It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the MB&F HM6, but, it does have a serious design issue: except for that flying tourbillon, the incredible movement is hidden under a protective titanium case. And what a pity: it’s as if only half of the watch was available to be appreciated. The case shape reflects the movement architecture, but the movement architecture is concealed by the case . . . or it was until HM6 SV came along!
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has read my pieces in the past that I like a good jump hour mechanism. Actually, I love a good jump hour mechanism. There is just something about that instantaneous change driven entirely by mechanical means that fascinates me. And yet not all “digital” watches require the use of jump hours and minutes; some don’t even use a jump at all yet still read digitally. So today I want to break down a list of my seven (plus change) favorite “digital” watches.
In this age of digital information, watch companies try to get ahead of the competition by releasing news on their new timepieces ahead of the big watch fairs. The 2016 edition is no different, and in honor of the upcoming 26th edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), we present you with an overview of some of the new models that have already been revealed, including timepieces by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Richard Mille, Piaget, Montblanc, MB&F, H. Moser & Cie, HYT, and Roger Dubuis.
The Watchstars awards jury comprises a very large panel of international writers and journalists. It is the massive size of this jury that often produces interesting results. The 2015/2016 edition of Watchstars just came to a close, and the winners in five categories were announced with four brands taking honors. Find out more here!
The Saatchi Gallery on Kings Road in trendy Chelsea has played host to SalonQP in London for the past four years. It is a fantastic venue and a great place for the brands attending to showcase their wares.
What an eclectic mix of brands and watches on show this year, too! Come with me on a virtual tour.
I’m all for evolution, especially continual evolution in watchmaking. However, from time to time we need revolution as well as evolution, and the former is severely lacking. While MB&F’s Legacy Machine Perpetual looks to all intents and purposes like one of the least radical timepieces created in the brand’s ten-year history, make no mistake: it is revolution, not evolution.
Only Watch, the biennial charity auction on behalf of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, has firmly established itself as a landmark event on the watch scene. This year’s sixth renewal of the event, serving as the kickoff for the autumn Geneva watch auction week, saw Patek Philippe donating the landmark piece for the event, a blue-dialed, steel-cased Reference 5016A-010, which hammered for more than $7 million.
Halloween, a word contracted from “All Hallow’s Eve,” is a predominately American celebration whose traditions come from late nineteenth-century Celtic origins. And now along comes a modern mechanical time-telling spider, the MB&F Arachnophobia – a realistic-looking arachnoid made of metal and other materials traditionally used in watchmaking. Look upon it if you dare!
The six pre-selected finalists in the Tourbillon category of the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève are: the Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon, Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision, MB&F HM6 Space Pirate, Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillons, and the Bovet 1822 Braveheart. Here are our picks and why.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Men’s category are: MB&F’s anniversary HMX, the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square, Kari Voutilainen’s beautifully finished Voutilainen GMR, the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone, and Piaget’s Altiplano 900P, currently the thinnest mechanical watch in the world.