The next day I headed into the fair to meet up with one of the true unsung heroes of the watch world we all enjoy. Paul Gerber has been "Around the block" as the old saying goes for a while now, with his genius being put to use by many household brand names of the watch world. He has been asked to design and create many complications for brands for over 20 years, and his body of work is immense. I have been fortunate to work with Paul for 3 years now, and the more I get to know this quietly spoken fellow, the more I'm in awe of his place in the Independent Watchmaking scene.
A new white dialed Ref 42 Pilot.
Paul and yours truly.
The Ref 42 Dual timezone with a new addition of the orangey-red second hand. Improved upon the first effort!
His watches are rare and not found on many wrists, but those that have jumped in and acquired one of his pieces, will attest to their brilliance. From the relatively simple Pilot or Synchron, cased in a 42mm Ti case with the highly modified ETA 2824 caliber sporting his triple synchronised 18K gold rotors and the big date module; to the Ref 33, which has two models, one with a spherical moonphase and the other with an over size seconds. Both Ref 33 models feature Paul's escapement, and are finished to a high degree, with all the hallmarks of fine hand finish, commensurate with the expectations of connoisseurs worldwide. Over the years he has designed watches with retro-grade seconds display and more recently a Jumping Seconds complication added to his other inhouse caliber, the Cal.41, a double barreled selfwinding movement.
The Ref 41 as it was displayed in Basel at Paul's stand in the AHCI booth.
On the wrist, it is a great piece.
Different lighting, another look to it.
The lovely Cal 41, with it's twin barrels and triple 18K synchronised rotors.
As I had ordered one of these Ref 41's with the added complication of the Jumping Seconds with a lovely guilloche dial and blue lacquered numerals last year. It was completed a couple of weeks prior to this Basel Fair and Paul asked if he could keep it and exhibit it at the fair, as this was the first dial of it's kind ever installed in his Ref 41. It is a stunner, and I was thrilled to see it in person at the fair. I believe he received much praise for it. It certainly is a much improved execution of this stunning watch over the two other dial options I've seen prior to now. Using his Gerber style hands and the 12, 6 & 9 in this lovely deep lacquered blue against the silver dial with center guilloche background, it is a stunner!
I discussed the Gerber workshop again and made tentative plans for an Oct. trip over to Zurich and Switzerland. On from there I walked all of 15 yards to the booth where Kari Voutilainen shares space with several other genius watchmakers, from Holland and Finland. Kari typically is inundated with appointments, many of whom are Asian press, eager to have a few minutes with this highly revered, and rightly so, humble and softly spoken watchmaking genius. I was able to carve out a brief meeting and he shared with me few of his latest gems! I have to say the Vingt-8 Power Reserve which previously I had seen in a WG case with a plain black dial and not really enjoyed, was revealed in a RG case and a silver guilloche dial, which was an immense improvement.
The V-8R
The caliber of the V-8R Power Reserve, reveals a new polished bridge to hold the escapement to give room for the power reserve mechanism in the 1-2 o'clock area of the above picture.
The movement of a WG Vingt-8 to compare, sorry for poor photo, desperate lighting!
Exquisite dial on this "Piece Unique"
Even the main plate & small cock on the movement are lacquered.
The stunning Japanese technique of lacquering many thousands of of tiny shell parts to create a dial, was again utilized by Kari to tremendous effect. Two watches were on show, a RG piece unique 2-Eight with a center section of lacquer and my jaw dropper, the platinum Vingt-8 with a green fiery lacquer dial. The watches were sublime and almost took ones breath away.
The other piece that grabbed my attention, was the Tourbillon, which revealed itself dial side. The blue guilloche dial was stunning and everything about this watch screamed purity and elegance. The movement side, often quite plain in a Tourbillon caliber when the cage is front side, was elegant and obviously stunningly hand finished. This piece was one of my top watches of the fair! A tiny series of six pieces, this gem was cased in platinum and sports a huge tourbillon cage with the Double Wheel Voutilainen escapement, which I believe is a first for Kari. Due to the size of the cage, the dial is slightly off center to accommodate this feature. If money were no object, this would certainly be an addition to the collection!
The stunningly gorgeous Voutilainen Tourbillon.
As is often the case with dial side tourbillon watches, the back is less exciting, though finished to Kari's extreme level.
I spent my time ogling at the watches Kari had brought to Basel and discussed a few business points, before his next appt. from the far East showed up. Quietly making my way out, I bid him farewell for the day and headed off to my next port of call.