Watch World Uk 2010 Winter
Watch World Uk 2010 Winter
Watch World Uk 2010 Winter
11
Harry Winston CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF THE OPUS
J12
29MM
CHANEL
New model: 29 mm diameter.
Waich in white high~ech ceramic. <1O diomcnds lest TCW: 0.90 coroil MOlher of pccrl dial. 8 diamond indicators.
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GREUBEL FORSEY HAVE COME A LONG WAY
10TH BIRTHDAY OF OPUS
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF TAG HEUER
ZENITH AIMS TO GO SUPERSONIC
On the cover:
Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 3DO in white go/d. Read more about it on page 20.
C) 30
NEWS
BULOVA, ZENITH, WATCHBANK.EU, BREITLING NAVITIMER, EDOX, WEMPE, LINDE WERDELIN.
REPORT
20 GREUBEL FORSEY - WINNING THE RESPECT OF DISCERNING COLLECTORS 32 HARRY WINSTON CELEBRATES THE 10TH BIRTHDAY OF THE OPUS SERIES 52 TAG HEUER CELEBRATES lS0TH ANNIVERSARY
66 BEAUTIFUL WATCHES AS GIFTS
84 THE RESILIENCE OF PERRELET
90 BALL WATCH - ON THE RIGHT TRACK
.,
INTERVIEWS
52 THE WONDERFUL DECADE OF JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BABIN - CEO TAG HEUER 72 TEN PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOR ROGER SMITH
76 ROLF SCHNYDER - CEO ULYSSE NARDIN
~ TECHNOLOGY
58 TAG HEUER SUBSIDIARY CORTECH - MAKING CASES AND ARBORS
WATCH UNIVERSE
46 PIAGET LAUNCHES ITS BOND STREET STORE 62 ZENITH AND FELIX BAUMGARTNER
64 BREMONT AND JAGUAR
80 AUDEMARS PIGUET AN D THE WORLD'S FASTEST YACHT 81 FRANCK MULLER
82 GRAND SEIKO IS HERE AFTER 50 YEARS
, , 00/24 WAfCU' OI<~1) I' I I 1 1
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IWatchWorld
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FOREWORD II
THANKS, CRISIS!
No-one can have failed to notice that we have been through an economic crisis. According to some economists that crisis is still happening, but most experts believe that the world is now slowly recoveri ng. Weca n be brief a bout th e caus es: a co ns idera bLe proportion of the world's population lives far beyond its means, assisted by financial institutions that are consequentLy also abLe to Live beyond their means. The simpLe rule that you can't spend what you don't have has long been considered archaic nonsense; it has proven to be the plain truth. Irs not unlike the ridiculous diets some people foLLow,even though there is onLy one thing that really works: eating Less and exercising more,
The watch worLd has certainly felt the economic malaise, but lor many manufacturers the blow has been reLativeLy soft, After years of consistent growth the healthy brands were able to weather the storm without problems - and most manufacturers are now once ag a in re porti ng positive Ii g u res.
Ln an interview I had with Loek Oprinsen, Chairman 01 Ebel, he claimed to consider the crisis a bLessing. That is a remarkable viewpoint. According to Oprinsen the economic downturn caused European jewellers to realise that their own regular customers are the foundation 01 their existence, There have been jewellers that have focussed too much on Asian and Russian "fty-by-nlqhters" who, as a result 01 the SARS epidemic and the economic crisis, have largely disappeared from the European stage. Ln what he calls 'the family jeweller', the Ebel Chairman sees the traditional retailer who knows and Looks after his customers. And this 'famiLy jeweLLer' has suffered much Less from the crisis than those who went after the easy money.
These are wise words from a man who has nearly 20 years experience in the watch industry. lf the crisis causes jewellers to (once again) value their LoyaL customers highly and coordinate their activities and product range on this consistent customer base, the crisis has indeed been a blessing in disguise, But equally, he will be aware that quite a few sellers of watches and jewellery wi It qui ck ty forget the lessn ns learned in his crisis period once economic times are truly good again, People don't always Learn from their mistakes and after all, jewellers are onLy people.
Karel Hubert
Lnternational Editor in Chief
Some collectors consider the fi~ish of Greubel Pcrsey watches to be the highest quality available anywhere, so it comes as no surprise that the finishing department is the largest in the company. The unique technology and architecture of the company's watches and the remarkable finish of every component has won them the respect of the some of the world's most discerning collectors.
What is even more surprising to most visitors is that despite the considerable size of the new workshops and the fact that 100 people work there, only just over 100 watch es are pro duced each ye ar - at prices between 300,000 and 700,000 Swiss francs.
LANGUAGE NO BARRIER
Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey first met When they both worked at Renaud &. Papi, now Audemars Piguet (Renaud &. Papi) and neither watchmaker could speak the other's language. They were both working closely on complicated watch movements and realised that they shared co mmo n values, interests and aspirations. When they decided to set up in business together with the intention of developing their own wa tches, they needed first to gene ra te a regular income, so they founded CompLitime, which was dedicated to the development of complicated movements for the prestige watchmaking industry. Complitime is still operatic nal today and shares the new workshops with Greubel Forsey. in between their work on their commissions at CompLitime, Greubel and Forsey worked to design and produce their first model. Their first invention was the Double Tourbillon 30·, It was launched at BaselWorld in 2004 and proved a resounding success. It encouraged the partners to begin to develop a very select worldwide network of the finest retailers: in the UK, Marcus in New Bond Street is their only stockist.
Ju st one year later they pres ent ed the ir second patented invention, the Quadruple Tourbillon, whose four tourbillons are coupled by a spherical differential In the same year they presented their ],W.T. - Experimental Watch Technologyplatform, a working method and laboratory dedicated 10 the development of mechanisms and movements.
RICHEMONT GROUP TAKES A STAKE
More innovations followed every year. In zooti, Greubel Porsey presented its third invention, the Tcurbillon 24 seconds, featuring another patented mechanism that exploits the advantage of a rapidly rotating single axis inclined tourbillon cage for the Opus 6 model they created for Harry Winston (see pages ~2·40). In the same year, R!chemont International SA acquired 20% of the share capital of Greubel Forsey SA, cementing the relationship that Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey had cultivated with several companies in the Richernont Group over 20 years. (The Richemcnt Group embraces watch brands including Cartier, Jaeger-teccultre, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, A Lange 8< Sohne, Piaget, Paneral, Roger Dubuis, Baume &. Merder and Montblanc.
In 2007, Greubel Forsey launched a new version of the Double Tourbillcn 30·, the Double Tourbillon ,0· Secret, which won an award as "The Best Complicated Watch" from one international magaame and the "Spectal Jury Award - Timepiece of the Year" by a Swiss magazine,
The Quadruple Tourbillon followed in 2008, highlighted by an openworked dial and a lateral
window in an asymmetrical case. This model won an award as "Best Technical Watch" of the yea r, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey also launched their fifth invention in 2008, the Differential d'Egalite. As well as utilising four tourbillons, this model incorporates a device that stab ilis es the dj strfbution of energy from the mainspring to the escapement and explores the possibtltty of using a spherical differential to supply stable force to the regulating organ ..
Still more awards were heaped on the company in 2009, including the Prix Gaia by the Musee International d'Hoilogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, another in Asia and "lIest Complicated Watch" in the legendary Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix. This year brought no new models, which was understandable, because the company was busy relocating to its stunning new premises in La Chaux"de-Fonds.
In these new workshops, Greubel Forsey handles all phases 0 f the ere a tj on of its watches, from th e initial concept through 10 final casing-up. Along the way, the team designs all its own com pen ents, including dials, hands and cases, assembles the movements and cases them up. It also handles
all the testing and validation stages. »
II 00/24 WnCHWO"LI> I " , 21
II REPORT II BYJOHNGOODALL
An exceptlonat level of finishi 9
is the ey to quality
THE TOUR!JI1LON 24 SECONDH FEATURES A TOURBItION CAGE INCliNED BY 24'
22 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
GRfU8fl FORSEY'S DOU81E TOUR811toN 3D". IT CONTAIN 5 128 PARTS AND WEIGHS 1.2 GRAMS
There is Robert
a farmhouse link between the personal Uves of Greubel and Stephen Forsey and their new premises in La chaux-de Fonds: Robert has a farm and Stephen
used to have a farm, which he restored. The new workshops have a 17th century Listed farmhouse at one end that has been restored to the condition it wouLd have been in 350 years ago. It houses the Unique Pieces collection that showcases Greubel Forsey's exceUence.
The immaculately restored farmhouse has been carefully linked to the low end of the new premises with their distinctive sloping roof. For both men, this symbolises the link between the traditional aspects of watchmaking and it's modem facets. Many features of the original farmho use can still be seen, including the red floor of the cowshed, an impressive chimney and even an old door lock. The new site is home to four companies that were all started by Robert Greubel and Stephen Porsey: Greubel Forsey, Complitime, CT Tim" and CT Design. Between them they employ about 100 people.
The ultra modern part of the site has a sloping sedge- covere d ro of and combines the us e of modern materials such as relnfo rce d co ncrete with the use of local materials such as huge wooden beams. From outstde, it appears as though one end of the building has sunk int a the gro undo Greubel Forsey's extensive rang" of tooling includes six CNC machines, one laser cutting machine and a spark erosion machine. This is an astonishing a.rmoury fOI a company that only produces about 100 watches a year, and only around zo pieces of each of its calibres. The precision and fleXibility of the CNC machines enables
parts to be made in batches of around 30 pieces. They are manned by six technicians, because they need to be reprogrammed to make different parts almost every day. By using CNC machines 10 produce many of the parts the company can afford to spend more time on decoration, which is one of the fe a tures that lovers of the brand adore.
Greubel Forsey has its own tool room because it requires So many different parts in such small quantities. This makes all the company's tooling, using a CNC lathe, as well as precision toolmakers' lathes. It also uses two jig borers that are 50 or 60 years old and do their work just as precisely as any modern equrvalent.
The company produces about 70% of the movement parts it uses. Robert Porsey explains, "If we m a de every part of the g ear train we would make them all in a few months - and then what would We do with tho se staff for the re st of the year? "However, we do make OUI own plates, because we found that when they are mad" by other people we didn't like the sharp edges and if they went through one pass in a debumng machine they lost all definition."
SCREW MAKING
Greubel Forsey even makes many of its own screws in order to get sufficient detail and to ensure the precision of the chamfered edges and slots. It is prepared to accept a. standard industrial finish.
Some plate snow are deco rated in a most unusual way: they bear messages in tiny print which Is achieved by relief chemical engraving. The t echnique was use d !nit! ally for the first Invention Piece. One of these contains 1,~00 characters and for most people It is only possible to re ad the mes sage with the aid of a mag nifying glass.
Until now, the company has used only traditional, proven materials, but a silicon es capernent has »
I , Dol" .. "'HCUWORLiJ I " , 23
II REPORT II
A IJRIDG£ IJHo.R£ (L£FT) AND AFTE.R 10 Ho.URS OF Po.!I5HING
reached the prototype stage. However, Stephen Forsey is not a huge fan of silictum, saying, ''With silicium you can't touch it- you can't decorate it." When a new model reaches the presentation stage the company's founders still try to look at it with a fresh eye, "Like architecture, some designs just work, but it doesn't just happen by design."
