New releases - Claude Meylan Pink Tortue

 

The bridges and mainplates of the fully skeletonized Caliber 165 CM14 are adorned with rose gold and illuminate the flames of the first Swiss flag. The 316L steel case is 40mm wide at the belly. The strap is available in a choice of alligator style scales or technological satin.

 

COMING SOON

 

“Some old watches come with engraved dedications on their cases. It is occasionally possible to find out interesting stories and personalities behind these few words and digits …”

The new mini-documentary series starts January 5. Stay tuned!

 

PROSSIMAMENTE

“Sulle casse di alcuni orologi d’epoca sono incise delle dediche. A volte dietro quelle poche parole e cifre si scoprono personaggi e storie interessanti …”   

La nuova serie di mini-documentari comincia il 5 gennaio. Rimanete connessi!

 

Novità - Nazareno Rossetti Fomalhaut

Il primo modello della neonata collezione Nazareno Rossetti fonde il design italiano con la tecnologia Swiss Made. La cassa d'acciaio da 44 mm è impermeabile a 10 atmosfere e ospita il Calibro P224, movimento automatico Peseux personalizzato per la Casa, con autonomia di 41 ore. Quattro viti fissano la lunetta alla carrure. Sul quadrante effetto opaco a doppio strato con indici e logo luminescenti sul livello inferiore ruotano lancette di disegno esclusivo. Il cinturino di pelle a concia vegetale artigianale è Made in Italy.

 

The magic of cloisonné enamel

The latest Christie's auction in Geneva featured a rare 18kt rose gold Patek Philippe timepiece with cloisonné enamel dial. In the 1940s and 50s, the Geneva watchmaker made a very small number of "time only" wristwatches where detailed and artistic cloisonné enamel dials were fitted.

 

 

Enamel is a soft glass comprising of silica, red lead and soda. Elements added to the mix bring about a change in color – chromium creates green, iron turns it grey, the presence of iodine turns it red. When fired in an oven at 800-1200°C, enamel liquefies and bonds to the metal base and cools to become a hard-wearing material that retains its shines and color over centuries. The cloisonné technique requires the artisan to create compartments or housings by hand-folding a 0.07 mm wide gold wire (no thicker than human hair) - pliers are used to tease out various shapes on the base plate. These compartments are filled in with enamel and fired in a kiln.

The present dial was crafted to special order in 1950, and was, most likely, originally delivered to France, to be housed in a French-manufactured case. After World War II, this was quite common practice in alignment with the post-war economic effort. Importing foreign jewellery was prohibited in France, so many Swiss makers had their cases made in France, often after their own Swiss model. Patek Philippe worked closely with French firms such as Guillermin, providing dials and movements under the agreement that Patek Philippe standards would be upheld.

Price realized: $ 252,000

 

   

Memories from Dachau

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è in fondo alla pagina)

Part of the interest of old watches frequently lies in the memories they bring with them. In this case, everything is about memory. The two timepieces featured in this post are on display at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Opened in 1933, only a few months after Adolf Hitler took power, Dachau was the first Nazi Germany’s concentration camp. At first it housed political prisoners and later on evolved into a death camp where tens of thousands of Jews, physically and mentally handicapped, homosexuals died from malnutrition, disease and overwork, or were executed.
I took these pictures in the “shunt room”, the place were new inmates were ordered to strip down and hand over their clothing and personal effects. Some of these objects were retrieved and are now on display.

The wristwatch belonged to Albert Frohn, a German driver and mechanic who was arrested for unknown reasons in 1944 and sent to Dachau. He survived the ordeal and was liberated as the American troops entered the camp on April 29, 1945.

The pocket watch belonged to Nikolai Owsjanikov, a Soviet railroad worker who was deported to Germany to perform slave labor. He spent a month in Dachau before being transferred to a nearby subcamp, where preparatory excavation works of a railway tunnel were underway. His fate is unknown.

I must confess that I know nothing about these two watches’ manufacturers and technical features. In fact, these were the last things on my mind while I stood in front of the glass showcase.

ITALIANO

Una parte del fascino degli orologi d’epoca risiede spesso nel ricordi che essi portano con sé. In questo caso, la memoria è tutto. I due segnatempo illustrati in questo post sono esposti presso il Sito della Memoria nel Campo di Concentramento di Dachau. Inaugurato nel 1933, a pochi mesi dall’ascesa di Adolf Hitler al potere, Dachau fu il primo Campo di Concentramento della Germania nazista. In un primo tempo ospitava solo prigionieri politici; poi diventò un campo di sterminio nel quale decine di migliaia di ebrei, disabili fisici e mentali, omosessuali morirono di fame, malattie e sfinimento o furono giustiziati.
Ho scattato queste foto nel “locale di smistamento”, dove i nuovi arrivati erano costretti a spogliarsi e consegnare gli abiti insieme con gli effetti personali. Alcuni di questi oggetti sono stati recuperati e ora fanno parte della mostra.
L’orologio da polso apparteneva ad Albert Frohn, un autista e meccanico tedesco arrestato per ragioni sconosciute nel 1944 e inviato a Dachau. Riuscì a sopravvivere e ritrovò la libertà quando le truppe americane entrarono nel campo il 29 aprile del 1945. L’orologio da tasca era di Nikolai Owsjanikov, un operaio sovietico delle ferrovie deportato in Germania per lavorare. Trascorse un mese a Dachau prima di essere trasferito in un campo vicino, dove erano in corso gli scavi di un tunnel ferroviario. Il suo destino è sconosciuto.
Devo confessare che non so nulla dei fabbricanti e della caratteristiche tecniche dei due orologi. A dire la verità, era a tutt’altro che pensavo mentre mi trovavo davanti alla vetrina.

Jacob & Co. – Epic X

Introduced in the spring of 2022, the second generation of Epic X features a 44-mm steel case, X-shaped lugs and a vertically aligned skeleton movement with Clou de Paris-adorned bridges. A full rose gold version is also being released. They exhibit a new set of crown guards, a new lug design and introduce green, blue or black aluminum components.