TWG Magazine Issue 3 by Laura Finnegan

03. the design issue

THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULE.

WOMEN’S MILLENARY IN PINK GOLD.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

WELCOME It gives me great pleasure to introduce issue three of The Watch Gallery’s biannual magazine – a visual feast of horological delights. In fact, it’s a feast in the literal sense from page 50, where we’ve cherry-picked the finest timepieces to pair with your party attire, come the holiday season. Being the (almost) Christmas issue, it seemed obvious to theme the entire edition thus. Which is precisely why we chose not to! Instead, we’ve stuck to concentrating on the new watches we’re excited about and want you to know about; the trends we’ve noticed coming out of the Swiss ateliers; plus the amazing people making it happen over there in the Jura mountains. All of which seems to have led us unwittingly down another path: design. For an object that’s usually circular, rarely larger than a fifty-pence coin, at which you glance up to 100 times a day, good design is crucial to a wristwatch. So, from page 21, we celebrate the six definitive modern classics – designed so perfectly so many decades ago that they’ve barely needed to change since. (Compare that to the fickle worlds of cars, fashion or architecture.) If you have “designs” on a new watch (sorry), ultimately it’s The Watch Gallery’s experts who can best chaperone you through this tricky decision, many of whom have over 25 years’ shop-floor experience. If you’re at a standing start, then visit the website, now boasting a live-chat function, allowing you to quiz your very own horological concierge from the comfort of your sofa. Meanwhile, I wish you happy reading.

............ THE TEAM EDITOR Alex Doak

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Emily Seares

ART DIRECTOR Laura Finnegan

HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY Hannah Kidushim

PHOTOGRAPHER & VIDEOGRAPHER Junior Monney Zoe Esfandiari

POST-PRODUCTION Mariangela Garofalo

CONTRIBUTORS Laura McCreddie Murray Clark Hilbrand Bos

MARKETING Camilla Richardson Ellis Hourshid

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Alex Doak EDITOR

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CONTENTS

BIG PICTURE

PORTRAIT

CLOSE UP

THE ARTISANS

ART MOVEMENT

THE CHRISTMAS FEAST

IWC & BFI

MODERN MASTERPIECES

WOMEN’S WATCHES

BOYS & GIRLS TOYS

WINDING STREETS

THE ARTIST

CHRISTMAS BESTSELLERS

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THE BIG PICTURE

WATER WINGS It’s an open secret that despite Bremont’s aviation pedigree, the British watch brand’s co-founder Giles English is mad on boats as well as planes, having studied ship science at Southampton Uni. So it was only a matter of time before Bremont set sail – though no one quite expected it to be in such style. Not only is it keeping time for the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, but it has partnered with defending champions Oracle Team USA, whose sailors are already sporting the Oracle II – a bright and breezy take on Bremont’s diving watch, with added GMT function. And in a satisfyingly cyclical fashion, the team’s skipper Jimmy Spithill has even gained his private pilot’s license, to better understand the aerodynamics of his AC45 catamaran; a boat that literally flies across the waves.

Photo: Gishani Ratnayake.

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DETAILS

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DETAILS

DEVIL’S IN THE DETAIL

IT’S THE SEEMINGLY INNOCUOUS THINGS THAT MAKE A GOOD WRISTWATCH GREAT – AND TO DEMONSTRATE, WE’VE DISSECTED THE DEFINING DESIGN DETAILS OF A ROYAL OAK, BIG BANG AND SUBMARINER THEWATCHGALLERY.COM

CLOSE UP

PREVIOUS PAGE: CREATED FROM HIGHLY CORROSIONRESISTANT 904L STEEL, ROLEX’S GLIDELOCK CLASP LETS DIVERS EXPAND THE BRACELET TO ABOUT 20 MM IN 2 MM INCREMENTS TO FIT OVER WETSUITS. THIS PAGE: THE HUBLOT BIG BANG’S SIGNATURE “H” SCREWS THAT SECURE THE ROUND BEZEL ARE A MARVEL OF MICRO-ENGINEERING

“The fact that AP still uses the same analogue machines as 43 years ago is part of the magic that traditional Swiss watchmaking holds.”

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On a tour of a typical Swiss watch factory, you can always be sure of a warm welcome from a crisply labcoated, beaming technician in every workshop you enter – eager to introduce you to their team of similarly cheery, labcoated watchmakers, toiling away at benches flooded with natural light from the Jura mountains. But venture into the Royal Oak dialmilling room at Audemars Piguet and it’s a different matter altogether – a surreal experience akin to a Dr Who villain’s lair. Here, there is little natural light, and even fewer technicians. Instead, a sinister battery of ancient, elaborately engineered machines – about the same size as a Dalek, in fact – each whirring away autonomously with random jerking motions, accompanied by a muffled drilling noise. Where the rotating raygun would be, is mounted a rotating, waffle-patterned disc, like a small manhole cover. What could they possibly be doing..?

The answer is in fact rather charming – and certainly less threatening than a Dalek. Since 1972, when AP’s mighty Oak sprung up and rewrote the rulebooks for luxury steel sports watches, these exact-same machines were conceived to realise the one other defining design characteristic beyond its iconic octagonal bezel: the “tapestry” or “tapisserie” textured dial. The machines work on the pantograph principle, where a metal finger “feels” the 3D pattern of the oversized manhole and through a series of step-down linkages, translates its movement to a “burin” cutting tool, yielding a miniaturized version of the pattern on a brass disc. Each piece of brass is then painted, layer after painstaking layer, to yield a dial of unusual depth and sheen.

CLOSE UP

THIS PAGE: THE DISTINCTIVE “PETIT TAPISSERIE” DIAL OF AUDEMARS PIGUET’S ROYAL OAK AUTOMATIC IS CARVED OUT OF BRASS BY THE SAME 43-YEAR-OLD MACHINES THAT WERE BUILT SPECIALLY WHEN THE WATCH LAUNCHED IN 1972..

In this day and age of CNC machining, the fact that AP still uses the same analogue machines as 43 years ago is part of the magic that traditional Swiss watchmaking holds. But more importantly, it’s an attention to detail that’s shortcut to the detriment of the whole effect. Once you know it’s there, it can’t be the same without. Like Hublot’s Big Bang for example – an oversize sports watch that owes much to the legacy of the Royal Oak; undisputed king of the “statement” timepiece, despite its tender 10 years of age. Without its round bezel’s six H-shaped screws, it could look like any other generic pretender to the Big Bang’s throne (and there are many). But there are few watchmakers of Hublot’s calibre who’d (a) bother with such small flourishes, and (b) who boast the engineering clout to manufacture such intricate screws, then finish them so finely. In Rolex’s case, there are almost too many exacting design details to mention –

take your pick from the Cerachrom bezel circling the GMT-Master II (the seamless division between blue and red ceramic a closely guarded secret), the watertight Oyster crown, the “Mercedes” hand on its diver’s watches, the Cyclops magnifying glass over the date… What sets these details apart, though, are their pure functionality; the distinctive looks are a happy consequence. So, while most other brands do their best with their own interpretation of all the aforementioned Rolexisms, we’re turning instead to Rolex’s extendable Glidelock bracelet – as clever and perfect a bit of engineering as you could hope for. And as a result, peerless. Of course, just like your Big Bang’s screws, or Royal Oak dial, only you will really know its hidden secret, and why it makes your watch special. But it’s this insider appreciation that makes watch collecting so enriching.

“In Rolex’s case, there are almost too many exacting design details to mention – take your pick”

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SWISS BLOCKBUSTER.

Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Special Edition BFI London Film Festival 2015. Ref. 5102: Like a good movie, this watch relies on precision and per fect craf tsmanship. The IWC-manufactured 59215-calibre movement provides the watch with energy for a full eight days. And that probably gives it a longer running time

than even the greatest epics in cinematic history. I WC . E N G I N E E R E D FO R M E N .

Mechanical IWC-manufactured movement, 8-day power reserve with display, Date display, Antireflective sapphire glass, Unqiue Blue Santoni Strap Sapphire-glass back cover engraved with BFI Film Forever, Water-resistant 3 bar, Stainless steel

PORTRAIT

“WATCHES ARE SO CLOSE TO THE BODY,

THEY’RE ANATOMICAL”

LADY-IN-RED SARA SANDMEIER STARTED OUT AS A JEWELLERY DESIGNER – SOMETHING THAT’S HAD AN INTRIGUING INFLUENCE ON HER CAREER AS BAUME & MERCIER’S SENIOR DESIGNER

With that shock of red hair, statuesque frame and constructivist clothing, Sara Sandmeier looks like she’d be more at home taking a bow after a show at London Fashion Week than discussing her ideas with a watchmaker in a quiet workshop nestled in the Jura. However, for the past 15 years, that has been precisely what she’s been doing in her capacity as senior designer for Baume & Mercier – the “starter” brand of the Richemont stable. Under her auspices, the brand has reinvented itself on the women’s side, with a richer choice than most for horologically inclined belles; from this year’s delicately revamped Classima, via 2014’s women’s only Promesse collection, to the simple Linea and its rainbow of interchangeable straps. All of which is pretty impressive for someone who didn’t start out designing watches. “I actually started by studying jewellery at the Arts School in Geneva. When I graduated I set up my own workshop, but it was too complicated trying to make a living, so I decided to do an internship at [fellow Richemont brand] Piaget to learn about watches as well as jewellery,” explains Sandmeier. “Back in 2000, Piaget and Baume & Mercier shared a design studio, so, after I finished my internship, I was asked to work exclusively at Baume & Mercier.” After two years, the jewellery was history; she went full time and has been there ever since, nurturing a brand that had previously seemed a bit lost. Now, things have never felt more coherent. It certainly helps that Sandmeier is one of a growing crop of watch designers,

such as Christoph Behling at TAG Heuer and Octavio Garcia, just recently ex of Audemars Piguet, who didn’t start out in Switzerland’s closeted world; a quality that offers them fresh perspective on what you can do within the constraints a watch offers. “I think it has given me more of a knowledge of materials,” says Sandmeier of her jewellery background, “knowing how different materials react and how they can be used. When you work only in CAD design, like a lot of watch designers, you don’t know any of this because the virtual and the real are so very different.” However, with a brand such as Baume & Mercier, priced particularly keenly within a narrow “luxury niche”, there are monetary constraints and compromises in which to work. “We’re a value-conscious brand and I must always have this front of mind. We work closely with the technical and the marketing team so as to make sure the result fits the brief in the most appropriate way.” But that doesn’t preclude Sandmeier from having fun with her designs or allow her creativity free reign. “Because of my jewellery background, I’m interested in how things fit; watches are so closely related to the body, they are almost anatomical. Plus, everybody looks for emotion when choosing a watch. I don’t like to use clichés, but one thing is sure – everything we surround ourselves with shows our personality. So the choice of a timepiece definitely gives an indication of who we are.” Which, in Sandmeier’s case, changes daily. But, luckily for us, that makes for a perennially interesting brand.

“We’re a value-conscious brand and I must always have this front of mind.”

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PORTRAIT

“IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK

WITHOUT THE NEW GENERATION OF YOUNG DESIGNERS”

HE’S BEEN THE “EYES” OF JAEGER-LECOULTRE FOR 28 YEARS, BUT CREATIVE DIRECTOR JANEK DELESKIEWICZ IS NO DINOSAUR – IN FACT, THINGS HAVE NEVER FELT SO FRESH

When Janek Deleskiewicz joined JaegerLeCoultre in August 1987, the Swiss watch landscape was very different. The surrounding Jura mountains were still as tranquil as ever, but the prevailing mood was despondent – still smarting from the ruination reeked by the “Quartz Crisis”, when cheap Far Eastern digitals became the norm. But things were starting to look up. A hardcore of traditionalist collectors and European connoisseurs had kept a few brands going, but other wealthy sorts were rediscovering the soulfulness and integrity that only a “proper” watch can lend. And at the vanguard, alongside Rolex’s eternal Oyster, Longines, Cartier and a few others, was the reborn JaegerLeCoultre and its flip-case Reverso. “At the time among all other projects undertaken by the company, the Reverso clearly stood out,” Janek recalls, “in particular in Italy and in France. It contributed hugely to the relaunch of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Later on, other lines such as the Master became very successful as well, but the Reverso still remains ‘the’ reference.” It is undeniably iconic, in an industry where the word “iconic” is bandied about far too freely. First developed in 1931 for colonial polo players who were tired of errant mallets smashing their watches’ glass, it was and remains an accidental Art Deco classic. Which is all the more reason to admire the man at the helm of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s design department; a man who has managed to uphold and evolve Reverso as the brand’s “halo” product, yet gradually introduce other collections (including more traditional, round-shaped collections that would

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usually front any other brand) with consistent success. “Of course, the brand is constantly evolving,” he says, “the tools that we use accelerate, the watchmaking expertise grows. But our attitude towards making watches does not change, we still follow the same philosophy: making a special movement for every watch. When we work on the design, on its dial and case, it all stems from the mechanism.” Janek is nothing if not self-effacing. You will seldom hear this sort of respect for the mechanics inside from many product designers, let alone watch designers. But maybe this is why he’s stayed at the top of J-LC for so long, while CEO and marketing heads come and go. And as a result he continues to create very “J-LC” J-LC’s: classic watches containing a lot of invention. “It seems a paradox!” he laughs, “but take for example the new Geophysic, a watch inspired by our heritage yet fitted with a resolutely new [jumping seconds] movement.” He’s right, the Geophysic might seem very simple on paper, but put it on your wrist and it simply feels “right”. Which is harder to get right than you think. “A design team is indispensable today,” he considers, when asked about his process. “There are a lot of design stars that we hear of, but I think that it is impossible to work without the new generation. Young designers know the contemporary world very well, they have this fundamental knowledge…” Back in 1987, the watch world was a world away from the contemporary world. It’s thanks to pioneers like Janek Deleskiewicz that Switzerland’s watchmakers are even considered in the same light today.

LEGENDS LIVE FOREVER EL PRIMERO

www.zenith-watches.com

I Chronomaster 1969

CHOPARD

RACING IN STYLE. WORLD SPONSOR AND OFFICIAL TIMEKEEPER SINCE 1988.

MILLE MIGLIA GTS POWER CONTROL (168566-3001). CHOPARD MOVEMENT, CALIBRE 01.08-C

MILLE MIG L I A

OLD MASTERS

MODERN MASTERPIECES SIX CLASSIC WORKS OF THE WATCHMAKING ART, STILL AS PICTURE-PERFECT AS WHEN THEY WERE FIRST UNVEILED

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TAG HEUER

MONACO, 1969 STEEL ON LEATHER, 39MM Arguably, Zenith made the first selfwinding chronograph in 1969 with the El Primero, but Heuer (along with Breitling and Büren) was the first to industrialise its own “world-first” automatic stopwatch, the Calibre 11 sooner that year. Its first home, the Monaco was an avant-garde combination of out-there squareness and far-out mechanics, and it now houses the Calibre 12 – a specially adapted ETA base with a DuboisDepraz chrono’ module (don’t worry, there won’t be a test). Still as ice-cool as when Steve McQueen donned his in Le Mans (1971), and still every petrolhead’s “grail watch”.

