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CELEBRATING THE MACHINE WITH A HEARTBEAT<br />
INTERNATIONAL VOL. <strong>54</strong><br />
USA ISSUE 01 SPRING 2020<br />
ZENITH X<br />
<strong>REVOLUTION</strong><br />
CHRONOMASTER<br />
REVIVAL A3818<br />
"COVER GIRL"<br />
INTERVIEWS WITH<br />
MARK CAVENDISH,<br />
MARK CHO,<br />
AUSTEN CHU AND<br />
BEAR GRYLLS<br />
BVLGARI<br />
Octo Finissimo<br />
The New Icon<br />
SPRING 2020 $14.95US
Breguet La Tradition<br />
Tourbillon Fusée 7047
BREGUET BOUTIQUES – NEW YORK 646 692-6469 – BEVERLY HILLS 310 860-9911 – LAS VEGAS 702 733-7435<br />
TOLL FREE 877-896-7358 – WWW.BREGUET.COM
COVER<br />
STORY<br />
26<br />
BVLGARI’S<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
THE MAKING OF<br />
ANEWICON
COLLECTION<br />
Fifty Fathoms<br />
©Photograph: Laurent Ballesta/Gombessa Project<br />
RAISE AWARENESS,<br />
TRANSMIT OUR PASSION,<br />
HELP PROTECT THE OCEAN<br />
www.blancpain-ocean-commitment.com<br />
NEW YORK · 697 FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN <strong>54</strong> TH &55 TH STREET · 212 396 1735<br />
LAS VEGAS · THE FORUM SHOPS AT CAESARS PALACE · 702 369 1735
THE<br />
MODERNIST<br />
78<br />
48 LVMH Dubai Watch Week — the Revolution take<br />
58 The Hamilton Pulsar returns<br />
62 Partying with Zenith, Revolution and RedBar Miami<br />
64 Hublot and Ferrari celebrate the Finali Mondiali<br />
68 Zenith’s manufacture experience in Le Locle is one of a kind<br />
72 Bell & Ross presents the BR 03-92 Grey Lum<br />
74 The Omega Constellation makes a striking return<br />
76 Longines goes green with the HydroConquest<br />
84 Introducing the Rado × Revolution Captain Cook “Ghost Captain” 42mm<br />
88 TAG Heuer celebrates 160 Years with a Carrera Revival<br />
ZENITH<br />
INTRODUCING THE ZENITH ×<br />
<strong>REVOLUTION</strong> CHRONOMASTER<br />
REVIVAL A3818 “COVER GIRL”
HOME OF FINE WATCHMAKING SINCE 1833<br />
Polaris Date.<br />
Manufacture movement 899A/1.
BACK TO<br />
THE FUTURE<br />
100<br />
GRAND SEIKO<br />
TURNS 60 WITH A SLEW OF<br />
FINE TIMEPIECES FOR 2020<br />
94 Mark Cavendish — On road sprinting, Richard Mille and McLaren<br />
106 Cartier celebrates Alberto Santos-Dumont and his legacy<br />
110 Oris partners a cult Japanese denim label, to stunning success<br />
112 Reservoir combines French design with Swiss watch finesse<br />
116 Hublot’s Mathias Buttet on innovation and design in Swiss watchmaking<br />
122 IWC CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr on the future of retail<br />
126 Davide Traxler, CEO of Parmigiani, on forging a unique path forward<br />
128 Benedict Cumberbatch on the timepieces he keeps, and the memories they represent<br />
130 Brad Pitt on design, architecture and collecting Breitlings<br />
132 Panerai ambassador Jimmy Chin shares the thrill of climbing and adventure
CALIBER RM 67-01<br />
RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUES<br />
ASPEN BAL HARBOUR BEVERLY HILLS BOSTON BUENOS AIRES<br />
CHICAGO LAS VEGAS MIAMI NEW YORK ST. BARTH VANCOUVER<br />
www.richardmille.com
VINTAGE<br />
138<br />
RESTORING A VINTAGE<br />
WATCH THE RIGHT WAY<br />
148 A Complete Guide to Gem-set Rolex Day-Dates<br />
156 Founder of The Armoury, Mark Cho, on his carefully curated watch collection<br />
162 Austen Chu a.k.a @horoloupe, on his love of Audemars Piguet<br />
168 Down Time with Bear Grylls
SEVEN DAYS<br />
V45 S6 SQT<br />
212.463.8898<br />
WWW.FRANCKMULLER.COM
FOUNDER’S<br />
NOTE<br />
have to admit, I got it wrong. When<br />
the outbreak of COVID-19 was first<br />
announced, I thought in an overly<br />
cavalier way that it would be limited<br />
to Asia, that it was primarily an issue<br />
that had affected and yet was being<br />
contained by China, and that people<br />
were being unnecessarily alarmist<br />
and even a little bit chicken sh*t about<br />
it. I continued with unrestrained<br />
abandon to indulge in my favourite<br />
group activities, from spin class to<br />
Negroni swilling, ever-confident that<br />
my seething pool of rage combined<br />
by high-intensity exercise and fuelled by an endless<br />
supply of alcohol was enough to combat and kill any virus<br />
that would dare to cross my path. And I realize now how<br />
blithely stupid I was to perceive things this way. Even<br />
a week ago, I was still up to my old bar-hopping ways,<br />
eating Asian tapas huddled shoulder to shoulder in Kiln<br />
restaurant in Soho, London. While I and those around me<br />
partied, the Vesuvius of high contagion erupted around<br />
us. I went from city to city, first Miami then to New York<br />
then to London, only mildly irritated that my trip to<br />
Milan, Perugia and Naples had to be put on hold because<br />
some random instance of the disease had been detected<br />
in Lombardy or Milan during, of all things, Fashion<br />
Week. I chuckled along with people who laughed in the<br />
face of the mounting crisis and, in particular, at people<br />
who were so timid as to feel they needed face masks.<br />
What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Because we<br />
are now amid a global pandemic the likes of which the world<br />
had never seen before; first China, and now Italy, has been<br />
devastated by the spread of the novel coronavirus, with over<br />
786,000 cases and 38,000 deaths globally. I’ve seen New<br />
York, the city that never sleeps, the greatest metropolis in<br />
the world and beloved place of my birth, turn into a ghost<br />
town overnight. I’ve seen strong decisive action taken to<br />
control the spread of the disease, in particular, to ensure<br />
that the healthcare system is not overwhelmed, in places like<br />
Singapore, and I’ve seen responses that I now realize are<br />
woefully misplaced, such as the idea of herd immunity and
intentionally allowing the majority of the population to be<br />
infected. The problem with the latter is that as cases mount,<br />
the healthcare system will quickly be overwhelmed, which<br />
eventually means that hospitals will have to enact triage<br />
procedures where they can only treat those most likely to<br />
survive, meaning older people would be left to perish. Which<br />
is extremely f**ked up. And if I’ve had anything to do with<br />
spreading this idea of irresponsible invincibility, I need to<br />
now apologize for it and say that I was wrong. What everyone<br />
needs to do now is observe social distancing, the easiest form<br />
of which is to simply stay at home and see as few people as<br />
possible, so that we can cut down the rapidity with which the<br />
disease spreads.<br />
That, however, does not mean you should sit around<br />
moping and thinking that an Old Testament-like apocalypse<br />
is around the corner. Because it isn’t. We will get through<br />
this just like we’ve gotten through everything else. And<br />
in the meantime, we should try to spread some positivity<br />
in the way my friend, film director Paul Feig, has with<br />
his live-streaming of his black-tie cocktail sessions at<br />
home that involve martini and Negroni making as well<br />
as impromptu dance lessons (I’m still waiting for him to<br />
bust out the mambo). It also doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy<br />
yourself, and those evangelists who are urging everyone<br />
to give up booze at a time like this can simply blow it out of<br />
their highfalutin’ asses. If people are enjoying drinking and<br />
posting their Negronis on Instagram, so be it. If they feel<br />
like making experiments into the varying forms of bitters<br />
and vermouths — I never realized there were so many — to<br />
create the holy motherf**king grail of Negronis, so be it. If<br />
motherf**kers want to sit around smoking Cohiba Behikes<br />
and vintage Cuban Davidoffs from every orifice in their<br />
bodies, so be it. Because it is important to keep joy going<br />
in the world. I’m personally taking a little hiatus from my<br />
normal Charles Bukowski-level of boozing simply because I<br />
am not able to run, which helps me offset both my hangovers<br />
and my proclivity toward depression. In the meantime, I’ve<br />
derived all manner of pleasures from taking out my various<br />
timepieces and marvelling at their alchemic intersection<br />
between science and magic. I mean just to consider that time<br />
comes down to a spring, an escapement and a tiny oscillating<br />
wheel — it’s incredible these things work at all. The fact that<br />
they do so with unfailing accuracy just blows my mind and<br />
provides an amazing sense of (forgive the pun) escapement.<br />
I’m pleased to say that watches are just as mesmerizing even<br />
when I’m not heavily on the sauce.<br />
At the same time, I’ve received my newest Cifonelli<br />
bespoke suit, which features an all-new, ultra-soft drapey<br />
construction inspired by ’80s Armani, that has also provided<br />
a great deal of entertainment as I saunter around the house<br />
in it. And I’ve even begun to reread books that helped shape<br />
my life, such as Steven Pressfield’s Gates of Fire about the<br />
300 Spartans at Thermopylae. In order to still fit into the<br />
aforementioned bespoke suit after my mandatory 14-day<br />
quarantine for Singaporeans returning from the UK (yes,<br />
Dolores, they track you using a chip implanted in your head),<br />
I’ve taken to learning all manner of Cape Fear bodyweight<br />
prison-cell exercises, which I have to say are remarkably<br />
effective. Simply doing burpees until you feel like passing<br />
out or vomiting or both is one technique. In the meantime,<br />
my magazines and websites — The Rake, dedicated to classic<br />
elegance, and Revolution, dedicated to watches — will<br />
continue to support our beloved brand partners in style and<br />
in watches. And to them I would like to just say we love you,<br />
we are here to stand by and support you! We love you, Italy,<br />
we love you, Switzerland. And, for that matter, we love you,<br />
Hubei, and we love you, New York City. And we will get<br />
through this like the bad muthaf**kas we are. Stay strong and<br />
stay safe.<br />
Wei Koh, Founder<br />
wei_koh_revolution
EDITOR’S<br />
NOTE<br />
his is probably the fourth time that I’ve sat<br />
down and rewritten this letter. No, really.<br />
When I first put pen to paper, as it were,<br />
things were a lot different in the world than<br />
they are now. Words like “quarantine”<br />
and terms like “shelter in place” were not<br />
part of the daily lexicon, to say nothing of “coronavirus”<br />
and “COVID-19”. The biggest concern that we in the<br />
media had was trying to convince our significant others<br />
that two weeks straight in Switzerland at the end of April<br />
was a good thing (this owing to the 2020 dates for Watches<br />
& Wonders and Baselworld’s now canceled shows).<br />
Needless to say, we now have much bigger fish to fry.<br />
And so, here I sit at my dining table, sheltering<br />
in place with my family, as I try to make sense of a<br />
microscopic organism that has completely upended life as<br />
we know it on a global scale. All around us governments<br />
are scrambling to devise systems and methodologies<br />
to mitigate the spread of the virus and offer care to the<br />
afflicted — with varying degrees of success — which makes<br />
an industry such as ours seem somewhat superfluous.<br />
But is it?<br />
On the surface, yes. This is a business predicated<br />
on an obsolete paradigm for marking the passage of<br />
time, and one that depends on the oh-so-human<br />
propensity to wallow in nostalgia for its very survival.<br />
To wit, mechanical wristwatches are the ultimate<br />
indulgence given their high cost relative to the limited<br />
functionality that they offer. Think about it, in today’s<br />
world we’re surrounded by time: it’s blinking at us from<br />
our nightstands and on train platforms; it’s in our cars;<br />
it’s on our computers and phones… Indeed, time is all<br />
but impossible for us to escape from. And yet, if you’re<br />
reading this, against all odds you still find value in the<br />
lump of metal that earnestly ticks away on your wrist.<br />
As the founding member of the global watch<br />
enthusiasts’ collective, RedBar Group, I’m intimately<br />
acquainted with the power of community that our<br />
shared passion engenders. What was once a solitary<br />
hobby has transformed into something much, much<br />
bigger. It has brought people together the world<br />
over, and in its own way, our love of these miracles<br />
of miniaturized mechanical devices has done the<br />
impossible — it has slowed time down and allowed us<br />
to take valuable moments out of our days to reflect on<br />
the very nature of this most ephemeral of constructs.<br />
And so, I entreat each and every one of you to<br />
continue to read the pages of the magazines that you<br />
subscribe to, log onto the forums you are members of,<br />
support your favorite blogs (and even your not-sofavorite<br />
ones), and above all, continue to reach out and<br />
connect with your fellow collectors. Hell, if you haven’t<br />
already blown your budget on toilet paper and hand<br />
sanitizer, go ahead and buy that fine timepiece that you’ve<br />
been eyeing. Watches represent an intersection of art,<br />
science and engineering that has few, if any, equivalents<br />
in modern society, and that’s worth preserving.<br />
And remember, while it may be obsolete, there’s a<br />
vitally human quality to the watch industry’s continued<br />
tilting against the windmills of progress. It would truly be a<br />
shame if, in the midst of this crisis, we lost sight of this.<br />
And so, I entreat you to enjoy your time reading the<br />
pages of this, our April 2020 issue. Inside you’ll find<br />
insightful reviews, intimate interviews, and the amazing<br />
photography and art direction that have been the hallmarks<br />
of Revolution from the very beginning.<br />
Be safe, be happy, and above all, keep Celebrating The<br />
Machine With A Heartbeat!<br />
Adam Craniotes, Editor-in-Chief<br />
adam@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
craniotes<br />
LIAM O’DONNELL
Tangente Update. Made in Germany. The bestselling NOMOS model is now available as Tangente neomatik 41 Update ruthenium—featuring a<br />
dial refined with a rare platinum metal, the patented ring date, and an innovative mechanical movement within. This automatic timepiece has<br />
received a number of awards, including the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Find Tangente Update now at Bhindi, Blakeman’s, Borsheims,<br />
Brinker’s, Brown & Co., Chatel, Classic Creations, Diamond Cellar, Hamilton, Henne, Hyde Park Jewelers, JB Hudson, L. Majors, Lewis, London<br />
Jewelers, Long’s Jewelers, Reis-Nichols, Schwarzschild, Shreve & Co., Shreve, Crump & Low, Swiss Fine Timing, Timeless Luxury Watches,<br />
Tiny Jewel Box, Tourneau, Wempe, and Windsor Jewelers. As well as online at nomos-glashuette.com
EDITORIAL<br />
FOUNDER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR<br />
Wei Koh @wei_koh_revolution<br />
EDITOR<br />
Adam Craniotes adam@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
EDITOR, <strong>REVOLUTION</strong> ONLINE<br />
Sumit Nag sumit@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
Kevin Cureau kevin@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
EDITOR, <strong>REVOLUTION</strong> E-COMMERCE<br />
Yeo Suan Futt suanfutt@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
SUB-EDITORS<br />
Catherine Koh & Eileen Sim<br />
LIFESTYLE EDITOR<br />
Yong Wei Jian weijian@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
EDITORIAL COORDINATOR<br />
Punam Nikki Rai nikki@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS<br />
ASIA Darren Ho<br />
AUSTRALIA Felix Scholz<br />
CHINA Taitan Chen<br />
HONG KONG Stephanie Ip<br />
ITALY Maurizio Favot<br />
MEXICO Israel Ortega<br />
LATIN AMERICA Israel Ortega<br />
RUSSIA DenisPeshkov<br />
UAE JolaChudy<br />
UK Richard Holt<br />
VISUAL<br />
CREATIVE DIRECTOR<br />
Darius Lee darius@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR<br />
Jeremy Ang jeremy@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE<br />
Munster munster@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
DIGITAL IMAGING ARTIST<br />
KH Koh<br />
JR. PHOTOGRAPHER & DIGITAL ARTIST<br />
Toh Si Jia<br />
VIDEOGRAPHER<br />
Don Torres<br />
INTERN<br />
Nathaniel Wong<br />
ON THE COVER<br />
Bvlgari<br />
Octo Finissimo Automatic<br />
in satin polished steel with blue sunray finished<br />
dial and stainless steel bracelet.<br />
Photography Kim Lang<br />
Fashion Direction Amelia Hudson<br />
Model Amo Völker<br />
Hair Styling Elvire Roux<br />
Makeup Artist Amy Brandon<br />
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS<br />
Ken Kessler<br />
Stephen Watson<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Adrian Hailwood<br />
Andrew Hildreth<br />
Alan Seymour<br />
Arno Haslinger<br />
Auro Montanari<br />
Bear Grylls<br />
Colin Crisford<br />
Fabio Santinelli<br />
Grace Gilfeather<br />
James Dowling<br />
Jeff Stein<br />
Mark Cho<br />
Nick Foulkes<br />
Nick Scott<br />
Nico Bustos<br />
Rikesh Chauhan<br />
Robert Hoffmann<br />
Ross Povey<br />
Simon Alexander<br />
Simon De Burton<br />
Tom Craig<br />
Tracey Llewellyn<br />
MANAGEMENT<br />
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER<br />
Walter Tommasino walter@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
MANAGING DIRECTOR<br />
Maria Lim maria@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
SENIOR PUBLISHER<br />
Nathalie Naintre nathalie@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
LEAD, OPERATIONS<br />
Shazlina Shukor lina@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC COORDINATOR<br />
Christina Koh christina@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER<br />
Royce Siew royce@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
FINANCE MANAGER<br />
Jay Wong jaywong@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
ACCOUNTANT<br />
Sandy Tan finance@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE<br />
Low Sze Wei szewei@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
REVHLUTION is published quarterly by<br />
Revolution Media Pte Ltd.<br />
All rights reserved. © 2019 by Revolution Media<br />
Pte Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without<br />
permission is prohibited.<br />
Opinions expressed in REVHLUTION are solely<br />
those of the writers and are not necessarily endorsed<br />
by the publisher and its editors.<br />
Editorial enquiries should be directed to the Editor.<br />
While every reasonable care will be undertaken by<br />
the Editor, unsolicited materials will not be returned<br />
unless accompanied by a self-addressed envelope<br />
and sufficient return postage.<br />
For other enquiries, contact:<br />
info@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
For circulation and distribution, contact:<br />
circulation@revolutionmagazines.com<br />
MCI (P) 011/05/2019<br />
Printed in Singapore by Dominie Press Pte Ltd<br />
REVHLUTION MEDIA Pte Ltd<br />
5 Jalan Kilang, 04-01<br />
Singapore 159405<br />
Tel: +65 6535 0079
CALIBER RM 07-01<br />
RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUES<br />
ASPEN BAL HARBOUR BEVERLY HILLS BOSTON BUENOS AIRES<br />
CHICAGO LAS VEGAS MIAMI NEW YORK ST. BARTH VANCOUVER<br />
www.richardmille.com
PHOTOGRAPHY MUNSTER<br />
ASSISTED BY ANDREW TEO<br />
FASHION STYLIST YONG WEI JIAN<br />
DOWN IN<br />
THE VALLEY<br />
Spring’s biggest hits rolls into town with a fresh take on style.<br />
Chopard L.U.C XPS<br />
Tourbillon <strong>Vol</strong>ant in<br />
Fairmined rose gold<br />
with black alligator<br />
leather strap.<br />
On Emily<br />
Leather dress<br />
from Versace;<br />
Leather belt<br />
from Hermès<br />
On Niclas<br />
Leather jacket,<br />
denim jeans<br />
from Versace;<br />
Leather belt<br />
from Hermès
Piaget Altiplano 38mm Bulino Engraving in pink gold case with diamonds with brown alligator leather strap.<br />
Leather dress, leather jacket from Versace; Metal sunglasses from Gentle Monster<br />
SPLIT SECONDS 21
On Emily Cartier Tank Cintrée in yellow gold with brown alligator leather strap; On Niclas Cartier Tank Cintrée in rose gold with black alligator leather strap.<br />
On Emily Denim jacket, denim jeans from Sandro; On Niclas Denim jacket from ZZegna; Denim jeans from Sandro<br />
22 SPLIT SECONDS
On Niclas<br />
Jaeger-LeCoultre<br />
Reverso Classic Large<br />
Duoface Small Seconds<br />
in pink gold with brown<br />
alligator leather strap.<br />
On Emily<br />
Jaeger-LeCoultre<br />
Reverso Classic<br />
Medium Duoface Small<br />
Seconds in stainless<br />
steel case with black<br />
alligator leather strap.<br />
Denim shirt from Sandro
HAIR: CHRISTVIAN<br />
GOH USING KEVIN<br />
MURPHY MAKEUP:<br />
ZOEL TEE USING<br />
NARS COSMETICS<br />
ASSISTED BY EDWIN<br />
CHOO MODELS:<br />
EMILY STRECKIES<br />
/ AVE AND NICLAS<br />
GONZALES /<br />
MANNEQUIN<br />
Vacheron Constantin Historiques Cornes de Vache 1955 in pink gold with brown alligator leather strap.<br />
Denim jeans from Sandro<br />
SPLIT SECONDS 25
THE GREAT<br />
INNOVATOR — THE<br />
INCREDIBLE SIX-<br />
YEAR HISTORY OF<br />
BVLGARI’S ICONIC<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
Under the leadership of CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, Bvlgari<br />
has turned its multiple-award-winning Octo Finissimo line<br />
into a veritable icon of 21st-century watchmaking. In 2020,<br />
the Italian luxury house presents two new Finissmo models,<br />
and a special luminous edition made for Revolution.<br />
WORDS WEI KOH<br />
Sometimes, it takes the world a moment to fully understand genius. This<br />
was clearly the case during the first Impressionist exhibition when, upon<br />
viewing Monet’s now iconic Impression, Sunrise, the humorist, critic<br />
and clearly something of a moron, Louis Leroy, scathingly and derisively wrote,<br />
“Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.” History,<br />
of course, being the greatest judge, holds Monet in awed reverence while Leroy’s<br />
name has faded into an anonymity that is most analogous to the “unfinished<br />
wallpaper” he once so unwittingly compared Monet’s painting to.<br />
While the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo was instantly recognized by those of us who<br />
understood its deliciously brazen departure from the banal, formulaic repetition<br />
of yearly watch novelties whose mantra was “new dial/strap/hands but no<br />
change”, it took the rest of the world a few years to fully comprehend that this was<br />
more than a daring design, but a statement of in-house competences — in dial<br />
making, case making, movement making and bracelet making — so brilliantly and<br />
synergistically linked that to me, it is the single greatest watchmaking achievement<br />
in the last decade of modern horology. Further, the Octo Finissimo’s story not<br />
only in terms of record-setting technical achievement, but also its rise as a<br />
contemporary icon to truly rival the entrenched integrated bracelet, sports chic<br />
watches — Patek Philippe’s Nautilus and Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak — is a<br />
statement of the inspired leadership of the true innovator that is Bvlgari’s CEO<br />
Jean-Christophe Babin. Babin, over his tenure as the CEO of the famed Roman<br />
jeweler, has innovated not just at the product level, not just at the brand level, not<br />
just at the communication level, but also at the exhibition level by staging, along<br />
with his sister brands Hublot and Zenith, the first-ever LVMH Group watch fair<br />
held in Dubai this January.<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
has, since its first<br />
emergence in<br />
2014, stunned the<br />
world repeatedly<br />
with its muscular<br />
architecture and<br />
refined elegance.<br />
Its latest release<br />
in satin-polished<br />
steel makes it<br />
one of the most<br />
covetable sports<br />
chic watches today.<br />
Midnight blue<br />
barathea wool<br />
with black silk<br />
facings, The Deck.<br />
26 COVER STORY
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Automatic in satinpolished<br />
rose gold case<br />
with integrated brown<br />
alligator leather strap.<br />
Midnight blue barathea<br />
wool with black silk<br />
facings, The Deck.
CEO of Bvlgari,<br />
Jean-Christophe<br />
Babin, and Fabrizio<br />
Buonamassa (right),<br />
Director of Watch<br />
Design at Bvlgari.<br />
ORIGINS OF A HOROLOGICAL ICON<br />
But before we go into the history and milestones of the Octo Finissimo, let’s<br />
pause to examine the genesis of the integrated sports watch and the way in which<br />
Bvlgari is both spiritually aligned and yet a radical departure from its rivals. So,<br />
time was, if you were a Riviera Rake with the last name Agnelli or Rubirosa in that<br />
halcyon era between the ’50s and the ’70s, before the Côte d’Azur was overrun<br />
by oligarchs and priapically winged orange Lamborghinis that look like mobile<br />
fertility symbols, before the era of champagne bottle wars and when culture,<br />
taste and money still aligned, you had to dress in a certain way. And that was with<br />
a certain educated but nonchalant élan, a Cifonelli or Caraceni blazer worn or,<br />
better, cast over one shoulder like an old bathrobe as you hopped out of your<br />
Ferrari 250 SWB and carved your path through the trellises of connubial haut<br />
monde mademoiselles to the bar at the Hôtel du Cap. Now the watch on your<br />
wrist could hardly be something as pragmatic as a diver’s tool watch. No, what<br />
you needed to have, to casually check how many hours from sunset and that<br />
rendezvous with that Italian screen ingénue decamped incognito to a nearby villa,<br />
was an integrated bracelet, sports chic watch.<br />
In the ’70s there were two models, the Royal Oak created in 1972 and the<br />
Nautilus in 1976. The man behind both these watches, and clearly an individual<br />
with a penchant for slim timepieces with faceted bezels that exhibited a dynamic<br />
tension between bold, muscular designs counterpointed by slim (some would<br />
even say lithe) profiles, was one Gérald Genta. When Genta eventually created his<br />
own eponymous brand, he would also design an octagonal watch with an eightsided<br />
bezel. Cut to several decades later in 2000 when Bvlgari would purchase<br />
both Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth, at the time both owned by Singapore’s Tay<br />
family of The Hour Glass fame, and inherit a great deal of high-complication<br />
competences — two watch manufactures and the octagonal model that, while<br />
appealing, had not yet realized its full creative potential.<br />
Indeed, it took a few years for Bvlgari’s team of Babin,<br />
Fabrizio Buonamassa and then-watchmaking head Guido<br />
Terreni to realize what Genta’s design truly could be.<br />
However, to achieve this, they had to undertake one of the<br />
most technically innovative and daring creative programs<br />
in the history of luxury watchmaking. The complexity came<br />
about because one of the key objectives with Bvlgari’s new<br />
Octo model, to be named the Octo Finissimo, was to create<br />
the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. Says Jean-Christophe<br />
Babin, “With respect to my competitors, movement<br />
innovation like this hadn’t really been achieved since the last<br />
real pioneering era of the late ’60s, when the industry was<br />
chasing the achievement of the first automatic chronograph<br />
with Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton pursuing the Caliber<br />
11 and Zenith ultimately arriving at the groundbreaking El<br />
Primero. For us, it was never the pursuit purely to have the<br />
world’s thinnest mechanical watch. Rather, the goal was to<br />
bring that same daring, innovation and finesse that has made<br />
us a leader in the ladies’ and jewelry sector to the world of<br />
men’s watches. It dawned on us that our advantage is that<br />
we are Italian. All our watches and their components are<br />
made in Switzerland but from a design perspective, as an<br />
Italian company, we are much more open than the Swiss. We<br />
draw inspiration from Italian architecture, from fashion,<br />
from cinema, from the automotive world and from the very<br />
landscape of our home city, Rome, which is so beautiful. We<br />
decided we wanted to express the two very Italian qualities of<br />
strength and elegance in a bold and groundbreaking manner.”<br />
COVER STORY 29
2014: OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
MECHANICAL HAND-WOUND<br />
Buonamassa, Bvlgari’s design director, explains, “The<br />
objective of thinness was not arrived at in isolation. After all,<br />
there are many brands that have been associated with ultrathin<br />
watches, especially in the 20th century. The objective<br />
was to enhance this dynamic tension, this unique proposition<br />
between having a watch that was, when viewed straight on,<br />
very muscular and even aggressive, yet when you turned it on<br />
its side, it was really surprising in how thin it was. I wanted, as<br />
Jean-Christophe expressed, to bring something to watches<br />
that the world had never seen in terms of this proposition.”<br />
But this objective of dynamic tension between bold and<br />
thin necessitated Bvlgari to push the technical envelope in<br />
every component of the Octo Finissimo. Says Babin, “The<br />
Octo Finissimo was only possible because we own our<br />
movement maker, dial maker, casemaker [and] bracelet<br />
maker, as it would be impossible to convince outside<br />
suppliers to make the effort we needed.”<br />
What kind of effort are we talking about? For example,<br />
the entire dial of the Octo Finissimo is 0.2mm (0.3mm if<br />
a coat of lacquer is applied) which makes it thinner than<br />
a single index on the majority of other watches. In order<br />
for this to be achieved, the indexes and even the “Bvlgari”<br />
signature have to be galvanically grown and transferred over<br />
to the dial, almost as if they were stickers. In the instance of<br />
the Octo Finissimo, it is just the seconds track in the subdial<br />
that is printed. The very first Octo Finissimo was a manual<br />
wind (now replaced by a micro-rotor, automatic-winding<br />
model) with a BVL 128 movement that was 2.23mm and a<br />
final watch that was 5.15mm in total thickness. In order to<br />
achieve this, even the way in which the watch was assembled<br />
had to be completely rethought.<br />
Says Buonamassa, “Of course we wanted a sapphire<br />
back to showcase the beauty of our in-house caliber with its<br />
beautiful ‘full bridge’ architecture. However, to conserve<br />
space, the sapphire back is integrated into the case, basically<br />
pre-fitted into the monobloc case. Next, the movement is<br />
placed into the case, [then] the dial and hands are added<br />
and finally the bezel and sapphire are placed on top. It is the<br />
bezel that seals the watch.” Each bezel features eight hollow<br />
threaded posts that are inserted through the case and fixed<br />
at the back of the watch with special fasteners that look like<br />
five-sided nuts. I particularly like that because they are not<br />
slotted, they are never out of alignment as you see on other<br />
watches that are fastened in the back in this way.<br />
Above, clockwise<br />
from left<br />
Antoine Pin,<br />
managing director<br />
of Bvlgari’s<br />
Watch Division.<br />
The dial of the Octo<br />
Finissimo measures<br />
a mere 0.2mm thin.<br />
Each dial is<br />
finished by hand.<br />
Opposite<br />
The escapement<br />
is supported with<br />
a balance bridge<br />
that’s screwed<br />
down on both<br />
sides, rather than a<br />
balance cock, which<br />
improves the ultrathin<br />
movement’s<br />
shock resistance.<br />
The barrel bridge<br />
doubles as a power<br />
reserve display.<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Petite Seconds in<br />
rose gold, with hour<br />
markers that are<br />
galvanically grown<br />
and then transferred<br />
to the dial.<br />
30 COVER STORY
I should also pause to reflect on the beauty and<br />
pragmatism of Bvlgari’s movement design. First, the<br />
movement is as Buonamassa called it a “full bridge” design,<br />
which means each part of the gear train is retained by a<br />
different bridge, making it much more practical to service.<br />
Further, the balance wheel sits on a bridge fixed on both<br />
sides rather than a cock which is only fixed on one side. This<br />
provides better stability and shock resistance.<br />
I recall the moment I tried on the Octo Finissimo<br />
manual-wind watch in 2014, thinking to myself what an<br />
absolute revelation it was. First, because in a very different<br />
way than Richard Mille, which is all about expressing the<br />
world of motorsport and aerospace technology, Bvlgari had<br />
created the first classic chic timepiece that was unabashedly<br />
forward-looking rather than reaching inexorably into its<br />
past. And while there is nothing wrong with watches that<br />
are almost exact extensions of models created a half century<br />
ago — indeed that is precisely why people love the Audemars<br />
Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin 15202 or Omega Speedmaster<br />
Moonwatch Professional — here we had for the first time<br />
in the sports chic genre something that moved the game<br />
forward aesthetically and technically by light years. The Octo<br />
Finissimo in many ways reminds me of the cars designed<br />
by my friend, Ferrari creative director Flavio Manzoni, in<br />
which he intentionally avoids overtly referencing the past<br />
and wants to create the aesthetic heritage of the future by<br />
taking massive and fearless leaps forward.<br />
The plate on which<br />
the maison’s logo<br />
and hour indexes<br />
are positioned,<br />
with the actual<br />
Octo Finissimo<br />
Petite Seconds.<br />
The small seconds<br />
counteris printed<br />
on the dial,<br />
because the height<br />
clearance needed<br />
for the seconds<br />
hand would not fit<br />
under the sapphire<br />
crystal otherwise.<br />
COVER STORY 31
Above, clockwise<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Minute Repeater<br />
in sandblasted<br />
18K rose gold,<br />
introduced this<br />
year, two years after<br />
the Octo Finissimo<br />
Minute Repeater<br />
Carbon in carbon<br />
thin-ply (CTP)<br />
was presented in<br />
Baselworld 2018<br />
(above, right);the<br />
BVL 362 caliber<br />
ultra-thin minute<br />
repeater, first<br />
appearing in the<br />
2016 Octo Finissimo<br />
Minute Repeater.<br />
Opposite<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Minute Repeater<br />
returns this year in<br />
asandblasted18K<br />
rose gold case and<br />
dial, measuring<br />
just 6.90mm thin.<br />
Red cotton double<br />
breasted jacket,<br />
The Deck;gold<br />
rings, property<br />
of Wei Koh.<br />
2016: OCTO FINISSIMO MINUTE REPEATER<br />
However, in 2016, another model in the Octo Finissimo<br />
family had collectors, journalists and even the most jaded<br />
retailer’s eyes moist with emotion and our hearts filled with<br />
unbridled avarice, because Bvlgari had just created the<br />
coolest minute repeater in modern watchmaking and one<br />
of the real defining watches of the new millennium. Says<br />
Jean-Christophe Babin, “While it is unusual [that] you refer<br />
to this complication as cool, somehow it is very appropriate.<br />
That’s because minute repeaters, which are considered<br />
to be the pinnacle of watchmaking art, are extraordinary<br />
creations but they are very rarely considered to be cool.<br />
That’s because they are generally classically styled watches.<br />
In comparison, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, which<br />
set the record as the world’s thinnest minute repeater, was<br />
created intentionally as the ultimate stealthy complication.<br />
It was made in grade 5 titanium, with just the smallest details<br />
that showed the difference between this and a simpler<br />
three-hand watch. Why? Because we knew the world had<br />
changed and we felt there was a whole new generation of<br />
connoisseurs that liked to live in a more relaxed, discreet<br />
and cool way. That’s the reason for the matte-colored<br />
titanium and the way the pusher for the repeater is so subtly<br />
integrated into the side of the case.<br />
“We could see the emergence of these clients because<br />
we received them at our Bvlgari hotels. They perfectly fit this<br />
profile. They had amazing style and didn’t mind spending<br />
on the best, but they didn’t want to appear stuffy. And<br />
they didn’t want a minute repeater that sat in a safe, but<br />
something they could wear all the time without really being<br />
noticed in a showy way. We created the [Octo Finissimo]<br />
minute repeater for them. However, we also knew that<br />
if we were going to create this minute repeater, even if it<br />
set a record for its thinness, we had to ensure it sounded<br />
amazing. Most minute repeaters employ a voluminous case<br />
to help the quality and volume of their sound. We didn’t<br />
have that luxury, so our team came up with an amazing<br />
technical solution, which was to skeletonize the indexes on<br />
the titanium dial to allow sound to travel through the front<br />
of the watch. The result was that we gained in volume as if<br />
we had enlarged the dimensions of the case, even though we<br />
didn’t. The great thing about this is that people initially took<br />
these indexes to be a stylistic flourish, which of course they<br />
are, but they also had a functional rationale. At Bvlgari, we<br />
pursue technical innovation, but always as part of a holistic<br />
approach to arrive at a never-before-seen design. We are<br />
about creating emotion.”<br />
Bvlgari’s amazing BVL 362 minute repeater caliber<br />
would later appear in an even more stealthy carbon CTP<br />
(carbon thin ply) and PEEK (polyether ether ketone) case<br />
featuring a carbon-fiber dial replete with the complication’s<br />
signature skeletonization. And then this year, for the first<br />
time in a precious metal version, namely sandblasted<br />
gold. Says Babin, “In each instance we had to readjust the<br />
movement to the particularities of the case. Titanium has<br />
very good but different resonance qualities from carbon<br />
fiber and, again, from gold. So each version requires its own<br />
research and development.”<br />
32 COVER STORY
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Automatic<br />
Sandblasted in<br />
steel (left), titanium<br />
(middle and rose<br />
gold (right).<br />
Left<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Automatic<br />
Sandblasted in steel<br />
with an integrated<br />
black alligator<br />
leather strap.<br />
Bvlgari’s BVL 128<br />
and 138 calibers<br />
bear individual<br />
bridges that do<br />
away with the need<br />
for a top plate or<br />
bridges, which also<br />
allows the balance<br />
to sit in line with the<br />
gear train, rather<br />
than over it. The<br />
design, originated<br />
by Jean-Antoine<br />
Lépine, adds greater<br />
stability to an ultrathin<br />
movement.<br />
34 COVER STORY
2017: OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC<br />
Bvlgari followed up the incredible minute repeater with<br />
another world record, now in the category of the automatic<br />
small seconds watch featuring a micro-rotor. And, perhaps<br />
just as importantly, introducing the world to Bvlgari’s now<br />
signature ultra-thin integrated bracelet. Launched in 2017,<br />
the Octo Finissmo Automatic and its BVL 138 movement<br />
would eventually supplant the manual-wind version, though<br />
I like to think that this makes the manual-wind, specialedition<br />
Octo Finissimo Skeleton in titanium — like that<br />
on the minute repeater — made in just 50 examples for<br />
Revolution that much more collectible. Says Babin, “We<br />
moved to the micro-rotor automatic movement because we<br />
knew from our clients that this was a desired added touch of<br />
practicality. Yet we managed to achieve this without adding<br />
a single micron in the thickness to the movement going<br />
from manual to automatic, which I consider as great an<br />
achievement as any of our complications.”<br />
The automatic Octo Finissimo was launched in three<br />
versions: a matte titanium version, a sandblasted gold<br />
version and a bright rhodium-treated steel version, each<br />
stunning in its own right. However, what made each watch<br />
particularly groundbreaking was that it was accompanied<br />
by the industry’s first truly advanced integrated metal<br />
bracelet. Compare a vintage Nautilus 3700 watch head to<br />
its bracelet and you understand that the two parts are made<br />
by different manufactures. And as beloved as the quirky Gay<br />
Frères bracelets are, they are never quite equal to the watch.<br />
Says Buonamassa, “The idea was that if we had spent all<br />
this tremendous investment and energy into creating a truly<br />
