Most will agree that re-painting a dial is a big no-no. Vintage pieces with re-painted dials can be had for a steal as they are difficult to shift and mostly unwanted. But not all dial restorations are created equal, and we do encounter varying degrees of “upgrades.” Some of these upgrades are purposeful deception, while others are not. Here is what one watchmaker feels about the subject.
Once in a while on the collector forums a question is posed: is there anyone in the collector community who has never, ever, owned a Rolex? As a general rule, respondents to these queries tend to express disbelief that such a creature could possibly exist given the quality and ubiquity of the brand’s watches. Well, folks, GaryG is here to tell you that such people do exist, and that he is one of them. And then what happened . . . ?
J.N. Shapiro is the eponymous brand of Josh Shapiro, an educator turned watchmaker who specializes in guilloche. His latest watch, the Infinity Tantalum, is a classic three-hander with a small seconds dial designed in the spirit of George Daniels, Breguet, and other greats. The palladium dial is completely hand-guilloche and sports tantalum chapter rings. And, oh, that gorgeous style!
As we race toward the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi on December 12, 2021, Elizabeth Doerr takes a look at Bell & Ross’s three limited-edition chronographs celebrating Formula 1’s Alpine F1 team, which have also been worn throughout the season by the team’s staff.
Ineichen Zurich held two days’ worth of watch auctions in Zurich and online November 20-21, 2021 with 198 ticking specialties that included a bevy of independent timepieces and two new world records for the Vianney Halter Antiqua. Get the results here!
Joshua Munchow explains why he thinks manual winding watches are for horological connoisseurs and why more complexity isn’t necessarily better in some cases.
The saying “history repeats itself” is often associated with unfavorable occurrences. But this is definitely not the case with A. Lange & Söhne and December 7, a date that has marked milestones for the brand three times now. Sabine Zwettler explores the significance of the founding day of Glashütte’s finest manufactory.
Ken Gargett takes a look at the new Bollinger Blanc de Noirs one-off, the B13 from the (unusual) 2013 vintage. And decides that this is no shrinking violet and that no one is going to taste this and start thinking how delicate, how elegant. It is a big, bold, full-of-flavor champagne.
There are nice-looking watches, there are crisp-looking watches, and then there are watches that emanate an otherworldly glow. For GaryG the Rexhep Rexhepi/Akrivia Chronomètre Contemporain falls into the third category, so much so that it became a running joke for a friend to pantomime a “smelling salts” motion as a signal for Gary to pull up his sleeve and jolt him back to attention. Here he explains why he bought this new classic watch.
Horophiles are pretty unique people and have some pretty unique traits and habits. In the theme of Jeff Foxworthy and his “you might be a redneck if” routine, John Keil pokes a little fun at our WIS brothers and sisters as well as ourselves. So without further ado, you know you’re a watch guy or gal if . . .