Per esper

Clients and friends gathered at Date & Time in Sudbury, where we enjoyed conversation, drinks, along with special guest Phil Ogle from URWERK.

With the holiday season already underway, many of us are chasing down the last of our gifts for friends and family (or even for ourselves). As part of our annual tradition, we’ve compiled a list of watch-related gifts, mostly “horologically leaning” accessories from desk clocks to art to watch holders, for those with a passion for the finest in timekeeping.

In recent years, watchmaking mastermind Denis Flageolet and De Bethune have modernized their collection with the arrival of “XP” and “xs” timepieces. Standing for “extra plat” (extra thin in French) and “extra small,” these new models are as much about transitioning to more favorable case dimensions for today’s collectors as they are about updating the underlying technique and mechanics of foundational timepieces in De Bethune’s catalog.

Today, we’re examining the mood that captured a group of watchmakers and brands in the late 1990s. Doing so, we hope to lay out some of the conditions that inspired and propelled the beginning of avant-garde watchmaking. 

Today, we’re digging another timepiece to enter the pantheon of icons – Konstantin Chaykin’s Joker, released first in 2017. We’ll get into how this is an unusual icon, one supremely self-aware of the times in mechanical watchmaking. 

Today, we’re taking a look at the year end auction results to see if we can glean any market insights, especially connected to independent watchmaking. 

Today, we’re taking a deep look at Caliber 045MC and following its evolution throughout the years across De Bethune, F.P. Journe, and Angelus. 

This year we celebrated 5 Years of EsperLuxe & Friends with special guest Martin Frei of URWERK in NYC.

So many new watchmakers and brands, so many options, it can be challenging to know what to expect from timepieces at every price point. From our vantage point, there is sometimes confusion in grasping the common themes that differentiate a US$10,00, a US$50,000, and US$150,000+ watch.

Today, we’re focusing on Halter’s contribution to these early days in the avant-garde watchmaking movement – the Antiqua. An unusual perpetual calendar with a round-not-round case, the Antiqua has aged like a fine wine. It feels as novel today as it was more than 25 years ago at the time of its release in Baselworld 1998. Legendary in modern independent watchmaking, we’re diving into the Antiqua and what makes it an icon.