Revolution
Trailblazers: German Independent Watchmakers
Marco Lang, Stefan Kudoke, Dirk Dornblüth and Jochen Benzinger are blazing a trail and earning the respect of their peers and admiration from watch collectors around the globe.
458 articles · 40 videos found · page 17 of 17
Revolution
Marco Lang, Stefan Kudoke, Dirk Dornblüth and Jochen Benzinger are blazing a trail and earning the respect of their peers and admiration from watch collectors around the globe.
Quill & Pad
In honor of Pride month, which begins on June 1, and commemorating watch stylist Jean-Claude Gueit’s now-famous design contribution to the world of jeweled watches, Elizabeth Doerr shares five examples of rainbow-set watch models that caught her eye in the last year or two.
Time+Tide
One mark of a great dress watch is to what extent it can be dressed up or down, and Cartier’s Tank design is surely one of the best examples. Although undoubtedly formal, there’s something about the clean rectangular motifs that work just as well contrasting with jeans and a t-shirt as it does with a … ContinuedThe post The new adventures of the Cartier Tank include a solar-powered watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Just as the new Octa Automatique is slated to join the catalogue, F.P. Journe is marking the 20th anniversary of the model with the Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary. The 99-piece limited edition harks back to the original Octa Réserve de Marche of 2001, then the brand’s entry-level watch. Like the 2001 original, the 20th anniversary edition has a grained, yellow gold dial with a silver sub-dial. And more notably, it is powered by the cal. 1300.3 – but with the bridges and main plate in rhodium-plated brass, just as it was on the original. One of the original Octa Reserve prototypes The prototype movement Initial thoughts The Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary is modestly novel, but will appeal strongly given how it revokes the first-generation model. Given the current outsized desirability of F.P. Journe’s early watches with brass movements, this will be a hot watch. Nips and tucks Though seemingly identical to the original model, the new Octa Automatique is subtly different in terms of design, and substantially different in movement construction. The displays have been rearranged and enlarged to suit the predominately larger case sizes offered by F.P. Journe today. While the original was 38 mm, the standard sizes are now 40 mm and 42 mm. As a result, the date display is slightly larger than before, while the hour numerals are also bigger. Because the date has grown in size, the power reserve display now sits marginally lower than where it used to be. A subtle detai...
SJX Watches
Postponed from its usual mid-May date to end-June, Phillips’ spring watch auction is Geneva is nonetheless the full works, with 214 lots on offer, including the four spectacular Patek Philippe watches from the collection of Jean-Claude Biver, including a ref. 1518 “pink on pink” and a second-series ref. 2499. Also amongst the offerings at the Geneva Watch Auction XI are two important examples of contemporary watchmaking – a pair of F.P. Journe souscription watches consigned by the original owner – Lorenz Bäumer. A jeweller whose workshop is on the storied Place Vendome in Paris, Mr Bäumer is perhaps best known for crafted the tiara worn by Charlene Wittstock when the former Olympic swimmer wed Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2011. But Mr Bäumer is also a watch aficionado who met François-Paul Journe via a mutual friend. Mr Journe had then decided to launch his own brand by taking inspiration from Abraham-Louis Breguet, who had offered clients the opportunity to purchase a newly-developed, fairly-affordable watch by first putting down a deposit – thus “subscribing” to the offer. The jeweller became a “subscriber” and paid the down payment for a Tourbillon Remontoir d’Egalite “Souscription”, subsequently receiving the watch numbered “14/20” on the dial. A year later, Mr Bäumer was approached once again to “subscribe” for the new Chronomètre à Resonance “Souscription”. He took up the offer, and again got the watch number “14”....
SJX Watches
A legendary figure in the watch industry of the 1990s and early 2000s, Luigi “Gino” Macaluso was the owner of Sowind Group, the holding company for Girard-Perregaux (GP) and Daniel Jean Richard. Having started as the Italian distributor for several watch brands, he acquired GP in 1989 and turned it into one of the watchmaking stars of the next two decades, particularly with its haute horlogerie offerings and Ferrari timepieces. But he was long a racing driver at heart, having won several trophies as a driver for the Fiat Abarth team in the 1970s, including the 1972 European Rally Championship. Even as successful entrepreneur Macaluso continued his involvement in motor racing, including as Italy’s representative to the FIA World Council starting in 2005. The Ferrari F40 of the Macaluso collection. Photo – Fondazione Gino Macaluso Macaluso channelled part of the fortune he made in watchmaking into building a car collection, with a focus on rally cars, including prize-winning examples of the Lancia 037, Lancia LC1, and Fiat X1/9. Now the collection has become Fondazione Gino Macaluso per l’Auto Storica (which translates as “Gino Macaluso Foundation for Historic Cars”), located near Macaluso’s hometown of Turin. Last year, Goodwood Road & Racing, the magazine affiliated with the classic car race of the same name, was taken through the collection highlights by Gino’s son, Stefano Macaluso, who was once a designer at Girard-Perregaux. Like his father, Ste...
Time+Tide
It started with an invitation to join Watchonista’s ‘Home Time Live’, a new series on Instagram that takes followers into the homes of the industry’s leaders and luminaries for an intimate interview. Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling. Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari. Max Büsser of MB&F;. And now, a Happy Hour version of the usual … ContinuedThe post Andrew reveals five of his own watches in a Media Watch Death Match against Josh from Watchonista (and gets a slapping) appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Revolution profiles a series of outstanding perpetual calendars to mark February 29 that only comes around every four years.
Quill & Pad
Jan Lidmaňský thinks that his white shirt and jacket went just fine with the Carl Suchy Waltz N°1, but that it's not for universal use. Forget t-shirts and jeans and don’t even think about shorts and flip-flops. It suits the elegant look of a businessman – so suit up when you wear it! What else did he learn?
