Watchismo Times

Urwerk Tarantula Crawls Onto Your Wrist and Sticks its Fangs Into Your Veins

Published: February 09, 2009 | 12:19

The Urwerk Tarantula, a brand new design from the Lennon and McCartney of the watch world - actually.. correction, the Jagger and Richards since Time is on Their Side. Watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei are appropriately at the Let It Bleed of their career.

The ‘T’ in the 103T is at first a mystery, but only until the first look down through the massive sapphire crystal into the mechanism below. There you will sense a shape before you see it. A form slowly emerges from the orbital cross and stretches its mesmerising legs: ‘T’ for Tarantula. URWERK’s latest addition to the UR103 collection has a few genetic codes borrowed from one of the most famous members of the world of arachnids.

In the UR103T, the titanium cross has been replaced by a completely redesigned structure in ARCAP, a very stable copper/nickel alloy. The dark ARCAP wraps around the hour satellites in a protective embrace. This new configuration ensures that the numbers on the hour satellites can only be seen when they are required to tell the time while passing the arc of the minutes. The actual mechanism for rotating the satellites has been completely modified on the UR103T. With this model the satellites rotate simultaneously behind the scenes in multiple stages, in preparation for their turn to indicate the time. They actually perform a four-beat 480° pirouette. Each satellite turns four 120° turns in the period between leaving the minute arc and arriving again with a new numeral displaying. The orbital satellite complication is over 300 times heavier than traditional hands, a factor that requires absolute precision in the manufacture of its minuscule components, and in assembling, balancing and regulating the complication to obtain an excellent chronometric performance.

The Time Spider

Urwerk Tarantula's fangs reach deep into your wrist

You can almost see the blood dripping from the wound

An early Urwerk with covered case, cool as %$#@!

The Maestro Baumgartner

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (9)Flag

All 2009 Felix Baumgartner Martin Frei alternative display independent innovation sideview sihh urwerk

The 1974 La Chaux de Fonds Concept Watches of Jozsef Scherer

Published: February 02, 2009 | 18:28

35 years ago, professor of design Jozsef Scherer entered some bold wristwatch concepts to the 1974 La Chaux-de-Fonds International competition for watch and clock design.

His entries were based upon three parameters;

1. A wristwatch for users of either sex - to be inspired by the rectangle.

2. A quartz-crystal electronic wristwatch - with 7 segment digital display

3. Watch-free category - creation of a timepiece to be worn or carried on the person (pendant, pocket, etc)

Below is his entry for the wrist-free category, a tubular pocket watch, pendant watch, table clock, and/or art object. The digital time is display upon extending the tubes to reveal the digits.

Tube table clock

The expanding tube

Assorted tube clock/watch sketches

Tube pocket watch

Tube pendant watch

Also a tube wristwatch

And for his electronic quartz crystal electronic watch entry, Mr. Scherer developed the very modern looking semi-sideview models below. You can also see his preliminary sketches below that.

And finally, his entries for a unisex wristwatch based upon the rectangle;

Although not the winner of the competition, Mr. Scherer's designs were obviously ahead of their time!

Since 1980, Mr. Scherer has been a professor of design at Moholy-Nagy Art and Design University in Budapest.

See related posts;
All Sideview Watches
One-of-a-kind LEDs of Andrew Grima
History of LED Calculator Watches
History of Dynamic Scattering LCD
History of Solar LED Watches
Opus 8 Mechanical Digital
Mechanico Mechanical Digital of de Grisogono
LED-LCD Watch Combos
Zenith Analog/Digital Hybrid
Other Analog-Digital Posts
Alternative Displays
All Digital Watch Posts
All LED Watch Related Posts
All Vintage Watch Posts

| Watchismo Blog Home | Watchismo Shop | Send us tips | Subscribe |

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (11)Flag

All 1970s alternative display competition designer digital inventor led pocket prototype sideview vintage

First Look at the HM3 - Horological Machine No 3 Starcruiser & Sidewinder!

