By Ian Skellern
Have you ever given much thought as to what a watch really means to you? What is it about them that you love so much? What is it about them which enables you to rationalize the enormous expense . . . and even has you itching to spend more! Let's face it, paying more than a $100 for a watch, or having more than one, has already gone way past justifying a tool for telling the time. . . and to be honest, we are already surrounded by devices doing a much better job of that.
Is it a deep, genetic urge to collect and accumulate beautiful – and inherently useless – objects? Perhaps an inborn and (sometimes) unconscious desire to show off to the opposite sex: like a miniature, mechanical peacock’s tail? Is it a way to establish our rung on the ladder of our peers? Does it simply make us feel good in a way that a less animated piece of jewellery does not?
If we conducted a survey asking about the motivations behind watch collecting we would, most likely, find the results as varied as the collectors themselves. However, to my knowledge nobody has carried out that survey as yet, so that’s that topic dead in the water!
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To appreciate Vianney Halter's watches fully you should first appreciate Vianney Halter the man. |
As I do not know what it is about watches that fascinate you, I will tell you what it is about them that fascinate me. . . and the answer may surprise you because it is, “Not that much”.
OK, “Not that much” is a bit strong. “Not enough”, would be more accurate. I am not fascinated enough by watches to spend lots of money on them; I am not fascinated enough by watches to spend lots of time reading about them; I am not fascinated enough by watches to spend lots of time photographing them - and I am certainly not fascinated enough by watches to write about them for a living!
What does fascinate me though, is the story behind the watch; the watch itself is simply the (hopefully) happy ending and often the narrator of a great tale. Ask me to write 1000 words about a superb watch and my eyes will glaze over wondering how much technical detail to go into. Ask me to spend an afternoon with a watchmaker, listening to how he began his career, the highs and lows, his motivations and hearing him talking about his watch, and I will rattle off 3000 words in an article and argue with the editor that I cannot possibly prune it down.
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Mr. Daniel Roth's life passion for hand-crafted perfection find expressions in his Jean Daniel Nicolas tourbillon. |
Timepieces, or anything else for that matter, taken out of the context of how they came to be are – comparatively – valueless baubles. However, clothe them in an interesting history and the watch comes alive and tells us so much more than simply the time.
Don’t believe me? Perhaps you are somebody who can appreciate the intrinsic value in a watch just by examining the watch itself out of its broader context. I wonder. Imagine a rival to Abraham-Louis Breguet presenting an ETA powered Swatch at Louis XVI’s court; a watch that was incredibly accurate, reliable, waterproof and had a colourful design. Imagine how the court would have (rightly) exalted the watch and how that attitude would change on finding out that the timepieces were being produced by the millions and bought for peanuts by the hoi polloi. Does it make a difference to you if a watch is one of a small limited edition or perhaps even a unique piece? Out of two watches, would you prefer the one made by the hands of the master watchmaker himself or the other, equally as good, but crafted by his capable assistant?
If every manufacturer were producing movements finished to the level of Philippe Dufour, Greubel Forsey or Kari Voutilainen, would the reputations and craftsmanship of those masters command such premiums?
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Would the Peter Speake-Marin's Piccadilly mean as much with knowing of Peter's English roots?
(Peter pictured here with his wife Daniela) |
At a minimum, to appreciate a watch we need to know where it is positioned compared with its peers, and ideally, we would also like to know its historical context (no matter how recent). These are aspects the big brands’ marketing departments play with ceaselessly and this also helps explain the predilection for resurrecting old brands (for their stories) rather than building something new. It is far easier to embellish an old yarn than to invent a new one – just look at the endless Hollywood film remakes!
Because the story behind the watch adds so much value to it – both emotional and fiscal – we have to be extremely vigilant that the story we are told is based on fact and not fiction. We need to be confident that the message is the watch's own story and not some tall tale concocted by the marketing department. Watches with the least to say often end up saying the most in the press; after all, it is much easier to simply create a story than to create a superb watch capable of telling its own story.
In my view, independent watchmakers are not making the headlines these days simply because they are making extremely interesting watches. It is also because it so much easier to follow a story when told by an individual watchmaker than when told by many people, as is usual with a large brand. A simple tale is easily understood and appreciated, and so the watch is easily understood and appreciated.
While watchmaking has a fabulous history we should never forget that it is a living art and that watchmaking history is still being made today. I hope to see Luxury Insider help to chronicle, perpetuate, and disseminate the incredible diversity of interesting sagas behind the watches and make these beautiful objects come alive.
It’s not all about watches . . . it's about the stories they tell about the people behind them.  |