The magazine of Christopher Ward. Issue 31. Winter 2023
Stainless steal. Stainless steal.
In 1972, famed designer Gérald Genta created an oxymoron. Priced more than many precious metal rivals, the ‘luxury stainless
In 1972, famed designer Gérald Genta created an oxymoron. steel timepiece’ was not an immediate success. But eventually its
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on. A watch that dressed up for dinner. Or down, at the pool. Today’s and rear lock ring. Our watch is thinner, goes deeper and offers 40mm,abase ofX1-lumed that original £22,850 more choiceautomatic of C1/BL Grade dials. A watch polished,costs brushed and case of- daylight time) robbery? than thesandblasted new ‘Twelve’ named(and for night its dodecagon-sided bezel
Do your research. and rear lock ring. Our watch is thinner, goes deeper and offers
a choice of C1/BL Grade X1-lumed dials. A polished, brushed and sandblasted case of daylight (and night time) robbery? Do your research. christopherward.com
christopherward.com
Loupe.
We asked, you answered
The magazine of Christopher Ward.
The moon is one of the few constants in our lives, inspiring artists, poets, filmmakers and musicians in equal measure. As Christopher Ward launches the C1 Moonphase, our nearest planetary neighbour is the inspiration for this issue of Loupe. Your first port of call should be Matt Bielby’s feature on the C1 Moonphase. Talking to the key players behind the watch – and discovering the thinking behind that aventurine dial – you’ll understand how our team created something so magical. Staying with the lunar theme, we interview Luke Jerram, an artist who’s created a series of large moon sculptures using hi-resolution NASA imagery. Standing under one is both awe-inspiring and humbling. Moving to earthly matters, we pay tribute to the giants of film noir cinema in a photo essay on page 28, while we catalogue the genius of Braun’s design on page 42. And if you’re looking for something that mixes the ephemeral with some horological history, our Great watch-wearer in this issue is Ryan Gosling. Enjoy the magazine!
It all started during a taxi ride in 2013. While on the way to one of our manufacturers with Johannes Jahnke, then our master watchmaker, we asked ourselves: which type of bespoke movement would be both a commercial success and a way of showing off our evergrowing watchmaking expertise? As so often the case at CW, the answer was delivered by you, our customers. By some distance, the most requested watch we didn’t have in our collection was a moonphase. And so, that became the brief for Johannes: build us our own moonphase movement. What could be simpler? Ten years later, after the release of our first C9 Moonphase (2015), and the stunning C1 Moonglow (2019), we present the new C1 Moonphase, inarguably one of the most beautiful moonphase watches ever created. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the genius of Johannes, the perennial skills of our design and technical teams and the expert craft of our watchmakers – but also to our incredible fans across the world who take the time and trouble to share their thoughts with us and who are always worth listening to. The new C1 Moonphase is for you. Mike & Peter
Editor: Anthony Teasdale Art Director: Jamie Gallagher Designer: Sam Burn Photography: Peter Canning
1 Park St, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 1SL christopherward.com
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Contents Features 10
Classic Ward
The story of the Blues
24 – 27
A second look at the C6 Kingfisher Diver Pro
11
Drawing board
How Everton Women are gearing up for the new season
Night fever
28 – 33
A new ‘Concept’ is on the way
12 – 21
Perpetual lunacy The tale of the C1 Moonphase
22 – 23
The history of moonphase watches Plus, ten facts about the moon
Beautiful pictures of film noir’s stars
Working on the moon
34 – 37
An in-depth look at our Calibre JJ04 moonphase movement
The Brief
O-pinion Braun photo book; Royal Observatory; Van Morrison’s Moondance; Cosmos
Night fever
28 — 33
Working on the moon
34 — 37
We talk to Luke Jerram, the artist behind the Museum of the Moon project
Insight
46 – 49
Ken Kessler on cartoon characters on watches
Latest news from Christopher Ward and the world of watches
42 – 45
12 — 21
Lunar module
38 – 41
Regulars 6–9
Perpetual lunacy
Great watch- wearers
50
Ryan Gosling
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Latest news from Christopher Ward and the wider world of watches
Gold standard! The new Twelve Halo brings 18 carat gold to Christopher Ward
Christopher Ward has expanded its Twelve range with the launch of The Twelve Halo. Unlike the original Twelve and The Twelve (36), the multi-angled bezel is made from 18ct gold. And that’s not the only change: the dial – which comes in brushed black or silver – has been stripped of its indexes, seconds hand and date window. In fact, only the applied logo and hour/minute handset remain. “The dodecagon bezel of The Twelve is one of its key design tropes, so recreating it in 18ct gold seemed an obvious way to highlight it even more,” says Mike France, CW CEO.
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“It’s nothing like we’ve done before,” says designer William Brackfield. “The bezel has been polished and sandblasted, providing more shine and lustre. Devoid of ornamentation, the dial has been designed to divert the wearer to the gold bezel – hence ‘Halo’.” “As soon as I saw it, I loved it,” says Mike. “It was the best of the options we looked at and also brought the watch’s name to life.” William agrees. “We wanted to make the most of the gold,” he says. “We don’t do solid gold regularly, so the plain dial makes it the star. We haven’t just taken the standard Twelve and added the gold bezel – here, the brushing on the dial matches the brushing on the case, providing extra contrast to the bezel.” The company believes the watch will cater to a customer base with one underlying philosophy. “The Halo is for anyone with impeccable taste,” says Mike. “A watch that insists on being seen.”
Big praise, small watch Watch journalists, bloggers, and vloggers have been unanimous in their praise for The Twelve (36) Described by Sam Price at T3 as “pretty much the perfect watch”, Watchfinder’s Andrew Morgan was wowed by The Twelve (36)’s combination of high quality and value. “The Twelve has so many angles, layers, and finishes that it’s scarcely believable it can be produced at this price point.”
Letter from Biel
The latest news from our Swiss HQ
Brittany Pearce said, “I don’t think there is a better watch at this price point,” while Watch Chris loved its size. “If you have a smaller wrist,” he said. “This is going to be a very big deal.” Finally, Jehanzeb Khalid at The Watcher described The Twelve (36) as “a watch with supreme elegance and beauty”.
