The man behind the Movado Museum Watch.

Perhaps one of the most recognizable watch today is the Movado Museum Watch. Clearly identifiable, even from quite a distance away, is the large dot at the 12 'o'clock position symbolizing the sun at "high noon". The watch is genius in its simplicity, and timeless in design.

This watch is the brain child of Nathan George Horwitt. Born in Russia, he came to the United States as a young boy. He attended City College and NYU; he then studied at the Art Students League of New York.

Nathan George Horwitt served in the army in World War I, returning home, he joined E.R Squibb & Company as an advertising copywriter. Eventually he became the director of advertising. Nathan was becoming antsy,he felt the world was lagging behind in innovations and fresh ideas.
"Even in a Depression, we need to know the time in newer more innovative ways," he thought.

In the 1920's Nathan was brimming with ideas, and thus opened a company in Manhattan called Design Engineers. He would patent an idea and sell it to a manufacture. Only just managing to get by, he closed the company after just three years. However, Nathan creative mind could not squash the flow of idea's. Consequently in the 1930's he patented idea after idea,18 in all ,many of which were watch related.

Nathan had one basic idea. If he wanted to know the time, he did not wish to stop and study his watch cluttered with Roman Numerals, and an insistent second hand. Nathan admitted he did not have to keep track of the seconds, but rather wanted a watch that could tell the time with a quick glance. In addition, he wanted a watch that would please him with a simple elegant beauty.

Nathan first designed the "jump clock", and Cyclometer, the latter having a construction which allows the hour numerals to be large in relation to the size of the clock. Both patented around 1936, were highly praised by authorities in the field of time pieces; however, these clocks never made it into the manufacturing stage as this would require complete retooling of the existing machinery. No one at this stage would take the chance.
Thus, during the next 20 years, Nathan's patented brilliant, innovative ideas struggled to take hold.

In 1954 Nathan entered his latest innovative idea as "the dot at the top" watch. Initially the watch was rejected by the patenting office, stating that the dial of this watch was not an innovative idea and thus could not be patented. Nathan did not give up, backed by a multitude of personalities in the design, he pushed forward.
Edward Steichen, an expert on design as the Director of Photography in the Museum of Modern Art said at the time ..." I believe that your design for the face of a watch is the only really original and beautiful design I have ever seen..."

Nathan received his patent, but still struggled to find a company who would take the risk of producing a watch with a modern, cutting- design. Nearing the end of 1960, Movado, a Watch Company formed in 1881 by 19 year old, Achille Ditesheim, recognized the design as an icon of modernization and decided to add "the Museum Watch" to its collection.

In 1960 Nathan's "dot-at-the-top" Watch Dial became part of a permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. It was the first Watch Dial to be awarded this distinction. Thus the "dot-at-the-top Watch became known as the "Museum Watch".

Nathan Horwitt was indeed ahead of his time. His "Museum Watch" is still highly popular, stunningly simple, and aesthetically beautiful.

Nathan Horwitt died in 1990, at the age of 92

New Hublot King Power Unico GMT Bares a Striking Resemblance to Urwerk 103

The Hublot King Power Unico Gmt is an incredible feat of watchmaking technology, but although the movement is a brand new in-house Hublot construction, it bares a striking resemblance to the Urwerk 103 collection - save for the analog time display. 
All comparisons aside, I think the Hublot King Power Unico GMT is an exciting step into the companies consistent focus at innovative time display.
 The new time display enables the timepiece to track 24 different timezones which are located on the bezel and at an angle on the edge of the dial.  At first glance the time display may seem a tad overwhelming, but it is a 24 hour time zone watch.  Within the dial, the four GMT discs move with the main time while red indicator lines display the differing timezones.

Urwerk UR 103T

The powerful Hublot caliber HUB 1220 automatic GMT movement has the capability of a 72 hour power reserve.

The Hublot King Power Unico GMT is housed in a 48mm case and available in black ceramic or 18k gold. 
Personally I think satellite discs work better  with the simplicity of pure hour display on the Urwerk 103 timepieces, however in Hublot's defense, it is always quite a challenge to track 24 time zones on the dial of a single mechanical timepiece.

Harry Winston and The President Vargas Diamond.

