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Greubel Forsey plans to nearly triple the size of its manufacturing facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds with an investment of 20 million Swiss francs. Set to be completed by 2026, the expansion is aimed at strengthening the watchmaker’s research and development, heighten its watchmaking autonomy and gradually increase production capacity.

Expanding from 2,000 square meters to 5,460 square meters, Greubel Forsey intends to build a new building that will encompass the existing structure (which dates from 2009) while retaining the architectural features specific to this site. Work is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2024, marking the brand’s 20th anniversary.

The underground level of the new facility will include storage areas and an employee wellness room, while the ground floor will house production, logistics, quality control and R&D areas. The upper floors will be dedicated to assembly, hand finishing, clean rooms, laboratories, product development with research and design offices, as well as after-sales service, administration and other related areas.

The adjacent 17th-century farmhouse, a symbol of Greubel Forsey’s traditional roots, will be transformed into a VIP area, a lounge, a museum and a restoration workshop.

The Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe.

“This new facility will enable us to integrate new skill sets, create new workshops – especially in R&D Innovation – and push the boundaries of hand finishing excellence with a team dedicated solely to hand finishing R&D,” says Greubel Forsey CEO Antonio Calce. He adds that a number of workshops will be set up, including one dedicated solely to mastering the regulating organ (balance spring and balance wheel) and another to making complex cases.

Greubel Forsey’s 30˚ inclined balance wheel, seemingly suspended in mid-air, is held by a beautiful flat black polished and barrel polished steel balance wheel bridge on polished steel pillars.

Greubel Forsey reports that in 2022 it manufactured 260 timepieces, all of which were delivered to collectors and enthusiasts. Look to the watchmaker launching new timepieces and an 8th Fundamental Invention this year.

Source: Greubel Forsey 

Junghans updates its aviation watch collection with two contemporary variations of the Meister Pilot Chronoscope plus the Meister Pilot Automatic Navy Blue, a new three-hand-with-date model.

The new Junghans Meister Pilot Chronoscope Desert.

The two new Chronoscope models watches retain the existing Meister Pilot case size (43.3mm) and bicompax chronograph design (small second at 3 o’clock, 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock) but sport a slightly larger Arabic numeral set, a vintage Junghans logo and a cleaner dial that dispenses with the inner five-minutes track found on the current Meister Pilot models.

The new Junghans Meister Pilot Chronoscope Navy Blue.

Junghans also retains one of the characteristic steel case features of Meister Pilot collection: the twelve concave case recesses that are meant to allow for more precise bezel adjustments.

Caseback view of the Meister Pilot Chronoscope Navy Blue.

One of the two new watches,  the Meister Pilot Chronoscope Navy Blue , pays homage to the famed North American Curtiss P-40 while the other, the Meister Pilot Chronoscope Desert, offers a sand-colored dial and a brown-black DLC-coated steel case.

Junghans is offering the Meister Pilot Chronoscope Navy Blue as a limited edition of 300 watches, each boasting a black DLC-coated steel case.

The new Junghans Meister Pilot Automatic Navy Blue.

No-Chrono

The new Meister Pilot Automatic Navy Blue offers the same pilot style but without the chronograph and with a date. 

Junghans has added a date disc made to resemble a cockpit display, complete with red accents and a contrasting small seconds hand. Instead of a the chronograph caliber found in the Chronoscopes, the Meister Pilot Automatic Navy Blue is powered by the ETA-based Caliber J880.1.6.

Junghans has a long history making aviation timers, starting in the 1930s when the German-based company supplied onboard clocks for numerous aircraft. In the 1950s, Junghans was awarded a contract for the newly established German Air force and subsequently developed the J88 intermediate-wheel chronograph.

Prices: 1,995 euros (Meister Pilot Automatic) and 2,590 euros (both new Meister Pilot Chronoscope models). 

 

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) teams with Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo to auction watches, clocks and books to raise funds for the Association’s horological education programs.

Scheduled from July 6 to July 11, the “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction”, will be live online. Interested buyers can see the timepieces in person by appointment by contacting Phillips at [email protected]. 

The HSNY and Phillips are conducting the auction with No Reserve policy meant to encourage auction-goers to bid generously.

Lot items from Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction include:

  • LOT 1 — F.P.Journe Signed Books. A collection of six new books on independent watchmaking, all signed by François-Paul Journe.
  • LOT 2 — H. Moser & Cie. “Streamliner” Wall Clock. A new aluminum quartz “Streamliner” wall clock.
  • LOT 3 — Oris: Big Crown Calibre 473. A new stainless steel wristwatch with blue lacquer dial, date, five-day power reserve, warranty and presentation box.
  •  
  • LOT 4 — NOMOS Glashütte: Tangomat GMT Plus Glass Back. A new stainless steel world time wristwatch with GMT indicator, date, warranty card, setting pin and presentation box.
  • LOT 5 — Jaeger-LeCoultre: Reverso Classic Medium Thin. A new stainless steel reversible wristwatch with warranty and presentation box, and free personalization on the reverse side of the case through Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Engraving Services.
  • LOT 6 — Laurent Ferrier: Bridge One. A new stainless steel rectangular-shaped wristwatch with certificate and presentation box.

