An exciting new brand and its first watch aren’t things that come along often. So when Joshua Munchow saw this watch by chance at Baselworld, he exclaimed “Ooh that’s cool!” and hustled over to speak with the gentleman manning the very small stand. The brand was Phenomen, and the watch was its first model, the Axiom. For him, the Axiom feels a little bit MB&F, a little bit Urwerk, and a whole lot of cool.
Exotic materials: love them or hate them? And where are you in regard to plastics, which are ever-increasingly appearing in wristwatch cases and movements? Here’s a recap of that story so far.
This is one of the most important yet under appreciated parts of a watch: the crown. The humble crown has played an extensive role in helping Rolex – and the rest of the watch industry – get to where it is today. Here’s why.
Resonance. No, it is not a Tesla-themed Evanescence cover band. Resonance is a physics principle that, to be honest, most people will never need to know to go about their daily lives. So what is all the hubbub about resonance these days? It’s a word that is, even in the watch world, so mysterious and rare that it is heard only once or twice a decade. In this article Joshua Munchow explains how resonance works and why it matters.
Nineteenth-century French horologist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, a man now famous as the father of modern magic, inspired Cartier to begin dabbling in mystery clocks in 1912. And the famous brand has never stopped as a recent exhibition showing 19 historical mystery clocks illustrated.
Joshua Munchow likes brands that blur the lines and stir up discussion. One such brand that has been building steam over the last few years is Lundis Bleus, an independent Swiss marque out of La Chaux-de-Fonds producing some really cool timepieces with a mixture of sourced components and in-house production with clear disclosures about both.
There has been a lot of talk and promises made by the watch industry about ceramics and their use in timepieces, so it would seem that a primer on the subject might make us much more informed consumers. And Joshua Munchow delivers that right here.
Ever wondered how Titleist gets its logo on bumpy round golf balls? Well this is your lucky day as Joshua Munchow reveals the secret of one very specialized printing process that goes on in the world and how it has its roots in watchmaking. In fact, you still see the results of this process every time you look at your watch dial.
The resemblance between the Hysek Design Colonne du Temps and a Romaneque column is more than just fleeting, especially since it has the word column in its name. Released at Baselworld 2018, this clock marks the return of Jorg Hysek, a prolific watch designer and founder of an eponymous brand, who has spent the last two years sailing his boat in quasi-retirement.
Black aventurine is a relatively recent invention and few brands – perhaps just one – have incorporated the material in watches as yet. One exception is astronomical specialist Christiaan van der Klaauw, which recently released a black aventurine dial on the already incredible Planetarium. Joshua Munchow explains what makes this black material so special.