I’m back a week and have de-compressed from the whirlwind of Basel and traveling the 7000 odd miles each way. For you folks who travel long-distance on planes regularly, I take my hat off to you! As much as I love to travel to far off places, the getting there is quite wearing and the older one gets, the less tolerance I have for it. Still, it was another very good & important show for me. As you know, it is a combination of the people creating these amazing items of micro-mechanical horological art as much as the watches themselves, that I find compelling. Many of these brilliant artisans have become dear friends over the years, so meetings are spent catching up on many topics.
A bit of planes, trains & automobiles getting there! Fortunately, I had good wrist company ;-)
Good friend's discussing McGonigle watchmaking over the obligatory beer.
Aaron Becsei exhibiting at the AHCI stand on the left with new member, Stefan Kudoke, and his charming wife Ev to his right, in discussions with a client.
Tough lighting conditions trying to capture the Bexei Dignitas caliber.
A good healthy dialog is important to have, and one meeting in particular, had my hackles up when a rather self-assured industry big brand veteran tried to convince the good folks at Lang & Heyne that his services would be of benefit to them. With an annual production of just under 50 watches worldwide, the last thing they need is this. I had to tell them and then subsequently to his face in a rather heated meeting. His reputation preceded him and I care that they do not get themselves into arrangements that could potentially harm the very good reputation and good will that Marco has built up over the years. Consistency and focus is what they need right now, especially since Marco is no longer steering the company. This was big news in Baselworld and I was privy, but sworn to secrecy, to some of the aspects that lead up to his departure. Sad to see happen, but knowing Marco for the past 15 years, I understand his needs and wants. Since my return I've been asked by several collectors what this means for L&H going forward and obviously the value question of their watches has arisen. My sense is that those watches made under his direction whilst at the company, i.e the current collection, will remain the "ones to have" and any new movements/watches made under watchmaker Jens Schneider, the new Development Director, we will have to wait and see how it plays out.
L&H's new item this Basel is a black galvanic solid silver dial for the Georg, which in the RG case is quite striking. I've always enjoyed black dials in RG cases!
RG Georg with black galvanic silver dial.
Comparison of the two dial executions, enamel and galvanic silver.
Marco and good friends...
My next stop was with the Finn, Stepan Sarpaneva. He has fleshed out his design for the Lunations model, and showed me a couple of options. The fiber optic moon at 6 o'clock is brilliant and with the addition of lume material to rotating moons on the back side, makes for a realistic moon. Oh and it's correct for 14,000 years. I had a good couple of meetings with him and I selected for stock a lovely K0 Northern Stars with blue dial, white gold moons and the lume stars in the background! A tremendous example of his artisanal watchmaking. As watchmaker's go, Stepan has a design viewpoint unlike any other I work with and I really appreciate why he creates these amazing watches. He likes to say his work is "Not for everyone" and I agree!
Happy to grab this piece for stock, the K0 Northern Stars with WG Moons and lumed stars in background.
Lume stars
The Lunations
Movement side showing the two lumed moons and scale for accurate setting
On the next table over within the stand that houses Stepan, Kari and Alberto with his Loupe System, Bart & Tim Grönefeld showed their superb work. I've followed them since the early days when they debuted the Tourbillon Minute Repeater GTM-06 back in 2008. This was the most complicated wristwatch ever created in The Netherlands! Baselworld ‘09 they showed the platinum version for the first time exhibiting. 2011 was the defining moment for them in my mind. The introduction of the brilliant One Hertz put them on the horological map. It was and still is to this day, a superb example of the watchmakers art. I'm thrilled to have been able to grab the last one in a RG case for stock. Recently they've hit the slightly wider audience with the 1941 Remontoire and now the 1941 Principia automatic, however, for me the One Hertz is the iconic first inhouse caliber piece. Horological micro-mechanical art at it's finest.
For their ten year Anniversary the lads created a platinum cased automatic Flying Tourbillon in the 1941 case. The Decennium Tourbillon. A first for them, again with a brand new caliber. Quite sober and elegant!
The icon of Grönefeld, the One Hertz.
The One Hertz caliber.
The new caliber of the Decennium Tourbillon
Last year I started down the path with another talented German Independent watchmaker, Stefan Kudoke. Having had the pleasure of working with his charming wife Ev, whilst she worked with Marco at Lang & Heyne, I've known about Stefan for several years now. I bought his Kudoke 1, and it has become a fast fav. in my rotation. Utilizing his friendship with the Habrings, he bases his caliber on the Felix, however with significant differences in the bridge work, click system for the winding and the level of hand finishing. Not to mention a wholly hand engraved balance cock. It was a first for Stefan and this year it was followed up by the Kudoke 2, with the addition of a fun complication at 12 o'clock, which is a 24hr or Day/Night indicator. I'm wearing my Kudoke 1 as I type this, and his simple aesthetic, attention to detail, hand finishing and style are really compelling.
The Kudoke 2
I met Torsti Laine last year during Baselworld having already acquired one of his initial series models, the classic 1817. I was impressed upon receiving the watch and meeting it's maker brought it full circle. This year he's made many strides in his work and business. He has recognized he could use my help expanding the network of Laine watch lovers. I'm excited to let you know, I will be carrying his new pieces later this year when the initial order arrives.
These watches show his enormous talent for design and execution by hand. The good folks at A. Lange & Sohne recognized this in spades when they bestowed upon Torsti the "Lange Watchmaking Excellence Award 2014" He's a quiet guy who loves to make watches. Oh yes, those GG (Gelidus Guilloche) dials will be killer too, I’m getting a blue and a green one!
The Gelidus Guilloche
The fume frosted dial with raised indices.
The lovely caliber of the Gelidus, now with black polished balance and escape wheel cocks.
Romain Gauthier has come a long way in the 10 years since I first had the pleasure of meeting him through an industry friend. He suggested I might be a good fit to help spread the word. It's been a fun ride and I'm happy to say Romain and I have made many very happy clients over the years. His finishing is superlative and the design is unlike any other Independent Watchmaker's work I know of. It'll be a while (2+ years) before we see the Logical Two, however he shared some aspects of it with me during Baselworld. Amazing! Obviously I am sworn to secrecy, so I cannot share any details, but it will be well worth the wait ;-)
A new edition of the Insight Micro Rotor with matt blue enamel dial and black DLC Grade 5 Titanium case.
A rather stunning WG Logical One Piece Unique with hand-engraved dial back ground and matt blue enamel dial.
Love to hear your feed back,
Cheers,
Tim