Independents

Greetings to all!  Just received my VH Antiqua back from service, which marked the first time that I have had the opportunity to unite these three watches for a quick photo session:

I wasn't surprised, but some others may be, at how well the Antiqua stands up to comparison with these other two great watches.  Great fun for me to have all of them together in one place!

Best,

Gary G

Congratulations on uniting these three kings.  Really amazing to see them all side-by-side.  You have curated quite an amazing collection just with these three.

Do you have a favorite?

And, um, a wrist shot or three wouldn't hurt.  ;-)

 

Best,

respo

Thanks, respo -- wrist shots are not really my strength, but I will make some more attempts!

As far as having a favorite goes, I'll refer you to my recent Simplicity review in which I said I was married to the Observatoire, would build a shrine to the Simplicity, and would date the Antiqua on the side!  Each stimulates a somewhat different set of emotions, but I love 'em all...

Best,

Gary

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nt

could be "collectors heaven/glory". Lucky me I saw them all in the metal, but never together

Congrats!

Oliver

...in key moments in the history of two of these three pieces!  And two Singapore PuristS (who shall go unnamed here) were involved with the third.  All in the family!

Best,

Gary

All wonderful in their own way.  Wearing the VH back-to-back with either of the other 2 classics must be fun.

Love them all.

Darren

...is just lovely on the wrist.  And, as my friends are tired of hearing me say, Vianney's RG color looks great with my skin color!  Makes it a treat to look down and see what's there...

Best,

Gary G

NT

I think that all three are of very high stature, but no one else is under any obligation to concur!  The Antiqua really is a marvel once you get to know it -- an instantaneous perpetual calendar with an entirely novel display.  Seeing both the date and day snap over right at midnight is a pretty compelling display!

Or, given your recent post, maybe you were referring to the Simplicity?  It has its own, more subtle merits, I would argue...

Best,

Gary

Gary,
A superlative collection from 3 of the current masters.
Well done putting them together and as always, lovely pictures!
Enjoy in the best of health.
Cheers,
Tim

Just a quick photo shoot, but lots of fun to do and it is great to have these three to compare.  Of the shots, I've chosen the triangle of movements as my current desktop -- hard to criticize much about that side of these babies!

Best,

Gary G

What a trio...

Thanks for the gorgeous pics.

Fx

By the way, I have not forgotten that I owe you a PM...

Best,

Gary

...from additional vantage points...

Best,

Gary G

prefer Jessica and Megan  Just joking!

...prefers that I hang out with this threesome, I am sure!  As for me, watch porn does have its merits...

Best,

Gary G

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You have heard me say before that the Antiqua and Simplicity may be the 2 most important independent watches yet made.  And certainly the Observatoire is also in the stratosphere.

I do agree with you on the fundamental importance of the Simplicity and Antiqua -- there are other pieces (e.g., the Dufour Sonneries) that may occupy higher rungs horologically, but in terms of creating a market for independents' works and defining a new wave of modern horology, these two are pretty important.

Now we need to find an Antiqua for you!

Best,

Gary

So pure, so radiant!

You are a blessed man to have them all!

Enjoy please,

Stephen

Thanks, Stephen -- as always I appreciate your comments!

It is lovely to look into the box in the morning (or crack the safe deposit vault) and have these three staring back out...

Best,

Gary

Welcome back with the photomania!!

These 3 kings together would make any seasoned watch collector speechless!

Stunning photos as always! is it a special lens you're using (some kind of PC-E?) as some angles look rather difficult to achieve!

Thanks, Sidney -- always a treat to share here!

As far as photo setup goes, I am using an 85mm 2.8D PC-E lens on the Nikon D700 (I have a D800E on order, which I'm hoping will enable another level of clarity!).  The first two shots in the post were taken as single exposures (the PC-E obviously helps a lot here) -- the other group photos were taken using multiple exposures, focus stacked with Helicon Focus, and then post-processed in Photoshop CS5.  I use a light tent with standing dome lights (no flash) to play with lighting angles and contrast, and a remote shutter release.  Tripod and head are heavy Manfrotto items to reduce any shake on the camera.  Finally, I do zone in my lenses using LensAlign PRO to help the AF precision on my other lenses (like the 105 2.8 Micro) -- of course, I am focusing the PC-E manually.

Hope that is of some interest!

Best,

Gary

... not just in terms of photo output but your set up is a little professional studio! Thanks for sharing information about your set up and process.

It's great to see how you've evolved as a photographer too (and just like your watch collection, in such a short space of time too!). Very impressive!

I'm still on my old Nikon D90 with one macro lens and no light tent set up Even though I'm venturing away to an M system - which doesn't help with watch photography at all!

Good to hear about the incoming D800E. Would be keen to see the improvement (if there's any more improvements possible, just like the Simplicity) it would bring. That's one serious camera that's put Nikon well ahead of the competition right now.

Fortunately for us, you are also an excellent photographer. A fine achievement Gary.

cheers

fernando

I have a lot of fun taking and sharing these, so I am very pleased that you enjoy them!

Best,

Gary

Or you could call them the holy trinity.  Either way, incredible trio!

Not too many other pieces I would put higher on my wish list -- and most of those are owned by friends, so I get to see them once in a while .  Life could be worse!

Best,

Gary G