On December 11, 2014, TAG Heuer CEO Stéphane Linder announced the resignation of his position after only 18 months at the post. Having been at TAG Heuer for 21 years, Linder was elevated to his current position after previous CEO Jean-Christophe Babin relocated to sibling brand Bulgari. What is the master strategy behind this and other moves at LVMH as orchestrated by Jean-Claude Biver?
Art Basel Miami is not just contained to an indoor fair hall but spread around Miami’s South Beach, adding another colorful layer to this glitzy, at times glamorous, city in south Florida. Collins Park is also filled with colorful art. Take a look around Art Basel Miami with me now and see my original photography.
Audemars Piguet is much more than a sponsoring partner of the Art Basel fair; at the Miami Beach Art Basel exhibition, the brand from Le Brassus staged a spectacular exhibition of Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests right on the famed beach.
Making the nib of a fountain pen – the point of the instrument that directs the ink – does not differ much from working precious metals to be used as watch components, but it does entail a heck of a lot of work done by hand. The nib alone needs about 40 steps until completion; making a whole pen, including barrel, cap, feed and, of course the nib, takes about 200 individual steps.
Quill & Pad speaks with Guillaume de Seynes, member of the Hermès family and now managing director in charge of manufacturing and equity investments, to understand the brand’s corporate philosophies and history in watches a little better. De Seynes, previously in charge of the timepiece division, was the force behind supplier acquisitions such as the group’s stake in movement maker Vaucher.
This month’s news roundup includes a big announcement by Vogard; an unexpectedly high auction sale of a 1958 Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Chronomètre; a beautifully enameled Classico Cloisonné Amerigo Vespucci by Ulysse Nardin; a complicated timepiece by Zenith; Nomos CEO Uwe Ahrendt wins an important award; a Pure Skeleton by Armin Strom; and a high-tech carbon case from Linde Werdelin.
Boris Pjanic does not come from a family of retailers or jewelers, the watch collecting bug simply bit him at some point. “I carried this passion deep inside me for years before finally admitting to collecting rare vintage watches and even trading them among a very knowledgeable clientele out loud,” he confesses.
Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for your favorite WIS, collector, or watch lover? Look no further than the ultimate Omega Speedmaster reference book ‘Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide.’
I recently had the superb opportunity to try out the most complicated wristwatch made at modern-day Rolex for a week: the Sky-Dweller. The Sky-Dweller hides its complexity in the simplicity of using it: despite being complicated, the Sky-Dweller is an extremely practical timepiece that takes the businesslike philosophy that Rolex habitually utilizes to new “heights” by adding an interface like a function selector for setting and adjusting the time zones and annual calendar.
This young award is just barely three years old, but indeed it has already managed to reward some of the greatest personalities in the world of watches for their “passion” and “talent” – which are undeniably the most essential ingredients for the finest watchmaking. A jury from the Cultural Council of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) honored two exceptional personalities in 2014: Philippe Dufour for his “talent” and Henry-John Belmont for his “passion.”