Independents

We all have our favourite independents and our own views on who are the best among them but this is my top five which I am sure will not necessarily be agreed upon by everyone. I have decided to attach some photos to highlight why I think these independen...  

You mentioned Laurent Ferrier and I\'m fully agree with you. From my side, the Galet micro-rotor in white gold grey or blue dial is a dream. I would add the MB&F Legacy Machine 101 and the Robin\'s Moser with its funky blue dial. Thank you Santa for this ... 

I was actually referring to the top 5 independents rather than the top 5 watches by independents and I randomly chose 5 watches from their respective collections. Coincidentally two of them are on your wish list

But, I would be really curious to know the distribution of the capital of these "independent" firms. For instance, Laurent Ferrier is not the main shareholder of the company which has his name (several private investors behind). I think it is the same sit... 

They have beautiful finishing and movements and are amazingly creative.

Best wishes Alkiro

Patek Philippe is an independent too although a large one

I would be curious to know the list (we could be surprised). Few attempts: Ludovic Ballouard, KV, Romain Gauthier? Best wishes Alkiro

Roger Smith, Philip Dufour and Kari Voutilainen as well as being in my top 5 (and probably my Top 3 too ) are truly independent. Roger and Philip practically make their own watches with minimal assistance.

NT

The first three seem to be in a league of their own in terms of movement, finishing, hand made content and exclusitivity. This might also explain why they also tend to be better investments than the other independents! I always believe that watch collecto... 

Best wishes Alkiro

I thought it was just them behind his eponymous brands (money wise)

It's deja vue day for me today.

sorry that I borrowed it without asking you first!

I was referring to a conversation I had with Alkiro... I am sorry if I gave off that impression.

I thought I had offended you I half expected your reply to be 'let our lawyers speak!'

Never. There is honor among us, I truly believe.

So what would your top 5 be?!

KV, Dufour, van der Klaauw, Gauthier, and the fifth would be a rotating position. That\'s off the top of my head.

We agree on 3 out of 5!

I do believe gd is now a "consultant" in his eponymous brand. They still make great watches though.

Sorry. I guess alcohol and watch forums don't mix well

Best wishes Alkiro

Greubel Forsey, master of contemporary finishing! Laurent Ferrier would also be in my dreamlist. Even on their basic micro rotor, it exhibits finishing youd find on say a tourbillon piece. Also, unique escapement mechanisms. Then not to forget, Gronefeld ... 

I have been informed in a separate post that Gruebel Forsey does not qualify as an independent as 20% of the company is now owned by the Richemont group!!

Vianney Halter and De Bethune Nice choices anyway Cheers D

Vianney and De Bethune are definitely among the best around

but I love all art, so difficult....impossible! In no particular order Jean Baptiste Viot Vianney Halter Ressence Paul Gerber Eva Leube Pita Ludovic Ballouard C.Klings Hajime Asaoka Mcgonigle Svend Andersen Christiaan Van Der Klaauw FP Journe Kari Voutila... 

Play nice! Only 5 That is the challenge

All are special and unique and exciting )) But if you had a gun to my head I would say and in no order: Vianney Halter Ressence C.Klings Urban Jurgensen Sonner FP Journe

And I was just about to pull the trigger!! Great choices although I must confess I am not familiar with C.Klings! I learn something new Imagine this is the predicament the judges of the GPHG face annually during the award ceremony and for them it is a lot... 

the man retired, the company still exists. There is a discussion within AHCI whether he still qualifies as a member. I am very glad you mentioned Paul Gerber, for me he is definitely on the list. Best, Magnus

Christiaan is a nice man like most watchmakers are.

I haven\'t heard about her for a while (and she is based on the same country I am in) Is she still in the game?

her story and creations are wonderful, would it be possible to give her call and ask how she is? S

Andreas makes simply crazy watches among which "The Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle" (the most precise phase of the moon indication ever built in a wristwatch. It made it into the Guinness Book of Records. It is also the most precise phase of the moon by so... 

Andreas is without doubt a living genius and could easily walk into anyone's top 5. He is extremely low profile but his work is near unparalleled.

Voutilainen, de Bethune, Journe, Strehler, Halter, Smith, Greubel Forsey I guess Dufour makes also the cut, but is he still active today? I do not feel very concerned by his Grande Sonnerie(s) and the 9 Duality that he produced. There is of course the Sim... 

