HARRY WINSTON TIMEPIECES

October 18, 2021 MasterHorologer

Harry Winston is one of the prestigious Jewellery houses in the world. This jewellery making empire was established by the legendary American jeweller Harry Winston (1896 –1978) in New York in 1932. Known as the King of Diamonds, he owned some of the world’s most famous gemstones, including the Jonker, Hope and Winston Legacy Diamonds.

In 1989, the House of Harry Winston entered the world of watchmaking. The brand’s flagship watch collections are: The Premier, the Avenue, the Ocean and the Midnight. Harry Winston’s Opus and Histoire de Tourbillon series showcases the brand’s innovative approach to high mechanical watchmaking.

In 2004 Harry Winston pioneered the use of Zalium™ in watchmaking. The House’s Jewelry Timepieces perfectly pair the high quality craftsmanship of the “King of Diamonds,” with the time-honored traditions of fine Swiss watchmaking, to further the breathtaking creative legacy of Harry Winston.

In 2007, Harry Winston opened of its own watch manufacture in Geneva. Acquired by Swatch Group in 2013, Harry Winston now benefits from the prized expertise of the world’s leading watch manufacturer.

Headquartered in New York, Harry Winston, Inc. operates retail salons worldwide, in locations including: New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Timeline

1896: Harry Winston is born in New York.
1920: Harry Winston opens his first business, The Premiere Diamond Company, at 535 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
1932: Debut of the newly founded Harry Winston salon, located in Rockefeller Center in New York.
1933: Harry Winston marries Edna Fleishman, a style arbiter in her own right, who will remain his life-long confidante and muse.
1943: Harry Winston is the first jeweler to lend jewelry to an actress for the Academy Awards. Jennifer Jones wears classic Winston diamonds when she accepts an Oscar for Best Actress.
1947: Katherine Hepburn Attends the Academy Awards wearing Harry Winston’s famous Inquisition Necklace.
1949: Harry Winston purchases the Hope Diamond.
1949 to 1953: Harry Winston’s first exhibition of rare gems travels throughout the United States. The “Court of Jewels” includes the Hope Diamond and other legendary gems. Proceeds from the show are donated to the March of Dimes.
1955: Harry Winston opens in Geneva, Switzerland followed by a 1957 opening in Paris.
1958: Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the National Museum of Natural History of the United States.
1960: Harry Winston moves to a distinguished townhouse on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, designed by famed French interior-designer Stephane Boudin of Jansen.
1962: Harry Winston appoints Ambaji V. Shinde from India as head designer. Shinde’s creations revolutionize jewelry design.
1967: Winston acquires a 241-carat uncut diamond, which produces an exceptional 69.42 carat pear shaped jewel. The gem is purchased by Richard Burton for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. The Magnificent gem becomes known around the world as the Taylor-Bu on diamond.
1978: Harry Winston dies in New York.
1986: A Harry Winston salon opens in Beverly Hills on Rodeo drive. To commemorate the event, a cake studded with diamonds is created.
1988: Harry Winston opens in Tokyo on the Ginza.
1989: Harry Winston introduces a collection of watches known as “Ultimate Timepieces.”
1995: Harry Winston introduces the Perpetual Bitretograde Calendar timepiece.
1997: The Harry Winston Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution opens with the Hope Diamond as its centerpiece. Harry Winston becomes the only jeweler to have a museum gallery in its name.
1998: Gwyneth Paltrow wears a Harry Winston Princess Necklace & iconic Cluster earrings to win her Academy Award.
2001: Harry Winston introduces the Opus Series, creating an exceptional timepiece annually in partnership with one of Switzerland’s most gifted haute horologists. Halle Berry, wearing Winston’s Pumpkin Diamond Ring, becomes the first African American woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress.
2004: Harry Winston continues its worldwide expansion, opening salons in Las Vegas and Taipei. Richard Avedon photographs an advertising campaign for Harry Winston. It is his last commercial work. Aber Diamond Corporation purchases a majority interest in Harry Winston, Inc., combining the strategic “bookends” of the diamond business—mining & retail.
2005: Harry Winston opens new salons in Miami and Honolulu.
2006: Harry Winston opens in London, Dallas, and Omotesando, Tokyo. Aber acquires 100 % owner ship of Harry Winston. Inspired by Harry Winston’s love of Nature, the “Natural History Campaign” debuts in New York.
2007: Harry Winston opens a new watch manufacture in Geneva, Switzerland, the watch making capital of the world. Harry Winston debuts on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol HWD. Salons open in Beijing, Chicago, and Hong Kong.
2008: A new salon opens in South Coast Plaza , Orange County, California.
2009: The “Ultimate Design” program is unveiled, inviting clients to commission one-of-a-kind jewels inspired by the Winston archives. The New York Collection debuts, celebrating the unsurpassable style, spirit, and glamour of Manhattan. Winston opens its 19th global retail salon in Singapore. Harry Winston celebrates the Hope Diamond by designing a new setting for the legendary gem.
2010: Harry Winston launches the Lily Cluster Collection.
2013: Harry Winston acquires the 101.73 carat Winston Legacy Diamond. Aber Diamond Corporation sells Harry Winston Inc., to the Swatch Group. The transaction includes the brand and all the activities related to jewellery and watches, including employees worldwide and the production company in Geneva, Switzerland.
2015: Harry Winston, Inc. appoints American singer, songwriter, and producer Robin Thicke, as its timepiece ambassador.

Website: https://www.harrywinston.com/en

WEST END WATCHES

October 9, 2021 MasterHorologer

With 15 million watches sold throughout the world during the more than 130 years of uninterrupted activity since its creation, West End is an iconic Swiss watch brand.

West End Watch Co was founded in 1886 in Bombay by the Swiss company Droz & Amstutz. This company acted as distributor of the watches manufactured by Alcide Droz & Fils in the Swiss Jura and sold in India under the West End brand name.

Established 1864, the company Alcide Droz & Sons was based in St-Imier. In India, West End watches proved their excellence in their use from the end of the 19th century by all the staff of the main railway companies, the post and telegraph offices, the police, the ports and the Indian and British government administrative services.

The elite corps of the Imperial Army of India had already been able to test out and appreciate the robustness and reliability of West End watches in extreme conditions. It was due to this good reputation that during the First World War British Army troops, including elite Indian corps, who were based in the Middle East with the aim of breaking up the German-Turkish coalition, necessarily wore West End watches.

No less than 50,000 West End watches were in fact acquired by the British Army to equip its troops, notably Lawrence of Arabia’s famous Camel Corps and the Royal Air Force.

In 1917, the Société des Montres West End SA was formed in Geneva in order to promote the marketing of the brand name throughout the world.

In the course of the following decades, West End established itself as an outstanding brand of Swiss watches, producing millions of wristwatches for markets ranging from the Red Sea to China. In 2001, the brand was taken over by the Monnat family and transferred to Leytron, in the Canton of Valais, in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

In 2005, the company celebrated its 120th anniversary of uninterrupted presence in Asia with the introduction of its “Silk Road concept”.

In 2009, West End Watch Co launched special edition “Queen Anne” watch in 18 ct solid gold to commemorate the brand’s 120th anniversary. In 2016, the brand introduced «The Impermeable», a modern diver watch.

Presently, the brand offers Swiss made timepieces from its collections like Silk Road III, Sowar Prima, Sowar 1916, Secundus, The Classics, Impermeable, Everbright, Silk Road I, Silk Road II, Queen Anne, Queen Anne and 8457.

Contact details

Société des MontresWest End SA
Rouatope 24
1912 Leytron – Switzerland
Website: http://www.westendwatchco.ch/

CHARRIOL WATCHES

August 24, 2021 MasterHorologer35 Comments

CHARRIOL is a global prestige brand of luxury timepieces, fine jewelry and accessories including fragrance, sunglasses and leather goods.

CHARRIOL was established in 1983 by French entrepreneur Philippe Charriol and remains an independent family business. The company is led by Philippe Charriol, together with family members – wife Marie-Olga Charriol in Public Relations, daughter Coralie Charriol-Paul as Creative Director and son Alexandre Charriol as Visual Director.

CHARRIOL’s signature motifs include the CELTIC® Collection and iconic, patented gold and steel cable designs that offer a modern tribute to the artistry of the Celts, an ancient European civilization. CHARRIOL jewelry is crafted in Switzerland and Germany; timepieces are handmade in Switzerland.

Charriol international headquarters are based in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Hong-Kong distribution subsidiary for mainland China.

In 1983, Philippe Charriol left his position as executive director of a prestigious watch and jewellery company to find his own company. Rather than aiming small and striving to make a name for himself on Paris’ Place Vendôme, Philippe preferred to conquer a whole continent: Asia. This bold execution idea was based on a deep knowledge of the region, coupled with vision and foresight of this market’s potential. Geneva was chosen for Production, home to the historic cradle of watchmaking and synonymous with the most prestigious watch brands.

Early success achieved in Japan and in South-East Asia enabled Philippe to later establish a significant presence in the American and Middle Eastern markets before taking his brand to the rest of the world.

In the 90’s, 10 years after starting his company, he added a new challenge by entering the world of motorsports, another passion close to Philippe’s heart. He participated in several international events where he drove his Lamborghini Diablo and Corvette Z06 on the European circuits. Philippe took part in the Andros Trophy (French national ice-racing) for 12 years, in the F.I.A. GT Championship and in the Championnat de France Grand Tourisme, and was named French Champion in the GT3 category in 1992.

In 2011, Philippe let create a unique car for GT & Endurance racing: the CHARRIOL SF10 designed by French designer Yacouba to compete around the European endurance circuits. This passion for speed has informed CHARRIOL’s sponsorship of numerous motorsports events, and provided design inspiration for several remarkable CHARRIOL timepieces.

Like all visionaries, Philippe enjoys fusing personal and professional passions and one informs the other. In addition to the thrilling world of motorsports, Philippe has long been fascinated with more refined pursuits, which also nurture the various watch and jewellery lines created for the Maison.

A thirst for knowledge, culture and history gave rise to the unique cable twist motif inspired by ancient Celtic art and which is now synonymous with CHARRIOL style. Finest examples of these are seen in the CELTIC® and ST-TROPEZ™ pieces.

A love of discovery and entrepreneurship were the inspiration behind CHARRIOL’s bold adventurer timepieces such as COLVMBUS™, ACTOR™ and KUCHA™. Sport and passion have driven the Maison’s continual development into chronometers and sponsorship, resulting in timepieces such as the Chrono SuperSports™ and Gran Celtica™ Chrono.

Official website: https://www.charriol.com/en/

DAIZOH MAKIHARA WATCHES

August 14, 2021August 14, 2021 MasterHorologer

Daizoh Makihara is an Independent watchmaker based in Japan.

Born in 1979, Daizoh Makihara joined Hiko Mizuno Jewelry College in Tokyo at the age of 27. Before that he had been working as a cook at hotels and vocational schools. After attaining his graduation from this specialised institution, he began making watches. He then joined as a teacher at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, the same institution where he studied from 2007 to 2010.

In 2017, he established his own brand “DAIZOH MAKIHARA WATCH CRAFT JAPAN”. In 2019, DAIZOH launched KIKUTSUNAGIMON SAKURA, the first wristwatch in the world to incorporate Edo Kiriko, a Japanese traditional craft. Daizoh is a candidate member of AHCI Independent Watchmakers Association in Switzerland since 2019.

DAIZOH MAKIHARA Kikutsunagimon Sakura

His notable creations are “Kikutsunagimon Sakura” and “Kacho Fugetsu“. In Japanese language, 菊繋ぎ紋　桜 (kikutsunagimon sakura) refers to ‘chrysanthemum seal pattern & cherry blossoms’ and 花鳥風月 (kacho fugetsu) means ‘beauties of nature’.

When it comes to the “kikutsunagimon sakura” timepiece, 菊 (kiku) means Chrysanthemum, which represents the Japanese Imperial Seal and 桜 (sakura) means Cherry Blossoms, the national flower of Japan. Representing the authority of the Emperor, the Imperial Seal of Japan features a 16-petal chrysanthemum with sixteen tips of another row of petals showing behind the first row.

The artistically crafted dial of this pink gold watch boasts 菊紋 (kiku mon) or Imperial Japanese Seal (chrysanthemum seal) pattern decoration. The hand-winding movement of this timepiece is decorated with Cherry Blossoms (sakura) pattern.

The DAIZOH MAKIHARA “Kacho Fugetsu” watch is inspired by the attractions of beautiful nature, such as flower (ka), bird (cho), wind (fu) and moon (getsu). These are depicted by hand-crafted sculptures and decorative patterns.

DAIZOH MAKIHARA Kacho Fugetsu watch

In this watch, the off-centred dial and movement plates are decorated with hand-engraved Hemp leaf pattern.

Technical details

Model: DAIZOH MAKIHARA “kikutsunagimon sakura”

Case
18K Pink Gold
Water resistance: 3BAR (30 meters)

Dial
Japanese traditional arts and crafts “Kikutsunagimon”
Hands: Blue steel hands

Movement
Hand winding (Cal.DM 01)
Movement decoration: The cherry tree design by the hand engraving
17 jewels
Frequency: 18000 / h

Strap
Crocodile strap with 18K pink gold buckle

Approximate retail price
¥ 5,903,700- (including Tax) ~ JPY
Made-to-order only

Model: DAIZOH MAKIHARA “Kacho Fugetsu”

Case
Stainless steel case

Dial
Japanese traditional craft Edo Kiriko specification “white-eye and cherry blossoms”
Hands: Manually blued steel hands

Movement
Manual winding (Cal.DM 02)
Automatic petal opening / closing mechanism
24 hours (10 o’clock position)
12 hours (2 o’clock position)
Perpetual moon phase (1 day error in 122 years)
Hemp leaf pattern by hand engraving (both front and back)
Number of stones: 25 stones
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations / hour
Diameter: 42 mm
Power reserve: 38 hours

Strap
Crocodile strap with stainless steel buckle

Contact details

DAIZOH MAKIHARA WATCHCRAFT JAPAN
Phone: (+81) 90-6652-0277
Website: https://www.daizohmakihara.jp

HMT WATCHES

August 14, 2021October 13, 2021 MasterHorologer

HMT Watches Limited, the most admired watch company in India, was incorporated in 1962.

HMT is the abbreviation of Hindustan Machine Tools, a Public Sector Company founded by Indian Government in 1953 in Bangalore (now known as Bengaluru) in the Karnataka state. It started as a machine tools manufacturing company, and subsequently established several subsidiaries across the country for manufacturing Clocks & Wristwatches, Tractors, Die Casting, Printing Machinery, Bearings, Stepper Motors, Ball Screws, Precision Machinery and CNC Systems.

HMT’s Head Quarters is located at Bellary Road in Bangalore. It is the first company to start watch manufacturing in India. In 1962, as part of its diversification strategy, HMT ventured into watchmaking by setting up the HMT Watch Factory I at Jalahalli in Bangalore.

Then, the Government of India had collaborated with Japanese watchmaking company CITIZEN for providing technical assistance for manufacturing mechanical wristwatches in India. Initially HMT’s collection was consisted of hand-wound mechanical watches only. In 1972, the HMT Watch Factory II was established at Jalahalli to manufacture Automatic Day Date watches in technical collaboration with CITIZEN.