CW watch raises £4k for charity A one-off Christopher Ward timepiece, the C63 Highlander EveryWatch 01/01, has raised £4,000 for a leading cancer charity. CW donated the watch to auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull for the EveryWatch auction, co-organised with Scottish Watches, with all proceeds going to Maggie’s Cancer Centres. The auction raised £57,000 for Maggie’s, which supports those suffering from cancer. Find out more about Maggie’s at maggies.org 7
It’s been an eventful few months at the Christopher Ward atelier. The summer was great, though very hot. We either went to the lake or the mountains to cool off: climate change is becoming more and more noticeable in Switzerland. In the office and atelier, we had to be careful of the temperature and humidity, which required adjustments to our infrastructure. When temperatures and humidity are high, watch parts can rust because they’re not vacuum-sealed. As soon as the parts are assembled and the watch is closed, this is no longer a problem, because they’re located in a self-contained air chamber! Christopher Ward is becoming better known in Biel – the Bel Canto has put a big exclamation mark by our name. In the past it was hard to compete against Rolex and Omega when it came to attracting staff, but our recent success has helped us. We’re always looking for fresh faces, but it takes time until they understand the high quality we demand. Besides the Bel Canto, we’ve been working on the new C1 Moonphase. The challenges are there with the glass dial and disc, as they’re incredibly fragile to assemble. You have to be so careful. Then there’s Christmas on the horizon, which is always the most stressful time of the year because we want to ensure we fulfil our orders. No one – especially CW customers – likes to be disappointed! Jörg Bader Jr, Head of Product
Big day for British watch fans The Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers has announced the launch of an event celebrating watchmaking in the UK
Recognition for bestselling Bel Canto
Prize night Christopher Ward’s C1 Bel Canto has received a nomination in the ‘Petite Aiguille’ category of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). These annual awards celebrate excellence within watch and clockmaking, recognising exceptional creations and key contributors within the industry. CW co-founder Peter Ellis says: “When we started Christopher Ward we never dreamed our watches would be put forward for an award like this. It just shows what’s possible when ambition meets hard work!” The Petite Aiguille category crowns the finest timepiece priced from CHF 2,000 to CHF 8,000. The winner will be announced during a ceremony in Geneva on Thursday, November 9th.
British Watchmakers’ Day will take place at Lindley Hall, London, on March 9th, 2024 and will host upwards of 40 British watch brands, including Christopher Ward. The event’s highlight will be the special edition watches created by exhibitors, available only to guests on the day. Alliance chairman Roger W. Smith will make a Series One watch for the event.
“I hope that British Watchmakers’ Day will become an annual event as we try to raise awareness of our sector worldwide,” says Roger. “I wanted to make clear just how much this event means to me, and that’s why I’ve committed to build one of my own watches, especially for the event.”
Shirt deal with Everton Women Christopher Ward has expanded its sponsorship of Everton Football Club in a move that will see the company’s name on the back of Everton Women’s team’s shirts. Unlike the men’s Premier League, the Barclays Women’s Super League (BWSL) allows clubs to carry sponsors’ names on the back of shirts.
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In June 2022, CW signed a multi-year contract to become Everton’s first Official Global Timing Partner, and this move shows the brand’s continuing support for the women’s side at Everton. Kate Peregrine, Marketing Director at Christopher Ward, says: “As a brand with roots in Merseyside, we’re thrilled to build on our partnership with Everton. As well as hosting our name on the team’s shirts, this deal also allows us to create incredible money-can’t-buy experiences for Everton Women supporters.”
Explorer, ecologist – and CW Challenger – Tom Hicks is back with another expedition
Tom’s toughest challenge yet! When it comes to going the extra mile for the environment, CW Challenger Tom Hicks doesn’t do things by half. Dedicated to preserving natural habitats for the good of endangered species, his last planned trip was an expedition to the North Pole on behalf of David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Sadly, it was cancelled due to matters beyond his control. But now Tom is back, and he’ll be taking part in the Snow Leopard Challenge series, a project to climb the five highest mountains in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – raising awareness of the dangers the snow leopard faces. In 2024 he will take on the first two of these peaks. Needless to say, the explorer who inspired the C60 Anthropocene GMT is raring to go!
How does this work with efforts to save the snow leopard? The driving motivation is to continue to raise funds for snow leopard conservation. However, their existence is endangered by climate change, human-wildlife conflict, changing abundance, and many other threats. Exploring the harsh environment of snow leopards tells the story of their survival battles. What training will you undergo? I have three training expeditions planned: the first two will take me to Scotland in January to cement my knowledge with the equipment needed, such as crampons, ice axes and ropes. Does this scare you? Absolutely! There’s a consistent element of fear which will continue until I am safely up and down Peak Korzhenevskaya and Peak Ismoil Somoni. Crevasses, avalanches, rock falls, altitude sickness,
Hi Tom! Tell us about your latest expedition I’ll be heading to Tajikistan to climb two mountains: Peak Korzhenevskaya and Peak Ismoil Somoni. Both are located in the Pamir Mountain range, which forms part of the Himalayas – and they’re both over 7,000m in height!
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heights and the weather all pose a risk to climbers. It’s an expedition and project that deserves to be feared. Which CW watch will you be wearing in training? I’m rarely seen without the C60 Anthropocene on my wrist while training or at any other time of day! When not wearing the Anthropocene, I have the Trident Pro 600 with me. Both will be with me throughout the training, and I’m very excited to have them atop a snow-leopard mountain in 2024!
Past masters
Christopher Ward’s Trident Collection is one of the most respected dive-watch series in watchmaking. But while Trident is near-iconic to CW fans, the company’s dive journey started with a very different watch, the C6 Kingfisher Diver Pro. “The C6 Kingfisher was our first ever dive piece,” says Mike France, who founded CW with Peter Ellis and Chris Ward. “Along with our early motorsport watches, it was the most unique and distinctive watch design in our early years.” Even today, the design of the Kingfisher feels incredibly daring. The dial, available in various colours – including a stunning ultra-bright yellow – plays host to thick, lumefilled indexes and an almost entirely luminous handset. The Ronda 715 quartz movement powers the watch, while the 42mm stainless steel case delivers water-resistance to 300m. Turn the Kingfisher over, and you’ll find a screw-in case back with an engraved NDL (No Decompression Limit) table and unique serial number. “There’s still no other dive watch like it on the market,” says Mike. “Several people have written to me recently asking for a contemporary version. You never know!”
C6 Kingfisher Diver Pro
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Things to come
Release: 2024 Since Christopher Ward’s in-house movement Calibre SH21 was launched in 2014, it’s played a central role in the company’s most advanced watches. Thanks to its twin-barrelled architecture, SH21 has a power reserve of five days and provides ultra-accurate, COSC-certified timekeeping. In 2021, SH21 was at the heart of the C60 Concept, a unique skeletonised watch that employed the services of elite watchmaker Armin Strom, lume specialists Xenoprint and boutique horologists Chronode in its production.
