Time Shadow, the latest timepiece by Andreas Strehler, uses the concept of shadow in a fun and unique way. When a numeral on the hour ring passes in front of the bright orange circle, it appears as if a shadow is moving across a brightly sunlit field. But don’t be fooled into thinking that this piece is only fun; it is also serious horology as befits a watchmaker of Strehler’s stature and creativity.
A piece that for me is a long-term keeper, is the wonderful Antiqua by Vianney Halter. The truth is that I fell for the Antiqua when I first saw one more than a dozen years ago; while many of my friends will freely confess that at the time they were at first put off by its looks, I was smitten from the start. But that’s not all that I love about this watch.
Date: late February 2010. Place: a small San Francisco restaurant. Players: an informal group of Northern California watch collectors, all owners of at least one Kari Voutilainen watch. One of the members of the group nonchalantly mentioned, “I’ve been talking with Kari about something . . ..” It was a set of bespoke Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph II models. Time: two seconds later. Response: “I’m in!”
The Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire, introduced at Baselworld 2016, is the next step in the ongoing evolution of the Grönefeld brothers’ burgeoning dynasty. The watch’s concept revolves around a key feature, the remontoire, which also references the church clock. Read on to find out why.
Contemporary watchmaking has been making waves in the generally calm waters of traditional watchmaking for nearly two decades and has radically changed perceptions as to what haute horlogerie might be. But watching the superb Netflix series ‘Chef’s Table ‘ and contemporary haute cuisine, I can’t help but wonder if the pioneers and leaders of contemporary watchmaking are doing enough.
Like every other Akrivia timepiece the Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour includes a beautifully delicate tourbillon whirling away at 6 o’clock. Akrivia tourbillons are already becoming known for their fine cages and slender profiles, and the balance wheels inside share these characteristics. I love complicated mechanisms that require multiple views to fully grasp all of the detail, but sometimes it’s just so delightful to gaze upon something simply aesthetically pleasing.
When we published ‘Inspired Interstellar Exploration: Miki Eleta BY 21Dez12ME Starship Clock’ a couple of weeks ago, quite a few readers requested video to better appreciate how Miki Eleta’s horological sci-fi fantasy worked. We heard you! So here by popular demand is a video of BY 21Dez12ME having just landed with a bang on earth.
What you are about to read is a work of fantasy directly inspired by the incredible horological work and details of Miki Eleta’s BY 21Dez12ME clock. “The chief navigator paused and checked the coordinates against the holographic star chart surrounding the cabin, suddenly realizing that the starship called ‘BY 21Dez12ME’ was, to put it delicately, astonishingly lost.”
Believe it or not, this Rube Goldberg/Jean Tinguely-style contraption is actually an astronomical clock by A.H.C.I. member Miki Eleta that displays retrograde minutes, jumping hours, day of the week, a three-dimensional moon phase, and world time. And it’s all regulated by Eleta’s own constant force gravity tourbillon with chronometer escapement.
But the question I’m asking here is: what might this assembly of gears be and/or be doing if it wasn’t a clock? Please leave your ideas (fun or funny also welcome) in the comments.
It is with a bit of trepidation that I turn my attention to independent watches from Baselworld 2016 that are now on my “desire” list; we’ll see whether any of these watches from Sarpaneva, Grönefeld, Voutilainen, Akriva or even Renaud & Papi make it onto my wrist as a result! In the meantime, enjoy these gorgeous timepieces.