groundbreaking watch, then we absolutely had to create an<br />
equally groundbreaking bracelet.”<br />
Not only does the Octo Finissimo bracelet complement<br />
the model with its combination of muscular design when<br />
viewed from the front, yet extraordinarily slender profile<br />
when viewed from the side, it is also incredibly comfortable.<br />
Says Babin, “This is down to the incredible clasp that<br />
Fabrizio designed that is fully integrated and that you barely<br />
even feel is there. Again you see that at Bvlgari, it’s always<br />
technical innovation serving the needs of aesthetics.”<br />
Above<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Skeleton Ceramic<br />
(left) and Octo<br />
Finissimo Automatic<br />
Ceramic (right),<br />
both introduced<br />
in 2019.<br />
Above left<br />
Fabrizio<br />
Buonamassa’s<br />
sketch of the microrotor<br />
that powers<br />
the BVL 138 caliber.<br />
COVER STORY 35
TIMELINE<br />
2014<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO MECHANICAL<br />
HAND-WOUND<br />
In 2014, Bvlgari unveiled the first Octo<br />
Finissimos, with an ultra-thin handwound<br />
movement that was just 2.23<br />
mmthick,housedinaplatinumcase.<br />
It also presented a tourbillon caliber,<br />
that measured just 1.95mm thin.<br />
The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon won<br />
a Revolution award for Best Concept<br />
Watch that year.<br />
2016<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
MINUTE REPEATER<br />
Bvlgari unveiled the Octo Finissimo<br />
Minute Repeater in a titanium case,<br />
featuring the ultra-thin 3.12mm BVL<br />
362 movement. It was a bold design,<br />
featuring cut-out dial markers that<br />
enabled the sound to pass through<br />
from the back of the movement,<br />
thus amplifying the volume of the<br />
chimes. The watch won Revolution’s<br />
Revolutionary Watch 2016 award.<br />
2017<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
AUTOMATIC<br />
An automatic version of the timeonly<br />
Octo Finissimo arrived with the<br />
micro-rotor powered BVL 138 caliber,<br />
at the same 2.23mm measurment as<br />
its manual wind predecessor. It took<br />
home the Best Men’s Watch prize at<br />
the Revolution Awards 2017 and at the<br />
2017 GPHG, and a skeletonized version<br />
of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon also<br />
won Best Tourbillon at the GPHG.<br />
36 COVER STORY
2018<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
TOURBILLON AUTOMATIC<br />
An automatic version of the tourbillon<br />
caliber, the BVL 288, introduced a bold<br />
new design for Bvlgari — a peripheral<br />
winding rotor, which allowed one to<br />
view the movement in its entirety with<br />
thebenefitofautomaticwinding.The<br />
watch won the Technical Achievement<br />
award in our Revolution Awards 2018.<br />
2019<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO CHRONOGRAPH<br />
GMT AUTOMATIC<br />
The Chrono GMT Automatic is<br />
one of the most impressive Bvlgari<br />
Octo Finissimos around, featuring a<br />
modern horizontally coupled, column<br />
wheel controlled chronograph with<br />
peripheral winding and a second time<br />
zone function, all within a 3.30mm<br />
thin movement. It took home the Best<br />
Chronograph prize at the 2019 GPHG,<br />
and Revolution’s Technical Star.<br />
2020<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC<br />
SATIN-POLISHED STEEL<br />
The steel-cased, satin-polished version<br />
of the Octo Finissimo Automatic<br />
has earned plaudits from across all<br />
segments of the watchmaking industry.<br />
Not only is it a true modern sports chic<br />
watch with an ultra-thin design, it also<br />
has a water resistance of 100 meters,<br />
made possible by increasing the case<br />
just slightly to 6mm and adding a<br />
screw-down crown.<br />
COVER STORY 37
2018: OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
TOURBILLON AUTOMATIC<br />
But there was another model in the Octo Finissmo family,<br />
which like the minute repeater, established Bvlgari as an<br />
innovator in the high-complication segment, and that was<br />
the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic. Says Babin, “The<br />
watch [the manual-wind version of the Octo Finissimo<br />
Tourbillon] also set a record as the world’s thinnest at its<br />
launch in 2014 — it was launched beside the petite seconds<br />
manual wind. You should understand that, at Bvlgari, we<br />
do not pursue these world records for their own sake. At<br />
the early stage of development of the Octo Finissimo range,<br />
we realized that we were already at such a thin profile that<br />
it encouraged us to really explore what we were capable of<br />
in the ultra-thin category. And this resulted in the world<br />
records for the manual wind, the automatic, the repeater,<br />
the tourbillon and later the chronograph. I suppose part<br />
of this comes from my past as the CEO of TAG Heuer<br />
for many years. That was a brand that was purely about<br />
performance and precision, and so this became part of who<br />
I am. It would not be possible for me to create a watch that<br />
was aesthetically compelling but that did not also have this<br />
performance credibility. On the other hand, I think the<br />
world records as well as the many prizes we have received<br />
for our watches, from the likes of Revolution and the Geneva<br />
Grand Prix, are great for the morale at our manufacture.”<br />
Fabrizio Buonamassa adds, “The automatic tourbillon<br />
is a watch that really shows off the technical side of Bvlgari.<br />
Here you have a flying tourbillon that is resting on ball<br />
bearings. It is a flying tourbillon, meaning that there is no<br />
visible bridge, giving you a full unobstructed view of the<br />
one-minute tourbillon and the oscillator beating inside it.”<br />
The first version of the flying tourbillon in the Octo<br />
Finissimo range dates to 2014. It was a stunning classic<br />
model with a solid black dial, with a tourbillon appearing at<br />
six o’clock. But in 2018, Bvlgari also offered an automatic<br />
version, with a stunning openworked version in grade 5<br />
titanium with, of course, the brand’s signature ultra-thin<br />
titanium bracelet. This is a watch that I consider to be one<br />
of the most beautiful creations of the last decade. What is<br />
particularly beautiful about the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon<br />
Automatic, to me, is how power is retained in a skeletonized<br />
barrel at 12 o’clock. Along the right side of the BVL 288<br />
movement, you see how power from the crown is transmitted<br />
to the barrel. You can actually just look at the state of wind<br />
of the mainspring for an idea of the watch’s power reserve.<br />
From there, you can see how that power is transmitted to a<br />
compact gear along the left side of the movement to power<br />
the perimeter of the tourbillon cage.<br />
What you don’t see from the front of the watch,<br />
however, is the peripheral mass that powers the movement’s<br />
automatic-winding function. Also, if you compare the<br />
openworked titanium version to the manual-wind classic<br />
Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, you’ll see that even the<br />
tourbillon cage and balance wheel have been executed in a<br />
stealthy hue to keep the entire watch monochromatic. Says<br />
Babin, “There are few brands that would create a different<br />
finish on their balance wheel and tourbillon cage, simply<br />
to create a different visual identity from one version to the<br />
next of the same watch. But at Bvlgari, we don’t believe in<br />
compromise.” Bvlgari followed up the titanium version of<br />
this tourbillon last year with a stunning carbon CTP case.<br />
Below<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Tourbillon<br />
Automatic (left)<br />
with a skeleton<br />
movement and<br />
peripheral winding<br />
mechanism.<br />
The caliber 288 has<br />
individual bridges<br />
for the moving<br />
parts of the gear<br />
train, enhancing its<br />
shock resistance.<br />
Opposite<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Tourbillon<br />
Automatic in<br />
sandblasted<br />
titanium.<br />
White cotton wing<br />
tip dress shirt, Ralph<br />
Lauren Collection,<br />
Black gabardine<br />
pleated front<br />
trouser, Equipment;<br />
Black silk bow tie,<br />
Budd Shirtmakers;<br />
Sapphire blue<br />
and white sterling<br />
silver bourbon<br />
cufflinks, Codis<br />
MayaatTheRake.<br />
COVER STORY 39
2019: OCTO FINISSIMO CHRONOGRAPH<br />
GMT AUTOMATIC<br />
It’s funny that the world went from having almost no inhouse<br />
automatic chronographs with a prevailing reliance<br />
on the Zenith El Primero, the Valjoux 7750, the Dubois-<br />
Dépraz module or the Frédéric Piguet 1185 to almost<br />
everyone having an in-house chronograph. Much of this<br />
was made possible by the advent of CAD/CAM (computer<br />
aided design and manufacturing) and CNC (computer<br />
numerical control) machining. However, in every instance,<br />
regardless of which manufacture, the resulting movements<br />
— regardless of their technical fireworks, comprising<br />
column wheels and vertical clutches — are extremely<br />
thick. In a world that has suddenly reverted to more classic<br />
proportions, many of these manufactures find themselves<br />
caught out because their movements necessitate watches<br />
that are too thick for consumers’ tastes. So it was with a huge<br />
smile, a palpable sense of relief and absolute exuberance<br />
that the watch world greeted Bvlgari’s 2019 Octo Finissimo<br />
Chrono GMT. Powered by the caliber BVL 318 which is a<br />
scant 3.30mm in depth, the resulting 6.90mm-thin grade 5<br />
titanium watch is a revelation on the wrist.<br />
It must be said that each time Bvlgari adds a<br />
complication to its arsenal, it does so with a seamless and<br />
perfect design integration of the new functions. This is<br />
certainly the case with the minute repeater that adds a<br />
single, barely noticeable yet totally functional push-piece<br />
to the side of the case. And that is certainly the case with the<br />
Octo Finissimo Chrono GMT. The chronograph pushers<br />
of the watch are so perfectly placed and integrated that, at<br />
first, you think that Bvlgari has just added a subtle pair of<br />
crown guards. Ditto the push-piece on the left of the case<br />
that operates the super functional GMT indicator, which<br />
can be read off the 24-hour scale in the subdial at three<br />
o’clock. The rest of the dial offers supreme ease of use,<br />
with a continuous seconds indicator at nine o’clock and a<br />
30-minute chrono totalizer at six o’clock. So what could<br />
possibly be a dream version of this chronograph? Well, I’m<br />
glad you asked. Because celebrating the 15th anniversary<br />
of Revolution, we’ve decided to make an exclusive 15-piece<br />
edition of the Octo Finissimo Chrono GMT.<br />
Right<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Chronograph<br />
GMT Automatic<br />
in sandblasted<br />
titanium.<br />
The caliber 318<br />
is a horizontally<br />
coupled, column<br />
wheel controlled<br />
movement with<br />
peripheral winding<br />
and a second time<br />
zone function,<br />
atrulypractical<br />
and sophisticated<br />
movement for<br />
today’s consumers<br />
Assembling the<br />
BVL 318 caliber,<br />
one can see just<br />
how brilliantly<br />
the movement<br />
is designed.<br />
Opposite<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Chronograph<br />
GMT Automatic<br />
in sandblasted<br />
titanium.<br />
Red cotton double<br />
breasted jacket<br />
with high waisted<br />
wide leg trousers,<br />
The Deck.<br />
Rose des Vents<br />
medallion necklace<br />
in 18k pink gold,<br />
diamond and red<br />
ceramic lacquer,<br />
Dior Joaillerie.<br />
40 COVER STORY
The Bvlgari ×<br />
Revolution Octo<br />
Finissimo Petite<br />
Seconds, created<br />
for Revolution’s<br />
10th anniversary<br />
celebrations. A new<br />
special edition will be<br />
released later this year,<br />
in the Chronograph<br />
GMT Automatic.<br />
Below<br />
The BVL 128 caliber for<br />
our 10th anniversary<br />
limited edition bears<br />
our logo on the<br />
barrel bridge, which<br />
doubles as a power<br />
reserve indicator.<br />
2020: BVLGARI × <strong>REVOLUTION</strong> OCTO<br />
FINISSIMO CHRONO GMT AUTOMATIC<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
Says Buonamassa, “I loved the idea that you proposed<br />
about making an ultimate tool version of this chrono, one<br />
that someone who loves performance and motorsport could<br />
actually use with great effect. So we decided to put a tachymeter<br />
on the bezel.” It’s true that there is a Zenith-powered, BVL<br />
328 caliber Octo model, the Velocissimo, that features a<br />
tachymeter. But as Buonamassa explains, “Ah yes, but on the<br />
Octo Finissimo model, the bezel is so much thinner, and the<br />
tolerances so fine that it was a real challenge to print this.”<br />
Furthermore, the truly unique distinction of the Revolution<br />
edition is its status as the first fully luminous Octo Finissimo.<br />
Says Buonamassa, “For this I had to be a bit creative, because<br />
the hands and the indexes as you know are so fine that it was<br />
impossible to apply Super-LumiNova to them in the traditional<br />
way. In the end, we found a really cool solution.”<br />
Says Jean-Christophe Babin, “We are very proud to<br />
collaborate with Revolution on this limited edition celebrating<br />
the magazine’s 15th anniversary. You are really innovators<br />
in the field. You took watch journalism which could be dry<br />
and made it fun, sexy and entertaining, while still keeping<br />
technical credibility. In addition, 15 years of great friendship<br />
and partnership is a great thing to celebrate.”<br />
42 COVER STORY
The new Octo<br />
Finissimo in satin<br />
polished steel are<br />
two of Bvlgari’s<br />
latest releases for<br />
the year, in a matte<br />
black dial (left)<br />
and a blue sunray<br />
finished dial (right).<br />
COVER STORY 43
2020: OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC<br />
SATIN-POLISHED STEEL<br />
Looking back at its staggering number of world records and<br />
skyrocket-like trajectory in popularity and prominence,<br />
it is incredible that Bvlgari’s Octo Finissimo is only six<br />
years old. In that time, it has won innumerable accolades.<br />
These include the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève<br />
(GPHG) Chronograph Watch Prize; a double win in the 2017<br />
GPHG for Men’s Watch with the Octo Finissimo Automatic<br />
and best Tourbillon and Escapement with the Octo Finissimo<br />
Tourbillon Skeleton; not to mention Revolution Awards in<br />
2014 and from 2016 till 2019 for their world-record-setting<br />
watches. But of all that he has achieved, Jean-Christophe<br />
Babin is perhaps most excited about his latest and apparently<br />
simplest models. These are two new steel Octo Finissimo<br />
models, the first with a black dial and the second with a rich<br />
blue dial. As opposed to the previous rhodium-treated,<br />
sandblasted versions, these new watches feature a charming<br />
use of brushed and polished finishes. They have also been<br />
increased slightly in thickness to 6mm and now feature a<br />
screw-down crown and a corresponding 100-meter water<br />
resistance. What I love about both versions of these watches<br />
is that they are the first to tread boldly into Royal Oak and<br />
Nautilus territory and, at US$12,000 retail, offer up some<br />
very serious competition. But I also love the fact that Bvlgari<br />
avoided doing this for a full six years, first setting five world<br />
records and truly cementing their status as a modern-day<br />
icon before playing this card.<br />
Says Babin, “For me, the complicated watches are like<br />
supercars. These are watches that are more rare and at a<br />
different price category. I feel it is only at this point with the<br />
launch of these two new steel models that we are actually<br />
moving into iconic status. Because now the watch is much<br />
more accessible to a greater number of people. The steel<br />
models are Bvlgari’s GT [grand tourer] models as opposed<br />
to the minute repeater or tourbillon which are our supercar<br />
models, and I feel now that with the Octo Finissimo on many<br />
more wrists, this opens up a new era for us. I am incredibly<br />
proud of what the team has achieved over the last six years.”<br />
The Octo<br />
Finissimo<br />
Automatic in<br />
satin polished<br />
steel with<br />
blue dial.<br />
Finally, with Bvlgari being an<br />
iconic Roman brand, I could not<br />
finish this article without remarking<br />
on their efforts to combat the<br />
COVID-19 pandemic that is<br />
sweeping the world. Says Jean-<br />
Christophe Babin, “We are an Italian<br />
brand and we were profoundly<br />
moved to see how badly the pandemic<br />
had affected Italy. We learned of a<br />
hospital, Lazzaro Spallanzani, that<br />
was doing incredible work. There<br />
are three researchers there — Maria<br />
Rosaria Capobianchi, Francesca<br />
Colavita and Concetta Castilletti —<br />
who managed to successfully isolate<br />
the virus in under 48 hours. But they<br />
were lacking a key piece of equipment<br />
— a 3D imaging microscope that would allow them to<br />
take the next step in combating the virus. We felt that we<br />
should step in and supply them with this. I know that this<br />
is just a small effort in what is a global crisis. But even<br />
at a time when we are facing a great financial challenge,<br />
we understand we must do everything we can. We have a<br />
fragrance factory outside of Milan. At that factory, we have<br />
found a way to manufacture [with fragrance manufacturing<br />
partner ICR] a new hand sanitizer which Italy is badly in<br />
need of. We now have the capacity to manufacture up to<br />
6,000 bottles a day and we are gearing up so that we can<br />
supply that to all the badly affected areas. We love Italy<br />
and we know that Italy is a land of great art, great beauty,<br />
great resilience and great humanity. We will, of course,<br />
get through this terrible time together by helping each<br />
other and inspiring the best from each other.” And<br />
with that, we understand that Bvlgari is a brand that is<br />
innovating not just in watches and jewelry, not just in trade<br />
shows and communication, but also thanks to its leader<br />
Jean-Christophe Babin, innovating where it counts most,<br />
in the effort to help other people.<br />
Opposite<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
in satin polished<br />
steel with blue<br />
sunray finished dial.<br />
Stretch cotton<br />
pinstripe poplin<br />
volume trousers in<br />
Panama, Brunello<br />
Cucinelli; light blue<br />
superior cotton<br />
fitted shirt, Emma<br />
Willis; navy double<br />
diamond print<br />
Habotai silk tie,<br />
Drake’s;lapislazuli<br />
and silvered brass<br />
bow cufflinks, Codis<br />
MayaatTheRake.<br />
Below<br />
Bvlgari’s hand<br />
sanitizer that<br />
its fragrance<br />
manufacturing<br />
partner,ICR,has<br />
developed to supply<br />
affected regions.<br />
CEO Jean-<br />
Christophe Babin<br />
presenting the 3D<br />
imaging microscope<br />
that Bvlgari aided<br />
the Lazzaro<br />
Spallanzani hospital<br />
in acquiring.<br />
44 COVER STORY
PHOTOGRAPHY KIM LANG<br />
PHOTOGRAPHER’S<br />
ASSISTANT DEREK<br />
KAKEMBO<br />
FASHION DIRECTION/<br />
PRODUCTION<br />
AMELIA HUDSON<br />
MODEL AMO VÖLKER<br />
(PATRICK HAMBLETON<br />
MANAGEMENT)<br />
MAKEUP ARTIST<br />
AMY BRANDON<br />
HAIR STYLIST ELVIRE<br />
ROUX (AT CAROL HAYES<br />
MANAGEMENT) USING<br />
MOROCCAN OIL
THE MODERNIST<br />
At the attic of Zenith’s manufacture in Le Locle where Charles Vermot hid the equipment and manuals for the El Primero<br />
caliber, which later allowed the brand to revive and re-establish itself as the premier chronograph maker of Swiss<br />
watchmaking,thebrandhaspreservedthespaceasanhomagetoVermot.Moreonpage68.
48 THE MODERNIST
THE GAME CHANGE –<br />
LVMH WATCH FAIR IN DUBAI<br />
WORDS WEI KOH<br />
The LVMH Dubai<br />
Watch Week setup<br />
at Bulgari Hotel,<br />
where invited guests<br />
were treated to a<br />
showing of some of<br />
the most innovative<br />
watchmaking in<br />
the industry today<br />
byBvlgari,Hublot<br />
and Zenith.<br />
The man who spoke of the desert’s potential most<br />
eloquently, T.E. Lawrence, is renowned for saying,<br />
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream<br />
by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the<br />
day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are<br />
dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open<br />
eyes, to make them possible.”<br />
And though we were seated at night in, of all places, a<br />
bucolic restaurant by the river the day before the Baselworld<br />
fair in March of 2019, it was clear that Bvlgari CEO Jean-<br />
Christophe Babin had been dreaming in the day with open<br />
eyes. He explained, “What is clear is that late April is too<br />
late. You are practically midyear. I think we have to move our<br />
presentation to January, right at the beginning of the year.”<br />
And after he had discussed the idea with LVMH Group’s<br />
equally dynamic head of the watch and jewelry division,<br />
Stéphane Bianchi, the two men decided to strike decisively.<br />
They would stage the first-ever LVMH-specific watch<br />
exhibition that would take place in January.<br />
Babin explained, “The idea of Dubai came about quite<br />
quickly and organically. Dubai is the perfect intersection<br />
for the world. It is almost equidistant from America, Europe<br />
and Asia, and so, it would guarantee that the journey would<br />
not be too long or arduous for anyone. Second, Dubai is one<br />
of the most modern, dynamic and sophisticated cities in<br />
the world with tremendous infrastructure to support such<br />
an event. And third, we operate the Bvlgari Hotel in Dubai,<br />
which we felt would elevate the tone of the event to another<br />
level. It would be the perfect expression of our vision of<br />
luxury in one cohesive message.”<br />
From the perspective of strategic advantage, the January<br />
LVMH exhibition was also a master stroke because, for<br />
many of the brands, they would be showing watches that they<br />
would deliver before the competing group’s events, Watches<br />
& Wonders Geneva and Baselworld, have even begun.<br />
The one brand that didn’t show at the fair was TAG Heuer<br />
because, as Bianchi explained, “We had already decided last<br />
year to make our watches available to buy the very day that<br />
they were launched at Baselworld. As such, we decided to<br />
keep to this strategy.”<br />
Says one renowned retailer, “The idea for the January<br />
show backed by rapid delivery times was brilliant, because<br />
straight off, they would be taking a large percentage of our<br />
budgets off the table. By the time we attended the other fairs,<br />
we would be committed. And by the time these other fairs<br />
started, retailers could already be selling delivered Bvlgari,<br />
Hublot and Zenith watches, and bringing strong revenue<br />
and profit based on new releases into our businesses, which<br />
we would otherwise have to delay until midyear or beyond.”<br />
However, the plan hinged on one key factor: for it to<br />
succeed, the brands would have to produce watches that<br />
were sexy enough to compel people to part with their money.<br />
The watches would not only have to compel retailers, but<br />
also, through the media, the consumers, to overcome their<br />
impulse control sufficiently enough for them to dig into their<br />
wallets and pay for them.<br />
So the question is, were the brands able to do this? Did<br />
they create adequately compelling watches to make all this<br />
effort pay off? In the words of Revolution USA’s editor-atlarge,<br />
Adam Craniotes, “F**k yes, they did.”<br />
DUBAI WATCH WEEK HIGHLIGHTS<br />
Let’s begin with Bvlgari and the single-most-photographed<br />
and -lauded timepiece of the entire fair, which was the steel<br />
black-dial Octo Finissimo on the brand’s patented bracelet<br />
with its signature integrated clasp. Before we start looking<br />
at this timepiece, let’s take something into consideration:<br />
two of the world’s most coveted luxury watches were also the<br />
first modern two integrated-bracelet sports watches ever<br />
made, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 and Audemars Piguet<br />
THE MODERNIST 49
Royal Oak 15202. Both are thin watches using the Jaeger-<br />
LeCoultre-designed caliber 2121 as their base. In the last few<br />
years, innumerable brands have tried to contest for a place<br />
as a worthy competitor to these icons. However, the Octo<br />
Finissimo was launched before the current Nautilus and<br />
Royal Oak craze, and is further distinguished by being both<br />
wildly different, yet more spiritually aligned than any other.<br />
First, it is the only watch that is significantly thinner than<br />
the original 3700 Nautilus or the <strong>54</strong>02 Royal Oak. Second,<br />
it is also the only one with a bracelet that is significantly<br />
thinner and more ingenious than the original watches.<br />
And third, it is the only watch that is far more innovatively<br />
constructed. In this regard, it is truly a child of the new<br />
millennium. Its indices are galvanically grown and glued<br />
onto the ultra-thin dial. The movement is fixed inside a<br />
monobloc case from the front and then sealed by screwing<br />
the bezel to this case. It actually is the one watch that you<br />
could imagine Gérald Genta appreciating most today.<br />
When Bvlgari first launched the Octo Finissimo, it did<br />
so in a myriad of interesting, technical materials such as<br />
sandblasted titanium, ceramic and carbon fiber. Even the<br />
precious-metal rose-gold version was unconventional in<br />
that it was also sandblasted. But now that the Octo Finissimo<br />
is an established success, and it has finally been executed<br />
in steel with a black dial, you totally understand the logic.<br />
If the Nautilus and Royal Oak are charmingly backwardlooking,<br />
the Bvlgari has its ethos fully locked into the future<br />
and it virtually bristles with the dynamic tension between<br />
its architectural muscularity and its ultra-thin elegance in a<br />
way that the other two watches do not. Now offered in steel,<br />
it is not really a competitor to the other two watches as much<br />
as a far more modern alternative that carves out a niche all<br />
its own, at a price less than half that of its predecessors.<br />
Hublot never fails to impress me. And that is because<br />
it was set up by Jean-Claude Biver and Ricardo Guadalupe<br />
to run as efficiently and dynamically as a start-up, while<br />
boasting some of the most extraordinary results in the<br />
watch world. It is also a brand that many people erroneously<br />
consider to be purely lifestyle segmented. However, a<br />
look back at the key technical innovations of Hublot since<br />
2005 will show that the brand’s technical achievements<br />
are staggering (look out for the story in this issue). The<br />
42mm Big Bang Integral was one of the best conceptualized<br />
timepieces of the fair because it recognized precisely that<br />
many watch buyers are looking for something with all the<br />
modernist cool of the Hublot, but in a more wearable size and<br />
At the opening of<br />
the exhibition, the<br />
leaders of the LVMH<br />
Watch Division held<br />
a press conference<br />
to launch the<br />
showcase.<br />
On stage, from left<br />
The emcee of the<br />
event; Commercial<br />
Director of Bvlgari<br />
Antoine Pin; CEO<br />
of the LVMH Watch<br />
Division and TAG<br />
Heuer Stéphane<br />
Bianchi; CEO of<br />
Bvlgari, Jean-<br />
Christophe Babin;<br />
CEO of Hublot<br />
Ricardo Guadalupe;<br />
CEO of Zenith,<br />
Julien Tornare.<br />
Opposite<br />
CEO of Bvlgari,<br />
Jean-Christophe<br />
Babin, poses for a<br />
shot to celebrate<br />
the launch of this<br />
inaugural event.<br />
50 THE MODERNIST
with an integrated bracelet. While the Integral also comes in ceramic, titanium and<br />
rose-gold versions, my favourite has to be the titanium piece with pavé diamonds,<br />
which, for a “bling” watch, is both great value [US$68,400 before taxes] and one<br />
of the best-looking around.<br />
Similarly, I love the energy of the Zenith team helmed by CEO Julien Tornare<br />
and Product Chief Romain Marietta. Together, they’ve made Zenith the new<br />
king of limited editions. Now before you start grumbling that limited editions are<br />
a marketing trick, let me point out that all successful brands work the limitededition<br />
angle masterfully. Yes, that includes when the regular production watch<br />
is both totally ungettable and selling for 2.5 times retail on the secondary market.<br />
The thing with Zenith is that their limited editions have been remarkably good.<br />
(Full disclosure: I launched my own limited-edition A3818 Cover Girl Revival with<br />
them earlier.) Check out the Revival Lupin edition, the Bamford Edge of Space for<br />
Mr Porter, and the A386 editions made for my friend Aurel Bacs at Phillips. One<br />
of the more obscure — but to my mind most stunning — Zenith collaborations is<br />
an albino-dial El Primero Chronomaster for the collectors’ community Collective<br />
Horology. And while the Defy 21 Carl Cox made with the legendary DJ is targeted<br />
to appeal to a very specific customer with its carbon-fiber case interlayered with<br />
luminous material so that it glows in the dark, it’s still very cool. Conversely, I can’t<br />
think of anyone who wouldn’t love the micro-blasted titanium Defy 21 beauty that<br />
is Zenith’s second mashup with Land Rover. My point is that Zenith is winning<br />
over hearts and minds by reaching out and enlarging<br />
their community with these collaborations, and<br />
they’re doing it with some damnably amazing watches.<br />
There is a reason that Bvlgari announced in early<br />
February that it would be pulling out of Baselworld.<br />
Part of it was that they were worried about health<br />
issues related to mounting fears about the COVID-19<br />
pandemic. At the same time, they were clearly saying<br />
that the LVMH Group watch exhibition was so<br />
successful that they felt secure in skipping Baselworld. Of<br />
course, they will probably execute other types of events in<br />
their key markets and, as you can see from the cover of this<br />
magazine, the watches they are launching over the rest of<br />
the year are an indication that they’re in no way letting up<br />
on the acceleration toward defining themselves as the most<br />
innovative watch brand around.<br />
With the creation of the Octo Finissimo, which I<br />
consider to be the single most innovative and important<br />
designs in horology in the last 10 years, Bvlgari have defined<br />
themselves as extraordinary innovators. By continuing<br />
to make incredible ultra-thin, record setting, beautifully<br />
designed and totally unique watches that represent a merger<br />
of competences, including case making, dial making,<br />
movement making and even bracelet making (a real rarity),<br />
they have cemented their reputation as the most innovative<br />
brand around. The inaugural Dubai watch exhibition has<br />
given a huge first-mover advantage to Bvlgari, Hublot and<br />
Zenith, and as a group LVMH have elevated themselves<br />
to be the single most game-changing entity in the<br />
watchmaking today.<br />
THE MODERNIST 51
LVMH WATCH WEEK DUBAI<br />
INTRODUCING THE BVLGARI SERPENTI<br />
SEDUTTORI TOURBILLON<br />
WORDS STEPHANIE IP<br />
It grew more and more extravagant in the decades<br />
that followed. From the Dolce Vita era of the 1960s, to the<br />
logomania in the 1980s, and its transition into high-jewelry<br />
pieces in the 2000s, the Serpenti has evolved with the times,<br />
never content with standing still.<br />
In 2016, Bvlgari launched the Serpenti Incantati, a wild<br />
departure from the more familiar snake coil. Instead, the<br />
serpent wrapped its body around the bezel on the round<br />
watch, with its head resting over its tail. The tourbillon<br />
version of the Serpenti Incantati was the first time in three<br />
decades that a mechanical movement was brought back into<br />
the collection. A hugely significant move in my books, it was<br />
an indication that women have moved past desiring only<br />
gemstones, to wanting complexity in their watches as well.<br />
2017 was the birth of the Serpenti Twist, another clear<br />
sign that the Serpenti was evolving to cater to a younger<br />
audience. Paired with double-wrap textured leather straps,<br />
it was one of the most casual versions of the Serpenti ever<br />
unveiled. And since last year, the Serpenti Seduttori has<br />
taken the spotlight. With the Serpenti Seduttori, Bvlgari has<br />
On paper, the Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon<br />
already sounds pretty awesome. When the<br />
Seduttori collection launched last year, it was<br />
only made available with a quartz movement. Now, it’s<br />
returned with not just a mechanical movement, but<br />
a manual-winding tourbillon movement that Bvlgari<br />
claims is the smallest ladies’ tourbillon on the market.<br />
But to truly understand why the Bvlgari<br />
Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon is such an amazing<br />
achievement, let’s briefly talk about what makes<br />
the Serpenti such an iconic collection.<br />
The Serpenti was born in 1948, right after World War II,<br />
when the brand unveiled the Tubogas watch; the polished coil<br />
of gold with a functional watch was seen as a more practical<br />
and acceptable form of ornamentation in the post-war years.<br />
Since then, the Serpenti collection has gone through<br />
many evolutions and shed its skin many times over. But, like<br />
its inspiration, the serpent-shaped watch with its worldfamous<br />
coiled bracelet has always sprung back from its<br />
reinventions, fresher, bolder and more appealing than ever.<br />
From its more abstract beginnings, the Serpenti began<br />
to take on a more naturalistic shape, the serpent-shaped<br />
head that we have now come to embrace was first included<br />
in the 1950s versions, with a hinged cover under which<br />
watch movements supplied by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron<br />
Constantin or Piaget could be found.<br />
struck the perfect balance between simplicity and elegance<br />
— it isn’t as casual as the Serpenti Twist, and yet, not as<br />
extravagant as the gold-wrapped coils. It falls somewhere in<br />
between, its smooth and supple links a pretty and tameddown<br />
version of the scales that adorned the high-jewelry<br />
Serpenti of the past.<br />
The Serpenti Seduttori of 2019 all housed quartz<br />
movements. In 2020, they’re back with a manual-winding<br />
tourbillon movement in three versions. There is one in white<br />
gold with paved diamonds and another in rose gold with<br />
paved diamonds, both fitted with a leather strap. The third<br />
version is the most blinged out, in white gold with paved<br />
diamonds and a matching scaled bracelet totaling over 7.5<br />
carats of diamonds.<br />
Inside the Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon is the caliber<br />
BVL150, the smallest tourbillon on the market, made<br />
possible by combining Bvlgari’s expertise in jewelry-making<br />
and its savoir-faire in watchmaking. The movement is<br />
viewable from the transparent sapphire caseback; it features<br />
a sapphire bridge, and is rhodium-plated and handdecorated<br />
with Côtes de Genève, perlage and beveling.<br />
And so, the most important part of the Serpenti Seduttori<br />
Tourbillon isn’t just its commendable milestone of creating<br />
a truly amazing complication for women. It is its ability to<br />
successfully shed its skin time after time, capturing the<br />
hearts of women through the decades with each rebirth.<br />
52 THE MODERNIST
BVLGARI<br />
SERPENTI SEDUTTORI TOURBILLON<br />
MOVEMENT Manually wound caliber BVL150; hours<br />
and minutes; tourbillon; 40-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 34mm white gold or rose gold with paved<br />
diamonds; water resistant to 30m<br />
STRAP Blue or brown leather strap, or white gold<br />
paved diamond bracelet<br />
THE MODERNIST 53
LVMH WATCH WEEK DUBAI<br />
CLOSER LOOK:<br />
BVLGARI OCTO<br />
FINISSIMO IN STEEL<br />
Bvlgari knocks it out of the park<br />
with their new Octo Finissimo in<br />
satin-polished stainless steel.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
At luxury conglomerate LVMH’s<br />
first-ever watch fair, held recently<br />
in Dubai, Bvlgari came out shooting<br />
with their absolutely stunning new Octo<br />
Finissimo in steel, and it’s poised to become<br />
the new darling of the integrated bracelet set.<br />
At first blush this new addition to the<br />
Octo family may seem like a whiff, given that<br />
this design, as lovely as it is, with its overtly<br />
architectural angles and mind-bending<br />
thinness, has been around the block a few<br />
times already. So, why is this one of the<br />
highlights of LVMH Watch Week?<br />
In a word: finishing.<br />
For the first time, the Octo Finissimo<br />
has been rendered with a satin-brushed<br />
and polished finish, and this takes Fabrizio<br />
Buonamassa’s now-iconic design to new<br />
heights. While some purists may lament the<br />
loss of subtlety that the Finissimo’s traditional<br />
micro-sandblasted finishing blessed it with,<br />
this new model captures the light in a way that<br />
the current collection never could.<br />
What’s more, thanks to the addition of a<br />
screw-down crown and an ever-so-slightly<br />
thicker case the Octo Finissimo’s water<br />
resistance has been raised from a negligible<br />
30m to a much more sporting 100m.<br />
And therein lies the intent. Bvlgari<br />
is no more blind to the current winds of<br />
fortune, which have blessed the likes of the<br />
Nautilus and Royal Oak with unprecedented<br />
demand and the hordes of collectors vying to<br />
acquire them. With its new finish, increased<br />
water resistance and overtly masculine<br />
design, the Octo Finissimo is now poised<br />
to compete head-to-head with the best<br />
of the steel luxury sport watch market.<br />
Helping in this mission is the recordbreaking<br />
manufacture BVL 138 automatic<br />
movement, which lives under the black<br />
lacquered dial and behind an expansive<br />
sapphire display. At a hair over 2.2mm<br />
in thickness, this is what makes the Octo<br />
finissimo. Decorated with all the filigree that<br />
BVLGARI<br />
OCTO FINISSIMO<br />
one would expect from Bvlgari, it is as much<br />
a joy to behold as the case and bracelet that<br />
support it.<br />
The Octo Finissimo in steel may not break<br />
new ground with respect to Bvlgari’s line up,<br />
but mark our words: its debut will rock the<br />
luxury steel sport watch market to the core.<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding BVL 138 Finissimo calibre; hours, minutes and small seconds;<br />
60-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 40mm stainless steel case; ultra-thin 6mm thin case; black lacquered dial; water<br />
resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Integrated satin-polished steel bracelet with folding clasp<br />
<strong>54</strong> THE MODERNIST
In 1983, Land Rover created one of the most famous<br />
multi-purpose vehicles in history: the Land Rover<br />
90 and its companion, the elongated 110. These<br />
unstoppable automobiles became the benchmark utility<br />
vehicle for cruising all over the British islands.<br />
The name Defender that we associate today with this<br />
square, rugged off-road light truck, appeared in 1990, in<br />
an attempt to align itself with the rest of the range that led<br />
the royally appointed Range Rover and the, then recently,<br />
launched Discovery. The Defender lived on until in 2016<br />
when it was finally discontinued. Last year, Land Rover<br />
announced the Defender’s resurgence, in the form of a<br />
LVMH WATCH WEEK DUBAI<br />
CLOSER LOOK:<br />
THE ZENITH DEFY<br />
21 LAND ROVER<br />
EDITION<br />
The Defy 21 Land Rover Edition in military Defender<br />
gray is a stunner, both in performance and looks.<br />
WORDS ISRAEL ORTEGA<br />
handsome all-terrain vehicle with the off-road capabilities<br />
that made the Defender the best in the Highlands.<br />
At Dubai Watch Week we saw a remarkable series of<br />
horological debuts including a cool iteration of Zenith’s<br />
Defy 21: The Land Rover Edition, which pays tribute to the<br />
Defender, as a 250-piece limited series.<br />
The Land Rover Edition is a timepiece that could just as<br />
easily be associated with the F-117 stealth fighter. It features<br />
a matte-gray titanium case with a micro-sandblasted finish<br />
that kills all reflections. It turns Zenith’s beloved Defy into a<br />