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And now there’s another ‘Concept’ in the offing. “We’re going to do a ‘Concept’ version of a watch launched in the last 12 months,” says William Brackfield, designer at Christopher Ward. “Like the C60 Concept, you’ll be able to see every element of SH21 through both the watch’s front and back.” The movement’s twin barrels and bridges will receive special attention from finishers. “We found on the Concept movement that if we adjusted the angles on the polished surfaces, they would look bigger and play with the light more,” says Will. “We’ll be doing the same here, though with some changes, as this is a watch with a very different character.” Christopher Ward won’t say which model will provide the base for the new Concept, but only that “it may well be even more popular than the first Concept – and that sold out in days!”.
William Shakespeare, Othello
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Christopher Ward’s C1 Moonphase pairs the remarkable Calibre JJ04 with perhaps the most insane dial – and one of the brightest moons in watchmaking Words: Matt Bielby
Everyone, it seems, loves a moonphase, even if few of us can put a finger on exactly why. We all suspect they’re of little practical value. Because nobody – bar werewolves – really needs to keep track of what the moon is doing day in, day out. But then you remember the romance and our long love affair with the moon, which shows little sign of waning (or waxing). Remember, it’s earth’s only natural satellite, a companion to the lonely, a witness to secret liaisons, every poet’s muse. That “silver deity of secret night” – to quote the poet Lady Mary Wortley. Bigger than all known dwarf planets (in fact, it’s not far off the size of Mercury), central to our art and religion and sense of time, noted for its impact on tides and – some believe – brains, there’s real magic to the moon. Pair that with our similar devotion to mechanical timekeeping and ingenious complications, and you get quite the heady brew. Moonphase watches represent a place where art dances with craft, where the chief
requirement isn’t even that the movement of the moon is reproduced smoothly and accurately – though yes, that’s crucial too – but more that it looks bloody good while doing so. There have been numerous practical applications for keeping mechanical track of the moon, but by the time Patek Philippe built the first moonphase wristwatch in 1925, most had been forgotten. From the beginning, moonphase watches were aimed at the heart, not the head. Christopher Ward has made remarkable moonphases before – the current C1 Moonglow springs to mind – but the new C1 Moonphase represents a step beyond. Using the company’s proprietary Calibre JJ04 in its most refined form yet, it’s a technically elegant and glorious-looking piece, pairing CW’s brightest representation of the moon with a stunning depiction of the star-strewn night sky. Christopher Ward has become renowned for its bold designs, but it’s rarely been this audacious or strikingly glow-inthe-dark (more on that soon). “Most moonphase watches only offer a small aperture to display the moon,” says Mike France, company co-founder and CEO. “These are most often at 6 o’clock, and though they more or less do the same
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Moonphase watches represent a place where art dances with craft job as ours, they don’t centre the moon in the same way. Years ago, when our master watchmaker Johannes Jahnke – now Director of Development at Sellita – was first working on Calibre JJ04, one of his key aims was to present a moon of genuine scale. JJ04 has many important qualities, but placing the moon aperture at 12 – and making it gigantic – was crucial.” In addition, this is a genuine perpetual moonphase, normally the preserve of very expensive brands. This means that the movement of the moon across the face is linked to the hour hand and so is in constant motion, albeit at a realistically snail-paced rate, so that all phases of the moon are represented in a single smooth movement. It also means that your watch accurately represents the state of the moon for 128 years, without the need for adjustment – as long as you keep it constantly wound, of course. “You may not expect to be around that long,” Mike says “But some mathematical models suggest 150 years – or even 300 – may be possible in the nottoo-distant future, so you never know.” All very clever. But if this watch is about anything, it’s about good looks – and that dial. Trust us when we say, no matter how crazy-good it may appear in the pictures, it’s even more spectacular in the flesh. It’s made of aventurine, a type of glass infused with tiny reflective flakes of copper oxide, first created in 18th century Italy. (Confusingly, ‘aventurine’ also refers to a mineral – a form of quartz, mostly green
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with a silvery sheen – but when you hear the word in a watch context, it almost always means the glass.) “It’s a thing of beauty, which changes as the watch moves, the light catching each tiny flake,” says Mike. A thing of beauty, but also delicate. “Aventurine is incredibly fragile,” says Jörg Bader Jnr, Head of Product at Christopher Ward. “So when you push it too hard, it breaks. Indeed, only the most careful watchmakers can be trusted with an aventurine dial. Just machining the window is difficult, as you want to ensure there are no burrs or cracks. But wrestling with all this is so worthwhile – and means we’ve ended up with one of the most beautiful and striking moonphase watches anywhere. Indeed, only Arnold & Son’s Perpetual Moon is comparable for the size of its window and moon.” “Most watches using aventurine give you but a single piece, most often the dial,” says watch designer William Brackfield. “But we’ve such a huge moon aperture that we felt we simply had to make the rotating disc beneath of aventurine, too. This posed huge challenges – not least that it inevitably adds thickness, as the inner rotating disc, holding the twin luminous ceramic moons (one always hidden out of sight), needs brass backing to keep it secure. The result is a tiny bit thicker than a Moonglow dial, but this is something we all felt it worth compromising on, as getting the joy of aventurine right across the watch is quite something – and highly unusual.” Speaking of lunar representation, the moon you see here is both increasingly domed and delicately patterned, for a more accurate three-dimensional look than that used on the C1 Moonglow. It’s also rendered in bright white Globolight (a type of luminous ceramic) rather than glowing green.
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O N LY T H E M O S T C A R E F U L WATCHMAKERS C AN BE TRUSTED WITH AN AVENTURINE DIAL
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“We decided that the slim dauphine hands should have no lume at all,” William says. “So the only glowing thing is the moon itself.” For similar reasons there’s no date window – and no twin-flags logo on the face, either. No writing at all, in fact, except for the legend ‘Swiss Made’, with the only Christopher Ward references on the crown and rotor. “Dropping the logo represents the confidence of the brand,” Mike says. “It’s no small decision to pare things back this far, but we all felt it was the right way to go. You don’t buy a moonphase to time things to the microsecond. It’s all about looking gorgeous, and evoking the ongoing relationship between mankind and our closest celestial neighbour.”
Of course, this is the sort of watch that looks great on a strap, too – smooth leather from Mastrotto with a Bader buckle, in this case – and there’s some debate within Christopher Ward as to which option will prove most popular. Whatever your choice, however, the new Moonphase is both reassuringly classical and strikingly modern. A watch that revels in a look that – unlike other moonphases, which can come across as refugees from a Jules Verne novel – has a bold, jewellery-like feel to appeal to fans of this most traditional of complications. A watch that will also be attractive to women, the Asian market (where the moon takes on special significance), and a younger demographic who enjoy a bit of subtle bling, too.
