and stronger. At about 320#, I have 60"-61" chest, 22"-22.5" neck and arm and 20.5" calf. I subscribe to "Black Belt" and buy some other martial arts magazines. They have ads for Chinese and Japanese uniforms, but I think one said the biggest ones available are for men 6'-5", 260#. Does anyone know of any sources for Chinese and Japanese martial arts clothing big enough for me?

I just won this watch in "International Watch" magazine's August 2011 crossword puzzle contest, and it arrived by UPS 11/29/11. The watch has rose gold-plated steel case and matching "Brique" bracelet with hidden double folding clasp. It has a Swiss quartz movement for hours, minutes, seconds and date. The dial is dark warm brown spiral guilloche with rose gold Roman numeral hour markers and leaf-style hands and a date window at 6:00. It's water-resistant to 10 atmospheres (100 meters = 328.1 feet). I haven't seen prices of Croton watches since 2007.

In maybe 1998, I saw a new men's clothing store on Sutter Street near Stockton a block north of Union Square in San Francisco, and I walked in. A clerk looked at me and said, 'We don't have any clothing big enough for you!" In a small city near my parents' home, I saw a nice men's clothing store and asked a clerk what sizes of suits it had. He told me 44" Tall was the biggest it carried. I wore that size when I was 15 or 16 years old, and I'm a great deal larger now and need shirts, suits and jackets in size 61" chest and 22" neck. I weighed 320 lbs. recently, and I've weighed 360#. Near my parents' home, no store carries the size 9-EEEE shoes I wear. I wear big hats too and often can't find any big enough. I've been on horses and had riding clothing since I was two years old. In 1986, I decided to buy some new British knee high riding boots. I had to order custom boots to fit my 20.5" calves from Swaine, Adeney, Brigg & Son in London. This firm has a royal appointment, so the British princes wear its clothing. I began lifting barbells about the time of my 15th birthday and gained 60 lbs. of muscles by my 18th birthday. I gained more over the years. In top shape, I'm huge and muscular. I've competed in physique contests and weightlifting and power-lifting.

"Kunoichi" are Ninja girls. The term "Ku-no-Ichi" signifies "9-1" that is also used in China ("Gao-Yat" in Cantonese) for lady spies. I own 87 Japanese movies, and some have lovely Kunoichi in them.

#1. ("Ichiban", in Japanese) to me is the sweet and lovely "Megami" (Goddess) named Miyuki Komatsu in "Kunoichi Ninpo Cho San: Higi Densetsu no Kai" made in 1993.

2. Risa Koda in "Kunoichi no Niji no Ha" made in 2008.

3. Miho Kiuchi in "Kunoichi: Chimei-Teki na Shinkiro" made in 1997.

4.Kaede Matsushima in "Ninjaken: Hadaka no Ken".

5. Marin Akazuki in "Sanada Kunoichi Ninpoden Kasumi: Musashi Ougi Kaigan".

I'll give some data on these five beauties now!

Miyuki Komatsu was born 6/5/71 in Fukushima that has been in the news lately when the nuclear reactor there leaked radiation. Her height is 154 cm. or 5'-0.63", she usually weighs 44 kg. or 96.8 bs. and has 84 cm. bust, 56 cm. waist and 82 cm. hips or a 33.07"/22.04"/32.28" figure. She has strong legs from dancing. Her surname means "Small Pine", a longevity symbol. Her given name means "Beautiful Blessing". I have eight of her movies. I also have several photo books and some magazines with photos of her. She's on the cover of a photography magazine.

Risa Koda was born 10/10/85. She is 5'-4.17" tall and has a 32.28"/22.83"/33.07" figure, so she probably weighs about 100-102 lbs. Her surname means "Happiness Field". Her given name means "Pear Gauze". I also have a pinup girl DVD with her.

Miho Kiuchi was born 1/31/75. She is 5'-2.60" tall and has a 31.50"/22.83"/32.28" figure. Her surname means "Tree House", and her given name means "Beautiful Ear". I received a new movie with her yesterday from YesAsia. I have "Rear Window" a photo album book with her too.

Kaede Matsushima was born 11/7/82 in Fukuoka. She is 160 cm. tall and has a 85/58/84 cm. figure (5'-3", 33.46"/22.83"/33.07"). Her surname means "Pine Island". Her given name is written in Hiragana phonetics, so I can only guess what it means.

Marin Akazuki was born 3/5/87 in Kanagawa. She is 148 cm. tall and has an 86/55/85 cm. figure (4'-10.27", 33.86"/21.65"/33.46"). Her surname means Autumn Moon. Her given name is in Hiragana, so I don't know what it means. There are homonyms in all languages, so there are several possibilities.

CULTURAL NOTES: In Japan (and China), a person's surname comes first, so the girl called Miyuki Komatsu in the West was born as Komatsu Miyuki, and that is how her name is written in Japanese books, magazines and movies and their boxes. Japan is composed of many islands. The largest one is Honshu that has most of the major cities, e.g. Tokyo. Fukushima is north of Tokyo. Fukuoka is the largest city on Kyushu island west of Honshu. Most girls write their full names in Kanji, but lately some of them have been writing given names in Hiragana.

