bernard cheong
7182
The Black MOP with companions...just in case you missed it on Watchrap
"It may not be good to see the slaugtherhaouse before sitting before a fine meal."
Anyway, sometimes it is good not to get too involved into looking at "who did what" and "how much less friction between two gears", before we sit down and enjoy the fine art of watchmaking and what today's environment of CAD and metalurgy has brought us.
Some of today's watch designs, from 1997 onwards, showed some defining changes in form and internal arrangement of the essential operating parts. Not out of any "need" for engineering improvement, but more of an breakaway from traditional form. This is what I feel made a drastic change in these watches.
These 6 here are my favorite examples. Some are obviously too young and have not aged. Two are quite from the old school, but that they adopted some very modern interpretations, in a way that did not make any pretense for "classical relevance", I respect that. I feel that the IWC and the FP for example, will be quite significant pieces that represent an age of watchmaking in between the millenium and now.
I have been labeled as a collector of "weird" looking watches, but really, I see the product as much more a reflection of the culture of technical and artistic achievements that have been made during the times when the birth of the computer has changed our world.
That's why I put aside, although I still own them, my more traditional pieces which are reproductions of watches made before CAD was a reality.
Looking at these watches over the years 1997 to 2006, I am so happy that they have aged very well. In fact, I find them timeless.
My personal reflection is that these are MUCH more representative of the world we live in, and I want to have a portion of it locked inside a valuable piece of art vis a vis engineering.
Patek Calatravas are great, but I was born after, and lived after, the age of that world that gave birth to it. It holds nothing for me. These are for my kids, my grandkids, they will have a part of the age of the internet, Microsoft, and so on.
If I had a Patek from my grandad, that's special...he lived then.
My regards to CL!!!