What do you get when a man with a deep background in both watchmaking and sailing develops a passion to create his own brand? Read on to discover more about Daniel Montandon and his new nautically-inspired Windward collection.
As regular readers know, the idea of the Behind the Lens series is to present great watches as seen from a variety of visual perspectives. Mostly, I feature watches on loan from my generous friends, but this time let’s look at a piece that I am very fortunate to have in my own collection: the legendary Simplicity by Philippe Dufour in a 37 mm white gold case with white lacquer dial.
Whenever I think about a watch made by an independent watchmaker, a certain recollection comes to mind – one that could explain my passion for timepieces created by masters with diminutive production but gargantuan horological expertise. This particular story involves a watch brand, a trip to Switzerland, and what is normally a very casual thing: lunch.
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Vianney Halter and his work. I strongly believe that one of the defining moments of my development as a collector was taking the plunge and buying an example of his landmark Antiqua in pink gold. But how do two of these rare watches look side by side under the unforgiving lens of my camera?
I was sitting at my breakfast table on the morning of January 18, 2013, when during my morning scan of news I saw a photo of something breathtaking. It was Logical One by Romain Gauthier – a watch I immediately knew that I would own someday. I was captivated by the white gold version with frosted gold movement: this was “the one” for me. Read on to discover why.
Gone but not forgotten in the minds of true watch fans, we briefly revisit the horological genius that was Dominique Loiseau (1949-2013) and his ultra-complicated 1f4.
Imagine a rejuvenated grandfather clock or a massive art installation coming to life with steady sounds and the rhythmic movement of a pendulum. This poetic notion is the essence of the Time Machines (“Zeitmaschinen”) created by Swiss artist and engineer Florian Schlumpf. And they are mesmerizing.
George Daniels was an iridescent figure, often setting the tone of good horological taste during his lifetime. The rich tapestry of published works and timepieces continue to fascinate horologically minded people everywhere. And now there is a series of Daniels videos on Web of Stories that are well worth checking out!
Despite the difficulty in designing and executing a new chronograph, self-taught Japanese horological virtuoso Hajime Asaoka has created one of my favorite watches of Baselworld 2017: a self-made timer with visible mechanics.
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.