£4,050

BREITLING

NAVITIMER, 1952 STEEL ON LEATHER, 43MM The original and groundbreaking aviator instrument kitted out with a slide rule – invaluable to pilots and navigators in the Fifties and cementing the Navitimer’s reputation as pilot-watch de rigueur. A status that remains to this day, despite – though some pilots say because of – the rise in high-tech avionics and distinct lack of slide rules in today’s maths syllabus. What’s more, while first equipped with the classic and beautiful handwound Venus 178 calibre, it’s now powered by Breitling’s very own, in-house-manufacture B01 automatic – a movement that’s proving itself to be a thoroughly reliable workhorse for this increasingly independent brand.

£5,760 THEWATCHGALLERY.COM

OLD MASTERS

CARTIER

TANK, 1917 ROSE GOLD ON LEATHER, 41MM X 31 MM In 1917, just 90 miles from the carnage of the Western Front, the hushed Parisian ateliers of Cartier were working on a wristwatch that would become the benchmark not only for “shaped” watches but dress watches as a whole. The strength of the Tank’s design – inspired, remarkably, by the footprint of the Great War’s newest weapon – lay in its dramatic break with the elaborate curves fashionable at the time, and the exercise of restraint in its form. Here was an instrument for telling the time that completely eschewed tradition, bringing modern design into watchmaking’s traditionally fusty ateliers. So perfect are the Tank’s proportions that the simplest “Solo” version has barely changed in a century, and works beautifully in every wrist size.

£5,950

IWC

PORTUGIESER, 1940 ROSE GOLD ON LEATHER, 43MM Seventy-five years ago, two Portuguese businessmen approached their local International Watch Company rep and requested a wristwatch with marine-chronometer levels of precision. Never one to shirk from a challenge, IWC complied with a gamechanger, mounting a chronometer pocket-watch movement onto a wristwatch. A slow-burner from the start, when the “Oversized Watch” was re-released in the Nineties, it was the instant posterbooy for a craze that continues to this day. Kitted out with IWC’s beautifully finished 8-day-power-reserve movement, it’s even fitted with a strap produced by Italian shoe atelier Santoni. So make sure you “hot foot it” (sorry) to The Watch Gallery to reserve yours.

£14,750 22

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OLD MASTERS

ROLEX

SUBMARINER, 1953 STEEL ON LEATHER, 40MM

“Truly great design stands the test of time - a triumph of human imagination over materials.”

Blancpain might have pipped Rolex at the post when it came to innovating the diving watch’s rotating bezel, but the Submariner was always going to be the enduring classic – and not just because Sean Connery wore it in every one of his Bond films. For a start, in response to the Fifties’ booming popularity in SCUBA, it moved on Rolex’s screwed-together Oyster case by leaps and bounds with the addition of a screwed-down crown, as well as the bezel. The simple, functional design has barely changed since, with the exception of the protective “shoulders” flanking the crown, but the cocktail of cool is now spiked with the brand’s latest, chronometer-rated mechanics, scratch-proof “Cerachrom” bezel and silky-smooth adjustable clasp to accommodate the extra bulk of a wetsuit. A diving watch, in other words, with which you really would go overboard.

£4,050

JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO, 1931 STEEL ON LEATHER, 42MM X 26 MM

The Reverso enjoys one of the most colourful histories of all, its invention born out of necessity in the twilight years of British Colonial rule. César de Trey, a Swiss businessman who’d made his fortune selling dental products was travelling in India in the late 1920s, where he took in a polo game. A British officer trudging off the field after the final chukka flashed his watch, its glass smashed from an errant mallett, mumbling, “Another one broken…” Rather than suggest he simply remove his watch prior to each match, de Trey seized upon the challenge and turned to clockmaker Jacques-David LeCoultre and his long-term partner Jaeger SA, who pioneered the watch’s titular flippable case – a satisfyingly tactile mechanism that’s barely changed in 80 years. The design also happens to be a genuine Art Deco icon.

£5,760

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DETAILS

“Watches are the most complex product to make, in terms of the design, development and the manufacturing.” 24 THEWATCHGALLERY.COM

ADVERTORIAL

MAKING MOVES IN MO’TOWN MANUFACTURING HAS RETURNED TO DETROIT, MICHIGAN. BUT IT AIN’T ABOUT THE CARS THIS TIME – THANKS TO SHINOLA WE’RE TALKING WATCHES, HAND-MADE TO EXACTING, SWISS STANDARDS

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Anyone who enjoyed watching Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston’s hipster vampires cruising the desolate streets of Detroit in last year’s gothic slacker movie, Only Lovers Left Alive would be forgiven for thinking Motor City is still a ghost town; a sprawling grid of derelict factories and crumbling monuments to former municipal greatness; bleak by day, dangerous by night. However, make a turn off Detroit’s arterial Woodward Avenue onto West Milwaukee Avenue and at no. 485 you’ll find one of several buildings that indicate anything but. Constructed between 1928 and 1930, the so-called Argonaut Building once housed General Motors’ vast research laboratory, and in 2007 GM donated it to the local College for Creative Studies. Two years and $145 million later, the Argonaut was restored to its former Art Deco industrial glory and a small start-up bearing a beloved old name moved into the fifth floor. Its aim? To bring back traditional, skilled manufacturing to America. Its product? Watches and bicycles, of all things. Shinola is the first company in decades to produce watches at scale in America and in order to do so, its founder, Tom Kartsotis – ex-chief at Fossil – brought master watchmakers over from Switzerland’s prestigious quartz-movement maker Ronda to train locally recruited, out-ofwork youngsters in the art of movement assembly. “To make a watch in the US is an unbelievable endeavour,” says Kartsotis’s factory manager Olivier De Boel. “Watches are the most complex product to make, in terms of the design, development and the manufacturing. Yet all the employees we’ve assembled here – they may have assembled cars in the past, but never watches. “In the beginning, Ronda’s technicians would be reaching their arms around the neck of our trainees just to show them

how to handle the parts. But now we’re assembling every movement in-house.” The result? Solid, well-crafted, utilitycool watches (most for less than £500) and fewer disillusioned kids out on the streets. Only Lovers Left Alive might have been a vampire film, but now it seems really farfetched. “These people that are working in the factories and building watches,” says exAdidas creative director Daniel Caudill, “that’s really the story. This is about the United States, localising jobs and creating jobs. Our space at the Argonaut was a big, raw, open-concrete space… and now it’s a watch factory.” Take Detroit-born Willey Holley, for example; a security guard at the College for Creative Studies. He asked for an interview and passed a dexterity test assessing the skills necessary for a job on the production line. Willey is is now the brand’s movement assembly line leader. Or how about David Jacobs, who comes from Canton, just west of Detroit? He was a bowling-alley mechanic for 10 years, with zero background in watchmaking. Jacobs started as a caseback-closer for Shinola, and now works as a watch repair technician. “Right from the beginning, you just want to put your best foot forward, and try your best,” says assembly specialist Lakishka Raybon, “but now, people are gonna buy watches that were made by me. That’s a big deal to me!” Since its inception in 2011, Shinola has come on leaps and bounds, now employing roughly 425 people – 326 in Detroit – with over 150 in manufacturing. And it doesn’t stop at the watches and traditionally built bicycles. It embraces a scattered community of small-scale artisans, making all manner of high-quality lifestyle products, from journals to shoulder bags to dog chew toys, even. What’s more, in May 2014, Shinola announced the opening of a 12,000-squarefoot leather factory to produce a portion of Shinola’s watch straps and eventually

expand into small leather goods and handbags. Then, in November, a new dial manufacturing operation started at Shinola’s flagship Detroit store. Where Shinola teamed up with experts from Ronda on the movement front, the Taiwanese company BAT Ltd, expert makers of dials for more than 30 years helped establish this state-of-the-art facility, which shoppers can observe while they browse. Detroit has a long way to go, recovering from the collapse of its motor industry, but Shinola is showing a new way and a new hope.

