I had never imagined I could be jealous of myself until after I stepped out of the Corsa yellow Lamborghini Huracan that I had just pushed beyond my experience of everyday physics during an exhilarating five laps at the historic Sebring Motor Speedway. The time behind the wheel of the Huracan changed me forever and I immediately burned to be the guy that had been in the car, not the guy now walking away from it.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Calendar category are: Blancpain’s Villeret Quantième Complet, the Claude Meylan Full Calendar, Hermès’ soon-to-be-iconic Slim d’Hermès QP, Hublot’s Classic Fusion Aeromoon, the Tiffany & Co CT60 Annual Calendar, and Ulysse Nardin’s FreakLab.
For Quill & Pad’s themed “Ladies’ Week” in my role as resident collector, my thoughts turned immediately to that other collector in my life: my charming wife. MrsG is perhaps most enthusiastic about her collection of Southwestern Native American arts and jewelry, but let’s get started with a look at her interesting watches, which include excellent examples from Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Alain Silberstein, Audemars Piguet, and more.
Talking to Eric Singer about watches is like cramming four months’ worth of casual shop talk into one hour: Singer is really, really into watches. One of rock’s hardest working drummers, he has played with acts like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Lita Ford, and Gary Moore as well as Kiss. In addition to a love of music, Singer inherited a love of timepieces from his father; his extensive collection illustrates his passion for the subject.
The most significant difference between the tourbillon and the karussel is that Bonniksen’s device is driven by the third wheel (the transmission wheel between the wheels driving the minutes and seconds) instead of the fourth wheel (which also drives the second hand) like Breguet’s revolving whirlwind. This fact makes the karussel much sturdier and less prone to shock than the traditional tourbillon. But that’s not all: what about a watch that combines both? Extraordinary!
This month’s horological news includes new releases from: Ulysse Nardin (Hannibal Minute Repeater); Jaquet Droz (Grande Seconde Deadbeat plus Sunstone); Romain Gauthier (HMS Ten); Jaeger-LeCoultre (Master Compressor Extreme LAB 2); Omega (Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M); Girard-Perregaux (1966); Blancpain (Villeret Big Date plus Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph); Arnold & Son (Dial Side True Beat DSTB Steel); Graham (Geo.Graham Tourbillon); Linde Werdelin (Oktopus Carbon Green); and Carl F. Bucherer (ScubaTec in red gold).
The Sports watch category has always been one of the most hotly contested prizes because these are the watches that many people actually wear. Our pre-selected contenders in the Sports category this year are: the Bell & Ross BR126 Vintage Sport Heritage GMT Flyback, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback, the Aerofusion Chronograph Pelé by Hublot, Tissot’s T-Touch Expert Solar, the Tudor Heritage Ranger, and the El Primero Lightweight by Zenith.
Joshua Munchow had the good fortune to accompany Blancpain to the final race of the 2014 Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo USA racing series at Road Atlanta. Follow him on his heart-pounding ride through the Super Trofeo Village, the Lamborghini race paddock and – naturally – on a hot lap around the track in a 2014 Aventador with one of the drivers as he test-drove L-Evolution-R Chronograph Flyback Rattrapante Grande Date in carbon fiber and red gold.
Honoring the oceans and Blancpain’s commitment to them, the brand now releases the limited-edition Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Chronograph Flyback. This is more than a dive watch; it is an attractive timepiece for everyday wear thanks to the fact that its 43.6 mm case is crafted in gray ceramic, though you would never guess it if you didn’t handle the watch. Its steely visuals are no match for the lighter weight of the timepiece.
Just look at the contenders in this heavyweight Tourbillon division: Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique, Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon, Montblanc Villeret ExoTourbillon Rattrapante, TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulum Tourbillon, and the Blancpain Villeret 12-Day One-Minute Flying Tourbillon. Our panel just managed to reach a majority decision, but it was a close race.