Some think that a rapidly soaring price is proof of a watch bubble. They could be right. Or not. Financial bubbles are tough to identify when they’re forming. They’re even more difficult to declare finished as prices collapse. Financial expert Chris Malburg shares a few tips about recognizing and navigating a watch bubble, especially if you feel the need to buy during it.
Alexandre Ghotbi takes a rather in-depth look at the more than 100-year history behind the high-precision Vacheron Constantin Chronomètre Royal . . . which came up because of a conversation about “the Batman.” Find out what that means right here.
Watch enthusiasts traveling into Switzerland, Germany, Japan, China, and the United States are targets of opportunity for border customs police. Here Chris Malburg shows how to avoid paying more in duties and taxes than necessary and the embarrassment of being suspected of smuggling legitimately purchased watches.
Since the Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 is descended from a steel sports watch, and was an early inspiration for the Overseas collection, it might seem that launching the first new model in 37 years would lean heavily on the “sports” aspect of the watch. But design and aesthetic are clearly the motivating factor for Vacheron Constantin deciding to lead with a yellow gold edition, explains Joshua Munchow, one of many fans.
While his friends’ paths into serious collecting have been fairly diverse, GaryG started with Jaeger-LeCoultre, which opened his eyes to the world of fine watchmaking and served as the foundation for his ongoing fascination with horology. Take a look at Gary’s history collecting fascinating timepieces by this revered Swiss brand.
Vacheron Constantin enters into a partnership with the most famous museum in the world: the Louvre. The Métiers d’Art Tribute to Great Civilizations is a limited edition set of four pieces decorated with rare crafts and paying tribute to four great works of ancient art found in the museum.
Does anyone really care how many jewels their watch has? Watchmaker Ashton Tracy thinks that you’d be surprised how many people do as they’ve been duped by a vintage practice of announcing the amount of movement jewels on watch dials. What is the real story here?
Many of you are likely to be asking yourselves, “Who is Gerd-Rüdiger Lang?” Understandable. If we told you he founded Chronoswiss in 1983, you might then say, “Ah, yes.” But did you know that Lang, who sold Chronoswiss in 2012, owns a collection of chronographs that might well be the most complete themed collection of this type in the world? Elizabeth Doerr takes us through just a few of the treasures in Lang’s collection.
GaryG had the good fortune to photograph two sensational unique timepieces from independent German watchmaker Christian Klings.
In GaryG’s view, every successful independent watchmaker has elements of a “house style” that may attract some buyers and put off others, but nonetheless set them apart. And, at the highest level, this style goes beyond “branding” to become an expression of the personality and artistic vision of the creator. Beat Haldimann and his small team distinguish themselves by focusing on technical virtuosity of the highest order as typified by the Haldimann H1 Flying Central Tourbillon.