#Basel2013

Final Day in Switzerland 2013

I headed in to the show for a couple of hours after I dropped off my suitcases at the lockers in the Basel SBB train station. I was headed for Neuchâtel later that day to spend the afternoon and evening with Stephen McGonigle and his lovely lady, Cathriona prior to heading back to Zurich the following morning to catch the flights to London and then on to San Diego.

As I didn't intend to spend very long at the show, I hadn't any specific appointments set up, so I headed into the AHCI area, where I met up with Kari Voutilainen & enjoyed a coffee and a lovely Dutch cookie/biscuit that was waffle like in a sandwich format with honey/maple syrup in the middle. How it remained crunchy I'll never know, but suffice to say it was delicious with the strong coffee! I then chatted with Dutch brothers for a few minutes longer before heading over to see John McGonigle and his brother lurking off to the side.

I bid everyone good bye and then headed off to the train station with Stephen McGonigle to catch the train to Neuchâtel with Stephen. We grabbed a quick bite to eat prior to jumping on the train at a cafe close by the station:

I then grabbed my case and made for the train to Neuchâtel with Stephen. Arriving with a little light in the early evening, I headed to his pub that he and Cathriona own, the Cafe du Cerf, in the heart of old Neuchâtel, tucked away in an alley. We grabbed a pint and chatted for a while til Cathriona joined us. A fun moment as I hadn't seen her since their visit to San Diego in February.

As there was a traditional Irish music night with two musicians starting around 6.30pm, I decided to hang around and check them out as I could see Stephen was quite excited about them. I was rewarded with an amazing hour and a half of fantastic music played by two very skilled fellows. Playing the guitar and flute to start with, they then switched, so the flutist took over the guitar and the guitarist took up the banjo. Wow!

These guys played their hearts out, well done!

I stayed til the end at around 8pm, then headed home to Stephen's for a fabulous rack of lamb dinner. Excellent preparation and I headed off to bed happy and full. Up early Monday, I made my bus, train and planes via Zurich & London, back to San Diego.

All in all another successful Baselworld trip, with my friendships/relationships strengthened and many superb watches looked upon and handled! I thank all my gracious hosts in and out of the fair, and I look forward to next years event of the year!

Cheers,

Tim

Day 4 Baselworld 2013, Antoine Martin & Strehler

Saturday was my last full day in Basel, and I headed to the Palace initially to see Martin Braun, a good friend who I have had the pleasure of knowing for many years now. Long since before his move to Switzerland and the collaboration with Franck Muller Group that resulted in Martin being unable to use his own name on his watches from now on. His new company is called Antoine Martin.

The black dialed version of the Slow Runner on the wrist.

He has been busy developing ideas for years and now is able to realise several of these dreams under his new company, Antoine Martin. Together with Bruno Jufer as his front man, these two fellows have been hard at work creating interesting watches. Last year he showed off a Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, and this year two new models...the much anticipated "Slow Runner" and a surprise for me, the "Tourbillon Big Date".

The other Slow Runner dial for the steel case, lovely blued steel hands too.

As I had bumped into Martin on the setup day outside the Hall 1.0 and had the pleasure of snapping a couple of pics and a video of the Slow Runner, I had had the experience of seeing it for the first time. It still was something quite novel seeing it again three days later, and of course I got to look at the other variations, a black dial and the 18K RG version with a silver dial. As Martin told me, this watch was not possible prior to now even though he wished he had it back 10 years ago when he was creating watches under his own name. Reality is that technology back then wasn't advanced enough to produce the silicon parts in his own designed anchor and escape wheel, so it couldn't have been. It's time is now!

Here is the amazing back of the 18K RG version, revealing the massive balance wheel, which gently oscillates back and forth twice a second. Slow enough to see it stop, when changing direction!

The Tourbillon Big Date is also a new model for Basel 2013, and for me a better looking watch albeit a lot less complicated than last years Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. It is also manual wind and shares Martin's silicon escapement, which I was able to capture in pictures due to the spectral colors reflected by it.

On the wrist it is has a tremendous presence!

I look forward to seeing Martin out in Solana Beach again this year and will prepare to show off his great work.

Next stop was over to MDT to say hello to some old friends, Steve Holtzman and Flip Horowitz, who I've known since late '90's when they were distributing several small Independent Swiss brands prior to taking on Roger Dubuis in 1999. With the Maitres du Temps Chapter 3 Reveal having it's debut last year sporting a blue dial, they were only showing off two new dials for the future. A silver and a brown dial.

They also have created an open dial Chapter One, this super complication is quite something to see in the flesh, it uses a synthetic sapphire dial so that one can see the caliber from the front!

The mighty 18k RG Chapter One open dial

As Andreas Strehler was a key part of the Chapter 3 watch, he was showing his wares in the same room. He has continued on with development of the Cocon and this year a huge addition in terms of technical improvement, it now can be had with a Constant Force mechanism. Developed on the seconds wheel pinion, it is pretty tricky to describe, but as usual it contains another tiny hairspring, that keeps the constant force, released once a second by a star wheel interacting with a jewel on the blued steel second hand. He had made a scale model, so that he could demonstrate how it works, as in reality it is tiny.

The model, a wonderful tool to show what is really happening...

Next to the actual watch in order to see the scale.

