Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 35 i REVOLUTION WATCH

I’ve been thinking about how our tastes as watch collectors will be shaped by the crazy roller-coaster ride of 2020, which, as I write this, coincides with second and even third waves of resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. And my takeaway is this. First, it is absolutely incredible to me how so many people think that not wearing a mask, socialising in groups, arms around each other at dinner venues like chorus girls, gyrating en masse at nightclubs and beaches while hosing each other down with an Old Testament deluge of vapor molecules directly into each other’s eyes, mouths, noses and, yes, lungs is totally unrelated to the staggering, skyrocketing increase in infections that’s happening around the world. Sorry, that was just a bit of me venting.…

How many watches does it take to make a trend? Looking at this year’s selection of watches for women, we’re instantly struck with the thought: there really wasn’t one discernible trend, although many exciting offerings. You have maisons like Cartier and Piaget returning to their roots in jewellery. You have manufactures like Audemars Piguet and Breitling downsizing and returning to classical sizes that suit both genders. And then of course, there are new creations designed from the ground up with women in mind; from beloved brands like MB&F, Bvlgari, Vacheron Constantin and Zenith. So back to the question, what is trending now? Maybe it’s that women are finally being seen and heard. Maybe what we’re trying to say is, women have been left out of the equation for too long…

What I’ve always liked and admired about Patrick Pruniaux the CEO of Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin is his honesty and openness. Helming not one but two significant watch manufactures, and ably guiding them both through the precarious shoals of 2020, means understanding where the consumer mindset is. “Mechanical watchmaking will survive this challenging period. It has already survived the Great Depression, two World Wars and the Quartz Crisis in the 20th century. But I think the COVID pandemic will change our patterns as consumers,” says Pruniaux. “You already see that the underlying ethics and authenticity of companies are more important than ever. Collectors will still want beautiful executions of mechanical timekeeping; perhaps now more than ever, we want objects that inspire us and make us dream, but at the same…

I remember the exact moment I set eyes on the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph. Though it was just over a year ago, considering the mind-bending changes that have happened to the world in the interim, it seems like a lifetime ago. Before I get into the details of the special edition of this watch that Bvlgari’s amazing creative director Fabrizio Buonamassa designed, I’d like to talk about the changes to the world and in particular Bvlgari’s reaction to them. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Bvlgari’s CEO Jean-Christophe Babin was one of the very first to respond: first funding a 3D microscope to help researchers at Spallanzani Hospital study the virus at the cellular level; second, by transforming a fragrance factory outside of Milan to produce hand sanitizer. And if the…

I was recently strolling down the Burlington Arcade, when my eye was caught by a watch in the window of George Somlo’s shop. Somlo is the only authorised dealer of vintage Omega, and has a strong line in vintage Cartier, Patek and 1960s/’70s Piaget…. But this was something I had not seen in a fashionable West End window, at least not for some years: a Rolex King Midas Cellini with gadrooned case and bracelet. As a weathervane of tastes in vintage timepieces, Somlo is as good as any, and with West End rents being what they are, he’s not about to put dead merchandise in the window, ergo, this esoteric offering from the bowels of Rolex history must be enjoying a comeback and all I can do is ask why…

American race car driver, Dan Gurney was a man who raced extensively. He participated and won races in Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am Trans-Am Series and even Le Mans. In fact, having won the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans he proceeded to spray champagne from the bottle in his hand while on the podium. Thus beginning a race track tradition that is now a staple at every podium celebration. Gurney’s love for racing developed after his parents moved the family to Riverside, California while he was still a teenager. There he quickly got caught in the California hot rod culture and proceeded to build and race his first car at the age of 19, at the famed at the Bonneville Salt Flats. After completing university and a two-year…

Atom Moore is an internationally renowned, New York City-based photographer who fell into the watch world by virtue of his love for the subject plus a keen eye for macro photography. He has three acclaimed photography exhibitions under his belt. Atom describes himself as a cycling, digital technology and beard enthusiasts. He also really loves desserts. Nick Foulkes has penned over 20 works of non-fiction on subjects as diverse as cigars and porcelain, but to us, he is one of the best-known English language writers on timepieces. His most recent book was Patek Philippe: The Authorized Biography. He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and How to Spend It. Cesare Maria Mannucci Celebrated automotive journalist and co-author of Time to Race, Cesare Maria Mannucci has covered more than 320 F1 Grand…

