Hairsprings are miniscule. Generally no more than one centimeter in overall diameter when coiled, they are roughly 50 microns thick and 150 microns wide. Tiny they may be, but insignificant they are not. In fact, they are so significant that Rolex refers to them as “the guardians of time.” But what do silicon hairsprings bring to the table? Watchmaker Ashton Tracy explains why he went from skeptic to fan.
As read by you, here are the top 10 most viewed articles on Quill & Pad for 2017. There are likely to be a few surprises. Drum roll, please: in no particular order, our top ten most viewed articles of 2017 were . . .
In previous James Bond movies, 007’s Seikos were equipped with homing devices, explosives, ticker tapes, and even full-color displays to receive camera transmissions. The watches worn in ‘A View To A Kill’ had none of that. In fact, you need to be very fast with your remote control to pause the movie at just the right time to even see the watches Roger Moore wears as the world’s most famous fictional spy.
The second edition of the Eve’s Watch Awards, which was created by women, judged by women, and exclusively focuses on women’s watches, was held in 2017 at the exclusive Morton’s Club in Mayfair, London. Discover the full list of winners of the prestigious award here!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several months, you are well aware that on October 26, 2017 Phillips conducted an auction in New York City at which the Paul Newman Rolex Daytona owned by Mr. Newman himself was sold for more than $17.5 million, a record price for a wristwatch of any kind. I was fortunate to attend the auction and its attendant events: there was much more to see and some lessons to take away, about both the current state of the vintage market and bidding at auction.
Today I want to talk about steel: the metal that made the world! Watch cases and other movement components are commonly made from certain stainless steels, 304 and 316L being the most common. It also happens that some brands hold exclusive rights to use specific alloys in the production of its watches. Here’s what you should know about steel.
‘A Man and His Watch’ by Matt Hranek is full of interesting horological stories of personal histories and backgrounds to well-known figures in the watch world, semi-famous New Yorkers, and famous vintage watches. Here you can meet Paul Newman’s own Rolex Daytona, Sylvester Stallone’s favorite watch, and RedBar co-founder Adam Craniotes’ very first timepiece.
The last time I wrote here on Quill & Pad about my relationship with the world’s greatest mass luxury brand was last year when I explained ‘Why I’ve Never Owned a Rolex – And Why I Might Yet.’ Well, to know me is to know that if I say I “might yet” buy something it’s likely only a matter of time. So, too, with this Rolex: the GMT Master II BLNR “Batman” with black-and-blue bezel.
Trends rule a larger part of our lives than many of us wish to admit. Sometimes we follow trends consciously, but often we are subconsciously influenced in the choices we make. All brands perform a delicate tightrope walk, but they differ in how successful they are. Let’s take a look at how trends affect or don’t affect now-iconic timepieces.
Once in a while on the collector forums, a question is posed: is there anyone in the collector community who has never, ever, owned a Rolex? As a general rule, respondents to these queries tend to express disbelief that such a creature could possibly exist given the quality and ubiquity of the brand’s watches. Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that such people do exist, and that I’m one of them. How could it be?