On my wrist, it reveals it's wearability. Lovely blued steel hands too!

Here is the front and back showing Andreas' stylized butterfly caliber

The twin barrel caliber of Andreas Strehlers' Cocon

The dials are quite something on Andreas' watch, not simply a flat piece with a couple of pins to hold it in place, it is almost an integral part of the caliber, with guilloche on the underside of the silver dial, where one can see through the escape wheel when looking from the front. The hour & minutes chapter is synthetic sapphire crystal applied to the dial with gold rivets at the hour markers.

Here are the backs of the solid silver guilloched dials with guilloche sections that are visible from the front of the partial open dial.

Andreas creates his art for a very select few aficionados, annual production is tiny. With his skill set being used by many other brands, his time is in high demand.

After this appointment I headed back to the AHCI stand to see what the guys had been up to, wandered the jewelry halls for an hour trying to get inspired with the brands that show from all over. Nothing took my fancy, so I headed back for a beer with the Dutch watchmakers.

Wondering if I was going to be able to join the famed Schnitzel dinner, organized by Frank from Monochrome, for Independent watchmakers and Dutch press and aficionados; I then dined with Johnny from The Watch Press, an Irish watch blog, in an Irish bar while Stephen McGonigle, a huge rugby fan, watched a rugby game. Later on I was able to join the gathering at the Schnitzel fest for a beer or two. Lumineries from the Independent Watchmaking world were present, Peter Speake-Marin, both Mcgonigles, both Grönefelds, Max Busser and various others...Extra-ordinary fun times were had including the famous beer glass in the mouth trick, aptly demonstrated by two talented fellows whom will remain nameless and I managed to make the last tram back to my family’s house on the outskirts of Basel.

Day 3 Baselworld 2013, Sarpaneva

My last appointment on Friday was Stepan Sarpaneva, another favorite of mine. Stepan has been busy, he showed me several new models and variations of other existing models. One thing I love about Stepan's work, is that there is no mistaking it for anyone else. I suspect he derived some of that design purity from when he worked in St. Croix at the atelier of that other creative genius Vianney Halter. Stepan's Nordic origins are brought out in some of his pieces in a fun way. The moon that is terribly important up North, as it affects the massive tides, particularly in shallow bays, is also something that during the Nordic winters, is a significant monthly occurrence. I suspect this has some bearing on Stepan's creative bent.

K0 Double Moons Northern & Southern Hemisphere.

I was welcomed into the section at the back left of the room, four tables were available for watchmakers to show off their wares. Stepan is a fun guy, and at the same time a businessman/artist trying to make it all work. He fairly quickly dispensed with the pleasantries and got to showing me his new creations. I might say that he has been a busy fellow, as he showed me several new models since last year. The first of which was a duelling moon phase K0, which looked pretty neat. This one had two silver moons against a darkened dial and a DLC case. One for Northern Hemisphere, the other for Southern Hemisphere.

The relatively simple K0 Moonphase DLC that I believe was derived from a custom model, has replaced the inner unidirectional dive bezel for the moonphase indicator at the 12 o'clock position.

He has redesigned the Korona K1, it now has done away with the date at 6 o'clock and is simply a time only watch with hours & minutes. The execution he showed me, has a stunning blue dial in a slimmer case. As a lover of blue dials, this one certainly hit the spot with me. It has an automatic caliber based on a Soprod caliber, that features his signature moon oscillating weight. There was another all grey dial that matched the DLC case. A bit too monochromatic for my taste, but I know it will appeal to others.

New model for Basel 2013 blue dial, it's killer!

Another model, DLC case & grey dial, pretty modern looking and stealthy.

I managed to get the blue dialed K1 outside, in order to take advantage of the real light, and I think it really comes into it's own in natural daylight, rather than the appalling lighting inside Stepan's stand

On the wrist outside

Outside in indirect lighting, love this blue dial from Stepan!

I was also shown the intro level Sarpaneva watch, the SUF "Myrsky". This is a basic military looking watch, water resistant with a screw down crown for a lot less than a Sarpaneva watch. Still comes with an open back, showing off the standard Soprod caliber with a minimally finished oscillating weight that sports the SUF logo. Otherwise it is machine finished without the usual frills found on Stepan's lovely watches. I ordered one for stock, as I think it will fill a niche in inventory.

A neat feature is the blued steel second hand.

Different lighting...

Here we see the basic Soprod automatic caliber Stepan utilizes.

I said my goodbye, inviting Stepan to try out the Southern climes in San Diego with a visit in 2013. Then I headed back to my digs on the tram for a lovely family dinner with my hosts. Sharing a great bottle of ZD Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, we dined on a delicious home cooked meal and chatted away over wine for several hours. It proved to be another rather late evening as I caught up on our family happenings.

The take away for me as always, is the fact that what makes life interesting and fun are the relationships one creates not only with friends, but also business relationships. I feel blessed to know so many talented artisans who are great people with whom I can share a meal and have a genuinely great time whether or not we discuss business. 

Day 3 Baselworld 2013, Habring²

HABRING²

I then headed back into Hall 2.0 to meet up with my good friends and watchmaking husband & wife team, Maria Kristina and Richard that make HABRING².

