luxury watches
Exclusive Interview with Jean-Marie Schaller – CEO of Louis Moinet
Reading Time: 10 minutesThe spirit of a luxury house is often represented by the personality and the charisma of its leader. Louis Moinet’s CEO Jean-Marie Schaller translates this idea. LuxuryActivist had the opportunity and privilege to meet Mr Schaller in the heart of Baselworld effervescence. We wanted to know more about him and this magnificent watch brand. Louis Moinet was one of the greatest watchmakers ever – his inventiveness, passion and willingness to pass on his wisdom mean his contribution to horology is immeasurable. His spirit lives on thanks to Jean-Marie Schaller who, as founder and creative director of the Louis Moinet brand, revived the prestigious name of the inspirational master watchmaker. Louis Moinet pursuits its path of greatness and loyal to the spirit of Mr Moinet, the Swiss brand perpetuates the legacy of exceptional timepieces. LuxuryActivist wanted to meet Mr Schaller for an exclusive interview that you can read here: LuxuryActivist (LA): How did you get…
SIHH 2017: Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronometre – “Simplexity” at its best.
Reading Time: 6 minutesWith the 27th Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie – 2017 SIHH, opening we can see amazing new creations that will rhythm the year of all watch passionate people. One timepiece to highlight is the new Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronometre. Simple and complex, a true beauty for the eyes. For other 2017 launches you can read our previous article here. Parmigiani Fleurier – It is all about the love of watchmaking Parmigiani is a contemporary story of watchmaking. One that deserves to be told as only a few watchmakers dared to launch a new brand, in the middle of the Quartz crisis. In 1974, Michel Parmigiani had only recently graduated when the watchmaking industry was confronted with an unprecedented crisis caused by the massive influx of quartz movements from Asia. Within a decade, what would later be referred to as “the Quartz Crisis” saw the loss of 90,000 jobs and affected whole…
Luxury Watch Brands and Investing in Time
Reading Time: 6 minutesBy looking at a gentleman’s watch, you can tell a lot about him before he opens his mouth. Not only are luxury watches expensive, they require care and attention throughout their years. There are a number of reasons why you should invest in a high class watch. Status is one of the most obvious. Many believe that business men and woman can be judged on wealth and status based on their choice of watch. Not only are watches easily seen, but they are a display of a person’s style and economic status. Depending on the height of your success, it is often expected that a trustworthy businessman/woman invests in a unique timepiece that explicitly displays their wealth and value within their business. Wearing your Wealth In most cases, it is only you and your banker that will see the money that you have in your account. Depending on your geographical location, if…
Manufacture Royale: A Ray of Light in Swiss Watchmaking.
Reading Time: 5 minutesSometimes we feel that we have seen it all, especially in Watchmaking. Well you are wrong. In Switzerland you can discover true marvels, small treasures in the serious business of Watchmaking. When it comes to Luxury watches, Manufacture Royale is like a ray of light providing bright, luxurious watches aligned with a strong heritage. Thank you very much Mr Voltaire! It was all about Voltaire and his free spirit François-Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire (his writer name), was a French writer, historian and famous philosopher of the 18th century. He believed in freedom of religion, freedom of speech and separation of church and state. Definitely not an easy position to maintain, especially in France. Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was…
Moon phases in watch-making: measuring life with time.
Reading Time: 8 minutesWatchmaking is a beautiful blend of technical mastery and poetry. Watchmakers are often considered as artists and from their ingenuity comes marvelous creations that keep your time. Some of the watches can do much more. What we usually call complications, bring an added value to the measure of time. This month, our watch blog decided to talk about a very interesting and one of the oldest complications in watch-making: the Moon Phases. Moon Phases and the measurement of life The lunar phase or phase of the moon is the shape of the illuminated (sunlit) portion of the Moon as seen by an observer on Earth. The lunar phases change cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth. The Moon’s rotation is tidally locked by the Earth’s gravity, therefore the same lunar surface always faces Earth. This face…
Sapphire glass, not jewelry but high-tech.
Reading Time: 5 minutesIt is not the first time we hear that a timepiece has a sapphire glass. Some people think it is made of real sapphire, others do not really know. Here is finally the explanation you were waiting for. There is Sapphire and Sapphire glass Sapphire is commonly the name given to the precious gemstone variety from the mineral called Corundum (an aluminium oxide). Most of the time it is blue because of the presence of iron and titanium but color car be variable depending on other complementary mineral. Because of its hardness, natural Sapphires can be used in many other domains than jewelry. We can find Sapphires in optical components as well in certain wristwatches movement bearings. In luxury watch-making, the watch glass is always what we call a “Sapphire glass”. Does it means that we tool a real big natural Sapphire and cut a little thin piece on it?…
C.O.S.C. – The ultimate precision in watch-making
Reading Time: 4 minutesCOSC is Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland. The COSC was founded by five watchmaking cantons of Switzerland: Bern, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Solothurn and Vaud, together with the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS). It encompasses the laboratories/observatories that had been created independently of each other from the late 19th century. It is a non-profit organization and tends to certify Swiss-made movements. There are today 3 main laboratories in Switzerland: Biel, Le Locle and Saint-Imier. The first one is almost dedicated to Rolex watches based on the amount of annual certification requests. Despite the fact that not all Rolex movements are chronometers, every single movement get a COSC certification. Some brands also tend to certify all movements. Breitling declared that all movements are COSC certified and Omega also test ruffly…
Single-hand watches, less is more.
