When it comes to a brand like Breguet, one expects nothing but the very best in every aspect of its representation. So I figured its pens, like its recent jewelry collections, would be solid and elegant expressions of the company’s overriding sense of quality and innovation. I was right.
The first timepiece Donzé Cadrans and Ulysse Nardin worked on together was in the early 1980s: the complicated jacquemart-outfitted Hourstriker San Marco with its vibrant blue, which was the first enamel dial of the modern incarnation of Ulysse Nardin and perhaps of the Mechanical Renaissance. Follow us on a visit to Donzé Cadrans and learn about the unique 300-year-old process this one-of-a-kind dial maker utilizes to make its aesthetic elements.
Once you get hooked on a great pen, the next step on the road to ruin is great paper. There are numerous options and a plethora of sources from which to choose, from plain bound journals to highly designed note cards and custom stationery. One coveted source of high-end stationery is New York-based artist Bernard Maisner.
It’s a story that could have come out of a thriller novel, and it’s about the oldest known watch in the world, which was made in 1505 by Peter Henlein. The Pomander Watch (‘Bisamapfeluhr’), as it is known, was confirmed by committee of experts as having been the work of Peter Henlein in 1505.
Art Basel Miami is not just contained to an indoor fair hall but spread around Miami’s South Beach, adding another colorful layer to this glitzy, at times glamorous, city in south Florida. Collins Park is also filled with colorful art. Take a look around Art Basel Miami with me now and see my original photography.
Audemars Piguet is much more than a sponsoring partner of the Art Basel fair; at the Miami Beach Art Basel exhibition, the brand from Le Brassus staged a spectacular exhibition of Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests right on the famed beach.
Making the nib of a fountain pen – the point of the instrument that directs the ink – does not differ much from working precious metals to be used as watch components, but it does entail a heck of a lot of work done by hand. The nib alone needs about 40 steps until completion; making a whole pen, including barrel, cap, feed and, of course the nib, takes about 200 individual steps.
Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for your favorite WIS, collector, or watch lover? Look no further than the ultimate Omega Speedmaster reference book ‘Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide.’
The jump hour has a long history, but first things first, it can’t technically be called a complication since the accepted definition of complication is a mechanism that provides information other than the time. However, anyone who gives a hoot will say in the same breath that there are many complications that don’t fit that definition. And I couldn’t agree more.
Earlier in 2014, Jaquet Droz announced a partnership with Lausanne’s Béjart Ballet. A ballet dancer perfectly masters the movements of his or her body, which makes for perfect allegory to Pierre Jaquet Droz’s lifelike mechanical androids using flow, flux, movement, and human expression through motion. Meet The Vulture and The Chief, two extraordinarily artistic Jaquet Droz timepieces paying homage to the dance.