Tsuba, a unique piece by Kees Engelbarts

Kees Engelbarts’ Unique Platinum Tsuba Features Rare Crafts And Imaginative Interpretations Of Japanese Art Forms

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A tsuba is the hand guard of a traditional Japanese sword. “These eventually became elaborate pieces of art – far beyond their practical use,” says engraver Kees Engelbarts, whose fascination with Japanese handcrafts led him to use the Japanese metal alloying technique called mokume gane as the first one in watchmaking. It has now also led him to dedicate a watch to the tsuba theme, inspired in particular by a piece by Japanese swordsmith Hamano Masanobu.

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Photo Caption Competition No. 10 Featuring Two “Hard” Men Rugged Up For Cold Weather

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Thanks for the entries in last week’s caption competition and congratulations to Martin Moore for his winning caption linking smartwatches and dogs. You can check that out at Photo Caption Competition No. 9.

This week’s caption competition looks relatively easy (I know, that’s easy for me say): statues of two men rugged up for the cold. One has a what looks like a briefcase so they may be commuters.

Or maybe not. That’s for you to decide.

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Benzinger By Zanella

Benzinger By Zanella: Mechanical Art With Heart

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While you hear very often that watches are “mechanical art,” in this case the overused description makes sense: here mechanical art (Benzinger’s unique movement embellishment) meets conventional art in the form of the dial embellished with an oil-on-canvas painting by French painter Léon Zanella.

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Visconti Homo Sapiens Dark Ages fountain pen with cap on and off

Pure Basaltic Lava Reinforced With Resin Is The Secret Ingredient In The Visconti Homo Sapiens Pen

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More than five years ago, Visconti introduced the Homo Sapiens collection featuring a new concept in writing instrument design: lava straight from the active volcano Mt. Etna on the island of Sicily was used to craft the bodies of the pens. Now, a new era is being explored with the Homo Sapiens Dark Age. And though the Dark Ages signified cultural decline, ironically this pen represents nothing if not the opposite.

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The author’s Philippe Dufour Simplicity in white gold

Behind The Lens: The Philippe Dufour Simplicity

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As regular readers know, the idea of the Behind the Lens series is to present great watches as seen from a variety of visual perspectives. Mostly, I feature watches on loan from my generous friends, but this time let’s look at a piece that I am very fortunate to have in my own collection: the legendary Simplicity by Philippe Dufour in a 37 mm white gold case with white lacquer dial.

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Aurora Borealis seen in Germany, note how bright the scenery looks for a dark night

The How, What, When, Where And Why Of Seeing The Aurora Borealis, AKA Northern Lights

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My wife and I serendipitously chanced upon “seeing” the aurora borealis while visiting Jackson Hole, Wyoming last year, and the excitement of that led to months of research. And that research led more recently to spending a few days in the Arctic Circle in the north of Sweden. Here is what I’ve learned about the northern lights so far, some of it firsthand.

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Panerai Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanium

Prediction Comes True: Panerai Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanium With DMLS 3D-Printed Titanium Case

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Imagine my surprise when, in one of my rare predictions about the future of 3D printing in watchmaking, I got one right: the Panerai Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanium says it all. It is (as far as I know) the first production watch to utilize 3D direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) printing for the case construction. The case is made of titanium for extra lightness, but that’s not the only, or even the main, reason for using DMLS titanium.

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Photo Caption Competition No. 9 Featuring A Grönefeld One Hertz, Snow, And Dogs

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This week’s caption competition is a hard one as it has quite a disparate mix of subjects including a Grönefeld One Hertz, lots of snow (it was shot in the Arctic Circle), and a few dogs for good measure. What appropriate, funny, or sarcastic comment can you think up as a caption or for the optional speech bubble?

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The 2016 McLaren Honda Formula 1 car

Richard Mille Sponsors Two Formula 1 Teams In 2016: McLaren And The New American Team Haas Ferrari

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Just two days shy of the unveiling of the McLaren team’s 2016 Formula 1 car that drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will be driving, McLaren CEO Ron Dennis and his team were shielding any possible view of the automobile from the curious eyes of the small group of watch journalists invited for the introduction of new corporate sponsor Richard Mille. Luckily for us, however, Button’s wrist was not off-limits, and neither were Richard’s comments.

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What am I?

Photo Caption Competition No. 8: What Am I?

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This week we have something a little different.

This is a photo of a prototype movement of a watch that was launched in the second half of 2015.

What do you think the name of this watch is?

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