Independent Watch Brands Make their Mark at Baselworld 2013

The Speake-Marin Triad

It’s officially known as the “Palace” but it’s actually a small, makeshift building on the Basel fairgrounds (Messe Basel), home of Baselworld 2013, the world’s biggest and most important watch and jewelry tradeshow. Royalty may not inhabit this portable building but what is inside are some of the most creative and innovative independent watchmakers in the world. These companies are joined by equally capable small independent watch brands that were scattered among the 1,460 exhibitors throughout the massive complex of buildings.

Their visions may be entirely different, but one thing these companies do share is keen intellect, creativity and passion. The individuals who lead these small firms are highly skilled at combining the highest forms of modern watching with an advance design esthetic and a singular vision.

It was impossible for me to visit them all but what is presented below are nine companies and their products as a representative sample of the technical prowess and artistry of these firms at the recently-concluded tradeshow. They are as follows:

Arnold & Son
The Swiss company with British heritage created what it says is the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch. Called the UTTE (Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement), the case of this timepiece is 8.34 mm thick. It is equipped with the A&S8200 movement that is just 2.97 mm thick. The caliber was created in-house at the brand’s La Chaux-de-Fonds workshops. It is limited to 50 pieces.

Christophe Claret
The French native who operates out of Le Locle, Switzerland, introduced the Kantharos at Baselworld— a complex monopusher chronograph with an integrated in-house automatic movement. It features a striking cathedral gong at the 10 o’clock mark that chimes with each change of function. The constant-force escapement is on the dial side at 6 o’clock. The energy delivered to the escapement remains constant from beginning to end of the power reserve.

Da Vindice Geneva
A watch complication I never encountered is a barometer. It was a passion and challenge for Cosimo Vindice, founder of the new Geneva-based watch brand with Italian heritage, to include this and a tourbillon in a single watch built in-house. An aneroid barometer is used for the Da Vindice’s Videx Tourbillon Barometer timepiece. Atmospheric pressure is managed in a capsule, sealed with the air partially removed from it. The changes in pressure are visible on a subdial placed at 6 o’clock. The watch is designed to accommodate this complication. It is available in white or rose gold.

Dubey & Schaldenbrand
The stainless steel tonneau-shaped Grand Dome R92 Column Wheel Chronograph is another example of how this watch brand produces timepieces that combine vintage movements with modern craftsmanship and design. The R92 movement was originally fabricated in the 1950s. It uses a swivel-pinion design to synchronize the chronograph components. The dial is exposed providing full view of the movement.

Franc Vila
The Spanish native is one of the best-known and most innovative independent Swiss watchmakers in the world. The latest edition to his Intrepido Collection, the FVi No 8 Tourbillon Intrepido SuperLigero Skeleton, has a skeletonized hand-wound tourbillon and 100-hour power reserve. Its set into a grade 5 titanium case coated with black DLC, with an 18k red gold bezel. Visible through the sapphire crystal, the dial exposes the in-house movement.

Linde Werdelin
The German watch brand launched the Oktopus II Moon in a series of 59 pieces, available in two versions. The first 12 pieces, representing one piece for each moon of the 2013 calendar year, feature a rose gold and titanium DLC case with ceramic bezel. The following 47 pieces are available in a DLC titanium case with a ceramic bezel. The Oktopus II Moon’s complication, developed in-house, displays the phases of the moon on its dial as one would see it in the sky. As the moon moves clockwise through its monthly cycle, more of its surface is illuminated.

MB&F
The company that released a music box at Baselworld 2013 also decided it was a good idea to release an advancement to its well-known Horological Machine No. 3 (HM3) series: The Megawind. The focus of this piece is a giant battle-axe shaped winding rotor that swings unhurriedly, but indomitably, over the hand-finished movement. The titanium arms of the rotor intermittently reveal views through to the oscillating balance wheel. It’s available in red gold with a 22k red gold rotor or white gold with a sky-blue 22k gold rotor.

Speake-Marin (top photo)
One of the most passionate and intelligent independent watchmakers I met at Baselworld 2013 is British native Peter Speake-Marin, founder of the eponymous Swiss watch brand. His creations are complex in their functions and their stories, yet they adhere to the tradition of fine Swiss watchmaking. The Triad features triple hour-minute indications over an open dial powered by an Eros 2 automatic winding movement. Three is a number heavy with symbolism and meaning; encompasses beginning, middle and end; birth, life, and death; past, present and future. In music, a triad is a three-note chord played simultaneously to provide a single sound. It is available in a limited edition of 88 pieces in stainless steel with an 18k red gold bezel.

York
The new release of the Royal Black Caviar watch has all of the pomp one would expect from a watch brand fronted by Earl York, a prince of the former Schaumburg-Lippe, a tiny principality in the Lower Saxony region of modern-day Germany. The watch comes in a handcrafted Wengé case that includes a caviar service for two. However, this timepiece is more than just packaging. It is a serious traditional watch created by the Schaumburg Watch company, which York serves as creative director and shareholder. The 18k, 44 mm gold case is topped by a bezel set with 53 black diamonds and five black diamonds on the crown. The black textured strap is made of indo-pacific stingray leather with a textured finish that is looks like caviar eggs. The mechanical movement SW 07 is made in house. It is available in a limited edition of 99.

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MB&F Creates Timeless Music Machine That Doesn’t Tell Time

The MB&F 'Music Machine' in black

The award-winning independent watchmaking firm, MB&F (Maximilian Busser and friends), is known for its technical and artistic innovations and for its creative partnerships that result in unusual timepieces that they define as micromechanic sculptures and performance art pieces.

