Posts in Watches
Introducing the URWERK UR100V Time and Culture II "Sumer"

In 2019, we celebrated Urwerk’s launch of the UR-100— the brand’s smallest and slimmest watch to date. The model by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei was an instant home run, and so are all the other iterations of the watch from the Blue Planet to the “C3PO” to the UR-100V Ultraviolet to the Time and Culture I. This is one of the most dynamic, exceptional canvas for the mastermind duo’s most creative ideas. Now, Felix and Martin have returned with another edition – the Time and Culture II.

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GPHG Finalists – a look at some of our favorites

Every year, the GPHG Awards celebrates excellence and creativity in the watchmaking industry. Brands submit timepieces for awards in different categories, and an academy of industry players vote, first on finalists, and then for winners. With this year’s edition occurring after auction season on November 9, 2023, votes were tallied and finalists announced this week. There are six finalists in each of the fifteen categories spanning everything from Men’s to Ladies’ to Complication and more.

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Watches, EventsEsperLuxewatches, GPHG
Introducing the MB&F HM9-SV

Kicking off Geneva Watch Days 2023 a few days early, MB&F presents another stunning addition to the brand’s catalog – the Horological Machine N°9 Sapphire Vision. HM9-SV with its fully sapphire case is born from the motivation to show the world the stunning engine in this timepiece.

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WatchesEsperLuxeMB&F
Our thoughts on the indie watch market

With the rise in popularity of independent watchmaking though, we’ve seen a series of knock-on effects that directly impact the market and the experience of collectors  – wait times on delivery can be years, resale and auction prices regularly shatter records, and value-mindedness is central in deciding on what to purchase. Today, we’re laying out our thoughts on the status of the indie watch market – what we expected, where the market is now, and where it’s headed.

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A watchmaker’s history – reading Hands of Time by Rebecca Struthers

The last few years have been exceptional for the publication of books by independent watchmakers and brands. They provide a level of depth that is difficult to present on social media. From our vantage point, it’s not a coincidence that these publications are becoming more frequent as the community around independent watchmaking continues to grow rapidly – the audience is there and yearns for more stories. Without revealing too many spoilers, we’re diving into two aspects of Hands of Time that make it an enjoyable read.

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The next step in MB&F's automotive-inspired creations: the HM8 Mark 2

 After a nearly 6 year hiatus from the brand’s “automotive inspired” timepieces, Max Büsser and friends are back with a new release – the HM8 Mark 2.  Limited to 33 in each of the timepiece’s colorways, the HM8 Mark 2 takes everything that MB&F fans have loved in this automotive series over the last 10+ years and has made it more technical, more legible, even more modern, and easier to wear. 

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The Icons – De Bethune's DB28

We’re continuing on our journey through the most iconic timepieces from modern independents. Though it is nearly impossible to pick only one, we’re focusing on the DB28 and diving into the aspects that define this timepiece as an icon in modern independent watchmaking.

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The Icons- AkriviA's AK-06

We’ve known Rexhep Rexhepi since the earliest days of AkriviA. One of the leaders of the young generations of independent watchmakers, the man and his team have over-delivered on expectations since the brand’s arrival on the scene more than a decade ago. For us though, the AK-06 holds a special place in the growth and development of one of the craft’s most beloved watchmakers. Today, we’re diving into the aspects that define the AK-06 as an icon in modern independent watchmaking.

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How to assess watch movements beyond finishing

There are many ways that a watch movement can be considered great. It could be its complication, simplicity, finishing, three-dimensionality, symmetry, asymmetry, materials, or any combination of all of these things. In today’s world, these various factors are not all created equal though. One from this list occupies a disproportionately large amount of attention in the watch world: finishing.

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The Icons - F.P. Journe's Chronomètre à Résonance

Continuing our series on iconic watches in modern independent watchmaking, we’d be remiss in our duties to overlook F.P. Journe’s Chronomètre à Résonance. While some of the master watchmaker’s more recent timepieces have gained popular attention (the Chronomètre Bleu, Chronomètre Souverain), the Chronomètre à Résonance is the watch that elevated François-Paul Journe to one of the greatest watchmakers in the history of horology.

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The Icons – Urwerk's UR-103

What makes an iconic watch? With this series on icons in modern independent watchmaking, we’re going to shed light on some of the aspects that define these timepieces, above and beyond the metal. And what better place to start than Urwerk’s UR-103, the brand’s first serially produced timepiece that laid the foundation for an extensive catalog of marvels in modern horology.

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Looking at MB&F through its catalogue raisonné

With the arrival of MB&F The First Fifteen Years, it's a rare opportunity to immerse oneself into the company and its creations in a comprehensive way. The catalogue raisonné, usually reserved for an artist’s corpus, is a fitting format given the burst creativity that MB&F has brought forth across dozens of timepieces and 20 in-house calibres. Writers Suzanne Wong and William Messena do not disappoint in their handling of the MB&F story. Less of a book review and more of a love letter, we wanted to cast a spotlight on some things that stood out in between the lines.

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URWERK X Cooper Jacoby Present The UR-102 TimeForArt

Auction season is in full swing with Phillips The New York Watch Auction: Seven on December 10-11. This will be another great event for indies with the auction catalog marked by timepieces from Kudoke, F.P. Journe, De Bethune, MB&F, Andersen Genève. Amongst the lots, there is an exceptional unique piece from Urwerk – the UR-102 “ArtForTime.” Donated by the brand with proceeds going to the Swiss Institute to support contemporary art and artists, the reloaded UR-102 was created in collaboration with Cooper Jacoby.

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GPHG 2022 – thoughts and favorites from the past year in watchmaking

It’s that time of the year again – the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is around the corner. An annual award ceremony for the luxury watchmaking industry, the event crowns the year’s best timepieces across 15 categories. With many independent watchmakers in the mix, we have had the privilege to handle some of the watches amongst the short-listed nominees.

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