Watch safes can be as expensive as the treasures they protect. What’s available? How will they look in your home or office? How much actual protection do they afford? And just how expensive are the world’s top watch safes? Chris Malburg takes a deep dive into the world of high-tech safes.
The ‘Superbia Humanitatis’ Louis-Elysée Piguet/Franck Muller/Paul Gerber super complication is one of the most legendary watches of our time. And what a story! And here it is in its entirety: from 1892 when Piguet made the movement through 1992 when Franck Muller altered it, all the way through the present day when Paul Gerber altered it three more times to make it the most complicated wristwatch in the world.
The ambitious task of Qualité Fleurier, which was the first qualitative horological certification for finished watches, is to unite several tests within one single certification. Elizabeth Doerr explains how and why that’s done.
Joshua Munchow overlooked something that was right in front him: the Parmigiani Toric Capitole. A fantastic timepiece by an interesting brand, until the latest edition with its exposed mechanics on the front of the watch, he had missed seeing this because of the modest display belying what was hidden within. Now it’s in plain view!
Contemplating the 30-meter-high ancient pyramid at Mayan archaeological site Chichén Itzá in the blazing Yucatán sunlight, Elizabeth Doerr was awestruck by the structure’s complexity. Not just because of the pure historical ramifications of the pyramid and temple known as El Castillo, but also because of its timekeeping capabilities. Yes, you read that right: timekeeping capabilities!
Patented inventions are present in every aspect of human life. Electric lighting glows in our rooms due to patents held by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan; plastic is omnipresent thanks to patents registered by Leo Baekeland; and even ballpoint pens would not be on every desk if Laszlo Biro hadn’t patented them. Elizabeth Doerr takes a look at patents in the watch industry, including the most famous of all: Abraham-Louis Breguet’s patent for the tourbillon.
If you’re just beginning to collect the works of independent watchmakers, GaryG suggests that you give careful consideration to watches from Habring2, the small independent Austrian watchmaking company founded and headed by Maria Kristina and Richard Habring.
There is design, and then there is Porsche Design. The former is general, the latter is a distinct design language all by itself. As the name suggests, the 1919 Globetimer UTC is a world time watch – a type of watch with which Porsche Design has had significant experience, starting with the world time watch with alarm function it created in the 1990s with IWC. Martin Green thinks this latest model is the best to date.
Elizabeth Doerr highlights George Daniels’ first Space Traveller, which is one of the most famous pieces of the late Erivan Haub’s tremendous collection, which is slated to hit the auction block as Sotheby’s Masterworks of Time. It is bound to be the highlight of the first of the four auction segments kicking off in London in July 2019.
When Rolex put the Sky-Dweller Caliber 9001 in a Rolesor case in 2017 (“Rolesor” is a Rolex term for two-tone stainless steel and gold) and dropped the price down to $14,400 Chris Malburg became a player. And, as he soon discovered, so were a goodly number of other Rolex admirers. Here is the story of why he bought this watch and what happened then.