STRONG EMPHASIS ON FINISHING
Some of the most knowledgeable collectors have been heard to comment that the quality and finish of Greubel Forsey's watches is second to none. This owes much to the company's belief in the importance of achieving an exceptionally high standard of finish. It is no surprise therefore,
24 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
that the finishing department is the largest in the company, employing l6 people. Each movement is subjected to between 350 and 500 hours of hand finishing. The aesthetic appearance of each watch is of prime importance so a bridge, for example, which could be a simple, cylindrical bar, is tapered slightly because Robert Greubel, who is responsible fOI design aspects of the company, believes that it makes the movement more attractfve, The precise shape that is us ed cannot be produced by machine; it undergoes !O hours of meticulous hand shaping and polishing to create each finished bridge. Like so many parts in Greubel Forsey movements, it has a flaw le ss mirror finish. For a co m pon en t such as this bridge, this precise shape and high level of finishing is not necessary for the
2.ND FUNDAMENTAL INVENTlo.N " QUADRUPLE TDURIJJLWN IN A PLATINUM CASE WITH A SItVERED Go.W DIAl
mechanical efficiency of the watch, but only in order to achieve aesthetic perfection. Stephen Forsey explains, "It would be much easier to make this as a cylindrical bar - but it wouldn't look as nice."
When all the components for a movement have been made, finished by hand and then decorated, they are ass embled by a te am of 10 de dicat ed watchmakers. They ass em bl e, regulate and te st each movement, before dismantling it, cleaning it and carrying out the final assembly. They work with the fini she d parts, whi ch is not the traditional way of doing things here in the Vallee de Joux, Once assembled, each watch is subjected to shock resistance tests, using a force of 2SG - and the same testing is repeated whenever a
watch is serviced. »
SEIKO
DEDICATE.D TO PERFECTION
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II REPORT II BYJOHNGOODALL
An En lishman's route 0 the top - in Switzerland
Stephen Forsey began to think about having his own watchmaking business when he was a 13~year~old
schoolboy in St Albans, in England. Now he is co-owner of one of the most successful independent haute horlogerie companies in Switzerland. Here he explains his road to success.
"My father was an industrial chemist, but also an amateur mechanic and vintage car enthusiast. My grandfather was an aircraft engineer later in his working life, but he started his career at Bentley Motors as an apprentice mechanic and engineer, He went to engineering school and then later war ked in the aviation industry at De Havilland and Rolls- Royce. Sol had the good fortune that my grandfather taught me how to machine parts when I was 1.0 OIlI years old,
"I realised at that time, around 1979, that technology was bringing about huge changes, With the economic challenges in England at the time, somehow for me engineering didn't tick all of the boxes, r had been helping my father to rebuild the engine fOT his Vintage car and I adored i1 - an d r still enj oy it very much, Something didn't quite fit completely. My mother had an artistic side: she was an art teacher, I found this mixture in horolcgy, A friend of my father's was
also a vintage car enthusiast and he set up an antique dock shop in the Cotswolds, where he restored antique docks. There he had the same machines as a small machine shop to make all the parts that might be missing,
EARLY AMBITIONS CAME TRUE
"I don't think I had seen George Daniels' work then as an example, but I had this idea that if r could learn all of the skills to make one-off special mechanical docks that I could perhaps interest people from the vintage car area, people with reasonable means, who might be persuaded to commission or to purchase such creations, That was perhaps at the age 0 h3' After do se discus sions with my careers adviser at school I discovered that there was still a s cho 01 in Hackney running a technical course in horology and so at the age of 13 Or 14 - certainly before I took my 0 -level exams -I
26 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
decided on a career in horology, hut completed my o-level exams first.
"My grandfather encouraged me to do an engineering degree and then see afterwards what r though about horology. He was interested in horology, but as a spin off from engineering. Watchmaking is not pure engineering; it's partly mechanical engineering but it's also many different things. Watchmaking is a really unique mixture of science, mechanics and art, which you no longer find anywhere else. I can think of no other sphere of life where you can co mbine these three areas,
"In the antique dock shop in the Cotswolds I saw the possibilities, so I did my A -levels and then went to Hackney Technical College to study watchmaking, [Dr George Daniels als 0 attended the Hackney College ~ Ed,llt was almost the end of an era, Unfortunately the college has since dosed, but I went there when there were 15 of us, a whole melting pot of different people from different areas, I was fortunate that there were some good teachers there, including Thomas Mercer, whose company was also in St Albans where I was born and grew up, but I didn't realise it had been there and what it was until I went to Hackney, and by then Metcers had moved. Some of the teachers were at the end of their careers and they inspired us in their own way, Some retired engineers attended part time courses at the College and r realised that they could machine dock parts much fast €I than I could, because they had been machining for 20 or ~o years, so I realised that dockmaking wasn't perhaps the final direction that I would need to head in.
"Aft"r Hackney, where I specialised more in the watch side, I worked for a few months as a dock restorer in Clerkenwell, towards the end of the era when the historic area of Clerkenwell was the centre of watchmaking in England, Soon after I started working there, I had an opportunity to join Asprey in the autumn of 1987 and persuaded them that I should take the five-month Wostep watchmaking course in Switzerland to fine·-tune my skills and to learn a little more about the industry.
TRAINING AT WOSTEP
"Working in restoration at Aspreyprovided me with an opportunity 10 get closer to the manufacturers. r got a lot of support from John Asprey; who worked at Patek Philippe as a watchmaker earlier in his career, He has a great understanding and deep love of horology, We had two workshops there, for clocks and watches, and
there were three 01 four wakhmakers in the final years that I was there. In my five months at WO step we worked on many fantastic things. It was a mixture of very modem, high quality Swiss wristwatches and the eady perio d of the renais sauce of mechanical and corn plic a ted watchmaking in SWibe rland, so some of the first wristwatch complications with the new technology that machining was able to bring were coming in, but also fantastic historical pieces back to the 17th century.
"For me, working at Asprey was a huge experience. I was able to look at and understand techniques and mechanisms. During the five yeaIS I was there I was able to return to Woslep for another five months to concentrate on complicated watches and antique watch restoration - another fantastic experience. That was in 1990. Then I returned to London. After another ,8 months! realised thai if I wanted to go further I would have 10 go somewhere else." He had been head' of the prestigious watch department at Asprey's for 3'1, yea.rs.
A FUTURE OF COMPLICATIONS
"Through a friend' I had' met in Switzerland:in. the summer of 1992 I was asked to send my cr to a small company called Renaud & Papi. A few weeks later he called me and said I must go fOl an interview because his director was really keen to meet me. 1 had been restoring minute repeaters and complicated watches and this was just the sort of thing that they Were beginnlng to make as wristwatches. I went for an interview, but assumed that there was little chance of gettin g a permit to work in swrtzerland.s 0 I put it out of my mind. Then they offered me a job. I decided to move to Switzerland for a year or two, but my idea was to return to England and to do something different.
'1 had had an opportunity through vintage cars to meet George Daniels. who was a fantastic person and very Significant in 2 oth century watchmaking.
Hi. achievements -what he did and his books and literature - have given inspiration to many, a »
I , Dol" .. "'HCUWORLiJ I " , 27
II REPORT II
whole generation of watchmakers. I read his book on watchmaking from cover to cover in my early years.
"When I came to Switzerland, I realised there was a lot more to learn, because the whole ,process of actually making a movement and each component - the different professions required to make a watch - meant there was' so much to learn and it was so inte resting. Ea.ch time that I thought I had reached a plateau there was something else to do.
''At Renaud & Papi I was interviewed by Robert Greubel, but he couldn't speak any English - he's from Alsace - and I couldn't speak any French. I was armed with a faiIly meagre O·level French certificate that didn't give me any great proficiency in French, but somehow we came to an arrangement and I went to work in 1e Locle. I moved there in the autumn of 199~ and then after a fEW months my work permit was finalised. "When I arrived I think I was the 7th or 8th watchmaker in the company. After 1'1, years of building minute repeater wristwatch movements as part of a small team the team gradually built up and was reinforced, After a year and a half I did some prototypmg and began to work more closely with Robert Greubel. We had a similar approach and there Were many challenges 10 overcome. In 1995 I became manager of the watchmakers' department at Renaud 8< Papl, doing the final assembly of complicated movements, and then project manager for two large projects, I was working more and more closely with Robert, who had become managing director, but looking very much after the technical departments.
TIME FOR A NEW ADVENTURE
In early 1999, Robert decided that it was time to move on to a new adventure, He had taken the team at Renaud & Papi from six people to 55. It was only when we started to talk to g ether that we realised we shared a common vision that a new millennium was dawning. We had already corn-
28 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO I I
bined and miniaturtsed many complications. We asked ourselves where watchmaking would be in 10 years, where would we go.
"When we started to talk about this we agreed that it was not true thai everything had already been invented in watchmaking. One of the things I was told at watchmaking school- and Robert was told the same in France - was that in four centuries, everything in watchmaking had been done. There was nothing left to invent. I think that's wrong. I think one of the strong points of human beings is that they are unable to leave things as they are. One of the unfortunate things is that along the way we make mistakes, but through those mistakes we learn to do things better, If you do everything right, you never learn anything. If you question what you've done and why and you look for nEW solutions, then you learn something and you move forward.
"Robert and I began working together in the autumn of 1999. There were just the two of us and some machines, equipment and tools and we had a couple of small projects that enabled us to make a basic living, We had many ideas we wanted to work on, but we wanted to concentrate on the tourbillon as a subject. From the historical side it had been us ed very succes sfully in pocket watches, but when miniaturised for use in wristwatches it sometimes had some shortcomings. With the advent of nEW technology that had gre at precisio n, tourbillcn movements could be made in larger quantities - in hundreds if not thousands, with mo re or le s s hand finishing, depending on the company and the specifications. 'We had the chance to participate and. to study the performance of many tourbillon movements through the 1990S. We decided there was something more that could be done, so when we started to work together in 1999 we came up With the idea that there could be a new way 10 design a tourbillo n for a wristwatch. We were able to st art with a blank sheet of paper and adopt a more sclentifi c approach. By de fining the specification of what we wanted to achieve we were able to come up with different concepts which would then bring us later on to make such watches, some of which we can see today.
"This fundamental plocess took a long time - especially b eca use we were self- financing. It to ok a lot of personal sacrifice to inve st in what we were doing and. it took us 4'1, years to get to the !aun ch of our first timepiece, To finance our ve nture we had been wo rkingcn projects fo r companies who were outsourcing, and So by then we had built a small team. By the time we got to the launch of oUI first timepiece, with the first fEW watches finished and tested, we were a team of eight people, and In Complitime, the other company we had started, about another 10 or 12 people,
"It has been a linear growth. Tod ay, about 11 years later, Greubel Forsey employs around 65 people and with Complitime we have a total of about 100 people working at the new plant. It seems like a meteoric explosion, but in 11 years we went from two people to 2 a and then gradually as people came to us with particular knew-how and skills We have increased 10 100.
THE FUTURE
"Where do we go from here? In our seventh year of Greubel Forsey we have grown up and been able to develop and produce a small collection of different calibres based around three principal tourbillon inventic ns, A very import ant aspect of the timepieces we make is the finishing and decoration. The reason for this is that Robert and mys elf, as wa tchmakers, 10 ok first at the fini sh of a watch. We felt that there were colle ct ors who would be prepared to share our interest.
"We decided that if in a year we could sell 10 watches, then we would be able at least to break even and slowly work on a new project. Our reasoning was that we knew other independent watchmakers who worked in very small teams and so it was a conscious decision not to remain as a small team, because we would spend most of our energy producing one piece and have very little energy to pro duce a new 0 ne. Because we had already worked together, there was already a certain desire to share and so we decided to work towards building a team of people who shared our passion and vision and to develop the team with them. These are key elements and we are here today because the team has believed in what we are doing and they ale able to develop with that. We are not looking to build a brand strat egy; the developments are what interest us - and our collectors. Each timepiece has to have something new. We can't just expand the quantities we produce, because the hand-finishing really limits, guides and governs how many pieces we can make.
"My parents still live in St Albans - but my father doesn't have one of our watches - to his disgust. I met my wife, who is English. when I worked at Aspreys, and we married she rtly after I move d out here. She came to Switzerland where she taught English for a number of years. We love the region and so we are here to .stay.".
