I got to sit down with Steve Hallock, the North American president of MB&F and driving force behind the Swiss watch brand’s western expansion. The watch he brought for us is the LM1 aka the Legacy Machine #1, a new piece we wrote about earlier last month and that is just now shipping to oligarchs and captains of industry around the world.

First, a bit about the piece:

In fidelity to high-quality 19th century pocket watches, LM1 features a sedately oscillating (2.5 Hz), large diameter balance with traditional Breguet overcoil suspended from majestic twin arches; its enigmatic regulating mechanism in full view, but without apparent connection to the movement. Both the hours AND the minutes on each of the two sub dials can be set completely independently of each other – dual time zone complications usually do not allow independent adjustment of the minutes – their domed dials further reinforcing visual references to the golden age of watchmaking (1780-1850). Looking like a miniature sextant, a world-first vertical power reserve indicator keeps track of available power while providing a visual three-dimensional counterpoint to the graceful arches supporting the balance.

The LM1 is striking in real life. The dual dials are hand-enameled and the beautiful balance wheel hanging in the middle of the face creates a sort of clever, steampunkish beating heart that brings the whole piece together. How much is this thing? About $90,000, on a good day, although I’m sure Steve can get us all discounts.

The reclusive horologist George Daniels, famous for his work on Breguet and his important co-axial escapement, died last Friday at his home in the Isle of Man. Daniels was 85.

The horologist was one of the first to catalog some of the best known watches in the world, traveling through Europe to examine rare and odd pieces from his favorite manufacturer, Abraham-Louis Breguet, and great watches from manufacturers like Patek Philippe. He was also an avid motorist and noted trickster, pretending to misuse some rare watches while he was photographing, nearly driving their curator to apoplexy.

Daniels was born in 1926 and spent his formative years at the mercy of his drunk carpenter father in North London. His only creative outlet came when he found a watch on the sidewalk and began to tease out its construction.

“It was like seeing the centre of the universe,” he said in the Independent. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do; I wanted to spend the rest of my time with watches.”

After escaping from home into the Army, he spent his spare time fixing soldier’s watches for pocket money and then became a watchseller and repairer. He began to design his own watch movements and his Daniels originals are still sought after in horological circles. He invented the co-axial escapement, now used by Omega in their latest Speedmaster chronographs. He retired to the Isle of Man where he spent his years tinkering and driving his many cars.

It’s rare to find genius in the wild and George Daniels was an exemplar of one man’s dedication to a seemingly dying art.

I’ll be presenting at Nerdnite on October 14. Nerdnite is a great gathering of geeks at a great spot in DUMBO in Brooklyn where you can learn all sorts of great stuff. I’ll be talking about watches. Come on out!

*Presentation #3
From Sausages To Swiss Watches: How The Quest For Barbecue Created Western Civilization (The Abridged Version)
by John Biggs

Description: What does savory slow cooked meat have to do with French monks, a doomed Queen, Rolex, and the Enigma machine? We’re going to explore the connections between early cooks and modern timekeeping technologies that keep us on time and connected.

Bio: John Biggs is a tech writer and bon vivant with a love of old watches. He writes for the New York Times, CrunchGear, and is working on a book about Breguet and the French Revolution.

As you’ll recall, I’m a big watch fan and a bigger MB&F fan although I am quite pleased I don’t own one of these $77,000+ monstrosities. These watches are for men who are living the yachting life while injecting human growth hormone taken from the pituitary glands of the recently dead and drinking rum out of human skulls, not for us mere mortals.

Now, however, there’s something that’s a little more approachable. The Legacy Machine is a “standard-looking” watch with a few tricks up its sleeve. Inspired by turn of the century design and machinery, it’s the closest to a steampunk that I think you’ll see MB&F making. I has two independent timezones, a vertical power reserve (that little thinger that sticks up at what would be six o’clock) and a special curved crystal.

From the PR:

In fidelity to high-quality 19th century pocket watches, LM1 features a sedately oscillating (2.5 Hz), large diameter balance with traditional Breguet overcoil suspended from majestic twin arches; its enigmatic regulating mechanism in full view, but without apparent connection to the movement. Both the hours AND the minutes on each of the two sub dials can be set completely independently of each other – dual time zone complications usually do not allow independent adjustment of the minutes – their domed dials further reinforcing visual references to the golden age of watchmaking (1780-1850). Looking like a miniature sextant, a world-first vertical power reserve indicator keeps track of available power while providing a visual three-dimensional counterpoint to the graceful arches supporting the balance.

