Quill & Pad
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon “IWC Racing” edition piques Joshua Munchow's interest thanks to its connection between time, flight, and mechanics. This latest iteration of the Big Pilot’s Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon is new for 2021 and provides an extremely attractive proposition for the historically minded pilot’s watch fan. Here Joshua explains why.
Quill & Pad
GaryG ordered a Hasselblad X1D. He had never shot with a medium-format camera before, and the resolving power, color rendering, and ability to seemingly wrap light around a subject completely blew him away. So when Hasselblad announced that it would be offering a 120 mm macro lens for the X1D, he was among the very first to sign up. But did it make a difference in his watch photography?
Quill & Pad
The idea of Last Drop is to source rare and first-class spirits, usually with considerable age. Some of these products – and in the company's decade of operations, there have only been 13 releases – are extremely limited and seriously expensive. But is it worth it? Ken Gargett reverently sips a dram and shares the results with us here.
Quill & Pad
Watch advertisements have always fascinated John Keil. If an ad is clever, funny, or invokes a special feeling within him, he is much more likely to make a purchase. Here he demonstrates a few ads that work for him and hopefully for you too.
Quill & Pad
For those of you who are regular readers of GaryG's “Behind the Lens” series, it’s no secret that he and his watch pals are big fans of independent watchmaking. Here Gary points his lens up close to a rare McGonigle Tuscar One Of Ten.
Quill & Pad
Can a watch by Cartier really be underwhelming? Martin Green thinks so in the case of the new Cartier Tank Cintrée 100th anniversary limited edition. A stunning watch certainly, but so close to the 1921 original that he finds it just a bit too predictable. But that's not all that niggles him.
Quill & Pad
At the end of 2020, Elizabeth Doerr posted a typical end-of-the-year 'In Memoriam' story honoring the departed. A reader left a comment on that story that Daniel Nebel, the independent autodidact maker behind Nord Zeitmaschine, had also passed away in 2020. Having found confirmation, here is her small tribute to an imaginative independent technician.
Quill & Pad
The phenomenal young tennis player Naomi Osaka is a risk taker, ultra-talented player, and all-around nice person, a shining beacon of hopeful light inspiring athletic joy and re-inspiring tennis audiences. And as Elizabeth Doerr reports, Osaka is now a new TAG Heuer ambassador.
Quill & Pad
Ken Gargett remembers it as though it was yesterday: the aroma from this small glass was the most alluring, enticing, extraordinary thing he had ever smelled in his life. Indeed, the nose of a great Muscat is for him one of the three great aromas one can find in the world of wine (the other two being a first-class, mature champagne and a great Burgundy). In this story, he introduces us to the beautifully fragrant world of Australia's Rutherglen Muscats.
Quill & Pad
The cover of the Hermès Arceau Pocket Aaaaargh! pocket watch is like looking through a keyhole in a door opening into a 'Jurassic Park' movie. The ferocious dinosaur on the cover of this artful, limited edition pocket watch is fairly lifelike, both in the way it is portrayed and because it is made of leather. And the watch features a flying tourbillon and minute repeater!
Quill & Pad
All the delicious details of this mechanical birthday cake of horology base upon the concept of acoustic resonance: Vianney Halter's Deep Space Resonance comprises a triple-axis tourbillon paired with resonating balance wheels and a far-out look. Joshua Munchow digs into the nitty-gritty of this brand-new timepiece by the independent watchmaker and reports back from somewhere in the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
Quill & Pad
It’s still all about the people! Nothing makes GaryG happier than getting together and talking watches. At the F.P. Journe New York Boutique anniversary dinner late 2019, he had the pleasure of chatting with entrepreneur, television personality, and enthusiast watch collector Kevin O’Leary. In this post, he comes back to him with specific questions . . . and gets the answers!
Quill & Pad
A blend of rare single malts – the youngest of which was filled in December 1967 – The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1967 is non-chill filtered at cask strength. It offers drinkers a rich and fruity nose with notes of apricot jam, sweet ripe peaches, and a touch of toasted almonds. And it costs $25,000 per bottle. Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle explains why.
Quill & Pad
GaryG has long wanted to meet and learn from independent horologist David Walter. He had the opportunity to spend some time with him in his California workshop, soaking in a tiny fraction of his deep knowledge of clockmaking and encountering DeeDee’s Tourbillon, an ultra-interesting unique piece clock.
Quill & Pad
After celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Gérald Genta's eponymous company founded in 1969, Bulgari embarks on reinstating the niche brand within its own ranks, kicking off with a captivating, revamped version of the Gérald Genta Arena Bi-Retro Sport. Find out the fascinating history behind this formerly independent brand and the series of events leading to this decision right here.
