With less than 3 weeks to go until Baselworld, the watch industry is definitely heating up with brands making product announcements before the annual fair starts, no doubt taking advantage of this “calm before the storm”.
So without further ado here are what I consider the top pieces of news from this week, as well as some worthwhile horological reading material from across the web. The Sunday Horophile Times 09/03/2014.
NEWS:
Arnold & Son DTE
Arnold & Son are definitely a roll. For the 250th anniversary of the Arnold & Son name, the English-born and La Chaux-de-Fonds based brand has released one of their most technically impressive and visually striking piece to date, the DTE (Double Tourbillon Escapement). As far as I know, this is the only wristwatch offering two tourbillons running two independent dials via separate barrels and gear trains. It is basically the next step in their dual-escapement dual-time watches, which started with the DBG collection last year. Definitely looking forward to seeing this one in a few weeks!
Hublot Manufacture Expansion
Last Monday, I attended a press conference at the Hublot manufacture in Nyon, where Jean-Claude Biver and Ricardo Guadalupe announced that Hublot is starting construction of their second manufacturing facility, just opposite the existing one. Check out my write-up of the announcement and what it means for Hublot here.
H. Moser & Cie Perpetual Calendar Black Edition
Here’s a surprising release from a brand that’s primarily known for classical and minimalist pieces, and that’s H. Moser’s award-winning Perpetual Calendar done in a black DLC-treated titanium case. It’s unexpected but I like it. Stay tuned for a hands-on look after Baselworld.
Timezone.com Watch of the Year Award
TimeZone.com, the world’s oldest online watch discussion platform (and where I happen to be a moderator), recently held its annual “Watch of the Year” awards, where forum members vote for one of six pieces that they consider the most important watch released in 2013.
With 24% of total votes, this year’s winner was none other than Girard Perregaux’s LM Constant Escapement, which I gave an in-depth look at here. Well-deserved in my humble opinion.
The “Geneva Dialogues” Show
In collaboration with Dukascopy TV and ADLUX group in Geneva, my old watch-loving pal Mike Croft and I have just begun shooting the first episode in what we hope to be a monthly video series about the world of watchmaking we’ve dubbed the Geneva Dialogues. All I can say for now is, stay tuned!
RECOMMENDED READING:
Elizabeth Doerr shares an interesting story on Forbes.com about Pierce Brosnan’s role as a watchmaker in the upcoming movie “Survivor” and how he learnt from independent watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin what it’s really like to play the part.
I shared my review of the RJ Romain Jerome Moon Orbiter watch when I first launched TheHorophile.com a few months back. Ariel Adams shares his own in-depth and hands-on experience with the intergalactic piece on ABlogToWatch.com.
http://www.ablogtowatch.com/romain-jerome-moon-orbiter-tourbillon-watch-hands/
One independent watchmaker I can’t quite get enough of is the Russian Konstantin Chaykin. His latest creation, the “Carpe Diem” pays tribute to none other than Father Time, with an hourglass complication set into a very dramatic dial and case design. Check out Brice Goulard’s live photos and review on monochrome-watches.com.
Last but not least, the world-renowned Watch-Anish.com offers an ever so stylish photo report on DeBethune’s new pieces from 2014 including the DB28 Digitale and Dream Watch 5.
http://watch-anish.com/debethune-novelties-2014-hands-dream-watch-5-x-db28-digitale/