How much is the pleasure of this thing’s company? About $92,000 on a good day, which prices it far out the reach of non-Warlocks. This is still a prototype but it should be released some time this year.

If you want to “make” your own watch can buy a case/movement/hands then over time put them together. This is not a trivial task and has a lot of geek cred associated with it (and at the end of it you have a mechanical watch).

However, what would it mean to *make* a watch from scratch with no off the shelf components? Just think about it for a minute. You would have to buy tools and machinery, learn the techniques to use them, understand in a deep and significant way the workings of a mechanical watch, design a movement, build each individual movement component by hand, machine the case by hand , design and turn the dial, machine the hands then assemble and test the watch.  What would that actually involve? What skills would you have to develop and how long would it take you to get to the point you could build something that actually worked, let alone something someone would be willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for?

An Englishman called George Daniels did just this, and in a series of videos on the brilliant Web Of Stories he talks about his life and his work.  If like me you enjoy octogenarian horologists in cardigans talking at great lengths about lathes this is right up your street!

Video: George Daniels first thinks about making a watch.. 

Details after the break….

Daniels decided he wanted to make watches for a living at an early age and after leaving the Army bought the tools and taught himself the techniques to  become one of the few individuals in the world capable of making an entire watch (in a phrase he would almost certainly hate) “soup to nuts”.

Not content with doing this he then beavered away figuring out a better way to regulate the beating heart of a watch via its escapement, eventually coming up with the “co-axial” over the traditional “level” method. Bear in mind he chose to do all this when the mechanical watch industry was manning it’s gates against the barbarian quartz hoards.

Eventually he sold his method to Omega, which given its Swatch/ETA linage needed a technical differentiator to allow it to compete with “in house” movement brands. By adding this escapement, which I am sure gives some technical advantage it allows Omega to pitch their movements to the general, non horologically inclined public as excusive as opposed  to the “Ébauche ” ETA options for non Swatch companies.

Daniels has personally made on average one watch per year during his life. Heavily influenced by vintage Breguet they are simple, classical and heroically rare (i.e even if you want to buy one you probably can’t). However if you do want to get “that Daniels look” on a budget you could drop £142,000 (plus sales tax!) on an anniversary celebration watch by Roger Smith:  http://www.danielslondon.com/anniversary/

Mr Daniels is a generally fascinating character with an astonishing life story and embodies the grumpy spirit of one of my favourite English words; curmudgeon. For instance despite his obvious love of Breguet and spending untold hours restoring racing Bentleys he takes a dim view of the “vintage” watch industry:

“It seems not to matter to some people that they can go to a Sotheby’s auction and buy a second-hand Rolex for £15,000 when up the road there’s a shop that sells new   Rolexes for a fraction of the one they have just paid a fortune for.”

It may be best no one has told George what a nicely worn 5510 with good provenance is going for nowadays.

In a world where AP release 15 new  versions of the Royal Oak every month, each slightly bigger than the last and in increasingly demented colours (to better match VJ Singh’s latest sweatshirt) I cannot imagine anyone will have the time, inclination or market to do what George Daniels did with his life. So in tribute settle down with a nice cup of tea and listen to a  gravelly voiced  horologist talk about escapements for an hour and a half. Bliss….

http://www.webofstories.com/play/10706?o=MS

see also…

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/father-time-why-george-daniels-is-the-worldrsquos-best-horologist-2067792.html

http://www.danielslondon.com/

http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/

I just noticed that my profile has appeared in the NAWCC Bulletin and I thought I’d leave a note here. I’ve been busy writing a book on Breguet and so have had no time to update this blog but you can see who I am and what I do on this site, on my personal site, and you can see my “social media” life here. My day job is writing for CrunchGear.com.

Here is my position statement from the Forums I posted a while ago:

Hello, fellow NAWCC members.

I’m a long-time horology fan and a writer with a fascination with wristwatches and pocket watches. I’ve run a watch blog, WristWatchReview.com, since 2004 and have written about horology for multiple magazines and newspapers including Watch Journal and the New York Times. I’m also working on a book on the life of Breguet to be published in 2011. I also run a watch podcast with another watch blogger that can be found at HourTimeShow.com

My goal has been to bring watchmaking and watch collecting to a new audience and to express the history and wonder of watchmaking to consumers convinced that all that matters is the brand name slapped across the face.

