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AHCI at Baselworld 2012
AHCI at Baselworld 2012
During our visit at the Baselworld, we had the pleasure to visit the AHCI booth. It was the most interesting visit at the Baselworld. Speaking to the masterminds behind of all sorts of phantastic creations is really impressive. I found the AHCI members very modest, while their work speaks for themselves. Following are some impressessions from the walk around the ACHI booth:
Konstantin Chaykin
Konstantin Chaykin is an AHCI member and comes from St. Petersburg, Russia. He is specialized in clocks and watches with religious calendars (Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish)
Below
the picture of the beautifully decorated resp. ornamented Al Biruni clock,
featuring a tourbillion and displaying the Muslim calendar. It is a unique piece.
I have taken the following information about the clock from Konstantin Chaykin’s website:
The Al-Biruni astronomical table clock is a hand-made piece, the only of its kind. It is a perfect example of fine watchmaking. The spirit of the Muslim faith and culture pervades Al-Biruni table clock. The silver case, inspired by the traditions of Central Asia architecture, is decorated with exquisite mosaics arranged from pieces of lapis lazuli, agate, turquoise and tiger's eye, and the luxurious pearl dial displays inlaid golden Arabic numerals. Its turning engine is KCH-ANTS mechanism with indication of dates and months according to the lunar Hegira calendar, tourbillon and moon phase indicator. In the memory of great discoveries made by the sages of medieval Asia, Konstantin Chaykin named his clock after the great scholar Al-Biruni.
Movement:
Size: 83x35x34 mm, Materials: brass, steel, gilding, nickel-plating, 18 000 vph, Jewels: 21 Power reserve: 8 days.
Functions:
- hours indication;
- minutes indication;
- one minute «flying» tourbillon;
- Lunar phases indication;
- dates indication by Moslem calendar Hijra in Arabic (patented invention of K. Chaykin);
- months indication by Moslem calendar Hijra in Arabic (patented invention of K. Chaykin);
- days of week indication in Arabic;
- separately derived elements of calendar correction
Case:
Size: 124х146х68 mm. Materials: silver, gold, lazurite, turquoise, agate, tiger's eye
Features:the case is decorated in classical Central Asian architecture traditions of mosques and medreses.
Konstantin
also presented his Mystery wristwatch:
Mystery. Barely visible due to the reflection on the right hand side of the dial, there is a moonphase indication
Movement: Calibre KMR 02-0, 18 000 vph, up to 33h power reserve, 38 mm diameter, thickness 5,5 mm
Functions: Hour, minute, moon phase indicator
Case: 44 mm, pink gold, water resistance: 3 АТМ
It is quite fascinating to see how the movement can be miniaturized to fit it literally into the edge of the case.
Konstantin also showed the Lunokhod but the design is very odd to my eyes, so didn’t take any pictures of it.
Frank Jutzi
Frank
lives and works close to Bern, Switzerland, and specializes on table clocks, including clocks with tourbillion mechanism.
However he also started to build wristwatches in the recent years.
Unfortunately I took only one picture of Frank’s works – of a grandfather
clock. The
finely skeletonised clockwork runs for 2
months when winded. The wheels are mounted with ball or ruby bearings. The
brass parts are then plated in gold or nickel and the clock hands are made from
blued titanium.
Aniceto Jiménez Pita
It was a pleasure
to meet father and son Pita from Barcelona. First in their collection we saw the “carousel” with its front-mounted
rotor.
Two different versions of the Carousel. Carousel watches all come in precious metals, but the dial, hands and strap can be customized
Another Pita carousel. The front rotor allows to see the movement
The “minimal” range includes one, two or three hand watches with a minimalistic
design. Also here, the watch can be customized. (dial, hands, strap) I like the purity of the design contrasted by the exquisite shape of the hand in the version below.
