Archives A Timely Perspective

Watch Stops: Chopard’s Newest L.U.C Collection brings Lunar Beauty to Earth

Tonight, the TimeCrafters show in New York is open to the press for previews before being open to the public tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. With so many things to see, several brands pique interest with displays and concepts. Chopard offers a visually alluring display that focuses on the the moon and stars, and celebrates the level of reliability and precision reached by its L.U.C moonphase calibers – all achieving chronometer certification from the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).

The L.U.C Moonphases – a series of three exceptional models – have propelled the L.U.C collection to new heights in the haute L.U.C Lunar Big Datehorlogerie segment of the watch world. These watches have several features of distinction. The moon phases of L.U.C Lunar watches orbit around the small second’s axis on a subdial conveying the starry canopy of space. Two juxtaposed discs serve to give life to the moon on the dial, and to distinguish each of its phases. The complete lunar cycle of L.U.C calibers with moon-phase display corresponds exactly to 29 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes, thanks to a 135-tooth wheel — requiring a (one-day) correction only once every 122 years. The moon-phase indication is independent of the other movement functions so it can be adjusted at any time without risk of damage. All the constellations visible year-round in the Northern hemisphere (in Geneva, where Chopard is headquartered), are faithfully represented on the disc of the L.U.C 05.01-L movement. Both Northern and Southern hemispheres are simultaneously visible on the dials of the L.U.C Lunar Big Date and L.U.C Lunar Twin.

Of particular note, the L.U.C Lunar Twin is a sophisticated treat that lets the wearer own a piece of the sky on the wrist. On this piece, the moonphase display indicating the two hemispheres is elegantly off-centered at 1:00, balanced beautifully with a small seconds at 9:00 and a date at 4:00. It is equipped with the proprietary self-winding L.U.C Caliber 96.21-L, featuring the brand’s L.U.C Lunar Twinpatented Twin® technology. The two sets of stacked barrels deliver 65 hours of power reserve. The 40mm watch is voluptuously curved and offers optimal readability. This watch is a highlight of TimeCrafters 2012 for Chopard.

De Bethune Brings Avant-Garde Designs to TimeCrafters 2012

Here at the New York TimeCrafters show during a private press preview, we get a hands-on, close-up look at the new pieces from the Manufacture Horlogerie De Bethune , which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year. the brand was founded in 2002 on the resolutely avant-garde vision of watchmaking. This top-notch Swiss watch brand creates its haute horlogerie timepieces with an eye toward new and different cutting-edge technological innovations. Its timepieces exude a contemporary aesthetic along with horological skills inspired by centuries of craftsmanship. In its short decade of life, the brand has 9 patent registrations and 15 in-house calibers. The quest for perfection and beauty is the constant driving force behind the work of David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet, brand founders and the artisans behind these exceptional timepieces.

Among the brand’s much talked about timepieces that are being shown to the public at TimeCrafters this year is the DB 28 ST. It is a Tourbillon with 30-second indication and the hours, minutes and central jumping seconds all operating via the Caliber DB 2119 mechanical hand-wound movement. Crafted in titanium with a platinum bezel and sterling silver chapter ring, the watch offers a layered dial structure built around suspension bridge with fine lines and decorations that not only elevate the central mechanism, but also enhance its functionality. The silicon/titanium De Bethune tourbillon is incredibly light weight and visionary in its combination of materials.

Watch Stops: Timecrafters 2012 — Discover Sotheby's Amazing Diamonds

TimeCrafters Watch Fair, luxury watchmaking show taking place at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC tomorrow and Saturday, Sept 14th and 15th, is open to the public. The surprise: Sotheby’s amazing diamond and diamond jewelry exhibition. Discover earrings such as these exquisite one-of-a-kind, historically important, hand-crafted ruby and diamond earrings.

Time Capsules: Product – URWERK’s UR-210- A Watch They Call Partly Human

Ok – Urwerk – a brand we have covered many times before – has unveiled the UR-210 timepiece, which it says offers a symbiotic relationship with its wearer. In fact, the dial of the UR-210 features not only the hour satellite display that has made it famous, but also its first retrograde indication and a world’s first in a wristwatch – winding efficiency indication during the most recent two hours of the wearer’s time. It seems then, that this watch knows if you are sleeping and knows if you’re awake!

