If you know Peter Speake-Marin, then you know why he is so popular with collectors: as a creator, he goes the extra mile to conceive something absolutely stunning and unique. He has also made one of the most breathtaking timepieces I had the pleasure to see at Baselworld 2015: the spectacular Kennin-ji Temple Masters Project, which was realized with the help of two engravers and a leather maker.
Phillips’ inaugural watch auctions were held on May 9 and May 10, 2015. A relative newcomer to the world of highly collectible timepieces, its partnership with the highly experienced Bacs & Russo team has led to an amazing array of watches on offer. However, I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I was asked to preview a selection of the stunning timepieces featuring in The Geneva Watch Auction: One. What I found took my breath away.
If you are a regular user of social media in the watch world, then you are likely to have crossed paths with some of Simon Cudd’s work over the last few years. I certainly have, and his artistic images never fail to capture my attention. Simon is a visually creative guy who, by his own admission, usually chooses to express his passion for things horological through images rather than the written word. We welcome him to Quill & Pad as our newest contributor.
The Ultra-Thin Grande Complication Chronograph is part of the new Harmony line that Vacheron Constantin launched at the 2015 SIHH in Geneva in honor of its 260th anniversary. As the crown jewel of the collection, the Grande Complication Chronograph shows some serious style, mad mechanics, and a feature that brings back oh-so-many memories of standing in fear while friends have a blast at the carnival. And that has made this a new favorite for me.
Auction house Sotheby’s will stage an auction in New York on June 11, 2015 featuring items from a private collection of musical automata within its sale of important watches. The auction pieces, mainly made for export to royalty throughout Europe, Turkey, India, and China, are headed up by a singing bird scent flask made by Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1785.
Richard Mille introduced the RM 60-01 Regatta Flyback Chronograph during an annual event held on the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Barth: the exciting young regatta called Voiles de St. Barth. The 60-01 was conceived and designed for open-sea racing with a unique titanium rotating bezel containing an integral compass and a special crown/pusher locking system.
While we see Polaris as the North Star for now, our descendents 20 generations down the road from now will not. This is due to an astronomical process called precession. There is something that mimics precession that you can wear on your wrist and pass on to those descendents: the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Sphérotourbillon Moon, the most recent addition to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s already stacked Duomètre collection.
Michael Kobold and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes created the Kathmandu Fire Truck Expedition, which will see a group of adventurers drive several fire engines from Kolkata (Calcutta) to Kathmandu. But before they could set out on this harrowing expedition planned for December 2015, Kathmandu was devastated by an unimaginable earthquake on April 25, 2015. Find out about the Fire Truck Expedition and how you can help Kobold and his admirable team help Kathmandu.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Michael Kobold first went to Kathmandu together in 2008, the latter having spontaneously decided to accompany his ambassador on a Mount Everest summit bid. They did not make it to the summit, but Kobold came back in 2009 and 2010 to successfully complete his bids despite life-endangering complications, becoming the first German national to summit Everest twice along the way. What then transpired is innovative and thankful.
For those of you who are regular readers of my “Behind the Lens” series, it’s no secret that my watch pals and I are big fans of independent watchmaking.
Here at Quill & Pad we’re also fans of the independents, prominently including Irish watchmaking brothers John and Stephen McGonigle.
Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph an example of the Tuscar One in Ten owned by a good friend. Let’s take a look at some of the results.