Collectors Archives - Watchisthis

14Juin 2019 by Jonathan Kopp 2 Comments

Venneman Watches – Pure Belgian Design

News

Pure Belgian design from high-quality Swiss components. Belgium is not only known for its chocolate, cycling and famous players in their national football team. There are also some very skilled and passionate independent watchmakers hidden in that small country. One of them is Thomas Venneman the founder of Venneman Watches. Thomas Venneman wants to create unique timepieces in limited editions. 300 copies, more will not be made. Unique and numbered! Thomas received a solid training as a watchmaker and learned the craft from the masters themselves in Switzerland. He completed a number of traineeships with the big brands and at smaller workshops The pursuit of perfection is the guiding principle of his brand. We met in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Ghent where he showed me his timepiece…

31Mai 2019 by Jonathan Kopp 1 Comment

Astbury & Kent Stellaris – A tourbillon for all

News

Those recent days I was lucky enough to try the new Astbury & Kent Stellaris AK735. This new piece that you can still find on kickstarter is quite a success. Finding a tourbillon for less than 2500$ is not usual and of course you can express some reserves about its quality. To be honest I was quite astonished… That’s so great to see this kind of complication into affordable range without being necessarily of low quality. Indeed, that was completely unthinkable some 10 or 15 years. Of course the movement has been produced in Far East but it’s not cheap and in the contratry it’s a fantatisc value for the price. Founded by Terrence Ray Flores and Tom McCulloch, two certified watch nuts, Astbury and Kent was born of a…

15Avr 2019 by Jonathan Kopp 2 Comments

The lovely Terra Cielo Mare Milano San Babila

Magazine

Some weeks ago I had the chance to meet Eric Delicati who is distributor of the Italian brand Terra Cielo Mare. This brand is not really visible today because of a lack of communication but honestly it’s a brand on which you should have a look. For the record, Terra Cielo Mare is a family business that produces watches for enthusiast and collectors since 1999. The interesting thing is that behind everyone of their watches there’s a real story to tell. That means that they try to develop and narrate the history of aviation, naval, mechanical engineering and Italy through Haute Horlogerie. That’s not the most common thing in todays watch industry. Indeed, most of the time, a designer draws a watch and then the marketing director says : “Ok,…

09Avr 2019 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Watchbox – Pre-Owned Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual Time

News

Some of you may ask : “What is Watchbox ? “ Well, WatchBox is the global leader in pre-owned luxury watches. So you can now Buy, Sell, or Trade your luxury watch easily with a trusted partner. WatchBox™ is the global destination for luxury pre-owned timepieces, offering an expertly curated inventory of luxury pre-owned watches for sale, personalized client services, educational opportunities and astute editorial content. Founded in 2017, WatchBox is the result of a game-changing partnership between Danny Govberg, CEO of Govberg Jewelers, Tay Liam Wee, former owner of Sincere Watch, and investor-entrepreneur Justin Reis. This partnership brings together unprecedented watch industry experience, innovative technology, sophisticated data systems and marketing, as well as financial strength and business acumen to positively transform the multi-billion-dollar pre-owned luxury watch industry. In August…

06Avr 2019 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Jubileon is back with the Superellipse Chrono

News

In september 2017 Jubileon launched their first Kickstarter campaign with the really cool Superellipse. This piece was really classic but with a nice design. You can find it HERE . Now the independent brand from Singapore is back with an evolution of their first watch. This one, that they just launched on Kickstarter (5 April), is a pretty cool chrono. To be honest I’m quite astonished by the level of quality of this piece. Not just by the design, which is really strong, but also by the whole… Including the movement. Because Yes, powering the Superellipse Chrono is the well known ETA 7750 Valjoux movement. You can find this movement in almost every chrono in the market, but rarely at the price of 799$. Well thanks to Kickstarter you will…

21Fév 2019 by Jonathan Kopp 1 Comment

TBT – Dive into a vintage world

Vintage

Once you go down the rabbit hole of vintage watch collecting, it can be a difficult task to find your way back out again. With countless brands, designs, and price points to work with, not to mention the thrill of tracking down that elusive ‘rare bird’; there are many ways a collector can structure his collection. Some choose to solely focus on one brand or reference, whereas others are happy to simply go after designs they like and develop some variety. Over the years I’ve been actively collecting vintage watches, I’ve ended up building ‘collections within collections’, with Swiss, German and French skin divers being regular additions! Skin divers are lesser diving watches, in that they generally lack a depth rating and screw-in crown. What they forgot in actual diving…

19Fév 2019 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

EDOX – Official Timing Partner of FIA World Rallycross Championship

News

Edox, the Swiss watch brand, has entered in to a long-term agreement to become the Official Timing Partner of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, presented by Monster Energy. The partnership with the FIA World Rallycross Championship extends Edox's long history of involvement with motorsport. The 135-year old family-owned company combines traditional hand-assembly with innovative materials and functionality at the company headquarters in Les Genevez. The Chronorally collection has been developed to withstand the most extreme racing conditions and will be the assigned watch for World RX. As Official Timing Partner, Edox will have significant trackside branding and put their name to the fastest lap at each round of the championship. "We are delighted that Edox is joining our stable of commercial partners as Official Timing Partner. Edox have a rich…

31Jan 2019 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Classicism and Émail Grand-Feu – Focus on Lundis Bleus

Uncategorized

What’s great about independent watchmaking is that you’re not only talking about watches. You’re talking about esthetic choices, technical skills and passion. All mixed together in order for some brands to propose watches made with great creativity, great craftsmanship, recognizable among all thanks to their design. And all that sold for a reasonable price. Lundis Bleus is one of those brands. Initiated by friendship in 1994 when the two founders, Johan Storni and Bastien Vuilliomenet, meet in the watchmaking school of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland; the brand started to produce watches in 2016. In between, 1998 was the year of their graduation. Then, they both continued their studies and got experiences and skills in several domains such as design, watch restoration or watch construction in manufactures like Renaud & Papi…

29Jan 2019 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

DWISS – The awards winning microbrand

Uncategorized

DWISS was created in 2011 by Rafael Simoes Miranda, a Brazilian born naturalized Italian designer, who has been designing watches for over a decade now, with a portfolio of more than 300 different watches designed for 15 different brands, awarded with important international design awards, like the Red Dot Design Award. DWISS (Design Watch Independent Switzerland) offers premium watches with a world-class design at reasonable prices – combining Swiss watch engineering, precision and quality. DWISS has been in the market for almost 7 years and has presented in several of the most important watch fairs worldwide such as BaselWorld (2014 and 2015) and Hong Kong watch and clock fair (2014 and 2015). DWISS has won an IDA - International Design Award for producing the very first Niobium (Nb1Zr) watch in…

20Sep 2018 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Trifoglio Italia is back with the Veloce watch

News

The young brand Trifoglio Italia is back with a new pretty cool watch. And this one will be available through kickstarter. Now a quick reminder. Trifoglio has been created by Italian designer Alessandro Baldieri, and Jessie Yeo, who was born and raised in contemporary, vibrant and eclectic Singapore. She has a long time successful powerhouse in the watch business with her business acumen and hard work. Alessandro’s fiery and consuming passion for glamour, style and beauty makes him the visionary designer, while Jessie translates inspiration into reality and impeccable quality. Alessandro’s extravagant inspirations pay homage to his roots in cosmopolitan Rome, its legacy and history. Trifoglio Italia’s commitment to producing only the best quality means that its collections are produced only in limited quantities. Now selling in Europe, America, the…

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