In the early years, HMT watches were provided with CITIZEN movements imported from Japan. Afterwards, HMT began manufacturing mechanical movements in-house, after obtaining necessary license and technology transfer from the Japanese company.

After expanding its production facilities inside their Jalahalli campus, the company also began producing small movement components like main-spring, hair-spring and shock-absorber. Soon, HMT became a full-fledged watch manufacture, producing 100% of movement components in-house.

In 1975, HMT Watch Factory III was established in Jammu & Kashmir. In 1978, HMT opened its Watch Factory IV at Tumkur in the Karnataka state. In 1980, HMT founded Horological Inspection Institute in Bangalore to undertake quality tests of its products.

In 1981, the company began manufacturing quartz analogue watches. In 1982, HMT Watch Factory V was established at Ranibagh near the famous Himalayan resort town Nainital. In the same year, they also set up a specialized Watch Case Division in Bengaluru.

In 1999, HMT Watches Limited (HMTWL), a fully owned subsidiary of HMT Limited was incorporated in Bengaluru to unite the manufacturing, quality testing and marketing of clocks, wristwatches and timing systems.

HMTWL had the following divisions:

Watch Factory I & II: Based at Jalahalli, Bengaluru. Production of ladies’ mechanical hand-wound watches and automatic day-date watches.

Watch Factory IV: Located at Devarayapatna in Tumkur district. Production of gents’ mechanical hand-wound watches and quartz analog watches for men and women.

Watch Factory V, Ranibagh: Located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. Production of gent’s mechanical watches, and the Slim Series quartz watches.

Watch Case Factory Bangalore: Production of shaped watch cases.

Horological Inspection Institute Bangalore: Quality tests of the watches.

Timing Systems Division: Based at Jalahalli in Bengaluru, this division produced floral clocks, tower clocks, timing display systems, population clocks, master-slave clocks etc.

Marketing Division: Located at Bellary Road in Bengaluru, this department was responsible for marketing, sales and after-sales service of HMT watches.

On 4th September 2000, an independent subsidiary HMT Chinar Watches Limited (HMTCWL) was incorporated for managing the activities of the Assembly Unit at Jammu and the Watch Factory III at Srinagar. HMTCWL used to produce mechanical hand-wound watches for men.

HMT subsidiaries as on 01 Jan 2001:

HMT Machine Tools Limited
HMT Watches Limited
HMT Chinar Watches Limited
HMT Bearings Limited
HMT International Limited

During its good times, HMT was the largest producer of wristwatches in India. However, gradually it lost the business due to stiff competition from home-grown brands like Titan, which efficiently responded to the huge demand of trendy quartz watches in the market. Due to continuous revenue losses, the Government of India ordered to shut down HMT watch factories in 2016.

As on date, only HMT Machine Tools Limited and HMT International Limited are the only two manufacturing subsidiaries of the iconic public sector company established in 1953.

All HMT watch factories established under HMT Watches Limited and HMT Chinar Watches Limited are under closure/liquidation. Along with these watch making subsidiaries, the company also terminated the manufacturing activities of HMT Bearings Limited and the Tractor Division.

Specialized in the manufacturing of precision machine tools and CNC systems, HMT Machine Tools Limited and its units in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kalamassery (Kochi), Ajmer and Pinjore are still active in business.

After the closure of its manufacturing activities at watchmaking factories, HMT’s WMD (Watch Marketing Division) in Bengaluru began selling the left-over inventory. They also started assembling watches by utilizing the parts and components available with the company stock.

At present, HMT Limited (the holding company of HMT Watches) is operating a newly established Auxiliary Business Division (ABD) at Jalahalli in Bengaluru with a Watch Assembly Line for making timepieces. This facility was earlier known as Common Services Division (CSD).

HMT Auxiliary Business Division has been maintaining an impressive inventory of watch components and movements accumulated from the stocks of all HMT factories. This reserve enables them to assemble new watches bearing HMT brand name. They are also utilizing third-party components and movements for manufacturing HMT branded watches. For example, some of their latest automatic watch models are equipped with Miyota self-winding movements.

Presently HMT watches can be purchased via the company’s official online store*. HMT’s current product range includes both mechanical and quartz timepieces. The retail price range is 10 to 200 US Dollars.

Official website: https://www.hmtwatches.in/

*Delivery only in India.

GUINAND WATCHES

July 30, 2021July 31, 2021 MasterHorologer1 Comment

Guinand is a watch brand based in Frankfurt, Germany. The brand was originally founded in 1865 in Switzerland. Since the year 2000, the company has been operating from Germany.

Since 1865, Guinand has been continuously building mechanical watches of the highest quality. It is not only one of the oldest watch manufacturers in Europe, but also one of the very few family businesses that produces continuously from 1865 to the present day.

As early as 1881, the first own chronograph mechanism was developed. Since that time and until today, Guinand stands in the tradition of making watches for special requirements.

Early on, Guinand supplied the air forces of France and Italy and the British Admiralty. For technicians and scientists stopwatches, and later wrist chronographs, were developed. For the first 100 years, Guinand had its headquarters in Switzerland and now, for more than two decades, in the Rödelheim district of Frankfurt.

Drawing from a rich pool of experience acquired since 1865, Guinand manufactures exclusively specific mechanical watches in small numbers. The watches are distinguished by their independent and distinctive design, a high degree of handicraft quality, and attention to detail. Guinand watches are created by hand in the workshop in Frankfurt/ Rödelheim in small quantities which imparts the experience of exclusivity.

Faithful to the brand’s motto ‘’Handmade in Frankfurt am Main’, all the essential steps in production take place in Germany: watchcases and watch hands are developed, constructed and produced here. Assembly and regulation, as well s the final quality controls are done here as well.

Guinand watches are assembled by hand and checked carefully after every production step by expert watch makers. No watch leaves the house without having passed a one-week running test, as well as having undergone a test of precise rate, and water resistance. This is proven by an end inspection certificate paper which is enclosed to every new watch, as well as to all watches that have undergone a revision.

You can purchase Guinand watches only directly at the factory sales in Frankfurt-Rödelheim, and of course as well on Guinand’s website. This sales model enables personal contact to customers that is appreciated by Guinand customers from all over the world.

History

On April 21st 1865, the two brothers Julien-Alcide and Charles Leon Guinand established the Guinand Frères Company in Les Brenets, a little Swiss town on the Doubs, the river bordering France and Switzerland. The young enterprise soon began to develop as well in Germany, Scandinavia and the USA, which became strong sales markets with an enormous demand for precision watches.

Due to an economic crisis towards the end of the 1870s, the American market was lost, the main customer Fellow & Cie in New York ruined in 1876. For the still young company this was a heavy blow. Therefore, a branch office was founded in Hamburg in 1876. The business was transferred to Copenhagen in 1880, from where the overseas business was overseen.

In 1880 the cousin of Leon Guinand, Julien Gallet, suggested new ways to go and produce chronographs. In search of a way out of the crisis, the ingenious watchmaker Charles Léon Guinand developed his own chronograph, and brought it to market in 1881.

Based on the chronograph, further developments were soon added, and around the turn of the 20th century, production already included a whole series of intricate watches. Branches in Le Locle, for pocket watches with the logo C.L. Guinand and Morteau in France are founded to better market the watches.

With the development of a new tachymeter chronograph around 1900, Leon Guinand became a prominent entrepreneur in the watchmaking world. Founder Leon Guinand passed away in 1908 and following his death, his widow took over the management together with her son George Henri Guinand.

As a far-sighted entrepreneur, George Henri Guinand also began as early as 1910 to switch to the production of pocket and wrist chronographs. Bit by bit, the company developed a range of intricate wrist chronographs. This was followed by products for special applications, delivered to the French and Italian governments, as well as the British admiralty.

In 1945, Georges-Henri Guinand, the son of company founder, who was entrusted with the management of Guinand Frères, transformed the business into a listed company. During the heyday of mechanical watches, Guinand Watch Co. S.A., the company’s new name, was the ultimate synonym for the rattrapante wrist watch, the split second chronograph.

Former Guinand factory in Switzerland

In addition to the production for their own brand, Guinand Watch Co. also supplied numerous renowned watch brands of this era and, thanks to its specialization in intricate chronographs, even survived the major brand deaths in Switzerland at the end of the 1970s.

In 1946, George Henri Guinand died. His sons Léon and John took over the responsibility of the company, subsequently joined by his grandchildren Jean and Michel. With Michel Guinand, the last descendant of the founding family headed the company until the takeover by Helmut Sinn in the mid-nineties. During this time, chronograph milestones arose such as the model 361, a waterproof chronograph with a water pressure of 200 m.

One of Guinand‘s major customers has been the Frankfurt watch pioneer Helmut Sinn since the early sixties. Until the nineties Guinand Watch Co. made a not inconsiderable part of the Sinn watches.

In 1994, at the age of 80, Helmut Sinn decided to retire to a well-deserved retirement and sold his Frankfurt Company. But the ideas continued to bubble and wanted to be implemented. In 1995 Helmut Sinn took over the shares of Guinand S.A. from the Guinand family.

He was again filled with passion and in 1996 founded the company ‘’Jubilar Uhren Inh. Helmut Sinn’’ in Frankfurt am Main. Finally, in 2000, production in Switzerland was discontinued for other brands and production in Guinand, Chronosport and Jubilar was relocated to Germany. So, ‘’Jubilar watches Inh. Helmut Sinn’’ became the company ‘’Guinand watches Helmut Sinn GmbH’’ based in Frankfurt am Main.

There are watch milestones such as the world time watch WZU, the series 31 – unique by the function with seconds lock, the one-hand 24h watch, the big Regulator or the Büren 12 and of course the classics Series 40 and Series 60.

The series 40 is the direct descendant of the Guinand model 361 originally introduced in the 1960s and is still today an indispensable part of the Guinand model range. The brand re-issued Flying Officer, Guinand‘s second successful model from the sixties – the successor model Pilot Officer was reissued in 2019.

In 2014/15, Helmut Sinn sold the business 2014/2015 to Dipl. Ing. Matthias Klüh. With the change of the company owner, the company moved into a new establishment the district of Rödelheim. In the best Guinand tradition, special watches are also being created at the new location, such as the Flying Officer / Pilot Officer series, the ASFlieger, the HS10X tetralogy, the Werksfahrer Chrono 1 and the DuoIndikator. With the 361 Guinand finally revived the reissue of the classic of the 60s.

In 2018, Helmut Sinn died at the age of almost 102 years. The model HS102, which was originally planned for this birthday, was released as a limited series in recognition of his life‘s work by Guinand after his death – after just 48 hours, this Guinand watch was completely sold out.

In 2019, Guinand introduced the Flight Engineer, a pilot watch that defies magnetic fields thanks to a protective mantle up to a field strength of 80,000 A / m.

In 2020, Guinand presented the “Kalender 31”, an exceptional automatic wristwatch with pointer date display. The Kalender 31 is powered by a GUI-1 automatic calibre, based on the Sellita SW220-1 movement. In 2021, Guinand presented two new models – the “Nordmeer Chronograph” and the Flieger Chrono GMT.

Official website: https://www.guinand-uhren.de/home-en.html

PORSCHE DESIGN WATCHES

July 27, 2021August 8, 2021 MasterHorologer36 Comments

Porsche Design is a premium lifestyle brand with particular focus on technically inspired products. It was founded in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (founder of the Porsche car company). Since 2003, Porsche Design has been a part of Porsche AG, the iconic German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans.

The product portfolio of Porsche Design includes classic men’s accessories, a sport and fashion collection as well as electronic products and a men’s fragrance range. The products are designed in the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See, Austria, and sold worldwide in the brand’s own stores, shop-in-shops, high quality department stores and exclusive retail outlets. Presently, Roland Heiler is the Chief Design Officer of Porsche Design Group.

With offices in Zell am See, Berlin and Ludwigsburg, Los Angeles and Shanghai, Porsche Design Studio also works for international clients, which has led to the creation of top-end consumer goods, household appliances and industrial products.

In April 2017, Porsche Design became a fully owned subsidiary of Porsche AG.

History of Porsche Design

Born in Stuttgart, the eldest son of Ferry Porsche headed up the Stuttgart-based sports car maker’s design studio from 1962 to 1972 – the period during which the Porsche 911 and the 904 race car were created. In 1972, he established his own design studio (Studio F. A. Porsche), relocating it two years later to Zell am See in Austria.

During the decades that followed, he designed accessories such as watches, spectacles and writing instruments. Working with a team of a dozen designers, he also styled a host of industrial products, household appliances and consumer products for well-known international companies. Today, the studio in Zell am See is one of the most renowned design houses in the world.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche has designed all of the things men consider important. Many of his designs have become classics, which are even displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The unusual breadth of his work includes writing instruments, lighters, boats and even the Skytrain in Bangkok.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche has received many awards and honors for his work as a designer. The Industrial Design Forum Hanover (iF) chose him as their “1992 Prizewinner of the Year”, and the President of Austria made him an honorary professor in 1999.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was born on December 11, 1935 in Stuttgart, the eldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, who later founded the sports car maker. Even as a small boy, he accompanied his father and grandfather Ferdinand to the engineering design office in Zuffenhausen.

When he was seven, the family moved to Zell am See to avoid the bombing. As a child, “Butzi” – as he was fondly known to his family – enjoyed designing and building his own toys. Upon his return to Stuttgart, he attended the Waldorf School and then studied at the Ulm School of Design. In 1958, he started work at the design office of what was then Porsche KG.

He soon gave a vivid demonstration of his design skills when he created the first plasticine model of a successor to the 356 series. The Porsche 911, developed directly from his drawings, was shown for the first time in September 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Years later, it would be part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1962, he was appointed head of the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer’s design studio. The designs of all of the racing and sports cars that left the factory in the 1960s bear his hallmark, including the legendary 904 Carrera GTS long-distance race car.

In Fall 2003, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, together with other Porsche Design shareholders and Porsche AG, founded the Porsche Design Group (Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG), in which Porsche AG now holds a majority interest (65 % shares). The aim of this new company is to exploit the potential of the Porsche name in business areas unrelated to the auto industry and continue the life work of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche.

Porsche Design features prominently in these activities as well as the product portfolio for Porsche drivers and fans of the Porsche Design Driver’s Selection brand and the design work of the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See.

In 2004, Porsche AG appointed Roland Heiler (who was the director of the Porsche Styling Studio in California at that time) as the Managing Director of Porsche Design. In 2005, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche decided to resign from the supervisory board of Porsche AG and to withdraw from active professional life.

In 2007, Roland Heiler became the Chief Designer of Porsche Design group. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche passed away at the age of seventy-six in 2012.

In 2017, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG has acquired the remaining 35 per cent of the shares in Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (Porsche Design Group) from a Porsche family investment company, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

In 2021, Porsche Design won the honorary title “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2021”.

Porsche Design Timepieces

The Porsche Design legendary Chronograph I was the world’s first black watch as well as the first product produced by the luxury brand. In 1972, the timepiece caused a furore, as the self-winding chronograph – a concept that had previously been inconceivable – was entirely black and provocatively plain.

