Of all the questions Tim Mosso has been asked by other watch collectors, the most personal is the one that he has never answered in full. “What kind of watches do you like?”
The Schwarz-Etienne Roma Synergy by Kari Voutilainen for Oster Jewelers. has a design as sharp as the name is exhausting. Two variations — both steel — exist in the form of eight 39mm examples and eight in 42mm.
The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon lives up to its name. It has a date, a chronograph, a perpetual calendar, and a tourbillon. But it has more: this watch has character. Assigning human traits to a cold machine is a – romantic – fool’s errand, but it’s also irresistible in the presence of a masterpiece. A. Lange & Söhne’s warmest watch is more than a machine with a heartbeat. It has soul.
The Arnold & Son True Beat Tourbillon Escapement (TBTE) embodies two of the Swiss watch industry’s greatest talents: craftsmanship and AstroTurf. Beautifully built but tenuously tied to an historical dead guy, the True Beat is a triumph on substance. With essentially no history but outstanding modern credentials, this tourbillon proves that talent alone can yield a great watch.
Topside, Montblanc’s 43.5mm Vintage Chronograph sets the stage for its marvelous mechanism within. A mother-of-pearl crown insert confirms that this watch is an image-builder for the larger house of Meisterstück.
Take Tim Mosso’s word when he assures you that Omega’s ultimate dive watch is both ridiculously deep-diving and… well… ridiculous. But there’s much more than that as he explains here.
In 2014, Girard-Perregaux induced triple-takes at Baselworld with its Tri-Axial Tourbillon. While the name is clinically literal, the romance is in the dance. And GP’s mega-watch is a thrilling dance partner.
In Tim Mosso’s opinion, a tourbillon watch like the Breguet Classique Grande Complication 5317 would cause a sensation. On its own terms as a modern luxury article, the 5317 is both a wonder and a comparative value.
Philippe Dufour is the master watchmaker you imagine. He’s scholarly, accomplished, revered, an eminence grise of the watch universe, and the guy all the up-and-coming craftsmen want to be. Tim Mosso gets up close and personal with both the man and his iconic Simplicity.
The Patek Philippe 5002 Sky Moon Tourbillon launched in platinum for the 2001 model year, the 12-complication featured two dials. Dial one was devoted to a moonphase indicator and a perpetual calendar with retrograde date display. On the sub-dial display for months, simple text promised a tourbillon regulator within the case.