Making the nib of a fountain pen – the point of the instrument that directs the ink – does not differ much from working precious metals to be used as watch components, but it does entail a heck of a lot of work done by hand. The nib alone needs about 40 steps until completion; making a whole pen, including barrel, cap, feed and, of course the nib, takes about 200 individual steps.
Quill & Pad speaks with Guillaume de Seynes, member of the Hermès family and now managing director in charge of manufacturing and equity investments, to understand the brand’s corporate philosophies and history in watches a little better. De Seynes, previously in charge of the timepiece division, was the force behind supplier acquisitions such as the group’s stake in movement maker Vaucher.
While $450,000 (give or take a bit of change) isn’t a sum that even the richest among us is likely to scoff at, it’s quite possible that a more expensive belt buckle exists that I don’t know about. However, it’s very unlikely that any buckle exists that comes even close to the high levels of sophistication and engineering found in the Roland Iten R822 Predator. The diamonds really are just the icing on the cake.
Read about my recent purchase of the lovely Breguet Classique Chronométrie Reference 7727, which is not only the 2014 Aiguille d’Or winner of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, but also an excellent example of how classic can successfully meet high-tech and live to tell about it.
We now know that the Histoire de Tourbillon 5 isn’t a hypothetical creature lost to time and remembered in lore. But what makes it so amazing beside the fact that it may very well be the last of the Histoire de Tourbillon series? All in all, I think it may be the culmination of the Histoire series, and if it is to be the last, then it is good that it is by far the best.
The days getting shorter and the nights much cooler remind us that the holidays are fast approaching, so it’s the perfect time to have a close look at a watch that would look great under under any angel-topped, tinsel-covered tree: the Christophe Claret X-TREM-1 Chocolate.
I recall when I first found a Rolex Submariner 5512 with zinc sulfide on the dial. It led to a major discussion on an Internet forum about whether the dial had been re-lumed or not. Well, years later, we know a lot more; and one thing that is now certain is that the dial had not been re-lumed, but that it was an original zinc sulfide dial.
Boris Pjanic does not come from a family of retailers or jewelers, the watch collecting bug simply bit him at some point. “I carried this passion deep inside me for years before finally admitting to collecting rare vintage watches and even trading them among a very knowledgeable clientele out loud,” he confesses.
Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for your favorite WIS, collector, or watch lover? Look no further than the ultimate Omega Speedmaster reference book ‘Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide.’
The jump hour has a long history, but first things first, it can’t technically be called a complication since the accepted definition of complication is a mechanism that provides information other than the time. However, anyone who gives a hoot will say in the same breath that there are many complications that don’t fit that definition. And I couldn’t agree more.