It’s that time of year again when the list of watches competing in the next edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is published. The list represents all of the watches competing in the first round of the competition from which the jury will preselect six in each category for a total of 72. Check out all of the competing watches as well as those we have written about here.
For Quill & Pad’s themed “Ladies’ Week” in my role as resident collector, my thoughts turned immediately to that other collector in my life: my charming wife. MrsG is perhaps most enthusiastic about her collection of Southwestern Native American arts and jewelry, but let’s get started with a look at her interesting watches, which include excellent examples from Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Alain Silberstein, Audemars Piguet, and more.
In the relatively short amount of time since Ball Watch re-entered the watch world, the brand has managed to create a few interesting technical details to enhance its interesting, affordable watch range. The brand’s arsenal of technical improvements includes the patented SpringLock shock protection system, which was tested under real conditions on the wrist of Kiss drummer Eric Singer before being implemented into regular collection watches.
Talking to Eric Singer about watches is like cramming four months’ worth of casual shop talk into one hour: Singer is really, really into watches. One of rock’s hardest working drummers, he has played with acts like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Lita Ford, and Gary Moore as well as Kiss. In addition to a love of music, Singer inherited a love of timepieces from his father; his extensive collection illustrates his passion for the subject.
Ah, Paris! City of Lights, Paname, Babylon on the Seine – no matter how one refers to it, there is nothing remotely like it. For the watch collector, it’s a great place to visit as well with boutiques aplenty, some owned and operated by the major brands; high-end mega-stores like Bucherer; and smaller independent retailers like Chronopassion and Dubail. Recently, I took a quick weekend trip to Paris and while there I took the opportunity to pack in as much fun as possible. Come along with me and join in!
There are surely lots and lots of differences between the citizens of Mexico and Switzerland. These differences really come to light when you see national music styles played one after the other, though. Have a look at what we caught on video during the recent TAG Heuer introduction of its sponsorship of the Carrera Panamerica. What similarities and what differences do you spy through the music?
International timing competitions used to be the Formula 1 of watchmaking, and the watchmakers who prepared the high-precision (pocket) watches were treated like Formula 1 drivers. And that shouldn’t be surprising because until recently, the primary raison d’être of a timepiece was to tell the time. To tell THE time, not the approximate time. An error of 30 seconds day isn’t much . . . until you miss your train by 10 seconds.
It had been a long time since I’d been to a rock concert, let alone experience “the greatest rock band of all time.” So when Zenith offered me two tickets to the Dallas leg of the Rolling Stones’ multi-city North American Zip Code Tour at AT&T Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys), I jumped at the chance. I sprung them on my husband, who was equally excited about taking an overnight trip from our home in Houston.
Since its reboot four years ago, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – watchmaking’s highest profile event, often described as the “Oscars of watchmaking” – has attracted a few celebrity watch collectors to the jury in addition to some of the most knowledgeable experts in the world of watches.
Kiss drummer Eric Singer, an avid watch collector for decades, is the latest. During a recent interview session, he struck me not only as a serious collector, but also as an honest-to-goodness “watch guy.” I am very pleased he has joined the jury of this excellent event.
The Tourbillon Cylindrique Geosphères Vasco da Gama is an insanely awesome watch style-wise, and the movement mechanics prove to be equally interesting to the WIS in all of us. It features two sapphire crystal half spheres painted to look like the northern and southern hemispheres side by side. Twenty-four lines of latitude and longitude indicating time zones are debossed on these tiny half globes. And that’s not all!