BEST FROM: aBlogtoWatch & Associates February 28, 2023

We’re simply two months into 2023, however this 12 months is already shaping as much as be a compelling one! February introduced us a number of intriguing new releases, together with the Longines Pilot Majetek, Blancpain‘s Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa, and extra. Breguet held an set up on the Frieze Los Angeles Artwork Truthful, permitting fanatics the chance to study extra in regards to the distinctive intersection between the model’s personal horological artistry and Pablo Bronstein’s fanciful graphic reinterpretations, in addition to the possibility to function one of many model’s historic rose engine lathes. LVMH introduced the return of storied model Daniel Roth, although it stays unclear as as to if Roth himself could have any involvement in his eponymous manufacture going ahead.

Our curated tales from our mates across the Internet embrace an insightful interview with Girard-Perregaux CEO Patrick Pruniaux through which he discusses the model’s objectives for the instant and long-term future, in addition to his place on distribution and GP’s approved retailers. On the heels of President’s Day, we have a look again on the timepieces worn by numerous United States presidents. Lastly, we discover timepieces from an funding perspective, contemplating how standard and difficult-to-obtain watches fare in comparison with different beforehand over-inflated belongings together with tech shares and cryptocurrencies.

1. Breguet Blends Horology And Tremendous Artwork At Frieze Los Angeles Artwork Truthful

This month, Breguet held an set up at Frieze in Santa Monica, CA, permitting the model to showcase the artistry of its personal merchandise alongside custom-made installations by Argentinian illustrator Pablo Bronstein. Bronstein’s illustrations mix mechanical particulars from Breguet actions with ornate rococo motifs that tie immediately into the Ancien Régime France that gave start to the model.

Our aBlogtoWatch group was capable of tour the set up on February 18, 2023 and had the chance to study extra in regards to the distinctive intersection between the model’s personal horological artistry and Pablo Bronstein’s fanciful graphic reinterpretations. We particularly appreciated the interactive and academic elements of this occasion — Breguet craftspeople had been readily available to offer dwell demonstrations of each motion meeting and guillochage, and fanatics had been afforded the flexibility to make use of one among Breguet’s historic rose engine lathes to create a small guilloché pendant.

Supply: aBlogtoWatch

2. Arms-On Debut: Longines Pilot Majetek Watch

It’s no secret that Longines is aware of the way to produce an excellent heritage-inspired timepiece. Over the previous couple of years, the model has proven a penchant for persistently tapping into its intensive again catalog of vital classic watches and releasing enticing, partaking fashionable interpretations that resonate with the gathering neighborhood.

One significantly storied classic Longines timepiece is the 1935 “Majetek” Pilot’s Watch. Quick for “Majetek Vojenské Správy” or “Property of the Army” in Czech, this distinctive, elegant cushion-cased pilot design was made to order for the Czech Air Drive by the Swiss model from the mid-‘30s up by the start of World Battle II. Longines has lengthy been conscious of the fanatic following surrounding the Majetek, with a number of revivals over time, and for its newest vintage-focused entry the model has returned to this distinctive fashion for a brand new era. Our Sean Paul Lorentzen goes hands-on with this thrilling new launch.

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3. Daniel Roth Watch Model To Return Underneath LVMH’s La Fabrique du Temps Swiss Manufacture

Earlier this month, LVMH made the shocking announcement that the world’s greatest luxurious group is because of revive the Daniel Roth watchmaking model in 2023. This information comes at an opportune time, as collectors have grow to be more and more desirous about buying Daniel Roth timepieces over the previous couple of years. Daniel Roth himself has not had a relationship along with his eponymous model for a while; it was bought by The Hour Glass in 1994 and offered to Bulgari in 2000. Now, LVMH shall be transitioning Daniel Roth to Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps producer. With an emphasis on ultra-high-end, sophisticated gown watches with unconventional case shapes and hand-finished elements, the model is anticipated to provide roughly 200 to 300 timepieces per 12 months.

Supply: aBlogtoWatch

4. Time Machines: Exploring How Classic Reissues Can Surpass The Originals With The 2016 TAG Heuer Monza

Whereas heritage re-issues are all the fad within the watch world, reinterpreting a basic design whereas really enhancing the unique idea past technical developments is a uncommon achievement. On this piece, Sean Lorentzen explains that when a classic piece is redesigned within the type of a contemporary watch, one thing is sort of at all times misplaced in translation; nonetheless, each every now and then that translated work surpasses the unique. The 2016 TAG Heuer Monza is a uncommon occasion of the remake surpassing the unique work, and though the Monza line has since moved on to extra advanced, aggressive, and futuristic territory, this “better of each worlds” method stays a beacon to observe manufacturers aiming to create new classics out of beloved classic fashions.

