In 1974 Winston bought a large parcel of diamonds worth $24,500,000 – at that time the largest individual sale of diamonds in history. Harry Oppenheimer, head of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, arranged the transaction. When Winston asked Oppenheimer, “How about a little something to sweeten the deal?” Harry Oppenheimer pulled a 181 carats (36 g) rough diamond out of his pocket and rolled it across the table. Winston picked up the stone, smiled, and said simply, “Thanks.” It was cut into five gems, the largest being named the Deal Sweetener. Other gems cut from the crystal: An emerald cut of 24.67 carats, plus three pear shapes of 10.80, 4.19 and 1.45 carats, respectively. All were sold that same year.

The history of Harry Winston is fascinating and worth investigating America’s best known jeweler. But it’s time to talk about the company’s watch development creations. The jewelry watches the company designs are fabulous, but it was the Opus series that took many of us on a tremendous ride of true High Horology. Each Opus watch is created from a master watchmaker of the company’s choosing, and what a collaborative effort it became. I’m happy to talk about my favorite Opus to date, which ironically is their latest design Opus 12

Opus 12 defies the conventional rules of watchmaking, giving birth to the most improbable
mechanical concept. This exceptional timepiece deliberately overturns the perception of time by drawing its inspiration from the Copernican revolution.

In most watches the evolution of time is imperceptible. Opus 12, on the other hand, goes
into action in a remarkable way, its hands changing the guard every five minutes. At each
change of the hour, the movement executes a very elaborate drill exercise by the successive
rotation of the hands. Below the retrograde indication, a floating small seconds hand
graduated on a translucent ring passes above a power-reserve indicator.

Movement:
Mechanical movement with manual winding.
607 parts, 80 jewels and 2 barrels, 24 hands
Power Reserve: 45 hours

Functions:
Hour and 1/12th of an hour (five-minutes) displays via a rotating, double-hand system
Animation of the 12 hour hands at each change of hour
Animation of the minutes hands every five minutes

Retrograde five-minute display, power-reserve indicator and small seconds

Material: case in white gold

Diameter: 46mm

www.harrywinston.com

Its really not unusual to not be attracted to many new styles or designs the first time you see them. I never liked Mercedes Benz’s new looks either, but after a while they grow on you, and then its yes, I want one. That’s exactly how I feel about the freak, It’s clearly one of the most creatively designs I have seen and yes, it was clearly way ahead of its time. I like to think it’s the forefront thinking of the team at Ulysse Nardin that paved this avant-garde creativity that we see today from many of the time makers in the world of horology.

At the beginning of all action is a belief

Due to the large tourbillon, much more power is required in the watch. Here, it is powered by four barrels. The barrels are first paired in series to double the operating reserve; they are then assembled parallel to one another so that the power of the movement is doubled.  The barrels, with a diameter of 16 mm, are 4mm wider than the traditional ones resulting in the almost constant force needed to operate the Giga Tourbillon.

Caliber: FM2100

Functions: Winding shaft with two positions

Power Reserve: 10 days

Right now we’re talking about the founder of MB&F,  high horology time maker and creative force Maximilian. If Maximilian didn’t have such great looks, you’d probably  mistake him for an arch villain with a clear and present sinister danger surrounding him. It’s probably best that he chose to not be sinister and therefore give us a look into his mind from the light side so we can observe minds of  the dark side from villains in movies.

I love the radical HM series of timepieces with this model being HM4, so get ready for liftoff. Now you must see the previous versions as well as the Performance Art pieces and Legacy pieces.

Maximilian Busser is surrounded by a cast of incredible talent that is unlike any other in all of high horology watch making today. Their goal is to design and craft a radical and original horological masterpiece each year.

FVa N06 Tourbillon Planetaire Skeleton Super Ligero Concept

This Haute piece is very sophisticated and chic, a serious statement is made here.

FVa N0 Cuatro Tourbillon Dial – Side Column Wheel Monopusher Chronograph

http://www.francvila.com

The video below shows great detail to this ingenious timing machine, thanks Ian

Recently excavated 100,000 year-old beads, made from Nassarius shells, and are considered to be the oldest known jewelry. In Ancient Egypt jewelry was first made around 3,000 to 5,000 years back. The Egyptians adored the shine, rarity, and work-ability of gold. The Egyptians had accumulated abundant gold from the deserts of Africa and later acquired more as tributes from captured kingdoms. In Egypt, jewelry soon symbolized power. The affluent class wore it not only in their lifetime but also after death, those were buried with them.