MADE IN BRITAIN In response to London’s own boom in artisanal craft, Shinola’s popular “Makers Monday” project is launching for the first time in the UK this November. First introduced in the US in 2013, Makers Monday simply asks people to pledge to “buy maker” on Monday 30th November. Its homepage also serves as a curated hub that spotlights craftspeople around the world, each of whom must manufacture over 50% of their high-quality goods locally. Our UK favourites have to be Bellerby & Co. globes – one of the world’s only traditional handmade makers of globes – and Jess Fugler Bike Bells, whose old-fashioned “hello vicar” ringers will look perfect on the handlebar of your Shinola Bixby sit-up-and-beg. makersmonday.com

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THE ARTISANS

A COLLISION OF CRAFT WE MEET THREE EAST-LONDON CREATIVES OCCUPYING THREE WILDLY DIFFERENT NICHES, YET BOUND BY AN EXACTING EYE FOR DETAIL, AN AMBITIOUS VISION AND ONE PARTICULAR PASSION: WATCHES

............................................................. THE TATTOO ARTIST:

MO COPPOLETTA BROADLY HAILED AS LONDON’S LEADING MAN IN INK, THE DON OF CLERKENWELL’S THE FAMILY BUSINESS HAPPENS TO BE A BONA FIDE HOROLOGICAL CONNOISSEUR It was 1997 when, at the relatively mature age of 27, Mo Coppoletta decided to up sticks, swap Italy for London and re-train as a tattoo artist. By 2003, he had established The Family Business on buzzy Exmouth Market with something new – a tattoo parlour with a high-quality approach, and a unique, boutiquey environment informed by Mo’s passion for Roman Catholic and decorative art. Today, it is considered one of the very best. What’s doubly appropriate is that The Family Business’s neighbourhood, Clerkenwell, was once ground zero for the world’s leading watchmakers; for Mo is, believe it or not, a fully signed-up watch collector. And we’re not talking the odd vintage Rolex or Panerai – we’re talking hardcore haute horlogerie. He’s a well-recognised patron of cult, cuttingedge steampunks, De Bethune and is close friends with some leading faces on the thriving independent scene, from the Grönefeld brothers to Finland’s Stepan Sarpaneva (who now bears a tattoo of his own scowling moonphase, following a visit to Mo on a boozy night out during last year’s SalonQP event). But in among the horological oddities are masterpieces from luxury watchmaking’s bigger players, such as Audemars Piguet (Mo is the proud owner of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Skeleton, no less)

and Jaeger-LeCoultre, whose blue-dial Duomètre Quantième Lunaire (from £29,400) was cutting a particular dash beneath Mo’s velvet cuff the day The Watch Gallery paid a visit. “I’m from Italy,” he explains in his languorous Venetian lilt, “so I’ve always been blinded by watches. But around 2006, I really started to have an interest in the top stuff. Through the reportage from [annual watch fair] SIHH, online forums and travelling I became involved in the industry and discovered a real fascination for really interesting, really finely crafted watches.” It’s probably no coincidence the man behind London’s finest, most artistic tattoo studio harbours such a passion. As he attests, an appreciation for watches is an understanding and endorsement of a craft, and a meaningful, visceral form of self-expression. “It’s less in your face than a car or mansion,” Mo considers, “but it’s always with you and close to you. It’s not so ostentatious (as long as you pick the right one!) and only a few fellow enthusiasts will appreciate it. “But when that happens,” he adds, “it’s always a very satisfying conversation.”

thefamilybusinesstattoo.com

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THE ARTISANS

THE JEWELLER:

CLARICE PRICE THOMAS A BRIGHT YOUNG THING OF HACKNEY, WHOSE WATCHMAKING FATHER AND A CHILDHOOD HOME FULL OF CLOCKS AND TOOLS INSPIRE HER JEWELLERY’S DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE

The sleepy seaside town of Cromer – heart of the North Norfolk coast and home to Alan Partridge – seems a million miles from Hackney Wick, the beating heart of east London’s hip artisan scene. But without both, we wouldn’t have Clarice Price Thomas. She’s that unusual thing: a young jewellery designer-maker who isn’t afraid to place the engineering process at the core of her eponymous brand. In fact, the mechanical means of manufacture both inform and reflect her aesthetic, sculptural approach, being, as she is, the daughter of an accomplished watchmaker. Every month or so, Clarice returns to her father Richard’s workshop in Cromer and gets to work on proper horological machines – an old Myford lathe and Centec milling machine – programmed using mathematical tables to turn out her jewellery components with a precision to rival a chronometer maker. In fact, her “Time” collection features cogs and pinions that could work perfectly well in a pocket watch. “I looked into casting,” says this proud Rolex wearer, perched at her bench in the Hackney workshop where she finely finishes each piece herself, “but I wanted to keep the delicacy of watchmaking in these pieces. I wanted them to look real, and like they’d actually work. I was quite stubborn about continuing to use the old machines.” Occupying a unit in an old chocolate factory above two microbreweries, overlooking the River Lea to the Olympic Stadium, Clarice is concentrating on her latest collection to join Time, called Metropolis. A perfect name, as each pendant or ring’s sleek geometric rectangles immediately call to mind

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Fritz Lang and his futuristic vision of Manhattan’s Art Deco skyline. And Metropolis’s perfectly parallel, gently curved facets couldn’t have been realised through anything other than watchmaking techniques. “I grew up with three sisters,” she recalls, “and when we were toddlers all four of us would crowd around the doorway to dad’s workshop at home – which he had made sure to block with a babygate! “But when I was about 13, being obsessed with cats, I wanted to make some cat earrings. So he helped me, using some scrap silver, introducing me to the tools and equipment in the process… My ears weren’t even pierced then, but I can’t remember wanting to do anything else after that!” She’s made impressive progress, despite never receiving formal training or qualifications. Once she moved to London, she just, as she says, “picked stuff up on the way, blagging jobs here and there…” It all amounted to a solid education in and around the jewellery hub of Hatton Garden, and she’s now looking to expand into more bespoke commissions, and high-end bridalware. “I thought moving to Hackney would be a step too far from Hatton Garden,” Clarice says, “but actually it’s bringing me closer to my sort of customers; young, creative people who like to discover new things and get involved. And I prefer dealing direct with customers anyway. It’s so much more rewarding; it gives you ideas you’d never have otherwise.”

claricepricethomas.com

THE ARTISANS

THE MIXOLOGIST:

TONY CONIGLIARO THE WORLD-FAMOUS COCKTAIL MAESTRO AND PROUD BLANCPAIN AND IWC OWNER, WHOSE HACKNEY-BASED DRINK FACTORY IS THE THINKTANK BEHIND ZETTER TOWNHOUSE AND 69 COLEBROOKE ROW’S EXTRAORDINARY CONCOCTIONS

“A beautifully made diving watch actually relates a lot to the work we do at The Drink Factory. Like our best cocktails, they’re simple and elegant...”