When sitting at a desk or in front of a television, for instance, the indicator points toward the red zone – intimating that the watch is not being wound enough by its automatic rotor and is running on stored energy. Conversely, when running or working out at the gym, the indicator points toward the green zone – a sign that the activity is replenishing the watch’s stored energy.

This entirely new indication does not measure mainspring torque as in most timepieces, but rather calculates the difference between the consumed and generated energy of the mainspring. Armed with knowledge of both winding efficiency and available power reserve, the wearer can intervene. If the UR-210 indicates an insufficient supply of energy, the owner positions the winding efficiency selector (at the back of the watch) to “FULL”. The rotor then converts the slightest movement into stored energy. In this configuration, a turbine connected to the rotor provides smooth, unimpeded power. But in more active situations that may provide more power than required and unnecessarily wear the mechanism, the wearer positions the winding efficiency selector to “REDUCED” to engage the rotor damping system. An air turbine compressor mounted on ruby bearings spins and creates internal resistance – enough friction to slow down or dampen the automatic winding rotor. In “STOP” mode, the automatic winding system is disabled completely and the UR-210 runs off reserve power and may require manual winding. In all, it is a very complex system that enables the watch lover to truly interact with his timepiece and its power supply.

Additionally, this watch features a super-fast retrograde minutes display that forms a frame for the hour satellite. The massive aluminum skeletonized hand not only features the hour number, but also displays the minutes. Another extremely complex configuration, the retrograde action is extremely quick; thanks to a double coaxial star-shaped cam that regulates the retrograde mechanism through its gearing. When the minute hand reaches 60, the double star trips a hockey-stick shaped spring under the mechanism, which liberates the minute to fly back to the next hour satellite at 0-minutes. As of today, the price of this extremely complicated timepiece was not yet established.

Time Capsules: News — Andy Murray Wins U.S. Open, 2012 – Rado Celebrates

Rado, which recently signed on Andy Murray as a top brand ambassador, saw this tennis great kissing the cup — wearing his Rado watch. Not only was this Murray’s first Grand Slam title, but also this victory makes him the first British male to win a Grand Slam singles championship in nearly 80 years.

Watch Stops: Frederique Constant World Timer in NYC

Frederique Constant brings to the US public for the first time its newest Classics Manufacture Worldtimer watches – two versions. Both models are built in limited editions of 1,888 pieces. One version is a 42mm GMT watch housing the FC-718 Manufacture caliber with world timer function, 24-hour disc and day/night indication. There is a city disk with 24 cities listed on it and large date counter at 6:00. The second model offers all the same superb functions, but features a beautiful map of the world on its silver dial. The Classic Manufacture Worldtimer watches exude all the elegance and sophistication of vintage appeal and top-notch craftsmanship.

If you register now on line here, it is free. If you wait till the day, it’s pay at the door ($20). Now that it’s closer, we will bring you more information regularly about a few of the watches to be seen there, and the watchmakers to be heard. Stay tuned.

Time Capsules: Commentary – September 11 Tribute

Today marks 11 years since the fateful day — September 11, 2001- when the terrorist attack on our country brought tragic loss of life and yet became another defining moment for America and Americans. That day was a day of heroic actions. It — and the ensuing days – marked a time when our country – young and old, rich and poor, working man and unemployed – came together. Today, in honor of the people (and their families) who lost their lives, who died trying to save others, and who thankfully survived — Atimelyperspective pays tribute with a time for silence and prayer. The countless emotional songs that have been written and sung by country singers can bring tears to our eyes, and yet make us stronger and more united. The work on the new Freedom Tower continues, and thousands visit this site daily — paying homage and remembering. We will never forget.

Watch Stops: TimeCrafters 2012 — Cars, Diamonds, Artist Watches and More – Open to the Public September 14,15 at Park Avenue Armory

A Full-Scope Experience, which Iwill be attending on Friday September 14, the new TimeCrafters 2012 exhibition promises to be enthralling. We’ve already written about it here and here, but now we’ve learned that both TimeCrafters Sponsors, as well as 21 luxury watch brands, are pulling out all the stops – bringing watch fans an array of interesting exhibits.