I have known these two for almost 8 years now and have seen their business expand and blossom in terms of the watches they offer. They now have developed their own caliber and are manufacturing many of the components themselves or having specialists make other parts to their design for them. Last year was a watershed one, initially with the 20 year old design for a split seconds chrono that Richard designed for IWC, coming off patent, then winning the prize in the Sports Watch category at the Grand Prix de Haute Horology in Geneva towards the end of the year. The initial series of 20 Doppel 2.0 split seconds chronograph watches was sold out very quickly by September and I managed to get 6 of them for my clients, I could have sold more, but they had to be spread around the other dealers. Once the story got picked up about the GPHG win by Forbes magazine and they ran the story with pictures, I've had almost 10 phone calls since January asking to buy a blue dialed Doppel 2.0! Bad news for these poor folk, who weren't connected to the right sources. Anyway, since that success, Maria & Richard have decided to evolve the model and have created the Doppel 3.0, which differs in that it is now a mono pusher for the standard chrono operations of start-stop-reset with a pusher at 2 o'clock and the split seconds pusher at 10 o'clock.

Note a fun touch, the sides of the strap are bright red! Love it.

These will be made in a non limited edition of up to 20 pieces per year. It is somewhat reminiscent of the stop watches of the 1960's. Gone is the orange split second hand and stitching in the strap, in favor of red. The dials offered are different too, preserving the original limited edition of 20. This time a black, a dark grey and silver are the order of the day.

The dark grey dialed piece was with them when I met at the Sattler clock stand. As they make the regulator wrist watches for Sattler under contract, they get to show their wares in the Sattler stand.

The stealth chrono as I like to call it...

Other new pieces I hadn't seen prior to this trip, were the COS ZM which I called the "Stealth Chrono" as it has no chrono pushers or a running sub seconds. The central 60 minute counter and chrono seconds are all that reveal it does more than just tell one the time!

A new piece, the 36mm Monopusher Chrono with central 60 min counter.

Also new this year...

The pilots watch, that features a jumping seconds within a 42mm Titanium case and the more bold 3,6,9 & 12 markers.

On the wrist, it is sharp piece!

I discussed a possible visit to Southern California in the fall and ideas for the future, and am looking forward to hosting this great couple in Solana Beach later this year. Saying farewell, I headed back to meet up with Stepan Sarpaneva and see what creative juices have been flowing in Helsinki since last year.

Day 3 Baselworld 2013, Konstantin Chaykin & Urban Jurgensen

My third day in Basel started with an appointment that was requested by the worldwide director of sales for the Russian AHCI member, Konstantin Chaykin. Up to this point in time, I honestly hadn't given his work much thought as there is only so many hours in the day to focus on ones core business. As a growing brand at this point, I was intrigued to see what they had to show me. When I sat down I was given a brief history of Konstantin's work, he only started making watches at 27, and his goal is to restore Russian high end mechanical watch and clock making to it's former glory. He has created quite a company and now has almost 50 people working in Moscow to help create his vision. Several of his watches were shown to me, in particular the Camera watch, that shows a horse running when a button is depressed at 9 o'clock.

The Cinema Watch.

It sounds and looks like an old movie camera! The movement is lovely and well finished.

The other watch I thought rather neat was the "Quartime ", as the Russian day is split into 4 periods, Morning, Day, Evening & Night, this watch shows you 6 hours at a time and the hour hand makes one revolution every 6 hours and as it does reach the traditional 12 o'clock position, the hour click over to represent the next 6 hour period. Quite a clever complication and fun to have.

The movement in the Quartime

Konstantin also makes several non Gregorian calendar watches, there was a Hebraic one and a Muslim one on offer.

The Decalogue Rega

The movement of the Decalogue Rega.

The other watches I thought were lovely were the mystery dial wristwatches. These have a couple of synthetic sapphire disks that have a minute & hour hand on them and appear to float inside the watch. The movement is hidden from the front, and upon turning over the watch, is revealed to be around the outside.

RG Levitas Moonphase on the wrist, with elegant guilloche enamel and the moonphase at 3 o'clock.

The back of the Levitas showing the caliber.

Similar in design as the famous Cartier Mystery clocks of the Art Deco era, these watches are fabulous dress watches sure to spark an interesting conversation. He designed a couple of jewelled & enamelled ladies pieces that are very elegant. All in all a fascinating insight into this blossoming Russian Manufacture. I tip my hat to the creativity coming from their workshops.

This is a ladies RG Mother of Pearl Levitas.

A lovely WG Levitas with a Pietra Dura (Micro Mosaic) stone dial and diamond case

Urban Jurgensen

My next stop was right across the aisle at the Palace, where a long time friend of mine, John McBarron was stationed. John has been helping Urban Jurgensen for many years now in the USA. As a fledgling brand of the late Peter Baumberger, who had begun to restore with the help of genius watchmaker Derek Pratt, the name of Urban Jurgensen as a top class watchmaker. The production has always been tiny and since both Peter and Derek have passed on, the company and it's stunning designs now are in the hands of a well known watch and pocket watch collector, Dr. Helmut Crott. Peter's legacy was the design and creation of their own movement, that with the help of Kari Voutilainen, was realized a couple of years prior to his death. What was a first in the world, a series production caliber with a detent chronometer escapement. This detent escapement was patented worldwide in 2008 and presented in Baselworld 2009 for the first time. Sadly Peter passed away a few months after Basel in 2009. A marvel of micro-mechanical engineering usually only found in unique precision pocket watches.