By releasing this timepiece, Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was anticipating a trend that, while revolutionary at the time, defines the watch industry today. In 1980, Porsche Design revolutionised the watchmaking world with the first timepiece made from titanium ever to be seen. 20 years later, this was followed by the first watch to feature an aluminium case.

The launch of the Indicator in 2004 saw the brand reach a new milestone: For the first time, this model combined chronograph functionality with a purely mechanical, jumping digital display. This was made possible thanks to the world’s most complex watch mechanism produced in a limited run: Four spring barrels are required to power all functions reliably and the mechanism comprises a total of more than 800 individual parts.

In March 2014, the Porsche Design Group (Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG) and Eterna AG Uhrenfabrik, based in Grenchen, Switzerland, ended their license agreement for the development, production and sale of high-quality watches. All services associated with the relevant Porsche Design watches will still be guaranteed by Eterna. In addition, the two companies are set to collaborate in various technical fields.

In July 2014, Porsche Design Group (Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG) founded a subsidiary in Switzerland to continue its tradition of offering high-quality timepieces.

Porsche Design Timepieces AG, based in the Jurasuedfuß region of Switzerland, is responsible for developing and producing exclusive Porsche Design timepieces; marketing and sales are overseen by the Porsche Design Group, which is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

As has been the case for more than 40 years, Porsche Design timepieces are positioned in an exclusive niche in the luxury watch category. The products are available around the world in the luxury brand’s stores and from selected leading retailers.

[ Visit PORSCHE DESIGN watch galley]

Official website: www.porsche-design.com

GENUS WATCHES

June 26, 2021 MasterHorologer

GENUS is an independent luxury watch brand based in Geneva. Co-founded by Sébastien Billières and Catherine Henry, the brand made its debut in 2019 with the launch of their innovative GNS wristwatch. The timepieces are entirely conceived, developed and manufactured in its independent workshop in Geneva, in compliance with the standards and requirements of Haute Horlogerie.

In June 2019, GENUS submitted an entry for the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) as a launch pad and media springboard to unveil the first model in its collection. The debut model from the brand GNS boasts a world-premier time display mechanism developed in-house.

About Sébastien Billières

Watchmaker, instructor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of GENUS, Sébastien Billières successfully leverages an expertise in Fine Watchmaking acquired while working with some of the greatest in the field.

Barely a few days after obtaining his CFC as a watchmaker in 1999, Sébastien Billières joined at the workshop of Roger Dubuis, which had approximately ten employees at the time, and collaborates directly with the master himself.

Eager for experience, he came in contact with other strong personalities, like Felix Baumgartner in the early years of Urwerk. Sébastien Billières then joined the Opus V project team at Harry Winston, in charge of fine-tuning alongside Felix (prototyping), and testing and parts production. Until today he remains in charge of after-sales service operations for Harry Winston.

When Sébastien Billières decided to set up on his own, the workbench he rented from Svend Andersen turns out to have been previously occupied by none other than Felix Baumgartner, his friend and mentor, and Franck Muller.

The production of tourbillons, a specialization in automatons – just two of the fields in which the budding watchmaker has developed a wide range of skills that don’t go unnoticed for long. In 2006, Billières was approached by IFAGE, the Foundation for Adult Education in Geneva, to broaden the scope of its watchmaking curriculum. He became the Chairman of the departments he created: Modular Training in Watchmaking and Training in Industrial Quality, and still teaches there.

In 2007, he co-founded a company to develop new mechanisms and complications for high watchmaking “Maisons”. Then he established a shop on his own, and GMTI soon became one of the region’s leading subcontractors to the watchmaking industry with state-of-the-art facilities specialized in the manufacture and assembly of “Poinçon de Genève” calibers. His first creation participated in the 2019 “Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève” competition and marked the unveiling of the exciting and independent Fine Watchmaking brand newly co-founded with his business partner Catherine Henry: GENUS.

About Catherine Henry

Graduate in Management Sciences, mentor, entrepreneur and now co-founder of a Fine Watchmaking brand, Catherine Henry is Chief Operations Officer at GENUS and spearheading the start-up’s launch and business development.

After obtaining her Swiss commercial CFC certificate, she began her career in Zurich with an insurance company and then move to the stock trading desk at the headquarters of a major international bank. Thereafter which she multiplied her work experiences, and each of her positions served as a springboard for the next.

Building on her extensive and solid practical experience, acquired over more than 25 years in different fields and types of organizations, ranging from a multinational to the food industry to construction technology, she then chose to support SMEs and start-ups as mentor in organizing, managing and growing their businesses. Catherine’s working languages are French, English and German.

She was awarded the “Prix de la femme romandeentrepreneure” in 2011 (Female Entrepreneur of Romandie Award – Women In Swiss Business). She now holds an EBBA Degree from the Geneva School of Economics and Management (formerly HEC Geneva) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Sciences from the University of Savoie Mont-Blanc, having obtained her titles with distinction and graduated first in her class. Catherine is a mentor at the Career Centre of the University of Geneva.

Catherine Henry and her business partner in this remarkable watchmaking venture, Sébastien Billières, launched their first time piece in the 2019 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) competition.

Website: https://genuswatches.swiss/

ZENITH WATCHES

June 25, 2021 MasterHorologer

Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith earned swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence: an absolute record in terms of pocket watches, onboard timers and wristwatches.

Having earned fame thanks to its legendary El Primero calibre – an integrated automatic column-wheel chronograph movement launched in 1969 and endowed with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour that ensures short-time measurements accurate to the nearest 1/10th of a second– the Manufacture Zenith has since developed over 600 movement variations. This Manufacture currently stands at the exact spot where its founder built the first company workshop, there by physically embodying a continuity that is a rarity in itself.

From the 1870s onwards, Georges Favre-Jacot played a pioneering role by developing his company on an international scale, as this pocket watch dating from approximately 1890 testifies. It bears his signature and was made for the Russian market, as is apparent from the Cyrillic characters appearing on the white enamelled dial– ГЕОРГЪФАВРЪЖАКO – Локлъ (Georges Favre-Jacot – Locle) – and engraved on the domed cover – Hусскiечасы – Анкеръ 15 Камней – ГЕОРГЪФАВРЪЖАКО – Локлъ – Верныйходъ (Russian watch – 15-jewel lever – Georges Favre-Jacot – Locle – Precise movement).

Moreover, the three movement bridges form the initials GFJ. Much in vogue during the late 19th century, this type of movement is nonetheless very rare and thus extremely hard to find these days. It is worth noting that the founder of the Manufacture made another innovative move in deciding to have his name registered as a trademark.

It all began in LeLocle, a small village in the Neuchâtel Mountains of Switzerland, with an exceptional young man. His name was Georges Favre. At the age of 9, he left school and began learning the watchmaking trade. At the age of 13, he was ready to set up on his own. Seven years later, while still a minor, he married Louisine-Philippine Jacot-Descombes and took the name Favre-Jacot. A larger-than-life character driven by a fiercely independent spirit, this future captain of industry was also a visionary.

He did far more than just set up his own factory. In an age when movement parts were made by conscientious yet scattered and isolated farmers who turned watchmakers in winter, the future boss invented a milestone concept. It involved regrouping under the roof of his factory all the skills and talents required for the complete production of a watch. Today, we would call this vertical integration. In 1865, it was a revolution in the manner of exercising the watchmaking art in the region. Georges Favre-Jacot was only 22 years old at the time.

Georges Favre-Jacot

Georges Favre-Jacot was to prove himself an innovator in all areas of his company and fought hard to ensure he was constantly able to count on a state-of-the-art industrial facility.

This was already apparent in the architecture of the premises. The spacious and light-filled workshops featured large windows and these buildings were the first in the town to be equipped with electric lighting. They were linked by passages enabling people to walk from one workshop to another while remaining sheltered from the elements. Meeting all requirements and having everything in the same place: Georges Favre-Jacot’s vision of efficiency.

This avant-garde approach also governed the entire production chain. The concept enabled the entrepreneur in LeLocle to play a trailblazing role in the watch industry, by integrating a foundry, rolling-mills, stamping, case and dial-making within his Manufacture. A few years later, Henry Ford was to instate a similar concept in his Detroit factory. In parallel, Georges Favre-Jacot put in place a system that nobody had thought of before: interchangeable components, whatever the movement.

Finally, it also determined the entire work organisation. Georges Favre-Jacot had the idea of varying the tasks accomplished by the artisans in order to avoid monotony. He had them fix their stools on rails, much like today’s office chairs, thus enabling them to move from one workstation to the next without getting up and to maintain the same position in relation to the workbench. Moreover, Georges Favre-Jacot was doubtless the first in the watch industry to implement automated production.

This tireless innovator also instilled into his burgeoning company and his personnel a resolutely enterprising spirit that was to become a Zenith tradition.

The town of Le Locle, as well as being Zenith’s birthplace, is also acknowledged as the worldwide cradle of watchmaking. It is thus no coincidence that in 2009, along with neighbouring La Chaux-de-Fonds, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its industrial watchmaking architecture and town planning. Zenith naturally contributes to this status, having housed for 150 years and in the very same spot one of watchmaking history’s first industrial Manufactures in the modern sense of the term.

At the start of the 20th century, Zenith became one of the first manufacturers to participate in the boom of the new trend that soon appeared on men’s wrists everywhere: the wristwatch. Among the first timepieces of this type produced by the Manufacture, this extremely rare model is fitted with a dial also bearing the signature of Georges Favre-Jacot.

While its construction is very similar to that of a pocket watch, notably with its large-sized winding crown, this watch is nonetheless driven by a Zenith movement featuring a modern architecture. This model dating from 1911 features a white enamel dial with small seconds at 6 o’clock. The Arabic hour numerals are black from 1 to 11 and red at 12. This visual marker, drawing the gaze and enabling instant reading, was a direct heir to the highly readable dials of pocket watches.

Since its establishment in 1865, Zenith became the first watch manufacture in the modern sense of the term, and its watches have accompanied extraordinary figures that dreamt big and strived to achieve the impossible – from Louis Blériot’s history-making flight across the English Channel to Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting stratospheric free-fall jump.

With innovation as its guiding star, Zenith features exceptional in-house developed and manufactured movements in all its watches. From the first automatic chronograph, the El Primero, to the fastest chronograph with a 1/100th of a second precision, the El Primero 21, as well as the Inventor that reinvents the regulating organ by replacing the 30+ components with a single monolithic element, the manufacture is always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Zenith has been shaping the future of Swiss watchmaking since 1865, accompanying those who dare to challenge themselves and break barriers.

Website: https://www.zenith-watches.com/

BOHEMATIC WATCHES: GRAPHIC SUTNAR & AERO MINOR

April 29, 2021 MasterHorologer

BOHEMATIC is a Czech watch brand created by a businessman named Josef Zajíček, in partnership with designers Michal Froňek and Jan Němeček of the renowned Prague design studio Olgoj Chorchoj. All of them share a passion for technology, craftsmanship, and old racing cars. The brand offers luxury mechanical watches built on the premises of precise manufacturing and timeless design at a manufactory in Nové Město nad Metují (in north-eastern Bohemia in the Czech Republic).

Taking inspiration from the celebrated icons from the country, the brand creates mechanical timepieces featuring modernist design with timeless shapes and precise craftsmanship pushing the limits of technological possibilities. Presently, BOHEMATIC offers two watch models: GRAPHIC SUTNAR and AERO MINOR.

BOHEMATIC GRAPHIC SUTNAR

GRAPHIC SUTNAR is the first model from the GRAPHIC series. It looks to capture the best of Czech graphic design’s past and present and pays tribute to the avant-garde designer Ladislav Sutnar.

Born in Plzeň in 1897, Ladislav Sutnar is one of the leading figures of Czech interwar design who later played a key role in the development of American and global decorative arts and graphic design. He attained global fame and his work represents a major contribution to contemporary visual communication, design, and typography. Launching the GRAPHIC model with the Sutnar mark resonates with the overall philosophy of this series.

The dominant feature of the GRAPHIC SUTNAR watch is a large dial with raised indices from the pen of the graphic design Studio Marvil. It has a perfect font designed by Ladislav Sutnar to mark buildings in New York City’s Bronx borough in 1958; complemented by a discreet case with unobtrusive lugs.

The details of the dial, the shape of the hands and the design of the crown echo typical aspects of Sutnar’s work: they are based on the rigorous application of geometric patterns and elegant, modernist typography.

The hand-wound mechanical calibre was chosen due to the watch’s formal style. The small aperture at the two o’clock position on the back of the watch provides a view of the balance spring. The hand-sewn leather strap is beautifully outlined by perfect stitching. The model comes in five different colours: Tapir White, Rhino Black, Camel Ardoise, Elephant Blue and Walrus Silver.

The colour designations and shades are based on the names of famous toys designed by Sutnar. The price of Graphic watches ranges from CZK 98,000 to 108,000; depending on the design.

Technical details

Design: Olgoj Chorchoj Studio
Movement: mechanical (hand-wound), Eterna 3909M (Swiss Made), Power reserve: 65 hours
Case: stainless steel, blasted, black PVD, Dimensions: diameter 42 mm, height 12 mm, Water resistance: 5 ATM (swimming), Weight: 83 grams, Glass: sapphire crystal – antireflective
Dial: raised indices (Super-LumiNova)
Hands: machined (Super-LumiNova)
Strap: hand-sewn leather (20/18 mm)
Clasp: deployant (18 mm)

BOHEMATIC AERO MINOR

More sports-oriented, the AERO MINOR watch pays tribute to the legendary Czech car Aero Minor Sport and the racers who drove it to victory in its class in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1949. Numerous details link the watch visually to this hugely successful racing vehicle.

Its lightweight titanium case features ergonomically shaped lugs and a rotating bezel with inset luminescent markings. The distinctive dial, the typography and the shape of the hands are reminiscent of the car’s dashboard instruments; gear cog grooves decorate the crown and the rotor echoes the geometry of a wheel.

Both an aperture in the back of the watch and the dial perforated by 2,200 tiny holes afford a glimpse of the partially skeletonised automatic mechanical calibre from the premium Swiss manufacturer La Joux-Perret(LJP 8120).

The calibre has several modifications made especially for the AERO MINOR chronograph which features a column wheel and a rare complication called flyback — a function that allows the watch owner to stop and reset the stopwatch with a single push of a button.

Inspiration for including this complication came from the idea of measuring the circuit laps in Le Mans or the competition segments in TSD rallies. Manually set into the dial are two sub-dials with raised indices and a minute scale.

The skeletonised date wheel showing under the perforated dial and the luminescent date window (which greatly helps legibility in low-light conditions) add a beautiful, yet functional detail.

Rounding up the busy watch face is the perfectly clean minute scale with slightly raised Super-LumiNova indices. Adding the finishing touch to this model is the hand-sewn leather strap with large holes; it comes from Ondřej Šíma’s Prague studio.

The AERO MINOR model is produced in four different colours referencing legendary racing circuits Le Mans Blue, Spa Gray, Indy Sunburn and Monaco Black. The basic price of the AERO MINOR watch is CZK 148,000; however, the price may vary according to the level and complexity of individualization.

