With the horological storm that is Baselworld slowing calming down, we thought this might be a quiet news week; however, it turned out to be busy with news from Rolex, Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, Zenith, Montblanc, Antiquorum, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hublot, Digital Luxury Group and F.P. Journe.
The most common choice for classic dress watches has to be gold, but have you ever wondered where that gold originally came from? And by “originally” I’m not referring to a gold mine on earth but the original source of the gold even before it arrived on our planet. Spoiler alert: it involves an explosion, a very big explosion!
Richard Mille is one of those brands where it is all too easy to be simply enamored of the incredible visuals and lifestyle hype. However, Richard Mille is one of the most technical of watch brands. Case in point is the RM 36-01 Competition G-Sensor.
Ulysse Nardin’s main introduction for Baselworld was not a watch. It was a component. This is probably one reason why the introduction of the new Ulysse Anchor Escapement was so surprising; I would have expected it to come together with the haptic treat of a full horological experience, i.e. a timepiece to touch, feel and enjoy.
I simply went gaga over R.W. Smith’s latest creation when I first saw it. Commissioned as part of the British government’s GREAT Britain campaign, which is on its third year, Smith’s latest creation is appropriately called the GREAT Britain watch. Well, of course!
While the two most well known German brands are A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original, there are quite a few smaller German brands deserving our attention. Some with names you may have heard of, a few you may not have: Nomos, Lange & Heyne, Tutima, Kudoke and Leinfelder among them.
We hope you didn’t miss our Weekly Roundup too much last week in lieu of the goings-on at Baselworld. This week, we bring you the latest news again, though with a Baselworld goodie or two thrown in….
One thing is as certain as death and taxes: Rolex will never, ever do what you think it is going to do. The unassuming Oyster Perpetual Datejust Pearlmaster contains something that I didn’t think I would ever see in my lifetime: silicon! To tell you I almost fell off my chair would be an understatement.
Okay, so if you know me, you also know that I am a fan of Nomos. And it’s not hard to define why, including the fact that Nomos watches are the biggest bang for the buck in our industry. I defy any brand anywhere to provide the consumer with more watch for the money than Nomos!
But that still doesn’t answer why I entitled this post, “Bravo, Nomos!”
By now you may have noticed that our post-fair round table discussions will become somewhat of a tradition. So without further ado, we present you the opportunity to hear a few well-known journalists in the world of horology share their impressions of Baselworld 2014.