The stunning Platinum cased patented Spring Detent chronometer escapement with exquisite silver guilloche dial.

This is the Swiss Lever escapement in the platinum case. Both escapement calibers have twin barrels and a power reserve of about 88 hours (just over 3 1/2 days), perfect for taking off for a sporty weekend and having it running fine Monday morning!

Here is the Detent escapement caliber.

The collection has grown this year with the addition of something dear to my heart, an enamel dial with roman numerals. Limited in production to either a platinum or 18K RG case, this stunning version of the detent escapement Urban Jurgensen watch is now a reality.

Here is the glorious limited edition enamel dial Detent escapement new piece.

Another view with a bit different lighting.

Here both cases to compare. One interesting aspect of these dials is that the numerals and letters are black, whereas the lines are a grey color. Very subtle difference, but there nonetheless and adds to the depth of these lovely cream enamel dials. These are made by a specialist in Geneva, a friend of Dr. Crott's, who has made a name for himself repairing damaged enamel over the years.

This one I thought was a good illustration of the difference between a cream or off white enamel dial and a white enamel dial. As someone who has a particular penchant for enamel dials, these two are pretty much as good as it gets design wise. 

One very curious decision by someone at UJS was to put a solid case back on the RG piece they were showing. I found this to be an extra-ordinary oversight on some person making that choice. I voiced my opinion on this to poor John, who rather sheepishly agreed with me. Now, in retrospect I have thought of a plausible explanation for this, and perhaps as it was a prototype watch, the movement might not have been completely finished, so they stuck a solid back on it, as the dial is new and the focus here. Other watches there had the standard open back revealing the lovely manual wind inhouse caliber.

Solid caseback?

On the wrist, probably my second favorite watch of Basel 2013!

Previously the classic dial as designed by Peter, was silver guilloche with printed romans executed almost perfectly. These are exceedingly beautiful classic watches and although not technically made by an Independent Watchmaker, I think are worth looking at and considering.

Simply a beautiful watch, the drooped tear drop lugs are a nod to some of the lovely Vacheron & Constantin case from the late fifties & sixties, Peter Baumberger's love of classic elegant design.

Here are side by side, the platinum detent escapement on the left and the standard Swiss Lever escapement on the right, here both with lovely silver guilloche dials.

As of this writing, the other interesting piece of watch news is that, I was given a history of the Jurgensen watchmaking efforts going back a couple of hundred years. The ugly duckling in the family, that of the recent 40 years or so, namely Jules Jurgensen, has been bought and will no longer produce cheap and cheerful watches that often times were confused with the brilliant and fabulous Urban Jurgensen watches. Mostly quartz watches sold by a US watch distributor who capitalised on the fantastic history of the Jurgensen name, these watches were not truly representative of the Jurgensen name and I'm sure they made Peter's life more tricky! As the name has been re-connected with Urban Jurgensen, this sorry chapter in the famous Jurgensen watchmaking house will be history. I do have to say there are quite a few very fine Jules Jurgensen pocketwatches that can be found from the former times, and these are serious collector pieces, but the rubbish produced in the eighties and nineties isn't worth looking at!

I'm curious to see how things will proceed with Urban Jurgensen and will hope to see more good things in due course. I then made my way outside to meet up with Richard from Meridian the relatively new English Watchmaking Co. Of course as is the way during Basel, one invariably bumps into friends and/or colleagues while walking to a meeting, which explains why many appointments run a bit late, 10-15mins! I ran into Max Busser, and enjoyed a brief but intense chat about goings on with MB&F. Suffice to say, he is a happy man having got to the point of choosing who does business with, and I'm sure the future is a promising one for Max.

12 minutes late, I met Richard and headed off for our appointment over lunch.

.

Day 2 Baselworld 2013, Lang & Heyne

Next appointment was with Marco Lang. A friend I very much admire, who grew up in quite different circumstances than most of us. He was born in communist East Germany years before the re-unification, into a watchmaking dynasty. Unable to practice what his forefathers had done for 5 generations, he had to wait til the wall came down to start his watch and clock making career. After opening a shop in Dresden of restoration, clock sales and vintage wristwatches, he realized he wanted to make his own watches.

The original Johann in RG.

He joined forces with another young watchmaker, Mirko Heyne, to form Lang & Heyne with the idea of designing and making very traditional Saxon manual wind watches. As is often the way, the partnership split only a year or so after and Marco continued on under the original company name. When I first met him, his English was minimal and his watches only two models, the Johann with enamel dial and romans and the Friedrich August I again with enamel dial but with arabics using the same Caliber 1. Since then he has expanded his collection quite substantially, to include a complete calendar with earth declination, a stunning chronograph, a watch that features a constant force mechanism, another simple time only and recently he released a model that featured a movement that contained the mainplate and bridges of Mastodon ivory!

Ice age Ivory from a Mastodon, pretty neat.

This year, he released the Friedrich III, essentially the same as the steel Friedrich II, but with a roman numeral black dial, which I find very elegant and cased in 18K RG, to be one of my favourite executions. 

On the wrist, a lovely piece.

