When collectors gather anywhere and talk about their collections, recent purchases, and executed or potential sales, there’s a term that comes up more often than not: “getting hurt.” Here I provide a master class in how not to get hurt in the world of watch collecting.
While we usually try to avoid complication in our daily lives, complications are the icing on the proverbial cake in the world of high-end timepieces. And one of the most exquisite complications is the retrograde date, in particular when it’s done by the perfectionist Kari Voutilainen.
The Ressence e-Crown Concept is what Joshua calls the first truly holistic approach to making an intelligent electromechanical watch, something that might actually bridge the gap between traditional horology and the desires of younger, tech-oriented generations.
Autumn 2017 constituted the third consecutive year that I traveled to Geneva to partake of the excitement that is the November auction weekend, and this time around I had the good fortune to win the very first lot in that day’s auction: the Carpe Diem clock developed by Agenhor in collaboration with design school HEAD Genève. Here’s why I bought it.
Christiaan van der Klaauw presented the world’s smallest mechanical planetarium in 1999 and the first three-dimensional moon phase in a wristwatch six years later. Today, designers Daniël and Maria Reintjes run the astronomical brand, so Martin Green and Boris Pjanic visited the workshop to see how things are going.
GaryG bought a Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon and hopes that you will find his commentary on a collector’s mindset and the motivations, delights, and possible misgivings interesting and helpful.
I encountered Konstantin Chaykin’s Joker, whose “face” is literally just that with two googly eyes showing the hours and minutes with their respective pupils and a lolling red tongue displaying the phase of the moon. I was transfixed and moments later I placed my order. Find out why right here!
For a niche brand yet to celebrate its third birthday, Ferdinand Berthoud has made quite a horological impact: its Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud FB1 won the prestigious Aiguille d’Or at the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. And now for 2018, the nascent brand presents an interesting and well-finished regulator: the Chronomètre FB 1R.6-1.
In keeping with longstanding tradition, on Saturday evening our Northern California collector group held its annual pre-SIHH dinner with independent watchmaking legend Kari Voutilainen for a sneak peek at what the watchmaker will have on exhibit at the 2018 fair. Enjoy this short preview.
Waxing poetically about moon phases has gotten me excited enough to take a trip through certain “phases” of engineering excellence . Here we bring you the eight most accurate moon phases currently fitted into a wristwatch. Join us on this odyssey through space and time.