It’s considerably ironic that as an editor of a watch journal, I hardly ever purchase watches. Maybe it’s the truth that we see so many insanely attention-grabbing timepieces that it could typically be paralysing to decide on only one. Each time I believe I’m settled on a timepiece, one thing even shinier comes alongside and it’s laborious to not go “Now, grasp on a minute.” So, when the Editor of WOW Singapore prolonged the invitation to contribute to this story, he was primarily saying: There’s a gun to your head, you need to select.

For this story, I made a decision to separate my selections between two classes. One is one thing I can realistically purchase now (trade price points principally) and one which I’d contemplate shopping for if, like Huell in Breaking Dangerous, I used to be laying down on an enormous stack of money, ideally Swiss Francs.

Paulin X The Armoury Modul a “Hong Kong Dial”

This watch checks fairly numerous containers for me. Let me begin with the dial. As somebody of Malaysian Chinese language ethnicity, I’ve lengthy been obsessive about getting a watch with Chinese language characters on the dial. For a very long time, the Seagull 1963 was on the high of my record to perform this objective however nowadays, there’s simply an excessive amount of uncertainty about the place these watches are produced. Enter the Paulin x The Armoury Modul A “Hong Kong Dial”.

Paulin truly hails from Scotland and only in the near past grew to become the sister model of yet one more darling of the watch microbrand scene, Anordain. Anordain is one other model undoubtedly on my radar, making lovely enamel dials that value a fraction of what massive manufacturers are asking (you see what I imply about selections?). So anyway, the Chinese language characters come from Paulin’s collaboration with The Armoury which was based in Hong Kong by Mark Cho and Alan See. The time period Hong Kong dial is a playful reference to the traditional California dial which mixes Roman and Arabic numerals in a really recognisable configuration. And for this watch, as a substitute of the Arabic numerals, they use Chinese language characters.

The second field that this watch ticks has a diameter of solely 35mm. I have no idea whether or not it’s a signal of previous age however because the years fly by, I’ve discovered myself drawn to smaller and smaller watches. I used to assume 42mm was the proper dimension, however ever since my father loaned me his Rolex Oysterdate Precision Ref. 6694, which is a tiny 34mm watch, I now assume even 38mm feels too apparent on the wrist. Regardless that there appears to be a recent pattern of watches getting smaller, 36mm-esque watches can nonetheless be fairly laborious to return by. So, for this piece, the case dimension is a significant affect in my choice.

Lastly, the Paulin x The Armoury watch comes with a quartz motion. Okay earlier than the pitchforks come out, hear me out. Once I first began overlaying watches, solely mechanical watches have been thought-about “watches”. However then, I discovered about Seiko’s Spring Drive, and after seeing Accutron revived, Urwerk utilizing an atomic clock to imitate Breguet’s “Sympathique” clock, and the way Ressence makes use of an digital mechanism to reinforce its mechanical perform, I’ve come spherical on the entire concept of the quartz motion. It’s, in spite of everything, an enormous a part of watchmaking historical past. So, the truth that the Paulin x The Armoury Modul A “Hong Kong Dial” comes with a quartz motion is definitely fairly interesting to me, particularly since they even supply a clear caseback.

The asking worth is a mere USD 600. And contemplating the truth that the opposite two collaborations that The Armoury has achieved (H. Moser & Cie and Naoya Hida) have been nearer to USD 20,000 this looks like a reasonably whole lot.

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Pf Minute Rattrapante

Whereas the primary watch ticks loads of private watch accumulating containers, I selected this second watch as a result of it ticks fairly numerous philosophical ones. I’ve all the time discovered answering the query “What’s your favorite watch model?” fairly robust; not as a result of I like all my purchasers, I imply watch manufacturers, equally however as a result of I’m of the opinion that any massive watch model is barely pretty much as good as its management.

Give it some thought: Rolex is not helmed by Hans Wilsdorf; the founding father of the modern A. Lange & Söhne has handed on; and Abraham-Louis Breguet is barely with Breguet in spirit. Every of those firms is led by a board of administrators, shareholders and/ or CEOs. And if the management is nice, the model makes unimaginable merchandise… Georges Kern reworked Breitling, and hopefully, Common Geneve within the close to future, and Jean Arnault’s entry into Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking division has given us the brand new Tambour and a superb collaboration timepiece with Akrivia. This brings us to the watch in query. Guido Terreni assumed the position of Parmigiani’s CEO in 2021, ensuing within the chic Tonda PF assortment. I discover myself pondering would it not not be good to be a part of this pivotal second within the model’s historical past?

For sure, I believe the watch is solely beautiful. My favorite half must be the dial and the Grain d’Orge guilloche sample on it. It offers the dial a refined texture, from afar it seems like a matte completed watch and whenever you look nearer, you uncover these intricate patterns. And having seen and tried these watches on, I can say they’re extraordinarily snug to put on.

As for the precise reference, nonetheless, I selected the Minute Rattrapante for a completely completely different motive. The Minute Rattrapante is a complication that hides a second-minute hand beneath the standard one. Then, when both the pusher on the 8 or 10 o’clock place is activated, the hidden minute hand steps out in 5- or 1-minute increments (respectively) and stays static. Then as the standard arms proceed to trace the minutes, it catches as much as the second rose gold hand.

“The Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante is an expression of why folks love conventional watchmaking”

This complication is in essence only a minute tracker and at its core, will provide you with the identical performance as a rotating bezel would. And that is exactly why I completely love the Minute Rattrapante. Neglect that it’s a world-premiere mechanism, I’m extra enamoured with the truth that it takes such an over-engineered method to unravel an issue that in all probability didn’t exist. I simply want I may have been within the assembly room when this concept was first pitched.

Whilst absurd because the assertion above sounds, it’s exactly why you and I are in love with conventional watchmaking. Watches should not a necessity however presumably a crucial justification for all that point spent wasted at our ‘jobs’ (a reference to these of us working within the commerce – Ed). Be that as it could, this Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante is near MYR150,000, so I suppose it should doubtless stay on this want record for fairly a while to return.

This text was first revealed on WOW’s 2024 Legacy Subject

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