469 articles · 39 videos found · page 14 of 17
Quill & Pad
Santa came early for Ian this year with this fun casual dinner that Watches TV founder Marc André Deschoux hosted for young independent watchmakers. It was one of the most pleasurable short clips he's seen all year: you feel you are at the table with them and can smell the raclette.
Revolution
Since its founding in 2018, NORQAIN’s profile has been on a meteoric upward trajectory. Under the leadership of CEO Ben Küffer, their youthful drive to write their own history in the annals of sports watches drew industry legend Jean-Claude Biver to come onboard as an advisor. Together, they have created their vision of the ultimate […]
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: When the Norqain Wild One launched at the end of September in Zermatt, we went in-depth on the collection, the new NORTEQ carbon composite material, and spoke with Norqain CEO Ben Küffer and Jean-Claude Biver, an adviser to the board. Below you can find our brand new hands-on video review of the entire collection and our … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The Norqain Wild One collection ushers in the next era of the brand appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Wei speaks to both CEO Nicholas Rudaz and Head of Design, Jean-Loup Glénat about the third piece for Grail Watch 2: Franck Muller’s ingenious double-sided split-seconds chronograph. We are immensely proud to have partnered with Franck Muller to revive these iconic chronographs to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the brand!
SJX Watches
The fall auction season is almost upon us with the first instalment happening in Geneva before Hong Kong at the end of the month. All the auctioneers have varied, interesting catalogues, including the watch collection of former Ferrari manager Jean Todt that’s being sold at Christie’s. Phillips, on the other hand, is doing without the celebrity element at The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI, but has put together a catalogue that offers a diverse selection of watches with both establishment and independent brands well represented. The reverse of the Daniels Spring Case Amongst the highlights from mainstream marques are two vintage Patek Philippe watches with black dials: a third-series ref. 2499 with a fresh (and recent) dial and a ref. 2551 with diamond indices. And the independents line-up includes a recent Dufour Simplicity (the first post-“200” example to be sold publicly) and of course several watches from F.P. Journe. But the biggest lot in terms of value for the independents is the George Daniels “Spring Case” wristwatch, which we already covered in-depth back in 2018. The auction takes place over the weekend of November 5 (for lots 1-114) and November 6 (lots 115-232). The full catalogue and registration for bidding are available online. Lot 20 – Patek Philippe ref. 2499 third series with black dial An interesting and appealing watch in itself, this 2499 also poses an interesting questions in terms of originality and period correctness. This is a third-se...
Quill & Pad
The Watches TV has a popular series called “Walkthrough” in which Marc André Deschoux and his camera team film as they walk around an artisan’s workshop. In this episode, Deschoux and team visit the downtown Geneva atelier of independent sensation Akrivia with founder Rexhep Rexhepi.
Revolution
At the recent launch of Norqain’s new flagship collection, the Wild One, Eléonor sat down with CEO Ben Küffer and industry living legend, Jean-Claude Biver to talk about their recent partnership and the direction of the brand in the foreseeable future.
SJX Watches
Just three months after it announced Jean-Claude Biver joining its board, Norqain has unveiled its first product conceived in conjunction with the industry veteran best known for having created Hublot as we know it today, the Wild One. The Wild One is a lightweight sports watch with a case of a carbon composite known as Norteq and a laser-cut, patterned dial. It’s the culmination of a two-year project involving Norqain, synthetic rubber specialist Biwi, and more recently Mr Biver, who “[challenged] the team to innovate; to create a lightweight and shock-resistant timepiece that reflects the brand’s active DNA”. Initial thoughts Often found in expensive and exotic sports watches – although not an expensive material in itself – carbon composite cases are uncommon at the US$5,000 price point, thought they are becoming more common. Alongside models from Oris and Bell & Ross, this is amongst the few offerings in this price segment. And the Wild One has all the features of a bona fide sports watch, including water resistance of 200 m and of course a robust Kenissi movement. That said, the Wild One will also have the downside that is intrinsic to carbon composite – it is essentially a type of plastic and looks the part, resulting in a look that you either like or not. Notably, the liberal use of modern synthetic materials like carbon composite and rubber certainly evokes other products Mr Biver had a hand in creating. And so do the aesthetics; the patterned di...
SJX Watches
A young brand that’s managed to pull together impressive knowhow across the supply chain – most notably by turning to Kenissi for its movements and recruiting Jean-Claude Biver – Norqain is all about affordable, sporty watches. Most of Norqain’s offerings stick to a similar formula, but of its more interesting watches is the newly-launched Independence 22 Skeleton. Sellita-powered and open-worked, the model was originally released as a 100-piece run with a DLC-coated case and bracelet. The limited edition sold briskly, which explains the new, regular-production version in steel with a tone-on-tone look that’s arguably better looking than its all-black predecessor. Initial thoughts Skeletonised watches that are affordable – meaning a retail price of US$5,000 or less – often look the part. Such watches are usually plain and occasionally cheap looking, purely as a consequence of price constraints. But the Independence 22 Skeleton manages to avoid that and it looks good as the sum of its parts. The Independence skeleton gets a lot right. To start with, the case measures 42 mm wide and 11.8 mm tall – it’s a big watch but the width-to-height ratio is well balanced; a smaller case would have made it seem disproportionately thick. The movement has been intricately open worked and most of the brass wheels have been rhodium-plated for a consistent, monochromatic appearance that illustrate the attention to detail in its design. Combined with the raised chapter ...
