On September 17, 2015 Vacheron Constantin presented a milestone in the history of timekeeping: Reference 57260, the world’s most complicated portable timepiece to date with an incredible 57 functions and indications. And to commemorate it, Vacheron Constantin released a very special film called “The Witnesses.”
I’m just back from an excellent SalonQP 2015. The exhibition was awash with fantastic timepieces, but here’s one that caught my eye: a unique piece Parallax Tourbillon in platinum with black dial and bright red highlights by Bart and Tim Grönefeld, two excellent fraternal watchmakers from the Netherlands.
Even though the Freak is a staple of avant-garde watchmaking, I am continuously impressed by the continual improvements and inventions added to it. That is why the most recent edition is the most appropriately named: it announces right there in the name – Ulysse Nardin FreakLab – that it’s the wrist-sized testing lab!
Every once in a while an independent watchmaker or boutique brand comes along with something of truly unprecedented ingenuity. Once such piece is Cabestan’s Triple Axis Tourbillon, which was first presented at Baselworld 2015. Boasting a triple-axis tourbillon escapement as well as an unorthodox design and technical construction, the Cabestan Triple Axis Tourbillon is one for the books.
For once I’m going to be a typical woman and talk about something uniquely female here: the preparation that goes into planning an outfit for a large event. In this case, the large event being the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, watchmaking’s biggest night. The hardest and most important part, however, was deciding what to do about my jewelry and which watch to wear. So, naturally, I turned to my friends at Chopard.
The year 2015 marks Caran d’Ache’s 100th anniversary. And to celebrate, the company has delved into its century-long history and collaborated with a Swiss jewelry craftsman to create the limited edition Spirit of Switzerland, an ornately engraved writing instrument made to last for several lifetimes.
Only Watch, the biennial charity auction on behalf of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, has firmly established itself as a landmark event on the watch scene. This year’s sixth renewal of the event, serving as the kickoff for the autumn Geneva watch auction week, saw Patek Philippe donating the landmark piece for the event, a blue-dialed, steel-cased Reference 5016A-010, which hammered for more than $7 million.
The inaugural Dubal Watch Week was organized by the Seddiqi watch retailing group in the Middle East. Here we share a couple of videos of the event by The Watches TV.
The sixth edition of SalonQP opens its doors on Friday, November 13 (or even Thursday evening if you’re one of the lucky few attending the opening cocktail party). So here are eight reasons why you might consider making a trip to London’s chic Sloane Square for the UK’s premier watch exhibition, which includes discussion panels, seminars, and even watchmaking classes in addition to more than 50 brands of every shape and size.
The Harry Winston Opus 14 was introduced at a celebrity-studded event in Baden-Baden, Germany. The real star of the event for watch enthusiasts in attendance, of course, was the watch itself: the new Opus 14 with a second hidden time zone designed by Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin, the same movement geniuses behind the Montblanc Metamorphosis. Watch Marc Hayek demonstrate the Opus 14’s big trick: revealing and hiding the second time zone and displaying a “Route 66” style American star.