Wouldn’t it be splendid to have everything your heart desired? Well, it’s a nice fantasy but it’s not going to happen to any of us, including GaryG. And, besides, he is not so sure that the experience of “selling to buy” isn’t actually a significant part, albeit a bittersweet one, of the collecting experience.
The Opus 5 by Felix Baumgartner/Urwerk for Harry Winston is one of the best of this series of exceptional timepieces. But, as this drawing by Urwerk designer Martin Frei from June of 2003 shows, one of the original ideas behind Urwerk’s Opus 5 was a digital display in a model christened with the working title “Time Bandit.” Check out this superb almost-was timepiece!
What qualifies a watch to be “made in Glashütte” or “made in Germany”? Sabine Zwettler explains exactly that right here.
“I have no secrets as past watchmakers had. There are graveyards full of secrets and that’s enough.” – Philippe Dufour, 2014
The balance wheel, the critical regulatory organ of a mechanical watch, is expected to deliver a consistent frequency with a tolerance of as little as 0.001 percent. With so much at stake, why complicate things by altering a pure and simple geometric shape? Why reinvent the wheel? Well, here are five balances that definitely did reinvent the wheel.
The 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève’s Jewellery category is for watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of the art of jewelry and gem-setting, “also distinguished by the choice of stones.” It’s difficult to judge these pieces by photos alone, but our panel does its best and ends up with a majority favorite.
This month Bell & Ross turns its aviation watch “DNA” toward the urban man. Chris Malburg spent a week with the new BR 05 with gray dial in stainless steel and has a lot to say about this everyday city-dweller’s timepiece.
As SIHH rebrands to become Watches & Wonders Geneva, it becomes apparent that the trade fairs are morphing into something new and perhaps unexpected. Elizabeth Doerr takes a look at the latest from SIHH and Baselworld.
Since January of 2016, secondary market prices of stainless steel Patek Philippe Nautilus models have surged in a fashion rarely seen. This phenomenon – and it is that – is exceptional for reasons including the relative age of the models involved, the magnitude of the surge, and the speed with which it has struck. Here Tim Mosso takes a closer look at the current secondary market insanity of the Nautilus.
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2019’s rules state that this category is for watches only “linked” to the world of diving, but rightly or wrongly our panel is looking for serious diver’s watches. These are watches you are most likely to see on wrists, though perhaps not underwater. And the panel is seriously split. What do you think?