Results for Watch Dial Text Conventions

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond: Piaget Sets New Record With The Altiplano Gem-Set Skeleton Watch

Piaget’s justly famed for both its ultra-thin movements and for its extremely high level of gem-setting mastery (handled, unusually in an industry that out-sources a great deal of its sertissage to third party contractors, in-house) and this year, they showed a dazzling combination of both.  Feast your eyes, brief mortals, on the Piaget Altiplano Gem Set Skeleton […]

Horology 301: Defining The Modern Tourbillon

In the immortal words of Harry Callahan, I know what you’re thinkin’ - but before you sniff, say to yourself, “For God’s sake, man, I know what a tourbillon is, don’t insult my intelligence,” and turn the page, lend me your ear, I prithee - I’m going somewhere with this. Most discussions of the tourbillon […]

The Lange Arkade: a watch fit for a Queen

The Lange Arkade is an underated watch. The movement is beautiful…magnificent even. The case unique, the outsized date was an outrage when it was first introduced in 1994. In many sense, this is an outstanding watch…with one small print…it is a ladies timepiece. The ladies watch market, sadly, is dominated with quartz watches, which featureRead More

Lange Arkade

A quick place marker for next week’s post. Possibly the most beautifully made mechanical ladies watch in production…the Lange Arkade. This specimen is in yellow gold case, champagne dial. Personal timepiece of my wife’s. Photographed simply in a restaurant, while we were having lunch, perched on a plate. One of the original watches introduced byRead More

Hidden Treasures Of Horology: Value for money timepieces

Hidden in plain sight” might be more appropriate. It’s news to no one who loves fine watchmaking that, thanks to many factors, the prices of mechanical watches have been steadily climbing over the last few years, with - apparently - no end in sight. That’s made things a little tougher for die-hard horological enthusiasts who […]

Riding The Sea Change

The Rise Of Patek Philippine’s Nautilus The year of the Nautilus was 1976. Out in the wider world, the space race had recently culminated in the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission that saw a US Apollo craft dock with the Soviet Soyuz 19 in space - an extended act of diplomacy. The Cold War was at the uneasy stage of hiatus known […]

The Philosophy Of Awesome

I am trying to learn how to Dougie. For those of you who are not as sentiently tapped into the zeitgeist of rap culture, this is a dance that involves you moving from side to side whilst rolling your shoulders, ironically enough, kind of like Axl Rose. This is important for me because I like […]

Smart Money Hot City, Cool Watches

It’s an old story: boy meets dive watch, boy gets dive watch, boy gets a lot of snarky flak from people who ask him why he wears a dive watch when the deepest body of water he ever gets into comes in a porcelain tub, with spigots marked “Hot” and “Cold”. Oh, ye of little […]

Marc Hayek

A. Lange & Sohne pocket watch

A. Lange & Sohne has been producing beautiful watches since 1845, with a 40+ year gap, when Glashutte was under GDR rule, where no luxury timepieces were manufactured. As many know, the company was revived in 1990, and started production in 1994. But sometimes, the old pieces are still as beautiful, and here is aRead More

Watchmaker portraits: Stephen Forsey and Robert Greubel

A series of portraits I took, with the intention to create a set for an exhibition. Master watchmakers are the soul of the industry, I wanted to capture some of that powerful character which makes them enigmatic to the watch collecting public. These are great genii who know how to work with their hands. Today,Read More

Gronefeld One Hertz, the brothers and another watch

The Gronefeld brothers in Holland are one of the secrets of high end horology. Independents, they were both trained in the stables of Renaud et Papi. And have been making their own watches, as well as contracting for others from their little workshop in The Netherlands. I had the opportunity to meet them several timesRead More

Store Visit: Malmaison by The Hour Glass

Store Visit: Malmaison by The Hour Glass: Emporium Extronaire The Malmaison by The Hour Glass is not quite new…in fact, it opened its doors just after SIH 2011…almost a year ago. But the store continues to amaze me. This is a veritable temple of luxury, conceived and created by Hour Glass’s intrepid Executive Director MichaelRead More

Independence The Art of Horology…a visit to the store in Hong Kong.

Independent Watchmaking Salon in Hong Kong March of the Independents It is no secret that I am an ardent admirer of independent watchmakers. I was one of the first to invest in Philippe Dufour, by purchasing and writing about him. As early as 1999, I wrote an early article which appeared in The Business TimesRead More

De Bethune: DB28, not just a pretty face.

The De Bethune DB28…amazingly beautiful watch. The design is quite unique…the case is in the design language established by De Bethune. The watch shown is rose gold. The lugs, which are mobile and able to pivot to follow the shape of the wrists and its movements is a contrasting hue of flame treated blued titanium.Read More

Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’Art - Chagall & L’Opera de Paris

Incredible! That’s what I can describe it. Incroyable! The Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’Art – Chagall & L’Opera de Paris piece is an exceptional work of art. I am quite speechless when I examined the work, done in enamel by Anita Porcet, an independent enamelist. I normally am not too excited about enamel paintings on aRead More

Debethune 2011 Novelties

Debethune always have interesting things to show at the periphery of SIHH. Housed once again in one of the function rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Geneva, David Zaneta and his genius partner Denis Flageolet have come up with yet another amazing crop of products. As usual I had the pleasure of beingRead More