In the early 1990s, WMMT was facing the same dilemma as today: modern or vintage? Problem was that modern watches actually all looked vintage, right down to the sizes. There was something lacking. Enter Vianney Halter in 1998 with the Antiqua Perpetual. And then what happened next: the birth of ICH (“Independent Creative Horology”).
Here are five recent examples of skeletonization – both traditionally and contemporarily crafted – that take the art form to the next level. Each one of them has a strong allure that derives from the meticulous finishing and uncluttered design of mechanical “bare bones.”
While Ian Skellern had visited German watch brands in Glashütte before, a recent visit to Tutima was his first. And he was surprised, in more ways than one. Starting with that glass floor and finishing in an all-female regatta.
Released in 2010, the RGM Pennsylvania Tourbillon made a pretty big splash among those who have educated themselves about such things. It is, after all, the only serially produced tourbillon made in America and is simply an increditastic watch from any perspective. Design, function, and finishing: it is at the head of its class.
Beauty may well be in the eye of the beholder, but Martin Green thinks that even parked the new BMW 8 Series has a fighting stance. You can see the raw power and immediately know this is not an ordinary BMW.
In late 2017, a woman brought a Rolex Submariner to the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow that was missing its distinctive black bezel, which was appraised for about £20,000. She had been given the watch by an ex-boyfriend and it just sat in a drawer. But extra printing on the dial and a helium escape valve shouted Comex!
Joshua Munchow has a soft spot for alarm watches; they provide something so fundamentally necessary in a timepiece that he might call them the most useful and underrated complication in horology. And a recent entry to the miniscule field of alarm watches was shown at Baselworld 2018: the Breguet Marine Alarme Musicale 5547 stood out for him as a winner of the fair, with very little competition in its category.
A long-term keeper for GaryG is the wonderful Antiqua by Vianney Halter. He fell for the Antiqua when he first saw one more than a dozen years ago; while many of his friends will freely confess that at the time they were at first put off by its looks, Gary was smitten from the start. But that’s not all that he loves about this watch.
A generous friend recently offered GaryG the opportunity to shoot his white gold Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph II so that Gary is able to share photos of both his custom pink gold Chronograph II in comparison to his friend’s custom white gold version.
In the “Objects of Desire” series, I look at pieces that fall into the categories unobtanium and timenotrightium, as my Quill & Pad colleague Joshua Munchow might say. And, where better to start on the topic of desire than with the watches of Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey?