Artistic Crafts category pre-selected watches for the 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève,clockwise from top left: Chaumet Ecritures de Chaumet, Fabergé Clover, Hermès Arceau Robe du Soir, Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon Malachite, Vacheron Constantin Les Aérostiers Paris 1783, and Van’t hoff Ballet in Blue

Our Predictions In The Artistic Crafts Category Of The 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie De Genève And Our Panel Is Divided (Again!)

The Artistic Crafts category of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is for watches, “ . . . demonstrating exceptional mastery of one or several artistic techniques such as enameling, lacquering, engraving, guilloche (engine-turning), skeletonizing, and more.” Our panel picks its favorites to win the category while discovering how much taste can vary. Which one do you prefer?

Piaget Upstream

Piaget Upstream: Why I Chose The Underdog

At a local used watch dealer, Martin Green came across the Piaget Upstream and a lightning bolt struck! He had found the upscale, stainless steel sports watch he had been looking for. So what’s its story?

Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic with blue dial in stainless steel

Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic: Women Now Served In The Round

Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern personally introduced the latest version of the brand’s successful Twenty-4 collection in Milan: the Twenty-4 Automatic. This is the first mechanical movement in a collection that has until now been powered by quartz and the first to feature a round case. Stern explained that the Twenty-4 Automatic has been five years and 40 prototypes in the making. Nancy Olson learns if it’s all been worthwhile.

Ulysse Nardin Freak Vision

Our Predictions In The Mechanical Exception Category Of The 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

Welcome to the 2018 edition of Quill & Pad’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. The GPHG foundation describes the Mechanical Exception category for watches entered as: “men’s or ladies’ watches with a special mechanism such as an innovative or sophisticated display, an automaton, a belt-driven movement, a striking or other acoustic function, or any other original and/or exceptional horological concept.”

anOrdain Model 1 with blue oven-fired enamel dial

anOrdain Offers Affordable Enamel Dials Made In Scotland Powered By Swiss Mechanical Movements: Results Of Long-Term Test

Affordable enamel dials made in Scotland and powered by Swiss mechanical movements? Elizabeth Doerr investigated anOrdain further to see for herself what this was all about and shares what she learned here.

MoonMachine 2 in titanium by MB&F with Stepan Sarpaneva

MB&F MoonMachine 2 And The Proverbial Wolf Moon

Joshua Munchow thinks of the new MB&F MoonMachine 2 as the “wolf MoonMachine.” Built on the HM8 platform, it contains only the third moon phase complication in MB&F’s history. But there has never been one quite like this!

Philippe Dufour Simplicity

The Independent Watchmakers’ Struggle: Why It’s So Hard And What They Can Do To Better Survive (Archive)

GaryG loves independent watchmaking and independent watchmakers; one of his great joys as a collector is having the feeling that, in a small way, he is supporting their efforts. So he put some thought into why independent watchmakers struggle in a business sense and how they can remain relevant in changing market situations.

3 New Timepieces From Germany To Smooth The Transition From Colorful Fall To Gray Winter

Not every autumn day is full of intense Indian summer hues. Gray, windy, unpleasant weather provides the perfect occasion to go on a horological trip . . . to Germany. Here are three timepieces of German provenance by Nomos Glashütte, Wempe, and Sattler to help stave off any autumn anxiety.

De Bethune DB28 with silicon/platinum annular balance

The Schmidt List: 5 Extraordinary Balance Wheels (Archive)

The balance wheel is the regulatory organ of a mechanical watch, which is expected to deliver a consistent frequency with a tolerance of as little as 0.001 percent. With so much at stake, why complicate things by altering a pure and simple geometric shape? Why reinvent the wheel? Here Ryan Schmidt presents five balances that reinvented the wheel.

Habring2 Doppel-Felix on the wrist of Richard Habring

Our Predictions In The Petite Aiguille Category Of The 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève And Our Panel Is Split Between Two Favorites

What a diverse selection we have in the Petite Aiguille category. Ian Skellern thinks that if you bought all six pre-selected watches you would have an excellent collection of 2018 contemporary watchmaking. This is a very competitive price range, and at this level customers have serious expectations of both quality and delight. We pick our winners here; which one is your favorite?