Background

A mechanical watch that shows the time and maybe even has a complication. Nothing too strange for you and me. But it's only because of generations of innovative master watchmakers who consistently sought to break through barriers that the time on your wrist has become commonplace. We present to you a number of old and more recent inventions and inventors. Today Part I.

Pens and watches go hand-in-hand. Lovers of (fountain) pens and watches have an introverted yet strong common bond. After all, sophisticated and highly competent artisanal quality forges a bond. We present you a story in two parts about the parallel world of pens and watches. Yesterday Part 1, today Part 2. Below is a selection of watch brands that couldn't resist the temptation of the traditional writing tool.

Pens and watches go hand-in-hand. Lovers of (fountain) pens and watches have an introverted yet strong common bond. After all, sophisticated and highly competent artisanal quality forges a bond. We present you a story in two parts about the parallel world of pens and watches. Today Part 1, tomorrow Part 2.

Watchmaker Kalle Slaap unleashed a ‘Big Bang’ among Dutch watch brands by organising an event in Grootschermer in the Netherlands, where nearly all Dutch watchmakers had the opportunity to catch up with one another.

Yesterday Part 1 of our insight report, today part II. People who like cars generally like watches and vice versa. The flowing simple design of a Ferrari 250 GTO can bring a car aficionado to tears. Same goes for a simple Patek Philippe Calatrava and a watch collector. But what happens when watch and car designs merge? Have you ever seen a car with the design of a watch?

Motorsport and time recording cannot always be viewed entirely separately. Stopwatches and chronographs have enabled motorsport since the very first races; consequently, they are a functional necessity. Designing watches that resemble cars is a modern trend that is anything but functional. Is this new design direction an enrichment or an expression of creative poverty?

Like us, you probably read about one record auction price after another. About rare Rolex and Patek Philippe pieces that dazzle collectors, about the renewed attention for old Heuer chronographs or about the German brand A. Lange & Söhne that is increasingly stealing the show at auctions. Refuse to get caught up in the hype. Keep calm and read the following five handy auction pointerss.

Monsieur de Chanel is the latest men’s watch from the iconic French house of Chanel. The sophisticated new addition is subtle, restrained and refined; it simply drips savoir faire. But before ‘monsieur’ received its accoutrements it took five long years of working on its skeleton and beating heart. The Calibre 1 with jumping hours and retrograde minutes is a ‘first’ with an exceptional exterior and interior.

Shoe polishing, the love of patina and a tight relationship with Chanel has made Bell & Ross a global household name among watch lovers. Will the young French watch brand grow into an auction darling as well? Like my father, I love shoes and the way they age. And when I was a kid my father would pay me a five franc silver coin every time I polished his shoes. I think this is why I love patina”, Carlos Rosillo tells me while visiting the Bell & Ross headquarters in Paris and going through a large book on patina. Certainly not your everyday read – unless you are Carlos Rosillo and Bruno Belamich.

Since 2001 the Opus series by Harry Winston has been a guarantee for very surprising, perhaps even baffling haute horlogerie creations. The Harry Winston Opus 14 enthusiastically continues the exuberant tradition of astonishing complications. And what's more, this highly complicated watch is rock 'n' roll personified.