Not every autumn day is full of intense Indian summer hues. Gray, windy, unpleasant weather provides the perfect occasion to go on a horological trip . . . to Germany. Here are three timepieces of German provenance by Nomos Glashütte, Wempe, and Sattler to help stave off any autumn anxiety.
The balance wheel is the regulatory organ of a mechanical watch, which 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? Here Ryan Schmidt presents five balances that reinvented the wheel.
What a diverse selection we have in the Petite Aiguille category. Ian Skellern thinks that if you bought all six pre-selected watches you would have an excellent collection of 2018 contemporary watchmaking. This is a very competitive price range, and at this level customers have serious expectations of both quality and delight. We pick our winners here; which one is your favorite?
Welcome to the 2018 edition of Quill & Pad’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. Here we take on the Chronometry category for watches entered as: “mechanical watches that contain at least one tourbillon and/or a special escapement and/or another development improving precision timekeeping. Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.”
Phillips Watch Auction: EIGHT takes place November 10-11, 2018 in Geneva, and there are no less than eight rare watches by independent watchmakers that are well worth looking into. These include F.P. Journe, Kari Voutilainen, Vianney Halter, Mr. Daniel Roth, Richard Daners, Laurent Ferrier, and De Bethune.
Svend Andersen and Konstantin Chaykin are a couple of watchmakers that don’t tend to follow the norms; two men that in some ways couldn’t be more different, but in other ways are like two peas in a pod. The pair recently collaborated on a watch bringing the most irreverent side of each watchmaker together with the Automaton Joker. It certainly brought a smile to Joshua’s face and will likely do the same for you.
GaryG was sitting at his breakfast table on the morning of January 18, 2013, when during his morning scan of news he saw a photo of something breathtaking. It was Logical One by Romain Gauthier – a watch he immediately knew that he would own someday. He was captivated by the white gold version with frosted gold movement: this was “the one” for him.
GaryG was delighted to take possession of an Invention Piece 1 with its inclined double tourbillon, while a good friend of his replied in kind with a purchase of the quadruple-tourbillon Invention Piece 2. Ever since, he has been dying to get these two gorgeous monsters side by side in the light tent. And the time has finally come!
Imagine my surprise when, in one of my rare predictions about the future of 3D printing in watchmaking, I got one right: the Panerai Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanium says it all. It is (as far as I know) the first production watch to utilize 3D direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) printing for the case construction. The case is made of titanium for extra lightness, but that’s not the only, or even the main, reason for using DMLS titanium.
The GPHG Challenge category is for watches retailing under 4,000 Swiss francs (approximately $4,000) and that makes not only for a very competitive category, it’s also an entry for many to the world of fine watchmaking. Check out which watches our panel thought stood out this year.