Timepiece Archives - Watchisthis

23Feb 2023 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Loren Sciurba – Co-Founder of District Time Washington

Interview

We are just days away from the District Time Washington event. Watchisthis Magazine is proud to be a media partner of this event. District Time will take place at the District Architecture Center, 421 7th Street NW. Located in D.C.'s bustling Penn Quarter neighborhood, on March 4th and 5th. In the meantime, here is an interview with Loren Sciurba - Co-Founder of the event ;-) Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? My wife may disagree, but I’d say she started it. I’d always liked the idea of watches as an accessory but didn’t know much about them. I got my first nice one, a Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moonphase, when we were married, then, years later, she bought me a TAG Heuer Monaco.…

11Jan 2023 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Hakim El Kadiri – Founder of Elka Watches

Interview

It's been a long time, so let me first of all wish you a very happy new year 2023. I was in the middle of work and moving so it's true that I haven't shared many articles with you lately. And that's why we start January with an interview with Hakim El Kadiri, CEO and Founder of Elka Watch. Could you tell us a bit about you and about your history with watches? I received my first watch from my grandfather when I was around 5. It is a souvenir that I have anchored somewhere in my spirit. Having said this I have no memory of the brand nor anything more than this vision, of wearing a watch. In early 80’s I dreamt of getting a Casio with a calculating…

27Jul 2022 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Julien Caradant – Founder of Atelier Caradant

Interview

In recent days I had the chance to chat with Julien Caradant, founder of the watch brand Atelier Caradant. Today I'm happy to share this interview with you and to introduce you to his watches. The watches coming out of this workshop are very special, and that's why I wanted to know more about them. The dials are made of paper… Yes you read that right, they are made of paper.Julien, a young Frenchman from Saumur (a city in Maine-et-Loire, western France) explains his original concept to us in this interview. Here we go ! Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? I have always been passionate about mechanics and how things work (I dismantled a lot of things when I was young!).…

16Jun 2022 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Hands-on – Biotic Formicidae

Review

During the last few days I had the chance to spend some time with the new BIOTIC Formicidae which is currently on Kickstarter. I'll be totally honest, at first I didn't understand why Ryan Lee (Founder of the brand) had chosen a name like this one. In France, we know the Biotic Phocea laboratories, which is known as the reference on the French market for pigments for medical dermo-pigmentation and permanent make-up. Suffice to say it has nothing to do with it… Biotic means “pertaining to life”. A biotic factor is any living thing that has an effect on an ecosystem. Biotic Watches has been co-founded by Stitches & Buckles in 2021, and is based in Singapore. There vision : Biotic Watches aims to study Nature and bring the beauty…

24May 2022 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview of Christian Moriggi Creations’ founder

Interview

In recent days I had the chance to chat with Christian Moriggi, founder of the watch brand of the same name. Today I'm happy to share this interview with you and to introduce you to his watches. Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? I was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. I discovered my passion for design and watches during my architectural studies at the Haute École d'Architecture de Genève. After graduating, I decided to continue my studies by attending a design school in Milan, Italy. On my return to Switzerland, I opened my own practice. I also founded Christian Moriggi Creations, where I design many watches and furniture. Watches have always been a passion, I enjoy looking at them. It is a beautiful…

26Jan 2022 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Hands-on – The Powerfull Feynman Fjord

Review

It's no secret I'm a fan of Feynman Timekeepers. You can read or reread my article of the One Eclipse, the Cove, and of course my interview with the creator of the brand right here. In 2021, I can't remember exactly when, Yong Keong Lim told me he was going to release a new collection. I'm honest with you, I was directly excited to be able to try this new creation. I was able to spend several weeks with the Fjord Magma and obviously this piece is a great success. The Case For the Feynman Fjord collection, the brand decided to use again the unique aesthetic of the Feynman Cove. This is a compressor styled case that honestly I really like. In terms of size, I think that every kind…

12Jan 2022 by Jonathan Kopp 2 Comments

Interview Pierre Bernheim – Founder of 26 Spirits of Switzerland

Interview

A few weeks ago we had the chance to sit down and speak with Pierre Bernheim, Founder of 26 Spirits of Switzerland. Now, let's jump into the story of this young brand... Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? I’m 38 years old, married to a beautiful woman and father of 3 wonderful kids. Besides, I’m the grandson of Mr Raymond Weil who transmitted me his passion for watches and flying. After working in the family brand for 6 years, I launched my own watch brand 88 RUE DU RHONE in 2012. 10 years later, with 36 national markets opened, and more than 150’000 watches sold worldwide, the brand was acquired by a leading Chinese business group. Being a born entrepreneur, I could…

18Jun 2019 by Jonathan Kopp 2 Comments

In talk with Jacob Andra – SOMA Horology Marketplace

Interview

SOMA Horology Marketplace is the new exciting thing in the watch industry. For some people and some brands it was obvious to join this platform directly while some others are still thinking about it with the questions in the corner of their heads : “How does it work ? Have I to jump on it ?“… And at the end they say : “Why the hell I’m not already on it ?“ Today at Watchisthis we are glad to share with you an interview of Jacob Andra, one of the co-founders of this new platform. It’s quite long but believe me it’s worth the reading time ;-) [caption id="attachment_3676" align="aligncenter" width="632"] Left : Jacob Andra from SOMA - Right : Armand Billard from Sartory Billard Watches[/caption] Watchisthis : As…

14Jun 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…

31May 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…