One thing that blows my mind each and every time I think of it is the remarkable accuracy of mechanical wristwatches. I know some of you are thinking, “Well, I paid thousands of dollars, I expect it to be dead accurate.” And while I understand that train of thought, try digesting this information and see if I can convince you to be a little bit less critical.
My first rule when it comes to collecting is to avoid setting too many exclusionary rules. If, however, I force myself to set criteria for what constitutes collecting to me, I keep coming back to passion and enjoyment. Nevertheless, there are lots of “safe queens” in the watch world. Yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. “Triple Sealed In Its Own Original Geneva Air And Never Wound Let Alone Chimed Patek Minute Repeater.”
Date: late February 2010. Place: a small San Francisco restaurant. Players: an informal group of Northern California watch collectors, all owners of at least one Kari Voutilainen watch. One of the members of the group nonchalantly mentioned, “I’ve been talking with Kari about something . . ..” It was a set of bespoke Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph II models. Time: two seconds later. Response: “I’m in!”
Seriously, let’s face it, criminals are flippin’ stupid! Here are 6 reasons why stealing watches is a really bad idea (aside from the obvious) and those who try probably won’t get away with it anyway.
Independence Day in the United States of America is celebrated on the 4th of July. In honor of this important day, I’d like to take a look at some American-themed wristwatches you may have forgotten or never even knew about. These timepieces proudly wear their red, white, and blue!
Timepiece repairs can be expensive and often take a long time, so you generally want to avoid damaging a watch. It’s obvious that throwing your watch against a wall, running over it with a Bentley, or smashing it with a hammer are things to to avoid. However, not everything that can damage a watch is so obvious, so here I list five common things you may not be aware of that can damage a watch and how to prevent them.
As much as I love watches, I love the people who are occupied with our specialized hobby even more! So, you can imagine that I immediately began scheming about how to route my travels through New York when I opened my inbox one morning several weeks ago to find this message: “You are invited: invitation to the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Anniversary Event.”
There aren’t many gifts one can give that will endure the test of time as well as a watch will. A gift of a timepiece has the air of timelessness, of endurance, and of value. Each and every watch that I have ever been given has a very special story. Here are some examples and brief histories of a few of them.
So now that the dust has settled on the recent Phillips Start-Stop-Reset auction of stainless steel chronographs in Geneva, a sale that saw 100 percent of its 88 lots sold, I’d like to focus on a watch that I thought stood out from the very strong field.
This is a family affair: a story of my wife Brigitte, her horse Gucci, my father Neil, and an engraved Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique. And this is a good example of how and why you might want to commission a work of art on the back of a Reverso. Or not.