MONDAY AUGUST 11 2008
Although he has been a highly respected and prominent figure in the Swiss horological industry for decades, Wiederrecht and his company Agenhor were practially unknown to the general public a year ago due to the fact that they worked for brands (who usually preferred to take all credit for themselves).
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That all changed late 2007 when two major events served to bring Wiederrecht the notice of a much larger audience: the first was being awarded the inaugural prize for best watchmaker at the prestigious 2007 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève - you can see more of that here - and the second was the unveiling of MB&F’s Horological Machine No.2,a project in which Wiederrecht was the principle watchmaker (and you can learn more about that here)
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Click ‘Agile_Agenhor.pdf’ to download the iW article and ‘Friends’ behind Horological Machine No.2’ for the complete list of people involved in the project.
Read the full article
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22 2007
In a recent issue Mitch talked about a few vintage blackened-steel pocket watches in Max Büsser collection.
Simple looking dial with a surprising full triple calendar on back.
Jumping hour on green enamel dial.
This inconspicuous watch belies the fact that it boasts a 7-day power reserve.
You can download a pdf of the article by clicking on the image above or Watchismo's Timewarp - Vintage Watching: Max Büsser
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24 2007
"About Time" reveals the passing of time by rolling around your desk and telling time in one long continuous sentence i.e., "It's about six o'clock" or, "it's almost seven now".
The idea comes as a reaction to our stressed lives where we tend to plan our daily activities to the minute - this clock simply tells you, "It's about . . . . "
While rolling around your table, the slow but constant, almost meditative, motion allows you to relax and maybe even forget about time for a few minutes. The concept of telling the time by a rotating object is similat to the Vinta clocks which we highlighted in August.
Buro Vormkrijgers is an innovative Dutch design studio, founded by Sander Mulder and Dave Keune and you can discover more about their work by clicking BuroVormkrijgers.nl .
THURSDAY OCTOBER 18 2007
Gerald Genta has just re-launched the iconic bronze Gefica Safari from the eighties. Kudos to the design team, and how wonderful to have a watch with a material which “lives” on the wrist. The bronze will acquire a patina with time, and the owner can see it evolve over the years. In a year or two, that Gefica will have a pattern unique to the owner.
But more than that, for me the new Gefica brings back some pretty amazing memories…
I was a 22 year old engineering student trying to finalize a market analysis for Audemars Piguet. Steve Urquhart (then joint MD of the company) had hired me for a six week project in between university terms, and I went off to Paris to question the AP subsidiary and a few retailers in " la Capitale".
The head of AP's Paris subsidiary, Monsieur Aubert, surprisingly did not direct me first to an AP boutique, but to a very small retailer on Rue St Honoré, called Chronopassion, which had only recently opened. Monsieur Aubert told me, "This man can tell you everything you need to know about high-end watchmaking."
And there I met for the first time Laurent Picciotto - pictured above twenty years ago wearing two Geficas on a bad hair day! - the founder and owner of Chronopassion, who many of you know as one of today's most pe-eminent specialists in complicated timepieces. He had just opened his retail store, and only carried one brand... Gerald Genta !
Laurent was probably the most passionate and enthusiastic connoisseur of timepieces I had met at that time (and still is ). He spent over two hours taking me through his vision of horology and gracefully answering my questions. The more we spoke of horology, the more I felt ashamed looking at my Tissot, "I needed to buy a 'real' timepiece now.".
As a penniless student, if I scraped everything I had put aside over the last 22 years I could have probably afforded a bronze Gefica. So my attention got more and more focused on this piece. I can still remember the horrible feeling that one gets when we want something so badly but, at the same time, know very well it is totally and utterly unreasonable.
I finally left without having bought the Gefica (or any other watch), but the dream of that Gefica stuck with me for over a year.
I never did buy a Gefica, or even a Gerald Genta for that matter, but I can still remember that chronograph with the slate dial and the bronze case today.
There is no doubt that Laurent Picciotto and that Gefica played a serious role in my being where I am today. And I find it fitting that Laurent was MB&F's first European retailer.
From what I have seen from the images Bernard Cheong has posted on ThePuristS, this new Gefica is a wonderful interpretation of my fond memories.
Dr. Bernard Cheong's Horological Machine No.1 and Gefica Safari
For more information please have a look at the Gerald Genta Gefica Safari on ThePuristS
SATURDAY APRIL 07 2007
Eclectic is perhaps the wrong word because it soon becomes apparent that Mitch is tightly focused on the quirky and unusual.
In the wise words of Yoda from Star Wars, 'Mainstream wristwatches Watchismo is not.'
To learn about one extremely interesting watch collector's thought-provoking journey, and have a peak at an incredible watch collection, I highly recommend watching this video interview of Mitch, hosted by Cool Hunting.
In depth article on Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor in iW magazine
There is an excellent article on Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and his company Agenhor by Elizabeth Doerr in the July 2008 edition of iW (International Watch) magazine.Although he has been a highly respected and prominent figure in the Swiss horological industry for decades, Wiederrecht and his company Agenhor were practially unknown to the general public a year ago due to the fact that they worked for brands (who usually preferred to take all credit for themselves).
