Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2021 i REVOLUTION WATCH

Defining “independent watchmaking” is almost an impossible exercise. Ask any number of watch aficionados and the chances are you’ll probably get just as many differing answers. The reason for this is that the field today tends to be more of a spectrum that ends in two yin and yang like extremes of approach. The rarer and increasingly desirable category is distinguished by a one-man show, in which a solitary artisan conceives and crafts a single watch from start to finish, almost entirely by hand. The innovations of such independents are often the well from which have sprung solutions to perennial problems that have gnawed at the minds of watchmakers for centuries. The next category is characterised by an unbridled technical, aesthetic and conceptual creativity, which, when realised in its most…

When I first conceptualised this issue of Revolution, I imagined it to be an exhaustive, didactic and encyclopedic look into the world of independent watchmaking, from its OGs like Franck Muller all the way to its latest rock stars like Rexhep Rexhepi. But then it dawned on me that what I love about independent watchmaking, apart from the watches, are the friendships I’ve made with the human beings behind the brands. And so, rather than simply recite statistics related to innovative complications, I want to share my personal stories about each of these individuals and why I love them so much. I understand that this is an unusual pathway into understanding their unique vision for horology, but I’ve come to admire, in addition to their watchmaking know‑how, the way they…

HAJIME ASAOKA A Japanese industrial designer who is a self-taught watchmaker, Hajime Asaoka began watch production in 2005 and released his first Tourbillon in 2009. He designs and fabricates majority of the watch parts in his workshop in Tokyo. In 2019, Hajime Asaoka founded a second brand named Kurono to offer affordable yet high quality mechanical watches that share the same Art Deco design elements that Asaoka-san utilises in his eponymous brand.  The watch to own: The Tsunami KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN A Russian master watchmaker who holds more than 60 patents for inventions in the field of watchmaking, Chaykin is the creator of the most complicated clock ever made in Russia with 26 different indicators for horological and astronomical values. But he is best known for his whimsical watches with high…

DAVID CANDAUX Candaux is best known for his work at Jaeger-LeCoultre where he was responsible for the bulk of innovations related to the maison’s chiming watches, creating the Master Minute Repeater as well as the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie. In 2011, Candaux left Jaeger-LeCoultre and established his own independent atelier in the Vallée de Joux. He continued designing movements for various brands such as MB&F and Van Cleef & Arpels before launching his personal brand, D. Candaux. The watch to own: D. Candaux 1740 Half Hunter ERIC COUDRAY Having spent two decades at Jaeger-LeCoultre before joining Cabestan in 2008, Coudray is responsible for creating some of the most definitive tourbillon movements of the early 2000s, including the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon and the Cabestan Winch Vertical Tourbillon. Today he runs complications…

Sweeping away years of scepticism around online sales, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the auction world into an incredible phase of experimentation last year. In a bid to find newer ways to connect with their clients amidst a global health crisis, luxury auction houses took a massive digital leap with record sales in 2020. According to Mercury Project, a Switzerland-based research firm, the five big auction houses — Antiquorum, Bonhams, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips — clocked a revenue of CHF 316 million against all odds last year. “As the world started to shut down in March, we were not sure how the luxury watch market would respond to the pandemic, but we soon realised that our clients were still hungry for watches. They wanted to buy from the confines of their…

Something is going on at Vacheron Constantin in terms of them hitting their stride with successive launches of damnably great watches each and every year. Case in point: right out of the gate, Vacheron Constantin has launched two of the very best watches of 2021. The first is the 100-piece Collection Excellence Platine version of its famous Historiques American 1921 driver’s watch with the dial canted 45 degrees clockwise. The second is the new white gold version of the already frickin’ magnificent Overseas Perpetual Calendar. Both represent Vacheron Constantin at its very best by demonstrating a great dynamic tension between vintage and modern design, elegance and refinement in spades, and originality in form. HISTORIQUES AMERICAN 1921 EXCELLENCE PLATINE AND WHITE GOLD The Historiques American 1921 has been one of Vacheron…

