MMXVIII

THE GENEVA DEBUT ISSUE

PG 48

2019 DEBUTS DIRECT FROM GENEVA

GERALD GENTA & BULGARI

FRANCK MULLER AT WPHH

TAG HEUER’S CARBON HAIRSPRING

ATTHE FUTURE IS NEXT

ULYSSE NARDIN,

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PG. 78

PG.56

PG.114

CONTENTS Cover Story & Feature Stories

PAGE

48COVERSTORY

FEATURE STORIES

ULYSSE NARDIN’S LATEST FREAK IS NEXT

56 | HONORING GÉRALD GENTA A new watch and a new association recall the designer’s influence.

62 | MOVADO’S HISTORICAL TREASURES A look inside the archives of this influential watchmaker.

68 | BULGARI EXPANDS COLLECTIONS Look for additional models in Lvcea, Octo, Serpenti & Diva.

74 | INSIDE THE NANOGRAPH A new TAG Heuer tourbillon debuts a first-ever carbon hairspring.

78 | FRANCK MULLER EXPANDS As it adds new space to its manufacturing facility, the brand adds new Vanguard collections and announces Remember.

82 | DIAMONDS UNDER A DOME MB&F Launches its first collection for women.

86 | NEW AND NOTABLE FROM GENEVA A look at a few of the most interesting 2019 debuts we’ve seen – so far.

112 | ROSY GLOW The latest Carl F. Bucherer Manero Flyback Chronograph flaunts its retro style with a rose gold case and red accents.

114 | BLACK AND BLUE Titan Black remakes a Rolex Submariner using artisanal craftsmanship.

116 | A TOUGH TOURBILLON Karsten Frasdorf secures his slow-beat Spirograph with extra protection. 118 | RETURN TO ZERO Bernhard Zwinz talks about his revival of Joseph Thaddeus Winnerl, the legendary 19th century watchmaker who invented the return-to-zero mechanism.

122 | TIME RACERL’Epee 1839 combines an eight-day clock with a vintage racecar.

After years of silicon micro-component research and development, Ulysse Nardin debuts the Freak NeXt, a concept watch regulated by a dramatic three-dimensional ‘flying’ silicon-blade oscillator.

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I PERSONALLY HAVE ALWAYS LOVED VINTAGE MOVADO WATCHES, and after speaking to other vintage watch collectors, my appreciation for this brand is shared by many in the community. Prior to my appointment with Stephanie Riccoboni, the person in charge of the Movado archive department, I had to brush up on my knowledge about the company’s history, founder, innovations, and watches. For this, I turned to the seminal book on the topic, The Movado History, by Fritz Von Osterhausen. In 1881, Achille Ditesheim founded his company, LAI Ditesheim & Freres SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Starting with just a team of six people, the company grew at a rapid pace and by 1897 there were eighty employees working there. In fact, LAI Ditesheim & Freres SA was the second largest employer in the industry at that time, with Jaeger-LeCoultre in the lead with about 100 people and Audemars Piguet in a distant third with a staff of ten people. The company’s main business was producing pocket watches, which were

assembled individually using parts supplied by other companies. They then finished the movements in-house. At the end of the 19th century, the company began producing in-house watches using their own components. Shortly thereafter, in 1905, the name Movado was introduced, which is a word meaning “always in motion” in Esperanto—a language created by Ludwik Zamenhof in 1887.

USING HISTORY It turns out that Movado is the perfect name since the company has continuously been in action to stay ahead of its time. Movado continues to use its past to create its future. The Ditesheim family members at the helm of Movado were true visionaries in horology, filing an impressive ninety-eight patents to their name from 1900 to 1969. There was the 1912 Movado Polyplan designed with a revolutionary patented “form” movement to accommodate the curve of the watch.

MOVADO’S Historical TreasuresA look inside the rich archives of this influential watchmaker.

MOVADO CONTINUES TO USE ITS PAST TO CREATE ITS FUTURE.

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BY LAURENT MARTINEZ

Collecting

Stephanie Riccoboni, head of Movado’s Archive department

The Movado archive department

Movado historic designs.