When the The Watch Gallery pays a visit to The Drink Factory – an incongruous old warehouse covered in graffiti, round the corner from bustling Broadway Market – it’s quickly apparent how lucky we’ve been to secure an audience with Tony Conigliaro. He’s running late, securing an emergency visa for Cuba, where he’ll be filming later in the week, just days after returning from Melbourne, where he’s been setting up the bar at Heston Blumenthal’s new outpost of Dinner. Just before our time together, a group of IKEA executives are crowding the laboratory, seeking creative inspiration (if you find yourself grabbing a martini with your meatballs next Sunday, you read it here first). And when we finally find our slot, Tony’s youthful, labcoated mixologists continue to whirl around us, frantically preparing the welcome cocktails for 400 VIPs attending the Observer Food Monthly Awards that very night. Tony Conigliaro is clearly a man with very little time on his hands. Which is far less than can be said for his wrist. Peeking from Tony’s cuff today is his new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe (£7,290) – a diving watch as crisp as the exotic waters it’s intended for. Coincidentally, it turns out that the business partner for his latest venture, Bar Termini in Soho, is our other unlikely watch fan, Mo Coppoletta – and it was he who persuaded Tony to go for the Bathyscaphe. “I love military and diving watches,” he says, gazing fondly at his wrist. “I like the elegant simplicity of them. “A beautifully made diving watch actually relates a lot to the work we do at

The Drink Factory. Like our best cocktails, they’re simple and elegant on the face of things – but it’s hard to know just how much work has gone into it; the effort and skill that lies beneath.” Standing here, surrounded by towering shelves of obscure ingredients, vast sous vide machines and precision vacuum distillers intended for research labs, it’s easy to understand what he means. When you ask for a Master at Arms cocktail at the Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell, you’ll instantly fall for its subtle blend of port, rum and grenadine – but would you know that the port swirls away in that distiller for hours and hours, its alcohol slowly evaporated to the perfect level of tanginess? Probably not; just as most SCUBA divers rarely think of how long Blancpain’s watchmakers took, polishing and piecing together the cogs and wheels inside every Fifty Fathoms. But Tony is clearly uncomfortable trying to force the analogy too much – for him, watches are a new passion that only seems right for a man of such élan. But as talk turns to respective collections (he also owns an IWC Spitfire, because his grandfather worked with R.J. Mitchell on the famed fighter plane in the Thirties) his ears prick up at the mention of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. “We created a ‘Royal Oak’ cocktail for an AP event recently,” he says, proudly. “It has acorn liqueur from Spain, and oak bitters, which we created in-house. Topped up with champagne.” Fancy a drink by any chance?

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ART MOVEMENT

HAUTE HORLOGERIE IS OFTEN CONSIDERED AN ART FORM, AND RIGHTLY SO. AS MURRAY CLARK LOOKS TO THE GREATEST ART MOVEMENTS OF MODERN TIMES, WE PLACE CLOCKWORK UPON THE CANVAS.

BAUHAUS Simplified forms, clean modernism and mass appeal – just three aspects that made the Bauhaus movement so definitive at the turn of the century. Seen on everything from hackneyed art posters to garish Katy Perry music videos, the Bauhaus movement initially shocked 1920s tastes and gradually engrained itself into pop culture. Such sparse minimalism inspired much more than an IKEA Kölnne flatpack, though; chiefly the MeisterSinger Neo Q (£495) with its clean single-hand dial and the Junghans Max Bill (£475) – a watch named after the quintessential Bauhaus graduate himself. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.”committee of bored men. THEWATCHGALLERY.COM

L’ART POMPIER

As arbiters of all things traditional, trust the French to establish L’Art Pompier, more commonly known as “big and impressive classical paintings” to you or I. With a focus on masterful brushstrokes and 19th-century gloom, the Bell & Ross WW1 (£2,700) makes the most befitting horological counterpart: painstaking craftsmanship, expert skill and a nod to a bygone era.Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.”committee of bored men.

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AMERICAN REALISM

Stateside dreams are forever immortalised in the works of American Realism, a movement that encapsulates everything real and romantic about the US of A. Much like Shinola, celebrated Detroit revivalists, the Runwell Chrono watch (ÂŁ690) harks back to an age of old school Coca Cola adverts, Californian orange groves and concretehopping metal workers. God bless America.

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BRUTALISM Stalinist concrete dream or town planner’s nightmare? Regardless of the verdict, this imposing form of architecture dominates Europe from Basildon to Belarus in a maelstrom of towering structures and lots and lots and lots of cement. The same level of bold engineering can be found in the robust SevenFriday M-Series (£995) whilst an adherence to clean lines and simplistic volume is channelled by Uniform Wares with the TKTK watch (£650). Soviet living has never looked better.

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PL AY TIME WHAT TOYS ARE ON YOUR LIST FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR? A QUICK VISIT TO THE WATCH GALLERY MAKES CHILD’S PLAY OF CHOOSING YOUR DREAM TIMEPIECE, EVEN IF IT DOES HAVE TO BE A JOINT BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS PRESENT…

BON VOYAGE! MONTBLANC HERITAGE SPIRIT ORBIS TERRARUM There’s an air of old-world adventurism about Montblanc’s new worldtimer – it speaks of pith helmets, telescopes, yellowing maps and plucky chaps setting out for hitherto uncharted territory. In fact, the German penmaker, which boasts two cutting-edge Swiss watch factories, has based this year’s Heritage Spirit collection around the exploits of Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese explorer whose small fleet of four ships successfully established a (relatively) safe passage from Europe to India as long ago as 1497. Something to inspire every little world-builder.

£3,895

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AIR TIME

DETAILS

ZENITH PILOT All the cool kids want to hang with The Watch Gallery, and following on from April’s exclusiveedition Hublot Classic Fusion with TWG blue stitching, Zenith has now joined the gang in similar style, updating its perennially classic aviator model – a chunky, handsome devil that Biggles himself would be proud to sport. In fact, Louis Blériot wore a very similar-looking Zenith when he was the first to fly across the English Channel in 1909, “which i use regularly,” he reported, “and cannot recommend highly enough to people in search of precision.”

£4,950

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DETAILS

FASTER!

FASTER,

TAG HEUER FORMULA 1 Once was a time, somewhere around the Eighties, that TAG was “the” entrypoint for kids wanting to emulate their fathers and get in on the Swiss thing. And 2015 will be known as the year things (correctly) returned to this state, after years of edging perhaps too far into the high end. Not only do we have new brand ambassadors in the shape of Cara Delevingne and superstar DJs David Guetta and Martin Garrix, but the high-octane world of Formula 1 remains at the heart of the brand – every schoolboy’s fantasy sport and the inspiration for this great-value, racy chronograph.

£1,200

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DETAILS

DRESS UP

GUCCI HORSEBIT It may stem from Gucci’s iconic men’s loafer, created by keen equestrian Aldo Gucci in 1953, but the horsebit motif translates beautifully to this dainty cocktail watch (or mocktail watch, if your little princess insists on one of her own). The ultra-contemporary rose-gold case surrounds an elegant mother-of-pearl dial inlaid with three diamonds at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions whilst iconic “Gucci” lettering adds a classic finish. It’ll work perfectly with jeans and a blouse, but we recommend you opt for that Roland Mouret frock. As for her highness? You should finally treat her to the dreaded Elsa dress.

