The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[Lovelace]



I read them, and honestly don't know what you are talking about. Horology is in the finest state is has been in in quite a long time. Roger Smith, Kari Voutilainen, Philip Dufour, FP Journe, etc., are all carrying on a tradition starting with Breguet and culminating, with, well, the present. Yes, Daniels was an outstanding watchmaker, who has a hell of a legacy. However, all the aforementioned folks still have the rest of their lives to make that legacy. The art is not 'dead.'

We engage in discussion on this thread. Take your vitriolic statements elsewhere, or, better yet, have a discussion and enlighten us as to why you don't think that we will every see a contemporary to Daniels. Pointing people in the direction of very mundane and generic NYT articles written by people who know little about horology does not illustrate much.

My response was to someone who was being vitriolic towards me. Apropos mouthed off without reading the article I'd linked to whilst also ignoring the fact I wasn't even engaging with him. And to further compound his foolishness he continued to have a 'pop'. Similar to how you are behaving now,.

Secondly, the linked articles weren't meant to be authoritative, they were a response to a request for information about whom I was referring to in an earlier post. His Wikipedia page would also have sufficed but I thought the two newspaper articles were a little more informative and of more interest. I would have thought that obvious.

 

[Lovelace]



please take your thread ******** elsewhere. for some reason reason it pleases you to think that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. thats fine. dont be a spoilsport.

your statements are wildly absurd. yes, GD was a genius. he was a brilliant man and watchmaker. to think that he was last of his kind is absurd. no, i dont need to bring proof. there are many many many great watchmaking minds producing marvels this very day.

most modern watches are not about jewelry, i dont even know where you pulled that out of, unless you mean something else by jewelry. "most" use mass produced movements? sure, most suits are also fused. most of anything will not be tip top, but there are plenty of watches being made that are not only as great as watches of the past, but even greater. ESPECIALLY in regards to finishing. the finishing of todays top of the line watches blows away that of watches of yesteryears.

and as to "I very much doubt that we will see skill of that level again. This thread confirms that, sadly." seriously? you feel the need to just waltz in here and condescend on the entire thread? just take a heaping dump on everyones head for no reason.

dont be an asshole. if you dont like the thread, dont read it. we are all very proud that you know who GD was. bravo. now go find another thread to be a jerk in, this place is a friendly one.

Most of the watches lauded in this thread are mass produced, or contain mass produced parts. ETA movements for example.They are not exemplars of the finest craftsmanship and they are not art. Many are aesthetic pleasing though. It does not follow that because something is mass produced that it cannot be aesthetically pleasing. This is one of the reasons consumer goods sell.

Daniels was the last of his type. I know of no other living horologist who could build a watch the way he did. That is make and assemble every component by hand. Maybe you do?

Daniels represented horology in its truest incarnation. Artist and technician which is my point.

 

[ACSG]

Not to get in the way of the love-in, and they're not PPs or VCs, but I had some Ball watch photos I thought I'd share.

 

[in stitches]



Most of the watches lauded in this thread are mass produced, or contain mass produced parts. ETA movements for example.They are not exemplars of the finest craftsmanship and they are not art. Many are aesthetic pleasing though. It does not follow that because something is mass produced that it cannot be aesthetically pleasing. This is one of the reasons consumer goods sell.

Daniels was the last of his type. I know of no other living horologist who could build a watch the way he did. That is make and assemble every component by hand. Maybe you do?

Daniels represented horology in its truest incarnation. Artist and technician which is my point.

most watches purchased by human beings are mass produced. even in the entry level to mid range luxury watch level. i would never argue that most watches are exemplars of craftsmanship at its finest. but so what? people can enjoy thier JLCs and Rolexes and Panerais and Omegas and APs....... they make some outstanding and beautiful watches (maybe that is what you meant by jewelry), many of which are in fact very expertly made from a craftsmanships point of view as well.

people can laude what they like, and it seems a lot of people here, many of whom have significant watch knowledge, laude the watches that are posted here. do you have a problem with that? you can dislike these watches all you want, buy you dont need to, or have the right to imo, look down your nose on others for enjoying these timepieces. as well, art is the most subjective term ever, one mans art is another mans toilet paper, so who gets to decide what is art is ridiculous. art is art for whoever is calling it art at that moment in time.

sidebar - many of the ETA movements are exclusive to the brand buying them, and many are reworked heavily afterwards by the manufactures, and aside from that, ETA makes some fine movements. mass produced or not, they make some solid product.

i dont personally know of a specific watchmaker like GD, no. im not an expert on the individuals making watches and watch movements, but that does not mean his breed is dead. do you know every horologist that you can assert this claim so forcefully? there are hundreds and possibly thousands of people in watchmaking ateliers all over that are making watches, many of whom are brilliant in their own right. and besides, i dont think that making a watch entirely by hand is necessarily important. use of machines for many things has great advantages over being hand made.

losing GD was indeed a loss to watchmaking, but there are plenty of others out there keeping the flame lit. a doomsday attitude helps no one in my view.

 

[minervau]



Most of the watches lauded in this thread are mass produced, or contain mass produced parts. ETA movements for example.They are not exemplars of the finest craftsmanship and they are not art. Many are aesthetic pleasing though. It does not follow that because something is mass produced that it cannot be aesthetically pleasing. This is one of the reasons consumer goods sell.