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COLLECTING

Prototype for unique Movado with a Piaget movement from 1939.

Recall that the Movado and Zenith team helped invent the modern automatic chonograph in 1969.

Movado has always been eclectic with its designs.

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Then there was the 1914 Movado “Soldier’s Watch” with a protective grill that was popular during WWI, the 1926 Movado Ermeto square pocket watch, the 1938 Movado monopusher chronograph, the Calendograf, the Celestograf, the Calendomatic, the Datron, the world time and the Artists’ Series, which included the Andy Warhol timepiece. However, out of all of Movado’s innovations, the two that stand out to me the most are Movado’s first automatic chronograph with Zenith’s El Primero movement (called the Datron HS 36 caliber at Movado) and of course, the now-iconic Museum watch created by Nathan Horwitt in 1947. Unfortunately, the 1970s was a dark decade for Movado. The Grinberg family purchased the company in 1983 and turned it into the Movado Group with the aim of bringing back the spirit and passion of the Ditesheim days.

THE MOVADO ARCHIVESThe official Movado library and archives are located in New Jersey. Stephanie

Riccoboni—who has worked at Movado for twelve years—is the librarian in charge. With such an in-depth knowledge of Movado’s history, she works very closely with Movado’s master watchmaker, the marketing team, and the business development team. After the Grinberg family purchased Movado more than thirty-five years ago, the company began the process of developing an archive of historic vintage Movado watches. Movado continues collecting pieces today and is constantly scouting auction houses, private collections and even Instagram for timepieces. It was fascinating to browse through a place with shelf after shelf of reference books, drawers filled with caliber drawings and sketches, piles of original sales catalogs, billboards, displays, and other brand paraphernalia. Today, the Movado Group has more than 1,200 vintage watches (including pieces from Movado, Ebel, and Concord)—each one carefully photographed and filed in photo albums.

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COLLECTING

A Movado World Timer. A unique watch Movado made for Elizabeth Taylor.

Artistic collaborations, including those with Andy Warhol.

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These pieces are pre-mass production timepieces, assembled by hand. They are an important resource for current designers of the company to understand the history and heritage of Movado. According to Riccoboni, the archive and library are for internal use and serve as a source of inspiration for current collections. It is telling that the design department is only a couple of steps away from the library and archives. The company also stores all the current supplier samples, from movements to materials and everything in between. So it is a constant back and forth between vintage inspiration and modern innovation—always in motion, so to speak. The library conducts other projects like digitalizing handwritten references and documents. The archive department also monitors auctions to identifying what vintage Movado watches are being sold and at what prices. While the department does not officially authenticate Movado watches (like Patek Philippe does with its “extracts from the archive” service) the Movado team is always ready to help when people reach out to the company for information. Thanks to the archive and reference library, Movado launched the 1881 Automatic in 1990 to mark the 100th-year anniversary, which included designs similar to the original Movado Curviplan, Calendomatic, and other vintage models. Furthermore, Movado is able to offer the Heritage Series

collection, which pays tribute to the designs of vintage watches like the Calestograf, Calendoplan or the Datron, but produces them to suit modern expectations. The archive department is key to modern-day Movado. New members of the design and product development teams are expected to spend time doing their homework by studying the archive and library extensively to discover and appreciate the spirit of the company and the fundamentals of the watches. Riccoboni and the library/archive department are really the gatekeepers to both Movado past and present. It is where Movado treasures are kept. There is a real sense of pride among the people who work at Movado. Riccoboni says it best when she commented that the archive is, “A reminder of the people who came before us and committed themselves to a product that we are responsible to carry forward.” I left the Movado headquarters with an even greater appreciation for the company. I am happy to report that the current custodians of the brand are genuinely carrying on the spirit of the Ditesheim family.

Laurent Martinez is the proprietor of Laurent Fine WatchesGreenwich, Connecticut. Read more by him at blog.laurentfinewatches.comor visit his store’s site at www.laurentfinewatches.com

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COLLECTING

Each watch has a code and is in a binder. At right is an original catalog.

Sketches for Caliber 25, and others

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