discreet and functional instrument.<br />
This Defy chronograph employs an El Primero caliber,<br />
particularly the 9004 with independent regulating devices:<br />
one for timekeeping that beats 5Hz and another for a<br />
1/100th-second precise chronograph, thanks to its 50Hzbeating<br />
balance wheel. This Zenith Defy 21 is a genuine<br />
triumph of watchmaking technology.<br />
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s creative director,<br />
brought his experience to add to the readability of the Defy<br />
21 Land Rover Edition, particularly in the details on the<br />
dial. In particular, the orange touch on the winding crown<br />
and the subtle indication of the 30-minute power reserve<br />
for the chronograph barely break the formality of this<br />
remarkable piece of watchmaking. At the back, only the<br />
“LAND ROVER” engraving on the case and on the wheellike<br />
oscillating mass, depict that this is a Zenith dedicated to<br />
Land Rover. The ands await.<br />
ZENITH<br />
DEFY 21 L<br />
MOVEME<br />
caliber;<br />
central ch<br />
30-minute<br />
reserve in<br />
CASE 44<br />
water resi<br />
STRAP De<br />
titanium f
The year has just begun, but<br />
LVMH’s watch division has<br />
wasted no time releasing its<br />
first wave of novelties in Dubai. Among<br />
the novelties announced, Hublot’s<br />
Big Bang Integral is, no doubt, one<br />
that garnered a lot of attention.<br />
The Big Bang is not only one of the<br />
brand’s most well-known watches, but it<br />
is also considered by many as an anchoring<br />
piece in the landscape of contemporary<br />
high-end sports watches. The Big Bang<br />
has often been the pioneer when it comes<br />
to the brand’s use of advanced materials.<br />
But this time, Hublot put material second,<br />
and instead focused on the Big Bang’s<br />
overall image. To mark the watch’s 15th<br />
anniversary, Hublot has presented it<br />
for the first time on an integrated metal<br />
bracelet in three executions: titanium,<br />
ceramic and King Gold.<br />
The design of the Big Bang Integral<br />
is noticeably distinct from its peers. Its<br />
case, lugs and first link take on a look and<br />
feel that is very much true to Hublot. The<br />
bracelet design, whichever angle you view<br />
it from, looks like it is simply an extension<br />
of the the case and lugs themselves, both<br />
in polish and construction.<br />
The three-link bracelet has a uniform<br />
central spine with two tapering lateral<br />
links. The link surfaces are satin-finished,<br />
the edges are beveled and chamfered.<br />
And while the Integral still retains the Big<br />
Bang’s “sandwich” case construction, it<br />
is fully assembled from the same material<br />
LVMHWATCHWEEKDUBAI<br />
THE BIG BANG TURNS 15<br />
Celebrating a special birthday of the iconic watch, Hublot presents a<br />
young and sporty Big Bang with an integrated bracelet.<br />
WORDS TAITAN CHEN<br />
instead of a composite resin insert. The most obvious change,<br />
however, may be the chamfers on the case edges, now<br />
widened to match with those on the bracelet’s edges.<br />
There is a clear demand among collectors for the<br />
sports-chic watches on integrated bracelets. The<br />
challenge for everyone vying to enter the market, is to<br />
develop a coherently designed and elegant design. All that<br />
considered, the Big Bang Integral presents itself as a very<br />
worthy competitor.<br />
HUBLOT<br />
BIG BANG INTEGRAL<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding HUB1289 caliber; hours,<br />
minutes and small seconds; central chronograph<br />
seconds; 60-minute totalizer; date; 3-day power reserve<br />
CASE 42mm case; available in titanium, polished black<br />
ceramic, King Gold; titanium with pavé diamonds or<br />
King Gold with pavé diamonds; water resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Integrated bracelet in matching material with<br />
deployant clasp<br />
56 THE MODERNIST
LVMH WATCH WEEK DUBAI<br />
MADE OF STARDUST<br />
Hublot’s Classic Fusion Gold Crystal<br />
recreates one of the world’s rarest forms<br />
of the precious metal.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO<br />
HUBLOT<br />
CLASSIC FUSION GOLD CRYSTAL<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding HUB1112 movement; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; 4Hz; 42-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 45mm in polished and satin-finished black ceramic;<br />
ceramic bezel with titanium screws; polished black dial with<br />
24K gold crystals; water resistant to 50m<br />
STRAP Black alligator leather strap with rubber back; blackplated<br />
stainless steel deployant clasp<br />
Gold is one of the rarest metals in the world, its beauty<br />
admired across the globe and cultures that span the entire<br />
of documented human history. In fact, all the gold you see<br />
today is truly stardust, the result of a cosmic collision of black holes or<br />
neutron stars that smashed into each other. These powerful collisions<br />
generated the energy needed to bind lighter elements into heavier<br />
ones in a matter of seconds. Scientists speculate that such a collision<br />
occurred billions of years in the past in our solar system’s vicinity. That<br />
same collision likely resulted in the very birth of our solar system.<br />
Most of the gold found in the crust and mantle of the Earth<br />
are microscopic dust particles embedded in rock; far less is<br />
actually in nuggets found in bedrock or mines. But of all the<br />
variations of gold that one sees in the natural world, the rarest is<br />
crystalline gold. The material is formed as gold-bearing water<br />
runs through rock, forming veins upon which the gold flakes are<br />
deposited. (The largest ever discovered single crystal of gold found<br />
was 217 grams in weight, and worth over USD1.5 million.)<br />
At the Hublot manufacture’s research and development<br />
department, they discovered how to replicate such crystalline<br />
forms of gold by heating pure gold to 1,947°F, which melts<br />
the material and that rises until it encounters a cooler<br />
environment, when it then crystallizes. If you recall old<br />
chemistry classes on distillation, it’s not unlike that.<br />
Since the crystals never form in exactly the same manner or form,<br />
you never quite get the same shape or style. At Hublot, a dial maker<br />
carefully collects these flakes and arranges them on a dial to re-create<br />
the auriferous veins that one would see in nature, then coated with a<br />
clear lacquer that seals the flakes in position. This is done over and over,<br />
until the gold is perfectly displayed on the deep black dial of the watch.<br />
The recreation of the natural beauty of gold crystals is part of the<br />
allure of this watch, particularly housed in a high-tech ceramic case.<br />
It’s a great case of technology imitating nature.<br />
THE MODERNIST 57
A NEW<br />
PULSE<br />
Hamilton revives a memorable icon 50 years later.<br />
The PSR flawlessly combines retro-futuristic style<br />
and modern technology.<br />
WORDS KEVIN CUREAU<br />
The 1970s were an era of great positive change for the US and<br />
around the world. Countries were still experiencing high<br />
and sustained growth from the post-World War II economic<br />
expansion, activism for women and minorities continued from the<br />
previous decade, environmental issues became more important, and<br />
rock and disco music dominated the charts.<br />
Entering the ’70s, it was clear that the United States had won the<br />
coveted “Space Race” with the success of the Apollo 11 mission which<br />
landed humans on the Moon in July of 1969. Only 10 months after that<br />
historical achievement, in May of 1970, another American company<br />
would make an announcement and reveal a ground-breaking product<br />
unlike anything that had been seen before: the Hamilton Pulsar, the<br />
very first digital wristwatch.<br />
Named after the pulsating neutron stars that emit beams<br />
of radiation at ultra-precise frequencies, this “solid state wrist<br />
computer” seemed like an object straight out of science fiction and<br />
perfectly in sync in terms of design with the Space Age period that<br />
the world was experiencing. The Pulsar was developed by Hamilton<br />
in its hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and would change<br />
the way we tell time. With no moving parts, no ticking sound and<br />
unmatchable durability and accuracy, this was something no one<br />
had ever seen before. At the push of a button, red LED numerals<br />
would light up the dark screen displaying the time. Holding the<br />
button for longer revealed the passing seconds. Setting the time<br />
was done using a magnet bar stored in a hatch inside the bracelet’s<br />
deployant clasp. Placing the magnet on two grooves found on the<br />
watch’s caseback allowed it to cycle through the hours and minutes.<br />
The public received its first glimpse of the Hamilton Pulsar prototype<br />
on one of the most popular US TV programs, The Tonight Show,<br />
when host Johnny Carson demonstrated its unique functionality.<br />
What followed was an undeniable Pulsar fever. It took two<br />
more years for Hamilton to release a consumer-ready version of<br />
the Pulsar, the Hamilton Pulsar P1 with an avant-garde cushion<br />
case and bracelet in 18ct yellow gold, but the product just flew off<br />
the shelves. Even with a price tag of US$2,100 at the time (the cost<br />
of a family car), the initial 400 watches prepared for the launch all
This page, clockwise<br />
from top left<br />
Sammy Davis Jr<br />
wearing his Pulsar<br />
P1; Joe Frazier with<br />
his Hamilton Pulsar<br />
P2; assembling the<br />
PSR, which features<br />
hybrid OLED and LCD<br />
displays; Elton John<br />
with his Pulsar P2.<br />
found homes in three days. The Hamilton Pulsar P1 was the first<br />
true star of the emerging Quartz Revolution and a breath of fresh<br />
air among mechanical analog watches. It was taking a centuries<br />
old technology and propulsing it straight into the future.<br />
Celebrities couldn’t get enough of it and names like Elvis Presley,<br />
the Shah of Iran, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Sammy Davis Jr,<br />
and Yul Brynner are some of the famous owners of the Hamilton Pulsar.<br />
According to author Don Sauers’ tome, Time for America: Hamilton<br />
Watch 1892-1992, Selassie was so impressed by his P1 that he granted<br />
Hamilton a “Certificate of Excellence”. Davis Jr was so distraught<br />
after his P1 was stolen that he had retailer T-Bird Jewels in Las Vegas<br />
call Hamilton for an immediate replacement. Orders kept pouring in<br />
and Hamilton could hardly keep up with the demand for the Pulsar.<br />
In 1973, the Hamilton Pulsar P2, in stainless steel with a more<br />
rounded case design and an improved chip module, reached the market<br />
at a more affordable price, achieving colossal success. The P2 rapidly<br />
became the period’s must-have watch, with wearers including Keith<br />
Richards, Jack Nicholson, Peter Sellers, Elton John, Gianni Agnelli,<br />
and U.S. President Gerald Ford. Notably, Roger Moore’s James Bond<br />
wore one in Live and Let Die (1973) and the boxing great “Smokin’”
This page<br />
Afrontalshotof<br />
thePSRinsteel<br />
with yellow gold<br />
PVD coating.<br />
Previous spread<br />
The PSR in<br />
stainless steel.<br />
Joe Frazier was even pictured wearing his in the run-up to his 1973<br />
fight with Joe Bugner. This led to many American companies, from<br />
Bulova to Hewlett Packard, jumping on the bandwagon to produce<br />
digital watches and clocks in the 1970s. Competition was fierce<br />
but Hamilton’s Pulsar still stayed in front of the pack. With its wide<br />
popularity and success, many more models of the Pulsar were released<br />
including the Calculator model, the P3 Date Command, “flick of<br />
the wrist” activated models and even Hamilton Pulsars for ladies.<br />
Today, Hamilton is bringing back this icon from the 1970s in the<br />
form of the new Hamilton PSR. Two versions of the PSR are available<br />
to choose from: one in stainless steel, and a version in stainless steel<br />
coated with yellow gold PVD that’s limited to 1,970 pieces. With its<br />
hefty cushion-shaped case and bracelet, the Hamilton PSR is an<br />
identical re-issue of the Hamilton Pulsar P2 and retains the beautiful<br />
avant-garde and Space Age design that made its success 50 years ago.<br />
The PSR isn’t just a fun novelty, it is a solid and well crafted timepiece<br />
which happens to dig into some of the nostalgia people associate<br />
with this era of progress and discovery. The PSR has also caught up<br />
with its time by using a hybrid display mixing reflective LCD (Liquid<br />
Crystal Display) and emissive OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes)<br />
technologies. This module was developed in-house by Hamilton<br />
together with the Swatch Group’s R&D department to keep the<br />
essence of the original watch alive without compromising functionality.<br />
You still get the cool effect of the light red OLED numerals showing<br />
up in their famous “digit dot” style when pressing the button on<br />
the side, but thanks to the reflective technology in the LCD display,<br />
the time is now permanently visible in daylight conditions. This<br />
hybrid display technology means that the watch has an extremely low<br />
energy consumption. The PSR also does away with the magnet bar<br />
hidden in the bracelet clasp to set the time. The bracelet has a double<br />
folding clasp and the single pushbutton on the side of the case now<br />
carries all the functionalities of displaying and setting the time.<br />
We have to say that in the current movement of vintage-revival<br />
and sneaker craziness, the Hamilton PSR arrives at the perfect time<br />
to provide a stylish offering that will reach a new generation of people.<br />
What is old can be new again and in the case of the Hamilton PSR,<br />
you’re not only getting a well crafted watch with a space-age style still<br />
relevant today, you’re also buying a reminder of pioneering changes in<br />
technology and society. Above all, the first digital watch was the epitome<br />
of cool in the 1970s and certainly hasn’t lost its crown 50 years later.
ZENITH × <strong>REVOLUTION</strong> AND THE RAKE<br />
TAKE MIAMI<br />
The launch party of the Chronomaster Revival A3818<br />
“Cover Girl” went by without a hitch, a fitting welcome for<br />
a stunning watch that was quickly sold out.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
As collaborations go, we don’t feel that it’s a stretch to say that<br />
the Zenith × Revolution Chronomaster Revival Ref. A3818<br />
“Cover Girl” will go down as one of the greats. Are we a little<br />
biased? Maybe, but given that the collection sold out in record time, we<br />
have to believe that we’re not alone in thinking so.<br />
Of course, when one is about to drop a watch as special as the<br />
Cover Girl, it’s imperative that they throw a party that lives up to the<br />
hype, and that’s exactly what we did.<br />
First, the guests of honor…<br />
Given the close collaboration between Zenith, Revolution and its<br />
sister magazine, The Rake, it was clear from the outset that the CEO<br />
of Zenith, Juliane Tornare, and Wei Koh, founder of both Revolution<br />
and The Rake, had to be on site. Given their globe-trotting ways, this<br />
required some advance planning, but suffice to say, we made it happen.<br />
Good thing too, because these guys are the real-deal Holyfield, and it’s<br />
always a good time when they’re together.<br />
Next, the venue…<br />
You need an appropriate spot, and in this regard Supercar Rooms<br />
Miami in the Wynwood Arts and Entertainment District came correct<br />
in all the right ways. Hot neighborhood? Check. Killer space? Check.<br />
Hot rods on display? Check. Basically, the mood was set from the getgo,<br />
and where better to launch a reissue that sports one of the world’s<br />
most legendary chronographs, than at a car club, surrounded by highperformance<br />
machinery?<br />
And finally, the noise…<br />
No one wants to throw a party and the wrong crowd shows up, or<br />
worse, nobody shows up at all, which is why we enlisted RedBar Miami<br />
to bring the watch addicts, and that, they most certainly did. Local<br />
chapter head, Sophy Rindler, sent out the call and her people flocked<br />
en masse to Supercar Rooms for a truly epic evening of watches, cars<br />
and good times.<br />
After an introduction from Supercar Rooms owner and local<br />
celebrity, Elo, Julien and Wei got up to speak about their partnership<br />
and the Cover Girl, and then it was time for everyone to get their groove<br />
on in a way that only Miami natives seem to be able to do.<br />
We’re not sure how late the party went until, but suffice to say,<br />
the hangover was more than worth it. A watch like the Cover Girl<br />
doesn’t come around all that often, and we’re glad to say that, together<br />
with RedBar and Supercar Rooms, we gave her the welcome that<br />
she deserves.<br />
62 THE MODERNIST
THE MODERNIST 63
64 THE MODERNIST
HUBLOT<br />
AND<br />
FERRARI<br />
GO TO THE<br />
RACES<br />
The two brands top off another successful year<br />
of collaboration with an exciting run at the<br />
Finali Mondiali.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
THE MODERNIST 65
This page, from top<br />
The crowd watching<br />
the Finali Mondiali<br />
F1 Clienti cars<br />
buring up the<br />
tarmac; Ferrari<br />
Corse Clienti driver<br />
Chris Froggatt with<br />
CEO of Hublot<br />
Ricardo Guadalupe;<br />
the Corse Clienti<br />
driving team with<br />
Mr Guadalupe.<br />
Hublot helped Ferrari to celebrate the end of their<br />
2019 racing season as well as their 90th anniversary<br />
in fine style as the official watch sponsor of the 2019<br />
Finali Mondiali.<br />
Held at the famed Mugello Circuit outside of Florence,<br />
Italy, during the last week of October, this event, which<br />
brings together cars and racers from three continents,<br />
marked the close of Ferrari’s Grand Touring Season.<br />
As you can imagine, this is a big deal. Ferrari fans, the<br />
tifosi, are known for their unrestrained enthusiasm for cars<br />
with the Cavallino Rampante on the hood, and it is here that<br />
they come out en masse to celebrate the end of another year<br />
of racing. The Finali Mondiali consists of a series of final<br />
races ranging from the F1 Clienti and the Ferrari Challenge<br />
Programs, to the ultra-advanced XX Programs, so there’s<br />
something for pretty much every racing fan out there. But<br />
for those who stray from the track, the paddocks have pretty<br />
much every Ferrari race car that one can imagine on display.<br />
Basically, this is a tifosi’s idea of heaven. (Ear plugs are<br />
strongly advised.)<br />
If that’s not enough, there’s also a museum that<br />
showcases some of the most famous Ferrari racing cars from<br />
days past, going all the way back the very first, the 125 S, and<br />
including such legends as the 250 GTO and the drop-dead<br />
gorgeous 330 P4.<br />
Of course it’s not just cars, cars, cars at the Finali<br />
Mondiali; Hublot’s partnership stretches back eight years to<br />
2012, though it’s important to note that they’re not the only<br />
watch brand to partner with the famous Italian automobile<br />
manufacturer. Past partners include Girard-Perregaux,<br />
Panerai, and even Longines, but it’s fair to say that<br />
66 THE MODERNIST
Above<br />
The Classic<br />
Fusion Ferrari<br />
GT in titanium.<br />
Right<br />
The Classic<br />
Fusion Ferrari GT<br />
in 3D carbon.<br />
they’ve been the most successful, which is actually saying<br />
something. Indeed, in spite of the perceived synergy that<br />
one might envision as existing between automotive sport and<br />
watches, in practice these mashups are notoriously difficult<br />
to nail, with failed examples of the genre being too numerous<br />
to mention here.<br />
Not so with Hublot. From tourbillons to straightup<br />
concept pieces like the bonkers LaFerrari, Hublot<br />
and Ferrari have been nothing if not prolific, and, more<br />
importantly, popular with their collectors. For 2019, the<br />
guest of honor at the Finali Mondiali was the Classic Fusion<br />
Ferrari GT, a limited-edition racing-inspired chronograph<br />
which comes in 3D carbon, titanium or Hublot’s proprietary<br />
King Gold. However, unlike other pieces of this ilk, where<br />
the “collaboration” is limited to a unique colorway and some<br />
strategically placed logos, the Classic Fusion Ferrari GT was<br />
designed by none other than Flavio Manzoni, the director of<br />
Centro Stile Ferrari, the famed design house responsible for<br />
Ferrari’s road cars and concept cars alike.<br />
The end result is a Hublot that eschews the hard angles<br />
one typically associates with the brand for soft curves that<br />
are more than a little reminiscent of the ultra-limitededition<br />
Ferrari Monza SP1/2. Under the skeletonized<br />
dial hums the in-house UNICO HUB1280 chronograph<br />
movement, which, in a nod to the motorsport that inspired<br />
it, features a flyback complication.<br />
This is Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe’s favorite<br />
collaboration yet, but if you ask him, the best is still to come<br />
— a new piece is already in the works, which will be released<br />
alongside Ferrari’s next supercar. Perhaps that one will be<br />
the guest of honor at the Finali Mondiali 2020.<br />
HUBLOT<br />
CLASSIC FUSION FERRARI GT<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding caliber HUB1280; hours, minutes and<br />
seconds; date; flyback chronograph; 72-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 45mm case in 3D carbon (500 pieces), titanium (1,000<br />
pieces) or King Gold (500 pieces); water-resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Black rubber and Schedoni leather, with matching<br />
deployant clasp<br />
THE MODERNIST 67
THE<br />
ABSOLUTE<br />
ZENITH<br />
OF<br />
MANUFACTURE<br />
TOURS<br />
The Zenith manufacture in Le Locle is<br />
a must-visit for watch enthusiasts, not<br />
just for its latest updated facilities, but<br />
alsobecauseitoffersararechancefor<br />
one to experience a moment in time<br />
that rewrote the brand’s history.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting a Swiss watch<br />
manufacture, then it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking<br />
that if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. There’s<br />
the stamping area, redolent with the peculiar bouquet<br />
of machine oil, where billets of metal wait patiently to be<br />
pounded and flattened into springs and gears; the assembly<br />
floor, where dozens of watchmakers hunch over benches,<br />
meticulously building going trains, or mating hands to<br />
pinions; and then there’s the haute horlogerie section,<br />
where the masters of the craft while away their hours<br />
building minute repeaters and tourbillons, or, perhaps,<br />
painstakingly hand-enameling dials.<br />
And then — boom — you’re done.<br />
(It should also be noted that more often than not the<br />
building that houses this time-honored mechanical sorcery<br />
is a contemporary, carbon-neutral affair that proudly takes<br />
advantage of the latest technology that modern architecture<br />
has to offer.)<br />
Now to be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with<br />
any of the above. Watches are watches, after all, and with<br />
few exceptions, their assembly follows certain rhythms<br />
prescribed over generations upon generations of trial<br />
and error that all lead to the formula that we see over and<br />
over again. And why not trade up to newer digs? That’s<br />
progress after all, right? Right. It’s just that some do it more<br />
convincingly than others, and as such, are simply that much<br />
more genuine. Zenith is one such manufacture.<br />
68 THE MODERNIST
THE MODERNIST 69
THE FIRST FULLY<br />
INDUSTRIALIZED WATCH<br />
MANUFACTURE<br />
Founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-<br />
Jacot, Zenith has only ever been<br />
located in one place: Le Locle,<br />
Switzerland. Le Locle, for your<br />
information, is the very definition<br />
of “quaint”, as is fitting for the third<br />
smallest city in a country not renowned<br />
for its geographically outsized<br />
footprint. This should explain why it<br />
was such a big deal that Mssr. Favre-<br />
Jacot put his roots down here. Not<br />
only was Zenith to become a major<br />
local employer, but the factory itself<br />
was also a marvel of modern efficiency<br />
as the first truly industrialized Swiss<br />
watch manufacture (to say nothing of<br />
being the first structure in the town<br />
to feature electricity throughout).<br />
That’s right, the principles of<br />
modern industrialization, which<br />
dictated that manufacturing be done<br />
under one roof, and in a logical<br />
progression by people manning<br />
specific stations and performing<br />
specific actions found its first foothold<br />
in Switzerland thanks to Zenith.<br />
In essence, Zenith was the textbook<br />
definition of “in-house” at a time when<br />
outsourcing was the name of the game.<br />
In addition to stamping presses, and<br />
case and dial production, Zenith also<br />
had its own foundry to process the raw<br />
materials that would eventually become<br />
complete, functional watches. This<br />
is evidenced today by the trademark<br />
smokestack that is still standing at the<br />
center of the complex.<br />
And while the manufacture is now<br />
as up-to-date and modern as any<br />
that you’ll find elsewhere, it all exists<br />
within the same structures that were<br />
erected in 1865, just updated with the<br />
latest technology where applicable.<br />
That said, it did benefit from the<br />
architectural foresight of its founder,<br />
given that Favre-Jacot designed<br />
the buildings from the outset with<br />
large windows to take full advantage<br />
of natural light. And so it is today,<br />
with the wide open floors generously<br />
illuminated with the Swiss sun.<br />
PRESERVED IN TIME<br />
Of course, the main attraction at the<br />
Zenith manufacture is the so-called<br />
“attic”, or “Le Grenier”, where Zenith<br />
watchmaker Charles Vermot sealed<br />
away the plans and tooling required to<br />
manufacture the legendary El Primero<br />
chronograph movement. Spurred by<br />
the then management’s decision to<br />
forsake mechanical watchmaking in<br />
favor of quartz, he painstakingly moved<br />
all the necessary items — including<br />
over 150 metal presses — through a<br />
back door and up 52 stone steps to a<br />
disused storage area, which he then<br />
sealed off, hoping that the proverbial<br />
“rainy day” would come when they<br />
would be called into use once more.<br />
As we all know, that day came and<br />
the El Primero rose from the ashes to<br />
reclaim its rightful place as one of the<br />
preeminent mechanical movements<br />
still produced by the Swiss.<br />
You know what? The storage area<br />
is still there, as are the 52 steps that<br />
Charles Vermont trod upon. It’s not<br />
often that a room can give you chills —<br />
positive ones to be sure — but that’s<br />
very much the case here. Each step<br />
you take up to the fateful attic is heavy<br />
with history, and once you’re there<br />
you know that you’ve arrived at a very<br />
This page<br />
Awatchmakertakes<br />
guests through the<br />
details of Zenith’s El<br />
Primero movement.<br />
Today, augmented<br />
technologies allow<br />
guests to discover<br />
the El Primero<br />
in a 3D digital<br />
experience.<br />
Previous spread<br />
The Zenith<br />
manufacture in Le<br />
Locle, seen at night.<br />
70 THE MODERNIST
From top<br />
A modern watch<br />
assembly workshop at<br />
the Zenith manufacture;<br />
the El Primero caliberon<br />
an ancient press; the<br />
equipment that Vermot<br />
preserved are still<br />
on display in Zenith’s<br />
attic, now a preserved<br />
historical museum of<br />
the manufacture.<br />
specific — and special — moment in time. The<br />
room is still dusty and the smell is still one of<br />
disuse and neglect, but that’s as it should be.<br />
While this may be the place that time forgot,<br />
the lesson is one that speaks to action and<br />
forward-thinking. How forward-thinking,<br />
you ask? The already storied presses that he<br />
saved back in 1976 are still in use today.<br />
And so we get to the best part: you too can<br />
see the smokestack, walk the halls, look for<br />
the “GFJ” Easter eggs (the brand’s founder’s<br />
initials are sprinkled throughout the various<br />
buildings), and, most importantly, follow in<br />
Charles Vermot’s fateful footsteps simply by<br />
visiting the website for Neuchâtel Tourism<br />
and booking a spot on a tour. Where most<br />
manufactures are closed to the public, save<br />
for a lucky few journalists and “friends of the<br />
brand”, anyone with 40 Swiss francs and an<br />
afternoon to spare can take a guided tour of<br />
the Zenith manufacture and see first-hand<br />
how Georges Favre-Jacot realized his vision<br />
for over 150 years of watchmaking excellence.<br />
Something tells us that this is exactly as he<br />
would have wanted it.<br />
THE MODERNIST 71
72 THE MODERNIST
IT’S HIP<br />
TO BE SQUARE<br />
Bell & Ross updates its BR 03 with a cool grey façade.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
They say that it isn’t easy to reinvent the wheel, but what about<br />
the square? For Bell & Ross this has been a singular pursuit<br />
since the introduction of the now-iconic BR Instrument series,<br />
which seemingly created the square watch trend overnight.<br />
Fast forward 15 years — yes, the BR 01 was introduced back in<br />
2005 — and what was once considered a novelty is now a mainstay of<br />
Bell & Ross’ collection, with a seemingly infinite variety of sizes, case<br />
materials and complications available. You want yours in carbon fiber?<br />
No problem. You require a tourbillon? Bell & Ross has you covered.<br />
You’re a diving enthusiast? They’ve got an ISO certified version,<br />
replete with a unidirectional timing bezel ready to go.<br />
So, with all these options, where else is there left to go? Air?<br />
Covered, obviously. Sea? Yup. Haute horlogerie? Done. Ah, but what<br />
about a day and night in the city? This, folks, is where the new BR<br />
03-92 GREY LUM comes into its own. As Bell & Ross’ nomenclature<br />
goes, the 03 in the name refers to the smaller-sized Instrument case<br />
— remember, the original BR 01 clocked in at 46mm — but don’t be<br />
fooled as 42mm in a square configuration wears larger than it would<br />
in a round cased watch. That said, if you have the wrist for it, it is<br />
supremely comfortable.<br />
But aside from the relatively wrist-friendly size, just what is it<br />
about the GREY LUM that makes it fit for the urban dweller looking for<br />
a bit of conference-room-to-the-club versatility? In this instance,<br />
it’s the finishing that sets it apart from its stablemates, which up until<br />
now have come in a variety of anti-reflective bead-blasted finishes.<br />
With an alternating satin-brushed and polished case, the GREY LUM<br />
cuts a dashing figure through polite society, and when coupled with the<br />
sunburst grey dial, the overall package is one of urbane sophistication.<br />
This is all well and good during daylight hours spent in boardrooms<br />
and such, but what about after work, when the real deals are being<br />
made in swank, dimly lit watering holes and behind VIP ropes? As it<br />
so happens, this is where the GREY LUM truly shines. As the name<br />
implies, lume — okay, “LUM” in Bell & Ross parlance — is the name of<br />
the game, and as with past pieces in this subset of the BR 03 collection,<br />
the GREY LUM is treated to a healthy dose of C3 Super-LumiNova,<br />
which happens to be one of the brightest, longest-lasting application<br />
that they offer. In fact, in tests it lasts as long as eight hours, so go ahead<br />
and have another martini, you’re covered.<br />
Keeping you on time is the Bell & Ross BR-CAL.302 movement,<br />
which is based on the tried-and-true Sellita SW300, and like all<br />
BR 03s, the GREY LUM is good for 100 meters of water resistance.<br />
Rounding out the package is a grey suede strap that complements the<br />
dial brilliantly, though you can swap it out for a more rugged textile<br />
strap for workplace-bonding weekends at the paintball ranch (tools<br />
are included). The price? An eminently reasonable US$3,400.<br />
Overall, the BR 03-92 GREY LUM is a welcome, and dare we say<br />
it, versatile addition to the Instrument series — subtle when it needs to<br />
be, but not afraid to stand out from the crowd when the mood strikes.<br />
Sounds just like what a Bell & Ross should be.<br />
BELL & ROSS<br />
BR 03-92 GREY LUM<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding caliber BR-CAL.302; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; date; 42-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 42mm; satin-polished steel; water-resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Grey-green calfskin and ultra-resilient black synthetic<br />
fabric, with steel pin buckle<br />
THE MODERNIST 73
WHEN THE STARS ALIGN<br />
One of the bright sparks of watchmaking in 2020 is the launch of Omega’s Constellation<br />
Co-Axial Master Chronometer, based on an iconic design from the 1980s.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
The Constellation is just about as storied a name in the annals<br />
of watchmaking as one could hope for. Launched in 1952, the<br />
Constellation collection is one of the oldest in Omega’s stable<br />
of already legendary collections, and throughout its long history, it has<br />
continually adapted to the changing tastes of the world around it.<br />
In order to understand the Constellation as it exists today, it’s<br />
necessary to jump into the wayback machine and set the dial to 1982 —<br />
the era of big suits, even bigger shoulder pads, and unlimited expense<br />
accounts. It was then that the Constellation Manhattan made its debut,<br />
OMEGA<br />
CONSTELLATION CO-AXIAL MASTER CHRONOMETER<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding caliber 8800 (for stainless-steel model)<br />
and caliber 8801 (for gold models); hours, minutes and seconds;<br />
date; 55-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 39mm case in stainless steel, 18K yellow gold or 18K<br />
Sedna gold; water-resistant to 50m<br />
STRAP Black, blue, green, brown or gray leather, or matching<br />
metal bracelet<br />
the addendum to the venerable Constellation moniker and a not-sosubtle<br />
nod to the city famous for minting millionaires and crooks alike.<br />
In the early ’80s, the Quartz Crisis was in full effect, so naturally,<br />
this new addition to the Omega family ticked and tocked. This was<br />
hardly a handicap, however, as the design of the watch was the main<br />
calling card. Almost intensely rounded, with deep scallops at the lugs<br />
— “half-moon facets” in Omegaspeak — the most arresting visual<br />
elements were the two sets of “claws” that curved around from the<br />
back to hold the sapphire crystal snug in place against the case. In<br />
with the vibe of the times, the bracelet, if so equipped, was an<br />
affair.<br />
Fast forward to 2020, and the Constellation is back with a<br />
In 2018 the women’s collection received an update,<br />
the men’s collection now follows suit with. The result is a pared<br />
more contemporary take on the iconic design, yet with all of the<br />
cues present and accounted for.<br />
In addition to the updated case, the hands and indexes have been<br />
to evoke the soaring height and acute angles of New York<br />
Freedom Tower. In a nod to the sporting intentions of the<br />
the hands also feature a sliver of lume, though with a<br />
rating of 50 meters, the Constellation is more suited<br />
lounging by the pool rather than diving on the Andrea Doria.<br />
The Constellation’s 39mm case is available in stainless steel, 18K<br />
gold and Omega’s proprietary Sedna gold, with an equally<br />
range of dials including black, white, silver, brown grey and what<br />
refer to as a “silk-embossed” finish in either white, champagne,<br />
blue. One can also choose from a sleek “mono-rang” bracelet or<br />
leather strap; the latter is available in black, blue, green, brown and<br />
gray. Overall, there are 26 different variations in total.<br />
In keeping with its history of award-winning chronometry,<br />
the Constellation features Omega’s in-house Co-Axial Master<br />
Chronometer caliber 8800 movement, which is METAS-certified and<br />
can resist magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss.<br />
With prices ranging from US$5,850 for steel on leather to<br />
US$33,300 for the Sedna gold “full monty”, Omega has ensured that<br />
there’s a Constellation for everyone.<br />
74 THE MODERNIST
THE MODERNIST 75
76 THE MODERNIST
GOING GREEN<br />
Longines’s latest HydroConquest models<br />
makes it easy to go green.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
Opposite, clockwise<br />
The HydroConquest<br />
Green Boutique<br />
Edition (left) and<br />
HydroConquest<br />
Green (right).<br />
The Boutique<br />
Edition features an<br />
easy-adjust strap<br />
on both the bracelet<br />
and rubber strap,<br />
that’s conveniently<br />
operable via two<br />
thumb-friendly<br />
pushers on both<br />
sides of the bracelet<br />
and strap.<br />
The Boutique<br />
Edition comes<br />
in a forest green<br />
ceramic bezel with<br />
a brushed finish,<br />
and a ceramic bezel<br />
in the same color.<br />
The Longines HydroConquest has always been a<br />
standout in terms of value, if not in design. Mind<br />
you, this isn’t to say that it isn’t a handsome addition<br />
to the somewhat crowded ranks of gentleman divers on the<br />
market — it most definitely is — but it never fully stood out<br />
from the crowd. Well, Longines seems hellbent on changing<br />
that with the release of two new HydroConquest models in<br />
dueling shades of green.<br />
The standard version of the HydroConquest comes<br />
replete with a matte green dial — “khaki green” in Longines<br />
parlance — a matching glossy green ceramic bezel and<br />
can be had on either a matching textured rubber strap or<br />
bracelet. Under the hood beats the L888 caliber movement,<br />
which offers a very generous 64 hours of power reserve.<br />
As with all HydroConquests, the case, which can be had<br />
in either 41mm or 43mm sizes, is alternately brushed and<br />
polished, with a sapphire crystal on the front and solid case<br />
‘round back. The whole shebang is good for 300 meters.<br />
Now, for those who dig green but want something a bit<br />
more exclusive, Longines is also releasing a boutique-only<br />
version, which ups the ante with an absolutely gorgeous<br />
vertically brushed ceramic dial in a deeper shade of green<br />
— “forest green” — and rounds out the package with an<br />
upgraded version of the L888 that sports a silicon balance<br />
spring. In addition to the steel bracelet it also comes with<br />
an exclusive dive strap with a micro-adjustable clasp.<br />
Swapping between the two is a breeze thanks to a novel<br />
quick-change system integrated into the ends. Unlike the<br />
Khaki Green HydroConquest, the Boutique Edition defers<br />
to contemporary trends and is only available in 41mm.<br />
And now, the sordid topic of coin… This is one area<br />
that the HydroConquest truly shines. With a recommended<br />
retail price of US$1,600 for both the strap and bracelet<br />
versions, the Khaki Green represents a terrific value. And<br />
should you opt for the Boutique Edition, the ticket to ride is<br />
a reasonable US$2,400 (remember, it comes with both the<br />
strap and bracelet).<br />
While there’s ultimately not much to see here beyond<br />
the new colorways, as the old saying goes, “it ain’t easy<br />
being green.” Unlike other, more traditional colors, this is a<br />
difficult shade to get right, and Longines really nailed it, not<br />
once, but twice. Irrespective of one’s budget, these two new<br />
additions to the HydroConquest family shine.<br />
LONGINES<br />
HYDROCONQUEST GREEN<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding L888.3 caliber; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; date; 64-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 41 or 43mm case in stainless steel; unidirectional<br />
turning green ceramic bezel; water resistant to 300m<br />
STRAP Stainless steel bracelet with folding clasp and<br />
integrated diving extension; interchangeable with green<br />
rubber strap with folding clasp<br />
LONGINES<br />
HYDROCONQUEST GREEN BOUTIQUE EDITION<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding L888.5 caliber; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; date; silicon balance spring;<br />