, ~ ,
I I NEWS I I BY JOHN GOODALL
BULOVA
adds a third fork
As high quality quartz watches begin to enjoy a small revivaL, probably because companies are commemorating the 40th anniversary of their introduction,BuLova has joined
the party with a new modeL that introduces a new twist - and remarkabLe accuracy.
30 I ':1 oo/~4 WATCUWORLO ••
For many years, quart" crystals have be en in the shape of a bar, although some have used a crystal in the shape of a tuning fork. Now, Bulova has added another permutation, a crystal with three prongs. This enables them to achieve accuracy of 10 seconds a year, compared with the majority of qu artz watche s that are accura te to ±10 s eco nds a month.
When Bulova opened its new UK offices in Watford earlier this year, Gordon Dickens, UK General Manage t, said, "A bs clute accuracy has long been viewed as an important measure of the quality of a timepiece, Precisionist technology is accurate to lose con ds a year, which makes it the world's most accurate watch with a continuously sweeping seconds hand"
Bulova developed PreciSionist in cooperation with its parent company, Citizen Watch Co, in re spo nse to Bulova- led res earch that paved the way for the development of a technology that supports the company's goal of providing distinctive and beautifully designed watches. By adding a third prong to the traditional twoprong quartz crystal, Bulova has created a torsio nal r esona t or. Thi s inn ovatio n results in a much higher frequency than is used in most qu artz watches - eight times faster than tra ditio nal quartz movements, The first quartz watch ever sold - by Sefko in December 1969 - used a quartz. crystal with a frequency of 8,192Hz. Soon, the majority of quartz watch movements used a quartz crystal that resonates at 32,768Hz; the three-pronged resonator used in Bulova's new technology has a frequency of 262,144. This new Precis ionlst technology is now avail a ble in a dlstinctively designed collection, from dress to sports wa tche s within the Bulova brand, and including the Claremont, Tanglewood and Longwood Champlain ranges.
The Preclsiorust collection was Introduced to the UK in September this year and is priced between £18g and £639,
Bulova is well established as an innovator in timekeeping and in the 1950S, NASA turned to Bulova fc r its Accutrc n luning fork I echnolo 81, which was then under development and not yet available commercially. It was needed to help NASA make progress towards its first moon landing. When Bulova finally launched the Accutron in 1960, 1t marked the most spectacular b reakthro ugh in timekeeping accuracy In 300 years and became the most accurate technology then available. The introduction of Precisionist 50 years after the launch of the Accutron shows that Bulova still has an obsession with accuracy. www.bulova.com 01923226936
36 I 1';1 00/24 WATC!JWORto I ~
FOLLOW
YOUR CONVICTIONS
"I DON'T WANT TO LIVE LIKE YOU. I DON'T WANT TO TALK LIKE YOU. I'M GOING TO BE LIKE ME."
Sir Bob Geldol - Musician, Activist, Businessman
From starting a bond to receiving a knighthood,
Sir Bob Geldof has stayed true to himself in everything he does. At Maurice Lacroix, we create our unique movements and award-winning designs by hand - because, like Sir Bob, we too follow our convictions.
For more information visit www.MauriceLocroix.com
For more information and a brochure, please call 0800 037 9952 Of,
from outside the UK, 0044 20 8749 2405
Pontes Decentrique GMT Price £3,575
MAURICE In LACROIX
Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
II INTERVIEW I I BYJOHNGOODALL
P lAG ET Launches
its Bond Street sore
When you walk down London's Bond Street from Asprey to Chanel, you see shops belonging to huge brands on both sides of the street. Until now, one very significant watch
brand has been absent - but no longer. Piaget has opened its new flagship store at 169 New Bond Street.
Philippe Leopcld-Metzger, Piaget's CEO, comment" ed on this section of one of the world's most famous shopping streets when I interviewed him in his office at Piaget's stunning headquarters in Plan -les- Ouates, on the outskirts of Geneva. He said, "Everybody who is anybody is there. Piaget was one of the rare international brands that was not there, so the opening of our first store in London is very exciting.
"We have set up our own subsidiary in London and we are now handling OUl: own distrtbution in the UK. as well as opening our own store." Mr LeopoldMetzger is no stnmge! 10 London. He says, "I'm excited, I spent almost eight years of my life in London. I love the country and I love the people. This is a country and a place like nowhere else In the world - and I love it.
LONDON IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CITIES
"We have chosen this moment to open in London because I think that London is a ne of the greatest cities in the world today and it is typkallythe environment that we like. We know that a lot offoreign people buy watches and jewellery In London, but there is als 0 a strong local market that has really grown. It started to grow when I was there in the late 1980s [philippe Ieopold-Metzgerwas the managing director 0 f Cartierin London from 1989-19921 and We started to find English people spending big money. I think a lot of people have done a. great job persuading English people to spend more on Iuxury. It's a. striking local market and it's also one of the key cities for tourists, for Russians, for visitors from the Middle East and it is becoming a more and more important city for our Asian clientele. "We got a lot offeedb ack from our clients In. Hong Kong and Singapore asking why Piaget was not in London. This is one of the key streets where we need to be. We were already in Fifth Avenue, in Place Vendome in Paris, Rue du Rhone In Genevaand in Europe we also felt that We had to be in Bond Street. We aim to establish a good balance between local and foreign clients there - but the foreign clients alone would be enough to justify our presence there.
A KEY LOCATION
"The luxury that Piaget has today is that we can start OUl: UK business from scratch and We were
lucky to get a store in Bond Street - but from wha II understand we have established new records in rent. Paying a lot of money is not exactly what I'm !mown for, but I believe it is a good Investment becaus e of its key locatio n in New Bond Street. I definitely had to pay that high price, which means that many bands today are ready to start an operation In Bond Street, because this is one of the key cities in the world, When the opportunity to take this building came up, it was too good to miss.
"II is going to be great for us, because we will obviously be able to show the full collection there.
PLAYING TO OUR STRENGTHS
"We are a big company, but r like to have a major territory where we start fro m scratch, It's not as though we have to achieve turnover of zillions in year one: wejust have to do things properly, adverlise the brand and become a normal player in the market, playing on our strengths." Mr LeopoldMetzger once describe d Piaget as a niche brand whose principles are governed by the three Cs - Creative, Contemporary yel Classic,
"We are going to concentrate on the things we are best at - making fantastic, very creative jewellery watches - and this is a strong area of leadership for us - and making excellent, elegant mechanical watches. I think we make beautiful products and for us, technique is always at the service of design. In our collection there is a contrast between some of the jewellery, which can be extravagant and ex" tremely creative, and our men's watches, where we try to have a more understated look, especially because of the financial crisis.
"Until now, we have not really sold jewellery in the UK because our distributor specialised in watches. Now that we have taken over OUl own distribution, it is a market thai we are entering with great interest. For us, rt will be an interesting experience. Nicolas Mohs is running our business in the UK and he has been With us for the last five or Six years. Before that he was with Cartier."
Piaget's cleative work With jewellery takes place
In its impressive premises In Plan les Ouates, while ) )
II
I I
INTERVIEW
PIAGET'S UtTRkTHIN AlTIPLANO
48 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO I I
most creative work on watches takes place at the company's other plant in La Cote-aux"Fees. Piage1: employs about 1,000 people around the world. M:r Leopold-Metzger explains, "Piaget is a middlesized company and in the environment cfthe Richemont Group, which we belong to, we have the means to expand the brand over the long term, so it's exciting for me. The brand will remain exclusive; we will probably increase our production from lO,OOO to lO,oOO watches a year - but we would never want to produce lOO,OOO. Our aim is to s ell only watches that we make."
THE INNER SOUL OF A WATCH
"Mr Ieopcld-Metzger has been involved with watches and jewellery for most of his wo!king life, so which does he prefer? "I think 1 like watches a little more because they have an inner soul, which is the movement. Some of our jewellery pieces EX· ist on their own, but if you take a watch like this", he says, showing me a Polo Tourbillon Relatlf, "which is the most complicated movement we produce, you are not only going to buy this piece, but design it, too. It uses the skills of the master watchmaker, the enameller and the engraver. You can moose the colour of the lacquer and you can even choose the city it features. We recently produced one that features London. Some of our watch movements are designed like pieces of jewellery in their own right. At the other extreme, we have watches that are greatly underst ated - and that's what I like. In the world of watchmaking you have understatement on one side and on the other, extremely crea live and. extravagant pieces.
'When I joined the brand, Piaget was very focused
on women's watches and quartz watches. They were v,,1Y happy with that. Historically, Piaget was
very strong as a movement manufacturer and therefore it seemed obvious that Plaget should berome stronger in men's watches. Also, 0 ne unique selling proposition In our men's watches was that
we were specialists in ultra-thin movements. Ten years ago. that was nat very sexy, but now it is becoming more and more so. It is becoming a part of
the collection that people should have taday.
"Basically, Piaget is going to have two hats; very diamcnd-oriented models for women - and also
for men in ce rtain parts of the world - and a ve ry good collection for men, always centred around
very thin movements. When you marry exclusivity
and very expensive watches. you find that the mar-
ket is more and more a man's market, Women are buying them in certain parts of the world. but tao
day it is men who are driving this part of the business, We have made a complete change. Today, half »
II
I I
INTERVIEW
1874 Georges Edouard Piaget, a farmer's son, bega n assembling fob watch movements in a workshop he set up on his father's farm in L" Cote-nux-Fees,
1911 Georges Edouard's son, Tlrnothee Piaget look over the fa mily business 0 nd contln ued his father's passion for the pursuit for quo lity.ln the eo rly yea" of the zoth century the business began to concentrate on the manufacture of wristwatches, which had only recently come into existence when improving technology mode it possible 10 prod uce movements small enough to fit ina wristwatchcase. instead of the larger cases of pocket watches.
1943 Until the Second World War, Piaget watches were sold to other compa nies, who put their own names on the dials, but in '943 the Pia get brand name was officially registered. Gerald and Valentin P;aget, the founder's grandsons, worked hard to expand sales i nternatlonally and to make the name more widely known.
1945 A new fadl ity was bu ilt at La Cote-aux-Fees and concentrated on the production of U lira - th i n mech a n ica I move ments.
1957 Pia get launched its legendary calibre 9 P, wh lrh was just zmm th ick.
1960 Valentin Piaget created the calibre uP, wh lch was the world's thinnest automatic movement with a thickness of just l.3mm.lt g"ined an entry in the Gulnness Book of Records. I n the 1960s the company launched its first watches with dia Is made from hard stones such as onyx, turquoise, tiger's eye and lapis lazuli.
1980 Pia get achieved the status of watchmaker j ewelle r, w he nit create d th e most ex pe n sive man's watch at the time, a model set with many diamonds.
1976 I n response to the rapidly growing demand for q uartz watches, Pi"get developed its own call bre 7P quartz movement, the smallest of its generJtion.
1988 The Vend6me Group, which was
subsequently taken over by the Richernont G rou p, acq ui red 60% of the capita I of Pi.get. 1993 The Rkhemonl Group beca me the sale owner of Piaget, with Yves Piaget as president.
2001 Pia get opened new premises in Pion -lesOuates, the new watch maklng area on the edge of Geneva, but continued to make movements in its historic home, lo Coteaux-Fees,
2002 Pia get launched calibre 6ooP, the thinnest tourbillon movement in the world, just 3.smm thick.
2005 Pia get entered the excl uslve circle of brands th at makes its ow n c h ron ogro ph rnoverne nt, just 5.6mm thick, with a dual-time flyback calibre
2010 Piagel ha s retu me d to it s roots by i nt 1'0- dudng a line of ultra-thln calibres, including the new generation uooP and u08P, the thinnest self-winding movement on the market today - in line with the founder's m otto. "AI ways do bette r I h a n n ecessa ry".
