While it seems that “métiers d’art” could be considered a catchword, trend or even buzz phrase in modern high-end watchmaking, the reality is that when luxury brands take the time, energy, and cost to create these unique elements, it results in some of the most magnificent artwork available in horology today.
In September 2013, the surprising announcement was made that Jérôme Lambert would be leaving his position as CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, where he had been for ten years, to head up Richemont sister brand Montblanc. The new man at the helm of the venerable manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre is Daniel Riedo.
This year’s SIHH is full of complicated revelations. And, even more surprisingly, we have found at least five perpetual calendars at the fair, all of which are very different in approach, design and even price.
Michael Friedberg is the moderator of IWC’s Collectors’ Forum at www.iwc.com and is also an unofficial goodwill ambassador for IWC, talking to journalists, other collectors, and SIHH visitors.
Since turning his creative energies to making and maintaining a brand that bears his own name, Christophe Claret has introduced one playful and creative complication after another. Baccarat, Blackjack, dice…you name it.
Christophe Claret has now launched the next playful creation, an intricate complication that allows the owner to play Texas Hold ‘Em poker right on his or her mechanical watch with two other live players.
* 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.
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.
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 …
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.
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.