64-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 41 case in stainless steel; unidirectional turning<br />
forest green ceramic bezel; forest green vertically<br />
brushed ceramic dial; water resistant to 300m<br />
STRAP Stainless steel bracelet with folding clasp and<br />
integrated diving extension; interchangeable with green<br />
rubber strap with folding clasp<br />
THE MODERNIST 77
INTRODUCING<br />
THE ZENITH X THE RAKE<br />
AND <strong>REVOLUTION</strong><br />
CHRONOMASTER REVIVAL<br />
REF. A3818 “COVER GIRL”<br />
WORDS WEI KOH AND KEVIN CUREAU<br />
In the pantheon of watchmaking’s most iconic watches,<br />
many have received nicknames that eternally link them to<br />
famous individuals, a material or even a shape. Take, for<br />
example, names such as Paul Newman, Jo Siffert, Padellone,<br />
Bronzo, Batman… Just think of all the timepieces associated<br />
with these designations.<br />
Among emblematic sports chronographs that have seen<br />
the light of day since the birth of the watch industry, there is<br />
only one timepiece bestowed with a sobriquet that inflames the<br />
desire of men to such an extreme — that is, of course, Zenith’s<br />
legendary El Primero Ref. A3818, otherwise known as the<br />
“Cover Girl”, thanks to its appearance on the front of Manfred<br />
Rössler’s book Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865.<br />
Why did the watch end up on the cover of a book dissecting<br />
the history of this eminent watchmaking maison? If you thought<br />
the reason was deeply linked to the narrative story that makes<br />
up the Zenith brand, the final explanation is much simpler than<br />
that. As Rössler, the author, puts it: “The beautiful blue colour<br />
led to this decision. I like blue dials.” We can’t blame him.<br />
For those of you who have had the chance to set eyes on<br />
the “Cover Girl”, the watch can only be described as jawdroppingly<br />
stunning. It uses the same angular, tonneaushaped<br />
case as the Zenith Ref. A384, but features one of the<br />
most unique dials in modern watchmaking, with striations<br />
that catch the light quite magnificently. Its defining feature<br />
is a stepped or uneven racing track demarcated with thin<br />
radial lines that look like a shark’s tooth. These tiny lines,<br />
designed almost like a soundwave, lead the eye towards the<br />
combination of a pulsation and tachymeter scale above the<br />
minute track. It is important to note that there are precisely<br />
300 of these ultra-thin markers on the dial, allowing<br />
you to read the chronograph seconds to an accuracy of<br />
1/10th of a second, which the legendary high-frequency<br />
5Hz (36,000vph) El Primero movement is capable of.<br />
THE MODERNIST 79
Reading the Shark’s Tooth<br />
The chronograph seconds display of the<br />
A3818 and our revival model is stylized<br />
A LITTLE HISTORY<br />
The El Primero movement is an icon in itself and has been<br />
in production for more than 50 years. Launched in 1969,<br />
it is the result of seven years of hard work from the Zenith<br />
watchmakers who set out to create the first fully integrated<br />
automatic chronograph movement. The more convenient<br />
option would have been to simply add a module to a base<br />
movement, but Zenith’s plan was far more ambitious and<br />
contained additional requirements, making the project<br />
even more challenging. The main requirement, of course,<br />
being the high-beating frequency of the caliber, allowing<br />
the chronograph function to measure time accurate to<br />
1/10th of a second.<br />
It is always good to remember that the El Primero<br />
movement almost disappeared at the end of the 1970s<br />
when management at Zenith Radio Corporation, the<br />
American parent company of the brand at the time,<br />
lost faith in mechanical watches and decided to limit<br />
its production to quartz timepieces only. This led to<br />
the order to destroy or sell the metal of the presses and<br />
tools associated with building mechanical movements.<br />
One watchmaker, Charles Vermot, a specialist in<br />
chronograph movement construction who had followed the<br />
construction of the El Primero caliber since its first sketches,<br />
rebelled against his management’s orders and took it upon<br />
himself to secretly stash the tools, machinery, blueprints<br />
and components inside the manufacture’s attic where they<br />
sat hidden away until the Zenith watch company changed<br />
ownership and decided to embark on a journey to relaunch<br />
the production of the famous El Primero movement.<br />
2019 wasn’t only about celebrating the golden jubilee<br />
of Zenith’s almighty caliber, but it was also a period of<br />
ascension for Zenith to become one of the most exciting,<br />
relevant and energized watch brands in the industry.<br />
Beginning with the reintroduction of the hallowed Ref.<br />
A384, the watch that started it all back in 1969, this was<br />
followed by a salvo of contemporary watchmaking’s<br />
most enthralling special editions, including a timepiece<br />
dubbed “The Edge of Space” made in collaboration with<br />
George Bamford and Mr. Porter, a limited series of Ref.<br />
A386 watches in precious metals, as well as an amazing<br />
pièce unique Ref. A386 in platinum with a lapis lazuli dial<br />
created in collaboration with Bacs & Russo, which raised<br />
CHF200,000 for charity.<br />
The Zenith<br />
×Revolution<br />
Chronomaster<br />
Revival A3818<br />
“Cover Girl” and the<br />
book Zenith: Swiss<br />
Watch Manufacture<br />
Since 1865 are<br />
both now available<br />
on Revolution’s<br />
e-shop, at shop.<br />
revolution.watch.<br />
80 THE MODERNIST
THE MODERNIST 81
This spread<br />
The Zenith<br />
×Revolution<br />
Chronomaster<br />
Revival A3818<br />
“Cover Girl”; a<br />
vintage model<br />
of the A3818<br />
sold at Phillips;<br />
the El Primero<br />
400 caliber.<br />
82 THE MODERNIST
ZENITH X <strong>REVOLUTION</strong><br />
CHRONOMASTER REVIVAL REF. A3818 “COVER GIRL”<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding El Primero caliber 400; hours, minutes and<br />
small seconds; central chronograph seconds; totalizers; date; tachymeter;<br />
pulsometer; 50-hour<br />
power reserve<br />
CASE 37mm; stainless-steel case; sapphire-crystal caseback; galvanic<br />
blue dial with SuperLuminova-coated indices, hands and dial details; water<br />
resistant to 50m<br />
STRAP Stainless-steel “Ladder” bracelet; additional beige calfleather<br />
strap and blue calf-leather racing strap provided<br />
THE ZENITH X THE RAKE AND<br />
<strong>REVOLUTION</strong> CHRONOMASTER REVIVAL<br />
REF. A3818 “COVER GIRL”<br />
In vintage collecting culture, the “Cover Girl” is a rare<br />
bird and possibly one of the single most sought-after<br />
and rarest Zenith chronographs on the market. With just<br />
1,000 pieces believed to have been made, finding one in<br />
pristine condition isn’t an easy task. Eric Wind, Founder<br />
of “Wind Vintage,” explains tha many examples have<br />
polished cases which erase the sharp angular profile of<br />
the case. Others will have the metallic blue paint on the<br />
dial peeling off. It can be an attractive look, but usually<br />
you can bet that it isn’t. Finding one with an original Gay<br />
Frères ladder bracelet is also rare in itself, since this was<br />
an expensive add-on back in the day. The interest in<br />
Zenith Ref. A3818s is currently at an all-time high with<br />
prices often hanging around the USD20,000 mark, either<br />
at auctions or when changing hands between collectors,<br />
making the watch a truly prized and elusive beast.<br />
We at Revolution have been waiting patiently to unveil<br />
our own collaboration with Zenith and we wanted to satisfy<br />
the thirst from collectors for this beautiful timepiece. Please<br />
help us welcome the revival of the legendary 1970s Zenith<br />
Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl,” but with one huge difference<br />
compared to the original model: this time, the dial has<br />
been treated with luminous paint, even down to the 600<br />
markers on the racing track, which, in combination with the<br />
luminous hand set — including those found in the subdials<br />
— means you can record elapsed time, down to 1/10th of<br />
a second at that, in low-light conditions. Now obviously<br />
because the racing track and dial text are smaller than the<br />
hour markers and hands you will notice a difference in glow<br />
between them, however this is definitely a cool touch for<br />
connoisseurs. Since we always strive to provide the best<br />
value possible to our readers, we couldn’t revive this watch<br />
without the ladder bracelet so you bet that it comes paired<br />
with the timepiece, and we are sure that Zenith enthusiasts<br />
will love this thoughtful touch. As an added bonus we are<br />
offering two additional straps — a brown calf leather strap<br />
and blue leather racing strap — which will allow owners to<br />
mix the style of their Zenith watch.<br />
We would like to thank the brand’s dynamic CEO Julien<br />
Tornare and its incredible product head Romain Marietta<br />
for this incredibly meaningful partnership. We would also<br />
like to thank Zenith for intentionally keeping the price of this<br />
timepiece accessible, even with the addition of the famous<br />
ladder bracelet, as a thank you to the Revolution and The Rake<br />
readership for their loyalty and passion.<br />
The Zenith x Revolution Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover<br />
Girl” is available on shop.revolution.watch for USD8,100 before<br />
taxes and shipping. For more information visit revolution.watch.<br />
THE MODERNIST 83
THE ‘GHOST<br />
CAPTAIN’<br />
RETURNS<br />
The sequel to our 2019 partnership with Rado is here and<br />
it’s bigger and bolder.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO<br />
STYLING YONG WEIJIAN<br />
When the CEO of Rado, Matthias Breschan, first unveiled the revived<br />
Captain Cook to us back in early 2017, we were really smitten with it.<br />
Rado had taken much care with the revival, delivering a well-built,<br />
historically accurate wristwatch with modern fixtures and fittings, drawing us<br />
back to the early days of diving instruments. The sunray-brushed brown dial that<br />
mimicked a tropicalized dial of old and vintage-lumed indexes and hands gave<br />
it a distinguished attitude that was complemented with the modern vibes of a<br />
beautiful suede leather strap and sharp polished angles on the case.<br />
As variations of the original timepiece spun off the HyperChrome Captain<br />
Cook Automatic, we were ourselves motivated to collaborate with the brand on a<br />
version of the watch. The idea of a “ghosted” bezel, essentially one that had been<br />
so worn by sunlight and ultraviolet rays that it was nearly invisible, had been on<br />
our minds, and that became the starting point of our Rado and Revolution collab<br />
model. However, as Breschan had told us before, creating specific pigment colors<br />
for a ceramic depends on the use of certain metal oxides, and getting the right<br />
shade of gray for a near-invisible ceramic was a challenge. Our final decision<br />
was to create a seemingly faded gray, one that would retain its appearance for all<br />
eternity on such a watch.<br />
The Rado x The Rake & Revolution HyperChrome Captain Cook Automatic<br />
“Ghost Captain” ran in a small limited number and the interest and response<br />
from our buyers impressed us. But in the process of garnering feedback, many<br />
pointed out that at 37mm, the watch is a petite one for the 21st century. It’s clear<br />
that Rado had anticipated this as they themselves introduced a larger model of<br />
the Captain Cook together with a revival of the Mk II last year. Both models found<br />
attention among Rado’s fans, particularly as the brand had opted for a series of<br />
vivid colored models in marine blue and green (their color of the year). That was<br />
around the time when they asked if we would be interested in working on a larger<br />
edition of the Captain Cook, to which we enthusiastically agreed.<br />
84 THE MODERNIST
THE MODERNIST 85
THE ALLURE OF THE ANALOG DIVER<br />
Ask most divers what equipment they would take on a<br />
today, and it would be a digital dive computer,<br />
But I can attest to the allure of diving with an analog<br />
watch, which may be why I find the 42mm and 37mm<br />
Revolution Captain Cooks so charming. Some time<br />
dive trip, I found myself with a fault on my diving<br />
in between dives. However, I happened to have in my<br />
bag an analog dive watch, my old depth gauge and a<br />
deco card. So I determined to find out if I could, with<br />
assistance from my buddy, actually manage to<br />
dive using these tools like a plongeur from the ’60s.<br />
As it turned out, it wasn’t as much of a challenge<br />
thought it would be, though I did find myself<br />
checking the time on my watch to make doubly sure I<br />
pread,<br />
ise<br />
ado ×<br />
ution Captain<br />
Automatic<br />
“Ghost<br />
n”; the watch<br />
swithaseveneads-of-rice”<br />
racelet;<br />
on the wrist,<br />
rfectly sized<br />
day’s gents.<br />
86 THE MODERNIST
staying too deep for too long. It certainly cut back on the<br />
time I could spend admiring the reef I was at, but it made<br />
one point clear to me: the dive watch is a true example of a<br />
functional analog tool watch, one that can still perform the<br />
task it was designed for, and to great precision even today.<br />
That is the allure of the analog dive watch, even if it has more<br />
powerful modern substitutes today; a functional timepiece<br />
that still looks great in an urban environment.<br />
The “Ghost Captains” at 37mm and now at 42mm are<br />
both stunning examples of solidly built diving tool watches,<br />
both powered by the C07.611 caliber, based off the ETA<br />
2824-2 movement. The enhanced caliber offers a power<br />
reserve of up to 80 hours, and the larger Captain Cook<br />
“Ghost Captain” model is water-sealed to 300 meters,<br />
triple that of its more compact sibling and one-up over the<br />
regular Rado Captain Cook Automatic 42mm models. The<br />
larger format definitely feels more contemporary and 21stcentury<br />
sized on the wrist, paired with a seven-link “beadsof-rice”<br />
style steel bracelet.<br />
What’s also enhanced in the larger model is that the<br />
bracelet offers Rado’s EasyClip System. The system, which<br />
basically has two mobile pins on the spring bars which you<br />
can pull back with two fingers and simply lift the bracelet<br />
off the case, is a convenient at-home solution for strapswapping.<br />
For which we’ve also provided two alternative<br />
straps for the watch, a gray NATO canvas-and-leather<br />
option, as well as a gray calf leather pin buckle strap.<br />
The Rado x Revolution Captain Cook Automatic 42mm<br />
will be released in a limited production of 999 pieces<br />
and will be available on shop.revolution.watch as well as<br />
authorised Rado retailers worldwide. It’s a versatile daily<br />
beater; but don’t take our word for it, try it on for yourself.<br />
RADO × <strong>REVOLUTION</strong><br />
CAPTAIN COOK AUTOMATIC 42MM<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding caliber C07.611; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; date; 80-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 42mm; stainless steel with grey ceramic bezel;<br />
water-resistant to 300m<br />
STRAP Stainless-steel “beads-of-rice” bracelet with<br />
EasyClip System; gray calf leather with pin buckle and<br />
gray NATO fabric with leather insert; comes with two<br />
additional EasyClip spring bars<br />
THE MODERNIST 87
THE TAG HEUER<br />
CARRERA 160 YEARS<br />
SILVER LIMITED EDITION<br />
TAG Heuer dedicates its 160th anniversary to the Carrera, a watch birthed<br />
from the mind of the one and only Jack Heuer.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO<br />
Jack Heuer writes in his autobiography, The Times<br />
of My Life, that in January of 1962, having lent the<br />
organizers of the race a handful of Heuer pocket<br />
watch chronographs with split seconds, he was invited by the<br />
Sports Car Club of America to attend the 12 Hours Race at<br />
Sebring in Florida.<br />
Where endurance racing is concerned, the Sebring<br />
track was the place to be. It saw notable names from both<br />
the professional and amateur circuits descend, including<br />
the likes of German racer, Jochen Rindt, the Mexican racing<br />
brothers, Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, and even the actorturned<br />
race-car driver, Paul Newman.<br />
While at the track, Jack mostly hung out at the Ferrari<br />
pits. He clearly had a personal inclination towards the<br />
Prancing Pony, as he spent enough time at their pits to get<br />
acquainted with the parents of the Rodriguez brothers, who<br />
were piloting for Ferrari that year.<br />
Jack writes, “They [parents of the Rodriguez brothers]<br />
told me that they were lucky that their boys were so young —<br />
Pedro was then 21 and Ricardo 19 — because if they had been<br />
born a few years earlier they would certainly have participated<br />
in the dangerous race across Mexico known as the Carrera<br />
Panamericana Mexico. At the time it was considered to be<br />
the most dangerous sports car race in the world and over<br />
a period of five years had claimed over 30 victims. It was<br />
called off in 1955 because of safety concern, a decision no<br />
doubt reinforced by the disaster at Le Mans the same year.”<br />
It was at Sebring that Jack first encountered the word<br />
Carrera, and now, as history holds, it clearly left a deepseated<br />
impression on him. Jack writes, “I loved not only its<br />
sexy sound but also its multiple meanings, which include<br />
road, race course and career. All very much Heuer territory!<br />
So as soon as I got back to Switzerland I rushed to register<br />
the name under ‘Heuer Carrera’.”<br />
DESIGNING THE CARRERA<br />
As a student, Jack Heuer had developed an interest and love<br />
for modern design. He writes that he loved the works of<br />
furniture designers Le Corbusier and Charles Eames, and<br />
architects such as Eero Saarinen and Oscar Niemeyer. Jack<br />
shares that, in fact as a student, he even saved enough to buy<br />
himself an Eames lounge chair, which he admits, looked<br />
oddly out of place in his student accommodation.<br />
When time came to design the first watch of his career<br />
in the industry, as majority shareholder of Heuer, he applied<br />
principles that he learned from following the works of these<br />
world-renowned designers to his own creation.<br />
Jack starts off sharing that wristwatch chronographs<br />
were popular in those days (in the midst of the Second<br />
World War), particularly among the military and artillery<br />
officers who used their chronograph wristwatches to<br />
calculate distances and synchronize attack times with troops<br />
on the ground. “Many of these chronographs were equipped<br />
with artillery telemeters with spiral scales which made their<br />
dials difficult to read. I wanted a dial that had a clear, clean<br />
design, and a new technical invention came to my aid.”<br />
Jack elaborates, “A manufacturer of plastic watch<br />
crystals had invented a steel tension ring that fitted<br />
inside the crystal and kept it under tension against the<br />
surrounding steel case, thereby greatly increasing the<br />
A close-up shot of<br />
the new Carrera 160<br />
Years Silver Limited<br />
Edition’s dial. The<br />
sunray brushed<br />
dial contrasts<br />
with the circular<br />
graining of the three<br />
counters, and the<br />
polished angled<br />
hands and applied<br />
indexes add to its<br />
sophistication. The<br />
small seconds hand<br />
and chronograph<br />
indicators are all in<br />
black and a vintage<br />
lume is applied<br />
to the hands and<br />
indexes as well.<br />
88 THE MODERNIST
THE CARRERA, 1964 (LEFT) VS 2020 (RIGHT)<br />
5 KEY DIFFERENCES<br />
1964 REF. 2447S<br />
The 2447S is housed in<br />
a 36mm stainless steel<br />
case, which is rather<br />
large for the era.<br />
It’s fitted with a boxed<br />
acrylic crystal.<br />
The watch bears a<br />
manually wound Valjoux<br />
72 movement.<br />
The running seconds<br />
for the watch is situated<br />
at nine o’clock, based<br />
on the configuration<br />
of the Valjoux 72.<br />
Within the 12-hour totalizer,<br />
the dial has a ‘T’ marking<br />
above the ‘SWISS’ label,<br />
indicating the use of tritium<br />
as luminous material.<br />
2020 CARRERA 160<br />
YEARS SILVER EDITI<br />
The watch is housed in a<br />
39mm stainless steel cas<br />
a suitable contemporary<br />
dress size for 2020.<br />
It’s fitted with a boxed<br />
sapphire crystal.<br />
The watch bears a<br />
self-winding Heuer 02<br />
in-house movement,<br />
which has been tested<br />
extensively for precision.<br />
The running seconds<br />
for the watch is situated<br />
at six o’clock.<br />
The ‘SWISS’ label is loca<br />
within the running seco<br />
withoutthe‘T’marking,<br />
following the 1963 dial<br />
execution of the 2447S.<br />
degree of water resistance. I decided to use the inside<br />
bevel of this tension ring to carry the markings measuring<br />
one-fifths of a second. In other words, the flat dial surface<br />
no longer had to carry these markings — they had now been<br />
shifted off onto the tension ring — and this was the secret<br />
behind the fresh, clean and uncluttered appearance of my<br />
first ‘Carrera’.”<br />
CELEBRATING A MILESTONE<br />
The Carrera marked its 50th anniversary back in 2013, but<br />
there’s been a renewed sense of interest in the watch and<br />
its lineage, as evident in recent runaway successes such as<br />
the TAG Heuer Carrera Fragment, created in collaboration<br />
with acclaimed Japanese artist, Hiroshi Fujiwara.<br />
The strength in the present-generation Carreras<br />
stems from the design identity that Jack Heuer himself<br />
established when he launched the watch collection in<br />
1963; i.e. its “fresh, clean and uncluttered” dial.<br />
In celebrating the milestone that the Carrera was for<br />
both Jack Heuer and Heuer, the company, TAG Heuer in<br />
2020 is dedicating its 160th anniversary year, to the Carrera.<br />
And celebrations are already underway, with the TAG Heuer<br />
Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition that was stealthily<br />
launched during the LVMH Watch Week in Dubai.<br />
Stealthily because, TAG Heuer wasn’t formally<br />
exhibiting in Dubai. We got to hear of the watch as a<br />
result of a miscommunication (with the watch appearing<br />
on Instagram ahead of its official launch) and the<br />
kindness of our friend, and TAG Heuer’s heritage<br />
director, Catherine Eberle-Devaux, who was casually<br />
present at the fair with the watch in her pocket.<br />
Catherine shared with us that the watch created to kick<br />
the year off is based off a 1964 Carrera, referred to as the<br />
2447S. The 2447 is believed to have been one of the earliest<br />
Carreras, with the very first examples of it to have left the<br />
manufacture in 1963, fitted with a matte eggshell-white<br />
dial. These are some of the rarest specimens of the 2447S.<br />
In the following year, the watch was fitted with a silver<br />
starburst-finished dial and these remained in production<br />
for the longer lifespan of the watch. It is suggested that the<br />
reason that Heuer and Singer, the dial producer, had moved<br />
away from the eggshell-colored dials is possibly that the<br />
treatment on the dials proved too fragile for heavy use.<br />
Jack mentions in his autobiography that he decided<br />
to use the inside bevel of the steel tension ring that fitted<br />
inside the crystal, and kept it under tension against the<br />
surrounding steel case, to carry the markings measuring<br />
one-fifths of a second. But later as demand for variations of<br />
chronograph scales grew among Heuer customers, parts of<br />
the scale had to be brought back to the primary dial.<br />
These later dials can also be identified by the “T” above<br />
the “SWISS” print in the six o’clock counter. Aesthetic<br />
differences aside, all of these watches were driven by the<br />
Valjoux 72, which lent to the 36mm diameter of the watch;<br />
the 30-minute totalizer (three o’clock); 12-hour totalizer<br />
(six o’clock); and the running small seconds (nine o’clock).<br />
90 THE MODERNIST
Below<br />
A back view of the<br />
Carrera 160 years<br />
Silver Limited<br />
Edition, showing<br />
off the specially<br />
decorated rotor to<br />
commemorate the<br />
160th anniversary<br />
of the brand.<br />
TAG HEUER CARRERA 160 YEARS SILVER<br />
LIMITED EDITION<br />
The 2020 re-edition of the 2447S is a bit of a mashup of<br />
its earliest and later execution. You’ll see that as per Jack’s<br />
implementation, the one-fifths of a second scale is on the<br />
steel tension ring of the watch dial. But the watch having<br />
the silver sunray-brushed dial, is a clear nod to the later<br />
version. This is why TAG Heuer proposes this new watch,<br />
as based off the 1964 2447S, rather than a 1963 version.<br />
Another detail borrowed from the 1963 dial is the solitary<br />
“SWISS”, the later dials would have had the “T” printed<br />
above indicating the use of tritium on the dial.<br />
Deviations, by virtue of the fact that it’s been 57 years<br />
since the Carrera was first introduced, are aplenty. While<br />
the case is more or less the same, polished stainless steel<br />
with the round chrono-pushers, it is now larger at 39mm<br />
up from 36mm.<br />
The larger size now is mostly due to the use of the<br />
modern automatic caliber Heuer 02, as opposed to the<br />
1960s manual-winding Valjoux 72. The watch is capped<br />
off with a boxed sapphire crystal, which mimics the boxed<br />
acrylic crystal that would’ve been found on the originals.<br />
Jeff Stein, a friend and a scholar on all matters<br />
pertaining to Heuer, thoughtfully addresses the matter of<br />
the unique challenge that a watchmaker like TAG Heuer<br />
finds itself faced with every time they embark on a reissue.<br />
On his site onthedash.com, Jeff writes, “With the Carrera<br />
160 Silver Limited Edition, we have a different design<br />
team that was operating under a different mandate. While<br />
Hiroshi Fujiwara was at liberty to add or delete elements<br />
of the predecessor, the mandate for the new Carrera was<br />
to produce a watch that would mimic the 1964 Carrera, to<br />
the extent feasible. While this may sound restrictive, the<br />
new Carrera incorporates accents and seemingly minor<br />
design elements that serve to complete a beautiful design.<br />
Whether it’s the numbers on the recorders, the precise<br />
shade of the faux lume, or the sunburst finish of the paint,<br />
the newest Carrera shows the attention to detail required<br />
to make a re-edition collectible, as a fitting member of the<br />
Carrera family. Since 1996, we have seen a lot of TAG Heuer<br />
Carreras; to my eye, it’s the details of the Carrera 160 Silver<br />
LE that make it a worthy addition to the Carrera family.”<br />
And Jeff is absolutely right to congratulate the design<br />
team at TAG Heuer as such. Revolution’s founding<br />
editor, Wei Koh, often asks the team this question when<br />
he encounters timepieces that, aesthetically speaking,<br />
move him on a personal level: “What movement’s<br />
inside?” And when the rest of team is unable to answer<br />
him in the next split second (because no one else in the<br />
team has Wei’s savant-like ability to retain reference<br />
numbers), Wei himself offers: “With a watch this goodlooking,<br />
does it matter much what’s on the inside?”<br />
The same can be suggested for the TAG Heuer Carrera<br />
160 Years Silver Limited Edition. You see, one of this 2020<br />
edition’s biggest deviations from the original is one that is right<br />
under all of our noses. The 1960s 2447S had its small running<br />
seconds counter at nine o’clock (Valjoux 72). The 2020 reedition,<br />
however, has its running seconds counter at six o’clock<br />
(Caliber Heuer 02). Meaning to say that the tri-compax<br />
orientation on the watch at hand is completely different.<br />
In the most discerning circles of watch collectors, such<br />
deviations have been known to end careers; not to mention,<br />
end the lifetimes of new releases long before they hit the<br />
shelves. As Jeff writes, “The new Carrera has only been<br />
rumored for a couple of days, and already we hear of vintage<br />
Heuer guys considering their purchases.” Surely there is no<br />
greater validation for a reissued vintage watch. And if the<br />
TAG Heuer Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition is a<br />
sign of things that are to come in the year of the Carrera, we<br />
can only expect greater. Perhaps an all-out 2447N (allblack<br />
dial), or a 2447NS (reverse panda dial)?<br />
TAG HEUER<br />
CARRERA 160 YEARS SILVER LIMITED EDITION<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding caliber Heuer 02; hours and<br />
minutes; running subsidiary seconds; chronograph<br />
with central seconds hand, 30-minute and 12-hour<br />
totalizers; 80-hour power reserve<br />
CASE 39mm; stainless steel; water-resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Black alligator leather and polished stainlesssteel<br />
folding clasp with double safety push-buttons<br />
THE MODERNIST 91
BACK TO THE FUTURE<br />
Combine a French flair for design with Swiss watchmaking internals and a unique display based on a customised<br />
module, and you get the ingredients for a successful watch brand. We take a deeper dive into how Reservoir Watch<br />
startedasitbeginstomakeinroadsintotheUSmarket.Moreonpage112.
PEDAL TO<br />
THE METTLE<br />
At 34 and showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, road sprinter Mark<br />
Cavendish is well on his way to becoming the cycling world’s G.O.A.T. We<br />
find out what it takes to get McLaren to name a color for him and how his<br />
association with Richard Mille developed.<br />
WORDS WEI KOH<br />
IMAGES RICHARD MILLE<br />
You’ve shown incredible resilience coming back from<br />
crashes and Epstein-Barr and the mental effects that<br />
being out of competition must bring. What are the most<br />
important things when it comes to recovery, both physical<br />
and mental?<br />
The hardest thing has been dealing with the pressure from<br />
people that are ignorant to those physical and mental effects.<br />
Whether they be media, rivals, or others involved in the<br />
sport. At the end of the day, I’m human, not a machine. If<br />
a watch has a mechanical fault or loses a second, it can be<br />
fixed and immediately works like nothing had happened. A<br />
human body obviously needs time to get over the illness or<br />
injury, and time for rehabilitation. Add to that the fact that<br />
top level sport is all about performing at the absolute peak<br />
of your capacity — a capacity level that will have taken a<br />
number of years to build up in order to even reach that point<br />
in the first place — it therefore means that coming back from<br />
zero, of course, can take a while.<br />
I’m just incredibly lucky I’ve got a small amount of<br />
wonderful people around me: family, friends, sponsors, that<br />
have shown support and faith and reminded me of what I can<br />
achieve when I’m at my best.<br />
Did your impressive result at the London Six Day at the<br />
end of 2019 help set you up for 2020?<br />
Definitely riding the velodrome has helped me during my<br />
career. Although road and track cycling both fundamentally<br />
use two wheels, a chain and handlebars, they’re actually<br />
quite different sports. You could say one is like IndyCar<br />
racing and the other like Dakar Rally.<br />
The high-intensity efforts on the track for sure help for<br />
my sprint speed, as does using different muscle groups from<br />
riding a single fixed gear. And riding in a tight bunch with no<br />
brakes helps me stay sharp mentally.<br />
At 34 and four Tour de France wins away from matching<br />
Eddy Merckx’s record, what gives you the motivation<br />
every morning to wake up and train like a badass and<br />
focus on winning?<br />
Simply, winning. Since I was a kid I had to try and win at<br />
everything, not just cycling. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t<br />
always win, but I always strived for it. It wasn’t good enough<br />
for me to be the best I could be; I had to be the best of<br />
everyone. As I’ve gotten older, the purpose of winning has<br />
changed, but the desire to win hasn’t. When I was young,<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 95
n<br />
.<br />
it was always for me and how far I could go. Now it’s for my family, my children.<br />
How proud I can make them and how I can fundamentally give them the best life I<br />
can manage.<br />
The world has changed with older athletes like Nadal and Federer still at their<br />
peaks as they approach their 40s and Floyd Mayweather is still fighting at 42.<br />
What is giving more mature athletes the ability to perform at their best?<br />
I think experience definitely helps you see things with a more measured<br />
perspective. Science and innovation have changed a lot of sports, particularly<br />
cycling, over the last 10 to 15 years, but maturity for sure helps with working out<br />
how to adapt to those changes, even if the actual adaptation can be a little bit<br />
more difficult.<br />
Two of your best friends and lead-out men, Mark Renshaw and Bernhard Eisel,<br />
have recently retired. Was it hard to see them go? How do you forge similar<br />
relationships with new teammates?<br />
Oof. I joke now that I know more team personnel and race organizers than riders<br />
in the peloton! Everyone I’ve shared my career with has come to the end. But that’s<br />
professional sport. The proudest thing is that I have made lifelong friends, not just<br />
ridden with work colleagues. For me, I think teams always work better if there’s a<br />
genuine relationship between the people, not just out performing a job.<br />
McLaren collaborated on a Venge for you, but this time [the company] is<br />
applying expertise in performance metrics and telemetry. What do you think<br />
the critical advantage will be?<br />
What McLaren does best is think outside the box. Even though there’ve been<br />
96 BACK TO THE FUTURE
BACK TO THE FUTURE 97
significant technological advancements in recent years,<br />
aspects of cycling are still quite archaic compared to, say,<br />
Formula 1. McLaren has some of the most incredible,<br />
interesting minds you’ll ever meet; people who ask “why?”<br />
Or “but what if we did it like this?”. Not just on trivial things,<br />
but on things that you’d just accept as being “as they are”.<br />
McLaren is a legend in British racing. How pleased are<br />
you to partner with them and what do you feel are the<br />
synergies?<br />
Across all of the entities of McLaren Group, one word stays<br />
fundamental: Racing. McLaren was born from racing, and<br />
they’ve kept that philosophy. Don’t stop striving to be the<br />
best. And as I said earlier, not the best you can be, but the<br />
best of everyone. Keep moving forward, don’t rest and<br />
admire what you’ve achieved, because someone will overtake<br />
you while you’re looking back admiring.<br />
It’s an absolute dream. To think I grew up watching<br />
Senna, Coulthard, Häkkinen, and now I’m competing under<br />
the same name.<br />
How cool was it that McLaren created a colour specifically<br />
for you called Cavendish Green?<br />
Yeah, I have an MSO MP4-12C with a green fleck in the<br />
paint. I love it. It was McLaren Automotive’s first highquantity-production<br />
car model. I remember on a holiday in<br />
London 25 years ago, seeing the [McLaren] F1 for the first<br />
time; one of the most significant road cars of all time. But I’d<br />
have never imagined owning a McLaren. So my 12C has as<br />
much sentimental value as it does joy of driving it.<br />
98 BACK TO THE FUTURE
Any secrets to the way your new bike is set up? We notice you haven’t followed the small<br />
chain-ring trend…<br />
I’ve gone longer with the bike than the last few years. That’s all I’m saying!! Sorry!<br />
You’ve had a long and amazing history with Rod Ellingworth, who was with you when you won the<br />
world championship. What strength does your relationship bring to Bahrain-McLaren?<br />
Rod is a grafter. He runs the team, but will be the first person with his sleeves rolled up, moving tables in<br />
a dinner hall, for instance.<br />
He has this unique ability to tap into how to say the same thing to different people in a way that<br />
they’d take it constructively, whether it be positive or negative.<br />
You always wear your Richard Mille RM 011 on the wrist when racing; it must have taken its share of<br />
shocks and abuse. How has it performed under all this stress?<br />
Mate, it’s had some savage hard encounters with the tarmac, that’s for sure!! But thankfully the only<br />
stress I ever need to have, is getting the strap dirty from racing in terrible weather, so having to clean it<br />
after!<br />
If given the opportunity to collaborate on a watch with Richard, what would be the most important<br />
criteria? Lightweight, comfort, shock resistance, aerodynamics or just that it be cool as hell?<br />
Possibly Cavendish Green quartz TPT for the sprinter’s jersey?<br />
Shit, you’ve got me there! Hmmm. Well, he’s covered all the performance points above already… Haha.<br />
Describe your relationship with Richard Mille the man?<br />
I don’t think there’s anyone that’s met Richard that doesn’t say how warm, open and personable he<br />
is. He’ll message just to ask how you are. He’s all heart. The company is like one big family. And that’s<br />
radiated from the top. It’s such a pleasure to say I have genuine friends at the company. Not just<br />
Richard himself.<br />
Despite all your success you’re one of the nicest, most approachable and down-to-earth people we<br />
know. What’s the secret for being so cool?<br />
Aww, Wei, you’ve made me blush! Thank you, mate. That means a lot. I just think it’s important in life<br />
to be open and have integrity. Be yourself. People won’t like it sometimes, but if they don’t appreciate<br />
or respect it, then it’s probably not worth worrying about what opinion they have of you anyway. Oh and<br />
read Revolution magazine too! Haha.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 99
LA GRANDE<br />
DAME<br />
As Grand Seiko celebrates its 60th anniversary this year,<br />
the brand pays tribute to some of its greatest hits with a<br />
slew of new offerings.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO, SUMIT NAG & FELIX SCHOLZ<br />
The Seiko company was first founded in 1881 by<br />
Kintaro Hattori as an importer of fine quality watch<br />
and jewelry products, and post-incorporation<br />
in 1892, Mr Hattori soon began to develop Japanese<br />
watchmaking, believing that the country’s craftsmen would<br />
be capable of making sophisticated timekeepers. As Daini<br />
Seikosha and Suwa Seikosha began producing watches<br />
under various names, in the ’60s they began to focus on<br />
developing fine chronometers that were comparable to Swiss<br />
precision performers. Like any Asian student competing<br />
against foreigners, their diligent study efforts soon paid off,<br />
and they quickly caught up with their Swiss peers.<br />
However, the development of beautiful watchmaking<br />
isn’t merely innate performance; the exterior is just as<br />
significant. Up till the ’50s, Seiko didn’t have a design ideas<br />
department until 1958. When Mr Taro Tanaka was hired in<br />
1959, it marked the first step in the transformation of the<br />
brand. Mr Tanaka would go on to develop a complete set of<br />
rules for Grand Seiko and the discontinued King Seiko’s<br />
collection, a system of design that remains within the Seiko<br />
organization’s guidelines.<br />
The rules reflected the style of watch design popular in<br />
the era, and to this day, still guides the industry at large. The<br />
global perception of luxury and precious products overall<br />
has changed very little. However, the very first Grand Seiko<br />
released in 1960, with a stated chronometer precision<br />
of -3/+12 seconds a day held on to classic Seiko looks —<br />
rounded, angled lugs on a round case with a thin bezel;<br />
dauphine hands and faceted hour markers, brushed or softly<br />
polished surfaces.<br />
The said reference, the 3180, bore a caliber of the<br />
same number, with 25 jewels and a reserve of 45 hours. The<br />
words ‘Grand Seiko’, in a stylized font, were applied on the<br />
dial, a marked difference from later models which bore the<br />
‘GS’ abbreviation. The case back bore the symbol of a lion,<br />
Seiko’s emblematic creature and the case was in gold. A few<br />
models were later produced in full platinum.<br />
