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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 a 2018 exhibition showing 19 historical mystery clocks so richly illustrated.
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Aston Martin was originally partnered with Jaeger-LeCoultre for 12 years before moving on to first Richard Mille then TAG Heuer. During that dozen years, the JLC Amvox line produced some very interesting timepieces. Here, Elizabeth Doerr provides background to the the sporty Jaeger-LeCoultre Amvox line and lists off every single creation introduced in it during that time.
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Project 248 is the working title for Struthers Watchmakers' first in-house, handcrafted movement. It features a new improved English lever escapement, picking up where the British industry left off in the late nineteenth century. Colin Alexander Smith reports extensively on the project whose first run of five watches has already sold out.
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There’s good news for all “Porschephiles” with a penchant for luxury wristwatches: Porsche Design has announced a cool concept with few boundaries for personalization, the online Custom-Built Timepieces Program. Sabine Zwettler takes a closer look at customizing a Porsche for the wrist with thousands of possible options.
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The rise of Brunello has been recent. And, arguably, the single most convincingly 100 percent Brunello example of fine wine is Soldera at Case Basse according to Ken Gargett and other wine experts. But Soldera and the region have a dramatic background, one that might not be common knowledge outside Tuscany. Read on for a Hollywood script-worthy story and mouthwatering descriptions of Super Tuscan wines you may not (yet) be acquainted with.
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When Martin Green first saw athe Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Tiger he thought that Jaquet Droz had used a photorealistic print on the dial, so real was the miniature enamel painting for him. The artist focused on the eyes of the tiger, and its gaze is so lifelike and filled with restrained power that it is almost scary. It looks like it’s about to pounce right off the dial!
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The 2020 Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication is a perfect example of using design to take an already great watch to an entirely new level. Joshua Munchow takes a deep dive into what makes this highly complicated model so, so good.
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The majority of today's numerous flieger-style watches are inspired by the now-iconic German pilot’s and navigator's watches of World War II, becoming a genre unto themselves. Bhanu Chopra flies high to take a deep dive into the long history of this popular style.
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MrsG, GaryG's charming wife, is perhaps most enthusiastic about her collection of Southwestern Native American arts and jewelry, but here Gary takes a look at her interesting watches, which include excellent examples from Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Alain Silberstein, Audemars Piguet, and more.
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The drama of Breguet's La Tradition lay – and continues to lie – in its stylistically vintage appearance coupled with a movement finished using historical techniques and the extreme visibility of the mechanical components from the dial side. Here Elizabeth Doerr looks at two new models for 2020 that are bound to make you a fan of the style.
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Montblanc has kept the Minerva spirit alive, not only through the chiefly handmade and -decorated movements still manufactured in Minerva’s historical factory in Villeret, but also in these watches' wonderfully nostalgic designs. Martin Green highlights five new Montblanc chronographs for 2020 that blend tradition with good modern design in the best way.
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For the third time in five years, an Australian Cabernet was crowned the World’s Best Cabernet Sauvignon at the International Competition of Cabernets, held bang smack in the middle of France. And, worse, the French have no one to blame but themselves as the award is decided by a panel of top sommeliers from – you guessed it – France. Ken Gargett lets us in on why this happened.
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Stefan Kudoke’s time has arrived. All the long years of learning, obsessing, wondering, and hard work are now paying off for the German watchmaker and engraver, whose gorgeous Kudoke 2 won the Petite Aiguille award at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). And Elizabeth Doerr finds the brand-new Kudoke 2 Nocturne just as enchanting; she explains why here.
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Bovet Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two: the story continues. Indications include hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve, moon phase, and a world time/second time zone display. All of which is powered by an entirely new double-sided flying tourbillon movement with totally new architecture. Warning: it may blow your mind!
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Rebellion takes on many forms – like jazz music, which at one time represented an extreme deviation from musical tables and conventional styles of music, perhaps as much or even more so than rock and roll. What timekeepers did these musical giants prefer to wear? And which brands pay tribute to them today?