Technical details

Design: Olgoj Chorchoj Studio
Movement: mechanical – automatic, La Joux-Perret/Bohematic 8120 (Swiss Made), Power reserve: 55 hours
Case: titanium, blasted, Dimensions: diameter 44 mm, height 15 mm, Water resistance: 10 ATM (swimming), Weight: 71 grams, Glass: sapphire crystal (antireflective)
Dial: perforated (Super-LumiNova)
Hands: machined (Super-LumiNova)
Strap: hand-sewn leather (22/18 mm)
Clasp: pin buckle (18 mm)

About Bohematic

Bohematic is an original Czech watch manufactory based in Nové Město nad Metují. It focuses on the hand-made production of unique small-series mechanical watches. The whole project, which involves designers from the Olgoj Chorchoj studio and some of the best Czech watchmakers, was born out of a common passion for technology, craftsmanship, old racing cars and the ticking of mechanical machines. With 21st century design and technologies, this new Czech watch brand wants to continue the tradition of watchmaking in the Czech lands.

Contact details

BOHEMATIC s. r. o.
Komenského 10
549 01 Nové Město nad Metují
Website: https://bohematic.cz/?lang=en

Cédric Johner Watches

March 5, 2021March 7, 2021 MasterHorologer1 Comment

Cédric Johner is an independent master watchmaker based in Geneva. With an impressive experience of about three decades, this talented watchmaker creates unique hand-made mechanical timepieces for esteemed clients.

Cédric Johner began his watchmaking career in 1982 at the age of fifteen, as a trainee jeweller in a major Geneva fashion house. He then learned traditional watch making. Since beginning, he has a passion for creating unique timepieces. None of his watches are identical and each of them has something totally unique about it.

Cédric Johner operates a small luxury watch atelier in Geneva. The watchmaker uses much acclaimed traditional methods for the decoration and finishing of each watch and its movement.

Cédric Johner makes all the parts of his watches, including the jewellery part. All parts are hand-made using traditional methods. He makes watches based on previous models, but also entirely made-to-measure models according to the customer’s request.

Cedric Johner Maestria – Unique piece in platinum with minute repeater and perpetual calendar skeleton

Contact details

Website: http://www.cedric-johner.ch/

KUOE WATCHES

March 4, 2021 MasterHorologer

KUOE is a Japanese watch brand founded by designer Uchimura in 2020. The brand’s classic styled wristwatches take inspiration from the antique hand-wound watches from the 1940’s to 70’s era, made in England. The first model from the brand, the Old Smith 90-001 was launched in April 2020. Presently, the brand offers four collections: Old Smith 90-001, Old Smith 90-002, Royal Smith/90-004 and Holborn.

These high quality made-in-Japan watches comes in affordable price range. The brand itself handles all business activities including design, production and sales of its watches to reduce the costs. Every KUOE watch comes with one year manufacture warranty.

KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-001

Inspired by antique watches of the 1960’s, this timepiece features a smaller, 35 mm diameter, dome glass and ivory dial. Vintage styled, this sleek and minimalistic watch can be worn by both men and women.

Equipped with a Seiko quartz movement, the KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-001 watch is available with a choice of bar index dial or Arabic index dial.

Both dial versions offer the option of Blue, Gold and Silver hands. The retail price is approximately $178.00 for each.

Technical details

Movement
Quartz movement (Cal SEIKO VD78A)

Case
Material: stainless steel 316L
Diameter: 35mm
Thickness: 10mm
Dome mineral grass
Water resistance: 5 bar

Dial
Ivory dial with small seconds
Blued, Silvered of Golden hands

Band
Cowhide or mesh bracelet

KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-002

The OLD SMITH/90-002 is an automatic watch was inspired by the British military watches of the 1940’s – 70’s. Its features a smaller, 35 mm diameter rarely seen in modern automatic watches, thick Arabic numerals and hands, light orange fluorescent paint, and dial with a matte finish. Each timepiece houses a SEIKO NH35A self-winding movement.

The case is stainless steel, and polished to add elegance to the rustic feel. The watch is available in three dial versions: Dark Navy, Black, Deep Green and Ivory. The retail price is $268.00 for each.

Technical details

Movement
Automatic with hand-wound
Caliber SEIKO NH35A (Hacking)
Power reserve: approximately 41 hours
Accuracy: -20 to +40 seconds per day (23º± 2ºC)

Case
Material: Stainless steel 316L
Case diameter: 35mm
Thickness: 12mm
Lug width: 18 mm
Domed mineral grass
Water resistance: 10ATM
Screw crown

Dial
Dark Navy/Black/Deep Green/ Ivory
Luminous hands and index
Date at 3H

Strap
NATO

KUOE Royal Smith/90-004

This premium model is equipped with the automatic movement Caliber 9039 made by CITIZEN MIYOTA. Made of 316L stainless steel, the watch has the same dimensions of the brand’s 1st model “OLD SMITH / 90-001”. Topped with a domed mineral glass, the dial adopts a sharp bar index, and it has a simple, stylish and very luxurious appearance.

The KUOE Royal Smith/90-004 watch comes with a luxurious Italian leather strap with a gloss finish. The Royal Smith/90-004 model is limited to 50 pieces of each color.

Fitted with solid case back, the watch offers 50 meters water resistance. The back cover contains a serial number. The movement provides a power reserve up to 42 hours.

KUOE Holborn

Holborn is a ladies quartz watch that displays hour, minute and small second. Made of stainless steel, its case measures 26mm diameter and 8mm thickness. The watch is fitted with a domed mineral crystal glass. Available in bar index dial or Arabic index dial, the Holborn model comes with a cowhide strap.

Website: https://www.kuoe-en.com/

MASAHIRO KIKUNO

December 18, 2020March 2, 2021 MasterHorologerLeave a comment

Masahiro Kikuno is the first Japanese watch maker to join the prestigious Swiss institution AHCI (Académie Horlogère Des Créateurs Indépendants). He is specialized in the manufacturing of exclusive handmade mechanical timepieces. Born in 1983, Masahiro Kikuno started his watchmaking after graduated from HIKO Mizuno College WOSTEP course. He remained as the teacher of this course.

In 2011, he became the candidate member of AHCI and unveiled the temporal hour watch called “Wadokei” in Baselworld watch fair in the same year. The originality of his watches amounts to what they are made by “hand “. The cutting out of the bridges and the tourbillon cage, and even enrolling the numbers on the dial plate are achieved by hand.

His master piece creations are: the Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon (2011), Japanese style “Temporal hour watch “(2011), Tourbillon (2012), ORIZURU (2013), MOKUME (2014), Wadokei Revision (2015), Wadokei Revision Gyousyou (2016, unique piece not for sale ), Wadokei Revision Jikon (unique piece not for sale) and Sakubou (2017).

Masahiro Kikuno Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon

Created by Masahiro Kikuno in 2011, the Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon watch boasts the calendar functions such as day, week, month and leap year indications and equip a tourbillon mechanism to improve the timekeeping by annulling errors of rate due to gravity.

This was for the first time in Japan that an independent watch maker created such a complex horological complication. To create the Perpetual Calendar tourbillon complex movement, Kikuno modified an ETA 6997 -1 manual winding movement by incorporating in-house designed and hand crafted components.

Technical details

Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon
Case: φ44.0mm, thickness: 17.3mm
Base movement: ETA 6497-1; Manual-winding
Handmade train-bridge
Perpetual calendar; Tourbillon
Dial: Hand paint calendar disk
Hands: Blue steel
Strap: Brown crocodile leather
Transparent back

Masahiro Kikuno Temporal Hour Watch

The Japanese style “Temporal hour watch “built in 2011 is the first “Automatic wari-koma dial watch (Wadokei)”, which has automatic index adjusting in each season. ”Temporal hour” system is the way of counting hours depends on the time of sunset and sunrise. Hours between sunrise and sunset are divided into 6 and used as one counting unit.

The time of sunset and sunrise varies along the season. So this unit hour changes by season. So, in Edo era, temporal hour clock was very well designed to adjust this unstable time unit system. This “Temporal hour” watch which Mr. Kikuno made was operated under the same system amazingly into small wrist watch world. The space between index will be longer in daytime and shorter in night time on the summer solstice, while shorter in daytime and longer in night time on the winter solstice.

This watch also provided not only temporal hours hand but regular hour hands so that we can find normal time and minutes. The base caliber of “Temporal hour watch” is Swiss made ETA 6498-1 movement.

Technical details

Case: 50.0×44.0mm, thickness: 16.0mm
Base movement: eta.6498-1; Manual-winding; Handmade train-bridge; Temporal hour display
Dial: Hand-painting index
Hands: Blue steel; Golden steel (Tempered steel).
Strap: Black crocodile leather
Note: Transparent back

Masahiro Kikuno Tourbillon 2012

The Tourbillon 2012 is a sunning watch complication entirely made by hand without the help of any CNC machines.

This manual winding tourbillon model is a unique piece and equipped with 19 jewels caliber MK 12. The 18 carat red gold case measuring 43 mm diameter comes with a transparent case back.

Technical details

Case: 43mm 18k Rose gold
Movement: Caliber MK12
19 jewels
1 minute Tourbillon
Manual winding
Herringbone finish
Transparent back
Non-waterproof
Edition: Unique piece
Price: 9,800,000JPY

Masahiro Kikuno Wadokei Revision

Technical details

Size – 42mm x 34mm
Case – Oxidized bronze and stainless steel
Water resistant – 3 ATM
Movement – cal. mk15
Frequency – 28,800 vph
Number of the stones – 26
Manual winding
Temporal Hour (adjustable by replacing a cam between north latitude 51.3 and south latitude 51.3)
Twenty-four seasons display (adjustable by the crown) on the back.
Letters on the index are engraved by Mr. Keiji Kanagawa
Availability – 1 per year.
Price – JPY18,000,000 (before tax).

Masahiro Kikuno SAKUBOU

Technical details

Size – 38mmCase – Kuro-Shibuichi and White gold {Shibuichi” is the alloy 75% copper and 25% silver. Shibuichi means “quarter”, so 25% silver made that name. It contained a tiny bit of gold, too. “Kuro-Shibuichi” is 40% of “Shibuichi” and 60% of “Shakudo” which is the alloy of copper + 3% gold.}
Water resistance – 3 ATM
Movement – cal. mk17
Frequency – 28,800 vph
Number of the stones – 22
Manual winding
Moonphase (accuracy of one day per 122 years)
Engraved by Masahiro Kikuno
Availability – 4 per year.
Price – JPY5, 000,000 (before tax).

Official website: http://www.masahirokikuno.jp

MILUS

December 11, 2020June 27, 2021 MasterHorologerLeave a comment

Milus is a Swiss watch brand based in Biel/Bienne. It was founded by Paul William Junod in 1919.

History of Milus watch brand

The history of Milus watch brand begins with the ideal of its pioneering founder, Paul William Junod (1896-1951), to create a robust yet elegant watch – a precious accessory, which everyone would wish to own. With this goal, in 1919 he set up the watchmaking business at Route de Reuchenette 21 in Bienne. The company remained in the ownership of the Junod family until 2002.

Paul William Junod held fast to this ideal, put it into practice, never deviating from his way of achieving it. Trained and experienced in the art and tradition of the watchmaker’s craft, he wanted to work with this potential, to develop it further, in order to make his dream come true.

After the death of the founder Paul William Junod in 1951, his son Paul Herbert took over management of the family business. In 1961 a new company headquarters was built at Route de Reuchenette 19 in Bienne.

In 1982 Paul Herbert Junod handed over the company to his two sons Paul and Pierre Junod, who complemented each other perfectly in the management and further development of the company. While Pierre devoted himself to the financial affairs of the business, Paul, the “technician” and extremely talented engineer and graduate of the celebrated Biel “School of Watchmaking”, continually developed innovative shapes as well as a new design concept for the Milus brand.

In 2003 Milus was acquired by Peace Mark Group, a Hong Kong based company specialized in the manufacturing and retailing of timepieces. With the formation of the new company “Milus International SA”, the brand made a successful re-launch at Basel-world 2004.

In 2008 the brand was taken over by Chow Tai Fook, the Hong Kong retail jewelry group. In 2016, Luc Tissot brought the Milus brand from its Chinese investors. Luc belongs to the celebrated Swiss watch-making family Tissot. Former chairman of Tissot Watch Company, Luc Tissot is the founder and chief executive of Tissot Medical Research SA.

From 2003 to 2015, Milus had been positioned in the luxury price segment (above CHF 5,000), with premium watch collections like Apiana, Agenios, Cirina, Eridana, Herios, Merea, Monocera, Tarasea, Tirion and Zetios. Since 2016, the brand has been offering timepieces in an affordable price range of CHF 1,000 to CHF 2,000.

Presently, the brand’s flagship collections are Snow Star, Archimèdes by Milus and LAB 01.

Official website: www.milus.com

[Updated on 11 Dec 2020]

Aittokoski Timecrafts Fractalis

November 25, 2020 MasterHorologer

Aittokoski Timecrafts is an independent watchmaker based in Jyväskylä in Central Finland. The brand was founded by Dr. Timo Aittokoski.

Aittokoski Timecrafts creates exceptional, innovative, unique, and authentic high-quality wristwatches. The brand’s debut model is Fractalis, an automatic watch with highly distinguishable features.

In the design process of the Fractalis three equally important imperatives of practicality, ergonomics, and aesthetics of ideal design were respected, translating them into requirements of accuracy, robustness, wearing comfort, maximum readability in displaying the time, and aesthetically pleasing look and feel.

Fractalis is a watch with a fresh combination of traditional and novel features; crystal protected by bezel, rotation free caseback, downward shaped and changeable compressor lugs holding bezel, case, and caseback together, and functional solid-steel dial. It has authentic, easy-to-recognize design, where form largely follows the function, and decidedly clean solid lines suggest strong masculinity but in refined manner.

Fractalis come with a number of small distinctive details to look at, such as flat and round surfaces, tilted edges, grooves, conical shapes, hollows, textures, and technical components. The original design of Fractalis conveys precision, craftsmanship, durability, and toughness.

In Fractalis watch, lugs and case are separate pieces. Lugs have small claws at the upper and lower sides, and claws compress bezel and caseback to their places when lugs are tightened to the case with small machine screws. Also, the strap/bracelet is secured firmly with screws instead of spring bars. In contrast to commonly used bulging crystal, in Fractalis crystal lies below the level of the elevated bezel, reducing the risk of any mechanical impact to crystal.

Claws of the lugs compress caseback to the case for good sealing, and there is no need to tighten caseback by rotating it, which could compromise the gasket’s sealing capacity.

The dial of Fractalis is a heavy and solid block of stainless steel/bronze/titanium, and it also serves as a movement holder. Traditionally watch movement is kept in place by dial feet, two thin wires that extrude from the dial back into the movement. This arrangement is susceptible to bending or breaking of the feet, causing movement and hands to break loose.

In Fractalis, movement fits inside the dial block and is locked in place with three screws and a sturdy retainer ring. The above mentioned design choices give Fractalis its unique, strong and easy-to-recognize look, where form follows function. The watch houses a Swiss made ETA2892-A2 self-winding movement.

Finally, materials used in Fractalis range from commonly used 316L stainless steel to much harder and much more corrosion resistant 2205 Super Steel, and further to Grade 5 titanium which is very hard, and basically corrosion-free in any conceivable environment.