GRAND SEIKO AT 60<br />
Grand Seiko’s rise in the industry since has been nothing<br />
short of meteoric. Both in terms of performance, as well as<br />
design and stylistics, the brand’s original cult following has<br />
gone mainstream. Today, it’s coveted both among those who<br />
love high-end watchmaking, as well as those who appreciate<br />
the Japanese style of aesthetics and design, a utilitarian<br />
mode of watchmaking, coupled with traditional crafts.<br />
It’s a trend that Grand Seiko itself has noticed and<br />
played up. Last year, the brand released the SBGZ001,<br />
with a snowflake-pattern dial and case in platinum that<br />
was handworked by artisans of the Micro Artist Studio<br />
in Shiojiri. The matte, irregular pattern gave the watch<br />
a startlingly distinct look that was incredibly sexy and<br />
sophisticated, demonstrated by how quickly the watch sold<br />
out even at a rather steep price of USD70,000.<br />
This year marks Grand Seiko’s 60th anniversary,<br />
and the company’s released a bevy of new models that<br />
are targeted at both new and old, classic and sporty<br />
watch buyers. The stars of this year’s 60th anniversary<br />
celebrations are the Elegance SBGW257, 258 and 259<br />
references, a trio of Grand Seikos that are loyal to the<br />
reference 3180 in looks. Angled polished surfaces play<br />
against the mirror-finished case and bezel surfaces, as<br />
well as around the sapphire case back, through which<br />
one can admire the 9S64 manually-wound caliber.<br />
The movement, first introduced in 2011, featured a<br />
SPRON alloy (a material developed by Seiko<br />
for its hairspring, the 610, and mainspring, the 510)<br />
which is less likely to deform and has greater tensile<br />
performance, so it can deliver better isochronism<br />
and store more energy for release in the movement.<br />
The escape wheel and pallet fork are also manufactured<br />
with Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and are<br />
designed to allow them to hold lubricating oil better. The<br />
movement delivers a three-day power reserve in the slim<br />
watch, which is sized at a more era-appropriate 38mm,<br />
compared with the 3180’s 35mm.<br />
Three models of the watch have been produced: the<br />
first in platinum, sunray-brushed dial with gold faceted<br />
markers and dauphine hands; the second in yellow gold with<br />
a white dial; and the final model in Brilliant Hard Titanium,<br />
a material that’s exclusive to Grand Seiko. The enhanced<br />
material has twice the hardness of steel with the weight<br />
of titanium, and is also more lustrous than regular-grade<br />
titanium, which makes the watch’s Zaratsu polished surface<br />
appear even more brilliant than usual. The watch comes in a<br />
Grand Seiko blue dial.<br />
100 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
AGrandDameat<br />
60, Grand Seiko<br />
returns to its<br />
veryfirstrootsto<br />
commemorate its<br />
60th anniversary<br />
in style.<br />
The SBGW258<br />
(shown here) is in<br />
yellow gold. The<br />
inset images are<br />
the SBGW257<br />
(left) and<br />
SBGW259 (right),<br />
are available in<br />
platinum and<br />
Brilliant Hard<br />
Titanium, a<br />
material that’s<br />
exclusive to<br />
Grand Seiko.<br />
BACK
A NEW SPRING DRIVE<br />
Last year when we were invited to Seiko’s Shizukuishi Watch<br />
Studio for a visit, we heard whispers of a new movement<br />
that would be released in 2020 to commemorate their 60th<br />
anniversary. Now, both movements have been unveiled<br />
and it’s not just one but two movements that have been<br />
presented. The 9RA5 caliber is a Spring Drive development<br />
while the 9SA5 is a mechanical watch movement.<br />
Seiko’s Spring Drive has long been well-respected<br />
in the industry since it first appeared in 1999. To quickly<br />
recap, the movement essentially runs like a regular gear<br />
train, except that the balance wheel is instead replaced with<br />
a “glide wheel” that acts like the fixed fourth wheel of the<br />
movement and drives the seconds hand. The regulation<br />
of the gear train is by an electromagnet, which brakes the<br />
motion of the wheel to keep it constant. The system delivers<br />
256 brakes per second, controlled by a samadium-cobalt<br />
electromagnet that has 25,000 coils.<br />
The winding system is bi-directional and controlled by<br />
a lever that was developed in-house by Seiko in 1959. In<br />
the new 9RA5 movement, the Magic Lever, as it is known,<br />
is now off-set from its old placement at the centre of the<br />
movement, which means the caliber slims down. Two<br />
barrels power the movement, in differing sizes, and run<br />
in overlapping series so as to deliver a very even torque<br />
throughout the movement’s power reserve, while lasting<br />
for 120 hours. In addition, a single piece bridge has been<br />
developed and machined, that’s meant to secure the new<br />
layout of the gear train. This single center bridge provides<br />
significant shock resistance for the movement, up to ISO<br />
6425 requirements.<br />
The new caliber is also more precise thanks to an<br />
improved integrated circuit that has a sensor to monitor the<br />
temperature of the movement. Since quartz is temperature<br />
sensitive, the circuit board compensates for any fluctuations<br />
in the oscillation rate.<br />
The first watch to bear the new 9RA5 caliber is the<br />
Grand Seiko 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Professional<br />
Diver’s Watch 600M reference SLGA001, to be made<br />
available to customers in a limited edition of 700 pieces<br />
from August 2020 onwards. The movement offers a<br />
precision of 10 seconds per month, or 0.5 seconds a day.<br />
The case and bracelet are in high intensity titanium, a Grand<br />
Seiko material that’s also seen in its 60th anniversary special<br />
editions. The material has double the hardness of steel while<br />
maintaining the light weight of titanium, along with a 600<br />
meter water resistance and the movement is magnetically<br />
shielded, according to ISO 6425 requirements. The crown,<br />
like all Seiko diving watches, is screw-down and positioned<br />
at four o’clock, rather than three, a Seiko characteristic. The<br />
bracelet also has an easy extension function for a convenient<br />
fit over a diving suit and a secure lock.<br />
Above<br />
The Grand Seiko<br />
reference 3180<br />
from 1960.<br />
Left<br />
The Grand Seiko<br />
60th Anniversary<br />
Limited Edition<br />
Professional<br />
Diver’s Watch<br />
600M SLGA001.<br />
Featured below is<br />
the 9RA5 Spring<br />
Drive caliber, with<br />
twin barrels, an<br />
off-set Magic Lever<br />
and a single center<br />
bridge for enhanced<br />
shock resistance.<br />
102 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
A NEW HI-BEAT MOVEMENT<br />
Grand Seiko is one of two watchmakers that have<br />
consistently delivered a high-speed escapement. While<br />
other watchmakers have experimented and developed<br />
movements that deliver regulation rates upwards of 10 Hz,<br />
the Hi-Beat movement has been made regular appearances<br />
in Grand Seiko watches. This year, the brand has introduced<br />
a new Hi-Beat caliber, the 9SA5, in a limited edition Grand<br />
Seiko 60th Anniversary edition, the reference SLGH002.<br />
The 60th Anniversary Limited Edition SLGH002 builds<br />
on the Grand Seiko Style that was defined in 1967, but with<br />
discreet cosmetic updates. For one, the watch sits with a<br />
thickness of just 11.7mm, which make for an elegant profile.<br />
Broad beveled, visibly wider lugs and bezel alternate with<br />
polished and brushed finishes, giving the 40mm yellow gold<br />
case a great sense of presence despite the watch being quite<br />
thin. Matching the more prominent lugs, the elements on<br />
the dial — the hour markers, hands and date window — are<br />
likewise given greater volume so that nothing on the watch<br />
face looks out of place.<br />
Now the reason why the watch is as thin as it is, is<br />
because of that new movement, the caliber 9SA5 Hi-Beat<br />
36000. Grand Seiko says that the new movement is 15<br />
percent slimmer than other Hi-Beat calibers that are<br />
presently in production. This was made possible by a new<br />
approach to their gear train layout, which has all of the<br />
components laid out on a<br />
single horizontal plane. Its<br />
barrels are in series followed<br />
by the wheels, again in series,<br />
and finally the escapement assembly.<br />
From barrel to escapement, every component<br />
relates to one another in series.<br />
The next innovation in the movement comes courtesy<br />
of a brand-new escapement design. The new mechanism<br />
allows for the escapement wheel to directly transmit power<br />
to the balance wheel. But there is still a traditional pallet and<br />
fork assembly. So what happens is that when the escapement<br />
wheel spins in one direction, it hits the balance wheel<br />
directly and when it spins in the opposite direction it gives<br />
impulse to the pallet fork.<br />
The last bit of innovation that must be mentioned is<br />
a new free-sprung balance developed for this caliber.<br />
Preceding Hi-Beat movements used flat hairsprings while<br />
the 9SA5’s hairspring includes an overcoil, the shape of<br />
which was engineered after having put the initial prototypes<br />
through 80,000 simulations.<br />
The Grand Seiko<br />
60th Anniversary<br />
Edition SLGH002<br />
with Hi-Beat<br />
movement.<br />
Above right<br />
The 9SA5 caliber<br />
features a new gear<br />
trainlayoutwithall<br />
of its components<br />
on a single plane,<br />
thus slimming the<br />
movement down<br />
significantly. It also<br />
features a direct<br />
impulse escapement<br />
and new freesprung<br />
balance.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 103
This page, clockwise<br />
The SBGW263<br />
in platinum<br />
with platinum<br />
dial, featuring a<br />
hand-engraved<br />
dialcraftedatthe<br />
Grand Seiko Studio<br />
Shizukuishi.<br />
The reference<br />
SBGW264 features<br />
a stamped dial that<br />
is inspired by the<br />
white and green of<br />
silver birch trees<br />
in Shizukuishi.<br />
On the back of the<br />
case, a gold plate<br />
with a Grand Seiko<br />
stamp, as well as<br />
limited edition and<br />
60th Anniversary<br />
markings are<br />
indicated.<br />
104 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
FROM SHIZUKUISHI<br />
Grand Seiko’s mechanical watches are born in its Morioka<br />
facility, in the Shizukuishi area, in the north of Honshu<br />
island. It’s a mountainous, forested part of Japan, and very<br />
beautiful. It’s also an inspiration for Grand Seiko’s watches<br />
— for example, the famously subtle Mt. Iwate dials take<br />
their name from a nearby peak. This year, apart from all<br />
the remarkable releases the brand has presented, it’s also<br />
opening the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi, which will<br />
expand its production and offer guests a better discovery<br />
experience. If a trip to Japan isn’t on your radar, Grand<br />
Seiko has two other celebrations planned: the limited<br />
edition manually-wound dress watches SBGW263 and<br />
SBGW264, the former an incredible affair in hand-worked<br />
platinum, the latter a green and gold stunner.<br />
With a 39mm platinum case, SBGW263 is already a<br />
refined offering but its dial takes it to the next level. This<br />
watch doesn’t rely on pattern or printing to dazzle, but<br />
rather on the meticulous hand engraving of master engraver<br />
Kiyoshi Terui and his small team. All the details on this dial:<br />
the chapter ring, the hours, the hands and even the Grand<br />
Seiko logo itself is peerlessly engraved out of white gold,<br />
with precise strokes of a razor-sharp buren. As you can<br />
imagine, this time-consuming piece is an exceptionally<br />
limited affair, with only 20 pieces being made.<br />
The second limited-edition celebrating Shizukuishi is<br />
the SBGW264, again, a 9S64-powered manually winding<br />
affair in rose gold — 39mm across and a comparatively<br />
slender 11.6mm tall. The gold of the case is contrasted<br />
beautifully by the deep, forest green dial, which has been<br />
machine engraved with an intricate pattern. The dial<br />
shimmers green and white, much like the forest of silver<br />
birch trees of Shizukuishi. The dial and hands on this model,<br />
as with SBGW263, are slightly and subtly curved, for greater<br />
legibility and elegance. This watch is limited to 120 pieces,<br />
and both models are available from July.<br />
The reference<br />
STGK015, the<br />
60th Anniversary<br />
edition featuring a<br />
specially developed<br />
automatic<br />
movement, the<br />
9S27, for its<br />
ladies’ models.<br />
The reference<br />
SBGO007 with a<br />
9F85 quartz caliber<br />
featuring a quick<br />
hour adjustment.<br />
The star at ‘6’<br />
o’clock references<br />
its special dial with<br />
solid gold markers.<br />
For those who prefer a more commercially popular Grand<br />
Seiko look, four new models in contemporary styling and<br />
the Grand Seiko’s iconic blue have been released. Two of<br />
the models bear the mechanical movement, one for each<br />
gender. For the gents, the Heritage Collection Hi-Beat<br />
36000 Limited Edition abide by Mr Tanaka’s Grammar<br />
of Design, updated by current designer Nobuhiro Kosugi,<br />
with Zaratsu polished surfaces on angled curved lugs with a<br />
similarly worked bracelet. This model references the 44GS<br />
that’s emblematic of Grand Seiko watch designs since,<br />
with a high-beat 9S85 caliber offering a 55-hour power<br />
reserve and a precision of -3/+5 seconds. On the dial, the<br />
‘GS’ logo is in gold, with a red seconds hand and details to<br />
commemorate this as a 60th anniversary model.<br />
The women’s model is styled in a round case, inspired to<br />
some extent by the original 19GS model made for ladies with<br />
a row of diamonds on the bezel along with diamond hour<br />
markers. The dial is in blue mother-of-pearl and the watch<br />
is powered by an automatic 9S27 caliber developed for<br />
Grand Seiko’s women’s models. The watch is limited to 300<br />
pieces worldwide, and the men’s Heritage model to 1,500<br />
pieces across the globe.<br />
Two quartz models have also been created in the<br />
Heritage and Sport lines, featuring a new Grand Seiko<br />
caliber, the 9F85. The new movement sports a quick-hour<br />
adjustment, controlled via the crown, to allow for easy time<br />
zone changes on the watch. The Heritage model is styled<br />
in classic Grand Seiko looks with a gold plate featuring<br />
the Seiko lion emblazoned on the back. The Sport edition<br />
features a ceramic blue bezel and both are sized at 40mm,<br />
paired with a three-link steel bracelet.<br />
We’re sure that we’ll be seeing more Grand Seiko<br />
models released throughout the year (a 56GS from 1970,<br />
perhaps?). Whatever the case, this is a year to celebrate the<br />
best of Japanese watchmaking.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 105
Next, housed in yellow gold and with a matching<br />
champagne dial in sunray finishing is “La Baladeuse” (in<br />
English, the portable lamp), which was a motorized airship<br />
that Santos-Dumont flew in Parisian skies in 1903. It was<br />
the ninth version of his airships, a single-seater air travel<br />
solution that was meant for use in urban spaces. For the “La<br />
Baladeuse”, a matching olive green alligator leather strap<br />
and a sapphire cabochon crown are paired with the watch,<br />
which is limited to 300 pieces and bears a drawing of the<br />
skyship on the closed caseback.<br />
The third model is “Le 14 bis”, a steel edition with a<br />
yellow gold bezel and dark grey dial that’s restricted to<br />
500 pieces globally. The “Santos-Dumont 14 bis” winged<br />
aircraft for which this watch was named, was inspired by the<br />
flight of birds, with a minimalist construction and cables that<br />
connected the fins of the craft with the rudder and fuselage.<br />
It was the aircraft in which his first public European flight<br />
took place, and with which he won the Archdeacon Cup as<br />
well as the Aero Club of France prize for flight distance. The<br />
watch bears an engraving of the aircraft on the back and a<br />
crown capped with a blue spinel, as well as a matching grey<br />
alligator leather strap.<br />
A final model in the limited edition, and what might be<br />
considered Santos-Dumont’s crowning glory, is the “La<br />
Demoiselle”, inspired by the monoplane with which he<br />
capped his career as an aviator, prior to the start of the First<br />
World War. The watch is inspired by Santos-Dumont’s<br />
Panama hat, which was a style icon of his. The light brown<br />
dial with “pomme” hands bears a texture of Panama hat<br />
weave, and is matched with a made-to-measure Panama<br />
weave strap. As a highlight and homage to Santos-Dumont’s<br />
significance to Cartier, the little “Cartier” signature that<br />
typically appears at the seven o’clock marker has “Santos”<br />
on it instead. The watch is restricted to 30 pieces, and<br />
comes with a full box and set of accessories, including a<br />
pair of white-gold cufflinks with red tiger-eye inlay, brown<br />
alligator leather travel pouch as well as an additional brown<br />
alligator leather strap.<br />
A REFINED SANTOS-DUMONT<br />
Along with the addition of these notable timepieces into Cartier’s collection,<br />
the maison has also given the Santos-Dumont a new size, while refining its<br />
proportions even further for the modern-day gent or lady. The watch bears the<br />
same mechanically-wound caliber 430MC and the case and form of the watch<br />
have been carefully adjusted to fit to the watch proportionally. Since the 430MC<br />
is a slimmer watch movement, that means that watch case also has a reduced<br />
profile on the wrist. Thus, even at its generous sizing of 47mm by 34mm, it sits at<br />
well under 8mm thick.<br />
With the Santos-Dumont XL, the brand has taken great care to ensure that<br />
the proportions of every single component on the watch are adjusted to ensure<br />
the overall aesthetic of the timepiece remains coherent. That has meant adjusting<br />
the sizing of the Roman numeral hour markers to their slant, the minute track and<br />
even the beveled surfaces as well as the lugs and bezels. The result is a watch that<br />
doesn’t just look scaled up or down, but designed as if it were an original creation.<br />
Three references of the new Santos-Dumont XL have been introduced, with<br />
an all-steel edition with blue alligator leather strap and blue spinel cabochon<br />
crown; a steel-and-gold model with a blue spinel cabochon crown and black<br />
alligator leather strap; and finally, an all pink-gold model with a light gray alligator<br />
leather strap and sapphire cabochon on the crown.<br />
There are plenty more that Cartier will be presenting this year to collectors, all<br />
of which reflect a nuanced focus on its design and an intimate understanding of<br />
its clientele, who appreciate fine watchmaking paired with consummate design.<br />
Watch this space for more.<br />
CARTIER<br />
SANTOS-DUMONT LIMITED EDITIONS<br />
MOVEMENT Manual-winding caliber 430MC; hours and minutes; 38-hour<br />
power reserve<br />
CASE 43.5mm x 31.4mm (W); stainless steel with 18K yellow-gold bezel<br />
and spinel cabochon crown, limited to 500 pieces (“Le 14 bis”); 18K yellow<br />
gold with sapphire cabochon crown, limited to 300 pieces (“La Baladeuse”);<br />
platinum with ruby cabochon crown, limited to 100 pieces (Le Brésil)<br />
STRAP Alligator leather<br />
CARTIER<br />
SANTOS-DUMONT “LA DEMOISELLE”<br />
MOVEMENT Manual-winding caliber 430MC; hours and minutes; 38-hour<br />
power reserve<br />
CASE 46.6mm x 33.9mm (W); platinum; limited to 30 pieces<br />
STRAP Panama weave made-to-measure fabric; brown alligator leather;<br />
comes in a watch box with an alligator leather travel pouch and white-gold<br />
cufflinks with red tiger-eye inlay<br />
CARTIER<br />
SANTOS-DUMONT XL<br />
MOVEMENT Manual-winding caliber 430MC; hours and minutes; 38-hour<br />
power reserve<br />
CASE 46.6mm x 33.9mm; pink gold with sapphire cabochon crown; stainless<br />
steel with 18K pink-gold bezel and blue spinel cabochon crown; steel with<br />
blue spinel cabochon crown<br />
STRAP Alligator leather<br />
108 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
DENIM SENSATION<br />
Oris partners an über-cool denim label and takes it to the streets.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO<br />
110 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
In January this year, when Oris brought several members<br />
of the press to Taipei for the showcase of its upcoming<br />
releases, the company’s regional director, Michael<br />
Meier, hinted at an upcoming project with a Japanese<br />
streetwear label that was “in the works”. Naturally, the<br />
entire press group spent the next couple of days trying to<br />
squeeze out more information from him, to the extent of<br />
randomly throwing out Japanese streetwear brand names<br />
just to see if we could hit the jackpot. No one got it right.<br />
But we can now reveal that the brand in question is in fact<br />
Momotaro, a Kojima-based denim maker, and a label that<br />
surprised us all given its relative obscurity outside of the<br />
denim-lovin’ community.<br />
The word “Momotaro” stems from an ancient Japanese<br />
folklore and literally means “Peach Taro”, or “Peach Boy”.<br />
The original Edo-era story tells the tale of a child born to<br />
an elderly couple who found a giant peach floating down<br />
the river, ate it and regained their youth. This was a tale<br />
of rejuvenation, or “kaishun-gata”, and since the brand<br />
is birthed in the Okayama region, which is the birthplace<br />
of Japanese denim, the Japan Blue Group that owns<br />
Momotaro named it after that. As the group’s owner and<br />
CEO, Hisao Manabe, says, “Our journey started from the<br />
revival of Japan Blue color — Japanese traditional ancient<br />
blue (natural indigo). We research and understand the<br />
beauty of denim. We care for artisanal high quality and<br />
apply even ultra-low-tech, very traditional manufacturing<br />
methods. Our products are considered real and genuine,<br />
and [are] acclaimed internationally.”<br />
Momotaro uses very specific manufacturing methods<br />
for its products. Its denim is made from Zimbabwean<br />
cotton, one of the finest available and picked by hand, thus<br />
reducing damage to the cotton, which is a pristine white and<br />
excellent for dye absorption. Using indigo dye for which<br />
Japanese denim is famed, and traditional shuttle loom<br />
weaving to create raw selvedge denim, Momotaro’s artisans<br />
then sew the cloth with vintage sewing machines that date<br />
back to the early days of denim workwear, making this a<br />
truly handcrafted product.<br />
AN AFFINITY WITH ORIS<br />
In that sense, Momotaro has plenty of shared analogs with<br />
watchmaking, though like all renowned Japanese labels,<br />
it takes the idea of handmade tradition to extremes. Its<br />
touches are seen in the Oris Divers Sixty-Five Oris x<br />
Momotaro Edition, a limited edition that is being unveiled<br />
end April 2020. The watch is housed in a stainless-steel<br />
case with a bronze bezel, and features a gradated, muted<br />
green dial with vintage lume-coated markers and hands.<br />
The strap, as you may have guessed, is crafted in raw<br />
selvedge denim by Momotaro with a leather back, and the<br />
brand’s signature double stripes on the top strap.<br />
The watch comes in a denim watch pouch that doubles<br />
as a travel case, again bearing Momotaro’s double stripes<br />
on the front and Oris’ logo printed on the inside flap, as<br />
well as a denim cardholder with the denim brand’s peach<br />
flower logo printed on it. On the wrist, the 40mm sized<br />
watch looks good both with a suit and a casual tee, and<br />
the denim strap will naturally age along with the bronzed<br />
bezel, which makes it a sublimely long-lived timepiece<br />
that will change with the way you dress. It’s powered by the<br />
733 caliber and, like other Divers Sixty-Five models, has a<br />
100-meter water resistance.<br />
Katsu Manabe, Hisao Manabe’s son, through whom<br />
the project was developed, says, “Japanese craftsmanship<br />
has a spirit of hospitality. That means our craftsmen<br />
consider details with the end-user in mind. That’s the<br />
secret to the quality of our jeans. This isn’t just a product<br />
collaboration. Our spirit and culture and craftsmanship<br />
really synchronised. I love the watch, and definitely want it!”<br />
The gentleman has read our minds.<br />
ORIS<br />
DIVERS SIXTY-FIVE ORIS X MOMOTARO EDITION<br />
MOVEMENT Self-winding Oris caliber 733; hours,<br />
minutes and seconds; stop seconds; 38-hour power<br />
reserve<br />
CASE 40mm; stainless steel with bronze unidirectional<br />
rotating bezel; water-resistant to 100m<br />
STRAP Denim with pin buckle; comes with denim<br />
watchtravelpouchandcardholder<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 111
THE THRILL OF IT ALL<br />
Reservoir plays off its design strengths to appeal to our sense of adventure.<br />
WORDS STEPHEN WATSON<br />
Before the brand, there was<br />
an idea. Or, rather an object:<br />
the jerrycan.<br />
Initiated during the 1930s,<br />
these handheld metal petrol tanks<br />
were invaluable tools in wartime<br />
logistics, ensuring jeeps were<br />
fueled, tanks topped up, airplanes<br />
ready to take off and fight. They<br />
remain synonymous with smart<br />
and robust industrial design, and<br />
are still used by the military today.<br />
For the watch company Reservoir,<br />
though, the jerrycan is an allegory:<br />
for any action, energy is essential.<br />
After all, Reservoir means “fuel<br />
tank” in French.<br />
So when the brand launched, it<br />
used the markings found on the sides<br />
of jerrycans as an emblem. It was a<br />
clear indication that Reservoir wasn’t<br />
afraid of doing things differently.<br />
Combining French savoir faire with<br />
Swiss-made mechanical expertise,<br />
its debut timepiece concept proved<br />
uniquely imaginative yet endlessly<br />
adaptable. Dispensing with the usual<br />
three-hand approach to time-telling,<br />
this watch featured a retrograde<br />
minute hand, a jumping hour function,<br />
and a 37-hour power reserve,<br />
amounting to an ingenious reimagining<br />
of horological convention.<br />
Just a little over five years after<br />
entering the super-competitive luxury<br />
watch market, the upstart brand has<br />
managed to fix its identity and take<br />
off. Creative thinking is the norm at<br />
Reservoir. Rules simply do not apply.<br />
For Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director<br />
at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman<br />
Marcus, this unorthodox approach was<br />
a large part of the appeal in carrying<br />
Reservoir at his stores.<br />
“Our specialty is fine vintage<br />
watches, so for us to bring in a new<br />
brand was a long and thoughtful<br />
process,” Pask says. “I advocated for<br />
[Reservoir] because I think it comes<br />
down to quality, plus this aspect of<br />
design that felt very singular. I love<br />
the reference points that relate to<br />
gear and instrument panels, and<br />
that they’re purpose-driven, not<br />
purely aesthetic, and that the design<br />
supported this purpose. I think<br />
referencing marine, aeronautics,<br />
and automotive details, done with<br />
complications that supported the<br />
styles, for us, was a great match.”<br />
It’s within these three distinct<br />
categories that Reservoir defines itself<br />
further; a host of design elements<br />
allow that same basic jump-hour,<br />
retrograde concept watch to be<br />
adapted for different specialties<br />
and inspirations. An automotivethemed<br />
collection includes the GT<br />
Tour (sports cars), Longbridge<br />
and Supercharged (classic cars),<br />
and Battlefield (World War II allterrain<br />
vehicles). The Tiefenmesser<br />
(submarines) and Hydrosphere<br />
(diving) pay homage to the underwater<br />
realm, while two Airfight watches<br />
(propeller and early jet planes) recall<br />
the skies. The diversity of products<br />
means Reservoir isn’t just for aero<br />
fans or battleship enthusiasts.<br />
It’s for anybody who appreciates<br />
beautiful, analog instrumentation.<br />
To that end, Reservoir’s strength<br />
comes in the combination of these<br />
design elements with a proprietary<br />
module of complications, which<br />
makes the watches work exactly like<br />
a speedometer or a depth gauge.<br />
(The usual wristwatch layout — two<br />
hands working on a 360-degree<br />
basis — isn’t found in real-world<br />
cockpits or dashboards, save for the<br />
atypical altimeter). The jump-hour<br />
and retrograde minutes utilize an<br />
ETA 2824-2 movement, handmade<br />
in Switzerland, at La Chaux-de-<br />
Fonds, in compliance with traditional<br />
craftsmanship to qualify for the<br />
“Swiss made” label. The patented,<br />
124-component module, oscillating<br />
at 28,800 alt./h (or 4Hz), is created<br />
exclusively for Reservoir.<br />
FUELED BY PASSION<br />
The brand took care to do things<br />
right — hardly surprising when<br />
The Tiefenmesser in<br />
bronze pays homage<br />
to the underwater<br />
and diving realm,<br />
with Reservoir’s<br />
signature<br />
retrograde minute<br />
dial and jumping<br />
hour display.<br />
112 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
This page, clockwise<br />
from top left<br />
The Tiefenmesser in<br />
bronze has a unique<br />
power reserve<br />
display; Reservoir’s<br />
logo stems from the<br />
jerrycan’s design;<br />
the GT Tour in<br />
steel, inspired by<br />
legendary car races;<br />
the Battlefield<br />
D-Day, with its<br />
military-styled<br />
design codes,<br />
celebrates that<br />
important day on<br />
Omaha Beach.<br />
you consider the team responsible.<br />
The founder, François Moreau, is<br />
a 25-year veteran of international<br />
management in the banking<br />
industry. He established Reservoir to<br />
further his passion for watches and<br />
watchmaking. François Nakkachdji<br />
brought sales and distribution<br />
expertise, sharpened by decades of<br />
developing business in China, while<br />
François-Marie Neycensas added<br />
his knowledge of global marketing<br />
strategy and communication.<br />
Pask, the Neiman and Bergdorf<br />
fashion director, remembers<br />
meeting the three François in Paris.<br />
He knew their backgrounds in the<br />
luxury industry would be relevant,<br />
but wanted to understand their<br />
viewpoint, to ensure the watches<br />
could stand up to customer scrutiny<br />
114 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
“at the intersection of design and<br />
fashion” where Neiman and Bergdorf<br />
stake credibility. Suffice it to say,<br />
Pask left the meeting impressed.<br />
“We love that, as far as a watch<br />
brand goes, Reservoir is designed<br />
with such integrity. It’s certainly at<br />
the forefront of this brand, it’s really<br />
what sets it apart,” he says. “This<br />
integrity made perfect sense as a<br />
watch and accessory that had a very<br />
respectable history, with respectable<br />
people involved. A thoughtful<br />
approach to the design component,<br />
it just seemed like a great match for<br />
our luxury accessory customer.”<br />
Starting with a solid foundation<br />
and a valuable understanding of the<br />
luxury trade, these three men were<br />
able to disrupt the category. In a few<br />
short years, Reservoir watches have<br />
even caught the eye of the Grand<br />
Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève: the<br />
Longbridge British Racing was<br />
nominated in the Challenge category<br />
in 2018, and the Hydrosphere Blackfin<br />
was a contender in the Diver’s category<br />
last year. Like those hero racers and<br />
pilots always going higher, deeper,<br />
faster, Reservoir wants to continue<br />
pushing boundaries. But the team is<br />
happy to let its keen awareness of the<br />
past inform the brand’s future.<br />
“Of course, we love all the<br />
pioneers in watchmaking, such<br />
as Gérald Genta and its Fantasy<br />
collections, the iconic Rolex, the<br />
fabulous history of Zenith or IWC,<br />
etc. But we also love vintage cars<br />
and planes,” says François-Marie<br />
Neycensas. “Take Avions Voisin.<br />
They probably made the most<br />
remarkable cars in human history,<br />
really. Or the gorgeous Italian cars<br />
from the ‘50s — Alfa Romeo,<br />
Lancia — which are today more<br />
This page, clockwise<br />
from top<br />
For the launch<br />
campaign of the<br />
Hydrosphere in<br />
2019, the brand<br />
headed on a diving<br />
trip with the watch;<br />
the Hydrosphere<br />
Blackfin also comes<br />
with a rubber strap;<br />
the Longbridge<br />
British Racing in the<br />
namesake color,<br />
was previously<br />
nominated for<br />
aGPHGaward<br />
in 2018; the<br />
Supercharged Sport<br />
takes inspiration<br />
from vintage car<br />
dashboards.<br />
pieces than just cars.<br />
or Triumph also<br />
fantastic cars, both<br />
and designs.<br />
dashboard of an E-Type<br />
see … I can’t have it in my<br />
absolutely love the iconic<br />
P-51, the ‘Cadillac of the<br />
What a plane!”<br />
Neycensas says national identity<br />
into Reservoir’s products, too.<br />
points to France’s long history of<br />
car, aeronautics, and space<br />
, particularly brands<br />
Avions Voisin and Farman,<br />
innovated across automotive<br />
aviation. Combine that with a<br />
fashion and design culture<br />
you’ve got what Neycensas calls<br />
French touch!” He and the<br />
two François plan to continue<br />
hard, to make the brand<br />
through its collections, to<br />
beyond storytelling and into a<br />
and speak to the various and<br />
inspirational worlds.<br />
“Of course, we don’t know<br />
the future will bring us,”<br />
says, “but I am convinced<br />
passion is the most<br />
factor of success.”<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 115
INNOVATIONS IN<br />
THE INDUSTRY:<br />
HUBLOT, THE KING<br />
OF MATERIALS<br />
Knownaroundtheworldforitsloudmarketinganditspresenceat<br />
sporting events, Hublot has been a trailblazer since its inception<br />
and is today quietly making waves with its R&D innovations<br />
which have even attracted the European Space Agency.<br />
WORDS KEVIN CUREAU<br />
116 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
Left<br />
Crystallized gold,<br />
a rare natural<br />
gold formation, is<br />
mimicked by Hublot<br />
through modern<br />
technology.<br />
Above<br />
Mr Jean-Claude<br />
Biver, the nonexecutive<br />
president<br />
of the LVMH<br />
Watch Division and<br />
chairman of Hublot,<br />
has shaped the<br />
brand’s ideology to<br />
incorporate various<br />
unusual materials.<br />
Why do watch enthusiasts or collectors love to hate<br />
on Hublot? Many would say that the brand is<br />
too loud or too heavily marketed for their taste,<br />
while others will say that Hublot watches copy the look of the<br />
icons that are the Royal Oak and the Nautilus. But behind<br />
the layer of visible boisterous marketing techniques, Hublot<br />
has many times cemented its position as an innovative<br />
high-end luxury watchmaker, and one of the most important<br />
brands in the watchmaking industry. If you take the time to<br />
dig into the brand, handle its timepieces and learn all about<br />
the company’s innovations, a brilliant shift will take place<br />
where instead of spitting out unwarranted amounts of vitriol<br />
at the first sight of a Hublot watch, you will get past your first<br />
impressions, look closely at the pieces, and understand that<br />
all the parts make sense together and represent the perfect<br />
image of the brand.<br />
THE ART OF FUSION<br />
To understand Hublot in its entirety, it is important to<br />
remember that right from the start, the brand didn’t skimp<br />
on time and resources to create the best possible product,<br />
and sought to break out from the mold of the luxury watch<br />
business. Having left his family business in the late 1970s, a<br />
young confident Italian man named Carlo Crocco set out to<br />
launch his own watch brand in Switzerland. The first watch<br />
he presented, called the Hublot after the French word for<br />
“porthole”, was the first luxury watch that had the audacity<br />
to mix a precious metal like gold with a rubber strap. The<br />
strap took three years of research to produce and revealed<br />
the amazing properties of natural rubber that instantly<br />
adapted to the wrist of the wearer and provided long-term<br />
comfort. Although the timepiece received no interest when<br />
it was presented during the 1980 Basel Fair, the original<br />
mixture of high and low soon grew in popularity due to<br />
the new luxury sports watch market of the time, and many<br />
clients, retailers, celebrities, and even members of royal<br />
families, found themselves attracted by the Hublot watch.<br />
Hublot’s motto today is the “Art of Fusion” and this<br />
single principle is what drove the watch brand from its<br />
creation with the pairing of gold and rubber, and what<br />
brought the company enormous success. It’s not until 2004<br />
though that the brand took a new turn and rose to another<br />
level when the one and only Mr Jean-Claude Biver became<br />
CEO of Hublot. A genius of the watch industry and a watch<br />
brand savior, Mr Biver sought to immediately create a new<br />
collection and flagship model, the Big Bang Chronograph.<br />
The rest is history and the brand would not be where it<br />
is today without him. Ask Mr Biver what is the one watch<br />
he will keep for the rest of his life, he will immediately<br />
reply that it would be the Hublot Bigger Bang Tourbillon<br />
prototype watch he often wears. It was the starting point of<br />
his success at the maison and the watch that would guide<br />
Hublot and give birth to the whole collection of Hublot<br />
watches. According to him, it is the timepiece that has<br />
brought him the most luck in the industry and one he would<br />
never part with.<br />
It is under his direction that the concept of the “Art of<br />
Fusion” would personify Hublot’s future and become the<br />
intersecting point of many different materials such as gold,<br />
titanium, carbon, ceramic, rubber, etc...<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 117
INNOVATIVE MATERIALS<br />
Hublot’s innovations in terms of high-tech materials really<br />
started in 2010 when the maison acquired BNB Concept<br />
and its founder, Mathias Buttet, who was then named<br />
Director of Research and Development of Hublot and given<br />
colossal resources to start experimenting with materials.<br />
Called “Confrérie Horlogère Hublot”, Hublot’s R&D office<br />
is more of a laboratory than a department inside of a watch<br />
manufacture; and is labelled as the F1 team of watchmaking,<br />
how Hublot is that? The team is formed of 30 watchmakers,<br />
design engineers, micro-dynamics and micro-chemistry<br />
technicians, who are led by Mathias Buttet under the<br />
coordination of Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot.<br />
For their first outing, Buttet and his team presented the<br />
“Magic Gold” in 2012, an unscratchable “fused” 18K gold<br />
alloy, a world’s first, created by injecting gold into porous<br />
ceramic. Said like this, it might sound easy but as Buttet<br />
himself puts it: “It’s not a technology you can just deliver<br />
to a production, tell people to press a button and it works.<br />
It’s a small window of coincidences which allow us to pass<br />
through a tiny door lock.”<br />
Not someone to rest on his laurels, Buttet and his<br />
team immediately got to work on what would eventually<br />
become Hublot’s “Red Magic”, a consistent bright red<br />
ceramic material that is the result of fusing iron oxides into<br />
ceramic by heating the two together up to 1,472 degrees<br />
Fahrenheit and then adding a pressure of 600 tonnes per<br />
square centimeters for three hours, which would then create<br />
again a tiny window of coincidences where the fusion of<br />
elements could happen perfectly. “With the Magic Gold,<br />
it was like Hublot acquired a black belt in a martial art, and<br />
with this, we got the first dan. We managed to master these<br />
two techniques,” Buttet explains. Hublot has gone on to<br />
be the first brand to have a lineup of watches made with<br />
Clockwise from<br />
top left<br />
Ricardo Guadalupe,<br />
CEO of Hublot; the<br />
Big Bang MP-11 Red<br />
Magic, a bold red<br />
ceramic material<br />
made by fusing iron<br />
oxides into ceramic;<br />
Mathias Buttet, the<br />
director of research<br />
and development<br />
at Hublot; the<br />
Big Bang Unico<br />
