Contenido reciente de pifpaf

Longines Avigation A-7 The history of modern mechanical watchmaking is marked by two innovative periods which have certainly influenced the Heritage Military 1938 and the Avigation Type A-7, Longines pilot's watches. The first one took place at the turn of the 19th century, when the likes of...

1963. A pivotal year in horology history. It is the year that undoubtedly marks the last great epoch of the “utilitarian” mechanical horology. At this time is created the legendary chronograph Heuer Carrera. Jack Heuer transcends the Helvetic neo-classicism of the 50s to introduce functionalism...

In our contemporary world, music is everywhere, every time, brightens up and glorifies our everyday life. From the startups of the Silicon Valley up to the workshops of horology of our valleys, it is not uncommon to cross employees with earphones, which is a tolerated attitude because it seems...

Parmigiani Fleurier’s SIHH is taking the opposite course of the current trend: the Show-Off. SIHH being the high mass of Haute Horlogerie, especially this year, we witnessed an abundance of scenography stands. Hostesses were praising the virtues of ultra-visual complications whereby the...

Among the few novelties seen before the SIHH, Roger Dubuis strikes hard: he presents an exceptional complication which revolutionizes the solution brought by the tourbillon! A device never seen in this architecture and never miniaturized to a level allowing its integration into a wristwatch...

A few days ago, Geoffrey Ader knocked-down the George Daniels Space-Dweller at Sotheby's for the astronomical price of 1.6 million CHF. This pocket watch which displays the solar time as well as the sidereal time features a double escapement device, a specialty of George Daniels, directly...

Watchmaking is anachronism transformed into art. It is the art of utilizing plenty of inventiveness, of technique, of savoir-faire; it is extracting the quintessence of the engineers and watchmakers' work to compose odes to uselessness. When one writes that a watch is paradoxical, it is...

LOT 88: Do you know the history behind the creation of Lamborghini? Ferrucio Lamborghini was fired by Enzo Ferrari in 1958, because he wanted to make the Ferrari 250GT more efficient and reliable. "Joe Ben" Champion was a famous lawyer from Texas and a collector known by the brand Patek. And...

The watchmaking web did not remain indifferent when Bvlgari integrate the manufactures Genta & Roth; some observers were skeptical about models like the Octo finding a place and legitimacy in Bvlgari's horologic department. But one has to admit that the Octo not only remains in the catalog, but...

I don't know how it feels for you, but for me, commuting to the office is a 65km long frustration. Every morning, on the A1 between Genève and Lausanne, I drive past eight radar detectors. Every Wagnerian ride is interrupted by the Helvetian traffic control cameras. This is the paradox of the...

It has been ten years since the late Nicolas Hayek warned that he was going to cut the deliveries of ebauches to his competitors. While some brands, like Breitling or Panerai, did their best to integrate their production as much as possible, some others, like IWC for example, did not seek to...

The counterfeiting gangrene is not a recently discovered disease. It already infected the watchmaking industry during the 18th century. To protect itself from the usurpation of the already prestigious Genevan origin, the corporation of watchmakers in this era created the Hallmark of Geneva...

Maybe you remember the article on the Blancpain Villeret Grande Decoration for Only Watch, published about one year ago... Under its apparent simplicity, this watch's caseback is abundantly decorated. Indeed, the front face features a superb Grand Feu enamel dial; it takes a trained eye to...

At first glance, it is a bit surprising to see a brand like Concord, with its super-modern designs and its cyberpunk inspirations, featured in our "Savoir Faire and Heritage" summer-school. But it is the first time I can access such comprehensive information, regarding the production of a...

The main buzz at Baselworld was of course HYT. Launching a buzz successfully is like putting a spaceship into orbit, it takes a thruster, but it also takes an astronaut. Yet, most of time the buzz fails, because one of the elements is missing… The pre-Basel marketing campaign was indeed...