Apparently as Gruebel Forsey are now 20% owned by the Richemont Group, they are not quite independent any longer. But Strehler is an engineering marvel and De Bethune does create from outside the conventional box. I think it is quite interesting that the ... 

You can start by saving the dates June 16th and 17th full days ; I'll revert soon... Best, Mike

Because it will match quite well with our next year project... The idea is to make 2 shots with 1 stone, I'm working on it and both are ok. I need to finalize few details and will be able to start opening the list shortly... Call me anytime you want this ... 

As you know we are making good progress… dB, KV & VH Planning on catching up with dB & KV live in January.

dB in your hands but... there might be an addition tonthe program with Romain Gauthier... stay tuned Very promising program... In the mean time, Merry X'mas to you and yours

I would think that, even more than with traditional watchmakers, it depends on the watch itself. For instance I won't put MB&F in the 5 but I would put the Legacy Machine Perpetual in the top most interesting Independent watches today. So I would take... 

As usual, your reply is extensive and elaborate! Thank you very much for your views and for pointing out the strengths of the indies you have chosen. I have noticed that not many of you have chose Romain Gauthier perhaps because he is less well known, per... 

I love the Doble Tourbillon technique especially but when looking at the whole colelction, I would nearly like them all: the historic as well, the Contemporaine, the Invention pieces etc... The fairs season is always difficult to deal with indeed, expecti... 

The finishing on GF is quite something plus the double and quadruple tourbillons are mind boggling. If only they were smaller and more accessible price wise! Yes, I know I am asking for a lot - wearabiliy, unparalleled finishing, accuracy and affordabilit... 

I would list in order of preference, only the ones that I would go as far as purchasing, in order of personal preference: 1. FP Journe: respect of horology in technical terms fusing innovation and tradition plus classic cases with originality achieved. Pl... 

Thank you for your top 5! Or should I say Top 4!! As they are similar to mine, I would say you have excellent tastes!! Your reasons also seem very similar to my mindset

but I think there are a handful who are at a different level in terms of movement finishing, accuracy, creativity, degree of hand made, and exclusitivity.

I would start with Kari Voutilainen, then the Groenefeld brothers, then Laurent Ferrier, then Gauthier, then Dufour. Not necessarily in this sequence, but they are the top 5 for me. I would also tend to include Andreas Strehler in the list of the top 5, b... 

They are all among the best independents in the industry today. Roger Smith seems to be less well known than the Swiss independents but for me, he is way up there due to his ethos and the way he makes his watches.

I have never seen the watches of Roger Smith live. I heard of him and saw some videos. Curious to see his watches some day live.

that Roger hardly advertises or exhibits his watches. I guess with only an annual production of 10 watches he has a long enough waiting list and does not need to market his watches. In 2020, you may see mine if you wish when I take delivery of it!

do catch the DVD 'the watchmaker's apprentice' which is a film on George Daniels and Roger Smith'. Most enjoyable surprisingly and I am quite sure that you will be hooked on Roger afterwards

In no particular order I would say Roger Smith, Thomas Prescher, Kari Voutilainen, Phillipe Dufour, Romain Gauthier. I pick them because they are out there on their own producing fantastic pieces. I do admit that Romain is not a watchmaker but he is a vis... 

I just knew that your top 5 would include Roger Smith and I must be on the right track if four out of our five choices are similar. Afterall not many are as well informed on independents as you are! On reflection, perhaps I should have swapped FP Journe f... 

...no pun intended. Dufour is neck-and-neck but I prefer the Smith \'look,\' if that makes any sense.

And I say that quite selfishly as I had just ordered a RW Smith Series 2! I must confess that that if a Simplicity was still being sold new, I would order one too!

Many worthy candidates mentioned above, and certainly some consensus emerges from the group. I don't have much to add, except that there is one independent master who IMHO probably deserves to be in his own group--Mr. Dufour. Twist the question a bit and ... 

I agree that Philip Dufour's watches are the most sought after due to the limited supply unmatched with over demand and he is without doubt one of the best independents around. However, it is difficult to say if in the years to come his watches will be as... 

Philippe Dufour has been very good at building up an image, speaking like the oracle of Dephi, and a certain Amercian website have been very good at profiling him lately. When it comes to originality and their opus, quite a few independents shine more bri... 