Above all, the watch is elegant. “We’ve an updated Light-catcher™ case, which – thanks to the use of a box sapphire crystal – actually looks a little slimmer than previous moonphases,” William says. “It’s similar to the Bel Canto case, and though specific to this watch, we’ll be using it again for a second iteration of the Moonglow next year.” Also elegant and fresh-from-the-drawing-board – or virtually so – is the latest Christopher Ward bracelet, The Consort™, which provides the perfect partner to the C1 Moonphase. The five-link Consort™ is polished in parts, brushed in others, built of 127 individual links (and over 200 components) and boasts an ultra-slim 3mm profile and an unobtrusive butterfly clasp. “It’s dressier and more refined,” Mike says. “And it particularly suits the new Moonphase’s cultured lines.”
In fact, a watch for the world – inspired by its faithful celestial companion. The C1 Moonphase is available now from christopherward.com
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This is a genuine perpetual moonphase, normally the preserve of very expensive brands
C1 Moonphase Open series Diameter Height Lug to lug Weight Case Dial colour Depth rating Movement Functions Power reserve Tolerance
40.5mm 13.3mm 47.9mm 67g Stainless steel Deep navy blue aventurine 3 ATM / 30 metres Sellita SW220 Automatic with Calibre JJ04 module Hour, minute, central seconds, moonphase 38 hours +/-20 seconds per day
Available now Leather strap: £1,995 | $2,325 | €2,495 Consort Bracelet: £2,120 | $2,475 | €2,655
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History
A short history of
moonphase watches
Even in our light-polluted skies, the appearance of the moon in the night sky reminds us of the hold our nearest celestial neighbour has on us. The first object to chart and predict the phases of the moon was the Antikythera Mechanism – an ancient Greek astronomical ‘computer’ from the second century BC – which displayed the position of the moon, dates and even the timing for the Olympic Games. In the late-middle ages, complex astronomical clocks – which charted the movements of planetary bodies – were found throughout Europe. In the 17th century, moonphase complications began to appear on grandfather clocks in England and Germany. The goal was simple: to show the exact phase of the moon as it appeared in the night sky.
By the following century, some advanced pocket watches contained moonphase functionality, but it wasn’t until the appearance of Patek Philippe’s first moonphase timepiece in 1925 [right] that the complication appeared on a wristwatch, with Rolex launching its own – Reference 8171 (nicknamed the palledone – ‘frying pan’) – in 1949. The most common form of moonphase is the ‘bosom’ moonphase, in which two identical moons sit on a disc under the dial. The disc is controlled by a 59-tooth driving wheel, which advances one notch every 24 hours. When a lunar cycle (29.5days) is complete, the second moon appears in the aperture – hence the total of 59 teeth (29.5 x 2).
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Ten facts about the moon
However, thanks to the irregular lunar month: its length means that most moonphase watches will be off by 0.3 days per month, losing a whole day every two years and seven-and-a-half months. But, thanks to the ingenuity of Christopher Ward’s technical team (and the 135-tooth driving wheel on CW’s JJ04 modified movement), our moonphase watches are accurate for 128 years! Today, while navigators and astronomers no longer rely on moonphase timepieces, there’s still a romance associated with the complication that makes them irresistible to watch-lovers, with esteemed brands charging between £15,000 and £60,000 for their versions.
The moon is 2,159 miles (3,474km) in diameter – a quarter the size of the earth and about the width of Australia. It’s about 238,855 miles (384,400km) from earth.
Vincent Van Gogh painted four pictures that featured a crescent moon: Landscape with Couple Walking and Crescent Moon; Road with Cypress and Star; Starry Night and Cypresses. Scientists widely believe that the moon was formed 4.51 billion years ago from the debris of an impact between a Marssized body – ‘Theia’ – and the earth.
The moon is ‘tidally locked’ to earth, meaning it always shows the same face to our planet due to its rotation and orbit synchronisation. The far ‘dark’ side of the moon could only be seen once humans were able to send satellites into space.
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Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd has sold 45m copies.
Four billion years ago, the moon’s orbit was much closer to our planet than today – and appeared 2.8 times bigger from the earth.
The dark side of the moon was first seen by astronaut William Anders, during the Apollo 8 mission. He said: “It looks like a sand pile my kids have played in for some time. It’s all beat up, no definition, just a lot of bumps and holes.”
When Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad stepped on the moon in November 1969, he said: “Oooh, is that soft and queasy.”
Several iconic pieces of music have been inspired by the moon, including Debussy’s Clair de lune (‘Moonlight’); Fly Me to the Moon by Bart Howard; Walking on the Moon by The Police; and Moon River by Henry Mancini.
There are, in fact, no rivers on the moon. Though it does have ‘maria’ – large, featureless plains once believed to have been filled with water.
Everton
SHOOTING STARS
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With interest in women’s football at unprecedented levels, two key figures at Everton explain why this could be their most exciting season yet Alan. What excited you about working for Everton? Alan: When I first joined in 2015, I’d previously worked at Watford as Commercial Director, so I came here on the business side. Then, in October 2021, our then-CEO, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, asked me to step across to my current role: CEO of Women’s Football. Coincidentally, when I did my MBA dissertation, it was on the commercial landscape of professional women’s football.
As befits one of the founding members of the Football League, Everton have been involved in professional women’s football since its earliest days. Last season, the Toffees came sixth in the 12-team Barclays Women’s Super League, but with Danish manager Brian Sørensen given time to stamp his football philosophy on the side, hopes are high for a top-four finish. Off the pitch, Everton are also in great shape with increasing attendances, and genuine commercial partners, such as Christopher Ward, coming on board. And from this season, Everton Women’s team will carry the Christopher Ward name on the back of their shirts. As the new season gets into its stride we talk to Everton central defender Megan Finnigan and Everton Women’s CEO Alan McTavish about the year ahead, and why things are looking rosy for the Blues.
Megan, how long have you been here? Megan: I’m from Wigan originally. I started playing football when I was six in a lads’ team. I loved it, and played for them until I was nine. I jumped across to a girls’ team and was scouted by Everton. I’ve been here ever since. When I was 15/16, I moved to the first team – and became a full-time professional at 19. I’ve seen it all! How have things progressed in that period? Megan: On the pitch, the standard of training I experience is so much higher than when I first came here. That’s because the club has recruited really well. We also train full time. Off the pitch is where I’ve seen most of the changes. When I began, we used to train from 8pm till 10pm, as that was the only time we could access the astroturf. We didn’t get lunch or any sort of food. Now we get breakfast and dinner.
