Quill & Pad
Why do high-end watches cost so much? To answer the question, Ian Skellern looked at low production numbers and high complexity, but the cost he focuses on here is hand-finishing, because unlike low production numbers and high complexity, ultra-high-level hand-finishing is not easy to appreciate.
Quill & Pad
Whether Geneva Watch Days takes place or not, and whether it’s deemed successful or not because of all the travel and quarantine restrictions, doesn’t change the fact that there was a good chance that it could have run very successfully. Which means Ian Skellern was wrong in calling Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin delusional for organizing it. And for that he apologizes.
Quill & Pad
One viewing of the Parmigiani Fleurier Hippologia in action is enough to confirm that its two horses’ gaits seem completely fluid and natural. The Hippologia displays two horses, a mare, and a foal taking a stroll around a Lalique glassware cabinet enclosing the highly complicated automaton and eight-day clock movement. This is an object that needs to be seen to be believed.
Quill & Pad
Sabine Zwettler likes the flair of Norqain, a young, innovative brand bringing a fresh impulse by respecting the traditional values of the industry in general and Swiss codes in particular. She finds reading the time on this brand-new watch's unusual green dial with its charming scratches a real pleasure. What do you think?
Quill & Pad
Ken Gargett thinks that the Penfolds Grange 2016 has a good 50 years ahead of it, for anyone planning their grandkids’ cellar. Giving this wine 100 points is one of the easiest things he has done in ages. And yet, the day after the wine seemed even better. Outstanding. And he rates the G4 as good as it gets. Cheers.
Quill & Pad
Complicated haute horlogerie doesn’t get much better than twin triple-axis spherical tourbillons as found in the Purnell Escape II Double Tourbillon. And while in some cases less is more, here more is definitely more. The tourbillons are mesmerizing in part thanks to their high rotation velocity; they make full revolutions in respectively 8, 16, and 30 seconds. What is behind this masterful piece of high watchmaking?
Quill & Pad
Many people believe resonance to be very rare, when in fact every single timekeeping device (yes, even quartz) is a resonant mechanism. But clocks and watches featuring resonance as we generally understand it in watchmaking are few and far between. In the last few decades, less than a handful of highly skilled watchmakers have taken up the challenge of creating a resonance watch. Here, Joshua Munchow looks at the pros and cons of the different approaches taken by the three leaders in this technology.
Quill & Pad
Since its beginning, RGM has created dials and movement components to manufacture its watches. Over the years, the brand has expanded its capabilities bit by bit, adding machinery, technology, and personnel in an effort to have greater control over production and to expand its design and engineering options. Follow us on a tour of the RGM workshop in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.
Quill & Pad
Fifteen years after its original launch, the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone gets a mechanical upgrade in the form of a new caliber that includes a daylight savings time indication among other new features. Elizabeth Doerr looks at the Lange 1 Time Zone's evolution and what's so very special about this new model.
Quill & Pad
Nancy Olson highlights three newly introduced pens to get you started on a tasteful journey toward a new normal. They offer a broad range of prices, styles and modes, and she thinks that any, or all, will add real pleasure to the already pleasant experience of writing a card, note, journal, or letter by hand.
Quill & Pad
In this video, our friends at The Watches TV headed to Bunter SA to learn just what the term "invisible setting" means (hint: it is a complicated style of gem setting without visible prongs holding the gems so they look like they are floating). You may find this as interesting as we do.
Quill & Pad
Somewhere in the disorganized depths of Ken Gargett's cellar lies his favorite bottle of wine. It is almost certainly not his best bottle, nor even possibly his most valuable. It is a bottle that screams place and history. It tells a story and it links him to an extraordinary moment in time when three of the planet’s most famous leaders met to determine the fate of the world. That wine is the Massandra Collection White Muscat 1945 and here is its story.
Quill & Pad
Inspired by military watches, the designs of these three new Bell & Ross BR V2 models are not loud, but they are distinct in addition to being highly legible. Martin Green also points out that the names of Bell & Ross watches sometimes read like designations for some type of bomb, but he gives them a pass on that because he thinks that their watches are dynamite. Especially these. Have a look.
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 a 2018 exhibition showing 19 historical mystery clocks so richly illustrated.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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!
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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!
Quill & Pad
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?
Quill & Pad
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.
Quill & Pad
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).
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.
Comments
No comments yet, be the first to weigh in.