“We are honored and delighted to once again support HSNY’s efforts that continue to advance watchmaking science and culture in the United States,” says Paul Boutros, Phillips’ Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas. “One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of each watch, including Phillips’ buyers’ premium, will benefit HSNY’s educational programs, scholarships, and watchmaking school awards.”

Wempe celebrates its long-time partnership with Nomos Glashütte by adding a special edition of the Nomos Tangente Neomatik 41 Update to the German-based retailer’s Signature Collection of limited editions.

The new Nomos Tangente Neomatik 41 Update Signature Collection Wempe.

This special version of the 40.5-mm steel watch features an ice blue dial,  Arabic numerals, hour markers, and a navy blue date disk to match blued hours, minutes, and separate small seconds hands.

Those familiar with the Nomos Tangente Neomatik 41 Update might be aware of its unusual date display. Nomos displays the date around the perimeter of the dial using two markers that shift each day to frame the current date numeral.

This patented display is underscored by a second patented mechanism that allows the date to be corrected both forward and backward. While not a new feature in the watch world, its use in such a thin caliber is unique.

Nomos added this unique date display to the Tangente Neomatik in 2018, when the watch also received several updates that included regulation of the movement in six positions instead of the usual five, new decorative polishes, blued screws, and gold-plated engraving on the rotor.

Wempe will make the Tangente Neomatik 41 Update – Signature Collection, as a 200-piece limited edition, a fact that is engraved on the case back. 

Wempe offers the watch with a dark blue textile strap with pin buckle. And even though the watch is a special, limited edition of the Tangente neomatik 41 Update, Wempe has priced it in line with ongoing model in the Nomos collection: $4,100.

 

Specifications: Wempe Signature Collection x Nomos Glashütte Tangente Neomatik 41 Update – Signature Collection 

(200-piece limited edition)

Movement: Manufacture Caliber DUW 6101, mechanical, double-sided automatic winding with NOMOS-Swing-System, quick-set date forward and backward, hacking seconds, 21,600 vph, 42-hour power reserve. 

Dial: Ice blue with Arabic numerals and date disk in ultra-navy blue, blued hands. Displays: hours, minutes, seconds, date around dial periphery. 

Case: 40.5 mm by 7.8mm steel, sapphire crystal, anti-reflective non-screw-down crown, quick-set date forward and backward via three crown positions, water resistant to 50 meters, sapphire crystal case back with engraving “Tangente Limited Edition Wempe Signature Collection – One of 200.”

Strap: Dark blue textile with pin buckle.

Price: $4,100.

The new exhibit “Pocket Genius: The Watch Collection of Alex Ku at the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) headquarters in New York explores the evolution of timepieces through an extensive collection of pocket watches. 

On view from June through December 2023, the exhibit features more than fifty time-only pocket watches, inventive escapements, gem-encrusted cases and highly complicated pieces. 

The exhibit, with watches on loan from California-based watch aficionado Alex Ku, highlights timepieces dating from the 1690s to the 1990s, examining the role that watches have played in society, from their use in navigation and timekeeping to their use as status symbols and works of art.

From the exhibit, a George Graham work, London, c. 1740, No. 6091, key-wind movement with brass-wheel cylinder escapement and fusee, engraved pierced dial with rotating hour disk and single stationary hand, 45mm.

Highlights include a dumb quarter-repeating jump-hour pocket watch by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a co-axial escapement by Charles Fasoldt, complicated timepieces like Louis Chanson’s skeletonized perpetual calendar with a lunar indicator, and enameled masterpieces by Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co.

A 55mm pocket watch made by Jean -Antoine Lepine, c. 1780, 18K gold case, quarter-dumb-repeating Lépine-caliber movement with wolf tooth wheel train and a lateral lever escapement.

The exhibit is currently on display at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library, and is divided into four sections: “Historical Watchmakers,” “Escapements,” “Complications” and “Aesthetics.” In addition, the HSNY has added a ‘bonus’ display: a George Daniels co-axial escapement model, on loan from British independent watchmaker and Daniels protegee Roger W. Smith OBE.

“To carry a pocket watch crafted by a historical master watchmaker is to feel that you hold a piece of horological history in your hand,” says Ku. “For many pieces in my collection, the mission to discover their stories really began only after acquiring them. I’m proud to share pieces from my collection for all to view and learn from, as I have. 

HSNY is offering a a fully illustrated catalog for the collection that includes macro photography by Atom Moore and Collector Notes from Ku. The catalog is available for purchase in-person and online. Proceeds from the sales go towards meeting HSNY’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology. 

Pocket Genius is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free. HSNY is located at 20 West 44th Street, Suite 501, New York, NY 10036.