Since 2013, Arnold & Son has had a stunning watch series called the Time Pyramid inspired by early pyramid-shaped clocks seen in English clockmaking. At Baselworld 2019 the Arnold & Son Time Pyramid got an awesome update with a new tourbillon and some other tweaks.
Despite all its scholarly technology, Elizabeth Doerr finds Antoine Preziuso’s Stella Polare Tourbillon Muonionalusta to be far more wearable for slimmer wrists than some of his other creations. Not only that, this watch is the culmination of the independent watchmaker’s journey to capture a shooting star.
Patented inventions are present in every aspect of human life. Electric lighting glows in our rooms due to patents held by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan; plastic is omnipresent thanks to patents registered by Leo Baekeland; and even ballpoint pens would not be on every desk if Laszlo Biro hadn’t patented them. Elizabeth Doerr takes a look at patents in the watch industry, including the most famous of all: Abraham-Louis Breguet’s patent for the tourbillon.
One of the best horological examples that Joshua Munchow has recently seen of uncompromising design is the Bovet Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One. Bovet often pushes the boundary in case and movement design, but Brainstorm Chapter One is a particularly good example of keeping the design intent throughout the development process. And the result is astounding!
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 why are we in a golden age for appreciating it right now? Ian Skellern explains.
Creating a proper, high-end mechanical ladies watch is something even the best of brands struggle with. Some simply take a men’s watch, make it a bit smaller, add some diamonds or mother-of-pearl, and call it a day. Others create what they think women would like (but are not quite sure). Here is what MB&F has done, and rest assured it is anything but ordinary!
When most people think of Seiko, they think of the mass-produced quartz watches that dominated the world’s markets in the 1980s and thereafter. What many don’t realize is that Seiko, one of only a handful of companies able to manufacture a watch from A to Z, makes the full range all the way up to full-on mechanical handmade horological delicacies with fine finishing and artful embellishment. And they don’t come more full on than the Seiko Credor Fugaku Tourbillon.
Vacheron Constantin’s FiftySix Tourbillon launch, which took place in London alongside the introduction of a new music campaign aimed at a younger generation, hit all the right notes for Elizabeth Doerr. Read on to discover why.
The Tourbillon Souverain Vertical now replaces the iconic Tourbillon Souverain in F.P. Journe’s standing collection, even though it is an entirely different take on tourbillon movement architecture, one that seeks to return to the days of Breguet with a vertically oriented tourbillon placed perpendicular to the movement.
The new Bovet Virtuoso IX combines a (double-face) flying tourbillon with two time zones, large date, an impressive power reserve of ten days, plus the brand’s patented Amadeo convertable case.