in Magic Gold, a<br />
special fused gold<br />
alloy made by<br />
injecting gold into<br />
porous ceramic.<br />
118 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
several colors of ceramic materials such as white, black, red,<br />
blue and green. The brand’s “Art of Fusion” mindset has<br />
also allowed the maison to experiment and mix numerous<br />
materials, which have in turn given birth to many patented<br />
alloys such as King Gold (gold and platinum), Hublonium<br />
(magnesium and aluminum) and Texalium (carbon fiber<br />
and aluminum) among others.<br />
Hublot has also made significant investment in the<br />
industrialization of sapphire, one of the hardest material<br />
to cut and manufacture, to launch full sapphire timepieces.<br />
This lead to the breakthroughs made by the brand in<br />
the domain of colored sapphires (transparent, black,<br />
yellow, blue, red). Obtaining colored sapphire requires<br />
the same process Hublot mastered when researching<br />
ceramics, mainly mixing the raw material for sapphire,<br />
which is aluminum oxide, with various materials – iron<br />
and titanium for blue sapphire and chromium for red<br />
sapphire – before heating the whole mixture up. Their most<br />
recent achievement in the field of colored sapphire was the<br />
creation of an emerald green sapphire which was done by<br />
using a material never used in a watch case called SAXEM<br />
for Sapphire Aluminum oXide and rare Earth Mineral. It is<br />
worth noting as well that while Hublot has been known for<br />
their work in material sciences, the maison has been equally<br />
innovative in precious stone setting techniques. Case in<br />
point, their “invisible setting” which is almost identical to<br />
microsurgery. The concept is to carefully choose each stone,<br />
cut and polish it according to the specific position it will have<br />
on the case, and slide the stones one by one on a “channel”<br />
meaning the gems are set without any visible prongs.<br />
Another proof of their gem-setting prowess would be the<br />
techniques required to set previous stones in transparent<br />
sapphire cases which you bet aren’t a cakewalk given the<br />
difficulty to cut sapphire cases.<br />
Clockwise from<br />
top left<br />
The Big Bang Unico<br />
Sapphire, the<br />
first clear watch<br />
case developed<br />
by the brand;<br />
the machining of<br />
sapphire crystal<br />
cases is a timeconsuming<br />
process;<br />
the One Click, an<br />
innovative strap<br />
release mechanism<br />
that makes it easy<br />
to change up watch<br />
straps; colored<br />
sapphire crystal is<br />
the latest success<br />
at Hublot, with<br />
blue sapphire<br />
shown here on the<br />
Big Bang Unico.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 119
A TRUE SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY<br />
This mastered expertise in controlling and shaping<br />
molecules now allows him and his team to play around with<br />
crazy possibilities: “we haven’t released the product yet but<br />
we started doing luminous and phosphorescent ceramic, we<br />
are having fun,” and even started exploring concepts that<br />
seem like they could be transported directly into a sci-fi<br />
movie: “we are working on high entropy, which is the atomic<br />
chaos. We redesign atoms so they go where we want them to<br />
go and forbid nature to set itself normally.”<br />
This work has obviously caught the eye of many parties<br />
outside of the watch industry, including the aerospace<br />
industry. Mathias and his team have been able to create a<br />
whole new material in their laboratory that is lighter than<br />
titanium but harder than tempered steel, which simply does<br />
not exist in a natural form. The interest from a mainstream<br />
industry into the work of a watch company provides a shift<br />
where instead of watch brands making use of materials from<br />
the automotive or aeronautical industry and incorporating<br />
them into their timepieces, it’s the other way around.<br />
This led to Hublot becoming an official technical and<br />
scientific partner of the European Space Agency where<br />
the brand is taking part in the July 2020 ExoMars space<br />
mission devoted to exploring the surface of Mars. Hublot<br />
did calibration work on the high resolution camera that will<br />
be used on the Mars Rover. As a result of that collaboration,<br />
the Hublot name will be engraved on the Rover.<br />
Some of you might not have lost sight of the huge<br />
marketing opportunity provided here by having the Hublot<br />
logo visible on a multi-million dollar space exploration<br />
device, but Buttet points out that the goal was not to create<br />
a marketing opportunity but simply to sign their hard<br />
work. Mathias has always been against the loud marketing<br />
techniques brands use consisting of stamping a brand name<br />
in as many places as possible, his mindset has always been<br />
the one of a scientist who simply loves to collaborate with<br />
different researchers to advance the world. Since Hublot<br />
possesses this cutting-edge technological know-how in<br />
their manufacture, why not share it with others, particularly<br />
if it benefits the world?<br />
Below, from left<br />
One of the<br />
most unusual<br />
demonstrations of<br />
the “Art of Fusion”<br />
is in the Classic<br />
Fusion Chronograph<br />
Concrete Jungle,<br />
featuring a concrete<br />
and epoxy resin.<br />
A visual released<br />
at the introduction<br />
of Magic Gold,<br />
featuring a<br />
watchmaker<br />
dynamically<br />
fusing technology<br />
with craft.<br />
At the Hublot<br />
manufacture’s<br />
complications<br />
workshop,<br />
experienced<br />
watchmakers<br />
assemble Hublot’s<br />
highest watch<br />
complications.<br />
120 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
A scientist shows the<br />
production of Magic<br />
Gold, carried out<br />
in a high pressure,<br />
high temperature<br />
containment unit.<br />
A FUTURE IN EXPLORATION?<br />
There is no denying that Hublot is a true innovative<br />
manufacture which is alone in producing the type of work<br />
that they do. Behind the vociferous presence of the brand<br />
worldwide, Hublot has real substance and true cutting-edge<br />
technological know-how that is unmatched by other brands.<br />
As a maison that barely scratches their 40th year in the<br />
business, Hublot is building its history on our modern times<br />
and modern technologies but guided by people who have an<br />
immense knowledge of the watchmaking industry.<br />
So what could be the next adventure that Hublot<br />
takes part in, what could the future of the brand look like?<br />
According to Mr Biver, the maison’s mission is quite simple<br />
and it is “to create more masterpieces, to better master the<br />
craftsmanship and to be more creative.” But Mathias let me<br />
in on a little secret; they have recently made a partnership<br />
with the University of Geneva and their archeology<br />
department to spear-head the research and development<br />
around the Antikythera sea bed, off the coast of Greece,<br />
where the Antikythera mechanism was found. Hublot built<br />
underwater drones internally capable of going down to 300<br />
meters depth, pick up sediments and analyze the various<br />
oxides present in the water. The name of these exploration<br />
drones? Bubblots! A fusion of the words bubble and Hublot.<br />
It goes without saying that Hublot’s future is bright<br />
and not just confined to the watch industry. With so many<br />
technical innovations associated with Hublot, and the<br />
interest of many industries converging to this manufacture<br />
located in Nyon right outside Geneva, rest assured that<br />
Hublot is not done surprising us and the world.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 121
THE IMPORTANCE OF<br />
BEING RETAIL-SMART<br />
Priortojoiningtheindustry,CEOofIWCChristophGrainger-Herrdesigned<br />
urban and living spaces as an architect. He’s found that experience very<br />
beneficial in shaping IWC’s retail experiences today.<br />
WORDS DARREN HO<br />
122 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
Mr Christoph Grainger-Herr needs no introduction.<br />
The current CEO of IWC was once a Swiss<br />
professional skier and architect, and he’s spent<br />
the last few years holding two portfolios in the company,<br />
designing the brand’s new Manufakturzentrum and<br />
directing the development and expansion of the brand’s<br />
releases. Now that the new manufacuture is up and running<br />
smoothly, upping IWC’s capacity to produce more of its<br />
in-house movements and components, he’s set his sights<br />
on upgrading customer experiences within and outside<br />
of IWC’s boutiques, both via formal and unexpected<br />
experiences with the brand. Last year, he popped into<br />
Singapore to re-open the brand’s refreshed boutiques at<br />
ION Orchard and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and<br />
invited a few cycling enthusiasts and collectors along for a<br />
40-klick cycle along the coast. We went along and just about<br />
barely made it out alive, while Mr Grainger breezed along.<br />
We finally found ourselves at the exclusive members-only<br />
club 1880, where we sat down to talk about luxury retail and<br />
its rapid evolution today.<br />
Mr Grainger, thank you for joining us today. What do you<br />
currently see as the biggest changes in retail today that<br />
you’re trying to address or confront?<br />
It is something that a lot of brands are not paying enough<br />
attention to, or at least not paying enough attention to how<br />
it’s changing. I think it’s the fundamental realization that<br />
we make highly personal and highly emotional products<br />
that carry a lot of meaning. So it’s not something you buy<br />
on a spec sheet of functionality, it’s something that you<br />
buy because it makes you feel special in a certain way. And<br />
I think that this really comes first and foremost, from a<br />
human-to-human interaction, a relationship and in the<br />
end, the friendship, That’s why I think the difference today<br />
between brands that you theoretically like, and what you<br />
decide to buy into, is all down to human factors. That’s<br />
why it’s important to focus on our direct interaction with<br />
our clientele.<br />
Retail is an important pillar for your brand equity. What<br />
else matters?<br />
Our core pillars for brand equity extend beyond product<br />
design. It’s in how you express the narrative. The story<br />
about our product is not only that they are very precise<br />
wristwatches, but it’s also a resource that tells me the<br />
functional story of its origins. It tells me that this was<br />
designed as a pilot’s instrument watch. But it also tells the<br />
story of years and years and years of experience, of this<br />
watch in the cockpit, that have gone into this particular<br />
design. In the end, that speaks about the freedom of flying,<br />
the dream of flying, that adventure is the hero’s story. So you<br />
carry both with you the engineering model — the movement<br />
in the watches, the cases and finishing — but also that<br />
emotional value of the story.<br />
You had a personal hand in the development of the two<br />
new and refreshed stores in Singapore. What’s in the<br />
latest update?<br />
So this space really combines elements of storytelling<br />
with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, where we try to<br />
offer different settings in which to interact with our staff,<br />
everything from a very, very comfortable lounge where it’s<br />
more about socializing space, to a more formal sit-down<br />
and over-the-counter situation that some clients prefer.<br />
We’re trying to make sure that we really have a good balance<br />
between storytelling and a focus on products. And we give an<br />
experience that goes further than just what is in the display<br />
case. Basically, we’re decorating that all the way up to our<br />
flagship concept, where in our flagship stores, we’re going<br />
very, very specific to the location. So the architecture’s<br />
different from one place to another, and they’re also<br />
completely different in their storytelling. The watch content<br />
of the stores is consistent globally. But on the other hand,<br />
you will have storytelling that is fully immersive, that is<br />
individual, to really create destinations that our clients can<br />
travel to, and see a different facet of the brand. To have a<br />
different chapter of the book to experience, so to speak.<br />
When you say immersive storytelling, you’re referring to<br />
physical immersion in the environment, or technological?<br />
I’m talking about a way to make that story really selfexplanatory,<br />
for people to walk in and feel what it is we’re<br />
talking about. That is really inspired by what we’ve learned<br />
from our events. For example, when I look at the Silver<br />
Spitfire take-off event [held at Goodwood Aerodrome to<br />
mark the start of IWC’s Silver Spitfire — The Longest Flight<br />
expedition in 2019], we brought together the engineering<br />
models of the Spitfire racing cars with the watches, and<br />
the engineers, the watchmakers, the drivers. And our civil<br />
Spitfire pilot, Steve Brooks, who’s also racing and you can<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 123
smell what is going on, they<br />
can feel it, taste it, they can<br />
interact with [former F1<br />
driver] David Coulthard and<br />
all have a shared experience<br />
and a drink together at the<br />
end of the day. These stories<br />
become immersive and selfexplanatory.<br />
And this<br />
is what we’re trying to<br />
achieve, really.<br />
I believe in technology<br />
as an aid to give our clients<br />
a better experience, but I<br />
will not do technology for<br />
technology’s sake. To have<br />
an augmented experience,<br />
it has to really add value to<br />
the process. In a watch, the<br />
focus is much more on two<br />
things. First of all, we can<br />
show the intricacies of the<br />
watch movement, which we<br />
cannot physically always<br />
show in a closed case. You<br />
can have a meaningful<br />
connection in the omnichannel<br />
journey, for example, allowing click-and-collect,<br />
boutique purchase appointment bookings, et cetera.<br />
Enabling strap accessories to see what fits on a watch with<br />
different strap configurations, backer configurations,<br />
things that add value to the process, those are very valuable.<br />
On the storytelling side, we have things we created like<br />
the virtual bike ride with [American actor and filmmaker]<br />
Bradley Cooper, or the pilot simulator, things where you can<br />
enhance your storytelling like actually going into our movie<br />
production with Bradley Cooper, riding along with him on<br />
the motorbike, taking interactive decisions along the way<br />
like where you’re trying to go that gives you different endings<br />
to this journey, and experience the story in a different<br />
format. And that’s again, I think an opportunity where AI<br />
and augmented reality can have a place in our stores.<br />
One great challenge in any retail is in staffing. How have<br />
you kept your retail division strong?<br />
Customer service is the same internally as it is the external<br />
service we provide to our clients. For example, we are now<br />
launching the tracking of net promoter scores. So we ask,<br />
based on your experiences, how likely would it be that you<br />
recommend IWC to friends and family? We launched<br />
10, 11 months ago across all the channels. And we’re now<br />
introducing the score internally, asking our colleagues,<br />
based on your experience with IWC, would you recommend<br />
IWC? So it is exactly the same principle, you know, to<br />
provide an inclusive, interesting and caring workplace. A<br />
safe workplace with interesting opportunities to be able to<br />
incentivize people to stay with us. We’re very lucky that we<br />
have a lot of our colleagues who stay with us for a long time.<br />
And I think that’s reflected in the fact that in September<br />
2019, we achieved certification as officially a Great Place<br />
to Work for Switzerland, as the first watchmaking brand<br />
to achieve certification as well. And that shows I think that<br />
some of these efforts [have worked].<br />
Where do you see multi-brand retailers in your<br />
retail strategy?<br />
It’s a very important part of our distribution network. And<br />
that has not changed. I think the industry has seen a degree<br />
of consolidation, we’ve also seen a lot of international<br />
expansion of some key retailers. And that is an ongoing<br />
process. But as part of a distribution structure, the multibrand<br />
retailer is as important to us as an external boutique,<br />
as is retail creativity internally. The way I see it, they will<br />
eventually all become perfectly connected touchpoints in<br />
an omni-channel service, that really have a shared client<br />
experience and a shared stock experience, where it’s fluid<br />
between different channels. We’re still some years away<br />
from that for sure, but I think ultimately, that is where we<br />
want to be. To have one client-facing distribution function<br />
that has different types of touchpoints, different channels in<br />
it at all work with each other.<br />
Above, clockwise<br />
from top<br />
The refreshed ION<br />
Orchard store, with<br />
a central space<br />
where guests<br />
can surround<br />
themselves in the<br />
experience of IWC;<br />
at The Shoppes at<br />
Marina Bay Sands, a<br />
similar setup with a<br />
changed layout for<br />
a different space.<br />
124 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
One solution to what you’re currently describing is blockchain technology.<br />
Yes. What you want to have is a system that, if you inquire online on a product, it<br />
identifies the closest position of this watch and recommends various options how<br />
you could find the product, to have that interconnectivity. As you know, today<br />
we’re still a couple of technical steps from achieving that. I think it’ll be another<br />
five to seven years before we’re there. It is a huge system of platform alignment<br />
work that needs to be done, but definitely everything we’re initiating is going in<br />
that direction.<br />
You’re an architect by training and experience as well. How has that informed<br />
you differently, as a CEO in terms of retail?<br />
We are in an aesthetically-driven, emotionally-driven industry. People do not<br />
fall in love with us purely because of our supply chain, or because of the efficiency<br />
of our shipping. They fall in love with us for the product, the story, the emotion,<br />
all of that. A luxury brand is a complex system that needs to tell a single story in<br />
a single mood. And I think this is what architects learn to do — how to control<br />
a very complex environment, a system that needs to perform structurally and<br />
aesthetically, with hundreds of moving parts, materials, lighting, functionalities,<br />
etc. You want to enter a space, an environment and have one feeling in an<br />
atmosphere that speaks for itself without a lot of explanation. So I think that<br />
training is quite good for what we do as a luxury brand. It all adds to the story.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 125
A SPECIAL HOUSE<br />
Parmigiani CEO Davide Traxler shares his growth plans for the Fleurier-based<br />
watch brand amid shifting market conditions.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
When it comes to vertically integrated manufactures, Parmigiani stands tall. Not only do<br />
they manufacture fully 100 percent of their timepieces in-house, but they’re also OEM<br />
suppliers for some of the most vaunted and sought-after brands on the market today.<br />
Even so, the brand is still somewhat of a mystery for many collectors. To address that Parmigiani<br />
appointed industry veteran Davide Traxler as CEO in 2018. We recently had the opportunity to sit down<br />
with Mr. Traxler to discuss the brand’s past, present and future, and gain some insight into the mind<br />
of the man who is steering their course through an increasingly crowded and complicated landscape.<br />
126 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
How does Parmigiani differ from the brands that you have<br />
managed in the past?<br />
All brands are rather different, and they’re even more different from<br />
what you’d expect when going in. I find that whenever I join a company,<br />
within three months my opinion of the company and product changes<br />
completely. Especially [with] the feedback from the market. That’s<br />
the part of the business that I enjoy most — going out and listening.<br />
So, what’s different about Parmigiani Fleurier? To me the biggest<br />
difference is our restoration services, which are unique. The other<br />
difference lies in our manufacturing and the fact that we are trusted by<br />
the most trusted brands. And to be a trusted partner of the most trusted<br />
brands, to me, is very special. No brand is a competitor, but every<br />
brand is a colleague. These two key differences build a positive feeling<br />
around Parmigiani which is unique in the industry.<br />
You’ve been with Parmigiani for a little over a year;<br />
what challenges have you identified in that time?<br />
I would say that there has been too little focus and too much dispersion.<br />
We need to focus and to understand what we want to have as a message<br />
to the market. Not only product-wise, but also message-wise. Today<br />
it’s difficult to explain the brand in three words and that’s what we have<br />
to come down to.<br />
What we’ve been doing is reinforcing our board of directors. We<br />
have someone from a leading Swiss accounting firm, someone who led<br />
a multinational foundation, and we’ve recently added Daniel Riedo,<br />
former CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. These are three unique and vital<br />
perspectives, and we are in daily conversations with them. Together<br />
we’re going through every part of the company to give us the best<br />
chances of success.<br />
Which markets present a challenge? Which markets<br />
are the strongest?<br />
We decided immediately that we had to follow the markets and shift<br />
investments. We were over-invested in Europe as far as offices,<br />
presence and sponsorships [were concerned]. The European<br />
consumers simply weren’t celebrating success in that way, i.e. buying<br />
watches. The biggest market in the world for us is greater China,<br />
followed by the United States and then the Middle East. Together<br />
these are our number one, two and three markets. And while Europe is<br />
still deeply important, it has become more important as a travel retail<br />
destination, so you have to invest in the markets where consumers are<br />
still in the mood to celebrate success.<br />
You have a standalone boutique in Miami, are you thinking<br />
of opening anymore?<br />
Not at the moment. I’m one of the few that believes that the multibrand<br />
retailer is the best solution for the consumer. The consumer<br />
is not faithful to one brand in general; they have different needs in<br />
different moments and I think that the educated and prepared retailer<br />
is the best solution.<br />
What is it like to work alongside [brand founder] Michel Parmigiani?<br />
He’s in the company every day. In fact he lives right behind the<br />
manufacture. His passion remains where he came from: restoration.<br />
Most often you can find him in the restoration department. We meet<br />
every day in the office and he’s kind enough to take engagements<br />
abroad. He has the energy and will to go on meeting people and<br />
go out to different markets, and it’s a great luxury for us.<br />
How do you select brand ambassadors?<br />
These are people who came to Fleurier who understood our<br />
philosophy and decided to partner with us. None of them are paid;<br />
it’s not that kind of relationship. It’s a relationship based on them<br />
enjoying who we are and what we do, and we have respect for what<br />
they’re doing in their trade.<br />
They’re not “brand ambassadors” in the strictest sense, they’re our<br />
friends. Firstly, you don’t choose friends, it just happens. And diversity<br />
is the beauty of these friendships. When you put Mr. [Evgeni] Malkin<br />
with Jessica [Korda] and a cybersecurity expert from Russia [Ilya<br />
Sachkov], I promise you that the conversations are extraordinary.<br />
2019 marked your first SIHH, now [known as] Watches & Wonders.<br />
How was that experience?<br />
I think that it’s a different sort of approach. SIHH is more organized,<br />
a bit more subdued in atmosphere. Baselworld is more lively and you<br />
hear more “buzz” in Basel. One is a very well-oiled machine, while<br />
the other is more of a fair. I think that both have advantages and<br />
disadvantages. As far as the trade is concerned I think that there’s a<br />
huge amount of value in having these fairs. It’s the best chance for a<br />
brand to have 100-percent feedback from the journalists, the experts<br />
and the collectors and you get it all in three days. It really is a very rich<br />
moment for a brand.<br />
If we do lose these shows in the years to come I think that we will<br />
have lost something very extraordinary.<br />
Given the marketplace, where do you see Parmigiani<br />
headed in the future?<br />
Overall, I’d say that the market is becoming more global in nature.<br />
The difference in sizes and tastes have been reducing over the<br />
years. It’s becoming more of “one market”. And that simplifies life,<br />
but it’s been a rapid change, which is interesting. For us we have a<br />
clear path — we built a three-year plan to profitability, and we’re<br />
right on target.<br />
On the other side, the market is still very healthy, but we’re only six<br />
months in so we still have two and a half years to reach our goal.<br />
Can you speak about your women’s collection?<br />
We are a gender-balanced brand; the women’s market is 50 percent<br />
of our sales. In fact, I think that the women’s market is the biggest<br />
opportunity for the whole trade and, in general, I think that the market<br />
just doesn’t understand women properly. There’s a big way forward<br />
there and we’re confident that we’re approaching it correctly.<br />
What are you wearing?<br />
I’m wearing the Tonda Metrographe in rose gold with blue dial and the<br />
300-series movement.<br />
Do you have a favorite Parmigiani?<br />
I usually wear a watch for about three months because I like to<br />
understand how it feels. I look at all the details. The first impression is<br />
not enough for me, but after three months I really feel as though I know<br />
every single detail of it.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 127
128 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
CLASSIC<br />
CUMBERBATCH<br />
The acclaimed actor and Jaeger-LeCoultre ambassador rounds off<br />
his personal style with a well-thought-out timepiece collection.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
Clockwise from<br />
top left<br />
Benedict<br />
Cumberbatch at<br />
the Royal Academy<br />
wearing a Master<br />
Ultra Thin Tourbillon<br />
Enamel; the Master<br />
Grande Tradition<br />
Gyrotourbillon<br />
Westminster<br />
Perpétuel; the<br />
Polaris Memovox.<br />
Whether he’s portraying a mystical doctor, a<br />
super-sleuth, or a superpowered villain,<br />
award-winning actor and philanthropist<br />
Benedict Cumberbatch does it all with effortless style.<br />
The same can be said of his particular brand of cool that<br />
has made him an ideal ambassador for Jaeger-LeCoultre.<br />
Indeed, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual<br />
Calendar is as much of a character in his Marvel film,<br />
Doctor Strange, as Stephen Strange and Baron Mordo.<br />
But even off the screen, Jaeger-LeCoultre remains his<br />
brand of choice.<br />
We had the opportunity to ask Cumberbatch a few<br />
questions about his connection to horology as well as his<br />
burgeoning collection of watches. And his answers reveal<br />
that he’s as thoughtful with his hobby as he is with his<br />
chosen profession.<br />
Have you always had an interest in watches,<br />
and by extension, horology?<br />
I do have an eye for watches. Not in an obsessive sense,<br />
I just like what I see when I see it, and I love the idea of<br />
timepieces existing after the immediate function of just<br />
telling time — being artifacts and heirlooms, a special<br />
weight that the luxury end of watches is carrying.<br />
If so, when did this begin?<br />
I remember the excitement I had getting my first watch as a<br />
child — a commemorative Mexico World Cup watch — and<br />
being able to structure an identity around time that was<br />
personal to me and not via some external force scheduling<br />
my life. Sports was a big thing when I was growing up,<br />
and to have a watch with a logo of someone kicking a ball<br />
was very exciting. Of course time ties us all into its bonds,<br />
but there is a certain independence that comes with the<br />
first watch that never quite leaves. I stopped wearing a<br />
watch like a lot of people when smartphones started. But<br />
I’m so glad I’ve gone back to having the timepiece on my<br />
wrist. It stops you from being drawn into all the other<br />
demands on your attention that smartphones create,<br />
and it’s another way of expressing your personal style.<br />
Do you have a favorite complication, i.e. chronograph,<br />
minute repeater, perpetual calendar…?<br />
The Gyrotourbillon which looks like a heart pulsing — it is<br />
magic. It’s literally bringing the inanimate to life in order to<br />
measure time. Quite an achievement in our evolution and<br />
an amazing thing to witness being done by the human hand.<br />
How many watches do you currently<br />
have in your collection?<br />
Currently four: my childhood Swatch, a watch I have from<br />
when I was a young man, and two from Jaeger-LeCoultre.<br />
As a bona fide style icon, how much thought<br />
do you place on the watch you wear?<br />
Obviously, the look of a watch is important and if I am<br />
wearing a suit, I like to wear a watch to complement that<br />
look. But equally, it is very important to me that the watch<br />
I am wearing fits with my lifestyle. In general, I need a<br />
watch that I can wear every day, and basically something<br />
that I can rely on but that I don’t have to think about.<br />
And finally, what is your favorite Jaeger-LeCoultre?<br />
I’ve really enjoyed wearing the Memovox Polaris. It first<br />
came out in 1965 and was one of the first diver’s watch<br />
equipped with an alarm. It’s stylish, easy to wear and is<br />
a fabulous piece. I have also used the alarm, which has a<br />
wonderful bell-like ring to it.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 129
STRIVING FOR HONESTY<br />
A Breitling ambassador and dedicated watch collector,<br />
Brad Pitt tells us about the qualities he values in a timekeeper.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
Brad Pitt is probably one of today’s most recognizable stars of the silver<br />
screen, with a career spanning over three decades. From comedy to action<br />
to drama, he’s done it all, including 2019’s Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood<br />
and the science fiction drama, Ad Astra. In addition to acting, he’s also an activist,<br />
a philanthropist, and an aspiring architect.<br />
During the Breitling Summit, which took place in Los Angeles last September,<br />
a select group of journalists had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Pitt to talk<br />
about his new role as Breitling ambassador and his thoughts on the brand and<br />
watches as a whole.<br />
You’re a well-known architecture buff. Do you see a crossover between<br />
architecture and watchmaking?<br />
I do, in the sense of quality. I’m a quality junkie, Both are based on function first — the<br />
best architecture to me serves a purpose. Nothing is superfluous, everything is in place<br />
to do its job and please the participant at the same time. So, yes, they do cross over.<br />
Are you a longtime Breitling fan?<br />
I started out with the Emergency, which was before we even had smartphones. I<br />
thought that it was such a brilliant idea when traveling that I ended up buying them<br />
for all my friends too. I also later got into flying — I got my pilot’s license — and it was<br />
an extra comfort.<br />
How do you approach collecting?<br />
[Too many] things are built to be disposable, which makes me appreciate a good<br />
timepiece even more. It’s built to stay, to have meaning, to be passed down in families.<br />
When I think of my heroes and their watches, you know… it means something.<br />
How long has your fascination with watches existed?<br />
(Laughs) When I started making money and I could afford them. I don’t mean a lot of<br />
money, mind you, but just when I could furnish my apartment. And it’s been that way<br />
ever since.<br />
What meaning does time have for you now as opposed to, say, 30 years ago?<br />
Time becomes more valuable when you grow older. I’ve lived more years than I<br />
probably have left to live, so how do we fill these remaining minutes and years? It<br />
becomes more important who you spend your time with, and how you spend it.<br />
When you decide to be the ambassador of a brand, what values do you look for?<br />
Like in film, I’m always striving for quality. Is it honest? These are the driving factors<br />
in everything that I surround myself with. The quality, the craftsmanship… I’m a big<br />
craftsmanship junkie. I want to feel it, see it. You can’t fake it or hide it, craftsmanship.<br />
It’s really honest that way. I look for the same thing when I approach film.<br />
What is your favorite Breitling?<br />
I’ve got the Avenger Chronograph 45mm on now, but lately I’ve been jonesin’ on the<br />
[Premier B01] Norton LE.<br />
The Breitlin<br />
Emergency,<br />
equipped w<br />
distress bea<br />
function, w<br />
Brad Pitt’s fi<br />
Breitling wa<br />
The Breitlin<br />
Premier B01<br />
Chronogra<br />
Norton Ste<br />
Opposite<br />
Brad Pitt at<br />
Breitling Su<br />
130 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
BACK TO THE FUTURE 131
132 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
PANERAI GOES TO<br />
NEW HEIGHTS<br />
Professional mountaineer Jimmy Chin is Panerai’s newly appointed watch ambassador.<br />
He talks to Revolution about his unexpected career choice and his extraordinary ability to<br />
remain calm in the face of fear.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
Panerai ambassador Jimmy Chin leads the sort<br />
of life that most folks can only imagine. Having<br />
achieved world-wide fame with the release of his<br />
2019 Academy Award-winning documentary, Free Solo,<br />
however, it’s easy to overlook the fact that he’s been a<br />
world-class mountaineer, professional photographer and<br />
philanthropist for decades.<br />
In the course of his career, he has summited Mt.<br />
Everest, Mt. Kilimanjaro, El Capitan, among others; and his<br />
photography has been featured in National Geographic, Men’s<br />
Journal, and more. He has also led expeditions in China,<br />
Pakistan, Greenland, Tanzania, Chad, Mali, South Africa,<br />
Borneo, India and Argentina.<br />
Jimmy splits his time between Jackson Hole, Wyoming,<br />
and New York City, where his wife, director Elizabeth Chai<br />
Vasarhelyi, and two children reside.<br />
We were lucky enough to catch up with him in NYC to<br />
talk about the origins of his climbing career and how he<br />
deals with, and overcomes, fear.<br />
When did you get the climbing bug?<br />
I got it pretty late in life, probably around 17. But it was kind<br />
of instant, it was kind of love at first sight. I did it and I was<br />
like, “Okay, this is something that moves me in a way that<br />
I’ve never experienced before.” You know, the first climb I<br />
ever did was a pinnacle experience of my life right there.<br />
And then there’s the lifestyle around it. It’s kind of this<br />
vehicle to explore the landscape and I loved being outside<br />
and being in nature and wild places, so it spoke to me on a bit<br />
of a different level. And then there’s the mental aspect of it,<br />
the challenges of facing and overcoming your fears. It tests<br />
you in all these different ways, and it continues to do that.<br />
That feeling I got the first time I went climbing, I still have it.<br />
You were raised in Minnesota. Not a whole lot of<br />
mountains there, right?<br />
(Laughs) No, there aren’t. As it happens, I just went out<br />
with some friends who were climbers, and we drove down<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 133
to California to visit Joshua Tree, more to just visit the park.<br />
But then we went climbing and I was hooked.<br />
And I still have that feeling: “This is awesome!” There<br />
are few things I do in my life that make me feel more present.<br />
It doesn’t matter what’s going on with you, once you start<br />
climbing your mind goes empty, you’re in the moment,<br />
you’re trying so hard… It’s a very specific experience.<br />
Have you ever had an “Oh sh*t!” moment that made you<br />
question your chosen vocation?<br />
I think early on in my career when I started following this<br />
path of being a climber and living this life, that was a daily<br />
thing for me. I was really filled with doubt if I was doing the<br />
right thing. This was totally against the expectations of my<br />
family and society. I went to college and finished school<br />
and so there are a lot of expectations to continue on in the<br />
academic field or get a professional career. And then to say<br />
okay I’m going to move into my car, move to Yosemite and<br />
climb full-time. There was a lot of pondering that question:<br />
“Am I doing the right thing?”<br />
Further into my career I’ve definitely had a couple of<br />
close calls, with big avalanches in particular, where you<br />
question is [this] the right thing [for me] to be doing? Is this<br />
worth the risk? That’s the question, and that’s the question<br />
that you have to ask yourself. A lot.<br />
This spread,<br />
clockwise<br />
Jimmy Chin in his<br />
training space.<br />
The Panerai<br />
Submersible<br />
BMG-TECH TM is<br />
Chin’s favored<br />
watch on climbs.<br />
Jimmy Chin with<br />
his Panerai on his<br />
wrist, during the<br />
filming of Free Solo.<br />
The P.4002 caliber<br />
that powers the<br />
PAM00964 Luminor<br />
Due GMT Power<br />
Reserve (inset).<br />
134 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
amygdala because fear keeps you alive. But there is a<br />
point in particularly challenging situations where your<br />
capacity to remain calm is the only thing that’s gonna get<br />
you through it and allow you to survive and not panic and<br />
be paralyzed by fear. It has to be a delicate balance.<br />
What are the main technical challenges that you faced<br />
filming Free Solo?<br />
Alex is the fastest climber in the world, so I needed a team<br />
of world-class climbers, the best. They needed to<br />
be able to climb El Capitan casually in a day. On top<br />
of that, they needed to be able to shoot. As you can<br />
imagine, there are a very small group of people in<br />
the world who fit both criteria.<br />
In the movie Free Solo, Alex Honnold has an MRI<br />
and they find that the center of the brain that<br />
processes fear, the amygdala, isn’t as active as it is<br />
in others. So, do you think you’re the same?<br />
The question is whether he was born that way or<br />
was it modified through doing certain things. Like<br />
most questions like this I think that it’s a bit of both.<br />
But I do think that to perform at a high level in this<br />
sphere of work — big mountain climbing, rock climbing,<br />
big mountain skiing — you have to have a functioning<br />
I see that you’re wearing a Panerai, naturally.<br />
How does this fit in with your gear?<br />
I love the elegance of the Due [that he’s wearing],<br />
but for climbing, the [Submersible] BMG-Tech is<br />
my choice. I choose my equipment carefully because<br />
I have to rely on them. Oftentimes in the mountains<br />
your life can depend on your equipment. Everything<br />
has to have a purpose because weight is such an issue.<br />
So, you’re always kind of trying to cut weight down<br />
and only bringing the essentials.<br />
Are there plans for a “Jimmy Chin Limited Edition”?<br />
Hopefully! Let’s see what happens.<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE 135
VINTAGE<br />
Bona fide style icon and founder of menswear atelier The Armoury, Mark Cho, may be a reluctant avatar<br />
for men’s fashion but he’s definitely an avid collector with a keen eye for provenance and fine, rare covetable<br />
timepieces.Hesharesasmallpartofhiscollectionwithusonpage156.
