Stunning lights and visceral sights are what await the patient traveler who ventures north in search of the Aurora Borealis. But it’s available on the wrist for the patient WIS as well. Laurent Ferrier has brightened the brand’s Galet and Galet Square with lume, even if the brand’s watches are quite understated and classically styled and Super-LumiNova is usually more at home on a sports watch than a Galet.
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Peter Speake-Marin’s eponymous brand’s creation, the Dong Son Tourbillon, finds its inspiration in an ancient style of bronze drums found in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. This gorgeous tourbillon with its finely etched dial interspersed with blue lacquer is an amazingly beautiful unique piece addition to it. And, naturally, Speake-Marin drew from the most notable examples of Đông Sơn drums for the layout of this extraordinary dial.
In the watch industry, there are many brands struggling to find just the right balance of modesty and pride in their accomplishments, but one brand that does a pretty darn good job of juggling the balance is Manufacture Royale. And one of the best pieces of evidence for this is the 1770 Voltige. Read on and I think you’ll see why.
Passion for historical items, objects, and ideas are quite prevalent in timepieces that emerge from the modern watch industry. While HYT captures the passionate feel such items in its new H2 Tradition, it also manages to unwittingly create a true steampunk object . . . if it wasn’t for the cool microfluidic technology. Nonetheless, HYT itself calls this piece “traditional.” Read on to make up your own mind about whether it’s traditional, steampunk, or simply technical.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has read my pieces in the past that I like a good jump hour mechanism. Actually, I love a good jump hour mechanism. There is just something about that instantaneous change driven entirely by mechanical means that fascinates me. And yet not all “digital” watches require the use of jump hours and minutes; some don’t even use a jump at all yet still read digitally. So today I want to break down a list of my seven (plus change) favorite “digital” watches.
In the early 1960s, engineer Kelly Johnson of Lockheed Martin came up with “keep it simple, stupid”, which became better known by its acronym, KISS. Watches that employ clever levers and clearly adhere to the KISS principle are always something that can turn me into a giddy fan boy, and one such piece is the Konstantin Chaykin Genius Temporis. Heck, even the name implies some genius.
In the Real Moon Tides, Christiaan van der Klaauw’s watchmakers incorporated an indication of the phenomenon that is the most real-world expression of the moon’s effects towards life on earth: tides. The most incredible aspect of tides is how variable they actually are when you really get into the nitty-gritty details. And this watch reflects them in a beautiful way.
Have you ever wondered how Titleist gets its logo on bumpy round golf balls? Well this is your lucky day as I’m about to discuss 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.
One of the most incredible timepieces François-Paul Journe has ever created is the Sonnerie Souveraine. This chiming masterpiece took six years to develop and warranted ten patents. Joshua Munchow revisits the reasons why this masterpiece and its maker are legends in their own time, while Ian Skellern provides original photography and video of the stainless steel-encased grand sonnerie.
I loved Nomos Glashütte for what it stood for: creating manufacture movements and selling watches with little pretense and a whole lot of charm. But Nomos Glashütte didn’t have that standout piece that made me say, “Yup, that’s the one I would definitely buy.” Then the Zürich Weltzeit arrived.