Urban Jürgensen & Sønner has had quite an exciting twelve months: perhaps the most exciting of its 240-year history. In 2014 the brand’s Central Second took home the prize for Best Men’s Watch at the GPHG. Then we were astounded to already see the first results of new ownership: in just eleven weeks the new team managed to revamp the existing collection to present five “new” models at Baselworld 2015.
On November 25, 1915 Albert Einstein introduced his general theory of relativity to the scientific community in Berlin.
Now, on the 100th anniversary of this scientific milestone, the Federation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) poses the question through its seventh forum, entitled “The Future in Progress,” as to whether this theory is still relevant as a metaphor for out-of-the-box thinking in watchmaking.
I was invited by H. Moser & Cie to attend a most atypical press conference in Zürich. The occasion was the first parabolic flight in Switzerland, during which Moser, along with its escapement-making sister company Precision Engineering, tested movements and components in zero gravity. H. Moser & Cie also launched the new Pioneer collection, its most contemporary yet.
Among the many highlights of SalonQP 2015 was the “Inside a Second” exhibition of chronographs presented in partnership with the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie. The exhibition included the George Daniels co-axial four-minute tourbillon with Daniels’ compact chronograph mechanism. And that would have been enough chronograph for me all by itself, but there were many more highlights.
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.