One of the last of the so-called Radium Girls passed away at the age of 107 in late 2014. These were women working in factories tasked with painting the numerals and other markings on watch dials with a luminous paint comprising glue, water, and radium powder. Little did they know the consequences this job would have.
Jaquet Droz’s dials are some of the most beautiful in the world of watches due to their timeless simplicity. To me, it makes perfect sense to translate this beautiful, minimistically inclined design to other lifestyle objects, in this case a high-quality writing instrument and matching cufflinks. As I don’t wear French cuff shirts, I opted to give the pen a try for a few weeks and test out Jaquet Droz’s first foray into this area.
The collector community has christened vintage Rolex models with a great many nicknames. One of these is the “rail” dial. While the exact origins of the word “rail” are not clear, this name is used for Rolex dials on which the letter C within the two lines stating “superlative chronometer” and “officially certified” line up as straight as train tracks. Have a look at an Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller, a watch water-resistant to a depth of 610 meters (2,000 feet), with a “rare” rail dial.
The La Joux-Perret-based team behind Arnold & Son has relaunched revered Swiss brand Angelus and presents the very contemporary U10 Tourbillon Lumière, which pays respect to Angelus’ period travel clocks in the shape of its case and to 1960s-1970s design with its funky dial.
Bovet is one of the quiet achievers in Swiss watchmaking. Here are a just few timepieces from the Bovet collection that caught my eye at the brand’s January exhibition in Geneva: Amadeo Fleurier Miss Audrey, Amadeo Fleurier Virtuoso Tourbillon V, Amadeo Fleurier Braveheart Tourbillon, Récital 12 Monsieur Dimier, and Récital 15. The names are as poetic as the watches!
There are few brands, boutique brands, or even well-known watchmakers hailing from Scandinavia. However, during Baselworld, two of them launching new timepieces: GoS (Gustafsson and Sjögren) and Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva.
If you like watches at all, you have certainly seen wristshots, and perhaps you have even posted a few of your own. Like the selfie, wristshots seem to be ubiquitous these days. But where did wristshots come from, why do they exist, and what are the pitfalls to look out for?
In the world of passing fads and trends, many enter but few succeed. One trend that has been moving across the watch industry for a while is skull-related timepieces. And for me, the most on point and understandable skull watch can be none other than the HYT Skull. It stands out as a perfect synthesis of what the brand is about, what the brand’s customer will enjoy, and what is cool about skulls on watches in the first place.
The latest instance of Maurice Lacroix’s independent idea of movement architecture comes with Caliber ML 230, which is highly visible inside the high domed crystal of the Masterpiece Gravity, a watch introduced at Baselworld 2014. I was fortunate in having the opportunity to wear this timepiece for a while. Please read on to see what I thought.
First presented in 2009, HM3 went on to become not only MB&F’s most successful model in terms of pieces delivered, it is also the most successful in terms of the number of variations it has spawned, including the appropriately named Frog. However, all good things must come to an end, and the curtain comes down on HM3 collection with HM3 Megawind Final Edition, a watch bringing (lume) light into the darkness.