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.
For this special article, I have the pleasure of covering the wonderful Grönefeld One Hertz! For a watch fanatic, and especially for lovers of independent watch brands, it’s a dream come true to meet the makers of the watches that we admire. With the Grönefeld brothers, it’s that pleasure multiplied by two.
In my view, every successful independent watchmaker has elements of a “house style” that may attract some buyers and put off others, but nonetheless sets him or her apart. And, at the highest level, this style goes beyond “branding” to become an expression of the personality and artistic vision of the creator. In the picturesque Swiss town of Thun, Beat Haldimann and his small team distinguish themselves by focusing on technical virtuosity of the highest order, as typified by the Haldimann H1 Flying Central Tourbillon.
For those of you who are regular readers of my “Behind the Lens” series, it’s no secret that my watch pals and I are big fans of independent watchmaking.
Here at Quill & Pad we’re also fans of the independents, prominently including Irish watchmaking brothers John and Stephen McGonigle.
Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph an example of the Tuscar One in Ten owned by a good friend. Let’s take a look at some of the results.
Roger Smith holds a special place in the pantheon of independent watchmaking, both on his own merits and as the man who worked most closely with the legendary George Daniels. While any Smith watch is rare, the particular Series 2 that you see photographed in this article is in fact unique: it’s the only such watch in stainless steel that Smith has yet produced.
For this edition of Behind the Lens, I’m sharing a series of photographs of one of the great watches of our time, the Philippe Dufour Duality. The Duality, with its linked twin escapements, was originally planned for production in a series of 25 watches. In a turn of events that seems almost unbelievable today, a lack of initial demand eventually led Dufour to limit production to just nine pieces, one of which is owned by a good friend of mine.
In this edition of “Behind the Lens,” we take a look at a watch that you may not have heard about yet: the Inversion Principle by Fonderie 47. There’s a story to be told about both the brand and this particular watch. We explore both, although we primarily emphasize the design elements of the watch and their links to the brand, as well as some of my observations on what it was like to photograph this watch.
In this edition of ‘Behind the Lens,’ GaryG pays tribute to the introduction of the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 twenty years ago on October 24, 1994. He brings us stunning images of two very special variants of the classic watch: the rare Cellini limited edition, of which only 25 were made for the New York City retailer, and the even rarer stainless steel Lange 1, which was not a limited edition per se but certainly a (very) limited sort-of production watch.
Welcome to the second installment of “Behind the Lens.” This time, our subject is the Patek Philippe Advanced Research Ref. 5550P, a truly lovely perpetual calendar with some interesting technical twists.
As part of my “enthusiast collector” role here at Quill & Pad I will be taking a look at watches that strike my fancy, and sharing the visual results with you along with a few observations on photography, the watches themselves, and the collectors who own them.
Let’s get started, shall we? Our subject for this episode: the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain with remontoir d’égalité.