by Jon Edwards

Spider-man Royal Oak Concept

The Audemars Piguet x Marvel collaborations continue with the second instalment of Royal Oak Concept piece featuring one of the Marvel Universe's vaunted heroes.

The pseudo-three-dimensional rendition of Spider-man is a level up from the Black Panther, which preceded it, even going so far as to include the underside of Spider-man's foot visible through the rear of the watch. The overall shape of Spider-man is cut from solid white gold on a high-precision CNC machines, followed by laser machining to achieve the characteristic textural dimensionality of the suit, followed up by some hand-engraved flourishes before finally being painted by hand.

Rest assured, the price tag on this piece is nigh on as out of this world as getting bit by a radioactive spider.

Image credit Audemars Piguet

Crossbow Saw

A crossbow saw in operation at the Maison des Métiers d’Art in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Image credit Pascal Mora for The New York Times

Rolex Behind Winning Bidder of Nearly Mint 1958 Milgauss

Paying over double the high estimate, this is a strategy that has been paying off in spades for Patek Philippe’s bottom line over the past few decades.

Audemars Piguet Boutique Tool Set

Loctite 221, Loctite 241, and Loctite 245 appear to be AP's adhesives of choice for after sales service.

Image credit Christie's

How Lumsden Got Its Name

The happenstance path that resulted in a New Zealand town being named after 19th century Kiwi watchmaker, George Lumsden.

Chameleon Patek

This unusual Patek Philippe novelty, reference 1252, sold for well over 3x its high estimate earlier this week, closing at CHF310,000 (CHF387,500 with premiums). Produced circa 1949, it contains a humble, manually wound caliber and features a bracelet in the shape of a chameleon that sits proud on the wrist. As the auction house, Antiquorum, that sold it put it:

"probably one of the most decorative and unusual lady's Patek Philippe ever created"

Why settle for blending in when you can stand out?

Image credit Antiquorum Genève SA

Lego Rolex Box

A functional Rolex box built entirely out of Lego. Made by Dicken Liu.

Image credit Dicken Liu

It Takes Time to Create Something Timeless

A montage of some of the skills and processes that go into making a timepiece at Glashütte Original.

The Innate Quality of F.P. Journe

25 watchmakers and seven artisans produce around 1,000 mechanical watches each year inside the well-equipped ateliers of F.P. Journe, where each component is designed, hand finished, and adroitly assembled into a ticking work of art.

Ming Liu reporting for the Financial Times:

In an age of slick marketing campaigns and commercial agendas, Journe’s genuine and singular commitment to his craft resonates with collectors, especially the watch purists who have been crucial to the brand’s continued independence.

The World’s Smallest Liquid “Clock”

Made using programmable liquid circuits and 70 microscopic valves.

Photographed using IBM Research’s open-source, LEGO microscope.

NOS Hamilton Khaki

Worn & Wound have unearthed 40 new-old-stock examples of the Hamilton Khaki Field.

Setting the large Khaki logotype emblazoned on the dial aside, I find the form of the hands and overall proportions of the watch to be simultaneously more harmonious and more utilitarian when compared side by side with its modern derivative.

Image credit Worn & Wound

Behind the Scenes at Sellita

Founded in 1950 by Pierre Grandjean and acquired by Miguel García in 2003, Sellita has grown to become the primary alternative to ETA's stable of workhorse movements following Nicholas G. Hayek's proclomation in 2002 that the Swatch Group would begin curtailing the supply of movements from ETA, which powered well over half of timepieces produced by the Swiss watch industry at the time.

In 2022, Sellita produced somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,500,000 movements, with a staff of just 850 employees.

Image via Monochrome Watches

Roots of the Porsche 356

The wood frame used to proof each of the hand-made body panels for the original, hand-built run of the Porsche 356.

Image via Anthony Capretto for CarBuzz

Tudor's Silicon Hairsprings

According to JX Su, Tudor relies on two specialists for the silicon hairsprings it uses in its free-sprung balance assemblies and owns one of those suppliers outright.

Image credit Tudor SA

Sarauer SH1

The inaugural watch movement from fellow Canadian, Aaron Sarauer. Based on the tried and true ETA caliber 6498.

Image credit Aaron Sarauer

Davide Cerrato Appointed CEO of Bremont

The designer that helped revive Tudor is leaving his top spot at HYT to hop over the channel and take the reins at English watchmaker, Bremont.

TableBag

A clever design by Leo Burnett for McDonald’s to help mitigate overdensity at Milan Design Week 2022.

Artisans of the Chronomètre Artisans

Unlike at his prior place of employment, MB&F, Simon Brette has not listed the artisans responsible for the realization of his debut timepiece, the Chronomètre Artisans, on his website.

Courtesy of Joshua Munchow, here is a list of the companies and craftspeople bringing Brette's vision to life:

Matthieu Allègre - watch design
Yasmina Anti - hand engraving
Marc Bolis and Alyna Rouelle - micromechanical machining
Barbara Coyon - component decoration and finishing
Pierre-Alain Dornier & Cie - precision machining
Julien Ducommun & Cie - manufacturing, micromechanics and machining
Alexis Greco & Cie - component decoration and finishing
Luc Monnet - watchmaker prototypist
Anton Pettersson - watchmaker prototypist

Image credit Simon Brette