Interviews
Devil’s in the Details: Macro Details by @Horomariobro
Interviews
Devil’s in the Details: Macro Details by @Horomariobro
I’ve always loved watches as far back as I could remember. It started around when I was six. I still remember salivating over a Mickey Mouse watch at a shop. It was very fascinating to me because the Mickey Mouse hands were used as the hour and minute hands. I would go back to look at it over the glass window from time to time. Of course, I could not afford it at that time. However, that was when I told myself that I needed to buy myself a watch one day.
Fast forward many years later, I got myself a Seiko Kinetic watch as a high school graduation gift. I still have it today even though it does not really work well anymore. It was a novel idea to me that the wrist motion could charge the battery inside the watch and allow for less frequent battery change. There is also a button the wearer can push, and the seconds hand would advance to indicate the amount of power reserve. I just found it very cool and I had to have it.
My first big piece was the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Bi-Retrograde Day-Date in white gold. I like the semicircular day and date layouts as well as the retrograde complication. I also love seeing the retrograde motion and listening to the sound it makes. It is a wonderful timepiece.
A close-up of the frosted bridges on Pascal Coyon’s movement
Macro of the anglage and sharp exterior angle on the bridges and snailing on the crown and barrel ratchet wheels
I started out with big brands like most people, as those brands can often be seen on magazines and at authorized dealers. My knowledge of horology was very little at that time, and I would just believe in marketing materials, the magazines and the words of the dealers.
My tastes started to change when I went down further in this hobby by joining online watch forums. That was where I could see a big variety of big and small brands, especially the independent brands. It literally opened my eyes and changed the way I viewed timepieces both aesthetically and mechanically. I started to view timepieces as an expression of art by each individual watchmaker.
I was especially intrigued by the unique designs, high craftsmanship and uber cool complications of the independent brands. Until this day, these three factors are fundamental to me when it comes to choosing a new timepiece to own. In other words, any piece I own must have at least one of these three factors.
The unique movement bridges of Dresden brand Lang & Heyne's Georg timepiece
Timepieces are mechanical wonders to me. It still amazes me today that tiny components can be made with high precision and put together to tell time accurately. I love seeing details, and I would often observe the beauty of those tiny parts of my timepieces with a 10× loupe. When I wanted to capture those details in photographs, I’d ask a good photographer friend of mine to take macro shots for me whenever we met up. Then when COVID hit in March 2020, it made it impossible for me or my photographer friend to travel for meet-ups. I was stuck and not able to capture details of my new timepieces anymore!
I did some research online to find options to take macro shots of my timepieces. I tried to find the most affordable option possible with acceptable results as I did not want to spend a lot of money on those expensive cameras and lenses like my photographer friend has. After some research, I decided to use my iPhone X as the camera, my 10× loupe from Loupe System as the macro lens, and I bought a phone stand and a phone adapter for the loupe.
To my surprise, the setup worked out very well for me with good results. It’s been my setup ever since.
A simple yet effective camera setup using iPhoneX, a phone stand and a loupe from Loupe System
In my opinion, top independent watchmakers and brands far exceed the holy trinity in their levels of finishing. The difference in finishing is so obvious that one can even tell with the naked eye. For example, the anglage looks much wider, inward/outward angles look much sharper, and the number of inward/outward angles is much higher as well, from the top independent watchmakers and brands.
When looking under the loupe, the difference in finishing is even more pronounced. Let’s take the finishing of the hands as an example; one would likely see stamping marks on the sides of the hands from the holy trinity as compared to the polished sides from the independent watchmakers and brands. Also, the underside of the hands tends to look more raw from the holy trinity than the independent watchmakers and brands.
(Clockwise from top left) A comparison of handstacking: the A. Lange & Söhne Double Split; Parmigiani Perpetual; Credor Eichi II and Habring2 Chronograph
To me, my expectation depends on the price level and the level of “perfection” a brand proclaims. For higher end brands, if I notice subpar finishing or flaws, I’d normally report it to them and give them an opportunity to address it as I understand to err is human. The most important thing about a brand to me is their handling of the situation in customer service. If the brand takes full responsibility to address the situation, then I would be fine to consider a second timepiece from the brand in the future. On the other hand, if the brand does not and gives excuses, then I’d avoid that brand in the future.
What is your most unexpected finding from the macro shots?
I’d say Greubel Forsey’s anglage and mirror polishing really surprised me in a good way. I am literally in awe when I look at those types of finishing from macro shots. Their anglage is sharp and completely appears black (as in black polishing) at certain angles which I’ve never seen before. Their mirror polishing is so good that the reflected object on the mirror polished surface looks like it’s behind the surface.
A jewel set in a gold chaton in the Greubel Forsey Signature 1
Close-up of the contrasting surface finishes including the mirror-polished countersink, the wide anglage on the bridge, snailing on the crown wheel and fine frosting on the main plate
If low to mid-priced watches are defined as those in the range below USD 10,000, the biggest surprise to me in this price category was the Pascal Coyon Series 1, released several years ago for about EUR 5,000 (USD 5,200). In my opinion, it’s probably the best finished timepiece ever in this price category, and I don’t see the same level of finishing being offered again by other watchmakers or brands matching its price in the future. It was a very limited run, and it’s very difficult to find it in the pre-owned market. Lecomte Series 1 and 2 also come to mind. However, both were also very limited runs and are no longer available.
For the ones that are still available to order, I’d say Nomos, D.Dornblüth & Sohn, and Felipe Pikullik. I don’t own the latter two yet but I like what I see in the photos of their watches in this price range.
