Today We Celebrate Our... Independents Day!! (all bad puns r intended)
last year's Luxury of Independence tour was my favorite event of the year. the best that i had ever been to because i met my watchmaking hero, vianney halter... do read about it here and check out loadsapics of the event... this year saw the return of kari, who was at the event last year, and romain gauthier, who i last met at tempus 2007 (a fantastic event which i wish would happen again soon [non-subtle hint to michael...] and we desperately need another revolution after-party [non-subtle hint wink nudge to wei if they're reading this :) ]
but back to the evening. it featured special pieces by kari and romain who were there in the flesh and interesting enough, the spirit of vianney and felix & martin were there as well noting the representation & interest in vianney and urwerk pieces... ok show us some pics already!!! [prepare to reap the whirlwind ;) ]
soft spoken and passionate... he seems to light up when we talk about horology and timepieces... a fine living watchmaker. i look forward to future creations from him as he delivers the final pieces of observatoire and the 27... kari voutilainen and the raphmeister
the 27... he had one on his wrist as well which was with a darker dial which would be my preference for this piece...
wasn't able to get better captures as it was sitting pretty in a display cabinet and i couldn't do any adjustments to it... unfortunately...
a fantastic piece from kari... customisable colors and details... the voutilainen observatoire... a recommended buy if u have the dosh :)
superlative movement finishing...
next we take on romain gauthier... we never got to finishing our conversation as there were other afficionados wanting his time... perhaps another time romain :)
a beautiful piece unique... from our short chat, i suspect more open work on his next piece. really looking forward to seeing that...
other independent works were offered at the ion l'atelier and were seen on the wrist of folks there... for the pieces in the shop, guys you should reconsider the hard plastic gladwrap... it kills the look of the watches in the displays...
with bling above and without bling here.. the wonderful horological machine 2...
de bethune seems to be quite 'in' right now... their pieces which are pretty oversized, don't speak to me personally but i can understand the appeal...
but the ones there in spirit were definitely the urwerk boyz... the Urwerk CC1 was in the house !!!!!!!!! Damn! 50 pieces to be made 25 in white gold and 25 blackened... i had been critical of this piece and i must say that its not my fave design from them or compared to others but it is a special creature indeed...
and of course... vianney... timepieces that are relics of the future... the futur anterieur collection...
the white gold trio is beautiful and my preferred choice for this piece. the rose gold looks to be too much on it but the white gold is fantastic. for the antiqua rose gold for sure, the trio white gold and the classic, i would say rose gold too...
the Classic Janvier Equation of Time - Lunar Cycle ... Lune et Soleil (moon and sun)
from the press materials...
Real solar time and mean solar time coincide only four times per year, at approximately the 16th April, 14th June, 1st September and 25th December. On these days the blued steel minute hand and the yellow gold hand will converge. During a year, the real solar time is either behind or ahead the mean solar time due to the earth's axis being tilted at 23°27’ relative to its orbital plane around the sun and the elliptical rather than circular shape of its orbit. The sun can be up to 16 minutes 21 seconds behind and 14 minutes 24 seconds ahead. In the round case of the Classic, enlarged to 40 mm, Vianney Halter adds a yellow gold hand bearing the sun. Provided the blued steel hands of the watch are set on the local solar mean time i.e. the official time corrected according to the longitude deviation, one can intuitively read at a glance the real solar time by means of the hour blued steel hand and the gold sun hand.
The moon waxes and wanes within a cycle that lasts approx. 29 days and 12 hours. To display day after day the exact situation of the Moon, Halter implements a very special double hand set. One hand showsthe current day of the cycle while bearing a white gold disk which represents the moon. On a separate hand is a black disk which gradually covers and uncovers the white gold disk, thus displaying the evolution of the phases of the moon in the sky. The mechanism turns very close to the actual moon cycle : there will be only a day behind after 2 years 7 months and 20 days of operation.
last of all... a picture of my precious... i remember deciding on this grail when i spoke to vianney a year ago at the 2008 luxury of independence dinner... i am happy that it didn't take too long for this dream to be realised...
1 comment:
Jesus those are amazing!!! Thanks for posting!
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