Voutilainen Vingt-8, Titanium

Voutilainen-Vingt-8-Titanium

This is one of the most unusual Voutilainens I’ve ever seen surface and it’s not like there are many I get to talk about to begin with. The Vingt-8 is Kari’s aesthetic sense, distilled. What the Chronomètre Bleu is to FP, the Vingt-8 is to Kari. Only this Vingt-8 is in titanium with a space…

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H37 Roger Dubuis Hommage Perpetual Calendar

H37-Roger-Dubuis-Hommage-Perpetual-Calendar

Early Roger Dubuis is often compared to Patek Philippe, which is a telling thing in itself. But RD’s detractors will often ask, ‘Why not just buy the original?’ It’s a sentiment I entirely sympathize with, the imitation of anything is rarely on par with its inspiration (particularly off-brand Doritos). But some early RD is distinct…

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FP Journe Chronomètre à Résonance RT

FP-Journe-Résonance-RT-Parking-Meter

The RT series Resonance (RT stands for Resonance Trois) is the most bizarrely distinct in all his five series so far. For no logic I can understand, Journe decided to make the left hand time zone a disc display, while the right remained unaltered. It was the tenth anniversary of the Chronomètre à Résonance, and…

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Steel FP Journe Chronomètre à Résonance RN

Steel-FP-Journe-Résonance

Steel and Journe are almost antonyms, in FP precious metal is the standard. That is, except for one short blip around 2015 (forgetting minute repeaters and the Holland & Holland). Collectors will know, there are two closely linked, but slightly separate major transitions in FP Journe’s history. The first came when his movement’s base metal…

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FP Journe Vagabondage III in Pink Gold

FP-Journe-Vagabondage-III-Pink-Gold

Imagine trying to invent an entirely new movement with digital jumping seconds for fun. That’s the madness, manic compulsive obsession, that is FP Journe on full display. If you’ve ever been there, it’s actually kind of a lovely feeling. The Vagabondage series has always felt like the result of a total flow state to me,…

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Charles Frodsham Double Impulse Chronometer

Charles-Frodsham-Double-Impulse-Chronometer

It’s not often discussed in these terms, but in the very early days of watchmaking, before even pocket watches were commonplace, the Swiss looked toward the English as the more established regional watchmaking industry. It was only after John Calvin banned things like dancing and the wearing of jewelry that the Swiss turned their focus…

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Felipe Pikullik Sternenhimmel

Felipe-Pikullik-Sternenhimmel

This is the kind of beautiful madness that has resulted from Kudoke’s star apprentice branching out on his own. What you are looking at is one of Germany’s newest independents. It’s not just Glashütte creating beautiful objects anymore, Dresden has been blossoming recently. This is the Sternenhimmel, which translates as Starry Sky, so named for…

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Haldimann H1 Flying Central Tourbillon

Haldimann-H1-Flying-Central-Tourbillon

There’s no CNC machine at Haldimann, an independent whose philosophy is about as far from Rolex as watchmaking gets. The most modern machine they have is an optical microscope from the ’60s. I suspect if you showed an iPhone to Beat Haldimann he’d shout witchcraft and report you to the church immediately. Haldimann’s workshop and…

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Philippe Dufour Simplicity

Philippe-Dufour-Simplicity

What happens when you take a master of grand complications and finishing and apply those talents to a time only watch? Arguably the most coveted watch from a living watchmaker. This is watch which has seen its retail price (not secondary market, mind you) raise from ~50K CHF in the early 2000s to 100K CHF…

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Akrivia AK-06

Akrivia-AK-06

This is the first time an AK-06 has come to auction and that’s really rather significant. Akrivia and the brand’s founding star Rexhep Rexhepi have enjoyed a deserved stratospheric rise recently, underpinned by the massive wave of independent watchmaking interest but not because of it. The true cause centers around both Rexhep’s finely tuned eye…

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