He also has decided to make the Albert, his sublime mono-pusher co-axial chronograph with central 60 minutes counter, in 18K RG and WG. A new dial also is now on offer, a black metallic dial rather than the original white enamel. These are a welcome addition and will please those who are looking for a slightly less conservative and traditional chronograph. As you can tell, picturing black dial watches is my nemesis, so these are pretty poor I'm afraid.

Indirect lighting outside

Full sun outside.

Here is the killer chronograph caliber as a reminder:

I then left the AHCI stand where Marco and his lovely sister were based and wandered next door to see what the Dutch boys were up to. Here I found the two sets of Independent Watchmaking brothers enjoying a beer after a long day of showing their wares to interested parties. Also present was the celebrated Finnish contingent of Independent Watchmakers, Kari Voutilainen and Stepan Sarpaneva. I joined them prior to heading out to dinner with Kari and John McGonigle.

The new building housing the big brands. The view from the side of the Hall 2.0 where many of the Independents where.

Yes, Independent Watchmakers are fun...

Day 2 Baselworld 2013, McGonigle & Romain Gauthier

McGonigle

While going outside to photograph the One Hertz Techniek, I bumped into Stephen & John McGonigle with their latest version of the manual wind in-house Tuscar, the lovely 18K RG Banu. I have to say I prefer the aesthetic of this piece, even though I fully appreciate the technical aspects and stunning hand finishing of the open dial original.

It features a dark, almost black sapphire crystal that covers the top 3/4 of the dial and one is left with their free sprung balance wheel slowly oscillating and the off center subsidiary seconds hands. I have a bit of a soft spot for black dialed rose gold case watches!

Excuse the finger print on the bezel 4 o'clock.

Direct sunlight, stunning.

Anyway, after I enjoyed 5 minutes of sunshine, I headed indoors to my next appointment. I do want to mention that John was recently accepted as a full member of the AHCI, having been a candidate for 6 years. This a vote of confidence from ones peers and is a fabulous accomplishment for any Independent Watchmaker. The Academy is a huge benefit for these guys to pool their resources and be able to exhibit together under their group.

As is often the case with Independent Watchmakers of John & Stephen's caliber, they are in demand by specialist manufacturers of very complicated watches, so their time is split between creating their own watches and assembling and making work, highly complicated minute repeater tourbiiions for others. It is this outside work that really pays the bills for these guys at this stage, unfortunately they don't get the recognition they truly deserve. Again I feel it is one of my jobs to help spread the word...

I did get to see a McGonigle Tourbillon caliber in a movement holder, unfortunately the case got held up in the mail as there was a strike going on. A real shame as I still contend this is one of the most beautiful looking tourbillon wristwatches made to date, and I'd love to have had the opportunity to handle one and photograph it again. It was not to be and I'm sure it was a frustrating situation for John & Stephen, not having their lovely tourbillon caliber cased up as a complete watch for Basel!

The sublime McGonigle Tourbillon.

From a few years back, here cased in platinum. Photo courtesy of McGonigle Watches.

Next up was Romain Gauthier.

Wandering a short way, maybe 10 yards, down the corridor, my next port of call was Romain Gauthier's stand. This was an eagerly anticipated appointment and from the pictures I had seen prior to Basel I was quite excited to see his latest creation, the LOGICAL One. Having known Romain now for 3 & 1/2 years, I have followed his progress with much anticipation and appreciation for his superb technical engineering aspects he designs in his watches and his commitment to superlative hand finishing of his in-house calibers.

The Prestige HMS, his second watch, featuring a semi open dial, to reveal the balance wheel and seconds wheel.

The first wristwatch he designed, the HM was not my favorite from the dial side, but turning it over to reveal the amazing caliber, one is treated to a plethora of aesthetically beautiful bridges, wheels and cocks hand finished. Maybe it was the lack of crown that threw me off initially, and perhaps the asymmetric dial design without the crown. It has grown on me over the years and as I began to learn about why he designed it, I came to appreciate more and more Romain's design and execution in his workshop. The fact that he isn't a watchmaker was also a bit of a sticking point for me prior to meeting him. However upon meeting him for the first time in 2009, and having the chance to spend two whole days with him in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, when we did two collector dinners, convinced me to re-evaluate my consideration.

The fabulous hand finishing, together with the back winding system that he designed purely because it is more efficient.

As a mechanical engineer specializing in Precision Mechanics by training, who wholly conceives and then designs the watch from scratch, he has an advantage over other colleagues in the Independent watch world. He isn't constrained by traditional watchmaking ideas, although he certainly appreciates and understands them, he has taken M. Dufour's advice and insistence of supreme levels of hand finishing, his friend and mentor who lives close by. As a matter of fact, John McGonigle mentioned to me in one of our conversations this week, that Romain's level of hand finishing is superlative and as close to Dufour's as he's seen. That is quite a vote of confidence, as John is no stranger to fine hand finishing.

Here's a close up, revealing what the naked can't see, courtesy of Romain Gauthier.

Romain mentioned some vague details about this project over a year ago, saying he had a new constant force mechanism with some type of chain, but leaving it sufficiently vague so that I really didn't have a clue. Upon sitting down with Romain, I was stunned by what he revealed to me!

The prototype, mind blowing.

Here is the back, which is also stunning to look at, almost as good as the front!