Flat sapphire crystal is kept in place under the bezel, which completely prevents the possibility of crystal pop due to air pressure changes.

Technical details

Model: FRACTALIS

Case
Material choices: Stainless Steel 316L, Super Steel 2205, and Grade 5 Titanium
Scratch & corrosion resistant
Material nickel content from medium (316L) to low (2205) to zero (Titanium)
Special compressor lug design
Diameter: 42 mm
Thickness 10 mm
Lug width 22 mm
Lug-to-lug distance 48 mm
Crystal: 1mm thick distortion-free flat sapphire crystal; Retained and guarded by elevated bezel
Water resistance: Verified to 6 bar; Special non-shear gasket arrangement

Movement
Swiss made ETA2892-A2, automatic, mechanical
Frequency: 28’800 vph (4 Hz)
21 jewels
Power reserve: 42 hours
Diameter: 25.6 mm

Dial
Single-block steel with integrated indices
Uncluttered, clean design
Original skeletonized or lumed spring steel hands

Strap
Secure screw attachment for strap/bracelet
Available with a variety of natural rubber and leather straps

Retail price
Fractalis Titanium G5: 7 750€, incl. VAT 24%
Fractalis Super Steel: 6 450€, incl. VAT 24%
Fractalis Steel: 5 250€, incl. VAT 24%

About Dr. Timo Aittokoski, the founder

Albeit being academically highly educated (Ph.D. in computer science and M.Sc. in sports science), Dr. Timo Aittokoski has his roots deeply grounded in the Finnish countryside. During his formative years as a farmer’s son, he assumed an independent creative mindset needed to keep machinery running and to create complex things from just basic materials with elemental tools.

As an adult, Dr. Aittokoski has treasured keen interest in all things mechanical and technological. He has designed and manufactured progressive and unconventional designs in several fields of engineering, including modern turbocharged motorcycles, traditional V-2 custom motorcycles, snowmobiles, competitive two-stroke engines, power dynamometers, flow benches, complex control electronics, and even loudspeakers.

Dr. Aittokoski pinpoints that his interest in mechanical wristwatches was enhanced probably by John Christopher’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi classic, in which mankind has deteriorated under the rule of Tripods and is largely pastoral, and lifestyle is reminiscent of the Middle Ages, but small artifacts from the Modern Age are still used, such as watches. One of the watches is awe-inspiring to protagonist Will and makes him think that humans must have had a much higher technological level prior to Tripods.

Website: www.aittokoski.watch

DEPANCEL WATCHES

October 22, 2020 MasterHorologer1 Comment

Depancel is a French watch brand founded in 2018 by Clément Meynier, a native of the Jura Mountains, near the Franco-Swiss border.

Before setting up his own watch brand, Clément Meynier had been working as an engineer at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva. Combining a passion for watch making skills with his mechanical knowledge, Clément Meynier set himself the admirable goal of making mechanical watches more accessible to a much wider public. This goal included not only improving upon the price, but also providing greater transparency and understanding about watch making.

By placing its community at the heart of the creative process, Depancel has broken with traditional watch making practices, instead designing products that meet their followers’ needs and expectations. Once developed and prototyped, the creations are submitted to the community before production is started.

Depancel AUTO collection

The brand successfully conducted two Kickstarter crowd-funding campaigns: First one for the Depancel AUTO collection (2018) and the second one for the Depancel [Re]Naissance collection (2019). Presently, the brand sells these timepieces via their online store.

With e-commerce as the cornerstone of its economic model, Depancel has eliminated intermediaries and with them the multiplying factors that can lead to a sale price up to eight times higher than the cost of production.

Depancel [Re]Naissance collection

The brand goes even further by opting for a pre-ordering system that allows it to produce fitting quantities, thus limiting storage costs, all while ensuring a more sustainable process. This model enables the brand to maintain unusually good value for money, as witnessed by the lifetime warranty for its products, while also continuing to make a tangible impact on local Franche-Comté craftsmanship.

Depancel timepieces draw their design inspiration from the legendary cars manufactured in France. Interestingly, the name Depancel is a contraction of Delage, Panhard and Facel Vega – the three celebrated icons of the motor car industry in France.

With its logo inspired by the 1954 Facel Vega’s radiator grill, its dials resembling instrument panels and its leather straps with a look of drivers’ gloves, the tributes to iconic automobiles are varied in these mechanical watches.

Collections

Website: https://www.depancel.com/

RAJAMÄEN KELLOTEHDAS WATCHES

October 20, 2020 MasterHorologer

Rajamäen Kellotehdas is a Finland based watch brand established by Simo Ylitalo, a watchmaker with immense experience in traditional watch making sector. In their exclusive mechanical timepieces, the brand successfully merges both the Swiss and the Finnish watch making traditions.

Born in 1967, Simo Ylitalo is an alumnus of The Finnish School of Watchmaking and WOSTEP in Neuchatel, Switzerland. He completed his graduation from Finland’s watch-making school in 1991. He began his career in luxury watch retail sector in Finland and then moved to Switzerland where he had worked with some venerated horology firms like PIAGET (1992 to 1995) and RENAUD ET PAPI (1995 to 1998).

He then returned to Finland and became an instructor at the same Watchmaking School he graduated. Before founding his own watch brand, Simo had also worked with Kari Voutilainen workshop in Switzerland from 2006 to 2007.

In 2007, Simo Ylitalo founded his own horology workshop. Rajamäen Kellotehdas was founded with the purpose of offering watchmaking skills acquired without compromise from both Finland and Switzerland. Initially, his atelier focussed mainly on the restoration of complicated watches and the development of prototypes. In 2011, Rajamäen Kellotehdas launched its first watch. Simo still continues to teach at The Finnish School of Watchmaking located in Tapiola, Espoo.

Rajamäen Kellotehdas is based at Rajamäki, a village in the municipality of Nurmijärvi in southern Finland. This newly established watch brand’s creations are immediately recognizeable and stand out from the crowd, thanks to the original design and their unique, vibrant three dimensional dials. Presently, Rajamäen Kellotehdas offers a line named 12M. Another series called 18M is under development.

12M is an automatic watch equipped with a modified ETA 2892-2 Swiss made self-winding movement.
It comes with a 41mm diameter and 11.5mm thick stainless steel case featuring polished finish or dark grey diamond-like coating. Its front glass and transparent caseback are made from scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.

Fixed with three screws, its three-dimensional dial feature Arabic numeral embedded blocks as hour-markers and 5-minute markers. Made from Alumec with diamond-like coating, the dial of 12M model features 4 layers: the centre dial, the ring with hour-marker blocks, the ring with brand name RAJAMÄEN KELLOTEHDAS and the outer minute track. The centre dial can be a plain surface featuring the same dial color or a mesh.

The Rajamäen Kellotehdas 12M watch is available with Dark grey, Blue (Alu 6082 anodized), Orange, Green, Lingonberry Red, Purple and Bronze dial versions.

The 12M watch indicates hour, minute, seconds and date. All the three hands are embedded with luminous material. The date window is placed at 3’o clock. The 12M watch can be worn on leather strap, stainless steel bracelet or bi-material (leather/rubber) strap.

When viewing from the caseback side, you will find a colored ring that surrounds the movement. Featuring the same color of the front dial, this ring also features brand name, model number and serial number.

The decorated self-winding movement can be admired through the sapphire crystal case back. The custom rotor features five drilled holes.

The proposed 18M model features a heat-treated stainless steel with grained and polished finish. It measures Ø 40mm diameter and 11.5mm thickness. The 18M watch is fitted with sapphire crystal front and back. Movement is a modified ETA 2896 self-winding calibre made in Switzerland. This timepiece does not feature traditional watch hands; instead it comes with triangular markers and discs.

Contact details

Simo Ylitalo
Rajamäen Kellotehdas
Puusepäntie 9
05200 Rajamäki
Finland
Website: https://www.rajamaenkellotehdas.fi/en/

AS (Alessandro Staffetta) Watches

October 12, 2020 MasterHorologer

Founded by Alessandro Staffetta, AS Watches is an Italian micro-brand specialized in the manufacturing of extremely rugged watches. These solid automatic watches can be customized and available only in limited quantities.

Presently, Alessandro Staffetta offers two models: BIG ONE and PATO. As the name suggests, BIG ONE is a massive timepiece with 48mm case diameter, 52mm lug to lug length and 18.5mm thickness. PATO is also a big watch but it is smaller than the BIG ONE.

PATO measures 44mm diameter, 52mm lug to lug length and 16.7mm thickness. Both timepieces are available with CNC machined stainless steel 316L, Bronze CuSn 12 or titanium cases.

Both BIG ONE and PATO share some common features, for example the movement powering these watches is the iconic ETA 2824/2 Swiss made self-winding movement. They features sandwich dials painted to airbrush and customized on words. Both come with custom made hands and hand-made straps. A major common attraction of these watch models is the big crown located at 10 o’ clock and its towering crown guards.

These models differ in a number of technical features. For example, the BIG ONE model features a CNC machined and hand polished Plexy glass as the front crystal where as the PATO model is fitted with a sapphire crystal glass. Further, the BIG ONE has a water resistance up to 100 atm (1000 meters) while PATO maintains a 70 ATM (700 meters) water resistance.

Interested customers can contact Alessandro Staffetta via his instagram account or the Facebook page.

BOTTA DESIGN WATCHES

October 12, 2020 MasterHorologer

BOTTA design is a German company that operates in two business sectors. On the one hand, BOTTA design develops and sells high-quality wristwatches with high design standards under the BOTTA brand. On the other hand, BOTTA design is active as a service agency in product design.

Founded in 1986 by product and industrial designer Klaus Botta, BOTTA design creates and develops watches with a clear and characteristic design language and special display principles.

The concept of the single-hand watches is an example of this. The UNO (1986) was the first single-hand wristwatch of modern times. With its reduced display, it symbolizes the relaxed approach to time. The portfolio of BOTTA design includes single-hand watches either with a 12h or 24h display as well as multi-hand watches. This results in a product range with extraordinary display principles. The watches are available both as automatic and quartz models.

The design quality of the products has been honoured with more than 60 international design awards, including the „red dot design award“, the „if design award“, and the „good design award“.

Klaus Botta, the founder of BOTTA Design

Klaus Botta founded his design agency in 1986 during his studies. From then on he both designed products for the industry as well as watches.

In the beginning Botta developed wristwatches for Junghans, Bestform, Watch People and other brands. During this time design classics such as the UNO, the Junghans-Solar-1, the TRES, the Titan-1, the IKON or the HELIOS were created. Since 1999 he has been selling his watches under his own name. Klaus Botta has been living in Königstein im Taunus since 2003.

Klaus Botta, the founder of BOTTA Design, with his team

Klaus Botta first studied technical physics at the University of Bayreuth. This was followed by studies in industrial design and product design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Offenbach. Botta attached great importance to practical orientation from the very beginning. He regularly enhanced his academic qualifications with demanding Internships in the fields of metal, wood and plastics processing as well as aircraft construction.

He completed further internships in the design department of Adam Opel AG in Rüsselsheim and with Albrecht Graf Goertz, designer of the legendary BMW 507. Curiosity is an important drive for visionaries like Klaus Botta. He views life from a generalist perspective, but also has an eye for every detail. This is how products and watches with a high degree of innovation are created in his design studio.

Milestones

UNO (1986)

In 1986 Klaus Botta revolutionized the perception of time: The UNO was the first one-hand wristwatch of modern times. As original of one-hand watches, it has long been a design classic. Its pioneering display principle serves as role model for a complete watch segment. To this day, the principle of the one-hand watch is an essential component in the range of BOTTA design.

Junghans Solar-1 (1994)

At first Klaus Botta did not sell the watches under his own name. He designed numerous watch models for various manufacturers. Among them even established brands like Junghans. The Junghans Solar-1, the first solar wristwatch of the world, was designed by Klaus Botta.

Titan-1 (1993)

In 1993 titanium watch cases were a novelty on the watch market. The Titan-1 was one of the first models with the new material and thus performed pioneering work in this field. It was available through the catalogue of the distributor Pro-Idee and became an absolute bestseller.

Helios, Clavius, Solus (2007)

The series, consisting of three watches, features a special clarity of design. The watches are also characterized by a particularly flat case and therefore appear remarkably light. Here, again, titanium was used as a material.

BOTTA product design

In addition to the development and distribution of watches under the brand „BOTTA“, BOTTA design also works as industrial design office for clients of the most diverse industries. The focus of the projects is on technical design and the design of electronic devices. With its core team of designers and technicians, BOTTA design, together with selected partners, offers a wide range of services from one hand – from design to construction, project management and consulting included.

BOTTA Watch Collection

BOTTA design watches turn time into a special experience. They are characterised by extraordinary display concepts. Single or multi-handed/12-hour or 24-hour display – BOTTA watches encourage a conscious approach to time. At the same time, all watches develop very individual characters through their sensitive design.

BOTTA design places great value on the highest quality right from the choice of materials: Most BOTTA watches are already equipped with a three-part titanium case (Tri-Titanium). The glasses of the watches are made of scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.

All BOTTA watches are powered by Swiss Made automatic or quartz movements from Swiss brands Ronda or ETA. The design and development department is located in Königstein im Taunus near Frankfurt am Main. The watches are also completely assembled in Germany. The vegetable tanned leather watch straps are also made in Germany.

The brands present collection includes models like UNO (12-hour one-hand watch), NOVA (12-hour one-hand watch), UNO 24 (24-hour one-hand watch), MONDO (GMT watch), TRES (12-hour multi-hand watch) and TRES 24 (24-hour multi-hand watch).

BOTTA watches are available from retailers as well as online and in the company‘s own online shop at www.botta-design.de/en

Contact details

BOTTA design
Klosterstraße 15a
61462 Königstein im Taunus
Germany
Website: www.botta-design.de

Sangamon Watch Company

October 8, 2020 MasterHorologer

Based in Springfield, IL, Sangamon Watch Company was founded in 2019 by two international business travelers. Co-founders Tyler McKay and Brian Su wanted to combine their passions of watches and history, along with their business expertise, to design historically inspired watches. Every Sangamon watch is hand assembled in limited quantities and based on a special inspirational story.

Sangamon Watch Company successfully launched 3 collections during 2020, specifically Lincoln’s River, Omaha Beach and Mother Road Collections.

Sangamon Watch Company is named after the Sangamon River, which runs from Central Illinois and feeds into the Mississippi River. The river was loved by Abraham Lincoln, whose family settled along the river when he was a young man. The Sangamon region was also home to one of the finest watchmakers in the United States- the Illinois Watch Company.

Collections

Website: www.SangamonWatches.com

TRIBUS WATCHES

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 MasterHorologer

TRIBUS is an ambitious new Swiss watch brand operating out of Liverpool, UK and Lugano, Switzerland. Made its debut in 2020, the brand was founded by the three sons of Christopher Ward: Jonathon, James and Jake.

The Ward brothers are backed by a team that has accumulated decades of experience in the watch industry. This informed the decision to focus on Swiss manufacture wherever possible, with all TRIBUS watches featuring Swiss-made movements and cases. The core TRIBUS range, comprising of four models with ‘retro-temporary’ styling inspired by the dress watches of the 1940s and ‘50s, will also be chronometer-certified.

