GaryG wears all of the watches in his collection, though some watches are more suited to daily wear than others. A reader’s question got Gary thinking, both about which pieces in his assortment are the go-to routine watches for frequent wear and, at a more fundamental level, what makes a watch a “daily wearer.” Read his opinion on that right here.
You can like everything, but you can’t buy – or keep – everything! Inevitably, the choices involved lead at times to regrets; for GaryG, along with many of his pals, the sadness is much more often about pieces they sold too soon or failed to buy rather than pieces they were sorry about buying in the first place (although surely everyone has a few “what was I thinking?” buying moments).
This is the story of a daily-wear watch: the Tsunami by Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. It’s not a “beater” as it’s too beautifully made for that description, and some folks justifiably take offense at characterizing a five-figure expenditure in those terms. But it is a watch that GaryG suspects that he will be wearing a lot and in a variety of settings.
GaryG has long wanted to meet and learn from independent horologist David Walter. He recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him in his California workshop, soaking in a tiny fraction of his deep knowledge of clockmaking and encountering DeeDee’s Tourbillon, an ultra-interesting unique piece clock.
Ah, watch cases! As regular readers may recall, GaryG has a particular fascination with the outer shells that encase, protect, and enhance the ticking mechanical wonders within. And if watch cases fascinate, why not visit a few case makers? Let’s go!
GaryG finds the process involved in selecting a suitable gift for MrsGaryG fairly torturous. Nonetheless, he continues to do it. This time Gary focuses on two watches that he has happily added to MrsG’s collection as gifts: a pair of Élégantes from F.P. Journe. Find out why (times two!) right here.
As part of his “enthusiast collector” role at Quill & Pad, GaryG takes a look at watches that strike his fancy, sharing the visual results with our readers along with a few observations on photography, the watches themselves, and the collectors who own them. In this installment of Behind The Lens, GaryG takes on the formidable F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain.
If you’re just beginning to collect the works of independent watchmakers, GaryG suggests that you give careful consideration to watches from Habring2, the small independent Austrian watchmaking company founded and headed by Maria Kristina and Richard Habring.
The initial online response to the new Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 collection launched to great fanfare at the 2019 SIHH in January was extremely negative, and even among those who withheld judgment until handling the watches, “lukewarm” seemed to be the general view. Having let the dust settle a bit, GaryG takes a look at the anatomy of what he thinks was a dismal product launch (though not necessarily a dismal product).
The buyer of this unique-piece Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph II was inspired by the look of the F.P. Journe “Black Label” Chronomètre Souverain already in his collection. And GaryG finally gets it into his light tent, sharing not only what he thinks, but also what he sees behind his lens.