A watch for me isn’t just a portable three-dimensional sculpture or piece of kinetic art, it is first − if not foremost − an instrument for telling the time. Like you, I’ve excitedly followed the animated discourse and heated debate after the results of the 2015 Chronometry Competition were announced. Oh, you missed that? Me too.
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 Chronograph category are: Louis Moinet Memoris, Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph Vasco da Gama, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher, Longines Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph, Piaget Altiplano Chrono, and the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 18 Chronograph.
International timing competitions used to be the Formula 1 of watchmaking, and the watchmakers who prepared the high-precision (pocket) watches were treated like Formula 1 drivers. And that shouldn’t be surprising because until recently, the primary raison d’être of a timepiece was to tell the time. To tell THE time, not the approximate time. An error of 30 seconds day isn’t much . . . until you miss your train by 10 seconds.
The new Louis Moinet Memoris places emphasis on the chronograph function rather than the time-telling displays. CEO and creative director Jean-Marie Schaller has an interesting viewpoint: not to see the chronograph as a complication here, but rather as the primary function: he says it is a “watch chronograph” rather than a “watch.”
The Louis Moinet compteur de tierces is one of the most remarkable finds in horological history in an extremely long time: it was the very first chronograph ever made, though no one knew this until recently. Get the details here!
This month’s horological news features new launches that include the Jazz Minute Repeater by Ulysse Nardin, hand-painted Persian horses from La Montre Hermès, F.P. Journe’s titanium Octa Sport, the new, commemorative Speedmaster Apollo 11 from Omega, the chilly Iceberg by HYT, a new ambassador for Richard Mille and much, much more.
While Baselworld 2014 was not a particularly big year for tourbillons, they were still an important element in the collections of most brands and a few of them were truly exceptional. Here are just a few of the tourbillons that passed in front of my lens at Baselworld 2014.
Welcome to the inaugural Quill & Pad Baselworld “awards,” in which we highlight a few of the watches and goings-on that caught our eyes at the world’s largest watch exhibition. Here’s what caught our eyes at Baselworld 2014 in no particular order.
Richard Mille announces another new sporting ambassador following quickly on the heels of skier Alexis Pinturault, who won bronze at the Sochi Olympics in giant slalom. The luxury sporting brand now welcomes Romanin Grosjean to the fold. This announcement coincides with the first Formula 1 testing sessions of the E22 Lotus, which makes sense since Grosjean is a Lotus driver and Richard Mille also sponsors the entire Lotus team.