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Megan: We produce a lot of great players, but now we’re in an increasingly popular league, overseas players are also coming here. How do we make sure we bring local players through? That’s a challenge. But regarding local girls, Nikita Paris – now at Manchester United – is a standout. She’s a Scouser through and through, wears her heart on her sleeve – and has gone on to do amazing things. You’re all so determined! Megan: Yeah, we want to win all the time. Every professional has that mentality. I trained with Nikita over the summer. We played Man United in a pre-season game, and you’d think we were playing at Wembley in the FA Cup final. She was going for it! Is there an underlying football philosophy at Everton? Alan: Our manager, Brian Sørensen, wants to play in the same way week in, week out, so if you were watching a game in black and white, you’d be able to tell that it’s an Everton performance. Pressure on the opposition – both with and without the ball – is critical, regardless of who we play.
Everton Women’s CEO Alan McTavish
Alan: When I made the move across to the women’s side, it was in the middle of a challenging season, so my aim was to steady the ship and give us a platform to move on from. We weren’t public with what we wanted to do, we were confident we’d finish in the top half of the league in 202223. And that happened. To secure sixth in the WSL in an ever-increasing competitive environment was a good step forward from the difficult season before.
How can the women’s game gain more coverage? Alan: Moving from the old TV deal to having the games available on Sky and one game per weekend free to air on the BBC is an enormous step forward. The WSL is easily the best league in the world because it’s so competitive. As Megan said, the top players in the world want to come here.
Do you draw players from the local area? Alan: The north-west is a hotbed for talent – for both boys and girls. It’s very competitive, with Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City scouting around the region as well as clubs like Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton. Megan graduated from the academy here, and we’ve had several high-profile players who’ve come through, like Toni Duggan – and some of the Lionesses. The challenge is to identify the talent and get them on board.
Megan, Have there been players from abroad who’ve impressed you? Megan: Over the last four or five seasons, more than 50 percent of our players have come from abroad. Nathalie Björn has impressed me: technically, she’s one of the most comfortable centre-backs on the ball I’ve ever seen. The recruitment has been good over the last few years, though
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“The recruitment has been good over the last few years, though this means we have to fight for our place!” this means we have to fight for our place! We all want to play every week. And that pushes me. You have to have that level of competition. Do you get on as members of an organisation? Megan: A lot of what we do is based on hard work. Brian tries to set the team up so people can drop in and out. But the team’s structure stays the same, so it’s always about the strength of the group, not individuals. What are the derby games against Liverpool like? Megan: The best of the season – as long as we win! That’s the first game we look for when the fixtures come out. The matches are passionate – and it comes down to who can manage the game's emotion best.
Alan: What you get in the women’s game is the good bits of the rivalry, without the negatives. Last season, we played the first derby at Anfield and the second at Goodison. On both occasions, the clubs secured record home attendances – and were live on TV. The timing helps, too: the games took place during the men’s international break. Coming back to the season ahead. What are your hopes? Megan: The aim has to be to break into the top four – which will be difficult. But I genuinely believe in Brian’s philosophy. Last year was about settling in and getting to know each other.
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Alan: I’m hoping to see steps forward on the pitch. From the off-pitch perspectives, we’re looking for significant increases in attendances – both at Walton Hall Park [the regular home ground] and Goodison. I’d hope to see an increase in commercial partners – such as this partnership with CW. To sum it up – more match attendees, more TV eyeballs, and more revenue to allow us to further invest in the growth of the game!
Film noir
Night fever A beautifully illustrated book brings the icons of film noir back to life
When you see film noir, you know it. Scenes – seemingly all scenes – filmed at night, and mostly in Los Angeles. Low, if any, lighting. Sudden flashes of gunfire. It’s Humphrey Bogart in hat and mac, lurking in the shadows in The Big Sleep (1946). Lauren Bacall smouldering in To Have and Have Not (1944) and Dark Passage (1947). And Jack Palance – the genre’s assassin of choice – about to ruin someone’s night with a pull of his trigger finger. For the uninitiated, the term ‘film noir’ is given to black and white crime films of the 1940s and ’50s. Employing a stark cinematic style influenced by German expressionism, the plots usually involve a cynical private detective or cop investigating nefarious goings-on – often by the rich and powerful. To complicate matters further, the hard-bitten cop is then bewitched by a beautiful/ deranged femme fatale.
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While film noir stars have long since passed to the great film set in the sky, they live on in their iconic performances and unforgettable images – the best of which have been collated in a stunning photo book, Film Noir Portraits. When you see Robert Mitchum – with ‘love’ and ‘hate’ tatts on his knuckles – or Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, you’re taken back to a world of ‘dames’ and ‘broads’; where men wear immaculate three-piece suits and women break your heart just by looking at you. While no one has made true film noir since the early 1960s, its influence has been felt ever since in colour movies like Chinatown, Seven, Mulholland Drive and A History of Violence. And if you’re hankering for the real thing, a flick through the monochrome pages of Film Noir Portraits will transport you back there – just don’t forget your gun, cigarettes and mac. FIlm Noir Portraits is published by Reel Art Press
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Pg.29 Ella Raines, Phantom Lady Pg.30 William Paul Lundigan, Follow Me Quietly Pg.31 Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, Lady From Shanghai Pg.32 Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon Pg.32 Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce Pg.33 Rita Hayworth, Gilda
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Working on the
JJ04 feature
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Frank Stelzer, Christopher Ward’s current Technical Director, worked with Johannes on the development of Calibre JJ04 and, for the first time, talks about its creation - and the legacy it has left CW. Hi Frank! Do you remember the early development of CW’s first in-house moonphase? Yes. It was a fascinating journey that exemplified our commitment to pushing watchmaking boundaries. Johannes had a clear vision from the start. He wanted to create a moonphase complication that went beyond the traditional sub-register approach. The goal was to achieve an ‘astronomical’ moonphase, more captivating and accurate than what was available.
Matt Bielby talks to CW Technical Director Frank Stelzer about the genius of Calibre JJ04, Christopher Ward’s remarkable moonphase movement
When developing a module to ‘piggy-back’ on an existing movement, what are the considerations? Compatibility is paramount – the module must seamlessly integrate with the base movement, aligning with its dimensions, tolerances and functional aspects. Any modifications made to the base movement need to be well-thought-out to ensure a harmonious interaction between module and movement. Adding a module to an existing movement can increase its complexity and dimensions, and ensuring the additional components fit within the available space without compromising the watch’s aesthetics or wearability is crucial. Ultimately, the successful development of JJ04 relied on striking a balance between the innovative vision for the astronomical moonphase complication, and the constraints imposed by the base movement.
