TAG Heuer Vying for F1 Sponsorship
I admire the subtle but gumptious juxtaposition JX Su wielded in this breakdown of why Rolex might be willing to let TAG Heuer assume sponsorship of Formula 1. Offhandedly mentioning the massive private jet employed by Rolex CEO, Jean Frédéric Dufour—to undergird the argument that Rolex can no doubt afford the sponsorship—while also arguing the dissonant optics of Rolex continuing to sponsor a climate-crisis-perpetuating motorsport on the one hand with its Perpetual Planet initiative on the other.
Private aviation emissions began to outpace commercial aviation at the turn of the millennium and continue to rise. A single, four-hour flight on a typical private jet emits as much CO2 as one of Jean Frédéric Dufour's fellow European citizens does across the span of an entire year.
Inside VC
Brandon Moore, reporting for Watches by SJX, delivers an insightful, inside look at Vacheron Constantin's watch manufacturing facilities in the Plan-les-Ouates district of Geneva.
Completed in 2005 to celebrate VC’s 250th anniversary, the Vacheron Constantin building was designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects as a single building. A second wing was then added by the same firm in 2014, increasing both production space and staff amenities.
A key emphasis of the building is lighting, with expansive glass walls on the north and south sides, and courtyards and skylights to bring natural light to interior spaces in a controlled way. The watchmaking operations, for example, are oriented to face north, to create ideal conditions for finishing and assembly.
Almost all aspects of VC’s production happen in this building, including the complete production of all in-house movements, and several unusual operations like hairspring production, gem-setting, engraving, guillochage, enamelling, and restoration.
Image credit Vacheron Constantin SA
Dial R&D at Rolex
Dan Crivello, writing for his online publication, Coronet, provides a insightful peek into the research and development of dials at Rolex in an interview with the company's Responsable R&D Cadrans, David Riboli.
It is an almost paradoxical situation where the oldest techniques rub shoulders with the most cutting-edge technologies. Creating a new dial is a question of combining and reinventing the multitude of resources at your disposal.
We also have at our disposal sophisticated facilities that are rare in the market and whose development we have frequently spearheaded.
The use of femtosecond lasers by Rolex in the manufacturing of several of their dials has been self-evident for years now. It is, nevertheless, interesting to see it in writing, directly from their head of dial development.
Riboli's passing mention of a spectrocolorimeter likely means Rolex is leveraging the X-Rite RM200QC for colour control in its dial R&D and, by extension, X-Rite's industrial spectrophotometers in the production of its timepieces.
Image credit Etienne Malapert
Rolex Proposes Expansion in Bulle
Rolex presently employs around 14,000 people worldwide, 9000 of them in Switzerland. The proposed expansion in Bulle, situated in the Swiss canton of Fribourg, is estimated to increase that number by 2000 employees.
The new campus is slated to be finished in 2029. In the interim, Rolex has taken over a Tetrapak factory in Romont to augment production. Once outfitted, the former Tetrapak facility will employ 250-300 people, who will move to the Bulle campus upon its completion.
Linked article in German (English translation).
"General Purpose"
Marathon Watches wrangles collaboration with Jeep.
Both companies have served up military-spec, general-purpose wares for decades. While the tale may be apocryphal, it is said that the name Jeep is derived from the abbreviated shorthand for the general-purpose specification: GP.
Image via Europa Star
Ceralume
An experimental, glow-in-the-dark ceramic from IWC.
While not nearly as robust as zirconium oxide, standard-issue Super-LumiNova is, itself, also a ceramic. The fusion of the two materials is interesting. While I doubt the glow is nearly as strong as pure Super-LumiNova, if the tech progresses well it would be interesting to see it applied to bezel markings, dial indices, and hands.
Image credit IWC
Rexhep Rexhepi Reflects on His Early Career
Logan Baker, reporting for Phillips Auctioneers interviews Rexhep Rexhepi on life before Akrivia, building his brand, and how the debut of his Chronomètre Contemporain changed everything.
The positivity Rexhepi received while showing the first Chronomètre Contemporain prototype during Baselworld was unlike anything he had experienced before. For the first time in his career, his order book was already rapidly filling up with names.
Even with the success of the Chronomètre Contemporain, Rexhepi reveals a persistent inner tension throughout the interview:
I wanted to make a living from this. I wanted to build my life on it. And when you're unable to live because people don't, I don't know, they don't really trust you, or they think that you're too young, or they don't believe in you ... it's really tough. I understand it today, but in those moments, when you really have to eat, it's a different feeling. You have to be strong. You have to be really passionate to not let it get you down. But it does affect you. It all affects you.
I can't be happy with everything I'm doing in life right now. I think I can do so much more today. I know that I want to do more, but I also know that, at this moment, I'm very frustrated.
I go home every day and I can't stop myself from thinking about how I want to be further along. Yeah, I'm frustrated.
I'm very patient, but that doesn't make things any easier. I'm very patient about achieving something, but I won't let myself be happy with what I'm doing right now.
That unsatiated desire for perfection has no doubt helped to fuel the success he has found.
Image via Phillips Auctioneers, LLC