FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Rolex celebrates 100 years of Le Mans, while Philippe Dufour is a birthday boy

With our globetrotting editor out and about on a Paris adventure discovering the Type XX, I thought I’d jump in and cover some of this week’s biggest happenings. In lieu of a Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend, we’re treated to the absolute peach that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held at the … Continued

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10 months ago

Interview – Claude Sfeir, Philippe Dufour’s Partner: How the 20th-Anniversary Simplicity will be Allocated (Spoiler, It’s a Lottery)

A few weeks ago, a Philippe Dufour Simplicity “20th Anniversary” was the highlight of the Phillips “Retrospective 2000-2020” Geneva auction. The watch – marked 00/20 – hammered for over CHF 1.3 million. Admittedly, Philippe Dufour is one of the most respected craftsmen of the industry, and his watches are regarded as the ultimate expression of […]

3 years ago

Just Because – The Best of Indie Watchmaking Seen Through the Casebacks – Part 2

Following Part 1 of this journey through the fascinating world of independent watchmaking, which we published last week, we continue today with the second part of this collection of superb watches… Instead of looking at the watches in the conventional way from the dial side, we’re looking at them from the reverse side.  And seeing […]

4 years ago

A Technical Perspective – Understanding the Concept of Multiple-Regulator Watches

The presence of one single heart is ingrained in our idea of biology and… watchmaking. In order to live – or to indicate the time accurately – one only need a single beating heart. But there are a few creatures with multiple hearts. And more and more watches come with multiple regulators – for different reasons. It is time to understand what multiple regulating organs can add to a watch.

5 years ago

Independent Watchmaking – In Conversation with “Monsieur” Philippe Dufour

Philippe Dufour is a living legend. The independent watchmaker is one of most (if not the most) revered craftsmen in the industry and his watches are regarded as the ultimate in traditional hand-finishing. We visited the 70-year-old master in the small village of Le Solliat, in the Vallée de Joux. There, Philippe Dufour crafts his watches entirely by hand, elevating the art of watchmaking to the highest level. Visiting his workshop is a unique experience. It is exactly what you have dreamed about, and yet everything is a surprise and catches your attention: old tools, ancient machines, drawers, books, raw materials… This place has soul.

5 years ago

VIDEO – Aurel Bacs Talks Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona & Highlights From Phillips New York Auction

While Aurel Bacs’ reputation as an auctioneer was not to be done anymore, he recently managed to impress the watch-collecting community again, by being entrusted with the sale of no less than Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Rolex Daytona. So to say, a Holy-Grail in watch collecting. However, that’s not all. Phillips, in Association with Bacs & Russo, managed to create around this watch an entire and fascinating catalogue, which inaugurates the New York auctions for the Maison. Today, we’re pleased to receive Aurel, to talk Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Rolex Daytona and other highlights from the “Winning Icons, Legendary Watches of the 20th Century” that will take place in New York, on 26 October 2017.

6 years ago

Horological Travesty: The TAG Heuer Monaco V4 is Underappreciated

Three days past Christmas and thoughts of the Wise men’s gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh for the infant Christ led me thinking about the 2014’s seminal TAG Heuer Monaco V4 in rose gold, ruthenium and ceramic. This in turn, led me to consider the other Monaco V4 watches that have come before and after it; I began to…

7 years ago

Editorial: Tales & Technology – Why a Dufour Hammers for More Than a Greubel Forsey

Just two days ago at Phillips’ Hong Kong watch auction a pair of timepieces that are masterpieces of contemporary independent watchmaking went under the hammer with dramatically different results. The first was a Philippe Dufour Simplicity that sold for US$258,000, about five times its original retail price some 12 years ago and just a day after Christie’s accomplished the same […]

7 years ago

Philippe Dufour Simplicity Sells for US$258k – For the Second Time in Two Days

Yesterday Christie’s sold a Philippe Dufour Simplicity, a 37mm in white gold, for HK$1.98m, or about US$256,000, all fees included. Today Phillips just accomplished the same for its pink gold 37mm specimen that sold for HK$2m, about US$258,000. Moments later a white gold 34mm Simplicity in the same Phillips sale sold moments later for HK$1.75m, or […]

7 years ago