Rolex has always been proud of the durability and longevity of its timepieces. And in an increasingly competitive market, the brand with the crown in its logo made a big move in 2015 to confirm its leading position with the new Rolex five-year guarantee. Here is some help with the most frequently asked questions I’ve encountered.
Independent Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva has horologically personified the moon. Sarpaneva’s moonface is a stylized version of his own face. The colorfully bejeweled Moonshine highlights the dial like few, if any, watches I’ve ever seen. But the obvious question I’m asking here, is: what is this face thinking or what does he/she/it want to say?
This young award is just barely three years old, but indeed it has already managed to reward some of the greatest personalities in the world of watches for their “passion” and “talent” – which are undeniably the most essential ingredients for the finest watchmaking. This year, the FHH once again awarded two epic personalities: miniature painter/enameler Anita Porchet and Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.
“There has been an enormous amount of creativity during the past 10 or 15 years, but I can really see all that disappearing. If we face difficult times ahead, I expect the big groups will get bigger — and that makes me wonder whether or not we will see the beginning of the end of smaller, independent brands, which are often the really creative ones,” Werdelin said in the FT interview. However, I also had the impression that Werdelin’s interview begged for a follow-up, so here it is.
As we approach the upcoming Christie’s New York auction on June 7, 2016 the ultra-rare stainless steel Lange 1 with a killer black dial has already enticed a lot of buzz among my collector friends. A. Lange & Söhne does not regularly produce watches in steel, only in precious metals and this watch is one of only three with a black dial and stainless steel case.
At Baselworld 2016, Nomos Glashütte introduced its new automatic DUW 3001 caliber in the familiar (but usually manually wound) Tetra case, turning it into part of the Neomatik line. Big deal? Yes, big deal! Tetra is square, which is unusual in today’s watch world. The result is an unusual watch that appeals to people looking for something out of the ordinary.
Introducing Czapek & Cie., a nascent watch brand that is looking to the village to help it grow. The first interesting thing to learn about Czapek is that it is a brand not atypically reviving a historical name with some pretty serious horological street cred for the purists out there. But first let’s take a good look at the Czapek Quai des Bergues collection.
There is a very special place in Milan, Italy that few locals even know exists. Casa Campanini is a quiet place, deliberately so, but it has recently become well known to fashionistas the world over since its opening in September 2015 as the Ralph Lauren Palazzo. Follow me in for a visit!
Believe it or not, this Rube Goldberg/Jean Tinguely-style contraption is actually an astronomical clock by A.H.C.I. member Miki Eleta that displays retrograde minutes, jumping hours, day of the week, a three-dimensional moon phase, and world time. And it’s all regulated by Eleta’s own constant force gravity tourbillon with chronometer escapement.
But the question I’m asking here is: what might this assembly of gears be and/or be doing if it wasn’t a clock? Please leave your ideas (fun or funny also welcome) in the comments.
The prevailing financial atmosphere may be pointing toward Spartan classicism in some areas of life, but fortunately for us the worlds of art and beauty – which include haute horlogerie – still express joyful color. Enjoy the bursts of vivid hue in these five time-telling rainbows we found at Baselworld 2016 from Kari Voutilainen, de Grisogono, Chopard, Ulysse Nardin, and Fabergé.