On a recent trip to Bordeaux to check if they were still making decent plonk (yes, job done), I noticed a small coffee shop near my hotel doing a roaring trade day and night despite being tucked away on a small side street. I decided this had to do with its street advertising, and it made me think that watch marketing managers could wake up, smell the coffee, and make us smile more!
I had the good fortune to visit Rome on Thursday for the opening of ‘Watchmakers: The Masters of Art Horology’ at the Maxxi Gallery in Rome, and if you have a few minutes I’d like to share the evening with you and let you know where you might be able to see the exhibition in the near future.
Baselworld 2018 began for the Quill & Pad team on Wednesday, March 21, and from our very first meetings it looked obvious that green was back. But is it the new blue?
The follow day further confirmed that view as we saw one fantastic green-themed watch after another. On remarking on the apparent predominance of green this year over the perennial blue to one brand representative, their reply was, “Green is the new blue.” But two days do not a Baselworld make and blue came back in force.
Many watches hold special significance for their owners. The Jean Daniel Nicolas Two-Minute Tourbillon by Daniel Roth Ian chronicles here didn’t just change someone’s life, it changed his own life. Read on to learn how.
I read my colleague Martin Green’s article on the Nomos Orion de Stijl in Ace Jewelers x Nomos: Celebrating 100 Years Of ‘De Stijl,’ first with interest then with incredulity. And while I’ve used the term “taking the Mickey” in the title here, I really meant something else. Find out what about this limited edition should have been noticed by everyone!
The initial key concepts for the AgenGraphe chronograph included having the elapsed time indicators displaying around the center hole so that the indications were large and highly legible, and that the minute and hour displays jumped instantaneously so that there could be no confusion when reading elapsed time. But the new chronograph ended up offering much more than that. Much more!
‘Watchmakers: The Masters of Art Horology’ is an international traveling exhibition of watches by 13 of the world’s best independent watchmakers and horologists. This special exhibition of horological art was created by the Maxima Gallery in Rome at the behest of gallery director Claudio Proietti.
When I say unbelievable, I mean what were Rolex, Omega, IWC, and Cartier thinking? Get the real inside story on servicing watches here.
If fewer people appreciate superlative hand-finishing, then fewer will pay for superlative hand-finishing, so there is likely to be less superlative hand-finishing on offer. Appreciate away!
Here’s a prediction by Ian Skellern: the relatively nondescript AMC movement Urwerk presented at the 2018 SIHH will not only become one of the horological highlights of the year but will take its place among history’s most significant timepieces. Ever. That’s a bold statement, he knows. Especially when all we have at present from Urwerk is the slave watch movement. Here Ian explains why he thinks AMC is so significant.