Published: October 14, 2008 | 21:01

I was lucky enough to be one of the first people in the world to see the latest from Maximilian Büsser & Friends this morning. Max and Stephen Hallock of MB&F met me for breakfast at NYC's Brasserie to unveil the coolest Horological Machines yet. I hate to use one word to describe the HM3 Sidewinder and Starcruiser, but here it is... WOW.

Summed up, this watch has two variations. The red gold Starcruiser (above) and white gold Sidewinder (below) with two sapphire cones rising up from the case to reveal hours and day/night indicator and the other cone for minutes - transmitted via ceramic ball bearings to laser-cut hands and visible as a drivers style watch, on the side. Each watch shown here displays 10:45 am.

But what really sets it apart is the fact the movement with automatic rotor is upside down! No more turning your watch over to show off its most essential element. The signature Grendizer battle axe rotor swings wildly under each dome adding to the many layers of the most dimensionally effective Horological Machine to date.

The date wheel surrounds the movement through each dome and indicated by an arrow cut into the case.

Two styles are available in both red gold and white gold. The Starcruiser has both cones on the inside of your wrist and the Sidewinder with cones vertically next to your hand. Both are read easily without turning your wrist. Great when you're driving so fast you can't take your eyes off the road...or sky.

HM3 Starcrusier & Sidewinder

MB&F Website-->LINK

See Also;
All Max Busser & MB&F Posts-->Link
Press release;

Horological Machine No3

Warning! Horological Machine No3 (HM3) is so far outside existing timekeeping references that it may cause sensory overload. The mind first attempts to take in the kinetically active movement, paradoxically seen in all its glory on the top of the watch and partially circumscribed by a ring of large numerals. However before that information can be processed it is assailed yet again, this time by twin cones rising majestically from the sculptured three-dimensional case. No wonder many struggle to reconcile the reality that this dynamic sculpture is actually a highly technical wristwatch that tells the time and date.

Welcome to the world of MB&F!
Individualists demand choice, so HM3 is available in two versions: ‘Sidewinder’, with cones lined perpendicular to the arm and ‘Starcruiser’, with cones in line with the arm. Each version has its own very distinct visual characteristics and each offers its own angle on telling the time.

The twin cones respectively indicate hours and minutes, with the hour cone capped by a day/night indicator. An over-sized date wheel allows for large, legible numbers with the date indicated by a neatly engraved triangle on its perimeter.
However, it is the spectacular open-air theatre presented by the finely finished movement, with its swinging battle-axe shaped automatic rotor and fast oscillating balance wheel, which mesmerises the eye and astounds the senses.
Turning the watch over reveals the technical secret behind HM3’s inverted movement: two large high-tech ceramic bearings efficiently transmitting power up to the cones and date wheel.

About MB&F

After decades learning and conforming to the corporate rules of watchmaking, Maximilian Büsser broke the chains and started a rebellion - a rebellion called MB&F. MB&F is an artistic and micro-engineering concept laboratory in which collectives of independent horological professionals are assembled each year to design and craft radical Horological Machines.
The ramifications of these audacious projects are profound. Respecting tradition but not shackled by it, MB&F fuses traditional high-quality watchmaking with cutting-edge technology to create three-dimensional kinetic sculptures.

Horological Machine No3 is the third chapter in the story of MB&F’s horological revolution; it is a story of adventure, of excitement and of passion.

“The Earth is a cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle.”
-Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, Father of Russian Astronautics, 1896.

Inspiration and Realization: Horological Machine No3 was developed to display the machine’s beautifully finished movement in operation. Harmoniously crafted bridges, rapidly oscillating balance wheel, gearing and distinctive battle-axe shaped automatic winding rotor are all open to view. This allows the wearer to fully appreciate the art and craft that makes up HM3 and draws the viewer’s gaze inside the highly complex machine; a machine comprising more than 300 fine-finished, high-precision components.

