“A few years ago Jean-Louis Dumas, then at the head of Hermès, asked me to think about ‘what an Hermès timepiece for a travelling dandy might look like’,” said architect and designer Marc Berthier in 2010. While today we are more used to seeing a shape similar to this thanks to the Apple Watch, in 2010 a squarish case wildly stood out. And now in 2017 a brand-new Carré H arrives for the sophisticated, sporty, elegant man.
In this age of digital information, watch companies try to get ahead of the competition by releasing news on new timepieces ahead of the big watch fairs. This year is no different, and in honor of the upcoming 28th edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), which opens its doors on January 15, 2018, we present you with an overview of some of the new models that have already been revealed – at least electronically.
What appeals to Elizabeth Doerr about Jaquet Droz is that within the Swatch Group’s 190 separate companies (including 18 marques), the brand operates very much like an independent watchmaker and its artful timepieces reflect this. Here she goes deep into the history of one of the Swatch Group’s oldest brand names.
True solar time is measured by the position of the sun and can run up to sixteen minutes ahead of and fourteen minutes behind the time shown on our clocks and watches. Our friends at The Watches TV spent a day with Philippe Dufour to have a look at this phenomenon in a personal way.
With the Defy Lab, Zenith has introduced its version of compliant silicon components that may well be set to change the future of watchmaking.
Here we take a look back at the history-making timepieces of the Harry Winston Opus series from Opus One through Opus Thirteen.
Silicon, long in use as a material in the electronics industry, has many advantages for mechanical watchmaking: it is 60 percent harder and 70 percent lighter than steel; non-magnetic; resistant to corrosion and shock; and generally needs no lubrication. These qualities motivated Patek Philippe to declare in 2005 that, “Silicon is the fabric of the future” and to found its Advanced Research department. Meet all five limited edition Advanced Research pieces right here.
MB&F rarely introduces objets d’art so visibly rooted in horology as Kelys & Chirp: the Geneva-based independent watchmaker generally specializes in exotic and futuristic shapes. Kelys & Chirp doesn’t tell the time: it is an automaton – and most automata grew from advances made in horology in the 1600s.
Every year people working in the watch industry pass away, and brands come and go. This year I’d like to highlight a few of those we’ve lost, but will always remember.
The ‘perpetual’ Atmos by Jaeger-LeCoultre is made even more interesting by collaborations with celebrated designer Marc Newson; the Swiss manufacture and the Australian designer have done three Atmos variations together. I had a chance to speak with Newson upon the release of the latest collaborative clock, the Atmos 568. And some of his answers to my eager questions were a bit surprising.