The holy grail of quick readability for a chronograph is centered, concentrically mounted hands. But making the displays concentric increasingly complicates the center stack of indicators and their staffs or requires the gear train to run alongside the center and display the time elsewhere. The Fabergé Visionnaire Chronograph solves this issue and many more to become one of most interesting chronographs on the market today.
In January 2017, three of our “watch gang” had the particular pleasure of visiting Agenhor, the horological design and assembly shop led by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, which has been behind some of the most innovative watches of recent years. Here are a few of the things that we saw and learned.
When they hear the name Fabergé, most people immediately think of imperial Easter eggs. This is logical because even today the breathtaking craftsmanship and detailed execution of these objets d’art are the stuff of legends.
Chronographs are very difficult movements to master in a reliable, interesting, and original way, even if these wrist timers constitute what is most likely the most popular complication in wearable horology. And this makes the variety of in-house chronographs introduced at Baselworld 2017 a real treat. Here are five of the most interesting specimens we found at the world’s largest watch fair.
Please join our traditional Quill & Pad round table discussion on Baselworld 2017, where we discuss what we did and didn’t like at at the world’s largest annual watch exhibition.
The year 2017 wasn’t just good for both interesting and exciting new wristwatches at Baselworld: I’d go so far to rate it as a vintage year. This article started as a pure Top 5 rundown, but the sheer number of superb watches soon had us reaching for our “Special Mention” over spill. And that’s all without the really big surprises. So without further ado, welcome to our team’s top picks of Baselworld 2017.
Three is a number full of symbolic power, and Fabergé’s Lady Libertine III is three times lucky in that a trio (or troika, if we wish to allude to Peter Carl Fabergé’s Russian origins) of exceptional women created it: Aurélie Picaud, Fiona Krüger, and Anita Porchet.
The initial key concepts for the AgenGraphe chronograph included having the elapsed time indicators displaying around the center hole, so that the indications were large and highly legible, and that the minute and hour displays jumped instantaneously so that there could be no confusion when reading elapsed time. But the new chronograph ended up offering much more than that. Much more!
The year 2016 was at times grey and sullen, while at other times it rained purple, red, or blue and a host of other vibrant (and symbolic) colors. There was also a crop of colorful watches to stand out from the masses of new steel and titanium-encased horology, titillating the senses with bursts of fresh color. Here are five-ish colorful watches that caught my eye last year from HYT, Richard Mille, Fabergé, GoS, and Kari Voutilainen.
The Fabergé Lady Compliquée Peacock got lots of kudos at Baselworld 2015, even winning the prestigious Ladies High-Mech prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève that same year. The Lady Compliquée Peacock Emerald’s tail, embellished with hand-applied green lacquer marking the minutes in the most beautiful way imaginable.