Harry Winston Opus 11

On August 13, 1928, along the shores of the San Antonio River in Brazil, two garimpeiros (gold diggers) noticed a large rock embedded in the gravel of the River. The rock was the Vargas Diamond weighing in at 726.6 carats. Wanting a fast fortune, the two prospectors sold the diamond to a broker for $56,000 who then immediately sold it for $235,000. The broker in turn sold the gem to a Dutch syndicate represented by the Dutch Union Bank of Amsterdam. Now named "President Vargas" in honor of Getulio Dornelles Vargas, President of Brazil (1930-45 and 1951-54), the stone went up for bid.
(inset Harry Winston Opus 11 click for more info about this watch)

Harry Winston in his office high above fifth avenue learned of the diamond's existence and immediately arranged travel, stopping off in London and then on to Amsterdam. The desire for this incredible find was not his alone, and he bid against diamond merchants from Antwerp, Amsterdam, London and New York. Harry Winston won the bid, purchasing the diamond for some $700,000. The diamond was then shipped by ordinary registered mail, (like the Hope Diamond) to his office in New York. The diamond was insured by Lloyds for $750,000 should anything occur. Nothing did and the diamond arrived safely at Harry Winston's office, five floors above the hustle and bustle of Fifth Avenue.

Harry Winston had certain plans for the diamond, plans which were a tad risky and could turn this formidable diamond into dust. Harry Winston wanted to cut the diamond into 23 smaller diamonds which would accrue $2,000,000 when sold.
Harry Winston called for the best diamond cutter in the business, Adrian Grassley. Adrian Grassley had been cutting diamonds for over 40 years, but he had never done anything like this. Just the thought of striking a diamond of this size made him weak to his knees. Before the final strike, the diamond was studied. More than 100 plaster and glass models were made and after a year of intensive scrutinizing, the final decision as to its division was made. A diamond expert marked the gem taking careful account of the direction of the grain. One incorrect cut could shatter the diamond rendering it utterly worthless.

Tuesday, July 29th, 1941, Grassley entered the small fortified room which held the diamond. He had tossed and turned the night before unable to sleep, unnerved by the task ahead. He spent the morning carefully grooving a V shaped notch at the precise spot of cleavage. Finally it was time. At 2pm, the traffic of 5th avenue a drone in the distance, Adrian Grassley, Harry Winston and his diamond polisher were the only people in the room. Grassley placed a dull edge steel blade in the V shaped notch and tapped lightly. Nothing happened. Grassley was unconsciously holding back for fear of failure.
Suddenly Harry Winston reached for the stone. Was there a cross grain no one had noticed? Could it be possible a year of calculations a miss? As he peered into the diamond's flawless depth he noticed a tiny four millimeter fracture - perfectly straight and true.
"Strike it harder," Winston urged Grassley knowing that this final blow could cost him millions. Grassley did but still the Vargas did not break. Grassley reached for a slightly heavier rod, and this time the diamond split into two. Perfectly.
Tears of relief coursed down Grasley's cheeks, "Never again," he says, "Never again."

This split created a 550 carat diamond and a 150 carat diamond which were later cut into 29 diamonds, 6 more than originally intended. Of the larger diamonds, 16 were emerald cut, 1 pear shape, one marquise and smaller triangle cuts and a baguette, a total of 411.06 carats.

Grand Complications of SIHH 2012. The Hypnotic Duomètre á Sphérotourbillon

This year's SIHH 2012 is indeed a complicated one, which in this case is a very good thing.  I remember the apprehensive SIHH 2010 show - slightly dampened in the wake of an uncertain economic climate. Many watch companies dwelt within the security of its well known popular collections.  There was little temerity and cheaper steel versions were favored over precious metals.     In 2010,  I found myself scanning the horizon for the exorbitant intricate grand complications - which existed - but were far fewer than the previous years.
 The SIHH 2012 is flooded with complications, a testament to the more positive outlook of the luxury watch industry as a whole possibly due to the recent growth in the demand for luxury items in India and China.
  Companies have not only released complicated watches, but  Grand complications, which are horological masterpieces created to represent the superior watch making capabilities of a particular company. 

A Grand Complication must have at least three complications to achieve the title such as the famous Patek Phillipe Sky Moon Tourbillon .

One fine example presented at this years SIHH  by Jaeger LeCoultre is the profoundly exquisite and exceedingly complicated Duomètre á Sphérotourbillon encompassing a multi-axis tourbillon. - view video below.