I joined the NAWCC after researching at the headquarters library in Pennsylvania and attending my first Mart. Thanks to the NAWCC Museum and Library I’ve discovered many new things related to watches and watchmaking and I’ve become more enthusiastic about the art and science of timepieces.

What are my goals for the association if I’m elected? To increase awareness of the associations classes, seminars, and resources and to attempt group outreach to the various online sites and forums to encourage growth in membership. The NAWCC is a learning organization and the various workshops should inspire and instruct a new generation in the horological arts.

I am fairly new to the organization but I respect its mission and resources and see them as an excellent opportunity to groom a new generation of watchmaking enthusiasts. My efforts will be focused on improving our Internet presence and leveraging various techniques to spread the word about the organization. Why is this important? Because in quick poll of some of the more prominent watch bloggers I know the NAWCC was recognized once. For such a prominent and valuable organization, we are sadly underrepresented in the watch collecting world at large.

Thank you and I would sincerely appreciate your vote.

Again, thanks for visiting and hope to speak to you at a Mart or Meeting soon.

Bruguet announced their latest addition to the Marine line, the Royale 2009. Based on an original design from 1815, the Royale is a tourbillon equipped chronograph.

Intended as a dive watch, the Royale has an alarm, a one-way rotating bezel, and the standard luminous markers that most diver style watches use. The standard model has an 18k rose gold case with a black rhodium finish. The movement is a self-winding mechanical, with an 18k gold engine tuned rotor. Expect to pay out $42,000 for this timepiece from your favorite jeweler.

What Russian economy collapse? Apparently, despite the fact the people in Russia are starving and with out heat during the winters, government officials still find the funds to buy the little things that make life easier. Like $240,000 Patek Phillipe wristwatches. Everyone snickered a little bit over the Jorg Gray worn by President Obama, but these Russians really know their time pieces.

A russian newspaper (now missing, whereabouts unknown) started to notice a trend in the pictures of their elected officials. They were all wearing some very expensive watches. The gentleman in the picture at the top of this article is wearing a Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillion, worth approximately $425,000 for example. There’s also quite a few Breguet, Rolex, and even a Vacheron Constantin making an appearance. It’s kind of disturbing when you take a look at them all.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Cali or NYC you can see the reborn Marie-Antoinette (Breguet’s no 1160) on October 14 (in Cali) and October 19 (in NYC). Here are some specifics.

Breguet Boutique
280 No. Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
P: 310 860 9911
Viewing Dates and Hours:
14 October 2009 (10-2 pm)
15 & 16 October 2009 (10-6 pm)

The Breguet Boutique
779 Madison Avenue
New York, NY10065
P: 212 288 4014
Viewing Dates and Hours:
19 October 2009 (2-6 pm)
20 & 21 October 2009 (10-6 pm)

Before the Internet, when a gentleman wanted to polish the brass knobs of his dear mum’s armoire he would depend on his internal spank bank which, potentially, included nudes he had seen in postcards and museums as well as racy lines about breasts he may have read in the Bible. However, barring a visit to the local establishment of vice, there was little way to view two people giving it the old Charles and Diana, if you catch my meaning.

Thus they had to resort to horological erotic automata. These were watch movements featuring two or more figures giving each other a good, filling Hardee’s breakfast either on command or at a set time. These things appear in all sorts of watches including clocks, pocket-watches, and even modern wristwatches.

Most of these automata are hidden behind little flaps, thereby allowing the gentleman to consult his watch of an evening and, when he is ready to ride the Peace Train to Gravy Town he can flip open the watch and trim his rose bush, if you catch my meaning.

These are not be confused with the 1970s digital models made famous by Willem Defoe in Autofocus. These are much classier, and feature scenes such as two monks visiting the velvet underground of a milkmaid as well as a piece by Breguet that features a man giving it the old Hoosier try in a more dignified manner, less outdoorsy manner.

I encourage you to head over to Watchismo to see them all but I’ve taken the liberty of removing the kitten on the Breguet, just for a taste of the magic that awaits.

You can also buy this sort of thing on eBay if you’re so inclined.