Supply: aBlogtoWatch

5. Arms-On Debut: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa

2023 marks the seventieth anniversary of Blancpain‘s most vital timepiece — the Fifty Fathoms (AKA the primary fashionable dive watch ever produced). In celebration, the model has already launched two new iterations of the long-lasting watch, together with a 42mm-wide model produced as a restricted version of simply 210 items and their most up-to-date launch: the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa. The Tech Gombessa will attraction primarily to technical divers, and much more particularly, those that make the most of a rebreather: an costly system that replaces used oxygen and permits for an extended, extra comfy diving expertise. I discover this launch to be significantly attention-grabbing as a result of it’s arguably a instrument first and a luxurious watch second. Evidently, Blancpain stays a pioneer within the dive watch area, and the brand new Tech Gombessa forges an aggressive new path for the basic sequence in each styling and engineering.

Supply: aBlogtoWatch

6. Arms-On: Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 Re-Version Watch

On this hands-on article, David Bredan explores one of many hottest, most elusive items to come back out of 2022: the Vacheron Constantin forty fifth Anniversary Historiques 222 Re-issue. The enduring 222 was initially launched on the event of the 222^nd anniversary of the model in 1977, serving as one among VC’s first sports activities watches and a break within the stylistic trajectory of the model. The 222 and its built-in bracelet design would later result in the primary era of the Abroad, now the model’s best-selling luxurious sports activities watch. The Abroad is now broadly considered a contemporary basic and is likely one of the most coveted items available on the market at present. Accordingly, the 222 is an especially important piece for the model, because it set the scene for the model’s most culturally related fashionable watch. Measuring a svelte 37mm-wide by 8mm-thick, the “new” 222 retains the precise measurements of the unique launched 46 years in the past however is completed to a fair increased diploma, and now bears the Geneva Seal.

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7. THE BIG INTERVIEW: Girard-Perregaux CEO Patrick Pruniaux

Whereas Girard-Perregaux has at all times maintained considerably of a cult following, the model has skilled extra mainstream attraction over the past a number of years, thanks largely to the success of its Laureato assortment. On this insightful interview, Girard-Perregaux CEO Patrick Pruniaux discusses his long-term technique for the model, exploring numerous distribution channels and advocating high quality over amount in the case of watchmaking and retail companions.

Supply: WatchPro

8. First Watch: U.S. Presidents And Their Timepieces

Posted on President’s Day, this text is a fascinating exploration of the timepieces worn by United States Presidents, together with the Rolex Day-Date gifted to JFK by Marilyn Monroe in 1962, Warren G. Harding and his “Masonic” pocket watch by Waltham, and the Vulcain Crickets worn by presidents Lyndon B Johnson, Harry Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Supply: WatchTime

9. The Most Thrilling New Watches Of 2023 (So Far)

The 12 months is younger, but there has already been a myriad of various compelling watch releases in 2023. Fortunately, Gear Patrol has compiled a working checklist of all of the 12 months’s new watches, full with photos, detailed info, pricing, and hyperlinks to study extra.

Supply: Gear Patrol

10. Rolex, Audemars Piguet, And Patek Philippe Outperform Crypto Currencies And The Inventory Market

As collectors, we attempt not to take a look at watches as investments. Nevertheless, this isn’t an affordable pastime, and secondary market pricing is one variable many collectors bear in mind when buying a watch. Furthermore, it’s been attention-grabbing to see how secondary market costs ebb and move over time. Some have famous that over the past 12 months, value falls from Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe have adopted roughly the identical trajectory as different inflated belongings together with tech shares and cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, a brand new report by funding financial institution Morgan Stanley means that luxurious watches had been really a greater wager for the reason that begin of 2021 than different various investments as a result of they rose in worth sooner by the primary quarter of final 12 months, and declined extra slowly as soon as the market turned. This text considers the present state of the secondary market throughout all manufacturers and digs into the implications and potential flaws of the Morgan Stanley report.

Supply: WatchPro