£775

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DETAILS

ART ATTACK

OFFICINE PANERAI RADIOMIR8 DAYS When it comes to purity of line, proportion and form, Paneraiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Radiomir is top of the class. That iconic combination of cushion and circle is instantly recognizable, and the interplay of polished and brushed facets means it sits most elegantly on the wrist, despite its voluptuous 45mm diameter. The shape actually originates from a Rolex pocket watch, which Rolex adapted for the wrist (and the depths) on behalf of the Italian naval supplier, and so perfectly drawn was it back in the Thirties that barely a millimetre has changed ever since.

ÂŁ4,800

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FREE DIVE

DETAILS

ORIS DIVER’S SIXTY-FIVE Back in 1965, Oris was getting in on the newfangled amateur diver’s market, thanks to the booming popularity of SCUBA technology and the need for a clearly legible waterproof watch with a rotating bezel to time your oxygen supply – a potent buddy-up of two boy’s toys, which endures to this day. Oris’s typically slick, under-the-sonar effort is now getting long-overdue recognition thanks to 2015’s 50th-anniversary revival, with its gorgeous domed dial now in scratchproof crystal. And while they’re deliberately “patinated” yellow for retro appeal, the numerals are now in burning SuperLuminova rather than carcinogenic radium, which is wise.

£1,150

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HALVES

GAME OF TWO

BREITLING SUPEROCEAN 1915 It was precisely 100 years ago that Gaston Breitling revolutionised the chronograph. Not only was he one of the first to respond to the growing popularity of wristwatches over pocket watches, but his big 1915 release was one of the first wristworn chronographs, and the very first to separate the stopwatch start/stop/ reset button from the crown for easier use. This year’s commemorative version, limited to 1,915 examples is a fitting tribute – and perfect for timing those games of two halves. Referees needn’t even check they’re pushing the right button – it’s always at 2 o’clock.

£6,790

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DETAILS

ALPINA

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SHE’S ALL THAT WOMEN’S WATCHES HAVE GONE FROM DIRE TO DESIRABLE IN A FEW SHORT YEARS. LAURA MCCREDDIE LOOKS AT THE BRANDS LEADING THE CHARGE

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ART MOVEMENT If we’re all being honest here, women’s watches used to be a bit of a joke. The people making them didn’t take them seriously, so why should those of us who had to hand over our hard-earned cash? They were generally smaller men’s watches with a pastel dial and strap and diamond-set bezel; “pink shrinks” for short. They were the horological equivalent of a man patting you on the head and telling you, “not to worry your pretty little head about it.” And then something started to change. While Patek Philippe quietly kick-started proceedings back in 2009 when it launched its new split-seconds chronograph in a women’s watch, this was still watchmaking that was out of the realms most women looking to put something on their wrist that didn’t look as though it had been designed by a committee of bored men. As revolutions go it wasn’t a firecracker of a start but a momentum had begun. It took another five years but it seemed like 2014 really was the year that Switzerland wised up to the fact that women wanted proper watches. Not ones comprising quartz and diamonds but ones with complications, interesting movements and straps that came in something other than pink. Suddenly brands everywhere were launching intelligent watches for discerning women.

“It wasn’t quite a ‘something for everyone’ approach but it certainly gave you choice.” At the beginning of last year, Baume & Mercier launched its Promesse collection. Previous women’s watches from this brand had been patchy at best, but here was something else. Sara Sandmeier, the brand’s lead designer had plundered the archives and found a piece from the 1970s which combined the round and oval shapes that were to make it into the final design for the Promesse. The result was a gorgeously feminine collection that looked hs though it was really created with women, in all their diversity, in mind. It did have quartz-and-diamond options, but there were also steel or bicolour automatics or versions on patent leather straps. It wasn’t quite a ‘something for everyone’ approach but it certainly gave you choice. Hot on its very stylish heels was TAG Heuer’s reinterpretation of the Carrera for women, then Montblanc announced its Bohème collection, which contained, as its hero piece, the brand’s first-ever perpetual calendar for women.

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“When we created the Bohème collection, we had a woman in mind whom we call the Bohème lady. She knows who she is and what she wants, goes beyond just external values but looks for substance,” explains Alexander Schmiedt, Montblanc International’s managing director for watches. When you consider its previous watch role model was Princess Grace of Monaco – a woman not really known for her “substance” – this was definitely a step in a more informed direction.

The year of women’s watches was rounded off in spectacular style by IWC, when it unveiled its Portofino Midsize collection at Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong. This was a collection aimed squarely at women (though the name deliberately downplayed it) and, due to the amount of complications on offer from moonphases to dual time, women who know their watches. Cate Blanchett was the postergirl for the collection as seen in the accompanying photography exhibition, which was shot by Peter Lindbergh and featured her and Emily Blunt smouldering, fully-clothed mind, in the Italian Riviera. The message was clear – we’ve designed these watches for sophisticated, intelligent, confident women. A statement made even more remarkable by the fact that it was coming from a brand that prides itself on being “engineered for men”.

“Female customers specially requested this sort of watch from IWC. Lots of women don’t like a particularly girly style, which is why we’ve gone with the midsize and also why we’ve called it the Midsize,” was the explanation Georges Kern, the brand’s CEO gave when quizzed on why he had decided to launch it. And that wasn’t the end of it. 2015 has, thankfully, seen this momentum continue. In January Audemars Piguet announced that one of its major focuses of this year would be women’s watches; starting with the Millenary collection. Although the brand has always made watches for the fairer sex, they had taken a back burner while the likes of the Royal Oak hogged the spotlight. However, this year it decided to lead with its newly revamped Millenary – a boldly designed watch that was inspired by a piece from the archives, shelved because its oval case wasn’t overly popular. The logic behind resurrecting this incredibly brave design was to create something that didn’t patronise women. And it certainly doesn’t do that. There may be diamonds, but the real focus here is on the movement, thanks to the offset dial, which had to be reversed in order display components that would otherwise be hidden. Rather than deploy the usual decorative elements associated with women’s watches – mother of pearl or gemstones – this puts the mechanics front and slightly off-centre. A tactic that would previously have only been used in men’s watches.

“Everything is a question of allure, balance, proportion and details.” The other launch that flirts with convention this year is Chanel’s Boy.Friend. Despite the name, this wasn’t another shrunken men’s watch; Boy.Friend instead acknowledges the very close relationship women also have with their watches. “The inspiration was definitely masculine in some regards,” explains Nicolas Beau, Chanel International Watch Director. “The Boy.Friend watch is the perfect illustration of the art, so dear to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, of twisting elements from the masculine wardrobe into feminine staples. With its enigmatic name it doesn’t think twice about shaking up the classic, feminine watchmaking codes. Everything is a question of allure, balance, proportion and details.” Now, with so many watch personalities to choose from, the only difficult decision you have to make is which woman you want to be today.

DETAILS

SHE’S IN FASHION Just like everything else in your wardrobe, watches don’t go with everything. Here’s our guide to what to wear with some of the best women’s watches out there. BAUME & MERCIER PROMESSE (STEEL AUTOMATIC)

This is a classic-looking timepiece but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it. Reference its 1970s inspiration by teaming it with the floaty high-necked print dresses that are everywhere at the moment. And maybe a poncho, if you dare.