THE MAKING OF A<br />
NEW OLD-STOCK<br />
WATCH PART 1:<br />
THE ROLEX GMT<br />
OFFICIALLY<br />
CERTIFIED<br />
CHRONOMETER<br />
(OCC) PCG 1.60<br />
WORDS WEI KOH<br />
SPECIAL THANKS TO GABRIEL AND THE WATCH<br />
SPECIALIST’S CLINIC, ALESSANDRO CIANI,<br />
@ROLLIWORKS AND @VINTAGEROLLIES<br />
First and foremost, let me begin by emphatically stating<br />
that this story has nothing at all to do with Rolex, which<br />
I consider to be one of the greatest watch brands in<br />
existence. Rather, it is a story about vintage watch collecting<br />
and the dangers its precarious shoals are fraught with.<br />
Further its purpose is to highlight some of the techniques<br />
that are being used today to make watches look brand<br />
new. This is of course admirable, as thanks to modern<br />
technology, restoration has reached an unprecedented level<br />
of achievement, which is admirable — that is, unless of<br />
course a watch that has been made to look new is being sold<br />
toyouasnewold stock,whichitisnot.Ultimately,thisisa<br />
cautionary tale stemming from a very personal experience.<br />
138 VINTAGE
VINTAGE 139
There are several unenviable sensations in human experience.<br />
Amongst the worst of these are: receiving inadvertent blows<br />
from metal objects to one’s reproductive area; feeling as if your<br />
volcano-hot Indian meal has burnt a hole through your digestive tract;<br />
and the sucker-punch realization that you’ve been sold a fake watch.<br />
To be fair, the first two are largely avoidable as long as you are not<br />
trying to make it onto Thrasher magazine’s Instagram feed and do not<br />
overestimate your Herculean ability to withstand the incendiary chillies<br />
of the Indian subcontinent. If, however, you take the plunge into<br />
vintage Rolex collecting, chances are, you will experience the third —<br />
especially if you’d started buying vintage Rolexes 15 years ago as I did<br />
when there was little to no information available to you. Indeed the few<br />
sources of information were ironically weighty tomes written by dealers<br />
so that they could set themselves up as voices of authority and sell you<br />
basically anything they felt like, as was the case with me. However, I<br />
should state that things exist in marked contrast today, thanks to the<br />
rise of excellent, reputable and stand-up dealers like Eric Ku, Eric<br />
Wind, Andrew Shear, Phillips Perpetual, the boys at Analog/Shift and,<br />
if you’re into Omega, the Davidoff Brothers: these guys I would trust<br />
implicitly. But back in the early days of my collecting, the scene was a<br />
no man’s land of opinions often perpetuated by those who stood to gain<br />
the most from them.<br />
The following chronicles my journey related to the very first vintage<br />
watch I ever purchased: a 1675 OCC dial GMT that, from the very<br />
beginning, plagued me with one nightmare scenario after another — so<br />
much so that in the ensuing decade I put it out of my mind. Until one<br />
day, more than a decade later, I unearthed it and decided to examine<br />
it in the cold light of day, only to discover that all its faults still weighed<br />
heavily on me. When I approached the seller of the watch to address the<br />
matter, he proposed to exchange the dial with that of another watch.<br />
I would use the colloquialism “Frankenwatch”, but it was already a<br />
Frankenwatch to begin with. He also broached the idea to use all the<br />
available modern technology to bring this watch back to “new old stock”<br />
condition using modern refinishing techniques that have advanced<br />
significantly in recent years; the plan was to meticulously record each<br />
stage of this process for an article that he would write.<br />
Why have vintage watch restoration techniques evolved so rapidly?<br />
To respond to nothing less than a seismic shift in collectors’ tastes.<br />
When the vintage craze first started gaining momentum about 15 years<br />
ago, buyers — especially those in their nascent forays into vintage Rolex<br />
— would purchase based on the superficial appearance of watches<br />
relative to their pricing. As such, whether it was a Double Red Sea-<br />
Dweller or a Paul Newman Daytona, less discerning collectors would<br />
tend to purchase pretty, often refinished or polished watches based<br />
usually on asking price. Then an interesting thing began to happen.<br />
Following the 2008 financial crisis, people started to become a great<br />
deal more discerning about their vintage watches.<br />
Thanks to the Internet, the perception on vintage forums, at<br />
auction houses amongst the best-known dealers and the most<br />
respected collectors started to coalesce. Gradually one quality began<br />
to be prized above all others: originality — meaning watches in their<br />
original condition, which had never been polished but had dials that had<br />
140 VINTAGE
changed color through the alchemic interaction between ultraviolet light<br />
and unstable varnish or luminous material that turned the hue of salted<br />
caramel as its radioactive life dissipated, became the most sought after.<br />
Said Aurel Bacs in an interview with Revolution, “What I find charming<br />
about vintage watches is the way that time has changed what started as<br />
a uniform product into something that is unique and individual. The<br />
effects of age, resulting from interaction with its environment, give a<br />
vintage watch its character.”<br />
Cut to a decade later when the world is flush with more money than<br />
ever as the result of the trillions of wealth generated by technologies<br />
ranging from dating apps and food delivery services to blockchainbased<br />
currencies, and buyers began to chase watches that were as<br />
seemingly original as possible. In many instances, as with other types<br />
of collectibles, that originality was guaranteed through unassailable<br />
provenance. For example, I bought my 1972 Norton Commando<br />
motorcycle from the individual who had purchased it in 1972, complete<br />
with the original bill of sale and MOT from that year.<br />
ALL NEW, ALL THE TIME<br />
Then a funny thing started to happen. As originality became the most<br />
prized attribute of old watches, suddenly we witnessed the appearance<br />
of the greatest number of new old stock (NOS) watches in history.<br />
The market was literally awash with NOS watches and it seemed like<br />
everywhere — sellers on forums, dealers and even at auctions — there<br />
evinced a veritable tsunami of perfectly aged yet pristinely preserved<br />
watches for sale that had somehow gained patina beautifully with<br />
creamy lume, often tropical dials, and yet largely unmarked cases with<br />
the all-important bevels on the lugs and thick case profiles that were<br />
so sharp that it seemed like they were born only yesterday. And that’s<br />
because, in many instances, they were.<br />
OK, before going into laser welding technology and the<br />
other techniques used to achieve NOS condition, let’s discuss<br />
Frankenwatches. A Frankenwatch contains an amalgam of parts from<br />
different watches to create one perfect or close to perfect watch. The<br />
practice of creating a “Frankenwatch” is to swap parts from two or more<br />
donor watches to create a perfect example — often primed for auctions<br />
— while the leftover parts are sold as very valuable spare parts. The best<br />
and most reputable dealers are open about this, too.<br />
Says Eric Ku, the owner of Vintage Rolex Forum and website<br />
10PastTen.com, “Say I have a perfect exotic dial like a Mark 1 Paul<br />
Newman Panda dial and I have another watch that’s got the right serial<br />
number for the reference, but is a non-Newman dial; of course I might<br />
swap the dials to create one perfect watch.” To be fair, the practice of<br />
Frankenwatches is far more prevalent than most people think and dates<br />
back to the ’80s when a certain Italian gentleman took it upon himself<br />
to document what watch dials went into which case numbers. This is, of<br />
course, an unimaginably huge undertaking and he should be applauded<br />
as the father of vintage Rolex knowledge. He also began offering his<br />
services to source the right case with the right number if you happened<br />
to have a rare dial with the wrong case, or one in inferior condition.<br />
And, honestly, I don’t have an issue with this as long as dealers are open<br />
about it.<br />
From the perspective of a collector, as long as all the serial numbers<br />
fall into the right category — unlike vintage cars, watches do not have<br />
precise matching movement and case numbers — I am inclined not to<br />
complain. Although, of course, the ultimate grail would still be to have<br />
a watch that is a survivor: an all-original piece backed by testimonials<br />
of the original owners and, if possible, photographic evidence of its<br />
unmolested condition reaching back into the past. Do beware, however,<br />
as dealers have also been known to be rather creative when creating a<br />
backstory to watches, such as my favorite: “The members of the Ferrari<br />
Club from a certain country all got together and requested red exoticdial<br />
Daytonas from Rolex, which they received.” If you believe that one,<br />
I have some swampland in Florida for sale…<br />
VINTAGE 141
But it is exactly that dream of a grail watch, the equivalent of the<br />
automotive “barn find” that brings us to the focus of this article, which<br />
is that in order to meet the desire for these all-original watches, people<br />
began to create them and in vast quantities. How? Well, first they put<br />
together a good Frankenwatch, then they use modern technology to<br />
bring these watches back to like-new condition. Thanks to technology<br />
we now have the greatest proliferation of supposedly NOS watches —<br />
apparently almost everyone who bought a sports Rolex put it away in a<br />
drawer, only to forget about it for half a century until it was discovered<br />
by some second- or third-generation descendant.<br />
Which is not to say that laser welding and other highly skilled<br />
restoration techniques are not also being used in the right way. What<br />
is laser welding, you ask? It is a technology that was born in the ’70s<br />
that allowed for welding to be automated and computer controlled,<br />
and has a relative low heat output. It is used in everything from medical<br />
technology to jewelry, and, in the case of watches, allows you to sinter<br />
fresh steel or gold onto a used and old case with a worn or distorted<br />
profile. Once this is done, the shape, factory finish and details of the<br />
case can be recut using special machines that were once exclusively<br />
owned by watch companies but are now in the hands of restorers.<br />
For dealers and well-respected authorities in vintage watches like<br />
Eric Ku and Alessandro Ciani, such is their admiration for the art of<br />
vintage watch restoration that they’ve actually invested in companies<br />
that now operate at the very highest level of the art form and, with total<br />
transparency, they want to show what their restoration firms are able<br />
to achieve, which is nothing short of miraculous. Says Ku, “Personally<br />
I don’t like how people vilify restored watches, and it was precisely the<br />
desire to restore them to better-than-original condition, as you see<br />
in the high-end vintage car Concours world that motivated me to get<br />
involved in this. I think there is nothing at all wrong with a beautifully<br />
restored vintage watch, as long as the seller is open about this.”<br />
Says Ciani, “I have always been enchanted by the ability of the few<br />
incredibly talented artisans who have brought watch restoration to the<br />
next level. I have devoted years to this discipline myself, with a focus<br />
on case work after two decades of research and practice, and I think I<br />
can claim that our work is at the highest level of the industry.” Thinking<br />
about it I am inclined to agree with Ku and Ciani, as long as dealers,<br />
auction houses and anyone selling a restored watch are all open about<br />
142 VINTAGE
this. As a comparison, of the Ferrari 250 GTOs in existence, almost all of them have crashed<br />
and had significant work performed on them for one simple reason: these were race cars and<br />
the people who owned them used them as such. It’s the same for Rolexes: in the era before a<br />
200-percent markup on the aftermarket on steel watches was the norm, these were tool watches<br />
used by professional drivers, explorers, divers and soldiers, and it makes sense that these watches<br />
saw some amount of hard use. My only concern with all the available technology — in particular<br />
laser welding, which brings the original shape, including bevels, of a watch back to life — is when<br />
the resulting watches are passed off as NOS when clearly they are not.<br />
FINDING THE 1675 OCC PCG GILT DIAL<br />
OK, back to my Rolex GMT. My very first two vintage Rolex purchases differ dramatically. One<br />
was the 18K yellow-gold 6265 Daytona from the Davide Blei collection that I bought from a<br />
Patrizzi themed auction in 2009 ,and it has been nothing but a constant source of pleasure.<br />
The other vintage Rolex was what I now refer to as the Rolex GMT from hell — specifically, it’s<br />
a 1675 GMT watch with a special OCC dial. This watch has been nothing but a source of rage,<br />
anxiety and frustration from the moment it came into my life, because it’s been so fraught with<br />
half truths. The words “Officially Certified Chronometer” on the dial marks this watch as a<br />
transitional model from 1959 when its predecessor, the 6<strong>54</strong>2, was being phased out and the<br />
1675 model was introduced. By the later part of 1960, the dials on these watches were changed<br />
to read “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”, in deference to the COSC certification<br />
of the movements within. Dials from the 1675 do not fit on the 6<strong>54</strong>2, and vice versa, so the<br />
OCC 1675 does not feature the transplanted dial. Further, the words “Officially Certified<br />
Chronometer” refer to the caliber 1535 before the introduction of Rolex’s famous Microstella<br />
adjusters found on the balance wheel. (OCC dials have also been seen in this transitional period<br />
with the 1560 caliber.) Almost all OCC 1675 watches come with 1.60 stamped on the back,<br />
in reference to its manufacture during the first quarter of 1960. The serial range should be<br />
between 5032xx and 505xxx, while models in 1961 bore 680xxx serials.<br />
I purchased my GMT watch from an individual (we’ll call him ‘J’), a highly affable,<br />
entertaining and charming man. J is a bon vivant extraordinaire, a natural raconteur, a rare<br />
watch dealer, but also a journalist whom I believed to have been an incredible repository of Rolex<br />
information. He is, to this day, one of the more popular individuals on the London watch scene.<br />
Indeed when I shared with my former editor Tracey Llewellyn, who’s now at The Telegraph in<br />
London, that I’d been sold a highly questionable watch by J, she immediately leapt to his defence.<br />
However, from the onset, the watch I bought from him brought with it challenges, and that’s<br />
because I did something people rarely do when they buy a vintage watch from J: I sent it to a<br />
THIS SPREAD,<br />
CLOCKWISE<br />
The movement of our<br />
1675 OCC PCG bears<br />
Rolex’s 1560 caliber, a<br />
movement that was seen<br />
in transitional models<br />
of the watch along with<br />
the 1535 caliber. The<br />
1560 featured Rolex’s<br />
microstella adjusters<br />
on the balance wheel.<br />
On the right, the<br />
case number bears<br />
a matching series<br />
to the movement<br />
number and caseback.<br />
This is because the<br />
watches were created<br />
in specific batches,<br />
thus not all Rolex<br />
case numbers were<br />
assigned accordingly.<br />
PREVIOUS SPREAD,<br />
CLOCKWISE<br />
After polishing<br />
(Vintage Rollies did<br />
not laser weld this<br />
watch), the watch<br />
in its current state,<br />
showing how restoration<br />
can bring back the<br />
beauty of a watch.<br />
The Rolex 1675 before<br />
restoration by Vintage<br />
Rollies (@vintagerollies),<br />
showing its age.<br />
The restoration process<br />
is a combination<br />
of research and<br />
understanding each<br />
model, as well an<br />
appreciation of what<br />
should be restored, or<br />
remain untouched.<br />
VINTAGE 143
vintage expert to have it authenticated and serviced. While the watch<br />
featured the correct 1.60 caseback, when I sent it to the famous watch<br />
restorer Bob Ridley, who’s based in Texas, he informed me that the case<br />
had been tampered with and that, as a result, a normal crystal would not<br />
sit properly in it. This transpired when I was well into the costly service.<br />
His exact description was that it appeared that someone had forced<br />
the area where the crystal sits into and the bezel sits on top marginally<br />
wider. As such, he could not guarantee the watch’s water resistance as<br />
the tolerances in this area were altered.<br />
When I informed J about this issue, he initially seemed perplexed;<br />
then, to his credit, he quickly agreed to find me another watch. Giving<br />
him the benefit of the doubt, I agreed, and he soon found a second<br />
watch with an attractive fuchsia colored bezel insert and a caseback<br />
from 1961. I would later discover that these bezels were for watches<br />
that only appeared from 1965 onwards, as my friend Paul Boutros from<br />
Phillips explained. When I questioned him about this discrepancy, J<br />
replied, “Oh they were all over the place back then.”<br />
Now, in the last decade, one of the great benefits of the Internet<br />
is the rapid proliferation of information that is shared, analyzed then<br />
amalgamated, which results in a universally recognized record. And<br />
without sites such as Vintage Rolex Forum, individuals such as Eric Ku<br />
and Aurel Bacs, or entities like Phillips, the world of Rolex information<br />
would still be in miasmic disarray, which allows individuals to claim to<br />
be authorities when they are not. This is simply because Rolex doesn’t<br />
share any information with the public and does not opine on any of its<br />
watches in any way. As a result we now know the statement, “They were<br />
all over the place,” regarding the date stamping of the 1675 OCC, to<br />
be inaccurate. They are specifically date stamped “1.60” with some<br />
watches also having “II.59” stamps. If you ask why “III.59” and<br />
“IV.59” could not exist with this dial, it is because of the way these<br />
watches were manufactured in batches. As a result, it became clear that<br />
the fuchsia bezel GMT OCC PCG watch in my collection was a very<br />
attractive Frankenwatch, but one that had not been done correctly,<br />
respecting the appropriate serial numbers and date codes. Had the<br />
numbers at least aligned, I would have been less upset. The thing to<br />
understand also was that, in the context of 2008 when I bought the<br />
watch, J was regarded as an authority in the world of vintage Rolex, and<br />
I thought, “Who am I to question such an august individual?”<br />
REMAKING THE 1675 OCC<br />
As time passed and the number of watches in my collection grew, I<br />
tended to forget about the GMT. Occasionally I would notice it at the<br />
back of my watch box, and I would take it out and wear it. On one level<br />
I tried to convince myself to let its fundamental incorrectness slide.<br />
After all, the watch was attractive. But, at the same time, the fact that I<br />
knew in my heart that it was wrong continued to gnaw at me for over a<br />
decade. And for someone who’s stricken with obsessive-compulsive<br />
tendencies as I am, each time I wore it I would be consumed with an<br />
impotent rage and I’d have to take it off and put it down as if it had<br />
somehow conspired with the man who sold it to me to affront me<br />
with its inchoate mendacity. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and<br />
requested to meet with J just before the party to celebrate the 10th<br />
The side profile of<br />
the 1675 here shows<br />
how after polishing,<br />
thelugholesarenot<br />
equally spaced with<br />
the bevelled edges.<br />
144 VINTAGE
HOW LASER WELDING WORKS<br />
1.<br />
A series of<br />
process images<br />
by Michael Hui of<br />
@mikerolliworks<br />
shows his work<br />
process from start<br />
to end. The team<br />
first examines<br />
the watch to see<br />
which parts need<br />
filling in with<br />
new material.<br />
2.<br />
New material is<br />
added on and laser<br />
welded to the areas<br />
that need filling in.<br />
3.<br />
Afterthata<br />
lappist grinds<br />
down the material<br />
to the correct<br />
shape and form<br />
using a lapping<br />
machine, before<br />
polishing it to the<br />
right texture.<br />
4.<br />
An example of a<br />
case after the above<br />
processes have been<br />
completed. (This<br />
case is different from<br />
previous photos.<br />
Now the next phase<br />
of finalising the watch<br />
restoration begins.<br />
Special thanks to<br />
@mikerolliworks for<br />
useoftheirimages.<br />
anniversary of my magazine, The Rake. However, in the decade plus that<br />
passed since I bought the watch, things have changed. I’ve learnt a lot<br />
more about vintage watches and had confidence in my own findings.<br />
Also, information has become absolutely proliferate, making dealers<br />
with reputations for treading in the grey area relics of the past. To be<br />
fair to J he immediately replied that he would do what was necessary to<br />
make it right. When I met him, he looked tired. He explained that he<br />
had been involved in a legal imbroglio which had taken “the wind out<br />
of his sails”. When I passed him back the watch and asked him to make<br />
things right he acquiesced immediately.<br />
Accordingly and again to his credit, he scoured his sources and<br />
found a GMT complete with box and papers and even the original bill<br />
of sale with the correct serial number and 1.60 caseback. His idea was<br />
to put my OCC dial in the new case so we would have a 1960 Rolex<br />
PCG OCC with not only the correct date stamp on the caseback and<br />
the right serial number, but also the box and papers, which commands<br />
a premium in the aftermarket. J started to get excited thinking that if I<br />
was not inclined to keep the watch, we could sell it for a large premium.<br />
At this point our objectives diverged somewhat, as I thought of an idea<br />
that would make for a great story. I had heard about all the varying<br />
technologies that allowed restorers to bring watches back to life. What<br />
if we were to have the case restored through laser welding? There is an<br />
Instagram page belonging to a Japanese restorer named @_hiiih_ who<br />
performs apparent works of magic on both steel and gold cases. You<br />
could see watches where the bevels had been completely ground off<br />
through constant repolishing that suddenly evinced razor-sharp lines<br />
again. Yet another restorer on Instagram, @mikerolliworks, shows great<br />
exacting details of how laser welding is done. A damaged or rounded<br />
section of the case has tiny microscopic welds made on it to sinter fresh<br />
metal to the case. In some instances thousands of tiny welds can be used<br />
to build up a badly damaged section of the watch. Once this is done the<br />
case is recut and refinished with exacting precision. It really is a magical<br />
transformative act.<br />
The Japanese owner of the first page was contacted and he readily<br />
agreed to apply his magic to this now-dissembled watch. Once<br />
the components were finished by him they were sent back and the<br />
watch was reassembled. Now throughout this process, J was meant<br />
to document the stages and write a story about how a NOS watch is<br />
effectively made. He was at first hesitant. Then I pointed out to him that<br />
if he felt his reputation as a dealer had become affected in recent times,<br />
the best way to change that perception would be to become a voice for<br />
transparency and to inform the public about how watches can be made<br />
to look like new using these technologies. The idea was a step-by-step<br />
demonstration of how the GMT was refreshed in this way. However, in<br />
the end, the story he wrote is just a generic story on refinishing and not a<br />
narrative about us personally undertaking this objective together.<br />
Once he received the watch, J being J got more and more excited to<br />
sell this watch at an auction using precisely the following narrative: it<br />
was a rare OCC pointed crown guard, gilt dial, one-owner, box-andpapers<br />
watch that was left sitting in a drawer or “found in a barn” or<br />
something similar to this. And he began to contact auction houses to<br />
gauge their level of interest. What was strange, however, was that he<br />
didn’t want to be the person to submit the watch for auction and wanted<br />
me to do it.<br />
To be honest, the idea of making back the initial investment in the<br />
watch with a tidy profit (even if it was to be split two ways, as the dealer<br />
VINTAGE 145
LEFT<br />
Each time polishing<br />
is done, it removes<br />
material from the<br />
original case, which<br />
can result in noticeable<br />
differences such as<br />
the spacing between<br />
the notched bezel.<br />
RIGHT<br />
A closeup of the 1675<br />
OCC PCG’s dial shows<br />
the cracking of the<br />
varnish on the dial,<br />
a “spider webbing”<br />
that extends across<br />
most of the dial now.<br />
proposed) to make up for the decade of heartache and substantial<br />
financial loss resulting from the damn watch, was tempting. I even sent<br />
the image of the watch to Paul Boutros at Phillips who immediately<br />
spotted the incorrect bezel. In the context of last year when the idea<br />
was put forward, I found myself in sudden need of cash, and so the idea<br />
of auctioning the watch gained appeal. After all, apparently everyone<br />
was doing it. Indeed we went back and forth about the watch with<br />
him showing it to his contacts, but with no one biting. His reputation<br />
had clearly been affected as a result of the legal action. But the more I<br />
thought about it, the more I couldn’t live with the idea of being complicit<br />
in the very thing that had been perpetuated upon me, regardless of the<br />
profit, which was essentially to sell a watch under false pretenses.<br />
RIGHTING IMPERFECTION<br />
I understood that the watch is now ostensibly correct. It has the right<br />
and super rare dial, right hands, movement, case and even bracelet.<br />
It comes with box and papers and supporting documentation — but<br />
it wasn’t born that way. It was created to generate a highly profitable<br />
narrative. Finally, its NOS condition was also a falsehood as it was<br />
created specifically to look like an old, unmolested watch when it was<br />
anything but. Indeed, if anything, at the moment the case looks a little<br />
too new, which jars with the clearly aged and patinated dial, which,<br />
under magnification, shows the faint traces of “spider webbing”, or<br />
cracks in the surface varnish. It was J who alerted me to the fact that the<br />
watch had been rejected by many of his buyers because of this spider<br />
webbing. This confused me as, being someone obsessive compulsive<br />
about details, it was a detail I would have noticed before the watch<br />
became part of this complex swapping of parts. And then it dawned on<br />
me that I hadn’t really looked at the watch since it was restored.<br />
At the end of last year, J passed me the Rolex and, quite honestly,<br />
I wasn’t particularly motivated to look at it. Then, as I solidified my<br />
resolve to not sell the watch and use it as the basis of this story, I<br />
decided to take it out of the safe and start photographing it. Now once<br />
its serial numbers are shown to the world, as I have every intention<br />
of doing, the watch will, for all intents and purposes, be unsellable as<br />
it will be a matter of public record that it has been the focus of both<br />
Frankenwatching and also an attempt to bring it back to NOS quality.<br />
So once I made peace with the fact that my five-digit sterling investment<br />
in this watch was to be reduced to zero, I informed J that we would not<br />
be selling the watch and that I was going to go public with the entire<br />
story behind it. That was when something really disturbing happened.<br />
As my team and I began to examine the watch in earnest and<br />
take microscopic photographs of its details, we discovered that the<br />
“spiderweb” cracking on the varnish of the dial was pervasive and<br />
covered the entire dial — something I was certain was not there before<br />
this entire process began. Just as disastrous, it appears that J never even<br />
had the case laser welded before it was recut, because the bevel on the<br />
bottom right lug is now touching the hole for the spring bar — meaning<br />
that, in his laziness, he hadn’t even bothered to have this area built back<br />
up. Indeed if you look at the profile of the case, you would be able to see<br />
that the distance between the spring-bar hole on the upper-right lug is<br />
farther from the bevel, meaning there is more material between these<br />
two elements than in the lower right. What J had described as a NOS<br />
watch was essentially a badly botched facelift. In the end, a palpable<br />
sense of relief washed over me as I had almost played a part in trying to<br />
pass off a poorly — I would even say laughably — refinished watch as<br />
something that was in original condition.<br />
So where does this leave me? Well firstly, I hope that sharing this<br />
information with you has made you a little more circumspect and<br />
discerning about vintage watches, and that you understand that if these<br />
technologies can be used for Rolexes, they can also be used for Pateks or<br />
anything else of value. Indeed I know of one Italian dealer who famously<br />
and very proudly had the case of a pink-gold 2499 recut. Hopefully, this<br />
will be something of a wakeup call to the vintage watch industry and they<br />
will begin to put in place greater safeguards and transparency.<br />
Is there a way to avoid the pitfalls that I experienced? Well, the old<br />
146 VINTAGE
adage that “you don’t buy the watch, you buy<br />
the dealer” makes emphatic sense here. Buy<br />
from someone who has built their reputation<br />
on legitimacy and transparency, like Eric<br />
Ku has, one watch at a time. And what about<br />
the GMT that’s mired in a sort of botched<br />
liminality, possibly worse off than it was before<br />
the entire “restoration”? Well, I am inclined<br />
to hand it to one of the legitimate restorers<br />
and see if they can put right what years of<br />
mendacity have conspired to convolute.<br />
And what about J? Funnily, I don’t really<br />
hold any animosity toward him. I might even<br />
have a drink with him the next time I see<br />
him. He is the ultimate personification of the<br />
scorpion that stung the frog after riding across<br />
the river on its back. You see, he can’t help<br />
himself. He is a relic of a time when people had<br />
no information and he was able to amass what<br />
I imagine was a great fortune as a result. That<br />
time is irrefutably over and even as I write this<br />
story, men like J are fading into irrelevance in a<br />
knowledge empowered world.<br />
MICHAEL HUI OF ROLLIWORKS ON WATCH RESTORATION<br />
When we founded Rolliworks, it was our vision to provide our very passionate<br />
community with a complete repair/restoration. From bracelet repair,<br />
movement servicing, to Swiss lapping and chamfer restoration, we say with<br />
much pride that we’re the only shop in the world that tackles all three primary<br />
components with our own hands, in-house, without the use of outsourced<br />
vendors. This was very important for us from the start. It allows owner of the<br />
piece to contribute and offer input throughout the process.<br />
I think a project can take on a whole new life when one can transport<br />
themselves back to the time when the piece was originally produced. Just<br />
imagining how the piece would have looked like at the time, it’s easy to<br />
understand why our clients have expressed a certain comfort in seeing their<br />
timepiece with the beautiful lines and edges that Rolex intended. There’s<br />
definitely a lot of uncertainly in regard to restore or not restore. I think<br />
sometimes clients can get caught up with worrying too much about what the<br />
imaginary person down the line might want instead of focusing on what their<br />
personal preference is.<br />
A restored piece should never-ever be called NOS, a term that’s too<br />
liberally thrown around these days. I feel very strongly NOS should be virtually<br />
unworn and in top condition without any work done to it at any point.<br />
VINTAGE 147
In part two of a look into the gem set<br />
and stone dial watches of Rolex, Ross<br />
Povey, in collaboration with Pucci<br />
Papaleo, celebrates rare and blingedout<br />
examples of the elder statesman<br />
oftheRolexfamily,theDay-Date.<br />
THE COMPLETE<br />
GUIDE<br />
WORDS ROSS POVEY<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY PUCCI PAPALEO<br />
Inthe first installment of this two-part speed-walk<br />
through the fascinating world of Rolex Bling we pressed<br />
our noses against the glass of the King of Chronos,<br />
the mighty Daytona and the ways in which it’s been lifted<br />
beyond mere timing instrument (be it your lap of Le<br />
Mans or your pre-plunged caffetiere) to haute-jewelry<br />
accessory. Today we take a look at the Daytona’s older<br />
brother, which was hip-hopping its bling long before its<br />
younger sibling was conceived. The Day Date has seen<br />
more ‘ice’ in its near-65-year lifetime than any other<br />
Rolex watch and has been adorned with gems since its very<br />
earliest iterations back in the second half of the 1950s.<br />
The ice is thick, let’s go skating…<br />
148 VINTAGE
Left<br />
The Day-Date 36<br />
reference 1803<br />
in white gold<br />
with white gold<br />
bracelet, baguette<br />
and brilliant-cut<br />
diamond markers<br />
and a rare gradated<br />
green dial called<br />
“Augusta Green”.<br />
These watches with<br />
the caliber 1556<br />
came with a rare<br />
2.75Hz running<br />
escapement speed.<br />
Above<br />
The reference 6612<br />
shown here bears a<br />
smooth bezel which<br />
differs from Rolex’s<br />
fluted bezels of the<br />
1803 onwards. It<br />
also offers a very<br />
unique bracelet and<br />
was developed for<br />
the Arabic market.<br />
THE PRECIOUS WATCH<br />
Rolex unveiled the Day-Date at Baselworld in 1956. The<br />
new watch featured Rolex’s groundbreaking Datejust<br />
technology that was supplemented by the addition of a day<br />
window. From the get go, the Day-Date was manufactured<br />
in precious metals only, including yellow, white and pink<br />
gold and platinum. Over the years a small number of Day-<br />
Dates in steel have appeared and we presume they were<br />
either for testing movements or for watchmakers to work on,<br />
much like the hyper-rare brass training models that we have<br />
seen occasionally crop up. The first references available<br />
were the 6510 and 6511, and then in 1957 the second series<br />
came in references 6611 (with a coin edge bezel), 6612 (with<br />
smooth bezel) and 6613 that was made in platinum in very<br />
small numbers. Both series one and two were monoblocco<br />
cases, where the midcase and bezel were crafted from a<br />
single piece of metal, unlike later watches where the bezel<br />
was a separate part that was used to keep the crystal in place.<br />
In 1960 the iconic reference 1803 was launched which was<br />
again available in yellow, white and pink gold as well as the<br />
reference 1804 in platinum. Whilst there had been some<br />
diamond setting on the earlier models, it was with the 1800<br />
series that Rolex really began to experiment and push<br />
the boundaries.<br />
STARTER STONES<br />
From the early days, the Day-Date was a watch that was<br />
destined to be the most luxurious member of the Rolex clan.<br />
I have a copy of a price list from 1965, which lists some of<br />
the main pieces from the collection. A GMT-Master on<br />
steel bracelet cost CHF2,910. The platinum Day-Date<br />
on bracelet with diamond hour markers had a list price of<br />
CHF22,000. That was a lot of money in the mid-60s and<br />
would have been the preserve of the ultra high net worth<br />
buyer of the time.<br />
One of the earliest examples of diamond use on the<br />
Day-Date is the reference 6611 in white gold. As early as<br />
1958 this watch was fitted with baguette and brilliant cut<br />
diamonds. A familiar setting pattern from Rolex, that we<br />
saw in examples such as this in the late ’50s up until present<br />
day, is a baguette diamond at six o’clock and nine o’clock<br />
and then the remaining hours with brilliant-cut diamonds.<br />
There was no space for a stone at twelve or three o’clock,<br />
due to the day and date apertures on the dial and so these<br />
dials are known as “eight plus two”. There were also dials<br />
without the baguette-cut diamonds and just eight brilliantcut<br />
stones as seen on this 6612 also from 1958. The “eight<br />
plus two” configuration continued to be the most common<br />
setting throughout the 1960s and 1970s.<br />
VINTAGE 149
STRINGS AND THINGS<br />
In 1977 the Day-Date underwent something of a makeover. The<br />
first change was the introduction of a quick-set date change and<br />
the second was the introduction of a sapphire crystal. It was still in<br />
a 36mm case and the metal options were unchanged, but it was an<br />
update none-the-less. The five-digit Day-Date, however, heralded<br />
a new chapter in the gem setting of the watch dials. The “eight plus<br />
two” dials were still used extensively, but this look was supplemented<br />
by a wide range of new styles. Special order watches had always been<br />
available and so there are unique examples from the 1800 series<br />
watches, but the main aim of this piece is to give a general overview of<br />
what was produced in regular production. The exciting thing about<br />
Rolex is that every year new, previously unseen examples surface.<br />
The string dials saw a string of brilliant-cut diamonds set around<br />
the minute track. The hour markers would then be marked with an<br />
additional diamond or in some cases an emerald, ruby or sapphire. In<br />
some rare cases the hours were marked with a single baguette-cut stone.<br />
This page, clockwise<br />
from top left<br />
A Day-Date 18239<br />
“Victory Lap” model<br />
with a ring of brilliantcut<br />
diamonds along<br />
the minute track.<br />
A reference 18039 has<br />
baguette diamonds<br />
for the hour markers<br />
instead of a double<br />
row of brilliantcut<br />
diamonds.<br />
A 18038 “Ruby<br />
Roulette” in yellow<br />
gold, with a selfexplanatory<br />
moniker.<br />
Pavé dials also came into use. One of my favourite iterations is<br />
the paved chapter ring. Essentially this was a precious metal ring<br />
that continued in the same thickness as the day window around the<br />
inner circumference of the dial and it was paved with diamonds. The<br />
chapter ring would be highlighted at the hours with brilliant cut stones,<br />
including diamonds, rubies and sapphires.<br />
The full pavé dial is a Rolex Classic. Who doesn’t love a full dial of<br />
sparkling stones? Still in use today in Rolex sports watches, the full pavé<br />
dial’s maiden voyage was on the Day-Date. Rolex takes gem-setting<br />
very seriously, much like everything else that they do. They only employ<br />
the very best artisans who can flawlessly carry out the work and insist<br />
on the highest possible quality of stones for use on their watches. All the<br />
diamonds used, even the tiniest for full pavé dials, must include zero<br />
inclusions when checked at 10x magnification. Each stone is checked by<br />
eye and compared with master stones to ensure only the finest examples<br />
make it onto watches — Rolex even has its own proprietary tools to<br />
ensure each stone is of uniform shape. The cut used for pavé dials is<br />
known as the 8/8 cut, which has a total of 17 facets.<br />
150 VINTAGE
Above left<br />
A reference<br />
18238 “Golden<br />
Embroidery” dial a<br />
rare example of the<br />
fine craftsmanship<br />
Rolex practiced on<br />
dials. The partially<br />
diamond-set<br />
dial features an<br />
engraved gold dial<br />
which is reminiscent<br />
of the interiors seen<br />
in classic Arabic<br />
architecture.<br />
Left<br />
A reference 18206<br />
with sunray brushed<br />
blue dial and a<br />
diamond-paved<br />
chapter ring.<br />
“RAINBOW”<br />
Dating to 1986, the reference 18008<br />
“Rainbow” is a truly beautiful example of<br />
the art of setting all three main components<br />
of the watch head — dial, case and bezel.<br />
The dial is fully paved with brilliant-cut<br />
diamonds with an “eight and two” hours<br />
setting using rubies. Note the raised plaques<br />
for the ROLEX and DAY-DATE on the<br />
dial. The four lugs of the case are also set<br />
with brilliant-cut diamonds. The bezel is<br />
reminiscent of the SARU GMT-Master,<br />
with baguette-cut rubies on the upper half<br />
of the bezel and sapphires on the lower half.<br />
The astonishing feature is the five-stone<br />
graduation of color that appears at three<br />
o’clock and nine o’clock. The only way to<br />
truly appreciate the artistry of this watch you<br />
have to look at the picture.<br />
VINTAGE 151
STELLA BY STARLIGHT<br />
I remember a Rolex Passion Meeting<br />
in Maastricht many years ago. As is<br />
the custom at such events, there was<br />
a centerpiece table that was used as a<br />
show-and-tell platform upon which<br />
collectors set out their treasures. There<br />
were the usual line-ups of MilSubs,<br />
Comex, Newmans and Submariners<br />
of every vintage from 1950s Big<br />
Crowns to 1970s Maxi dials. It was the<br />
era of the explosion in international<br />
interest in vintage Rolex, which was<br />
almost entirely focused on steel sports<br />
watches. And then somebody opened a<br />
watch roll of Stella-dialed Day-Dates<br />
and so the bar was set for precious<br />
metal Rolex; a sector that steadily<br />
grows even until today.<br />
The Stella dials were introduced in the 1800 plexi-glass<br />
series Day-Dates and Rolex continued using them well<br />
into the sapphire-era 18000 series watches of the 1980s.<br />
The dials were available in a kaleidoscope of bright colors.<br />
At the time this was a bold move for Rolex, who were seen<br />
as conservative in many ways. The rich colored dials were<br />
created by building up layers of laquer to give a high-gloss<br />
finish. In the early days of internet 1.0, people would often<br />
refer to these dials as enamel or porcelain, but they were<br />
neither. There are so many different colors made, often the<br />
same color but in different shades. Take green for example.<br />
There were three shades — ‘Forest’, ‘Peppermint’ and<br />
‘Seafoam’. Stella dials were made with both applied baton<br />
markers and the classic “eight plus two” diamond set<br />
hours. Which is the most rare is a matter of opinion, but<br />
there is no argument that they are all beautiful dials.<br />
STONE AGE<br />
One of the most challenging manufacturing<br />
processes for watch brands is the production of<br />
stone dials. Working with stone is difficult as it<br />
is incredibly hard and the resulting finished piece<br />
is very thin. This leads to a large failure rate with the<br />
brittle stone slivers being very prone to cracking. One of<br />
the appealing aspects of stone dials, however, is the unique<br />
nature of each one. I spoke about this in the last installment<br />
of this series regarding the Daytona. The Day-Date used<br />
considerably more types of stone for its dials and I’m not<br />
sure anybody, other than Rolex, could compile a thoroughly<br />
exhaustive list of all the stones used in the Day-Date.<br />
However, what follows is about as close as it is possible to<br />
get with full access to the Rolex archive.<br />
This page<br />
ADay-Date<br />
1803 Stella Dial<br />
monikered the<br />
“Incredible Hulk”,<br />
usinggreenlacquer<br />
that was applied<br />
layer upon layer<br />
to give it that<br />
glossy finish.<br />
The 1803<br />
“Doraemon”<br />
Stella dial was<br />
named for the<br />
Japanese cartoon<br />
character which<br />
was highly popular<br />
during the era.<br />
Opposite<br />
The 1803<br />
“Firefighter” Stella<br />
dial. The vermillion<br />
tone of the dial<br />
reminds one of the<br />
bakelite material<br />
that was a common<br />
use in homewares.<br />
152 VINTAGE
A-Z OF DAY-DATE STONE DIALS<br />
Agate<br />
Ammonite<br />
Aventurine<br />
Bloodstone<br />
Cacholong<br />
Coral<br />
Ferrite<br />
Fossil<br />
Grossular<br />
Jade<br />
Jasper<br />
Lapis Lazuli<br />
a rock consisting primarily of<br />
cryptocrystalline silica, chiefly chalcedony,<br />
alternating with microgranular quartz. It is<br />
characterized by its fineness of grain and<br />
variety of color<br />
the most commonly known fossil, it is the<br />
hard shell of an ancient, extinct mollusk<br />
a form of quartz, characterized by its<br />
translucency and the presence of mineral<br />
inclusions that give a shimmering or<br />
glistening effect<br />
a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz. The<br />
“classic” bloodstone is opaque green jasper<br />
with red inclusions of hematite<br />
a form of common opal, although it is often<br />
mistaken for agate or chalcedony<br />
the hard skeleton of red coral branches<br />
a ceramic material made by mixing and<br />
firing large proportions of iron with small<br />
proportions of one or more additional metallic<br />
elements, such as barium, manganese, nickel,<br />
and zinc<br />
also known by collectors as ‘Jurassic Park’<br />
dials, they are petrified fossil slices<br />
a vibrant red calcium-aluminium species of<br />
the garnet group of minerals<br />
an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its<br />
green varieties<br />
an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/<br />
or chalcedony and other minerals. It’s usually<br />
red, yellow, brown or green in color<br />
a metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious<br />
stone that is prized for its intense blue color<br />
Malachite<br />
Meteorite<br />
Mother of<br />
Pearl (Nacre)<br />
Marble<br />
(Howlite)<br />
Obsidian<br />
Opal<br />
Onyx<br />
Pietersite<br />