Daniels was the last of his type. I know of no other living horologist who could build a watch the way he did. That is make and assemble every component by hand. Maybe you do?

Daniels represented horology in its truest incarnation. Artist and technician which is my point.

This is a little bizarre. What about Dufour's Simplicity line? What about Daniels's one-time disciple Roger Smith? They are one-man shops that do handmade watches.

 

[in stitches]

additionally, i do not think that by your definition GD represents, "horology in its truest incarnation. Artist and technician which is my point." horology in its history was very much about innovation and invention, not sticking to age old practices. it was about achieving new and exciting things that could not be accomplished with old techniques, not about doing exactly what the last guy did.

based on what i have read of the founding fathers, so to speak, of watch making, i am almost certain that the greats of the past centuries would embrace the new technology we have. not insist on using hand tools only. and i can only imagine what they could do with the things we have now.

and i do know for a fact, that there are many brilliant watch makers doing just that. combining hundreds of years of watchmaking know how, with the tools of today, and creating true masterpieces of innovation and invention. and that, imo, is the true incarnation of horology.

 

[rnguy001]

Completely agree, but there are some (such as a certain Watch Troll) that blindly believe that just because a watch is from Brand X, then it must be automatically better than every watch from Brand Y regardless of anything else.

Apples to Apples is the only really fair way to compare.

At least compare apples to apples. Is the master Control perpetual calendar better than the Portuguese perpetual calender, well I think so.

 

[DerekS]



As I said. The last of his kind.

I very much doubt that we will see skill of that level again. This thread confirms that, sadly.

whether you find current watchmakers offerings aesthetically pleasing or not, you cant deny the skill and innovation that is beingused by Urwerk, richard mille, etc. If you think decent watchmaking died with Daniels, then stick to iron lungs and your Omega. Frankly after reading the article and your sudden appearance in this thread looks to me like you had very little knowledge on watchmaking, read an article you found on google, and go around professing it as gospel. Which is laughable.

anyway. back to surfing Appreciation and forming my own opinions with real world hands on experience.

 

[in stitches]

I think that Ludwig Oechslin also belongs in the conversation of the worlds top horology innovators.

 

[no frills]

What did I miss? Lots of action in the thread. I was in a little city all day up in the northeast where they don't pronounce their "R's" when they say "pahk" or "Hahvahd," speaking to a bunch of bankers. Super cold and windy today.

Of course I wore the 3970J.





I quite like that at 36mm it does not stand out in a garish way. Here I am "in action" (pic taken by one of my workmates):




Cropped close-up is a little blurry but you can see that little beauty sitting on my wrist a bit better:




What can I say? I love the little bugger.

 

[DerekS]

^^no frills....wow. not much more can be said. speechless. such a special watch

 

[no frills]

^^no frills....wow. not much more can be said. speechless. such a special watch

Thanks, DerekS - and thanks to everyone above for their support and encouragement. Super happy to share pics of my newest baby with you all. Still catching up on the thread!

Stitchy, those are lovely pics of the Panerai! Don't think for one sec that I missed that post of yours. What camera do you use to take these great close-up shots?

 

[in stitches]



^^no frills....wow. not much more can be said. speechless. such a special watch

Stitchy, those are lovely pics of the Panerai!  Don't think for one sec that I missed that post of yours.  What camera do you use to take these great close-up shots?

thanks, buddy! its a new camera (for me) a canon 20d with an awesome macro lens. bought it from fellow SFer, dcg.

 

[Dino944]



Most of the watches lauded in this thread are mass produced, or contain mass produced parts. ETA movements for example.They are not exemplars of the finest craftsmanship and they are not art. Many are aesthetic pleasing though. It does not follow that because something is mass produced that it cannot be aesthetically pleasing. This is one of the reasons consumer goods sell.

Daniels was the last of his type. I know of no other living horologist who could build a watch the way he did. That is make and assemble every component by hand. Maybe you do?

Daniels represented horology in its truest incarnation. Artist and technician which is my point.

Interesting, but short sighted. Yes, most watches on this thread are mass produced. I'm not sure I've seen a single one off piece or completely hand made watch on this forum. However, this is a thread about watch appreciation. We all have different favorites, differing opinions, and maybe we come to completely different conclusions about a brand or watch, but we are here because we appreciate watches.

GD was certainly a great watchmaker. I greatly value a brand or watchmaker's contributions to the world of watches and even among companies that mass produce watches there have been great achievements such as designs that can be used for deep sea diving, designs that are wound by a 1 degree change in temperature, and designs that can keep track of time and celestial bodies.

There is a time and place for mass produced watches, diving, rugged sports, exploring dangerous environments or just because we like them. While I appreciate hand workmanship, there are tolerances achieved, new materials developed to make watch cases, and or movements and their components, and ideas brought to life as a result of watchmakers having new technology, computers, and machinery. While it is probably rare for a watchmaker to make a watch completely by hand, doing so probably results many limitations.

Best regards,
Dino

 

[dddrees]

There still are those which are painstakingly but lovingly finished by hand. I used to marvel at these examples. That is until tonight when I found horology had died.