Wouldn’t it be splendid to have everything your heart desired? Well, it’s a nice fantasy but it’s not going to happen to any of us, including GaryG. And, besides, he is not so sure that the experience of “selling to buy” isn’t actually a significant part, albeit a bittersweet one, of the collecting experience.
The Opus 5 by Felix Baumgartner/Urwerk for Harry Winston is one of the best of this series of exceptional timepieces. But, as this drawing by Urwerk designer Martin Frei from June of 2003 shows, one of the original ideas behind Urwerk’s Opus 5 was a digital display in a model christened with the working title “Time Bandit.” Check out this superb almost-was timepiece!
“I have no secrets as past watchmakers had. There are graveyards full of secrets and that’s enough.” – Philippe Dufour, 2014
The clarity of the minimalist, yet artistic dial of Stefan Kudoke’s Kudoke 2 makes this watch extremely appealing. But when you turn it over and see the gorgeous movement, it’s all over: you’ve fallen in love.
The era of the master visionary and maker may be dead and gone in many other industries, but to create a beautiful watch, like composing a beautiful string quartet, you need a Beethoven, a Haydn, or a Brahms not a committee of brainstormers dreaming up target groups. Paul Gerber is up there with the giants, and Marton Radkai explains why.
The Musée International d’Horlogerie announces a new MIH watch, called into existence to help finance ongoing museum projects as well as raise public awareness for safeguarding horological heritage and to promote the expertise of regional watchmakers. This surprising timepiece takes its direct inspiration from the museum building itself, a product of Brutalist architecture.
For GaryG the wonderful Antiqua by Vianney Halter is a long-term keeper. He fell for the Antiqua when he first saw one more than a dozen years ago; while many of his friends will freely confess that at the time they were at first put off by its looks, Gary was smitten from the start. But that’s not all that he loves about this watch. Find out here why he bought it!
The concepts of the Cyrus Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon and Vertical Tourbillon Skeleton rotate around a vertically oriented tourbillon in the center of the movement. Joshua Munchow sees an awesome spaceship with an artificial gravity ring in the center; how about you?
GaryG wears all of the watches in his collection, though some watches are more suited to daily wear than others. A reader’s question got Gary thinking, both about which pieces in his assortment are the go-to routine watches for frequent wear and, at a more fundamental level, what makes a watch a “daily wearer.” Read his opinion on that right here.
The GNS1.2 by Genus is an absolutely stunning mechanical creation from Sébastien Billières, a genius independent watchmaker behind a variety of great watches and already in the business for more than 20 years. Find out here how this timepiece’s captivating figure-eight serpentine works and why it is worth taking a close look at.