a green copper mineral, known for its vibrant<br />
greencolorandagate-likebandingthatshows<br />
different shades of green<br />
a nickel and iron alloy with heavy traces<br />
of cobalt and phosphorus. It is the crystal<br />
composition of this meteorite that gives it<br />
its octahedrite structure that is so visually<br />
appealing<br />
an iridescent organic composite material that<br />
is very strong produced by some molluscs as<br />
an inner shell layer<br />
a calcium borosilicate hydroxide, it has a<br />
white appearance with threaded gray, black or<br />
brown veins running through it<br />
a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as<br />
rock, obsidian is produced when lava extruded<br />
from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal<br />
crystal growth<br />
formed when water from rain seeps down into<br />
crevasses in rock. Once the water evaporates,<br />
the silica that is left behind dries out and<br />
hardens into precious opal<br />
formed of bands of chalcedony in alternating<br />
colors. The most common color used by Rolex<br />
is the black bands<br />
a variety of Quartz, composed naturally<br />
of Tiger Eye, Hawk’s Eye and Jasper. Its<br />
dominant gold hues are contrasted with<br />
deep blue-black, gray and brown, as well as<br />
occasional clear areas<br />
VINTAGE 153
Right<br />
A reference<br />
18049 “Diamond<br />
Cream” bears a<br />
cream-colored dial<br />
with brilliant-cut<br />
diamonds on the<br />
bezel and hour<br />
markers, with<br />
compass baguette<br />
diamond markers.<br />
Below<br />
A reference 1804<br />
with a deep red dial<br />
and fully set bezel,<br />
named “Bolero”.<br />
BLINGED BEZELS AND BRACELETS<br />
Rolex have always taken great pride in the overall aesthetic<br />
symmetry of its gem-set watches. When it comes to bezels,<br />
very often they will be set with stones that compliment the<br />
stones on the dial. One of the most classic looks is the bezel<br />
set with 46 brilliant-cut diamonds framing a dial with<br />
diamond hour markers. The brilliant-cut is also known as the<br />
full-cut and has a total of 57 facets on each stone. It is most<br />
commonly used by Rolex on dials and dress watch bezels.<br />
On sports watch bezels the most common stone cut<br />
currently is a variation of baguette, known as the trapeze<br />
cut. This is seen on the current diamond bezel Daytonas, the<br />
Eye of the Tiger and the Platinum TBR, as well has the SARU<br />
GMT-Masters and gem-set Submariners. However, Rolex<br />
also used normal baguette-cut stones on Daytona bezels as<br />
I wrote about in my last piece. There are some rare examples<br />
of baguette or trapeze cut stone bezels for Day-Dates. You<br />
can read about the Rainbow Day-Date above but another<br />
1<strong>54</strong> VINTAGE
The 18188A<br />
‘Lucky Wheel’,<br />
features a bezel<br />
set with trapezecut<br />
diamonds,<br />
rubies, emeralds<br />
and sapphires.<br />
Right<br />
A reference 1804<br />
“Royal Flush”<br />
with diamond-set<br />
Octopus bracelet,<br />
bezel and hour<br />
markers.<br />
The reference<br />
19168 Oysterquartz<br />
Day-Date bears<br />
arowofbaguette<br />
sapphires on the<br />
bezel and brilliantcut<br />
diamonds on<br />
the hour markers<br />
and bracelet.<br />
Below<br />
A reference 19019<br />
“Special Effects”<br />
with an Octopus<br />
bracelet featuring<br />
brilliant-cut<br />
diamonds on<br />
the case and<br />
bracelet as well<br />
as baguette rubies<br />
on the bracelet’s<br />
centre links.<br />
example is a rare reference 18188A, known by collectors as<br />
“Lucky Wheel” with trapeze-cut bezel stones of diamonds,<br />
rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Oysterquartz Day-Dates<br />
were some of the most embellished watches of the 1980s.<br />
The reference 19168 pictured here is set with baguette-cut<br />
sapphires in the bezel and also in the bracelet.<br />
On the subject of bracelets, this is where watches<br />
can tip-over the edge into a bling overload! The most<br />
common form of gem-setting Day-Date bracelets is called<br />
the Octopus. With this, each of the centre links of the<br />
President bracelet or integrated OQ bracelet is set with a<br />
large baguette-cut stone and then the outer links are set<br />
with single large brilliant cut stones – the resulting effect is<br />
reminiscent of an octopus’s tentacle. The outer stones are<br />
almost always diamonds that flank a centre baguette stone –<br />
diamond, sapphire or ruby. These really are not for the fainthearted.<br />
The real trick is to make sure you wear the watch<br />
and vice-versa. Go on, get out and try one – I dare you!<br />
VINTAGE 155
156 VINTAGE
CALL COLLECT:<br />
MARK CHO<br />
Founder of The Armoury, representative of all things dandy and<br />
cool and a sophisticated watch collector as well, we find out<br />
what gets Mark Cho ticking.<br />
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY ATOM MOORE<br />
If you tell Mark Cho, founder of the menswear atelier The<br />
Armoury, that he’s a bona fide style icon, he’ll deny it with<br />
his usual modesty. Even so, what cannot be denied that<br />
in the 10 years since he first opened shop in Hong Kong,<br />
is that he and his brand have had an outsized effect on<br />
contemporary menswear.<br />
In addition to being a somewhat reluctant avatar for<br />
modern men’s fashion, he’s also an avid watch collector with<br />
a keen eye for value and an even keener eye for provenance<br />
and manufacture acumen. To this end, we were fortunate<br />
to steal a moment at his NYC flagship to talk about his<br />
collection and how he goes about selecting the pieces that<br />
tickle his particular fancy.<br />
When did the watch bug hit?<br />
2006, I was at my first job in London and I used to walk by a<br />
used watch store called Austin Kaye every day on the way to<br />
work. It’s interesting that “vintage watches” weren’t really a<br />
commercial thing yet, you just called them “used watches”.<br />
My interest in watches, especially early on, was because<br />
they were cheap and small. My Omega Chronostop cost<br />
me £350 pounds and it was 36mm. I quickly realized that<br />
there were a lot of great, cheap and small watches out there.<br />
Looking back, it’s interesting that even then, I instinctively<br />
found watches larger than 36mm aesthetically difficult for<br />
me to wear. This is not to knock larger watches, it’s just I<br />
was a man slight in stature and I knew larger watches looked<br />
strange on me.<br />
I also enjoyed the bargain hunting. There were so many<br />
good things at well less than a thousand pounds. I remember<br />
10 years later when I bought my first Rolex Explorer<br />
new from a boutique, I couldn’t believe how much I was<br />
spending on it. I would be lying if I didn’t mention that there<br />
is a certain satisfaction in picking something that becomes a<br />
sleeper hit years later.<br />
What is that you look for when adding a new piece to your<br />
watch collection?<br />
I went through a lot of phases. At first it was bargains, being<br />
limited on a budget and also feeling like what was out there<br />
was such good value. Then it became chasing icons, things<br />
like the Explorer, Nautilus, Reverso, etc. Afterwards it<br />
became trying to collect sets: a particular model in as many<br />
permutations as possible. I think when I started to more<br />
actively sell things out of my collection, which was around<br />
six years ago when we would put pieces in a display cabinet<br />
in my Hong Kong shop and see what would happen, that my<br />
collection became less about accumulation and more about<br />
just expressing my taste. When you have to sell, you start to<br />
think more carefully about what you keep. One day, I would<br />
like to write something about the pieces I sold, divided into:<br />
pieces that I really didn’t care about, pieces that I cared<br />
quite a bit about and pieces that I deeply regret selling.<br />
Today, when I add something, I just add it. I don’t think<br />
that much about it. If it appeals to me on some emotional<br />
level, that’s good enough. If it’s not right, I can always sell it;<br />
worse come to worse, I take a haircut on it. If I bought smart,<br />
which doesn’t often happen, I might even make a few bucks.<br />
I am a firm believer that you never really know<br />
something until you own it. You can read reviews until you’ve<br />
memorised every word on a piece ever written, but it will<br />
never replace your own tactile experience with it.<br />
Beyond my own personal take, some basic things: try and<br />
buy the best condition you can. Try and buy something with<br />
known provenance if you can. Inspect things as carefully as<br />
possible. Have some faith in dealers. Not every dealer is a<br />
VINTAGE 157
superstar or even honest, but there are some out there that<br />
have good taste and will stand by what they sell.<br />
How does your passion for watches complement your<br />
passion for men’s fashion?<br />
Clothing for me is expression. I wear these clothes because<br />
they speak on my behalf, they express something I want to<br />
say to the world around me. Watches, as something worn on<br />
the body, are part of this logic. I am conscious of matching<br />
certain things to other things. Dress watches with dressy<br />
clothes. Sport watches with casual clothes. Unusual watches<br />
for particular situations. Special watches for memorable<br />
occasions. I like my appearance to the world to be coherent<br />
and communicative according to me.<br />
In my particular niche of menswear, which tends<br />
towards classic style, details are important, and a watch is<br />
a microcosm of dense detail. I think there is an interesting<br />
parallel between classic menswear and basic horology. In<br />
classic menswear, there is a fundamental framework of:<br />
jacket, shirt, tie, trousers, shoes, etc, in the same way that<br />
in horology, all basic time-only movements have some<br />
fundamental principles: a certain number of wheels, a gear<br />
train, a balance wheel, an escapement, a mainspring, etc.<br />
Within these fundamentals, endless variations have been<br />
created and it is fascinating to see the extent of human<br />
ingenuity and even be involved with it from time to time.<br />
Can you speak a little to the pieces that you cherish most in<br />
your collection?<br />
Rather than just talk about my favorites, I brought a little<br />
cross section of my collection right now.<br />
I brought three two-register chronographs, all from the<br />
’30s to ’40s. This is one particular type of watch I am very<br />
fond of and I tend to give them a second look when I come<br />
across them. The first thing I am drawn to is the typography<br />
and layout. Colored dials were not an option during this<br />
period so designers were very skilled in what we would today<br />
call graphic design. The balance and proportion of the dial<br />
elements are excellent in all three pieces. The case sizes for<br />
all three watches are 35 to 36mm yet they are clearly distinct<br />
watches. I enjoy the nuances that visually distinguish these<br />
three from each other, based on dial design and variations in<br />
pushers, crowns and lugs.<br />
The Patek 130R is a case of me buying good provenance.<br />
I spoke to the auction house, seller and collected whatever<br />
paperwork I could trace it back to the original owner,<br />
verifying that it has been with the owner’s family since its<br />
original sale. It’s a lovely piece, perhaps too much so. I am<br />
a little too precious with it and don’t wear it as much as I<br />
should. I will probably let this one go in the next few years as<br />
a result.<br />
The Rolex 2811 was love at first sight, I was struck<br />
by everything about it and it was the first two register<br />
Previous spread,<br />
clockwise from left<br />
Cho wears the<br />
Grand Seiko<br />
Elegance SBGZ001,<br />
made for the 20th<br />
anniversary of<br />
Spring Drive.<br />
This spread,<br />
clockwise<br />
The Vacheron<br />
Constantin 4072<br />
with vintage<br />
Vacheron logo;<br />
the Rolex 2811<br />
chronograph; a rare<br />
Patek Philippe 130R<br />
in prime condition.<br />
158 VINTAGE
VINTAGE 159<br />
chronograph I ever bought. The patinated salmon-bronze<br />
dial is particularly charming. I liked it enough that I decided<br />
to have it polished, something that I only do to the pieces I<br />
intend to keep for a long time.<br />
The Vacheron Constantin 4072 is one of my favorite<br />
watches of all time. I highly recommend anyone who likes<br />
vintage to have a look. Two things I love this example are the<br />
old Vacheron logo and the lollipop hand. I had this serviced<br />
by Vacheron a few years ago and they did a great job. I was<br />
surprised to find they had replaced my hands, substituting<br />
what they said were the period accurate original hands.<br />
Until I had this servicing done, I had not noticed that for<br />
chronographs the stopwatch hands should be a different<br />
colour to the normal time keeping hands. Hence there is a<br />
mixture of gold and blue hands on the dial. The same applies<br />
for the Patek 130R.<br />
Activating the chronograph on these three pieces, you<br />
will notice how much better the mechanical action is on the<br />
Patek and Vacheron’s movements. The Rolex in comparison<br />
has a much less defined click to it and feels almost cheap in<br />
comparison. Back then, Patek and Vacheron were top dogs<br />
and Rolex was not in the same league.<br />
The next few watches all have an association with Wei<br />
Koh or Revolution.<br />
Wei insisted I bring out the Grand Seiko SBGZ001<br />
and the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando Edition. I have<br />
owned a few of the very fancy Grand Seiko / Credor pieces<br />
over the years. These would be the pieces that people say<br />
they like but wonder who actually buys them. I used to<br />
wonder, too, until I bought one for myself. The SBGZ001 is
160 VINTAGE<br />
in my opinion the best watch Seiko has come out with since<br />
the Credor Eichi I, which I also owned for a number of years.<br />
Having sold the Eichi I, I realized I missed having such a fine<br />
piece of modern Japanese work in my collection and so this<br />
is its replacement for me. I have a huge respect for Spring<br />
Drive technology, I think it’s a fantastic branch of horology<br />
that often doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Grand Seiko<br />
launched its new Elegance Collection last year, designed by<br />
their designer Kiyotaka Sakai, and I thought he did a great<br />
job. That collection is defined by the SBGY003, the basic<br />
steel version of the collection, which brings some new design<br />
language to Grand Seiko. The watch has a beautifully curved<br />
profile, the result of very intensive development work on the<br />
crystal’s shape to reduce thickness, increase curvature and<br />
keep it aesthetically matched to the case. The SBGZ001 is in<br />
effect a supercharged version of the SBGY003. It uses the<br />
same basic design but with the additional touches of Grand<br />
Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio and its designer, Kazunori<br />
Hoshino. The most obvious change is the Snowflake<br />
case, which is a hand engraved case that features a similar<br />
finish to Grand Seiko’s famous Snowflake dial. I am also<br />
impressed by the fine hand engraving on the dial for the text<br />
and the incredible finish on the movement which reaches a<br />
[Philippe] Dufour standard.<br />
The Bvlgari Octo Finissimo was a strange watch for me.<br />
I love it as an object. I think the shape, finish and design of<br />
it is incredible, but I was very uncertain about it as a watch<br />
I could wear. Beyond its large size and futuristic aesthetic,
I couldn’t get over the big Bvlgari logo on the front. Luckily<br />
the Tadao Ando version came along and I thought maybe this<br />
would be my chance to own one. I picked it up in Tokyo soon<br />
after it was announced. It took me about a week to settle<br />
into it and I have no regrets buying it. Despite its noticeable<br />
design and footprint on my wrist, its incredible thinness and<br />
lightness means I often forget I’m wearing it.<br />
They say every watch collector should have an Omega<br />
Speedmaster. I’m not always sure this is true. I have traded<br />
a few over the years because it tends to be something that<br />
comes and goes in my collection. It works for some people,<br />
but I struggle with the case diameter and thickness. This<br />
particular piece is a “Frankenstein”. It’s a mixture of the<br />
Speedmaster FOIS (First Omega in Space), which has a<br />
slightly smaller case with no crown guards, and the Omega<br />
Speedmaster for Mitsukoshi dial, which is one of the rarer<br />
Speedmaster dials and is reminiscent of certain Daytonas.<br />
I had been sitting on this Mitsukoshi dial for a few years<br />
waiting for an opportunity to put it into a compatible<br />
Speedmaster. I like the look of it and I have ended up<br />
wearing it much more than I expected. I was gifted this<br />
Speedy FOIS as thanks for participating in an Omega x<br />
The Rake photoshoot last year in Florence. I credit Wei Koh<br />
for including me in that campaign so this watch reminds me<br />
of him.<br />
Ben Clymer was the one who turned me onto this<br />
watch, the IWC <strong>54</strong>41, on one of his visits to The Armoury<br />
New York in our early years. It is a faithful recreation of the<br />
original IWC Portuguese, an oversized wristwatch from<br />
the late 1930s that used a<br />
pocket watch movement.<br />
The re-issue of the design<br />
happened in the ’90s and is<br />
vastly different from any of<br />
the modern IWC Portugieser<br />
watches. It is a handsome,<br />
thin, manual wind watch. The<br />
main reason I bought this<br />
watch was because I found<br />
the movement so beautiful.<br />
It uses a minimum of plates<br />
and bridges, exposing the<br />
oversized gear train as much<br />
as possible. The larger<br />
pocket watch scale of the<br />
movement makes it easy to<br />
see and understand its inner<br />
workings. There was also a<br />
special edition of this made<br />
for Revolution in 2014 for the<br />
magazine’s 10th anniversary.<br />
What’s your latest addition?<br />
Latest addition is an<br />
AnOrdain Model 1 version 2.<br />
They made me a special white<br />
dial with navy markings and The Armoury logo at 6 o’clock.<br />
I am very much in love with it. I was a very early supporter of<br />
the brand and Lewis and his team were kind enough to give<br />
me the very first one they made of this new series.<br />
Prior to that, I bought my first new Patek Philippe.<br />
Believe it or not, in 15 years of collecting, I have never<br />
bought a new Patek, always vintage and second hand. What<br />
finally tipped my hand is the Patek 5212, the annual weekly<br />
calendar that came out last year. I am so impressed with the<br />
complications and how beautifully executed they are. The<br />
typography and layout of the dial put it in the same league as<br />
the 3940 for me.<br />
What’s your absolute favorite watch?<br />
It’s hard to say because my tastes will always change. I have<br />
a few pieces that I never seem to forget about. The Grand<br />
Seiko SBGW033, which was the 130th Anniversary reissue<br />
of the first Grand Seiko from 1960s. The Audemars Piguet<br />
56175TT Tantalum Steel 34mm Royal Oak that they made<br />
for Nick Faldo when he won his first championship. Naoya<br />
Hida’s NH Type 2. François-Paul Journe’s Resonance,<br />
particularly the one he made for me. Vacheron Constantin’s<br />
4072 chronograph. Patek Philippe’s 3940, first series in<br />
yellow gold. Unfortunately for this question, the list goes on<br />
and on...<br />
What’s next for your collection?<br />
Not sure, really. I might know it when I see it.<br />
This spread,<br />
clockwise<br />
Mark Cho poses for<br />
a portrait; on Cho’s<br />
wrist, the Grand<br />
Seiko SBGZ001;<br />
his collection<br />
includes a Patek<br />
Philippe reference<br />
130R chronograph;<br />
the Rolex reference<br />
2811; the Vacheron<br />
Constantin<br />
reference 4072;<br />
the Grand Seiko<br />
SGBZ001; the Octo<br />
Finissimo Tadao<br />
Ando Edition; the<br />
Speedmaster FOIS<br />
with Mitsukoshi<br />
panda dial; an IWC<br />
reference <strong>54</strong>41.<br />
VINTAGE 161
CALL COLLECT:<br />
AUSTEN CHU<br />
The collector and self-made man better known as @horoloupe to the Instagram community caught<br />
up with Revolution in Singapore to talk about how he got into collecting, his love of innovative design,<br />
and why Audemars Piguet is his first and long-time love when it comes to luxury watchmaking.<br />
WORDS WEI KOH<br />
Austen Chu a.k.a<br />
@horoloupe on<br />
Instagram, wearing<br />
the Royal Oak<br />
Concept Tourbillon<br />
Chronograph<br />
Openworked<br />
Selfwinding in<br />
sandblasted<br />
titanium case with<br />
blue rubber strap.<br />
162 VINTAGE
Wei Koh: Welcome Austen, to our<br />
new office in Singapore. We’re so<br />
glad that you’re here to talk about<br />
a brand that’s incredibly close to<br />
your heart, and that is Audemars<br />
Piguet. I think it’s safe to say<br />
that it’s also a brand that you’re<br />
incredibly passionate about even<br />
before that relationship started.<br />
Austen Chu: Audemars Piguet<br />
was the first luxury watch brand<br />
that I actually got into that’s in the<br />
conventional “Holy Trinity” that everyone knows. I was<br />
mainly drawn into the brand because of the Royal Oak. So<br />
when I was 18, I had saved up a little bit of money and I was<br />
looking at watches online, as we do. I was looking at the<br />
Nautilus because I’ve always liked sporty watches and the<br />
Royal Oak just really screamed out at me like, “yo, you have<br />
to buy me right now”! I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Back<br />
then it was a reference 1<strong>54</strong>00 that was the regular entry<br />
model and I was trying to decide between white, black and<br />
blue. And obviously blue was the one that spoke to me the<br />
most. So I just went to the AP boutique and back then there<br />
was no waitlist, I walked in and there was one just there, a<br />
blue-dial 1<strong>54</strong>00 on the day of my 18th birthday. So I decided<br />
I was gonna buy it and I did.<br />
So how does an 18-year-old walk into an Audemars Piguet<br />
boutique and buy a Royal Oak for himself on his 18th<br />
birthday?<br />
I started my first company when I was 15 and sold it when<br />
I was 19. We started off by doing marketing and I guess<br />
we made our own parties and promoted our own parties<br />
pretty much, facilitating the filling of the void between the<br />
foreigners living in China and the Chinese.<br />
Coming to that, let’s talk about a watch that was launched<br />
quite recently, the China limited-edition perpetual<br />
calendar Royal Oak. It’s an homage to the motherland and<br />
if I’m not wrong, a watch that was created in collaboration<br />
with you. How did that come about?<br />
So that conversation started very organically. I pretty much<br />
just called François [Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars<br />
Piguet] one day and said to him, “Hey, you know Chinese<br />
customers make up a fair amount of your demographic.<br />
Maybe you guys should do something for them, you know, to<br />
show your appreciation, show your love for Greater China.”<br />
And because, personally, I think the “Pride of China” watch<br />
that they made over 10 years ago, you know, it’s not my<br />
thing. And François said, “Oh if you’re such a know-it-all,<br />
why don’t you propose something?”<br />
It was a very casual conversation and I didn’t think much<br />
of it. But I went home and I was thinking about what would<br />
be a cool watch. My personal favorite complication is a<br />
perpetual calendar because if you’re meeting someone who<br />
doesn’t know watchmaking and they’re asking like, “how<br />
much is that watch on your wrist”? And you tell them and<br />
they’re baffled, “why would you spend so much money on a<br />
watch”? You explain it to them. And when you’re explaining<br />
it to them, I think the best complication to actually get a<br />
non-watch person into watches is to explain how a perpetual<br />
calendar works. You tell them that there’re no batteries, but<br />
it knows how many days there are in every month, and every<br />
four years it even knows that there’s an additional leap day.<br />
You tell someone that and they’re like, how the f**k, you see<br />
their brain starts spinning. They’re trying to understand<br />
how that’s possible with no batteries. They think that’s<br />
interesting and so it’s always been my favorite complication.<br />
That’s why I picked that watch. And with titanium it’s half<br />
the weight of steel. Look at how light it is. Half the weight of<br />
steel and it has a gunmetal finish.<br />
Audemars Piguet’s finishing is stunning. If you look at<br />
it, you see the level of quality in the brushing contrasted<br />
by the razor-sharp polishing. At the same time it feels so<br />
tactile, it’s amazing.<br />
Yeah, absolutely. That’s why I picked titanium and they’ve<br />
also never really used titanium on the Royal Oaks. With the<br />
Royal Oak it’s always platinum and titanium and I’ve always<br />
wished that certain watches would have the full titanium<br />
From left<br />
Austen’s travelling<br />
collection includes:<br />
the Royal Oak<br />
Jumbo reference<br />
<strong>54</strong>02 A-series in<br />
steel; the Royal<br />
Oak Double<br />
Balance Wheel<br />
Openworked in<br />
steel; the Royal Oak<br />
Concept Tourbillon<br />
Chronograph<br />
Openworked<br />
Selfwinding; the<br />
Royal Oak Perpetual<br />
Calendar China<br />
Edition; the Royal<br />
Oak Perpetual<br />
Calendar in ceramic<br />
and Royal Oak<br />
Perpetual Calendar<br />
Openworked<br />
in ceramic.<br />
VINTAGE 163
instead of the “IP” [reference]. I mean, the platinum and<br />
titanium combo looks amazing but it’s just less durable when<br />
it comes to scratches.<br />
I think today titanium is as luxurious a<br />
material as those traditional precious metals.<br />
It’s the same thing with ceramic.<br />
Exactly.<br />
Now when the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black<br />
Ceramic came out, it was in so much demand that people<br />
were trying to think of any method that they could to<br />
get onto the list. And part of the difficulty in making<br />
this watch was to create a fully ceramic bracelet at their<br />
level of quality, right? What did you think about this<br />
watch when it released, and why did you pick it up?<br />
So I waited a very long time for this. I waited like a year for<br />
this. But when it first came out, I was like, holy sh*t. Is that,<br />
is that ceramic? I didn’t even know because I just saw photos<br />
on Instagram. This was during 2017, I think, at SIHH. And<br />
yeah, I mean, I pretty much just fell in love with it instantly<br />
because I’ve always wanted a black watch, but I don’t like<br />
PVD or DLC or whatever.<br />
There have been people who have attempted to PVD<br />
Royal Oaks. The most famous was Karl Lagerfeld. It’s<br />
interesting because that generation of PVD was very<br />
fragile. There were even watches like the “End of Days”<br />
which everyone acknowledges was not the most robust<br />
watch in the world. It’s one of the best-looking watches<br />
of all time, but the PVD which was meant to make it look<br />
robust, actually has the opposite effect.<br />
Exactly, and not only that but it’s less durable in the sense<br />
that with ceramic, it’s the perfect material for a daily beater.<br />
I mean, this watch isn’t a daily beater but the material is.<br />
You know, I remember demonstrating to my friend with this<br />
watch. I literally took a knife, and I started cutting into the<br />
watch. You can literally do it. And I started cutting into the<br />
knife and it actually took off the metal from the knife. Wow.<br />
Yeah. And it made a line down the bracelet, but then you just<br />
rub it off with your finger.<br />
OK, let’s talk about a watch that has become even more<br />
coveted and that’s the skeleton perpetual calendar, which<br />
was also one of AP’s hallmarks and then on top of that<br />
it is in ceramic. Now what’s cool about [AP perpetual<br />
calendars] is that they are actually really slim.<br />
Exactly, yes, I completely agree. The Audemars Piguet<br />
RD#2 exemplifies that, it’s really the perfect example of a<br />
slim and complicated wristwatch.<br />
What emotions does this watch [the Openworked<br />
Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic] give you when<br />
you put it on?<br />
This watch is extremely special because it was the first super<br />
expensive watch that I bought when I was 19. It was the steel<br />
Below<br />
The Royal Oak<br />
Perpetual Calendar<br />
China Edition,<br />
limited to 88 pieces,<br />
in titanium case<br />
and bracelet, a<br />
watch co-developed<br />
with Austen and<br />
Audemars Piguet.<br />
164 VINTAGE
Above<br />
The Royal Oak<br />
Perpetual Calendar<br />
and Royal Oak<br />
Perpetual Calendar<br />
Openworked, in<br />
black ceramic case<br />
and bracelet.<br />
version of this. I might be wrong, but I think 25829ST is<br />
the reference number. It was in 39mm and it was in steel,<br />
because back then I couldn’t afford platinum. Well, I mean,<br />
I just didn’t want to spend that much on platinum, right?<br />
And I actually flew to Geneva and picked it up because that<br />
watch was the screensaver on my phone. I didn’t even own<br />
the watch. But it was a screensaver on my computer. And<br />
no one took good photos of it, so they were all super grainy.<br />
And you know, they’re on PuristSPro, like on websites like<br />
that. I would just like be scrolling, finding photos, or more<br />
information on the watch, right? And I eventually bought it.<br />
That was my daily beater for a very long time, but then<br />
it broke. Because it was my fault. I hit it against something.<br />
And then I was like trying to pull out the crown and the<br />
entire crown just fell out. And I was like… f**k! So when<br />
they announced this watch, I went “oh my God”. At this<br />
point I’d been wearing the ceramic perpetual calendar for<br />
about a year and so I knew how dynamic the Royal Oak in full<br />
ceramic is. It’s understated in the sense that if you’re not a<br />
watch person and you see someone wearing the Royal Oak<br />
in black ceramic, they just think it’s some regular watch but<br />
when a watch dude sees it, they’re like, “oh that’s cool”.<br />
I love watches that have that stealth effect. What’s<br />
interesting is that you have both the skeleton and nonskeleton<br />
ceramic perpetuals. A lot of people would have<br />
maybe picked up the first one and maybe traded that in for<br />
the second model. You decided you wanted both. Do you<br />
feel that they actually capture two different moods?<br />
I think they do. To be completely honest, I’ve been wearing<br />
[the titanium China edition] one. I mean, it’s the latest<br />
thing. But I mean, if you just look at them, I personally<br />
love openworking and skeletonization. And the fact that<br />
this watch reminds me of the first expensive AP or just<br />
conventionally very expensive watch that I bought just means<br />
a lot. And so I’ve been wearing [the skeletonized model]<br />
pretty much every day until I got [the titanium], because this<br />
means more.<br />
Onto this watch on the blue strap. In some ways this watch<br />
symbolises a friendship that really started to emerge<br />
between yourself and the CEO of Audemars Piguet, Mr<br />
François Bennahmias.<br />
So with [the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph<br />
Openworked Selfwinding], every time I look at it I just like<br />
get lost. I mean, my mind just goes blank because it’s so<br />
beautiful. Yeah, with this watch it was pretty interesting. I<br />
mean, I was actually with you in Shanghai, I think a week<br />
before I went to Le Brassus. We had lunch with François in<br />
his office. This was after the manufacture visit and all that,<br />
which is amazing.<br />
Anyway after lunch, he just asked me, “Baby blue, white<br />
or red?” And I had zero context. I thought he was talking<br />
about the French flag or the American flag. And I said “baby<br />
blue”. Then he calls the head of product at the time and<br />
after a few minutes, she comes up with a box and covers<br />
my eyes and I was wearing the Double Balance watch at the<br />
time. She takes off the Double Balance, puts it on the table<br />
and puts a watch on my wrist. And it was the Royal Oak<br />
Concept Tourbillon Chronograph. And I opened my eyes<br />
and I looked at it and, you know when<br />
you get the feeling there’re butterflies<br />
in your stomach, but it’s the worst<br />
kind of butterflies because, you know<br />
that’s going to cost a lot of money. But<br />
you kind of know that you have to buy<br />
it, because it’s immediate. It’s love at<br />
first sight, right? And so that happened<br />
with that watch. What was amazing<br />
was the first time I met François, he<br />
asked what I think AP should do to<br />
improve their product and he asked<br />
a lot of the customers that. One of<br />
the things that I said was a more<br />
ergonomic Concept case.<br />
I love it because it’s simultaneously<br />
super complicated. It’s a tourbillon<br />
chronograph and it’s skeletonized<br />
on top of that. But it’s a modern<br />
skeletonization which is very<br />
beautiful and it’s self-winding with a<br />
peripheral mass, so you don’t see it.<br />
So you have an unobstructed view of<br />
all the coolness in here. All the works.<br />
But what’s interesting is that it’s<br />
almost Zen-like reductionism and a<br />
VINTAGE 165
A closer look at<br />
the Royal Oak<br />
Concept Tourbillon<br />
Chronograph<br />
Openworked<br />
Selfwinding from the<br />
dial and case back.<br />
The movement<br />
is stunningly<br />
developed by AP<br />
Renaud & Papi.<br />
purity in design. It’s so clean. I love the design and at the<br />
same time I love the design language of all the facets which<br />
are echoed in the bridges and the trapezoidal pushers in<br />
ceramic. It’s almost got the feeling of a stealth bomber.<br />
Put it on a black strap, it’s like a B-2 bomber. Or like what<br />
Batman’s watch would be.<br />
Absolutely. Now, let’s talk about two watches, one from<br />
the past and one quite modern. Let’s start with the Double<br />
Balance, which was developed by APRP. What I love about<br />
them is that they’re always trying to come up with ideas<br />
of how to make a better and more technically innovative<br />
watch. Instead of a traditional tourbillon, they came up<br />
with the double balance wheel. Why do you like this watch?<br />
I wanted to buy the original Double Balance Wheel, but it<br />
was all sold out. When I wanted it, it was already released for<br />
a few years. So I couldn’t get one and they’re already trading<br />
up premiums and I was like, “you know what, I’m just gonna<br />
wait”. And then they released this and I think it’s amazing.<br />
It wears exactly like the 1<strong>54</strong>00 are the 15500 in terms of<br />
thickness. And this is honestly the perfect daily watch as a<br />
steel watch, because the movement’s robust. I think it’s just<br />
as accurate as a tourbillon because of the double balance<br />
wheel. And you just get lost in the dial. You look at it from<br />
an angle and you see the two balance wheels spinning, you<br />
know. It’s cool. Yeah.<br />
And I like it also because it was a concept by Giulio<br />
Papi and then he’s one of the great watchmaking<br />
technical heroes of our era. And I think anything<br />
that’s had the master’s hand in it is a very important<br />
piece for the future as well.<br />
I think a great story about the conception of this watch is that<br />
it was developed in secret, right? Exactly like the ultra-thin,<br />
perpetual calendar movement, the 2121 or 2120,<br />
I forgot which one it is. But it was developed in<br />
secret and I believe that the team of developers<br />
showed François this watch. And they were like,<br />
“we’ve been doing this”. And this is also one of<br />
the reasons why I love AP. They can just do that.<br />
I’m pretty sure François might have gotten mad,<br />
but you know he listens. It’s a testament to the<br />
watchmakers at APRP and what they’re capable<br />
of doing when you just let them do what they<br />
want to do and let them do it right.<br />
So the last watch is the oldest watch here. It’s<br />
the <strong>54</strong>02, it’s the watch that kicked off the<br />
entire Royal Oak craze. It’s the piece that if you<br />
think about watchmaking in the last 50 years<br />
or so, it’s probably the most iconic piece in the<br />
world. When it was first launched, the entire<br />
watch industry in ’72 was being smashed by the<br />
Quartz Crisis. And AP was the same. Its future<br />
was not necessarily certain and it decided to<br />
launch one of the craziest, most innovative<br />
watches at a price that was staggering at the<br />
time. The <strong>54</strong>02 when you bought it then was<br />
something like 3,600 Swiss francs. If I’m not<br />
mistaken, that was the equivalent of a Jaguar.<br />
But they came out with this watch, and people<br />
couldn’t believe it. But then that watch became<br />
the symbol of a certain type of guy like Gianni<br />
Agnelli and a bunch of his friends started<br />
to wear it, and it became like that Italian<br />
playboy’s watch. And what’s amazing about<br />
that watch is, almost a half century later, it is<br />
just as cool if not cooler than ever. Tell us about<br />
your specific <strong>54</strong>02 and yours has got a very<br />
interesting dial, it’s kind of a slate gray dial.<br />
I mean, I’ve always wanted a <strong>54</strong>02. I was looking<br />
at buying one when they were just selling for<br />
US$25,000. Which, thinking now, I should have<br />
bought all of them. But you know, I didn’t have<br />
166 VINTAGE
the knowledge or the know-how to differentiate because<br />
there’re a lot of rumors and a lot of people online, who’d say,<br />
“oh, the dial should look like this. It should look like that”.<br />
But none of it is verified by AP. So you don’t really know what<br />
to trust and what to believe.<br />
It was only after I built a relationship with AP that I just<br />
asked them about buying a vintage watch. And they’re very<br />
open about this. You can literally just e-mail the museum<br />
and they’ll tell you what’s legit and what’s not. That’s<br />
incredible. So I did that essentially and it took me a year to<br />
find this because it’s a full set that was sold to the Middle<br />
East. And it comes with a metal box. I didn’t bring it because<br />
I’m travelling but it’s a metal box and I don’t know how many<br />
they made but it says “Royal Oak” on it, it’s super cool. I<br />
didn’t even know that that box existed. So I thought it was<br />
fake, initially. And I sent it to the museum and they’re like,<br />
“this box is so rare”. So I had to get it. And it was a full set,<br />
with box and papers, and it took a year to find. People knew<br />
from my Instagram that I was looking for an A-series <strong>54</strong>02<br />
and so they’re constantly sending me photos. But I mean<br />
obviously I can tell if the dial has been swapped, just like the<br />
simple stuff you can tell.<br />
This dial is absolutely breathtaking. This grey is very<br />
different from the B-series gold model dials, which are<br />
darker. Yours is really luminescent.<br />
It’s killer under natural light. But what’s super cool about<br />
this watch is, the papers are stamped by [Middle Eastern<br />
luxury watch distributor] Seddiqi. So this watch was shipped<br />
to the Middle East towards the end of 1972, but it wasn’t sold<br />
until the end of 1973. On the papers, the date was October<br />
1973. So that’s how unpopular these were. It took a year to<br />
sell. And I mean I just had to get one because not only does it<br />
represent history for AP, it was also a paradigm shift for the<br />
A stunning<br />
example of the<br />
Royal Oak Jumbo<br />
reference <strong>54</strong>02<br />
A-series in steel,<br />
with a kuminous<br />
slategraydial.<br />
The closed<br />
caseback reveals<br />
the simplicity of<br />
Gérald Genta’s<br />
design formula<br />
for the Royal Oak,<br />
one that still stirs<br />
heartstrings today.<br />
entire watch industry and it created an entire segment that<br />
didn’t even exist — a luxury sports watch.<br />
You make a really good point. In the ’70s, there was an<br />
emergence of international jet-set culture, and people<br />
wanted to have watches that were really elegant, that they<br />
could wear in the swimming pool and do some sports or<br />
whatever. And I think it’s an embodiment of the era which<br />
we are in. The same way that Concept is really cool, as you<br />
were saying, because there’s an embodiment of the era<br />
which it’s born into. It’s a little bit more demonstrative.<br />
It’s very techie. It’s a watch that appeals to connoisseurs,<br />
but also appeals to, you know, like musicians and I believe<br />
there were quite quite a few rappers that have them as<br />
well. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Absolutely<br />
amazing array of watches.<br />
Thanks!<br />
VINTAGE 167
What was your favourite<br />
cartoon as a child and why?<br />
I reckon Robin Hood — lived in<br />
the wild with his great friends<br />
and tried to spread goodness.<br />
What’s not to love there!?<br />
What do animals think about<br />
human beings?<br />
I think right now with the weight of<br />
climate change issues they probably<br />
aren’t our biggest fans. On my recent<br />
National Geographic show Hostile<br />
Planet, we tracked the devastating<br />
effect on wildlife all around the world<br />
and the thing that had me constantly in<br />
awe, all through filming was the sheer<br />
resilience of the animals we followed<br />
against such a rapidly changing<br />
climate. In every brutal habitat in<br />
every biome on the planet, we saw<br />
animals showing us how resourceful<br />
they are and how tough, in the worst<br />
of times. It’s adapt or die out there,<br />
and it’s sometimes heart breaking.<br />
If you could move to a parallel<br />
universe where everything was<br />
the same apart from one detail,<br />
what would you change?<br />
It would be a world where we could<br />
create ever more opportunities<br />
for young people to gain access to<br />
adventure and to life skills. Young<br />
people don’t lack ambition, but they<br />
often lack opportunity. To bring<br />
this access to many more young<br />
people is such a driving force for me,<br />
especially in my role as Chief Scout<br />
[of the United Kingdom]. It is all<br />
about helping inspire an adventurous<br />
streak, a go-getting attitude, a love of life and a willingness to go that little bit<br />
close to the terrain and through the ravines. It’s amazing! But you have to be<br />
smart and do it safely. It’s definitely a high risk sport.<br />
If you had to spend a night in the woods, what five objects would you<br />
take with you and why?<br />
A good knife is number one. With it you can then make shelter, fire, a natural<br />
roof and mattress. With a knife you can also create traps and hunt food and<br />
then with fire you can boil water and burn animal dung to keep mosquitos away.<br />
In truth, beyond a knife, what will serve you the best on a night in the woods is<br />
the mindset of a survivor and choosing a strong attitude. In the wild, positivity,<br />
resourcefulness, courage, determination and a sense of humor are kings. And<br />
with dealing with other people, kindness and humility are the heart of how<br />
to build strong relationships.<br />
What does a watch say about the<br />
person who is wearing it?<br />
I always feel that a watch speaks to<br />
the way you live your life. Are you a<br />
sophisticated person, an extravagant<br />
person or an adventurous person.<br />
Outdoor adventurer Bear Grylls has<br />
doneforthewildernesswhatDavid<br />
Attenborough has done for the natural<br />
world — made it appreciable. We find<br />
out what makes him tick.<br />
extra in order to achieve your goals. This is why Scouts is so powerful already and<br />
is actively changing so many millions of young lives for the better. But as always,<br />
we can do more. In India, in China, there are millions of kids desperate for the<br />
opportunities that Scouting provides and I want to see that access become much<br />
more available, because I see first hand how it inspires young people.<br />
Is it good to be busy?<br />
For sure it’s important to keep active both physically and mentally, and to use our<br />
time productively and wisely, but you have to balance that with taking time to enjoy<br />
the moment right now. That’s a life skill we all must try to learn.<br />
Which would you prefer, the ability to fly, or the ability to turn invisible?<br />
I think to leap off mountains under a tiny parachute is such an amazing, almost<br />
spiritual thing to do. It is why I love speed flying on my mini wing paraglider<br />
through the mountains so much. It is like being a falcon as you fly down at 70mph<br />
What does your favorite<br />
watch say about you?<br />
Resilience against the elements.<br />
I need something ultra reliable<br />
that will weather the storms and<br />
knocks with me, I love the fact our<br />
Luminox × Bear Grylls watches are<br />
built for a beating, are stacked with<br />
innovation and ultimately I can trust<br />
them to be up for the adventures.<br />
Do you remember the first time you<br />
wore a watch? What was it?<br />
I have worn Luminox from as long as<br />
I can remember — certainly it was<br />
the watch I trusted when I was in the<br />
military. They have been the watch<br />
used by Navy SEALS for over two<br />
decades now. It is why our new range<br />
of Bear Grylls watches with them was<br />
such a logical step. I trust them when<br />
it matters.<br />
Do you ever leave the house without<br />
your smartphone?<br />
Rarely. I consider it a tool to allow<br />
me to access so much information, to<br />
research cool upcoming projects and<br />
locations and to communicate with<br />
those I love and work with. It’s a tool I<br />
like to keep close at all times.<br />
What food or drink could you<br />
not live without?<br />
Lots of mugs of tea! Almond<br />
butter, raw carrot cake and<br />
homemade guacamole!<br />
BEAR GRYLLS WEARS THE LUMINOX X BEAR GRYLLS SURVIVAL 3740 MASTER SERIES.<br />
168 VINTAGE
www.grand-seiko.com/us-en
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