The watch is simply amazing and the chain with the snail cam that sits under a finely polished Titanium bridge immediately jumps out at you. The time part of the watch is rather neat in it's vertical layout, with the balance wheel oscillating below the dial for the running seconds and time at the top. Turning the watch over, again the senses are exhilarated by quite a three dimensional manual winding watch caliber. Romain has again dispensed with the traditional winding stem and crown and opted for a wholly new rack ratchet winding system, that is operated by a push button on the side of the case at 9 o'clock. I believe this is again a completely new concept in the watch world and as Romain has 4 patents pending for this new watch, I was blown away when he showed me how it worked. From an engineering perspective, he designs with mechanical efficiency as a prime directive. This means his watches look a bit different from what else is being created and how certain aspects of the watch operate. Tourbillons are cool and technically quite tricky to do well. This watch and its chronometric abilities are better. It has a brilliant constant force, that delivers exactly the same power whatever the level of winding. The chain is amazing and comprises of black polished steel with tiny synthetic rubies to massively reduce the friction and wear.

Fortunately Romain brought along an example of the chain, so I thought it'd be fun to picture it next to the watch. I examined it under a 10x loupe, it superb!

My pictures aren't brilliant, but then again the lighting was awful! He is only going to make 20 in each case metal of either platinum or 18K RG. Yes several of you have voiced your concern over the price and when he debuted this to a few collectors in Geneva during the SIHH show, it was higher. It is now priced at a level that although not inexpensive, is still I think a very fair price for what one gets in exchange. My sense is that those get one of these will be thrilled and time will tell that they were wise to grab one when they could.

I am excited for Romain and this will really put him on the map in terms of technical prowess. It is one thing to design a beautiful watch, but another thing to create something like LOGICAL One. Best watch of the show for me by a long shot.

OK this is photo of a photo, but I love this version with an enamel dial in RG!

Day 2 Baselworld 2013, Grönefeld

Wandering back to the Hall 2.0 across the sunny plaza and right next door to the AHCI, is where the Grönefeld Bros. show their wares. Sharing a booth with Kari Voutilainen and Stepan Sarpaneva, they featured several of their One Hertz models in the window.

Tim & Bart are the second pair of brothers I work with that design and create their own watches. It is unusual to have such a close working relationship as brothers and still love being around one's sibling. At least I think so, as much as I love my two brothers, I don't think I could work with them day in and day out. Bart & Tim's families live 10 minutes apart, so there obviously is something quite special in their relationship.

There is something stunning in their watches for sure! The first watch to come from these two several years ago now, was a stunning Minute Repeater Tourbillon in their case that features hollow lugs in order to amplify the sound. Trained in Switzerland and having worked at the famous Renaud & Papi complications establishment, their specialty for tourbillons and minute repeaters was shown off in this watch. They started with a Claret designed ebauche and finished it to a superb standard.

Their second watch, which was wholly conceived by Tim & Bart, debuted a couple of years ago and was initially released in a series of 12 pieces in steel, the amazing One Hertz. It features an independent Dead Seconds with a unique design as it is powered by it's own gear train completely independent from the hours and minutes gear train. They designed a clever crown system that by pushing it in, changes from time setting to winding operations. No pulling out the crown and having to find the correct position to change the time. It also features a power reserve indicator and the time is in a small dial at 2 o'clock. I loved the blue dialed platinum model from last years Baselworld show, and this year they previewed an open dialed Techniek model in a Titanium case.

Lighting makes a big difference as to how this watch appears.

Another view of the wonderful stainless steel hand finished bridges,

Superb hand finishing of the bevelling.

The pictures of the watch I saw prior to Basel, didn't quite seem to reveal a compelling watch. As is quite common, in person it works very well and for the technical guys out there, this will be a great watch. I still happen to prefer the standard dial options, but still a fun watch to be able to offer clients. Here are a few on the wrist in different lighting:

Indoors shaded lighting.

Outside in bright sunlight.

Outside indirect lighting.

The lovely 18K RG execution of the One Hertz, The Dune. Lighting is tricky in the stand, but here are a couple of shots of it:

The back is great with the contrasting steel bridges and 18K RG case!

I had a rather special moment as I was present when a client of Tim & Bart's received his unique piece from the lads at Basel. It was a Titanium One Hertz Techniek with a matt finish DLC treatment that sported orange hands for the Jumping Seconds, power reserve indicator and Winding/Setting indicator. It came on a black croco strap with orange stitching!

Again, seeing this lucky guy receive his watch from the watchmakers directly was pretty amazing!

The unique One Hertz Techniek Nocturne in Grade 5 titanium with black DLC.

I spent a fun hour with Tim & Bart after the show closed in their stand, enjoying a Dutch beer or two that they had brought with them. Keen on their beer and not keen on paying the Swiss show prices, they had their own cooler and tap! Ultimately, brilliant watchmakers and great guys to boot.

Day 2 Baselworld 2013, Speake-Marin

I arrived at the fair around 10am, a little later than some, earlier than others, to buy my tickets and head over to the Palace, a tented location outside the main exhibition halls, where with the exception of the AHCI and close by it in Hall 2.0, the exciting watchmaking is occurring. Peter moved out here several years ago now, in order to have a bigger space. He is next to Max Busser & Friends, across from Christophe Claret and Uhrwerk. As is the way with Peter, he has assembled a team of helpers, to fend off the hordes of press who seem to have their attention on the Englishman making watches in Switzerland. I'd like to take a little bit of credit for helping him on his way, when back in 2005 I asked him to speak in front of 40 clients, he was ashen faced and rather apprehensive as he took the floor. Now look at him, quietly confident and an eloquent passionate speaker for his work and Independent Watchmaking. 

