Horological Meandering

Marcus Hanke
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Power-Windowshopping in Vienna

Power-Windowshopping in Vienna

by Marcus Hanke

This week I had to spend in Vienna, with my students. Our days were filled with lectures and excursions to the stock market, the national bank, and all those places that are of interest for future economy and law cracks. For me and my watch enthusiasm, however, there was no time.

Except .... exactly for one and a half hour I was able to solve myself from my duties and find myself free and unbound in the middle of Vienna's traditional shopping quarter, at Saint Stephen's cathedral. So what to do in these 90 minutes, how to spend them most effectively?

It was clear that I had to concentrate on but one or two shops, and even there, on watches I could not see in my hometown Salzburg, due to the lack of an authorized dealer, or due to the absence of this particular model. So I decided to visit two very renown watch shops, Haban in the Kärtnerstraße, and Hübner in the street called "Graben".

I did not inspect too many of watches, but those I did, left quite some impressions.

Here they are:

1. The disappointment of the day: Audemars Piguet Royal oak Offshore "Volcano"

According to my very personal definition of a sports watch, an at least basic legibility in darkness is a sine qua non, a vital attribute. Even in Le Brassus, I think, people are aware that the Nemoto company produces its luminous material "Super Luminova" in all colors and shades, including bright orange. So why on Earth AP decided to use non-luminous lacquer on hands and markers of a sports watch remains a mystery to me.

2. The pleasant surprise of the day: Moser & Cie. Perpetual

Until now, I had seen the Moser watches on pictures only. I liked their style, and was of course very excited when I saw them in a shop window at Haban. In spite of my less than luxurious appearance, being cloaked in dripping rainwear, including hat, the friendly and helpful employee immediately offered me a seat and presented to me every Moser watch they had in stock, permitting me to compare the various metal and dial colors of all models available.

My first positive impressions were fully confirmed. The execution of hands and dials on all Moser watches is impressive, and I was astonished when I realized the complexity of the case: not only are there variations of brushed and highly polished surfaces, but also three-dimensional features, such as curved edges and blends that are not really visible on the pictures normally shown in magazines and the the web.

The movements all offer unique features that are normally highly praised by enthusiasts, like self-produced hairsprings with Breguet overcoil, twin mainspring barrels with a high power reserve of seven days and a modular escapement bridge permitting the quick and complete replacement of the unit. The date complication adds further innovations: The big date is realized by two stacked date rings, offering a substantially larger area to the individual date number, compared with the standard date rings, accommodating all figures from 1 to 31. The Moser system, which has been seen realized by other watchmakers as well, such as Rainer Nienaber and his „king size date“, is especially interesting by offering the possibility to be set forwards AND backwards during all the day. Whenever the crown is pulled out into the „date setting position“, the date display is completely decoupled from the underlying mechanism, so the quick setting does not interfere with the watch movement itself.

My personal highlight of this day, though, was the Moser perpetual calendar in platinum. Adding to the aforementioned innovations, this perpetual calendar appears to be extremely clean and „purist“: there is no weekday indication, the leap year indicator is integrated into the movement bridge layout and visible through the displayback, and the month indicator is reduced to a short arrow, which uses the twelve hour markers as markers for the twelve months.

Besides the attractive presentation, the really fascinating feature the smooth working and usability of the perpetual calendar mechanism. Just like the normal Moser big date, the calendar can be set forward AND backward, a rarity among the perpetuals. Since here, too, the calendar indications are disengaged from the movement, the adjustment can be executed even during the time around midnight, an absolute no-go for all other perpetuals. What impressed me most is the fact that the date window never shows the „superfluous“ dates: This means that the „1“ of the new month always follows directly after the correct last day of the preceding month. In months with only 30 days, the „31“ will remain invisible, but exactly on midnight, the date indication will jump sharply to „1“. Of course the same happens during the transition from February to March . Until midnight, the date window shows „28“ (or „29“ in leap years), to switch directly to „1“ in a friction of a second. This extremely clever mechanism is realized by the distribution of the date numbers on two stacked rings. The „1“ is on the upper ring and is moved into the date window, covering the remaining, unused numbers on the end of months with less than 31 days.

Besides this absolutely great mechanism, the hand winding movement is sharing the other typical Moser features, with a power reserve of seven days and the inhouse hairspring with overcoil. The platinum case is marvelous, as is the watch’s price - in a positive sense. List price of the Moser perpetual in platinum, with a massive platinum folding clasp (still not a standard, even in the high end range), is 30,000 Euros. Other brands demand more than that for conventional perpetual mechanisms and „only“ gold cases. If I didn’t have already an absolute favorite in the field of perpetuals, this would be my watch!

3. The „so-so“ of the day: Vacheron & Constatin, Quai de l’Ile

It looked nice in the Hübner window: the „Quai de l’Ile“ in pink gold. Its cushion-shaped case gives it a somewhat charming impression, and the dial did not appear too busy. At close range, however, this positive first impression was compromised. I mean, where are the hordes of crazy counterfeitures sitting in their bristling workshops, trying to fake exactly this watch? Does it really make sense to add dozens of anti-counterfeiting printing technologies, including signatures that can be seen only in UV light, only to prevent people from producing a fake „Quai de l’Ile“?
The result of this effort is a really confusing dial design. The fact that the dial itself is transparent, leaving the underlying teethed wheels and bridges shine through, adds further difficulties for those who want to use this watch for the purpose it was built for: reading the time from it. Having said that, the pink gold variant is still the best of the series in this respect. The palladium, and even more the titanium version are barely legible at all. Aside from that: Call me overly conservative, but asking nearly the same price for a titanium watch as for its pink gold counterpart, seems a bit odd in my eyes.

4. The „hmmmmmpf!“ of the day: IWC da Vinci perpetual calendar

I looked weird already when it rested on its stand in the shop window. „Weird“ became „absurd“ when I tried it on my wrist. This thing is grossly oversized, in every respect. there are many oversized watches on the market, but on this perpetual, the proportions simply do not match. It somehow reminds me of the „crazy“, „impossible“ designs described by H.P. Lovecraft in connection with his Cthulhu stories. The dial desperately tries to express some horological normality, with its silver coat and classic-looking engine-turned areas; in vain. Well, this of course is exclusively reflecting my personal opinion.

5. The „Come to Daddy!“ of the day: Longines Legend Diver

It was ten minutes before the shops normally closes. Yet there was no sign of rush, in the contrary: I asked to see a watch that I had noticed in the window; a lot less expensive than those I had inspected before. There were two variants, one without date, the other with date window at 3. I was really impressed: Casework was very well executed, a nicely stamped steel case back, two crowns with good grip, and the dial - I have a soft spot for lacquered dials. These add a three dimensional deepness, and especially the black lacquer on this watch is wonderful: smooth and ..... black, deeeeeep black. Altogether surprisingly well made for the price, with a unique design, too. But meanwhile I should not be astonished to see such offers from Longines. This brand is still a prime candidate for good buys.

Closure time had passed long ago, still the shop staff remained patient and friendly. The only person showing signs of increasing nervousness was myself. „I take that!“ Nice, really nice piece, not too large on the wrist. Unlike its box, which could serve as makeshift garage for a compact car. Normally, I would need a taxi to take this monster to the hotel. However, I decided to annoy the commuters in the subway with its sharp edges instead ..... as I said: I like black ...

And since you have so patiently endured my story, and read it so far, I reward you with some pictures of my new acquiration.

Regards,

Marcus