Which would your top five be?! And it is a pity that Paul Daniels has passed away because I did see her perform life once.

You have been given us your Top 5 a few posts above! Sorry, bad memory.

Still not used myself to the way these threads are built upon... I feel is is a very personal question: By this I mean we are bound to relate to what and whom we know. My view and I guess others' views is/ are bound to be partial. I have met some of the w... 

I guess if I had only one choice of a watchmaker I would choose to work closely with to produce a bespoke dream watch, it would be either Kari Voutilainen, Roger Smith or Philip DuFour. I believe they have the skills firstly to finish a watch beyond compa... 

Thank you for your message. We are completely on the same wave length. ;-) I agree with all what you write. The openness, humility and quality of the dialog is, in my opinion, very important in such a project. Not many watchmakers are willing to go along ... 

These three watchmakers have the ability to make us dream and even consider down sizing our collection to acquire one of their masterpieces. I wrote in a post a couple of months ago that I had a choice of acquiring a Patek 5270R or a RW Smith Series 2 as ... 

However my 4 is easy, Philippe Dufour, Kari Voutilainen, Roger Smith and Marco Lang of Lang & Heyne obviously. But the last one is really difficult to pick between Journe, Grönefeld, Andreas Strehler or Antoine Preziuso. I guess my vote goes to Andrea... 

Not just because we are both on the same page with DuFour, Smith and Voutilainen but I have also admired the work of Lang & Heyne for a long time. Marco not only makes beautiful movements but I like the way his movements fill up the cases of his watches h... 

I have just returned from the SIHH and was honestly more impressed by the independents than anything the Richemont brands had to offer. One independent in particular left me gobsmacked so my new top 5 would be Kari Voutilainen, Philip Dufour, Roger Smith,... 

Dufour - JDN Daniel Roth (as you could have forgotten him) - Voutilainen - Smith - Klings. I'm out of the list of 5 amazing watchmakers who have created real masterpieces like Journe, Gauthier, Ferrier, Asaoka, etc ...

Oh no, I did not forget Daniel Roth and 20 years ago, I used to only collect Daniel Roth watches. Unfortunately, I feel with Daniel he started out very well in the late 80s, early 90s and then lost his direction a little with the acquisition by the Hour G... 

... it is true when you say that with THG before, and Bulgari after the brand has lost but, Daniel Roth of this did not blame because he had already left the company. Today, under the pseudonym of JDN, he creates a Tourbillon all-handicraft, with finishes... 

I learn something new and must do some research on JDN.

quillandpad.com

it would be RW Smith and I am happy to say I had left a deposit last year for a Series 2 which will arrive in 2020. And yes I did manage to have a look at the JDN tourbillon. Very nice and I can see Daniel's input in that watch. May I ask what size the wa...  

Watchmaker extraordinary, its classic style and craftsmanship are at the highest levels in the industry. Healthy envy for you. Of course, 4 years of waiting are so many !!! I, this summer, should receive my Voutilainen Vingt-8, after 18 months of waiting,... 

I love the Vingt 8 but when I met Kari in Basel he told me the waiting list was only a year so I assume yours is a bespoke piece with some special engravings. Congratulations! the VIngt 8 is one of the best 3 handed watches in the market today. I am quite... 

....has a diameter of 39mm, a size that I think is perfect, my favorite diameter is 38/39, but being a tourbillon, it is acceptable 1/2 mm more, to see the cell better

I am partial to smaller watches and there are too many lovely watches that are too large unfortunately. I look forward to seeing a JDN tourbillon one day (perhaps yours! ). Does it keep good time if I may ask? It may sound like a silly question but many y... 

...I can not tell you how to keep time, because I have never seen the live watch, and I do not know anyone who has it, here in the forum but someone has it, maybe you will know, I would love to read the opinion of some possessor . What I know, though, is ...  

Thank you for the beautifully taken photos of your double faced tourbillon. I can see you are a real fan of Daniel Roth! In 1995, I purchased a single faced tourbillon (I like the double faced but it was to thick in my opinion). I remember all my Daniel R... 

.... I hope for you, with the Series 2, change habits 😁 otherwise, if you want to change this time again: call me !! 😁

that when I put the finished Series 2 on my wrist that I will be a happy man but if I am not, you will be one of the first people I will contact!