Michel Boulanger

The Le Garde Temps Project: A Horology Nerd’s Dream Come True

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There are many categories of people who partake in the experience of watches. I like to give some of them labels like watch enthusiasts, watch collectors, watch fanboys (or girls), watch connoisseurs, watch geeks, and watch-aholics.

Each category shares aspects with the others, but they all have their own distinct variety of enthusiasm in which people focus on different avenues for their passions.

The reason I want to talk about my definitions of watch love is because I want to talk about one of the biggest horology nerd projects going on right now: Le Garde Temps, Naissance d’une montre. Translated this means “The Timepiece, the birth of a watch.”

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On Location At Jaeger-LeCoultre In Le Sentier

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Elizabeth and Ian are live on location in Le Sentier this week, where we are getting a first-hand look at the skills of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s artisans in some of the 180 different trades and crafts that this manufacture founded in 1833 unites under one (admittedly very large) roof.

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Speake-Marin Resilience

Give Me Five! Speake-Marin

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Resilience, Triad, Serpent Calendar, Spirit Mark II and Dragon. Those were just a few of the new models that Speake-Marin exhibited at Baselworld last year and we have heard a whisper that the brand will be presenting an even bigger line up of exciting new models this year.

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Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Handwerkskunst in

Weekly Roundup: March 7

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* Quill & Pad has the honor of introducing Grieb & Benzinger’s latest bespoke creation: the Black Tulip Red Midnight. This masterfully skeletonized watch is the direct result of a customer’s desire: a watch connoisseur looking for a “stealth” watch that nonetheless portrays its value and rare handcrafts in a lower-key way, creating an eye-catching black-and-red look using unusual gemstones.

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Stephen Forsey and Robert Greubel discussing the original Meccano proof-of-concept model of their double tourbillon 30° invention

Congratulations To All Of The Quill & Pad Prize Winners

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While at times our online magazine seems to have already been active for years (in a good way), Quill & Pad only launched just over two months ago. And thanks to all of you it has even more successful than we ever imagined. And we were aiming high!

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Audemars Piguet Millenary Minute Repeater

How The Audemars Piguet Millenary Minute Repeater Has The Blues

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Thanks to the slew of popular sports watches based on Audemars Piguet’s evergreen Royal Oak that appear on the market every year, it should come as no surprise that the Audemars Piguet Millenary line often gets overlooked. While on an intellectual level, the reasoning is understandable, on an emotional level it remains a bit of a riddle.

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The engraved eyes of the Sarpaneva Doublemoon

Stepan Sarpaneva’s Man In The Moon

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Most of Stepan Sarpaneva’s timepieces involve the moon in some way. And of one thing Elizabeth am certain: it is surely Sarpaneva’s stylized rendition of the earth’s satellite that has drawn her to his work in such a powerfully magnetic way.

The moon seems to draw Sarpaneva himself in, but this trademark element came about in a bit of a surprising way, with much less advance planning as one might think. And, surely this is how the best things come about.

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Van Cleef & Arples Heure d'ici & Heure d'ailleurs (Time here and Time elsewhere

Poetry For The Wrist: The Van Cleef & Arpels Heure d’Ici & Heure d’Ailleurs

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Van Cleef & Arpels is known today in the haute horlogerie realm as the “maison” producing Poetic Complications, little love stories on the wrist. It has always produced beautiful items of the highest quality, but in recent years the Richemont-owned brand has sincerely added high watchmaking to its goals as a luxury house.

Which is where Agenhor enters the picture since the lion’s share of the Poetic Complications line is developed in collaboration with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and his specialist company, Agenhor, which develops complications and – now – movements for an exclusive clientele.

The wonderful relationship between Van Cleef & Arpels and Agenhor – a bit of a love story itself – has resulted in many amazing timepieces and accolades from the industry. Wiederrecht was asked to work on an extension for the Pierre Arpels line, which has largely remain unchanged since its eponymous inception in 1949.

The result, as you will see, is one of the most poetic and functional dual time watches that I have ever seen: the Pierre Arpels Heure d’ici Heure d’ailleurs.

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Richard Mille RM 038 Bubba Watson

Heartbeat: Richard Mille RM 038 Bubba Watson

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The RM 038 is made of an extremely strong and light alloy called magnesium WE 54. The tourbillon movement has been developed for a particular emphasis on shock protection (a good thing if playing golf with it).
Bubba Watson is a professional golfer and Richard Mille ambassador. He one the US Masters Tournament in 2012 and is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour.

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