50 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO I I
our watches are for men and half for women: we switched from producing watches that were 70% quartz to being about 60% mechanical today.
TWO HEARTS AND THREE LEGS
"I always say we have three le gs and two hearts. The hearts are here, in Plan-Ies-Ouates, where we make the watches, except the movements, and we also have our jewellery skills here, and in Ia Ciiteaux-Pees we have our movement making skills. Out three legs are the men's watch collection, the jewellery watch collection for men and women, and of course we have ow jewellery business. Jewellery-only sales have shrunk and today only account for about) s% of ourbusiness because of the amazing development of our watch business in the last three years.
"Piaget wants to re main very traditional, although the use of new materials such as silictum will probably be adopted one day. If you look at ourwatches, you will find we only work with gold and platinum; the only exception is the Polo 45. This was not because of price, but because the watch was becoming larger and larger and we thought that titanium would offer superior comfort.
PIA GET '5 RoVER5ISLE LIMELIGHT TWICE
BUILD IT FIRST AND BUILD IT YOURSELF
'The average price at which we sell watches has been growing consistently, erther because more of the watches we sell have mechanical, instead of quartz, movements or because we have been very successful on the jewellery watch side. When you are really quality conscious the one thlng you want to do is build you, own movements. This has really been the fa cus for us. When you go for innovation you need to survive, but at the heart of our thinking is the belief that if you want to s ell quality, you build it first and you build it yourself. We do n' t sell any watches with movements that we don't make ourselves. We buy-in just a few parts, but 96 or 97% of every one of our watches is made by us. That's a big part of the philosophy of the brand. it does what it says.
'We are not assemblers, we may not be the best marketing company in the world, but our investment has been very focused on building a great manufacture that can handle a lot of innovations. I believe that the luxury business should not rely on subcontracting. Now we are going to concentrate more on marketing.".
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We don't need to beat around the bush: this is primarilY. the story of a century and a half of progress, with the occasional, inevitable rough patch. What dominates is our admiration fora brand which, like no other, has succeeded in combining innovation and pioneering technology with largescale production. 00/24 WatchWorld congratulates TAG Heuer with a "triple whammy": a brief history of the brand,an exclusive interview with CEO Jean-Christophe Babin (who is
celebrating his own anniversary: 10 years in charge of the brand) and a report on our factory visit to subsidiary Cortech.
Edouard Heuer was born in 1840; he was the son of a shoemaker. Bdouard couldn't see much future in his father's profession and, at an early age, decided to apprentice himself to a watchmaker. He was 14 when he took this step and already had six years of experience when, at the age of 20, he set up in business for himself. This was 1860, the official birth year of Heuer as a watch brand. In the last years before becoming independent, Edouard worked as a watchmaker and quality inspector at a large watch factory.
CROWNING GLORY
Bdouard Heuer's company focused on producing pocket watches. In 1864, Heuer's business moved 10 BrUgg and from then on, the reputation of the brand grew quickly. Initially he became known mainly fOI the development of a new system for winding the movement using the crown (until then this had always been done with a key). In 1870 it was time for another move, this time to BielfBienne. This is where, in 1882, the brand invente d the pro duct that made it world -famous: the stopwatch 0 r chronograph.
OLYMPIC CHAMPION
After the death of Bdouard Heuer in 1892 the com pan y pass ed in to the hands of his two sons, Jules-Edouard and Charles·Auguste. They continued. to develop the stopwatch further, producing special versions for doctors and the military and even - rather uni q uely for tnos e days - mo dels with water res tst ant cas es, Th ey were also the first manufacturer to produce a wnstwatch with a chronograph. Jules-Bdouard diedin 1911, his brother in 1923. Heuer continued to be managed by two Heuer brothers, this time Charles-Bdcuard and. Hubert.
The brand's reputation as the creator of excellent stopwatches continued to grow. Heuer supplied the offictal time measuring equipment for the »
, I 00/2.4 WATC[fWO"LD I " , 53
II
II
~RT
54 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920), Paris (,924), Amsterdam (1928) and los Angeles (1932). In 1916, Heuer's technicians invented the Micrograph, the first pocket watch that could measure time to 11100 th 0 f a s eco nd ..
THE AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH
In the years after the los Angeles Olympic Games and even during the Second World War, Heuer remained the leading brand for chronographs. Soldiers (including General Eisenhower),pilots and sports people were the main buyers of Heuer's products.
The brand's urge to innovate continued to produce new and special watches. In 1964 the now very famous Carrera chronograph was launched, and in 1965 Heuer succeeded in measuring time accurately to r/roocth of a second. An even bigger mtlestone: in 1969 Heuer was the first company to present a chronograph with a mechanical movement that is wound automatically by means of a micro-rotor. This exceptional movement (which stood out immediately because the crown had to be placed on the left side of the case) was used In the Monaco, Carrera and Autavia model, and became an enormoussuccess,
In 1970 Heuer came under the management of Jack Wmiam Heuer (1932). In 200S Jack W. Heuer became the honourable chairman of TAG Heuer's product development group and he remains as driven as he ever was when it comes to watches.
WELCOME, TAG
Although Heuer Jumped on the quartz te chnolc gy b andwa gcn early on, the brand became a Victim of the Quartz Crlsis, which nearly wiped out the entire Swiss watch industry at the end of the 1970s, in the most spectacular manner. Heuer produced a number of brilliant electronic chronographs, but was unable to
compete against the tide of cheap quartz watches from Japan and the USA. In 1982 two watch companies, Nouvelle Lemania and Piaget, carne to Heuer's ald. Together they became the de facto owner of the brand. Three years later the duo sold Heuer on, to a company with the wonderful name Techniques d'Avant Garde ("TAG" for short), which was managed by Saud! businessmen Mansour and Akram Ojjeh. TAG was established in 1975 and operates in areas such as aviation and real estate. After the takeover the watch brand was renamed TAG Heuer. In marketing and product development, Heuer's sporty past was emphasised, as well as its tradition as the maker of chronographs. As in the early days, dose ties were established with the sporting world, such as motor racing (Formula 1), sailing (the America's Cup) and skiing. The company was drastically restructured, with far mare emphasis on the design and development of new models. Increasingly, the production of movements was entrusted to specialist suppliers.
LVMH
In 1999 TAG Heuer was sold to the French louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group (LVMH). Under the new management of Jean-Christophe Babin the brand grew rapidly, mainly because of an elegant combination of attractive and fairly priced watches and marketing method. that are often nothing short of revolutionary. Today, in 2010, TAG Heuer is one of the watch world's biggest SUcCeS S ston es - and the UK is it s secon d mo st important market (with America first and Japan third). The brand continues to make very affordable watches, has given new life to its classic models and, with revolutionary models like the Mon ace V 4 and the Pe ndul um, co ntinu es to present itself as an innovator that breaks thrc ugh bound aries a. feat Bdouard Heue r would have been proud of .•
"Accuracy is everything \Nhen you've rocketed into history, and made the space tourism dream a reality."
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- Spacecraft altitude record holder (367,442 ft in space)
Brian Binn.ie rocketed the first private manned spacecraft to an aUitude of 69.6 miles, winning the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and opening a new era in space flight. At 50,000 feet, he fired SpaceShipOne's rockets, reached 2,500 mph, and broke through the edge of the atmosphere into space. Despite all his training and hard work, each mission can be both dangerous and risky. Which is why a dependable timepiece like a Ball Watch is so important in an environment that features truly adverse conditions.
The watch that once ran America's railroads now helps the world's explorers keep time. There is no other timepiece that is as rugged and dependable.
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I [ BY KAREL HUBERT
[[ REPORT
The wonderful decade of
Jean-Christophe abin
his year TAG Heuer celebrates its 150th anniversary .. They way up and inserts them automatically, with no
have been doing this not with a singLe party, but with a series of speciaL events. The ceLebrations started with an internationaL press event at the McLaren TechnoLogy Centre in Woking. Then, at BaseLWorLd in March the company presented the revoLutionary PenduLum, a concept watch with a movement that has a magneti~ cally controlled baLance wheel. In La Chaux-de-Fonds they started production ona proprietary movement, the 1887 caLibre. JeanChristophe Babin is ceLebratin 9 his 10th anniversary as C EO of the brand, which forms part of the LVMH group that specialises in Luxury goods. "It has been a fantastic period, fuLL of challenges and changes, a time of new markets and technicaL innovations! I have enjoyed every minute of it and continue to do so."
The biggest revolution of the past decade in the watch industry has been the expansion of TAG Heuer into a brand that covers all segments of the watch market Babin: "We truly make something for everyone, from reasonably priced quartz watches through to the V4 Monaco with belt drive, from elegant women's watches to special chrcnographs. Ail our watches have to meet the same high quality requirements. I mean, if a Formula 1 watch has to be able to withstand a one metre drop, the most expensive Monaco should be able to do the same."
co mpcnents, we noticed that all doors were ope· ned wide for us. The message is that TAG Heuer has no secrets. What did we see? It was an extremely advanced department Where the 1887 calibre movements are fabricated with the aid of the very latest equipment. They are made by hand, but where possible electronics and specially developed fully automatic and semi - a utornatlc tools lend a hand. For example, a miniature robot applies the lubricant in exactly the rtgh t places. And the traditional eyeglass has been replaced by a strong mag· nifying camera and computer screen. In the production process the movements are taken to their destination by small conveyor belts, and can be identified in every step of the productio n by means of a special code. One machine even picks up the jewels for each movement, turns them the right
ULTRA MODERN
When we visited the company in La Chaux-de· Fonds and then moved on to Cornol to witness the fabrication of cases and all kinds of movement
56 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
human intervention. There are few, if any, other places where the combination of traditional manual work and ultramodern equipment for the production of movements is as far advanced as it is here. It greatly benefits the quality and reliability of those movements.
LARGE NUMBERS
The 1887 calibre consists of 320 components that are made partly in-house. In La Chaux-de-Fonds 30 people subsequently take these components and turn them into complete movements in 50 steps. From start to finish this process takes half an hour. Presently around 70 movements are finished per day, this must be increased to 100 and ultimately the intention is for some 50,000 movements to be produced each year. The basis of this movement is a Seiko chronograph calibre, the rights for which were bought by TAG Heuer. A lot has been said and Written a bout it, but the fact is that TAG Heuer only bought the basic drawings of the calibre in questton. Right at the start it was decided that the 1887 calibre would not become a speciality only to be produced insmall numbers, but rather wo uld be produced on an industrial scale. For that reason the S eiko design was chosen, because it was als 0 designed with all the requlrements of large-scale pro· duction at the outset. TAG Heuer's decisic n saved time and money. However, apart from most of its dimensio lIS the 1887 calibre has nothing in common with the Japanese model: it is 100% Swiss and quite a. few of the components were completely redeveloped.
PENDULUM
Talking about production, Babin tells us: "In many ways it is much easier to develop aspecial movement that you make virtually by hand. For such a movement the requirements are quite different and less complicated than when you are planning to produce all the components mechanically in large numbers."
During our meeting Babin is wearing a prototype
of the Pendulum. "It is one of the five working prototypes we have made so far, Just wearing a watch as a practical test is an important addition to all the tests we conduct in the laboratory. Whether the Pendulum is likely to be ready for production soon? Well, it Will still take some time. After all, what we have invented and produced is something completely new. The balance wheel is moved bade and forth by the attracting and repelling forces of two small magnets. Certainly, the principle is simple, but as you know a magnetic field is one of the major disrupting forces to the accuracy of a movement. Talk about trying the impossible! We also need a lot more research to make sure the Pendulum functions consistently under any conditions, so r really couldn't tell you when it will be going into production. When it happens there are also likely to be some changes; for instance, the balance wheel will be smaller than the one in the prototype because the rapid movement necessitates it"
TEN YEARS
In the 10 years that he has been in charge, JeanChristophe Babin has seen a lot of changes. ''As a company we have developed tremendously. In the te chnological arena we have progress ed by leaps and bounds and won awards. When I first started here 20% of our watches were sold 10 women; today that is 30%. We no longer have a spectal woo men's collection that Is separate from everything else; rather, we have given the women's watches a place in the regular collection, in other words among the Monaco's, the Formula 1, etc. TILis has made our families more recognisable. And of course we have seen changes in the markets, with Asia becoming a rapidly emerging market.
