“INDEPENDENT WATCHMAKER” CAN MEAN MANY THINGS. HERE, WE’RE HIGHLIGHTING SMALL-HOUSE MAKERS CREATING A PRECIOUS FEW WATCHES, OFTEN BY HAND, FOR AN EXCLUSIVE CLIENTELE...
01
Philippe Dufour.
Not long ago, I stood looking across a room at hundreds of millions’ worth of watches’ many bejeweled, large, gold, and otherwise ornate-and a 34 mm Dufour time-only watch leapt out and caught my eye. How did this little watch steal the show? Ultimately, it's the exquisite balance of every element that forms a captivating visage. Picture Audrey Hepburn walking into a crowded room, and you have the idea. Turn a Dufour around, and you've got a masterpiece of precision hand-crafting. Philippe Dufour is a living legend, and even his most simple time-only watches reliably sell for seven figures at auction today. philippedufour.ch
02
Laurent Ferrier.
Ferrier runs a slightly larger operation, and his watches are available at some select retail locations. A former race car driver, then creative director for Patek Philippe (where he helped foster the Nautilus), Ferrier set out in 2009 at the age of 63 to do his own thing. I adore his watches. They are the epitome of quiet luxury, with understated dials and cases that, when seen under a loupe magnifier, are filled with unexpected details and unique shapes. The finishing is fl awless, and that includes the architecturally bold movements that harken back to the beefy machines found in pocket watches. laurentferrier.ch
03
Krayon.
Ferrier runs a slightly larger operation, and his watches are available at some select retail locations. A former race car driver, then creative director for Patek Philippe (where he helped foster the Nautilus), Ferrier set out in 2009 at the age of 63 to do his own thing. I adore his watches. They are the epitome of quiet luxury, with understated dials and cases that, when seen under a loupe magnifier, are filled with unexpected details and unique shapes. The finishing is fl awless, and that includes the architecturally bold movements that harken back to the beefy machines found in pocket watches. laurentferrier.ch
04
Raúl Pagès.
The watches I like the most from the Swiss watchmaker Raul Pagès are, simply, no-nonsense. After making mechanical high-art pieces, such as a tortoise with diamond claws that crawled across a fl at surface, Pagès turned to making wristwatches with exceptional movements and unique dial layouts steeped in post-Bauhaus, mid-century aesthetics. Best worn while reclining in an Eames lounge chair and listening to John Coltrane on vinyl. pageswatches.com
05
Rexhep Rexhepi.
The darling of independent Swiss watchmaking today, Rexhepi seems to charm everyone who meets him-and his watches do the same. What's brilliant about his work is the absolutely unrelenting dedication to perfect finishing, especially in the tight corners where two beveled edges of a movement bridge come together at an acute angle (known as interior anglage). Though he produces wildly complex watches under the Akrivia label, it is Rexhepi's eponymous watches with lustrous enamel dials and symmetrical movements that truly speak to me-and apparently others, as there is at least a three-year wait list to get one and always hot bidding wars when one comes up at auction. akrivia.com
06
F. P. Journe.
True, since 2018 Chanel has owned 20 percent of the Journe company, but for decades the man was making some of the coolest watches in the world entirely on his own, mostly under the radar, mostly by hand, and mostly under a subscription business model (souscription, among his Swiss cohorts). Here's the thing, and I'm not alone: I'd rather wear a Journe backward so I could see the incredible movement. Examples with his purposefully rough brass dials from the early days are the ones to get (if market value tells us anything), and those movements especially his hair-brained Chronometre a Resonance, which runs two escapements that somehow "talk" to each other through a metal plate will blow your mind. fpjourne.com
07
Qin Gan.
At first I was interested in Qin Gan because China hadn't, as far as I knew, produced a truly great traditional watchmaker. When I finally saw one of Qin's watches, the Pastorale II, in person, my concerns about country of origin melted into the hand-etched dial, the perfect proportions, and the world-class movement finishing. The number of unique details, such as the engraved, black-filled dial markings and curvy bridge shapes, beg for magnification. I couldn't put his Pastorale II down. qinganwatch.com
08
Simon Brette.
Again, I didn't really click with these watches until I got to try them on, and then it was true love. Like the Krayons mentioned above, Brette's timepieces speak their own odd language, with unique skeleton dials, "dragon scale" engraving and large, loopy hour hands. These individually avant-garde elements somehow add up to harmonious compositions, and Brette's work won me over the moment I strapped one on. simonbrette.com
09
Naoya Hida.
Clearly my tastes run toward traditional watches, and among the like-minded is Japan's Naoya Hida, who once ran F. P Journe's Japanese interest. Hida San went on to form his own company because, as he recently told me, he couldn't fi nd what he wanted in a new watch, which was around 36 mm in diameter, beautifully crafted, inspired by the reserved designs of the 1940s. Despite appearing traditional at fi rst glance, these are some of the most intriguing timepieces you'll come across, with hand-etched numerals on perfectly silvered dials and movements created specifically for each "type," as he calls the various models. naoyahidawatch.com
