Don’t worry about the names: just enjoy Greubel Forsey’s Invention Piece 1

Why I Bought It: Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 1

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Seems it wasn’t that long ago (in reality, it was close to a year ago) that I wrote my first “Objects of Desire” article about the watches of Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, finishing with: given the prices of their watches I was unlikely to be able to buy any of the ones I truly lusted after anytime soon. My observation at the time was “go big or go home.” As you will see, I’ve ended up going big and am now the proud owner of a Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 1.

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Longines Conquest Classic Moonphase in a nest of tennis balls

Heartbeat: Longines Conquest Classic Moonphase And Arnaud Clément At Roland Garros 2015

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Every year since 2008, Longines has staged an exhibition match during Roland Garros featuring current and former professional tennis greats to play with the finalists of the Future Aces tournament. This year, the thirteen-year-old finalists, Xiaofei Wang and Jack Pinnington-Jones, had the pleasure of playing with French Davis Cup captain Arnaud Clément and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra in an entertaining matchup of fake grunts and tricky hot dog shots.

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Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 GMT

Grand Seiko: Already Big In Japan And Getting Bigger Near You

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Seiko’s story is much more complicated than most people might think. This is a manufacturer that doesn’t follow trends, but has created a few of its own, capitalizing on various types of expertise and knowledge that were the mother of necessity for a manufacturer located so far away from the established centers of watchmaking in Europe. Grand Seiko is the most appealing line to connoisseurs of fine watchmaking, and we look at it in some depth here.

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Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon

Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon: The Force Is Strong With This One

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The Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon features a constant force mechanism that feeds a tourbillon escapement with energy, plus dead beat seconds powered by twin serially operating mainsprings. With a couple patents and loads of style, the Constant Force Tourbillon makes for an impressive addition to the Arnold & Son collection.

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Pandinus imperator MeCre scorpion by Gaby Wormann

Artistic Mechanical Entomology By Paul Swan Topen, Gaby Wormann, And Christopher Conte At MB&F’s M.A.D. Gallery

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On a recent visit to MB&F’s very interesting M.A.D. Gallery in Geneva, I found myself fascinated by the sight of some unusual critters. Even though they are not animated and don’t breathe, they seemed like nothing less than real creatures. Meet the insectile sculptures made by Paul Swan Topen, Gaby Wormann, and Christopher Conte. And, don’t worry, there’s no need to be scared of them. They’re not alive. But I’d leave the covers on . . . just in case.

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The Armin Strom Porsche for the 2015 Gumball Rally

Armin Strom And The Gumball 3000 Rally

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Armin Strom has announced that it is the official watch partner of the transcontinental, pop-culture Gumball 3000 rally and has created three watches for its new Gumball 3000 collection: the Manual Gumball 3000, the Double Barrel Gumball 3000, and the Tourbillon Gumball 3000.

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Getting there: partially assembled Audemars Piguet Caliber 3090

You Are There: San Francisco Collector Master Class With Audemars Piguet

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Audemars Piguet in collaboration with WENY (Watch Enthusiasts of New York) hosted an event in San Francisco that had it all: a watchmaking master class, in-depth talks with the brand’s historian while perusing a few vintage beauties, checking out some of the current collection, a whiskey tasting, and time spent with one of the brand’s ambassadors: the iconic golfer Nick Faldo.

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Slim d’Hermès watch on the wrist of Laurent Dordet, CEO La Montre Hermès

Laurent Dordet, CEO La Montre Hermès, Talks Watches, Authenticity, And Iconic Leather Handbags

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When I entered the office of Laurent Dordet, the new CEO of La Montre Hermès, I was singularly impressed by the down-to-earth attitude of a man who has worked within Hermès structure for two decades – his most recent position had been in leather, Hermès’ stock-in-trade. Dordet seems genuinely happy to be active in this new field, which he had taken over just weeks before Baselworld 2015 started. My impression was that he was also perhaps a tad surprised by what he’s found there.

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Bulgari Clarillon Tourbillon

Bulgari Daniel Roth Carillon Tourbillon: Passion Begins Early

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The Bulgari Carillon Tourbillon has three gongs playing a three-note tune. While the dial-side gongs and the tourbillon are the headliners to this show, the real superstar is the repeater movement that you see when you flip over the watch and get a view from the back. With some careful observation one could even understand the entire system simply using one’s own two eyes. Have a look!

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Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronometer on Hartmut Kraft's wrist

Got A Minute? Hartmut Kraft, CEO Kering North America Luxury Watch Division: Ulysse Nardin, JeanRichard, And Girard-Perregaux

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On May 1, 2015, Hartmut Kraft took over as the brand-new president and CEO of Kering North America, a position that includes leading three very well established brands, Ulysse Nardin, JeanRichard, and Girard-Perregaux in the North American markets. With his unbroken enthusiasm for watches, he is not “just” another executive in the watch industry, but rather a true watch enthusiast with genuine respectful admiration for horology. Read on to hear what he has discovered in his first days at Kering.

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