Ok, I got a bit carried away with a little history so let me get back on point of this fascination with watches and jewelry. There’s a million places a day globally to buy watches and jewelry at virtually any given price point. For the finer designs and quality of these creations, only fractions of stores exist compared to millions of retailers. So if you’re looking not necessarily buying but just looking to see the best the world has to offer, you simply go to the best stores in the larger cities of your states and countries.

Stores have several major challenges but one question is most dominant and that is what should they carry to impress and sell to you, another would be where do they go to get the merchandise. Many times manufacturer sales reps visit their stores. But this doesn’t always solve a major stores merchandising needs. Trade shows you might answer, and yes, correct you are, but in this case not just any trade show. There’s only one global trade show that meets the highest standards of design in both watches and jewelry, BASELWORLD. Located in Basel Switzerland this event epitomizes the highest standards of excellence in these genres of industry.

This  year BASELWORLD had these statistics:  104,000 visitors from 100 countries , 1815 exhibitors from 41 countries,  3300 journalists from 70 countries,  160,000 m² exhibition surface.  One of the most beautiful things about Baselworld is anybody can attend, unlike many high end tradeshows. As a designer myself I’ve knew this was one place I had to see for myself and I can tell you nothing can really describe the experience. Remember the statistic of 3300 journalist, I’ve read hundreds of their experience being there and they still can’t describe even 50% of the pleasure you will have.

Why do we love high quality watches and jewelry so much? We know their beautiful but it’s really more than that too. It’s status, it’s a brand name, or it’s a limited edition or one of a kind perhaps. I think its knowing you have something that most people will never be able to afford, so for me, I think its status. I’ve sat and talked with owners of some of the most prestigious brands in the world from watches, jewelry, to diamond mine corporations. Am I impressed, yes I am! But I’m more impressed with the ease of communication, inspiration, and advice these great people and companies have to offer someone like myself, or even you.

http://www.baselworld.com

I love art! I love people that love art! I love watches! I love people that love watches! I spend so much time in art galleries that I feel at home and I always wanted to own an art gallery. I spend so much time enjoying the beauty of watches that I created my own line of them. But this isn’t about me, it’s about and artist that somehow combined two things that mean so much to me into one thing.

Dale Mathis lives in a world that most of us will only admire and never truly understand the inner sanctum of one’s thoughts and intelligence. Genius, yes! The process of imagination has given us much of what we take for granted from telephones to running bath water. But art somehow tends to grasp a hold of us and capture our minds to make us think about creativity from another place in our soul and mind.

When I look at the work of this artist, I’m perplexed at the vision he had to fabricate his creations. I can travel back centuries and compare him to some of the greatest sculptures in of our time. I can also compare him to some of our twentieth century genius’ as well. From an observation of first glance at his work you will be a gasp and quickly ask yourself, is this really what I see?

Dale is a self taught artist with the precision of a master storyteller through his work. Usually an artist must tell a story to most of us as to what the inspiration was and we understand and take joy in the process.  But his creativity needs no explanation! Your first thought upon gazing his art is how I can get my hands on it. Or perhaps you’re thinking where I would place this art in my home and what joy the conversations will be after I show it to my guest.

Born in 1972 and raised in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles CA, which alone would be a challenge for most. He managed to make it through the gang invested areas and believe enough in himself with determination that matches his skill as an artist to leave his mark in society and history. At 36 years old his legacy has a fantastic start. I hope you enjoy this testimonial to an artist that I think as well as many other’s is well on his way to fulfilling his destiny!

Accolades: Bold, compelling themes and sophisticated aesthetics landed Mathis’ sculpture “Crucifixion of a Legacy” on MTV’s The Real World, Las Vegas XII, which then brought him a segment on HGTV’s, Crafters Coast to Coast. The Executive Desk will be featured in Playboy Magazine – October 2008. The Las Vegas Review Journal and international watch magazines in Europe and Latin America.

www.theartofdalemathis.com