LVMH
TAG Heuer is part of the luxury goods group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, or LVMH, together wrth Zenith and Hublot, among others, A bout this postticn Babin says, "How imp crtant is it to be a part of the LVMH group? It is lnspmng because it gives you a different vi.ew of watches. They are luxury products that fit a certain lifestyle. But of course our DNA hasn't changed: we are still a company that makes chronographs and watches. Needless to say, as part of such a group we pay more attention to our image and to our marketing than before. Does the financial wherewithal of LVMH help us? Not really. TAG Heuer is a profitable company and
can pay for all of its own investments."
The investments that we,e (and are) needed to enable the in- house production of the 1887 calibre are considerable. "But", says Babin,"Jt is not a step on the way to becoming an independent movement manufacturer. We purchase movements from ETA,Dubois·Depraz and Zenith and will continue to do so. Our proprietary movements will be given their own place alongside these others. Rernernb er that we use seven different chronograph movements; we would never be able to make all of those ourselves and, more importantly, we don't want to. Working together with different manufacturers gives you a stronger position, Neither is a proprietary movement automatically better than that of another producer. let me put it this way: we don't finish all our cases ourselves either, and we purchase dials and straps els ewhere. This gives us the opportunity to buy the very best from the real specialists. Ultimately that makes out watches better."
THE LARGEST
When Babin was handed the reins of TAG Heuer the brand was already a stro ng one, but today the company is also an enormous commercial success, Babin: "Our strength is that we are now the biggest in the price range from !,OOO to 5,000 euros, That is good, but it also determines how we look at watche s. For this price range in particular Ihere are enormous growth opportunities in America and Asia, but you have 10 take care you don't go overboard with the technology. What makes our company so special is that in addition to this 'bread and butter' segment we also have the haute horlogerie side, which not only generates a lot of goodwill but also makes us very attractive as an employer. That means we attract the real movement makers, who encounter real innovation in our company. Not just another tourbillon, but the V 4 and the Pendulum!"
GOLD MINE
Three years ago TAG Heuer opened a special museum where, in a 360 degree exhibition, all the high points from the past canbe admired in a Sin" gle beautiful space. "Our history is a goldmine to which we owe a lot, such as the Moma and the Mo" naco. And take the Silverstone, for example, which was actually more revolutionary than the Monaco! In our museum we onlyexhibitto% of the collecti-
on; the rest is travelling around the world. I often go downstairs to spend half an hour or so in the museum, It is enormously inspirational and we will continue to look closely at our history. The wonderful and extremely easy 40" read dials that were created after the First World War are an excellent example. Should the museum should be ope" ned to the public? You know, this is not exactly a town that attracts a lot of tourists. It would be nawe to think that we would have a lot of visito rs if we were open every day, as would be the case if we were situated in Geneva. But TAG Heuer aficionados can always make an appointment to come and pay us a visit."
INTERNET
"'Talking a bout aficionado s, one of the changes I have, of course, also Witnessed these past 10 years is the communication with customers. Because of the internet even the smallest mistake immediately becomes wcrld news, Customers have become reporters, as it were. They have also become wealthier and are able to spend more time on things other than work. I therefore don't consider other wat ch brands to be our main competitors, but rather other products and activities that people spend money OIl, from an. expensive television to a nice holiday. Once you realise that, it determines how you look at your own products and your buyers."
WIDE SCREEN
One hundred and. fifty years of TAG Heuer, 10 years of Jean-Christophe Babin at the helm. Will he continue to do this for the rest of hi. life? "1 can never be sure what the future will bring. But r really enjoy it here, because TAG Heuer is much more than a watch brand. The company is also involved in a range of other products, such a. spectacles and mobile telephones. After all, we are a lifestyle company, with flag ship sto res all over the world. Pers onally I also travel a lot, and often to fantastic places. All that makes my job very special and give. me a wide- screen vIew of the world, as It were."
, I 00/2.4 WATC!fWO"LD I " , 57
TECHNOLOGY r I BYJANC,HUBERT
G Heuer subsidiary Cortech makes
Geneva, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Lode, Biel/Bienne and Le Brassus areaH known to watch connoisseu rs as significant towns in the world of Swiss watches. However, there are other places in Switz·erLand where interesting things happen. One such town, or rather village, is CornoL This is where TAG Heuer subsidiary Cortech is based.
Cornol is in the Jura district, in an odd finger of land that indents France to the west of Basel The municipal co at of arms is rather unusu al for a village in the north of SwiherJand, because it has three Moorish heads with turbans, perhaps a reference to the African legions that built the roads in this area in Roman times. Cornol has a mere 900 inhabitants, but nonetheless there are a number of important watch component factories in Cornel and its immediate environs. That is only po ssl ble thanks to guest wo rkers from neaiby Prance, who leceive Swiss wages and pay French tax.
CASES
The town of Alle near Cornol is home 10 Atokalpa, which has been part of the Sandoz Family Foundation since December lOOO and is an important producer of a range of movement components, not just for Parmigiani and the Vaucher Group but also for other, often very renowned brands. And at the edge of Cornol itself is Cortech, which looks out over rolling pastures full of cows.
Cortech has long been home to a factory that produces watch cases and case components that has been owned by TAG Heuer for nearly 20 years. In 2003 the company moved into a new factory in Cornol where it still makes cases but, more recently, also components for TAG Heuer's 1887 Calib reo This means th at. Cortec.h is involved
exclusively with Phase T-o (the manufacture of components) in the watch fabrication process; the other phases are T-t (movement assembly), T -~ (watch as sembly] an d T· 3 (attachment of bezel and strap), which are completed in La Chaux-de- Ponds.
BRUTE FORCE
There are a number of methods for making watch cases, but Cortech only uses cold stamping. In this process a sheet of metal, like stainless ste el or gold, is very gra du ally pres sed into the desired case shape, a process that takes nine or more steps. A sequential series of moulds is used that increasingly provi de the final shape, as weU as pre ss es thai deliver some 200 tonne s of pressure. The metal component is put into the mould by hand .. Between each pres sing sta ge the abus ed piece of met al is heated in an oven to a temperature of around 1080 degrees C. This is done in an ammonia gas atmosphere in order to remove areas 0 f tens ion and fissures. Repe atedly exposing the steel to high pressure has the same effect as forging it, and makes the steel harder. Once the case has its final shape the details are applied, such as the hole's for the crown, push buttons and lugs. In the drilling process the metal is splayed with coolant and With a lot of oil for lubrication, so that it is almost impossible to see what is happening. But when the result finally emerges, all the holes are perfect and in
the right place. The next step is polishing. In nearly all case s this is still do ne manu ally. Because of all the manual work, the heating phases and all the quality controls in between, making a case is a time-consuming activity that can lake up to three months for a .single case. A total of around 20 people work in this department, operating several dozen machines between them.
Cortech makes around 200,000 cases each year, 80% of which are in steel. 11 also makes bezels and sometimes push buttons, but these are also purchased from other suppliers.
Of the cases around 80 % are destined for TAG Heuer and the rest for Zenith, which is also part of LVMH (in the past Corlech also had other brands as customers, such as Corum).
1887 CALIBRE
FOI its new, proprietary 1887 Calibre TAG Heuer has setup a new department at Cortech where a total of to different components for the movement are manufactured an d decorated, including bridges and plates; the other components are purchased elsewhere. In addition to manufacturing these components, C ortech als 0 fils rubies and some other components in the 1887 calibre.
When the decision to manufacture a proprietary movement was made a few years ago the first step was to find a supplier for the required »
machinery. The final choice was Fleury in BieU Bienne. Fleury not only developed the equipment but also trained the management personnel - a one·year learning process ~ who would subsequently teach the other employees. Fleury finished making the first machine in April 2008, and early in 2009 all the machln ery wa s ready 10 be installed in Cornol. The department has been in production properly since early 2010.
ALL NEW
This recent start gives TAG Heuer the advantage that everything is now new andstate-of-the-art. A very special aspect is the fact that the machines are linked by conveyor belts, which are only interrupted by the frequent quality controls. This allows the machines to operate 24 hours a day, uninterrupted by human hands.
The main metal processed in the Cornel plant is brass. This is much softer than many other metals, which allows precessing without oil cooling: as a result the department looks extremely dean and that's not just because everything is so new. Metal splinters are removed by vacuum extraction, which also provides sufficient cooling.
Another example of the advantage TAG Heuer has as a result of its late start is the robots that fit arbors and rubies, To start with the arbors are all jumbled together in a bin. A camera takes a picture that is analysed to identify the arbors that are already lying in the ri ght orientation. Thes e ar b ors are picked up on the ri !thlsi de using vacuum suction and placed in a kind of rack, at a rate of 0 ne arb 0 r per second. When there are no more arbors In the correct
orientation to be picked up the bin is shaken and new arbors added if necessary, and the process starts all over again. The next robot then uses the 'rack of arbors and installs them in the movement that is being assembled.
JUST LIKE CAR MAN UFACTU RI NG
What happens in Ccrtech fits in completely with the gradual development TAG Heuer has opted for. Further eXpansion may be expected in the reasonably near future, but TAG Heuer has no plans for Ultimately getting rid of its regular movement suppliers (including ETA), Why do something yourself, when someone else is alre ady doing it fa r you to full mutual satisfaction! The similarities with the automotive industry are ve ry evid ent .•
60 . t I 00/24 WATCIJW01lLO I I
AIMS TO BREAK
THE SOUND BARR/~R
62 . I::j 00/:24 W~lCIJWOR~l!)
Baumgartner was one of the star guests at the Roya I Observatory when Zenith 10 unched the Christophe Colomb and explained his mission in person. His project, ca lied Red BuliStratos, involves ju mping out of 0 ca psule suspended in the stratosphere from a ba Iloon at an altitude of 36.Skm, about four times higher that most passenger planes fly. He aims to smash four world records in one jump: the highest rna nned ba II oon fl i ght, the h ighe st leo p. th e Ion gest f reefa II and, for the first time in history, he expects to break the sound barrier with the human body. His mission will also provide new research data to advance aerospace safety. Zenith Manufacture is one of the rna in sponsors of this e)(t'remely da ngerous m issian, which is driven by Red Bull a nd a stellar team of scient lsts 0 nd ot her s pecia Ii SIS.
Zen ith has taken on an extreme challenge by signing up as a Portner wi;th Fel·ix Bou mgo rtner, the Austrian pilot and champion parachutist in an attempt to get one of its mechanical timepieces to be the first to break the sound barrier. The oi m is to prove once aga in the reliability of Zenith under extreme conditions and Zenith has become the official timekeeper for the project.
During his jump, Baumgartner shou Id reach speeds of over t.tcokm/h (around 687mph) du ring the freefall stage of his fast journey back to earth. He will be protected during his fall by a pressurised space suit. He explai ns, "This is truly a leap into the unknown. No one can predict how the human body wi II respond when it crosses the sound barrier;
To prepare for his mission, Baumgartner is working closely with the current holder of the high altitude ju mp record, Joe Kittinger, a retired US AiI Force colonel. Because wind reslstance is much lower in the thin atmosphere of the stratosphere, he will accelerate quickly, atternptl ng to reach his maximum speed withi n the first 37 seconds of freefall to break the sound barrier. A5 he descends, the increasingly dense air wi II slow him gradually, Controlling his body position durl ng the very rapid acceleration stage of the descent will be an extraordlnaryfeat.
