I know of only three watchmakers making watches by hand today: one is Michel Boulanger for Naissance d’une Montre. The other two are Dominique Buser and Cyrano Devanthey, who are hand-making watches they call l’Instant de Vérité under the umbrella of their own micro brand Oscillon. And what a watch this is!
MB&F’s Legacy Machine Perpetual took the prize for Best Calendar Watch at the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and I thought it deserved that accolade and more. LM Perpetual has rewritten the architecture of the perpetual calendar, transforming this oft troublesome complication into a virtual masterpiece.
The Quill & Pad panel reflects on watchmaking’s biggest night: the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, often described as the Oscars of watchmaking. In this segment, we chat about what we liked and what we didn’t like, which watches won and why we think they did.
We also express a bit of dismay at times.
Follow the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) live in either English or French with our live video stream starting at 18:30 CET / 17:30 GMT) Thursday November 10.
Our panel members are nearly unanimous in their predictions for the winner of the top prize in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève: the Aiguille d’Or. While two members of the panel could not settle on just one winner, calling a tie between two and even three watches, for Ian the winner is crystal clear. Let us know which timepieces you think will be crowned with the Aiguille d’Or in 2016.
In the world of modern-interpretation-of-an-old-classic, the difference between hit and miss isn’t a knife edge, it’s a razor blade. And the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Memovox Boutique Edition manages to walk this fine line just right. In fact so right that try as I might I couldn’t find a flaw. I think it is absolutely perfect.
Welcome to the 2016 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. The contenders are: Hermès Slim d’Hermès, Seiko Presage Automatic Chronograph Enamel Dial, Tiffany & Co. East West Automatic, Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze, Zenith Pilot Ton-Up, and Vulcain 50s Presidents’ Watch Tradition.
Welcome to the 2016 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. In the Mechanical Exception category our panel is split, but one mechanically exceptional timepiece here did garner more votes than the others.
Social media has experienced quite the discussion of a Chinese phone “by Kari Voutilainen,” a Swiss-based Finnish independent watchmaker, which turned out to be not a phone but a SIM card cover. If not a social media storm in a teacup, then a brisk zephyr in a thimble, which also involved another Finnish independent watchmaker, Stepan Sarpaneva.
Welcome to the 2016 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. The watches in competition for this category are: Manufacture Royale’s 1770 Haute Voltige, the De Bethune DB25 World Traveller, the Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ, Louis Vuitton’s Escale World Time, Bovet’s Virtuoso VI Triple Time Zone, and the unique Montblanc 4810 Orbis Terrarum Pocket Watch 110 Years Edition.