First up with a great iPad demo was the Triad. I was eager to see his new serially made Triad, having seen the hand made prototype last year. Also there are usually a few one off pieces that he has lurking around during this fair and this is the only time one has a chance to see or hear about them. It's where I found a unique completely hand made and finished Marin Three prototype piece that a very fortunate friend if mine now owns. This is one of the reasons I view attending Baselworld every year, a hugely important part exercise.

A closeup of the lovely scrolled hand engraving on the movt. bridge.

I love this superlative enamel dialed 38mm Piccadilly Renaissance cased in 18K RG, with the stunning blued steel Foundation style hands.

The Triad was explained by Peter in detail and the reasoning why he is making it. This is the first in a new series for him, named "Mechanical Art". Going forward the watches that he designs will represent to him more of the artistry aspect of mechanical watchmaking and be his showcase for what moves him. This Mechanical Art #1.

Many people have asked me and hoped that it was a triple timezone watch. Well, no it isn't and won't ever be. Peter could have made it a multiple timezone watch and I'm sure many would love that, but this design is all about something completely different. Three is a powerful number and represents many very important aspects of human life and existence. It is essentially a philosophical watch.

The back of the Triad, showing off the automatic double barrelled caliber with Peter's signature topping tool motif oscillating weight for the selfwinding.

Being made with a steel case together with a rose gold bezel, it's dial is quite detailed with the three time telling hand setups all running off the center pinion, with it's beautifully hand finished "Speake-Marin topping tool" motif wheels. As usual the classic Speake-Marin "Foundation" style blued steel hands are utilized.

An edition of 88 pieces will be made.

I also got to see several of the original enamel dialed Piccadilly pieces that are all that remains of the his past few years designs. These are to my mind iconic watches that I happen to love. The bigger volume cases that house the FW2012 original caliber.

The 42mm PVD Steel Piccadilly Star dial Perpetual Calendar with 18K RG lug screws and crown.

I bought the final 42mm steel cased white enamel with black arabic numerals, which I think is a stunning looking piece and I'm thrilled to be able to offer it for my clients.

Peter was in good spirits and seems to have turned a corner business wise, having had a couple of rough years since the crisis. I am very happy for him and his family and continue to support him in his endeavors. These relationships that one develops in this end of the business are close and quite personal. It is one of the main reasons why I do this. It's been 9 years since we first met and agreed to join forces to build something which at the time I believed in, but had no idea of what it could or would become. I'm honored that Peter took the plunge with me back then and I am thrilled to still be working with him all these years later and representing his wonderful work.

Cheers,

Tim

Day 1 Baselworld 2013, a visit to the Paul Gerber atelier

I arrived in Zurich Wednesday evening after a beautiful day spent in Basel, a bonus to have lovely weather! I was picked up at the station by Ruth Gerber, and whisked off to their home. The Gerber atelier is the basement of their family home in the suburbs of Zurich. Examples in photographic form of Paul's amazing work are on all the walls.

This was to be an exciting evening; when one gets to visit one of the greatest unsung heroes in the Independent Watchmaking world, the humble and brilliant Paul Gerber, in his place of creativity, great things open up. I have been working with Paul 2 years now and have come to realise that his depth of horological knowledge is far and wide. What I didn't realize was how much he has been beavering away behind the scenes as an Independent Watchmaker for the big brands, as the go to guy. Many of the big names you are familiar with, have at one point or other utilized his impressive skill set. Paul is too modest and the industry, too protective of it's illusions, to talk about this and from my perspective, a bit of a shame. Oh well, this is the path he has chosen. I figure it is my job to bring his genius out for the world to appreciate.

Paul together with his dear wife, Ruth who manages many aspects of their business, have created a bit of a rabbit warren under their family home, it is here with CNC machines, lathes and a variety of other familiar watchmaker tools, that the magic occurs. Transforming metal in micro mechanical art. Paul's love is small clocks and watches, most have heard about his tiny clocks he has made, but not many have seen them...well here is one next to a blown up image.

It is only about an inch & half wide and maybe just over two high, it features a moonphase indicator, an equation of time with the month around the outside of the dial. Oh and a hammer & bell to chime the hours.

Paul greeted me enthusiastically and proceeded to give me the "Power point" presentation of his work over the years as an Independent Watchmaker. It was a series of 5 or 6 two foot by two foot square boards hung on chains, that slide in front of each other to reveal the pictures. He gave me a running commentary of the projects to date.

Paul's rather clever switching system for his Jumping seconds/sweeping seconds mechanism. 

We then went into the room that housed his bench and the other three benches that his apprentice watchmakers work at. This room also contains Paul & Ruth's computers desks. One can feel the brilliance that occurs in this room.

Several small clocks are on the walls and his bench. This is what Paul loves to create, small clocks and in fact this was the direction he first took as a watchmaker. He has also developed an eight day caliber that he uses in his Pendulet desk clocks, which in time he added his stunning 1 minute tourbillon escapement to.

