Tag Archive for: Philippe Dufour

Naissance d’Une Montre, Le Garde Temps at SIHH 2016

A Hero’s Journey Begins And Ends: Naissance d’Une Montre, Le Garde Temps

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After arduous and exhausting trials of skill and wit over many years of one’s life, sometimes the best path is the one with new challenges and goals. This is especially true if you are a watchmaker tasked with learning and disseminating all of the extremely difficult skills of traditional watchmaking. This is the true story of Michel Boulanger and the conclusion of his first epic adventure and the beginning of the next one. This is the end of the story of Naissance d’une Montre, Le Garde Temps. Or is it?

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The author’s Philippe Dufour Simplicity in white gold

Behind The Lens: The Philippe Dufour Simplicity

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As regular readers know, the idea of the Behind the Lens series is to present great watches as seen from a variety of visual perspectives. Mostly, I feature watches on loan from my generous friends, but this time let’s look at a piece that I am very fortunate to have in my own collection: the legendary Simplicity by Philippe Dufour in a 37 mm white gold case with white lacquer dial.

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Philippe Dufour, Naissance d’une Montre

Photo Caption Competition No. 7: Philippe Dufour’s Exuberant Fan

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Firstly, thanks to those that submitted entries to last week’s caption competition and to Martin for his winning entry, “First wife to say ok gets to buy it!” This week’s photo features Philippe Dufour at the Naissance d’une Montre stand at SIHH 2016 along with an exuberant fan. Click to join in the fun!

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Passion embodied – the Deep Space Tourbillon by Vianney Halter

The Top 10 Most Popular Posts Of 2015 On Quill & Pad

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It’s pretty interesting to us to find out what you like to read most, and we hope that it’s interesting for you to read, too – particularly at the end of the old year. For this reason, we bring you the top ten most-clicked posts of 2015 on Quill & Pad. Without further ado, here they are in no particular order.

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Exquisite tourbillon details of the Jean Daniel Nicolas Two-Minute Tourbillon by Mr. Daniel Roth. You can just make out the gold second hand on the left of tourbillon cage pointing to 60 and the blued-steel hand on the right pointing to 0.

Why We Are In A Golden Age For Appreciating Superlative Hand-Finishing In Wristwatches

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Ian Skellern deliberately wrote the headline as “Why We Are In A Golden Age For Appreciating Superlative Hand-Finishing . . . ” because the fact is that if many people do not appreciate superlative hand-finishing, then fewer will pay for superlative hand-finishing, so there is likely to be less superlative hand-finishing on offer. So what does any of this mean for the future of superlatively hand-finished timepieces?

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Le Garde Temps, Naissance d’une Montre (unfinished prototype)

Le Garde Temps Project With Greubel Forsey And Philippe Dufour: Where It’s At And Where To Next

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The Le Garde Temps, Naissance d’une Montre project separates true lovers of watchmaking from the chaff: there is no big brand name on the dial, celebrity ambassadors, or expensive marketing campaign. It is pure watchmaking for it’s own sake to perpetuate traditional crafts and skills. There is, right now, in this universe, a watch that features the names Greubel Forsey and Philippe Dufour on its dial.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre Reversos on the wrist at the 2014 ovarian cancer awareness event

Wristshots: The Story So Far

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If you like watches at all, you have certainly seen wristshots, and perhaps you have even posted a few of your own. Like the selfie, wristshots seem to be ubiquitous these days. But where did wristshots come from, why do they exist, and what are the pitfalls to look out for?

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Hands, hand-made: the Voutilainen Observatoire

Does Hand Finishing Matter? A Collector’s View Of Movement Decoration

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Many of you are likely to have come across at least a few heated discussions of “finishing,” a topic that seems to fascinate, and divide, watch enthusiasts. Like many people, my starting point for serious watches was with a well-priced brand long known for its expertise in developing movements, justly viewed as offering good value for money – but not necessarily for the refinement of its movement finishing, at least on its less expensive pieces. What have I learned since then?

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Philippe Dufour (left) and Henry-John Belmont

Philippe Dufour And Henry-John Belmont Win FHH Homage To ‘Passion’ And ‘Talent’ Awards

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This young award is just barely three years old, but indeed it has already managed to reward some of the greatest personalities in the world of watches for their “passion” and “talent” – which are undeniably the most essential ingredients for the finest watchmaking. A jury from the Cultural Council of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) honored two exceptional personalities in 2014: Philippe Dufour for his “talent” and Henry-John Belmont for his “passion.”

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Philippe Dufour from the film "Timepiece"

‘Time Piece’: If You Only Watch One Film On Independent Watchmaking, Watch This One

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The short documentary film “Time Piece” features two of the world’s best living watchmakers, Philippe Dufour and Vianney Halter and provides insight into what makes the watches by these masters so special.

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