• The Tourbillon is  an hypnotic complication invented in 1795 by French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, a century after Newton defined gravity. Breguet reasoned that as a result of the constant position of the vertical position of the pocket watch, the balance spring is confounded by the effect of gravity effecting the accuracy of the watch. This error could be compensated with a tourbillion whereby the escapement, balance wheel, and balance spring is placed in a rotating carriage which turns once per minute on its own axis. Whether the tourbillon actually improves the precision of a watch is debatable (and I would love any comments on this),   however, it is no doubt, a complication only achieved by exceptional watch makers, a right of passage ,if you will, dividing the serious watch collectors from the novices. It has survived for hundreds of years as a complication unto itself and has become a symbol of achievement in watch making excellence. Although its functionality is questionable, different versions of the tourbillon has achieved patent after patent.  It is, after all, highly recognized as a mark of horological achievement. 

Geneva Time Exhibition for the Independent Watchmakers

Coinciding with the SIHH is the lesser known, but never the less highly intriguing, 3rd Annual Geneva Time Exhibition.
Geneva Time Exhibition is a platform whereby the small independent watch makers show off their highly creative one-of-a-kind timepieces where talent is not restricted by corporate red tape. If you are heading out to Switzerland for the SIHH, the Geneva Time Exhibition is a must. Many independent exhibitors are just beginning their horological journey, struggling to promulgate their watch creations and many of the exhibitors are well known. Exhibitors include Alpina Geneva, Brera Orologi, Clerc, Cyrus, David Van Heim, Frederique Constant, Ice Watch, Ladoire, Louis Monet, Milus, Welder & many more.

Featuring strongly at the show is an excellent new watch manufacturer: Heritage Watch Manufacturer, which is completely privately owned. All their watches are chronometers, which means they are COSC certified. (click here for more information).

At the GTE, Heritage Watch Manufacturer will add a fourth timepiece to its collection: The VIATOR. The VIATOR is the epitome of what an independent watch manufacturer really means: The movement is not bought from a large manufacturer like ETA, but is completely in-house. Crafted by Master Watchmaker Karsten Fraessdorf, the Viator Calibre 840 movement is extremely precise. The VIATOR , a GMT, timepiece is equipped with a second time zone beneath the 12 'o'clock numerals in the form of an exceptional quick jumping hour. Thus the traditional analog time display will present one time zone, while the jumping hour display will display another. Although two completely different mechanisms are housed beneath superb convex enameled dials (reminiscent of the 18th century Parisian enameled pendulum clocks), the timepiece runs with effortless efficiency. Three patents ,each of which is incorporated in the three earlier models, the precision balance of the VIVAX model; the fine escapement regulation mechanism in the SECTATOR model; the balance cock of the TENERE model, converge within the new VIATOR model culminating in superior precision.

Heritage Watch Manufacturers is located in the Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The company creates exceptional timepieces in extremely limited quantities.

The famous 219 Kulkalkan Mayan Watch will also be on display, and perfect timing too ... it is 2012 after all.

• Official Partners of the GTE are Sotheby's, Audi, Nespresso, Cavier House & Prunier, watchonista & Laurent Perrier.

• GTE was founded in 2010 by Florence Noël, Dominique Franchino & Paola Orlando.

• The GTE runs from January 15th to 20th, 2012 and the SIHH runs from January 16th - January 20th, 2012.

... And what of the vast amount of independent watch companies who are not part of the SIHH 2012 nor the GTE and have not been able to accrue a spot at Basel World? Many will be displaying their creations in private Geneva Show Rooms. So once in Geneva keep your eyes open and scan the horizon for the small private exhibitions for you never know where the road less traveled may take you.

The Origins of The Eterna Logo

One can never mistake an Eterna Watch. On the dial are five dots below the 12 'o'clock. But what are the dots? Do they mean something? Why did Eterna choose a seemingly random dot pattern?

Eterna's logo hints at a certain technological improvement to a certain watch movement. Read more and you will find out.