The movement of HM3 has been literally turned upside down to allow for an uninterrupted panorama of the solid gold winding rotor’s graceful arcs and the high-speed oscillations of the balance wheel. Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, winner of the inaugural award for Best Watchmaker at the 2007 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, was entrusted with turning the drawings and designs of Max Büsser and designer Eric Giroud into horological reality and, with his team at Agenhor, he not only met but surpassed the challenge.

White gold Starcruiser

Starcruiser and Sidewinder: MB&F’s Horological Machines are for individualists who demand art, craft, excellence, exclusivity . . . and choice. To cater to these demanding aficionados, Horological Machine No3 is available in two versions: ‘Sidewinder’, with its cones lined perpendicular to the arm and ‘Starcruiser’, with its cones in line with the arm. Just like their potential owners, each is very special, each is very different.

Red Gold Sidewinder

Indications: The three-dimensional time-indicating cones allow for telling the time at a glance, whether driving or typing; however, the fact that nothing like them had ever been attempted before in horology posed considerable challenges. The top caps of the truncated cones are brazed (not glued) to ensure maximum water-resistance and the red ‘hands’ of the hour and minute indicators had to be cut by laser to obtain the incredibly high precision with minimum mass that the design necessitated.

The over-sized date wheel is actually a larger diameter than the movement, a fact that allows for very legible and well spaced 2.5mm high numbers. A neat triangle engraved into the top of the case marks the date.

Exposed automatic rotor, domes and hands

Mystery Rotor: the prominence of the 22K solid gold battle-axe shaped rotor on the dial of HM3 is certain to increase the recognition of this already iconic MB&F symbol. The rotor is a ‘mystery’ because it appears to defy the laws of physics in being symmetrically balanced instead of having a visibly off-centred mass. This is achieved by machining the underside of one arm to a razor-thin edge so reducing its mass.

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
-Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Horological Machine No3
Technical Innovations:

Ceramic Bearings: Time indications are usually located on the top, or dial side, of a movement. As the movement of HM3 is inverted to display its operation, an efficient solution was needed to bring power from the bottom of the movement to the timekeeping cones and date wheel at the top. Standard pinions set in jewels would have required complex, friction-generating gearing, and would require support top and bottom – a factor which would increase the height of the movement, and thus the watch. So instead of standard jewelled pinions, HM3 features two large-diameter (15mm) high-tech ceramic bearings. These minimize the number of gear-wheels (and thus friction) because of their large diameter and, as they only require support at one end (the base) due to the rigidity resulting from their ultra-high precision design and manufacture, they allow for a thinner movement.

Large Date: The over-sized date ring has a diameter larger than the movement. While the design allows for large (2.5mm high) easy-to-read numbers, the considerable distance between each number, while aiding legibility, required great ingenuity in enabling the date to be adjusted. Technical constraints in using the crown to operate the date meant that a pusher was called for; however, a pusher has an approximate travel of only 1mm – far short of the 4mm needed to move the date wheel from one day to the next. An ingenious system of amplifying the pusher’s travel was developed using efficient gearing to multiply by four the distance travelled by the pusher.

2:35

Sapphire cones: Three-dimensional cones have never been used to display time before, and no wonder as their manufacture was said to be impossible. Fortunately the impossible just took a little longer. The difficulty lay not in actually fabricating the cones, but in polishing the interior of their (originally) translucent surface until transparent. The caps of the truncated cones are brazed (a high temperature soldering technique) to their gold rims, a technique which is aesthetically pleasing and ensures a solid and waterproof construction.

Screw heads: Perfection lies in the details, form follows function. Those two statements explain both the reason MB&F has gone to the effort of redesigning the slots of the case screws and their unusual cloverleaf shape. Sharp-edge shaped screw slots require sharp-edge shaped screwdrivers, a tool tailor-made for scratching polished gold screws. The rounded cloverleaf pattern in the head of HM3 screws is not only pleasing to the eye, it reduces the chances of damage to the screw. Horological Machines are micro-mechanical works of art and demand that each and every component both looks superb and functions impeccably.