Quill & Pad
Check out The Watches TV founder Marc-André Deschoux as he explains how the personal watch of Ressence's founder, Benoît Mintiens, works in this video. Mintiens wears the Type 2 e-crown and lent it to our pal Marc-André for several weeks.
Quill & Pad
Nineteenth-century French horologist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, a man now famous as the father of modern magic, inspired Cartier to begin dabbling in mystery clocks in 1912. And the famous brand has never stopped as an exhibition showing 19 historical mystery clocks so richly illustrated.
Quill & Pad
Produced at BMW’s Bavarian plants, The 8 x Jeff Koons’s multilayer paint job requires more than 250 hours of painstaking hand-application by a team of 20 – the most time BMW has spent on the exterior paintwork of any automobile. Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle sat down with the famed artist to talk about this colorful collaboration.
SJX Watches
Although Jaeger-LeCoultre has launched about a dozen new wristwatch models to date in 2022, the standout new timepieces from the Le Sentier manufacture are a pair of clocks that share the same aesthetic. One is the very expensive Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590, and the other is the far more affordable Atmos Infinite. Most Atmos clocks are defined by their boxy exterior and classical dial, with the notable exceptions being those designed by collaborations like Apple designer Marc Newson and Hermes. Reminiscent of Mr Newson’s Atmos designs, the Infinite features a clean, monochromatic movement in a seamless glass cylinder, instantly setting it apart from the rest of the Atmos lineup. Initial thoughts Sitting alongside the Patek Philippe Dome Clock as an iconic timepiece in the clock category, the Atmos is one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s best products in concept and execution. It’s powered by a simple yet ingenious mechanism that’s so effective it remains unchanged after almost a century. And it is offered in a surprisingly wide range of designs, many of which are affordable, with the entry-level model starting at just over US$7,000. The Atmos Transparente, a more typical example of the clock with its four-sided glass box But most Atmos designs feel dated, being more or less unchanged since the 1950s. The exceptions were the limited editions by the likes of Mr Newson and Hermes, which were all much more expensive. The most recent Atmos Newson, for instance, retails for...
Time+Tide
EDITOR’S NOTE: Marc Hayek, CEO of Blancpain, Breguet and Jaquet Droz, said it best. “Platinum is among the noblest and most precious of metals,” he told The Financial Times. “It has extraordinary properties that make it extremely resistant, but also difficult to process and finish. Creating platinum watch cases requires special savoir-faire. It results in beautiful white/grey-coloured models that do not tarnish. Hence, platinum is … ContinuedThe post EDITOR’S PICK: Five platinum watches to put on your wish-list appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The iconic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, one of the most emblematic timepieces of all time, endlessly renews itself in countless embodiments, even 90 years after its birth. Here Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle reports on the 'Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931' exhibition in Paris, which just opened and will run through December 24, 2021.
Deployant
We take a comprehensive first look at the new Louis Moiner Space Revolution. A watch which is currently a candidate at the category of “Tourbillon” at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) 2021. Based on one to one discussions with Jean-Marie Schaller, owner and creative director of Louis Moinet, using press release photographs. FirstRead More
Quill & Pad
In this video, The Watches TV’s Marc André Deschoux goes through Bovet’s latest watches from Geneva Watch Days 2021. These include the beautiful new turquoise collection featuring the 19Thirty, Récital 23, Récital 27 triple time zone, Monsieur Bovet, and the Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two Reimagined in pink gold.
Hodinkee
A wide-ranging conversation with Jean-Christophe Babin.
Time+Tide
I’m going to put it out there and say there is no more charismatic person in today’s watch world than Fears managing director Nicholas Bowman-Scargill. In an industry littered with formidable personalities – hi Jean-Claude Biver, Patrick Prunnaux and Georges Kern – there is something refreshing about he of the double-barrelled name, and that is … ContinuedThe post “A big chunk of the industry is somewhat screwed.” An interview with Fears MD, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The Watches TV founder Marc André Deschoux shares his thoughts on celebrity watch brand ambassadors, starting with Tudor and David Beckham, which he personally felt was counterproductive: so much so that the announcement pushed him to not make a Tudor purchase he was leaning toward.
