Now we are onto the big bad boys of the GPHG. Mechanical Exception is where we put the most mechanically incredible watches head to head, and the name of the game is horological creativity. Aesthetics help but a wild, avant-garde watch can easily win this category because there is no limit. So how does our panel choose?
It’s not easy to have a single product line that spans all the way from entry-level pieces to multimillion-dollar halo watches, but Jaeger-LeCoultre has achieved it with the Reverso. It’s still possible for a young collector to do exactly what GaryG did almost 30 years ago and enter the world of true high horology with a first Reverso purchase.
Yamazaki 12-Year-Old from Japan is a whisky that Ken Gargett has loved every time he has had the chance to try it. The bottle he sampled for this piece was actually one from the back of his cupboard, which he has been sitting on for far too long. When a mate saw it, he implored him not to open it. But Ken of course did and shares the experience with us here.
Chantilly may be known for its famous whipped cream, lace, and horse racing, but since 2014 this town in northern France, an hour’s drive from Paris, has played host to the most beautiful cars on the planet at Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, a car lover’s garden party uniting both classic and contemporary cars.
Sabine Zwettler dives back through time to have a closer look at five vintage-style diver’s watches. With their robustness and air of discovery and adventure, diver’s watches leave a striking impression on the wrist – whether on dry land or in the water.
Here is an entertaining little story about John Keil, his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, and a bunch of guys around a poker table – a story he’s sure many watch guys and gals can relate to.
Fellows auction house is still something of a hidden gem, so if you look hard you might find incredible bargains. The author herself has gotten very lucky here, once even managing to find a timepiece that she had long been searching for at an unpredictably good price. See what you can find in the next timed auction!
Ferdinand Berthoud was known for passing on his knowledge, taking in his first apprentice shortly after he opened his first workshop, which resulted in H.M.8, a fantastically accurate ship’s chronometer. The new FB 2RSM.2-1 is the modern spiritual successor to the H.M.8 and it originated with a modern apprentice.
Astronomical complications are poetic in nature, more emotional than practical. Calendar complications are the exact opposite: perfectly practical and useful complications for time management. Since the category doesn’t dictate specifically what should be valued and only outlines what fits into the category, it leaves a lot up to our panel on what we subjectively value more and why in this latest round table of 2022 GPHG nominations.
GaryG represented Quill & Pad at the 2022 DWW Horology Forum in New York (and he took a few favorite watches with him). Here’s his take on the weekend event with lots of photos.