Case and finish: Though totally original in design, the double indications, idiosyncratic play of matt and polished finished surfaces, iconic mystery rotor and slope-sided case ensure that HM3 is unmistakeably, 100 per cent pure Horological Machine.

"Traveling through hyper-space ain't like dustin' crops, boy."
Han Solo in Star Wars

Horological Machine No3 – Technical Specifications

Movement:

Three-dimensional horological engine designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor;
Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph.
22k rose gold battle-axe shaped ‘mystery’ automatic winding rotor
Hour and minutes information transmitted via ceramic ball bearings to laser-cut hands.

Number of jewels: 36 (all functional)
Number of components: 304

Functions:

Hour and day/night indicator on one cone
Minutes on second cone
Date around the movement

Case:

2 versions: Starcruiser (cones in line with arm)
Sidewinder (cones perpendicular to arm)

Both versions available in 18k white gold/ titanium or 18k red gold/titanium.
Screwed-down crown
Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 47mm x 50mm x 16mm
Number of case components: 53 - Starcruiser , 57 - Sidewinder

Sapphire crystals:

Cones and both display backs with anti-reflective treatment on both faces.

Strap & Buckle:

Black hand-stitched alligator with 18k gold and titanium custom designed deployment buckle.

MB&F Team

'Friends' responsible for Horological Machine No3

Concept: Maximilian Büsser/MB&F

Product Design: Eric Giroud – Eric Giroud Design Studio

Technical and Production Management: Serge Kriknoff/MB&F

Movement Development: Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor, Nicolas Stalder/Agenhor

Movement manufacturing: Georges Auer/Mecawatch, Salvatore Ferrarotto/APR Quality

Ceramic ball bearings: Patrice Parietti/MPS

Movement assemblage: Didier Dumas/MB&F, Gilles Dalloz/Agenhor

Case and buckle construction and production: Philippe Marti, Dominique Mainier and Stéphane Lhomme of G.F.Châtelain

Sapphire cones: Sébastien Sangsue and Grégory Esseric/Sebal, Peter Bloesch/Bloesch

Dials: François Bernhard and Denis Parel of Nateber

Hands: Pierre Chillier, Isabelle Chillier and Félix Celetta of Fiedler

Strap: Olivier Purnot/Camille Fournet

Presentation case: Frédéric Legendre/Lekoni, Isabelle Vaudaux/Vaudaux

Communication:

Graphic Design - Alban Thomas and Gérald Moulière of GVA Studio
Product Photography - Maarten van der Ende
Display Architecture - Frédéric Legendre/Lekoni
Portrait Photography - Régis Golay/Federal
Webmasters - Stéphane Balet and Guillaume Schmitz of Sumo Interactive
Texts - Ian Skellern
Project Manager - Estelle Tonelli/MB&F

MB&F - The Genesis of a Concept Laboratory

The projects that gave Maximilian Büsser the most pleasure and personal satisfaction during his seven year tenure as head of Harry Winston Timepieces, were those working with talented independent watchmakers on the exciting Opus series watches. An idea for his own personal utopia emerged; that of creating a company dedicated solely to designing and crafting small series of radical concept watches in collaboration with talented professionals he both respected and enjoyed working with. The entrepreneur in Büsser brought the idea to reality.

MB&F is not a watch brand, it is an artistic and micro-engineering concept laboratory in which collectives of independent horological professionals are assembled each year to design and craft radical Horological Machines. Respecting tradition without being shackled by it enables MB&F to act as a catalyst in fusing traditional high-quality watchmaking with cutting-edge technology and avant-garde three-dimensional sculpture.

MB&F is independent people creating for independent people.

Biography– Maximilian Büsser

Maximilian Büsser was born in Milan, Italy, before moving at an early age to Lausanne, Switzerland where he spent his youth. Growing up in a multi-cultural environment and family - his father was a Swiss diplomat who met his mother, an Indian national, in Bombay - led Büsser to develop a cross-cultural broad-based approach to his life and to business.

