By Allen Farmelo and David Flett In this episode, Allen digs into the problem of watch brands needing to constantly be in the news, which has lead them to delay releasing an annual catalog and instead trickle out watches constantly. This ties nicely to our new Iteration Tracker articles here at the website, which help… Read more »
By Allen Farmelo and David Flett Allen and David continue their journey through the world of mechanical chronographs. In this episode of ‘How Watches Work’ they discuss flyback chronographs, rattrapante or double chronographs and the race to release the worlds first automatic chronographs. The flyback chronograph is a common variant that combines the stop, reset… Read more »
By Allen Farmelo and David Flett David takes Allen inside the fascinating world of mechanical chronographs, and Allen finally “gets it.” Vertical vs. horizontal clutches, column wheel vs. cam actuators, reset functions, and much more are covered here, leaving the listener with a foundational understanding of mechanical stop watches. The chronograph is a watch complication… Read more »
Allen upends our current way of diving up the watch community into collectors, enthusiasts and consumers and suggests that we’d be far better off describing different levels of horological experience. Not to be missed for the die-hards, in this episode Allen’s “phenomenology of watches” finally pays some dividends.
Allen speaks with Michael Benavente of Bulova and Colin de Tonnac of Semper & Adhuc about the history of Bulova as a mechanical watchmaker. There’s a lot to learn here. For example, did you know that Bulova once employed more Swiss mechanical watchmakers than any other brand, including the Swiss ones? Michael provides historical perspective… Read more »
Our fourth ‘How Watches Work’ podcast is on watch servicing – what it entails and why it is needed. Allen is gunning for vintage watch dealers that advertise their wares as ‘freshly serviced’ while David explains the how to know when watch needs service and what to expect. Watch service is a deep subject and… Read more »
Allen and David sit down in the third installment of the ‘How Watches Work’ series to discuss the subject of torque, what it is and why it is central to the design and operation of any watch, be it quartz or mechanical, simple or complicated. What Is Torque? What is torque? At its simplest, torque… Read more »
In this second installment of the ‘How Watches Work’ series, David joins Allen and leads him through the gears that make your mechanical watches work, generally known as “the going train.” By the end they’ve imagined complications that track time on Mercury, Jupiter and Mars The going train is the main set, or train, of… Read more »
Allen explores his new directions for his own budding collection of Vacheron Constantin watches, centering on a near disaster of a purchase due to his unbridled impetuousness. Two friends saved him from repeating past mistakes. Related Articles
Horology Inc. provides us with a vast array of dial colors able to splash dopamine onto our opiate receptors. We often dismiss new colors as a superficial trend lacking horological innovation, but Allen argues that – because splashy dials spontaneously inspire joy, beauty, and emotions that, science has shown, replicate our experience of Love – great dials may be closer to the center of The Aesthetic Revolution than we ever imagined.