Independents

Spoiler alert: the watch is still with Mr. Dufour for its spa treatment -- but I did have a happy "rehearsal" today for the main event! 

The box arrives -- marked "fragile" but seemingly a bit the worse for wear!

Opened with the proper implement -- things are looking a bit better padded in here...

Now we're gettng somewhere -- the simple outer box so familiar from other PuristS posts

And now that lovely, simple inner box -- to me, the perfect accompaniment to the Simplicity -- anything larger or more ornate would have been out of place

Complete with the original polishing cloth -- nice!

Let's look inside -- ahh -- an extra, brand new PD strap.  That will come in handy at some point!

Perfectly made to protect the watch -- no worries about slamming it in a car door (for those of you who know the famous story...)

Behind the small flap at the back, the "papers" -- just as straightforward as everything else!

Filled out and dated -- and safely delivered to a very happy new owner

So there you have it!  Perhaps never in the history of this forum has so much effort been put into capturing the delivery of an empty box, but then again it helps me through the wait (another 5 weeks or so, if everything goes well) for the actual item to mark these interim steps.   Many thanks to the prior owner for sending the box ahead -- more photos coming when the watch is in hand!

Best,

Gary G

and very much in line with the Simplicity  concept.

As for many of us, my ratio of watch box volume stored in rubber bins to the volume of the watches themselves is astounding!  

Best,

Gary G

in that great looking Persian city rug ? . Silk Nairn ? Gorgeous detail and motifs. Very apropos quote Ala Winston Churchill about the Battle of Britain This message has been edited by dreamer8 on 2012-02-06 19:12:01

Silk, and one of my favorite possessions. Bought by my late first wife in Singapore and carried home on the plane about a dozen years ago. These days, with a new household and lots of pets, it spends its days carefully stored in the closet save for special occasions like this one. I still marvel at the tight weave and dramatic color shift, and agree with you on the motifs. Thanks for noticing and mentioning it. 

that an entire post could be made about receiving an empty box and that this post would be interesting.  Kind of like doing a television show about nothing (a la Seinfeld).

Well, I think you've pretty much nailed it there, Richard .  At least I tried with the rug in the background and the color commentary!

Thank you Gary for showing all the simple things around Simplicity

Mr. Dufour tells it a lot better than I, but when he was making his series of 5 Grande Sonnerie pocket watches for AP, one of the watches (valued even then at 300,000 CHF!) was taken by an AP executive to show to a prospective client.

Firstly I can't believe I'm reading and responding to a post all about the delivery of an empty box.  But well done Gary to make even this subject interesting

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the beautiful opening implement you used.  It's clearly the most appropriate tool for the job.  Details?

regards  John

It's a Philippe Dufour........................

There's somehting to be applauded for Dufour using a 'simple' box rather than the hulking monstrosities of mine that occupy various storage facilities aorund the world.

It would nicely double as a travel case

...and comes in its own nice presentation box and detailed info on the specific materials and techniques involved.

This one is Model B30-WMSC, number 90 in an edition of 500.  Blade is copper wave Damascus with VG-5 steel as the core.  The frame is Wave Mokume made with iron, copper, and nickel silver.  The wood inlay is Snakewood, which I believe is from Australia, the small gems in the release button and blade stop are Spessartite, and the fittings are in SS and Ti.

It also comes with its own mini-DVD describing the production process.

I mostly use it as a letter opener, but I am sure that it would be quite functional for a range of other uses as well.

Thanks for noticing!

 

Had some server problems uploading these, so here we go again:

Best,

Gary G

but not just any ordinary one... the sight of this old empty box is much more rarer than a lot of watches and hence is very worthy of it's own thread!

Given that the total amount of time I have spent with it is about 3 minutes, I am certainly looking forward to having it in hand!

Best,

Gary

Tell me,is Dufour doing a full spa treatment?I mean service and polish of the case?

I suppose you are counting the days.Well done anyway,what a catch,your collection is so diverse but with a clear sense of  coherence.

You will need to show us a new family shot soon.

Mo

...Philippe is doing a routine cleaning, timing, and re-assembly along with very light polishing of the case.

When I saw him he characterized the watch as "very carefully worn," and I would have to concur in his view (first of all, he's Dufour, but in my own right I'm known as being very picky about the condition of watches, and this one looks very clean to me).  There are a variety of hairlines consistent with careful wearing, but to my eye it looked as if a careful 5 minutes with a Cape Cod cloth would take care of them. 

That said, I'm not about to take a Cape Cod to my Simplicity!  So better to let the master himself do a quick touch up and make the watch, as he said, "new."

Best,

Gary

this is how excited you are with a box!

I know it is a big deal, I just like ribbin' ya!

Gary H

Wait until you see this:

Yes, I printed out a photo of my actual watch (sent by the prior owner), cut it out, and placed it in the box.

Clearly I need to go back on my medication

Best,

Gary G

I think you can get a lot of mileage out of this picture  

I will definitely be thinking about a bunch of ways to photograph this watch when it arrives -- thanks for the fun suggestions!

Best,

Gary G

no text

...twice every day

Best,

Gary G

In all of those photos, all I was looking at was the rug.  Oh, and nice pocket knife.  More pics of the pocket knife would be appreciated.

Apparently the keys to a successful thread about an empty box include:

1. A great watch that will eventually fill the box

2. A box that is not the usual huge ego-enhancing vault

3. A cool knife to open the box (see photos added higher in the thread)

4. A lovely Persian rug under the box!

Thanks to you and others for the kind words on the rug -- our house is done in Santa Fe style, so not too many opportunities for me to display my other rugs, but it's a lot of fun to pull them out once in a while and take a look!  I do have "permission" to keep a couple of Tibetan wool rugs on the floor down in my office/man cave...

Best,

Gary G

.... really look forward to your pictures of the conent! Thanks for letting us share, much appreciated! And I agree, this is the best box shape - love it for the Journe CS and the Breguet La Tradition as well.

Best

Andreas

if all boxes were this size!  Oh well -- I have to say that I like some of the bigger ones (e.g., Observatoire) as well...

Best,

Gary