The World’s Finest Luxury Watches Take Center Stage At Lussori During Monterey Auto Week
Monday, August 25th, 2008
While the Monterey Peninsula Auto Week is rightly celebrated by lovers of exceptional automobiles, its also a great opportunity for those who covet the finest luxury watches. That’s because those who have been know that Lussori goes all out each year to present nothing less than the very best selection of extraordinary watches and jewelry. Keeping up with the cornucopia of horological wonders was, as always, a bit of a dizzying experience. For me, this year’s event was a chance to get acquainted with some stellar new luxury watch brands, and deepen my appreciation of marques I already know and love. Here are just a few impressions I took away this year:
Working with the Franc Vila watch line was gratifying. Impressively crafted and unquestionably different in appearance than any other watch on the market, they offer a real choice for those whose collections lean heavily to the classical. The tourbillons were certainly impressive, but my favorites in Franc Vila were actually the less pricey complications, including the annual calendar with chronograph, and the complete calendar with moon phases.
Bovet watches…so nice. These are extraordinary, as you might have guessed from the information presented in the blog just below. Getting to experience the full collection in the metal, including the exceptionally exclusive Dimier Recitals was inspiring; these watches are a pleasing reminder that extensive hand craftsmanship is indeed alive and well in today’s world of disposables and fast food. I particularly loved the Bovet Fleurier Jump Hour in its many lovely forms, and some of the watches with hand-painted or cloisonne dials simply blew me away. To see is to believe, as they say.
What’s not to love about the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges? The only thing better than experiencing one, is experiencing THREE (including a version in the Vintage 1945 format). This was a real treat and confirmed for me that this is indeed one of the most exquisite tourbillon wristwatches in existence.
Glashutte Original always impresses me. It was great to be able to closely examine the Senator Meissen watch with its lovely porcelain dial, and also get to have some one-on-one with the Senator Rattrapante, whose chronograph movement is right up there with the A. Lange & Sohne Datograph in intricacy and beauty.
The Ulysse Nardin display case was an absolute treasure chest…among the many delights included the Sonata watch in several colors of gold, the amazing Forgerons Minute Repeater (which I naturally had to chime on several occasions over the week), and the full Trilogy of astronomical watches, including the world’s last unsold yellow gold Astrolabium Galileo Galilei!
My love for Audemars Piguet was also deepened, thanks to an open-worked Jules Audemars minute repeater whose chimes were oh-so-fine; the platinum Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar with a skeleton movement was also a show stopper. My rabid appreciation for the superb craft of Chopard’s manufacture L.U.C watches was reinforced as well, after being able to spend some time with several of the L.U.C. “Quattro” Tourbillons, including an absolutely ravishing 18K rose gold specimen with a silvered guilloche dial. Last but far from least, the Harry Winston Tourbillon Glissiere was nothing short of phenomenal…the sheer heft of its massive rose gold case was dwarfed only by the wonder generated by its incredible tourbillon movement with sliding platinum winding weights. I simply couldn’t put it down.
I could go on and on, as each case held so many wonderful things (and I don’t mean to leave any brand out!) but I’ve rambled far too long as it is. If you were in the Lussori showroom last week, you know of what I speak; if not, please come next year. I assure you that you’ll not be disappointed!
The addition of
A few weeks ago the chronologically challenged Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain was comparing the popularity of his Democratic competitor Barack Obama with that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, inferring that pop culture icons are unimportant in modern society…
There are many perks of marrying a Spice Girl. For starters - you get to marry a Spice Girl! Does it get any better then that? Then - your summer vacations that USED TO take place at 3-star Clarion Cabo San Lucas hotels are now 3 week yacht based vacations in Saint Tropez. Oh the life of Stephen Belafonte…
The number of watches it takes to comprise a collection is a topic which sways mightily in the wind of opinion. Ultimately though, none of that matters–the simple truth is: the right amount is that which satisfies you. Whether 1, 100, or 1,000 only you know when you have enough ticking treasures on your wrist, or in your safe. For the person who wants some advice on putting together a basic group though, I do have a few thoughts on where to start:
Maybe he just found out that his Hummer’s gets less 10 miles to a gallon? Maybe he just found out that Hummers emit 3 times more carbon dioxide then an average car? Who knows…
With the recent passing of Corum Chairman Severin Wunderman, a man as renowned for his human qualities as his skill and dynamism as abusinessman, I found myself contemplating the unique creativity of many of the Corum watch collections. Certainly, the input of Severin himself played a major role in the creation of many of these memorable Corum watches–from eyebrow-raising Bubble timepiece such as the diabolically charming Baron Samedi or the notorious “Lucifer Bubble”, to some of the dazzling Golden Bridge variants, the viewer was always presented with something extremely unusual, beautiful, comical and sometimes even slightly macabre. Love them or loathe them, these are watches that are not easy to forget. As is the case with all art, you are forced to react in some way, and maybe question a few things along the way.
So, I recently splurged and purchased my self an