FROM THE EDITORS Letters + Events
The new Hermès Carré
IN LOVE WITH MY WATCH
often think about the countless hours of work at the hands of myriad professionals that go into making one high-end mechanical watch. But that’ s
I probably a hazard of my job and, like many of you who also ponder such things, a love of watches. By the time a fine watch gets to one’ s wrist, it has been touched by many and various artisans who are most often responsible for one small but important step along the long path to timepiece fruition. From the earliest design drawings to the final casing and polishing, a mechanical timepiece is a real feat of talent that requires multiple stages and endless quality control.
AESTHETICS, TOO, PLAY A LARGE PART IN THE MAKING OF A WATCH, and though many designs seen today are anything but traditional, beauty has historically been a high priority in watchmaking. Early enamel dials, engraved cases and gemstone-studded ladies pieces are witness to this fact, and twenty-firstcentury watches are an important part of this continuum. From hand-set stones to hand-painted dials, finely decorated and visible movements to case shape and size, the appearance of a watch is often the first thing that sets our hearts beating faster— often before we even begin to discuss what’ s inside.
Somehow it all comes seamlessly together, substance and presentation, in an accessory that one will be proud to own and wear for many years and perhaps pass on to the next generation. It’ s kind of like putting together a Broadway show, where no role is without importance, but some are just more conspicuous than others. And as the overriding role of a play is to entertain, so, too, the purpose of a watch is to tell time as accurately as possible within the parameters of the chosen mode, quartz or mechanical.
I own several high-end quartz watches that I really enjoy for specific purposes. But I must admit that my heart is in mechanical timepieces, in part because of the time and talent invested in them, but also because they are interactive and require movement or winding to keep them going( as well as regular tune-ups). Taking the performance analogy one step further, just as an actor is influenced by an audience, so too a watch is in this way influenced by its owner and vice versa. Maybe this is one reason why we get so attached to watches. Like a great relationship, they become part of our persona and our routine, our responsibilities and our aspirations.
Have fun reading,
Nancy Olson Managing Editor | nancy @ isochronmedia. com
14 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2018