In July 2005, at the age of 38, Maximilian created the world’s first horological Concept Brand: MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Friends) in which he is now partnered with Serge Kriknoff. Büsser's dream with MB&F is to have his own brand dedicated to developing radical horological concepts by working in small hyper-creative groups composed of people he enjoys working with. MB&F presented its first timepiece, Horological Machine No. 1 (HM1), in 2006and followed that up with HM2 in 2007 and HM3 in 2008, and Büsser has more radical machines in the development pipeline.

Entrepreneurship is Maximilian Büsser's forte. In 1998 and only 31 years old, he was appointed managing director of Harry Winston Rare Timepieces in Geneva. During his seven years there Büsser developed the company into a fully-fledged and well respected haute horlogerie brand by developing the strategy, products, marketing and worldwide distribution, whilst integrating design, R&D and manufacturing in house. The results were a 900% increase in turnover and the positioning of Harry Winston as one of the leaders in this very competitive segment.

Prior to Harry Winston, Maximilian Büsser's love for high-end horology was strongly imprinted by his first employer, Jaeger-LeCoultre. During his seven years in the senior management team during the 1990s, JLC strongly increased its profile and multiplied its turnover by a factor of ten. Büsser's responsibilities at Jaeger-LeCoultre ranged from Product Management & Development to Sales & Marketing for Europe.

Maximilian graduated in 1991 with a Masters in Micro technology Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne.

MB&F Website-->LINK

See Also;
All Max Busser & MB&F Posts-->Link

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

Look at Legendary LEDs of Lloyd's Large Collection

Published: April 27, 2008 | 17:31

Video-->Link

With the recent release of the $350,000 Opus 8 ->(link) and the de Grisogono Meccanico dG ->(link) with their mechanically mimicked LED digits, I wanted to also share this video and photos from the collection of UK LED collector, Lloyd "Theledwatch". He was recently featured on Antiques Roadshow (see video above) where he shared some of the best examples of early 1970s digital light emitting diode watches like the Pulsar Hamilton P1, Girard Perregaux Casquette, Omega Time Computer and my one-of-a-kind favorites by the Royal designer Andrew Grima.

Some highlights of Lloyd's collection including the rarest and most valuable vintage digital LED watches of the seventies; (text also from theledwatch.com)

The Hewlett Packard HP-01 LED Watch calculator was a marvel of miniaturization and intelligent design. It was HP's first watch and their first small algebraic calculator but it was more than just a wristwatch and a calculator in the same package.

It combined them to do things that neither could do alone. Its user interface combined the best of both worlds. For example, to change time zones, the user displayed the time, added or subtracted the appropriate amount and stored the result.

Three styles of the Hewlett Packard HP-01 Calculator Watches

In the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's, Andrew Grima was commissioned by various members of the British and Scandinavian Royal family including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, to make various items of jewelry.

Mr. Grima's work is very highly sought after and collectors pay many thousands of pounds for his rare and beautiful pieces.. During the 70's his work was sold in an exclusive gallery in Knightsbridge (LONDON) and would range form many thousands to a million pounds plus.

Another one-of-a-kind Grima LED!

The rarest calculator watch by Uranus

Girard Perregaux's perfectly designed sideview "Casquette"

GP Casquette in Macrolon (also avail in gold)

The first solar powered watch by Synchronar
Invented by Roger Riehl in the late sixties
(Read previous post about history of Solar watches-->Link)

Rare Synchronar Ad for Women

Roger Tallon's original 1975 asymmetric LIP Mach 2000 models
(above and below)

The first electronic digital watches on the market by Hamilton-Pulsar

1973 Pulsar P2 for Tiffany & Co.

The ultra-rare Pulsar P1 in solid 18k
Only a few dozen in circulation valued at around $20k

Pulsar Calculator watches in steel and solid gold
The original 18k models sold for $3950.00 in 1975

