Ressence presented the Type 1, an organically curved wristwatch building on the success of the Belgian brand’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) prize-winning Type 3.
Elizabeth and Ian are live on location in Le Sentier this week, where we are getting a first-hand look at the skills of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s artisans in some of the 180 different trades and crafts that this manufacture founded in 1833 unites under one (admittedly very large) roof.
* Quill & Pad has the honor of introducing Grieb & Benzinger’s latest bespoke creation: the Black Tulip Red Midnight. This masterfully skeletonized watch is the direct result of a customer’s desire: a watch connoisseur looking for a “stealth” watch that nonetheless portrays its value and rare handcrafts in a lower-key way, creating an eye-catching black-and-red look using unusual gemstones.
Richard Mille announces another new sporting ambassador following quickly on the heels of skier Alexis Pinturault, who won bronze at the Sochi Olympics in giant slalom. The luxury sporting brand now welcomes Romanin Grosjean to the fold. This announcement coincides with the first Formula 1 testing sessions of the E22 Lotus, which makes sense since Grosjean is a Lotus driver and Richard Mille also sponsors the entire Lotus team.
* We have just completed our very first themed fortnight, which provided you with stories from the Olympics in Sochi and Russian watchmaking and this week we bring news from : Panerai, Thomas Prescher, Vianney Halter, Baselworld, Nomos and more.
A happy Valentine’s Day to you!
* As we approach half-time at the Olympics, we’d like to direct your attention to the close of our first Olympic Week.
* Celebrating the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Japan, the FHH presents an exhibition called The Mastery of Time, the first in a series of events honoring friendship between the two countries.
Exploration, diplomacy, and research; these are the core values of Starfleet. Starfleet, to the uninitiated, is the deep-space exploratory organization around which the fictional Star Trek universe revolves. Basically the space-nerds of the future.
While it is certainly hard to focus on events outside the SIHH in the world of watches this week, rest assured that the globe continued to revolve and there were other happenings. Here is a summary of some of them.
* GREAT Britain, a new campaign staged by the British prime minister David Cameron, includes a unique timepiece by Roger Smith. The products featured in the campaign will tour key global markets over the next two years and showcase the very best of what Britain has to offer. The platinum case of the GREAT Britain watch has been handmade in the best George Daniels tradition and hallmarked with “London.”
The manually wound movement is a true treat: the gold-plated, frosted-finish three-quarter plate is topped by a raised barrel bridge that has been hand-engraved with a floral pattern. A hand-engraved balance cock holds the free-sprung co-axial escapement in place.