The six pre-selected finalists in the Tourbillon category of the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève are: the Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon, Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision, MB&F HM6 Space Pirate, Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillons, and the Bovet 1822 Braveheart. Here are our picks and why.
While on holiday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming I thought that I would take advantage of the moonless, clear sky and try my hand at shooting a time-lapse series of photos of the stars rotating. I set up my Canon 5D Mk III on a tripod pointing roughly north with the following settings: Lens: 35 -70 mm set to 35 mm; F: 4.0; ISO: 1600 and shutter: 30 seconds. This is the big surprise that I got!
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Men’s category are: MB&F’s anniversary HMX, the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square, Kari Voutilainen’s beautifully finished Voutilainen GMR, the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone, and Piaget’s Altiplano 900P, currently the thinnest mechanical watch in the world.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Ladies category are: Delaneau’s Rondo 42 Peony, the in-house Ulysse Nardin Jade, Hublot’s Big Bang Broderie, the Piaget Limelight Gala, the all-new Audemars Piguet Millenary, and the wonderfully crafted and priced Hermès Arceau Petite Lune with diamonds.
There is not much art that that packs as much into such an aesthetically pleasing parcel as Romain Gauthier’s Logical One Secret Kakau Höfke. This watch uses one of the world’s finest timepieces as a “canvas” for the artwork of two renowned artists: Kakau Höfke and Olivier Vaucher. These two work in very different fields and even on different continents: Höfke is a painter located in Rio de Janeiro and Vaucher is a stone artist at work in Switzerland. What all three have created is nothing short of a masterpiece.
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) has just published the list of 2015’s pre-selected watches in the run-up to the big red carpet event in Geneva on October 29. The pre-selected watches will go on a world tour that includes stops in Hong Kong, Seoul, Dubai, Geneva, and London in October and November. But enough preamble, let’s have a look at the watches that are now in serious contention to take home big prizes this year.
At the 2015 edition of the SIHH, Richard Mille introduced the stunning RM 19-02 Tourbillon Fleur.
The tourbillon is nestled within and concealed by a magnolia flower. Every five minutes, or on demand via a pusher, the flying tourbillon rises up from the movement as the flower opens. The petals of the flower are engraved in gold and hand-painted.
In this exceptionally aesthetic video, The Watches TV visits the Richard Mille workshop to discover the story behind the RM 19-02 Tourbillon Fleur.
A very significant percentage of the (hand) work − and therefore cost − of a high-end watch goes into the finishing of components.
Today, fine finishing is no longer essential from a practical point of view as watches are assembled in dust- and moisture-free environments, and waterproofing generally does a good job at keeping moisture and dust out of the timepiece during daily use.
But fine finishing isn’t just about mechanical practicality: contrasting finishes visually break up large surfaces, and reflections off mirror-polished steel catches the eye. Finishes can be a signature of sorts: think of Breguet’s guilloche dials or Greubel Forsey’s English-style frosted plates.
Few brands take hand finishing as seriously as Greubel Forsey, where each and every component is individually decorated. Just finishing one bridge can require two days of work. And that’s just one of hundreds of components in the brand’s usually quite complicated movements.
And then the watchmaker has to assemble all of these beautifully decorated parts, without a single scratch.
In this video by The Watches TV, Stephen Forsey explains why finishing is so important to Greubel Forsey and takes a look at the whole process.
At a preview before a Christie’s watch auction in Geneva, I found myself particularly attracted to this impeccable Louis Audemars pocket watch. It features a minute repeater, perpetual calendar, chronograph, and moon phase function, and is from circa 1880. It is 135 years old and doesn’t show a single wrinkle!
Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority is set to launch Dubai Watch Week, the first dedicated horology exhibition in the UAE.
Dubai Watch Week will be held in Dubai from October 18 through 22, 2015.
The five-day event targets both local and international watch collectors and aficionados in what is sure to be the Gulf’s largest dedicated watch event.