Lego & Rolex The most trusted brands on the planet & the only two brands that performed strongly with all of the generations surveyed—Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, & the Boomers.
Reinventing the Watch Fair “In a digital world, you don’t need a fair” – Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling. The move to digital has been a boon for some brands. While other watch brands are still finding their way.
A Watch So Light It Floats on Water The avant garde tech & astronomical price tags of Richard Mille timepieces. Ben Clymer writing for GQ.
“There’s No Single Artist, Because the Art Is Not Any One Creature, It Is the Collective Action & Interaction of the Creatures.” GPT-3 writing in Pharmako-AI.
A Nivarox Branded Observatory Competition Peseux 260 From the 1950s Today Nivarox operates largely behind the scenes, supplying the beating heart inside the vast majority of spring-powered Swiss timepieces, from Swatch to Patek Philippe. The low escape wheel in this caliber allowed for a larger balance wheel & thus better rate stability. Kari Voutilainen later employed the Peseux 260 in his series of Observatoire timepieces, which were awarded certificates of chronometry from Besançon Observatory.
Citizen Calibre 0200 Free-sprung balance wheel, LIGA escapement, locking stud, & a high level of finish. Crafted in partnership with Citizen-owned, Swiss-based subsidiary, La Joux-Perret, Citizen has done an applaudable job developing their first in-house, high-end caliber.
If Your Boss Could Do Your Job, You’re More Likely to Be Happy at Work The research also shows that happier workers are measurably more productive.
Apple Loses Trademark Catchphrase to Swatch On the heels of losing the iWatch trademark to Swatch & failing to win litigation against their "Tick Different" trademark, Apple has now lost Steve Jobs' classic line, "One more thing..." to the Swiss giant.
40Hz Silicon Oscillator While I have a deep appreciation for bi-stable mechanisms & admire the pioneering work Flexous has achieved with this new oscillator & escapement for Frederique Constant, I think it's a mistake to show it off through an aperture in the dial. There is something humane & almost soothing about watching a mechanical timepiece tick away at rate of five to eight times per second. Witnessing the oscillator vibrating a literal order of magnitude more than that every time you look at your wrist is going to feel downright unnerving.
“An Electric Battery Genius” William Morrison, a Scottish-born watchmaker who pioneered the first electric car in the United States back in 1890.
10 Days8 Tests283 Steps An overview of the METAS certification process that Omega puts its Master Chronometer timepieces through.
A Movie Prop Crafted by Breguet This period-correct pocket watch made by Breguet specifically for the film Master & Commander, starring Russell Crowe, took months to fabricate & was visible for only a handful of frames. The hourglass on the ship's deck captured more screen time.
"It’s More Like Forgery Than Creativity" Graphic designer, Annie Atkins, on designing for the silver screen & the hours of work that may not even get a second of screen time.
No Longer Just a Fad "[T]he cold, hard truth is that ceramic materials have become permanent fixtures in the horological world." – Nicholas Hegel McClelland writing for Men's Journal.
If the Death Star Were a Tourbillon An outlandish timepiece, to be sure, & somewhat disconcerting that the bearer of this Dark Side tech will be bestowed with a kyber crystal.
"Had Quartz Watches Not Come About, People Wouldn't Have Appreciated Mechanical Watchmaking." An interview with Michael Tay, the driving force behind The Persistence of Memory, a superb, online exhibition of artisanal watchmakers that was recently launched by the The Hour Glass.
The Persistence of Memory A splendid, broad-sweeping overview of artisanal watchmaking, from The Hour Glass.
"I Was the Lonely Designer in a Sea of Watchmakers" Iconic '80s watch designer, Alain Silberstein, in conversation with Jon Bues at HODINKEE.
Young Austen Chu Has Big Plans for the Pre-owned Watch Space Doubling down on knowledge-based collecting for the streetwear generation.
Inside Egypt's Century-old Watchmaker "Time seems to have stood still at Papazian's" This poor 3135 has certainly seen better days. Several incorrect screws & the wrong ratchet wheel. Based on other wear marks, I'd hazard a number of pivots are worn, the axle for the oscillating weight is shot, & it's no longer holding power very well.
“The Moment I Sat Down at That Workbench and Picked Up the Screwdriver and Tweezers, I Knew This Was What I Wanted to Do” While the ranks of watch executives still have a ways to go to close the gender gap, it’s awesome to see the burgeoning enrolment of women in watchmaking schools.
The First to Put an Exhibition Back on a Mechanical Wristwatch Jon Bues interviews Chronoswiss founder, Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, for HODINKEE.
Paper-based Watch Straps While details currently remain sparse, IWC's paper-based, TimberTex watch straps sound promising.
HYT Files for Bankruptcy The microfluidic watchmaker springs a leak. Founder & CEO, Gregory Dourde, to step down. Spin-off company, Preciflex, to subsume after-sales-service & focus business efforts on medical solutions.
"In My Opinion, the Pandemic Has Not Brought About Major Changes in the Way Independents Do Business." Jared Silver, president of Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry, a major retailer for independent watch brands including HYT, Urwerk, MB&F, & Ressence, on the pandemic & future potential for independent artisans.
Hook, Line, & Sinker Delightfully well-travelled & wonderfully well-preserved gilt-dialled lollipop Rolex Explorer owned by former Canadian octopus wrestler, Bill Hook.
Ravishing Mechanicals Vaucher's role in helping Richard Mille produce its featherweight, supercar-inspired timepieces.
Curtis Australia Glenn Curtis on the custom watches produced through his family-owned jewellery store in Melbourne.
Telling Time by Ear An overview of repeating watches that chime the time, by Jordy Bellido for Worldtempus.
