Anthony Traina writing for HODINKEE:
"Auctions can be marketing as much as they're a true market."
Patek Philippe was arguably the first watch brand to home in on this phenomenon decades ago and, for better or worse, a good number of big players in the industry have followed their lead since.
Philippe Dufour to auction off a one-of-a-kind Simplicity in platinum, featuring an aventurine dial, in support of a new charity he has established alongside his wife, Elisabeth Dufour. Pictured here in a cast of Dufour's hand.
Jason Fried sits down with Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt, at Relay FM, to discuss Fried's Lange 1.
Mechanical watches are basically, I feel like, one of the last objects on earth, that humans make, that will last forever.
While this was not, objectively, the most factual discussion, subjectively speaking the trio provide some interesting perspectives on the design of A. Lange & Söhne's masterful Lange 1 reference.
Omega dupes itself into acquiring a Speedmaster they never created for a record $3.3 million at auction.
The company alleges three former employees colluded to profit from the scheme.
It is worthwhile noting that Phillips' high estimate was 25x less than what Omega ultimately bid for the watch back in November of 2021 and that the auctioned Speedmaster was accompanied by an extract from Omega's own archives. When a brand can't even trust itself in assessing the authenticity of its watches on the secondary market—particularly when it comes to big ticket items like this—where does that leave collectors and connoisseurs?
Dominique Buser and Cyrano Devanthey have opted to eschew the annular balance used in their debut timepiece, in favour of a more traditional, free-sprung balance wheel. The duo's team has grown since the release of their initial offering, as well. Doubling in size, two additional watchmakers have joined the fold, David Friedli and Yan Hegelbach, assiduously plying and preserving the application of age-old watchmaking techniques.
Crafted by hand, the influence of the likes of Dufour, Voutilainen, and Rexhepi are evident in both the movement aesthetics of the Fundamentum as well as the level of excellence in the finishing techniques applied.
Brian Ng, reporting for The Financial Times, pays a visit to the acclaimed Lycée Edgar Faure school of watchmaking in France and follows up with the graduates who have avoided "being absorbed into the machinery of the Swiss giants."
None expresses the desire to reach the size of FP Journe, let alone Patek Philippe or Rolex: their grand ambition is to make the best watches and clocks they can, from start to finish, under their own name. In so doing, they are preserving the traditional methods of horology in the modern world.
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.
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?