Original Pulsar Advertising

Before going under in 1978, Pulsar introduced their very rare "Greenie"

1973 Omega TC-1 in solid 18k gold

1975 Longines LED

1976 Breitling Navitimer
(only produced one year before the LCD version)

Very rare Benrus "Pop-Up" LED Sideview
(case physically pops up when button is pressed and time is displayed)

Visit Lloyd's site-->Link

See Other Related Vintage & Modern Digital Watch Posts;
One-of-a-kind LEDs of Andrew Grima
History of LED Calculator Watches
History of Dynamic Scattering LCD
History of Solar LED Watches
$350,000 Opus 8 Mechanical Digital
Mechanico Mechanical Digital of de Grisogono
LED-LCD Watch Combos
Zenith Analog/Digital Hybrid
Other Analog-Digital Posts
Alternative Displays
All Digital Watch Posts
All LED Watch Related Posts

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (15)Flag

All advertising andrew grima calculator collectors digital electronic hewlett packard history led omega pulsar retro sideview solar vintage

Urwerk 202 Hammerhead Automatic at 2008 SIHH

Published: April 08, 2008 | 16:45

From Urwerk's presentation of the new UR-202 Twin Turbine-->Link

UR202 Promotional Video-->Link
The UR-202 is the world’s first watch with the winding rate regulated by fluid dynamics.

As long ago as the 18th century, clockmakers were using air friction to regulate the speed of chiming clocks, and their techniques evolved to become the preferred method of regulating the rate of chimes on minute-repeaters.

With the UR-202, URWERK have taken the traditional idea of using air friction and refined it to control the rate of automatic winding.
The traditional rotating vanes of the past have been replaced by cutting-edge miniature twin turbines - miniature air compressors - which can be seen spinning on the back of the watch.

Urwerk turbines

The UR-202’s twin turbines are coupled with the winding rotor. According to the position of the selector lever, the turbines act as shock absorbers.
In normal activity they cushion sharp movements of the rotor. This reduces wear and increases the lifespan of the movement.
While the selector position is continuously variable, the three principal positions are: normal activity, where the turbines spin freely; vigorous activity, where the air pressure generated by the turbines reduces the winding rate by approximately 35%; and extreme activity, where the turbines and rotor are fully blocked.

The turbine system is totally self-contained within the waterproof case. The air flows from under the turbines and is channeled up past them under a sapphire plate and down through holes leading to a tiny air chamber.

The turbines are controlled by a 3-position selector switch. This functions by adjusting the level of air compression the turbines generate by selectively regulating the amount of air flowing from inside the case.

The spinning turbines force air through holes into a tiny air chamber. The selector switch controls the amount of air escaping from the turbines.
By restricting the airflow, it increases the air pressure and slows down the turbines and the winding rotor.

The UR-202 also features URWERK’s patented Revolving Satellite Complication with telescopic minutes hands.

The Revolving Satellite Complication displays time using telescopic minutes hands operating through the middle of three orbiting and revolving hours satellites. The telescopic minutes hands precisely adjust their length to follow the three sectors marking the minutes: 0-14, 15-44, 45-60.

Extended, they enable the UR-202 to display the time across a large, easy-to-read dial. Retracted, they allow for a very wearable and comfortably sized case.

Photo->Link

Related Posts;
ALL URWERK STORIES-->Link

See Also;
Urwerk Website->Link
Ian Skellern's (R)Evolution of Urwerk->Link
Horomundi's Complete Urwerk Story->Link

Urwerk's first model, the Nightwatch Wandering Hour

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (13)Flag

All 2008 Haute alternative display independent innovation inventor moonphase my favorite watches sideview sihh urwerk wandering hour watchmaking

Long Lost Urwerk Relative? A 1970 Jump Hour with very familiar features

Published: November 12, 2007 | 09:30

The contemporary brand Urwerk creates some of the most phenomenally complex and understandably expensive watches today but when finding this beat-up rare vintage jump hour from the seventies, it only made me think of their wandering hour designs, especially their Hammerhead, and cost me $50,000 less! It'll satisfy me for about a week.

