Can something that is highly functional also be art? If there is one brand that has proven — at least in watches — that functional objects can be art it is Nomos. The German company’s designs can are minimalistic, which leads to enormous focus on every minuscule detail. The ‘De Stijl’ version offered by Ace Jewelers in Amsterdam takes all of this even further in a limited edition that costs no more than the regular collection edition.
Humans have long had a fascination with the depths of the ocean, striving to go ever deeper, ever further, and ever faster by pushing the limits of the human body, technology, and advancing modern science. But like all things, we are often faced with limits.
Watch straps have come a long way since the era of Caroline Murat (née Bonaparte), who is said to have commissioned the world’s first wristwatch from the talented and accomplished Abraham-Louis Breguet when uniting a bracelet with a timepiece was an unprecedented pairing. But most probably don’t break as many fashion boundaries as these three examples by Bulgari, Hublot, and Breguet.
Here are Sabine Zwettler’s favorite five “three hands plus date” from the fantastic watches on display at SIHH 2018. What they all have in common is their meticulous attention to detail, including numerals, hands, case sizes, and materials as well as color schemes and top-notch straps and bracelets, which result in the classiest of looks.
There is nothing quite like the experience that wearing an ultra-thin mechanical watch can provide. Despite a svelte, often understated case hugging your wrist in a barely perceptible embrace, you know that a there is a fully mechanical movement functioning at the edge of what is mechanically possible beating inside. And the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic is an especially fine example according to Martin Green.
One of the greatest watch brands that has emerged since the turn of the millennium is Greubel Forsey, who plays each “hand” as part of a larger strategy aimed at keeping it in control of the game it has chosen to play. One of the latest “hands” played is impressive: 2018’s GMT Earth.
If fewer people appreciate superlative hand-finishing, then fewer will pay for superlative hand-finishing, so there is likely to be less superlative hand-finishing on offer. Appreciate away!
It would be relatively easy, and pretty interesting, for GaryG to tell you the story of his two days this past summer with artist Alexa Meade and her team. And he’ll get to that, but there’s more: the flood of sensations and emotions that came from considering why time and space are so important to him and from inhabiting a work of art that melded GaryG’s vision of himself with the artist’s interpretation and self-expression. And what does any of this have to do with watches?
The Watches TV went to Watch Time New York for the first time in November 2017. And while there had the opportunity to talk to Roland Murphy of RGM and discover this luxurious American brand based in Pennsylvania.
Only the most expensive, and often also the most complicated, watches are fitted with platinum cases. But should this be the case? And, most importantly, is this true? Martin Green takes a closer look at the myths and truths of platinum.