Entries by Elizabeth Doerr

Weekly Roundup: 17 January 2014

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* GREAT Britain, a new campaign staged by the British prime minister David Cameron, includes a unique timepiece by Roger Smith. The products featured in the campaign will tour key global markets over the next two years and showcase the very best of what Britain has to offer. The platinum case of the GREAT Britain watch has been handmade in the best George Daniels tradition and hallmarked with “London.”

The manually wound movement is a true treat: the gold-plated, frosted-finish three-quarter plate is topped by a raised barrel bridge that has been hand-engraved with a floral pattern. A hand-engraved balance cock holds the free-sprung co-axial escapement in place.

Grieb & Benzinger St. George

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If you have been following my writing all these years, there are a few things you probably know about me. One, I am extremely enamored of the rare handcrafts that almost died out of the mechanical watch industry when it was declared dead during the quartz crisis of the 1970s and early 1980s. I am talking about unique crafts demanding high amounts of skill and concentration like guilloché (a particular favorite of mine), engraving, skeletonization and enamel. Two, I really, really like German watches.

Serious Horology For Women: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Celestial

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There are truly so few watch brands that take creating timepieces for the female watch connoisseur seriously. Jaeger-LeCoultre, naturally, takes enthusiasts seriously, ably demonstrated by the fill of amazingly complicated and innovative masterpieces introduced over the last 180 years.

But how many of these have been expressly created with the feminine wrist in mind? Very few. Even Jaeger-LeCoultre has “only” generally created lines for women that focus on the decorative rather than the complex …

Vacheron Constantin’s Infinite Illusion Of Time: Les Univers Infinis

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Though it may seem that using rare and even unusual artistic crafts is a major trend running through high horology at the moment, it is important to remember how very difficult both the execution of and inspiration for these crafts can be. Guilloché, enamel, engraving, and even gem-setting are skills that almost died out in the pre-mechanical renaissance watch industry along with the art of mechanical watchmaking itself. Therefore, there are truly very few artists today able to perform them.

Introducing Resident “Nerdwriter” Joshua Munchow

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If you are an astute follower of all things horology, you may have already heard of our standing contributor and resident “nerdwriter,” Joshua Munchow: he won third prize in a design contest run by Eberhard & Co. last year, which saw him attend Baselworld 2013. As a result of that trip, he began seriously writing articles for Watchuseek. These articles were so informative and filled with intelligent commentary that they attracted our attention too.

Weekly Roundup: 10 January 2014

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* BREAKING NEWS: At the upcoming SIHH, which opens on January 20, Jaeger-LeCoultre will introduce an ultra-thin, highly complicated masterpiece: the Master Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon, the eleventh specialty in the Hybris Mechanica line. Its Caliber 362 capitalizes on eight separate patents, six of which are entirely new.

Patek Philippe Reference 5160: An Overlooked Mechanical Delicacy?

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When most people think of Patek Philippe, they think of the evergreen models that roll off the lips of enthusiasts all over the world: Nautilus, Gondolo, Calatrava and, perhaps even, that delectable worldtimer that appeared in 2013’s new Patek Philippe offerings as Reference 5130. But one of the many elements that I personally adore about Patek Philippe is its love of the handcrafted arts and the perpetuation of them in highly aesthetic ways.

Why The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication Is Disruptive

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The year 2013 was a stellar moment for the rare grand complication, as the SIHH quickly demonstrated. Not only did A. Lange & Söhne present its oeuvre, but to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the sporty, contemporary Royal Oak Offshore, Audemars Piguet also introduced one of these complex masterpieces.

This automatic timepiece includes three of the traditional complications that a watch earning the right to this title should include: minute repeater, perpetual calendar, and (split-seconds) chronograph. The latter, in fact, has most unusually been included as a rattrapante in all of the brand’s grand complications since 1882. Though throughout its long history Audemars Piguet has focused on the traditional side of horology; the advent of the evergreen Royal Oak – the first luxury sports watch – in 1972 added a distinctly sporty side to this manufacture’s classic offerings.

5 In-House Calibers From Ulysse Nardin

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It seemed like one of the best-kept secrets of Baselworld 2013. Perhaps the newness of the refurbished fair itself overshadowed the news of Ulysse Nardin’s five new in-house calibers; perhaps it was simply the overwhelming novelty of the Stranger timepiece that stole the show. Either way, this brand continued its quiet climb into the circle of major players with a whopping 11 new watches at the world’s largest watch fair, about half of which boast in-house movements outfitted with the brand’s pioneering silicon escapement technology.

A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication’s Secret Ingredients (Live Images + Pricing)

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Traditionally, the right to be called a grand complication is reserved for timepieces containing at least three of horology’s most difficult complications: a chronograph or split-seconds chronograph; an astronomical complication such as a perpetual calendar; and a striking complication, e.g repeater or sonnerie. Naturally, these rules are unwritten and therefore subject to interpretation.