Beyond its own range, TRIBUS chooses exciting collaborations in the worlds of art, history and sport. Proud of its Liverpool roots, the brand is presently the Official Wristwatch Partner to Liverpool Football Club.

Inspired to create their own brand by their father Chris, their focus is on collaboration, storytelling and precision engineering. Announced in September 2020, the TRIBUS introductory collection comprises of three separate sections: its own TRIBUS series, a Liverpool FC collection and a Battle of Britain 80th Anniversary limited edition piece.

TRIBUS places an emphasis on utilising Swiss production wherever possible, using Swiss-made movements and cases. Accompanied by bold imagery that aims to inject energy and humour into the straight-laced Swiss marketplace, TRIBUS lives by its motto: ‘Forget what you think you know’.

Collections

Website: https://tribus-watches.com/

ELEGANTSIS WATCHES

September 26, 2020September 26, 2020 MasterHorologer

ELEGANTSIS is a Taiwan (Republic of China) based watch brand founded by MK Cheng in 1999. Originally incorporated with the brand name ELEGANT for offering ladies’ watches, the company accepted the new name “ELEGANTSIS” in 2011 to include men with “s” for “she” and “is” for “his”. In the same year, the brand began producing men’s wristwatches with casual/trendy military based designs. In 2014, the brand made its international debut. ELEGANTSIS watches are dedicated to fashion and adventure loving customers.

ELEGANTSIS watches can be purchased from authorized dealers, traditional watch &jewelry boutiques, design boutiques and department stores of selected countries as well as from online stores. Presently the brand has its presence in countries like Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Australia, Iran, Brazil, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

ELEGANTSIS Watch Collections

Apart from its regular collections, the brand also produces wristwatches for Taiwanese military organizations and other collaborative projects. It successfully undertook ODM projects for Taiwan Military to design “The Black Bat” Collection for its 60th Anniversary (2015), 1st & 2nd Generation “Grumman S-2 Tracker” Collections (2017).

ELEGANTSIS J048MAS-256: ROCN 256 Squadron special edition

In addition, ELEGANTSIS has also created special edition military watches honoring units of Republic of China Navy like ROCN-UDU (Republic of China Ship – Underwater Demolition Unit), the 256 Submarine Squadron and Naval Staff& Command College. Further, the JX48MAS Flying Tigers special edition watch collection honors the Flying Tigers Squadron, the First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force in 1941–1942.

ELEGANTSIS J048MAS Flying Tigers special edition

The other military watches include special limited edition Army Armor series honoring ROCA (Republic of China Army), special edition C-130 Hercules chronograph, RCSS Airforce Taipei Songshan Airport special edition, Republic of China Army National Defense University (NDU) War College special edition, Republic of China Army Airborne Special Forces special edition, Republic of China Airforce Anti-Submarine Warfare Group special edition, and Republic of China Marine Corps special edition. The brand also offers a number of military style wrist watches.

ELEGANTSIS has also collaborated with JSK Moto. Co. of LA, California for the JX65AS Collection. The brand also offers some motorcycling inspired and fashionable wristwatches for both men and women.

ELEGANTSIS JX65AS Collection: Collaboration with JSK Moto. Co. LA, California, USA

ELEGANTSIS Watches are dedicated to masculine hands. So, they come with massive cases made from 316L stainless steel, PVD-coated stainless steel or Titanium. The watches are fitted with sapphire crystal or German K1 glass depending upon the models. The watches also employ good-quality luminous material to ensure night time reading.

The brand offers both automatic and quartz watch collections. The engines behind the ELEGANTSIS timepieces are either Swiss made or of Japanese origin. Most of the ELEGANTSIS Watches have a water resistance of minimum 100 meters; some models have 200 or 300 meters water resistance.

ELEGANTSIS Military Special Editions

ELEGANTSIS ROCN-UDU special edition

Diameter: 44mm
Case: Titanium
Water Resistant: 300m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Sellita SW200
Bracelet: Titanium Bracelet
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS J048MAS-256: ROCN 256 Squadron special edition

Diameter: 45.5mm
Case: PVD Black 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 200m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: SII NE15
Strap: Premium Silicon Strap
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS J048MAS Flying Tigers special edition

Diameter: 45.5 mm
Lug: 22 mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel and in PVD Vintage Black Finishing
Movement: Automatic with Power Reserve of 50 hours
Water Resistant: 200 m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti-Reflective Coating
Lume: Swiss SuperlumiNova
Strap: Italian Leather & Silicon Straps

ELEGANTSIS C-130 Hercules Chronograph special edition

Diameter: 48mm
Lug width: 24mm
Case: PVD Rustic Black 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Miyota Quartz Chronograph
Strap: Customized Italian Calf Leather Strap
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova
Taiwan and USA models are available

ELEGANTSIS J048MAS NCSC (Naval Staff & Command College) special edition

Diameter: 45.5 mm
Lug: 22 mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel and in PVD Black
Movement: Automatic with Power Reserve of 38 hours
Water Resistant: 200 m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti-Reflective Coating
Lume: Swiss SuperlumiNova
Strap: Italian Leather & Silicon Straps

ELEGANTSIS JX48AS-ROCA special edition

Diameter: 48 MM
Lug: 24 mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel and in PVD Black
Movement: Automatic with Power Reserve of 38 hours
Water Resistant: 100 m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti-Reflective Coating
Lume: Swiss SuperlumiNova
Strap: Italian Leather

ELEGANTSIS J065AS-RCSS: RCSS Airforce Taipei Songshan Airport special edition

Diameter : 47mm
Casing : 316L Stainless Steel (Vintage / Rustic Finishing)
Water Resistant : 100m
Glass : Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement : Seiko NH35A
Strap : Customized Italian Calf Leather Strap
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS J065AS-NDU Republic of China Army National Defense University (NDU) War College special edition

Diameter: 47mm
Case: PVD Black 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Swiss Sellita SW200
Strap: Customized Italian Calf Leather Strap
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS JX65AS-SF: Republic of China Army Airborne Special Forces special edition

Diameter: 47mm
Case: PVD Black 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Miyota9130 with Power Reserve Indicator
Strap: Customized Italian Calf Leather Strap
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS P3C A.S.W.G Chronograph: Republic of China Airforce Anti-Submarine Warfare Group Special Edition

Diameter: 47mm
Casing & Wristband: PVD BLACK 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Miyota Chronograph-Quartz
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS JX48AS-ROCMC: Republic of China Marine Corps Special Edition

Diameter: 48mm
Casing & Wristband: 316L Stainless Steel (Vintage / Rustic Finishing)
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Seiko NH38A
Add On: Customized Italian Calf Leather Embedded with Genuine ROC Marine Corp. Uniform Material
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

Other Military Style Collections

ELEGANTSIS JF48A Automatic Military Style Tactical Precision Wristwatch

Diameter: 48mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel
Strap: Italian Calf Leather
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal
Movement: SII NH35A

ELEGANTSIS Camouflage Style JF47 Tactical Precision Wristwatch

Diameter: 48mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel
Strap: Italian Calf Leather
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: German K1
Movement: Japanese Chronograph Quartz

ELEGANTSIS Army Style JT48 War Correspondents Tactical Precision Wristwatch

Diameter: 48mm
Case: 316L Stainless Steel
Strap: Genuine leather
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: German K1
Movement: Japanese Quartz

Collaborations

ELEGANTSIS JX65AS Collection: Collaboration with JSK Moto. Co. LA, California, USA

47.5 mm stainless steel case
Water resistance to 100 m
Italian vegetable tanned calfskin strap
AR coated sapphire crystal glass
Lume: Swiss SuperlumiNova
Sellita SW 200-1 Swiss automatic movement

More collections

ELEGANTSIS Cafe Racer JR65R – Motorcyclists Style

Diameter: 48mm
Casing & Wristband: 316L Stainless Steel (Vintage / Rustic Finishing)
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: Sapphire Crystal with Anti -Reflective Coating
Movement: Seiko NH38A
Add On: Customized Italian Calf Leather Embedded with Genuine ROC Marine Corp. Uniform Material
Lume: C3 SuperlumiNova

ELEGANTSIS JT65R Chronograph – Motorcyclists Style

Diameter: 47mm
Casing: 316L Stainless Steel
Strap: Italian Calf Leather
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: German K1
Movement: Japanese Quartz Chronograph

ELEGANTSIS JT42R – Motorcyclists Style

Diameter: 46mm
Casing & Wristband: 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: German K1
Movement: Japanese Quartz Chronograph

ELEGANTSIS JF48K Chronograph – Fashion Style

Diameter: 48mm (Gents) and 43mm (Ladies)
Case & Wristband: 316L Stainless Steel
Water Resistant: 100m
Glass: German K1
Movement: Japanese Quartz Chronograph

Contact details

Website: https://elegantsis.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elegantsistimepiece/

NIVADA GRENCHEN WATCHES

August 31, 2020 MasterHorologer2 Comments

Nivada Grenchen is a Swiss watch brand founded in the 1920s. Its origins trace back to 1926, when Jacob Schneider established the watch company Wüllimann Schneider Nivada S.A. in the town of Grenchen located in the north-east region of Switzerland.

The company mainly produced affordable mechanical watches using movements from manufactures like Phénix S.A. and Ebauches SA. It was one of the first Swiss brands to offer automatic watches.

Croton distributed Nivada Grenchen watches in the United States. Many of these watches featured the names of both companies on their dials to highlight the partnership.

Their notable watch collections are Antarctic (1950), Chronomaster (1963), Depthomatic (1964) and Depthmaster (1965). In the 1970s, with the introduction of Quartz watches, many Swiss watch companies had to cease mechanical watch production. The Nivada Grenchen Company found it difficult to survive despite its efforts to catch up the quartz revolution. In the 1980s, the brand rights were sold to a South Korean watch company and after some years, the Mexican business group Industrial Omega SA de CV acquired the NIVADA brand, and they still own it.

The new owners based in Mexico offers quartz watches bearing NIVADA SWISS brand name, especially for the Mexican domestic market. In 2018, two watchmaking entrepreneurs – Guillaume Laidet and Remi Chabrat – have decided to revive the NIVADA brand with its original legacy.

Guillaume Laidet is the founder of William L.1985 watch brand. Remi Chabrat is the owner of the Montrichard Group, the private label watch manufacturer with an immense experience in the production of wristwatches. As a private label watchmaker, Remi also has business relationship with the Mexican group (Grupo Industrial Omega SA de CV) who owned the Nivada brand. In 2019, the Industrial Omega SA de CV group gave Guillaume and Remi the license to use the Nivada Grenchen copyright.

As a first step to revive the iconic Nivada Grenchen brand, both Guillaume and Remi have announced the re-editions of the Chronomaster and the Antarctic watch models. The new collections are Swiss made and utilize Sellita mechanical movements.

Official website (Nivada Grenchen): https://nivadagrenchenofficial.com/

Yvan Monnet Genève

August 29, 2020 MasterHorologer2 Comments

Yvan Monnet is an independent watch brand based in Geneva. It was founded by Yvan Monnet, an experienced watchmaker from the historic “Cabinotiers” district of Geneva. As of now, the brand offers two flagship collections: FIVE and Mina.

Yvan Monnet’s mechanical timepieces have an identity characteristic that is the supreme Grail in watchmaking: a shape that is instantly identifiable. This particular design immediately associates these watches with this independent watchmaker who restores luster and nobility to the watchmaking and finishing arts.

The atypical pentagonal shape of Yvan Monnet’s watches is now conquering more and more followers, both among collectors and trendy enthusiasts. The elegant watch cases with five sides please free, non-conformist people. They reflect a successful integration of perfect roundness, cleverly tamed angles and invisible and subtle aesthetic balances.

With the privilege of a some twenty years professional career in the most prestigious Geneva watch manufactures, he has decided to use this age-old know-how for a project that suits him; a brand that embodies quality and expertise. His time at Patek Philippe has allowed him to become familiar with the intricacies of watch decoration and the art of the brand’s finishings.

His support functions for the Historic Pieces Department and the “Métiers d’Art” Department gave him the opportunity to acquire solid knowledge in the conception of the watch case. He then developed his expertise as a creator at Vacheron Constantin by designing cases and dials with decorative applications in collaboration with renowned craftsmen. He has also acquired a special know-how in the production of pocket watches and minute repeaters.

Today, Yvan Monnet creates timepieces featuring an innovative and totally unexpected pure shape. His pentagonal creations are promises for the future in a context of globalized uniformity. Today, through the FIVE and Mina collections, they embody a desirability made of originality. A slightly rebellious approach, entrusted to passionate artists and craftsmen for whom the added value does not only come from the designer or the motorist, but from an entire chain where, for example, the ‘finisher’ can change the appearance of a watch product.

Contact details

YvM²-YvanMonneT-Genève
Place Simon Goulart, 2
CH-1201 Genève
Website: https://ymonnet.ch/

BA111OD WATCHES

August 26, 2020August 26, 2020 MasterHorologer

BA111OD is a one-of-a-kind watch brand/marketing concept introduced by Thomas Baillod, a veteran of the watch industry. Officially launched on 10th November 2019, BA111OD follows a unique 360° customer-centric watchmaking concept.

BA111OD is a disruptive concept based on the mutual interest of all stakeholders, which merges physical and digital sales and intends to address the shortcomings of the traditional distribution system. It is an ecosystem that encompasses a watch brand and its distribution through a community of “Afluendors” connected via a dedicated application.

This ecosystem has enabled the brand to accomplish its vision in just a few months, without any form of crowd-funding, angel investment or aggressive marketing, in the midst of the Covid crisis. The first watches were delivered as early as February 2020. Within a few months, and in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the brand convinced more than 800 customers and sold around 900 pieces for a turnover of around CHF 330,000. The brand is present on all 5 continents; beside Switzerland, its main markets are France, the United States, Mexico and Dubai.

The unique brand name ‘BA111OD’ was taken from the founder’s family name BAILLOD, by replacing the letters ‘I’ and ‘L’ with digit 1. The BAILLOD family traces its roots to Jacques Baillod, the legendary 15th century knight who fearlessly defended the Bridge of Thielle in 1476.

Afluendors

Coined by BA111OD, the Swiss start-up company based in Neuchâtel, “Afluendors” is an acronym of Ambassadors-Influencers-Vendors. Afluendors are the cornerstone of the BA111OD system. They can be either individuals or partner shops. Sales are only made through them as they hold the resale rights of the watches.

Afluendors participate actively in the project and its promotion by sharing with their family, colleagues and friends the concept, the values of BA111OD, as well as the pleasure and pride they have in wearing their watch. They thus form a close-knit and active community that communicates via an application developed for this purpose.

BA111OD application

The BA111OD application is a community sales platform that encompasses communication and marketing. From putting the “Afluendors” in contact with the buyers to submit the order, via the shopping basket and the payment terminal, it allows total traceability throughout the process and the remuneration of all those involved.

The sale is community-based thus allowing the emergence of a new business model for all stakeholders. The novel marketing system introduced by Thomas Baillod makes use of social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, Apps like Instagram and WhatsApp as well as Google Maps and Micro-websites. For example, LinkedIn was the launching platform for the brand concept, when it was introduced in November 2019.