See-through Wood Experiments & proof-of-concept creating transparent wood. Could the recent onslaught of wooden watch cases & wooden watch bracelets eventually migrate to include composite wood watch crystals?
The Joy & Woe of Acquiring a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona My biggest takeaway from this story from Ben Hodges? That those kitsch mobile apps that let you play with the functions of a mechanical timepiece are actually effective marketing exercises.
Swatch Group Closed 384 Stores in 2020 The global pandemic took a toll on retail operations of the watchmaking powerhouse.
Hazel McCallion Celebrates Her 100th Birthday Arguably the greatest City Mayor of our generation. Still thriving at 100.
Anti-trip Device A patent filed by Swatch-owned, Nivarox, for Breguet in an effort to make detent escapements more reliable in wristwatch form.
A Fond Farewell for the Nautilus 5711 An interview with Patek Philippe president, Thierry Stern, about the decision to end production of the Nautilus reference 5711, its one last hurrah, working through a global pandemic, leaving Baselworld, & stewarding the brand.
Norifumi Seki 3D Moonphase In 2016 Norifumi Seki saw a documentary about Japanese watchmaker, Masahiro Kikuno. Less than four years later, he’d made this.
A Unique Simplicity Is in the Works for Only Watch Meanwhile, the “waiting” list for the remaining 10 watches in Philippe Dufour’s 20th Anniversary Edition of the Simplicity has sky-rocketed to over 155,000 people.
Inside the Recently Updated British School of Watchmaking Along with a hint of what it’s been like studying such a hands-on craft in the face of lockdowns during a worldwide pandemic.
High Precision Mechanics A paper detailing the creation of a self-winding mechanical movement with quartz precision, from the 1990s, by Jean-Jacques Born, Rudolf Dinger, & Pierre-André Farine.
Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade The last in the line of trollish, Apple Watchesque timepieces from H. Moser & Cie. Clever implementation of the seconds indication, I'll give them credit for that. Given a previous version included a minute repeater, though, I'd argue this should have been dubbed the Final Update & not the Final Upgrade.
A Visit to Vacheron Constantin As well as fellow Richemont-owned dial manufacturer, Stern Creations."While the notion of doing everything in-house is sedulously promoted by many companies, the reality, as usual, is more complex. Historically, watchmaking has never been something done exclusively “in-house” and virtually all watchmaking companies at every level, throughout their history, acquired at least some components from specialist suppliers — especially cases, dials and bracelets, and many great names made and still make extensive use of third-party movements as well. The myth that vertical integration in and of itself guarantees some extraordinary quality or exclusivity is well worth dispelling, although it remains true that as a symbol of legitimacy as well as a very real point of distinction, it can be an often compelling characteristic of the watchmaking houses that embrace it." – Jack Forster
3D Printing Bone Scientists at UNSW print bone-like structures containing living cells using a novel ceramic resin.
The Paragon A charming introductory piece from young Canadian watchmaker, Bradley Taylor, with guilloché dial crafted by Kari Voutilainen's Comblémine subsidiary & a well-finished movement from Parmigiani's Vaucher.
Young French Watchmaker, Rémy Cools on His Watchmaking Journey "I think it’s good to have a critical eye on your work. In watchmaking, or in every job, you always have to grow & develop. To stay the same is not good. You always have to keep improving the finishing & when you look back you can see the progress you have made from your first creation to where you are now." – Rémy Cools
Nike GO FlyEase Forget self-lacing shoes. This is an incredibly clever application of a bi-stable hinge & yet another fantastic example of how improving accessibility makes things better for everyone.
Who Decides How Long a Second Is? It’s currently defined as 9,192,631,770 of the “ticks” between two hyperfine ground states of caesium 133.
You Can Retire When You’re Dead—or Not Montreal student, Aaron Ansuini, went to email his professor at Concordia, only to discover the man he’d been learning from had been dead for 2 years.
Rack Lever Escapement Dr. Rebecca Struthers highlights one of the hundreds of escapement designs tried & abandoned.
Timeless Time Machines Antiquarian Horologist, Brittany Nicole Cox, featured in the February 2021 issue of National Geographic.
How Sharpie Markers Improve Metal Cutting Performance Ductile metals pose machining challenges, applying a thin layer of long-chain organic media—like Sharpie, Dykem fluid, or stearic acid (the primary active ingredient in epilame)—it introduces a tensile surface stress that improves cutting performance by forcing micro-fractures in the swarf.
New Technique to Build Super-hard Metals From Nanoparticles "Because of what's known as the plasmonic effect, gold nanoparticles are actually purplish-black in color." – Ou Chen
Freesdial Nord Zeitmaschine A symphony of cam-work for a novel time display, conceived of & crafted by the late Daniel Nebel.
Cycloidal Reduction Concept A 3D-render of a cycloidal reducer introduced into the automatic winding system of an ETA 2892.
“Buffett Is Nothing if Not a Long-term Investor” Buffett’s choice of watch could very well prove to be the most enduring investment he’s made.
Technology & Watches Tech journalist, Axel Metz’s reflections on watches—both the smart & not-so-smart variety. “I’m straining to think of another technology that can boast such permanence.”
The Evolution of the Skeleton Watch Regis Meylan recounts the process of modernizing the art of skeletonizing watch movements at Audemars Piguet.
Inside Convergence Composite A firm specializing in carbon fiber design & manufacturing for the horological industry.
Rocking the Boat “Modern luxury isn’t just about spending bulk cash, it’s about knowing a good thing when you see it.”
Introducing nO-Ring A gasket-free, direct mechanical sealing technology for watches from Mauron Musy.
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 moves around the 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
