Cumberbatch portrays Alan Turing in the film “The Imitation Game”. Turing was instrumental to the Allied effort during World War II by leading a group of English mathematicians working at Bletchley Park to crack the German Enigma codes. Have a look at the Turing statue wearing a Bremont Victory for a brief second. What a fitting tribute!
It is impossible to think that the SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) has been around for 25 years already…you know what they say, tempus fugit (time flies). The Geneva fair began in 1991 with five exhibitors: Cartier, Piaget and Baume & Mercier Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth.
Piaget added to its line of Altiplano rose-themed timepieces at the 2014 SIHH in spectacular fashion. Independent embroidery artist Sylvie Deschamps stitched a unique silk rose to form the dial of a white gold timepiece set with 78 brilliant-cut diamonds in the shape of the Yves Piaget Rose.
If you are in Geneva during the SIHH week, you may want to consider going to one of the other horological exhibitions taking place in town at the same time as the main show: WAG (Watch Art Gallery) and SIWP (Swiss Independent Watchmaking Pavilion). Both exhibitions provide visitors with the chance to get to know independent creators and boutique luxury brands.
The Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle by independent watchmaker and A.H.C.I. member Andreas Strehler has been entered into the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ as the world’s most precise moonphase indicating wristwatch with a deviation of only one full day in 2,060,757 years.
One year ago today, on a crisp and sunny New Year’s Day in Central Europe on the first day of 2014, Quill & Pad quietly went online. Since then, we have added four knowledgeable contributors with distinct areas of expertise to our little band of merry men and women − Joshua Munchow (technical nerd), GaryG (collector), Nancy Olson (pens), Boris Pjanic (vintage) − and have posted around 300 original stories. And this was just the start!
The modern history of Urban Jürgensen & Sønner (UJS) began with Peter Baumberger, who resuscitated the brand in 1981 along with a little help from some of his friends, such as Dr. Helmut Crott, Kari Voutilainen and Derek Pratt. The boutique brand has now returned to Danish hands.
In this age of digital information, watch companies try to get ahead of the competition by releasing news on their new timepieces ahead of the big watch fairs. This year is no different, and in honor of the upcoming 25th edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), we present you with an overview of some of the new models that have already been revealed.
The first timepiece Donzé Cadrans and Ulysse Nardin worked on together was in the early 1980s: the complicated jacquemart-outfitted Hourstriker San Marco with its vibrant blue, which was the first enamel dial of the modern incarnation of Ulysse Nardin and perhaps of the Mechanical Renaissance. Follow us on a visit to Donzé Cadrans and learn about the unique 300-year-old process this one-of-a-kind dial maker utilizes to make its aesthetic elements.
It’s a story that could have come out of a thriller novel, and it’s about the oldest known watch in the world, which was made in 1505 by Peter Henlein. The Pomander Watch (‘Bisamapfeluhr’), as it is known, was confirmed by committee of experts as having been the work of Peter Henlein in 1505.