MONTBLANC BOHÈME PERPETUAL CALENDAR

The diamonds on the bezel could put this firmly in evening territory, however, if you have it on the white strap, it could work for daytime wear. Muted tones might be your best bet between the hours of nine and five. Though if you’re wearing it after dark, then swap the white strap for black and go all out with that modern gothic staple – a long, black lace dress.

IWC PORTOFINO MIDSIZE MOONPHASE

The Peter Lindbergh campaign saw Cate Blanchett and Emily Blunt teaming their Portofinos with suits, which are very much in fashion this season. As this has diamonds and a moonphase, keep to the cocktail options, when it comes to your two-piece. Shirt underneath is optional.

AUDEMARS PIGUET MILLENARY

When a watch is this bold, it has to be statement, rather than fighting with your outfit for attention. Chanel Audrey Hepburn for daytime – classic black cropped trousers and chic polo or crewnecks in cashmere – and for evening go with a LBD or even a little red dress if you’re feeling emboldened.

CHANEL BOY.FRIEND

There is no other way to wear this watch other than by thinking WWCD (what would Chanel do). Luckily there are lots of androgynous options around at the moment. Slouchy knits teamed with wide-legged trousers would work perfectly.

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TIME TO CELEBRATE FEASTING, FESTIVITIES AND A SPRINKLING OF GOOD CHEER ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A TRULY MERRY SEASON; ALL YOU NEED IS A SPARKLING WATCH TO OFFSET YOUR MOST DAZZLING, PARTY ATTIRE…

THIS PAGE: ROLEX YACHT-MASTER II EVEROSE (£16,650) FACING PAGE, TOP RIGHT: CORUM MISS GOLDEN BRIDGE (£19,400) FACING PAGE, BOTTOM RIGHT: AUDEMARS PIGUET MILLENARY (£20,700)

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ROGER DUBUIS VELVET (£15,500)

STILL LIFE

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STILL LIFE

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“A bit of extravagance never hurt, come Christmas; diamonds, rose gold and leather in exotic hues all add sparkle to this most magical time of the year.”

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“As the frost creeps up to the door, warm fires crackle, corks pop and watches tick with reassuring regularity, we settle down with friends and family for a feast to remember.”

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THIS PAGE: CARTIER CLÉ DE CARTIER (£21,900)

DETAILS

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MOTION PICTURE

WHEN IWC MET BFI ONE EMBODIES TIME, THE OTHER ILLUSTRATES IT; SO WHY ON EARTH HAS IT TAKEN SO LONG FOR A FINE WATCHMAKER TO BECOME INVOLVED IN FILM ITSELF?

........................................................ When the watchmaker to Hollywood royalty such as Cate Blanchett and Kevin Spacey announced a threeyear partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI) and London Film Festival last year, brows were furrowed. It’s one thing for a luxury watch brand to court the silver screen’s idols and even appear on the silver screen itself – but to involve itself with the custodians of said screen? And a British one at that? Well, it quickly made sense with a visit to the BFI most hallowed ground. In Berkhamsted of all places. Established in 1935 just two years into the institute’s lifespan, the BFI’s, and therefore by extension our National Archive is headquartered in a veryEighties 1987 building originally funded by Paul Getty. Dating from the earliest days of film to the live capture of current television, Berkhamsted and a new £12 million acetate-film storage in Warwickshire are a combined repository of nearly a million titles, from 60,000 fiction films on all formats imaginable, to 120,000 non-fiction films and about 750,000 television titles. But it doesn’t stop at these towering stacks of reels, sat in minus-three-degrees darkness. Far from being an inanimate – albeit impressive – repository, the Archive is using the latest cutting-edge methods to restore and preserve the UK’s film heritage. Acetate film is a fragile medium, after all. And that’s where IWC’s partnership comes in. For not only are proceeds from its sponsorship, the sale of the special-edition BFI watch (see box) and October’s celeb-strewn “Luminous” fundraiser financing this costly work, but the work itself bears uncanny resemblance to the IWC

ateliers of Schaffhausen. Just as their watchmakers quietly toil at crisply appointed workbenches, the Archive’s technicians also go about their delicate, painstaking task in Berkhamsted’s lab, cleaning up and piecing together old film. All along, in fact, IWC has been keen to stress this partnership goes far beyond being a mere “time partner”, according to UK brand director, Simon Chambers. “In 2014, BFI were looking for partners and we were, too. But it had to be relevant, with the right shared values. We want this to be an active partnership and build something meaningful.” To paraphrase Rick Blaine from one of cinema’s most popular works, “I think this is the start of beautiful friendship.”

ESSENTIALS • The Watch Gallery Eexclusive

IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition “BFI London Film Festival 2015” • Limited to 59 timepieces in

stainless steel • Exclusively retailed by The Watch

Gallery at £8,250 each • Individually numbered on the

caseback, alongside the inscription “BFI Film Forever 2015” • Your purchase will be helping the

BFI’s archivists in their essential work, preserving an increasingly precious medium.

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CARTOGRAPHY

WINDING STREETS

THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The Clocks and Watches gallery in rooms 38 and 39 includes notable Breguet and George Daniels timepieces as well as a working clock from the 1600’s.

IT MAY NOT BE PAVED WITH GOLD, BUT LONDON IS CERTAINLY RIDDLED WITH HOROLOGICAL HISTORY – SO WHY NOT CHANNEL YOUR INNER “TICK” WHITTINGTON (SORRY) AND SEEK YOUR FORTUNE IN OUR CAPITAL’S WATCHMAKING LANDMARKS?

THE WONDER ROOM

The Watch Gallery’s gleaming emporium on the ground floor of Selfridge’s, Oxford Street features Audemars Piguet, Blancpain and IWC, among many, many others.

WESTFIELD LONDON

The Watch Gallery’s westernmost outpost, pride of place in the über-mall’s Luxury Village, opposite Ferragamo.

THE CLOCKMAKERS’ MUSEUM

Relocated from Guildhall to The Science Museum in October, the new home to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers’ Collection, and Harrison’s “fifth chronometer” is an assault on the senses: more than 600 watches, 30 clocks and 15 marine timekeepers, mapping the history of London horology from 1600 to the present day.

THE WATCH GALLERY, CHELSEA

The longest-serving Watch Gallery destination, at 129 Fulham Road, offers an intimate, boutique watch-shopping experience.

ROLEX ,BY THE WATCH GALLERY

Beneath Knightsbridge’s most prestigious address, One Hyde Park, is Europe’s most prestigious, most comprehensively stocked emporium of all things Rolex.

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CARTOGRAPHY ST PANCRAS STATION

The Neo-Gothic Victorian terminus is home to a four-faced clocktower housing an Edward Dent mechanism and a secret apartment, which you can book on Air B’n’B. Greeting passengers alighting the Eurostar inside, meanwhile, is a vast platform clock by Dent’s modern clockmaking brand.

BLUE PLAQUES IN HOLBORN

119 High Holborn and 17 Red Lion Square once housed Thomas Earnshaw and John Harrison, celebrated horological pioneers.

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The original site of Wilsdorf & Davis at the turn of the century, which would eventually become a minor Swiss outfit called Rolex. Heard of it?

HACKNEY COLLEGE’S OLD WATCHMAKING SCHOOL

Hackney’s unsalubrious Mare Street is the former site of the local Technical College’s watchmaking school – the UK’s last – whose Eighties alumni include independentwatchmaking luminaries such as Peter Roberts, Peter Speake-Marin and Stephen Forsey of Greubel Forsey.Dent’s modern clockmaking brand.

