In 1906, aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont flew 60 meters in a biplane he named the 14-bis.
On his wrist was Cartier’s first wristwatch, simultaneously the world’s first pilot’s watch. This timepiece was created in 1904 especially for Santos-Dumont by his good friend Louis Cartier after he had previously complained to the jeweler how difficult it was for him to check his pocket watch during flight.
Complex simplicity is something that is difficult to find practiced in the modern industrial era of cheaply manufactured goods.
It is, it should be said, a mainstay of modern design and a guiding principle for creating meaningful art and engineering.
But it also is hard.
I would describe complex simplicity as the optimal implementation of features with the least amount resources.
I am attracted to – and collect – two types of watches: vintage and independent.
I love vintage watches because they have had lives of their own and have stories to tell.
I love watches made by small independent artisans because they fully embody the vision of their makers, who have put blood, sweat, and tears into creating them; in fact, I would rather bluntly say these watchmakers lay their cards fully on the table with no marketing fluff: what you see is what you get.
There was a little discussion on social media recently about the apparent marketing ineffectiveness of luxury watch brands sponsoring America’s Cup yachting teams. At the 2017 America’s Cup won by Team New Zealand the following teams were sponsored by the following watch brands:
Panerai: Oracle Team USA and Softbank Team Japan
Ulysse Nardin: Artemis Racing Team
Bremont: Official Timing Partner to America’s Cup
Zenith: Land Rover BAR
Omega: Emirates Team New Zealand
Louis Vuitton: Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger’s Cup
In-house: there is probably no word more disputed in the watch industry today.
It has become a catchall word for the simple idea that “we made it ourselves.”
Of course some brands stretch the concept in an attempt to join the elite circle of manufactures, a “club” that twenty years ago hardly anyone knew existed. Depending on who you ask, the definition of in-house varies as much as the people themselves, but in the wider context of manufacturing it is pretty simple to define.