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What do you admire about JJ04? It’s an ingenious complication that’s both visually captivating and technically proficient. The key qualities of JJ04 lie in the smooth, perpetual motion it offers. The central positioning of the moon, coupled with its continuous, uninterrupted journey across the dial, creates an animated and captivating display rarely seen in other watches. It enhances interaction between wearer and the watch, bringing the moon’s cycle to life in a tangible and engaging way. With the new Moonphase watch, we've refined the calibre to enhance its overall stability, ensuring the complication operates with the utmost accuracy and reliability.
What sets it apart from comparable movements? Obviously the size of the moonphase window, but the smooth tracking of the moon is equally significant. And then there’s Calibre JJ04’s precision. In 128 years, the deviation is only one day! While this may seem like a theoretical feature, it speaks to the level of meticulous engineering and craftsmanship that now defines Christopher Ward. Do you feel any great romantic attachment to the moon? Actually, I do – it resonates deeply with me – and what I find captivating about moonphase watches is their ability to meld art and science. On one hand, they evoke a sense of wonder and romanticism, reminding us of the vastness of the universe and our place within it. On the other, there’s the technical challenge. This intersection of emotion and precision reflects the essence of watchmaking itself.
The goal was to achieve an astronomical moonphase more captivating and accurate than what was available 37
Finally, you’re now developing your own calibres for Christopher Ward. What’s it like following in Johannes’ footsteps? I see our current efforts as a continuation of the principles Johannes championed. His ability to find elegant solutions to complex problems has inspired us to tackle challenges in a similar manner. We're carrying forward his legacy of striving for simplicity, where each component and mechanism is designed to work harmoniously within the overall calibre. But while we respect Johannes’ contributions and guidance, we need to evolve and innovate ourselves, too. Calibre FS01, developed for the Bel Canto, is a prime example of our ongoing commitment to elegant, innovative solutions, guided by the core values that Johannes instilled in us.
e o t i f l l l o e t
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Luke Jerram
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If you want to see (and experience) the moon up close and personal, the ‘Museum of the Moon’ installation is worth landing on
Despite the efforts of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, few of us will be going to the moon anytime soon. Happily, multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram has provided a solution for frustrated cosmic explorers: the Museum of the Moon. Rather than a ‘museum’, it’s a seven-metre moon replica, made from detailed NASA imagery of our nearest celestial neighbour. Or, as Luke says: “a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones”. Since 2016, Museum of the Moon has toured the globe – there are several exhibiting at the same time – inspiring and delighting people in cities from Barcelona to Liverpool, Edinburgh to Philadelphia, and about a thousand places in between. Here, we talk to Luke about the inspiration for his work, how people perceive it around the world, and why he’s still fascinated by all things lunar.
Hi Luke! Why did you begin this project? I live in Bristol. We’ve got the second-highest tidal range in Europe – there’s a 13 metre gap between high and low tide on the Avon Cut. Cycling to work every day, I noticed this, and that gave me an interest in how the moon affects the earth. About 15 years ago, I had an idea to make a replica of the moon. But the printing technology hadn’t been invented, so I had to wait 15 years for it to catch up! Tell us about your ‘moon’ The ‘moon’ is seven metres in diameter. It’s made from high-resolution NASA imagery and is half a million times smaller than the real thing: one centimetre equals five kilometres on the moon’s surface. It’s a sculpture – with a surround-sound composition – and a venue. We’ve held many events under it like choir recitals, yoga lessons and concerts. Where did you first exhibit Museum of the Moon? It was presented in a church in Kendal, a town in the Lake District. It felt amazing to see it in that space, and I knew it had the
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potential to go places. Since then, it’s toured the world. We’ve had over 300 exhibitions! What’s the appeal of the moon for humanity? We’ve been staring at the moon for 200,000 years. To provide people with the opportunity to see every mountain and crater in perfect detail is fantastic. Usually, we only see one side of the moon – it was only in 1959 that the Soviets sent the Luna 3 satellite to photograph the other side – but this artwork lets you see it all. Do people react differently to it – depending on location? If I’m putting the work in a science museum, people will look at it from a scientific perspective. But in cathedrals, visitors think of it from the spiritual side. It’s going to Japan soon as part of the mid-autumn festival, and the moon is a vital part of this. We’re also taking it to India, as the moon is significant in Hinduism.
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Do you have any future plans? We’ve got five artworks touring at the moment, but we also make them for museums as permanent fixtures. The smallest is three metres in diameter; the largest is 10m. We’ve also constructed a floating ‘earth’ – exhibited in the Albert Dock in Liverpool for Eurovision – giving people a sense of what we can lose if we mess up the planet.