In 1856 Eterna began strictly as a company manufacturing blank movements. Not unlike hundreds of such watchmaking workshops dotted around Switzerland. In time Eterna's supreme quality of work became widely recognized. Urs Schild, who co-founded the company with Dr Josef Girard, had a vision of producing a watch from start to finish . Thecompany bore the name of Schild Fréres, and manufactured small ladies wrist watches adapted from pocket watches. In 1905 the company changed its name to Eterna. By 1925, Eterna watches were

being advertised in US newspapers such as the Southtown Economist 12/01/1925. By then Eterna had made history. In 1914, at the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern, Eterna intro

duced the first alarm wristwatch - 6 years after Eterna had patented it. Eterna watches were coveted for their slimness and precision. In 1930, Eterna unveiled the smallest Baguette Calibre

Watch, which was manufactured in series production. Still no logo marked the dial. However in 1948 Eterna's dial would change forever. The logo marks a huge technological milestone unveiled in 1948. Eterna introduced the Eterna-Matic which comprised of a low friction ball bearing used to support the rotor of the automatic movement. This led to a great increase in the efficiency of the rotor. The invention of the Eterna-Matic with its ball bearings had such an overwhelming effect on Eterna, it fashioned its logo after five ball bearings.

The five ball bearings grace every dial of an Eterna timepiece.

What is Lume?

Rado's newest 2009 addition, the Sintra Automatic watch is composed of extremely hard ceramic, a steel inner case and titanium screws and clasp. The watch is streamlined, gliding smoothly from watch face to bracelet, widening and narrowing insync with Rado's iconic style. The traditional dial is easy to read, by day and by night as the hands are coated with lume.

What is Lume?
Lume is the substance that allows the hands to glow in the dark. Lume is short for lumious phosphorescent.
What is phosphorescence? A type of photo luminescence.
What is photoluminescence? (abbreviated as PL) is a process in which a substance absorbs photons (electromagnetic radiation) and then re-radiates photons. (Wikipedia) The photo luminescence is produced when the electrons in a molecule are stimulated by an outside energy source. Either ultraviolet light ("black light"), biochemical reaction (glow-sticks) or radioactivity. Once the electrons are stimulated they quickly return to their original state by emitting radiation, sometimes in the form of visible light.

So we are interested to discover how our lume coated hands work. A phosphorescent substance does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The answer is in the involved study of quantum mechanics which I am not an possibly not able to go into at this stage. It is suffice to say that the slower time scales are related to "forbidden energy" state transition in quantum mechanics. Simply put, energy absorbed by a substance is slowly released in the form of light.

What are the most common phosphorescent pigments used today? Zinc sulphide and strontium aluminate.

Most watch manufacturers use strontium aluminate, marketed by the brand name Super-Luminova. This substance is non-radioactive and non-toxic photo luminescence. This technology was developed after the zinc sulphide substance. Being that strontium aluminate is ten times brighter than zinc sulphide, the latter substance was zoned out and currently is something of a novelty.

Watchmakers were on a constant quest to find a substance that allowed time to be displayed in the dark. The problem was initially solved by the chime of a minute repeater or sonnerie, a candle or an open dial. As soldiers of World War One, huddled in dark trenches listening to the roar of the canons , unable to guess the passage of time, the quest to find a glow-in-the dark substance intensified. Watchmakers suddenly remembered Radium, a discovery made at the end of the 19th century. Radium was radioactive and had the property of luminescence. Radium was used in the watch industry for many years, but abandoned in favor of tritium as a result of its high levels of radioactivity; however, too late for hundreds of "Radium Girls in the 1920's". These young girls were employed by US watch companies to paint the Radium and zinc sulphide onto the dials using a small camel haired brush which they pointed with their lips in between paint applications. They had no inkling that this greenish white glow-in-the-dark paint was lethal. Each time they ingested a small amount of radium - an alpha-particle emitter, chemically similar to calcium and thus a bone-seeker, the Radium was accumulating in the bone-marrow and causing bone cancer and other genetic damages.

Tritium, on the other hand is radioactive but in much lower levels than radium, was used until the 1990's. Then came a breakthrough Super-luminova, all the photo luminescence qualities of tritium, but not radioactive and thus less hazardous and more environmental friendly.

There is a distinct difference though. Tritium is permanently stimulated by electrons (betarays) which it emits when it spontaneously transforms into helium. Thus tritium can glow for dozens of years even in total darkness. (see inset) On the other hand Superluminova requires to be stimulated by either violet or ultraviolet light which at first is very bright, but then gradually fades after a few hours in the dark.

As with Super-Luminova the energy emitted by the electrons is stored at quite a stable level, resulting in light being emitted over a several hour period.