How the BA111OD concept works?

When an individual or a partner shop purchases a BA111OD watch, they become a member of the brand’s Afluendors network. With the purchase of a watch, each Afluendor gets 4 sales rights (Tokens). When a new customer desires to purchase a BA111OD watch, he or she should contact an Afluendor for Tokens. After converting their 4 Tokens into sales, each Afluendor will be able to choose an additional watch in the same chapter, which will be offered to them for free.

BA111OD Chapter 1 Collection

The debut collection from the brand is Chapter 1. It is a mechanical watch collection designed by a Swiss designer and produced entirely in Asia by reputable manufacturing partners. The BA111OD Chapter 1 watch incorporates a 47-jewels mechanical automatic movement with two oscillators that are visible through the open-worked main dial.

Featuring an open-worked dial, the watch offers a regulator type display with a large centre seconds-hand and an off-centered sub-dial housing hour and minute hands as well as applied hour-markers. The color of sub-dial can be black, grey, navy blue or ice blue depending on the version. The dial plate features Côtes de Genève pattern or vertical brushed finish. The domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective coating offers crystal clear view of the dial indications and movement components.

BA111OD Chapter 1.1 Silver

The 43 mm diameter 316L steel case of the watch offers a subtle alternation of brushed and polished finishes. The movement has been deliberately rotated one hour clockwise to give the watch an immediately recognisable asymmetry. The four levels on a transparent background enhance the exceptional 3D rendering. The transparent crystal case-back offers the view of self-winding movement that beats inside.

BA111OD Chapter 1.2 Blue

The crown bears the coat of arms of the Baillod family. Each BA111OD watch comes with a natural leather strap with a matching color theme and a folding clasp.

BA111OD Chapter 1.3 Bicolor

Presently four models are available in this collection: Chapter 1.1 Silver, Chapter 1.2 Blue, Chapter 1.3 Bicolor and Chapter 1.4 Black Ice.

BA111OD Chapter 1.4 Black Ice

All BA111OD watches are numbered and each of them goes through a final quality control at the headquarters in Neuchâtel. After-sales service is also provided in Neuchâtel. Each watch is covered by a 2-year international warranty.

Technical details

Collection: BA111OD Chapter 1

Case
Diameter: 43mm
Material: Stainless steel 316L case (Chapter 1.4 Black Ice features gun metal PVD case)
Open case back
Glass: domed sapphire crystal with double anti reflective coating
Crown at 4 o’clock, engraved with the logo BA111OD
Water resistance: 3 ATM (rain & water splash)

Movement
Automatic movement with double oscillator
47 jewels
Power reserve: 42 hours

Dial
Chapter 1.1 Silver: Grey dial with applied indexes, Côtes de Genève decoration
Chapter 1.2 Blue: navy blue dial with applied indexes, Côtes de Genève decoration
Chapter 1.3 Bicolor: Black dial with applied indexes, Côtes de Genève decoration
Chapter 1.4 Black Ice: ice blue dial with applied indexes, Vertical brushed finish

Strap
Genuine calf leather with alligator pattern & deploying buckle
Color: Black or blue or dark brown

Price*
Chapter 1.1 Silver: CHF 360
Chapter 1.2 Blue: CHF 360
Chapter 1.3 Bicolor: CHF 360
Chapter 1.4 Black Ice: CHF 380

[*Prices excluding VAT]

About Thomas Baillod

Born in 1971 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Thomas Baillod is an expert and a veteran of the watch industry which has experienced more than one crisis. Confronted with the quartz crisis in his childhood, he was responsible for the watchmaking supplement of the newspaper Le Temps at Publicitas when the press began its painful conversion to digital in the early 2000s.

Having taken up responsibilities within a major independent watchmaking brand, he faced the global economic crisis in 2008 and subsequently the rise of e-commerce, which has lastingly destabilised the entire sector.

From these numerous and rich experiences acquired in international distribution, he is convinced that the major challenge for a company is to anticipate and support technological breakthroughs. An MBA lecturer and founder of the Watch Trade Academy, he is today at the head of BA111OD, a Swiss start-up that is revolutionising watchmaking in general and distribution in particular.

Contact details

Website: https://ba111od.com/

HEGID WATCHES

August 13, 2020 MasterHorologer

HEGID is a French brand specialized in the production of easy configurable mechanical watches that can instantly transform their visual identify according to the desires and needs of the wearer. This process can be done in seconds without any tools. This easiness and freedom in customizing a timepiece offers new possibilities previously unknown in watchmaking. This patented invention is a result of three years of development.

The brand made its debut in the summer of 2018 by launching mechanical watches with a patented evolutionary innovation that no other brand has proposed before. By offering a capsule optimized to be reliable in the long term, embodying a specially prepared Swiss movement, and by allowing the user to dress it with external carrures, as much clothes as armors, Hegid allows to configure the watches to the tastes of each one, then to transform them on a daily basis, according to the desires, without any tools.

In March 2019, Hegid unveiled its innovative products for the first time at Baselworld, the leading worldwide Watchmaking Salon.

Made in France, each innovatively designed HEGID watch features three main parts: Capsule, Carrure and Bracelet. The HEGID watch capsule houses movement, dial and hands. It is also fitted with crown, front glass and case-back.

The capsule once purchased, will accompany the wearer for decades. The wearer can build different styles of his HEGID watch by equipping the capsule with the interchangeable elements like the carrure and the bracelet.

Hegid watches are made to last for generations. They can also be easily transformed, in a few seconds, to adapt to desires and situations. After purchasing a Hegid watch, anyone can upgrade it with a new carrure, a new capsule or a new bracelet.

Capsules

In 2018, HEGID made its debut with two versions of capsules: Neo (with black dial) and Retro (with brown dial). In 2020, the brand introduced the new Mirage capsule with pearl grey and black dial versions.

The Capsules are 100 meters waterproof thanks to their screwed crowns, tubes and case backs. For an optimal dial and movement visibility, their glasses are made of anti scratch, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, letting their users contemplate the embossed shapes with luminescent hands and indexes. The Capsules are available with or without date indication.

Hegid Capsule Neo

Each Capsule houses a Swiss Made automatic mechanical movement, which can be admired through the transparent case-back.

Hegid Capsule Retro

The quick and easy patented titanium Capslock fasteners transform the watch in just a few seconds. Unique, their serial numbers are engraved to ensure the authenticity of each piece.

All HEGID Capsules maintain the same round shape and similar dimensions to maintain their adaptability with different Carrures.

Carrures

HEGID Carrures are made from 316L stainless steel. You can discover different versions of carrures under Vision, Expedition, Laboratoire, Série Noire Vision and Mirage lines. They are available in round, square or octagonal shape. They also feature different design features and dimensions but maintain a standardized sized inner space to accommodate all Capsules made by Hegid.

All Carrures also maintain a lug width of 22mm. Depending upon the version, they incorporate different surface finishing techniques like brushing, polished or DLC coating.

Hegid Vision Carrure

Measuring 40mm diameter, both Vision and Noire Vision Carrures are equipped with bi directional rotating bezels. The Vision Carrure has a 316L stainless steel case with a bezel incorporating anodized aluminum bezel insert. The Noire Vision Carrure features a black DLC coated stainless steel case and bezel with anodized aluminum black bezel insert. These Carrures are perfect for creating a sporty timepiece.

Hegid Laboratoire Carrure

Featuring a slender profile, Hegid’s Laboratoire is a perfect Carrure for creating a classic dress watch. It has 38.5 mm diameter stainless steel case topped with a fixed bezel.

Hegid Expedition Carrure

Hegid’s Expedition is a 3-piece Carrure. It has a square shaped structure with 42mm diameter (46 mm with bezel). Made from 316L stainless steel, this Carrure features fixed bezel and crown guards. This Carrure is suitable for creating adventurous inspired watches.

Hegid Expedition Watch

Introduced in 2020, Hegid Mirage Carrure features a curved octagonal structure inspired by the wedge design Italian cars of the 1970s. It has a diameter of 39.6 mm and features satin-brushed finishing on the 316L stainless steel case. This carrure is perfectly suited for creating retro-inspired timepieces.

Bracelets

The brand offers different styles of straps under Legende Pilote, Courage and Mission categories. The leather straps are available under alligator, buffalo, bull, calf, camel and ostrich categories.

The leather straps feature different styles of stitching and surfaces. Rubber straps are also available. Fitted with a 316L stainless steel buckle, the straps maintain widths of 22mm at the horn side and 20mm at the buckle side.

Watches

Customers can also purchase a complete watch that incorporates a Capsule, a Carrure and a Bracelet.

Hegid Laboratoire Darwin

The brand has 4 collections – Vision, Laboratoire, Expedition and Mirage – all offers complete watch sets suitable for various styles and uses. You can also configure your own watch using the online configurator.

Watch boxes

To accompany the evolution of a Hegid timepiece, the brand has developed a bespoke case. The wooden box comes with the watch chosen at the acquisition and already includes hidden spaces thought to receive other watches, capsules, carrures and bracelets. It is therefore not a passive box but an evolving watch box capable of containing a large number of combinations of the same piece.

Made in France

From the design to the production of its models, Hegid made the choice of a local ecosystem from its beginnings. Apart from the Swiss movements which are sourced from a factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, most of the watches creation and manufacture steps are processed by cutting-edge craftsmen who cooperate closely on the native land. Between Paris and Besançon, Hegid well deserves the Made in France signature as 80% of the value of the watches is French.

Official website: https://hegid.com/

BENZINGER WATCHES

August 8, 2020July 21, 2021 MasterHorologer

Benzinger is a German luxury watch atelier specialized in hand-crafted one-of a-kind mechanical timepieces. The company was founded by Jochen Benzinger, a talented master-craftsman with expertise in traditional decorative techniques.

Based in Pforzheim, which is a traditional jewellery and watchmaking centre in the southwest of Germany, Benzinger is a not just a watch atelier but also a meeting point for traditional ornamental art-crafts. Benzinger offers exclusive and one-of-a-kind mechanical watches incorporating antique techniques that are rarely practiced nowadays. Jochen Benzinger also designs limited edition timepieces for renowned watch companies like IWC, Sattler, Glashütte Original and Chronoswiss.

Jochen Benzinger

To create his timepieces, Jochen Benzinger uses very old crafts such as engraving, skeletonizing and guilloche. Truthful to the true meaning of the word “HAND craft”, all his dials are cut by hand, the movements skeletonized and engraved by hand.

Guilloché itself is the evolution of the royal craft known as ornamental turnery. Emperors and kings of the 16th to the 18th century were trained in this craft as it symbolized like no other craft the former view of the world that everything had to turn around the sovereign himself. Most of the engine-turning machines used by Jochen Benzinger are still from the 19th century and it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to use them.

Since ancient times, the art of engraving has been used to decorate jewelry and objects needed for daily use. The evolution of engraving thus began in a time prior to our conscious collective memory. Albrecht Dürer helped the art form to a new heyday in the 16th century with his copperplate etchings and wood carvings. Using the same tools as Dürer, Jochen Benzinger creates hand-embellished masterpieces with an historic soul.

Skeletonization is a method of decoration that lends “closed” watch movements a new and more individualized character. Parts of the movement are removed using a goldsmith’s saw, allowing a direct view into and through the mechanical movement.

Using these old techniques, Jochen Benzinger produces around 100 unique watches per year, all of them emerging from a combination of the old crafts, different platings and technical re-design, such as 24-h- or regulator indication. The origin of the movement itself can often not be recognized anymore after having been refined by Jochen Benzinger. This combination of traditional hand craft and technical in-house design is unique throughout the world.

About Engine Turning

Engine turning is the engraving of geometric ornaments consisting of fine lines at a dense but always constant distance. Said lines are cut into the metal with a hand-guided tool. They give the dial or plate a relief-like pattern and lead to different light and shadow effects, depending on the light.

Engine turning is said to be invented by a Frenchman, Mr. Guillot, and the German Hans Schwanhardt. The great master of this four-hundred-year-old technique, however, was the Russian court jeweller of the tsar, Peter Carl Fabergé, who decorated the jewelry eggs named after him.

In earlier times, Guilloches were primarily used as a security feature to make it more difficult to counterfeit printed banknotes, securities, passports and identity documents, since the guilloches on the printing plates that were still engraved at these times, could not easily be reproduced.

Engraving guilloches on metal is called engine turning. Since the 17th century, special engine turning machines have been used, a form of lathes specialized in this purpose. The art of guilloché had almost been forgotten; only when expensive mechanical wristwatches came into the world’s focus again, the demand for specialized crafts men also increased again.

The decoration of a single dial can take hours, sometimes days. Gold and silver are easier to process than platinum. If only a single cut goes by, the workpiece is destroyed and you can start all over again. The pressure of the stitch on the workpiece is also exerted by hand and must always be uniform.

In general, rose engine and straight line machines are to be distinguished. Benzinger mostly works with a rose engine machine that, as the name suggests, decorates round workpieces, and this includes most of the components used in watches.

With a straight line machine, on the other hand, linear structures are created, such as those found in the decoration of very high-quality fountain pens or picture frames. The engine turning machine is driven by hand, hence the low rotation speed. Benzinger workshop has about 10 different guilloché machines, some of them older than a century.

Featured Models

BENZINGER REGULATOR BLUEBLACK

BENZINGER REGULATOR BLUEBLACK: ETA 6498 Movement. Double-technical re-design: hour indication moved upwards towards 12 o’clock, the minute out of the center towards 6 o’clock. The Sterling Silver dial was thermally blued; guilloche: ray pattern. High-grade steel case plated with black DLC. Hands: gold plated steel hands in Breguet-style. Onion crown. Hand-sewn alligator leather strap. Diameter: 42 mm. Price: EUR 9.999,-

BENZINGER FROSTED BARLEY

CASEBACK OF BENZINGER FROSTED BARLEY

BENZINGER FROSTED BARLEY: Sterling Silver dial with barley pattern (hand-guillochéd) and typical Breguet frost, view through the small second onto the ground plate (rhodium plated, hand-engraved + hand-skeletonized). Movement: ETA 6498, screw balance. Flame-blued steel hands in Breguet style. Flat onion crown. Hand-sewn alligator leather strap with folding clasp. High-grade steel case plated with black DLC. Diameter: 42 mm. Price: EUR 8.400,-

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION IV SILVER BLUE

CASEBACK OF BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION IV SILVER BLUE

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION IV SILVER BLUE: Technical re-design: hour and minute are decentralized, moved up towards 12 o’clock. Two-part Sterling Silver dial (ground dial: thermally blued, ray pattern; top dial: black PVD coated). Both are hand-skeletonized with view to the ground plate (Rhodium plated, hand-guillochéd, hand-skeletonized). Swan neck fine regulation and screw balance. High-grade steel case made in Pforzheim. Hand-sewn alligator leather strap with matching stitches. Retail price: EUR 9.400,-

BENZINGER REGULATOR BLACK ROSEGOLD MODERN

BENZINGER REGULATOR BLACK ROSEGOLD MODERN: Double technical re-design: hour indication moved upwards towards 12 o’clock, the minute out of the center towards 6 o’clock. Two-part Sterling Silver dial coated with black PVD, guilloche: ray pattern. Hands rose gold plated. 18-kt-rose gold case made in Pforzheim, onion crown, screws-in strap lugs. 42 mm diameter. Sapphire crystal on both sides. Price: EUR 21.900,-

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION ARTDÉCO

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION ARTDÉCO: Two-part Sterling Silver dial (ground dial: hand-guillochéd with Breguet Frost, top dial: hand-skeletonized Roman numerals). Hand-made crown. Retail price: EUR 8.900,-

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION BLACK ORANGE

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION BLACK ORANGE: Skeletonized dial, black PVD plated, orange numerals. View to the ground plate which is rhodium plated. High-grade steel case coated with black DLC. Flat crown. Price: EUR 9.800,-

BENZINGER FULL SKELETON FLORAL GREY

BENZINGER FULL SKELETON FLORAL GREY: No dial, as full skeleton watch. Movement plated with black rhodium, completely skeletonized by hand. Hour indicating dots printed on crystal. Price: EUR 8.600,-

BENZINGER ¾-SKELETON FLORAL CLASSIC

BENZINGER ¾-SKELETON FLORAL CLASSIC: ETA 6497 manual winding movement. ¾-Skeleton as part of the dial is still there. Movement hand-skeletonized, hand-engraved and rose gold plated. High-grade steel case coated with black DLC. Retail price: EUR 8.700,-

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION IIIA

BENZINGER SUBSCRIPTION IIIA: Two-part Sterling Silver dial (ground plate: ray pattern with Breguet Frost, top dial: polished Silver). Subscription re-design. Diameter of 42 mm. Also available as women’s version in 38 mm. Retail price: EUR 8.500,-

How to buy Benzinger watches?