Finally, there is the “oceana” with its domed 8 mm plexi crystal. There are two versions available: The oceana 2000 m features a waterthighness of 2000 m and the oceana 5000 consequently 5000 m.
oceana in Titanium
Technical details:
Modular case construction. 8.2mm thick rounded polycarbonate crystal. No seal joint between crystal and TI case - the case is hence considered maintenance-free. Case made of TI Grade 5, Ø43mm, height 18mm, resp. 21mm. for the Oceana 5000.
The star-shaped second hand featurres a chromatic depth meter: depending on how deep you dive, you will be able or not be able to recognize the red, yellow and blue colours on the star shaped second hand. This gives you an indication of your depth.
oceana with black DLC coated TI case
Watches of the carousel, minimal and oceana range all feature the patented Pita-TSM (Time Setting Mechanism) and Pita-RT (Remote Transmission), replacing the crown and gears by a disc on the back of the case that holds magnets, which in turn allow to set the time. This concept convinces me with regard to the diving watch (no crown means no penetration to the case) while for the other watches it seems rather a nice-to-have.
Thomas Prescher
We had a chat
with Thomas and his charming wife. Thomas’s work is well known, especially his
double and triple axis flying tourbillions. To see them in metal is simply amazing
– it seems as if they are defying the laws of gravity. I will not further elaborate on the triple axis tourbillion as it has been covered by much more knowledgeable community members in earlier reports
Triple axis tourbillion regulator
We also saw the new “Sailor” in metal (yet I didn’t take any pictures…) The Sailor is the first of what Thomas calls “Nemo’s trypcicron”– a series of watches that are inspired by Captain Nemo’ Nautilus from Jules Vernes novel “twenty thousand leagues under the sea”. I must say that I was rather skeptical on the design when I saw the first pictures, but when I had the Sailor in my hands, I couldn’t ignore the strong presence of the watch. It is certainly outstanding it the true sense of the word, while it is not a watch to show off. There are many small details that are just special. The crown looks like valves used on the engine of a ship. The execution of the lugs is different from everything I have seen before. There are some interesting slides on Prescher’s website that explain the design philosophy behind the project.
I attach a picture of the Sailor from Prescher’s website for reference.
Photo by Thomas Prescher
Valerii Danevich
I understand
that Valerii Danevitch was invited to present at the AHCI booth, while he is
not a member neither a candidate of ACHI at this point of time. Valerii comes
from Kiev (Ukraine)..The watches he presented
are completely made of wood. The only non-wood detail in these watches is the
spring and they the watches are fully functional.
Some additional information about Valerii Danevitch (source: watchwiki.org)
The tradition of carpentry work is
distributed in the dynasty Danevitch from generation to generation, from father
to sons.
Driven by the question of what one could produce from wood, he started
experimenting with wooden movements for clocks in 2005.
During this experimental phase of his career, he learned the basics of a
watchmaker. Essential was studying the properties of different woods that are
suitable for watchmaking. His first movement was designed for a floor clock. After
the sixth clock mechanism, which he did, he read the book about watchmaking and
it only helped him to accelerate the calculations. After several
trials and errors the first pocket-sized watch was made in 2008.
Masahiro Kikuno
We were making acquaintance with a young gentleman from Japan, who was exhibiting the first time at the Baselworld – as a guest at the AHCI booth. He brought with him his latest work, a one minute tourbillion. The dial features a circular finish reminding us of a Japanese Garden. The movement has a very clean bridge layout and decoration which gives it an interesting technical look. I think his watches somehow cool and certainly highly exclusive. Kikunosan showed us pictures of the manufacturing process and if found it truly impressive to see what can be created with what seem relative simple (=traditional) watchmaking tools. It further increased my appreciation for the work of all independent watchmakers!
Tourbillon 2012
Case: 43mm diameter, 18k Rose gold, piece unique. Movement: cal.mk12 19 jewels, 1 minute Tourbillon, manual
winding, herringbone finish
We didn’t manage to cover all AHCI exhibitors and I apologize for those which have not been included.
I hope you enjoyed the report.
Stefan
AHCI at Baselworld 2012
Tremendous job Stefan...