The mission wHi test the reliability of Zenith watches under the most extreme conditions of tern perature. pressure, speed, friction and impacts. If the jump is successful, Zenith wHi be· come the first watch to exceed the speed of sound in direct contact with th e externa I envl ro n m e nt.
Jean-Frederic Dufou r commented, "The expression 'pionee-
ring spirit' best defines what Zenith is all about. We have often been forerunner> in unexplored domains. It is this abl lity to come up with new ideas and then push through with new technical developments before anyone else that is most fascinating at Zenith.
"Our watches have partlci pated in some of the grandest human adventures: explorer Roald Amundsen's discovery of the North 0 nd South Poles, Mahiltm" Gandhi's peaceful fight for Ind la's independence, Louis Blerlot's Channel cross] ng and Jean-LouisEtienne's 5010 ba Iloon fliglJ\ over the North Pole. Felix Baumgartner is made of the same stuff as these pioneers. He has a project to be the first h uman to expose his body to a speed of Mach 1. We were attracted to the idea: in ilssisting him in hls dream we would become the first su person lc watch. Our watchmakers are working to develop a model specially adapted to this mission: the EI Primero Stratos,' Baumgartner plans to perform his supersonic jump some tl me before the end of zo 10 .
• This is not the same Felix Baumgartner as the one who owns Urwerk.
www.~enith-watthel_t(lmPh(lne: Q1l04 4~40S1
-
II WATCH UNIVERSE
BY JOHN GOODALL
BREMONT DESIGNS A CLOCK FOR JAGUAR'S SUPERCAR
64 I ~ 'I 00/24 WA1CUWORLh I I
Having ccnq uered the air and the sea.Brernont has tu rned its atte ntion to the land and created a custom designed dock for the new Jaguar C-X7.5 Concept. a 4-wheel drive electric supercar that was unveiled at the Pari s Motor Show at the end of Septem ber
For this one-of-a -klnd car, Jaguar wanted "the information screens to be able to display information with timeless cla rity" a nd this led to it, cooperation with Bremont. This mech a nkal clock provided stylin g CUeS for the graph ic displays of the new supercar, Jaguar a ppreciated that Bremont, the British company whose timep leces are assembled in its dedicated atel ler in 5witurla nd, had quickly establlshedltself in the world of authentic luxu ry - and it liked Brernont's aviaticn-inspi red designs, It is now expected that the ate ller will soon be moved from Switzerland to the UK.
Bremont produced a unique clock for the concept ca r, which can be mounted ina turbine-Inspired holder in the centre console. The clock's mechanism uses the acceleration and bra king forces of th e Col r to kee p it wou n d. Whe n creati ng the graphics for the ti me-related element, of the HMI, Jagua r's designers took styling cues from the Bremont MBII watch,
One other Bremont feature inspired Jaguar's de, lgn tea m. They were aware th at Bremont produces a watch, the BMI, exclusively for those whose lives have been saved by Briti sh-rnade Ma rtin Sake r ejection seats ~ more tho n 7,000 people so far, In recognition of this, the interior door release ha ndles of the (·X75 are crafted from <1 ircratt-grade alu mi nium and mounted ln the base of the seat - in the same position as a fighter jet's ejection lever.
Gi les E ngllsh, who founded Bre mont with hi, brother Nick, com merrted, "We a re very proud to have been asked aga in by Jaguar to make a be, poke ca r clock for them and thrll led for it to be for th elr C-X75 supercar."
BY KAREL HUBERT
A watch as a present
A E TO GIVE SOMETHING
BEAUTIFUL
because', there is always a reason .. However different these reasons may be, they always have one thing. in common: the giver has positive feelings for the recipient. That alone means that you have to spend a lot of time and attention choosing the present.
YOU normaUy give a present :or a ver~ good reason: to express a special emotion or celebrate a milestone. Even if the question 'To what do lowe this?' is answered with the almost dassical but nonsensical 'Just
1. THINKABOUTTHE RECIPIENT
It makes quite a difference who you are giving a watch to. Assuming you have a dose bond with the recipient. ask yourself what kind of a person he or she is. A sporty young man turning 18 would want quite a different watch than a woman celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary. Open door? Ce.rtainly. but if you see the kind of watch es people ale sometimes given, it is a door that desperately needs dosing. The IS-year-old will probably be happy with a Seiko Ananta chronograph. the woman with a Happy Diamonds model by Chopard.
2. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT YOUR GIFT TO EXPRESS
Is it affection, appreciation, passion, hope, love 1 A fireman who is given a watch to honour his courageous behaviour deserves quite a different watch than the woman you want to share your life and bed with. A rugged Alpina and a delicate Reverso by Jaeger-LeCouli1e could be suitable. But don't get them mixed up, please,
3. ASK YOURSELF HOW TIMELESS THE WATCH HAS TO BE
Sometime. it is fine to give someone a watch that will end up in a drawer a. few years later, for example because it is a fashionable watch for a fashton-conscious woman. Or a gimmick for an advertising man. But milestone. demand. a timeless model. There is a huge chasm between the two. Seen anyone with a Corum Bubble recently? But a Patek Philippe Calatrava has eternal life - and not just in the brand's advertisements.
4. CHECK THE WRIST OF THE RECIPIENT
Big watches may be all the rage, hut for someone With a small wrist they are a waste of time. That means that for two women of the same age, with the same taste but with different wrist sizes, you will end up buying two different Rolex Oysters. They may even be completely identical, apart from their diameter.
I , 00/24 WATCuWO!tlD I " , 69
5. REALISE THAT DIAMONDS ARE NOT EVERYONE'S BEST FRIEND
Watches with diamonds are not to everyone's taste. Very few Buropean men like them and certainly not all Women. Before you decide to buy a watch set with diamonds for her (or okay, for him), find out if the recipient has other diamond jewellery - and if so, combined with which colour gold? A Raymond Well Freelancer chronograph for women, with its diamonds and steel case, is something else entirely than a rose gold Piaget Umelight.
6. DON'T FORGET TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT STRAP
Watches are much more than a case containing a movement. These days there is a wide choice of straps, but not every strap goes with every watch. Ask yourself how the recipient will be using the watch. A TAG Heuer Link with its steel bracelet is sporty, stylish and can be worn on any occasion, whether you are going out Of going swimming. A Montblanc Star Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph with its leather strap is classical and sophisticated and is not appropriate on all occasions.
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, 7. DON'T CHOOSE YOUR OWN FAVOURITE
Of course a present can say something about the generous giver. But if the preferences of the giver become more important than the wishes of the recipient, we have a problem. You personally may love a hand-wound mechanical movement, but the recipient may be much happier with a top-class quartz movement, Consequently, an automatic Cartier Tank may not make the redpient as happy as an Ebel Brasilia with a heart of quartz, although it may be perfect. It depends on the recipient."
S. DON'T BUY FROM THE INTERNET, UNLESS ."
By having a message engraved on the watch you indicate that you always want to be remembered as the giver. However human this desire may be, it does not demonstrate class. Apparently you are afraid that the recipient does not have the mental wherewithal to remember who gave him or her the watch and why.
9.BE CAREFUL WITH ENGRAVINGS
Quite apart from whether you are good at wrapping presents yourself, most online stores are an insult to good taste, There are exceptions (like WatchBank.eu, where you buy from real jewellers via the internet), but buying a special watch tram a picture on a computer screen says a lot about the giver wh 0 thinks price is j m portant eve n when it concerns a present,
10. ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE AS IF YOU WERE THE ONE RECEIVING THE WATCH
There all" quite a few sayings that make it dear giving a present can bring a. much joy as receiving one. A certain mentality Is a requirement: the number of people who prefer to receive rather than to give could, quit e possibly be a considerable majority. But the whole process of browsing, choosing and buying can provide an enormous amount of altruisttc pleasure; it's a kind of anticipation of the moment when you will actually be giving the watch, Finally, never forget that givIng someone a carefully selected watch means you alway, gel something in return: Joy, most certainly; amazement, often; and love, sometimes.
, , 00/24 WATCuWO!tlD I' ., , 71
since the invention of the Co-Axial
and IS an official collaboration between George
Daniels and my workshop
II INTERVIEW II
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW TECHNOLOGY CONCERNING MOVEMENTS?
For mechanical watch making, there is still nothing so far that beats the Daniels co-axial escapement, now ,5 years old, in accuracy and longeVity, despite the new developments that have come out in the last few years. I prefer to stick to something tried and. true that I kn ow will be working flawlessly many years down the road. That can't be said yet of many new developments today.
IF YOU CAN (ALMOST) CREATE EVERYTHING YOURSELF, HOW DO YOU FIND NEW CHALLENGES?
There are dozens of challenges still to come for me and many watches are still in my mind waiting tc be created. The only problem I have is that making them takes time, and I only have so much time each day!
It could go faster I suppose if I made the change to computer designing and different working methods, but if I did that, my watches would not be what they are today.
WHAT IS YOUR OWN FAVOURITE WATCH?
I have to say that it has to be my own. During my time making my ist pocket watch [over 20 years ago) ~ and learning all of the 2S to ,0 different disciplines that are required in order for one man to make a watch from start to finish - I began to realize that I was not seeing these handmade qualities of beauty, restorability and robustness in the modern wristwatch. That is what I love about my watches, and I still enjoy seeing in each one that I make.
When looking at a watch I look not only for a great movement, but also a great dial, hands and case, and I appreciate these qualities where they are found in any watch.
74 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
DO YOU THINK THE ISLE OF MAN WilL ATTRACT MORE WATCHMAKERS - AND HOW DO YOU FIND APPRENTICES ON THE ISLAND?
All my apprentices so far have come from elsewhere, but I am convinced that in the next few years, we will be seeing a growth of watchmaking activities here on the Isle of Man as a result of the increasing inte rest in fine watchmaking as practised here, It is a long-term dream of mine to see this happen .•
,'.:,.' ULYSSE NARDIN
•• I" I
.. ' . celebrates
ot Schnyder's life of innovation and adventure
76 I I I
U lysse Nardin is one of the world's great forward-thinking watch brands, never afraid of taking on new chaUenges. In fact it actively looks for them,
Rolf schnyder, the owner and president of the company, is a man whose life has been one long adventure, as he explained recently when he reached the age of 75. His life has been like an adventure novel an d he is the first admit that he's had a great time. He grew up in Switzerland and was raised like most other Swiss boys', playing, skling and learning, But he had a desire that most others didn't have: he wanted to find out what was far outside Switzerland's borders.
BEGINNING OF AN ODYSSEY
At the age of only 22 he was hired by a Swiss hading company and sent to Bangkok to distribute Swiss timepieces in Thailand. This marked the beginning of an odyssey into the world of watchmaking that has spanned, the following 53 years, In 1968 In Thailand he founded the first Swi ss factory in the Far East to produce precision watch components for use in Switzerland. Later, he built a watch case factory
in Manila and a dial factory in Kuala Lumpur that produced a variety of precision watch components for the Swiss watch industry.
"I found the adventure I had been yearning for-
I discovered places where no Swiss person had
ever set foot, I learned the language and roamed
the country selling Swiss watches and I made my
start as an entrepreneur. This: area of Asia was uncharte d t erritc ry for Euro p eans at that tim e,
so I was able to do things that are Impossible
now, like building a raft at the Burmese b order
and floating down the famous River Kwai and camping on the beach in Phuket (as there were
no hotels back then). I spent time in Laos and Vietnam during the war, visited China during
the Cultural Revolutio n. I roamed far and wid e, through Thailand, Laos, Bali, Cambodia, China, »
n-lf SILICON PARTS OF THE ESCAPfM fNT / N fit ue A RE nEAR, Y VIS/flU
South Vietnam and Japan. I spent three months' leave in the South Padfic, sailing through the islands from Fiji, and Tonga to Tahiti and Bora Bora."
