Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. In this article we predict who will take the top prize called the Aiguille d’Or (“golden hand”), the best of the best of all the watches pre-selected in the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
Quill & Pad is in Dubai for the exciting inaugural event known as Dubai Watch Week. Dubai Watch Week (DWW) targets both local and international watch collectors and aficionados with five different sections of activity. So far, these have been popular and busy. “Dubai Watch Week is a first for the Middle East and an incredible initiative by the Seddiqi Group,” said Maximilian Büsser of MB&F of the event co-organized by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
The second half of 2015 was an exciting time for Ulysse Nardin, continuing the brand’s roots in conquering ocean time with marine chronometers. And now even more exciting that the brand has taken to the seas with Swedish challenger to the America’s Cup, Artemis Racing. And what a great way to start the retail introduction of the new Ulysse Nardin Marine Diver Artemis Racing: with Artemis Racing winning its first America’s Cup challenger bid in Bermuda!
In my mind, the Bovet Dimier Récital 15 stands alone as the coolest of the Récital line for its functions and displays. Let’s take a look!
It begins with the jump hour, my favorite “because we can” complication. Of course I would write about another jump hour!
The jump hour, situated at 3 o’clock, is positioned so that it is the first thing you see when you begin to pull up your shirt cuff to check the time.
Now this may be a happy coincidence based on movement layout, but it is more than likely that is was conceptual. What else does it contain?
The America’s Cup, the world’s oldest international sporting trophy, first became a serious topic in the world of watches back in 2003, when Audemars Piguet became the partner of Cup challenger ‘Alinghi.’ In this thirty-fifth edition of the America’s Cup, we see a number of watch brands involved aside from principal sponsor, Louis Vuitton. Beginning with Ulysse Nardin, the timing partner of Artemis Racing.
Dear De Bethune,
Can I call you Thunie? Or, even better, just DB?
I have decided to place quill upon pad after all these years of watching you . . . no, I’m neither a stalker nor a star-struck groupie.
But more often than not you have intrigued, baffled, dazzled, and surprised me.
You do not remember our first meeting; how could you? You were just a baby, very different from what you are today. You had rather classic looks inside and out, but there was a je ne sais quoi implying that you might grow into something more interesting and perhaps flamboyant . . .
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Sports category are the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, the Harry Winston Project Z9, Seiko’s Prospex Marinemaster Professional Diver’s 1000m Hi-Beat 36000, the Tudor Pelagos, and the Zenith El Primero Sport.
Greubel Forsey’s timepieces usually have much of the movement on display on the dial side, which is all the better to appreciate the beauty of its design and sublime hand-finishing. But the 24 Secondes Vision is altogether more discreet and it does not fully reveal its magic until it is turned over. That’s where the micro-mechanical ballet beneath the transparent dome takes place.
In this article I look at why high end watches cost so much by examining one of the most important factors. To answer this question, there are quite a few reasons, including low production numbers (mass manufacture brings prices down) and high complexity, but the one I will focus on here is hand-finishing, because unlike low production numbers and high complexity, ultra-high-level hand-finishing is not usually easy to appreciate.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Jewellery category are the audacious Audemars Piguet Diamond Punk, Bulgari’s MVSA High Jewellery Watch, the Chaumet Joséphine Aigrette Impériale, de Grisogono’s fluid Grappoli, the colorful Fabergé Summer in Provence Multicoloured Sapphire, and the Piaget Extremely Piaget Double Sided Cuff Watch.