A candid interview with Patrik Hoffmann, US President of Ulysse Nardin
PuristSPro Interviews Patrik Hoffmann by Dr. Marcus Hanke & Anthony Tsai © December 2007 Patrik was born and raised in Basel, Switzerland and has been working in the watch business all his life - for about 25 years now. Having a degree in controlling from...
Thanks Mr. Hoffmann and Anthony, for this interview...
...lots of interesting stuff ! Some points surprised me quite a bit though. I always was under the impression the 160th anniversary calliber is equipped with nickel phosphorus alloy (LIGA produced) escape wheels - but in the interview Mr. Hoffmann said it...
The 160's escapement wheels were switched to silicium ...
... already before the series production started. It was one of the conclusions that are possible only after extensive experimenting that the LIGA-processed nickel-phosphor parts were not really suited for quick-moving components, due to stability and esp...
Ahh, thanks a lot Marcus!....
...well, Palladium vs. Platinum, I was just picking on the term density. I'm a bi puzzled though by your comment that a palladium case would be more expensive compared to gold. Just as an example, a white gold case of about 35 gr. would be only 24gr. in P...
Well, I have to rely on what I was told by people dealing with those metals ...
... and they told me that it is more difficult to work with palladium than it is with gold. Especially polishing larger surfaces is said to be similarly challenging than with platinum, decidedly more difficult than with gold. Additionally, palladium price...
Patrik just sent me an email and confirmed
the silicium wheels in the 160th anniversary exactly as Marcus has stated. Cheers, Anthony
Postscript: after the UN event in Beverly Hills, a few of us . . .
. . . retired to the hotel lounge for drinks. Patrik ordered Franziskaner heffe - now that's the mark of a man with good taste! Cordially, Art
Did he get the yeast into the glass? ...
... I once had this rather funny "problem" in Georgetown, where the barman suddenly stopped filling the Hefeweizen into the glass to prevent the "dirt" from spoiling the good beer in the glass .... I had the honour to present to this gentleman, whose eyes...
Uhh, I'm not sure, Marcus, but one of my favorite pubs . . .
. . . stopped carrying Franziskaner heffe, and consequently that pub is no longer on the "A" list. Fortunately, there's a slightly more distant pub that carries both Franziskaner and Erdinger dark heffe on tap, so I'm not suffering too much . . . cordiall...