This summer and for the rest of the year, we are going to want to remake our vital bonds with this planet. We’ve lived through an era of seismic change where we’ve been isolated, alienated, disconnected and alone. But now with the rapidly increasing number of vaccines that have been dispensed and international travel looking once again like a reality, it will not be long before we are able to reunite with the people we love and the friends we cherish. Of the various destinations amenable to this ebullient celebration of kinship, our favourite is the Patina resort in the Maldives, situated on the Fari Islands in an atoll 45 minutes away by boat from the mainland of Malé. This is the first of a four-island ecosystem created by the…

It’s been a decade since Max Büsser introduced us to his Legacy Machine watches that not only revealed a whole new dimension to his brand MB&F, but are also universally lauded by even the most discriminating watch collectors. To be fair, by 2011, Büsser had already indelibly inked his place in the canon of watchmaking’s greatest leaders. While the world today has reignited its passion for independent watchmaking, it was Büsser who was most critical in bringing attention to them. By now the legend of Büsser has become popular horological folklore. Finding himself a young CEO at the helm of Harry Winston’s watch division amid a crazed resurgence in complicated watchmaking, but with zero in-house acumen of his own, he tapped his friends like François-Paul Journe, Vianney Halter, Felix Baumgartner…

At the time, the introduction of the battery-powered quartz watch in the 1970s was widely believed to have sounded the death knell for the Swiss watch industry. But the mechanical watch, through a miracle of selective evolution, defied its doom and made one of the most astounding comebacks in the history of the industry. It reinvented itself as less of a necessity, and more of an art form and personal expression, which led to the resurgence of mechanically complex and exotic watches. Whereas much has been said about the labours of those who have sustained the craft and commercial viability of the mechanical watch, the contributions of independent sub-contractors responsible for some of the most seminal timepieces in the post-quartz era are often passed over. Back then, Swiss watchmaking was…

THIS IS THE FIRST OF A REGULAR COLUMN BY MR TALKING HANDS OF WATCHFINDER.COM Back in the 1800s, when the wristwatch was just a twinkle on a lady’s arm, watches worn by men were to be found elsewhere, namely in the waistcoat pocket. King Charles II, fed up with fashion being dictated across the Channel over in France, had come up with the waistcoat in 1666 as part of a genius idea to make London a global trendsetter, and however which way he persuaded his courtiers to wear them, it did indeed become fashion. This nugget of sartorial history tells us something very interesting, or rather, two things: that the pocket watch was invented because Charles II had inadvertently introduced somewhere to put it, and that’s pretty much two centuries’…

Montblanc’s Villeret facility — the historical home of Minerva — has long been home to some of the finest, traditionally made chronograph movements in Switzerland. In April this year, the brand has announced a new calibre, the Calibre MB M14.08 that offers a fresh take on the 1940s Calibre 48, which was based on mathematical principles and used in the Minerva Pythagore. Mathematics was never my particular strong suit in school, but I don't need to be across sin, cos and tan to appreciate the very real, non-abstract beauty of this watch and its movement. Before we talk about the dial side, let’s jump into the calibre. Based on the Minerva calibre 48 designed by Andrey Frey and built in accordance with the Golden Ratio attributed to Pythagoras, the new…

What is interesting about the title prima ballerina assoluta or, in English, “absolute first ballerina”, is that there is no specific pathway to this greatest of honour. A ballet company can decree it; public opinion and consensus can formalise it. It can even be conferred by one legendary dancer on another, as was the case when Rudolf Nureyev referred to American dancer Cynthia Gregory as “America’s prima ballerina assoluta”. In the case of Phyllis Spira, she was given the title by the president of South Africa in 1984. Perhaps it is this nebulousness that makes this honour so rare. In the history of ballet, there have only been a total of 13 prima ballerina assolutas. But when it comes to the creation of complicated watches — and, in particular, the…