It's hard for me to choose favorites, for I've seen so many of them, e.g. with Mao Ying (Angela Mao), Hui Ying-Hung (Kara Hui), Huang Hsing-Hsiu (Cecilia Wong), Yeoh Chu-Kheng (Michelle Yeoh), Zhang Ziyi, etc. in Chinese action films; Cynthia Rothrock, Cat Sassoon, Andrea Osvart, etc. in Occidental films, etc.

In Japanese movies, "Manji Mai 2" has some such scenes I like. It begins with a samurai walking along a path in the wilds. A wide hat hides his face. Suddenly, seven ninja attack him. When he raises his head, we see it's a lovely girl- Kumiko Takeda- in men's clothing. From the instant her katana is drawn until the 7th ninja falls dead from its strokes takes 9.6 seconds by my chronograph. She also fights five more who attack a man, his wife and young daughter and quickly kills two, so the others flee. The man and woman are dead, so she takes the child with her. She meets another samurai, and they go to an inn in a village. Her companion argues with some men and beats five of them in unarmed fighting. Then a giant lifts him and holds him above the ground. This man is about 6'-9", 275 lbs. or bigger. 5'-2.2", 95 lbs. Kumiko rescues her new pal by quickly knocking out the giant. At the end, she and a couple of friends find the ninja hideout and kill them all. The finale has the ninja leader with blood squirting from him like a fountain from Kumiko's sword stroke before he falls.

I also like a scene in one of my newest Japanese movies, "Dauntaungaruza". 5'-0.6", 96.75 lbs. beauty Miyuki Komatsu and her two lady pals who are bigger at 5'-2" and 5'-5" go to rescue an old lady who befriended them. Miyuki charges at a man who is a foot taller and twice as heavy as she is. He's surprised to see such a tiny girl attack him. She quickly grabs his arm and pulls him down to her level. Then, she neatly circles around him and chops the back of his neck. The girls go to the old lady, and men attack them. Miyuki starts to help one girl, and a man grabs her from behind and throws her roughly to the ground. Then, two men try to stomp her. She rolls about and sweeps one man's legs out from under him, so he falls. She blocks the other man's stomp and throws him backward. The first enemy wrestles with her, and he's much bigger. She throws him with a Judo move. The other man is on his feet again, so she kicks him. She is a ballerina with strong legs. Soon, both men are knocked out by our tiny fighter. Her friends have won too, so they leave with the old lady.

Seeing such beautiful and small Japanese ladies beat much bigger men is amusing.

I recently ordered eight DVDs from Amazon.com, CDJapan and YesAsia. Last Thursday, "Ninjaken The Naked Sword" arrived. It stars Kaede Matsushima as Murasame a Kunoichi whose assignment is to kill the Daimyo Daizen Osakabe. "Kunoichi Ninpo Cho San" starring lovely Miyuki Komatsu has been shipped an e-mail tells me. I've owned "Kunoichi: Deadly Mirage" a few years. It stars pretty Miho Kiuchi as the leader of the last five Hiryu Kunoichi. I also have had "Lady Ninja Kasumi #3" a while. Marin Akizuki plays Kasumi the Kunoichi who steals a powerful scroll and is ordered to be killed by Hattori Hanzo, but the great swordsman Miyamoto comes to her rescue.

I've heard several theories about the name "Kunoichi". I studied Chinese and Japanese at San Francisco City College. I have three Japanese dictionaries. A small Random House one says "Kuno" means "Agony or Anguish", but it could be 'Ku No" . "Ku" can mean such things as "Phrase", "Agony or Pain", "District or Zone", "Ward" or the number "9" (also Kyu). "No" can mean "Field", "Brain" or a traditional "Theater", and it can be a particle meaning "At, For, In, Of, From" with inverse word order or a possessive, i.e. "Garetu no Udedokei" is "My Wristwatch" or "Wristwatch of Garrett". "Ichi" can be "Market", "Fair", "Position or Location", "Situation", "Beginning", "Best" or simply the number "1", i.e. I shop some at Ichiban (#1) in Japan Center on the second floor of the Tasamak Building or Miyako Mall. So, what do you think "Kunioichi" means literally, and what does it denote?

One of my friends posted photos of me in a Yahoo Group with a tape measure around my calf that shows it measures 20.5" in girth. I just measured my thigh at 34". I weigh 270-275 lbs. now and may weigh up to 320 lbs. My calves don't vary with changes in bodyweight, but my other measurements do. My arms and neck are bigger than my calves, and my thigh may be several inches bigger when I weigh more than I do now. I recall walking in at a men's clothing shop on Sutter Street just above Union Square in San Francisco, and a clerk took one look at me and said, "We don't have any clothing big enough for you!" That happens to me occasionally. Does it ever happen to you?