Quill & Pad
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Fagliano combines the best with the best from 90 years' worth of Reverso variations, offering a pure, classic style that makes this watch both a statement and an understatement, the two faces doubling the impact. And as Martin Green explains, it's just a teaser of what's to come is 2021 as Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates the 90th anniversary of the iconic model.
Quill & Pad
Whether 'Stalin’s Wine Cellar' is a journey about chasing fakes, or if these bottles hidden away in the former Soviet Union are genuine, the story makes for a rollicking saga. And if the bottles are genuine, who really did own them and what on earth might they be worth? The tale takes us on twist after twist and has been described as “Raiders of the Lost Ark for wine lovers.” Ken Gargett couldn't put the book down.
Quill & Pad
Celebrating an anniversary like 90 years is a must when you’re a wristwatch as old and as evergreen as the Reverso. In honor of the long and successful career of the horological icon, let’s take a brief look back over the last nine decades of this truly authentic timepiece, an Art Deco original in the world of watches.
Quill & Pad
The RM 65-01 is the latest in a proud line of rugged, structurally advanced chronographs from Richard Mille. In basic terms, it is an automatic, split-seconds chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour totalizers that displays the date and includes a function selector, rapid winding mechanism, and variable geometry winding rotor. But as Joshua Munchow reveals, there's much more to it than that.
Quill & Pad
Urwerk and MB&F; are two stalwarts of contemporary watchmaking with, superficially at least, much in common. Here Ian Skellern shares what he thinks are the significant similarities and differences between these two leaders in modern independent watchmaking.
Quill & Pad
As well as being a superb bourbon, one of the great advantages of the Master's Keep premium releases from Wild Turkey is that they are not prohibitively priced (these bourbons are in the vicinity of $150 per bottle), nor are they so limited that you’ll only ever read about them and never see a bottle. These are great bourbons intended for drinking, and Ken Gargett gives us the lowdown.
Quill & Pad
Nestled in among the mountainous green forest overlooking the valley’s larger towns of Fleurier and Môtiers is one of the area’s historical attractions: a stone castle whose earliest sections were built in the early fourteenth century. Since its purchase in 2006, the Château de Môtiers has been fully renovated by Bovet owner Pascal Raffy and now serves as the brand's headquarters and assembly workshop.
Quill & Pad
At the end of 2020, 'The New York Times' published a story entitled “74 of Our Favorite Facts for 2020,” which contained 74 of the most interesting, striking, or delightful facts that the editors found in articles published by the newspaper last year. Elizabeth Doerr was inspired and now shares 42 interesting facts from Quill & Pad stories in 2020. Enjoy!
Quill & Pad
Breguet writing instruments round out the Swiss brand's elegant offerings with a style and grace similar to its timepieces, with many of the pens unabashedly borrowing stylistic attributes from the watch iconography. These writing instruments nestle into three collections: Tradition, Classique, and Reine de Naples, all in parallel with the watch collections of the same names. And they are a win in Nancy Olson's book!
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Should champagne lovers from around the globe be asked to name the greatest wines and producers, there would be a unique name that I believe would be on every list: Champagne Salon is one of a kind because this house produces only a single wine, the vintage Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs. Including the first vintage from the 1905 harvest, Salon has released less than 40 wines over the course of its history.
Quill & Pad
Sabine Zwettler highlights four sensational watches launched in 2020 that in some way commemorate Glashütte’s 175th Anniversary. These are all limited special editions that she will keep in her heart as personal highlights from the year that turned the world upside down.
Quill & Pad
For GaryG the wonderful Antiqua by Vianney Halter is a long-term keeper. He fell for the Antiqua when he first saw one more than a dozen years ago; while many of his friends will freely confess that at the time they were at first put off by its looks, Gary was smitten from the start. But that's not all that he loves about this watch. Find out here why he bought it!
Quill & Pad
GaryG meanders through some observations on the state of the industry, 2020 occurrences, and his own year in watches, including the watches he bought in 2020 and the watches he'd like to buy. And there are also his favorite photos from this year’s shooting interspersed to keep it lively. Enjoy!
Quill & Pad
Silicon, long in use as a material in the electronics industry, has many advantages for mechanical watchmaking: it is 60 percent harder and 70 percent lighter than steel; non-magnetic; resistant to corrosion and shock; and generally needs no lubrication. These qualities motivated Patek Philippe to declare in 2005 that, “Silicon is the fabric of the future” and to found its Advanced Research department. Meet all five limited edition Advanced Research pieces released thus far right here.
Quill & Pad
American clockmaker Rick Hale's new Wind & Water has a lot of nerdy mechanical and horological tidbits to geek out over, not to mention some fun woodworking details that add another level like a timber grasshopper escapement (with wooden pallets, naturally). But it's the fluid design and immersible craftsmanship that is bound to take your the breath away.
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