“We’ve been staring at the moon for 200,000 years. To provide people with the opportunity to see every mountain and crater in perfect detail is fantastic”
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After all these years, are you still inspired by the moon? Yes, I was looking at it last night, and there was a beautiful full moon. The Indian space agency landed on the moon’s south pole in September; some craters in that area don’t get any sun, so there’s ice there. And that could be useful if they build a space station. Humanity is returning to the moon – and will use it as a stepping stone to get to Mars. I find that incredibly exciting! my-moon.org
The Braun supremacy
A beautiful photo book pays tribute to Braun, the world’s favourite minimalist design house
Culture that’s worthy of your time
The design world has a lot to thank Braun for. From the look and functionality of its calculators and food mixers to its utilitarian hi-fi systems, the German design house has built a reputation for creating easy-to-use – and easy-on-the-eye – products. Now, in a lavishly illustrated book, author Klaus Klemp tells the story of every minimalist’s favourite design house. Founded by engineer Max Braun in Frankfurt in 1921, Braun’s first product was a ‘belt connector’, which fixed broken transmission belts. It sold 36,000 individual models – generating an income of 13mn Reichsmarks. Not a bad return! Within a decade, Braun had its own modernist factory in Frankfurt and had moved into radio and broadcasting equipment. In 1932, it launched the Cosmophon 333W, the first radio with receiver, amplifier and loudspeaker combined in a single unit. At 19 Reichsmarks, it was the equivalent to almost two months’ rent in a local house.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that the recognisable ‘Braun look’ appeared when Max Braun’s sons Artur and Erwin began to encourage collaborations with Bauhaus designer and the students from the Ulm Design College. Braun’s most famous designer is Dieter Rams, who arrived at the company as an architect before moving into product design. Rams’ mid-century classics like the SK 4 Phonosuper music centre, Vitsoe 601 easy chair, ET66 pocket calculator and T3 pocket radio demonstrate his maxim to “omit the unimportant”. Apple borrowed heavily from the radio and calculator – for both its iPod and iPhone calculator. Braun is also famous for its minimalist watches. Rams and fellow designer Dietrich Lubs launched Braun’s watch line with the AW10 classic watch before expanding the range to include chronographs and digital models. As you’d expect, Klemp’s book is heavy with information and macro photography, with the images demonstrating the timeless functionality of Braun’s products – especially around its golden era from 1955-90. It makes the perfect coffee table book – providing your coffee table is up to Braun’s exacting design standards. Braun: Designed to Keep by Klaus Klemp is published by Phaidon, priced £59.95
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The documentary
Cosmos
The day out
There’s no shortage of documentaries about the universe, but few hold the viewer’s attention better than Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. First aired in 1980, Cosmos takes viewers on a mesmerising journey through space and time, unravelling the mysteries of the universe. Carl Sagan’s passion for science and the wonder of the universe is infectious, making it impossible not to be enthralled by his enthusiasm. The first programme in the series, The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean, is a tour of the universe’s billion galaxies, with Sagan leading us through the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula, our Solar System, and finally our home planet. There’s a brilliant sequence where he demonstrates how ancient Greek philosopher Eratosthenes successfully calculated the earth's circumference. With 13 episodes to get through, Cosmos is not a quick watch – but, as with all quality television, it’s worth every moment of your time. If you’re a fan of BBC documentaries such as Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, and David Attenborough’s Life on Earth, Cosmos should be on your ‘to watch’ list.
The Royal Observatory If you’re interested in time, exploration, our planet and the universe, then the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, south-east London, is a must-visit. Founded by King Charles II in 1675, its primary purpose was to improve navigation at sea and find the solution to the ‘longitude problem’ – the difficulty sailors had in determining their exact longitude at sea. What was needed was a clock that could keep time accurately at sea so mariners could determine their location. Clockmaker John Harrison vowed to make it – incentivised, no doubt, by the £20,000 prize from the government to the person who could make it. At the Royal Observatory, you can see his H1, H2, H3 and H4 marine chronometers – the last of which met the exacting requirements of the Admiralty (though he had to produce a fifth before he was awarded the prize). Away from clocks, you can stand on the Prime Meridian Line, which divides the world into Western and Eastern hemispheres, before enjoying an audio-visual exploration of the universe in a show at the Peter Harrison Planetarium. History fans will love the Octagon Room, designed by Christopher Wren in 1676, lined with ancient astronomical instruments, clocks and telescopes. Finally, it’s always a treat to see the Time Ball drop. Installed in 1833, the ball drops precisely at 1pm every day, allowing ships in the Thames to calibrate their clocks (if the need still arises).
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The album
Moondance by Van Morrison It’s 1969. And Belfast songwriter George Ivan (Van) Morrison isn’t having a good time. His Astral Weeks album, though lauded by critics, has not sold well. He needs to make a record that people actually like. An album that’s heavy on the songs, and a little lighter on the difficult jazz ‘numbers’. As he later said: “I make albums primarily to sell them and if I get too far out a lot of people can't relate to it. I had to forget about the artistic thing because it didn't make sense on a practical level. One has to live.” The result is Moondance. Fifty years after its release, it remains the ultimate Sunday morning record, bringing the Irish poetic tradition together with the blues and soul of black America.
On an album this revered, there are no standout tracks – they’re all superb. But if you can listen to Caravan and Into The Mystic without looking wistfully into the distance you’re a better man than me. The title song, Moondance is a joyful jazz boogie with a great opening verse that goes perfectly with the music. "Well, it's a marvellous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance ’Neath the cover of October skies" The rest of the album is just as strong – witness the beautiful and optimistic Brand New Day for proof – delivering the satisfaction that only comes when you’ve listened to an album without pressing the ‘skip’ button once. Van, it seems, really is the man.
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Column
Character flaw Watch brands love the fictional as much as the real: here, Ken Kessler muses on the influence of the imaginary as he dons his Halloween disguise
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You just never know what’s going to be the next hot ‘thing’. If I had the vision to see the future, I’d be wealthy, but – as an example of my cluelessness – a watch-biz colleague once asked me what I thought of the ‘Snoopy’ Omega Speedmaster Professional. I looked at her and uttered with thinly disguised contempt: “Really?” Having solicited the same opinion elsewhere, she passed on it but, a decade on, never lets me forget that I screwed up. They now change hands for north of £35,000 and she was offered it at trade price when it was around £6,000 retail. Call me ‘Schmuck’! What I failed to realise was that fictional ambassadors and watch tie-ins mean as much to some enthusiasts as do real people. James Bond, Mickey Mouse, Indiana Jones, any characters from the Marvel or DC Comics multiverses (especially Spiderman or Batman), Star Trek and Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, computer gaming subjects: devotees of these imaginary figures and many others never lose the passion for their childhood heroes. While they may discover their idols when young, at an age when the limits of their devotion might mean a Hulk T-shirt, a Corgi Aston-Martin, or X-Men DVDs, as they reach adulthood they often carry on as fans. The difference is in spending power. From begging one’s parents for a £4.95 comic (sorry: ‘graphic novel’) or an action figure, the craving for memorabilia matures to film props, out-of-print publications and, yes, associated wristwatches. The watch brands have known this for over 100 years. Should you be asked in a pub quiz to name the first-ever ‘character watch’, or if you’re trying to be clever when watching Antiques Roadshow or Mastermind or University Challenge, you’ll lose if you say “Mickey Mouse” because that franchise with Ingersoll didn’t take place until 1932/33. It was beaten to market by the ‘Buster Brown’ watch of
1920 from Dagot: Buster being the mascot of a company which made children’s shoes sold in the USA, a role not unlike those of, say, Ronald McDonald or Bibendum (aka the Michelin Man). [Brief aside, as I am notoriously anti-brand ambassadors. Considering that commercially-produced, serial wristwatches only emerged in the early 20th century, it’s worth noting that what many consider to be the first purpose-made wrist-borne timepiece was named after the pioneering aviator who commissioned it: Cartier’s Santos, in honour of Alberto Santos-Dumont. As far as the use of ambassadors goes 100-plus years later, Louis Cartier might have said: “Plus ça change.”] Where character watches beat models based on reality is simple to comprehend. If you were a fantasy watch brand CEO, you would ask: What's better than a human watch ambassador? A fictional watch ambassador – because it can't bite back, play the diva, drive you nuts with an entourage, turn up wearing someone else’s watch after you’ve paid them upwards of $1m a year to be seen only with your brand’s timepieces etc. Even though the cartoon or film or book character’s agents can be nearly as petty, tricky, fussy, or greedy, all you have to deal with when making watches associated with fictional characters are the strictures of the copyright owners and the contracts. There hasn't been a golden period of character watches per se: they've simply been here all along. As far back as 1989, books were published about character watches, including one from the estimable Heart of America Press, The Character Wrist Watch Price Guide, which ran to more than 200 pages. With an average of six watches per page, you don't need a calculator to determine that even back then the authors had compiled in excess of 1,200 watches
Gérald Genta released a Mickey Mouse watch
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for collectors to covet, ranging from Roy Rogers to Wonder Woman and Bugs Bunny. Mixing fictional with real people, even that was incomplete, eg: Elvis watches were included, but there was nothing for The Beatles and their nowcoveted Apple watches. (Which raises a smile for those who love the Fab Four but detest the ‘smart watches’ from the computer brand). While all the character watches over the first seven decades of the 20th century were cheap and cheerful, they were at least mechanical. The arrival of quartz and injection-moulded plastic created a bit of a boom in the 1970s, because it meant that just about every TV show, movie franchise, cartoon series, comic book hero or even politician had an associated wristwatch. My personal favourite was the Chairman Mao watch, which had conventional hoursand-minutes hands, but his arm waved all the while. More than 40 pages of the aforementioned guide dealt just with variants of Mickey Mouse watches, who remains the poster child for characterbased watches, the number of models bearing the rodent’s face running to the many dozens. The milestone piece, however, and which is most relevant to this month’s spiel, was the arrival of one from no less than Gerald Genta [designer of the AP Royal Oak/Patek Nautilus], for it was the timepiece which made character watches a viable subject for the high-end.
