Contemplating the 30-meter-high ancient pyramid at Mayan archaeological site Chichén Itzá in the blazing Yucatán sunlight, Elizabeth Doerr was awestruck by the structure’s complexity. Not just because of the pure historical ramifications of the pyramid and temple known as El Castillo, but also because of its timekeeping capabilities. Yes, you read that right: timekeeping capabilities!
Patented inventions are present in every aspect of human life. Electric lighting glows in our rooms due to patents held by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan; plastic is omnipresent thanks to patents registered by Leo Baekeland; and even ballpoint pens would not be on every desk if Laszlo Biro hadn’t patented them. Elizabeth Doerr takes a look at patents in the watch industry, including the most famous of all: Abraham-Louis Breguet’s patent for the tourbillon.
If you’re just beginning to collect the works of independent watchmakers, GaryG suggests that you give careful consideration to watches from Habring2, the small independent Austrian watchmaking company founded and headed by Maria Kristina and Richard Habring.
There is design, and then there is Porsche Design. The former is general, the latter is a distinct design language all by itself. As the name suggests, the 1919 Globetimer UTC is a world time watch – a type of watch with which Porsche Design has had significant experience, starting with the world time watch with alarm function it created in the 1990s with IWC. Martin Green thinks this latest model is the best to date.
Elizabeth Doerr highlights George Daniels’ first Space Traveller, which is one of the most famous pieces of the late Erivan Haub’s tremendous collection, which is slated to hit the auction block as Sotheby’s Masterworks of Time. It is bound to be the highlight of the first of the four auction segments kicking off in London in July 2019.
When Rolex put the Sky-Dweller Caliber 9001 in a Rolesor case in 2017 (“Rolesor” is a Rolex term for two-tone stainless steel and gold) and dropped the price down to $14,400 Chris Malburg became a player. And, as he soon discovered, so were a goodly number of other Rolex admirers. Here is the story of why he bought this watch and what happened then.
Ladies, watch out! In 2019 many brands are catering to their female customers in a more mindful way, bringing out intriguing examples that both set fashionable accents and make bold statements in terms of sophisticated technology. Here’s a selection of three stunning new daily wearers from Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Carl F. Bucherer.
One of the most famous bourbon distilleries of all is Buffalo Trace, whose story started centuries ago with a famous name: Daniel Boone, who rode through Leestown in 1771 “on the buffalo trace” more than 20 years before Kentucky even became a state. Ken Gargett shares here why he thinks the bourbon from this American distillery is so special.
The Greubel Forsey Balancier Contemporain contains most of the key features familiar to the ultra-high-end brand, and all in a package that is friendlier to the wallet (even if only slightly) and a touch more under the radar when placed next to a watch like an Invention Piece or the GMT Earth. In fact, some of the Quill & Pad team have fallen madly in love with the Balancier Contemporain!
There are high-end watch brands titled with a person’s name that have no reference to a specific human being. But more often than not in horology, there are actual people behind watch brands with human-sounding names. And there is hardly a brand more human in Elizabeth Doerr’s estimation than Armin Strom, an independent Swiss manufacture making some of the highest quality timepieces on the market.