It’s no mystery that I worship at the altar of the Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph. That when it comes to this magnificent combination of my two favourite complications, there is none better than Patek who was the first to produce this type of watches in series. Indeed I have always admired that each time the world has faced any form of inclemency, the Stern family who took the reins of Patek Philippe in 1932 has responded with the creation of sublime acts of horological magic. And this was certainly the case with the reference 1518 that was launched in 1941 amid the full maelstrom of the Second World War. This watch driven by the Valjoux calibre 13 base (also featured in the reference 130 launched in 1936) forged the…

It’s a commonly accepted fact amongst fans of the Star Wars saga that The Empire Strikes Back was superior to the original Star Wars: A New Hope. So too is the second act of CODE 11.59, as the range finally steps out of the long shadows cast by its iconic big brother, the Royal Oak. We take a look at the newest iterations that have more than just good looks. But then, it has to be said, these watches are indeed very good-looking! IN THE BEGINNING It would be difficult to write about the launch of the CODE 11.59 without making some comment on the fact that it received an initial welcome that, on a good day, might be seen as lukewarm. One of the biggest criticisms of the launch…

Following up from the stealthy launch of the Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition during the LVMH Watch Week Dubai 2020, TAG Heuer is now launching a second Carrera, inspired by another historical timepiece from the Heuer books. This is the TAG Heuer Carrera 160th Montreal Edition, inspired by the White Heuer Montreal reference 110.503W launched in 1972. The 1972 launch version of the Montreal was a C-shape case, bi-compax chronograph powered by the Calibre 12. In due time, production switched over to the Valjoux 7750, giving the Montreal a sideways tri-compax dial and the new reference number, 750.503. Heuer stopped producing the Montreal in 1983. In that time, however, there were several animations of the Montreal with at least seven variations of the 110.503 listed by Jeff Stein on…

Imagine for a moment you are invited to a dinner at a stately ancestral home. And there seated before you are the living, breathing personifications of the Holy Trinity of high Swiss watchmaking brands in dinner-suited human form. The first to greet you is Patek Philippe who in this family is the golden child. He’s the Anderson & Sheppard-tailored Fulbright scholar, matriculated from Harvard Law School and Trinity College, Cambridge, whose future is guided by divine inexorable perfection. The second named Vacheron Constantin is darker, tall, lean and immaculate in Caraceni; introspective but fiercely brilliant, holding forth on the synergistic link between Euclidean geometry and Sufimysticism. Then you hear the door slam. There with the paint-splattered trousers of his Cifonelli tuxedo stuffed into motorcycle boots, his shoulder-length hair in disarray…

One of the collectors I respect the most is @Santa_Laura. Because, for him, collecting has been a path of self-discovery and appreciation in its most authentic form. It would be easy to look at the seemingly endless cavalcade of horological riches, from gem-set Daytonas to Richard Milles in multiple colourways to bespoke engraved URWERKs and pièce unique Greubel Forseys, and imagine him to have simply assembled a “greatest hits” list of the world’s most desirable timepieces. But the reality is that quite the opposite is true. He has always pursued his affection for watches with a sincerity that in many cases vied with the common consensus or opposed prevailing trends. In many instances, the categories of watches that he had affection for — the aforementioned Daytonas, for example — were…

Born in Modena, Italy Enzo Ferrari found himself enamoured by the world of motor racing at the tender age of 10. With minimal education, a stint in the army during the First World War, he later found himself racing for Fiat and then Alfa Romeo. The institution that we now know as Scuderia Ferrari was established by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 and later in 1932 when he became a father, he retired from racing himself to build a team of excellent drivers. They were initially Alfa Romeo’s racing arm but had to part ways in 1933 for financial reasons. Scuderia Ferrari, however, trudged on. In 1937, Scuderia Ferrari had to be shelved and Enzo Ferrari went back to working for Alfa Romeo. His relationship with the company this time was…

“A lot has been said in the last few years about this colour. It started as a trend, but for us, it quickly became something more. Nowadays we feel it encapsulates many of the values of this cultural revolution that we are living. Gender roles are getting erased, and there’s a strong need to reevaluate the concept of masculinity itself, in particular as it pertains to the watch industry. We believe this is a great starting point for such a conversation. Lapo is an endless source of inspiration for us. His character and style have always motivated us to push the boundaries of our creativity. And Hublot is one of the best partners that we could ask for a collaboration. On a professional level, they have a strong capacity to…

