Watch Dandy

Last week IWC unveiled it’s latest creation, the Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Edition ‘D.H. Craig USA.’ This watch pays tribute to IWC’s founder and his benefactor, combining a tradition flying tourbillon movement with a bold Portugieser case and dial. We thought it was worth a little fanfare, so we gathered almost 100 guests at IWC’s flagship boutique on Madison Avenue to see the watch in the metal and to toast with the IWC team. Guests were welcomed by Edouard d’Arbaumont, president of IWC North America, and own editor-in-chief Jack Forster offered a bit of a history lesson as well. There was even an original D.H. Craig movement from the nineteenth century on display, thanks to the generosity of a collector who loaned it for the event.

The release of 10, count ’em, 10 new references in the Vacheron Constantin Harmony collection gave us a chance to take a second look at the Harmony Chronograph – a flagship monopusher chronograph with an in-house movement, and some unusual and, we think, unique technical features. Most of the watches recently announced however have been essentially incrementally changed versions of existing watches. But there is one watch that is entirely new to the Harmony collection, and that’s the Harmony Complete Calendar.

Very little about the modern luxury watch market makes sense. And that’s especially true for those who are not immersed in it all day every day like we are here at HODINKEE. To us, sure, the massive, over-the-top exhibitions at Baselworld seem completely normal and there’s nothing shocking about a new “limited edition” of over 2,000 watches, each costing the same as a suburban home. We’re used to it. Sometimes it’s good though to get a fresh set of eyes and a critical, inquisitive investigation of the things we love. Luckily, journalist Simon Garfield (far from a newcomer to the watch world) has done just that, forgetting received wisdom and probing into why and how haute horlogerie is thriving in the 21st century.