That all changed late 2007 when two major events served to bring Wiederrecht the notice of a much larger audience: the first was being awarded the inaugural prize for best watchmaker at the prestigious 2007 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève - you can see more of that here - and the second was the unveiling of MB&F’s Horological Machine No.2,a project in which Wiederrecht was the principle watchmaker (and you can learn more about that here)
Click ‘Agile_Agenhor.pdf’ to download the iW article and ‘Friends’ behind Horological Machine No.2’ for the complete list of people involved in the project.
Read the full article
A few of Max Büsser's steel pocket watches featured in QP
Our friend Mitch from the popular horological Blog The Watchismo Times has his own regular column in the premier British watch magazine, QPIn a recent issue Mitch talked about a few vintage blackened-steel pocket watches in Max Büsser collection.
Simple looking dial with a surprising full triple calendar on back.
Jumping hour on green enamel dial.
This inconspicuous watch belies the fact that it boasts a 7-day power reserve.
You can download a pdf of the article by clicking on the image above or Watchismo's Timewarp - Vintage Watching: Max Büsser
"About Time" rotating clock by Buro Vormkrijgers
Thank you to Mitch at Watchismo for bringing this rotating concept clock "About Time" by Dutch designer Buro Vormkrijgers to our attention."About Time" reveals the passing of time by rolling around your desk and telling time in one long continuous sentence i.e., "It's about six o'clock" or, "it's almost seven now".
The idea comes as a reaction to our stressed lives where we tend to plan our daily activities to the minute - this clock simply tells you, "It's about . . . . "
While rolling around your table, the slow but constant, almost meditative, motion allows you to relax and maybe even forget about time for a few minutes. The concept of telling the time by a rotating object is similat to the Vinta clocks which we highlighted in August.
Buro Vormkrijgers is an innovative Dutch design studio, founded by Sander Mulder and Dave Keune and you can discover more about their work by clicking BuroVormkrijgers.nl .
The new Gerald Genta Gefica Safari brings back a few memories.
Gerald Genta has just re-launched the iconic bronze Gefica Safari from the eighties. Kudos to the design team, and how wonderful to have a watch with a material which “lives” on the wrist. The bronze will acquire a patina with time, and the owner can see it evolve over the years. In a year or two, that Gefica will have a pattern unique to the owner.
But more than that, for me the new Gefica brings back some pretty amazing memories…
I was a 22 year old engineering student trying to finalize a market analysis for Audemars Piguet. Steve Urquhart (then joint MD of the company) had hired me for a six week project in between university terms, and I went off to Paris to question the AP subsidiary and a few retailers in " la Capitale".
The head of AP's Paris subsidiary, Monsieur Aubert, surprisingly did not direct me first to an AP boutique, but to a very small retailer on Rue St Honoré, called Chronopassion, which had only recently opened. Monsieur Aubert told me, "This man can tell you everything you need to know about high-end watchmaking."
And there I met for the first time Laurent Picciotto - pictured above twenty years ago wearing two Geficas on a bad hair day! - the founder and owner of Chronopassion, who many of you know as one of today's most pe-eminent specialists in complicated timepieces. He had just opened his retail store, and only carried one brand... Gerald Genta !
Laurent was probably the most passionate and enthusiastic connoisseur of timepieces I had met at that time (and still is ). He spent over two hours taking me through his vision of horology and gracefully answering my questions. The more we spoke of horology, the more I felt ashamed looking at my Tissot, "I needed to buy a 'real' timepiece now.".
As a penniless student, if I scraped everything I had put aside over the last 22 years I could have probably afforded a bronze Gefica. So my attention got more and more focused on this piece. I can still remember the horrible feeling that one gets when we want something so badly but, at the same time, know very well it is totally and utterly unreasonable.
I finally left without having bought the Gefica (or any other watch), but the dream of that Gefica stuck with me for over a year.
I never did buy a Gefica, or even a Gerald Genta for that matter, but I can still remember that chronograph with the slate dial and the bronze case today.
There is no doubt that Laurent Picciotto and that Gefica played a serious role in my being where I am today. And I find it fitting that Laurent was MB&F's first European retailer.
From what I have seen from the images Bernard Cheong has posted on ThePuristS, this new Gefica is a wonderful interpretation of my fond memories.
Dr. Bernard Cheong's Horological Machine No.1 and Gefica Safari
For more information please have a look at the Gerald Genta Gefica Safari on ThePuristS
Video interview with Mitch a.k.a. Watchismo on Cool Hunting.
I have been a big fan of Mitch's Watchismo Blog ever since discovering his eclectic taste in very interesting - and usually, very quirky- timepieces.Eclectic is perhaps the wrong word because it soon becomes apparent that Mitch is tightly focused on the quirky and unusual.
In the wise words of Yoda from Star Wars, 'Mainstream wristwatches Watchismo is not.'
To learn about one extremely interesting watch collector's thought-provoking journey, and have a peak at an incredible watch collection, I highly recommend watching this video interview of Mitch, hosted by Cool Hunting.