In November 2015, during Salon QP, Ian Skellern moderated a discussion between three independent watchmakers: Stephen Forsey; Bart Grönefeld; and Roger W Smith. What follows is a brief account of what was said, with thoughts, illustrations and links that some might find interesting / helpful. Putting a tourbillon on a watch is like breaking your…
The first thing that strikes you when you walk through the door of Agenhor SA‘s headquarters in Meyrin, just a few kilometres from Geneva Airport, is that this small, independent watchmaking company takes two things incredibly seriously: the sustainability of its building; and its intellectual property. The latter is illustrated by stencils of Agenhor’s patented gears that…
In the latter part of the 19th century, as museums became more popular, their curators struggled to portray the intricacies of flowers and (in particular) marine invertebrates in three dimensions. While mammals and hard-bodied animals were relatively straightforward to catch, stuff and mount, the beauty of an anemone, or the radial symmetry of a jellyfish, was a…
There’s a thread that runs through many of my posts, but one I rarely mention: luxury. Luxury is often defined as an “inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain”, but over the past decade, it’s become less about the money (perhaps) and even less about the materials. Rather, luxury appears to have regressed,…
It started, as it always seems to nowadays, during the final weeks of the previous year: pre-SIHH announcements littered December, as the Richemont brands clambered to fill the dead space of the Holiday Season. IWC updated the Aquatimer range with new colour ways, while Jaeger-LeCoultre teased the Reverso Tribute Duo for the 85th anniversary of…
Last month, my friend and fellow ‘blogger @horologium suggested that we visit the Fabergé boutique on Grafton Street, ostensibly to see the new Visionnaire DTZ (Dual Time Zone) watch designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht’s Agenhor team. However, it was the Lady Compliquée Winter that stole the show. This watch, which uses the same Agenhor AGH-6901 movement as…
Last month, my friend and fellow ‘blogger @horologium suggested that we visit the Fabergé boutique on Grafton Street, ostensibly to see the new DTZ (Dual Time Zone) watch designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. However, it was the Lady Compliquée Winter that stole the show. This watch, which uses the same Agenhor AGH-6901 movement as the previously released…
It seems incredible that the Eve’s Watch Women’s Watch Awards. – the world’s first ever women’s watch awards – are taking place in 2016. Last year, the annual global market for women’s luxury watches was projected to reach $10.3 billion, a 60 per cent increase from 2005, according to Euromonitor, with women’s watches representing approximately 38%…
Five years ago, whilst on holiday in Japan, I took a detour. It started with a trip to Nakano Broadway – one of Tokyo’s main otaku destinations – a multi-level mall devoted to selling everything from manga to aidoru-related collectables, via video games and BluRay discs. It’s also home to Jack Road, which, it turns out, is actually…
Warning – this piece may contain spoilers. If you’ve not seen Interstellar, you may want to skip this and read about something else instead. This post may also contain random links / segues. Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for the film Interstellar contains passages played on the four register Harrison & Harrison in the Temple Church in…