The Jochen Benzinger Uhrenunikate (Unique Timepieces) Manufacture is located at the Dietlinger Straße in Pforzheim. You can contact the manufacture by phone or messaging as per the details provided on their website. They also have a showroom (Manufaktursalon) located at the Merkur str in Baden-Baden, Germany.

The Benzinger timepieces can also be ordered by contacting the company’s overseas representatives like Marcel Kuriger (Wilen, Switzerland), Watch Collector by Christian Bissener (Weiswampach, Luxembourg), WatchBuys (North America), Define Watches (Australia) and Sonthe Orologi S.A. de C.V. (Mexico).

Website: https://www.jochenbenzinger.de/en

KURONO WATCHES

August 7, 2020 MasterHorologer

KURONO is a mechanical watch brand founded by master watchmaker Hajime Asaoka.

An extremely talented independent watchmaker from Japan, Hajime manages the premium watch brand HAJIME ASAOKA based in Tokyo, Japan. The highly exclusive handmade atelier watches by Hajime Asaoka usually sell above US$50,000. Every year, only a handful of clients get the opportunity to acquire one of these extra-ordinary mechanical watches. Hajime Asaoka is also a permanent member of the prestigious AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants), Switzerland since 2015.

In 2019, Hajime Asaoka founded a new brand named KURONO to offer affordable yet high-quality mechanical luxury timepieces designed by him and made in Japan. Under this new brand, you will discover more accessible and reasonably priced mechanical timepieces that share the design DNA of Hajime’s exclusive handmade atelier watches.

Kurono Anniversary 森:mori Limited Edition

Although produced in limited editions, the KURONO timepieces are lesser expensive. For example, the retail prices of their latest Kurono Anniversary Green ‘森: mori’ and Kurono Chronograph models (now sold out) were US$1,790 and US$3,680 respectively.

All KURONO watches have been manufactured by Precision Watch Tokyo Co. Ltd, the same company that deals with the prestigious Hajime Asaoka atelier timepieces. KURONO sources cases, dials and movements from highly reputable manufactures based in Japan. For example, the brand’s time-only automatic models use premium Miyota 90S5 calibers and the KURONO chronograph model houses the Seiko SII NE86A automatic movement.

Kurono Chronograph 1

All KURONO watches feature the inscription Bunkyō Tokyo on their dials and case-backs as a reference to the locality in Tokyo where Hajime’s design studio is situated. The brand also donates a portion of proceeds to selected children’s charities in Japan and across the region.

Collections

Kurono Bunkyō Tokyo (2019)

The first collection from the brand is Kurono Bunkyō Tokyo, a classic three-hand, time only mechanical watch equipped with an automatic movement. Introduced in June 2019, the collection consists of three dial versions – Eggshell, Blue & Grey – each variant limited to 50 pieces only. All pieces sold out. The Eggshell white variant was reserved for the customers of Sincere Fine Watches, Singapore.

The Kurono Bunkyō Tokyo watch features a 316L high-polished stainless steel case with 37mm diameter. Fitted with sapphire crystal glass and secured with a solid steel case back, the watch has water resistance up to 3 ATM. The movement (Miyota 90S5) features 24 jewels and beats at 28,800 vibrations / hour. It provides a power reserve of 40 hours. The watch is fitted with a calf leather strap.

Kurono Classic ‘Reiwa’ (2019)

The second model from the brand is Kurono Classic ‘Reiwa’. This model was launched in December 2019 in two versions in Copper and Silver dial versions with a limited edition of 50 pieces per variant.

On first May 2019, Japan celebrated the beginning of the new reign of Emperor Naruhito soon after his father, Emperor Akihito abdicated the throne. The era of Naruhito’s reign is known as “Reiwa” according to Japanese traditions. The Kurono Classic ‘Reiwa’ watch celebrates this new era.

Completely sold out, this watch features a 316L high-polished 37mm diameter stainless steel case and complex two-part dial. The watch is paired with a genuine crocodile strap. The mechanical automatic movement (Miyota 90S5) that drives this timepiece features 24 jewels, beats at 28,800 vibrations / hour and provides a power reserve of 40 hours. Other features of this timepiece include, sapphire glass, solid caseback, Waterproof to 3 ATM and genuine alligator band.

Kurono Chronograph 1

In April 2020, Kurono introduced its first ever chronograph, designed by Japanese Hajime Asaoka. Dressed in a 38mm diameter 316L high-polished stainless steel case, the watch houses an automatic column-wheel chronograph movement. The Kurono Chronograph 1 boasts a monochromatic art-deco design inspired by the signature design principles of Hajime Asaoka.

Made available in limited edition versions in Black and Silver dials (68 pieces per version), all pieces sold out within a short period of time. The watch boasts a unique multi-layer dial design with a bi-compax layout. The central dial part features a vertical pinstripe pattern that provides differing contrasts depending on the source of light.

The sub-dials at 3h (small-seconds) and 9h (30 minutes chronograph counter) feature contrasting shades compared to the color theme used in the main dial part. It means that, the black dial version features silvered sub-dials and the silver dial version features black sub-dials. The sub-dials are finished in a concentric guilloche pattern. The elapsed-time sub-dial at 9h features a uniquely designed hand in the shape of a traditional Japanese ‘kyudo’ arrow. The dial also hosts a date window at 6h.

The movement used in this timepiece is a Seiko SII NE86A mechanical column-wheel automatic chronograph with vertical clutch. Beating at 28,800 vibrations / hour, this 34 jewels movement provides a power reserve of 45 hours.

The other features of the Kurono Chronograph 1 include sapphire crystal glass, solid stainless steel case-back, 3 ATM water resistance and calf leather band.

Kurono Anniversary 森:mori (2020)

In June 2020, Kurono presented its Anniversary Green ‘森: mori’ time-only watch in commemoration of the brand’s first anniversary. Produced in a limited edition of 288 pieces (all sold out), this timepiece features a 37mm diameter polished stainless steel case and a metallic green dial featuring a fine radial sunburst pattern.

The mechanical automatic movement (Miyota 90S5) that drives this timepiece features 24 jewels, beats at 28,800 vibrations / hour, and provides a power reserve of 40 hours. The watch is fitted with a sapphire crystal glass and a solid stainless steel case-back. Water resistant up to 30 meters, this timepiece is fitted with a 20mm wide calf leather band.

Website: https://kuronotokyo.com/

NAOYA HIDA & Co. WATCHES

July 16, 2020July 22, 2020 MasterHorologer2 Comments

NAOYA HIDA & Co. is a Japanese premium watch brand based in Tokyo.

The company NH WATCH Co. Ltd. was founded by Naoya HIDA in March 2018. The company manufactures and sells a limited number of mechanical watches for enthusiasts. NH WATCH Co. Ltd. also offers training and consulting on all aspects of luxury products.

Naoya HIDA is an expert in the high-end horology business. Since 1990, he has worked in sales and marketing sector for several foreign trading companies. After representing F.P. Journe and Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry in Japan, he founded NH WATCH in 2018. Based on his extensive experience in selling ultra high-end products, he also works as a trainer to teach high value product sales skills.

NH TYPE 1B, the first timepiece from the brand, was introduced in 2019 and it has been sold out. In 2020, the company added two more models: NH TYPE 1C and NH TYPE 2A.

Contact details

NH WATCH Co. Ltd.
3-2-10 Tsukiji, Chuoh-ku, Tokyo 104-0045
Website: www.naoyahidawatch.com

MANUFACTURE ROYALE

July 10, 2020August 9, 2021 MasterHorologer18 Comments

The origins of Swiss luxury watch brand ‘Manufacture Royale’ goes back to 1770. This iconic brand name was relaunched in 2010, almost 250 years later the foundation of “Manufacture Royale des Montres de Ferney” by French philosopher Voltaire.

History of MANUFACTURE ROYALE

The Manufacture Royale traces its origins to the Enlightenment, when the philosopher and brilliant entrepreneur Voltaire opened his watchmaking workshop near Geneva. Almost 250 years later, Manufacture Royale takes the liberty to play with its founder’s captivating past, values and horological creation to instil passion and spirit into its timepieces.

Manufacture Royale stands for a specific and different view of watchmaking. Which was already the case when it was founded in 1770. A fervent defender of liberty in all forms, Voltaire was also an entrepreneur. Often overlooked, his business activities led to the establishment of Manufacture Royale in Ferney.

Four thousand watches would come out of the Manufacture’s workshop, destined for the crowned heads and elite of Europe. Made by acclaimed master watchmakers, Jean-Antoine Lépine among them, the watches that bore the Manufacture Royale name incorporated the most challenging complications, including striking mechanisms such as repeaters.

Their exteriors were equally impressive, with gold cases embellished with elaborate engraving, enamel or set with gems.

Revival

In 2008, Arnaud Faivre founded TEC EBAUCHES SA for manufacturing watch components, high complication calibres, movement blanks as well as decoration and assembly. In 2010, he revived the Manufacture Royale brand with OPERA, a minute repeater watch model designed by Charles Grosbety and manufactured in collaboration with master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini of Fabrique du Temps.

In 2013, Manufacture Royale was taken over by Gérard, David, Alexis and Marc Gouten of the Gouten family, through the GTN Luxury Holding SA.

Gouten family members have been renowned for their expertise in the luxury watch industry since decades. Promoted by the Gouten family, Gouten Distribution SA is a distributor of premium Swiss watch brands like Cartier, Breguet, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, DeLaneau, Perrelet and Harry Winston.

Founded by Alexis Gouten (son of Gérard Gouten) in 2002, Macher SA was the leading distributor of watches made by Frederique Constant Group in Switzerland. In 2016, Frederique Constant Group acquired Macher SA.

An experienced entrepreneur, Alexis Gouten has been managing Manufacture Royale since 2013. His other business ventures are Maverick Time SA, LSD Luxury Stars Distribution SA, Saigon Venture Partners and Wobee.

Manufacture Royale has the technical and creative capacity to achieve the creative freedom envisaged by Voltaire. The brand’s watch movements are developed and made in its workshops, in the Swiss Jura. The skills and talent of master watchmakers and craftsmen are the guarantee of mechanical and decorative excellence.

Thanks to their work, thanks to the energy and experience they bring, Manufacture Royale timepieces contain an original interpretation of watchmaking, and find their balance in daring and beauty, tradition and modernity, passion and humility.

Manufacture Royale’s flagship collections are OPERA, Androgyne, 1770, 1770 Micromegas, 1770 Haute Voltige and ADN. Presently, Manufacture Royale makes bespoke timepieces only.

[Visit MANUFACTURE ROYALE watch gallery]

Website: https://manufacture-royale.com/

Timeline

1896: Harry Winston is born in New York.

1920: Harry Winston opens his first business, The Premiere Diamond Company, at 535 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

1932: Debut of the newly founded Harry Winston salon, located in Rockefeller Center in New York.

1933: Harry Winston marries Edna Fleishman, a style arbiter in her own right, who will remain his life-long confidante and muse.

1943: Harry Winston is the first jeweler to lend jewelry to an actress for the Academy Awards. Jennifer Jones wears classic Winston diamonds when she accepts an Oscar for Best Actress.

1947: Katherine Hepburn Attends the Academy Awards wearing Harry Winston’s famous Inquisition Necklace.

1949: Harry Winston purchases the Hope Diamond.

1949 to 1953: Harry Winston’s first exhibition of rare gems travels throughout the United States. The “Court of Jewels” includes the Hope Diamond and other legendary gems. Proceeds from the show are donated to the March of Dimes.

1955: Harry Winston opens in Geneva, Switzerland followed by a 1957 opening in Paris.

1958: Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the National Museum of Natural History of the United States.

1960: Harry Winston moves to a distinguished townhouse on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, designed by famed French interior-designer Stephane Boudin of Jansen.

1962: Harry Winston appoints Ambaji V. Shinde from India as head designer. Shinde’s creations revolutionize jewelry design.

1967: Winston acquires a 241-carat uncut diamond, which produces an exceptional 69.42 carat pear shaped jewel. The gem is purchased by Richard Burton for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. The Magnificent gem becomes known around the world as the Taylor-Bu on diamond.

1978: Harry Winston dies in New York.

1986: A Harry Winston salon opens in Beverly Hills on Rodeo drive. To commemorate the event, a cake studded with diamonds is created.

1988: Harry Winston opens in Tokyo on the Ginza.

1989: Harry Winston introduces a collection of watches known as “Ultimate Timepieces.”

1995: Harry Winston introduces the Perpetual Bitretograde Calendar timepiece.

1997: The Harry Winston Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution opens with the Hope Diamond as its centerpiece. Harry Winston becomes the only jeweler to have a museum gallery in its name.

1998: Gwyneth Paltrow wears a Harry Winston Princess Necklace & iconic Cluster earrings to win her Academy Award.

2005: Harry Winston opens new salons in Miami and Honolulu.

2006: Harry Winston opens in London, Dallas, and Omotesando, Tokyo. Aber acquires 100 % owner ship of Harry Winston. Inspired by Harry Winston’s love of Nature, the “Natural History Campaign” debuts in New York.

2007: Harry Winston opens a new watch manufacture in Geneva, Switzerland, the watch making capital of the world. Harry Winston debuts on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol HWD. Salons open in Beijing, Chicago, and Hong Kong.

2008: A new salon opens in South Coast Plaza , Orange County, California.

2010: Harry Winston launches the Lily Cluster Collection.

2015: Harry Winston, Inc. appoints American singer, songwriter, and producer Robin Thicke, as its timepiece ambassador.

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