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It’s understood that different things and experiences can be sensual for different people, and yet sensuality can’t ever be wholly objective since everyone has his or her own subjective view due to their own physiological differences. Joshua Munchow's first view of the Bell & Ross Vintage WWI Heure Sautante hit him in what can only be described as a sensual way.
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In 2006 GaryG spotted two objects of desire at a California dealer: Vianney Halter's dramatic Antiqua and Contemporaine timepieces. They were out of his reach, but in 2007 he found a Contemporaine in white gold offered at a price that was about one-third its original retail value on eBay. What could possibly go wrong?
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This is a family affair: a story of Ian's wife Brigitte, her horse Gucci, his father Neil, and an engraved Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique. And this is a good example of how and why you might want to commission a work of art on the back of a Reverso.
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As the resident Quill & Pad watch spotter, Nick Gould spends hours on random searches looking for interesting horological finds. Most of the time he finds nothing, but occasionally he discovers nuggets of gold. Here are four of his favorite wrist spots for 2020.
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The Linde Werdelin Octopus Blue Sea, a collaboration between Danish boutique brand Linde Werdelin and Sweden-based James “Black Badger” Thompson, pushes lume to the limit. When the lights are out it’s high time for this watch to light up! Find out how right here.
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Sometimes you just want to be festive without being “too much,” right? Well, Elizabeth Doerr has got just the six watches for your wearing pleasure this holiday season – all of which would look great and proportionate on every wrist regardless of gender. And all of which do not go overboard on the sparkle, yet do not fall short in radiant elegance.
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It was literally raining down fire all around Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle. The high winds had caused the still-burning firework tubes to drift and come tumbling down onto the heads of a group of journalists she joined rather than into the nearby Charente River as anticipated on one stormy, blustery fall day in Cognac, France. But Hennessy's “The Birth of Tragedy” performance art display by artist Cai Guo-Qiang still went ahead with a bang. A lot of colorful big bangs!
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With the Égérie collection, Vacheron Constantin created a very tempting assortment of watches appealing to contemporary women. While the design of the Égérie is rooted in tradition, these watches always come with a little twist. In the case of the new Égérie Self-Winding, quite literally as the crown is at two o'clock with the date of this self-winding model occupying the same corner of the dial. While also available in steel, Martin Green thinks that the pink gold version on a gold bracelet is an especially precious proposition.
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Phillips' year-end auction, Racing Pulse, took place on Saturday, December 12, 2020 in New York. Here Elizabeth Doerr highlights five epic timepieces from Richard Mille and Panerai owned and worn by Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, sometimes in famous films, and shares the (astronomical) prices some of these watches reached at the auction.
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The Phillips Racing Pulse auction showcased something of a timeline of Panerai history, including the legendary Luminor Slytech Daylight owned by Sylvester Stallone, as well as Paul Newman's own Rolex Daytona and Steve McQueen's own Heuer Monaco from the filming of 'Le Mans.' Elizabeth Doerr shares 12 of the extremely entertaining highlights here and the prices that the watches sold for.
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The Urwerk UR-220 is an evolution of the popular UR-210, featuring the now-iconic Urwerk satellite display for the hours and minutes. And it's one more tangential celebration of Einstein’s theory. “The Falcon Project” is the nickname for the first variation of the UR-220, which sees the return of some legacy details from other models and the addition of some small changes to the function and aesthetic of the watch overall. Joshua Munchow takes a closer look.
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At Baselworld 2018 young boutique brand Akrivia launched its Chronomètre Contemporain, the very first timepiece in the Rexhep Rexhepi Collection. To say that Joshua Munchow is impressed is an understatement, but there is more to it: this watch could represent a new, diverged direction for the independent watchmaker.
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Both Joe Biden and John F. Kennedy share an obvious love of Omega watches. But there are more similarities between these two presidents than their Omega watches. And there is one more cool thing you may not have known about one of Joe Biden's daily wearers: it was a Bond watch.
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A two-and-a-half-minute trailer was recently released for the forthcoming documentary 'Keeper of Time.' The film primarily follows four independent watchmakers: Maximilian Büsser (MB&F;), François-Paul Journe (F.P. Journe), Philippe Dufour, and Roger Smith. It also features interviews by scholars in physics, physiology, and philosophy as well as primarily New York City-based watch industry observers, weaving related topics about time into its fabric.
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This is the story of the final watch – or, truthfully, pair of watches – that GaryG happened upon at a Sotheby’s auction in late 2017 and felt that he just had to have: two 1970s prototype pieces made by Jaeger-LeCoultre. But why "unsalable"?
