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Mastodon Grail Watch The search for the grail is the search for illumination Grail Watch Reference The Watch Files Podcast History Commentary Grails Reviews Collection Watch A Day My Watch Collection Reference Materials Watch Brand and Model Pages Reference Database Primary Sources About Grail Watch Email Instagram LinkedIn Mastodon RSS Threads Twitter Copyright © 2024 · Log in Zodiac Sea Wolf and the Dive Watch Craze March 12, 2024 By Stephen Leave a Comment Jose Pereztroika recently debunked the fictitious history of the Zodiac Sea Wolf, inspiring me to look for additional context and information about this historic watch brand. Although it is difficult to say definitively that Zodiac did not produce a dive watch in 1953, there is a great deal of circumstantial evidence to suggest that they, like many other watchmakers, followed the trend set primarily by Rolex, jumping into the dive category at the Basel Fair in 1958. But the original Zodiac Sea Wolf had some interesting features, making a worthy historic model! Filed Under: History Tagged With: dive watch , Dive Watches , EPSA , Jose Pereztroika , Le Locle , Rolex , Rolex Submariner , Zodiac , Zodiac Sea Wolf The Controversial Career of Paul Perret November 15, 2023 By Stephen 2 Comments The story of Paul Perret is quite unusual: He was famous not for one single accomplishment but for three different ones: He revolutionized watch adjustment, registered the very first Swiss patent, and contributed to the only watchmaking-related discovery to win a Nobel Prize! Perret was incredibly controversial in his time, vilified and then embraced by his peers, yet there is little record of his life. Read on and discover why Paul Perret deserves to be remembered! Filed Under: History Tagged With: Adolphe Hirsch , Charles-Edouard Guillaume , Fleurier , Invar , La Chaux-de-Fonds , Marc Thury , Paul Perret A Night of Surprises at the 2023 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie November 14, 2023 By Stephen Leave a Comment The annual Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève ceremony took place on Thursday night, and it was a night of surprises. This year the jury trumped the fixed categories, and, as always, the overlooked nominations were maddening. Still, the GPHG remains the gold standard for watch awards, driving sales and press like no other. Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: AHCI , Audemars Piguet , Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 , Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore , Christopher Ward , GPHG , Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève , IWC Ingenieur , L’Epée , Maison Alcée , Raymond Weil , Simon Brette , Svend Andersen , Tudor , Ulysse Nardin Freak , Vincent Calabrese How Charles Vermot Saved the Zénith El Primero – In His Own Words July 22, 2023 By Stephen 1 Comment In an industry as full of folklore and puffery as watchmaking, it is refreshing to uncover first-hand knowledge. As I was researching the history of Zénith, Universal, and the Martel watch factory I stumbled on a real gold mine: A 1991 interview with Charles Vermot, the watchmaker who saved the legendary El Primero watch movement from the scrap heap, and a look at how the watchmaking profession was viewed in 1991, as the industry was just recovering. I enjoyed the video enough to translate it and present it here for my readers. Filed Under: History Tagged With: Audemars Piguet , Blancpain , Charles Vermot , El Primero , Le Brassus , Le Locle , Le Sentier , Martel , Nivarox-FAR , RTS , Zenith , Zenith El Primero Palais Invar, the First Watch Boutique in La Chaux-de-Fonds July 9, 2023 By Stephen Leave a Comment La Chaux-de-Fonds is sometimes called Watch City” because it is home to so much watchmaking history. It is said that Chaux-de-Fonnier” factories produced half of the world’s watches in the first half of the 20th century! It’s no surprise that some historic sites are forgotten, but the Palais Invar deserves a closer look: It was one of the most recognizable buildings in La Chaux-de-Fonds for most of the 20th century, housing brands like Montre-Invar, Alpha, Venus, Le Phare, Sultana, and Jean d’Eve, and it was home to the first Salon Suisse de l’Horlogerie in 1933. Filed Under: History Tagged With: Alpha , Hirsch , Invar , Jean d’Eve , La Chaux-de-Fonds , Le Phare , Marius Fallet , Salon Suisse de l’Horlogerie , Schwarz-Etienne , Sultana , Venus The Balance Spring Cartel Crisis April 27, 2023 By Stephen Leave a Comment The pattern of high demand, over-production, and collapse is common in all industries, but especially in the history of Swiss watchmaking. We see it repeated throughout the 20th century, from ebauches to complete watches, but all of these efforts trace their roots to a crisis focused on the humble balance spring. Surprisingly, this very first attempt to create a cartel was also the most successful and disruptive! This is the story of Société des Fabriques de Spiraux Rèunies, which cornered the market for balance springs in 1895. The FSR was the template for Ebauches SA, ASUAG, and the Swatch Group, and we would be wise to study the lessons of this cartel crisis”! Filed Under: History Tagged With: ASUAG , Ebauches SA , FAR , FSR , Geneva , Indicateur Davoine , La Fédération Horlogère , Nivarox-FAR , SSS Gordon Moore’s $15 Million Watch – The Story of Intel and Microma March 26, 2023 By Stephen Leave a Comment Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, died on March 24, 2023. Although many touching tributes are currently being published to this titan of the technology industry, most overlook what Moore himself called his greatest mistake: Intel’s attempt to corner the digital watch business. Intel bought Microma, a hot Silicon Valley startup, in 1972 but gave up the business just six years later. Moore continued to wear his $15 million watch” for decades as a reminder of this failure – and to stay out of consumer products! Filed Under: History Tagged With: ASUAG , digital , Gordon Moore , Intel , LCD , Microma , quartz , Universal Genève The Rise of Vénus, Legendary Chronograph Maker October 5, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment There are few names in the golden age of watchmaking as revered as Vénus, which produced some of the best chronograph movements of the 1940s. But the history of this small Swiss company is not well documented, and the story reveals the surprisingly-connected world of watchmaking at the time. Vénus rose and fell in just a few decades, but the legacy of their chronograph movements, especially the legendary rattrapantes used by Breitling, lives on. Filed Under: History Tagged With: Breitling , Chronograph , Ebauches SA , ETA , Fontainemelon , Glycine , Heuer , Landeron , Leonidas , Moutier , Nitella , Pierce , Poljot , rattrapante , Sea-Gull , Sydney de Coulon , Valjoux 7734 , Valjoux 7750 , Venus , Venus 175 How Tiny Fontainemelon Dominated Swiss Watchmaking in the 19th Century August 10, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment Although it is located in a tiny village of less than 1,000 residents, the factory in Fontainemelon looms large in the history of Swiss watchmaking. The oldest and largest ebauche factory in the country was established there early in the 19th century, and Fabrique d’Horlogerie Fontainemelon (FHF) was a founding member of Ebauches SA 100 years later. Even today, the Fontainemelon factory remains a cornerstone of the Swatch Group. Let’s look at the history that made Fontainemelon the dominant supplier of ebauches in the 19th century. Filed Under: History Tagged With: Charles Junod , Charles Robert-Tissot , Corgémont , Ebauches SA , ETA , FHF , Fontainemelon , Japy , La Chaux-de-Fonds , Paul Robert , Val-de-Ruz Is The Naked Frederique Constant Perpetual a Hit or Miss? June 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment The Naked Watchmaker just announced its collaboration with Frederique Constant, the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture. Although I’ve enjoyed recent collaboration models, this one misses the mark in some important ways, emphasizing the mechanics at the expense of utility and beauty. Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With:...