Someday Mr. Baumgartner, someday...

Not wandering, retrograde or even protracting hands, just a simple semi-sideviewing jump hour digital display with a low grade manual winding movement.

You gotta admit, DNA tests might prove some relation. Especially the chin and lips.

Of course, I'd rather have any one of these Urwerks

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (6)Flag

All 1970s Jump Hour alternative display sideview urwerk vintage

Japanese Steampunk Watchmaker Haruo Suekichi

Published: July 13, 2007 | 14:20

"Haruo Suekichi has made thousands of watches, each with an individual name. And to think it all started with a one-armed man at a flea market in Japan."

via @ Chief Magazine-->Link

Caught somewhere between sadistic torture device and a steampunk gadget, Suekichi's artisinal timepieces are prolifically original, fantastically bizarre, and perfectly timed for The Watchismo Times.

"Steampunk, a subgenre of speculative science fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England." Incorporating retro-futurism styles of fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells.

More excerpts from the Chief interview;

"I started to work in a toy store, as a salesman. Across from the toy store was a watchmaker, and he would sometimes come over during work hours, and we became friends. I asked him if he could teach me how to make watches, and... [nods]."

"So did your watches start out as unique as they are now, or have you built up to this level of weird?"

"In the beginning, they were pretty simple, a strange drawing maybe, but that's about it. But at the flea market, a one-armed man came up to me. And he said to me, well, with only my left arm, I can't put on a watch. Wow, I thought, he's right...I wonder if I could make a watch like that? So I made - and you can see one upstairs in the showcase - I made a watch that you put your wrist in it and it shuts around your wrist."

Suekichi's gallery-->Link
and more-->Link
Chief interview-->Link

Click photos to enlarge

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (9)Flag

All artist driver eccentric futuristic gadget modern retro sideview steampunk

L.R.D. Light Reflecting Display - Original Amida Digitrend Advertisement

Published: June 28, 2007 | 13:11

A very rare advertisement of the from the 1976 Basel Fair. Now it's clear that the brand was creatively competing with the electronic digital (LED & LCD) watch market with their "New Generation of Digitals", the mechanical "LRD" (Light Reflecting Display).

The watch was previously featured here-->Link

The Amida Digitrend simply created a hand-wound jump hour digital watch, printed the numbers backward in orange (emulating LED digits), and reflected them sideways through a prism correcting the numbers in the display. Genius!

The reverse-printed dials

Made with a few different names
This one by Hudson

Related Stories;
All Jump Hour Posts
All Digital Posts

First Hands Experience

Published: June 14, 2007 | 10:41

There is a great Horomundi post by a first time Urwerk RG 103.3 customer (A lucky bloke named Stephen)-->Link

He says, "I've been collecting for 20 years and of all the watches I own, Pateks, VC, AP, Lange, Dubuis, Journe, DeBethune, etc., or have ever owned, NONE have ever created the level of excitement that this has."

Related Urwerk Posts-->Link

Also, the first Horological Machine has been delivered to customers, here is one that arrived in Singapore-->Link

Related HM1 Posts-->Link

Urwerk Photo by Stephen (SMS2)

| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |

Source: watchismo.blogspot.com

Permalink labels (7)Flag

All Haute designer independent max busser modern sideview urwerk

1940s LeCoultre DuoPlan Drivers Watch

Published: June 11, 2007 | 10:50

Triangular cased watch by LeCoultre (circa 1940). Angled on the wrist allowing time-viewing while driving. Featuring a stainless steel case, stepped bezel, 15 jewel movement and back-winder. Drivers watches by LeCoultre are very rare.

The Duoplan movements, developed in 1925 to aid reliability in increasing miniaturization, were arranged on split levels leading to the creation of the world's smallest Caliber 101.