Close up of Tourbillon cage and guilloche dial

This particular execution is housed in Jade, other precious stones are available for the stands, for example Lapis or Onyx.

Paul showed us the tool used to engrave the case numbers on the MIH Ti cases. This amazing series of watches designed in conjunction with Ludwig Oechslin and Christian Gafner, is now numbering around 980 pieces made to date. Paul has been assembling them since day one and the production continues on. About 120 leave his workshop each year. Initially these watches were not to have a serial number, but Paul told me that in order to control the production and warranty etc. they had to. So Paul being Paul, numbered the cases on the inside back cover. Now days the last two hundred or so receive a production serial number between the lugs on the outside of the case. My watch that arrived in late 2007 is one with the inside serial numbers. I am now curious to know what mine is!

Another highly amusing moment occurred when I glanced across his bench to see an older bedside Oris clock. It had a circular hole cut out of its dial at 10 o'clock and in it upon closer inspection was a Tourbillon escapement! Not highly finished I might add, but ticking away inside. I asked Paul what this "project" was. He smiled and told me it was just for fun, then proceeded to pull out a drawer full of these older wind up clocks by Oris, that he buys for around CHF10 when he comes across them in shops and flea markets.

A fun video of possibly why Paul is a watchmaker and what amuses him!

I then looked at some of his contemporary watches and got the chance to see his case that he makes for the caliber 41 in house watch. Comprised of three parts, the lugs are also separate and are dove tailed into the center section of the case. This makes refinishing or refurbishing the case an easy job, it also means different metals could in theory be used for the case, such as a combination of steel & 18K RG. Genius design and as always with Paul, very practical. Paul introduced his Ref 41 a couple of years ago now, a 42mm cased completely inhouse selfwinding watch, that features his synchronised triple rotor winding and a fun option released last year in Basel, the ability to switch by pushing a button at 2 o'clock, from sweeping central seconds to Jumping seconds. He also makes the Ref 33, which is a more traditional looking watch, again an inhouse caliber, sporting his own Gerber escapement and shaped in the tonneau style. A couple of different versions are available.

A couple of Cal 33 in progress...

Paul's finely finished inhouse caliber sporting his escapement.

The new Version of the Ref 33 3D Moonphase, which Paul adds in a circular date down at 4 o'clock. Cased in platinum.

The 18K RG moonphase small seconds.

Back of the RG piece.

A steel version on left and the 18K RG version on right.

The backs showing off the synchronized Triple 18K gold rotors.

Here you can see the lugs screwed into the dovetails of the center case ring. Helps in refurbishing of the case correctly.

Paul & I sharing an amusing moment!

Paul's bench...

After enjoying the watches, I was given a glass of local red vino and some hot bites to eat before I headed back into Basel courtesy of Paul. All in all another fascinating visit to a workshop of a truly great living watchmaker. I appreciated Paul & Ruth sharing their time with me and as always know these opportunities to visit an atelier are not to be missed. I have a fuller understanding of what Paul does and has done in the industry now and appreciate even more why he does what he does. I also got to see the real Paul in his home away from the Baselworld fair, he showed me his model airplanes that he loves to build in balsa wood and then fly in circles attached to two wires that control the flaps for altitude. He was like an excited kid showing me the little single cylinder gas engines that propel these planes around.

In closing, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Paul & Ruth for opening up their home to me and keep up the great work!

Day 1 Baselworld 2013, a decompression exercise

Prior to heading out on train to visit Paul Gerber in Zurich, I spent an afternoon de-compressing from the flights and trains getting to Basel. The weather was lovely bright blue sky and 70' plus, which meant lunch of veal sausage outside by the river, watching the Rhine flow swiftly by.

This typical river barge was pounding it's way upstream:

After lunch I walked down Clarastrasse to the new exhibition hall. As I neared it, I could tell it was a significant change from the previous 12 years. Over what used to be the open tram stop with the lovely open air bars and bandstand, is now a huge modern structure, housing the main proponents of Basel, yes, you guessed it the big brands and Swatch Group. There is a donut like feeling, with an opening in the middle. Rather fitting I think to the bloated excesses of Swatch Group and it's marketing machine...but I digress.

A view looking out to the street that runs parallel with several restaurants where one can sit and enjoy the good weather.

The aforementioned "Donut hole"

The Hall o Swatch...yes a tribute to the plastic watch that saved the big brand mechanical Swiss watch industry from complete annihilation in the face of the quartz revolution from the Japanese onslaught.

Here is the new lobby of Hall 1.0, which was the old main entrance.

As I wandered about getting the lay of the land, I bumped into Martin Braun, who was wearing the stunning Slow Runner with it's amazing massive balance wheel beating at a mere 7200 vph. Put in terms one can understand, it makes two oscillations a second. Sort of like a fast heartbeat, which is what I think many will experience when handling this lovely piece for the first time!

And here is the massive Ti balance wheel:

A short video so you can see what I experienced...

After this relatively relaxing time, I headed to the SBB train station to go back to Zurich to meet up with Paul Gerber.

Back up Clarastrasse onto the bridge, prior to hopping on the tram from Schifflände up to the Bahnhof (main railway station)

Stay tuned for an amazing visit...