featuring any and all fictional ambassadors. You just have to find the right one with appeal to a Millennial or Gen X millionaire watch enthusiast. I’m sure new ones will soon follow the biggest franchise of the year, but be not surprised that even 34 years ago, collectors had a choice of over a dozen Barbie watches. Both mechanical and quartz, the latter with a tiny LCD display and the former with the doll waving her arms to tell the time, these will soon shoot up in value on eBay, thanks to Barbie’s biopic being the smash hit of the summer. As for Ken watches, despite the name I think I’ll pass. That said, it’s anyone’s guess what you'd have to pay for the bizarre 30th anniversary 1994 mashup of Barbie & Ken plus Star Trek, complete with Spock and Kirk dolls. Thus we now come to the 600-pound gorilla, the talk of this year’s Watches & Wonders and a joyous success story for Oris, one of Switzerland’s most honest brands. Although Timex was first to acknowledge this much-loved amphibian, and the name has been applied unofficially to a specific Rolex, Oris has the rights to use the image of Kermit, and it’s a change to find a wristwatch bringing a smile to the faces of all who discover its party trick. Unlike brands I could name which have wasted valuable licences – don’t get me started on the abuse showed to departed rock stars – Oris demonstrated peerless wit with the ProPilot X Kermit Edition by featuring a green dial highlighted by the frog’s face appearing in the date window at 6 o’clock on the first of each month, or ‘Kermit Day’. Even at £3,700, they’re being snapped up swiftly – no surprise as those weaned on Sesame Street are now the aforementioned fans whose disposable income grew with the passing of, er, time.
My personal favourite was the Chairman Mao watch
In the late 1980s, he released not just a haute horlogerie Mickey Mouse watch for serious money, he also issued similar pieces with Popeye, Minnie Mouse, and Snoopy on the dials. Since then, fictional characters have been a fixture in the high-end of watchmaking, culminating most recently in Audemars Piguet’s controversial Marvel collaborations. From $1 cheapo watches to six-figure price tags, the money today is now astronomical for models
I wonder if Oris can resist issuing a pink-dialled Miss Piggy?
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Great watch-wearers
Ryan Gosling
Barbie was the smash-hit movie of summer 2023. And while critics and fans adored its quick humour, feminist message and neon aesthetic, watchlovers were equally enamoured by the watches Ryan Gosling’s Ken wore in the film (more of this later). This shouldn’t be a surprise. Gosling is a watch aficionado who ensures the timepieces he wears on screen fit the characters he plays. And while he could afford a collection of ultra-modded Nautiluses and ruby-encrusted Royal Oaks, Gosling is strictly ‘stealth wealth’. A pivotal moment for observant watch fans was the appearance of a perfectly patinated Rolex Air King (Reference 5500) on his wrist in Crazy, Stupid, Love. While some consider the current Air King – ie: this writer – a cluttered, confusing mess, the original AKs were a subtle gateway Rolex for generations of watch lovers.
The 34mm Air King was launched by Rolex in 1945 as part of its Air series: a range of hand-wound watches intended to honour RAF pilots involved in World War II. Gosling’s Ref. 5500 – the Air King came in several iterations – was released in 1954 and was powered by the 17-jewel 1520/30 automatic movement. He’s worn it on several red-carpet appearances. Another timepiece Gosling has made his own is the 34mm (that size again) Omega Trésor he wore for 2016’s La La Land. His character Seb is a struggling – aren’t they all? – jazz musician trying to make it in modern-day Los Angeles. As someone obsessed with the old jazz greats, it shouldn’t be a surprise that his watch matches his outlook. Though, how Seb would be able to afford an Omega like this is another matter. Gosling also wore three Omegas in First Man and a (reportedly fake) whitegold Patek Philippe Calatrava (Reference 5196G) in 2011’s Drive. But today, as an ambassador for TAG Heuer, he’s a onebrand man, enabling him to have his picks of classic Heuer models.
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Which brings us back to Barbie. During the film, Gosling’s Ken wore a trio of vintage gold Heuers, while during the promotional tour he sported a TAG Heuer Carrera Date with a hot pink dial. Which gave us enough horological eye candy to make Barbie our film of the year. Just a shame there isn’t an Oscar for ‘best watch’!
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Return Address Return Address Christopher Ward (London) Limited Christopher Ward (London) Limited Street 11 Park Park Street Maidenhead Maidenhead Berkshire Berkshire SL6 1SL SL6 1SL United Kingdom United Kingdom CUSTOMER NUMBER
CUSTOMER NUMBER
CBP011929 CBP011929
Meet The the Twelve insane (36), C1 Moonphase, pg 12. Meet p12