One of the best things about dealing with independent watchmakers is the ability to request unique touches on your watch. That’s just what happened after GaryG’s new friend first saw Kari Voutilainen’s Sport28, a titanium-encased watch that itself is quite rare with only eight examples made in total.
If there were a watch enthusiasts’ encyclopedia, under “embarrassment of riches” the image might just be a side-by-side shot two of contemporary watchmaking’s great complicated pieces: the “mighty” A. Lange & Söhne Double Split and Patek Philippe’s Reference 5370P split-second chronograph. In this article, GaryG compares and contrasts them to come out with a winner.
As a collector, and a fairly visible one at that, GaryG has been paying attention to reports of muggings and thefts of watches and wondering whether it makes sense these days to wear valuable pieces in public. He polled a group of 20 watch enthusiast friends on their personal safety while wearing watches to learn what steps they take to keep safe.
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. Here’s a story of shoulda, woulda, coulda.
The history of commissioned timepieces is a long and colorful one, but collector group commissions are perhaps a more recent phenomenon. GaryG recently met with Adam Eisendrath of San Francisco-based collectors 49 Crowns to learn more about the club and to check out two customized watches commissioned from Swiss-based Finnish independent Torsti Laine.
So far in 2023, GaryG has traveled to Switzerland twice: once for the Watches and Wonders week, and again in June for a very special event. Here he focuses on the independents, starting with a sequential journey through his first trip.
GaryG provides us with a look at why he bought the A. Lange & Söhne Double Split even though he already owned the brand’s Datograph. The Double Split is the world’s only double rattrapante capable of both split-second and split-minute interval timing, which may shed some light.
When collectors gather anywhere and talk about their collections, recent purchases, and executed or potential sales, there’s a term that comes up more often than not: “getting hurt.” Here GaryG provides a masterclass in how not to get hurt in the world of watch collecting.
GaryG had the good fortune to photograph two sensational unique timepieces from independent German watchmaker Christian Klings.
If you’re at all a Lange enthusiast like GaryG, you’ll likely understand the most compelling reason for buying the Odysseus is that it’s an A. Lange & Söhne watch you can wear every day.