However, even for this Geneva-based company, what it unveiled in Baselworld 2013 this year took its innovative prowess to a new level. In a partnership with iconic luxury music box maker, Reuge, the two created what MB&F calls the “Music Machine.” It’s a music box that is outside the box in every way imaginable.

Maximilian Busser, the founder of MB&F defined the parameters of the design and chose the music, explained Eléonor Picciotto, MB&F’s public relations representative. Reuge built the music box based on those specifications. The two cones that create the music contain 72 notes each and play six melodies. It uses 1,400 precision-placed pins that pluck the teeth of a "comb" as the cylinder revolves. It works in a traditional way but they are exposed on top of a sleek, futuristic looking spacecraft made in walnut that works as a sound amplification chamber.

The Music Machine in white at Baselworld. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

The songs performed by the cones are far from traditional. The one cone plays deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” (which was inspired by a fire during the Montreux Jazz Festival), Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and John Lennon’s “Imagine. The second cone performs the Star Wars Theme and the Imperial March from Star Wars V The Empire Strikes Back, and the Star Trek theme song.

So how can a watchmaking company unveil a music box at the biggest watch fair in the world with a straight face? Picciotto explains that the company doesn’t call its products timepieces or watches. They call them “horological machines.” Creating a “music machine” is an extension of the concept. In addition, a traditional music box is based on the same mechanical principles as a watch.

As one would expect it is a limited edition item, in this case 66 pieces: 33 pieces in a white lacquer finish and 33 pieces in black lacquer. The cost is $12,300 Swiss francs ($13,174), about a quarter of what a MB&F watch starts at. However, others must have immediately saw the value as the Reuge website indicates that the entire line is sold out. 

Below is quick look at it in operation.



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Thomas Prescher’s Personal Touch

Thomas Prescher's Mysterious double-axis toubillon

BASEL, Switzerland - I had the pleasure to meet independent watchmaker Thomas Prescher and view his entire stock of beautiful and extremely complicated timepieces Thursday at Baselworld, the world's largest watch and jewelry fair. Prescher and one other person produce all of their products from their headquarters in Twann, Switzerland. “We don’t have a factory, we have a workshop,” he stresses.

I first wrote about the brand when the company introduced its triple-axis toubillon. Their watches retail from $22,000 to $415,000 and are becoming a favorite with serious watch collectors, he said. Lately, he’s been focusing on building custom timepieces for collectors. “The larger companies can’t provide this type of service,” he says. They would typically start at $415,000 but are still a value when compared to similar models from comparable large, established watch brands.

In addition, he recently introduced lower priced watches as a way to adjust to the realities of the current economy. The complications are similar to the six-figure models but he replaced the platinum and gold housings with a steel that has the look of platinum.

On of my favorite pieces is the “Mysterious” double-action toubillon. Only the time, toubillon calendar and oscillating weight are visible. The automatic movement is hidden in the left and right part of the case behind the bezel of the largely transparent watch.

There are few watch companies that are aligned so tightly with its maker. The timepieces can be ordered through a retailer or directly through the company. Since opening in 2002, Prescher, saw the value of marketing and communicating through the Internet. He is highly accessible online for consultation before, during and after buying one of his watches. In other words, his innovative approach to watchmaking doesn’t end at the workshop.

Timepiece Tuesday: Helios Watch Receives GTE Superwatch Award

Technical innovation and craftsmanship are at the heart of the Swiss watchmaking universe. On Monday, that tradition was celebrated by naming the Helios timepiece, by Manufacture Jouvenot SA, as the winner of the GTE 2011 Superwatch Award. Nearly 30 companies submitted entries for this competition.

The Helios (named after the Greek God of sun) has a sun-shaped hour display which represents the path of the sun over a 24-hour period alternating between day and night. The timepiece has two faces, corresponding to day and night cycles, and displays the time without conventional hands, numerals or disks.

Each hour is represented by a radioconcentric sunbeam, i.e. starting from the centre and radiating towards the edge of the dial. The twelve sunbeams show the path of the sun on the dial while indicating the hour to come and the past hour. At midday all rays blaze like the light of the day, representing the sun at its zenith. As day become night, gradually, each sunbeam is replaced by a moonbeam. Twilight is reached, then midnight symbolized by twelve dark segments. The darkness of the face then reveals the disc with an opening in the form of the moon at the center of the watch. At dawn, the rays of the sun (as watch hands) are reactivated and the ambient light progressively returns as each hour passes.

Ressence (pictured above)  received a “Special Mention” for its Platform Watch, which has a rotating dial plate. Time is displayed by a flush mounted revolving dial that embodies all the graphical elements in one plane.

The award was announced Monday during the second day of the Geneva Time Exhibition—a trade fair for innovative, independent luxury watches. Held at the International Conference Center in Geneva, Switzerland, the fair consists of about 60 watch brands displaying their newest designs—including technological advancements, unique creations and exceptional craftsmanship—to thousands of watch lovers, private collectors, and watch dealers. The fair, which will run till January 21, along with Superwatch Award, is in its second year.

Frédéric Jouvenot, the company’s founder, received the GTE Superwatch Award: a Reuge musical box epitomizing Swiss mechanical prowess and avant-garde creativity. The prize also includes a free stand at next year's fair (GTE 2012); and the chance to appear on the cover of Plaza Watch after a free photo session with the magazine's team of professional photographers.