When it comes to the story of fine watchmaking in Glashütte, Carl Moritz Grossmann (1826-1885) was more a volume than a chapter. And the famous German is the namesake of a high-quality manufacture that now boasts ten years under its belt. Founder Christine Hutter looks back.
Extraordinary engraver Kees Engelbarts loves his skeletonized watches as they do very much showcase his art form. “I wanted to make another kind of skeleton watch,” he says about his latest creation called Tourbillon Organic Skeleton. “Most skeleton watches are, as you know, very symmetric. My plan was to make a skeleton watch without a drawing or plan before starting, by just taking away material from the base plate and bridges that is not needed.”
This is the story of a daily-wear watch: the Tsunami by Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. It’s not a “beater” as it’s too beautifully made for that description, and some folks justifiably take offense at characterizing a five-figure expenditure in those terms. But it is a watch that GaryG suspects that he will be wearing a lot and in a variety of settings.
In GaryG’s 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.
The Krayon Everywhere watch is a deceivingly complex timepiece displaying sunrise and sunset times for (nearly) any location on earth. Trying to understand it made Joshua’s brain ache. In a good way.
Emmanuel Bouchet first came to our attention with the incredibly animated Opus 12 for Harry Winston. He has now launched his own brand with Complication 1, which pays homage to the ubiquitous Swiss lever escapement with his own extremely slow-beating, giant Swiss lever escapement placed dial-side. And that’s just the beginning!
A world-class micro-engineer, industrial designer, metalwork artist and accountant walk into a bar, and the barman asks . . . yes, Marton Radkai is talking about independent watchmaker Paul Gerber. Find out more about this genius right here!
At Baselworld 2018 young boutique brand Akrivia launched its Chronomètre Contemporain, the very first timepiece in the Rexhep Rexhepi Collection. To say that Joshua is impressed is an understatement, but there is more to it: this watch represents a new, diverged direction for the independent watchmaker.
In 2006 GaryG spotted two objects of desire at a California dealer: Vianney Halter’s dramatic Antiqua and Contemporaine timepieces. They were out of his reach, but in 2007 he found a Contemporaine in white gold offered at a price that was about one-third its original retail value on eBay. What could possibly go wrong?
Dominique Renaud began working at Audemars Piguet in 1980. He received his watchmaker education in Besançon, though his family originally hailed from the Vallée de Joux. Renaud and Guilo Papi, both employed by Audemars Piguet at the time, struck out on their own, founding Renaud & Papi SA in 1986 to explore other avenues of high complication. They did that and so much more!