SJX Watches
As has become tradition, a good part of Phillips’ upcoming New York watch auction is a memorabilia sale of sorts, including watches owned by Marlon Brando, golfer Jack Nicklaus, and astronaut John Glenn, as well as the Urwerk worn by Robert Downey Jr. while playing Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame. The auction also includes a piece of historical horological memorabilia: an F.P. Journe Octa Réserve de Marche prototype. The prototype is largely identical to the later, serially produced version of the watch – the case is platinum and the dial, yellow gold – but is marked as a prototype on the case back, and also bears the various traits unique to early watches made by Francois-Paul Journe. The cal. 1300 Launched in 2002 and discontinued in 2014, the Octa Réserve de Marche was the brand’s first entry-level wristwatch, powered by an automatic movement, the cal. 1300. Originally conceived to have an eight-day power reserve – hence “Octa” – the movement instead has a power reserve of 120 hours, or about five days. Reputedly constructed with a gear train borrowed from a robust and well-known hand-wind movement plus an extra-large mainspring, the cal. 1300 was the base calibre for the entire Octa line. Although a variety of complications were added on top, ranging from the Octa Chronograph to the annual calendar of the Octa Calendrier, all versions of the movement had identical height of 5.7mm regardless of function. The slimness and smart construction did come at th...
SJX Watches
A simple yet unusual chiming complication, the hourstriker has been a fixture in the Ulysse Nardin line-up for almost three decades, starting with the San Marco Jacquemart developed by Christophe Claret. The hour striker complication has been paired with various automatons over the years, including tigers, horses, oil pumpjacks, and a copulating couple. Now Ulysse Nardin has stripped away the automaton, streamlined the design, and reworked the acoustics – with help from French speaker specialist Devialet – resulting in the Hourstriker Phantom. It’s the brand’s sleekest and most contemporary hour striker to date, and according to Ulysse Nardin, the loudest chiming wristwatch in the world. High-end audio help Founded in 2007 by a trio of Frenchmen, who named the company after 18th century French engineer Guillaume Vialet, Devialet is most famous for its white, egg-shaped Phantom Premier speaker that is compact, powerful and fairly expensive. Most notably, one of its founders, designers Emmanuel Nardin, is a member of the Nardin family that once owned Ulysse Nardin. The Devialet Gold Phantom Opéra de Paris speaker Devialet’s contribution to the Hourstriker Phantom was to boost its sound, accomplished in two ways. The first element being the attachment of the gongs to the movement. In an ordinary striking watch, the gongs are fixed with screws. On the other hand, the Hourstriker Phantom has its gongs secured by “torsion arms”, presumably small springs. A...
SJX Watches
The Phillips Perpetual boutique in London officially opens this week with 40 watches encompassing all important genres of watch collecting, from a Rolex Daytona “John Player Special” to a Patek Philippe Nautilus “Jumbo” ref. 3700 (from the collection of Jean-Claude Biver no less). But one of the flagship offerings is an important example of independent watchmaking – a Roger W. Smith Series 2 “Edition 2” that’s “No. 1”. It is very much a quintessential, early Roger W. Smith creation with the hallmark elements of his watchmaking. But the watch is also historically interesting, being an example of the road not taken for Mr Smith. The forgotten “Edition” This watch illuminates an intriguing bit of early Roger W. Smith history. Shortly after Mr Smith delivered the first batch of Series 2 watches in late 2007, he decided to create the “Edition” concept. According to Mr Smith, the idea was to produce Series 2 as a limited edition of 90 watches in total, with 30 watches in each colour of gold. All Edition watches had 38mm cases and solid silver dials; the Edition 1 was in yellow gold, Edition 2 in rose, and Edition 3 in white gold. At the same time, Mr Smith also offered custom versions of the Series 2, which were also available in a platinum case. But as it turned out, most clients wanted a custom watch, rather than an Edition example. So Mr Smith discreetly abandoned Edition not long after, and only a five of each Edition were made. This is on...
Deployant
New Lang & Heyne introduces an extension to the Georg, now with a galvanic black dial on silver. Available in rose gold and platinum. Numbered but not limited. Prices are the same prices, plat € 29,050 and in RG € 38,800 without tax. On the news side, Marco Lang is leaving the company. But technically,Read More
Revolution USA talks to Marco Simeoni, the Founder and President of Race for Water during the press conference about the Odyssey for Breguet/Race for Water.
Deployant
Today, we look at the Lang and Heyne Johann. This is one of Marco Lang’s earlier works with a simple three handed movement. The Johann uses Caliber I, which is the first caliber created by this brand. The Johann is available in six variants, and the one we had our extended hands-on session and whichRead More
Revolution
The Panthère, one of the really early themes in the Cartier collections, was the brilliant idea of Jeanne Toussaint. Jeanne was named ‘Director of jewellery’ at Cartier in 1933 and she decided shortly after her promotion, to make the Panthère a theme in the jewellery collection. From an onyx Panthère to a powder compact to […]
Revolution
REVOLUTION SWITZERLAND’s team joined Eterna recently for the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad tennis tournament in the Bernese Alps where some of tennis’ big international names came to play on the high-altitude clay courts. On the program, three Swiss tennis men-Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli-all played and lost, leaving Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny to […]
Revolution
If you are around Beijing from today (7th March 2013) to 10th April 2013, do make a point to visit the Cafa Art Museum. Presented by the Triennale Design Museum and in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, this exciting art exhibition is curated by Silvana Annicchiarico and Jan van Rossem. With Patricia Urquiola […]
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.