Quill & Pad
Our friends at The Watches TV visited Laurent Jolliet, the last “chain maker” in business in Switzerland according to Marc André Deschoux. As Jolliet crafts his bracelets and chains fully by hand, Deschoux and crew were able to find out in detail how Milanese bracelets are made, an art form no longer formally taught, and they share the secrets with us here.
Quill & Pad
Can a serious watch manufacture get away with producing such a “gimmicky” timepiece as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Black Panther? Serious and gimmicky are not mutually exclusive, but they were posed as two different questions in the same breath by Marc André Deschoux of The Watches TV in a special video taking a look at the first timepiece to emerge from the collaborative energy between Audemars Piguet and Marvel Studios. What's your opinion?
SJX Watches
Established in 1948, Yema was once a French watchmaking giant, having equipped the French Air Force and the first French astronaut, Jean-Loup Chrétien. It entered a long decline in the aftermath of the Quartz Crisis, but was revived under its current French owners who took over in 2009. Now Yema is once again making tool watches for professionals in a tie up with the French Navy, or Marine Nationale. A collection of dive watches “jointly designed with French Navy personnel for marine professionals”, the Navygraf X Marine Nationale is led by a time-only, automatic dive watch, as well as a variant with a GMT function. It also includes a less expensive quartz model and a ladies version, though they will not be covered here. The Navygraf Marine Nationale Automatic (left), and GMT Initial thoughts Along with fellow French brand Baltic, Yema is one of my favourite brands at the US$1,000 price point. Its watches are well designed and executed for the price, often offering strong value. Given Yema’s historical relationship with the French military – the brand supplied watches to French air force helicopter pilots in the 1970s – Yema has legitimacy in military watches, and its collaboration with the navy makes sense. The white and blue combination – a nautical palette modelled on the emblem of the French Navy – is familiar but stands out on the wrist, being immediately reminiscent of the oceans. The maritime theme of the symmetrical and legible dial is reinforc...
Revolution
Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, walks us through Bvlgari’s 7th world records: the 5.8mm thin, Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2021.
Quill & Pad
The original DB28 has recently lost its place for Martin Green as the ideal watch for the wrist of Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. It’s now been replaced by another De Bethune: the out-of-this-world DB28XP Meteorite.
Time+Tide
Rapper Bobby Shmurda wasted no time after being released from a six-year prison stint to make sure that his wrist game was back on point. What did he first put on? An iced-out Rolex Sky-Dweller, of course. Bobby Shmurda, born Ackquille Jean Pollard, was jailed more than half a decade ago with several other members … ContinuedThe post Rapper Bobby Shmurda is released from jail and celebrates by getting a Rolex Sky-Dweller appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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.
SJX Watches
Few tourists find themselves in Geneva’s historic Saint Gervais district, the city’s revolutionary hotbed where Jean-Jacques Rousseau spent his boyhood in the early 18th century, and from where James Fazy overthrew Geneva’s ruling oligarchy in the revolt of 1846. Throughout those times, Saint Gervais was above all the city’s horological powerhouse, a warren of sweatshops known as the Fabrique Genevoise, turning out the myriad parts and decorating the watches that made Geneva synonymous with luxury craftsmanship. The workshops were presided over by those emblematic figures of Geneva watchmaking, the radical, opinionated yet urbane cabinotiers. “A Parisian watchmaker,” remarked Rousseau, “can only talk about watches. But you can take a Geneva watchmaker anywhere.”[1] With the revival of luxury watchmaking in the late 20th century, the Fabrique was re-born in the less picturesque ZIPLO (Zone Industriel de Plan-les-Ouates) on the outskirts of town, and the sweatshops are now known as manufactures. Yet there’s still one watchmaker left in the remnants of old Saint Gervais, upholding the cabinotier tradition in this historic centre of Geneva watchmaking. Bruno Pesenti, the last watchmaker in Geneva’s historical watchmaking district, wears the smock and eyeshade of the cabinotiers who made watches here 200 years ago Forgotten brands Bruno Pesenti is one of the few watchmakers who can still fix anything pre-quartz. He welcomes you with modest pride and old-fash...
Quill & Pad
Our friends at The Watches TV had a chance to see the Hermès watches for 2020 – and they (and we) were in luck to also hear from La Montre Hermès CEO Laurent Dordet. Host Marc André Deschoux goes through the new Hermès pieces one by one, beginning with the 2020 L’Heure de la Lune, the first version of which launched in 2019, which he thinks is "A super-hot watch.” Things go seriously wacky from there.
Time+Tide
We recently reported on Jean-Claude Biver’s view of the pandemic, after he sat down on a Zoom call with our European Editor Mike. The larger piece of work there was this extraordinary historical document, celebrating a wild 24 years with Hublot. But this digression, where Biver assesses the damage done to the industry by COVID-19 … ContinuedThe post Biver looks to 2021 and says that “most brands will have a V-shaped recovery” to the pandemic appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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