Only Watchs, live report, first pics and comments!!
Alex&Marco have made for us a preview report of the Only Watch auction of the Foundation Duchenne for childhood muscular disease.
Alex, Luc PETTAVINO of the Foudation, David Mouquet (Deluxe Society) and Marco today.
The conventional way, a simple revamp of existing cases/complications, with new dial colors, or a new material for the case.
And the crazy way, those who completely play by the rules of “Only Watch”, new complications, new cases, or even totally new watches.
On this first presentation, we will focus on the second category, as a tribute to the most determined and devoted watchmakers of this charity auction.
As usual, the most beautiful timepiece of the event is a De Bethune, a special edition of the DB25 “Ciel Etoile”. Zanetta&Flageollet deeply modified this original model, creating a totally new complication especially for “Only Watch 2011”
The guichet of hour/minute is open between 5 and 7 o’clock, the hours and minutes are displayed by two rotating rings made of engraved Sterling silver. My only regret is that the case is made of white gold: I prefer the spirit and the lightness of the titanium usually utilized in De Bethune watches.
Like the original DB25 "Ciel étoilé", the dial is made of titanium, its blue color obtained by heating the metal to 700°C in a special oven. It is dotted with diamonds and white gold to represent stars (the choice of material depending upon their size).
It is a map of the sky, on one particular night and location. In this model, dedicated to the rise of Monaco, the dial depicts the celestial vault from the 8th of January 1297, the night François Grimaldi took the “Rock”.
Another big surprise by a small brand! De Witt presents a very attractive reversible watch.
The movement seems to be an “Agenhor double complication plate”: the watch features no less than 4 retrograde hands, two for each side, tourbillon and chronograph.
The movable case is mounted in a X-shaped cage, the overall size of the watch is 49mm; It is quite moderate given the complexity of the piece.
Inevitably it calls to mind “The X-Men”, another reference to SF, as mentioned in my previous article regarding De Witt after BaselWorld...
https://blog.watchonista.com/blog/only-watch-first-lives-pics-comments-and-report
I'm very impressed with this watch, the “two-in one” concept, the reference to The X-men, and above all the generosity of De Witt, a small brand that doesn't hesitate to invest into a new complication for a charity auction.
Quite logically, Tag Heuer is overly active for the event: the brand is “at home” in the principality, through its involvement with the Grand Prix de Monaco (partnership with Lewis Hamilton - see WatchOblog).
But even more interesting to a watch geek, they present a totally new version of the Mikrograph (1/100 of second), based on the “ Monaco”, with a case design between the classic “Monaco” and the “V4”, and a very technical dial, with some layered effect.
With the technical and “3D” dial and the angular case, the design is totally different from the the previous Mikrograph, which is circular and features a very simple dial.
The very Glam-Sport press release of Tag: https://blog.watchonista.com/blog/press-releaseglam-sport-tag-monaco
The piece that presents the biggest involvement from its maker is undoubtedly the Bréguet "Only Watch - Castle in the Sky". It is a musical watch, which can play the "Castle in the Sky" melody as a chime or on demand.
I presume (official information is really sparse on this topic), that it is the main melody from the Manga’s sound track : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFHabRB6vuM&feature=related
This watch also features a visual complication, the hand of a child touches the hand of an adult on the rehaut.
I often draw a parallel between the horological aesthetics and those of comics and mangas. On this timepiece, the inspiration purposefully comes from the universe of Manga.
Bréguet adapted this classic animation by Miyasaki as a tribute from childhood to the foundation Duchene; This organisation will receive the funds collected throughout the auction to finance the research for the fight against muscular dystrophy.
That’s the kind of watchmaking I expect for such an event.
I'm breaking my own rules with the last watch in this preview. But it's an auction, and this timepiece is the star of the event: the “Patek minute repeater 3939” with tourbillon.
The most exceptional complication of this watch, is the...
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Stainless Steel case!
For lovers of minutes repeater, the SS is the best metal in terms of acoustics for this kind of mechanism. Even rarer, because Patek always uses precious metals to encase its great complications; This model is really The Holy Grail in terms of rarity.
And after the crazy prices reached at Christie's on vintage Patek, no doubt the final bid on this exceptional piece will go through the roof.
The WatchO team make a join venture with Worldtempus, David, Louis Nardin and Alex:
The real interrogation is, what rolls choose?
To be continued