Five Steps to Keep the Swiss Watchmaking Industry Ticking It seems like a gross oversight to make no mention of room for improvement on the after sales service side, as well.
Prototyping the Deep Space Tourbillon Resonance A deep dive into the design & prototyping of Vianney Halter's dual-oscillator Deep Space Tourbillon Resonance.
A Slowly Beating Heart An exquisitely feminine take on a watch hand that oscillates in length as it runs its course around an oblong dial, from Breguet.
Under the Dial of the Ressence Type 1 Squared X Representing the passage of time through the fluid motion of coloured ball bearings.
Hole Center Measuring Attachment Clever 3D-printing hack for your run-of-the-mill set of callipers. Not accurate enough for watch work, but could be used for general clock work.
Taming the 4th Dimension in a Ballet of 3-dimensional Mechanics A look at Vianney Halter's dual-oscillator, Deep Space Resonance.
350-year-old Watch Nested in Solid Emerald Set in a single Columbian emerald, this watch was excavated in the Cheapside Hoard—the largest collection of Elizabethan & early Stuart jewellery on record. Given emerald's proclivity to fracture, the fact that this piece has persisted in such excellent condition for this many centuries is remarkable.
"That's actually super hard." Stephen Forsey on the initial naiveté that independent watchmaker face.
Bearing It Out Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the jewel bearing market. An unexpected takeaway from this research note is that jewel bearings can handle loads of up to 500 grams.
Time’s Up. Let’s Make a Change. “The oppressor is always damaged by believing and treating others as less than fully human.” – Shannon Hale
Here's Hoping 2021 Rises Like a Phoenix from the Ashes of 2020 Grand feu enamel, hand engraving, hand finishing—a majestic display of handcraft in a unique piece from Schwarz Etienne & L'Atelier Blandenier. Peter Speake-Marin delves into the craft & techniques involved in bringing The Phoenix Collaboration from concept through to final product.
The Enduring Allure of the Rolex Day-Date “This was arguably the most special day of his career, after he helped end Cleveland’s long title drought. To honor it, the King chose the President.”
Finding Purpose & Learning Perseverance Through Horology Self-taught Australian horologist, Reuben Schoots, nears completion of his first watch movement.
“It’s an effortlessly cool watch, not unlike the man himself.” I kinda dig that Brad Pitt enjoys sporting a Rolex Explorer.
Wildlife Hazard Turned Wrist Hardware Breitling’s new Superocean sports a brown NATO strap made from Outerknown ECONYL, a material repurposed from abandoned fishing nets.
Trailer for The Keeper of Time A documentary featuring the likes of Philippe Dufour, F.P. Journe, & Roger W. Smith.
King Seiko Returns In a limited run of 3000 pieces. This was a truly exceptional timekeeper back in the 1960s.
Ontario Government Passes Legislation to Make Daylight Time Permanent “Ontario is now poised to lead the way on ending this outdated practice”
A Candid Audio Interview with Philippe Dufour A living legend in the world of watchmaking, interviewed by a living legend in the watch journalism space, Jack Forster.
Grown Atom by Atom A nice overview of the UV-LIGA tech Rolex quietly introduced into their in-house 4130 chronograph caliber a few years back.
Closing in on 300 One of the oldest watch brands in the world, 283-year-old Favre-Leuba is still ticking.
Inside 'The Collective’ An interview with Asher Rapkin from Collective Horology, a private forum of collectors with access to exclusive watch collaborations.
Resonance & the Pursuit of Precision From Christiaan Huygens & Antide Janvier to François-Paul Journe.
Reaching the Top “Owning a Dufour practically means that there is very little, if anything at all, that could top such a watch." – Magnus Bosse
Watchmaking in Pandemic Times Jordan Ficklin, former Executive Director of the AWCI, offers some thoughts on work-from-home for watchmakers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeping the Queen on Time On the job with Windsor Castle's fourth horological conservator, Fjodor van den Broek.
500 Years of Watchmaking A new exhibit showcasing centuries of watch-craft, in partnership with Vacheron Constantin, opens in Oxford, England.
Richard Mille Opens Its First Official Pre-Owned Boutique Set in London's swanky Mayfair neighbourhood.
The Ultimate Speedmaster Brice Goulard digs into Omega's reissue of the revered caliber 321, in its faithfully remastered stainless steel guise.
How Bond Made the Submariner Rolex's Most Iconic Timepiece “Like Connery remains the most emblematic Bond, the Submariner remains Rolex's most emblematic model.”
The Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers How a chance meeting between Roger W. Smith & Mike France, of Christopher Ward, brought Britain's horologists together.
A Literal Living Legend Philippe Dufour’s latest ‘Simplicity’ sells for $1,500,000 USD. The most ever paid for a timepiece made by a living, independent watchmaker.
“Even James Bond couldn’t resist swapping his standard-issue Rolex for a Pulsar at the start of Live and Let Die” Hamilton reissues its once groundbreaking LED watch, now with an OLED display.
Why Books Matter Seth Godin digs into why books transcend both space and time, the value of their inherent focus, & the leverage they can imbue.
Armin Strom’s charming Lady Beat Pragmatically, it would be better to have the dial on the right-hand side. However, aesthetically speaking, that would lend the watch a wholly different experience.
Lighting dials on fire at Donzé Cadrans Inside one of the most famous & fabled of all the grand feu enamel dial manufactures in the industry.
Impromptu Storytelling Storytelling is a powerful tool. According to this piece in Forbes, the power of story can even be used to overcome imposter syndrome.
At the turn of the millennium, the Richemont Group paid Audemars Piguet CHF 280,000,000 for their share of Jaeger-LeCoultre
A wandering mind is an unhappy mind According to research by Daniel Gilbert et al, in stark contrast to flow, a mind bereft of purpose quickly devolves towards discontent.
Sustainably Scottish Marloe Watch Company aims to bring watchmaking back to Scotland through an environmentally sustainable workspace on the outskirts of the Scottish Highlands.
“A new movement is often the overture to a symphony" The latest in-house caliber from Oris boasts a 5-day power reserve along with a silicon pallet fork & escape wheel.
An unusual & extremely minimal take on the concept of a wandering hours watch The likewise novel & minimal strap attachment leaves lots of room for improvement.
Beyond Ken Kocienda's Solar face that shipped with the original Apple Watch, Geoff McFetridge's Artist face is one of the first to truly begin to explore the boundary pushing potential of the device The first time that the thought of a constantly evolving watch face ever crossed my mind occurred while touring a small exhibit of digital works at the British Museum back in 2004, coincidentally, the exhibit also included a profile on Jony Ive & some of his design work for Apple up to that point
The Watchmaking Wizard Who Doesn’t Like Watches The New York Times shines some long overdue light on the whirlwind work of Eric Coudray
Dressing planned obsolescence up in a biodegradable outfit does not make it sustainable The mechanism inside the Sistem51 is riveted together. It cannot be serviced. Its “single screw” is a misleading marketing ploy.
A secret 'man cave' under New York City's Grand Central Terminal While not nearly as elaborate, this reminds me a little of the Untergunther's secret hideout used during the clandestine restoration of the Pantheon clock in Paris
JLC Master Ultra Thin Knife Watch for the forthcoming film, The King's Man The fixed bow to allow for the strap to attach securely at the 12 o'clock position, coupled with the manually wound watch caliber & tiny crown, is unlikely to make for a pleasant owner experience as an everyday watch
Closing the loop Adventures in pinning down the correct size for Apple's new Solo Loop watch bands, by John Gruber
If you're a company or manufacturer looking to make your products last longer (and you should be), iFixit is stepping up its game to help
An antique scroll-map navigator small enough to fit on the wrist The Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator from the 1920s
The New York Times touches on the tip of the iceberg as to why the process of getting a watch serviced today has become unnecessarily arduous
"Nothing piques the interest of the high-end collector like being told they can't have something" Jack Forster delves into the groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind, not-for-sale, T0 Constant Force Concept Tourbillon from Grand Seiko
Time may fly & eggs may be forever, but the real question is which came first? The incredibly quirky, Egg Master Watch
Magnetic bracelets & watches do not good bedfellows make. While this minimalist magnetic bracelet from Crossover Industries may be super handy for holding stitch markers when knitting & accessorizes nicely with a minimalist timepiece in the promo shots, it's pretty much guaranteed to kill the accuracy of—if not downright stop—the quartz watch it's pictured with.
“Escapement design is something horologists have been fiddling with for 500 or so years, but while many are called, few are chosen, and the timeline of horology is littered with the sad, silent, inert corpses of escapements which enjoyed, as it were, a brief moment in the sun” Jack Forster takes a deep dive into the world of escapements
The IWC Cyberloupe I hacked together my own version of this around 2009. IWC’s take in 2020 is much more compact & refined. I’m looking forward to where this goes as augmented reality tech develops further.
