The La Montre Hermès’ factory has something that no other watch brand can boast: its own in-house strap production. The leather strap workshop was added to the purpose-built factory resembling the headquarters in Paris in October 2009. And though it is located in a “factory,” the strap-making process can hardly be called industrial; I would describe this craft needing a great deal of artistic grace as artisanal.
A straight-talking watchmaker and engineer, since 1998 Andreas Strehler has been creating mesmerizing timepieces for his eponymous brand as well as complications and movements for a number of other brands. The cool Papillon, which gets its French name for butterfly from the shape of the very unusual bridge located on the dial side of the movement, is my favorite Strehler timepiece.
I loved Nomos Glashütte for what it stood for: creating manufacture movements and selling watches with little pretense and a whole lot of charm. But Nomos Glashütte didn’t have that standout piece that made me say, “Yup, that’s the one I would definitely buy.” Then the Zürich Weltzeit arrived.
During the launch of the bombastic Reference 57260 on September 17, 2015, Vacheron Constantin launched a second rhapsodic item: the truly encyclopedic oeuvre ‘Artists Of Time.’ This beautifully photographed 456-page tome takes an extensive look at both the inner workings of Vacheron Constantin’s craftsmanship and its grandiose history, telling the whole story of the only Swiss watchmaker to have been in continuous operation for 260 years.
It’s no secret: I’m an immense admirer of Philippe Dufour. Part of greatness, of course, is leaving a legacy; not only through one’s works, but in the skills and inspiration passed on to those who follow, which Dufour has liberally done. But who, if anyone, will history regard as the lineal heir to the Dufour tradition? I’ve reached what may seem a counterintuitive conclusion: Romain Gauthier.
The pounding of the drum backbeat and tick-tick-ticking of the mechanical watch form the background of my life, day in and day out. But what do these two fields concretely have in common?
Right at this moment in time they have two seemingly disparate Swiss made references welding them together: Paiste cymbals and Corum. Add Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice to the mix, and the whole thing looks, and sounds, amazing!
As has become apparent over the past few years, getting your watch serviced, especially with any group-owned brands, can be a major thing. It can take many months, and even up to a year. The reason, of course, is that there are only so many qualified watchmakers to service these watches, and brands are overrun with a gargantuan backlog of service requests.
But that’s only one of the reasons to consider becoming a backyard watchmaker.
The Isle of Man’s Roger Smith has long had an appreciation for triple calendar wristwatches, finding harmonious balance and purity in the triple calendar indications of day, date, and month. Having successfully redeveloped the George Daniels-invented co-axial escapement to be both smaller and more efficient, the time was right to introduce a new model: The Series 4 triple calendar.
I had never imagined I could be jealous of myself until after I stepped out of the Corsa yellow Lamborghini Huracan that I had just pushed beyond my experience of everyday physics during an exhilarating five laps at the historic Sebring Motor Speedway. The time behind the wheel of the Huracan changed me forever and I immediately burned to be the guy that had been in the car, not the guy now walking away from it.
Urban Jürgensen & Sønner has had quite an exciting twelve months: perhaps the most exciting of its 240-year history. In 2014 the brand’s Central Second took home the prize for Best Men’s Watch at the GPHG. Then we were astounded to already see the first results of new ownership: in just eleven weeks the new team managed to revamp the existing collection to present five “new” models at Baselworld 2015.