Among them:

The Swatch Group brings in an art-inspired exhibit of one of the most complete collections of Swatch watches in the world: “The Blum Collection.” This exceptional display occupies 3,000 square feet and showcases 293 Swatch watches from the 4,363-piece main collection, including prototypes, hybrids and variations that never made it to market. Most interesting are a number of artist-designed Swatch watches such as prototypes from American artist Keith Haring, and rare pieces created by artists Mimmo Paladino, Alfred Hofkunst and Sam Francis. The Blum Collection was assembled over many years by Swiss businessman Peter Blum and his wife Linda, passionate collectors of Swatch watches since the brand’s early days.

Sotheby’s presents an exhibition of rare and beautiful haute diamonds from the Sotheby’s Diamonds Collection, reminding visitors about the exceptional relationship between jewelry and timepieces. This collection features exquisite and important diamonds in a host of magnificent shapes and dramatic settings exclusively curated for the TimeCrafters event.

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH presents an interactive traveling exhibition entitled Think Time – Think Swiss Excellence. Various stations and panels highlight the history, major innovations, technological advancements, training, materials, global reach and other views of today’s powerful Swiss watchmaking landscape.

To celebrate its recent alliance with Ferrari, Hublot and Ferrari bring a Pacer car to the TimeCrafters Exhibition. The car not only celebrates the partnership of these two luxury brands, but also heralds the unveiling to the public of the new Hublot Ferrari timepieces. The new Hublot Big Bang Ferrari series is being shown to the USA public for the first time at TimeCrafters.

Weekend Sojourn: Swatch Blum Collection Book

With the New York TimeCrafters 2012 exhibition coming up this week, Swatch chose this as the perfect time to launch the Swatch Blum Book Limited Collection. The book, available in stores and online at store.swatch.com beginning this month ($40 each), will also be available at the Swatch Blum exhibition at TimeCrafters.

The limited edition, beautifully illustrated book showcases the incredible collection of prototype, rare production and regular production Swatch watches that was built by husband and wife team Peter and Linda Blum over the course of 30 years. Even if you are not a Swatch watch lover, you can’t help but be interested in the pages herein. Showcased are watches by artist Keith Haring, as well as a host of incredible dial designs that have been created over the years by this watch that is credited with helping to save the Swiss watch business at the dawn of the quartz era.

Atimelyevent: Baume & Mercier Creates Historical Perspective at TimeCrafters 2012

Baume & Mercier has been firmly entrenched in the world of watches since 1830. Now, as it brings its newest timepieces to the TimeCrafters Exhibition in New York in September, it also showcases superb historical Museum pieces –dating back to 1915, to profile its rich history and timelessly superb craftsmanship. Among the pieces making their debut on U.S. soil for the first time ever are a stunning silver pocket watch with Key-wound mechanical movement from 1915; a stunning and creative art nouveau style women’s platinum watch set with diamonds, circa 1925. This lovely watch houses a hand-wound mechanical movement.

Moving forward a couple of decades, Baume & Mercier displays a 1940 Square watch crafted in 18-karat yellow gold with a leather strap and housing a hand-wound mechanical movement. This watch served as the inspiration piece for the now iconic Hampton Collection.

Further demonstrating its on-going attention to the female sect, the brand is displaying two stunning women’s watches from 1950: A cylindrically shaped Marquise watch with hand-wound mechanical movement crafted in 18-karat yellow gold and set with diamonds in star shaped settings on the case and bracelet. Also dating to 1950 is a men’s steel watch with leather strap that houses a hand-wound chronograph mechanical movement, complete with calendar, moonphase, central hand and date, day and month indications.

Examples of fine watchmaking from the 1960’s include a gold plated watch with hand-wound chronograph mechanical movement that offers harmony and balance in the dial indications. This 1960 timelessly elegant watch was the inspiration piece for the brand’s highly regarded Capeland Collection. A host of other significant pieces, ranging up to 1998 will be displayed in an historical museum-like wall nearby the brand’s current timepieces.