Stories

From the workshop to the boardroom. The father of Serge Michel started as a customer of watchmaker Armin Strom. During his visits to the shop and the studio in the Swiss town of Burgdorf the father invariably brought along his son and slowly but surely Serge became mesmerised by the - mostly skeletonised - creations. When Strom retired he asked Michel to take over the business.

Like us, you probably read about one record auction price after another. About rare Rolex and Patek Philippe pieces that dazzle collectors, about the renewed attention for old Heuer chronographs or about the German brand A. Lange & Söhne that is increasingly stealing the show at auctions. Refuse to get caught up in the hype. Keep calm and read the following five handy auction pointerss.

The forgotten Genta – maybe that’s what we should call the Vacheron Constantin Overseas. The sporty and luxurious Nautilus and Royal Oak have been in the spotlight for many years, but the Overseas had mostly been operating in the shadows. Until now. 2016 is the year of the Overseas and that means quite a number of newly designed models, including the World Time that we are submitting to a user’s test.

Berlin stands for trends, Glashütte stands for technology. The German capital and the village in the Ore Mountains are absolute opposites. Nomos, which is based in both towns, is able to bring together these extremes in watches that fascinate us when it comes to movement technology, design and philosophy.

0024 WatchWorld looks back to the past, when innovative watches were being created that proved to have great influence on the development of the watch industry. We follow the trail of these milestones by reminiscing with the use of old advertising campaigns. In this twelfth episode we would like to take you back to 1935, when Sir Malcolm Campbell was setting speed records in his Bluebird, wearing a Rolex Oyster on his wrist.

With the introduction of the Heritage Black Bay in 2012 Tudor hit the bull’s-eye. In one fell swoop the sister brand of the mighty Rolex stopped being a producer of wallflowers and instead became the manufacturer of a desirable diver’s watch that captured all eyes. All the commotion surrounding Tudor drew away attention from the stoically operating Rolex. Has Tudor become cooler than Rolex?

Monsieur de Chanel is the latest men’s watch from the iconic French house of Chanel. The sophisticated new addition is subtle, restrained and refined; it simply drips savoir faire. But before ‘monsieur’ received its accoutrements it took five long years of working on its skeleton and beating heart. The Calibre 1 with jumping hours and retrograde minutes is a ‘first’ with an exceptional exterior and interior.

From idea to watch. This realisation is a process in which the CEO, the Watch Division Director, the Creative Director and the Ambassador step onto the stage and play a leading role with devotion, dedication and love. These past four years a lot has happened and changed at Montblanc when it comes to watches. 0024 WatchWorld talked to four initiators of these changes. In this fourth and last episode: Ambassador Hugh Jackman

During BaselWorld Oris presented the maison’s first bronze diver’s watch: the Carl Brashear Limited Edition. The watch, based on the Oris Divers Sixty-Five, commemorates a man who overcame racial discrimination and, later in his career, a physical handicap as well. We are talking about Carl Brashear (1931 – 2006), the first African-American Master Diver of the American Navy. We talked to his son Phillip about the legacy of his father.

The fact that watchmakers revel in ‘the more complications per square centimeter the better’ isn't news to anyone. But the 2016 edition of Jaquet Droz’ The Charming Bird is a masterful performance at micro level. The brand debuted an initial version with the complication in 2013 and made the official introduction in 2015. The 2016 variant is limited to 16 pieces, eight in white gold and eight in red gold.