The Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Fire has captivated everybody with the mesmerizing appearance of its twin balances and the unusual, long, sinuous, grey spring gently oscillating along the middle of the watch. ‘The Horological Journal’ editor and watchmaker Justin Koullapis asks the question, “Does it live up to the hyperbole?”
Ian Skellern, speaking from many years of experience, says that the R8 MKII Sport belt buckle isn’t a show pony, it has much more functionality than simply stylishly holding up your trousers. But above all, it is a pure indulgence.
If there’s one thing (apart from snow) heralding the start of winter in Scandinavia, it’s frost. The dial of the GoS Sarak Frost recreates the scintillating appearance of icy frost.
Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva has just released a watch that helps you keep track of time no matter how light or dark it is outside: the Midnight Sun.
Ian Skellern had the honor to be interviewed by Rikki Daman for the Scottish Watch Podcast. If you are interested in how Ian came to be a watch journalist and how he convinced Aldis Hodge to feature in the Making Time documentary, check this out.
One of the best things about Dubai Watch Week are the presentations, debates, and talks in the Horology Forum. These cover a very wide range of topic and are usually 45-minutes long with time for audience questions at the end. Here are five that Ian Skellern particularly enjoyed that will hopefully both entertain and educate, as well as give you an idea of the types of diverse topics covered.
The 2023 Dubai Watch Week (DWW) has drawn to a close and what a fair it was: simply sensational. Here is Part 2 of Ian Skellern’s DWW 2023 photofest. Enjoy!
I estimate I’ve seen – and have personally moderated 10 Dubai Watch Week Horological Forums talks – around 80 of these ‘events’, and many have been very, very, good: either. But at the 2023 fair I saw one that just blew me away (and I’m a jaded old industry veteran). Don’t miss this!
Dubai Watch Week (DWW) has been full of surprises (both good and bad) for me, but full of the pleasure of seeing many old friends and lots of fantastic watches.
It wasn’t until Ian Skellern had the opportunity to handle the four-faced Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 for himself that he understood the sheer scale of JLC’s achievement and gazed in newfound awe. Even though he had read the dimensions of Calibre 185, they were just numbers: in reality, it was much smaller and more wearable than he was expecting. Calibre 185 is by no means a small watch, but, as he reports, it is small for the sheer amount of complications packed inside.