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For anybody missing the fantastic views in Yosemite National Park during this era of non-travel, RGM has something special for just two lucky owners: a watch with a beautiful stone marquetry dial offering one of the most iconic views of this national treasure that features three of its most prominent landmarks.
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The time is now, according to GaryG, for large watch brands to seize the opportunity to make a real difference to the health of the mechanical watch industry and the prosperity of their brands. He thinks that 2020 is the year for CEOs to commit to entering their best new pieces in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
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Purnell’s latest model, Escape II, features two spherical tourbillons developed by Eric Coudray, the definitive expert in the field of three-dimensional multi-axis tourbillons. This is just one example of how the independent brand works with the best of the best in the watch industry to achieve such monumental timepieces. Martin Green reports after visiting the Swiss workshops.
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Our friends at The Watches TV recently 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 share the secrets with us here.
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Glashütte Original dial factory manager Michael Baumann guided Bhanu Chropa through the complex process of manufacturing dials. He explained that depending on the complications of a given watch model, it takes 70 to 80 steps to manufacture a perfect dial. See for yourself in this interesting personal tour behind the scenes in Pforzheim, Germany.
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Elizabeth Doerr has attended the odd auction. She has even gone to auctions with the intent to bid on a watch. But that hadn’t yet worked out for her. Not until she saw that Parisian auction house Artcurial was auctioning off what was left of Alain Silberstein’s inventory and put in an absentee bid on a long shot. She had little hope, but then . . .
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There are clocks that deserve to be talked about, written about, bought, and enjoyed. And this goes double for any and all of the unique timepieces by independent horologist Miki Eleta. Elizabeth Doerr had the pleasure of seeing Eleta’s latest masterpiece, Natuhrzeit, at Baselworld 2019 and she has not been able to get it out of her mind since. Enjoy the show!
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If John Keil was to recommend a brand-new functional diver’s watch to a friend who was looking to spend within a certain price range, these would be his suggestions. Or, more specifically, here is what he would purchase himself in a variety of price categories.
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As the Chanel J12 turns 20 years old, the brand more famous for its fashion than its high-quality watches releases a modern marvel: a very transparent version of the J12 called X-Ray that features a world premiere in the form of a full sapphire crystal bracelet.
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Our friends at The Watches TV have published a beautiful three-part video series on manufacturing a watch fully by hand as demonstrated by Greubel Forsey’s recent Hand Made 1. In this series, Marc-André Deschoux and his team get deep into the manufacture and talk to all of the artisans involved, beginning with founders Stephen Forsey and Robert Greubel.
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While H. Upmann usurped the famous British leader’s name for this cigar, Ken Gargett has no doubt Winston Churchill would have loved the tribute. After having smoked two, Ken thinks it a truly glorious cigar (99/100) and one that should be in every serious cigar lover’s rotation.
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Watch bracelets are often as underrated as housekeeping in a good hotel: they are commonly taken for granted. Collectors usually focus on the shape of the case and look of the dial first, with the movement coming in a close second. Here Martin Green takes a closer look at four new watches of 2020 whose full-metal bracelets significantly change the look of them.
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The newly released Antarctique is Czapek’s first foray into the steel sport watch market, a market segment that has exploded over the last couple years, by dipping its toes in with a “subscription” strategy for the first limited model. Find out what is so special about this particular addition to the sporty steel bracelet watch market.
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Tool watches continue their evolution among the watch industry’s most luxurious and coveted brands. Here, Chris Malburg explores where their evolution has gone and might still go.
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The mechanical watch works just like a metronome, with its isochronic balance maintaining a steady rhythm and the delicate tick-tock of its pallet jewels providing a rhythmic beat to our oft-frantic lives. If we ramp up the power and swap the metronome for a drum kit and a few electric guitars we have rock and roll! But which watches do rock-and-roll icons wear?
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