Skeletonised timepieces first appeared during the 18th century, and were once exclusive to the highest levels of watchmaking. Today, numerous interpretations of openworked dial can be found at all levels, and in nearly every collection. On the bleeding edge, Piaget has exposed the inner workings of a groundbreaking ultra-slim movement, wherein the mainplate and case are integrated, machined from a single piece of cobalt alloy. Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton leaves only tourbillon mechanicals and the house’s famed monogram rendered in beveled edges, a monument to all-out precision. Roger Dubuis uses twisted shards to keep 558 components in place, as if by magic, and Breguet introduces a new Tradition Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097 with a blue guilloché dial in gold. Reservoir famously took away the hour hand; now it’s effectively removed the…

There are dozens of waterproof dive watches available on the market and there have been since the early 1950s. However, if you asked 100 people to name a dive watch, I’m pretty sure that 90 plus of those asked would name the Rolex Submariner. Much more than a tool watch, the Submariner has become an icon of both horology and style. With or without a date, it’s a timeless classic that Rolex has slowly and gently revised over the years, yet is still as true to its DNA today as it was nearly 70 years ago. And this year, Rolex has given the line a tweak to include modifications to its case, movement and bracelet. So let’s take a look back at the Submariner’s roots as a timeless icon of…

First and foremost a jeweller, Harry Winston’s watchmaking division began long after the death of the eponymous founder, but the glorious timepieces created is very much in the DNA and legacy of the man himself. The Premier Collection came about in 1989, and was the company’s first ever watch collection. With its distinctive lugs that depict the three-arch entrance to Harry Winston’s Fifth Avenue Flagship Salon and its focus on métiers d’art, the Premier Collection remains the company’s most iconic collection, and has since its launch been designated as the series to showcase Harry Winston’s expertise in various artistic forms. Shown on this page is the highlight of the year: the Premier Majestic Art Deco Automatic 36mm. The magnificent piece clearly takes after the era that the watch is named…

Richard Mille adds to their most beloved line of timepieces, the RM 011. This family of chronographs was first launched in 2007 as the RM 011 Automatic Chronograph Felipe Massa, establishing for the brand a legacy and several lifetimes’ worth of admirers. For 2020, the RM 011 welcomes its fifth chapter, the RM 11-05 Automatic Flyback Chronograph GMT. The first thing that should strike you about the watch is that as opposed to the more aggressive take on the Richard Mille tonneau case that we see now on the RM 11-03 and 04, the RM 11-05 has the prior sleek case styling that we last saw on the RM 11-02. And probably for good reason (we’ll come back to this). The movement powering the watch is the calibre RMAC3 that…

OK, let’s jump in the DeLorean, set the year for twenty-o-ten, because in the words of the immortal Doc Brown, “We are going back to the future.” In 2020, Laurent Ferrier celebrated his 10th anniversary with what might initially seem like a counter-intuitive move, which was to launch his most accessibly priced and simplest watch. But this act of revisionist horological history has been in the works for a full decade. Says Ferrier with a smile, “It was important to me 10 years ago to position my brand at the highest level, with a watch that had a substantial technical value like the Tourbillon Double Spiral. But in my heart I was always dreaming to create something that was a core expression of my purest values. A simple three-hand manual-winding…

Briggs Cunningham was an American racecar driver, who was born into an extremely well to do family, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. But it wasn’t just motor racing that he was proficient in. Cunningham is also remembered for his skills as a sailor, who skippered the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America’s Cup race. Cunningham clearly had a passion for speed and the machines that enabled them, be it on water or on the roads. Throughout his life he’s known to have owned and raced Jaguars, Ferraris, Corvettes, Listers, OSCAs and Abarths. However, he is perhaps most admired for his ability to put together and support race teams in the 50s with Cadillac and Chrysler Hemi-powered Cunningham sports cars. His ultimate motor racing dream in life was to…

British race car driver, Jim Clark lived a short but accomplished life. He made his Formula 1 racing debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1960. He was 24 then and racing for Lotus. After witnessing some horrible accidents and deaths on the track, including being involved in one himself when the car and driver who collided into him were thrown into the air, his luck finally turned in the 1963 season when he won the Drivers’ World Championship. He won seven out of the 10 races that season and won Lotus their first Constructors’ World Championship. Clark’s record went unbeaten until 1984, by yet another legend, Alain Prost who matched the count. Ayrton Senna was able to break the record later in 1988 with eight wins. Jim Clark met…