Hodinkee
The Video Vault: Inside The Workshops Of Philippe Dufour, F.P. Journe, And Roger Smith
Revisiting three of the top independent watchmakers working today.
2,982 articles · 411 videos found · page 64 of 114
Hodinkee
Revisiting three of the top independent watchmakers working today.
Revolution
The fiery birth and strange life of the ice queen of precious metals.
Quill & Pad
Vianney Halter's Deep Space Tourbillon marked the triumphant comeback of one of the single most influential and innovative horological artists of his generation. Elizabeth Doerr looks back on the genesis of Halter's futuristic triple-axis tourbillon and the watches that preceded it, including the mythical Harry Winston Opus 3, and speculates a bit on his future.
SJX Watches
In 1816, Louis Moinet accomplished a first in watchmaking: a timepiece that could precisely track elapsed time. Measuring periodicity on demand had been accomplished before, but the French watchmaker’s invention gave it the functionality and exactness that we expect today. In assessing prototypes, we often tend to forgive their shortcomings and rosily reminisce, rewriting flaws as charms. Moinet’s timepiece, however, was a prescient opus. The layout of the dial had the now-familiar large central hand and elapsed time in subdials. Two pushers controlled the start, stop and reset functions, the power reserve lasted over 30 hours, and the mainspring could be wound while the timing mechanism was engaged to allow for longer timing runs. Most impressive, though, was its precision. Louis Moinet’s compteur de tierces of 1816. Image – Louis Moinet Named the compteur de tierces, or “timer of thirds”, Moinet’s invention ran at 216,000 beats per hour, measuring time down to one-sixtieth of a second. To allow for this ambitious exactitude to be utilised, the central chronograph hand completed revolutions once per second – such that the user could easily see which sixtieth of a second the period in question ended on - and the watch had an extra sub-dial for tracking elapsed seconds in addition to those for the minutes and hours. Whys and wherefores An impressive story, except that it’s missing something. Why did Moinet build it? And what did he use it to measure? A...
Video
Hodinkee
Welcome to Bizarro World.
Hodinkee
Francois-Paul Journe tells the story of his tourbillons.
Time+Tide
Well, one of 2020’s worst-kept secrets is out of the bag – Tudor has gone and released a brand new iteration of the best watch it makes. Ladies and gents, introducing the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Ref.M79030b-0001. Now, we’ll skip all the conjecture and polarisation that this watch has already managed to conjure up in … ContinuedThe post What kind of blue is the new Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight actually? 4 side-by-side shots with the Pelagos, Patek, Lange and more… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
The last word in horological chic for the first generation of globetrotters and jet-setters.
Quill & Pad
Last year, Colin Alexander Smith's mother showed him a silver pocket watch. All she could tell him about it was that it had belonged to his grandfather. The watch appeared to be older than his grandfather, though, and he embarked upon a quest to identify it and discover the original owner. The story took a few interesting turns as he reveals here in a truly interesting trace of the origins.
Video
Revolution traces the evolution of the increadible feat of 21st century watchmaking that is the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo.
Revolution
Quill & Pad
When they hear the name Fabergé, most people immediately think of the Imperial Easter eggs. This is logical because even today the breathtaking craftsmanship and detailed execution of these objets d’art are the stuff of legends.
Hodinkee
"The Concorde is great. It gives you three extra hours to find your luggage." – Bob Hope
Hodinkee
A visit to Zenith in Le Locle, and the most famous attic in Switzerland.
Video
Two Broke Watch Snobs
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Hodinkee
There is rare, and then there is unique. This is the latter.
Hodinkee
What a wild mix of watches from around the web this week!
Hodinkee
Our own Cole Pennington lectured on "horological homecomings" and a whole lot more.
Hodinkee
Vintage-style lume: friend or faux?
Video
Quill & Pad
Loved the world over by collectors and watch brands alike, the Zenith El Primero has been keeping the world on time since 1969. And Rolex choosing to use the movement was high praise for Zenith indeed. The El Primero is still considered an exceptional chronograph to this day, and watchmaker Aston Tracy explains why.
Quill & Pad
While the regular Montblanc collection already proves that it is one of the best in this field, the High Artistry pens make the case that there is much, much more to this maker. Please enjoy the outstanding High Artistry Homage To Emperor Kangxi comprising three bejeweled unique pieces and two limited editions.
SJX Watches
Just over two weeks ago the annual George Daniels lecture took place at the City University of London, an institution supported by the late watchmaker’s charitable trust. This year’s speaker at the sold-out event was none other than Roger W. Smith, protege and successor to Daniels. Just over an hour long, including questions, the lecture is erudite, accessible and packed with nerdy trivia, like the fact that a movement running at 28,800 beats per hour will make 252,288,000 vibrations per year. Roger explained the history and rationale behind the mechanical watch, and how watchmakers are working to improve it even today. That naturally led into the lubrication-free co-axial escapement invented by Daniels (pictured above), which Roger delves into in a satisfyingly detailed manner, like comparing the sliding friction of a lever escapement against the tangential impulse of the co-axial. Fortunately, the entire proceedings were recorded and are now available online:
SJX Watches
One of the most intriguing timepieces being offered in the final run of watch auctions for 2019 is not a wristwatch, but an incredibly rare table clock made by Breguet in 1934 that’s going under the hammer at Christie’s. It hardly looks like a typical Breguet – having no engine-turning or gilding or blued steel hands – but is remarkably striking, with a skeletonised, architectural movement that is modern-looking despite being 85 years old. Abraham-Louis Breguet is rightly regarded as one of the most important watchmakers in history, whose inventions range from the natural escapement to the tourbillon, while being commercially savvy enough to become a leading watchmaker to the Ottoman Empire. But his descendants ventured into other businesses by the mid 19th century, most notably aviation, so the watchmaking operation was sold by Louis-Clément Breguet, grandson of Abraham-Louis, in 1870 to English watchmaker Edward Brown. The Browns kept the workshop in Paris, though it moved several times over the decades. During the century that the Brown family ran Breguet – Brown’s grandson George sold the company to French jeweller Chaumet in 1969 – the firm mostly retained the signature Breguet style and produced a large variety of timepieces, but in tiny quantities, often relying on external specialists for movements and components. Timepiece no. 3142 This clock is one such timepiece from the period. A unique piece according to the accompanying Breguet museum archive...
Hodinkee
One man's five-volume quest to document the Illinois Watch Company.
Video
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