SWISS RAILWAYS CLOCK

Installed at Borough Market by Mondaine, who make the wristwatch version of Swiss Railways’ iconic platform clock, a large four-sided version of the Bauhaus classic keeps time for the stallholders and their foodie customers.

BIG BEN

The world’s greatest watchmaker of living memory, George Daniels (1926–2011) once lived in Thornsett Road, Penge, before upping sticks for the Isle of Man.

THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY

The home of 0º longitude, the famous brass Meridian strip, Greenwich Mean Time, the Time Galleries housing John Harrison’s first four chronometers, and a fantastic view over the entirety of London.

BLUE PLAQUE IN PENGE

The world’s greatest watchmaker of living memory, George Daniels (1926–2011) once lived in Thornsett Road, Penge, before upping sticks for the Isle of Man. THEWATCHGALLERY.COM

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FINISHING TOUCH

THE ARTIST

IT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PIECE OF MICRO-ENGINEERING AND A WORK OF ART; IT’S HOW CENTURIES OF HERITAGE MANIFEST IN BRAND-NEW WATCHES; IT’S WHAT ELEVATES SIMPLE WATCHES TO “HAUTE HORLOGERIE”. ALEX DOAK DONS HIS LOUPE AND DELVES INTO THE CULT OF FINISH

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THE ARTIST Polished bevels, drawn-out flanks, polished or circular-grained screw heads, mirrorpolished jewels with polished sinks, goingtrain wheels chamfered with polished sinks, polished pivot shanks and pinion leaves… The criteria to qualify for “Poinçon de Genève” status are exhaustive and exacting when it comes to hand-finishing. But you only have to glance at the mechanics powering a Roger Dubuis or Vacheron Constantin to see the difference. It may seem superficial, but in today’s era of automated manufacture, finish has become more important than ever in imparting value to a watch. With even the most revered houses employing CNC electroerosion and five-axis milling to “rough-out” the majority of their components, exceptional hand finishing is now essential to maintain their reputation of handcraftsmanship beyond the talents of the watchmakers. Just look at the number of watches with sapphire casebacks: high horology’s equivalent of wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve. “Haute horlogerie brands like Audemars Piguet are convinced,” wrote the pioneering watchmaker Giulio Papi in AP’s book High End Horological Finishing and Decoration, “that complication watches must be decorated by hand, while others are content with an industrial finish. The difference in terms of both time and cost is considerable; it may amount to one-third of the price of a watch!

30% The potential increase in value of a hand decorated watch

In the days before machines, the fact that a complicated component such as a tourbillon cage or column wheel could be made with hand tools and pedal-powered lathes was proof enough that this was a serious brand. These days, anglage, perlage, côtes de Genève, bevelling, chamfers, guilloché, engraving and polish polish polish are proof, if proof were needed, that a brand means business. And as many will remind you, it isn’t just the superficial – hours are spent polishing buried components that only other watchmakers will ever see. Of course, some degree of finish is necessary to the snug fit and smooth running of the interconnected wheels, pinions and cams. But the majority is purely cosmetic; beauty for beauty’s sake, and for the sake of the sheer labour involved. It is the patience of those mild, unassuming

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souls that is extraordinary. Despite the sweeping panorama of Swiss mountains and valleys visible from the window above their bench, the loupe remains glued to their eye, a wormhole into their microscopic world of edges, points and holes, populating a piece of metal barely larger than a penny. Every sort of polish requires the utmost diligence and cleanliness – a single grain of dust could ruin the work of several hours. And even when it does, the artisan cannot afford any more than a simple shrug and a muttered tut.

“These watches are personalised by artists and are endowed with tremendous sentimental value” The value imbued by finissage is quantified by man-hours but qualified in terms of humanity. The more care lavished upon a movement, the more life and soul is breathed into it. If anything was in danger of being truly lost during the quartz crisis of the Seventies and Eighties it was the art of hand finishing – know-how that has always been passed down the generations. Fortunately, the craft survived, and its legacy is all the more precious for it. Beyond the sheer labour involved, finissage also contributes to the architecture of a watch. It can accentuate or highlight the arrangement of unusual bridge array, and in many cases lend coherence to an amalgam of different components. Perfectly striped “Côtes de Genève” – often applied manually with rotating boxwood pads covered with abrasive paste – can visually stitch together the collective surface area of bridges. Behind Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire, sunburst waves cast the balance wheel as the sun itself, dramatising the spectacle. Bevelled edges (see box) create a sumptuous feeling of tessellation between adjacent plates – just look through the caseback to Blancpain’s three-barrel 13R5 calibre. And then there are skeletonised dials – Vacheron Constantin’s famously ornate examples are as much a showcase for the skills of the finishers as the mechanics revealed beneath. Piaget’s 1200S ultra-thin skeleton calibre on the other hand is a masterclass in polish, but cleverly alternates matt surfaces – sun-brushed and sand-brushed – for an unusually contemporary look. The question is, with automation becoming better and more widely accepted, and despite the industry’s determination to uphold its traditional arts, would the traditions of hand finishing continue if the artist’s subtlety of touch could be replaced

by a machine? It’s difficult to be sure, but for now at least the finisher’s future is safe. For example, there are still techniques that a machine cannot replicate; step forward the “interior corner”, where the acute intersection of two bevels must intersect smoothly. So hard, that high-end movement actually feature more angles than strictly necessary. But, most importantly, a machine is not a human. These watches are personalised by artists and are endowed with tremendous sentimental value before you’ve even worn it, let alone passed it onto your daughter or son. It’s this emotional value that is so integral to an haute horlogerie watch. And for a tiny instrument requiring near-perfect construction to run, it makes sense for the final object to look perfect too. As Giulio Papi notes in his Audemars Piguet’s book, “While finishing is naturally not the only sales argument for a timepiece, it serves to highlight the excellence of the work performed upstream.” After all, finish may add value in itself, but it also reminds us just how special these micro machines are, in our digital age.

LIVING ON THE EDGE: THE ART OF BEVELLING

Bevelling is a particularly meticulous finish that removes residual, potentially harmful burrs after machining, and highlights the rim of watch parts with a sumptuous gleam.

As with all the finissage arts, the biggest challenge of bevelling is staying within the defined measurements: not taking too much off, not too little, keeping the chamfer width constant and its edges parallel. Many parts have an allowance of just 0.02mm (about the diameter of a human hair), which require a feeling for the right pressure and distances – a feeling that takes years to master.

“As the frost creeps up to the door, warm fires crackle, corks pop and watches tick with reassuring regularity, we settle down with friends and family for a feast to remember.”

DETAILS

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GIFT GUIDE

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3. TAG HEUER FORMULA 1

LONGINES MASTER £1,240

£1,100

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CHANEL J12 WHITE £2,950

CARTIER BALLON BLEU DE CARTIER £4,450

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CUR ATORS OF THE WORLD’S

MOST EXQUISITE WATCHES

BREITLING COLT CHRONOGRAPH QUARTZ MEN’S WATCH IN STAINLESS-STEEL - A7338811/BD43 152S

Combining style and performance, Breitling is one of the original and most specialist pioneers of the wristwatch chronograph

Investing in a luxury watch can often seem as complicated as the micromechanics ticking away inside it. The Watch Gallery and its finely tuned team of online experts allow it to be an effortless experience. Here is a retailer that has assembled an enviable collection of luxury brands whilst remaining focused on the models that matter. The website embraces the brand’s entire knowledge base with a live-chat function, meaning you can liaise directly with an expert, to help guide you through your purchase. For more information and to view the full product portfolio, visit www.thewatchgallery.com

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