GEORGE DANIELS Daniels was the first watchmaker who could conceive and craft a timepiece by hand, out of raw materials. In a time when the industry was on the cusp of being decimated by electronic and quartz watches, he dedicated his life to making his own timepieces and improving the chronometric performance of the escapement. His greatest contribution was the co-axial escapement, which has become fundamental to the mechanical identity of Omega today. The watch to own: His final watch that was incomplete at the time of his death and is to be finished by his protégé, Roger Smith. It represents the ultimate combination of mechanisms — a tourbillon, remontoir and the co-axial escapement — in his lifelong pursuit of precision. SVEND ANDERSEN Best known for co-founding the Académie Horlogère…

ROBERT GREUBEL AND STEPHEN FORSEY (GREUBEL FORSEY) Greubel Forsey has, since the company was launched in 2004, pushed the limits of chronometry and craftsmanship to the extreme in a way few others have, while developing an inimitable three-dimensional style of movement engineering. Founded by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, the firm is best known for its inventive mechanisms devoted to achieving precision, including multi-axis tourbillons, double balances, remontoirs and differentials.  The watch to own: Greubel Forsey Différentiel d’Égalité FELIX BAUMGARTNER AND MARTIN FREI (URWERK) The introduction of Urwerk caused one of the greatest schisms in watchmaking, in that it divided time into the period before it was launched and the period after. The company started by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei is known today for taking the concept of wandering…

Over the past three decades, watch collecting has experienced a surge in interest, primarily centred around industrial heavyweights, namely Rolex and Patek Philippe. But in the last couple of years, both the wide-eyed newcomer and seasoned collector have been increasingly drawn to the work of a discreet community of watchmakers, bound by a fierce dedication to artisanal watchmaking and a freedom from corporate rule. In great part, this is because of the richness and range these watchmakers bring to the table, from the traditional to the experimental. Far away from the spotlight that shines on their big-name competitors, they work from an inner necessity while guided by intellectual and artistic ideals. They may not have a nine-figure marketing budget, but their influence on watchmaking is often directly inverse to their…

There is no denying that independent watchmakers are popular right now. Looking at any major auction results or pre-owned market sales, you will see the jaw-dropping prices of F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour watches. New projects announced by MB&F or Vianney Halter are sold out immediately. But while Swiss independent watchmakers are enjoying the spotlight, German indies, too, are experiencing a similar resurgence despite their lower profile. Your first visit to a German independent watchmaker is likely to be challenging. The car GPS might place you in proximity but not exactly at their atelier; in my case, this led to my mistakenly knocking on their neighbours’ door. Unlike their Swiss counterparts, German independents tend to reside in smaller villages, sometimes far from the city. Most of the time, the house…

One of the most famous chronographs in history is the Omega Speedmaster worn by astronaut Jack Swigert on the near-disastrous flight of the Apollo 13. With the spacecraft embattled after one of its oxygen tanks exploded on April 13th, 1970, the crew had to shut down some of their systems to conserve power for their return journey to Earth. The retelling goes that the calm and collected astronauts then decided to use Swigert’s NASA-qualified Speedmaster to time a 14-second engine burn — one of several critical manoeuvres — for the purpose of correcting the angle of the spacecraft’s re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. The correct burn time and angle would ensure the crew’s safe return to Earth; an inaccurate time would result in a too-sharp or too-flat angle, causing problems for…

The story of Bulang & Sons started in 2012, when founder Bernhard Bulang turned his passion into his profession. A successful design and branding agency owner in the Netherlands, he was a serious collector of important vintage Rolex watches and co-founder of the world-famous Rolex Passion Meetings. Bernhard has always had a desire to collect things that he connected with either aesthetically or emotionally, so it felt like a natural progression for him to set up a brand focused on vintage watches. Unlike other vintage watch dealers, however, Bulang & Sons is a brand that truly offers style for watch lovers, including accessories, fashion and lifestyle collectibles. As Bernhard hoped, when his sons came of age, they too shared his love of collecting cool things and one has already decided…