One of the best things about Dubai Watch Week are the presentations, debates, and talks in the Horology Forum. These cover a very wide range of topic and are usually 45-minutes long with time for audience questions at the end. Here are five that Ian Skellern particularly enjoyed that will hopefully both entertain and educate, as well as give you an idea of the types of diverse topics covered.
‘Fifty Fathoms: The History as Told by the Pioneers Who Created It’ is a fast-moving, 30-minute documentary recounting the development of the world’s first diver’s watch told by the people who created it. Even non-divers are quite likely to enjoy this video.
I estimate I’ve seen – and have personally moderated 10 Dubai Watch Week Horological Forums talks – around 80 of these ‘events’, and many have been very, very, good: either. But at the 2023 fair I saw one that just blew me away (and I’m a jaded old industry veteran). Don’t miss this!
Describing ‘Making Time’ as “the greatest watch film ever made” is a pretty bold claim, especially as it’s a film about people rather than watches. But you can judge if Ian Skellern’s headline is hyperbolic for yourself.
The Superbia Humanitatis Louis-Elysée Piguet/Franck Muller/Paul Gerber super complication is one of the most legendary watches of our time. And what a story! And here it is in its entirety: from 1892 when Piguet made the movement through 1992 when Franck Muller altered it, all the way through the present day when Paul Gerber modified it three more times to make it the most complicated wristwatch in the world.
The short documentary film ‘Time Piece’ features two of the world’s best living watchmakers, Philippe Dufour and Vianney Halter, and provides excellent insight into what makes the watches by these masters so special.
The Watches TV founder Marc-André Deschoux explains how the personal Type 2 E-Crown of Ressence’s founder, Benoît Mintiens, works in this video.
Joshua Munchow kicks off the first short videos highlighting GPHG Academy members. Joshua is Quill & Pad’s resident ‘nerd writer’ and in this short video clip he explains what he does and being in the GPHG Academy.
Under CEO Guido Terreni, Parmigiani Fleurier is on a roll. After many years of enthusiasts pondering the question, “With all that they have going for them, why hasn’t PF achieved breakthrough success?” GaryG explains how they did it.
The Antikythera mechanism is an Ancient Greek orrery over 2,000 years old. It is the oldest known example of an analog computer and was used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. Spencer Connor is an engineer who decided to make a modernized reproduction of the Antikythera mechanism. In this video, he explains just how special the intricate clockwork was for its day, and just how complex it is to track the obits of our moon and the planets around the sun.