One of his hallmarks has been to mix great fun with work. He played rugby for the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, organised tOUIS for Buropeans to remote paris 0 f Thailand and the Temples of Angkcr Wat in Cambodia, started companies, collected antiques and lived it up as a carefree bachelor. As a veteran snow skier, he switched to wa ler skiing on a whim and entered competitions. He won the Hong Kong water ski marathon around the island inlg67.
competed in the famous cresta skeleton run, he learned that Ulysse Nardin was for sale. It was in 198" when the Swiss watch industry was in the doldrums because of the quartz crisis. The company was little more than a shell- a carcass with a famous name as he describes it. He bought the company and 5 et a bout transforming it, putting the emphasis on unique, complicated watchmaking with innovation at its core - and that policy has continued to this day. Among its famous creattons are the Astrolabtum Galilee Galli.ei, the Planetarium Copernicus, the Tellurium Johannes Kepler, the Minute Repeater Jaquemart San Marco and the Genghis Khan. The model that has become most famous is The Freak, a revolutionary timepiece that broke all conven lions. All these watches have in common the theme of innovation. Ever since Schnyder relaunched the brand, illysse Nardin has been recognised as a leader in the adoption of new materials, new technologies and new ways of doing things. He has
FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE
He says, "During this time r laid the foundation for the future, with a kee n eye for oppo rtunity and the ability to take c alculat ed risks." Du lin g one of his annual visits to St Moritz, where he
ROLF SCHNYDfR, IN .BWE, WENT SKYDIVING TO MARK HI5 75TH S.IRTHDAY
78 I 1';1 00/24 WATCuWORLO • ~
won many important awards in recognition of his achlevernents and commitments.
Now, Roli Schnyder divides his tim e between Switzerland and Malaysia. Whe.n he is not overseeing the business in Le Lode he is either at home with his family in Kuala Lumpur where they have a beautiful sprawling tropical home with hi s wife, Chat, and his three Ie enage chil dren ~ 0 r visiting coil ecto IS, retailers and su bsidiaries around the wo rld.
THE FREAK
To celebrate his birthday and honour how far Ulysse Nardin has come since he bought it in 1983, the company created a special limited edition Freak Diavolo in platinum that bears schnyder's signature on the case. The Freak was chosen for this special tribute because it shook up and inspired the watchmaking fraternity. This limited edition is limited to 7S pieces as a tribute to his 75th birthday. It is a Caroussel Tourbillon with no crown, no hands and no dial - but with a novel Dual Direct escapement made from stlictum. It has a silicium hairspring, which is an exclusive U1ysse Nardin design, and its escapement uses a right-angle lever in silicrum, which requires no lubrication. Winding is carried. out manually by rotating the bezel on the case back: one full rotation proves 12 hours' power reserve and the movement has a power reserve of more than a-days.
Schnyder says, "Almost 30 years ago I bought Ulysse Nardin. It was a calculated risk but I believed there was a strong chance that unique, innovative mechanical watches could thrive, and it turns out that r was right, To celebrate my 75th birthday I've chosen the Freak, because it was an histone breakthrough for Ulysse Nardin and for the watch industry in general- and it is by far our most important piece."
In November, Rolf Schnyder was in SWitzerland to host a press visit to Sigatec to present the ultimate stage of U1ysse Nardin's technical developments USing diamond and silicrum •• www~ulysse-naIdin_ch
Sp!ONSORS THE YACHT THAT FLIES
II
WATCH UNIVERS
Audema rs Piguet has taken to the seas and become the main partner of I'Hydropter€, the world', fastest soiling boat. This astonishing yacht is like no other, a:nd litera Ily flies across ~ or above - the sea on foil's at speeds that are truly breathtaking. The hull and floats lift completely out of the water at speeds above 12 knots.
This remarkable vessel claimed the record in September last yeo'.' the world', fastest salllng boat when it reached a speed of 51,36 knots - about 59mph - over 500 yards. This feat wa s no fl u ke, two mo nt h51 a te r the boat ave raged 50,17 kn cts over 0 ne nautical mile (1,1 statute miles), with a top speed of 55,5 knots, The craft was moving about twice as fast as the wind that propelled it.
Feu r yeo rs earlier. I'Hydroptere beat Louis Bleriot's longstandi ng record for crossing the English Channel, Bleriot completed the GOSling in 37 minute, back in 1909;the hydrofoi I trimaran took only 34 minutes and ,24 seconds.
~Hydroptere ls the brainchild of Alain Thebaut, who has made his dream of a flying trimaran come true. He says, "I designed my boat for a dream. not to break a record" Now. he plans to build an even larger, more sophisticated model and attempt a round-the-world crossing to beat the record for the Jules Verne Trophy. The link between l'Hydroptere and Audemars Piguet m.y not be 0 pparent at first sight. but both cornpanles were sta rted by stro ng-wi II ed i nd lvld u a I s who we re foil owi ng a dream, Alain Thebaut wanted to build. boot that could fly; jules-Louis Audemars and Edwarde-Aususte Piguet wanted to create wotches that were different from - and better tho n - the otherh lgh-end timepieces that were available in 1875.
ALAIN THE.fiAUT
I I /
I /
I
I
Audemars Piguet began to share it, adventu reus spirit with the sailing community back in 1986. Its sponsorships have included the Whitbre"d Arou nd the World R.ce and three Arnerlca's Cups with the Swiss team. ladycat.
Phi lippe Merk. CEO of Audemars Piguet explains "Soiling ls a prestigious. international sport and our customers identify wit h it e. s lly", He ad d s, "At the Ii rst m eeti ng betwee n 0 u r watchmaking teams and the sailing teams in January this year. they could relate to each other im med lately, Their lnslstence on predslon and technical innovation was similar.
"The Audemars Piguet tscapement may be 0' innovative in the watc h world a s I' Hyd ropte re is for sa i I bo ats,"
BY JOHN GOODALL I I
II
NEWS
The Fra ck Mu ler Group sparkles in Monaco
F· ranck Muller organised its second autumn WorLd Presentation of Haute HorLogerie & Jewellery (WPHH) in Monaco in October. Held in the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco's premier event venue, it provided a spectacular setting in which the latest modeLs from the various brands in the group were able to show their latest models.
All nine of the group's brands were present:
Franck Mulle.r, Pierre Kunz, European Watch Company, Rodolphe, Backes & Strauss, Martin Braun, Smalto, Barthelay and Pierre Michel Golay. Mr Golay is the watchmaking genius behind Franck Mullets Aeternrtasserres of complicated watches. Three partner brands were also exhibiting their new collections of watches and Jewellery, Cvstos, Chantecler and onanne Collins. Vartan S irmakes and Pranck M uller, the co' founders of the Franck Muller brand, were present throughout the event and hosted a lavish gala in the Grimaldi Forum's La Verrt,he,
The Infinity Reka is a new addition to the Infinity range of ladies watches. This collection now has two case shapes, square or with curved sides, both with surprisingly ergonomic case-backs that are curved to fit perfectly on the wrist. Some dials have elegantly oversized numbers that emphasise the silhouette, while others have no numerals at all. The Infinity Reka comes in a number of versions, including one with a genuine motherof- pearl dial, which is a first for Franck Muller, with its irides cent, shimmering refle ctio ns, Colours varying from white to pink are used in parts of the infinity Reka ccllectio n,
The dials are the stars of this new collection and have the appearance of surrealist paintings with Raman 0 I Arable numbers intricately painted by hand a nto a surface embedded with sparkling diamonds or onto mother-of-pearl, Its dazzling appearance is enhanced by the use of black or white or coloured diamonds and in some models, by the use of brightly coloured numbers. The white gold cases are in four sizes and these quartz watches are more than timepieces: they are fine jewellery, too. The dials are 18tt white gold and the straps are hand-sewn alligator.
The latest man's model by Franck Muller is the Conquistador King Chrano and a. special limited edrtlon of 10 pieces has been commissioned by Marcus in London's Bond. Street. This Conquistador King Chrona Marcus Limited Edition is in stee I with a black FVD trea tmen t. it is water resistant to 5 am and has an a uta matte chronogra ph movement. it is s upplie d on a black rubber strap. The price is £20;200. www,fIanckmulle.rwakhes.co.uk
Phone: 020 7290 6500
INFINITY RtKA, £19,700
WATCH UNIVERS
BY JOHN GOODALL
II
G AND Seiko is ere AFTER 50 YEARS
For almost 50 years Seiko and it's Japanese customers have treasured something very special, almost secret, but now watch lovers in other parts of the worLd can share it. Above the regular Seiko range another exceptional range has existed, containing the ultimate exampLes of Selko's watchmaking. It is called Grand Seiko.
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SEIKO H./-BEATwITH A WHITE DIAL. PR.ICE: £3,800.
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QrandSeiko AUTOMATIC HI-BEAT 38000
Those who follow collectors'foru ms on the internet may be JWJre of Grand Sei ko J nd some hove clearly been frustrated that they couldn't buy these watches outside Ja pa n. This has not been becau se Sei ko wonts 0 nly J apanese enth uslasts to have access to the fj nest watches it can produce; it has been because u ntl I now the (Om pa ny hasn't had enough master watch makers to produce sufficient of these top-of-the range rnechan lea I models to be able to su pply other markets.
THE CONCEPT OF UNDERSTATEMENT
When Grand Seiko was lau nched exactly 50 years ago, it WoS intended to represent the very best of Sei ko, It came from a very si mple and be" utlfu Ily pure idea; Grand Seiko was designed to be more accurate, more dura ble, more legible and easier to wea r than any other watch in the world. The Grand Seiko style is based on the concept of understatement, simplicity a nd perfection of details. The designers a lso wanted to created watches that sparkled with quality - and Iisteni ng to those who are familia r with these watches, it seems that they succeeded.
Selko has been producing rnechan leal wristwatches since 1913 and has led the industry in J 0 pa n, I n the 19501, the com pany looked to expand overseas a nd developed new, greatly su perter movements whose accuracy was proven when Sei ko became the overall win ner of the Neuch atel Observatory Competition in the 1960s. This provided the tech nlcal platform on which the GS VFA (Very Fine Accuracy) movement W~5 created in 1969 - the same year that Selke sold the world', fi rst qu artz wri stwatch, It was Sel ko's first hi-beat Co I i bre,
Today, the company is using the new Hi·BEAT 36000 ca I i bre, wh ich has bee n developed exduslvely for Grand Selke. It beats 10 times per second (36,ooovph). This frequency was chosen because by incre~sing the vlbratlon speed the watch becomes more resistant to shock a nd so precision is increased, Grand Sei ko hJS its own inspection sta ndard, which is cia i med to represent the highest level of precision in the world. It involves te5ting in slx positions with three tern peratu re shifts over 17 days. The all-new Hi·BEAT 36000 was launched in W09.
A LUXURY WATCH BRAND
Selko has achieved its aim and has become a luxury brand to thel ucky people who have come across them, offeri ng timepieces made by m aster craftsmen - a nd women - at Sei ko's two excl us lve watch making stud los in Sh lzuku-lshl in the northern part of Japan and Shinshu high in the mounta i ns of central Japan,
News of the high quality of Grand Seiko has been spreading among watch collectors, On 0 ne much respected independent website fer watch aflcicnados a contri butor last year wrote, "I wonder if a nyone has seen a Grand Seiko recently? The quality is just as fine as A. Lange, Patek [Patek Ph ll ippe] or VC [vachercn Consta ntl n], Delivering high quality movements a nd a great finish at a much lower price tag." Th e Selke Centres in P a rls a ndcn a smaller scale, in Amsterdam, are the only places in Eu repe where G ra nd Sei ko watches h ave beenaval lable until now, but even
there they have only been sold for the last three yea rs. To the great del ight of watch aftclonados outside Japan who h ave coveted a G ra nd Seiko, thi s important collection w. s fi nally lau nched in October and November this year in about 20 markets in Europe, North America, Asi a, the Middle E~st and Ocean ia.
