You be the judge: how do you like the finishing on this Voutilainen Observatoire?

Does Hand Finishing Matter? A Collector’s View Of Movement Decoration – Reprise

Many of you are likely to have come across at least a few heated discussions of “finishing,” a topic that seems to fascinate, and divide, watch enthusiasts. Like many people, GaryG’s starting point for serious watches was with a well-priced brand long known for its expertise in developing movements, justly viewed as offering good value for money – but not necessarily for the refinement of its movement finishing, at least on its less expensive pieces.

Patek Philippe Aquanaut Chronograph Reference 5968A on orange strap

Yes, You Must Pay Duties And Taxes On Your Personal Watches When Traveling, But Here’s How To Avoid The Worst – Reprise

Watch enthusiasts traveling into Switzerland, Germany, Japan, China, and the United States are targets of opportunity for border customs police. Here Chris Malburg shows how to avoid paying more in duties and taxes than necessary while avoiding the embarrassment of being suspected of smuggling legitimately purchased watches.

In Praise of Anglage: Exceptional Hand-Finished Anglage Is Difficult, Slow, And Expensive So The Big Brands Have Given Up And Few Seem To Have Noticed (Or Seem To Care) – Thank God For The Indies!

Big brands are now making beautiful, reliable, and relatively accurate “traditional” mechanical watches, but the handcrafted work many of us value is disappearing. Highly skilled watchmakers and artisans are rare and expensive: there just aren’t enough of them available to churn out the large quantity of nice watches now being sold. And why bother when nobody seems to have noticed?

Urwerk UR-100V P.02 For Collective: Collaboration And Exclusivity Dock In Space

The new UR-100V P.02 brings together three parties: in addition to Urwerk and Collective, the project will benefit New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. And for GaryG it’s an example of combining concepts that at first glance seem contradictory: collaboration and exclusivity. In space.

What was I thinking? Now-departed Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox in pink gold

Watch Collecting Regrets? I’ve Had A Few, But Not Too Few To Mention: They Include Selling Too Soon And Failing To Buy – Reprise

You can like everything, but you can’t buy – or keep – everything! Inevitably, the choices involved lead at times to regrets; for GaryG, along with many of his pals, the sadness is much more often about pieces they sold too soon or failed to buy rather than pieces they were sorry about buying in the first place. Here’s a story of shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle fitting very nicely on the wrist of the yours truely

The 10 Most Accurate Moon Phase Wristwatches Today, Plus Honorable Mention – Reprise

Waxing poetically about moon phases got Joshua excited enough to take a trip through certain “phases” of engineering excellence. So here he brings you the ten most accurate moon phase displays fitted into a wristwatch as of 2020. Join us on this odyssey through space and time.

Cartier Tank with custom Camille Fournet strap

My Wife, The Watch Collector – Reprise

GaryG’s charming wife MrsG is perhaps most enthusiastic about her collection of Southwestern Native American arts and jewelry, but let’s take a look at her interesting watches, which include excellent examples from Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Alain Silberstein, Audemars Piguet, and more.

"Purple Rain" Armin Strom Tourbillon by Elizabeth Doerr in the Configurator

Watch Customization: The Top Of The Pyramid – Reprise

To the “right” person and for the “right” price anything can be customized – whisky, cars, shampoo, and, of course, timepieces. This second article in Chris Malburg’s watch customization trilogy shines a light on the high-end of the watch customization spectrum, uncovering three uber-exclusive brands that work in the stratosphere of the customization price range revealing what it takes to get the job done.

Why I Bought It: Romain Gauthier Logical One – Reprise

GaryG was sitting at his breakfast table on the morning of January 18, 2013 when during his morning scan of news he saw a photo of something breathtaking. It was Logical One by Romain Gauthier – a watch he immediately knew that he would own someday. He was captivated by the white gold version with frosted gold movement: this was “the one” for him.

The OG: the author’s Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire with silver dial

Why I Bought It: Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire – Reprise

There are some watches you fall for the moment you see them. Sometimes that initial infatuation passes and you move on to the next temporary obsession, but then there are those instances in which the more you see, talk about, and learn about a piece and its origins the more you resolve to save up to buy one. For GaryG, the Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire was one of the latter.