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The hashtag #fliegerfriday is dedicated to the genre of flieger, or pilot’s, watches posted on social media on Fridays. Tutima, which has a long history in pilot's watches, asked Bhanu Chopra for some advice on developing a special-edition #fliegerfriday chronograph and together they came up with the Tutima Flieger Friday Chronograph Limited Edition. Here is its compelling story.
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Any time is an appropriate time to gift a watch lover with a book containing well-written words and beautiful photos of watches. At Quill & Pad we love reading books as much as we love writing them (on occasion). Here Elizabeth Doerr shares a selection of inspiring books we have reviewed, suitable for gifting or reading at any time of year. But especially this time of year!
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Here Ken Gargett takes a look at a couple of the very best rosés made anywhere on the planet. Both are from Provence, more specifically Ott is from Côtes de Provence and Pibarnon from Bandol. Did you know that rosé makes for more than half of Provence’s wine production?
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Bell & Ross is no stranger to chronographs and the brand's emblematic timers have significantly contributed to its popularity. With the new BR V3-94 Black Steel, Bell & Ross adds a new chronograph to its Vintage collection, which means that it is more classically inclined than its siblings in other collections. Martin Green takes a closer, honest look.
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The Astronomic Souveraine with minute repeater at its core is an astronomical grand complication, and like most F.P. Journe pieces it is incredibly well suited to any wrist and supremely easy to use because all the functions are set and adjusted by the crown. But is that the only reason Joshua Munchow loves it?
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The Phillips Racing Pulse auction showcases something of a timeline of Panerai history, including the legendary Luminor Slytech Daylight owned by Sylvester Stallone, as well as Paul Newman's Rolex Daytona and Steve McQueen's own Heuer Monaco from the filming of 'Le Mans.' And that is not even all! Elizabeth Doerr shares 12 of the extremely entertaining highlights here.
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In the 1968 film 'The Thomas Crown Affair,' Steve McQueen played the title character, a millionaire businessman and avid sportsman involved in a cat-and-mouse game with an insurance claims investigator played by Faye Dunaway. McQueen chose two of his personal watches to wear in the film: an elegant Cartier Tank Cintrée and a Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox. But when Nick Gould looked further into this, he discovered that contrary to popular opinion McQueen also surprisingly owned a Tank.
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Like many, GaryG is a sucker for blue-dialed watches. But he thinks that the Moser Funky Blue Streamliner Flyback Chronograph has a lot more going for it than just its eye-catching dial. Check out his comments and photos and decide for yourself.
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The RM 72-01 is a first for Richard Mille – a relaxed, playful flyback chronograph that, while as interesting and eye-catching as its siblings, is quite a different mechanical beast from the others thanks to its in-house chronograph movement with a variety of new elements and even a world-first in watchmaking.
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Over the course of 175 years in Glashütte, Germany, some of the noblest elements of fine watchmaking were invented, including the flying tourbillon, the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment, and the three-quarter plate, setting these Germanic masterpieces apart from the venerable art of Swiss watchmaking. Here Sabine Zwettler explains 12 magnificent decorative and technical elements of the Glashütte art of fine watchmaking.
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Champagne Jacquesson transformed itself from an also-ran to pioneering single-vineyard and terroir-based champagne house. Out went the traditional non-vintage, vintage, and prestige champagnes and in came one blend – “the best we can make each year” – and four single-vineyard wines. And Ken Gargett is now a big fan.
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Seiko has always made it a point to deliver bang for your buck. And in recent years, the brand has been realigning its different collections with the aim of offering collectors exciting products in every price category. For the Presage, this means that there are now two tiers to the collection: Prestige and Basic. Martin Green takes us through a number of the latest models for 2020.
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To commemorate Stephen Hawking, English watch company Bremont created a set of limited-edition watches honoring the late theoretical physicist: the Bremont Hawking and Hawking Quantum models. As the brand’s tenth limited edition, the Hawking watches pay homage to some of the greatest accomplishments of an Englishman in the last century. And like that titan of cosmology, there is more than meets the eye here.
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The upcoming year-end Phillips auction, Racing Pulse, takes place on Saturday, December 12, 2020 in New York. Here Elizabeth Doerr highlights five epic timepieces from Richard Mille and Panerai owned and worn by Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, sometimes in famous films, and at least one of which has reached icon status.
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The Montblanc 2020 High Artistry Heritage Egyptomania Limited Edition writing instruments use the treasures and traditions of Egypt as inspiration, and in a new twist each pen is encased in an octagonal “sarcophagus.” A special mechanism opens and closes the bejeweled receptacle, which is as functional as it is decorative and most unusual in the world of luxury pens.
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