EXCEPTIONAL PRECISION
The exclusive movements used in Grand 5ei.ko are m ade from the highest grade materl "Is 0 nd finished to the highest possi ble sta ndards, Some parts are rna nufactured U5ing a form of MEMS technology Co lied UV-LlGA, which co n be used for the production of metal parts such as n ide I., which is .1 so u sed in the prod uction of pri nted circuits. Th is ena bles Grand Seiko components to be made in meta I with J precision two to five tl mes greater than is possible with other techniques.
From the fi rst model produced in 1960 to the latest collect ion of today, every model has shared the functional beauty and design purity that hal ~Iw"ys been the hal 1m ark of Grand Seiko.
For the UK lou nch of G ra nd Sel ko there are 11 models, ail for men. The collection comprises five mechanical watches; five with Selke's unique Spring Drive movements and one with the com pa ny's celebrated 9F quartz calibre. AH these calibres are unique to Gra nd Sei ko models,
Although serious Selke enthu slasts outside Japan have been aware of Grand Seiko for some time, tha nks to the internet, Sel ko is awa re th at these excl usive products are entirely new to most people who are cons ideri ng the purchase of a I uxury watch. TO' overcome this problem the com pa ny has lau nched a new Engl lsh-language website dedicated to Grand Selke, a nd it has become the new heme of the brand.
The first UK stockist of Grand Seiko is Jura Watches in Mayfair's Burlington Gardens - and. few other carefully selected stockists in the UK will soon follow, www.grand-setko.com
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The resilience of
erre e
The life of the founder of a brand is a good indicator of the strength of the brand in question. Abraham-Louis Perrelet lived to age 97. He was born on January 9, 172.9, in Le Lode and died in 1826. Legend has it that he worked until the day he died, certainly there is a watch museum in Switzerland that has a pocket watch made by Perrelet in 1825. The "old" Perrelet was one of the greatest watchmakers of all times .. He not only designed and built beautiful movements, but also developed countless innovations.
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DOUBtE ROTOR TURBINE
I I REPORT I I
THE HI5TORICAL MOVEMENT MADf.BY PfRREtET
Perrelet himself must have recognised his abilities, because he stopped his training as a watch builder because they could teach him nothing new. In his own workshop he improved existing component designs almost - dare we say it - like clockwork, and brought finishing techniques for arbors and wheels to a higher level. He also built all the tools and machinery needed to manufacture movements himself. He knew how to do this because, in the winter months, his father Daniel used the quiet time in the farmer's year to fabricate equipment for local watchmakers. Ahraham-Louts also invented new machines, such as a device for filing the teeth on wheels.
AUTOMATIC WINDING
Among connoisseurs, Perrelet is classed as one of the pioneers in the area of the so-called cylinder escapement. He also produced movements for other brands and sold some of his creations to contemporaries such as Breguet and JaquetDroz. But mostly, Perrelet became famous as the inventor of the automatically wound mainspring. For this purpose he invented a system with a rotor, That may sound simple, but converting the theoretical principle into a functioning system was extremely complicated. As a result automatic winding did not become an instant success. It took a century and a half before the system could be applied on a bigger scale. Incidentally: for pocket watches with automatic winding (w!iich were twice as
expensive as the hand-wound models) a key was still needed to adjust the hands. The automatic winding mechanism invented by Perrelet was officially recognised in 1777 and this date has since been incorporated into the company's logo. In 1780 he invented something else entirely new: the pedometer, an instrument that counts the number of footstep. a person has taken and consequently can show the distance walke d.
THE YOUNG PERRELET
The automatic pocket watch was a typical Perrelet masterpiece: according to the description i1 was extremely efficient. In 1776 the Geneva Society of the Arts reported that after a Is·minute walk the watch had a power reserve sufficient for eight days I
Abraharn-Louis Perrelet was not succeeded by his son but by his grandson, Louis-Frederic Perrelet (1781 ~ 1854) who learned the trade from his grandfather and subsequently - in 1802 - moved to Paris to work for Louis-Abraham Breguet. Here he sp en t zo years constructing the most complicated movements' and training young watchmakers. Louis-Frederic was extremely interested in astronomy, physics and mathematics. This tnt erest was apparent in a number of astronomical docks, the first of which he designed in 181S.In 18n he settled in Paris as an independent watchmaker. His reputation and craftsmanship were so highly rated by three French kings that they appointed him Royal
Cio ckmaker. In 1827 he pres en ted a chrono graph »
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CkRONOCRAPH a,c DATE ClASSIC
II REPORT II
with a rattrapante function; a year later he was awarded a patent for this mechanism. In 1834 Perrelet was appointed a member of the prestigious Legion of Honour. After the death of Lcuis-Prederic in 1854 his son Lows took over the studio. He upheld the name of Perrelet as a watchmaker until 1870. After that the name and brand were a thing of the past.
REBIRTH IN 1995
Little is known about the further history of the watch manufacturer Perrelet. It has been said that Perrelet continued to make watches even after 1870, but little of that time can be found. We do know for certain that Perrelet SA was founded in NeucMtel in 1993, by the Audemars Holding; in 1995 Perrelet watches were presented once again. The main model from the new collection was the Dipteros, in which the main spring is wound by two rotors (one of which is visible on the dial sidel}, a light-hearted tribute to the 1770 invention. In 1998 another tribute was presented, a rattrapante chronograph thai was based on the mechanism developed by Louis-Frederic Perrelet. In 2004 Perrelet was taken over by Miguel Rodriguez, the proprietor of Festina Holding. He incorporated the brand in his HS Group and moved Perrelet's head office to BiellBienne.
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This is the voice of young, extremely amiable and hyper- active Daniel Aiioth, who is responsible for developing the European market for Ball Watch, one of the most conspicuous "new old" brands of recent years. The brand is new to many watch lovers, not least because Europe has had to do without watches from this originally American brand for a long time. To date Ball Watch is still not available in Switzerland, although this is the country where they are made but it is now available in the UK.
AMERICAN RAILWAYS
But the brand is also old, because it dates back to 1891. Webster Clay Ball was a successful watchmaker who was mildly obsessed with perfect timekeeping and had dose ties to the American railways. In 1872 a first attempt was made to introduce a single railway time for all of America, but it wasn't until 1883 that the "Standard Time" (and the system of 24 time zones for the entire world) was accepted by all American railway companies, which put a stop to the use of some 70 different time systems within the USA. Incidentally, the use of Standard Time didn't become mandatory for American citizens until 1980.
STANDARD TIME
Webb C. Ball was born in Frederickstown, Ohio,
in 1841. He worked for a jeweller, sold watch cases and, in 1879, purchased an interest in jeweller's firm Whitcomb and Metten in Cleveland. That very same year he bought out the other partners and called the company The Webb C. Ball Company. When the railways adopted the Standard Time in 1883, Ball was the first to use this standard to be able to show the »
I , 00124 W"TCllWO"Ll> I ' I , 91
Wempe takes to the skies
Wempe, the German jeweller that also has its own watch manufacture in Glashutte, has extended its Zeitmeister line with a range of mechanical aviator watches.
Wempe Introduced the Zeitmeister collection four years ago, working to the company's fine watchmaking traditions. Each one is individually tested to earn the right to bear the name "chronometer" on its dial as a mark of quality. The five Pliegeruhren or aviator watches that have been introduced this year were inspired by the company's history as a long-term manufacturer of chronometers. Chronometers can be considered as the predecessors of aviation watches - and marine chronometers made it possible to navigate the seas accurately.
The first pilots took such timepieces into the cockpits of their planes to enable them to calculate their position and fuel consumption with greater accuracy. Because it was impractical to pull them out of a pocket every time they needed to check the time and thus fly onehanded, aviation pioneers secured them to their thighs using leather straps - until wristwatches became more commonplace and were able to display the time accurately enough.
A CONTEM PORARY ZEITMEISTER LINE
In 2001, a faithful replica of the Wempe observation watch was released in a strictly limited collector's edition. The company has now returned to this theme and transformed it into a contemporary line in its Zeitmeister family. These new models are instantly recognisable as aviator's watches with their dark dials, neutral fonts and a triangular reference marker at 12 o'clock. They are equipped with self-winding Swiss movements, each fitted with Wempe's own fine regulation system. The steel screw-down case-back b ears a high relief engraving of the Glashiitte Observatory, which Is where each of these chronometers has been chronometer tested. The hands and markers are coated with Superluminova, making them the first Zeitmeister chronometers that can be read reliably at night.
Two of the new models show just hours, minutes, seconds and date; the other three are chronometers, also showing the date. They are all automatics and one of the chronometers has a matte black high-tech ceramic 44mm case, These new aviator watches are now available at Wempe's store in New Bond Street, London, and at all Wempe stores worldwide. www.wernpe.com Phone: 020 7493 2299
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Harry Winston CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF THE. OPUS
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II NEWS II
Linde Werd e li n
THE WHITE WATCH
Linde WerdeIin, the company set up by Danes Morlen Linde and lorn Werdelin 10 create luxury sports watches with a difference, has launched its first women's watch. The company is best known for redefining luxury sports watches: its rugged timepieces are designed to be worn with professional dive or ski instruments attached.
The White Watch just added to the existing collection is based on the company's popular 3-'fjmer model, so it shows the time in three different time zones, thanks to the additional GMT hand (with an anow at its tip) and a bidirectto nal 24- hour bezel, It ha s been given a softer and more elegant touch, It features a delicate pattern on its white dial, sleek hands and discreet indexes that have the minimum amount of luminous material applied to them, The White Watch has been designed to complement a lady's wardrobe with ease. The new white calfskin strap has been slimmed down to enable it to sit well on slender wrists
and is fitted With the same steel deployment buckle as used for the 3-Timer. White is also used for the screws and even the 24"hout bezel markings.
Morten Linde, the Creative Director, says, "Women today prefer and wear bigger sized watches and I am very pleased that our designs, although targeted at male markets, appeal to women as well. Maintaining the brand's DNA is very important for LW ~ and The White Watch is no exception." He believes that "analogue is the best way to read the time and digital is how you assimilate technical details", This belief is at the heart ofthe design philosophy of Linde Werdelin. Jorn Werdelin, Managing Director, is a keen skiing enthusiast and the visionary, driving force behind the company. He commented, "II is not our intention to produce a women's line, but we are launching The White Walch because of strong market demand and Morten thinking that it could be an interesting design exercise." like all Linde Werdelin watches, The White Watch can carry The Rock, an extreme ski
instrument, and The Reef, a diving instrument, in order to enhance the user's sporting moments. By combining analogue and digi1a1 technologies, Linde Werdelin produces and manufactures what it believes to be the ultimate spo rts watches and precision instruments. The company specialises in producing watches in small series ~up to 2.22 for each model ~ but The White Watch is only being made in a limited edition of '>1 pieces.
The case is 46mm x 49mm, but is said to feel like a 42mm watch on the wrist. It is fitted with an ETA 289'! ~ A2 automatic movement that offers a power res erve of 42 ho urs, The date is displayed at 4 o'clock and the screw-In crown bears the lW logo, so it is no surprise that this watch is water resistant to a depth of 300m. The 24-hour bezel can be turned in either direction. It ispriced at £4,100 (€4,680). On its website, the company invites potential customers 10 try its watches for five days free of charge, www.lindeweldeIin.tom
Phone: 020 7727 6STI
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