Reading Time: 7 minutesIn Watchmaking, time is a serious matter. Hours, minutes and seconds are the pulse of a watch heartbeat. And time never stop. Despite the fact this might sound incredibly strict, some watchmakers brought a different way to measure time thanks to single-handed watches. Single… What? A watch hands are the reason why we look to our watch In watchmaking one key component are the hands of a watch. Without them you cannot see time. They have the function of transmitting the time indication from the movement to the dial in which you have the time marks. Or then it means you have a digital display. And do you know why they turn right around the dial (and not left)? This is because of the first solar clocks. The shadow projected on the clock dial would follow the sun position and so would turn around to the right side. Probably by…
Slim d’Hermès Manufacture 2016, purity in motion.
Reading Time: 5 minutesA few weeks before Baselworld 2016 to start, Hermès revealed the Slim d’Hermès Manufacture 2016 collection. A perfect example of what we could call “less is more”. Full review here.
Friday Chronicle #13: Everybody is launching a smartwatch, so it is not cool anymore!
Reading Time: 5 minutesSince Apple announced its Apple Watch, there was an acceleration in the smartwatches market. While Samsung, Peeble and Motorola were driving the way, there was little incidence in terms of watch-making trends. Since Apple brought to live its project, all watch brands are going crazy about the theme of digital watches. During the SIHH and soon at BASELWORLD, we will see dozens of brands launching their smartwatch. From Montblanc, to Kenneth Cole, Frédéric Constant, Tag Heuer, Swatch or Vector… all launching their connected watch. Well it is not that cool anymore. Apple Watch, the hurricaine in the tech world In the world where wearables are multiplying like flies, is a smartwatch still something cool to do? My feeling is that Apple brought a certain doubt in the minds of watchmakers in terms of competition and success. Based on their reputation in how they enter the market place (remember their mobile…
Vacheron Constantin opens its first store in Japan.
Reading Time: 4 minutesSwiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin opens its first store in Tokyo. The Swiss company picked up one of the most prestigious address right in the middle of Ginza district – Chuo Street. Vacheron Constantin is opening its first ever store in Japan. Until now the Swiss watch-maker had only point of sales via its commercial partners. It is about 24 point of sales around the country, from Tokyo to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Aichi, Osaka or Kanagawa among others. In Tokyo several distributors were keeping the brand presence in high-standards, from sales to Service centers. By opening a owned-store in the heart of the luxury area in Tokyo, Vacheron Constantin reinforce its aim to take good care of the Japanese market. This presence will also highlight the importance of Japanese customers as well as commercial partners. It is a great investment for the Swiss brand and their determination places their ambition quite high….
Apple Watch, who is going to lose the battle?
Reading Time: 5 minutesThis week Apple is boosting the buzz around the iWatch. Switzerland is looking into this launch with a very close eye. The entire Swiss watch-making industry wonders what and how Apple is tackling the wearable market. When the Timepiece industry lost 2/3 of its employees after the “Quartz crisis” end of the 70’s, it is a nightmare that nobody wants to revive again. The smart-watch segment is not new, but the speed in which several high-tech brands are moving forward now, let Swiss Watch-makers a little concerned. For the moment, Samsung, Peeble, Motorola and others Nike or Suunto, never succeeded to build a convenient watch. All of them were just an electronic device you would use on your wrist during certain occasions in certain contexts. Now, all eyes are turned to Apple. Will they succeed where everybody failed? The Apple Watch will not replace your beautiful watch Why do we…
Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate, essential luxury in 3.37mm.
Reading Time: 3 minutesBlancpain is one of the golden names of Swiss Watch-making. Over the years, their complete mastery of the creation and production control provided to the brand a comfortable freedom of creation. One of the fruits of this freedom was the creation of an ultra-slim mechanism, 3.37mm only. You can find it in the Villeret Ultra-plate. Villeret, a piece of history and a great watch collection Villeret is the name of Blancpain home-town. Placed in the middle of Joux valley, the watchmakers valley, Villeret developed partially thanks to Blancpain and the complementary activities. Founded in 1735 by Jean-Jacques Blancpain, Blancpain is the oldest Swiss Watch brand. Several generations of the Blancpain family successfully established the brand throught time until 1932, where the Blancpain lignee stopped with Frédéric-Emile Blancpain death. Employees of the company proudly took over until they sold the brand to Jean-Claude Biever and Jacques Piguet in 1983. It is…
Top 5 Dive watches you need to know
Reading Time: 2 minutesThere are situations like when you dive in the ocean where you need a reliable watch. Your life might depend on it. Discover our selection of best Dive watches. You might need one of these soon. A Dive watch is a perfect companion for adventure When you own a watch, it becomes your best companion at all moments. Sometimes the watch is there during a hard day work in which every second counts. Or during an adventure while diving in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And if you chose well, it can be the same watch. The first timepieces used underwater were counted in the 17th century already. Divers would find a way to protect their pocket watches in ways that imagination would be challenged. In the 19th century, several “Explorer watches” were made. All represented full customized watches for the specific needs of their owner. Early in the…
Never Apologize For Owning A Luxury Watch
Reading Time: 4 minutesIt’s your money–do what you want with it! In the next few paragraphs, I am going to present a few good reasons why you should never apologize for owning a luxury watch. But this is probably the best one: It’s your money. You acquired it legally (I hope). You have to answer to no one for how you spend it. It brought you satisfaction for your own reasons. In fact your reasons need not be good ones. There are no bad reasons for owning a luxury item. Apology is from a Greek word meaning defense. You don’t need a reason. You don’t have to defend yourself. It’s your money. No one has a right to challenge what you do with it. Philosophically speaking, there is no better way to spend your money. Consider my generalized definition of luxury: It is a good or service with a cost or value above…